Chapter 47: Burdened with the Past

It was a breezy afternoon and Elizabeth was walking by herself, on her way home from school. She still could recall the incident that happened in school just a few weeks ago, involving her friend. Hearing about the news of her friend being permanently suspended from school had affected her as well, emotionally wise. Then, she stopped walking and turned to the house she was in front of, staring at it glumly. It was the house where her friend lived. She wanted to check on her friend but could never find the courage to do so. The incident kept playing through her head and even though she was a witness there, she felt that she could have done more to avoid all of that happening. Suddenly, someone grabbed on her shoulder, which startled her.

“Liz! What brings you here?”

Elizabeth quickly turned to the person standing next to her. It was none other than Phil, one of her classmates in school.

“Oh, it’s just you… I was thinking of visiting Avegaille but… will she even want to talk to us after what happened?”

“I’m sure she will. We’re here already, so why don’t we go ahead and do just that?” Phil immediately grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and dragged her along until they were in front of the door of the house. Then, he pushed the doorbell.

“I don’t know if we should be doing this…” Elizabeth muttered nervously.

Suddenly, the door opened and a woman who had long black hair plus wearing glasses, appeared in front of them. Both of them knew right away who she was.

“Oh, what are you kids doing here?” the woman asked curiously.

“Um, Mrs. Stewart… is Avegaille around, by any chance?” Elizabeth asked nervously. “Well… we wanted to see if she’s doing fine at least.”

“Ah, thanks for the concern but she won’t be back here until summer vacation starts,” Mrs. Stewart replied. She immediately saw how downhearted the two kids were and tried smiling at them. “You see, she’s now studying in Midway Academy, which is also a boarding school. That place is quite far from here, just so you know.”

“Isn’t Midway Academy like an all-girls school and also… very expensive to get in as well?” Phil asked, furrowing his eyebrows. “Will she be okay there?”

Mrs. Stewart stared at him surprisingly and then chuckled a bit. She slightly turned away from them while forcing a smile. “I’m sure she’ll be fine… definitely.”

“Phil!” Elizabeth quickly covered his mouth upon seeing Mrs. Stewart’s reaction and smiled nervously back at her. “Um, sorry for bothering you but thank you for letting us know about Avegaille's whereabouts. We’ll be leaving now.”

“Haha, it’s not a problem!” Mrs. Stewart said in return and waved her hand at them. Then, she went back inside the house and closed the door.

“Well, so much for that plan…” Elizabeth muttered to herself and sighed while putting down her hand.

“Can’t be helped, we can always come back here during summer vacation, at least,” Phil said nonchalantly. “I can always come if you need someone to be with you…”

“I guess so… thanks though…” Elizabeth smiled softly while she gazed at him.

.-.-.-.-.-

“However, I never went back there since, and only met Avegaille again when middle school started… that was during the extra curricular fair,” Elizabeth continued. “I still couldn’t get over it… I thought I already did but it just keeps resurfacing, haunting me every time.”

Naz and Nicole May both kept quiet for a while after listening to Elizabeth’s story. It was something that neither one of them had any idea of what sort of advice to give in return.

It was already after school and the girls were currently inside the newspaper room, sitting on the chairs by the table in the middle of the room. They had agreed to meet up there first before heading over to Avegaille’s house. They were still waiting for Emily to arrive as well. However, Naz felt that something else was bothering Elizabeth, in which she was able to convince her to tell them what it was.

“All I can say is that… I really think you should talk properly to Avegaille about this. You know, just so you could finally free yourself from this…” Naz suggested and slowly nodded her head.

“I know I should but… I really feel that it’s too late at this point.” Elizabeth hung her head low and sighed heavily.

“Um, if it would help, I could stay around while you’re talking to Avegaille…” Nicole May muttered nervously, glancing away from them.

“No, that’s okay. I think you’ve done too much at this point. I hate to say this but… somehow, I feel like I’m putting you in this burden when I shouldn’t have been involving you in this at all…”

Nicole May quickly turned to Elizabeth and stared at her surprisingly. She saw how dejected Elizabeth was, after saying all that. Naz was just as surprised as her. However, before Nicole May could say something in return, the door of the newspaper room slammed wide open, which startled everyone. They saw Emily standing by the door, waving her hand happily at them.

“Hey guys! I’m finally here!” Emily exclaimed and stepped inside. She finally noticed the heavy atmosphere surrounding the room and furrowed her eyebrows. “Um, are you guys okay?”

Naz slowly shook her head and stood up from her seat. Then, she went closer to Emily and held on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t worry about it. Come on, we should head over to Avegaille’s place now that everyone’s here.”

Both Nicole May and Elizabeth nodded in agreement and quietly got up from their seats as well. Naz grabbed her bag that was on the table while Nicole May stared down at the bag Emily felt that something was off, especially with the awkward silence surrounding the room.

.-.-.-.-.-

The girls finally arrived at the Stewarts' residence, however, all of them had forgotten something important. They were supposed to pass by the student council's office first, to check if Jane was already done with her tasks for that day. Without her, none of them could even get inside the house. Naz and Emily both sat down on the steps by the porch while Elizabeth kept glancing around, checking to see if anyone she knew was approaching. Nicole May took out her phone, checking for any messages that came in. After a couple more minutes had passed, Elizabeth finally spotted Jane coming close, with Madeline following her.

“Whew, it’s really lively here!” Madeline remarked upon getting close to the group. Both Emily and Naz got up from the steps they were sitting on and waved at them.

“Let’s get this done quickly before my Mom gets back…” Jane muttered and quickly stepped closer at the front door of her house. She took out the key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Afterwards, she turned the knob, pushed the door open and stepped inside.

Everyone else followed her inside and gathered in the hallway. Then, Jane closed the door and stared at them for a while without saying anything. After that, she headed towards the kitchen, with Madeline following behind her. The girls just glanced at each other, unsure of what to do next. It was Emily’s first time inside the Stewarts’ residence and the flight of stairs was the first thing that caught her attention.

“Um, shouldn’t we be going upstairs or something?” Emily asked nervously, pointing upwards.

“Jane didn’t say anything but I’m pretty sure she wants us to head over at Avegaille’s room right away,” Elizabeth said and shrugged.

“Oh yeah! Nikki, you’ve been here quite frequently, so you should know where Avegaille’s room is… right?” Naz placed her arm around Nicole May’s shoulder and stared at her smugly. “Come on, show us where it is!”

“All right, all right… just calm down…” Nicole May muttered irritably, shoving Naz's arm off her shoulder. “Even if I know where her room is… but if she won’t open it, this will just be all a waste.”

“We'll never know until we try,” Naz remarked and winked at her.

After that, Nicole May started climbing on the flight of stairs until she reached the second floor. The other girls were following right behind her. Nicole May stared at the door to her right, as she knew that it led to Avegaille’s room. It was the room nearest to the stairs. Then, she tried knocking on the door, however, there was no response from the other side.

“Come on, Avegaille, let us in!” Naz hollered and grabbed on the door knob. She turned it and realized that it was already unlocked. Then, she pushed the door open and saw how dark and eerily quiet the room was.

Nicole May kept searching for a light switch close by the entrance of the room. She eventually found it and flicked it, illuminating the room inside. Naz stepped further inside, and saw the huge lump on the bed. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Emily just patiently waited outside the room.

“Oh… is she asleep, perhaps?” Naz asked curiously and slowly pulled off the comforter that was covering the lump. However, what was underneath it was just a pile of pillows. “Uh… this is not good…”

Nicole May immediately started going around Avegaille’s room, checking every possible corner she could fit in, but she was nowhere to be found. She quickly rushed out of the room and ran downstairs, to inform Jane of what happened. Elizabeth was startled at what she just saw and turned to Naz, who just got out of the room.

“What’s going on?” Elizabeth asked hesitantly.

“Seems like Avegaille decided to do some hiding,” Naz replied and laughed nervously.

“A game of hide and seek, huh?” Emily placed her hands on her hips and nodded a bit. “She’s definitely challenging us.”

“I think she's just trying to clear her head or something… I doubt she has gone too far from here…” Elizabeth muttered, gazing away from them.

Suddenly, Jane rushed through their group and started checking through the other rooms. Madeline and Nicole May had just caught up with her and both of them stood next to the others. All of them waited until Jane finished checking all the rooms. Then, Jane walked back to them groggily, and was almost out of breath.

“No luck, huh?” Madeline asked and Jane just shook her head in response, after regaining her composure.

“Are there any places where she might go at a time like this?” Nicole May asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Well, there’s the park but…” Jane glanced at the window by the end of the hallway, and saw some snow lightly falling down from outside, through the glass. “Problem is, I can’t leave the house until Mom gets back here.”

“We'll look for her for you!” Naz exclaimed ecstatically and pulled Nicole May's arm, until she was close to her. Nicole May grunted while staring at her wearily.

“I’ll help as well,” Elizabeth said, then she turned to Emily. “How about you?”

“Of course, I’m joining as well!” Emily insisted. “The more of us, the better, right?”

“That’s true. Meanwhile, I’ll stay here with Jane. If anything comes up, just return here, okay?” Madeline told them and the girls nodded in return.

Jane and Madeline watched them run downstairs until they were out of sight. Then, the two of them stepped inside Avegaille’s room, checking to see if there were some things that she took with her. Jane started rummaging through the closet first but nothing much was missing in there, except for a set of winter clothes her little sister had always worn, since the season had started. Madeline spotted the shoulder bag that Avegaille had always used for school, on the chair by the study table. The two of them sat down on the bed, after going through all of Avegaille’s things in the room.

“She wouldn’t have ran away from home, would she?” Madeline asked, folding her arms across her chest while frowning.

“Well, actually…” Jane hesitantly turned away from her and sighed heavily. “She used to do this quite often, years ago… when my parents were still together. I always had to look for her every time it happened…”

.-.-.-.-.-

The sun was already setting down when the girls had reached the park. Despite the light snow coming down, there were still people around the area. Some were walking along the pathways, while others were sitting on the benches nearby. Naz teamed up with Emily and both of them headed towards the wide open area of the park.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, was now stuck with Nicole May and neither of them knew where to start. The two of them walked together towards the forest-like area of the park, without saying anything to each other. Eventually, they reached an area that had stacks of tires on one side and a couple of boxes right next to it. The trees surrounding them made it hard for them to see anything further. It didn’t help that it was getting close to night time already. Both of them just kept quiet from their spots for a while, until Nicole May stepped closer to Elizabeth.

“Elizabeth… there’s something I’d like to say to you… I want to continue from where we left off earlier.”

Elizabeth glanced at Nicole May for a second and then, lowered her head. “Go ahead, what is it?”

“Well, just so you know, it was me who decided on this. I wanted to return the favor that Avegaille did for me when we were still in Midway. I thought it was already too late that time, once we graduated and all… thinking that I would never see her again. But now, here we are, meeting again. Was it fate perhaps? I honestly don’t know but… I want to help her as well when she’s feeling down. Please don’t think that you’re burdening me now because you couldn’t do it for her back then, when she needed you.” Nicole May stared at Elizabeth directly, clenching her fists. Her voice was somewhat hoarse from saying all that. “Also, it might take time, but I know she still remembers the times you two were together, as friends. You really should talk to her and clear things out. I don’t think she’s the type of person who would hold a grudge for so long.”

“You’re right… thank you for everything…” Elizabeth lifted up her head and smiled softly at Nicole May. She felt tears flowing down her cheeks and rubbed it off with her hands. Then, she started laughing. “I’m glad that she met someone like you. I want to see the day… that the two of you would end up getting together.”

Nicole May stared at her surprisingly and her face started flushing red. Then, she turned away from her, trying to hide her embarrassment. Her mind was going blank and had a hard time thinking of what to say in return. “Well… um, first… we have to find Avegaille… wherever she is…”

“Haha, of course.” Elizabeth looked around the area, trying to recall where they came in earlier, however, she could no longer tell which way was which. It was already dark as well. She wasn’t exactly good with dark places either. “I have a bad feeling about this… are we lost?”

Nicole May turned back to Elizabeth and saw how nervous she was. She took out her mobile phone from her pocket and flipped it open. Then, she went through the apps on it, until she got to the maps. However, the screen was not exactly enough to display everything within their proximity and she had to keep scrolling. The keys that she was pressing were making too much noise, enough for Elizabeth to turn her attention to her.

“Um, what exactly are you doing there?” Elizabeth asked wearily and sweat-dropped.

“My father recently updated my phone a couple of weeks ago, so that the map properly shows now instead of just coordinates… but this phone screen is too small to show everything…” Nicole May replied bitterly and looked down at her phone, while still vigorously pushing the directional keys on it. “I’ll figure out which way we should go next to get out of here at least… just wait…”

“I’m sure we’ll have more luck if we start moving slowly while trying to retrace our steps…” Elizabeth muttered nervously.

“No way! I’ll definitely figure this out!” Nicole May continued pressing the directional key on the phone. Then, she stopped and stared intently at the phone screen again, sighing with relief, after a few minutes. “Okay, I got it! We just need to walk straight northwest from where we’re at right now.”

“Sure, lead the way.” Elizabeth went behind Nicole May and grabbed on her shoulders tightly. Then, she started shuddering. “We should have brought some flashlights before we got here…”

“Oh, speaking of which…” Nicole May clasped the phone, folding it back to its compact state and then, pushed a button on its side. A bright light coming out from one end of the phone illuminated the path in front of them. “This won’t last long… so we need to get out of here, fast.”

“Whoa, that’s so amazing…” Elizabeth stared at the phone with awe while letting go of her shoulders. Then, Nicole May started walking briskly and she quickly followed her, until they were getting closer out of the forest-like area of the park.

.-.-.-.-.-

Jane was sitting on the sofa with Madeline next to her, in the living room. The two of them were watching a soap opera on the television while waiting for the girls to return. Jane was too worried at her little sister’s whereabouts, that she couldn’t focus on what she was watching. Then, the doorbell rang, in which she quickly got up and dashed out of the room.

Upon reaching the front door and pulling the door open, Jane saw Phil standing outside. She stared at him curiously and also noticed the bandages on his face. “Oh? Why are you here?”

“My Mom told me to come here and let you know that Mrs. Stewart is currently at our place…” Phil replied and placed his hand behind his head.

“Is that so? She could have just called…” Jane folded her arms across her chest and sighed. Then, she frowned at him. “Did Mom say how long she’ll be staying there?”

“Not really, the two of them look like they were having too much fun talking together…” Phil laughed nervously and smiled sheepishly at her.

“Figures…” Jane muttered bitterly and slowly shook her head. Then, she grabbed Phil’s shoulders and pulled him close to her, surprisingly him. “Listen carefully and don’t let my Mom know about this. My little sister is currently missing and her friends are looking for her right now. If you want to make yourself useful, go search for her as well, you understand?”

“Wait, what?!” Phil’s eyes widened upon hearing what she just said. “I mean, since when did you guys find out that she’s missing?”

“We only found out this afternoon when we arrived here,” Jane replied and immediately released Phil’s shoulders from her grip. “Who knows where the shrimp is now… I mean, I would search for her myself but not until Mom gets back.”

Then, Madeline stepped next to Jane, peering over at who was at the door. She was also getting impatient at the fact that Jane was taking too long at the door. Upon seeing Phil, she waved her hand and smiled at him. “Oh, hey there! Are you also volunteering in joining the search party for Avegaille?”

“Erm… I don’t really think I have a choice on that. Plus, I’m also worried now… especially after what happened the other day…” Phil turned away from them and folded his arms across his chest while he started mumbling to himself.

Jane raised an eyebrow, skeptical at what she just heard. Then, she recalled the story Nicole May mentioned to her the other day, that started this whole fiasco. Madeline noticed the scary expression on Jane’s face and started rubbing her back with her hand, hoping to calm her down.

“There’s only one place she might be at right now!” Phil exclaimed suddenly, startling the girls in front of him. He clenched his fists while he stared down on the ground. “Please, I hope I’m not too late…”

“What are you—”

Before Jane could continue, Phil had already ran off until he was out of sight. She realized that the direction he took was opposite to where the park was located. From what she could recall, the only notable area that Phil was heading to right now, in that direction, was the riverbank.