Shadows in the Parking Lot

Shadows in the Parking Lot
It was twelve noon when Tracy's phone chimed on the night stand.

Tracy lay flat on her bed, deep in thought. She kept thinking about how Adrian would finally be hers again. The sound of the notification made her jump out of bed right away. She rushed to grab the phone.

Her hands shook a little as she held it. Tracy was not sure what the message would say.

But deep inside, her mind told her it was the location for her meeting with Garreth. She hovered her thumb over the screen for a few seconds.

Then she took a deep breath in and out. Finally, she clicked on the notification.

The message showed a location address. Below it, another line read, "Meet us by 8 tonight." The word "us" stuck in Tracy's mind. She had only been talking to one person, Garreth.

Why did the message say "us"? It did not sound like one person. Who could be working with Garreth? Tracy wondered. She could only find out the truth if she went to the location that night.

She typed a quick reply. "Okay, I will be there by the exact time." She sent the text. Just then, another call popped up on her phone.

It was Harold. Tracy hissed quietly. Why was Harold calling now? She was busy planning her life with Adrian. She wanted to make Adrian hers again. But Harold would not stop. Another call came in from him.

This made Tracy very angry. She decided it was time to block him. She clicked on his contact and blocked the number immediately. That was the end of it. No more calls from Harold to disturb her plans.

After breakfast, Cathy and Isabella sat beside each other in the afternoon class.

It was the last class of the day. The lecture room was full of students. Some wrote notes quickly in their books. Others listened with full attention to the lecturer.

The lecturer stood at the front of the class, near the pole side. He spoke clearly about the topic. His voice filled the room as he explained every point with examples. The students nodded their heads from time to time. A few raised their hands to ask questions.

Meanwhile, Mira and Lilly were not in class. They stayed outside at the parking slot. They wanted to carry out the two plans they had set for Cathy. Only they knew about these plans. Now was the time to start.

"Where is that bitch's car?" Lilly muttered with so much hatred in her voice. They walked around different cars, looking carefully for Cathy's car.

"We need to be fast with this, before anybody sees us," Mira responded. She scanned through the rows of cars.
Then Lilly sighted the car. She laughed violently.

Mira looked at her with surprise. "What's funny? What happened? Why are you laughing?" she asked.

Lilly pointed at the car. "That's her car. That bitch owns a luxury car, of course. She thinks she owns the world because of that. Rubbish."

They began walking closer to the car. After a few seconds, they reached it. They looked at each other for some moments.

Then they looked around the parking lot. Some people were walking away to their own business. Others stood far off, talking on their phones. No one was coming near. This made them feel relieved.

Lilly opened her clutch bag. She brought out two very long needles. She handed one to Mira right away. They smiled at each other. Then they moved closer to the car. They bent down near the tyres on one side. They began to burst them.

They worked on the first two tyres. They made sure the air came out completely. The tyres went flat. Then they moved quietly to the back tyres.

They burst those ones too. The tyres went down flat as well. They did not stop until they were sure the damage was done.

Afterwards, they got up and walked out of the parking slot. They headed back to class like nothing had happened. Their faces looked normal. No one could suspect them.

By the time they got to the lecture room, the class was rounding up. Students were getting up from their seats. They headed out of the room one by one.

Cathy and Isabella were part of the students leaving. They walked out with smiles on their faces. They did not know what had happened to the car.

After some minutes, they reached the parking slot. They walked towards Cathy's car. Cathy was about to open the driver's door when her phone chimed in her hand. She opened it quickly, like she had been expecting the call. It was Adrian.

A big smile appeared on her face at once.
But the smile disappeared fast when Isabella called out. "Oh my goodness, Cathy! The tyres!"

Isabella had seen that the tyres were down. Cathy looked at the two tyres on her side. They were completely flat. She walked quickly to Isabella's side to check the other two tyres. Those ones were flat too.

Before Cathy could say a word, Isabella spoke again. "This was intentional, not accidental, Cathy. Someone did it."
Cathy stared at Isabella. She tried to process what her friend had just said. Who would do such a thing? And why? Her heart beat faster as questions filled her mind. The parking lot now felt different. It no longer seemed safe.

At that same moment, Tracy checked the time on her phone. It was getting close to evening. She thought about the meeting at 8.

Who was this "us" that Garreth mentioned? She felt a mix of excitement and fear. Adrian was close to being hers again. But now, new shadows were appearing in her plans.

Cathy looked around the parking lot. A few students passed by, but no one stopped. She touched one of the flat tyres with her hand. It felt real. This was no joke. Isabella pulled out her phone to take pictures. "We need to report this," she said.

Cathy nodded slowly. But deep inside, she wondered if this was just the beginning of more trouble. The smile she had earlier was gone. The day that started well had turned sour.

As they stood there, Cathy's phone rang again. It was Adrian calling back. She answered with a shaky voice. "Adrian, something bad happened to my car." She explained everything.

Adrian sounded worried on the other end. He promised to come help right away.

Isabella stayed close to her friend. "We will find out who did this, Cathy. Don't worry." But even as she said those words, she looked around carefully.

The person who burst the tyres could still be nearby, watching them.
Tracy, on the other side of town, prepared for her night meeting.

She chose her clothes carefully. She wanted to look good for whatever was coming. The word "us" still bothered her. But she was ready to face it if it meant getting closer to Adrian.