Honey Scragger's Last Words

CHAPTER THREE

Vivieaa slammed the journal shut and dropped it. For a solid minute she tangled her fingers in her hair, and hugged her knees to her breast, breathing heavy. A lot of words in that journal made very little sense, but one undeniable phrase she understood perfectly stood out: "Jane Deacon".

This has gotta be some sort of screwed-up story, she told herself.

But it seemed so realistic. From the actual writing to the old slang, to the way she described THE Jane Deacon as stuck on a bad salary and cynical and realistic, it seemed legitimate.

So then what?

Well, there were a few options.

1). Toss it back in the ocean.
2). Give it to her parents and never think about it again.
3). Read the whole thing and decide what to do afterwards.

Well, 3 couldn't hurt, right? It had to be some sort of discarded novel or something.

The book was already floating in the water.

Realizing what was going on, Vivieaa reached her hand out to grab it. It was halfway in the water, and once it was gone, there was no getting it back unless she wanted to be charged a fine.

Vivieaa reached out just far enough to not grab onto it. She inched toward the water, her foot touching the rocks and left hand gripping hard on the sand so as not to slip in the water. The light from the camera on the pier started to glow red, indicating to stop before she got charged. The edges of her hoodie were already soaked.

Just...a little...further...

Vivieaa reached too far and collapsed in the water. The alarm began to blare, and it had already identified her, recognized she was a minor, and deducted 200 Ryes from the WinGers' balance. Ah, screw it, Vivieaa thought.

She ran into the water, grabbed the journal, and ran out. Climbing up the rocks quickly, she hid beside a 10-foot column under the pier platform, about an inch into the water. She stuffed the journal into her hoodie pocket, zipped it, and waited. Someone was going to check out the camera, and while she waited that out, she tried to process everything.

Okay, so I might've found a major piece of history, or something. Maybe.

Vivieaa smacked her lips, and silently cursed herself for doing so. Maybe it was anxiety, maybe it was some twisted form of boredom. Waiting for someone to see if she was a troublemaker was scary, and she was technically still breaking the law by being in the water. If they found out why she was in the water, and why that book was so important...Vivieaa didn't want to think about that. So she smacked her lips a couple more times until she was calm and collected, within reason. As fifteen minutes passed, she realized no one had come, so she slowly walked toward the light of the ocean. No one was in sight, so she looked at the pier. Normally, fishermen and tourists were a common sight on the pier, so it was also strange that no one was there. Maybe they were freaked out by the alarm or something, Vivieaa thought.

So she raced home, even though she knew an APO (Avalian Police Officer) would be coming by as soon as her parents would get home no matter what.
...
"We're hooome!" Gretta sung as always, Fraic following her. The door slammed shut. Vivieaa cringed. Partly from the slam, partly from the idea of the APO arriving, and partly because she hated the evening greeting. Gretta swung herself onto the short armrest of the couch where Vivieaa was sprawled. "How was school?" "
"School was-"
"Great! Today we and Alis were preparing for a new job in Fund! Isn't that exciting? Oh, we might even get 20,000 Ryes from the job! We could get you that new Mash! lip gloss collection..." Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Time stopped for a moment, as Vivieaa's father went to get the door. Gretta continued talking. "Mash! is a solid makeup brand, right? You know, we've got to be careful with makeup and skincare, because that virus is spreading around..." Vivieaa's ears almost filtered through the sounds as the door creak worsened and her heart began to pound.

The loud footsteps of the policeman made its way toward her. It was custom to have the family listen to the embarrassment. Gretta stopped talking, and didn't even try to refrain from staring at him. "Your daughter, beloved members of Avalian Society, has disrupted the peace of our society. As punishment, you have been given a fine of 200 Ryes."

The policeman's eyes were smug, but his grin was large. Gretta slowly turned her head to Vivieaa. "What did you do?" she said, almost calmly.
The policeman cleared his throat. "She trespassed."

Vivieaa was getting frustrated. The angrier she got, the funnier she sounded, some said. "Hey! I thlipped!" she lisped. The policeman's smug gaze got more obvious. Vivieaa shrunk a little into the couch. "The dock, right?" Fraic said quietly. Vivieaa nodded. "I-hey, is that a vintage robotonob?" the policeman asked. No one answered. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, have a lovely day." He turned around to leave.

"And, ah...someone more...qualified will be back to pick up the journal."

Vivieaa's eyes widened.

She ran to her room.