Pure-sue \ pər-ˈsü , -ˈsyü \

EIGHT

PSYCHE

I.

"Psyche?" I heard a crying lady over the phone...

I already sensed that something is wrong when Anima's mother called me up. She called me right after she called the police to inform that Anima is missing.

Yeah right! Anima is missing!

...and here we are, together with Lex and Gist, in front of Mr. Carnis' home, hoping we could at least have a clue as to where Anima is.

My heart is throbbing! I cant really explain why but I am gasping. I am running out of breath!

Lex rang the door bell.

And my heart throbs all the more. Relax Psyche, you have Lex with you, I reminded myself and tried to calm down.

"Yes?" Mr. Carnis hissed. He must not have expected us at this hour.

I looked at Lex, trying to figure out what's he thinking. He might have at least created an alibi.

"We're here for Anima sir" Lex fussed.

Wait...what? Heck! Just how straighforward would this person be? I dont really know if it is an act of straightforwardness or an act of stupidity.

Ugh! I gasped in utter disbelief. As far as I know him, he wouldnt be this careless.

"What?" Mr. Carnis confusedly asked. His brows almost meet at that.

"Anima is missing sir, and maybe you have any idea of her whereabouts," Gist blatantly said.

Ugh! Another reckless statement! What are you doing guys? Com'on you really want him to know that you are suspecting him? I wanted to tell that, but that remained unvoiced

I looked at Lex again, he's still looking vigilantly at Mr. Carnis, as if he could get something out from staring at him.

"Why would I know?" Mr. Carnis defensively said. His facial feature slightly changed which, I think, is just normal when confronted out of the blue.

What the heck is the matter with the two anyway? I told myself.

"Okay, it seems that you're suspecting me of anything" Mr. Carnis claimed as he got the hint. "Come inside then, and search. Although, I advice you not to touch any of my things" he warned.

He opened his gate and lets us enter.

Honestly, I dont know why Lex is suspecting Mr. Carnis. He is too good to think he could do horrible things. I really doubt it.

Just before Lex could set foot at the door...

"You know what guys, lets just go. Mr. Carnis seemed to not know anything. We're being rude right now" I huffed.

I turned to our professor and apologized.

"I'm sorry to bother you at this hour sir" I said.

"No, its okay" Mr. Carnis gave me a smile as a response to my apology. "Come inside, I might at least give you your peace of mind for going here" he added.

I dont know if that was a sarcasm or not, but I looked at Lex beside me who just smirked at that. He's not acting like himself, and geez, I'm getting annoyed, what more for Mr. Carnis if he sees that.

"Shall we?" Mr. Carnis paved the way for us.

"Suit yourself as I prepare some drinks for you" he said and immediately head to the kitchen.

Gist and Lex didnt waste any time to look around, while I, ashamed of what we're doing, stayed on the sofa.

I looked at the interior of the house, the thing I was not able to do before. And I saw a new painting. This time, the painting is even weirder, beautifully weirder - a person with two heads, the one is smiling while the one is covered with blood. Well, I like the concept. I like how it was drawn realistically. The blood seems natural.

"Ahhh that!" Mr. Carnis said as he brings the glasses of juice on the table. He must have noticed that I'm staring at the painting.

"That was my new painting and I named that split" he said. "Actually, I was really intrigued by the split personality disease. Uhm, if we're going to look at it, everyone seemed to be guilty of this since everyone wears a mask. I mean, we show our different selves to different set of people. What we show to our close friends may differ from what we show to just random people."

"So, sir that means...everybody is fake, that no one is true?" I asked.

"We could somehow say that...since everything we see from a person might just be his/her facade to hide his true self. But the danger of this is, when we are already used to using this facade, we might fail, or worst, could no longer see our true self."

Uhm--

Just as I am about to ask another question...

"No! Dont open that door!" Mr. Carnis shouted when Gist was about to open the room at the end of the aisle.

I was shocked at that. My heart literally jump when Mr. Carnis shouted.

He hurriedly walked towards the room and locked it. He shooed the two to the living room.

Shocked as they were, Gist and Lex head towards me.

I could see how Mr. Carnis tried to compose himself when he returned next to us.

"Im sorry sir, I didnt mean to--

"Its super late already, I think you guys have to go home" Mr. Carnis cut Gist at that. He really lost his cool. His eyes and his face turned blank - welp that was expressionless.