Forlot - Books 19-21

Chapter Thirty-Two

I crawled out of bed at exactly four o'clock in the morning and shuffled towards the kitchen. I did not feel like fixing breakfast, so I just filled a glass with ice and water. I would have asked Sophia if she would whip us up with a nice breakfast, but I did not want to talk to her at all. I did not even want her to be in the house.

Sophia was the sole reason that I did not sleep a wink. She was the reason why my eyelids were drooping and why there were bags under my eyes. Can you blame me? She and the mystery person whom she chatted on the phone with were planning on taking care of me and my partner. The heck did that mean? Were they going to murder me and Kathy? Would Sophia have killed me in my sleep?

I sighed and took a sip of the water. Just thank the Lord that I was still alive.

As I sat at the table, Sophia came skipping into the kitchen and whistling a catchy tune. She had on her purple bag and waved to me.

"Morning, Cassandra! It sure feels weird saying that to you, considering that it is still dark outside."

"Funny. I thought that you were going to say that it feels weird because you desire to get rid of me," I muttered under my breath.

She patted her backpack as if she were proud of herself. "I packed everything that we will need during this trip."

"What exactly do you have in there?"

"Hand sanitizers. Snacks. Bottles of both apple juice and water. Toilet paper."

"'Toilet paper'?" I repeated. "You know what? I am not even going to ask."

"Good. 'Cause anything related to the toilet should be private." She loomed over me and gave me one of her nice smiles. Though, I knew that it was more of a mischievous smile. "Did you put makeup on?"

"Of course, I did not put on makeup. You should know by now that my skin swells when it comes in contact with any form of makeup. But I am fine with that because I have seen what makeup can do to a girl."

"Agreed. Some of them take a liking to big bottoms."

"Sophia, watch what you say. This book series is for both children and adults. They do not need to imagine big bottoms."

She giggled. "Too late for that."

I was a bit surprised that she never brought up breakfast. It was not the fact that I did not fix up a delicious breakfast. Sophia loves to make it and usually does every morning. This morning was different. She did not create something good. We just had water and apple juice to drink. I was about to question her as to why there was a lack of breakfast, but stopped myself.

She had something planned for me and my partner, Kathy. Was that why she skipped her duty? Was she eager to take me and Kathy out of the picture? Good thing that I made my own call before she was awake.

We decided to head out and ran as fast as we could to Kathy's house. I was faster than her because I was active almost every day, but I kept checking on her to make sure that she was not falling behind. We would have gone to the agency first if not for the fact that Sophia was not supposed to know that such a building existed. My next step was to send Sophia on some silly mission while I visited the agency if Kathy was not home.

We stepped onto Kathy's porch and knocked on her front door. Sophia must have taken note of the doorbell because she asked why I did not use that. What a smart aleck. I lied to her that I did not want to scare the dickens out of Kathy because she was probably still in bed. Okay, that was not much of a lie.

I waited until two minutes passed to knock again. "Kathy!" I called. "It is me! Cassandra! May Sophia and I come in?"

No answer. I was not worried at first. My partner was always a sound sleeper, and it would take forever to break her from her sleep. I tried the doorknob, and luckily for me, the door was unlocked. I opened the door all the way, and Sophia and I stepped inside. I spun around and looked at her seriously.

"I have an important mission for you," I said.

She clapped her hands and squealed. "Took you long enough to send me on a real mission. What will it be? Battling evildoers? Getting a secret file?"

"Even better. You are going to gather for me three rare flowers."

She squealed again. "I love finding rare stuff. I have never actually found anything that is considered rare, but I always wanted to. Anyway, where would I locate rare flowers?"

I motioned to the back of the house. "Kathy has an enormous garden in the back. I suggest that you check there first. And while you are at it, take as many flowers as you desire."

"Really? You sure that Kathy will be okay with me stealing some of her flowers?"

"Kathy does not mind if her friends take some of her flowers, and last time that I checked, you are her friend."

"You are right. She is my friend. Though, not my best friend."

"Just go."

"Okay!"

I wiped sweat off my forehead as Sophia exited the house and disappeared around one of the corners. The joke was on her. There were no rare flowers in Forlot, let alone in the garden. I just wanted Sophia to be out of the way while I searched for Kathy. Little did I know that the search would turn my whole world upside down.

I tiptoed as quietly as I could into the living room - and found it trashed.