The Search For Peace

Chapter 9

A towel over her wet head, Harmony hummed to herself as she wasted the evening away after her shower, dancing around her room without a care in the world. She plopped onto her small bed in the corner, lazily picking up her phone, only to find an odd message displayed on the lock screen. With furrowed brows, she slid it open, and a new group chat she didn't know she was apart of until now popped up. And all the message said was....'Hryethknbjh'. No, really, that's what it said. And the sender was Alyssa, too.

At first, she took it as a joke, but after a few seconds of serious pondering, realization dawned on her, and she ran out of her room, screaming:"Austin!!"

The boy being called didn't hear her though, his headphones on full volume as he was engrossed in his video game. It was only when she tore them off his ears that he gave her his attention. "What the hell?!" Harmony held her hands up in defense as her hot blooded brother glared at her with a curled fist.

"Please don't kill me yet!" She reluctantly showed him her phone. "I just need help tracking a message."

"Gah, just how many times do I have to show you?! You're so dumb, it's frustrating." But even so, the boy paused his game and took the android from her, making her smile to herself in triumph. "It's the subway." As quick as he was at this, he found the location immediately. He was the one who invented this tracking app in the first place. "You know, the one beside our school?"

"Seriously?" The girl bit her lip nervously. "Then that means...." Without finishing her sentence, she grabbed her phone and scurried out of the room.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?!" Her brother followed behind her as she hurriedly jerked on her converses and pulled on her black jacket. 

"She's in trouble, I can feel it!" Was the explanation she offered him, before closing their apartment door behind her. 

He stood there, pushing a hand through his hair, quite aggravated. "Mom and Dad are going to kill me..."

For all she was worth, Harmony Leo ran, passing by the supermarket and the neighboring houses, trying to catch up to the bus that was about to leave a few spaces ahead. With a leap or two, she made it, and stumbled up the steps, out of breath. She didn't know why, but even though she had never bothered to know the girl before, or ever think about becoming her friend, she couldn't help but feel this numb pain, this fear for her, as if she'd known her for the longest time. And, as she stared into her reflection from the bus window with determination, she knew she wasn't going back home until she was safe.

When she made it to her stop, she rushed out like a madman and headed for the stairs that lead to the underground subway. Her heart pounded as she slid down the steps, the place as empty as ever. But when she made it to the departing area, she stopped dead in her tracks.

Breathing heavily as she caught her breath, she stared at the two familiar faces looking back at her. "What...What are you guys doing here?" 

Ultima Silverblitz showed her her phone, while Juliet Abbot stood there with her arms crossed. "I guess she really did make a group chat for us."

Juliet scoffed, glancing at the only thing that proved Alyssa had once been there: her school bag lying on the bench. "You guys can just go back home. I can handle this myself, since I am her only friend here."

Ultima laughed dryly. "Oh, so now you realize that your'e her friend?"

Her green eyes grew as wide as saucers at the remark. "Excuse me?" She made sure to emphasize the 's'.

Uh oh. Harmony thought. Here they go again...

"If you'd maybe, oh, I don't know, gone home with her considering her safety, you could've helped her somehow. As her..." The black haired girl's already dark eyes darkened some more. "Friend."

"Are you blaming me for this?!" Juliet snapped, her perfect face suddenly twisting with disgust. "Who are you to lecture me anyway?!"

"I'm not lecturing anyone." Ultima mumbled and looked the other way, shoving a hand in the pocket of her blood red coat, signalling the end of the conversation. Juliet was still fuming though, her cheeks flushed and her fists balled, and Harmony could feel the tension building up in the air. 

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As unlikely as it sounds, the three of them were now seated together in the train, Harmony in the middle. They were silent for a while, the brunette stiff as she anticipated another argument on the way. And sure enough, it came.

"Where are we going anyway?" Juliet's sharp nose twitched as she asked the question without looking at either of them. 

"The Capricorn Clan, of course." Ultima's gaze also remained glued to the screen of her phone. 

Harmony held her breath as the girl to her left crossed her leg with a sneer, her jeans as tight as her expression. "And you somehow miraculously know where this place is, right?"

"Yes, I do. I'm a G3, so I've kinda been there before." The black-haired girl spared her a glance.

"If a person like you is a G3, the leader's must've lost their minds."

Harmony grimaced inwardly. Juliet, you've seriously pushed the wrong button now! She said with her face. She paled once more when her friend gave her a thin smile.

"You really know how to get on someone's nerves, don't you?"

 In turn, she mimicked her grin. "As do you." 

And, as the two continued to pass on their sorry opinions for each other, ignoring the poor brown haired idiot caught in the middle, the train chugged on the tracks and took them to their destination, a place out in the outskirts of the city, cold and dark like the people residing in it.