The five of us all paced around in my room, while the others were busy having fun downstairs. It was a good thing Alya had acted fast, getting all the helpers she needed to make decorations, foods and activities. No one yet had complained about anything, which I doubt was ever going to happen, and I reminded myself constantly that I still had to tell them they would be living here for a while. Maybe I should have let them pack some of their favorite things from their houses before coming here, but I had been afraid there wouldn't be any time left. I looked up again to face the others, hoping that at least one of them had come up with a plan, but telling from their faces, it didn't look like they knew what to do. I felt the same way as well, after all, Lila was a tough egg to handle.
"None of us knows where she lives," Alya reminded, getting me to sigh. "We asked the others downstairs, but none of them knows either. It's fair to say that she never kept in contact with anyone at all. . . although, that doesn't really surprise me, because I'm sure Lila never liked any of us." Alya shrugged, reminding us that back in high-school, Lila had been exposed for all the lying she did, which got people to keep away from her. So, she kept away from us as well. We barely even saw her around anymore, and sometimes, she'd go home from school earlier than usual, complaining that she was feeling sick. I even overheard her talking to the principal that it was possible she was leaving the school, but that never happened.
I looked over at my drawer, where a bunch of things were being placed inside. I remember putting my album inside there, where a lot of pictures were taken and placed inside; pictures including the class picture we took back in high school. I looked back at the others, feeling a little unsure, but determined. "I think I know how to find her." After speaking those words, I headed to the drawer and opened it up, taking the album out. I flipped to the page that had the picture of my class, and my eyes went directly towards Lila, who was sitting there with a bit of a fake smile on her face. "I mean, I don't know. When I touched my parents picture, it showed me what happened at their death scene. When I touch people, it makes me experience what happened to them. It's like I'm actually there. So far when this happens, it's only shown me the past of what happened, but this time. . . maybe if I can focus hard enough, it might show me the present instead."
"In other words, it could show you exactly where Lila is right now," Adrien confirmed, and I just nodded my head. "Can you. . . communicate with people while you're experiencing these things?"
"No. I can't talk to them, they can't talk to me, nor can they even see or hear me." I turned to them with an even more serious face. "I need you guys to stay quiet, and whatever happens, don't try to pull me out or something. . . although, I doubt you can do that." I sat down on the floor while holding unto the picture of my class. I stared at Lila, before I lifted a finger and placed it on her face, then I shut my eyes closed.
(눈‸눈)
Where am I now?
I was in a house, so I took it immediately that it was where Lila lived. Before I could even look around properly, I suddenly heard the sound of what seemed to be glass breaking. It took me by surprise at first, and I was left standing there, not knowing what to do. But after I collected myself, I started walking towards the sound. I came upon a door and my hand reached for the doorknob, wondering what it might be behind the door. I had only just twisted the knob before I heard yelling coming from the other side; I definitely heard Lila's voice and what seemed to be another woman's voice. Finally, I opened the door just a tiny bit and peeked inside. I caught sight of Lila on the other side of the room with such an angry face, yelling and screaming. At first, I couldn't quite make sense of her words, but after remembering that they couldn't see me, I opened the door all the way and walked in.
"I'm sick and tired of you placing your problems on me!" Lila was saying. I turned to the other side to see a woman with her back against the wall. I couldn't quite tell if she was angry or upset; perhaps both. "You choose to do these things. It's always your decision!" Lila grabbed ahold of a glass cup sitting on the table beside her. I noticed there were pieces of glass on the floor, and Lila's right arm seemed to be bleeding a little as she was trying to cover it. "But then, whenever things go wrong, you always come to me, expecting me to fix it for you. Don't you get it, Laura?! I don't like it when you come to me. For the last time, we are not friends!"
My eyes budged out with surprise, hearing the name fall out of Lila's mouth. Laura. I turned and looked over at the woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She was probably about 22, or something like that. So, this is what she looked like; tall, brunette, brown eyes. She knew who Lila was and Lila knew her. Now that I really thought about it, Laura did sort of look like Clara in some way. I turned my attention back to Lila, who still looked pissed off. She swung her arm, which was holding unto the glass cup she had picked up; she threw the glass cup towards Laura and at first I was about to scream, but then I realized that Lila had thrown it so it wouldn't hit her.
"I don't care about your stupid Bridgette story. I don't want to help you look for her!" Lila gave her one last glare before she turned around to look at the door. At first, I thought she was looking at me, but then I realized she was just looking past me to the door behind me. "Just leave, Laura. I don't want to see you here. Every single time I help, I never get anything in return. All you give me is more work, more problems, and I'm seriously so tired of it now. Your problems aren't mine, Laura. They never were. They never will be!"
Laura gave her another pleading look, but Lila was obviously not having it. Telling from these broken glasses and Lila's bleeding arm, I was positive these girls had had a fight. Laura looked at her one more time, before she turned and started heading for the door. Although I knew she couldn't touch me, I still moved to make way for her. I looked at Lila once more and seeing that she was busy bandaging up her arm, I decided to take my leave as well. I took note of every inch of the house, although that didn't really matter anyway. I opened the front door and walked out. Then I turned and looked over at the address number. 94. I started walking away from the house, looking around the streets. A car zoomed by. Then another. And another. I then finally came across what I was looking for; the street name of where Lila lived.
After getting the information I needed, I started fading off as usual, and while I did, I shut my eyes. Reopening my eyes, I found myself back in my room with the others staring at me. I didn't even waste time at all; as soon as I saw their faces, I told them the address. We decided the girls should go this time, so Alya, Chloe and I got ready to leave. We put Nino and Adrien in charge, you know, just to keep the party going and make sure nothing bad happened. We also told them to inform the bodyguards if they ever needed help. There were so many people in the palace though, so I doubt Bridgette would want to attack right of this moment. We girls took my limo, with Louis driving, and I instantly told Louis where we were going. It was going to be a long drive, I could tell, because the address I'd picked up didn't sound like it was around here. Nevertheless, Louis knew exactly which directions to take to get us there.
After what seemed to be about 20 minutes, Louis finally informed us that we had entered the street. I reminded him that we were looking for address 94, so the four of us started looking. "Oh, oh, slow down," Chloe said after a while. "We just passed 90. It should be around here."
"There!" I pointed at the house. It was just exactly the same house I had seen, so I knew we were in the right place. Louis parked the limo in front of the house, and we started walking out of it. I took the lead and walked up to the door. After trying the doorknob and realizing it was locked, which honestly didn't come off as a shock, I tried the doorbell. It didn't take long before the door started to open; I backed away while it did, and when it was full opened, Lila peeked her head out. She gasped a little to see us, and then suddenly changed her face into a much angrier one. "Listen, Lila," I started before she could even start cursing at us, "we come in peace." I was wondering whether to tell her about the celebration, or not, but before I could stop myself, the words slipped out. "We're having a party and thought to invite you."
Lila raised her eyebrows, and I could tell she obviously didn't believe my words. "You came to invite me?" She scoffed. "You drove all the way over here to invite me to some stupid party, and for what? To mock me? Call me a loser? 'Oh look, it's Lila, the one who failed at everything she worked so hard on. Oh, it's Lila, the girl who lied her way through situations but later on got everyone to hate her.' You want me to walk out there as if nothing ever happened, as if we never had beef with each other. You can't just do that!" She started heading back inside the house, but I quickly grabbed ahold of her arm, pulling her forward.
"You don't understand! I know we had beef, but it doesn't have to be this way anymore. We don't have to hate each other, Lila."
"I don't have to hate you," she spoke. "I just choose to!"
I gulped, knowing there was no other way, but I still help on to her arm as if my life depended on it. "Right, you're still hung up by all those stupid high-school memories. I'm over here trying to forget, but you with your stupid brain just can't seem to let go of your anger. I bet you've been staying in this house all alone because you don't want to let anyone in. You're not having such an amazing life as you had wanted to, but Lila, you can still change that. You're still young; there's still a lot of time to change that ugly personality of yours." Then I said something I never meant to mention. "I bet no one besides Laura has ever stepped inside this place."
Lila froze at those words, and when I let go of her arm, she didn't try to get back inside and close the door on us. Instead, she gave me such a stern, serious look. "How do you know Laura?"
I hid a grinning smirk as I faced her once again. "Why do you care whether I know Laura or not? I'm trying to make a point here. By the way," knowing that this was the only way to make Lila interested and have a higher chance of following us, I decided to take that chance, "what she said about Bridgette. . . she wasn't lying about that. There's a sick psycho out there, hunting for human blood and will only be satisfied when she gets what she wants. I have no idea what she does want yet, and that's what I'm trying to figure out." I turned to the other girls. "That's what we're all trying to figure out. Now, stop acting like a know-it-all and get your butt out here! We're not trying to trick you or mock you or remind you of all these stupid memories. We're trying to save you! If the roles were switched, you would never be kind enough to do this, but look at us here. Yes, we drove for minutes just to get here and not only give you a warning, but to get you to a safe place. Stop acting so cowardly and stupid just because things didn't go your way! Stop acting as if nothing else matters anymore, because let's face it, Lila. . . you're the one who attacked us first when you moved to our school. You're at fault, and yet you think you have the audacity to be mad at us!"
Lila let out a low growl, but she didn't say anything for a few seconds. She reached inside her pocket and took out a key, then stepped out of her house, before she locked the door. "Well then," She turned back around. "Why don't you lead the way, Queen Marinette?!"