EVERGREEN WOOD《COMPLETED✔》

FRAMED

Chapter 8

"This is the closest I could find." I handed Noah my laptop where the image of Ankh was opened.

For the last 2 weeks, Noah and I have been carrying out our own researches on the burned mark on Genevie's arm. We've been she'd wake up now or then. But, she's just just like that, torn between two worlds. I see Lola from time to time in school, but never had the guts to ask how they were doing.

We were sitting on the floor in Noah's room. Sketches splattered across the room. Coffee mugs, laptops, pencils, highlighters, Noah's computer junks, all were spread, amidst which we were comparing notes. Noah took one glance at the image and said, "I saw that too. But that's not what we're looking for." he handed me some sheets of paper. "Look at these. I tried to break down the marks in several planes to see if it was a merging of two symbols."

I looked at the papers. The first one was simple. It also came in my mind. Two parts were made from the mark. An inverted cross and an infinity sign.

"That may have a lot of explanations. Inverted cross may represent devil, satanic, demonic activities, or unholy. The ground is too big and too common. And the infinity is used in a lot of fields. Abundance, a lot, unending bla bla."

"Lack of church?" I proposed.

"Not convincing. Why now? Why not 10years or 20years earlier?" 

I swapped the sheet and looked at the next one. The symbol was detached from the middle in vertical plane. A "b" and a "d".

"The rest doesn't make any sense. I just had nothing to do." Noah chimed.

Clearly, the next one didn't make any sense. Cut in horizontal plane with no mentionable shape or whatsoever.

"I searched for all the cults in US. None of them matches this symbol." I let out a sigh.

"Maybe we're looking from the wrong angle." Noah took his laptop and started typing something. "What if it might be some sorority or frat? Some rival school?"

"Or from where Genevie came?" Noah considered my opinion.

I scooted beside Noah and watched him scroll through various school's sorority. There was a knock on the door followed by Mrs. Flickermen.

"Oh, Jenny you're here." She smiled soon as she saw me. 

"Hi, Susannah." I got up to hug her. Susannah was my second mother. She loved me a lot. Sometimes it pricked Noah that she got me a better gift than Noah for Christmas. 

"Can't you kids use the front doors like normal people?" She pinched my nose and glared at the window. "One day you might slip and cause some serious injury."

Noah and I both shrugged. Using the window was easier according to us both.

"What's this mess? Are you guys planning a robbery?" She picked up the coffee mugs from the floor. "I'm gonna go bring some cookies. You two clean this up before I get back."

"Jenny clean this mess." Noah ordered me which resulted in a glare from Susannah. "What? She did 70% of it."

"Just clean it up." Susannah shut the door on her way out. 

"You heard her, start cleaning." Noah pretended to be engrossed with his laptop.

"Uhuh." I hit him with a roll of papers. "Move your butt, douchebag."

"Take this sketch with you." He handed me the whole sketch of the burned mark. An upside down cross with an infinity symbol along the horizontal line. "Bring it to school tomorrow. We'll use the library computer. It might have access to exclusive data."