75 Everglade [5]
Drip. Drip…!
It had already started raining.
Inside the small house was Sarah and her mother, seated face to face in the kitchen.
The two had not spoken for more than fifty minutes or so.
The silence…
It felt suffocating.
What should've been a loud and lively house was now nothing but a reminder of their loss.
Loss?
"She's out there somewhere."
"S-arah...?"
"Mom… I'll find her."
Standing up, Sarah locked gaze with her mother.
Her eyes were puffy and snot started to drip down. But her eyes were determined.
But the determination was all on the surface.
Her heart was heavy, and she could feel herself break down at any moment.
"No matter what it takes, I'll find Emma."
"..."
Her mother sat in silence.
But Sarah knew what that silence was.
Doubt.
Her mother had started doubting whether Emma was still alive or not.
But this didn't infuriate Sarah.
Not the least bit.
It was a given. Her mother had been living alone for the past month.
Sarah couldn't blame her mother.
Her mother had already suffered enough. Now, it was time for Sarah to do her part.
As a daughter, and…
As an older sister.
Looking at her mother for the last time Sarah's heart grew heavy. Nodding, she left shortly after.
The only one left in the room was Sienna and her thoughts.
She had lost all hope in finding her daughter.
Everyday she would try to find Emma from dusk till dawn. She had put up a request. Yet despite all that, she had still yet to find Emma.
Was she even still alive to begin with?
Staring at the door that was slowly closing, Sienna's attention was caught by something peculiar on the ground.
It was a doll.
But for some reason, it looked familiar.
Standing up, Sienna slowly approached the doll.
Picking it up, she thoroughly scanned its features.
Drip. Drip….
Her tears,
It started dripping once again.
Before she realized it, her hands had started trembling.
Her mouth had started to twitch, trying to find the words to say. But the words wouldn't leave her mouth.
Thump!
Her legs gave out and before she knew it, she had already started to break down again.
"E-mma…."
Drip. Drip….
***
After exchanging information, Brandon had decided not to involve Raven and Amy further.
The current predicament was out of the novel plot line. Brandon wasn't sure what kind of growth it would give the main cast.
It was too risky.
The case might be even bigger than they thought and would eventually lead to one of the main cast's deaths.
Brandon couldn't allow that.
At time like these, he had wished that he still had Alpha, a subordinate to assist him,
Ah.
"Right, there was no Alpha in the first place."
But there was one specific detail that caught his attention. It was Amy who had brought it up.
The entire trip, Amy was in contact with her friends from the other classes.
And it seemed like only Section A and Section B's school trip was unusual.
While they were running around doing quests in a rural countryside city, the other classes were having the time of their lives in a more populated and urban city.
Everglade.
Quests.
There had to be a connection.
It was with that conclusion that Brandon had decided to approach a specific person.
And that person was where he was headed to.
Hopefully, he would get all the answers he needed.
Drip. Drip…!
Walking around the city with an umbrella, his footsteps were drowned out by the sound of the rain.
From what he had heard from the other students, the person he needed to find was in the Guild Hub.
Drip. Drip…!
He continued to walk around until…
A familiar figure appeared before him.
Her black hair that was supposed to be tied in a ponytail was now flowing down her shoulders.
The rain had drenched it to the point where she looked like she had just taken a shower.
Her entire figure was drenched. From a distance, she looked tall.
No, she was tall. Taller than all of the girls in Brandon's friend group.
She appeared lost.
Her eyes were puffy and Brandon couldn't tell if her face was wet due to the rain or because she was crying.
But most likely it was the latter.
Eventually their gazes met.
Thump!
Her legs gave out and she slumped down on the ground.
Realizing, Brandon immediately rushed towards her.
Sob. Sob.
And as expected, she was crying.
Protecting her from the rain with the umbrella, Brandon stayed silent, letting Sarah break down under the rain.
This persisted until Sarah lifted her head up to look at Brandon.
Her mouth opened but no words came out.
But Brandon just looked down at her with a worried expression.
Eventually the silence was broken by Sarah. Sobbing, her lips parted open.
"Brandon…."
She seemed hesitant. But Brandon had a rough idea of what she wanted to say.
Sarah's mouth was left agape. She didn't finish her statement.
Thus, Brandon decided to finish it for her.
"I'll find your Sister."
As those words left his mouth, Sarah's eyes widened as if she was saying, 'How did you know?'
Sob. Sob.
Her eyes squinted and she broke down once again. She leaned down on the cold hard ground, just in front of Brandon's shoe.
Brandon stood still in silence with the umbrella in his hand.
Drip. Drip…!
No words were exchanged between the two as the rain continued to heavily pour down, drowning out Sarah's cry.
Brandon clenched his fist at the sight.
Looking ahead, he narrowed his eyes.
His mouth parted open to silently mutter,
"Oliver White."
***
Inside the Guild Hub, Oliver had a serious situation.
Walking around the halls, he had finally found his destination.
He was supposed to be familiar with the Guild Hub's interior layout. But recently they changed it.
Where was he headed to?
The bathroom.
"Ah… Much better."
Coming out of the bathroom, Oliver zipped his pants up.
"Oliver."
It was Sarah.
23:07
A voice suddenly reached his ears.
Turning around, what met his sight was a man with pale-white hair and ice-blue eyes. He was taller than Oliver as well.
Of course, Oliver knew who this was.
Who else could it be?
The man that called out to him was regarded as the strongest first year.
Scanning, Brandon seemed to have waited for him.
He was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.
But Oliver wasn't startled. In fact, it was better than he thought.
"Brandon? What are you doing here?"
"The missing person case."
And as expected, Brandon picked up on it.
"You know something about it, don't you?"
"...Yes."
Oliver had never planned on denying it in the first place. Looking around there was no one around. He then looked back at Brandon who was narrowing his eyes at him.
It made sense why Brandon would act that way.
In Brandon's eyes, Oliver was suspicious.
Brandon was silent. Thus, Oliver was the one to break the silence as he walked slowly towards Brandon.
His lips parted open and silently spoke.
"The matter is quite private. Let's discuss it somewhere else."
Brandon didn't respond and nodded.
Oliver then walked ahead of him and Brandon followed shortly after. Noticing someone peeking from the hallway, Oliver paused.
It was Sarah.
"That girl… Don't involve her further. She's already lost enough."
"What do you know about her?"
"A lot more than you know."