"Oh, hi? I didn't expect to see you here now. What happened?" Elora asks as she closes the door behind me.
I lean forward towards her and rest my chin on her shoulder. She decided not to read my mind anymore so I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what happened. I wrap my arms around her. She pats on my back. I don't know how to feel about all these occurrences.
"Would you like to go for a walk outside?" She asks, still patting on my back.
I nod.
I've been holding her hand all the way. It's cold but somehow it's making me warm. She's making me feel at ease.
I stand in front of her. I look at her. "I need to tell you something".
She glances up at me. "Yes?".
" Yesterday was my father's death anniversary"
"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that", she hugs me.
"I found a letter that my dad left for me six years ago", I say.
"What was in that letter, Edmund?" She asks curiously.
"He wanted me to find someone and live with her. He wanted to me to have a mother".
"But you're mother is Mrs. Aza-"
"No. Not anymore. She has another family. She doesn't care about me, Elora. The only thing she cares about is her company and new family. Dad knew about that already. But he never told me about it so that I don't get upset".
Elora gets a call. She picks it up.
"Hello, who's this?" She waits a couple of seconds. "Wait what? I'm coming?" She pulls the phone away from her ear and looks down at it.
She quickly puts her phone back in her bag and stands up. "I need to go, Edmund. I'm sorry. My uncle is so sick. I'll call you later, okay?"
"Okay", I say.
I turn around and pretend to buy coffee, and I'm aware that she's watching me. But I try to ignore it. I slide my hands in my pockets and start to walk.
I'm at Charlie's doorstep. I'm soaked right now. I forgot to bring the umbrella. The sky was bright as hell even an hour ago when I was talking to Elora. Who even thought it was gonna rain today? I knock at his door knob. I hear footsteps approaching me.
The door opens up. I glance up.
It's not Charlie. It's Patricia.
"Heyy, Ed. Long time no see", she says, giving me space to get inside.
"Yeah. Long time, Pat".
Before I could say anything, Patricia hands me over a towel and points me to the bathroom. "I'll go and get you Charlie's clothes".
I nod and head towards the bathroom.
I'm still thinking about dad. I found some photos of dad and Amber aunt. He was tensed always just because of me.
I can feel the water. It's cold. Just like her hand.
She's really an immortal. I wonder how she passes her days. She's dead literally. Someone made her a vampire. How must have she felt about it back then?
My chain of thoughts get interrupted by the knock in the bathroom door.
It's Charlie. "How long are you gonna stand under the cold water, Ed?"
I find myself shivering suddenly.
Damn! I was so lost in thoughts that I stood under this cold water for an hour almost.
I open the door and step out. I see Charlie wearing the mickey mouse t-shirt that I gave him last week. Watching him wearing that made me happy.
"How do I look, Ed?" Charlie asks, spinning around.
"Dashing", I wink.
He chuckles.
Charlie hands me over a cup of coffee and wrap his arms around my shoulder.
We head towards the living room. I notice Patricia playing guitar. She always had a passion for guitar. It's not like she sings yet she just love the tune of a guitar. I sit on the couch and take a sip from my cup.
"Hey dude, wanna sing? Just like the old times?" She grins.
I smile.
I take another sip from my cup. Charlie gives me a notepad and a pen. I start to write...
After a while I hand it over to Patricia. "I couldn't think of anything else. It's short I know. Not good too. Ugh!".
She starts to read it aloud.
'As I close my eyes I see you
Standing there right in front of me
But I can't reach you
I need you
Holding back all my emotions
I crawl inside my head
Don't know what's going on
Just hang on
Stepping out of my dream
I search for you everywhere
But then I realized
You are gone'
"Hold on, hold on", Charlie says, sitting in front of me on the table. "You just wrote that buddy like out of nowhere. And trust me this is better than all that you wrote before. I mean I literally just felt that".
His eyes is full of proudness. Wait that is a non-existent word but oh well who cares? or not?
I look at him. "I'm glad to hear that. I really am".
"But who are you talking about here though, Ed?" Patricia asks, while tuning the guitar.
"My dad".
Awkward silence.
I can't even make eye contact with them.
Again! How am I gonna start?
I take a deep breath and exhale.
I told them about the letter. About my superhero. About aunt Amber.
About how badly I need to find her.
I look up and see both of them staring at me. They look tensed more than I do. Patricia grabs her laptop and starts typing. I don't know what she's trying to do. Charlie is busy with his phone. I don't know whether they heard me or not. They just got busy suddenly.
They got busy with something related to me maybe.
I walk towards Patricia. I glare at the screen of the laptop.
Amber Mei .
She's searching for her.
How the hell did I get this two idiots in my life? I mean they are precious to me.
"What's her previous address?" Patricia queries.
"197/A, Stanford, park avenue, apartment no.23", I reply.
"Gotcha! The head start", she screams.
"But that was her house ten years back. What if she isn't there now?"
I'm waiting for her answer. I'm not sure if its possible or not to find her.
Patricia stands up and mimics like a detective. "Well we gotta do some investigation now, kid. Hahaha".
That was kinda funny... weird.
I nod.
Charlie hops onto my back. "Hell yes! We are going to play detective's role now. Damn! It's going to be interesting. We have a mission, bro. Mission investigation!".
Charlie gives me a scary laugh. I don't know what happened to them all of sudden. Its like they just have some different level of energy when it comes to investigation.
That's good.
I got company.
Here I come.