"What do you mean they won't talk to you?" Anita was furious. I told them about what happened at school.
"Like I said, they've been ignoring me all day. They wouldn't talk to me. They kept avoiding me. It's like I don't exist."
"That's preposterous! Why would they do that? I mean, I'd understand if they'd ignore me since we weren't really that close. But you, you guys are friends." She said. "What's going on?"
"We were friends. I guess not anymore. Something must have happened at the conference. That's for sure." I said.
"You seem pretty calm about it. So what are we going to do now? We can't ask for their help." Philip said after taking a sip from his coffee cup.
"Nothing will happen if we keep whining about it. We can't get distracted. Our goal stays the same. We have to destroy the research." I said firmly, to my surprise. "We need to figure out how to sneak in the lab. We need to plan carefully or we'll lose our heads."
I had trouble sleeping that night. I didn't want to believe what happened, but I didn't have the luxury to cry about it. Something more important needed my attention. If I let a tear fall, I'd break to pieces. I filled my mind with the goal in front of us, but my heart was in turmoil. I just wanted to know why. I wasn't the type to cry and beg for attention. I was used to being alone. But I really wanted to know the reason. I decided to confront him. I was pondering when I'd do it when I felt Amelia's hand on my belly. I looked at the child sleeping next to me, looking more peaceful than ever. Every time we were at the cabin, she'd stick to me like glue. She said she liked the warmth of my belly and oftentimes talked to my baby like it could already hear and feel. Amelia was an affectionate child, and I wanted to keep her with me for always. I hugged the child and finally doze off.
When I woke up, Amelia was gone. I quickly got up and went dashing to the living room. Anita was already awake and was making breakfast. Philip was buried in thoughts, probably planning our next step.
"Where's Amelia?" I asked immediately. They both looked at me at the same time.
"What do you mean? Wasn't she sleeping in the bedroom with you?" Anita walked towards me.
"When I woke up, she was gone. You didn't see her leave?"
"No. I didn't want to wake you so I didn't check on you."
"Don't worry. We'll find her. I'll look around here. You get ready for school." Philip said.
"I'll help Philip look around too after I drive you to school." Anita said.
I got ready for school. It felt wrong though – going to school in that kind of situation. I was putting on my uniform when I noticed something odd in the corner of the room. Why didn't I notice it before? My heart stopped for a moment and fear crept in. I walked to it and picked it up. It was a painting. It was a familiar painting drawn on a small canvass. It was a beautiful painting of sunflowers blooming under the morning sun. It was a painting I hung at the wall in the art room - the art room at the orphanage. It was Maria's.
"This is bad. I can't believe I didn't notice anything. I can't believe I didn't notice the painting in the room, or that it disappeared where I hung it. This is really bad. If anything happens to her, I'll never forgive myself." I was panicking.
"It's not your fault. We're to blame too. We didn't notice anything either." Anita said to comfort me.
"Maybe Anita and I should go look for her around the orphanage. You go to school." Philip said.
"Are you kidding me? How can I go to school at a time like this?"
"But if you don't go, what will you tell your father?"
"It's fine. An absent or two won't make a difference. I'll just tell him I overslept."
"But if someone sees you at the orphanage, then your father will definitely know something's up." Philip and I were the same. That's why we're friends. We're both stubborn.
"We'll just take a look for a while and then I'll go to school." I said.
We arrived at the orphanage sooner than I thought, what with Anita's crazy driving. Anita parked across the street and we got out of the car. We walked slowly to the orphanage. We couldn't be in haste so as not to seem suspicious. The orphanage had that peaceful atmosphere, as usual. We walked around and told the staff we had a few unfinished tasks. I was in the art room when I saw through the window a few guards running to the forest behind the orphanage. In an instant, I knew Amelia was in danger. I called the others and we followed the guards. I ran fast like my life depended on it. I could hear cries of pain from deep in the forest. I ran faster and Philip and Anita followed closely.
We reached the source of the screams and my fears were confirmed. Anita was chained up and knights circled around her. She was caught.
"No!" I screamed and tried to run to her, but Philip caught me and we hid behind the bushes. Nobody heard me. My scream was muffled by Amelia's screech. She was in pain, and I couldn't even do anything about it.
"There's nothing we can do for her now. If we get caught here, everything we've done would be for nothing." Philip said then he held me tight.
The tears I had been holding back fell like rain. My heart sank.
"Don't worry. We'll just have to save her. But for now, let's get out of here before anybody sees us." Anita said.
Then, we heard Amelia scream and saw her fighting for freedom. She broke the chains and started attacking the elites. But she was outnumbered. In the middle of the chaos, our eyes met for a second. I reached out my hand and gestured for her to run to me. She was about to come running to our direction when she was stabbed from behind. The spear went through her heart and I watched as life disappeared from her eyes.
"Nooooooo!" I cried. Philip placed his hand over my mouth and pulled me to run.
I risked a glance behind me as we were running and saw the elites setting fire to Amelia's body. She was gone. She was gone forever. I hated myself. I promised her I'd protect her but I couldn't even do that. The hole in my heart got bigger and bigger. I cried loudly in the car. Anita and Philip were silently crying too. We failed. We failed to protect one child. I started questioning whether we could save all those children. Can we really do it? Can we really stop the Church's crimes? I was getting filled with doubts.
I was a complete mess when we arrived at the school. I didn't want to get off the car, but I had something I needed to do. I needed to confront them. I had to hear a reason. I wiped off my tears and straightened the crumples of my uniform. I combed my hair and took a few deep breaths. I got out and ran to the building. It was lunch and everybody was loitering around the campus. I went looking for them. I practically ran and didn't even bother apologizing to people I bumped into. I found them talking in soft voices behind the gym. I glared at them until they noticed me. They stopped talking and glared back. I took a very deep breath to muster the courage. I walked slowly towards them, holding my gaze. The pain I was feeling was slowly turning to hate.
"What do you want?" Kai asked coldly.
I just looked at him. I started to question why I fell for him. He was arrogant and spoiled and cold and… Who was I kidding? I really love him. I love him so much it hurts. But I brushed off the longing I felt for him. I didn't want to let him make me feel more vulnerable and insecure. He didn't want to have anything to do with me, which was clear. I didn't want to seem clingy and pathetic.
"If there's nothing, we'll get going." He stood up and they all started to leave.
I took another deep breath and spoke.
"Amelia's dead."