I cannot take it much longer.
Showing up in public is harder and harder, even a short dinner costs me nearly all my energy. I try to catch my breath again as I stumble into the dim-lit living room. The suit is heavy like it was made of lead, the tie is like a noose around my neck.
I collapse into my favorite armchair and finally let go. The face I show to the public is gone. Instead, in a huge mirror in the room, I see what I've become. I try to breathe with what's left of my nose. I want to grab something and smash the mirror, but it would cost me too much energy.
Every dose of youth I take lasts for shorter time than the previous one. Fortunately, I'll be able to save myself soon. Leave this vessel behind and start again.
However, I'm anxious. These obnoxious girls, HER daughters, are getting too close to the truth. They already know about Chance Arlington. This is only a step away until they discover the true circumistances of their birth. And then... if SHE returns...
Just a few years ago, I would simply say that they cannot stop me. I was too strong. But now... I will probably have to start with preemptive countermeasures, just to rule out the possibility my plan will be ruined by a punk tomboy and a lesbian nerd.
I have to rule out the possibility that SHE will return.
<<>>
"I think you're upset a bit, Annie," Alexis said. "It's almost June, the summer is coming... well, that's probably a bad point since summer tends to suck, but still. Do you have any reason to be unhappy?"
"It's probably just your imagination, I'm not upset at all," Anna smiled at her. However, Alexis was already skilled in reading the tiny changes in her girlfriend's facial expression. Her smile was tense and her eyes partially refused to smile alongside the mouth.
There was definitely something troubling the girl.
In a brief burst of selfishness, Alexis thought that she has the right to be upset in the first place. Just a few weeks ago, Alexis and Diane found out that there was a mysterious figure somehow connected with their past. Chance Arlington, also known as the King.
They learned that Chance possessed some kind of supernatural powers, much like the girls. It can't be a coincidence. Since then, the girls were trying to find any additional info about that person, but it seemed that the King is the city's taboo.
There were several links on the internet, but they were even more misleading. They were mostly far-fetched, gruesome-wannabe stories written by kids who were born long after the King disappeared; the girls were in doubt that these stories have anything to do with reality, especially these where the author describe their sexual intercourse with the mysterious murderer.
There was also a chain message saying that if you don't repost the message six times, the King's spirit will arrive and murder you at night. The girls didn't repost the message on purpose - if Arlington really appeared, they could ask him a thing or two. Sadly, the message didn't work.
The girls continued their walk through the Serenity Square district. Dante also seemed to enjoy the spring atmosphere even though his limited dog vision didn't allow him to see all the beauty of colorful flower beds all around the city and the blooming trees. Alexis also found it a little less enjoyable since she still suffered from her allergy, but as the spring went on, the symptoms grew gradually weaker.
While together, Alexis and Anna were usually engaged in an endless talk and laughter, kisses, confessions of their love. Today, the silence felt a bit awkward. Even Dante noticed the unusual tension between his human friends. The dog felt guilty he can't do anything about it.
Alexis was the one to break the silence. "Is it because of that... business I'm trying to solve with Diane? I know... I feel like I'm neglecting you. We used to go on a date way more often. Annie... I'm sorry. I promise I'll try to change it. Of course, my past is important, but so is my present. And that's you."
"What's with you today, Alexis?" Anna already looked irritated. "I feel perfectly alright. Maybe your conscience tells you otherwise, but trust me, I am!"
Alexis shrugged. "As you wish."
The lovers initiated a chat, but it was more similar to a bleak small talk, like they were talking to strangers they barely know. Even Anna's kisses weren't as warm and full of love as before. Alexis was sure there's something wrong with her girlfriend and she'd do anything to find out what it is.
Alexis usually hated to end the walk and leave Anna. It happened frequently that right after Dante's walk, Alexis went to Anna's home or vice versa, closed themselves in their room where they continued in their romance (much to Alexis' slight frustration, Anna still wasn't ready to get more intimate, but even shy touches and passionate kisses were an euphoric experience). This time, they just said goodbye and went into their respective flats.
"Hey, sis," Diane greeted her. "I've been looking at some webpages about..."
"We have to stop," Alexis uttered.
Diane looked confused. "Why?"
"Because we basically devoted our lives to a dead guy!" Alexis exclaimed. "In the past weeks, we became obsessed with that Arlington dude. We haven't solved a single case. We're forgetting to live our life. And... I feel Annie is drifting further and further away from me."
"So you got problems in your love life, huh?" Diane replied. "You shouldn't be so tragic about it. Every relationship has ups and downs, it's normal. I'm actually pretty amazed that you are dating for, like, half a year already and you didn't have any bigger argument so far."
"I know it sounds like a cliché," Alexis said, "but me and Annie were made for each other. She's the love of my life, my soul sister. You know how much I love her. So of course I'm tragic about it when she started to act so strange. I dread losing her."
"You really shouldn't worry so much," Diane said. "It'll be alright in a few days."
<<>>
It was not.
Alexis' feeling of despair grew bigger each time Anna cancelled her plans involving Alexis for seemingly no reason. The impaired girl was still able to interact with Alexis romantically, but it seemed forced, just for the sake of keeping the relationship alive.
Alexis desperately wanted to know what's behind that sudden change, but Anna was getting angrier each time Alexis asked. She insisted that everything's the same, that nothing happened. That just Alexis is getting paranoid. But Alexis knew it's not true.
She decided to ask the person closest to Anna.
Alexis took the chance when Anna went out - alone, without her. She went into Anna's flat where she found her girlfriend's brother in the middle of cooking. Augustus turned around to see her. "Alexis," he said. "Welcome. Nice to see you."
The girl sighed. "Gus, I need your help."
Gus took a chair and sat by the kitchen table; he gestured at Alexis to do the same. "If you wanna know why is Annie acting so strange lately," he said, "I have no idea either."
"But you admit something's wrong with her. It's not just my imagination."
The man nodded. "She barely talks to me. I don't recognize her! It's like... she's returning to the times shortly after the accident. She went through a phase which is identical to the situation now - apathetic, irritable, introverted... well, more introverted than usual. She was prone to depressions and even considered suicide several times. I was so glad it's gone. But now... it's back."
"What could cause it?" Alexis wondered.
Gus shrugged in desperation. "I don't know. She has no apparent reason. She got used to her condition, got friends, hobbies... you. If you only knew how much in love with you she is!" he laughed. "When you two started dating, Annie could talk about you for hours. I was already a bit annoyed. Maybe I haven't found the true love yet, but I recognize one when I see it. And yours is the truest I've ever seen."
"And I can't get Annie pregnant," Alexis sneered.
"Yes, also that." Gus put on his "bitch face", as Diane called it; the annoyed expression he had when he saw the sisters before they got to know each other better. "To be honest, I was kinda relieved that Annie came out as a lesbian when you started dating..."
"She's not a lesbian," Alexis corrected him. "She's a bisexual."
"Whatever. She's making out with a girl now, that makes her a lesbian. The truth is... I don't trust men. I was afraid that one of them will horribly play with her heart one day and leave her in the same lethargy she was in years ago. That's what most of them do. You know, Annie is pretty and a bit naive, which is a bad combination. Fortunately, she got you. I believe you would never be the cause of her sadness."
"But she ended up in that lethargy anyway," Alexis muttered.
"Maybe she just needs some time alone," Gus said. "She sometimes has these bursts of sadness. Not as intense as those, but it happens. I think... she just sometimes needs to remember what she had lost. Her legs, her parents. Our parents. God, I miss them too."
"Annie rarely talks about them."
"Maybe the memories are too painful. To be honest, I think she fell in love with you not only because you're kind, smart, cute and everything, but because you remind her of our mom."
Alexis frowned. "Your mother?"
"Come with me," Gus said. "I'll show you something."
<<>>
This is the first time Alexis visited Augustus' room. Unlike Anna's, which is always a little messy, Gus' room is meticulously neat and tidy, with only the most necessary furnishing. The room's colors and furniture are made to give a wooden feeling which Alexis found surprisingly calming.
They say that a room is dead without a bookshelf. Augustus has one - a big one (but still nothing compared to Alexis'). He approached it and grabbed one of the books. He handed it to the girl. "I don't know if Annie already told you about this," he said.
The black cover shows a scary moth and the title, written in menacing red and white font, reads: They Come at Night. But the biggest surprise for Alexis is the author's name on the bottom side of the cover.
Patricia Lightfoot
"Wow," Alexis voiced. "Your mom was an author?!"
"Yes," Gus smiled proudly. He showed Alexis more books, all written by Patricia Lightfoot. They Come at Night was the first book of a pentalogy with a shared main character, a female police officer named Anna White. "Annie's name was decided long before she was born," Augustus smiled.
Besides the pentalogy of crime thrillers, Patricia also wrote a book of horror short stories, several more thrillers with different main characters and a fantasy saga.
When introducing it, Augustus handed her only two books - The Sacred Artifact and The Pauper's Curse. Augustus sighed. "It was supposed to be a trilogy," he said. "However... mom died before she could even start the final book. It seems that the story will always be unfinished... just like mom's."
"Mind if I borrow something?" the girl asked.
Gus smiled. "I hoped that you'd ask. Take anything you want. Just keep it a secret until Annie... recovers. When she's like this, our parents are a sensitive topic."
Alexis took the unfinished fantasy saga and Anna White's first case. "Thank you."
The man opened a drawer of his bedside table. He took a piece of paper and handed it to Alexis. It was a photo, depicting a middle-aged woman in her late thirties. She looked slim and fragile, almost ethereal. Her pale face was decorated by a shy smile which Alexis knew so well. Anna used it so often after they kissed.
But it wasn't the only similarity with Anna. The daughter definitely inherited her pitch-black, wavy hair which were longer in Patricia's case. Another similarity lied in endlessly kind blue eyes; Patricia's were covered with eyeglasses. She was wearing a simple blue blouse and a black skirt. Her glasses, figure and fashion sense really reminded Alexis of herself.
"She was the kindest nerd on the planet," Gus told her. "Even through she was an adult, there was always some inner child inside her. She always treated me and Annie as equals. She never yelled at us, never punished us. She was too gentle for such things. It was only her endless love and kindness that raised us into people we are now. She strongly opposed the people who take beating as a method to raise the child right - and she showed them it really isn't necessary. Just love, kindness and patience."
Alexis felt tears entering her eyes. This woman was everything she ever aspired to be.
"As I said, she would love you," Gus continued. "She wouldn't mind at all that her daughter found a girlfriend - she was always very supportive towards the LGBT community. A daughter-in-law who is a huge bookworm..." the man touched the ring on Alexis' hand, Anna's gift. "When Annie gave you the ring, she said our mom can be watching over both of us. I'm sure she was right."
"Did you take me here to make me cry?" Alexis asked.
"Not at all. I just wanted you to know who was Patricia Victoria Lightfoot. I think everyone in the world deserves to know her name. I miss her so much."
Surprisingly enough, Gus was the first one to start crying. He had several more photos of his family hidden in the drawer. He scanned through them and Alexis could only imagine which memories are crossing his mind. "At least you know I'm not a heartless bastard," he smiled.
"I've never though that," Alexis said.
Gus put a hand on her shoulder. "Alexis, you have a potential to be just as important and awesome person as our mom. Please, take this chance. Annie lost her beloved mother, but at least she can find the woman of her life in you. Take a good care of her."
Alexis nodded. "I promise."
<<>>
Alexis hoped that Gus, after her visit, will try to talk some sense into Anna. She was secretly hoping that her girlfriend will, at any given moment, just burst through the door, apologize, hug her and give her a long kiss. However, several more days passed and Alexis' contact with Anna reduced to the minimum. Their relationship languished, just like Alexis' heart.
Then, one day, someone really knocked at the door. Alexis rushed to open, forgetting she's in the middle of cooking and her face and clothing are covered with flour stains. Everything was so instinctive she forgot that Anna has a keycard. She can unlock the sisters' flat at will. Or maybe Alexis hoped she just didn't want to burst in without invitation.
She was disappointed when she saw a different woman than she wanted - Inna Lindbergh. The disappointment was quickly replaced by confusion and curiosity.
"Inna?" she frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi," Inna greeted her. "About your search for Chance Arlington. Did you give it up, or...?"
"Of course we didn't!" Diane bursted out upon entering the hall with the main door. "What did you find out? And... yes, by the way, hi."
"Partially," Inna replied. "Maybe I found someone who may be able to help you."
Alexis invited the woman in and prepared her a tea. "So, Inna... we didn't expect to see you so soon again. Also, we thank you for showing interest in our case."
Inna smiled. "I'm just returning the favor you did for Summer. Even though only for a few days... she was my friend and thanks to you, she's in a better place now. In return, you deserve to know more about Chance Arlington. He's somehow connected with your past and I want you to discover it."
"Go on," Alexis said. "Who is it?"
"Maybe it's just a wild guess, but I know a person who's... or who was obsessed with Chance Arlington as much as you are. Her name is Cassandra LeFevre."
"That Cassandra LeFevre?" Diane said.
"Yes, that Cassandra."
The face of Cassandra LeFevre was familiar to anyone who turned on the Gabriel's Gardens main TV channel at least once in a while. She was the number one broadcaster of the channel, being an inseparable part of the news program.
LeFevre was close to fifty now. It was a thin woman who somehow resembled a bird because of her pointy nose, round eyeglasses and srange, neurotic behavior which made her look startled all the time, especially during her live entries. Alexis did a quick mental math and realized she was probably as old as Inna is now when Chance ruled the city, in her late twenties.
Maybe they are onto something.
"I've done some research with my friend who works for the TV," Inna explained. "She's roughly as old as Cassandra and she also remembers some things about Arlington, but her knowledge is similar to mine. However, LeFevre specialized in Chance Arlington's case. She investigated the whole thing as long it was safe for her and she narrated all the news reports about him - and you bet it was a great deal at that time."
"But she's a TV star," Diane objected. "I highly doubt she'd have time to talk to us."
Inna smiled triumphantly. "That's what I solved already. The friend I talked about knows Cassandra personally. She told her that there are two girls who want to talk about Arlington. What can I say...? LeFevre is really eager to talk to you."
"Besides that, we aren't complete no-names either," Diane smirked.
Inna handed Alexis a note containing a phone number. "You can usually catch Cassandra somewhere around six in the evening," she said. "She enjoys her coffee and chocolate and nobody can disturb her. However, she agreed that she'll accept your call."
"Coffee and chocolate?" Diane noted. "No wonder she acts like that squirrel from Over the Hedge."
<<>>
The girls decided to call Cassandra the next day since it was already after six. However, another guest came around eight, when Diane was in her room dived into the videogame world.
Just when Alexis stopped expecting, the thing she was hoping for came true. Anna was standing in the door, looking at Alexis with an unreadable expression.
Alexis' heart raced. During the empty days, she prepared millions of things she wanted to tell Anna, but right now, when she was in front of them, she remembered none. They just looked at each other with anxious, careful anticipation.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Anna said. Her voice was strange, emotionless.
"You don't need my permission," Alexis replied. "You are always welcome here."
Anna drove inside and stopped in the living room. "Could you please... make me a cup of tea?" she asked. Alexis nodded and stepped into the kitchen. A while later, she returned with the tea and put in in front of Anna, then sat across her and continued the staring contest.
"Whose phone number is this?" Anna pointed at the note which Alexis forgot to hide.
(Is Anna jealous?)
"It belongs to Cassandra LeFevre," Alexis replied. "That famous TV announcer. She knows more about Chance Arlington and we need to know it." The girl felt bad when mentioning the King's name in front of Anna. She still thought their restless hunt for the past's fragments is the thing which crippled their relationship. "We will talk to her and that will bring us one step closer to our goal."
Anna nodded. "Good luck."
The impaired girl's expression was so blank. Alexis fought the urge to grab Anna's shoulders and just scream at her to tell her all the secrets she hides. The goddamn secrets which make her suffer. Does Anna suffer, too? Does she want to get rid of Alexis but doesn't have the courage to do so?
She tried to recall when did Anna start acting so strange. It was shortly after she absolved Summer, after she learned about Chance Arlington. She tried to not neglect Anna and their relationship and also, the thought Anna will have more understanding when it comes to discovering her and Diane's past.
Is there something else behind it?
"Do you love someone else?" Alexis asked.
"No," Anna replied. Just no. No assuring that Alexis is the only love of her life. She didn't hesitate and her body language didn't give away a lie, but Alexis wasn't feeling much better.
Then she asked the key question.
"Do you still love me?"
Anna didn't hesitate once again. "Of course. It's just... recently, I prefer being alone. It has nothing to do with you, don't worry. I'm sorry if I gave you this impression. I still love you, Alexis, but just recently... I don't know who I am anymore. My head is a mess. I have no idea what's happening."
Alexis gently grabbed her hand, expecting Anna to flinch. That didn't happen. "What about you try and tell me everything?" she said. "I'm sure we can make it better together. Alienating yourself from me and Gus won't solve it, I'm sure. Tell me. It kills me to see you this way."
"You can't do anything about it, Alexis."
"Try me."
"You really can't! I appreciate your care, but right now, you'll do the best if you just leave me alone for a while. I'll try to settle things and then, we can pretend nothing happened."
"But... but I can't be without you anymore!" Alexis bursted out. "I just can't stand back and watch you hurting! I know what are you going through. I've felt the same when Marlene died... when I killed her. Bottling up all your feelings won't help you. If you share them, you'll feel alright much sooner. Please, Annie. You're making it harder for both of us."
"I didn't come here to negotiate!" Anna lashed out. "I just wanted to assure you it's not you. It's my fight and I have to fight it alone. There's nothing you can do, Alexis. I promise it will get better, just not now. I love you, you can be always sure about it. Now, excuse me." Anna left Alexis' home, leaving her girlfriend even more devastated and confused than before.
<<>>
Alexis decided to not tell Diane about her talk with Anna. The impaired girl came and left before Diane could kill the boss in Wolfenstein. They had to fully focus on Cassandra LeFevre and Alexis was aware that her sister probably doesn't want to hear about her love problems.
"Alright, it's six," Diane announced. "It's time to give it a try."
"I still have a strange feeling that she'll turn us down like some annoying pests," Alexis muttered. "She's a TV star after all. Also, she seems to be pretty quirky. Please, let me do all the talking - chatting with that woman will be probably like crossing a minefield."
"Of course, of course," Diane said. "You are the good girl here."
Alexis anxiously dialled Cassandra's number. The woman answered the call almost immediately. "Here is Cassandra LeFevre," she said and both girls expected her to add Gabriel's Gardens news report, just like she did in all her reportages. "Greetings, darlings. I've been expecting you."
Just like she did on TV, her speech was rapid, yet precise and intelligible. She sounded like a recording played on 1,5x speed and the girls were once again amazed by the amount of sugar and caffeine the woman had to consume every day while keeping a lanky figure.
"Miss LeFevre?" Alexis said. "My name is Alexis Warren, and..."
"Warren!" Cassandra cheered. "A half of the famous duo of ghost-hunting sisters. I'm an atheist, and so I don't believe in ghosts. But I still find your job amazing! Maybe we should record an exclusive reportage someday, that would..."
"Maybe, but you promised to help us first, remember?" Alexis interrupted her, forgetting her promise about being polite at all cost.
"Oh yeah. Chance Arlington," Cassandra lowered her voice into a conspiracy whisper. "I would love to help you. It's a shame people forgot about such beautiful, mysterious and controversal person. I would love to know your reasons for searching for him! Would you mind if we meet in person?"
"I actually wanted to suggest that," Alexis said. "When do you have time?"
"I'm a very busy person, darling," Cassandra replied. "But you are exceptional case. My week is really busy, you know, but I think I can make a little gap in my schedule on Saturday, let's say, somewhere around eleven in the morning? Is that convenient?"
"No," Diane said. "That's the time I usually wake up."
Alexis gave her a scolding gaze, then replied: "Yes. If it's alright for you... can the meeting be at your home? We may talk about things that... we wouldn't want the public to know. I understand that the King is a sensitive topic. We'd like to keep it private."
"Oooh, a conspiracy meeting!" Cassandra replied. "Of course I don't mind. I live in The Centre." She gave them an address and Alexis noted it down. "I'll be looking forward to meeting you!" she said. "But now, you'd be golden if you let me enjoy my coffee. I've enjoyed talking to you, sweethearts! See you!"
The call ended.
"Are you trying to tell me this was her before she drank the coffee?" Diane frowned.
Alexis shrugged. "Well, it's important that we have a meeting with the city's most famous Arlington-logist. That meeting can and probably will be wild, but it's the best we can do right now. I just hope she won't insist on the reportage she mentioned."
"Why not?" Diane said. "I think it's time we get our five minutes of fame. Heck, our appearance on TV can attract more clients! I'm so in a mood for a TV appearance."
"Okay, but you'd have to do it alone," Alexis sighed.
"You're literally the weirdest person I know, sis. Anybody else would be excited to have this opportunity! Maybe we should start our own TV show. That would be a smash hit."
<<>>
Saturday finally came and the girls were excited to meet the neurotic TV announcer. Maybe she will finally answer some of their questions. She probably won't know whether Arlington is their father or what's the origin of his supernatural powers, but at least she may be able to give them a right direction.
Alexis told Anna about the visit and invited her to come, too. It wasn't surprising that Anna refused, but Alexis still felt disappointed.
At half past ten, they finally arrived to The Centre. "Oh look, the place I hate," Diane smiled. "Look at all these phony suckers with plastic surgeries and phones which cost more that an average appartment."
"I agree, gotta hate the Centrals," Alexis laughed.
They started to look for LeFevre's home. Fortunately, Alexis didn't forget to find the location on Google Maps and find the shortest route. They had to walk through the Angel Square.
It brought some memories back to Alexis. Shortly after the New Year, Alexis decided to take Anna here for a date. They didn't need any restaurant, the girls just sat on the square, holding hands and observing the beautiful statue of a naked angel, the main feature of the square, talking endlessly.
The angel's face usually seemed happy and peaceful. Now, when Alexis looked at her, she looked sad, like she just lost someone she loved, if angels are actually able to fall in love. Her expression was the same after Alexis was forced to kill Marlene. Maybe the statue had a strange power of reflecting feelings of anyone who's looking at her. Or maybe it was just because of different lighting.
They managed to find LeFevre's house with a ten minute advance. It was a basic Central mansion of prominent people toned into white and gray. Alexis approached it and knocked at the door. Nothing happened. She knocked and used the doorbell several more times, but Cassandra seemed to be absent.
"What the hell does that mean?" Diane said. "We had an agreement!"
Alexis shrugged. "She probably got a job more important than us. Yeah, she should've at least write a text message, but maybe, as a celebrity, she didn't feel obligated to do so. Or she simply forgot."
"No matter what, it means that we dragged ourselves into The Centre for nothing," Diane sighed. "That damn woman should learn some basic manners! We're wasting our time."
"We can't even do some shopping or go for a lunch!" Diane complained. "It would ruin our budget."
"Well... let's go home," Alexis said.
They had to wait more than half an hour for the next TEx aiming for Serenity Square. They barely spoke during the ride, both displeased by the woman's sudden turn.
When they arrived home, Alexis let her anger grow. There was nothing that went according to the plan recently. Annie's problems. LeFevre's change of plans. In the past months, she was happy with the direction her life took. Everything was alright until their past decided to interfere.
She imagined her parents as two shadowy figures standing right in front of her, yet out of reach. "I don't want to know you," she told them. "If knowing you means my life would fall apart, then I don't care about you. Do you hear me? I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU!"
She tried to figure out if her words are genuine. Of course, she wanted to know more about her origins. About Arlington's role in the story. But she would choose her relationship with Anna at any given moment instead of revealing these secrets.
Yet she wanted to know whether her father was one of the scariest serial killers in the world's history.
But at the same time, she wanted to return to her old life where Reverend Warren was her only fatherly figure and the King was only an urban legend.
She couldn't hold her frustration any longer. She bursted into tears and tried to muffle her sobs with a pillow. Diane, curious about the screams coming from her sister's room, heard them, but she decided to not interfere. She knew how sensitive to such things Alexis is and even though it seemed she'd take her breakdown as a great mocking material, the opposite was right.
"If only I could help ya somehow, sis," Diane sighed.
Even though Alexis was hesitant to talk about it, Diane knew about her struggle with Anna. It was one of the reasons Diane chose to not fall in love, or at least try to. She realized she's too fickle and impatient for a long-term relationship. However, Alexis was the type for a lifetime love. And Diane was devastated that her sister's love life is falling apart.
But she had no idea what to do.
<<>>
It took them two days before they realized something so obvious - they still had LeFevre's phone number. They could just phone her and ask her what happened.
"Why didn't we think about it earlier?" Alexis muttered - she managed to pull herself together again, allowing her to think straight (she told Diane exactly this and her sister couldn't resist to make a joke). The girls waited again until six, then Alexis dialled LeFevre's number.
Fortunately, the announcer was enjoying her coffee pause again. "Oh, it's you, sweetheart?" she said. "Have you changed your mind again?"
"Changed your mind?" Alexis frowned. "Excuse me, but you weren't home for our meeting."
"Are you trying to fool me, darling?" the pitch of Cassandra's voice escalated within seconds. "Just before the meeting, you sent me a text message that you don't want to meet anymore, that you already found out what you needed to know. I have to admit, I was really upset since I was looking forward to the meeting."
"That's a nonsense!" Alexis gasped. "We didn't send you any message after our call!"
"I guess there is some horrible misunderstanding," Cassandra said. "Let me check." A while of silence followed, then LeFevre started to cite the message. "Greetings, Miss LeFevre. We're sorry to bother you, but since we already found all we needed to know in a different source. We were looking forward to our meeting, but since we caught a fresh trace, we're afraid we have to cancel it. Once again, we are sorry. Warren sisters."
"But... we didn't write it!" Alexis objected. "Did it come from my number?"
"Actually, it showed as a private number," Cassandra admitted. "I didn't know what to think about it. Now it seems to be clear... partially. Or not at all. In fact, I'm confused."
"It's probably nonsense, but it's like someone doesn't want us to meet," Diane said.
"That's what I was thinking," Alexis nodded. "Miss LeFevre, why weren't you at home when we arrived? You said you'll have... a little gap in your schedule."
"Don't even remind me of that!" Cassandra screamed. "Someone called me that there's a big car crash in Clearwater district. The journalist's creed commanded me to be on the spot as fast as possible, so I grabbed a camera, jumped into the car and drove through the entire city only to find out nothing happened and the phone call was just a hoax." The woman had to inhale deeply since she told the whole sentence in just one breath.
"This can't be a coincidence," Alexis said. "Someone tried to lure you out of the house so we won't catch you home! In other words, someone wanted to sabotage our meeting."
"Why would anyone do that?" Diane bursted out.
"There's only one possible explanation," Alexis said. "Someone doesn't want us to know about Chance Arlington and our past."
"But there's basically nobody who knew about the meeting!" Diane noted. "As far as I remember, it was only Inna Lindberg and Annie. They have exactly zero reasons to sabotage our effort. So who could it be? Are you trying to hint that some paranormal sucker is after our asses again?"
"There's no other explanation," Alexis said.
"I think we can all agree the things are going to shit again," Diane sighed. "And I thought Kyle Fletcher was enough for a lifetime."
"Wait!" Cassandra exclaimed. "You know more about Kyle Fletcher's death? You have to tell me! I knew there was something fishy about his death and now, there are girls who probably know more! I change our agreement: I will tell you about Arlington and, in return, you will tell me about Fletcher."
"Well, it's... a personal matter," Alexis said. "I'm afraid..."
"Let's negotiate on the spot," Cassandra interrupted her. "We should meet immediately before someone manages to spoil our meeting again. I will be expecting you."
"Well, her voice really gave me le fever," Diane noted after the call ended.
<<>>
This time, Cassandra was at home and invited them in. She was just as eccentric as the girls imagined her. She had her trademark round glasses, short hair dyed bright red and her examining, curious gaze made her look even more like an owl. She was wearing a maroon-colored sweater and a black skirt whose length was completely unbecoming for her age. Despite that, she looked younger than she actually was.
While watching the news, Diane once commented: I'm not that much into Harry Potter, but she looks like the love child of professor Trelawney and Rita Skeeter. Alexis now remembered this comparison and had to hold back laughter.
"I'm so glad to see you, darlings, even more after these unfortunate events," she announced right after the girls entered her home. As they expected, it was filled with various luxurious furniture made mostly of ebony. The walls, however, were covered in framed copies of her most famous newspaper articles.
There was also a whole wall unit serving as an exhibition of photos depicting LeFevre meeting lots of famous people. It was clear that the woman doesn't suffer from the lack of self-confidence. Her eccentric nature was further magnified by two cats peacefully purring on the woman's couch.
"A cat lady," Diane noticed.
"Oh yes!" Cassandra smiled. "I don't have time to find a partner and I hate to be alone, so I had to improvise." She approached the couch. "Come on! Lysander, Thalia, I need that seat now. Could you, please, leave for a while?"
The cats reluctantly left the couch, allowing the girls to sit. "Make three coffees!" Cassandra just shouted into the air, activating a coffee machine in the corner of the room. The device started to work.
"Just two," Alexis said. "I don't drink coffee."
Cassandra raised her eyebrows in surprise. "How can you survive without the divine beverage?" she wondered, then shouted: "Correction: two coffees!"
The machine beeped, confirming the request.
Finally, the trio could sit together. Diane took a sip of the coffee and her face went red. "Jesus, how strong is it?!" she bursted out. "This is like a liquid nuclear reactor!"
LeFevre laughed. "You call this strong? This is just something to barely keep me going after the shift. You shoud try my morning kick."
"No, thanks," Diane said. "I'd rather not have a heart attack at nineteen."
Cassandra shrugged. "As you wish. Now, why are we here, darlings. Chance Arlington. Excuse a personal question... why do you need to know more about him?"
"If we told you the truth, you wouldn't believe," Alexis said.
"Try me. As I said, I don't believe in anything I can't see. But if you manage to prove your words right, I don't have problems with believing them, no matter how crazy it may sound. So, go on. Convince me."
"We've heard that Chance Arlington possessed some... strange powers," Alexis said.
"People said that," Cassandra nodded. "And there's actually no other explanation for some of his stunts. To this day, I have no idea what to think. I've interviewed people who swore they saw Arlington turning invisible or survive falls from insane heights. I'm slightly inclined towards the theory that there was something weird with him. Either he possessed some advanced technology, or..."
"He had paranormal powers," Alexis said. "We can confirm it."
Cassandra opened her eyes wide. "Really?"
Alexis showed LeFevre her feather insignia. "We were born with this," she explained. Diane reluctantly showed her crimson rose, too. "We have no idea where did it come from because we never got to know our parents. Just recently, we spoke to a woman who saw Arlington in action when she was little - no, you may not talk to her since she cares about her privacy and she's uneasy around people. She personally witnessed Arlington using some strange powers."
Cassandra seemed unconvinced, but nodded. "Go on."
<<>>
"You could easily say it was just her imagination since she was a young child when it happened," Alexis continued, "but we believe her. And we want to prove it."
"Yes. Prove it, if you can," Cassandra agreed.
Alexis picked up one of the plush cat toys from the floor and handed it to the journalist. "Come on, throw it at me," she said. "Don't worry, it's not a joke."
Cassandra's look gave away she's questioning the girl's sanity.
"Come on! Do it!"
LeFevre threw the toy. Alexis, using her insignia, conjured a soft, shining forcefield which deflected the toy like it landed on a pillow. Cassandra's eyes opened wide. "How...?" she voiced.
Alexis shrugged. "That's what we want to know. We were just born with these and we think we inherited it from one or both of our parents. And since Chance Arlington is the only person we know who apparently had similar powers, we think he's somewhat connected with us."
"I have super strength," Diane noted. "Should I demonstrate it on this lovely glass table?"
Cassandra ignored her, her eyes glistening with an awe of professional journalist. "Do I understand it right?" she gasped. "Am I speaking to Arlington's daughters?"
"Slow down," Alexis replied. "We didn't rule out this possibility, but we can't be certain. That's why we seek your help. You seem to know about Arlington much more than we do and maybe you can give us precious information. Please."
"But it won't be for free!" LeFevre's eyes flickered once again. "Now, when I know what you are capable of, I want you to cooperate with me. I'll be the first journalist to uncover the secret of famous Warren sisters! Not only that. I will bring the proof that there are more things in Heaven and Earth that we possibly imagined! I'll be the one to turn the world upside down. I'll..."
"I'm sorry, Miss LeFevre," Alexis interrupted her, "but I'm afraid that's the price we cannot pay. To this day, our powers are a secret only a very few people know about. And we would love to keep it that way. So if you insist that we should reveal our powers to public in exchange for information about Arlington, we're sorry, but we have to part ways here."
Cassandra looked devastated for a moment, but soon she regained her footing. "Okay, your secret is safe with me," she said. "But I still want something in return. The truth about Kyle Fletcher's death. It would be just between us. I'm the truth seeker, you know. I know it would be dangerous to share the truth publicly, but at least I will know. Is that acceptable?"
"We have a deal," Alexis nodded.
The woman took a deep breath. "Okay. So you probably know that the King isn't just an urban legend or a crime syndicate. He was a real person. And I personally recorded every single murder attributed to him. His methods were mysterious and now it's clear he couldn't do everything without any supernatural help. If you care about my opinion, he was a hero, or anti-hero, to be exact. His kills were almost always benefical to the city, he was basically curing the city from cancer..."
"Stop right here," Diane said. "If we wanted a fangirl obsessed with serial killers, we'd satisfy with In... the woman we told you about. We need to learn something new! Find out more about people associated with Arlington. Know more about his own past."
Cassandra nodded. "I understand. Well... the thing is that I had a folder in my computer where I kept all data about Chance. The details about every murder and victim, about him, about people somehow associated with him. But, well... several years after Chance's death, the management of the TV channel I work for commanded me to delete all these files, including their copies. After they did, just to be sure, they sent a powerful vius which affected both my computer and cloud storages, just to complete the sweep. All files dealing with Arlington and his murders were deleted."
Diane sneered. "We're really lucky, right, sis?"
"But there's still hope!" Cassandra halted her. "Where I work... you know... there's an archive. If we manage to get there, we'll be able to download all the data we need."
Alexis sighed. "Why do I think it won't be as easy as it sounds?"
<<>>
"Can I object against this plan?" Alexis said.
"No," Diane and Cassandra replied in unison.
The girl's wristwatch showed two at night. They were, however, in The Centre where the dreams about peaceful, quiet dead of night came to die. Most of the local bars were still open, their neon lights illuminating the streets. They were surrounded by the sounds of drunk cheering, fighting and muffled music. This part of the city never sleeps - and this fact could easily work against them.
The trio finally stood in front of the main building of Gabriel's Gardens TV broadcast, except a huge jumbotron screen right above the entrance. Usually, it was showing the latest news as well as trailers for various shows and soap operas the channel produced. It was turned off overnight.
"Now... we have to get inside," Cassandra muttered and approached the door leading inside. Locked. However, there was a small terminal next to them and the journalist had something which corresponded with it - a keycard with the channel's logo on it.
"It will be probably suspicious that I went here at two," the woman said, "but I can talk my way out. By that time, you'll have the files and nothing else matters, right?"
She smiled and scanned the keycard. It seemed that it was accepted. However, a small display next to the keycard slit started to glow. Cassandra put her thumb on it and, in a few seconds, the display turned green and opened the door. "Fingerprint scanner," LeFevre explained.
They entered the building. The interior felt a bit sinister at night, but the girls could imagine the daily hustle and bustle; countless journalists, announcers, managers and secretaries running around in the white-colored entryway, doing their job as responsibly as they can.
There were countless doors leading from the entryway which probably served as the main junction. Fortunately, Cassandra seemed to know this luxurious labyrinth well enough to immediately lead them to the right staircase. "Sorry, but we'll have to take the stairs," she announced.
"Oh no," Alexis yowled, demonstrating an intense hatred for everything even slightly resembling a sport.
"Look how thin you are!" Cassandra scolded her. "I think you need to eat more and then exercise, to gain some muscles. Look at me! I do jogging, yoga, swimming and I ride a bicycle - and look how great I look for my age! Trust me, boys aren't interested in girls that are too skinny."
Alexis gave her something Diane would later describe as gay smirk.
Ten floors. Ten floors of suffering.
While Cassandra climbed the stairs cheerfully like a young doe, the girls were soon sweaty and exhausted. "Maybe we should really pick a sport, sis," Diane exhaled.
During their journey, they passed by some of the most known studios. Cassandra sometimes acted like a tour guide, introducing all the studios of the most famous game shows, news broadcasts and even the living room belonging to the family of the city's most popular sitcom.
Finally, they approached the door labelled Archive.
LeFevre had to use the keycard again, then scanned the fingerprint. "We have to be a bit more careful as this is a restricted area," Cassandra whispered. The door opened and they stepped into a huge server room, a modern-times library. The servers stood there silently, the dignified keepers of the knowledge gathered over many years. One could only imagine how many stories do they contain. Every reportage, every newspaper article ever recorded in Gabriel's Gardens is here.
It was certain they contain the true story of Chance Arlington alias the King. Or at least the most of it. Their names are probably there, too, since the girls were in the newspapers several times. It wasn't hard to believe that there's at least one article about every citizen of the city.
"As I said, this is usually a restricted area with permission-only access," Cassandra said, "but a person who works here for, like, thitry years can be expected to have some... benefits." She sat by a large desktop computer in the front side of the room and turned it on. A hum, which seemed unbearably loud, filled the room as the computer came to life and showed them the channel's logo.
<<>>
The computer had installed a sophisticated search engine which allowed to search the articles based on keywords, date, category, length and countless other fields. Even though Alexis was intermediate when it came to computers, she soon became lost.
First, Cassandra tried to type in her name in the Author box, then clicked on Year (From - To) and entered a span of several years from the period about twenty years ago. When she clicked on Search, numerous articles showed up. The woman frowned and narrowed the search even more by selecting a category Crimes and Violent Acts. About fifty entries remained, but none of them seemed to satisfy her.
"As I expected," she said. "My precious articles about the King are gone."
Diane sighed. "That means..."
"...they have been removed from my account," LeFevre interrupted her. "But they still have to be here somewhere. These data are too important to be just deleted permanently." She cleared the search query and, with trembling fingers, entered: Chance Arlington.
They received only a brief error message:
Your approval level is not sufficient to access the restricted files.
"I guess it's local way of saying 'Your level is not enough to access this mission'," Diane said.
"Damn it!" Cassandra exclaimed in frustration. "Restricted files. They're something like... top secret, only a few people can access them. And it seems I'm not one of them."
"And do you know someone who is?" Diane insisted. "Who would be willing to share?"
Cassandra gave a mysterious smile. "Maybe... but not willingly. I have an idea - it can lead to a big trouble and it can endanger my entire carreer, but I'm going to risk it. I'd risk anything for ambitious truth-seekers! One question remains: are you?"
"Of course!" Diane cheered.
"I'm not so sure..." Alexis shuffled her feet.
"That's two against one. Let's go," LeFevre quickly turned the computer off and left the archive room, followed by the girls. Then they had to move up several more floors (the girls had to focus on not dying) until they reached a door labelled:
Francis A. Sullivan
Chairman
Cassandra used her keycard to unlock the office. "I used to be chairman's personal assistant," she explained. "I still have access to his office, it seems. Lucky me! If I didn't, our mission would end here. Come and take a look! Chairman will never know... I hope."
It seemed that the chairman loves the culture of medieval Europe - there was no other explanation for ancient, rusty weapons hanging on the wall, shields decorated with various coats of arms and even a full plate armor standing next to his work desk.
"Sullivan is pretty nerdy when it comes to such things," Cassandra smirked.
Diane looked at the armor. "I swear this thing is gonna come alive and slaughter us in the name of Deus vult at any given moment."
"I hope not," LeFevre took a seat behind the work desk. "It's pretty comfy," she noted, then she turned on the chairman's computer. Another wave of sadness struck the girls when a box for password popped up.
"I knew it will happen," Cassandra said. "All our computers here are secured by a password that's a combination of numbers of our choice. Sheer majority of people, of course, chooses birth dates since they're easy to remember. Chairman Sullivan is just a normal man, no evil genius, so I presume he also chose a birthdate as his password. I'm almost certain."
"But whose?" Alexis said.
"His wife's, of course! Fortunately, Angela is a good friend of mine. She invited me on her birthday party, which was..." Cassandra scavenged the notes in her phone, "April 2nd. She was turning forty-one that day, that means her birth year is..." the woman jotted down the full date. "Okay. Let's try."
<<>>
The tries so far were unsuccessful. Cassandra tried to enter the number in various formats - American, European, with the year first, trying to write April as both "4" and "04". Nothing worked.
"I thought it's gonna be easy," Cassandra lamented.
"You tried," Diane said. "And we appreciate that."
"Who's this?" Alexis picked up a framed photo from the table. It depicted two people - slightly plump, yet pretty red-haired woman and a child boy holding a football.
The journalist nearly jumped up. "That's it!" she exclaimed. "His son! Of course... how could I be so dumb? He's the chairman's pride and heir. Now I only have to find out the boy's birthday." She once again started wirking with her phone, probably browsing some kind of social network. "Here," she said. "The chairman is posting pictures from his son's brithday party. August 12th. According to the cake, he's seven now. The photo's from last year. That means his birth year is..."
With her confidence regained, she started to type the son's birthdate. After a few failed tries, the screen finally showed the blessed word Welcome after Cassandra typed the date as year/month/day with August typed as 08. His wallpaper was set to be an epic artwork of medieval castle siege.
"The Witcher?" Diane noticed one of the desktop icons. "Is he... gaming at work?"
"Maybe," Cassandra shrugged. "He's a chairman after all, so nobody can punish him for it."
"Quickly," Alexis urged. "The files."
The journalist nodded and double-clicked on the Archive icon. A screen identical to the one in the server room's computer popped up. This time, after searching for Chance Arlington, numerous files showed up, indicating that the infamous killer was really a number one topic at that time.
"Copying the video footage would take eternity," Cassandra said, "and we have to leave before the morning shift enters. So for now, I can copy the newspaper articles. They're basically the same as the TV reportages." She enabled another search option: Newspaper (.pdf) and Articles (.pdf), which significantly narrowed the volume of results, and inserted a flash disc into the computer. Then she started downloading - several gigabytes of files started to land in the portable disc.
"And they say flash discs are dead," LeFevre smiled.
The download took its time - at least the girls thought it does. They spent some time by finding and scavenging the server room and another minutes were taken by the password breaking: the clock were now showing 2:40 and Cassandra said the morning shift will arrive before four.
It was something around half past three when the download finally finished.
Cassandra removed the portable disc and handed it to Alexis. "Here. Put it to good use," she said. "We will meet again - one, I want to know what did you find out, two, you owe me the explanation of Kyle Fletcher's death and three, I need that disc back."
"Of course," Alexis smiled. "Thank you... for everything."
"I owe you a thank, too!" Cassandra replied. "You broadened my horizon to the point I believe in the paranormal. Even a nasty old woman like me has always something to learn!" she laughed. "To be completely honest, I thought your work is just a fraud to beat the money out of superstitious people. Now I realize there's probably much more behund that."
"Good thing you didn't have to open your mind in a hard way," Diane noted.
"What's the hard way?"
"The easy way is that we tell you about the existence of the paranormal," Alexis lectured. "And, in the hard way... the ghost tells you."
"Okay. Understood."
Cassandra cleared the search query, logged out and turned the computer off. Just as she did, the door to the chairman's office opened and a tall, burly man with silver hair with a great mustache dressed in a sweater and corduroys stepped in. He looked half angry, half confused.
"Chairman Sullivan," Cassandra gave him a crooked smile. "Hello."
<<>>
"Cassandra!" the man thundered. "What are you doing here? And who are these?"
"Francis? Meet my nieces," Cassandra's brain worked at full throttle. "They are doing a school project and I told them it'd be nice if they wrote a paper about your TV channel. It's so much more interesting than some kind of cookie factory. And now... I wanted to give them a short excursion here, so they can enjoy it without the people... I wanted to show them the studios and of course your office with all these treasures," she gestured at the medieval souvenirs in the chairman's office.
"What were you trying to do with my computer?" he asked.
"The computer?" the journalist tried to act surprised. "We didn't touch it! See? It's turned off."
The chairman came closer to Cassandra. "You are forgetting about the security measures, right? When an incorrect password is entered three times, the computer's camera automatically snaps a picture and sends it to my phone." He showed the device to Cassandra. The photo was dark, almost black, but the woman's glasses and bright red hair were still well visible.
The woman gulped. She really forgot about this system.
"We thought it would be cool if we brought a newspaper from the day we were born," Diane started to play Cassandra's game. "Auntie Cassandra showed us the archive, but all the articles from that day were boring," she perfectly imitated a voice of spoiled, bratty schoolgirl. "The interesting ones were restricted. We wanted to see them. We forced her to do it."
The chairman looked at Cassandra with raised eyebrows.
"I agreed to comply," the woman sighed. "I broke into your computer - sorry - and found some of the forbidden files they craved for. But we decided they're inappropriate for a school presentation, so they, in the end, chose one of the boring ones. No harm is caused."
"Can I see the files, please?"
For a second, Cassandra had no idea what to do. The chairman looked suspicious and impatient. Then she chose probably the most extreme way to get out. She just tackled the plate armor down to the ground. "RUN!" she screamed at the girls over the sounds of kilograms of shiny metal falling apart.
The chairman shouted in shock and anger. He turned to Cassandra and completely forgot about the girls who sprinted down the stairs and out of the building.
"Well, that was... unexpected," Alexis tried to catch her breath as soon as the cold night breeze touched her face again. That night alone, she did more physical activity than in the past year.
"We shouldn't just leave her there!" Diane said. "Who knows what is that old dude planning to do. She helped us... and then she sacrificed herself to let us escape."
"We'd help her the most if we just take the disc and leave," she patted her pocket, flash disc safely there. "The chairman will be soon after us."
Diane reluctantly nodded. The girls walked to the nearest TEx station and took a train home. When they arrived, it was close to four.
"This action has one more victim - my beauty sleep," Diane muttered. "I hate these night actions. The sleep deficit keeps piling up and I constantly feel tired."
"You feel tired even after ten hours of sleep," Alexis smirked.
"There are only two kinds of people worse than early risers," Diane grumbled. "Boyband fangirls and the Star Wars fans who only like the original trilogy."
Alexis kept her smile. "Meesa sorry!"
"Jesus," Diane rolled her eyes.
Alexis put the flash disc on the living room table. "We'll examine this tomorrow," she said. "I'd love to find out more, but I'm way too tired. This is closer to the hour I get up."
<<>>
Alexis' sleep was usually short, but deep. She wouldn't wake up even if another World War started. Diane took advantage of it several times and sneaked into her sister's room when she was asleep to "borrow" some things Alexis wouldn't give her while awake.
She woke up around noon, initially forgetting what happened. Then she remembered. The main building of the Gabriel's Gardens TV channel. Archive. Chairman's office. Escape. The flash disc.
But she also remembered she alienated from Anna. After half a year of true, sincere love, their relationship is falling apart. They went through so much together, but also missed a lot. Their first anniversary, their first night spent together, marriage.
Maybe it's one of the teenage loves which isn't supposed to last, she thought.
How would Anna's mother react? Alexis remembered the late woman's kind face. She would want them to be together, but unfortunately, she's not in this world anymore. She's not able to talk some sense into her daughter. Anna has to do it on her own.
Alexis still hoped that everything will be alright in the end.
But now, they had another important thing to do. The girl got dressed and aimed towards the living room. She put the flash disc on the table last night.
She was sure she did.
But it wasn't there.
Her heart raced as the girl started to panic. The table was empty. She tried to look around it, even at the other tables to see if she didn't misplace it somewhere, but the disc was nowhere to be found.
She rushed into her sister's room. "Diane? Diane!" she shouted.
The girl, still sleeping, slowly opened her eyes. "Didn't I tell you there's absolutely no excuse to wake me up before I decide to?" she said with a slurred voice.
"Diane, did you do something with the flash disc?" Alexis bursted out, reminding herself of the infamous Harry, did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire? scene.
"No... why?"
"It's gone."
Diane was awake within seconds. "What do you mean, gone?" she rushed into the living room only in a tank top and panties. She searched the room. "Please, sister, tell me this is just some dumb prank."
Alexis shook her head. "I have no idea how could it disappear. It was right here!"
"Do you think someone broke into our flat and stole it?"
"There seems to be no other explanation."
The sisters searched the flat to see whether the disc was the only thing to disappear. Everything seemed to be on the right place, so it probably wasn't a heist.
"Remember when someone cancelled our first meeting with LeFevre?" Alexis said.
"Do you think...?"
Alexis nodded. "There's somebody who doesn't want us to learn the truth about Arlington. This is their second effort to sabotage our work!"
"Why would anyone do that?"
"There are countless possible reasons a person would rather leave the past sleeping. Someone probably found out what are we trying to do and now they're trying to stop us no matter what. We have to be careful, Diane. Maybe it were only warnings so far."
"I bet my money on that old chairman," Diane muttered. "He didn't get his data back, so he decided to steal them. There had to be something really important."
"Maybe it's not as dumb guess as it may seem," Alexis replied. "Maybe he sent some professional thief to do it. But now, the worst part... we have to break it to Cassandra."
<<>>
The woman arrived shortly after Alexis called her. It was completely different Cassandra than the one they met previous day - she looked exhausted and sleep-deprived, her face barely touched by make-up, short hair refusing to form into a chic hairstyle.
"Hi, Cassandra," Alexis greeted her. "How... uhm... how did it go?"
"I got fired," Cassandra announced briefly.
"Fired...?"
"There's no need to worry about that, darlings. I was considering quitting my job anyway and that's probably the sign! I wanted to try a carreer of an internet celebrity - the mainstream TV pays well, but there's so much censorship, so much I must or mustn't say. Now I can start to be truly myself!"
"We're sorry anyway," Alexis said.
"Let's just leave this, okay? I presume you already took a look at the disc, right?" she winked.
"Well... there's another problem. The disc... someone stole it."
"Stole?" Cassandra opened her eyes wide. "How could you...?"
"I put it right there when we arrived home!" Alexis pointed at the table. "And when I woke up this morning... it wasn't there. Someone had to break in and steal it."
"So all the effort for nothing," Cassandra sighed. "And additionaly, someone has sensitive information about Chance Arlington. Oh dear, oh dear. Maybe you lost it somewhere? Or misplaced? Or the dog could eat it?"
"Dante!" Diane bursted out. "He didn't eat it, we taught him to not eat non-food objects really soon. But there's something weird about it. If someone broke into our flat, why didn't Dante bark? He's usually vigilant. What went wrong now, when we really needed it?"
The dog probably heard his name. He approached the table and wiggled his tail. Then he sneezed; Cassandra's perfume was probably too strong for his hyper-sensitive nose.
"Maybe we raised him to be overly friendly," Alexis said. "Maybe he just approached the thief and wiggled his tail, not aware that they aren't supposed to be here."
"Alexis has a theory that someone's trying to sabotage our search for Chance Arlington," Diane said. !You know... when someone tried to cancel our meeting..."
"Maybe it's the ghost of Chance himself," Alexis guessed. "It would explain a lot."
"You mean, like, we're really his daughters and he wants to stop us so he wouldn't have to pay the alimony?" Diane smirked.
"Diane, we're serious here."
"Did you mention... a ghost?" Cassandra frowned.
"Yes, I did. Actually, we already had to deal with the ghost of Henry Rudger. Since you're a journalist, you should know something about him, right?"
"Of course I do. He was probably the second biggest criminal after Arlington. Are you trying to tell me... you have seen his ghost? Like... for real?"
"Seen?" Diane smirked. "I punched the hell out of him."
Cassandra sighed. "I live in a constant hope that this is just a hidden camera show and you are trying to pull a prank or me. But it's probably not that easy, right?"
"It's definitely not," Diane confirmed.
"Oh god... if Arlington's spirit awakened..."
"Calm down, it's just a theory yet," Alexis said. "The primary version is that our saboteur is someone from the material world. It's easy to rob someone if you're crafty enough - remember our case with the goblin thief? Okay, okay. It was your case."
Cassandra's face went pale. "Goblin...?"
"This time, it was just a monkey trained to rob people. My point is that if someone really wanted to get that flash disc, they would have it. Also, a big part of the guilt is on me. I put it on the table like some gullible bimbo; it was basically saying here, take me, I'm unguarded. If I put it, I don't know, somewhere under my bed, maybe we'd still have it."
"Or maybe the disc would be gone and you'd be dead," Cassandra pointed out.
This time, Alexis' face went even paler than usual. "That's a... different way how to look at it."
"Looks like we have a case," Diane proclaimed. "Find the saboteur and discover their intentions."
<<>>
"Maybe you should stay away from it," Cassandra said after Alexis made her a coffee - a weaksauce, but acceptable. "Nearly all the most powerful people in Gabriel's Gardens had some kind of quarrel with him. He eradicated the Arkad family, the owners of Arlington Logistic and Transportation who took charge after Chance's parents died.
I have no idea who stole the disc, but it could be... various people. Dangerous people. Someone who, for some reason, needs Arlington to remain forgotten. And trust me. After years of my journalist carreer, I can say there are people who can send a hired killer easier than you can send an e-mail."
"Can you hear that?" Alexis uttered. "That's my paranoia screaming."
"If you care about my advice," Cassandra said, "leave it. Give up your search since it can end in a horrible way. The city is merciless and if you do what you shouldn't, you'll pay for it sooner or later. You are lucky they only took the disc. They could as easily eliminate the troublemakers for good."
The girls exchanged worried looks. "So...? What do you think?" Diane said.
"You know that the choice is clear for me," Alexis sighed. "If I have to choose between knowing the truth and blissful ignorance, I always choose the truth, no matter how dangerous it may be. We're paranormal investigators for a reason. Our job is to poke our noses into things."
"It can also endanger Cassandra!" Diane objected.
"Actually," the woman said, "I was thinking about moving outside Gabriel's Gardens for a while. Now, when I'm not commited to the TV news anymore, I have more time and freedom in my hands. I can finally travel to places just to enjoy them, without having to shoot reportages."
"I think I know everything goes so downhill recently," Alexis voiced. "There's just two of us."
"Do you mean...?" Diane didn't finish.
"Yes. Everything was better when we worked as a trio. We defeated Kyle as a trio. I think there's no way we can do this alone, Diane. This case needs Annie. And so do I."
"Who's Annie?" Cassandra wondered. "And... defeat Kyle? How am I supposed to understand that?"
"Annie is my coworker, my ally, and my girlfriend," Alexis stated. After she said the last word, Cassandra looked genuinely shocked. "I'm sorry to leave the guest, but I'll have to do it now, otherwise I'll never find the courage again. I have no idea what's wrong with her, but I'll bring her back."
She stood up and left the flat, aiming for her girlfriend's residence. She knocked at the door which were opened by Augustus. He shook his head. "It's still the same," he announced. "Maybe even worse. Maybe you shouldn't go there..."
"Someone has to do something!" Alexis exclaimed. "Or at least try." She sneaked past the man and entered Anna's room after she knocked. She didn't see her girlfriend for several days and she almost didn't recognize Anna's face - pale, tired, resigned.
Is she ill? Or possessed, like Matthias Blake? He acted almost exactly the same when Searer possessed him. What am I dealing with? If she just told me...
"Alexis?" Anna echoed with a dull voice. "I told you I need some time alone."
"But me and Diane also need something!" Alexis said. "We need you. We need your brain, skills, your support. Someone seems to be after us because we want to know more about our past! We need to find out who is the saboteur. If they're dangerous. And how can we defeat them."
Anna shrugged. "I have no interest in this. Sorry."
"But you promised! Promised you'll help me with this case no matter what!"
"Well," Anna sighed, "some promises are made to be broken."
<<>>
Alexis approached her girlfriend and took Anna's cold, dry palms into her own hands. The yin-yang symbol on Anna's hand stared at her like an eye, reminding her of the unbreakable bond the girls share. Anna gave her a strange look and it seemed she'll just yank her hands away, but she didn't.
The blonde girl looked her girlfriend in her dull eyes which used to be crystal blue, positive and full of life. The eyes she fell in love with. If she could only see what's behind them. What kind of trouble and demons are causing her beloved to be like this.
Some promises are made to be broken.
Old Anna would never say something like this.
"Please, tell me," Alexis said, not trying to hide her tears. "What happened to you? It's not you anymore. It's like I lost your frequency and we can't communicate anymore! What happened? Tell me!"
"It's you!" Anna exclaimed, now clearly angry, and finally yanked her hands off Alexis' reach. Alexis stepped back. "I just asked you for some time alone, and what are you doing? Prying and prying! I presumed you'd understand not all days are full of sunshine and happiness. I was wrong."
"But we're supposed to overcome these days together," Alexis objected.
"Maybe, but right now, I need everyone to leave me the hell alone."
Alexis took a quick look around Anna's room. She noticed several pills on her table. Painkillers. Maybe she's really ill and the pain makes her aggressive... but what would be the point of hiding it? She had also dark circles around bloodshot eyes, like she's not able to sleep properly.
What the hell is wrong with you...
"I can help you," she tried once more. "Just tell me..."
"You can't!" Anna interrupted her. "I've told you before. The only way you could help me was to leave me alone, but you failed at that. Please leave now." Anna hissed in pain and clenched her forehead, almost like she was struck by a sudden migraine attack.
Alexis' patience was over. "But we're lovers, Anna!" she shouted. "It doesn't mean only kisses, holding hands and watching movies while talking sweet to each other. That's secondary. The main thing is that lovers should always support each other, share their problems so they can solve it together. Communicate. Trust each other. And... if we fail at this very first and most important thing... I doubt there's a point in keeping this alive."
Anna looked at her, her eyes not showing any trace of emotions or expression. "Is this a breakup?"
Alexis couldn't say it loud since she'd burst into hysterical crying. Instead, she just nodded, her eyes filled with tears, turned around and ran out of the flat, not minding Augustus' efforts to halt her. She bursted into her flat, into her room where she just collapsed on her bed and cried into the pillow.
She lost her love. Anna was still there, but as far away as never before. The girl she fell in love with was gone. She had no interest in rebuilding their relationship; it was almost like she was relieved when they broke up, like Alexis was only some kind of burden, an annoyance.
The pills. The sudden burst of pain. Anna's health has to be damaged, but does that explain her behavior? If Alexis was diagnosed with some serious illness, she would, in the first place, seek Anna's love and support so she could make it through more easily. Anna, however, seemed to be different.
Alexis had several photos of her and Anna on her wall. She didn't rip them off and throw away like a lovelorn teenage girl, but since seeing them would make things only worse, she carefully removed them and hid them face-down inside her bedside table. For the last time, she looked at Anna's picture, smiling, with happy eyes. She had nothing to do with the rude, exhausted creature she just broke up with.
A moment later, Diane entered the room. "Can I...?" she said carefully.
"Yes," Alexis replied.
"You are... over, right?" her sister said with an unusual compassion in her voice.
Alexis just nodded.
Diane hugged her tightly. "I'm not good at consoling people. Maybe she'll get into the right mind soon and you'll be together again. Don't worry, sis. You still have me, and sisters can't break up so easily, right?"
Alexis smiled through tears. "Thank you, Diane."
"I know it's hard, but you have to forget her for a while. Settle into the single world again; I'll be your guide, by the way. We have a thing to solve, remember? To find out who's the saboteur and how dangerous they are. And what the hell do they want. And don't say we can't do it without Annie, because we can."
"You're right," Alexis admitted. "Even though Anna is... was my everything, it's not the end of the world and I shouldn't be forgetting who I am. Who we are."
"That's right," Diane smiled. "I know it's pretty fresh right now, so I'll just leave you here for a while, so you can sob it all out. If you needed a hug, a kind word or a bad pun, come to me."
Alexis nodded. "I'll try to pull myself together. And then, we can chase our past again."