● Illusory ●

Chapter 22

"Alright. And you said it was the next day she stabbed her friend, right?" she questioned, to which Kalle nodded. He then froze and cursed under his breath, opening his mouth only to find Yuuko staring down at him with a slight smirk. "You know something, don't you, Kallum?"

Kalle looked as if he were struggling to find his words, then his face became frustrated. Though, before he could say anything, we all heard a loud creak. Immediately, we all looked in the direction of the creak, only to find a leg with pink and purple striped leggings disappearing behind a door, with a magenta ribbon and a tan hand accompanying it. At first I couldn't figure out who it could have been, until I saw the shocked look on Yuuko's face. There was no other explanation for why she reacted this way.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. You ladies may have to leave. It looks like we have an intruder again," Kalle told us, before his guards grabbed our arms. I was quite suspicious of him now.

"Who was that!?" I shouted, despite knowing who it may very well be. I began to try to pull myself free without harming the guards, but their grip seemed to be like iron, just like mine. Kalle refused to answer us and just waved us away as the guards heaved and dragged us away. We were then nicely placed outside, with the sound of the front doors of Agloe locking behind us. Yuuko then turned and desperately beat on the elaborate door, yelling something in her native language before yelling her sister's name.

I sighed. "That was her, wasn't it?"

"It had to be," Yuuko assured me, "She's the only person I know who would wear that much pink. Besides, I sensed her aura. It's a dark purple one, and it seemed to almost overpower Kalle's multicolored aura. It couldn't have been anyone else."

"So....do you think she's been there the whole time?" I asked, concerned. It was the biggest theory I had. After all, it seemed Kalle was quite attached to her.

Yuuko nodded. "Perhaps. It's plausible, but I really don't want her to be there anymore."

We both looked at each other with worried yet agreeing expressions, not knowing what to do next. Though, I could feel a plan forming in my mind, even as Yuuko took my hand. "What are we going to do, Nadine? Chances are we won't be let back in," she asked, looking for hope in my eyes. I let my fingers intertwine with hers then, allowing my hopefulness to appear in my eyes once again.

"It may take a few days, but we can do something. I've got an idea on how to get back into Agloe," I assured her, to which a worried smile started to appear on Yuuko's face.

"And we'll get my sister back, right?" she asked.

I smiled reassuringly and allowed my forehead to rest on hers. "I promise we'll get Seiko back. I mean it."

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Seiko

I was aching.

Yet again I let myself make stupid mistakes, though this time my mistake was trying to eavesdrop on the conversation between Kalle, Yuuko, and Nadine, and getting caught in the act. Of course, I got a serious confrontation by Kalle, which caused bruises to appear on my body now and made me feel more undeserving of any kind of love. It was horrible, but maybe I deserved it. After all, I was going against his wishes, and it didn't seem Yuuko and Nadine were coming to my rescue. I was on my own, as always.

I stalked the halls as I had done the past few months, drowning in my misery of knowing I'd never be saved. It was evident at this point. If even Nadine and Yuuko didn't come for me, no one is coming for me. I'm in this alone, and I'll have to figure my own way out. Much like when it comes to dealing with my own emotional problems.