Chapter 5: Stranger At The Shop
Emma was gradually running out of patience.
'What are these guys up to?' she was grumbling in her mind.
Suddenly, someone placed a book in front of her with something scribbled on it:
'Tadaaa.... I'm here'
There was a smiley face beside it. It was Laven.
"You are sooo late damsel!!!" Emma looked calm, but her voice suggested the opposite.
He took the pencil and scribbled again:
'I'm sorry... please forgive me! Love ya'
Emma just nodded.
Luckily, Laven managed to reapply his makeup fast, but he was still 20 minutes late.
He looked around, assuming Cloey and Danial went to order anything or take some books.
"Danial hasn't arrived yet. Cloey suddenly rushed out, she said she forgot something important and would be back in a few minutes. She mentioned about forgetting to bring her purse but I didn't manage to hear what she said properly," Emma's statement explained everything.
Laven gave a grin.
'So, I'm not the only one late huh?' (Laven)
Suddenly, both their phones vibrated. There was a message from their chat group.
Danial: 'Where's Cloey????'
Laven: '???'
Emma: 'You're late... when are you going to
arrive here?'
Danial: 'After Cloey comes here...I've been
waiting for almost half an hour now!'
Emma: 'So, the important thing she forgot
about was you, huh?'
Danial: 'Am I important? Haha'
Laven: 'Yes, to pay for our food'
Danial: 'But I only ran into Cloey and Emma!'
Laven: 'You don't wanna pay for me? I'll
suicide, huwaaa...'
Emma : 'Invite me to your funeral'
Laven: '!'
Danial: 'Hey, everyone. It was my promise, I
WILL TREAT YOU GUYS AT LITTLE
BOOK HUT, including you honey'
Emma laughed looking at Laven, "Honey!!!"
She squealed.
Danial: 'I meant Laven...Sorry'
Laven: '... But Cloey said you wanted to
treat all of us. Anyway, thanks!'
Danial: 'My pleasure'
Emma looked at Laven.
"If I'm not mistaken his house is only a few minutes from here. It's gonna be half an hour, and Cloey hasn't reached there yet.... Something's off!" she suddenly started to panic.
"Maybe she did forget her purse....But why does he need her to go there?" Emma asked.
She questioned her doubt in the group.
Danial: 'My dad is using the car. So, I asked
Cloey to fetch me'
Laven and Emma exchanged looks. He tried hard to suppress his laughter, otherwise he might end up revealing his 'true identity'.
Laven: 'My friends have driving license! Cool'
Emma: 'You're a terrible liar!!!'
Danial: 'Oops, typo...'
Laven: '.....'
Danial: 'But guys.... Cloey hasn't arrived yet!!!'
'Let's go to his house, he's been waiting for long... We might meet Cloey on the way...' Laven wrote and showed it to her. Even he felt a bit uneasy after noticing the time. Emma agreed while looking at the spot she had reserved. It's not easy to get a spot with a nice view there.
On their way, both of their stomachs released low grumbling noises, they were hungry.
"Did you fart?" Emma joked.
Laven shrugged while raising his eyebrows. As they were walking past the shop lots, something caught their eyes.
Jack & Jill.
"Let's go buy something!" Emma immediately gave in and rushed inside.
Laven didn't hesitate either, he expected to have something heavy at Little Book Hut but ended up starving.
People would normally think that Little Book Hut is like a cafe but it was just an underestimation. They served various of food, from heavy to light. They also provide racks of books who anyone can access as long as one returns it back. Never fall for the name 'Little' because that place was actually humongous.
.
Emma went to the rows on the right side. Laven preferred something healthy, he chose to go to the left.
'Ah, pistachios!'
His favourite snack was there. Pistachios are healthy and delicious. As he was nearing the corner, he couldn't help but look at another boy who was staring at him. He was dressed in black and looked like somewhere around his age or a bit older. As if he was expecting Laven to notice him, he flashed a smile and came near. The boy had a slight brown shade of hair, hazel eyes and was dressed in black.
'He must be 17 at least' Laven thought.
"I can't believe that people still admire Gothic style these days, especially in Sherewoods. People here love to wear vibrant clothes all year long," he began the conversation.
"Mmmmm...." Laven immediately stopped.
Although the person that he met doesn't know him, he still can't talk.... because he was dressed as a girl. It might drive the boy nuts.
"Wow, your voice!" he was shocked as expected.
Laven took out his book and wrote:
'Sorry, I've got a flu'
The boy got surprised, but ended up smiling again.
"I'm Kim.... Kim Lee Hyun," he continued.
He showed his book to Kim: 'Laven, nice meeting you'
Kim's smile grew wider.
Laven turned the other side and grabbed a few packets of pistachios. Kim remained standing there.
Laven turned to him again and smiled, before walking away to the counter.
Emma had already purchased her snacks. "Hey, look what I've got for us!" she shook two bottles of mango juice.
I showed her my packets of pistachios, beaming.
Her gaze shifted. "Who's that?" she asked in a whispering tone. Laven looked behind and was surprised to see Kim.
'Did he follow me all the way here?' (Laven's thought)
"Hi, the name's Kim," he answered before Laven got the chance to take out his book.
Emma grabbed his arm, giving it a little squeeze.
"Do you guys wanna be friends?" he requested politely.
'Friends with someone you just met in some random area?' (Laven's thought)
Laven looked at Emma. She flashed a smile back, her grip on his arm getting tighter.
"Sure, why not?" she finally replied.
"Are you guys scared of ghosts?" he asked again, which surprised them a bit.
"Haha, I'm the type that plays hide and seek with ghosts..... They love to play with me," Emma was quick to answer that.
Laven wasn't really sure about Emma, but he was the type that faints or pees in his pants when his fear factor gets triggered. Meeting with ghosts is a one way ticket to hell, at least in Laven's perspective. Laven wrote something in his book and showed it to Emma while making sure Kim wouldn't be able to see the content:
'Are you kidding me?! That's a stranger!'
Emma leaned towards his ear and whispered, "He just wants to be friends! How can that possibly bring any harm?"
Laven widened his eyes.
"Danial will save you if anything goes wrong!"
she continued. Laven furrowed his eyebrows.
It annoyed him that Emma always teased in such a way. He still couldn't figure out why they tease him with Danial.
"You don't have to be scared of me," Kim tried to assure them. He noticed that Laven seemed kind of awkward.
"Sure, now that you've met us, there's another two crazy beings that you should meet. Follow us," Emma sounded cheerful. Laven kept mum. Emma seemed too cheerful causing Laven to just agree with her.
Kim was obviously happy.
Ding-dong.
The door opened, revealing a dressed up Danial. A beam of smile was visible on his face.
"Welcome, Cloey still hasss..." his voice trailed off when he saw Kim. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Then, he squinted his eyes while looking directly at Kim.
On the other hand, Kim seemed startled. Sweat was dripping down his forehead. He was looking at the ground, trying to avoid eye contact with Danial.
"Kim... we met him at Jack & Jill," Emma understood Danial. Laven couldn't help but wonder what was up with Kim, he looked like the cheerful type at the shop.
"Ooo, I see. You actually brought a stranger whom you met a few minutes ago to my house?" Danial said jokingly. Though he didn't mind, it was still a bit unusual to do so.
"Hi, I'm Danial!" he showed his hand.
'So, he doesn't remember me...' Kim let out a sigh of relief.
He shook Danial's hand and smiled politely.
They made themselves comfortable by sitting at the hall. There were two massive light grey sofas which matched perfectly with the wallpaper that was light brown in colour. In the middle, there was a big fluffy white colour carpet where the black coffee table was placed in the middle. It was quite stunning. Especially, the vase with lush red roses that gave off the elegant contra effect, situated at the corner of the wall which connects the living room to the inner area of the house. They scanned the living room and its beautiful furniture, which caught their attention. It wasn't too fancy nor too simple. It seemed modern and cozy.
Watching the others looking around, Danial put on a worried face. "Where's Cloey?" he asked invasively, though he didn't mean to be rude.
"We don't know. Looking at the time that has passed, it's odd..." Emma replied on behalf of Laven. She snapped out from her calm mood.
Laven showed his book: 'We should call her parents'
"I don't know what's going on but maybe she's right," Kim voiced out his opinion. "She's missing, who knows if someone dragged her away," he said, this time causing the jaws of the others to drop.
"Maybe she tried desperately to free herself but she only managed to scratch the door... maybe she's stuck at a place that's dark where the Devil lurks," he continued in a spooky criminal tone while looking at Emma dead in the eye.
Laven dropped his packet of pistachios. Danial held his chest, his heart was thumping so hard. Emma looked as if all the blood on her body had drained. Danial stood up, his eyes wide.
"How do you know Cloey's missing?" he turned Kim's head forcefully to face him.
Kim wasn't smiling. He looked at Danial straight in the eye, not blinking even once.
"Answer him!" Emma shook him from the side. Laven was speechless, well it's the best for him.
'I knew we shouldn't have trusted him.... Perhaps we should call the cops. Something's about to go wrong,' Laven panicked and took out his phone ready to do as he thought.
Kim smirked, looking at them. He let out a soft chuckle, which caught the others off guard. They looked terrified.
"OMG! Relax.... I was listening to your conversation from just now. It looks like you guys are waiting for someone for a long time. So, I figured that she might be missing, I guesszzz," he emphasized the last word weirdly. Laven was about to tap the call button but immediately stopped after hearing his words.
Doubts started to arise.
Laven couldn't write his questions since the others were questioning Kim nonstop. He definitely couldn't talk either.
"Did you have to talk in such an eerie way young man?" Emma's question made the others to keep mum for a while. To Laven, Emma sounded like his aunt. Danial joined her by putting his fists on his hips while giving the 'mommy death glare'. Laven didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or join them too.
Kim turned to look at Laven. The others followed him, hoping Laven would do something to support them .
He started to feel tensed up. Then, he remembered Aunt Shelly's mad face and tried to imitate it while crossing his arms over his chest.
"I was just joking. It was a random scene that I simply created. Haven't you guys heard of the recent cases, people are missing..." Kim sounded like he was going to break down. The others still looked unsatisfied.
"Hey, I've never had friends. They always end up getting freaked out by me. Th...the...they never ever tried to understand me. They dissed me, claiming that I was a psychopath. I just kept mum, because I didn't want to hurt them. After all, they were my friends. No matter where they are, I would always hope the best for them. I had one friend, who was ok with me but he went missing last month! None of you guys know what I felt that time! Mum said that a sixteen year old like me needs friends, If I did something that spooked or hurt you guys, forgive me.... That's certainly not what I intended. Since boys are terrified of me, I found a girl who seemed quite different. I'm different, so I thought we could get along well. Then, I met her friends who were friendly and just got overexcited. You guys are so friendly, can't we be...' Danial interrupted his confession by giving him a hug.
Streams of tears were running down Kim's cheeks.
Both Emma's and Laven's mood lightened too. Kim seemed to have a dark past with his friends. They understood that he was just joking about Cloey.
"We're so sorry," Emma regretted her actions. Laven nodded, agreeing with Emma.
'So, Peter wasn't the first victim....' (Laven's thought)
A grin appeared on Kim's face.
Suddenly, they heard the sound of pans falling down from the kitchen. Then, sounds of pans being dragged roughly was heard. Danial got shocked.
"There's no one home except for me...and you guys" he stated.
"What?" the others asked in unison.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RUTHER
RUTHER Like it ? Add to library!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone