It was almost dark, we were on our way to drive back to the hideout where we left Rory and Aunt Russo when we passed by a small town in Somerset. We really have no idea anymore what the names of the towns we pass by due to the fact that some of them were broken, corroded, or blown up. We just trust the phone’s map to lead the way. Azriel is softly strumming his ukulele as we drove around when a woman in a pinkish dress ran in front of the truck. I abruptly pressed the breaks to stop myself from running her over. “What the fuck?” I whispered as I went down from the truck and went to the girl, who suddenly sat down on the pavement. “Are you okay?” I asked her as I helped her to get up slowly. The trio went down the truck, too, to check on the girl.
“Where did you come from?” Azriel asked. She was babbling about where she was and then she started crying, great, I thought. “Dude,” Collin whispered, “a little empathy?”
“Can you, uh, calm down?” I tried my best to be empathetic. I mean, I just wanted to rest. I just wanted to have one day with no more monsters. Then there was a gush of strong wind, “he’s here! He’s here!” shouted the woman then she ducked. We all looked up to see a huge creature fly by. “What the fuck? Is that a –“ I was baffled at how huge this creature was.
“It’s a dragon,” the woman whimpered. The four of us looked at each other, “but weren’t they –“
“Extinct? Apparently not,” Merikh commented, cutting off his brother.
The dragon circled around again, then I looked down at the woman. “Are you a virgin?” I suddenly asked.
Collin, Merikh, and Azriel all looked at me, they went on with “that’s not appropriate, Mia”, “what did you just ask her?!”, and “the fuck is wrong with you?!”
I rolled my eyes at them, “the only reason I asked that is because dragons are interested in 2 things: golds and virgins. So, are you?” I looked at the woman again, and she nodded. “Alright, let’s get you out of here before it comes back,” I held out a hand for her to hold on to as she stood up. We led her to the passenger seat, Collin sat with Azriel and Merikh at the back.
We drove off immediately. I asked the girl if she can still remember where she lives since she’s been missing for weeks. She was a bit shy and probably, even traumatized. She said that she was hidden somewhere dark, humid, and damp, it’s the usual hiding place of dragons. She pointed us to another barricaded entrance, she told me to just drop her off. Of course, I didn’t listen. I stopped the truck just about a few feet away from the guards. The two of us went down to meet the security. “State your name and your purpose,” one of the guys said.
“Uhm,” she said softly, “I’m Elizabeth Cole. I’m the missing daughter of Senator Cole.”
I turned my head to her, “oh my G – you are her!”
“Excuse me, and you are?” the other guard said to me.
“Oh sorry. Uhm, she ran in front of my truck earlier asking for help. I just went with her to make sure she gets to her family safely,” I replied.
The guard who talked to her was on his walkie talkie then he went back to us. “Copy that,” he said to the radio then he looked at both of us, “the Senator wanted you to come with her.”
“What? Why?” I sounded like I didn’t want to be there, but they don’t give a shit about that.
“He wants to properly thank you for bringing back his daughter. Please, we insist that you come with her.”
“But my truck,” I pointed to the black Tacoma parked a few feet away, he also looked at it.
“Take it inside. We’ll give you a pass,” he replied. I looked at Elizabeth who sheepishly smiled at me, then we both walked back to the truck. When we got inside, I didn’t say a word to the three of them at the back. I rolled down the window and the guard gave me a laminated card, about the size of a 4R photo, that I placed on the dashboard. “That’s a VIP pass,” Elizabeth mused. I looked at her, “VIP? What does that mean for me? I mean, I know the meaning of the acronym but why did they give me a VIP pass?”
“Because you will be entering the house of the Senator.”
“I’m sorry, what?!” Collin blurted, “Senator? Why are we going to the house of the Senator?”
“Elizabeth here is the missing daughter of Senator Cole, and we just got her home,” I smiled.
We arrived at a huge Victorian house. The exterior is exquisite. White walls with big bay windows on the ground floor and a few more on the upper levels. All their roof was painted in a darker shade of gray and each room has their own balconies. We parked on the driveway, and from there, you can see the garden where different colors of tulips are aligned. The stone walkway made it easier for us to pass from the driveway to the smooth brick path that leads to the front door. From afar, the stairs leading to the door seemed shorter, but as we get closer, I realized it wasn’t the case.
When we reached the top, there was a man wearing a suit with his signature turquoise tie and a woman wearing an emerald green top and black slacks, they were both standing by the entrance. When they saw Elizabeth, the woman couldn’t help it but run towards her. By the looks of it, her heels are Louboutin’s. She was crying as she hugged her daughter tightly. Then she wiped her daughter’s tears away and hers, she shifted her eyes to us and mouthed “thank you” as she hugged her daughter again. Senator Cole was teary-eyed as well as he walked closer to his family. He gave both his wife and daughter a hug then kissed Elizabeth on the top of her head. He looked at the four of us and walked over. “Thank you so much for bringing her home,” he said as he shook my hand, “we’ve been searching for her for weeks. Please, do come inside. It’s getting late, we don’t want you traveling at this hour especially we know what’s out there.”
I was about to protest but Elizabeth and her mother insisted we stay. They were about to have dinner when they found out that their daughter was at the barricade, and they wanted us to join them. I looked at Collin, Merikh, and Azriel, they seem to like the idea of staying for the night.
Their helpers led us to the guest rooms which were located at the other wing. They even gave us some clean clothes too and had the ones we were wearing be brought to the laundry. I was in my room when I heard a knock. I opened the door to see no one there. I was about to close it when I heard another knock, I turned and peeked outside. I saw Elizabeth knocking on Merikh’s door. I know it’s bad to be even eavesdropping right now, but I just can’t help it. I was actually hoping Merikh won’t open his door but then again, I hear it open, and he said “hi” then the door closes. I closed my own door, leaning on it. As I was about to move away from it, there was a knock on my door. I opened it and Merikh was standing there, his usual messy dark hair and piercing gray eyes staring at me. “What?” I asked.
“Uh, well, Elizabeth came to my room and uh, she, uhm,” he paused.
“Spit it out, Mer,” I was a little bit irritated at that, to be honest.
“Well, she wanted me to teach her how to use my staff.”
I don’t know why I thought of it, but I found myself slowly drawing my eyes to his, you know, staff. He seemed to notice it, “Mia,” he started. “Eyes up here,” he said pointing to his gorgeous face.
I felt my cheeks turning red. He was trying to hold back his smile or laugh, “I’ll, uh, I’ll be in the backyard teaching her to use my staff. If you need me, you know where to find me,” he smiled and winked at me before leaving.
I was about to close my door when I heard someone laughing, I looked to my left and Azriel was standing by his doorway, laughing, “I saw that,” he said. I raised my eyebrow at him and lifted my right hand, swiping it to the left that it somehow threw him on his bedroom floor. I heard him say “ow” as I closed my door. I went to the balcony and saw Collin sitting on the ledge, staring at the sky. “Hey,” I said as I walked to the end of my balcony.
“You see that star over there,” he pointed at the star that seemed to shine brighter than the other stars.
“Yeah. What star is that?”
“That star is the one I named after Ginny,” he started, “I saw a website a few years back where you can name a star after someone and that was supposedly my gift to her for Christmas, but she didn’t live long enough to know about it.”
“Do you miss them?”
“All the time.”
I stood there silently and looked at the stars with Collin. The night was peaceful and cold. Fall is already coming, the trees are starting to change their colors. It was quiet when all of a sudden, we heard someone scream. We quickly went back inside and ran towards where the scream came from. Some of the men in their security, two helpers, and the three of us were led to the backyard where Merikh and Elizabeth were practicing some bo staff skills. Turns out they were getting a little too playful. I rolled my eyes and went back inside. I saw Collin and Azriel follow me with their gaze, then they followed. I went inside my room, closed and secured the balcony door, and turned off the lights, then I slipped into the bed. It was very comforting and safe in my room, then I fell asleep.
***
The next morning came, I went down and saw that Azriel and Collin were already there with Merikh and Elizabeth sitting together. “Good morning,” Azriel greeted me.
“Do you want some waffles or pancakes?” asked Merikh.
“She’ll have bacon and eggs,” Collin said as he gave me a plate. I took it and sat beside him.
“You guys want to see the town?” Elizabeth asked, “it’s a good day for a tour.”
“We’d love to but we need to go, maybe after breakfast?” I commented.
“Oh, I see. Maybe next time then?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Her parents joined us for breakfast very quickly but they needed to go out as soon as they’re done. Senator Cole has a press conference, while Mrs. Cole has some errands to run. After we ate, I immediately went back to my room to get the things I had with me when we got there last night. Our clothes were given back to us, and I was changing to them when Merikh suddenly opened the door. I jumped in surprise.
“Oh shit,” he blurted, then he turned his back to me, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s okay,” I replied as I immediately put on my shirt and pants, “you can turn around now.”
“Are-are you decent?”
“Yup, I am.”
He turned to face me. I was folding the pajamas I was wearing last night when he walked towards me, “Mia,” he whispered. I looked at him and he placed a hand on my cheek, out of the blue, he just kissed me. “Are you guys kissing?!” Azriel was standing by my doorway, a surprised look on his face, I pushed Merikh away. The look on Azriel’s face was indescribable. “Who kissed who?” Collin suddenly entered.
“I, uh, let’s get going,” I said and then I rushed to the door. Collin looked at Azriel and Merikh.“Dude,” Azriel broke the silence between the three of them, “she’s like our niece.”
“Woah! You kissed Mia?!” Collin was surprised.
“That’s kind of like incest, man, come on,”
“Shut up,” Merikh replied as he went out of the room as well.
We met downstairs where Elizabeth was standing there with their head of security, “can’t you guys stay here a while? I mean, it’s nice having some company,” she pleaded. I was about to say something when her mom entered the front door. “Leaving so soon?” she asked as she handed over some bags to their helper.“Yes, we needed to go back to my aunt’s and –“
“Why don’t you stay for another night?” she cuts me off, “we’re having Pot Roast. My recipe is the best!”
“It’s true. I gained weight and beaten anorexia because of it,” Elizabeth smiled.
I looked at the trio, “well,” I was hesitating. “If it’s not an imposition then I guess we can stay for another night,” I said as I looked back at Mrs. Cole.
“That’s great! Now, take your things back to your rooms and go out. It’s a great day outside!” Mrs. Cole then walked past us to go upstairs after she kissed her daughter on the forehead. Elizabeth smiled at us, “let me give you a tour of the town then?”
I smiled back and nodded. We all went outside with her, “you guys go ahead. I’m just gonna get something from my truck,” I suddenly said then I heard Collin tell them that he’ll wait for me. He followed me to the truck, “you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just gonna get a few stuff in here or maybe bring my whole duffel,” I replied as I put some ammo, guns, and knives inside the bag and placed some clothes on top of it.
“You, uh, you sure you’re okay? This has nothing to do with the kiss?”
“No, of course not. Besides, that can’t mean anything. He’s like my uncle or something.”
He carries the duffel bag for me and I locked the truck. When we reached the gate, Merikh and Azriel were standing there talking to Elizabeth. “You guys ready?” she asked.
“Yeah, lead the way,” I replied.
We walked around town just like everyone else. I noticed that the people here come from different walks of life. I found someone wearing clothes that seemed like from 1984. I am not judging. They can wear whatever they want, it just seemed strange right after I saw someone wearing an empire dress right around the corner of the bakery. “Huh,” I said softly.
“What is it?” Collin asked. He knows me well enough that even just a little grunt, he knows that I am noticing something weird. “Have you noticed the people?”
He looked around, carefully scanning everyone. “Well, they’re people. If that’s what you’re asking,” he chuckled. I just nodded but I couldn’t shake the fact that I can feel something strange. I started talking in my thoughts, I feel something’s a bit off about this place.
What do you mean? I heard Azriel say in my head.
Look around. The people here seemed –
Stuck? It was Merikh, who finished my train of thought for me.
In my peripheral vision, I can see Collin and Azriel looking around. Merikh, who was in front of us with Elizabeth, started looking around too. In one corner, there was a stand. The woman there was selling her homemade cupcakes. Elizabeth went over there and bought a box to share with us. We took a bite of it, and it was so. Damn. Good. I wanted to get another piece, which Elizabeth was more than happy to give. Then I heard Merikh speak in my head, put the cupcake down. I think I know what we’re up against. I looked at him and he secretly pointed at the signage beside the cupcake stand which said: Try our best-selling Lotus Cupcakes!
I looked at the cupcake and the buttercream was indeed designed as a Lotus flower. I pretended to not feel good so we can go back to the house. Elizabeth was a little disappointed that we needed to end the tour early. When we arrived at the house, I didn’t notice there was a small pail on the side of the stairs. I looked inside and there were growing lotus leaves in it. “Mia,” Collin whispered then he looked inside the pail too, “what’s that?”
“Those are lotus leaves,” I whispered back, “I think this is where they grow those lotus flowers.”
The two of us looked at each other and then to the house of the Senator, whose family, friends, and neighbor, may or may not be actual Lotus eaters.