Chapter 29



𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝔻𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤

(𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 )

Damien knew he had to move quickly if he didn't want to raise suspicion. He had certainly had his fill of those lately, which had left him with no choice but to embark on his current mission.

He'd known Laura was evil, but he wouldn't have guessed for a moment that she'd go to such greats lengths to frame him. He could bet with his life that the series of unfortunate events that had occurred recently, which somehow managed to make him look suspicious, wasn't a coincidence. And it only meant one thing.

Laura had someone on the inside.

But who among Eve circle was dumb, or vulnerable enough for Laura to exploit?

Damien hit his foot against a branch and almost went spiralling to the ground. Thankfully he managed to righten his footing before it was too late. With a sigh of relief, he continued on his journey.

It was already dark and everyone was asleep, or presumed to be. Damien knew he could never be too certain about the state of everyone's mind. The only thing he was certain about was his conviction to get to the bottom of Laura's plan for him. To find some kind of proof that would completely clear his name and get Eve to trust him again. As for Lucas, Damien knew his trust for him was absolute. He had made sure of that.

Damien crept into the first tent. He had decided to start his search from Rita's room for two reasons. First, her tent was the furthest from the other tents and secondly, it was closet to the woods, which made it easier for him to file in and out without anyone noticing.

He entered and closed the tent behind me but refused to zip it. He needed it open in case he had to quickly disappear. He stood in the middle of the room and looked around. He couldn't help but frown when he noticed that the occupant of the room, was missing.

Where the heck was she?

As he contemplated on the matter, his eyes caught something black, sitting by the far end of the tent, hidden behind a pile of straw. Quickly rushing to it, he dug it out and discovered it was a bag.

At first glance, Damien knew the bag wasn't part of the things they had rescued from the plane. He could only wonder where it came from, and what Rita was doing with it.

Damien went on his knees, and resting on his heel, he unzipped the bag and brought out a laptop. It looked new, and it was completely different from the one Rita usually carried around. He dropped the laptop on the ground, opened it and pressed the power button.  The laptop came to life and a passworded authorization icon popped up on the screen.

Damien cursed.

He had a feeling that whatever was on that laptop had to be extremely important for Rita to go to such extremes. Maybe it was the evidence he needed to prove his innocence. With renewed vigour Damien began to brainstorm on possible passwords to use, scratching his stubbled chin with his fingers to help him think.

After a moment, he placed his hands on the keys and was about to type Laura when a voice sneered behind him.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

*******************

(𝕊𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥 )

After dinner, which had been fun, everyone decided to retire for the night due to exhaustion. Or so Lucas thought. For just as he was about to settle on his makeshift pillow and catch a much-needed sleep, he heard a twig snap behind his tent.

The sound immediately jerked him into a sitting position, curiosity getting the better of him. He slowly crept out of his tent, just in time to see a figure, which resembled Damien, tiptoeing into Rita's room.

He reeled back in shock and confusion. What the hell was Damien doing creeping into Rita's room by this time of the night? He had to rule out illicit affairs because everyone knew that Rita was gay.

Or was she? May she was bi. As the thought came to him he knew his mind was trying to make excuses for his best friend because he didn't want to believe, couldn't believe, that Damien was up to something fishy.

He waited a while to see if moans would emit from the tent, but none did. Everywhere remained eerily quiet. After a few minutes or so, he decided to go see for himself. He was sure Rita invited him in to talk or something. Just a few more steps and his theory would be proven right.

He slowly opened Rita's unzipped tent and stepped in. He found Damien on his knees, fingers on Rita's laptop while Rita herself, was nowhere to be found.

Despair filled him. Rita hadn't sent for him which meant Damien was snooping around. "What the Fuck are you doing?" Lucas spat, anger and disappointment flashing in his eyes.

Damien jerked away from the laptop as if it had burned him. He spun around to find Lucas staring at him murderously.

"It's not what you think-"

"Oh, please, enlighten me on what I think this is, Damien. I knew something was off with you ever since we rescued you from the hospital. I tried to believe you were okay. Maybe you were just stressed with everything but now I don't know what to think-"

"Calm down, Lucas," Damien grounded out, gritting his teeth in frustration. "That was the reason I came in here in the first place. I think Rita is a mole."

That halted Lucas pacing. "The fuck did you just say?"

"Haven't you noticed how things have been happening to make me look suspicious? The issue of Laura tracker being with me? The drink? The plane?"

Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Yes..."

"Didn't you notice that Rita was around during all those times? The tracker was even found by her. She identified me as the mole even without saying it."

Lucas's eyes widened. "I caught her researching me a few days ago, right before she sneaked into Eve's basement. What was she even doing there?"

"Now you see what I've been trying to say?" Damien groaned, beckoning Lucas to come closer with his hands. "Take a look at this laptop. Does it look like Rita's?"

Lucas shook his head from side to side. "And did you see it among the rubble we recovered from the plane?" Lucas still shook his head, confirming he didn't see it.

"Now ask yourself, where the hell is she by this time? Where could she have gone by the middle of the night when everyone was asleep? I can bet you, she isn't in the camp either."

"Oh my God, Damien, I am so sorry for doubting you, brother."

Damien smiled. "I know how it looks like. And with everything that has been going on, I am very grateful you stuck up for me in front of everyone, in front of Eve. I know how hard that might have been."

Lucas rubbed Damien's shoulders. "You are my family, Damien, and family stick up for one another." They both shared a secret look before Lucas blurted, "We have to find out what Rita is up to. Starting with the information on this laptop."

"That's the problem. We need her password." Damien grunted, worry lines appearing on his forehead.

"Can't we just try-" The sound of footsteps approaching, snatched the words out of Lucas's mouth.

"Shit! We need to get out of here, now!" Damien whispered harshly as he made his way towards the tent's exit. Lucas followed behind, but not before he had closed the laptop and stuffed it into the bag. He zipped it up and dumped it at the far corner of the room, and it landed on top of a stack of straw.

"Let's go," Damien whispered after he had peeked out to ensure the coast was clear. Both darted out of Rita's tent and towards their respective tents.

As Lucas settled into his makeshift bed, his heart pounding, he couldn't help but reminisce on the information he just learnt. If what Damien said was true, then he had only two choices.

It was either he told Eve, or kill Rita to keep the information on that laptop buried.

When it came to his identity, he wasn't taking any chances.