A Firefly's Glow

Chapter Thirteen: Part Two

I peered at the hallway’s entrance in shock. My mouth was bent open ajar. My eyes were widened as I stared at the lamppost that sat beside the stairway.

Perhaps the red handkerchief was invisible. Or perhaps I had too much crush in my eyes.

But no matter how many times I stroked my eyes, what I saw did not change.

Except for the small, orange orb that sat upon the lamppost, it was bare. All I saw were flawless coats of golden paint.

I did not see a red handkerchief tied onto the post.

And I could have sworn that this lamppost was the lamppost I had started my path on that very morning.

A tall figure immediately materialized from the depths of the hallways and I jumped backwards in reply.

Megane lifted his sunglasses higher above the arch of his nose. “Hotaru-sama! I apologize . . . did I startle you?”

I wasn’t going to completely lie. If I was an inch too far backwards, I would have tumbled down the stairs like an acrobat (prone to excessive bleeding, of course).

“A little,” I murmured, stepping back into place.

Lie. I was startled much more than just “a little”.

“Would you like me to escort you to your room?”

I slid my gaze from Megane onto the lamppost he stood under. I felt a pessimistic feeling cross my head.

I was cautious.

I was suspicious.

I was . . . afraid.

“Yes,” I confirmed, hopping a step closer to Megane with my fists clenched.

I had a bad feeling, and I felt the beat of my heart ring strongly against my ears.

Something was wrong.

I peered at each of the lampposts, harshly whipping my eyes with the back of my wrists. But it did not matter how much I attempted to clarify my view. I knew what I saw.

Every lamppost we passed was bare, with nothing but a bright, orange orb sitting upon them to illuminate the hallways.

“Are we taking the right path?” I hesitantly murmured, biting my lip as I peered at every empty lamppost to find that they were all bare.

“Yes, Hotaru-sama. This is the only known path from the staircase to your room that we know of.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Know?” This definitely confirmed that those hallways contained thing that were unknown to even the master’s chief chauffeur.

I stood before my bedroom doors in fright. I felt my shoulders stiffen.

“Megane-san?”

“Yes, Hotaru-sama?”

I firmly turned my gaze on him. I confirmed something as I looked at all of the lampposts that were bare.

Someone changed something.

“Did you see anything red in the hallways?”

Megane seemed to silence himself in thought. When he spoke a few seconds later, he said, “No, miss.”

“When was the first time today you have walked past my room?”

“While you were at school, miss.”

“Was there anyone else in the hallway?”

“No one was in the hallways but the maids, miss. They were cleaning the floors.”

“They weren’t assigned to clean the walls?”

“No, miss.”

This was odd. If I was interrogating someone and pondering what has happened to my handkerchiefs, this meant only one thing.

I was in the middle of a mystery.

And the mystery to solve was clear enough to recognize.

Someone had removed the handkerchiefs off the walls.

I slumped my shoulders. Perhaps it was the maid’s job to clean away anything conspicuous.

I had completely forgotten that the maids were probably assigned to clean anything that wasn’t supposed to be in the hallways. But the whole reason why I forgot that fact was because Keita had stood beside me that morning the entire time I had been knotting the handkerchiefs.

It was so foolish of me to ask him to help. He passed out in Phys Ed that day and I knew whose fault it was.

Mine.

This thought lingered in my head. What would Keita say when he realizes that all the handkerchiefs have been removed?

I stepped towards my bedroom doors. “Thanks for escorting me.”

“You’re very welcome, Hotaru-sama.”

Before I could reach far enough to reach the door handles, Megane had hurried back down the hall and away from view.

I definitely knew that my abilities to locate my bedroom in a hallway that would probably stretch at least ten miles if it was straightened into one hallway was like Greek in my point of view. And I was certain of where I was at that very moment.

I had returned to square one.