Return Of The Outcast

|016| Accident or murder?

࿇ ══━━━━✥◈✥━━━━══ ࿇

Just then, a forgotten thought reemerges in her mind. "I still haven't called Saanvi". She whips out her phone, determined not to let anything distract her again from contacting her best friend.

She has to tell her that she's moving away, who she's moving away with and most importantly, what's this going to mean for their friendship. There's so much they have to talk about.

"Pick up. Pick up. Pick up" she frustratingly mumbled, watching the phone ring on with no sign of stopping. "Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system," the phone said, so she called again, and again, and again.

"Ugh. Why isn't she answering!!!" Mia slammed her phone on the dashboard in frustration. "Hey hey hey" Mr. Takahashi called out trying to get her to stop as his eyes were still focused on the road. "how about you put the phone down for now, and try to call them later. They could just be busy right now. Plus you might wake up Mylo" He suggested, gesturing  to the sleeping dog in the  back.

Mia let out a heavy breath "I suppose you're right". She then tucked away her phone in her pocket.

But she was still upset. Her mind racing with scenarios of inconvenience or, worse, distress that might befall her friend. The silence from Saanvi's end was a stark contrast to the chaos of worry stirring inside Mia. She felt a knot tighten in her stomach, a mix of upset feelings and the sting of being seemingly ignored.

"Is she at her mom's house?" Mia questioned. Just the thought of it made her worry even more. She knew that the woman was nothing but an abusive alcoholic who didn't care about her daughter. If Saanvi was with her, who knows what she could be going through right now? Mia felt anxious. It was no longer about why she wasn't picking up, but whether she was safe or not which Mia had no way of checking at the moment. All she could do was anxiously sit and hope her friend was okay wherever she was.

"How about we put on some music to lighten the mood?" Mr. Takahashi cheerfully said, completely oblivious to the whirlwind of thoughts running through Mia. She looked up at him, her mind still filled with all the scary scenarios Saanvi could be in. But she was also  tired of feeling all these negative emotions. It was draining. Maybe she should just relax. Maybe she's over-thinking things again and Saanvi was fine. Maybe she's just busy and will call on her own time.

"Sure" Mia responded to Mr. Takahashi with a forced smile. Fake it till you make it.

With a flick of his wrist, he spun the radio dial with his right hand, while his left stayed on the wheel. Causing a symphony of static and snippets of songs weaving through the speakers. Each station brought a fleeting moment of jazz riffs, pop choruses, or the end trails of a country song. "What are you kids into nowadays?" He asked, trying to look for something that seemed interesting to someone of her age.

Mia shrugged. "Just good music I guess" she nonchalantly said with her vague response leaving room for interpretation. "So...Nickelback?" He guessed, as the 1990s rock band was the only thing that came to mind when he thought of good music. His suggestion made Mia giggle for the first time in a while. "Nickelback? Ew. Nobody listens to them anymore. They are like super ancient". She jokingly said, causing Mr. Takahashi to laugh with her "Oh come on. The 1900s weren't that long ago. Plus Nickelback did have some good music". He retorted. They continued laughing and chatting for a bit as Takahashi kept on spinning the dial, still looking for something they could listen to.

Then he stopped on one channel. It was a news broadcast and seems to have just started.

Welcome back live on Citytv. Once again we will be discussing the case of the Clarence Labs fire, where a 41-year-old-

Takahashi quickly changed the channel. "Sorry.. you probably don't want to think about it right now," he said with an awkward smile. "No. Put it back" she peacefully demanded  " I want to hear it". He looked at her with concern and confusion "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll be fine" Mia said, her tone louder and assertive than before. He hesitantly turned the channel back, letting out a heavy breath as he turned all his focus back to the road.

"-Was found dead in one of the rooms. Fortunately, everyone else was fine as the fire was concentrated in one area, police have still been looking into it and after extensive investigation, they have determined that the fire erupted due to faulty wiring in the locked room it initially started in. It's ruled an unlucky accident that sadly cost the life of an innocent woman"

"NO. It's not an accident!" Mia shouted back at the radio "It's a murder. It just has to be!". She was frustrated at the seeming lack of further investigation they seemed to be doing. If she wasn't being restrained by the seat belt, she would probably storm up to a police  station and give them a lecture for doing their jobs poorly.

"What makes you think it was a murder?" Mr. Takahashi asked after she calmed down a little, with  his question making Mia have to think about what little evidence she had. "umm..well...it just doesn't feel right." she started "out of the whole building, the fire just so happened to start in the room my mom was in and the door was found locked to giving her no way of escaping. It all just feels...targeted". Mr. Takahashi quietly listened to her explanation, nodding as she spoke until asking "So who do you think would do such a thing?. I mean, your mom was a lovely woman, who'd want her dead?".

That was the question she couldn't figure out "I don't know...but whoever it is, when I catch them, I'll-" She stopped her sentence there so she wouldn't say anything too bad, but she was still determined to find her mother's killer and destroy them for good when she did.

Mr. Takahashi surprisingly let out a small chuckle as if not taking her seriously "Alright then. You can avenge your mother if that's what you think actually happened. I'll even support you, but don't worry too much about it, okay." he said, gently patting her head with his one free hand.

࿇ ══━━━━✥◈✥━━━━══ ࿇

【Thx for reading】

    - please don't forget to vote and comment ♡

-------------------------------

Hello Loves. Author here. I don't have much  to say except that I hope you enjoyed the chapter and if you guys have any suggestion or criticism, the floor's  open

Question of the day: What are your thoughts on the whole Kendrick and Drake situation?

Don't know what I'm talking about?. Then congratulations! that means you're not chronically online. I'm so happy for you