Write Me a Cliché

Chapter Five

~ROXAS~

Five Weeks Ago
Athabasca Cemetery

Cold air bit at my skin during the night.

Winter arrived with brutal storms and it appeared that it would leave with similar grand gestures. Soles of my shoes pushed deeper into the mud as I continued to shovel through the snow and dirt, unsure of what I was truly in search of. The place we were at was marked with a red cloth, looped around a twig that dug in the earth where a stone should've been.

"Roxas, dig," Sazil pressed, her own shovel slipping over a patch of ice. Faintly, her black hijab rustled in the wind, covering her face like a veil. She leaned her weight on the shovel, holding the hem of her hijab to her chest as her boot smacked the ice. Darkness cast over her, masking any anxiety or fear she could've been feeling. Though I doubt she cared about anything more than the task we'd been assigned. Maybe, that was why she'd been the most qualified for the job. Sazil had a talent for forgetting everything and anything and focusing only on the mission at hand. But I wasn't like her.

I dumped a pile of snow to the side. Each time, her foot struck the ice harder to no avail. "It's hard to dig quickly and not attract attention. You're also not helping."

Our visit was unauthorized and if someone were to find out, we'd definitely be arrested. When we first arrived, Sazil pointed out that at least we weren't digging through someone's grave. Though, it amost felt that way when I was doubtful what answers we'd uncover to the question we had been asking ourselves for the past two weeks. What happened on June 29th, 2018?

Sazil paused, dark eyes on me. "Are you afraid?"

I shook my head. "No." Yes. "Are you?"

Pearly white teeth glinted in the dark as she smiled. "I think the others are planning behind our backs."

My brows drew in. "Planning what?"

She let her spade fall to the side as she crouched on the ground. Her gloved fingers dug through the snow and dirt, searching. I kept my eyes on her, urging her to continue.

"Think about it," she started and I kneeled on the ground, my knee pressing into the cold snow. "Out of all of them- even if we are somewhat guilty- we'll be the most likely to get out of all of this unscathed."

My heart hammered against my chest, thoughts running through my mind in a frenzy. Together, they had all voted for Sazil and me to come to the cemetery. Like a fool, I had accepted. Maybe, Sazil was correct. This was part of a greater scheme.

"They aren't like that," I argued, despite the paranoia tugging at me. "They-we're all friends."

She clicked her tongue. "Circumstances have forced us together. If anything, we're allies."

"What do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to watch your back," she said, digging through the dirt like a dog searching for a bone. "Certainly, they're watching ours."

My lips parted, then closed, unsure of what to say. Her words hung between us, like a warning, a sign to make the first move before we were attacked.

Sazil's fingers froze, dark eyes turning in my direction as she pulled out a small box from the dirt. Her phone's flashlight shone over the black object. It was the kind of box found in expensive jewelry stores with a velvety texture providing it class. Though, I doubted it contained any accessory inside. I gulped, my eyes fixed on it as Sazil placed it on the snow between us. I was waiting for it to go off like a bomb, scatter us into pieces and we'd cease to exist.