Katera

Chapter 8: Aligned Secret

Adari led the way back, and it wasn't long before they reached Katera. Hukai and Tassu were the first to see them, but upon their prince's return they completely ignored Maria's existence.

"Prince Adari, your majesty, you're back. I guess you weren't abducted by Rico after all." Tassu said happily

"What made you think that I was abducted by Rico?" Adari questioned

"Well, you were gone for 2 days without a trace." Hukai responded

"I guess that makes sense, but Rico?"

After the conversation, Adari kept walking and headed towards the palace and Maria headed to home. As Adari arrived at the palace, the silence around him was disrupted by Suri.

"Prince Adari, your back." Suri said.

At the sound of Suri's voice Adari stopped in his tracks. "At that I am, I see things are still running smoothly as they should be. I'm sorry for my unaccounted for absence." Adari replied

"No need to apologize your majesty. So what was it like?"

"What do you mean Suri?" Adari asked out of confusion

"Well, I saw you with Maria when you entered back in to the city and, If you don't mind sharing.." Suri started to say curiously before it drifted off.

"I know where you're going with this and I.." Adari's voice trailed off.

"Going by that response, things didn't go as planned."

"Well, you could put it that way."

"What happened..if you don't mind?"

"I never originally planned to spend 2 days with Maria, but she just appeared out of nowhere while out taking time to think, and I just happened. Everything was going fine, up until the Maria injured herself. You probably could guess what happened after that."

"Does she hate you now?"

"I'm not actually not sure. She said she didn't, but I'm not sure if I believe her. She did forgive me for what happened, but part of me thinks she just did that so I wouldn't hold it against her."

"Honestly, I don't think she does. If she did, why would've she followed you back here?"

"She claimed she had to follow me back because she didn't know how to get home from where we were at."

"Whether that was true or not, if she hated you, she'd most likely try to find her way back home, even if she didn't know her way back."

Maria hastily made her way back home and went to bed. Due it being Saturday, when Maria woke up at 11:30 she made herself some food and got ready to go to work. Since it was Saturday, Maria had to be at work at noon.

Upon her arrival her at Chillin' Coffee, her boss, Mr. Thomas was waiting for. When she came face to face with her boss, he was angry.

"Maria, where were you yesterday? Just because it was Friday doesn't mean you can just not show up. You didn't even call in." Mr. Thomas scolded

Maria began to get nervous "Well, there was a reason for that actually." She began "I was really sick yesterday, and I meant to call in, but I lost my phone so I couldn't. I am really really sorry." she lied in reply

Despite her response, Mr. Thomas was still mad. "Since this was your first unexcused absence, I will let it go..this time. But, if this one more to time, you will find yourself looking for new job."

Maria got tense as she spoke "It won't happen again." she said as she started to bite her lip.

"It better not." Mr. Thomas said, afterward he walked away from her allowing her to begin her shift.

After her talk with her boss, Maria began her shift as usual. As each hour passed, Maria served customer after customer. After quite a bit of time passed, much to Maria's surprise, her friend Rachel walk into the building and Maria became her waitress. She walked over to the table at which her friend was sitting, and greeted her. "Hi Rachel, how may I serve you today." Maria asked with delight

"Hi Maria, I would like a cappuccino and a croissant. That'll be all." Rachel responded

"Okay, I'll be right back." Maria replied. She then left the table Rachel was at. About 10 minutes later Maria returned to Rachel's table with her cappuccino and a croissant that was freshly out of the over. As soon as she set the items down on the table, Rachel began to bombard Maria with questions.

"So Maria, Why did it take you so long to reply to my calls? Why weren't you here yesterday? You were supposedly the last person to see Jessie, so are you sure you know nothing about her disappearance? If you weren't, do anything about her current location?"

Maria then interrupted her. "Rachel, I understand you have many questions, but can we talk about this later? I finish my shift in about 30 minutes."

"Alright then. Come to my apartment after work."

"Okay, I'll be there."

Maria kept her word, and after she finished her shift, she headed over to Rachel's apartment complex. When she arrived at the apartment, Rachel was eagerly waiting for her. Maria knocked on the door, and Rachel hastily answered it and let Maria in.

"Great your here" Rachel said with no restraint.

Maria went into the room and sat down on a couch, and Rachel sat beside her.

"So what again was it you wanted to talk about?" Maria asked

Rachel took a moment then began to talk. "First off, I'm glad you could make. It's been kinda lonely since Jessie, my roommate, disappeared." She took a deep breath and then continued on. "Maria, you must've been the last person to see her, that's why wanted to know if you knew anything."

Maria was hesitant to answer her friend, she knew what had happened to her but didn't know if she should tell her the truth. "Should I tell her Jessie is actually dead?" She asked herself in thought. "Would she believe me if told her a vampire killed her? She deserves to know the truth, right?" She continued to question herself.

Not paying attention, she still hadn't answered the question. Rachel said her name to try to get a response.

"Maria? Are you going to answer?" Rachel asked in a concerned tone.

"No, I can't tell her. It has to be a secret." Maria thought to herself before responding. "Maybe, Jessie disappeared and is missing or she just ran away. I'm not really sure."

"Ran away? Why would she run away?" Rachel asked sternly.

Maria tried to hide her nervousness and fear while she spoke "I don't know, it's just a guess."

Rachel began to get impatient. "You're dodging the question Maria! You know something, dont you? Why won't you just tell me?" she accused as she started to cry.

"I just..I can't." Maria replied.

"If you refuse to help, then it's probably best you leave." Rachel said as she pointed at the door.

As she got up, she stated her departing words "I'm sorry, Rachel." After she said that, she then left the structure in silence.