The Legend Of Marmoris

Park Street, Lane 11.

Rossie has gone straight to her house after her tiff with Emma and Jess. She walked swiftly. Her facial expressions were highly discordant. Taking large footsteps, she reached her home. Seeing Rossie enter the house, her mother called her from behind,

"Rossie, I have made snacks for you. Come and have them!" 

But Rossie didn't pay heed to what her mother was saying. Her feet didn't stop except until she reached her room. Once Rossie was in her room, she locked up the door and turned around. At the very next moment, she leaned back at the door and slowly started sitting on the ground. She insulted her "Best Friend" at her face. It wasn't easy for her to handle.

"How heartbroken Jessie might be! What have I done!" Rossie held her head in both of her hands. 

“You know you aren’t alone, Jess. You have your best friends around. If someone would dare say a thing about you, I swear I will smack his face off." Ross heard herself consolidating Jessie. 

Out of anger and helplessness, her eyes reddened. And eventually, her eyes started shedding tears. 

However, suddenly, all voices disappeared, and the scene of her open bedroom window flashed in her head. The photo of someone's body hanging to the branch of a tree.

Ross lifted her head with a quick gesture and tried to normalize herself by taking deep breaths when suddenly, she heard a knock at the glass pane. She felt horrendous. It wasn't a usual thing to have a window knock at the sheriff's house, and the window guest appearances haven't been proved to be quite pleasant for Rossie either. So, she tried to take a glance from a safe distance. Keeping a rolled newspaper, the one she picked up from the study table, in her hands, Rossie went towards the window and carefully opened the clip. Swiftly, she made a move and opened the glass door.

As the window unlocked and the scene behind the glass became clearer, Ross noticed there was nothing outside except the lonely balcony and the scenic sunset. She was puzzled. Her brow raised when her eyes caught the attention of something shimmery at one corner of the balcony. Ross went in that direction to check the shimmering object out. However, when she bent upon it and picked it up, her eyes widened in surprise. It was her locket. Ross's hand involuntarily touched her bare neck. Ross knew she hadn't been wearing the locket since morning. Before leaving for school, she took it off and locked it inside one of her study table drawers.

So, now, the most crucial and quite obvious question was how did the locket get there? However, when Ross was still in the middle of her astonishment, she figured there was a note hanging with the locket. It read :

“Seeing your locket, you might have well understood my approach.

If I could take your beloved belongings from your room, 

I can easily approach your beloved relations from your life too.

You are safe now as you did what I said, but there’s more to what I want from you.

I will spare the details until you reach Park Street, Lane 11. 

And don’t you dare tell anyone about our meet-up or this note.

Or else you will be responsible for what comes next. 

See you midnight, Sneakster.”

                                                          Yours,

You know who.

Rossie got goosebumps as she read the note. The note was a pure threat. Ross realized she has gotten herself into a bad game. But it wasn’t her fault. It all just happened. 

She was still standing shocked, halfway in her balcony looking at the threat note with tears in her eyes, when she heard a knock on the door. Her mom called out for her. She tried to twist the knob and open the door. But it was locked from the inside. 

Ross got the time she needed to compose herself before she could face her mother. So she quickly wiped her cheeks, cleaning any trace of tears, and harshly rubbed her already reddened nose. Then, making her voice as composed as she could, she went towards her bed and shouted,

“I am not feeling well, Mom. I just wanna rest today. I am going to sleep. Please, don’t bother me today,” her voice trembled, but she tried to keep her accent firm. 

Immediately, she heard the worried voice of her mom,

“What happened Rossie dear? Have you been crying? Let me in. Maybe I can help you out. See, your friend Emma is waiting downstairs for you. Come, meet her." Stacy said dearly. 

All of a sudden, the door opened wide. Stacy saw Ross standing in front of her with Ross's hands placed on her waist, and her face had fierce expressions. 

"Why is she here? What did you tell her? Tell her I am not home. Or even, better tell her to stay away from me for a while. Just leave me alone. Don't put me into trials." And while saying this Rossie's voice grieved. 

Ross told her mom to go and slammed the door in anger and helplessness. 

"God! Help me!" Rossie looked up and murmured to herself, getting back towards her bedside table. 

Then she glanced at the piece of paper that was lying crushed in her fist. 

"God knows what I am up to now!" Ross sighed. She was anxious, worried, angry, frightened, all at the same time. But at times, some incidents are unexpected to happen, yet helpful and pleasant. Maybe Ross was waiting for such an unexpected one to happen with her. 

Nevertheless, as she was cooking up her plans of sneaking out at midnight, her mom hesitatingly faced Emma. Emma was moving back and forth anxiously, waiting to see her friend. 

"She refused to come down, right? I knew she would. Can I go to Ross's room? Will it be okay with you? I need to talk to her." Emma said with anger filled in her accent. She was furious or maybe hurt. Or perhaps both. 

"I am really sorry, child! I don't know what happened between you two, but I think you should give her some space. I am not telling you that you should leave her alone. Come have a seat. I wanted to give you some advice." Stacy said in her usual soft tone and signaled her to sit on the nearby couch. 

"Listen, I am not saying this as Rosalind's Mom. Rather, I am saying this because I honor you as my daughter. I have always valued you like one. You know what the best person in the world is?" asked Stacy politely. 

Emma nodded left-right, innocently saying no. 

"The best person is the most patient and well-mannered one. You know why I am telling this to you? Because conquering a friend's anger is not so easy. You might know that anger is the weapon of the devil. And when your friend becomes the devil's leverage, it has to be handled with care. Or else, friendships are ruined. Hearts are broken. And relationships are torn apart. I saw Ross today the way I haven't seen her before. Well-mannered people understand each other. You need to develop patience and solve all your friends' problems from a distance they might not realize. For, your friendship is more precious than any other emotion of this world." Stacy explained to Emma the lessons of perseverance, waving a hand of love on Emma's head.

These lessons would prove to be helpful for Emma in many upcoming problems she might have to face. 

Emma quietly nodded and gave a pale smile. She understood she would have to wait a while if she needed answers from Rossie. And all that time Emma has to spend on finding the reason for the night everything started, that is the night of Rossie’s scream. And she knew one person who could help her out with it. 

Meanwhile, upstairs, in Rossie's room, Rossie could be seen packing up a small backpack. On her bedside table laid the heart-shaped locket carved 'R' on it, quietly witnessing all the proceedings. 

Darkness has creeped out and has been successful in swallowing the shining sun. It was jet black. The slightest of illumination that existed has now disappeared. And this night had many more secrets yet to be revealed.