Fearless Beings

Chapter 20

Mia's POV:
~~~~~~~~~
Cassandra pulls her hair into a bun on top of her head. "I don't understand," she mutters, jabbing her nose with her index finger in a quick motion.

She does that when she's thinking about a solution.

Like now. We're here, sitting in my bedroom, trying to figure out who the hell is Alrod Carter and how come is he's Madele Rulph's son.

"There's only one explanation," Cassandra breathes, eyes wide. "They don't share the same sur name, and we already know that Madele hasn't married which explains it, then it can only mean that..."

I know it. So I complete for her, "Madele had an affair with someone."

Cassandra nods her head frantically. "We need to find him."

My eyes snap to hers. "What? Who?"

"We need to find Alrod," she explains, her eyes searching mine, begging me to understand. But I'm so confused. "We need to get back there, to her office. We need to see what he looks like and maybe find something that might help us find him."

My breathing hitch. Something is telling me I shouldn't do this, and I know I shouldn't. But the name rings through my ears and slices right through me. "And then what?"

At this, my best friend smirks, her mouth curling up in a devious manner. "And then we see what happened between Madele and prince charming, learn their history."

"And then?" The question rumbles through the air, I want to squirm so badly, because I know the worst is yet to come.

Cassandra doesn't miss a beat in her following statement. "We use it against her, blackmail her."

•••

I've come to conclusion that Cassandra hates Madele with a burning a passion for some unknown reason.

That. Or Cassandra just enjoys seeing people suffer and would do anything to satisfy the beast within her.

But I think it's the former.

"Where are you going, girls?" Mum asks us when we head toward the front door. Cassandra stands on the porch and looks back at my mum.

"Oh, Mrs Gradover, we're just going for a run, and then maybe we'll grab something to eat."

"But I've made dinner," my mum protests.

"We know," Cassandra tries sounding apologetic, but if anything, she sounds eager to get out of the house. "We're really sorry. Maybe sometime later though?"

My mum nods, looking at the floor, dejected. I walk over to her and pull her for a hug. "Tomorrow we will, okay?"

She hugs me back. "Alright, dear. Stay safe. Avoid boys, I know they might look--"

"Mum!" I exclaim. "God, Mum, we're not going to meet boys."

She grins. "Yeah, sure. Just saying."

I roll my eyes and pull Cassandra behind me, making my way to my car. Cassandra climbs in, claiming shotgun, and taking a hit of her inhaler before looking straight forward.

I drive by the empty streets, long light bulbs flashing by in a blur. There are barely any cars, let alone people walking. Nobody is out at this time. It's like an unspoken curfew for all of us, because we all know that this is when the robbers, rapists, thieves walk around.

The thought sends chills down my spine. I scramble to put my brain back together and before I know it, I'm killing the engine and stepping out of the car, Cassandra joining a while after. We stare silently at the iron gates before us. They're so huge and high, I wonder why though.