Poison Rose

CH-37 - Are you done?

Rachel stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her eyes were fixed on the direction Liora had fled.

After a moment of stunned, shocking action, she noticed Liora's purse on the floor. She quickly picked it up and dashed outside, scanning the crowd for Liora, but she was nowhere to be found.

Panicking, Rachel ran over, looking for Daran in the men's section, clutching Liora's handbag.

"Daran!" She called out, catching his attention. "Liora... she ran away."

"What do you mean?" Daran asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"She ran away, and her purse is with me," Rachel explained breathlessly. She opened the purse and showed it to Daran.

"Look, her wallet and her phone are in here. I went outside to see if I could find her, but I couldn't spot her anywhere."

Daran immediately dropped the shirt he held on to and strode out of the shop with Rachel.

"What happened exactly?" He demanded, wanting to know what made Liora run away.

Rachel could feel the annoyance and anger radiating from him. She knew how Daran was protective of Liora.

Adjusting the bags in her hands, Rachel followed him. "I placed a red dress on her to see if she liked it or not, but she pushed my hand away and ran off as if I showed her something horrific," she explained, her voice tinged with confusion.

Daran turned around to look at Rachel and pressed both of Rachel's shoulders with his hands, his grip firm. "A red dress?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

"She hates any dress with red., Rachel!"

Daran remembered that ever since that camping trip, Liora had avoided any dress in red, which used to be her favourite colour. And showed signs of PTSD, flinching away from men's touch.

He didn't need all the details to piece together what had happened. He knew Liora and some guys had gone missing that night, and the four senior boys had never returned to school.

"Rachel, you stay here in case Liora comes back," Daran instructed, his voice tight and frustrated.

"I'll go look for her. I can't even take my eyes off this girl for ten minutes," he muttered, running a hand through his hair in exasperation.

Rachel nodded, "Okay, I'll stay here. Just find her, Daran. I hope she is okay."

Without wasting another second, Daran sprinted out of the store, weaving through the bustling crowd in urgency.

Just a few minutes had passed when Donovan enjoyed his pancakes before his attention was caught by a golden blond girl. And, now, his eyes fell on a familiar figure with red-blonde hair, Daran.

'What is he doing in L.A.?'

Donovan's thoughts immediately raced to Liora. 'Is she here too?' He started scanning the crowd, his eyes darting from face to face. But she was nowhere in sight.

The group sitting with Donovan noticed his distracted state, but Donovan was preoccupied with thoughts of someone... someone he had left behind in Italy.

Daran's presence alone stirred a storm of questions in his mind. Daran looked worried and tense, searching for someone.

Donovan's previously fluffy pancake began to taste dense and heavy in his mouth, almost like chewing on fine grains of stone. He put his knife and fork down, reached for his water, and sipped. Even the water tasted lacklustre to him now.