Chapter 8: Scorpion's Sting

Chapter 8: Scorpion's Sting

Janine's POV

"Are you sure this is all we needed?" I asked Pearl, looking at the paper bag that was resting on my lap, checking all of the vegetables and spices that we bought, she immediately checked her phone and scrolled it.

"Let's check it again, carrots, potatoes, peppers and of course the star of our dish, curry powder. Did we have everything?" She asked.

"I think it's fine, everything's here, I'm just thankful we've got potatoes," I smiled back as a reply. She stretched her arms upwards and let out a deep breath.

"That's good. I thought we're going back to the market," she laughed and looked at me grinning.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked weirdly.

"Nothing, it's just that I remembered you love potatoes... D-Do you remember it?" Pearl said warily, giving me that worried look.

I shook my head. "I'm afraid not, some of my memories are still vague and I couldn't remember some of it from the past, but I guess my liking for potatoes is forever etched in my heart." I said, smiling faintly.

"Well even if you can't remember the past, what's important is that you're creating new memories with us, I believe you will remember it bit by bit!" She said, putting her thumbs up at me. I nodded at her and then she looked out the window, with her face painted with a faint smile and eyes that were searching for something.

Honestly I don't want to force myself to remember everything back then...

We're actually inside of our family car and we're on our way to Jade's residence. We made this plan just today to relax and have some bonding since yesterday wasn't a pleasant day. The rampage, and Asher's confession is something that is hard to absorb. The car turns left, the sight of tall infrastructure and restless city has disappeared, it changed into small houses with more trees. The road has become narrowed and it only means we're near to our destination. One more turn and Jade's house appeared in our sight.

"Miss Janine, Miss Pearl we're here," I took a glance from the window to the house that is in front of us. Eustace's residence is not that small and not too big, it's enough for a small family like them and what I meant by Eustace is Jade's surname, but what I like in their place is the different kinds of plants, orchids and flowers that they're keeping.

"Thank you so much Harvey for today," I replied to our family driver. Within his mid-sixties, wrinkled face, and some of his white hair, Harvey never failed to accomplish his duties. He considered himself as my guardian.

I laugh at the thought because he looks exactly as what a butler would look like, well he's wearing a tailcoat that added to that particular requirement to look like one. I shook my head, enough of my playful thoughts. Sir Harvey has been a part of our family since I was a kid and since my parents are abroad and doing our business there, Harvey stood up to be my father figure.

"What time shall I fetch you Milady?" He asked politely looking back at us from the front seat.

"You don't have to be that polite Harvey, it's just me and Pearl you know," Pearl and I laughed a little. Harvey blushed in front of us. "You know it's my habit, Miss Janine, now I feel embarrassed in front of two beautiful young ladies." His words made us laugh more.

"Aww! You don't have to say that Harvey! Heaven knows what they were thinking when I was born!" Pearl said while waving her fingers, trying to be humble.

"It's fun to see you like this Harvey," I giggled, which made him look down with such a shy face. "I'll just send you a text later okay?"

Harvey nodded to us. "Understood, with that I hope the two of you have a nice day."

"We will!" We stepped out of the car, after that, I leaned onto the window, "And please take care on your way back." He gave a faint smile, a smile that always made me feel secure. And with that, he started the engine and drove. I waved my hand until I lost sight of the car. I turned back, seeing Pearl already ringing the doorbell.

"Is she still not coming down?" I asked. Pearl pouted at me and gave a defeated sigh.

"I guess so! But guess what? I already have a plan for that!" She winked at me and gave a mischievous smile. She pressed again the doorbell but this time she's not holding it off and before we knew it we heard a scream at the upper part of the house.

"Told 'ya" she gave a smug face and we both laughed.

"Geez! You should be aware that we're coming, you know! You're the one who invited us though!" Pearl sneered at Jade who's rubbing her eyes, still half awake. We're already sitting on their table. "Look at you, your hair is messy and you're still wearing your pajamas!" Pearl continued but it seems like Jade's soul is still wandering around the house.

"What if Yujin saw you like that?"

And that's how ladies and gentlemen Jade brought back to her senses. Funny isn't it?

"I bet he will be turned off. Oh my! Jade, you look like a monster! What an unpleasant sight! I can't stand it!" I laughed at that 'cause she acted like the red hair that we always make fun of. Jade just looked at her. "Ugh shall we change the topic? Did you bring the ingredients?"

"It's all complete!" Pearl proudly opened the paper bag on the table and brought out what we bought earlier one by one. While she is busy I managed to take a look at my phone, checking if Glory has already replied but no, there's no sign of her.

"Isn't it romantic?" I almost jumped from the chair! I looked back at Pearl who's behind me and staring holes at my phone. "Oh please stop doing that!" I said pushing her off.

"I wish everyone could have a picture with their 'boyfie' and make it a wallpaper," she whispered to herself, she is referring to my wallpaper which is me and Edward. I just shook my head and was about to speak but Jade interrupted me.

"Oh shush Pearl, just confess to Noctis already, you have had a crush on him for almost four years!" Jade said, wearing her eye glass.

"Talking like a secretary from crush and love development..." Pearl whispered. "How about your progress with Yujin? I bet I have more chances of getting close to Noctis than you with Yujin!" She confidently said those words which made Jade's face turn red.

"W-Well at least I'm doing it slowly but surely," Jade replied while fixing her glasses, so much flustered from their topic.

"Slowly? Girls around the school may have a chance to steal him from you!" Pearl shouted back and then she laughed like an evil witch. I swear all the time I'm with them, this is the most insane thing that I've seen them do; Jade whispering to herself and blushing while Pearl is laughing with sparkling eyes, what's in their mind? Well I couldn't blame them, the two men they're being crazy for are both handsome in their own ways. Noctis has a space of his own, he's quiet but naughty when he's with us. If I'm going to compare him to some characters that I've read in books, he's a dark knight who loves pink! Yes that's got to be it! While Yujin on the other hand, well actually Yujin is a combination of sweet chocolate and strong coffee brewed and blended in a cup, he's full of confidence and brimming in uh.. energy? I would compare him to a wolf human that's always wagging his tail... Yeah I think it suits him.

"JANINE!" They both lean closer to me, which almost made me lean back.

"W-What?"

"Tell us the forbidden!"

"Secret!"

"Sacred!"

"And the powerful technique to win a man's heart!"

I just stared at them in disbelief and laughed. "Come on guys, you should stop that, it's not the ladies job. It's for the man to win a lady's heart, you know..." I said secretly smiling while remembering when Edward confessed to me.

"What you two should be concerned about at this time is Glory."

*****

"Does it taste good? What do you think?" Jade asked me after I took a scoop of the sauce of the curry that we're cooking.

"You're ready to be married," I said seriously, holding ourselves not to laugh but ended up laughing after all. "I'm really glad we're able to have fun like this, we needed this since you know." Jade just agreed and we turned into silence again.

"It's not normal to hear a mage tower, portals and great conjunction in one day," Pearl brings the sliced potatoes and gives it to Jade.

"Yeah we all feel the same," I replied, wearing off my apron and putting it on the back of the chair.

"Are you feeling good now?" Jade took a glance at Pearl's direction, which made the caramel head girl look back.

"Me? Yes? I guess...What do you mean?" Pearl replied, placing some plates and spoon on the table.

"You know yesterday? Noctis?" I continued asking and that changed Pearl's expression.

"W-Well, it's just that I'm still not used to seeing him being so angry," she answered, giving a deep sigh. "But I guess let's just expect more since everything has changed since that day. If we're feeling so bad about the things that are happening what more it is for Noctis and the others? With that, let's be strong for them! Right?" The wariness on her face disappeared and turned into a bright smile. Jade and I nodded back to her.

"After lunch maybe we can go to Glory's house, what do you think?" Jade spoke.

"Actually I'm thinking about it since she has no response to our messages. I'm really worried," I scrolled my phone to check any messages from Glory but still, there isn't a single one.

"Andrew's disappearance is really something that we could not just ignore, what if he was really kidnapped by those knights? What if something bad happened to him?" The thought of what Pearl said reverberated through the whole kitchen and it felt a sting in our heart, one that would linger until we found Andrew.

"Of all the people, we knew how much Glory is feeling right now. So let's go to her place after we eat okay?" Jade cheered us on.

"But first you should take a bath!" Pearl screamed and we laughed together.

Surprisingly it's not that hot outside, I'm looking at the clouds above hinting that it might rain, we're already in front of Glory's house and we keep calling.

"Could it be that no one's home?" Pearl asked. "The curry is quite heavy you know?"

"Let's just wait for a little bit more, I'm sure someone's home-"

"Oh it's you three!" A familiar face greeted us. It's Glory's older sister. She opened their small gate. "What brings the three of you here?" She beamed.

"Good afternoon! Sorry if we came here suddenly, is Glory there?" Jade asked.

"Oh she's not. She went out earlier but she didn't tell me where she was going to. Is there any problem? She's acting weird these days," the three of us looked at each other.

"Uhmm no." Pearl awkwardly laughed. "Actually we brought this curry and thought that we should give it to her but since she's not here... Maybe-" Pearl handed over the container with the curry inside.

"I get it, so thoughtful of you three. Don't worry I'll give this to her later when she comes back, want to come inside instead and wait for her?"

"I-It's okay! We're just going to head back and maybe look for her," good thing Pearl is an expert when it comes to this situation, if I'm the only one being here, surely no doubt, I'm doomed.

"Is that so? Okay I understand, please do take care on your way back, it looks like it's going to rain," she looked above. We said goodbye to her sister and we immediately thought of where Glory should be.

"Okay so she's not answering our calls and texts but she went somewhere? What's happening to her?" Pearl blurted out.

"I have a good hunch," Jade whispered to herself. I looked at the sad sky. Don't tell me it's happening again.

Glory's POV

I don't know where to begin with, words couldn't explain how I am completely destroyed from the inside. My heart was shattered, my eyes couldn't see anything, I couldn't move my body, and it seems that I turned into an empty vessel. What does a scorpion's sting feel like? What is the feeling of poison flowing along with my blood inside me? How can it destroy everything when all it does is to move around?

I don't know, but what I am feeling right now is extreme pain, one that doesn't need any explanation.

One thing that I know is... It hurts!

With that thought, I crumpled myself, laying on the bed and hugging my pillow tight, my teeth chattering from the intense soberness, preventing my tears not to fall. Weeks passed since Andrew disappeared and there is still no news about him. I never felt this kind of fear before, one that will break my heart into pieces, knowing that I don't know anything.

What he's condition?

Where is he?

Is he still alive?

Those questions are all circling inside my mind. Not to mention, the truth behind our friends. Noctis, Yujin, and Edward. All of them came from a faraway planet, which we never thought would be a possibility. What happened that day will forever change our lives, it will never bring back the peace that I once had. But, how come Jade and the others can laugh and smile after all of these? They're spending the days like nothing happened, no one bothered to find Andrew, everyone was pretending...

And that Asher guy... He came like a letter addressed to all of us, filling us with all of that information which we couldn't understand, making questions rise more than the answers we need.

'RINGG!'

My thoughts were cut off when the telephone rang.

"Hello Glory! It's Jade. Are you free for today? Dad and mom are out of town, so Janine and Pearl came here so we could have spent the day together. We are cooking some curry, this is your favorite right? It's much better to eat this if you're here. W-We're really worried because you are not answering our texts and calls, we thought leaving this voice message is our only option. Please... Glory, I hope you can come."

The voice message ended, I'm just staring at the ceiling while listening to it. I felt madness rushed into my whole body after hearing all of it, I raised the upper half of my body. I'm shaking, I bite my lower lip and intently throw the nearest pillow at the wall hitting some of my things and fall over the floor. It made a loud bang and echoed all over the room. I breathe heavily and throw all of the other pillows as well, putting off all of the anger I'm feeling. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't.

The image of them smiling while all of this is happening is making me hate them! I hate them, I hate myself, and I hate everything about this! It makes me feel unwanted, like I'm all alone in this fight.

Being alone is like an open wound that refuses to heal. The moment when "scar us for life" doesn't suit because again, it never heals. Akin to be left dusty, alone in a glass cabinet, trapped in these unrequited thoughts of "what should I do?" and "what are the things that I could do?" How could I move on from this? I couldn't find the answers to every question, instead of being answered, questions are being stocked up.

I stopped when I couldn't have anything to throw, breathing heavily as I held my pillow onto my chest tighter, embracing all this madness.

I averted my eyes and looked at the glass window to get away from this intense desperation and stare as the dark clouds and cold breeze greeted me like an old friend. I clenched my fist, as I stared at the sky. This is not the time to go back.

I walked towards my small desk and searched for the thing Andrew left me. I'm sweating droplets as I couldn't see them. Thinking that I may lose it.

"It should've been here," I whispered to myself and kept looking at it, tossing all of the random things that kept me from finding it.

After minutes of searching, I sighed in relief as I locked my eyes into it, "Finally!" I picked up a silver key. It's the key to Andrew's apartment. One time he gave me this duplicate for an emergency since he always has a poor habit of losing his stuff. 'Glad I didn't lose it.' I quickly put it inside my pocket. I rushed to my cabinet and looked for clothes that I could wear. I grabbed a gray jacket and quickly put it on, picked up my purple bonnet and headed straight out of the room.

"Where are you going?" My elder sister asked me while watching the television on the sofa, holding a large white mug, drinking coffee.

"Out to take a breath," I simply answered and rushed outside.

Upon opening the door, I felt the loneliness of the gloomy weather, I looked around and started walking. Every step I'm taking is the sound of my heart pounding heavily, thinking if this is the right thing to do. Alvarez is a big city and walking to Andrew's place is not the ideal thing to do but here I am, doing it. I made my way through everywhere, until I reached a quiet community with less trees and more of like a sad and gray painting from a museum, filled with small houses. Kids are playing with such a flush, laughing passing by through me. I decided to take another step.

I am in front of a big old building, I opened the gate and headed to Andrew's room. As I made my way upstairs, I heard a married couple fighting, screeching all their curses to one another. I pretended I didn't see them and slipped through. This is not my first time here and it's nothing new, there was a time when me and some of my friends from the music club came by to visit Andrew and we're all surprised by how unruly the people living in here are, when Andrew is not that much of a person. Now that's a good memory I can recall from an old film.

Room 36.

This is Andrew's room. The creamy white door is asking me to open it as I stare at it. I pulled out the key from my pocket and was about to put it in the keyhole. Cold breeze ran through me and made me shiver, my hands shaking thinking twice if this is what I've been doing? But maybe I could find something... The sound of the door clicking whispered, and it opened.

I entered the room and just as what I'm expecting, no one's inside. I took a step and looked around, the smell of the whole room just reminded me of him. I turned around and saw some books on the floor, I picked some of it up, and it was already covered in dust. Andrew loves to read science and historical books, it doesn't have any connection to music so I thought about how he ended up joining the music club and even becoming the president. I close the book and just sit on the floor.

The heavy pain in my chest started to bloom like a flower and I ended up crying. Just crying alone, echoing the pain and sadness that I'm feeling. Even though I knew he wasn't here, why am I still doing this to myself?

Isn't it a human weakness to look for evidence even if it's already standing in front of us? I think so. It's hard to be happy when all I want is him and I've been having a hard time adjusting but this is me... Still trying.

I've heard some steps behind me. I turned around and it was Jade and the others. She immediately hug me.

"Glory! I knew you were here! We're so worried!" She's just hugging me, but I can't say anything, instead I bit my lip and pushed her back.

"GET OFF ME!" Jade, being surprised of what I did, stood up and looked at me straight with hurt eyes.

"What is your problem?!" Pearl was about to walk towards me but Jade signaled her to stop. I just looked at the hazel brown orbs of hers.

"I know you have something to say! Why don't you spout it now?!" My whole body's shaking.

"S-Stop acting like all of you care when the truth is not!" I screamed. "All of you are smiling while Andrew... He is nowhere to be found! How could you be so happy at times like these?!" I cried out, glaring at the three of them.

"Happy? Gloryjane, did you just think that we were happy?" Jade answered back, removing her eye glass as tears started to come out. "We're just trying to cheer everyone up because everything since that day has never been happy. We, of all the people, truly understand what you have been going through. Did you realize how painful it is for us to see Yujin and the others almost being killed in front of us? It's the same for Andrew disappearing in an instant!" Jade's voice is banging to my ears making me answer back.

"But you didn't care about him! You didn't bother to go and look for him-" I shouted back, screaming while crying.

"Glory you have to understand that we are being crazy looking and thinking about him, just like you, but what could we do? We're planning to report it to the police but would they believe it if we say he just disappeared? We couldn't just do anything right now!" Jade is exhausted from shouting and crying.

I slammed the floor. "Damn it!"

"In times like this, shouldn't we work together to solve our problems?" Pearl spoke who was already crying too. "We're your friends! And what friends are supposed to do when the other one is falling apart is to help her right? So please stop it..." I looked into them, what have I done? I hurt the feelings of the people who're just caring for me. I'm such a mess!

Janine is holding off her tears too, taking some steps backwards but then she bumps into something and makes a loud bang. Some stuff like books and some clothes fell apart and that caught our attention.

"Janine, are you okay?!" I screamed.

"Y-Yes..." she replied but then her expression changed into something weird and knelt down on the floor, slowly picking something up. With obvious curiosity on her face, she stood up and couldn't take her eyes off of a badge she's holding.

"W-What's the problem?" Pearl asked and glanced at the direction of the badge.

"The symbol in this badge... It's the same with the armor that the blonde guy is wearing..." I almost froze in shock when she said it.

"A-Are you serious?!" Jade stuttered and couldn't believe in what Janine discovered.

"T-There's no doubt this is the same symbol that resembles a turtle or tortoise that I saw from Daniel back then." She gulped and immediately brought out her phone. "Everyone, let's stop fighting. I'm going to tell this to Edward and the others."