Almost

5.

Another casual morning but it included packing and finding things to pack and again packing, then making arrangements for the leave and finally sending a letter to the school headmaster.

We got a reply quickly and had granted a 7-day leave from school. Yeah that was going to be enough for me.

We booked three tickets, for me, Clare and Charles. I wasn't astonished to see Charles requesting to pay his own ticket. He soon got a refusal from my dad. Dad had provided all the necessary things and we were all ready.

It sounded like we're going to have a fabulous adventure. After all, missing school is fun on the other hand.

Clare arrived nearly at 8 am and we were about to leave when my cousin sister came to my place. How could she possibly show up without informing prior? She was a rude, annoying and irritating creature but mom used to favor her like anything. I hated her, even more than Charles. 

Stop it Luana, thinking about him again, are you? Ugh I knew my mind will go nuts when he's around again but no, I'm just comparing my hatred towards her. Yeah. And here he was, staring at her with those stupid cute ey- I need to stop thinking, yeah.

Dad had a word with mom and then instructed us to leave and catch the flight immediately and he'll be with us to drop us at the airport. Mom was in charge of handling the girl.

Soon after, we were in the flight, on our reserved seats. I gave a call to dad and informed him that I'm on board and can't communicate with him until I reach Texas. I had a good nap when Clare woke me up and told our destination was going to arrive in minutes. I glanced over at Charles, he was reading something. I looked observantly and found out that it had been a boring magazine. Of course.

As if reading my thoughts, he said, "It's too boring I know, so is this journey."

"And why d'you think so?" I questioned.

"It's boring without your talks, talk about anything like literally anything."

"She's not a talking machine mister!" Clare interjected.

I chuckled at the sudden burst, "He considers me as one." and again I giggled some more.

Huh, why did I laugh? I have to think of whether that's a joke or him asking me to talk is one. I shook my head, "So you've the address, right?"

"Yep ma'am," He said texting me the address.

"Hmm, not so far from the airport. I've got a plan though, as you guys might have guessed of." I said giving a pressed-lip smile.

Clare was acting as if she was a huge drama queen. No kidding, she is. "Of course that's why you brought us here all the way from New York."

I gave her a knowing smile and looked out of the window. We were going to land in no time. "Time to set foot in Texas!" I mumbled, joy filled in my tone.

Charles grinned at my sudden joyous expression and his dimples were visible. He looked good when he smiled that much. Luana, ah, ah, ah! Stop it.

After landing, as we had the address, we drove over to Dean's house but before that we changed our outfits according to our fake persona at Charles's another friend's house. We were all ready, and I revealed the plan to them and I was delighted to see that both of them were impressed.

Dean's house was now in front of us. So good that it looked like a mansion. It had a nice garden with lots of flowers and a beautiful fountain in the center. I stepped forward with all my power to face the witch and to help Charles in throwing her in jail.

We got closer and closer and some more until the wooden door, carved with various designs was a few inches away from us. I pressed the bell button and in no time a bell was heard. It also stated that the house was not much crowded with people or furniture. A maid welcomed us in and requested us to sit down and wait till the owner returns.

After a quite noticeable time, a woman with a blue gown and her face loaded with make up entered through the door. I immediately assumed that she was our suspect or target, truly. She was pretty, I totally agree with that but her mind was a mess to deduce and her past wasn't even so well, it was stained with blood of her own husband and son and what not. Neither that she didn't know that I knew this and nor that she had felt our presence.

Charles was becoming nervous and uncomfortable with every minute that counted and Clare was just the opposite, completely stable and confident that she'll play her part well. I was impressed with her being here and having that confidence.

Finally the time arrived and the woman came walking to our direction. We got up showing a tiny bit of respect that we had for her. She glanced at Charles and grinned, saying, "Oh my boy, how are you? How's school?"

"Pretty well." Charles replied with a fake smile.

Then she noticed that we were also there, me and Clare. She moved closer to us, she was totally filled with dubiosity and I wasn't sure if she'll come to know who we are. Tension was rising internally but we were showing that we were care-free as we were our disguise itself.

She came up to me, finally trying to converse, "I'm sorry, who are you two?"

***