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Meenah writes âïž
Episode 13
#Creole_City
#Creole_High
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Kathyâs POV
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Lunch break. My favorite p@rt of the school schedule.
I stuffed a novel and a notebook into my backpack, jammed my locker shut, and made my way to the cafeteria. I sighted Fred and Jack sitting at our table, the one we normally sit at every lunchtime; me, Harry, Jack, Fred, and Luke. Speaking of which, Luke wasnât there.
I heaved a sigh of relief and walked over.
âHi guys,â I said and took my seat.
âHey there,â Fred said, while Jack acknowledged me with a nod.
This is like a week and some since the Harry and Jean incident, and Jack still seemed to brood. Like he really missed them.
I missed them too, but life goes on.
I made a mental note to talk to Jack and asked whatâs bothering him.
I reached over to Fredâs plate and took an apple, quic-kly sinking my teeth into it before he could give me a disagreeing look.
âKathyâŠ..â he drawed out.
âWhat, an apple a day keeps the doctor away,â I replied with a grin.
He shook his head and went to the counter. Then he returned minutes later with a lunch tray similar to theirs, except that he took my apple.
âFair enough,â I shrugged and began to eat.
âYou know, I think we should visit Harryâs parents again, find out how far on the case,â Jack began.
âYeah, I think so too,â I replied.
âWhich reminds me buddy,â Fred said, turning to Jack, âYou havenât been your self ever sinceâŠâ he trailed off, knowing weâd get his point.
Jack sighed. âItâs my fault, you know?â
Fred and I exchanged confused looks, and before we could urge him to continue, I was blindfolded from behind.
âHey!â I yelled, trying to free my eyes.
âGuess who?â Fred spoke with sarcasm.
I knew immediately that it was Luke. Well, not just because Fred spoke, but I knew his smell, his t©uçh⊠sigh.
âLuke,â I said softly.
He chuckled and took off his hand, sitting beside me. I suddenly felt uncomfortable.
âHaving lunch without me?â he asked and nudged my arm with his.
I nudged him back, and he chuckled. Again.
âOK, Jack was saying something before you two crazies interrupted!â Fred announced.
Jack shook his head and took not-up-to-a-spoon of spaghetti into his mouth. âItâs fine.â
âSo what do you say, movies, Friday?â Luke asked me. For the past fifteen minutes heâd been trying to convince me to join him to go to the movies on Friday. Just us.
It seemed that lately, temptations had really been thrown into my path in all aspects.
I sighed.
âLuke Iââ
âSay yes, plea-se?â he cut in with a babyish pout that happened to look just so cute.
âOK, Iâll see if Iâll be engaged then.â
âYes!â he punched the air victoriously.
I giggled a bit. âSee you later.â
The four of us made our way to the Andersons house. I rode with Luke, while Jack rode with Fred. He didnât have the knack for driving these days.
When we got in, we found the Normans, Jeanâs parents, seated in the living room also. Mrs Norman and Aunt Liz, Harryâs mom, had piteous expressions on their faces. I began to feel bad. I had been so busy re-sisting Lukeâs advances that I never had the time to really see what the real problem was.
Two girls, young. Missing. One of whom wasâisâ my best friend.
The tears pricked. Guilty tears, sympathetic tears, self-depreciating tears, as I rushed into aunt Lizâs embr@ce.
The boys, and Mr Norman were standing with uncle Jacob as they talked about next steps to take.
Minutes later, when it was quite dark and weâd all gone home, I heard the rumblings of an earthquake in the distance as I prepped to climb into be-d. I froze, still holding the hem of my blanket, and listened as the sound grew louder. Not the earthquake, but sounds like thun-derstorms. Everywhere grew momentarily dark.
âKathy stay put,â mom yelled from downstairs, âIts unusually to have weather like this in Creole, I wonder whatâs going on.â
I wondered too, in that few seconds of darkness. Then all cleared, and I saw the moon, shining high up in the starry sky, glowing brighter than a dark sun.
Maybe too bright.
#Amazon
Harrietâs POV
Dizziness, accompanied by a terrible headache and a foreboding s-en-se of danger.
Where am I?
___
# Amazon
Harrietâs POV
Where am I?
I placed both hands palm down on the floor and tried to push my self up. I felt weak, my lim-bs and head hurt a lot.
What happened?
Then I remembered, earlier. I was supposed to meet Rex in the alley. I actually saw him, but he was acting strange. And then he⊠oh my god!
I jumped up with sudden strength and rushed for the door at the sudden realization: Rex was evil! I should have known, I should haveâŠ
I ran towards the door and tried to open it. I was shut ti-ght. I began ban-ging fervently, all the while trying to hold the tears in. No sound, no movement.
I was stuck up here.
But now wasnât the time to cry or fret. I had to get out of here. If what Juliante and Ewan told me about the Master was indeed true, then I was in a great deal of danger.
Standing more erect, I took a look around my surrounding. The room was dark, and there was only a dim source of light from an oil lamp fixed into the wall with a metal ring. Aside that, all was dark. I saw the only exit: the door which I struggled with to escape. Three bars fixed horizontally across a square opening pas-sed for a window. The room was ba-re, no furniture, nothing I could use to pry the lock. And I didnât even know anything about this damned place. I was stuck here, until Rex or whoever caused my kidnap c@mÂŁ and gave me a hint into why I was brou-ght here.
I sunk onto the floor, the cold ha-rd floor for lack of anything to do.
But I wouldnât cry. Iâll be strong. I managed to escape the forest with Jean, and Iâll do same here.
Itâs just a matter of time.
*
â
Ewanâs POV
The weather had finally died down, and I almost laughed at myself for thinking something was wrong. Anyway, I always had to be alert of such things, because I didnât want to be taken by surprise anymore.
I left the windowsill, ignoring that gut feeling. If Harriet decided that it was cozy enough to go on some stupid d@tÂŁ in the mid of the night was a suspicious guy, then it wasnât my business. Sheâd been with us for all of a week, and I couldnât say I knew her at all.
But this thing⊠this bond thing Juliante has been breathing down our n£¹ks with. It still puzzled me sometimes. What was it all about? And why her of all people?
I sighed and made to pick up a book which I was re-ading earlier from Julianteâs desk, and my mind went to the k!ss.
I didnât know what even pushed me to do that! I knew that Iâd be up for a long time thinking about it and the aftermath, but I didnât know Iâd begin lvsting over it as of now.
I shook my head to clear the thought, and thatâs when I saw Zoe in the door way. How long have she been standing there?
She broke into a small smile when I acknowledged her.
âHi,â she said.
I regarded her for a moment before asking, âWhatâs wrong?â
Iâve known her since we were little, and I knew that she was always short of words when she was troubled.
I mean, who says hi in the night?
She shook her head and walked into the study and paused in front of me.
âEwanâŠ.â she trailed off and twisted her f!ngers, her gaze skittering allover the floor.
I his an amused smile.
âZoe, whatâs wrong?â I repeated, this time in a singsong manner.
She giggled a little at this.
âI..well itâs nothing much. Just that thereâs something Iâve always wanted to tell you for a long time now.â
I wondered what it was, because as far as I knew, we knew any and every thing about each other. So far. I havenât told her about Harriet and me bonding, or about the k!ss. Not that itâs a big deal.
âHmm?â I said.
âWellâŠâ she edged closer to me, and I wondered again what this was all about.
We were interrupted by Juliante barging into the room with an agitated look on his face. He looked has-sled as he glanced around the room. Then his eyes settled on me, and his expression grew angry.
âYou!â he growled, charging towards me. Zoe and I exchanged looks, because weâve never seen him react this way.
âMe?â I asked, still confused.
âYes! How did you manage to block me out of your mind?â
I frowned. âI didnât. I donât even know how to do that stuff!â
âThen it must have been someone else. Where is Harriet!?â he asked, or demanded.
âSheâs out with Rex,â Zoe supplied.
âWho?â
âSome guy sheâs been seeing.â said Zoe.
Juliante went over his books, scattering and throwing them as he searched for whatever.
âWhat is all these about?â I asked finally.
âEwan I donât know yet. But I hope to the Spirits that you havenât told her about the Harmony Horn.â
I tried to digest this. Why would he ask me to tell her about the horn one moment and then ask me NOT to tell her the next?
I walked over to him and looked into his face.
âJuliante whatâs going on?â
He took a second, and then said, âIt seems the Hood are striking again. Ewan you have to be very careful.â
I turned to Zoe. She had a frightened look on her face. I knew how she felt. If the Master struck again, then there would be no hope for Amazon. Or for me.
âHarriet, where is she?â I asked suddenly, feeling the nee-d to keep her safe.
âEwan I said she isââ
âI know. She should return soon, I donât trust that Rex guy.â
âWhy?â Juliante asked.
There was something he wasnât telling me. So I wouldnât either.
âHe reminds me of someone Iâd rather not talk about,â I said and walked out as I pas-sed by Zoe, she bit on her lower l-ips o ha-rd . Something was seriously bugging her, and Iâll find out.
After Harriet returned home.
Seconds, minutes, and an hour pas-sed by. She didnât return. Now I was convinced that the gut feeling wasnât jealousy, phew, but it was a warning that something had indeed gone wrong.
Zoeâs POV
âBut where is she?â I asked Rex again. I was really getting scared now. Ewan wonât st©p pacing ever since Harriet didnât return, so Iâd sneaked out, hoping to look for her and ensure nothing happened. Iâd arrived at the alley, but I didnât see anyone, when all of a sudden Rex appeared out of nowhere from behind me.
âIâm doing the favor, Zoe. Keeping her away like you asked me to. Donât worry, sheâs okay. But you have to make sure that Ewan doesnât look for her, or worry. Tell him sheâs staying over at mine for the night.â
I nodded slowly, still unconvinced. But it was good. Iâll just have to get Ewan to st©p worrying, and then Iâll have him to myself tonight.
So promising.
I smiled now to Rex.
âOK, and plea-se tell her I said hi.â
He alre-ady walked away. Then he st©pped a few metres away.
âOh, and Zoe? You did a marvelous job.â
I wondered what he meant by that, and by the time I looked up, heâd gone alre-ady.
My heart hammered in my che-st as I hurried home.
Harrietâs POV
I immediately stood up from the floor when I heard the lock cl!çk!ng. My heart rate increa-sed because I didnât know what to expect. I could remember that it was the monstersâŠ. gross. I prayed that I wouldnât get to see their disgusting faces.
Iâd contemplated talking to Ewan, telling him that I was captured. But I was so sure that it was the Master that got me. And Ewan had asked me not to do the mind talk because it paved a way for the Master to search his thoughts. It must have been really painful, and I didnât want a repeat of that for him. Besides, I knew I was going to escape soon.
The door opened, and the view I had made me scream.
The four foot something monster, dark green scaly skin. Reptilian ton-gue sticking out of a mouth with razor sharp teeth a prominent canines. It stood on itâs haunches, with itâs knees sticking out.
So hideous.
It roared in my face, spre-ading sticky all over my face.
But before my scream could die down, it hit my head with a club.
I pas-sed out immediately.
When next I opened my eyes, I was tied to a chair, unable to move, and staring into the eyes of the one they call the Master.
To be continued