Chapter 18 Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
CAELON
I watch as Aila sat by the window, a phone on her ear while she talks with different people. She is trying to look for her parents and she started by searching for her mother.
The sight of her focused face made me weary. She was an entirely different person, as she was a different being. She is now a human after she pierced herself with the arrow. She suffered in a comatose state for a week and ever since she woke up, she merely said anything to me except for how to search for people and how to use the phone.
She stays in a different room and won’t even draw close to me. I never tried to use her body because I feel like I have a fault here. That is what she is making me feel and I am tired of keeping up because it isn’t me who stole an arrow and left. It was her.
I gritted my teeth and opened the door to the balcony, planning to confront her as soon as she ended the call. Her stance changed and Aila stared at me, preparing to leave.
“No.” Aila looks up in question, “You can’t leave. We have to talk.”
“But I have to go and check the other address. My mother—”
I tugged at her hand and pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her, “I am sorry, okay? If you are avoiding me because you saw me with another woman at the park then, I apologize.”
“No, it’s not that,” She shakes her head and tried to remove my hold from her body but I only tighten my arms, “Caelon, please.”
“What is it, Aila? Tell me what is bothering you!
“We had a baby, Caelon, and I lost it because I pierced myself with the arrow.” Her answer shocked me and I lose the strength on my arms. Aila fell on a heap upon the floor, her shoulders shaking as she cried. She covered her mouth and whimpered, “I didn’t mean to. I am sorry.”
I kissed her cheek and rubbed her back, “No, it is not your fault. We will get through this, okay?”
I set down the cup of tea in front of Aila and lay the biscuits next to the papers. The number of faces printed on them including the contact information, map of places and possible locations littering the top of the desk makes it impossible to see the wood beneath, as though we have resigned on doing a collage of investigations.
Aila sighs for the nth time as she put her feet down on the carpet. She reaches for her cup of tea and smiled pouring some milk and tentatively stirring it with her spoon, her eyes glazed. “Thank you,” she murmured but I only nodded back, preoccupied with dialing the phone and waiting for the other line to answer.
“Hello?”
“Oh, good morning. Is this miss Emily Crowe?” Aila shots up from her seat and round the table, settling her head next to mine as she listens, “No, it isn’t she. This is Molly Goods, her sister.”
“I’m so sorry- I-”
“Would you like me to get her? She’s down by the river, gathering some mushrooms for lunch.” I looked at Aila who smiled so brightly, “Yes, please.”
“Very well! I will put the call on hold and fetch her,” I heard the lady from the other line scurry off, calling for Emily.
I removed the phone from my ear and looked at Aila. “Well,” Aila asked, hopeful, her eyes glistening, “Is it my mum?”
“We can’t be sure yet.” I answered, still waiting for them to resume the call.
We have started the search the moment we have returned from Scotland, a fortnight ago. Emyr and I put our argument aside and teamed up to help Aila find her parents. We've written up the clues given by Hades and Emyr tried to pick the words that could be useful with our search.
Aila’s mother should constantly be a ginger – and there should be some similarities with their faces. The second clue was easy enough: She’s a crow, and her name was Emily; which could only mean that Crow would be her surname. Though we have to search the whole of Scotland and come up with a lot of variations from Carrow, to Crow, to Crowe’s because there is a lot of combinations for Emily. Rause has suggested that we start with the nearest because there is a great possibility that they could be here but it was a wrong move, we ended up wasting a week searching Scotland and England – with combine force of our fellow banished roaming around and asking.
The rustle from the other line brought me back to the situation at hand as I settle the mobile phone next to my ear, “Oui?” a solemn voice rang out from the line and I motioned at Aila, swiftly turning the speaker on as I handed the phone to her, “Hello? Uhm- is this Miss Emily Crowe?”
Aila’s eyes glistened with tears as the both of us listen close, hands shaking, “Yes, zis is she. Why do you ask? ‘as somezing come up zat concerns me?”.
Aila takes a shaky breath, her knuckles turning white, gripping the phone tight, “Er, do you by any chance have a dau-”
I raised my hands and furiously shook my head, I took a pen and a paper and scribbled down on it, showing it to Aila who stops as she read, “I mean do you have time to meet tomorrow, just by the River Seine, overlooking Eiffel tower?”
“Why do you like to meet?” The tone sounds so inquisitive and suspicious that I had to bite back a smile, forcing myself to think that it wasn’t Aila who is asking the question. They do sound alike; I wish it was really her mother. “Um-” Aila looks at me as she hastily grabs the pen and wrote: What should I say?
‘Ask her if--” I crossed it out and started again, ‘Tell her that you are working on a project at the local Uni and it involves meeting strangers and communicating with them.’ She hastily nodded and cleared her throat, “Well, I’ve got this activity at our Uni,” I motion for her to continue and Aila takes another breath, “Our professor, well, he’s asked us to meet certain strangers and interact with them because we have our studies.”
“Is zat so?” The old woman’s voice is still lace with doubt and uncertainty. “Are you certain?”
I wrote: ‘It’s good for mental health and maybe we can be friends.’ Aila takes a while to read and understand the phrase before she relays the message, “Our professor said that it helps with mental health and maybe we can develop some sort of kinship,” I nodded enthusiastically, amazed at how she is doing well with words she hasn’t got that much clue about.
There was a pause, a fat and awkward one.
“Zis isn’t a prank, izz it?” Aila mouthed, ‘What’s a prank?’ but I wave her off, listening to the other line, “You are not trying to mek a fool out ov myzelf, are you?” I cringed at the petty way the woman on the other line attempted to speak in English. I motioned for Aila to look at the words I scribbled but she chose to ignore me, turning her back.
“No. Ma'am, I don’t intend to embarrass you in front of people and have you laughed about. Won’t wish that tragic fate to someone like you. ” Aila quickly said after she understood, her cheeks flushed while I stand next to her, still listening.
“Very well. I will meet you by ze River Seine. Zere is a nice izzpot where we can eat picnic while we talk. Will midday be okay wiz your schedule?”
“Absolutely alright ma’am. I'll be waiting there.” The phone call ended with a deafening whoop coming from Aila as she handed the phone back to me. “I think it’s really her.”
“Well, how can you really say?”
She smirks, not answering my question as she kisses my cheeks which made me blush. I nuzzled my head on her cheek and she laughed, taking her in my arms as I flung the both of us on the sofa.
Aila giggled and I rested my head on hers, whispering, “Kiss me quick, while we still have this feeling.” Aila raised her eyebrows as she looks at me, shaking her head at the song. She smiled, “hold me close, don’t ever let me go” She pulled me down to her face and pressed her lips. I laughed as I rested my cheeks on her, continuing “'Cause tomorrows can be so uncertain. Love can fly and leave just hurting,” I leaned closer and whispered, “Kiss me quick because I…love you so...” Aila pecked my lips before she wriggled out of my hold and let out a laugh as she bounded off to the kitchen, pestering Emyr about how planes fly and how they are a very unreliable means of transportation.
“What a crazy girl.”