Clarissa Jenkins is an 18-year old high school dropout, but she isn't just a dropout. She's a spy recruited to work for the Ethereal Code Agency (EC). The Agency saw her skills and she was professionally trained and became the #1 field agent at th...
Islowly turned around, feeling angry that the artifact was so close and exposed but I couldn't grab it. A woman stood calmly behind me in the shadows of the museum. "Wait.. Clarissa is.. that you?" the woman's icy stare softened as she stepped forward. Huh? How did she know my name? I backed up a little, cautious of this strange woman. How did she get into this museum?
She stepped into the light and I swore my heart stopped. She was like me. She was not British, but she was African American! Her eyes seemed shocked and teary under the moonlight. That was not the only thing I noticed about her. She seemed so familiar and tears sprung to my eyes. Mom?! No this can't be it. My mother left me 4 years ago! The woman in front of me was wearing old fashioned London petticoat and a tan dress. Her face seemed resigned and tired.
I stole a glance at the artifact, I should just take it and run, my job here would be done. I turned my eyes back to her, and they narrowed," Who are you?" She was stepping towards me and paused. She looked uncertain as she said,"Clarissa I'm your mother. Don't you remember me?" I refused to believe it, but I knew deep down inside she wasn't lying. How could she just show up now in the four years she's been gone?! I don't understand. Part of me wanted to break down and cry. The other part of me wanted to scream at her in frustration and another part of me wanted to hug her and have her hold me. It was like an emotional rollercoaster. First my father and now my mother. Oh I was definitely having an eventful week for sure.
I stepped past her, ignoring her and attempted to sprint away. My mother looked hurt as I ignored her, but before I knew it, she blocked me from my path. "Clarissa listen to me! Don't steal that artifact!" my mother pleaded. "You can't stop me. Why should I believe you now?" I said tightly. She grabbed my arms and angrily, I wrenched myself away from her. All of a sudden, a loud blaring noise pierced my ears. What was going on?! I looked at my mother and she had a regretful sad look on her face with her hand on the alarm.
No! She sounded the alarm on me! I sprinted towards the museum doors and shook them. They were locked. Desperate now, I climbed on top of cabinets and boxes and leaped to the nearest window. Gripping the window ledge, my arms were about to give away, but I swung my legs and broke the window. I leaped out onto other ledges outside and quickly landed on the grass. I didn't even glance back to see if my mother got out of there. I felt a sharp sting in my ankle and I winced, but I kept running.
I heard voices shouting and the screech of tires in the distance. Since it was late and it was dark outside, there was no one on the streets except for the dim lamps. Once I reached the outside of Edmund's house, I paused for a moment panting and gasping. After taking a moment, I knocked on the door. The door opened after a few seconds and Edmund's curious expression gave way to a worried look. "Clarissa you are finally back! Where were you?! Did you get lost?" he pestered me with questions. "Can I come in first?" I interrupted him tiredly. He seemed to snap out of it and ushered me into his home. "Everyone else went to bed. Did you even eat yet?" Edmund asked in an accusing tone.
"Look Edmund I'm fine. I know you look after your siblings, but I don't need taking care of," I snapped, more harshly than I intended. Edmund looked at me like I sprouted three heads,"Of course you do! You're a woman and you were not supposed to be alone out there!" Even Edmund's usual calm voice had a bitter edge to it.
Not taking it anymore, I left the room and fast walked down the hallway. I opened a random room and ran in there, closing the door. It was an unfamiliar room, with a huge bed and a few family portraits on the walls. I sat in a corner of the room, grateful to be alone at last. I thought about my mom and how I finally saw her, but she wasn't the same anymore. Why was she here? Where did she come from? The questions overwhelmed me and for the first time, I allowed myself to cry. I usually hated crying, but thinking about my mom again made me sob even harder.
My crying was not attractive I tell you. I had full blown snot running down my nose and red eyes, but the tears kept running and I buried my head into my arms. Plus my sobs sounded like dying donkeys. I faintly heard the door creak open and someone sat next to me. "Are you okay?" Edmund asked gently. I still didn't look up, but I remained silent before croaking a response,"It's just my parents." He lifted my chin carefully so I could look up at him. He gave me a handkerchief from his pocket. He didn't say anything as I blew my nose into the handkerchief and wiped my tears. "Um thank you," I said awkwardly in the darkness.
"This room actually belongs to my parents," Edmund said after a while, gazing at a picture on the wall. "Oh I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have intruded-" I attempted to stand up hurriedly, but Edmund grabbed my arm. "No no it's okay. My parents aren't here," he assured me. I noticed he didn't add "yet." I slowly sat back down, watching him. "My parents were a happy couple. My mother loved my father so much that she'd go with him wherever he went. My father was a wealthy businessman and we lived in a big house, my siblings and I. I was studying to become an inventor even though my father did not approve," he chuckled sadly, "Well my father wanted to expand his business into other countries and he bought a train ticket from London to Spain. Of course my mother went with him, but apparently there was something wrong with the train engine and it veered off the railroad tracks. They both died that day."
His voice seemed calm and empty, but his face looked mournful and my heart twisted for him. "It's okay Edmund. I lost my parents too," I whispered. Though they weren't dead, they were lost to me anyway. After a while of staying in silence, I dozed off.
The weight of my responsibilities and the artifact weighing heavily on me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aww that's so sweet, but that's so sad... I would hate for anyone to go through that. I hope no one has to go through that in their life. Well we are doing great on continuing the story so far and we hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did!
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