Chapter 3: Unmasking Lies
Aria barely slept that night. Her mind replayed the image of Samir's ransacked apartment, the scattered papers marked with red ink, and the guard's questioning eyes. She couldn't shake the feeling that they had crossed a line—one that might not be so easy to retreat from.
The next morning, she received a message from Nadia:
"Let's meet at the old spot. Noon."
The "old spot" was a small, abandoned playground in their neighborhood. As kids, it had been their fortress, their secret hideaway. Meeting there now felt like slipping into the past, but there was a tension that didn't belong to those childhood days.
When Aria arrived, Zayn and Imran were already there. Zayn leaned against a rusted swing, his expression set and rigid. Imran sat on the broken slide, absentmindedly kicking pebbles. Nadia joined them soon after, her face drawn and anxious.
"So, what now?" Zayn's voice was sharp. "We found nothing yesterday. Just a bunch of papers that don't tell us anything useful."
"They told us something," Nadia argued. "Samir was in trouble. Debt, threats—he might be in danger."
"Or he got himself into some mess and dragged us along," Imran muttered. "I told you, we should let it go."
Aria watched Imran carefully. The unease in his expression was more than worry—it was guilt.
"What are you not telling us, Imran?" she asked quietly.
Imran's eyes snapped up, defensive. "What do you mean?"
"Yesterday, you seemed too quick to leave. Like you didn't want to find anything," Aria pressed. "Do you know more than you're letting on?"
Imran's gaze darted from Aria to Zayn, then to Nadia. The silence hung heavy until he finally spoke.
"Fine. I knew Samir had money problems," Imran admitted. "He borrowed from some shady people—people who don't take 'no' for an answer."
Zayn's jaw tightened. "And you didn't think to tell us?"
"Because he told me not to!" Imran snapped. "He said he'd handle it, that he didn't want you all getting involved."
Aria's heart sank. Samir had always been proud, stubborn. If he was in that deep, it made sense that he'd try to handle it alone.
"Did they threaten him?" Nadia asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Imran hesitated. "Yeah. I think so. A couple of weeks ago, he told me someone had been following him. He thought they'd come after all of us if we got involved."
Zayn's fist clenched. "So that's what this is? We're caught up in his mess because he couldn't handle it?"
Aria's phone buzzed in her pocket, breaking the tension. She glanced at the screen—a private number. Her fingers trembled as she answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
"Hello?" she repeated, her voice firmer.
A breath crackled on the other end, followed by a voice—hoarse, strained. "Stay out of this, Aria. For your own good."
The call disconnected. Her heart hammered.
"Who was it?" Zayn asked, his eyes sharp.
Aria stared at the screen, the call already marked as Unknown. "I don't know. But they knew my name."
---
That night, they regrouped at Aria's apartment, the unease from the playground deepening. Imran seemed shaken, Nadia distracted, and Zayn restless.
"We need to think this through," Aria began. "If Samir is in real danger, going to the police might make it worse."
"But if we don't, we could end up in danger too," Nadia added. "That call—Aria, what if they know where we all live?"
"They probably do," Zayn muttered. "If they've been watching Samir, they know about us."
A silence followed, heavy and suffocating. Aria's gaze drifted to Imran, whose eyes were glued to the floor.
"Imran, is there anything else?" she asked gently. "Anything that could help us understand this better?"
He hesitated, the conflict clear on his face. Finally, he sighed.
"There's someone," he admitted. "A guy named Bilal. He's the one Samir borrowed from. Dangerous, connected. Samir tried to pay him back, but it wasn't enough."
"Can we find him?" Zayn asked, his voice hard.
Imran nodded slowly. "I think I know where. There's a club downtown—Nightfall. Bilal runs things there."
"Then we go," Zayn said firmly. "Tonight."
Nadia's eyes widened. "Are you serious? What if it goes wrong?"
Zayn looked at her, his expression steely. "It already has."
---
The lights of Nightfall pulsed with a relentless rhythm, neon and chaotic. The music was deafening, the crowd thick. It was the kind of place where people went to disappear.
Imran led the way, his posture tense. They navigated through the crowd until they found a corner where a group of men sat, watching the room with calculating eyes. One of them glanced up, his gaze settling on Imran.
"Imran. Long time," the man drawled, his smile sharp and humorless.
"Bilal," Imran replied cautiously.
Bilal's eyes swept over the group, pausing on each of them before returning to Imran. "This isn't your crowd."
"We need to talk," Imran said. "About Samir."
At the mention of the name, Bilal's smile vanished. The men around him straightened, their eyes sharp.
"What about him?" Bilal's tone was colder now.
Imran hesitated, but Zayn cut in. "We just want to know if he's okay. If he's safe."
Bilal leaned back, his eyes narrowing. "Safe? That depends. Your friend has a way of making promises he can't keep."
"Where is he?" Aria demanded, her voice steady.
Bilal's gaze flicked to her, a smirk forming. "Wherever he is, he should hope he stays hidden. He owes me, and I don't like waiting."
A chill ran through the group. Zayn's fists clenched, but Imran shot him a warning glance.
"Let's go," Imran whispered, his voice tense. "We got what we needed."
As they left, Bilal's voice followed them, smooth and ominous. "Tell your friend that hiding won't save him. Not from me."
---
Outside, the night air felt colder than before. The threat of Bilal's words lingered, wrapping around them like a noose.
"What now?" Nadia whispered.
Aria's mind swirled, the pieces of the puzzle shifting. They were closer to the truth, but every answer only uncovered more questions. Where was Samir? Was he running from Bilal—or from something worse?
The line between trust and betrayal blurred, and they could no longer be sure which side anyone stood on.