Russell then looked at the burning house. “Why are you here anyway? It’s late already” asked the chief. “I… I’m looking for a friend” Russell weakly answered. “Did you find her yet?” the chief asked, “No, but we found one and she was the one who was brought to the hospital. My friends came with her” Russell answered. “Are you looking for a girl?” the chief asked. “Yes” Russell answered as he took a deep breath. “Chief, we checked the whole house and found no one” the volunteer said. “I thought you said you found another girl trapped inside?” the chief asked with a little anger. “Yes we did but she was nowhere to be found, the place where we saw her awhile ago was already burned down and full of ashes, we only found these” the volunteer said as he handed a burned and crumpled plastic ID and eyeglasses.
The chief looked at Russell and showed him the things they found. “Are these hers?” the chief asked Russell. Russell looked at the ID and saw Cyndi’s name, all melted and unclear. He saw the eyeglasses then tears started to fall from his eyes. “Boy, are you alright?” the chief asked. Russell started to cry and scream. “No, Cyndi!!!” Russell shouted as he drove himself crazy. The volunteers tried to calm him down. “We have to take these, we need them as evidences” the chief told Russell. “I’m sorry for your friend” the chief said. “She was more than a friend” Russell said as he continued to cry.
“I lost the one I love too and I was not able to tell her too” the chief said as he sat beside Russell. “Two houses were burning that night; I chose to go with my father’s friend instead of going with my father. Then my friend told me that our friend’s house is burning down, he told me the street and at that moment, I started to cry real hard because that’s where she lived. I ran going there and arrived late, the whole house was burned down. My father came to me and comforted me. If only I didn’t let my pride go in the way, I should’ve gone with my father. Son, I’m sorry about her. We’ll just have to pray for them” the chief said. “I’ll give you a ride home son” the chief offered him.
“Thank you chief” Russell’s grandmother thanked him. Russell was all weak and quiet that night. Rose, Russell’s grandmother accompanied her grandson inside the mansion. “Granny, what’s wrong?” asked Helen, Russell’s mother. “What happened to you? You’re all dirty” said Helen as she went to the kitchen to get some water. “Why are you crying?” Rose asked him as she wiped Russell’s tears. Helen sat beside her son and hugged him, “What happened? We would all be puzzled if you don’t tell us” said Helen. Russell looked at his mom and his grandmother. “Granny” he called out. “We just lost someone very important to us without having the chance to say goodbye” said Russell as he stood up and went upstairs.
Rose and Helen were looking at Russell as he climbed the staircase. Helen looked at Rose and asked “Who?” “I don’t know” Rose answered. Russell took a bath and sat on his bed. He looked outside his window and saw the Champagne Rose on the table which Cyndi gave her before. He stood up and took the laminated rose with a Violet lace tied to it. He smiled as he remembered what Cyndi told him as she gave him the rose. “You gave me a different flower which meant I was different among others” he said as he smiled. He placed the rose on a thick notebook and took his cell phone and sent a message to Daphne and Daniel. He then went to the piano and played it.
