I had no freaking idea what was happening to me. I shouldn’t feel guilty about my sudden outburst because that wasn’t my fault in the first place because she was the one who triggered me.
‘Still, you should apologize to her,’ a sudden voice came at the back of my mind.
‘No! It’s not your fault! Why should you do that?’
I must be getting crazy, and it’s all because of Lorelei. I shouldn’t have recruited her in the first place. It’s not even part of my plan to have another club member if not for those pesky student council members who are threatening to take away my clubroom. So if given a choice between losing my valuable clubroom and welcoming a new club member, I would rather choose the latter. Even if it causes me unnecessary social work, which I really dislike doing.
However, I don’t want any attachments anymore, especially after losing her.
Rhea…without her this world lacks color. All became dull and bland, and I wondered how long I could endure this repetitive and depressing reality.
If only she were here, I would have enjoyed a bit of this mundane—
My train of thoughts was cut short when I saw a note. At first, I thought it was some kind of odd joke—well, not until I saw a familiar symbol at the back of the card.
A bloodred M.
I felt my face blanch as a surge of familiar memories started coming back to me. It rendered me motionless for a while, and when I suddenly snapped out of it, I found myself running frantically towards the school’s costume room. My heart beat fast as I pushed myself to run faster than I used to. There’s no telling what M could have done to Lorelei, and just thinking about it made me more desperate to find her. Several possible grim scenarios played in my mind, but still I continued running as if the devil were on my tail.
I was almost out of breath when I reached the said room, and without wasting time, I made my way in it. There I found her, dressed like a princess yet tied with rope. Relief came over me, and I quickly made my way to her and hugged her tightly.
“Lorelei, are you okay? Did they hurt you? Did they do something to you?,” I asked hoarsely. I find my still shaky hands holding her face. I badly wanna know what happened to her, but my desperation for an answer was suddenly interrupted when she answered with a strangled moan.
It turns out I haven’t removed the tape that’s muffling her voice; how stupid of me.
“Oh, I have to remove that first,” I said as I peeled it immediately.
“Ouch! Can you please not do it rashly?,” she complained.
I almost smiled at her reaction, but I decided it would do me no good if I did. I just proceeded to untie the ropes, and once done, I heaved a sigh and exhaustedly sat beside her.
“I thought something had already happened to you. I was so worried.”
She looks at me incredulously, as if she can’t believe what she just heard.
‘Yes, I’m still human after all, Lorelei, and I’m definitely worried for you…,’ I said in my mind. I still stared intently at her for a few more moments until she asked something.
“By the way, how did you know they brought me here?," she asked while flexing her fingers. It seemed those ropes did strain her wrist, and I felt a tinge of a familiar feeling I never thought I would feel again, yet I shoved it away because for now that wouldn’t help our situation.
I explained to her how I found a mysterious note in the clubroom, but still she looked confused, and so I proceeded to elaborate further on how I cracked the code. I drew a four-by-four grid on the same card, and one by one I wrote letters.
“Start from the top left. Read it downwards, then proceed to the next column,” I instructed.
My eyes followed her gaze as she did what I’ve instructed. She uttered the letters one by one until she blurted out the whole clue. Her face brightened when she realized what it meant.
“In the costume room!,” she exclaimed.
I again had the urge to smile, but I know she’ll really find me weird, so to quell it, I decided to give a comment, “If M’s the one behind your abduction and this code, he’s pretty dumb.”
I stood up and picked the card. “Now I need to bring this card to the campus police and check if whoever sent this thing had left their fingerprints on it.”
“No need, I know who’s behind this. I saw her face, and I even talked to her, and she admitted that she’s the one responsible for this. We can report that person to the OSA.”
Her? Who was she referring to?
“Are you sure about that? One hundred percent?,” I asked.
She nodded. “Her name is Margarette Fernandez. She’s the same girl I’ve mentioned before. She said she’s the closest thing to a friend that you’re capable of having. If she’s M or related to M, then maybe you already have a lead.”
Then suddenly it dawned on me. I thought that was just a ridiculous slip of character, but it turns out this abduction isn’t M’s doing all along.
I covered my face and shook my head in disbelief. I surely know the person who can do this. “I knew it! That’s why this case was so ridiculously easy! How dare he use M to trick me!”
Lorelei’s brows furrowed, and it’s evident she didn’t get what I uttered. “He? Margarette’s a she.”
“No, no. I’m not talking about Maggie. Someone else pulled the strings here. Trust me. Maggie’s only a pawn in his schemes. By the way, the real M isn’t behind this conundrum. The person behind your abduction is someone who reeks of evil and relentless manipulation,” I explained extensively.
“Is he a tall guy whose voice sounds so chilling?,” she asked. There’s a hint of fear in her voice, and truth be told, I can’t blame her.
“Did you meet him? Face-to-face or from a distance?”
“No, I only saw his silhouette. Wait, do you know him?,” she asked, eyeing me curiously.
I nodded profusely. Of course, I know my elder brother. He may look like a perfectly harmless teenager, but don’t be fooled by his composed appearance because he’s cunning and despicable.
“I’d rather not meet him in person if I were you. If you think I’m bad, then he’s much—much worse.”
I extended my hand to her and helped her up. She almost lost her balance, and I was about to catch her, but she was able to hold onto the wall. She continued talking about reporting them to OSA, but I advised her against it. I know her effort would be just wasted because the ones responsible for her abduction were basically part of the big fishes in OSA.
Disappointment was evident in her face. I don’t know, but strangely, I felt vexed that I couldn’t do something about it. And that’s weird.
Now that she’s standing, I inspected her from head to toe to see if she had acquired other injuries, yet what caught my eye was her dress. Whoever dressed her sure knows what suits her because she looks lovely in it. I wanted to smile again, yet I decided to keep a straight face.
“If you still plan to go to OSA, you need to change your clothes first because that dress looks perfect on you. You might attract unwanted attention along the way,” I said honestly while still holding my gaze on her.
The moment she heard what I said, her face flushed. She seemed pleased with my compliment, and I’m truly happy she is. She started walking, and before we reached our way out, she turned to me and smiled.
“Oh, before I forget—thank you.”
That smile made my heart skip a beat and that somewhat frightened me. I may be really exhausted for my heart to act this way…or perhaps I secretly have a heart disease. Either way, that felt strange, and this time I couldn’t help but smile.
After seeing her smile like that, I wish I’d be able to protect it. This time, hopefully.
