Hometorius : Coming Home

chapter 48 : War Bonnet

Zarina POV

Ever since I came home, nothing has been happening in my life. I didn't keep in touch with the girls, and Agis also disappeared somewhere. He probably stayed in the mirror. And I just prayed he wouldn't do anything to Marylin. I wouldn't forgive him for that.

When it came to my parents, I pretty much made up for the lost time already. Strangely, they didn't ask any questions about what happened, what was going on this whole time I was gone. Anger was overcome by longing, happiness and love.

My old friends, on the other hand? Well, apparently, they were not real, because they turned away from me whenever I wanted to get in touch with them. Everyone, every single one, blocked me on all social media. I understood that to some extent, after all I disappeared without a word. But I could've, for example, broken my back and ended up at hospital. Or I don't know, go on a surprise trip with your grandparents.

What I didn't understand the most though was that my best friend Lesedi had done absolutely nothing. She neither blocked me, nor did she say a word. As if she was the one that disappeared, just like me.

I sat at my desk and drew some scribbles. I never had the talent to draw, I never finished my work, because I thought that they looked better unfinished. This time I used a reference photo I found on Google. I never liked to draw from the imagination, and that was the only way they taught us at school so it's also easy to guess that my grades in visual arts were pretty poor. How ironic that I now go to a school connected with art.

I looked again at the picture that I stuck on the corkboard, on my eye level. It was beautiful. An absolutely gorgeous girl was sitting in a meadow and her beautiful long hair, although disheveled by the wind, looked flawless. She wore a navy blue jacket, but the photo composition made this element almost invisible to the viewer. She held a fox on her lap, it looked domesticated, but it didn't take away the magical feel of the photo. And what really made this photo special was a large orange war bonnet on the girl's head.

Just when I was about to start drawing its individual feathers, the phone rang.

I got up from my chair and went to the landline telephone, hung on the narrow wall in the living room, but that wasn't the ringing one. It took me a moment to realize that it was a call from Facebook, which was still active on my cell phone. I pulled the phone out of my pocket and smiled broadly. Lynda's profile picture appeared on the display. I managed to pick up the call before it disconnected.

"Hey, sorry that I'm calling through Facebook, but I didn't have your number," Lynda said hurriedly. "I have a case, can you talk?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Lynda was silent for a moment. As if she was wondering if she could tell me what was bothering her. The moment I inhaled to comfort her, she spoke.

"I went to Kate's place, like she asked, but no one answered. I went inside and found a piece of paper from Victuvius on her bed."

"Did he take her?" I guessed, and the silence that came only confirmed that. "What are we doing, then?"

"We have to meet, all of us," Lynda began slowly. "As Kate wanted. At her house. As soon as possible."

"And what next?" I asked, though I think I knew what she was going to say.

"First, let's call Fleur," I heard Lynda's discouraged voice. Apparently, she still didn't like the French.

"I'm already adding her to the conversation," I replied and pulled the phone away from my ear to choose another person to talk to. "I'm calling her now."

A quiet buzz rang in my earpiece. One signal, two signals. 'Come on, pick up the phone'. I began to pray that Fleur would have nothing to do at home. That she would sit all day on the couch, staring at her phone browsing friends' posts on the timeline. And when I thought that, I realized such behavior wouldn't fit her. She's probably sitting in a cafe near the Eiffel Tower, eating a chocolate croissant with grace, sipping a delicate latte. After the sixth signal, a voice I hadn't heard for a long time sounded on the other end.

"Oui?"

"Hi, Fleur, nice to hear you again," I said and heard the silence on Lynda's end, I cleared my throat. "Right, Lynda?"

"Yeah, yeah," she replied as if abruptly brought back from deep thought. "I missed you, frog."

I wanted to scold Lynda for teasing Fleur so much, but she began to laugh, and quite honestly at that.

"I missed you too, Blue. D'accord [T/N: okay], what's up?" Fleur asked, straight to the point. I felt like the question was directed more at me than Lynda.

"So, yes," Lynda said almost immediately, she didn't even let me breathe in and act like I didn't just find out myself what's going on. "We must get to Kate's home as soon as possible, so you pack your absolute necessities and catch the first plane at this instant."

Without unnecessary comments and questions, Fleur agreed and asked if we wanted anything else from her. I used it as an opportunity to ask my question again, as now the answer didn't seem so obvious.

"Lynda, what are we going to do at Kate's house when she's not there?"

"We'll go to another house we know," Lynda said. "Back to the mirror."