Ren watched as Su Na walked away without explaining why she had screamed, or better still, apologizing for raising a false alarm.
"I told you, Xue. I told you about this", Ren said.
Xue forced her feet to move as she walked into the kitchen to drop the cups which she had been holding for a while now. She didn't say a word to her husband because, to be honest, Xue was just as confused as Ren was. Maybe not angry, but bewildered.
[Why had Su screamed like that?], she thought. Xue tried to trace what had taken place in the sitting room, prior to the shriek.
Xue remembered that she had told her friend to go to the guest room which she had prepared for her. Only for Su Na to stand up... and as she reached where Du was, she just screamed.
[What was that for?], Xue thought. It irritated her that Su was acting like a child.
[Is it because she doesn't have a child of her own?], Xue thought. She had been stifling that thought from crossing her mind, Xue had known Su Na for a long time... since their college days for crying out loud, and she had never seen Su act this way.
Xue didn't know Su to be a jealous person or someone that coverts after things that others had... or someone that didnt like it when other people succeeded. So, it made all the acting and drama that Su was exhibiting, all the more strange.
Ren was furious. He had been startled by that scream. Ren didn't plan on coming out till Su Na left their house the next day, but when he heard that shout, he thought that something had happened to his daughter, Du Jing.
Now, his wife was giving him the cold shoulder. If he wasn't a civilized man, or if he didn't have the love he had for Xue, Ren would have ordered the lousy woman out of his house that moment.
"Why are you ignoring me, Xue?", Ren asked as he followed his wife into the kitchen.
Du Jing sat in the chair wriggling her legs. She was full of glee.
Du (Karina), hadn't planned on doing what she did to Su Na. It was a spontaneous action but she had enjoyed the hell out of the outcome.
What she didnt like was that the whole confusion... was causing hiccups between her father and mother. But, Karina later noticed that she didnt really care if they fought from now till the next morning.
The only thing Karina cared about, the only thing that made her heartbeat, was getting back at 'Marlena'. Karina planned on making the woman suffer slowly...
[Mum and dad would have to cope with whatever happens in the coming future], Du thought.
Xue and her husband, Ren were talking in the kitchen. Du tried her best to hear them. When she discovered that she was very far from where they stood, she closed her eyes... letting her spirit leave her body to hover in front of the kitchen.
Karina could hear them as clear as her own thoughts now.
"I do not know why she screamed, Ren. Even now, I think there is something disturbing Su. I have never seen her act abnormally", Xue said. Her face was warped with worry as she was beginning to get scared for her friend.
"I thought something happened to Du... Like, maybe she had fallen down. Only for me to come and find her sitting quietly. My heart was racing, Xue", Ren said as he ran his hands through his full hair.
"Maybe the loneliness is beginning to get to her", Xue said... her brows furrowed as she thought about what could possibly be the issue with Su Na.
"If that is the problem, she should find someone, and not kill us with the effect that the loneliness is having on her. Shouting is not good for little kids, Xue. I read that somewhere. It makes them anxious. I do not like Du being exposed to such", Ren Jing told his wife.
"She said something about Du not talking like a child", Xue said.
"Argh", Ren groaned. "It is always something with that friend of yours, Xue"
"I am serious. And I heard something like that too... from Du's daycare teacher"
Ren kept quiet for a moment. He tried to digest what his wife was saying to him. But it didnt makes any sense. Ren just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that a child would not sound like a child.
"Maybe she is just too smart for them. Maybe Du is a genius. Would you be too surprised about that?", Ren asked as he opened his arms, wriggling his brows.
Xue laughed.
"The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, my darling", Ren said. "They should get used to it"
Xue walked to her bragging husband and hugged him tightly.
Ren lifted her face and kissed her. "She is leaving tomorrow, right?", he asked.
"Yes, she is", Xue replied.
"Good"
As Karina noticed that the conversation was coming to an end, she rushed back into Du's body and continued to play with her fingers like the 'baby' that she was.
* * *
Su Na knew that something was wrong. No one could tell her otherwise.
One moment, she would be sure about what she heard Du say, and the next, Su would question herself. [Am I sure I heard correctly? I am talking about a baby for crying out loud], she thought.
"Then what should I say about the way Du grasped my wrist?", Su muttered.
It had felt like someone who lifted heavy weights tried to restrain her. That is exactly how Su had felt.
She looked down at the hand and saw the little spot that was red. The color wasn't even trying to wane. The pain was ever-present too.
"Something is not right here", Su said.
She didn't think she would be able to sleep that night.