Kaidon
"Would you like to stay with us tonight?" I hesitantly asked Rihanna, peeking a glance at her downcast face from the corner of my eyes while keeping my hand steady on the steering wheel. It had been almost a month since we realised Riannon was missing. She was officially on the Order's most wanted list together with Gilaan. The conjecture was that she was a sleeper agent implanted among us by the enemy, presumably Gilaan, and she erased our memories once she made her escape.
Then what caused them to return? Was it intentional? Did her powers wear off? Or was she... dead?
The Order was conducting a nationwide search for her but to no avail. Every time we received a lead, we ended up returning empty-handed. This was another such report we received, only to be met with a dead end.
For Rihanna, she was her elder sister. Even if the two weren't blood-related, Riannon did raise her. I wasn't sure what her intentions were, but she genuinely seemed to care about Rihanna back then. She couldn't have faked it for all those years.
Rihanna had been surprisingly holding it well together. For someone her age, she was extraordinarily mature and calm. Whenever I looked at her, I always thought it could have easily been me in her stead if my father hadn't become the head of the family. Ignored, isolated, with no one to care about. She was prematurely forced to become an adult. Looking at her made me feel guilty for abandoning her and everyone else in the last five years I spent wailing in my misery. Rihanna, even though being younger, handled things much better than I ever could.
"If it's not too much trouble." She mumbled while silently staring outside the open window. I could hear the slight crack and the pain in her voice. She raised her hand up to pinch the bridge between her nose, and I was certain she was battling her tears. We weren't sure if Riannon was someone we could trust which made it all the more difficult for Rihanna to express her sadness. All she could do was find her and hope she wasn't an enemy.
"Kai... you are back." Ariel greeted me at the main door. The chestnut colour from her hair was long gone, leaving behind the original crimson colour I had seen the first time I met her. It honestly didn't matter much to me now. I wasn't sure if her likeness to Alice was what drew me to her in the first place, but at this point, I could say it with confidence- I loved her. I didn't care what she looked like. I just wanted her in my life. Period. She made me happy. She made me calm, and she made me feel like I could breathe again.
She seemed happier too. I felt guilty for having treated her horribly in the past, and it was a relief to see her smiling like that. It felt soothing to have someone greet you at home. To not return to an empty place.
"I missed you, Ariel." I never thought I was capable of saying something like that to another person again. Maybe because she was as kind and pure as Alice was, it was easier for me to let her go.
"Ariel..." We heard Rihanna's soft voice as she walked past me and clung to Ariel's body like a child seeking comfort from her mother. Ariel gently wrapped her arms around her frail figure, and her fingers caressed her head while awkwardly smiling at me.
"You've got us all, Rihanna. You are not alone." She comforted her as she walked her inside the house, mumbling about getting her something to eat. She was like the mother none of us had anymore. Perhaps it was precisely the aura that she carried which drew me to her. Her kind and caring demeanour made me want to be selfish and squeeze all warmth out of her, but I ended up falling in love instead.
"What the hell are you two clowns doing in my house? Why are you always hanging out here?" I asked as I kicked Seydon's feet off the centre table. Both he and his loyal minion Alex were engrossed in some game. When Alex noticed Rihanna, he dropped the controller on the couch and headed toward the kitchen to see her.
"The snacks, of course!" Seydon replied as he popped a potato chip from the bowl in his mouth. "Take over for Alex!"
It had been a while since I last played anything. I had been too occupied with my issues to consider adopting my old hobbies again. Thinking back to all that made me realise how much Alice would be cursing me from up in heaven to see me wasting away my life like this.
"Are you kidding me?" I mumbled as I walked past him and took the seat Alex had vacated. "We here are working hard to find out about Riannon while the two of you are goofing around playing games?"
"Not just any game!" He made a final shot to defeat the boss before turning back to me. "This is Labyrinth. The game launched by Hashtag Inc."
At first glance, it seemed like a coincidence that the game was named after the same experimental project that the Chairman tried to run on Ariel. But the fact that the company had requested help from Eldon's former assistant Iredov was a major red flag. We hadn't discovered anything odd about the game so far, and hence it had seemed like a dead end, but then again, the company was due for a much-awaited update in a few months, and it wouldn't hurt to be wary of them. Coupled with the fact that we hadn't been able to locate Iredov since that day made it all the more suspicious.
"Look at this. This is their latest teaser." Seydon handed me his phone and played a video on it. It was another small promotional video launched a few hours ago with several million views already, about the game's story, characters and open world setting. It seemed generic, like any other trailer, until I reached the last part.
"This world needs fixing..."
This statement...?
The video ended with the silhouette of a woman in a dark palace that floated in the middle of the world, which the game referred to as the Labyrinth Palace. She was supposedly the game's final boss, and that one statement was all she spoke in the video.
And then it hit me. It had been a while since Ariel was abducted, and she had shared almost everything that she could remember with us, and this particular statement lingered in the back of my mind.
"This world needs fixing..." I absentmindedly repeated, to which Seydon nodded and grabbed his phone away.
"Do we need more evidence? It was the exact thing Ariel could remember hearing in that maze-like place when she was being tested upon."
My mind tried to piece all the puzzles together in an effort to form a coherent picture. It was too much to be labelled a coincidence any longer. When we tried to get information about Project Labyrinth, it was apparently non-existent in the entire directory of the Order. When I indirectly tried to pry it out of my grandfather, he denied the existence of any project. He simply labelled it as a routine check on Ariel's powers. But Ariel wasn't lying. She may have been a hot-headed idiot, but she wasn't a liar. If there was anyone I implicitly trusted in this world, it was her.
"Kai, we need to do something about this. This doesn't seem right."
"Do what exactly?" My voice was laced with a hint of the frustration I felt at being helpless. I thought I had sacrificed and fought enough to know all the dirty secrets of this organisation, but apparently, I hadn't even scratched the surface. All my effort was for nought. "There's no evidence of its existence. Iredov was a dead end too, and now we even have Riannon's mystery in the picture!"
"We had Ariel try to hack their servers, but the data of the new update has been protected by strictly keeping it offline. It's all the more reason to be concerned."
Iredov's data was vital to their program, which must mean it could hold some hint to the project. The objective of our mission back then was to obtain the files to have them inspected, which must mean we might still have a copy. "Wait- what about the data we extracted during-"
As if having read my mind, Seydon interrupted, "We enquired. The files have been deleted already. The data was deemed harmless."
"By whom? Which team was-"
"Classified."
Our job back then had merely been to obtain the files for them to be scrutinised by a different team. To protect our agents, different teams were generally not made aware of the identities of the other team involved, which made it almost impossible to communicate.
"What about infiltration? We can always physically get the data."
Seydon held his chin between his thumb and forefinger as he considered the option. It was what we had always been trained for, and we were the best. A mere gaming company could do nothing to stop us.
"We were discussing the same before you arrived."
"And like I said, I am against it." We heard Alex's voice interrupt our train of thought as he plastered himself before us, blocking the view of the television.
"I don't think there's another alternative, Alex. Something sinister is brewing up at the core of the Order, and we need to-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Mr Top Assassin!" He shot me an annoyed look, and I turned my head away. I was too tired to retort or pick a fight with him that evening. "If it is as you say and this company is indeed involved, do you really think they are going to be such an easy target?"
"Of course, they wouldn't be. I am not expecting easy!" I answered back, borderline annoyed at his distrust of my abilities.
"No, Kaidon, he is right. If it's a valuable project, it will be protected by the Order. The slightest mistake could ruin everything." Seydon was the voice of reason this time. I was always a level-headed person, but for some reason, I had been growing more impatient lately.
Perhaps I was enraged by the fact that they tried to mess with Ariel, or maybe I just wanted things to wrap up to get some peace. Some alone time with her. I wanted to get to know her better and make up for all the shitty things I had ever said to her. But with all this stuff keeping us occupied, it was getting more challenging for me to spend quality time with her. I felt distant. Even though we lived together, it seemed like lately, she had grown much closer to Alex and Seydon than she ever was with me. I couldn't pinpoint it, but I felt like there was something the three shared, and I was out of the loop and all alone again. I didn't want that. She was my person, and I wanted her on my side.
"We don't want them getting any whiff of the fact that we have a hint of their existence. We need to be as covert about it as possible." Alex raised two fingers up as he continued, "That leaves us with only two options. Get into the beta trial of the game or locate Iredov.
"I am looking for the man already." I honestly wasn't expecting much there. I had exhausted almost every resource in my possession. I had already been careful not to alert anyone in the Order about this. Regardless, I needed to keep trying.
"And I have signed us up for the beta tests," Seydon added. "I'll pull some strings to get us selected. Leave that up to me."
"What are we going to do about Riannon? Ughhh..." An involuntary grunt escaped my throat as I let my neck dangle back on the edge of the couch. I didn't miss the look Seydon and Alex exchanged at that. I wasn't sure why they didn't seem as fazed as I was about Riannon's disappearance.
My mind was too exhausted to mull over that. I felt like we were being stretched in every direction. Like everything was falling apart, and we had no control over it. I wasn't sure how the others were keeping it together. Perhaps I had underestimated them all along. They were much more patient than I ever was.
"You should sleep early tonight, Kai." Her soft voice rang in my ears, and her cool fingertips gently pressed along the sides of my forehead, easing the throbbing pain. Something about her smile felt so nostalgic, and it took all the pain away with it.
I happened to watch Seydon from the corner of my eye out of habit. I tended to do that whenever the three of us were in the same room. Even though he broke off his engagement with her, I would always feel a certain amount of guilt towards him. The look he gave her made it evident he still cared about her, enough to let her go when she loved someone else.
What I was really grateful to him for was the fact that despite everything, he was still happy for her, for me, for us, and I didn't know if I could ever repay that kindness to him. He didn't let it get between us. I was glad to have someone like him in my family.
I hope he finds someone special someday. Who would love him as much as he loves.
"Did she eat?" Alex asked to which Ariel shook her head. "She wants to sleep, so I thought I would at least get her a glass of milk."
I felt her touch linger even after she left to get back to Rihanna. We sat there in silence, contemplating our next moves. The exhaustion was clearly visible on our faces. We were frustrated, burnt out and still in the dark. My father wasn't any help either. His hands were tied to help us freely. He was the current head of the family, so all eyes were on his moves. He couldn't be lax.
"At least we can relax a little bit tomorrow," Seydon mumbled, to which Alex and I shot him a curious glance.
"What about tomorrow?" I asked him, curious if he had any leads he hadn't shared with us. I wasn't sure if I asked something wrong because he gave me the most incredulous look, borderline shocked, before his lips turned into a mocking smile as he replied, "Don't tell me, Kaidon. You forgot about Ariel's birthday?"
Shit.
It's her birthday tomorrow?!
"Pfft. I can't believe you totally forgot about her birthday!" Alex didn't hold back his laugh, grabbing onto his stomach with tears threatening to escape his eyes, and Seydon joined him in. I was glad we were having a relaxing moment, but I didn't want it to be at my expense.
"Shut up! What are you laughing at? It's not like you remembered either!"
"She's my cousin. She's your girlfriend! An hour to go until midnight. If you hadn't wished her, you'd be the worst boyfriend of this century!"
"Now I wish I hadn't mentioned it. It would have been hilarious to watch him ignore the day." Seydon added while in the midst of his laughing fit and gasping for air.
I take my words back! This son of a bitch is the most annoying family member ever!
What do I do now?! I planned nothing!
The two left shortly after while my mind kept scouring for ideas. Ariel sent me a text, telling me she'd be sleeping with Rihanna tonight. It worked out in my favour, to be honest. It would give me enough time to think of something for her.
It was past midnight, and I was debating whether to knock on the door and wish her. Deciding otherwise, I climbed two steps at a time, hurrying to get back to my room and brainstorm ideas. It would be our first time celebrating something together, just the two of us, and I wanted her to feel she was special to me. She never particularly asked me for anything, but the very fact that I drove her to the point where she was forced to pick on Alice's appearance ate me in the back of my mind. I was a horrible person to her, and I needed to do something to redeem myself.
Regarding Alice, Riannon used to be my go-to person for advice. I would often surf the internet for ideas, but nothing was better than getting some suggestions from someone close to the person you like. It made me recall all those times she helped me, and we had fun together. I couldn't even begin to imagine how I could lose all those memories.
How could she do this to us? To me? We had been together for years. If there were anyone she spent the most time with in this world, it would be me, and even I failed to see through her. What kind of secret was she hiding behind that smile of hers?
Even though I cared about her, I couldn't forgive her for deceiving us. I shook my head. It was midnight already. I couldn't waste any more time. I needed to think of something.
Rihanna would have been the perfect person to turn to, but she was inaccessible. The boys were pretty hopeless.
Maybe one of our teammates?
Are they even close?
I typed into the browser to look for popular hang-out spots for dates and waited for the results to load. Most of the articles mentioned amusement parks as the top choice. It reminded me of her childhood picture that Seydon sent to us where she was together with her mother. I looked for the email and pulled up the image.
She was dressed in a frilly green dress with her mom holding her up in her arms. They both had matching smiles on their faces, flashing a victory sign towards the camera, probably towards her father.
I wonder where Griffin was. It would have been hilarious to get a picture of his childhood self.
I watched her for a moment longer. On closer inspection, she looked slightly different from what Alice looked like when she was a child, but there were similarities. If I had met Ariel instead of Alice, would I have felt the same way for her?
Perhaps.
Maybe it was a Ford thing. Fords were known for being honest and direct. They loved fiercely. Alice and Ariel were both descended from the same line.
As for us Crosses, we were capable of just one thing, failing the person we loved. It was our curse and our destiny. It sometimes made me fear for Ariel's life. I was done with losing people. I wanted to keep her safe and happy.
Maybe I should take her to this place again?
I looked through my contacts. I wasn't exactly on talking terms with Griffin since that attempt on my life. We had resolved our differences, but it didn't mean things could return to the way they were. Even if I didn't hold any personal grievances, we both had our positions to pay mind to. We were the next in line to be the respective heads of our families. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't be friends after that incident.
Another name caught my attention. I wasn't sure why I had it saved on my phone. The one time I talked to her was when she called me after Ariel met with her. Her mom.
Gianna Ford.
It had been a curious day. She warned me about losing her daughter. It felt like being reprimanded by a mother. Perhaps if my mom was alive, she might have given me a similar earful about treating Ariel that way. I honestly couldn't talk back to her that day. I was speechless. Something about a mother standing up for her dear child warmed my heart.
My fingers moved of their own free will as I texted her.
"Mrs Ford, This is Kaidon Cross. I am sorry to disturb you this late at night, but could I speak to you whenever you read this?"
This was the first text I had ever sent to her. Amidst all the craziness, I never got the time to formally greet her and introduce myself to her as Ariel's boyfriend. To be honest, since that day, I was kind of scared of seeing her. It was her dear daughter we were talking about here. She would-
My phone suddenly started ringing in my hand. My heart almost jumped to my mouth when I saw her mother's name flashing on the screen.
"Mrs Ford, uhh... hello..."
I am not prepared for this!
It was late at night, and I was hoping she would read this in the morning and I would have enough time to practice what I wanted to say to her. Her call took me by surprise.
"What do you want?"
Shit.
Her tone was plain and harsh, as if she couldn't wait to hang up on me. I couldn't blame her. If someone treated my daughter in that manner, I would probably skin that person alive.
"I uh- it's Ariel's birthday..."
"Of course, I know that. Are you calling me to remind me that?"
This is not going as planned! There was no plan, to begin with! This is why we were always taught to have at least seven different strategies in our minds before a mission!
"No, ma'am, I just... I wanted to take her out to celebrate if you are okay with that... and I uh- I was looking for some advice on that..."
The line went quiet, and I sheepishly scratched my cheek, itching to fill in the silence. I didn't want to sound too nervous. A mother would want a confident person for her daughter, and I didn't want to appear like an idiot even if I was one.
While contemplating my words and behaviour, a sudden burst of laughter caught me off-guard. Her musical voice filled the silence on the line, making me relieved but confused at the same time.
"You have come to the right person, Cross boy!" This time she sounded much more animated and excited, and the sudden three-sixty-degree turn in her personality left me dazed. "Now tell me what have you thought so far!"
This was no joke. For a mother, the best compliment was probably to tell her indirectly she knew her child the best and turn to her for advice. Perhaps unintentionally, I gained some points on her good books for this.
I asked her about the amusement park, and she told me the name and then shot down the idea instantly when she realised I was planning to take her there.
"What are you guys? Fifth-grade kids? Who even takes his girlfriend to an amusement park!"
Apparently, the internet.
"No no no. You need something better. A gift is a must. Don't forget her favourite flowers. It's lilies. Lunch and Dinner are an after-concern. You need a good location so your love can bloom even further!"
Uhhh...Am I talking to her mom or a Love Guru?
She kept mumbling to herself, coming up with ideas and rejecting them instantly. Her enthusiasm honestly made me chuckle at times. I got as invested as she was. We went off the topic, and she started reciting stories from her childhood and the way she narrated them made it so easy for me to picture them in my mind. She loved her daughter a lot. I wasn't sure if I could ever match the love she held for her, but I wanted to try. I wanted to become someone she deserved.
We ended up deciding on Escape Rooms. According to her, puzzles were Ariel's favourite thing to do, and the small closed room would give the cosy environment for further intimacy. She would have fun and attribute the same to my company.
We talked for over an hour, and it felt like I unwittingly made an ally in the Ford family.
***
She's still here.
My disapproving eyes narrowed at the figure of my young cousin stuffing her mouth with cereal on the breakfast island. Of course, I wanted her to feel at home and be comfortable, but this was one day I wanted to celebrate only with Ariel.
"Kaidon, did you wish Ariel?"
I wanted to, but you barged out of your room just when I was about to kiss her!
"Ah... right, Ariel, Happy Birthday." I wished her unintentionally in a nonchalant tone, very different from how I had imagined I would do that last night.
"Thank you, Kai. Would you like your eggs fried or scrambled?" She asked without sparing me a glance, much to my dismay. It was like any other day, and I was feeling nervous and annoyed by the minute. It was one day I wanted to make memorable for her, but everything was business as usual.
"Ariel, you got any plans today?" Rihanna asked, and my ears seemed to perk up at that. I didn't want the others to hijack her time today. What if Rihanna asked to celebrate together all day? I would be pissed.
"Not really. I didn't get the chance to plan anything."
"Oh, then how about we-"
I instantly cleared my throat to interrupt the conversation before Rihanna could monopolise her time. I needed to come up with something in a matter of seconds which was when I blurted out, "Ariel, there's a small mission we need to report for today. I just received word of it from my team."
It was the best I could come up with at that moment. It was a lame excuse, but it was sure to work. Ariel shot me a puzzled glance while Rihanna dropped her mouth wide open.
"What the hell? It's her birthday!"
"Don't you have classes to attend?"
"I can skip a day for Ariel. No big deal! But you certainly are a terrible boss! Hmph!"
Ariel was quick to chuckle at that. Rihanna's reaction was very much what we would expect from her, and I was glad she had been doing better since last night. I was almost tempted to bring her along with us, but perhaps Alex's company would cheer her up more. She did love that brat with all her heart. If there were anyone who could fill the hole Riannon left behind, it would be him.
"I don't have any control over the assigning of the missions!"
"But you technically are kinda my boss," Ariel added, and Rihanna's temper seemed to escalate by another degree. "I guess dating the boss doesn't have many perks."
"Kaidon is a lousy boss! Making people work on their birthdays!"
Now, this girl is getting on my nerves.
"Well, I can take Alex for the job instead if you don't want his company. He has a free schedule today, after all."
And that did the trick. It got her to shut up and reconsider. I watched as Ariel stood behind her, trying hard to hide a smile. I exchanged a glance with her, and she knew I wanted to be alone with her. To be able to communicate with each other without uttering a word, it was something the two of us had been sharing for a while now. It hadn't been that long since we started dating, yet it felt like I had known her forever.
"Alex has got no work today?" She confirmed with me, and I nodded, taking a small sip from my coffee cup and hiding my smug smile of victory.
It didn't take her long to finish breakfast and head off to his home after that. Ariel sent her off with a smile before shutting the door and turning back to me. "So, what have you got planned, Mr Cross?"
I cracked up into a laugh, amused by the ease with which she could read me. I beckoned her towards me from the breakfast island. Her short lazy steps spanned the length of the living room before entering the kitchen and standing right next to me near the table. I pulled her closer and closer until she was seated on my lap, with my arm wound up around her waist.
"What is it, Kai?"
I knew it was wrong to compare her to Alice, but she reminded me so much of her. It was like she was returned to me in a new form, like she had been reborn. At first, that very thing made me feel like I was betraying her memory, but Ariel managed to melt my frozen heart. Seeing her in pain made me feel like I was hurting Alice all over again, and I couldn't do that. She would have wanted me to move on. Ariel was my one chance at redemption. It was hard, but I decided to try it. I needed to love her and protect her.
I felt her fingertips with my other hand before raising them up to my lips and planting a kiss. "Happy Birthday, Ariel."
She took a moment to admire my eyes, much like I did, before replying, "Thank you, Kai."
"Can we go out on a date? Just the two of us?"
***
It was supposed to be just the two of us!
"What the hell are you guys doing here?!" I was still trying to recover from the shock of finding my cousins and Alex outside the Escape Rooms establishment. They were already waiting for us when we arrived there, and I was still struggling to understand how in the world did they manage to locate us.
"Happy Birthday, Ariel." Alex was the first to wish her followed by Seydon, who tried to kiss her on the back of her palm, but she slapped his hand away. Seydon shot me a knowing grin and waggled his eyebrows, immediately making me realise it was him. Somehow he managed to learn that I was taking her here.
What kind of sadistic pleasure does he derive out of ruining my dates?
"How old are you now?" Alex asked to which he received a sharp smack upside his head from Rihanna. "Never ask a woman her age!"
Ariel giggled while Alex muttered some curses under his breath. "It's fine, Rihanna. I turned twenty-seven this year."
"Ohh, that's the same age as this big fat liar." Rihanna pointed at me, the accusation clearly dripping down her voice. "So, this was your mission, huh, Kaidon?" She had me locked in her sceptical gaze, and I turned my face, walking away annoyed by the unwelcome guests.
Ten minutes into the locked room...
"This seems like a piece of cake. We don't need three hours for this." Alex made the bold statement while the others were trying to unlock a box with a code. All Escape Rooms were themed, and this one had the theme of a horror-murder mystery attached to it. It was supposed to be a haunted house, and we had to find out how the owners died to be able to get out.
The idea behind choosing this was a joint strategy between Ariel's mom and me, where we agreed Ariel didn't have an appetite for horror, making her seek my support. I was honestly surprised by her mom's enthusiasm for her daughter's romantic life. Were parents normally like that? Or maybe it's the mothers who are like that. I could never imagine in any world her father ever giving me a thumbs up.
Thirty minutes into the locked room...
The lights in the room were dimmed with spooky sounds and screams echoing through the speakers. Being used to living alone, I wasn't bothered in the least. The plot was predictable, the puzzles were lame, and the props were childish. But the other four seemed heavily invested, especially Ariel, who had become our self-appointed leader and directed everyone towards different puzzles.
Soon after, Alex and the girls screeched at the top of their lungs when the main door slammed open, and Seydon swung his fisted hand into the face of the poor technician who had entered the room to fix a mechanism that wasn't working.
Another Twenty-five minutes later...
"I don't wanna go inside! I don't wanna go inside!" Alex hid behind me while I was attempting to open a secret door in the cupboard.
"And someone said this would be a piece of cake." Seydon's mocking voice got Alex riled up.
"You were the one who punched that man and made us apologise to him so many times!"
"You guys are such a bunch of scaredy ca- Aaaaaaa!" Rihanna's cry almost made me go deaf. It was followed by Alex laughing his ass off, with a disgusting-looking mask swinging in his hand.
"Where the hell did you find it!" Rihanna punched him in the chest, her voice still cracking from the loud shriek she had just let out.
"Can we please move on, guys? Ariel's already frozen." I nodded towards her, who tightly clasped onto my arm, her eyes and mouth shut. It kinda made me feel amused. It was an adorable expression on her face, and I honestly would have enjoyed it a whole lot better without the meddling troublemakers around me.
Hours later, we were finally out of the room, having won the game. We were given some stickers and a small trophy for the victory, and we took a commemorative picture to celebrate the same. My eyes were locked on Ariel and her happy smile, who genuinely seemed to have had fun today. She indeed was our most brilliant player, having connected the dots and solved the entire mystery in the end. I had her mom to thank for this. Despite a few hiccups, it was a day well spent.
"I'll be back in like an hour with the cake. You guys can head off first." I told the gang. I had different plans for her, but the self-invited guests to the party didn't seem keen on leaving us any time soon. While we were inside the locked room, her mother had texted me that she had baked a cake for her and would like me to pick it up the next day, but since the plans were already changed, I might as well pick it up today.
"I want to see mom too. We can go together!"
"Absolutely not! I am certain you guys are gonna try to leave us behind again!" Rihanna was quick to interrupt and drag Alice back with her. "You are together all the time, for Christ's sake! But today's going to be celebrated with all of us."
I am definitely going to get revenge for this someday, little Ms Cross!
Her mom had a whole floor to herself to hold her cooking classes in the middle of the city. The place seemed to be closed for the day except for the staff and her? who was working on some final touch-ups on the cake. She received me with as much excitement as she showed while on the phone, not even an inch of resentment in her demeanour. I could see where Ariel had inherited her forgiving nature from.
"All done! Oh, before I forget-" She took out her phone from the pocket in her apron, unlocked the same and handed it to me, instructing, "Take a picture of me with the cake!"
I took the phone, briefly glancing at the wallpaper. It was the same picture from Ariel's childhood when she was with her mom at the amusement park. I snapped a photo while she held the cake in her hands with a broad smile spread across her face.
"She looks cute, doesn't she? We went there to celebrate her fourth birthday. It's been so long!"
I nodded, returning a smile to her as she handed me the cake package. "Mr Ford was the one taking this picture?"
"Yeah, Landon really doted on her a lot. She is his first child, after all."
First child?
Isn't Griffin the elder one? Is he adopted?
Is this for real? But Griffin's powers don't work on Ariel. Cousins maybe?
It seemed inappropriate to ask about it, so I decided not to broach the topic. However, I was surprised to learn that the Order agreed for an adopted child to become the head of the Ford family. They were always looking for ways to break each other up. This would have been the perfect opportunity for the Crosses to seize all power and control from the Fords.
I drove back on a different route that was less crowded. It crossed over a bridge, giving me a full view of the city and the giant Ferris wheel at a distance in the amusement park.
Come to think of it, it's the same park where the picture was clicked.
Something made me take a detour to that place. I parked my car a few blocks away and walked towards the park, admiring the hustle and the crowd. The sun was setting on the horizon, painting the sky in a brilliant colour of purple and red, and the people were preparing to leave. The picture was probably clicked near the entrance almost at this time of the day.
I tried to look for the angle at which the picture was clicked. I wanted to bring her back here again. Perhaps it was my desire to help her regain her memories. I clearly remembered the day she had almost drowned herself because she felt like a hollow shell.
I opened the picture on my phone and tried to match the frame location.
That's odd... was this place remodelled?
Curious, I looked up on the internet, and several articles turned up highlighting news from almost thirty years ago about some significant mechanical issue at the amusement park. There was an accident, and the place was closed for remodelling. There were several before and after pictures of the place, comparing the new look, but one of them caught my eye. A picture of the entrance. It wasn't the same shot as Ariel's picture, but they were comparable. It showed how the park had looked before being broken down and rebuilt into what it is today.
Something didn't seem right to me. I kept staring at the pictures for way too long, enough for my brain to do some math.
"...We went there to celebrate her fourth birthday..."
"...I turned twenty-seven this year."
Their statements kept revolving in my head, but the articles about the accident and these pictures weren't making any sense.
This picture of hers was supposedly taken twenty-three years ago... then how does the park in her background look like the way it was supposed to from thirty years ago before the reconstruction? She wasn't even born back then.
"...She is his first child, after all..."
I shook my head, my logical brain finding it hard to absorb the knowledge. I tried to brush it away, but the seed of doubt was already planted. I absentmindedly walked back to my car, my mind still trying to make sense of it.
Maybe Mrs Ford made an error.
Would a mother really make that kind of error?
That would make Ariel much older than she is today.
A tiny voice in my head kept pinching at the first doubt I had ever had about Ariel. I got a DNA test done to satisfy my curiosity, but as Alex had said that day, they could easily be manipulated.
I was trying hard not to think about it again, to accept the life I had built with Ariel now, but I couldn't seem to put my mind at ease. The doubt suddenly seemed to be getting fueled by this mismatch I discovered today.
There was something I had once read in a random article about twins. Twins could mirror each other in every possible way, but there was one thing they never shared.
Fingerprints.
They were unique. Alice's were unique too.
I needed to satisfy my curiosity instantly. I didn't want to sit around doubting and waiting another day for some DNA test results. I wanted to be done with it and move on.
My fingers typed her name in my contact list and called her up.
"Kai, where are you? Stuck in traffic?" She asked me as soon as she picked up.
"Ariel, I stopped by my office. I need some documents from my cupboard, the bottom drawer. Could you get it for me?"
"Really, Kai? I thought it was an off day. I can't believe-"
My mind tuned off her complaints. I was only waiting for her to say that she couldn't open the drawer. Unbeknownst to others, that drawer had a fingerprint scanner on its handle and couldn't be opened by anyone except me and... Alice. I had installed her prints in it back when we were together.
I waited, and waited, eagerly for her to reach the room, open the cupboard and try to pull the drawer. I wanted her to say she couldn't open it. My mind was only waiting to hear that. If it were the old me, I would have been undoubtedly happy if she could open it. It would mean my Alice was alive. But now, now that I had... I had treated her horribly... and then accepted Alice's passing and moved on with her... now that... that...
"Kai! Kai are you there? There are no documents in here."
Maybe she got the wrong drawer. The locked one only has the ring that Alice-
"Kai... this ring..."
.
.
.
She... she opened it.
"Kai... I can't hear you... are you still there?"
I wasn't sure what happened after that. When I dropped my phone or where I drove off to next if I did. I could remember nothing. I could register nothing. I could process nothing. I felt nothing. My consciousness and rational brain seemed to have been numbed.
Defeated.
Broken.
All I could think was...
.
.
.
.
It's her.
She's alive.
Alice is alive.