Chapter 33

Isaac wiped his tears off and said. "What about you, Llyne? Going to tell your part?"

I paused. My lips trembled, and my mouth went completely dry. My eyes went blur, and I couldn't move a muscle. My heart was beating so fast. Memories of my Ma lying on her bed unresponsive, poured into my mind. "Hic...Hic..." I was so shaken up. Tears began to fall to the ground.

"Lil?" Rona's shoulder was soaked by my tears and snot. Rona moved backwards and was shocked. "Lil!"

Isaac asked. "What's wrong?" Isaac moved and sat in front of me. He saw me crying and hugged me. "It's going to be okay. Everything is fine now and... I'm sorry for asking." He patted my head gently. "Mmmm... Ma..." I remembered the time when my Ma would pat me on the head and praise me. Slowly, more and more memories resurfaced in my mind, like my childhood time, the time my Ma first brought me to school, celebrating me and Ma's birthday, my punishment for pranking Ma, my competitions with Ma, and many more. It made me miss my Ma even more. I tried to hold back my tears, but my tears just kept flowing. I burst out in tears, wailing like a baby. "I miss Ma...Huhuhuhu." Rona hugged me too and said. "Don't worry, Rona is here." I hugged Rona and cried even louder.

I cried for more than 2 hours in their arms with the other children watching us. My eyes became so red and puffy. I had trouble seeing things, and my eyes stung.

"Oui... That was super embarrassing." I scratched my head.

"It sure was, pufferfish. Heh." Isaac laughed.

"Rona thought Lil became a baby." Rona giggled.

"I cried in front of so many people, and I'm already a teenager."

"Congrats."

"I know. It's embarrassing, but I made an achievement."

"Did crying made you lose even more screws?"

"As long as Lil is alright. Rona is happy."

"Aww~ Rona." I hugged Rona, and Rona hugged back.

"Anyways, it's my time to tell my part, right?" I said calmly.

"You sure? You don't need to push yourself." Isaac looked worried.

"Ya. I'm sure. This is like taking a step forward, right? And besides, it's you guys, I know I'll be fine." I smiled proudly.

"Rona thinks so, too."

Isaac nodded. "Take your time."

I smiled and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and calmed my heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.. Thump...Thump...

My heartbeat became calmer. My breathing was stable as well. 'I'm ready.' I thought to myself. Isaac and Rona were staring at me. 'I can do this.' I nodded my head and told Isaac and Rona what exactly happened the night my Ma was killed until I was brought here. I even told about Lyndall. At first, I thought there was no need, but I decided I won't keep a secret from them. They might not believe it, but I felt like telling them is the right thing. "So that's my story, guys."

They went completely silent. Even the joyful, energetic Rona was lost for words as she stared at me with her big eyes. I looked at Isaac, but he was completely frozen like a statue. I sighed. 'Oh boy.' I clapped my face, and they jolted.

I pouted. "I'm already done, but you guys don't say anything. One, frozen like a statue, the other..." I looked at Rona. "...I don't know what to say, but why aren't you guys saying a word, huh?"

"I-I was just... erm...processing things in my brain," Isaac muttered.

"At least show some signs you're thinking. How would people know?"

"Rona was shocked." Rona immediately replied.

"So based on the stories, leaving Llyne and Rona's stories for later. There were black suit guys with legit government secret service IDs that kidnapped children in broad daylight without anyone's suspecting anything. They don't kill anyone, and seeing how swift they were, they must have done this for who knows how long. They also might have access to the government database, seeing how they were able to track Susie over there, who migrated every season. Did I leave out anything?"

Rona pointed out. "They drive a black long car with weird perfume."

"Thanks, Rona." Isaac patted Rona's head. "Now, let's talk about Rona's story. There are a lot of things missing out. So let's try to fill in the blank as we go. Starting from Rona's parents. Rona's parents can be categorized as bad parents, but their actions are a bit quirky."

I nodded. "They kept Rona locked up in the house. They're rarely at home. If they do, they bring new people into the house?"

Isaac continued. "Right. They didn't let her out of the house till that day. Coincidence? I don't think so. Also, they seem to love drinking but are not too drunk to hit Rona. You know, drunk people tend to hit things. Besides that, do those new people have any connection to all these?"

"Okay, let's focus on one thing at a time. If you think about it, Rona never left the house for..." I took a glance at Rona.

"Rona is 15 years old."

"Thanks, Rona. 15 years? Then, they suddenly asked her to buy alcohol and groceries? It doesn't make sense."

"How long does it take to buy alcohol and groceries?"

"Rona took an hour."

"It doesn't take you an hour to paint."

"Rona thinks it takes more."

"For that work?"

"Oh... With that kind of work, Rona thinks probably seconds."

I whispered to Isaac. "They interrogated or tortured them?"

"Rona thinks they're the same."

"Rona!" I screamed.

Isaac disagreed. "There's also a chance they came to Rona's house seconds before Rona came back."

Rona added. "Rona saw a long black car park at our house's sideway seconds after Rona left the house."

Isaac glared at Rona. "You didn't mention that point, Rona."

"Rona just remembered." Rona hid behind me. "Oh, and those guys were shocked when they saw me entered the house. They also whispered something about my parents having a daughter."

"They didn't know about Rona?"

"Well, being kept in the house for 15 years. Why not?"

"Seeing how meticulous they were, they would already find out about Rona through the government database."

"Unless she wasn't registered in the database. It's possible if no one filed a police report or seen her."

Isaac rubbed his head. "I'm getting a headache."

"Rona's parents are definitely a mystery."

Isaac laid down and grumbled. "Humans are mysterious creatures. Moving on."

I continued. "One thing we know for sure is they are connected somehow. Those people they brought in might be in it, too."

"Rona doesn't understand a single word you guys are talking about. Are you guys talking in English?"

Isaac replied. "Yes, we are, Rona." Isaac sat back up. "Why do you say so?"

"Don't know."

"Why am I listening to you?"

"'Cause there's no one else, loner."

"..." Isaac laid back down. "Okay, let's leave Rona's story for later. Your story next."

"My story had a group of weird-looking brutes, one rounded shape doctor, long grey hair pretty swordsman, a voluptuous sadistic woman, and a hot gunman."

"Carry on, weirdo."

"They sneaked into our house and killed my Ma and tried to kill me too, but they changed their mind after that. Unlike those black-suit guys, they were very secretive. They only attacked at night and kept everything hush hush."

"Hush hush." Rona repeated my words.

"Maybe it's because they're my parents' enemy?" I pondered. "My Ma mentioned they got lots of enemies."

"So your parents must know a lot about them. How they operate and such, right?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"My Ma said she would tell me someday, but she died hours later."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine... You don't think they're working for the same person, right?"

"Aren't they working for the Scorpion? One is the scouting team, and the other is offence?"

"Wouldn't it be weird? How can the Scorpion have access to the government's database?"

"Easy. Through a bit of hacking. You just need to create a virus that gathers and sends data. Then you hack the security system to make it think the virus is just harmless data and let it pass through the firewall. Once the virus enters the database, it will start gathering all the data in real time.

"Why do I have a feeling you have done this many times?"

"'Cause I did?"

"... And you think you won't get caught."

"Yup," Isaac answered confidently.

"Oui." I looked away in disbelief. "Anyways, I still find it hard to believe they are under the Scorpion or whoever you think it is."

"Why?"

"Woman's intuition."

"You should really stop using that as an excuse."

I stuck my tongue out at Isaac. "You know what. They're all speculation and one big pain in the head."

"Right. We should rest. The third game is probably more chaotic than the second."

"Not probably. It's definitely." I laid on the ground. "But we do seem like a detective, no?"

"Detective?" Rona, who was asleep for some time, woke up at the word 'Detective'.

"Yup." I nodded. "I think we're a pro."

"Who's grading us? You?" Isaac scoffed. "You're el stupido."

"Hey! What do you mean by that? I should be the one calling you that." I sat up.

"What? Me?" Isaac sat up, and we fought.