*The Chronicles of F.R.E.E. Atania's Knight - Raquel Festow* Part 1

Chapter 37 - Things Can't get any Worse

*Raquel Festow POV*

I woke up next to Hunter and hooked my arm over his bare chest, pulling myself closer to him. I felt so absolutely happy right now. We had finally made it over that hurdle and I was so happy that everyone was accepting and celebrating with us.
Hunter hadn't liked it very much, and he had really complained about my firez getting involved in congratulating us, but I reminded him that on my Realm, every step in a relationship was celebrated by friends and family of the couple. He had backed down a little bit, and thankfully, it hadn't put him off having any more vollang.
It was early. Very early, still. The sky was still a dark pink outside so I thought I would get up and do a morning Tension Release in the garden before anyone else woke up. I got up and pulled on a loose, white, lacey dress that Watson had bought for me and silently left the room. As I reached the top of the stairs, I was about to head down, when I heard shuffling around coming from the kitchen.
I hid myself behind the bars at the top of the stairs, thinking there was an intruder as everyone else was fast asleep. I could hear the snoring coming from multiple rooms behind me. I peeked down and saw it was Watson leaving the house. She was still in the clothes she had worn yesterday and carrying a large brown bag. I frowned. Her Aura was shimmering, she was uncertain and very worried about something.
I knew she had spoken to someone on Rebecca's phone and went out for some privacy, appeared again, briefly to ask Micha for a TV, then Rebecca, Natalia and Jarrod all went out after Darren had followed her, and shut the door behind them. The rest of us had carried on as normal, and had moved off to the billiards room after we had finished eating so we could show Clemency how to play Pool. I had no idea why they called it that, but Hunter liked it and I enjoyed hearing the little clicks and clacks when the balls hit each other. Maybe this Realm did live by the circle, just in a different way.
I darted downstairs and peeked through the large window beside the door. She was looking in her pockets, then dropped something on the floor as she walked through the large iron gates.
Her Aura didn't give me any reason to be concerned, she just looked like she was going for a walk to help clear her head, wanting some alone time, so I turned back to the kitchen and went out into the garden for a morning Tension Release.
It felt amazing being in the garden without clothes on, feeling the cool air whip through my hair and over my pale skin. The sun was steadily rising and casting its warm glow onto my skin, warming and comforting me in greeting as it woke up. I remember doing morning tension releases with my naraz and feeling the three suns of Atania heat my skin in an instant. It felt so nostalgic doing a morning routine rather than an evening, and certainly more refreshing.
After a good two hours of stretching and pulling, my tensions just melted away. I put on my dress again and head back into the kitchen. No one else was up as it was still very, very early, but maybe Watson had come back from her morning walk. I went back into the hall and sat on the bottom stairs, waiting and watching the door for her to come back home. Half hour later, she had still not returned home. I heard a door open and close from upstairs and twisted round to see Clemency coming down the stairs.
"Relxa, Raquel. You're up early." She trilled at me.
I beamed back. "Relxa. I got up early for a morning Tension Release. Now I'm waiting for Watson to come home. She went out for a walk over two hours ago."
"Oh, really? How was the morning Tension Release here?" Clemency asked, sitting beside me.
"Highly recommend. It's not as warm as a Release in Atania as they only have one sun here, but it's just as refreshing." I told her, grinning.
Clemency seemed convinced. "Alright, I better try this out for myself then."
She got up and seemed to float to the kitchen door because her dress was so long and big. I went back to watching the front door for Watson's return for a little bit longer when another door opened and closed, quietly. This time it was Rebecca.
"Morning, Raquel. Why are you sitting on the stairs?" She asked, suspiciously as she came down.
"I'm waiting for Watson." I told her, smiling.
Rebecca stopped dead and stared at me. "Where is she?" She asked, slowly.
"She went out for a walk." I replied, starting to frown.
"Did she say where she was going?"
I shook my head. "She didn't even know I had seen her. She was carrying a big brown bag and was still in the clothes she was yesterday, then she left."
"NATALIA!" Rebecca bellowed, slipping over from how quickly she spun round to get back upstairs. She scrambled back up and ran back up the stairs. "DARREN! EVERYONE AT ARMS NOW!"
Voices started rising up and doors started banging from all directions. Micha, Oren, Rhianna and Ruby all came out wearing their armour. Darren was wearing his red and gold armour too. Hunter burst out of his room, pulling on a t shirt, saw me and came running down the stairs to stand at my side.
"What's going on?" Darren asked, looking around at everyone.
Rebecca emerged back out of her bedroom now in her armour. "Your fucking fiancée has gone to find her fucking mother!"
"What?!" Darren looked horrified.
"Raquel, how long ago did she leave and what way did she go?" Rebecca asked, hopping around trying to get her boots on.
"Three hours ago, and I only watched her to the gates. Her Aura wasn't glowing or anything, she was just worried about something." I told her, confused as to why it would be a bad thing for Watson to see her naraz.
Rebecca finally managed to get her boots on, and bolted back down the stairs, with Darren in close pursuit. They both burst through the door and ran towards the gate.
I gave Natalia a worried look as she emerged, wearing her armour and we both ran out after them.
Rebecca was standing beside the black street looking up and down while Darren was running away from us, calling Watson's name.
"What way would she have gone?!" Rebecca snarled, impatiently.
I remembered Watson had dropped something and started to look around on the floor. "Rebecca, she dropped something as she left. It should be somewhere around here."
Hunter picked up a piece of paper that looked similar to a 'ticket'. "Was it this?"
I nodded and ran over to look at it before handing it to Rebecca. I couldn't understand it and neither could Rebecca.
"DARREN! WE FOUND SOMETHING!" Rebecca called out to him.
Hodgson came running back and snatched the card off Rebecca.
"SON OF A BITCH!" He roared and looked back up and down the street, angry and hopeless, his Aura glowing like crazy from hatred and worry.
"Mate, what is it?" Hunter asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"She fucking called that twat of a cabbie, didn't she?!" He spat at Hunter, angrily. "She took a cab somewhere!"
"That idiot cab driver that we took too?" Hunter asked, looking angry too.
"Why the fuck would she call him?! He was on the fucking news last night!" Darren exclaimed, then smacked himself on his head. "Oh of course. If she was going to go home, she would need a ride and he offered himself straight up to her. GRRRRR!"
Darren took off his helmet and aggressively kicked it into the far bushes out of anger. He spun round to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. "What was she wearing?"
"The same clothes as yesterday and carrying a brown bag." I told him, starting to worry when I saw his latch to Watson was getting thinner and thinner as she got further away.
"Brown bag?" Hunter replied, taking Darren's hands off me and putting his own around my waist. "What brown bag?"
Darren turned to Rebecca. "With your permission, I'd like to enforce an interrogation on this man." He said to her, through gritted teeth.
Rebecca nodded. "Permission granted." She said, her Aura flashing. She looked at Natalia as Darren looked at the card and started tapping on his phone furiously. "I told you!"
Natalia frowned, looking extremely worried. "I still don't think she did. Ruth wouldn't go there without speaking to one of us first."
"Oh she totally would. She was always the one to break the rules, remember?" Rhianna snarled, angrily. "Because she was so in with Rebecca, she got away with-"
"Rihanna NOT NOW!" Rebecca roared at her, her teeth bared and nostrils flaring.
I backed away from them. I should have stopped Watson, but she hadn't given me any indication that she needed me to. Her Aura had told me she had everything under control.
"Good morning, everyone! Ohhhh, are we having a practise?" Came Clemency's voice.
"Oh, Clemency!" Natalia said, sadly. "Ruth has taken off this morning to find her mother."
"Oh really?" Clemency looked confused, and gazed around at everyone's sad or angry faces. "Who would like to try an Emotion Release?"
"NOW IS NOT THE FUCKING TIME, CLEMENCY!" Rebecca bellowed at her, looking livid.
She took an aggressive step towards Clemency, but Natalia stood in her way, pointing a threatening finger at her.
"Don't you dare!" Natalia snapped at her.
Rebecca stopped and glared at Clemency over Natalia's shoulder before spinning round to Darren. Darren had been on the phone while Rebecca had been arguing with everyone. He put his phone in his back pocket and turned to Rebecca.
"He's on his way. Although, I think he could hear you shouting, Beccs."
Rebecca pulled her hair back and held it away from her face, looking panicked. "How long until he gets here?"
"He said he would be about an hour or two. He seemed surprised to hear me on the phone." Darren snarled, his Aura glowing violently as he thought of the man.
"Everyone inside. We will wait for him to arrive." Rebecca called out.
Everyone went back inside and either stood in the hall or sat on the large red benches in the lounge for the nice man to arrive. I grabbed Hunter's wrist.
"They won't hurt him will they?" I whispered, worried about all the angry Aura's but especially Rhianna's. Hers was the most violent compared to anyone elses because she wanted nothing more than to hurt someone.
"I'm sure they won't." Hunter pulled me to him and stroked my hair as I laid my head on his chest. "They're just desperate to know where Watson is, that's all. He took her, so he should know."
"But he didn't." I said, looking up at him. "She walked out of the gates and wasn't on a phone at all."
Hunter's eyes widened in realisation.
"Hodg!" He called over to Darren, pulling me over to him. "Watson doesn't have a phone!"
"OH SHIT!" Darren pushed his fingers through his hair and looked at Rebecca.
Rebecca turned to Clemency. "Did Asuna give you the replacement phone for Ruth?"
Clemency folded her arms, pursed her lips and turned away from Rebecca, giving her the cold shoulder.
"Clemencyy!" Rebecca snarled viciously.
Clemency ignored her, shutting her eyes and turning her face up to the ceiling.
"Clem, please? For me?" Natalia begged.
Clemency looked at Natalia and softened. "There was two bags I was told to bring with me. A large one and a small thin one for Watson." She told her, smiling slightly.
Rebecca made a low noise in the back of her throat at Clemency's ignorance and grabbed her by the shoulder, slamming her hard into the wall. "Where are the bags?!" She demanded.
Before Clemency could answer, there was a knock on the door. Rebecca spun round and nodded at Micha and Oren to answer it.
Micha opened the door and the happy man with the big black car was there.
"Oh, Relxa!" I chirped to him, skipping forwards and throwing my arms around him in greeting.
Hunter yanked me away from him and Darren, Micha and Oren forced him onto the floor.
"NO WAIT!" I cried out in horror as Darren withdrew his sword.
He jabbed the hilt into the man's head and knocked him unconscious.
"Right, let's get him tied up." Rebecca said, dropping Clemency to the floor and turning round with an evil smirk on her face as she looked at the man on the floor.
Hunter struggled to hold me as I fought to get free from him. I needed to help the man! They were going to hurt him!
Rhianna stepped forward with the same evil smirk as Rebecca's and grabbed the man's hair, dragging him out towards the library. I looked at Rebecca, desperately.
"Let me do it!" I begged her.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes at me. "You?" She snapped, impatiently. "What can you fucking do? You don't have a weapon!"
"I can turn him green!" I reminded her.
Rebecca's eyebrows shot up as she remembered and smiled at me. "Good point. Ok, Raquel. He's all yours when he comes round."