Chương 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?" The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. 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.

"You're not goin' anywhere!" John shouted.

"Shut up!" Ed's mother said.

"Please get Marick to look for my son."

"Sophia—""Not a word, John. Not until I know what happened to Ed." The road went quiet. John stood where he was, jaw tight, eyes still on Alexandra. He didn't speak. He didn't leave either. He just stood there, his stance making it clear where he lay the blame. Sophia had her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes moving between Alexandra and the road Therion had taken. More people had arrived. Three, then five. Nobody said anything.

They gathered in a half-circle around them, not getting too close to Sophia, nor John, nor Alexandra. Yet they were looking. Their stares shameful, accusatory, or concerned depending on the one she caught. Alexandra kept her hands visible and said nothing. Lara was standing with her, hand on her shoulder. The silence stretched. A shutter banged somewhere down the road. The clouds she'd noticed earlier had moved in fully now, the last of the evening light going flat and grey beneath them. Sophia sobbed.

John looked at her. He opened his mouth.

"Don't," Sophia said. She wasn't looking at him.

"You just wait," he mumbled, loud enough for Alexandra to hear. Bamir appeared at the far end of the road, Mira a step behind him. He'd heard something, or someone had found him, or he'd simply developed an instinct for when Alexandra was at the center of something. He took in the scene as he walked and slowed his pace without stopping. He stopped beside Sophia.

"What's happened?"

"Ed is missing," Lara said. Bamir's eyes moved to Alexandra.

"I didn't see him," she said.

"I was on the road south. I saw no one." He nodded. Whatever he thought of that, he kept it behind his eyes. He turned to Sophia and put a hand briefly on her arm.

"Marick is looking. He knows those plains better than anyone." Sophia nodded without speaking. John shifted on his feet.

"And if it was a monster—""Then Marick will deal with it," Bamir said. His voice was even.

"As he always has."

"She was out there," John said. Quieter now, but not finished.

"Whatever happened, she was out there. Look at her! She shows up right when the infestation starts! Valudipan has a hand in it, and you're blind if you can't see it."

"For the last time, John," Bamir enunciated slowly.

"Alexandra is not a demon worshiper. Floral infestation happens every few years in the plains, we all know it." John scoffed.

"Just because it can happen naturally doesn't mean this one isn't the work of a demon. I mean, just look at her for the seven's sake." Bamir looked at him. He opened his mouth and then closed it. He rubbed his eyebrows instead.

"Let's wait." A murmur spread through the crowd. Alexandra shot Bamir a glance, which he answered with a small nod. Mira was standing slightly apart from the group, arms at her sides, not looking at John. At some point she had moved to stand closer to Alexandra's side of the road than the other. She didn't look at Alexandra either.

"I saw Ed around noon," she said, softly.

"He was sneaking behind my house. I'm not sure where he went after that." She hesitated.

"And, to be honest, I also saw Alexandra at the lavoir this morning."

"See, I told you—""Shut up John," Lara cut.

"This doesn't mean anything." Sophia didn't react to the news. Her eyes stared at the road. The wait went on. The rain that had been threatening all evening began, not heavily, just a fine mist that settled on shoulders and hair. It was cold, but nobody seemed to mind. Alexandra looked up. Her first rain in this world. Therion came back first. He stopped at the edge of the group and looked at Lara.

"Marick found his trail. He's following it." Sophia exhaled.

"How long?" Lara asked. Therion shook his head. He didn't know. Alexandra frowned. If Ed was in the plains… She looked at the dark sky. It couldn't be a good sign. The crowd was still growing despite the rain. By now, most of Lanterne must already be there. Dozens of people, their figures hidden by the obscurity merging into a whispering mass. Did John's words convince them? The mist turned to proper rain. Nobody left. She thought about saying something to Sophia.

She ran through the options and found none of them adequate. So she kept quiet. Fuck. John was still staring at her. She met his gaze. He didn't look happy. In fact, he looked concerned, sad, angry. He wasn't faking it. Which, in a way, was worse than if he'd been acting in bad faith. A silhouette appeared at the end of the road hidden in the darkness of the night and the curtain of rain. A man, large, tall. It was Marick. Ed was in his arms. The boy's head was against Marick's shoulder, his feet hanging loose.

It was dark, but as he got closer, Alexandra could see the blood tainting his torn clothes. She peeked at Marick's axe. It was covered in dirt." Marick walked into the middle of the road and stopped. He looked at Sophia. Their eyes met.

"I'm sorry. Ed has been killed."