Chapter 17 – The Truth in Shadows
531 Words
Adithyan and Riya sat on an old bench near the lighthouse, the salty wind whipping around them.
"We need to find what Vikram left behind," Riya repeated.
Adithyan nodded, his mind racing. If Vikram had proof against Aravind Nair, where had he hidden it?
"Did he ever mention anything specific?" Adithyan asked.
Riya frowned, thinking. "There was one thing… He used to talk about a safe place. He never told me where, but he always said, ‘If something happens to me, trust the messages.’"
"Messages?" Adithyan repeated.
She pulled out her phone and scrolled through old texts from Vikram.
Then, she showed him a message from months ago.
"If you ever need answers, go to the place where we wrote our dreams."
Adithyan read it twice. "What does that mean?"
Riya’s face changed as realization hit. "Oh my god. I know where that is!"
---
The Forgotten Café
Twenty minutes later, they stood outside a small, run-down café in the heart of Kochi. The signboard was faded, but Adithyan could still make out the name: Dreamers' Café.
Riya smiled sadly. "Vikram and I used to come here when we were kids. They had this wall where people could write their dreams and wishes."
They walked inside. The café was nearly empty, except for an old man at the counter. He barely looked up as they entered.
Riya led Adithyan to the back, where a large wooden wall was covered in faded writing.
"This is it," she whispered.
Adithyan ran his fingers over the names and messages, scanning for anything that stood out.
Then, near the bottom, he spotted it.
Vikram’s name.
And beneath it, a strange sequence of numbers:
"19.0151° N, 73.0193° E"
Adithyan’s breath caught. "These are coordinates."
Riya's eyes widened. "Vikram left us a location."
But before they could react—
A loud BANG echoed through the café.
The window behind them shattered.
"Get down!" Adithyan shouted, pulling Riya to the ground.
Glass rained down around them as a bullet embedded itself in the wooden wall.
Someone was trying to kill them.
---
The Escape
The café owner yelled in panic as more bullets struck the walls.
Adithyan grabbed Riya’s hand and pulled her toward the back exit.
They ran out into the narrow alley, their hearts pounding.
A black SUV screeched around the corner, heading straight for them.
Adithyan didn’t think—he just acted. He grabbed Riya and dove behind a stack of crates as the SUV's tires skidded on the wet pavement.
Men in black stepped out, guns in hand.
Adithyan whispered, "When I say run, go left."
Riya nodded, fear in her eyes.
The men moved closer.
"Now!"
They sprinted in opposite directions.
Bullets whizzed past them as they ran through the maze of alleys, adrenaline pumping through their veins.
Somehow, they lost their pursuers and emerged onto a crowded street.
Blending into the crowd, they kept walking, breathless and shaken.
Adithyan’s mind raced.
Whoever these people were, they didn’t just want to scare them.
They wanted them dead.
And that meant one thing—
Vikram’s clue was leading them straight to the truth.
And someone would kill to keep it buried.
- Writer
