APRICITAS [ENG] || Johan Liebert || Monster

Chapter 5 - The beginning of an investigation

'Please, go towards Verden and take me with you, please, please...' After a while, she noticed a passenger car... going in the opposite direction, which passed her in the other lane and headed for Berlin. 'Wonderful...' she thought a little irritated and began to walk on.

The heat was getting milder as time passed, as the afternoon was slowly coming to an end, giving way to the evening.

The girl was already almost 25 kilometers from Berlin, when she suddenly saw that the delivery truck that had overtaken her a moment earlier, stopped a dozen meters away. As she approached it, the passenger door swung open and she saw a short, older man sitting on the other side of the driver's seat.

"How about a lift? Lady, it's dangerous to walk like that at night." Emiko looked at him with hope in her eyes.

"Which way are you going, sir?"

"Bremen." At these words, she scratched her head.

"Is it somewhere around Verden?"

"You're a tourist?" The man smiled. "Yes, I'm going through the Verden. On my way, I promised to give potatoes from the farm to my daughter, because she lives there. What, give you a lift?"

"If it doesn't bother you, sir..."

"Get in... Ah. I can put this suitcase in the trunk."

"Of course, here. And... thank you for your help, sir." Emiko smiled friendly towards him. The man got out of the car and opened the back door.

"You can thank me after. Now go in and fasten your seat belts."

In this way, after the next four hours, Emiko found herself safely in the place where her real journey began - Verden.

****

Luckily enough for Emiko, the man who gave her a lift to the city didn't let her leave at once, but took her to his daughter's house, where Emiko was offered to stay the night.

"Take her for the night or even a few days, because she has come a long way today and is probably already tired." The man said to his daughter, winking at her. The girl agreed, because although she was already an adult working woman, she still hadn't married and lived alone. She also said in advance that she wouldn't accept the accommodation fee from the younger woman, even though Emiko strongly opposed it. Eventually they came to an agreement - the accommodation didn't cover the cost of food. Young Tenma felt that this was a fairer solution. She didn't want to rely so much on the goodness of others - there were things she had decided five months before coming to this country. When asked about her identity, she introduced herself as... Emilie Himmel. She knew that by hiding the truth about herself, she would have better options in the future.

During breakfast the next day, Emiko heard quite interesting words from the lady of the house.

"I wish I was a student too; I miss these three months of vacation... A summer trip across the country like yours must be an interesting experience... Which city are you from, if I may ask?" Emiko was surprised, chewing her portion.

'She thinks I'm from Germany...? That I'm... German? Oh gosh...' She swallowed her bite slowly while wondering what to say. For the first time in her life, she felt truly grateful for her non-Asian beauty.

She chose one of the safer options, though at the same time she was afraid that she might not answer the next, more detailed questions. Worse, it might turn out that the place she had indicated was familiar to the young woman in front of her, which made her feel a bit insecure.

"From a small town in the east." She replied calmly, then took another bite of her sandwich.

"Oh, I understand." Older girl nodded her head. "It's quite a long route you've already traveled..." Emiko breathed quietly with relief. Fortunately, the woman didn't pursue this topic further. "I'm working a second shift this week, so I'll leave you spare keys for you to come and go whenever you want. As I mentioned before, you can stay here as long as you need to. You can even go out in the middle of the night as long as you'll be quiet." She smiled at her as she stood up and headed the empty cup towards the sink. "Young people like a little fun, I know it too well. At the same time you understand, I already work and unfortunately I have to sleep good at night..." For a moment she turned her head towards Emiko with an apologetic smile; it was obvious that she herself would gladly sneak out somewhere on a night trip full of adventures.