A Tale of Shadows - THE OUTDATED VERSION

Chapter 22 - The Warning From Afar

Melinda and Frank stood at the door before returning to the room, which, like everything else, was engulfed in darkness, sitting in silence opposite Wendy for thirty minutes. Seeing her all alone near the window wasn't good for Melinda's tear canals. She tried holding it in, but after everything that happened and everything that was happening and everything that she was worried would happen thanks to misery leering at her as much as possible, it was more difficult than ever. She would have had more joy in climbing up a mountain at that very moment without any preparation whatsoever. Wendy was her greatest source of tranquillity and happiness, and the blood within her veins started to freeze at the possibility of losing her, especially because of a woman she could not bring herself to trust. 

After the eternity that passed, she walked over to Wendy, hoping that she had enough time to calm down, at least a little bit. Once she sat down right next to her, Wendy tilted her head to the left, prompting Melinda to grab her by the shoulder. Wendy shuddered, attempting to push her away from herself. However, Melinda stood still like a rock. Wendy crossed her hands and then scoffed instead of asking the expected question: "What do you want?" even in a furious voice. 

"For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why you are feeling such negative emotions. We have been through much worse and become stronger every time. Although I'm having a hard time trusting Amanda, I understand why you trust her, and I do not mean to condemn you for it. I apologize for what I have done, and you ought to forgive me. If you are not willing to forgive me for my sake, do it for Douglas's," Melinda said, putting her hand close to Wendy's.

Wendy smiled at her. "Perhaps I was being overly harsh. I forgive you."

After she spoke those words, she hugged her the same as always, but this time, it felt warmer than ever to both of them. Everything they went through demanded a hug, so Melinda knew it was most likely the reason. They refused to separate and go to sleep or continue their mission while there was no one nearby. It wouldn't have affected much anyway, for they had already lost quite a lot of time. They separated before they wanted, which they would have done soon anyway since they could not afford to waste an opportunity to visit Melinda's parents and talk to them like this.

The reason was that they saw a red glow and heard the screams of civilians from the distance. They walked over to the window to observe the scene more carefully, and when Frank saw what they were doing, he followed behind, his mouth wide open. About one minute later, they noticed that it was a nearby village and that it was in the middle of a humongous fire, just like Melinda had assumed. She remembered what Amanda had told her about Patrick's plan and gasped as soon as she got the terrifying realization that its first phase was being enacted at that exact moment. Her friends caught onto it a while later, and then they all prayed that Maria's plan was going well.

They would have been doing that for a long time if Amanda hadn't ended the room. Shivers went down Melinda's spine even though she didn't look angry in the slightest. The spell had left her a bit stunned, and there were tears in her eyes that she held in. Her heart broke a little as she watched her move against the wall and struggle not to fall. A few seconds later, she was face to face with Melinda, beginning to talk immediately.

"As you can see, my boss's plan had commenced. That means he will probably move onto the second phase in about two weeks, but I'm not certain when it comes to it. There is no one around, as they don't know what is happening and believe that I have taken care of you. Now go and visit your parents. I will handle them," she informed quickly, inhaling and exhaling once she finished because she was out of breath.

Melinda's jaw dropped on the floor in shock. "Two weeks?!"

Amanda waved her hands in the air. "As I said, I am not sure. Now go!"

Heeding her words, they went away.

***

The creak of the door of the room Melinda's parents were trapped in woke them up. After Melinda entered the last and closed the door behind her, she and her friends had to wait for some time for them to get a grasp on their surroundings. She looked away from her friends and stared at the wall in front of her unblinkingly, remembering everything that had happened since the very beginning. As soon as her parents opened their eyes properly, her mother caught her frowning, walking over to her and stretching her arms in a desire to give her an embrace. Instead of accepting her request, Melinda snatched the letter from her pocket, the eyes of her mother and then father opening wide to that. Before they could ask a question, she started reading it, her voice stern and emotionless all throughout, and her parents listened to each and every word she uttered. Seeing that they had no clue as to what she was talking about, she explained Patrick's plan and how she came to hear of it to them. Once she was done, Imelda gasped.

"I knew he was evil, but he has taken this way too far even for him," she remarked.

John scoffed. "I honestly have no idea what you were expecting."

Imelda furrowed her eyebrows. "I was simply shocked. By the way, could you not argue with me every time I dare remark something?"

"I apologize, but I couldn't grasp your remark," John said with a sigh.

Imelda shrugged. "It's alright. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so surprised."

The smell of smoke and ash came closer to their window just as Wendy was about to say something. Melinda knew it was not that important, or else she would have said it anyway. They stared at the window for a few seconds before, oddly enough, a fireball burst through it and broke the glass. Several of its flames landed onto Imelda's dress, and she shivered and panicked, trying to recall how the spell for extinguishing minor fire went. Once the fire had reached the wooden planks as well, she turned the fireball's shadow purple, placed her hands into an x and clenched her fists. The flames left instantly, and she sighed in relief. However, her tranquillity did not last long, for the black and ashen symbol of a star appeared on the floor. She knelt and tried to wipe it away. First, she did it with a flick of her hand, and then she resorted to rubbing it, for there was no spell that would have sufficed, but the symbol was not affected.

"He must have done it," she commented as she stood up. "Now we must find out what the symbol means.

John yawned. "We will do that tomorrow. It's late now, and it wouldn't be fitting to do that task in such a time."

She yawned as well. "You are in the right. We ought to go to sleep. Everything can be done tomorrow."

With a few greetings and the closing of the door, Melinda and her friends went away, with exhaustion anticipating the next day.