Jasiri P.O.V:
It is Sunday morning, I am in my human form, and I was preparing some lavender tea while Edwin was finishing some eggs he was preparing on the stove and was putting some bread in the toaster.
"Hey Edwin, is it just me or has it been a while since we heard from Kiara and Kovu?" I said with a concerned tone.
"Yeah, and I recently sent both Kovu and Kiara like five text messages and they haven't responded to any of them…do you think something went wrong Friday night with their plan?" Edwin asked as he was putting some pepper on the eggs.
"Same. I sent them like eight messages. No response. Something's wrong. It's not typical of them to not respond to messages for that long. Especially not two whole days, unless they had to deal with something urgent." I said before I took the tea kettle off the stove.
"But before they went to execute the plan, we encouraged communication of how their mission would go, or if anything could go wrong they can always contact us. But with neither of them responding to us, which does concern me. Even when I tried texting them a simple 'how's it going?' And they were pretty responsive to my texts on previous occasions, so it's pretty unusual that they wouldn't respond by now." Edwin said as he took the toast out of the toaster and started to apply a small amount of butter on it as I poured some tea into a cup and started drinking it.
"Yes, they said they would communicate if anything was wrong with the plan. But there is a chance that they were successful and that they are just relaxing ...Actually no, they would have said if it was a success, even if there was only very little information they found, they probably would have informed us of what they found. Something is off here." I said as I began to eat.
About twenty minutes later, I heard two text tones ring from Edwin's phone. He took out his phone and read the message on his phone. He had a perplexed expression on his face.
"Uh Jasiri….I got texts from Kiara and Kovu. They both said that they are taking a vacation for a couple weeks?!...NEITHER of them even mentioned the thought of going on vacation in the recent future. Crazy to think that is but I don't believe they actually sent these. And the messages are both identical! Like…the exact wording is the same from both Kiara and Kovu's numbers!" Edwin said with a concerned tone of voice.
Then two text tones rang from my phone, and I got the same texts as Edwin from both Kiara and Kovu's numbers. Each with the EXACT….SAME….wording. As if they were copy-pasted onto one another.
"Edwin…I got the exact same text from Kiara and Kovu…" I said in realization of the possibilities this could mean.
Edwin and I looked at each other with concerned expressions on our faces and bolted up from where we were sitting, with the both of us grabbing our stiff, including our phones, keys, wallets, and whatever. And we both darted out of the apartment and we headed downstairs. In the parking lot, we headed into my car, and I started driving us to Kiara and Kovu's place. We don't care that we are still in the clothes that we slept in, we need to see if our friends are all right.
We soon arrived in their neighborhood and parked in a parking lot two blocks away from their building because that was the closest thing available. After paying the twenty-five dollar parking fee, we were practically running towards their building. As we got to the front door of their building, we also bumped into Vitani, also in her human form, who was approaching the building from the opposite direction.
"Vitani? What are you doing here? Did you receive a strange text from Kovu and Kiara?" I said.
"You bet I did! Didn't believe it for a second! Neither of them mentioned anything about planning a vacation. I should have told them not to go with that plan of theirs! I just want to make sure my brother is alright because I don't have a good feeling about this!" Vitani said in an eager yet concerned tone.
"Same, let's go in. But wait-" Edwin replied.
"Don't worry, I have a spare key and all to get in. They gave it to me to use just in case of an emergency and I think this qualifies as one." Vitani said as we ran inside the building.
We took the elevator up, and we approached their apartment door where Vitani took her key to open the door.
We went into the apartment and found zero traces of them. We were looking around every room of their apartment.
"They're not in theirs or their other bedroom!" Vitani yelled.
"Not in any of the bathrooms!" I yelled.
"Not in the kitchen or living room!" Edwin yelled.
We are all now really concerned as we gathered on the island dividing the kitchen and living rooms.
"Something bad must have happened…..they must have been taken or being held hostage somewhere. Or worse…" Vitani said before she slammed her fist on the kitchen island.
"SIMBA! YOU ASSHOLE! YOU'VE DONE IT AGAIN! Just going about tearing families apart. You've taken away friends and family just like they are pawns from some twisted game you play in your head! All for your own satisfaction! All to satisfy your pathological and psychological need for control! All to fill the satisfaction for your fucking ego! I regret that I might have not been the best older sister to him in the past…In fact, I wasn't the best sister to either of my brothers in the past. Unfortunately, it's too late to make it up to Nuka, but when we joined Simba's pride after my mom's death, I had the opportunity to make it up to him. With me in the Lion Guard, I vowed to protect him and improve our relationship. As well as get to know my sister-in-law, despite our differences in personality. Same with when we entered the human world and society. Eventually our brother-sister relationship has been in a very good place. I get along well with Kiara too, she's the sister I never had. And to think that the lion who saved us from following the orders of a manipulative sociopath is the same lion who potentially took Kiara and Kovu away. DO YOU KNOW HOW BETRAYED I FEEL!? I know Kovu isn't my biological brother, but he will ALWAY BE MY BROTHER TO ME! And to think that you potentially…and..and…..all the things that….AAAGGGHHH!" Vitani screamed to herself while looking towards the kitchen.
Vitani, the lioness who I've always known as stern, fierce, and a pillar of strength, dropped to her knees and began to loudly cry out a sobbing wail with her hands on the floor.
Ed and I immediately went to her to comfort her. I put my hand on her shoulder while Edwin got down on his knees to try to talk to her
"Vitani…it's going to be alright. We are going to get to the bottom of this. We will find out what happened and resolve this for good." Edwin said in a calm and comforting tone.
"I DON'T CARE IF SIMBA GETS ARRESTED! He could get hit by a semi on the freeway as if I care. I JUST WANT MY BROTHER AND SISTER BACK! I WANT A FAMILY BACK! WITHO…..WITHOUT TH…THE….THEM…..I HAVE NOBODY!" Vitani screamed at Edwin with a combination of anger, grief and despair.
She then continued the cry with tear drops being visible on the floor around her. She was continuing the wail and audibly sniffled. I then walked around so that I was in front of her.
"Vitani….Look at me….Look at me…" I said to her as she slowly raised her head to look towards me. Her eyes noticeably red with tears dripping down and even a little mucus dripping from her nose with an expression of hopelessness on her face.
"That is a lie…..You….don't….have….nobody….You have MANY people that have your back. You have me and Edwin, you have everyone else in the museum, friends and neighbors outside the museum, you have Imara in Tanzania! You have so many people who love and care for you." I said calmly.
"That's right, even when we don't interact with each other that often, I still care for you a lot Vitani! You are a wonderful individual!" Edwin said.
"Yeah, and you have always been one of the strongest, fiercest, and courageous people I know. I know this is a difficult situation for you, in fact for all of us. But mark my words, we will get Kiara and Kovu back! We don't know if they are even dead. I bet you that they are alive. But I'm going to be honest, there is a possibility that they are in a bad situation because the signs are concerning. But something inside me tells me that they are not gone. They are not dead. They are somewhere and we will get them back." I said.
Soon Vitani and the rest of us got up. Vitani soon extended her arms and began to hug me and Edwin, one of us in each of her arms.
"Thank you, I really need this. I just really want to get Kovu and Kiara back to a safe place. I felt that I failed my duty as an older sister to protect them. And Jasiri, alongside Kiara, I have always considered you like a sister as well. You know, we both have somewhat of a shared experience in living in the Outlands and surviving obstacles there, despite us not having a good first impression of each other. I have also always admired your strength and compassion. You're one of the strongest individuals I know, with your experience in leading your clan through multiple different obstacles, along with adjusting to life after losing your clan, the bad relationships you've been in before finding your current one with Edwin, and just in life in general. Thank you so much for your comforting words. Plus sorry that I yelled at you Edwin, I was just…." Vitani said calmly.
"It's all good, I get it. This is a difficult situation. I promise Jasiri and I will be on this, and will help you every step of the way." Edwin said.
"I appreciate it Edwin." Vitani said as her light smile began to appear on her face.
"So what do you think we should do now? Should we call the police to file a missing person's report?" I asked.
"Nah, I think blood is more of my style of revenge once we find Kiara and Kovu, and give Simba a piece of my-" Vitani said.
"Wait, even though we're not going to resort to violence, we can't just take any drastic actions on this. Which is also why we shouldn't call the police right away, because we don't know the nature of what the situation is because let's just say that Kiara and Kovu are being held somewhere, and if their captors find out that police are on their trail, they could either try to hide or move them away to another location…or worse…potentially kill them then run…." Edwin said.
"That's true, I didn't consider that, and plus should we really trust the police NOT to escalate things considering past history?" I said. We all nodded in agreement.
"Okay so it's settled, we start our own investigation to find Kiara and Kovu, bring Simba, Kion, and all their associates to justice for the deaths and attempted deaths of our friends." Edwin said.
"Yeah, let's go find both my brother and sister-in-law." Vitani said enthusiastically.
"Okay, so we know that they went to the museum on Friday night. So perhaps we can search there first. Perhaps we can swing by there today or something." I suggested.
"Yeah, sounds great, but I want to ask….can I by any chance come with you, because we would probably cover more ground as three than one of us at a , I was already close to here and was taking the Red Line when I got the strange texts." Vitani asked.
"Sure you can come with us! We are parked a block away. Let's go." Edwin said as we began to head out.
"Wait before we do so, I have one more question…why did you guys come in what appears to be the clothes you slept in?" Vitani said in a tone that was immediately followed by a smirk.
"Well once we got the suspicious 'vacation' texts, we just rushed to our car and we didn't have time to change. We received the texts shortly after we finished our breakfast" I said.
We soon headed out of the building and headed into my car, with Vitani joining us in the backseat. We headed to the museum, and despite none of us having a shift today, our IDs still give us access to the museum grounds.
Soon, after about a twenty, twenty-five-minute drive, we arrived at the museum's parking lot to see that there were some cars, as there are people who work Sunday shifts.
We drove around the parking lot for a minute before we found a spot. We got out of the car and as we began to walk across the parking lot, Vitani noticed something in the corner of her eye.
"Guys! Look over there..is that?..." Vitani said as she walked towards the left side of the parking lot. Edwin and I followed suit.
She led us to a car that was parked near one of the back entrances of the museum. It was a dark blue sedan with a Field Museum and UCLA bumper stickers. This car looks like the one that…
"Guy! This is their car! Right here! So it seems like they never left the museum after they left to achieve their plan!" Vitani yelled.
"Oh shit! And we know they have parking next to their building and they told us that they weren't working this weekend, so there is no way or point for their car to be here whether they successfully executed or aborted their plan." I replied.
"Yeah, I'll take pictures of the exterior of the car, and after I am done, we will peek inside to see if we could find anything related to their disappearance." Edwin said as he grabbed his phone out of the pocket of his sweatpants.
He began to walk around the car and take a couple of photos to prove the car is there specifically today just in case they decide to move it tomorrow.
After he finished, we all approached closer to the car, and decided to peek through the windows to see if there was anything pertaining to why they were missing.
So far, nothing out of the ordinary, mostly just everyday stuff that one would normally keep in their car.
"Guys, Abort mission! I think I see Bunga and Kion coming out of one of the other entrances! We need to go!" I said as I took a brief glance away from the car.
They looked and saw the same thing I saw, and we began to casually walk back to our car in order not to look suspicious. Plus, it looks like Kion and Bunga don't see us, as well as them being a considerable distance away to really notice anything.
We know that if they see us investigating Kiara and Kovu's car, they might do something to them in retaliation, or even any one of us. So we need to be as far off their radar as possible. We calmly got back in the car and started to slowly drive out of the parking lot.
We then decided to have lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant and sat at a table outside. After which we saw that our phones had been blowing up with questions about the strange 'vacation' texts from Kiara and Kovu's numbers. Most of everyone we know thinks something up, and to a few, Edwin even sent the car photos he took. We even had brief phone conversations with Beshte, Makini, Ma Tembo and Makuu.
The three of us began to talk with each other about our investigation and then other aspects of our lives. Vitani started talking about some aspects of her past of how her, Kovu, and Nuka were living under Zira's wrath.
"She treated Nuka like her own punching bag. He almost was always the lion she took out all her frustrations on either when something goes wrong, or if she just felt like it that day. Though all of us were just trying to survive with both the conditions in the Outlands and Zira…man, when I look back at it….there were times where I was an asshole to him….taunting him….letting him get punished by Zira, and even snitching on him a few times…..But I still loved him…and I really wished I showed or told him that…..because there were also times he protected me from Zira's wrath and anger….sometimes even for confessing to stuff he didn't even do…..taking the some more of the abuse so I didn't have to….Even when he died over twenty years ago…sometimes I still feel guilty that I never got the chance to make it up to him or return the favor….like, if I did something different, he would still be with us in some capacity, whether it was joining us in going to the Pride Lands or even going to the human world with us….Even when it is too late to make things right with Nuka, I've had the chance to make it up to Kovu….you know to be the older sister he needed…..and things have actually been going great between us….we now have a stable, well-meaning brother-sister relationship. Even when I know that he is not my biological brother, again, he is and will always be my brother no matter what…Part of me has felt like that by letting him and Kiara do that plan of theirs…and they end up disappearing….that…it's as I failed as an older sister to protect her younger sibling….It was already striking a cord when Rafiki, Zazu, and Timon got killed, and the attempted attack on Nala. But once they got their hands on Kovu and Kiara, the last metaphorical cord broke inside me and now I am willing to do anything to get my brother back, even if I have to die as a result of it…" Vitani said as she ate her lunch.
"Vitani…it is NOT your fault that Kovu and Kiara disappeared….we all tried to express our hesitations with that plan of theirs, but they still went anyway. I think that you improved a lot as both a sister and an individual. You are miles away from the individual I first met that one time at my clan's watering hole. If Nuka were alive today, I think he would also be proud of you and the evolution of your path….And we will do our best to find Kiara and Kovu. The three of us and all the others need to investigate any leads as much as possible and try to do anything to potentially get them back and come up with a plan to bring Simba and the others to justice once it is safe and we have all our evidence gathered up." I replied to her.
"Yeah, we need to approach this both strategically and carefully because we don't want either Kiara or Kovu to be harmed, or Simba and his associates to catch on and us being their next targets. We also don't want to escalate things by calling the police, because there's a chance Simba or anyone else might harm Kiara, Kovu, or anyone else in retaliation." Edwin said.
"I guess you're right….we don't want to take any risks right now. We don't want to do anything that will have the potential to bring harm to anyone else. But to be honest…..I am still tempted to get revenge the old-fashioned way if you know what I mean? But I won't, cause that might escalate things." Vitani said calmly.
"Exactly, though I do admit, I have been tempted to show Simba and his circle ways to give them a piece of mind for all the shit that has happened with me and all the others harmed directly and indirectly by his actions. I hope he has or will have at least some kind of bad karma for his indirect actions against my clan during the drought." I replied, letting out a light laugh.
"Yeah, when we learned all the stuff Simba has done and is doing, he deserved more karma, criticism, and punishment for all he has done." Vitani replied.
"Agreed." Edwin said.
"So Edwin, how is your mother and Nala doing?" Vitani asked.
"Well last time I checked, they are still alive and well, but they are still under protection, and they cannot give specifics of where they are because they don't want to take any risk of Simba or others finding them to finish the job." Edwin replied.
"It's at least good to hear that they are doing well." Vitani said.
"Well sometimes, you have to find the bright side anywhere you can find it." Edwin said as we continued to talk with each other.
Third Person P.O.V.
It is Wednesday and many things were off in the museum. With Kiara and Kovu's disappearance from the museum, as well as Simba, Kion, and Bunga seeming to have a particularly low profile in the museum so far this week, along with a recent surprise string of budget cut announcements hitting across multiple departments of the museum.
Camille Ashmore, who works in the marketing department was walking down the business section toward the water cooler to refill her reusable water bottle. As she finished filling her water bottle up, she saw Simba walking down the hallway.
With the texts she received from the others about finding Kovu and Kiara's car in the museum parking lot despite claims that they are on vacation, she thinks that this could be an opportunity to see if he accidentally gives anything away or potential hints as to where Kiara and Kovu are. She began to approach Simba casually to start a conversation.
"Hello, Mr. Furahi, sir. Hope you are doing well, by the way I couldn't help but notice that I thought I saw Kiara's car in the parking lot today, but I could have sworn that she was on vacation tod-" Camille said before Simba interrupted her.
"For your information, Ms. Ashmore, they asked me to watch their car while they are away. There's nothing to worry about, no need to snoop around other people's personal lives." Simba irritably said before he continued walking down the hallway.
Camille stared at him as he passed by. She now has an immediate feeling of suspicion.
Not too long after that, during their lunch break, Camille discussed her encounter with Simba with Jasiri, Edwin, Makini, Beshte, Vitani, Vuruga, and Makuu outside.
"So he claimed that they asked him to watch their car for him and then became super evasive with me. But now when thinking about it, he has been pretty evasive and quiet all week." Camille said to the others.
"Wait, that makes zero sense, Kiara and Kovu have parking next to their building. They would have just left their car in that parking lot if they actually went on vacation." Vitani said.
"Plus, if they did need someone to watch their car, they would have never asked Simba. Lately, Kiara and Kovu have actually been very distant with Simba and Kion. Like they told me they rarely talked with them in the last month, and there is even animosity since we found Rafiki's journal entries incriminating him with stuff he did as king of the Pride Lands." Jasiri said.
"In fact, their plan the night they disappeared, their plan was to retrieve evidence against them to prove Simba, Kion, and Bunga's roles in the other series of deaths. So why would they ask him to watch their car?" Edwin said.
"Also, why would Simba park the car in the museum instead of his own place?" Vuruga asked.
"Plus, I know he lives in a building with a parking lot inside the building, and is paid a high salary, so I know he can pay for the parking and fees if he did need to watch someone's car." Beshte added.
"Yeah, I definitely think he, Kion, and the others in that circle are involved in their disappearance. There are just too many things that make them look suspicious of everything that has been going on recently." Makuu said as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah, everything just seems too off for it to be just random events, they all are linked somehow." Makini said.
"Yeah, I agree, everything seems completely off to be unrelated or non-intentional. I'm going to do my best to see if I can find anything, but I also have to be low key because if Simba or others in his circle notice me, they'll get suspicious of me. And that could have a negative effect on our investigation and what information we could find." Camille said.
"True, plus I got a feeling Simba is already suspicious of some of us, including Edwin and I. Potentially even having a target on some of our backs, and none of us want anyone else harmed." Jasiri said.
"Plus, we don't want to accidentally escalate things because there are a bunch of negative outcomes with that. And I'm afraid that either Kiara and Kovu, or anyone else could be impacted by any potential missteps in our search." Makini said.
A couple hours after the lunch break had ended for most employees, Anga was walking around the main floor to make her rounds of the floor for the second half of the day.
As she was walking out of the Nature Walk exhibit to head towards the Bistro, which is similar to the cafeteria and cafe downstairs, but it is smaller, more targeted for tourists, and more expensive compared to the cafeteria. As she was looking around the bistro area, she noticed that Kion was at the counter picking up what looked like two sandwiches and two bottles of water.
This was unusual in her mind because Kion usually has lunch breaks earlier in the day. And more unusual was that he was heading down a hallway through an adjacent door, which is not close to the office where he normally has lunch. She then proceeded to continue walking around the main floor in order to not seem suspicious to him.
"I'm going to wait until he leaves, or at least in a different area of the museum so that I could potentially do my own investigating of that hallway." Anga whispered to herself
Meanwhile, Kion entered the hallway with the food and beverages in hand and went down the hallway, and then stopped at a room at the end of the hallway that had both a padlock and an ID scan. He first scanned his ID and entered the combination on the padlock. Looked in both directions to make sure that no one else was around before he entered the room.
Inside the room Kiara and Kovu, in their human forms, still have their arms and legs bound in chains as they have been for the past five days, even wearing the same clothes as they did when they were first taken there. But compared to the first day, they look a little more thin, exhausted, and there are even visible bruises around their bodies and faces.
"Okay traitors, here's your second mandatory meal for today. Open up and just eat the sandwiches and drink the water and nothing else will happen." Kion said in a harsh and abrasive tone with a mocking smile on his face.
"Perhaps I can offer you more, including an exit from this room if you just contribute to dad's campaign and promise to keep your mouth shut on our 'less savory actions'. What do you say?" Kion said in a calmer tone.
"Never, you killed innocent people, you have hurt and abused many others, and Simba has done the same, not much better. Why the fuck would I contribute to the cruel regime headed by the likes of monsters like you an-" Kovu angrily said before Kion punched him in the left side of his face with his left hand.
Kovu's left eye begins to become red and swelling, which will eventually form a black eye.
"EHHH! Wrong answer! Drink up!" Kion yelled mockingly as he poured some of the water on Kovu's face.
Kion walked towards Kiara, looking at her intensely.
"How about you? 'Dear sister'? Are you going to finally get some sense to yourself and join our mission to bring back our kingdom? I might even consider giving you back the heir apparent position when it is dad's time to go or complete his journey in the Circle of Life?" Kion asked.
"Fuck off! You and dad are monsters! I never want to have anything to do with you! I'm not interested in whatever bullshit position you and dad try to persuade in giving me. You and your circle killed innocent individuals, both directly and indirectly to satisfy your need for power and control! Neither of you even truly respect the Circle of Life, you only respect it or enforce it only when it is convenient for you. You both are a combination of Mufasa and Scar's worst qualities based on the stories I heard. You are both just hypocrites who take pleasure in controlling and abusing others, including Kovu and I. Why did Rani and Jasiri ever date you as long as they did all that time ago-." Kiara said before she was interrupted by Kion punching her in the face, and like Kovu, her eye also began to swell.
"EHHH! VERY….WRONG…..ANSWER! I see you both still need more time to learn your lesson!" Kion said as he poured water from the second bottle on her face.
Kion then put the two water bottles down on the floor near him and took out the two sandwiches he had, one in each hand.
"Here it's time to eat! Let me just make sure you open your mouths." Kion said coldly before he kicked Kovu in the abdomen and forced a piece of the sandwich into Kovu's mouth.
Eventually, Kion did the same thing with Kiara.
"NOW EAT UP YOU FUCKING PIGS!" Kion yelled in a mocking tone.
It is near six, and most of the employees of the museum have left, and several of the night shift custodians and security come in.
Anga, despite her shift ending nearly an hour prior, is still walking the museum to see if she can explore that hallway without Kion being around to potentially become suspicious.
She has not seen Kion in an hour, but she remembered that he was on the lower floor for the rest of his shift, so this gave her ample opportunity to potentially explore that hallway on the main floor.
She walked past the bistro and headed to that door where that hallway is. She opened the door, and started walking down. So far it's not unlike the hallways where many offices are situated. She figured this must be the offices of some museum administration.
As she was walking, her eyes eventually came upon a door near the end of the hallway that stuck out to her because unlike most of the doors, this door had two visible locks outside of it. One was an ID scan, which was not uncommon with some offices or rooms. But the more unusual detail was that there was a padlock where she had to enter a combination.
She approached the door even closer, to see if there is any clues to what might be behind the door….perhaps even try to get in.
She scanned her ID to see if that could work. It did not work and the door was still locked. She decided to see if she could potentially figure out the combination.
But then she was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Anga?...What are you doing?" The voice asked.
Anga turned around, briefly startled, to find that it was Bunga, standing there with an inquisitive yet blank expression on his face.
"Oh hi Bunga…I was checking to see what is in this room and…" Anga said before Bunga interrupted her.
"Oh don't worry, that's just a room containing one of the museum's water heaters. Maintenance requires the two locks and only them and select security have access to the water heaters ... .Wait, didn't your shift end an hour ago?" Bunga said.
"Yes but…I thought I could pick up some extra hours and whatnot…you know, contributing more of my service to the museum…" Anga said, trying to speak in a casual manner.
"Actually, I noticed that you have actually been working a lot of overtime the past couple of months…." A different voice sounded.
She turned around towards where she walked from…and she instantly became nervous because she saw the voice came from Kion.
"Frankly, I think you should give you the rest of the week off. You need time away from the museum to unwind and relax. You've been working long weeks recently, and I really think you need to relax." Kion said in a calm nonchalant tone.
"But what ab-" Anga was going to say before Kion interrupted her.
"Don't worry about anything Anga, we will take care of everything. And if something does happen….well Bunga and I can just blow some brains out. Hell, it'll probably add something to our night." Kion said before letting out a laugh with Bunga and even briefly showing Anga his gun which was still in its holster.
Anga was not amused by his jokes, and also became even more suspicious of them, but she did not want to show it.
"Okay….I guess I can just leave then….See you later…" Anga said in a slow manner, yet trying to sound as casual as possible.
"You mean that we'll see you on Monday, because you have the rest of this week off. Bunga and I will handle this area of the museum from here." Kion said before Anga began to slowly walk out of the hallway.
She felt even more uneasy as she left the hallway. She wanted to inform others of this but first she needed to get out of the museum so that Kion, Bunga or anyone in their circle would become suspicious of her for lingering in the museum for too long.
It is a typical Friday afternoon at the museum, nothing particularly extraordinary outside of the ongoing suspicions regarding Kiara and Kovu's 'vacation', and investigations of the other deaths that had occurred over the summer.
Edwin and Beshte decided to hangout after they finished their shifts. They decided to go to the cafe they usually go to whenever either of them want to discuss important or serious matters in their lives, or even when they feel that they need someone to talk to.
"So, I have been feeling a little down because I have been searching for an accounting job for months now and I still haven't received a single offer yet. I just been feeling….a little hopeless to be honest because I have been on several interviews that I had all this hope and anticipation, many of the interviews went well, but in return I either get dead silence or the dreaded 'thank you for your interest, but we regret to inform you' emails. Sometimes I wonder if the day of getting a new job will ever come. If I'll just be stuck as a security guard for the rest of my life" Beshte said.
"I'm really sorry to hear that you have been having a hard time finding a job. But I'm sure you'll get that job offer soon. Plus you are not alone, I heard there are many people still looking for available jobs across multiple areas and fields of employment. I guess things are still kind of picking up at a slow pace with this awkward transition of the pandemic. There is still a lot of uncertainty in the world. But don't worry, everything is going to be fine. Just remember that even when you are still looking, take some time to take care of yourself, you don't want to burn yourself and get into a dark place. Also as always, whenever you need someone to talk with, whether it's for advice or even just venting, you can always talk with me." Edwin replied.
"Thanks man, I really appreciate your support. I will make sure to take up on your offer when you need it. I really enjoy our talks. They really provide a good opportunity for us to discuss stuff in our lives and get to know each other better. Speaking of, you also mentioned something you want to tell me." Beshte replied.
"Oh yeah, I finally figured out when I am going to propose to Jasiri." Edwin replied.
"That's great news Edwin! So when are you planning to propose to her?" Beshte asked.
"Well I plan to propose to her next Saturday night. So the plan is that I take her out to this nice restaurant that we ate at one time in Lincoln Park. Then afterwards, I plan to take her on an evening stroll, eventually reaching the little walkway where we first kissed, and decided to be in a romantic relationship two years ago. Then I will ask Jasiri to look for my keys that I accidentally 'dropped' until she turns around and sees me holding the ring and then pop the question to her. I really hope she says yes." Edwin said as he was starting to blush a little.
"That plan sounds great Edwin! I am positive she will say yes. She really likes you and you guys seem to be in a loving, healthy, and stable relationship. I think everything is going to turn out great." Beshte said.
Meanwhile, at a diner not too far from the cafe, Jasiri was conversing with Makini about a similar topic.
"I know exactly when I am going to propose to Edwin." Jasiri said enthusiastically.
"Jasiri! That's amazing to hear! What date are you going to pop the question to Edwin?" Makini said with equal if not more enthusiasm.
"Well, I plan to propose to him this coming Thursday night. We have made plans to go to that tea place on Argyle Street. You know, the one where Edwin and I had our first two dates. It will help us get in a relaxing and romantic mood. Soon, I will tell him that I got a surprise for him and for him to close his eyes, so that I have time to get on one of my knees and take out the ring I got him, and then tell him to open his eyes so that I can ask him to marry me." Jasiri replied.
"That sounds so cute, Jasiri! He will definitely say yes. I am certain of it! You guys are an adorable couple! I'm sure everything will go fine!" Makini said enthusiastically.
Ono P.O.V.:
It's around six o'clock, most of the regular employees have left and the museum is closed to the public. I have an hour or two left of my shift for today. I am currently working on an email to the museum's I.T. provider.
As soon as I sent the email, I began to hear footsteps towards my station.
"Hi Ono." A voice called. I turned around to see that it was Kion. I began to feel a little annoyed because usually when Kion comes to me unannounced, it's usually to slam some random and pointless task on me that requires me to extend my shift by at least half an hour.
"Hey Kion…." I said blankly.
"I actually have something I need you to do…." He said. Of course he does.
"In the computer in surveillance room C, there is a folder labeled 'old security files, pre 2011' that I need you to delete, and there is a box of old USBs that I also need you to wipe clean. Don't even bother looking at the files, they're just old stuff, mostly from even before any of us began working here, and the files have been copied to other digital storage areas. Plus, I need you to order a new surveillance camera for the south stairwell because as you know, that camera has been malfunctioning a lot recently, so might as well replace it." Kion said.
"Okay Kion….." I said doing my best to hide my annoyance of this.
"Don't get fussy about this Ono, it's important work…..Plus, if you complete it…..I will double your pay that you will receive for your shift today…..let's just say museum administration was able to become very generous to the security department recently….But I have to go to a briefing with my dad so I need you to do these tasks." Kion said in a more congenial manner. Though I am pretty sure that 'briefing with my dad' is code for getting drinks with his dad and Bunga at whatever bar they decided to go to that night.
I was hesitant to accept this time….but I need the money right now, so I feel I didn't have much of a choice.
"Okay, I'll do it. You can count on me." I replied.
"That's what I like to hear, Ono, I will see you on your next shift." Kion said before he headed out.
After he left, I begrudgingly began to walk in the direction of the hallway where surveillance room C is located.
I opened the door to see that it didn't change since the last time I came in here. Just a windowless room with three computer monitors that each had the view of the museum's surveillance…except for the one that mysteriously malfunctioned. There was also a computer for security officers to work on for other stuff too, including archiving files, responding to emails and other related stuff. There were also file cabinets, a printer and copier, and a table where we place stuff sometimes. I see the box of USB drives that Kion…wanted me to erase…Wait a minute…
The majority of Kion's task is deleting old USBs and files…this could be an opportunity to see if any of these files could provide answers to Kiara and Kovu's disappearance…or even the deaths that occurred over the summer.
I grabbed the box and placed it on the desk with the monitors. I got on the computer to see that it was already logged onto…a little surprised that Kion left the computer while he was still logged into it. In the process I accidentally opened the Google Chrome tab which displayed Kion's email account…..STILL LOGGED IN.
I already saw a few emails with subject lines that interested me for unrelated reasons. A few that have the subject lines Reference for Beshte Kiboko, Warning of Beshte Kiboko, and Don't Hire Beshte Kiboko. I started to read these emails, and the things I am reading are just shocking.
One email claims 'Beshte is a great worker, but he can also be prone to panic attacks and he isn't the most comfortable when working with people.' Wait, that's not true, Beshte works extremely well with people and he hasn't had a panic attack in ten years since he left the army.
Another one claimed, 'You better make sure that no children are involved if you hire Beshte, because he constantly yells at children for even just 'making too much noise' or 'talking too loud', and other similar excuses. What?! That is a total lie. Beshte is typically very good with kids, in fact out of everyone in the security team, he is actually the best one when it comes to handling stuff involving children. This description in the email is more close to how Kion handles children than Beshte.
Then another email says that 'Beshte is not a team player, and his reliability in work-related issues is questionable. We had to fire him last month over this behavior because he was not willing to be a proactive member of our team.' Okay that is a total lie. Because first of all Beshte STILL works here, I saw him on his shift today. And he is a very proactive member of the team.
So that's why Beshte has been having a hard time finding a new accounting job, Kion, Simba, and others have been sabotaging his chances by sending potential employers these bullshit references and emails to prevent him from being hired.
After I sent some of these emails to my email address, I looked at all the other emails. And some involved discussing purchases from weapon suppliers…..Some of the other emails involved talking about Rafiki, Zazu, and Timon's deaths. They directly mention their involvement within these emails, and some of them even discussed the deaths in a humorous manner….And one or two recent ones were discussing something about 'two traitors in the room' and about whose turn it is to 'feed the pigs in the store room'. What…..are they talking about…Kiara and Kovu?
After also sending those emails to my email address, I then moved to look at the USBs and the 'old security files, pre 2011' folder on the computer. I opened the folder and found that the majority of the files were actually dated much more recently than before 2011. I opened some of them up to find a bunch of files regarding weapons purchases. But the most intriguing were two sets of files. One was dated the the day that Zazu was killed, and there were surveillance footage that I notice that Kion entered the door of a men's room, and a couple minutes after that, he came out wearing all black, his hair…or mane…covered, and placing something in the pocket of his sweatshirt. I suspect it was the gun he used to kill Zazu. The other set of files I saw were videos of Kiara and Kovu entering the museum, and each of them getting ambushed, tranquilized, and the two of them dragged into some room by Simba, Kion, Bunga, and Tiifu.
I immediately copied these files into my own personal USB. I started to take a look at all the USBs in the box. And I think I just found a treasure trove of evidence. For example, one contained a list of video files, and they had the names of every single employee in the museum….including me. Followed by their name was the phrase 'Goodbye Video' on every single file.
I decided to take a look at the one with my name on it, and as the video file played, it was in the exact format as the memorial videos for Rafiki, Zazu, and Timon.
Jasiri was right, there are videos of all of us, Simba and his associates all have a plan to get rid of us when he feels that we become an 'inconvenience' to him. I put that USB drive in my bookbag.
I looked at another USB, and it contained more video files. I clicked on one, it was dated around the time Rafiki died. In the video, it starts with Rafiki walking on the upper floor of the museum, then Simba approaches him. Looks like they were having a heated argument an-Wait, Simba just pushed Rafiki down the stairs. There is now proof that they caused the deaths.
I began to place all the USBs in my bag. Then, on the desktop, I see a minimized Mozilla Firefox window. I opened it to see that it is on some kind of surveillance site.
Wait, I think I saw something about a password on one of the emails I saw.
I checked the email and found one that mentioned something of a password. Found it. It's a conversation between Kion and Bunga because Bunga forgot the password one time.
I copy and pasted the password onto the site. I'm in! Looks like it acts as a backup system just in case the museum's main surveillance system ever goes down. But wait, there's a room name I haven't seen before that's not in the main surveillance system.
"Huh, Store Room 119, Main Floor? I haven't seen surveillance in that room before ...Actually, I didn't even know that the museum had a store room 119 on the main floor." I said to myself.
I pressed it, and….wait…..it's….it's Kiara and Kovu…..they….their legs are bound by chains, and their arms are chained to the wall?! This is live footage…they're alive….they're imprisoned in some room in the museum…and they look bruised, beaten, and is it just me or do they look even slightly thinner.
I need to send this link to myself for evidence and try to find this room to help them!
I copied and pasted the link to the surveillance site to a blank email to myself. Just got to pack up the rest of these USB dr–AGGGHHH
Oh shit, it's time to transform again….uggggghh…I'm going into my anthro egret form.
As I do every night, the painful process of me transforming into my anthro egret form. Within a few minutes, the transformation ended and I started grabbing the USBs along with my own personal USB flash drive. Grabbed my book bag and got out of the room, I decided to look for the room to see if I can even attempt to help them. I speedwalked out of the surveillance room and even out of the hallway because I know there's no storeroom 119 in the hallway I was in, so I decided to go into a hallway on the other side of the floor.
I walked down this hallway, it was your typical hallway filled with offices and such. But then I saw a room that captured my attention. It was a room that had an ID scan and a large padlock on it. I read the room number plaque….STORE ROOM 119….THIS IS THE ROOM!
I tried scanning my ID to see if I had clearance….I did not, which was expected, let me see if I could figure out the combination. I tried three different combinations but it didn't work. And I don't recall any of the emails I saw mentioning the combination so I'm stuck with this.
"KIARA! KOVU! IT'S ONO! I'M GOING TO TRY TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!" I yelled. No response back. Either they didn't hear me, or they were in a deeper area of a room than I initially thought.
I heard my phone sound a text alert. I took out my phone to see that it was a text from Kion.
Hi Ono, I remembered that I accidentally left something at the museum! I'll be back briefly in half an hour.
Wait what? This surprise caused me to gently yank on the lock….and trigger some kind of alarm. It was a loud, low pitch alarm.
The blood drained from my face. I need to RUN…like NOW…My life literally depends on it.
I grabbed my bag and started to literally sprint out of the nearest exit, which happened to be one of the museum's main entrances and exits. I swore I climbed down all those steps in less than a minute with sheer panic pulsating through my body.
I ran to the employee and staff parking lot where my car is parked. Unlocked it and got in as soon as possible. Threw the bag in the passenger seat and I started the car, driving it in as fast a speed that I could.
After I passed a checkpoint, I just continued to drive without looking back an iota. Don't want to slow myself down.
I can't go back home. They know where I live, they've been to my apartment before. And I know that I am definitively their next target. I can't go back to work for a while, if I show up for my next scheduled shift, I'll be signing my death wish that will subsequently be executed.
I need a temporary place to stay. Don't want to burden any of my friends or coworkers with this. I don't want them killed or kidnapped either.
I need a hotel, Airbnb, or whatever is available.
I just need to be as far as I can be from Kion, Simba, as possible.
Third Person P.O.V.:
Beshte, in his anthro hippo form was washing dishes in his kitchen sink when a text alert sounds from his phone.
He takes a break from washing dishes to see who it is from.
"Hmm it's Ono, wonder what's up with him.." Beshte said to himself casually.
He read the text that stated:
You have no idea what I found. Tell others.