A Danger That Lurks In The Darkness | A TPQ AU |

VII | The One True Sign Of Love: Cringe Love Letters

MINI
That last text led to another sleepless night, as she paced in her apartment, exhaustion making her thoughts grow fuzzy.

But adrenaline was coursing through her, making her heart beat faster and faster, making her thoughts run wild.

You wouldn't want Aru and Aiden to get hurt.

They were right, of course, but how did they know Aru and Aiden were her friends? Her eyes skipped over to the next part of the sentence: [...] partner to get hurt, would you?

She didn't want Rudy to get hurt, either. That same rage she'd felt hours before coursed through her once more, making the world tinted in red, making her thoughts run fast.

But that same rage gave way to confusion. What could she do? What should she do? Should she tell Aru and Aiden, or should she keep quiet, so that they wouldn't worry.

Should she tell Rudy?

She frowned at the person's contact, and now began to wonder where they got her number from, or if their number was traceable.

She would have to check that in the morning. But it was already morning, the darkness heavy on the horizon, the kitchen clock softly chiming 2 A.M.

Her eyes flitted out the window, to the lane where the lights flickered, and a solitary car drove by.

The footsteps that didn't exist. They were echoing in the back of her mind now, in tandem with her own heart, the snap of a shoe against the gravel of the road.

She'd tried to convince herself that they didn't exist, but what if they did?

Her gaze flicked from the window to her phone, lying face-down on the carpet.

What if they belonged to the person who was texting her?

Finally, an hour later, when the world was turning blurry and her eyes burned in the effort of staying opened, she slid to the floor, and fell asleep, curled up in a foetal position, her eyes grew too heavy to stay open, and she fell asleep, her thoughts occupied by the sound of footsteps, and the ping of a text message.

————

She'd made a trudge to the precinct the next morning, after downing three cups of coffee, hoping that it would make her slightly more alert. It didn't.

The IT department was on the second floor, and she walked in, the feeling of trepidation growing with every step as she exited the elevator.

She knocked on the desk, and Sheela turned around, spinning in her chair. "'Sup, Mini,"

Sheela was twenty-four years old, and they'd known each other, through Aru since when Mini had been twenty, and Sheela had been sixteen. Nikita, her twin sister, was planning Aru's and Aiden's wedding.

"Nothing much," she said, mirroring Sheela's genuine smile with her own strained one.

"I need your help."

"With what?"

Mini pulled out her phone. "I need you to track... or find out who it belongs to," With that, she handed her phone to Sheela.

"...They've been texting you?"

"Yeah. And—" she covered the screen with her hand. "You can't see what the texts are,"

Sheela's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"...Personal reasons,"

"I am part of your personal life," she mused.