DESTINED TO CROSS

Chapter 9: Whispers of The Past

Samaira's POV

When we arrived at college, we headed straight to the security department, which was located at the back of the campus. It still felt strange being around Siddharth. Initially, I had planned to handle my article work with him and then get away as quickly as possible in the morning. But now, I'm not sure what changed. Maybe it was because he offered to help us, or perhaps it was our conversation in the cab. Either way, I no longer feel the urge to distance myself from him as soon as possible, which is odd. I’ve also realised that the feeling I get when he’s near isn’t fear—it’s something else that I have yet to figure out. But one thing I do know for sure is I’m not scared of him.

When we entered the room, the security staff greeted Siddharth with, "Hello, sir. How are you? Do you need anything, sir?" And they threw a pointed look in my direction—um, okay, rude. Without wasting any time, Siddharth requested the CCTV footage of the hallways on the 5th floor near the computer lab. The staff began searching for it in their system.
"Sir, there’s no footage from that day in the hallways," one of them said.
"How come? You said the footage was restored," Siddharth asked, his tone demanding. "Yes, sir, the footage was restored, but all the footage from that specific day has been deleted from the files," he replied."Who deleted it?" Siddharth pressed."We’re trying to figure that out ourselves, sir. We don’t know who did it. Sorry, sir," the staff member apologized, and the others quickly chimed in with apologies as well. With no other options, we had no choice but to leave.

As we walked out, my phone rang—it was a group call with Shanaya and Mayra. I answered quickly, telling them that the hallway footage was missing too. Siddharth moved closer to hear what was happening on their end. "We went to that guy’s house... what was his name again?" I heard Mayra asking Imaad.
"Shekhar," he replied.
"Ah, yes. Shekhar wasn’t home; he went somewhere," Mayra continued.
"Oh, I know exactly where he went," Shanaya interjected from her side.
"Where?" Mayra asked, puzzled.
"He came to the abandoned building," Shanaya revealed.
"What?" Mayra practically yelled. "What was he doing there?" I asked, just as confused.
"Only he can answer that question," came Aurav’s voice from Shanaya’s side. Siddharth and I exchanged glances in disbelief.

We all agreed to discuss the plan further at the college tomorrow. As we were about to part ways, Siddharth offered to drop me home. He told me to wait at the front gate while he fetched his bike from the parking lot. When he mentioned his bike, I assumed it would be a normal one, the kind most people use. I didn’t expect it to be a racing bike—the kind that goes ridiculously fast, making you feel like it could kill you with one wrong move. "Come on, sit," he said, handing me a spare helmet.
How on earth was I supposed to tell him I was scared to ride that thing? "Is that your bike?" I asked, feeling nervous.
"Yeah, why?" he replied, looking confused.
"Oh, it’s really nice, haha," I said, trying to lighten my nerves.
"Thanks," he said, smiling as he put on his helmet. "Come on, it’s getting late."
"Um, you see, I suddenly feel like walking... I don't know why, but I think I should just, you know, walk back home, haha," I said, trying not to sound awkward.
"Is everything okay?" he suddenly asked, getting off the bike.
"Yeah, I just thought maybe I should walk home. It's not that far," I replied, forcing a smile to make it seem genuine.
"Samaira, are you scared of bikes?" Siddharth asked, staring into my eyes through his helmet.
"What? No... It's just..."
"Hey, listen, I won’t speed up. I promise I’ll drive safely. You don’t have to be scared, just hold on to me properly, okay?" His deep voice reassured me as he took the spare helmet from my hands and placed it on my head, tying the buckles. I think I stopped breathing.
"Okay, Samaira?" he asked again, and I could only nod, as I was in no shape to form a coherent sentence.
I sat behind him, placing my hands on his shoulders.
"I said hold on to me properly," he said, gently removing my hands from his shoulders and placing them on his waist. I was so glad I was wearing a helmet, as I knew my face was probably bright red.
When he took off with a sudden jerk, I couldn't help but scream and tighten my grip on him, my arms wrapping around his stomach. The only sound I heard from him was his laughter as we rolled away.
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