Chapter 40 - Whereabouts

"They haven't returned," Talia muttered. She was seated by the kitchen table, writing something diligently on her notebook that we found in one of the rooms upstairs. I was passing by when she said that, making me pause on the doorway leading to the living room.

"I noticed." Talia stopped writing, placing her pen on top of the notebook. She then straightened her back and stretched her arms. I walked to her. "What is it that you're so busy with? You're always writing on that notebook." I frowned. "It makes me miss you."

She answered me with a knowing smile, the corners of her grey eyes crinkling. "Good," she said. "You should miss me from time to time. It means you're still in love Cybele. Let's keep it that way shall we?"

I placed my hands on my waist. "And what makes you think I'll fall out of love with you? For your information, my kind only falls in love once. It's going to be you forever princess." I pointed my thumb on my chest. "You're going to be stuck with this girl until you're old and gray. You got that?"

"Hmmm. . . You just gave me another idea for my story. I've already told Van about it." Talia drummed her fingers on the kitchen table. "Speaking of Van, they haven't returned since yesterday. Do you think something happened?"

I leaned on the wall. The same question has been nagging me all night. They should have returned with their hunt around 9 pm like they usually did. If they couldn't because of certain circumstances, they should have made it home early this morning. Something was definitely up.

"Brooke is a smart girl," was my only reply.

Talia studied my face. "I understand that, and since Van is with her, they won't make any mistakes. But I also know that something has been bothering Brooke the last couple of days, and this can impair her judgment. She did try to kill you after all." Talia's voice was even, but I could see her eyes gleam and her hand form into fists.

I took a sharp breath. "Really?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh don't play the innocent game Cybele." Talia stood up. "I'm not blind, and you're not either. You know as well as I do about what was going on." She pushed her chair back. It scraped on the wood flooring. Talia walked straight towards me. My body stiffened as her hand went for my face. She was going to slap me for covering up for my best friend, and I knew deserved it.

I was prepared for what was coming, yet it didn't come. She stroked my cheek gently instead. "Relax," she murmured. I calmed down in a second, my body slacking. "If I want to punish you, I'll do so in the bedroom," she teased, making me groan. Talia laughed and stepped back so she could take a good look at me. She really did know how to get in my head and play with me.

"Why do you think she'd want to harm you Cybele? It's not because of our relationship is it?"

I blinked a couple of times. "No. . . Brooke wouldn't sink so low. I've known her long enough to understand her."

Talia pursed her lips, glancing out the window. Her eyebrows pulled together. I wondered what she was thinking of. "The only other explanation is my mother," she murmured.

"Yes."

Talia looked back at me. There was palpable pain in her eyes. "I'm sorry. Even your best friend is manipulated by the Queen. I should have let you kill her." She took a sharp breath. I knew she hated her mother, but deep within her, Talia still had an ounce of love for Esmeralda. And for that, I treasured the princess more. She was a good person, even whilst her mother was the total opposite.

I held her on the shoulders, staring deep into her eyes. "Hey. . . We've talked about this right?" She nodded. "It's not your fault Talia. It never was. Instead of blaming yourself, what we need to do is figure out why Brooke and Van haven't returned yet and solve my best friend's problem. Deal?"

"Deal."

I lead her back to the chair and took a seat to the chair right beside hers. "Let's come up with possible scenarios of their delayed return." I held up a finger. "One, they got so deep in the forest and got lost."

Talia shook her head. "Not possible with Van around. She's an animal, that one. I think she can smell her way back." We both smiled at the thought. "But seriously Cybele, Van grew up hunting. Remember the stories she told us about how her dad would take her to the forest? Plus they owned a cabin, so in a way, she grew up in this kind of environment. She'd never get lost."

"I agree. But hey at least we got that scenario out of the way." I ticked off another finger. "Two, they could have had an accident."

Talia bit her bottom lip. The action made me stare at her. "What?" she asked.

"That's distracting me a lot."

She blushed. "Sorry." Talia ran her hand through her hair before answering me. "The accident is a possibility. But I can derive an argument from that."

"Which is?"

"If an accident happened, then one of them had it. If Brooke was the one who suffered an injury, then Van is physically capable enough to lift her and bring her back here. Vice versa. The chances of both of them encountering an accident at the same time are slim. Around 2% I guess."

"You have a point. Then let me get to my final theory."

We stared at each other. I didn't need to utter a word. Talia perfectly understood what the last possibility was. The guards must have gotten to them.

I bumped my fist hard on the table, making Talia flinch, like she was the one I hit. "Shite! I should have gone with them." I stood up hastily. The chair I've been sitting on toppled over, but I didn't care. "If what we're thinking is true, then we need to get to them now before it's too late." I froze, my mouth hanging open. Talia stared at me with fear in her eyes.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't take you with me. It's too dangerous. I have to do this alone."

Anger flashed on her face. "What do you mean you'll do it alone?" Her voice got a notch higher. "Are you kidding me?! After all we've been through, you're expecting me to sit back while you're out there rescuing our friends?! No way! They're my friends too!"

It was my turn to calm her down, make her see reason. "But princess."

"Don't but princess me Cybele. I'm coming with you and that's final." She stood up, a stubborn look on her face.

"No," I said with a warning tone.

"Yes."

I pulled my hair in frustration. Why must the princess be so stubborn? I kicked the poor chair out of the way. Talia just glared at me. Calm down Cybele, I though as I inhaled a deep breath. "Talia. . . I will never allow you to go back to the palace. The risk is far too great. And in case you haven't noticed, we just escaped from there a few weeks ago. There's no way in bloody hell that I'm getting you inside again."

She pinched her eyes at me. "You're not the boss of me Cybele."

"Well technically I am. You're the princess and I'm the queen. See where that goes? There's a ranking system here."

"Ha!" she smirked. "Let's do it this way shall we? You have the needs and I have your satisfaction. Who's the boss now?"

"You sneaky little-"

Knock Knock.

"Shit the palace guards! Quickly Talia, hide!"

The princess stifled a laugh. "I don't think they'll knock."

I smiled sheepishly. "Oops. . . My feelings got the best of me." There was another knock on the door. "Who do you think it is?" I whispered.

"Maybe it's my grandma, wondering if I needed strawberry jam for the bread." Talia's face turned apologetic when I gave her a look. "Just kidding," she whispered back. "I have no idea. Should we check?"

"I'll do it," I said as I discreetly moved towards the window. I was careful to duck so the ones outside wouldn't notice us in the kitchen. As I took a peek, I saw the unwelcome visitor. She certainly didn't look familiar. "It's a girl," I said to Talia. "Do you have any friends around these parts?"

"I never leave the palace remember? And I certainly didn't go to the town to party with other girls."

"Good," I muttered to myself. "Just checking."

Talia crept silently behind me and peeked on the window to see for herself. "She looks pretty ordinary. Not dangerous at all. Should we answer the door? Or maybe we should stay still and be really quiet so she would leave on her own."

I studied the girl outside. She was wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The girl had a backpack on and two duffel bags beside her on the ground. Was she running away from their house? Maybe. "It's possible that she's a spy."

"That thin girl?" Talia whispered against my ear. "I don't think she can hurt a fly."

"Looks can be deceiving princess, which is why we need to be careful. For all I know she can be a spy your mother sent, a mass murderer, a serial killer, or a clown in children's parties. God I hate clowns," I said with a shake of my head. "Anyway, I'll go check what she wants." I started to step away from Talia when she pulled my hand.

"Wait. What if she's not any of those and she recognizes you? She's a civilian so we can't hurt her."

"You forgot who I am. I always have a plan."

About three minutes later, I opened the front door. The girl looked taken aback when she saw me wearing a black cloth which covered my face, except for my eyes. Some cultures and religions required their members to wear a veil on their face. It was more of a belief than a requirement really. It was uncommon to see around these parts, though not entirely unheard of. I found the cloth yesterday while searching the house and looking for something to do aside from flirting with the princess.

"Yes? Who is it?"

The girl straightened her back. She didn't beat around the bush. "Are you Cybele? Brooke told me that you'd have a very beautiful face that I wouldn't be able to miss. Since your face is covered, I'll just have to rely on your green eyes which fit her description of you perfectly." The girl held out a hand. "Hi, you don't really need to know my name, but Brooke and Van sent me here."

I pulled the veil loose, since it no longer served its purpose. "Hello, I-don't-really need-to-know-your-name. Where are Brooke and Vanessa?" I didn't trust her immediately. For all I knew, this could be trap.

The girl ignored my question and looked carefully at my face. "They were right you know," she gushed "You're really beautiful." She laughed nervously. "I mean no homo right?"

I frowned at her, beginning to get confused by the second. "I'm sorry, what?"

Talia stepped beside me and slipped her fingers to mine. "Can you just answer the question please?" she snapped to the girl. "Where is Brooke and Van? And why are you here instead of them? Did they have an accident?"

The girl seemed to snap out of her gaze and got down to business. "Oh yeah, about that," she muttered under her breath. "Listen to me and don't judge okay? I was kind of kidnapped yesterday and taken to the forest. Thankfully, Van and Brooke saved me. Yay! Anyway, they asked me for a couple of things to bring them. And to cut the long story short, I met up again with them last night to give them what they needed. After taking some of it, they specifically instructed me to go here and give the rest to you."

Talia looked as confused as I was. "What exactly did they tell you to bring?" she asked.

The girl beamed. "Just a couple of groceries and a laptop." She patted her backpack. "Oh and that." She pointed to a duffel bag. "Want me to show you?"

"Please," I said, losing patience more and more. Different questions were running through my head, but nothing would be answered if I reacted now.

The girl nodded and went down on her knee. She slid the duffel bag in front of her so it was right between us. From the way she huffed and puffed as she moved it, I learned that the bag was very heavy. What could be inside? The girl answered my question by unzipping the bag.

"Guns and ammunitions," I said, leaning down to take a Colt Phyton Magnum Revolver. I checked to see if there was ammo. It was full.

"Yep!" the girl said, looking proud of herself. "My father owns several businesses around these parts. It includes a lumber business, grocery stores, and a gun shop among others. I snuck in last night to borrow this," she said, quoting her fingers around the word borrow. "I do owe Brooke and Van everything, so there you go." She pushed the bag to my feet.

I pointed the gun to the girl's forehead, pulling the safety switch off. Talia gave an audible gasp beside me. "And why should I believe you?"

The girl merely sighed. "Listen Cybele, I don't know what's going on here. I stuck my neck out to get these things. My father could have caught me and grounded me. Hell he would if he found out I took those guns. But you know what? That's ok because I'm repaying a debt. And besides, if I'm fooling you, I wouldn't give you a gun for fuck's sakes. I'm not delirious!"

"But where are they?" I said as evenly as possible. From the tone of my voice, everyone understood that I'd kill without a moment's hesitation. "Answer me."

"I don't know okay?" the girl said. "But Brooke said you'd understand once I gave you this." She patted her backpack again. "It's a laptop okay? Here, let me show you." Carefully, she took the backpack from behind her, making sure not to do any jerky motions for fear that I'd shoot. She was right to do that. The girl unzipped the bag and showed me the content. Surely enough, a laptop was there.

"How do I know that it's not a bomb?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "It's not a freaking bomb. What do you take me for?!" She flinched at the look I gave her. "Okay, okay. . . You can tie me up or something while you check the laptop. Just to get your peace of mind that it won't blow off on your face. Geez, people these days. And I thought girls who have pretty faces have good souls too."

"Like I told my princess," I murmured. "Looks can be deceiving." I glanced at Talia. "Tie her on the kitchen chair while I handle this."

The girl protested. "Hey I was only kidding about the tying part!"

Talia shrugged. "Just do as Cybele said okay? If you're telling the truth then you can leave faster." The girl, totally defeated, followed Talia inside while I hauled the duffel bags and laptop after them, taking care to close the door.

"You people have no chill," I heard the girl say.

A few minutes after, Talia and I sat by the kitchen table, the laptop opened in front of us. Meanwhile, the girl who brought the stuff was tied securely near the counter, a few steps from us. If she so much as move, I would put a bullet through her forehead.

"What are we looking for Cybele?" Talia asked.

"I'm not really sure, but if Brooke wanted us to have it, there must be an important file here." I started to click on the folders, searching for God knows what, until I finally found a zipped file that was named Iris. It refused to open without a password.

"What now?" Talia groaned. "Why did she even put a password on it?"

"Because that's how Brooke is," I said patiently. "She didn't want it to fall in the wrong hands. Besides, this is a game to us. She taught me how to hack your camera after all."

"Come again?"

I glanced at Talia. "I told you before right? In order to kidnap you, I had to hack the camera system to spy on you." I was careful to lower my voice so the girl who was obviously eavesdropping wouldn't hear. "It was the only way I could figure out how to take you princess."

Talia's eyes twinkled. She moved closer and whispered. "Did you see me changing?"

I avoided her gaze, feeling a blush creep on my face. "Sometimes. Now can you please let me concentrate?" I dismissed. She nodded.

After a couple of tries, I was able to break the code that Brooke placed on the file. It was easier compared to the first time she taught me how. I guess learning the programming language came in handy. Once I was in, I saw that it contained a single file, a video to be exact. I opened it.

"What the?" Talia said as Brooke and Van appeared on the video. They have recorded it from the laptop itself when they were in the forest. It was nighttime and the two of them were huddled near the fire next to a spring.

"Iris," Brooke greeted. "And Talia."

"Hello your majesty," Van said beside Brooke, waving her hand like the lunatic she was. Brooke rolled her eyes at Van, yet seemed to smile. There was something about her smile, though I couldn't put my finger on it. I continued to watch the video.

"Iris," Brooke said again, her face turning serious. "By now you have the supplies. Use it to survive and get out of there. Please go back to England." She took a shaky breath, then stared at Van, as if asking for support. Van nodded and took Brookes hand.

"We're sorry your majesty," Van said. It was strange to see her so serious for a change. "Brooke and I can't join you on your journey anymore. We have things to do. You see your highness, when a woman loves she does everything to keep the flame alive. She takes out the trash, do the dishes, make her woman satisfied in bed, and sometimes help her girl rescue her parents from the grip of the evil queen."

Brooke elbowed Van on the ribs. "You're not doing this correctly."

"I'm sorry Brookey baby. I'm not good with goodbyes."

Brooke sighed. "Let me do it." She glanced back at the camera. "Iris, the queen kidnapped my parents."

Van butted in. "Well technically the queen didn't kidnap your parents, her guards did. Okay Brookey I'll shut up now."

Brooke picked up from where she stopped. "I think the queen knew that you'd let your guard down around me. She wanted me to kill you and make it look like I was on a jealous rage so Talia wouldn't blame her for your death and go back to the palace willingly. Of course to do this, she had my parents kidnapped."

"Thank you, my point exactly," Van chimed, earning another glare from Brooke.

"She had my parents kidnapped so I couldn't do anything but to kill you. They hid my parents in a safe house a few hours from here. It is heavily guarded and I know it's dangerous, but Van and I will try to rescue them."

"Dangerous," Van said with a wave of her hand. "Oh please. I eat danger for breakfast. I wear the same jeans for a week before washing it. I live dangerously girl. Dangerous is my middle name."

"Van please." Brooke sighed. "Anyway, I understand that this is a suicide mission, and I may never see you again. Iris, I know we don't see each other eye to eye at all times, but I did love you very much."

"Hey!" Van protested.

"I said DID okay?" Brooke said, wiping the tear that fell from her eye. "And even if I still do, Iris is my best friend and sister. That doesn't count at all," she sniffled.

"It does count," Van said, turning sad. "I loved them like sisters too."

Brooke stared at the camera with tear-streaked eyes. "This is goodbye Iris. Thank you for the friendship. I want you to marry the princess and have a full life in England. Don't look for us okay? It's useless." She took another shaky breath. "Oh and one more thing. I placed my dagger inside the backpack. It has always been my favorite because you were the one who gave it to me. Treasure it well." The video ended.

Talia stared at me, a combination of sadness, worry, and conflict on her eyes. It reflected everything I was feeling. "What should we do Cybele?"

"It's simple really." I stood up, determined. "We go for them."

Hope bloomed in Talia's face. "But I thought you said I couldn't go?"

"You need to train first, and it won't be easy. But whoever said life was easy?"