Claimed by The Rogue Alpha
Claimed By The Rogue Alpha Chapter 50

The coffee machine brewed, dispensing the hot brown liquid into a mug. Leah stood, arms akimbo as she waited to have her beverage served. When the liquid rose to the desired level, she turned off the machine-picking the mug before perching on the stool beside the counter. She spilled in some milk, added a cube of sugar and stirred. Her face bearing a bored expression. She took a sip, then had a bit of her biscuit. The coffee, even with the milk, tasted like death. And the biscuit, it was dry. Like grass. These were the only things her taste buds could interpret: bitter and bland. This morning, she'd ordered pizza. Just to force something palatable down her throat, but guess what, her favourite pepperoni pizza had been unusually stale. Too crusty. Bland without the inviting taste of cheese. And what about the iced tea? Ha! She couldn't tell if what she had taken was iced tea or iced bitters. No, that wasn't an exaggeration. She'd actually tasted bile. The bilious kind of bitter.

She, however, had had a rough battle with ulcer-she wouldn't want a repeat of that. Ever. And so, this was her, going in to chew her tasteless biscuit.

The news about Pete's death was still a shock. She'd told the officer that they must have been mistaken. There was no way that could be Pete. But now, she had come to terms with that fact, although still shaken. She'd been escorted to the morgue, based on her insistence. This was her friend's dad they were talking about, and because she was the only person in Fridgeton who was close to family to Olivia and Pete, her request had been granted. Although not without the red triangle presented to her. She'd walked down the narrow hallway, the soles of her black converse making a squeal with the tiled floor. An officer had been the one to pull the door open, and as the slabs bearing corpses came to her full view, her resolve began to dissolve. She wasn't sure if she wanted to continue with this quest, but somewhere along the line, she reminded herself that she was training to be an attorney. These things shouldn't rattle her.

And so, she braced up and stepped inside, walking behind the officer. They stopped before a slab at the centre of the room. There was a body underneath the wrap, no doubt. However, she didn't want to believe what her gut had begun to tell her. The officer glanced at her, as if waiting for a go-ahead. She nodded. And just like that, the wrap was pulled down, revealing a real life horror. Pete Haynes. The man whose naturally olive skin glistened had become pale. Paler than death. His lips, cracked, face-dotted with blotches and green veins. From the depth of her stomach had risen a scream.

Leah shivered. The recollections was just as terrifying. Olivia's dad. Such a good-looking man. Now what a scare he was. Her stomach churned, and she began feeling sick. Clutching her mouth, she ran to the sink and emptied her troubled belly. She clenched the rims of the sink, as the torrent of chyme spewed out. Tears crowed her eyes. She slipped to the floor. Her chest, heaving. This was all her fault. She could remember how shaken Olivia had been when she'd broken the news of her dad's betrayal. Her best friend had been terrified, sobbing like a five year old who didn't know the whereabouts of her parents. But what did Leah do as the keeper she'd claimed to be? Of course, she knew what she'd done. She'd home, thinking, nah, there was no way Pete could do that. Even now still, she couldn't beat herself very much for not taking the information seriously, because for goodness sake, Pete was a good dad. A great dad. He'd treated Olivia like his own biological child-going to the extent of not remarrying, just to take care of Olivia and make her realise her mom had been his one and only love. This, Leah had believed. So now, she still found it difficult to understand why Pere had sold Olivia off.

Leah didn't think she could take her coffee again. That was it, her ulcer would only get worse. But then, maybe that was a repercussion for her complaisance. If she had been proactive, taking the bull by the horn and reporting to the police about this strange business deal Pete had sealed, none of these would have happened. Instead, like a lot of things in her life, she had downplayed this one too. Now, Pete was dead and Olivia was nowhere to be found. Her best friend had been missing for over a month and there was nothing she had done to replace her. The police chief had solicited for her cooperation, pleading she come forth with any piece of information if she had one. She thought she did, but there was a problem. Her information was kinda... it wasn't all solid. She wasn't sure if she should go on and spill the beans. This was one of the things that kept her at night.

The kitchen lit up from the lightning and then the thunder ensued. Leah left the floor and walked towards the window. The sky had opened now, the rain pouring mercilessly. Her throat tightened and her eyes began to sting as memories came flooding in. The rain, it held a special place in her heart.

It had been on a rainy day she first met Olivia. There at the subway, where everyone was rushing to get on the train. She'd spotted Olivia standing beside a post, arms crossed and not really staring at anything or anyone in particular. Her hair had been slapped across her face, her denim jumper soaked. Leah's guess had been that the rain had began pouring when she wasn't near shelter and unfortunately for her, she hadn't been with an umbrella. Leah had thought, "What an unfortunate thing."

Olivia then happened to look Leah's way and before the brunette could scold herself for drawing in attention, Olivia had smiled. Going on to wave at her. Leah had been puzzled, but that hadn't stopped her from returning the wave. They'd boarded different trains, but the scene had refused to leave Leah's memory.

Two days later-that being Monday, Leah had been heading into the school building, when someone tapped her. She remembered being pissed, wanting to lash out on the person because PMS had begun to set in. As she turned to know who this bother was, her mouth slid open. The blonde from Saturday?

"Hi. Sorry for bothering-"

"Wait? No, of course not," Leah had said, hoping that she would be able to right her wrong. "Hi. I know you."

That had been the time Olivia displayed her signature smile. The cute dimpled smile that instantly made Leah jealous.

Just as Olivia was about to talk, the bell had rung. A tiny frown appeared on her face for a brief second, and Leah couldn't help but be amused by it.

"Killjoy, huh," Leah had said. "I didn't know you school here."

Olivia had smiled. "It happens."

They'd both gone to homeroom together and that was when Leah discovered that Olivia was her classmate. Leah was a transfer student, coming to Fridgeton from far away Barbados. While she had been replaceing it quite difficult making friends, Olivia had been monitoring her, excited to have new classmate. They'd become friends from then on, almost inseparable. They had shared a lot of things, gone to parties together, had been the b**t of some silly jokes, had sleepovers, talked about guys, et cetera. The rain also was a common haven for them both. Whenever they were together, especially when they visited each other, they would run into the rain, dancing and skipping off to God knew where. Even as teenagers, they never stopped doing this. But now, here she was alone in the comfort of her home, not knowing if Olivia was stranded somewhere. Not knowing if she was sheltered from this biting cold and torrential storm. Just what kind of friend was she?

A bad one of course, a disloyal one. She sighed.

She couldn't believe she had been hesitant to speak to the police. And for what reason? Because of some silly feelings she had begun to develop.

Dang, girl. D.A.N.G.

Now was the time to redeem herself. Olivia would have gone to any length if she were in her shoes. And so, turning away from the window, Leah walked to the counter, picked up her phone and scrolled down her call log to a particular number. On the first ring, the call went through. "Good evening, Officer Grant."