Pride ✔️

03

Back at the hotel, the large clock on the wall read 11:45pm. Kathleen had just applied perfume behind her ears and on her neck. She stared in the mirror. She'd never been the prettiest of women, but at least, she had her brain to make up for it.

"Are you sure about this? You're in a place you don't know, going to meet up with some sketchy dude who clearly didn't want to be seen with you."

She rolled her eyes. "It's a good thing that not everyone is as cowardly as you, eh? No crimes would ever get solved that way."

Nick rolled his eyes. The woman was a pain in his hide. Who cared if something happened to her anyways? "Fine then. Go. If you go missing too, well, that would be amazing actually."

Kathleen laughed. She didn't have time to bicker with the grumpy man, she had a date.

The brisk walk to the mango tree seemed longer than it had been in the morning. Maybe it was because of how terrifying the whole place was at nighttime. One too many times, Kathleen could've sworn that she saw a supernatural entity watching her. But of course, it was all in her mind.

The streets were too empty, too devoid of sound, of life. By the time she made it to the tree, her heart was beating wildly, and there were tears at the corners of her eyes. She fidgeted nervously with her phone, contemplating swallowing her pride and calling for Nick to come get her.

"You made it. I didn't think you had the guts."

Kathleen stumbled back with a muffled scream. She nearly tripped over a large root, but the owner of the voice caught her just in time. He helped her steady herself and then stepped back.

"Why did you ask me to meet you here, at this time? What was so important that it couldn't be said during the day?" she asked, her fear masking itself as anger.

He held up his hands in surrender. "I'm only being cautious. The prince disappeared. If someone could do that to one of the most powerful men in the whole country, then how much more me?"

"What did you want to tell me?" Kathleen asked. She was becoming more afraid by the second, realizing just how vulnerable she was.

"I heard you were looking for clues about the lost prince. I have some information. I don't know whether you'll find it useful or not, but it's my duty as a son of the village to tell you what I know."

Kathleen nodded, urging him to continue. The man sighed dramatically and said, "The prince was a womanizer, but there was no woman he hassled more than Araba, the village beauty. He could be seen in the marketplace, wooing her, urging her to come back to his place with him. But Araba isn't only beautiful, she's also a very decent girl. She never gave in."

In the darkness, Kathleen could barely see anything, yet, she managed to jot down the name 'Araba'. "Araba is the village beauty, you say. So she had many other men pining after her?"

"Oh, of course. Who in this village wouldn't want to wed such a fine-looking woman? A virgin too." The man's eyes seemed to change in front of her, he suddenly looked lustful. "Her beautiful plump cheeks, those full, firm breasts, wide hips to bear the most beautiful of children, thick dark hair—"

"Yes, I get it," Kathleen interjected, rolling her eyes. This brute hadn't even so much as complimented her makeup, and here he was roving about some village girl. "This... Araba. Did she have a boyfriend, overprotective father or something?"

"Oh, uncle Ebo?" he laughed. "He would've loved for her to elope with the prince. Imagine going from a lowly village hunter to the father of the queen."

Kathleen mentally crossed her father off her suspect list. He didn't seem to fit the profile of an overprotective father who drove men away from his daughter.

"But... Araba is currently engaged to the son of the Odikro of this village. She was always meant to marry into royalty, with that kind of beauty and all. I don't know, but I have a hunch that she knows what happened to the prince. After all, she was the only woman he ever gave so much attention to."

The journalist mulled over all she'd just heard thoughtfully, nodding. The evening had proved beneficial after all. "The Odikro's son. What do you know about him?"

"He's nothing like the prince, that's for sure. Kind, compassionate... although I once saw him angry, and it wasn't a pleasant sight."

"Can you tell me more?"

"It was about Araba, a recent event. She'd been walking down the streets, her body oiled to perfection and her thick hips swaying like—"

"Please get to the point." Kathleen urged.

"Okay. Well, a man kind of crashed into Araba. It was a mistake, everyone could tell it was. But Araba screamed, and the prince immediately rushed to her rescue, punching the man square in the jaw. A bit of an overreaction, but Araba had been very jumpy."

"Right..." Kathleen noted all this information silently. "Is there anything else you wish to tell me?"

The man shook his head slowly. "No, but I think you should talk to Araba. Her house is in the center of the village. Just ask for Uncle Ebo and they'll show you to him."

"Thank you very much for your help. What's your name?" Kathleen asked, wanting to thank him.

The man's face blanched and he shook his head. "No need for that. It was my duty as a citizen. Take care." And with that, he began to walk away hurriedly.

The journalist took no notice of the man's strange behavior and began to head back to her hotel. On the way, she was so excited that she even forgot to be scared. That was, until she turned around to pick her pen that had fallen out of her pocket, and caught a glimpse of an impossibly smooth, white face, staring right at her.

She froze, her body shaking with fear. It was all she could do to keep breathing. The thing stared at her with an expressionless face, before it slowly began to recede into the surrounding trees, its eyes never leaving hers.

When it was gone, Kathleen could feel her limbs again. She picked herself up and ran the rest of the way, tears streaming down her face. Once she was back in the hotel, she finally let herself breathe deeply, wiping the liquid as quickly as she could.

She stood in front of the door, taking deep breaths before stepping in. She needn't have worried. Nick was fast asleep. The bastard hadn't even waited for her to return.

She locked the door behind her and sat at her desk to write down what she'd found so far, her heart still racing.

Araba.

The Odikro's son, her fiancé. And then, on second thought, she added, Uncle Ebo.

Under the Odikro's son, Possible motives: Jealousy. Threatened by the Prince's power to snatch his future bride.

And under 'Uncle Ebo', she wrote: Overprotectiveness.

She didn't have a motive for Araba to have caused the man's disappearance. Marrying the prince would've brought her only good things. Besides, she was just a woman. There's little she could've done.

Right?