27 – Cause

The laundry she’d left to dry was still hanging on the line when she got there. Alexandra quickly changed, and got to work folding everything. Then, she washed the clothes Mira had given her, and put them to dry on the line.

Her wicker basket full, she walked home. The sun was setting over Lanterne, and people were busy preparing for the night. The sound of blinds shutting, fire cracking, and muffled voices from inside the houses reached her ears.

She pushed the door open with her back and put down the clothes in the bedroom. Therion and Lara would know where they belonged, so she didn’t bother sorting them.

Speaking of whom, the couple wasn’t home.

Alexandra sat at the dinner table alone. She wasn’t that hungry. The curse had passed, along with the worst of her stomach issues. Still, eating might be pushing it.

She tapped her fingers on the table.

Well.

With a flick of her hand, she summoned her journal. She flipped the pages, looking for something to pass the time. There wasn’t much. She’d already read everything.

On the first page, came her daily quest log. Then, what she called notifications: changes to her status such as curses, skill level ups, and so on.

The second page was reserved for her status, though it was already spilling on the third.

Then came her skill quests. Her event quest took another page. The same one that had been used for her perk selection.

This was followed by a flurry of blank pages. She wasn’t going to count them. For a brief moment, she wondered if she could fill them all. What would happen then? Would she reach the end of her path, or would new pages appear in the journal. When she thought about Lara’s class art, she could imagine the glyphs filling an entire field of her achievements, maybe more. Was that what a high leveled person’s class art looked like?

The last pages were a sort of appendix, listing the effects of her skills, achievements and perks.

She flipped back to the skill quests page.

Diving: Dive from a height of 100 meters (0/1)

Cleaning: Clean your home to perfection (0/1)

She chuckled. Those skills didn’t seem that useful, so she wasn’t going to bother with them. Part of her wanted to complete every quest she received, but since she had two requiring her to sign her soul away to a demon, that ship had already sailed.

Lara and Therion still hadn’t returned.

She closed the book. The leather cover felt cold. Their home was quite clean, maybe if she put in a little more effort.

She stood up, and walked to the door. The last rays of the sun were dimmed by a few dark clouds hovering on the horizon. Nothing concerning. Maybe a bit of rain tonight.

She walked to the Aetherveil fields. They weren’t there. Patches of yet-to-be-harvested blue flowers were swaying in the wind.

It wasn’t cold. Not warm either.

Where could they be? She walked through the silent streets of Lanterne. Despite its name, the village wasn’t lit up at dusk. The shadows were long, stretching and dancing further than they should.

She crossed a corner, and heard raised voices, two of them, coming from the next road. She followed the sound.

Lara was standing in the middle of the road, arms crossed, facing John. Therion was a step behind her, silent, his jaw set. Three other villagers stood at the edge of it, watching without committing to either side.

John was pointing at the plains.

“—been gettin’ worse since she arrived. You can’t tell me that’s a coincidence.”

“I can,” Lara said. “Because it is.”

“Is it?” John turned, and saw Alexandra coming up the road. He pointed at her instead. “There she is. Ask her yourself.”

Everyone looked at her.

“John, you’re crossing a line,” Lara said between her teeth.

“Am I?” He stepped toward Alexandra. “Where is Ed?”

She took a step back. “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb. I know you took him outside.”

Alexandra stopped, and put her hand in front of her to stop John. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She glanced at Lara. “What’s going on?”

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Lara shook her head. “Ed is missing.” She paused. “He’s a boy from the village. Tall, short hair, almost shaved. Have you seen him?”

“I haven’t.”

A woman watching from the side stepped forward. “Are you sure? My son never leaves the village’s vicinity. You were in the plains, right?”

Alexandra nodded. “I was running on the road south. But I saw nothing.”

John scoffed. “Don’t let her fool you. She’s lyin’.”

“You—” Lara started, only to be interrupted.

“She comes out of nowhere, and suddenly a floral infestation starts, and kids disappear.” John took another step, his finger pointing at Alexandra. “It’s not a coincidence. We all know it.”

She looked at Lara, then at Therion, then at the mother of the missing boy. “I’m sorry. I have not seen your son. We should start searching for him. Any idea where he could be?”

“He should be in the vici—”

“The fastest way to find him,” John interrupted again, takin’ another step toward Alexandra, “is to make her speak.”

Alexandra took a deep breath. Then another. She looked at Ed’s mother. She wasn’t moving, only looking at her with doubt in her eyes. “Interrogate me all you want. I’m not going anywhere. But someone should start looking.”

Lara snapped. “Therion, go get Marick.”

He nodded.