Fate of deception

Chapter 19 - Umaizah's POV

Nova, Layna's mother, asked us to wait for Amir to come home before going out if we had any plans. That reminded me to ask Layna if she wanted to explore the Center of the village. We talked about it last night before I went away with Amir.

"Are we still planning to go to the center of the Village?" I whispered to Layna as her mother was telling a story about younger Amir and Layna.

"I want to go but Amir has to be with us," she stopped speaking, pretending to pay attention to her mum. "The centred part of the village has many thieves there. We can't risk it without him."

"We can't let Amir know what we're doing though. This is between us only." I whispered back.

"We can lie to him, he never pays attention to what I do when I'm with my friends. He always goes away with girls." What? "He's basically an excuse for me to go out." Amir with other girls, shouldn't be a surprise for me.

"Let's pick a mask for you though. I want some fresh air and mum's story isn't getting anywhere." I let her stand first, she interrupted her mother. "Mum, Umaizah and I are heading back to my room. If you need me just shout and I'll come back."

Layna grabbed my hand, taking me away. "Okay honey, make sure you don't awake Hassan." She assured us.

"Can I see the masks from yesterday? You never got to show me." She frowned jokingly.

"I'm surprised you haven't went through the bag yourself. It's been sitting on your nightstand the whole time." I pointed to it as I shut the door behind me.

"I did have the feeling to open it, but at the same time I wanted you to show me." She giggled.

"Grab it for me," Layna obeyed, placing it on the bed as she waited.

Without wasting time, I pulled the first few masks out, freeing them from my palm. The first few was miscellaneous colours - colours like brown, grey, cream etc. I out one against my face, mimicking what I would look like.

"Oh my gosh, you literally look mysterious. I can't even recognise you." Layna leaned forward, grabbing the nearest mask doing the same thing as I did.

We both laughed at each others silliness. Our laughter echoed through the room, creating a joyful atmosphere that lifted our spirits. It's moments like these that truly cement our bond and make our friendship so special.

After I finished showing Layna the masks, I told her about the flowers Amir and I chose yesterday from their mother's florist shop. She listened as I mentioned how we haven't tried out Amir's plant, The Whispering Ferns.

"One at a time, we can listen in closely and see what can be heard?" Layna said, holding the ferns in her hand. I nodded in response.

Layna put the ferns close to her ears, she remained silent, trying her best to make out what was said to her.

"Wow, that's," She placed the ferns down. "Intriguing."

"What did it say?" Layna stared at me.

"It told me, "The blood of the forgotten runs through your veins. You are not who you think you are." What does that mean?"

I thought about it, nothing came to mind.

"Let me have a try." I grabbed the plant, coming close to it. I listened in,

"Beware the shadow behind the smile, trust not the light that blinds."

I repeated the phrase that was said. Who is this aimed to? What's going to happen?

"Mine is weird too," I furrowed my brows. "It whispered, "Beware the shadow behind the smile, trust not the light that blinds." How weird."

"I want to try again." Layna snatched the ferns off of me. The proximity with her and the plant felt intimate. "I can't hear anything. Is this thing broken?" Layna shook the ferns vigorously.

"Don't do that! You're going to damage it." I took the ferns away from her before she accidentally did something she would regret later.

"Oh well, let's do something else." Layna disregarded the phrases that we heard. Did she not think it was eerie? "What time is it? I want to go out."

It was 7:45. Over an hour I've been awake. Abnormally, I felt energised. Usually, I would never feel energised on a morning. Amir hadn't came back from where ever he was, neither his mother or his sister knew where he went. Was it normal for him to go out without forming his mother?

"Are we allowed to go out? I want to explore the village further." Hopefully, Nova let would us go out.

"I don't think my mum would let us go to the center of the village still. We can lie to her that we're going somewhere else?"

Not a bad idea. However, I didn't want Nova to think I'm influencing her daughter to lie. I didn't like how I can meet her but then lie to her about our whereabouts. Don't you want to know more about Maribel and Alma? That's tempting...

"Fine, we're only going to be out for a small amount of time. Otherwise, I'll get too guilty."
I got off the bed as Layna placed Amir's ferns on her desk, next to some stationery she had.

"Okay Umaizah, you need to ask her. She won't say yes to me since I went out three times last week." She skipped down the hallway, touching the wall as she passed.

"Fine by me."

When I entered the living room again, Nova was sat down next to Hassan, feeding him his breakfast as he was watching the TV screen in front. She noticed us, "What are you guys up to?"

"Is it alright if Layna and I go out for a walk?" I used a typical excuse anyone could go for. I didn't know if Nova would see the lie.

"Where to?" I glanced at Layna, not knowing what to say.

"To the Floating Gardens of Serenity," She quickly spoke. "I want to show Umaizah the activities there. I heard they came up with new ones this week, for the new masquerade event coming up."

New masquerade event? I want to check that out.

Nova stared at us, a skeptic expression appearing. "Be back in time for lunch, 12:30 is the latest since Amir hasn't came back yet. I don't even know where he went. Understood?"

"Understood." We both said collectively.