Chapter 3:WHEN FRIENDSHIP GOES WRONG
The next three days were hell.
Lucy saw her everywhere.
At the bus stop. A woman in a black hoodie, face hidden.
Near the grocery store. Same hoodie, same posture.
Outside the New Dawn center. Gone the moment Lucy blinked.
Every time Lucy ran after her, the woman vanished. Like a ghost. Like a shadow.
Anna told her to stop. "You're seeing things because of stress," she said. But Lucy knew what she saw.
Then the letters started coming.
No return address. Just plain white envelopes slipped under the center's door.
The first one said: `You should have stayed broken.`
The second: `I'm going to finish what Ella started.`
The third: `Run, Lucy. Run.`
Lucy took them to the police. But without fingerprints or proof, they couldn't do anything.
One night, Lucy was walking home from the center. It was late. The street was empty.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into an alley. A hand covered her mouth.
Lucy kicked, screamed, and bit the hand hard. The attacker stumbled back.
In that one second, Lucy saw her. Black hoodie. A knife in her hand.
Before Lucy could react, the woman turned and disappeared between two buildings.
Lucy ran home, shaking. She was alive. But only by a second.
That night, she couldn't sleep. She pulled up the CCTV footage from the center.
She rewound. Paused. Zoomed.
The hoodie came into frame. For a second, the hood fell back.
Lucy's heart stopped.
The face looked... different. Tired, older, harder. But the eyes, the jawline... *it was like looking at Ella.*
Lucy frowned at the screen. _Why does she look like Ella?_
_Are they related? Cousins? Sisters?_
The thought made her stomach turn. She couldn't make sense of it.
Then the woman did something.
She raised two fingers. A slow, deliberate *Victory sign*.
And smiled.
Lucy gasped.
*That sign.*
Romania used to make that exact same sign as a kid. Every time she beat Lucy in a game, every time she got away with something. Two fingers, cocky smile.
Lucy hadn't seen it in 5 years.
In that moment, everything clicked.
*Flashback hit her like a truck.*
5 years ago. A family wedding. Romania was caught with drugs in her bag. Lucy was the one who told the elders. She was the one who got Romania embarrassed in front of the whole family.
Romania had screamed, "You'll pay for this, Lucy!" and thrown that same Victory sign at her while being dragged away.
And now she was back.
The video continued. The hoodie slipped more, and Lucy saw it clearly now.
*Romania.*
Her own cousin.
Ella was just a pawn. A member of Romania's group. Used to get close to Lucy.
The real villain had been watching all along. And she was enjoying it.
The screen froze on Romania's face. Still making that Victory sign.
`Gotcha.`
*To Be Continued...........
