A fall into the rabbit hole.
Book 3 & 4 of Seven-Minute Semblance Heptalogy. Please don't read this if you haven't read GODSFORRENT and FIMBULWINTER yet; unless you're brave and bold. Massive spoilers ahead.
Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.
Nicholas James.
8. April. Saturday, 9:00 p.m. Some Awesome Mansion. Iceland!
WHEN I FIRST SAW JULE, standing amidst the crowd of foreigners and unknown people, I thought of all the things I've done to him that I still regret. I thought about our little adventures when we were young.
I thought he stood out. I thought he looked tired. I thought he looked like someone I ought to idolise. But among those thoughts, I really, really thought:
"Hi, I'm a fan."
I patted mum's shoulder, ignored a line of people, ran to Jule, and tackle-hugged him. I will apologise for everything I've done later on. Right now, just hugs.
He pushed with his hands and shoulder. He didn't want my face anywhere near him. "What the bloody hell, you idio—Nik?!"
I pulled away and beamed my excitement out. "Jule!"
His eyes widened, but I loved that his grin afterwards was just as wide, just as bright. "Nik!"
"Jule!"
He laughed in disbelief, pinching my cheeks and tousling my hair. "You're here!" Then his smile faded. "Wait, why are you here?!"
"Edward!" I replied. "I'm here with Mum, Melissa."
Mum joined our little reunion, smiling. "Hi, Joyeuse. How are you?"
"Hold up." Jule shook his head. "Nir said he's sent someone to keep an eye on you, not bring you here."
Well...
"Don't you want us here?" I asked.
He sighed through his nose. "Oh dear lord where do I even begin..." He looked around before grabbing my collar and dragging me inside the mansion. There was nary a sign of gentleness with me but he politely asked mum to follow.
He showed us to the basement, but I recognised a lot of things that screamed Edward Dace and Jule. Gadgets, a working laptop, beer bottles, and a pullover on the floor.
Jule locked the door behind him before his interrogation.
"The person Nir sent hasn't contacted us yet. How did you know where we are?"
I tilted my head a little bit. "Well... I tracked you. I mean not you, but I was able to narrow your locations to Iceland after someone used Lance Ducere's credit card to buy an expensive laptop and an expensive phone. That's Edward."
Jule crossed his arms. "That was indeed him, but how did you know we're not in Vorstellungen?"