Chapter (18):the new look
At Smiley's house.....
"Ugh! We're finally here! My legs hurt from running all the way here!" Emma said panting
"You could have asked me to carry you and take you here" Smiley said
"I'm not a narcissistic princess from a fairy tale, and you're not a stlaker prince" Emma said coldly towards him
"Let's put everything out of my bag now and sort everything quickly"
After sorting everything from documents and books and some strange files and quickly Smiley noticed that there were some sandwiches in her bag
"Oh finally some food I was so hungry! Wait why didn't we eat together when I first got to my house?" Smiley asked Emma
"Yes I was thinking about eating together when I got to your house but my mind was preoccupied with some annoying things" Emma replied
"I see" Smiley replied looking at Emma
"To eat while seeing What we found"Emma said
"Thank you! I was hungry" Smiley spoke
"...By the way ,Smiley, I have a question for you" Emma asked
"Asked as you want?" Smiley spoke as he happily ate
"When I'm not around what do you usually eat?" Smiley replied
"I eat things Like....." Smiley replied
"Like what?" Emma asked as she raised her eyebrow
"You know" Smiley spoke as he ate his sandwich and waved his other hand
"No, I don't know what you mean? Just tell me, we're at a point where I won't be surprised by anything" Emma replied as he read some of the files here
"Umm...you could say I hunt some friendly squirrels and some rabbits the way and some" Smiley replied
"You mean the ones that turned into predators" Emma spoke as she continued reading
"Yes, something like that" Smiley replied and sighed in relief
"So what did you find Anything useful?" Smiley asked as he changed the subject
"Nothing, just some documents and books that record some things, all of them are unimportant... except for" Emma spoke as she threw a file
"What is this?" Smiley asked as he stared at the file and saw the incomprehensible cuffs and symbols with surprise while maintaining his smile
"It is a file written in a coded language that requires a computer to decode it, this method is used to hide some things or to prevent anyone from knowing its contents"
"The strange thing is that this method is used in computers and not in files or placed in paper and was hidden inside the safe, this means that those documents were very important"
"Important like what?" Smiley asked as he listened to Emma
"Important to the point that whoever wrote all this was afraid that someone would try to hack his computer and discover it or that the National Security Agency would know about its existence, so he hid it here, so that no one in the world would know about it"
"Interesting" Smiley said thinking about something
"But that doesn't apply to the shoe, he hid it here for another reason but I don't know what it is, maybe it's a model for something or a part for a suit design but he put it there for a purpose, but there's a missing part" Emma said thinking deeply
"A missing part? What is it?" Smiley asked curiously
"I've never heard of any factory in the forest and even if this factory was a front for a secret lab" Emma said staring at Smiley "They should at least justify it as more than just a factory for the public and pay the bills for its operation and do their fake job of selling car parts, and the strange thing is that we are the first to enter this factory since the workers disappeared"
"What makes you so sure of that" Smiley asked staring at Emma with a hidden smile
"Because when we entered the door creaked and left a mark on the toilet when it was opened which means we were the first to enter and a place like this should be monitored or managed by "The government secretly or by a secret organization"
"But neither of these things happened, that means that whoever is running it must have decided to ban it completely or something happened to them that made them leave it and ignore it temporarily, and after years it was forgotten"
"Woah" you are a detective! If you are that smart, do you know when all the workers disappeared?" Smiley asked
"This happened before 1996" Emma spoke indifferently
"What? no way! are you Sherlock Holmes or what?!" Smiley asked and gave an expression of shock that turned into great pleasure
"The cameras were very old, they were definitely before the year 2000 and also the rust in cars takes a long time so the incident of the workers disappearing must have happened more than a decade ago" Emma spoke
"Did you analyze the time of the rust!?" Smiley asked in shock
"No, because of this" Emma spoke as she gave Smiley a banknote that was in Sadness
"Money?" Smiley asked
"Smiley, look at the face of a bill very carefully." Emma spoke
"It's just a..... Hundred Dollar bill!, we're Rich"smiley spoke
"Can you see anything special or different in this money?"Emma asked
"Hmm .... I don't see anything special." Smiley replied, looking at the money
"Wrong." Emma spoke, shaking her head
"What?" Smiley asked
"If you look closely the jacket is not the new 100 series it's the old ones, they became rare in 1996 and there's a whole pile of them" she spoke
"But that's not the only evidence there was a newspaper around that said windows 95 version on a sheet of paper, meaning they disappeared in 1995 in August or a few days after that" Emma spoke
When Emma finished speaking Smiley looked at her in shock and had a half smile on his face
"What's the matter?" Emma asked
"Girl once you grow up I wouldn't be surprised if you become the boss of NASA" Smiley spoke pointing at her
"You're overdoing it" Emma spoke
"Yes you're right about that.....maybe I'm underestimating you you should be the president of America"
"Smiley, it's just common knowledge" Emma spoke as she focused on the files
"Really? But that's not something any kid would know these days" Smiley spoke as his face tilted slightly to the right
"you're a kid too" Emma replied to Smiley's words
"Yes but I don't have detailed knowledge of past events, or have a complete knowledge of everything going on in the world" Smiley spoke
"You're smart and a genius I admit it, but not to that extent unless you push yourself or use it as a distraction or escape from your life, right?" Smiley spoke as his face moved closer to Emma's
"Well... I..." Emma spoke hesitantly as her face turned to the right because of Smiley's words
"Haha I seem to have struck a chord, don't worry about that, each of us has his own life, and chooses his own path... No matter what it becomes" Smiley spoke
"... You're right about that" Emma replied as she threw the document to the side and took some things in Her bag
"Yeah I know I'm.... Hey why are you taking all the money?" Smiley asked as he saw Emma stuffing the money into her bag
"To buy some important things" Emma replied as she put the files in her bag after putting all the money inside it
"Hey, that's not fair! You're taking all this money by yourself because I'm the one who opened the safe" Smiley said as he pretended to be annoyed
"Smiley theoretically I'm the one who found the safe and also what are you going to do with the money anyway? The only thing you're going to buy is some trick or clown makeup" Emma replied
"Well, what do you want to buy?" Smiley asked
Some things" Emma replied as she closed her bag
"Like what?" Smiley asked and focused his attention on Emma
"Something that will help me survive in this forest" Emma spoke
"So you're going to buy a gun!" Smiley replied with a big smile as he stared at her
"Yeah, something like that" Emma replied
"So are there gun shops you can go to without getting in trouble!? Take me there, I want to buy some stuff too" Smiley asked
"No...there won't be a place like that Smiley" Emma replied crushing Smiley's hopes
"What, how are you going to buy a gun in that case?" Smiley asked with a half smile
"You could say I know a way to avoid getting into trouble" Emma spoke as
"Hey where are you going?" "Are you going? The sun is barely asleep" Smiley asked jokingly meaning that the sun was starting to set
"There are some things I need to do first, I will be back here later" Emma spoke
"Don't you want me to help you get back on the road?" Smiley asked
"Don't you worry I remembered the way well and I know where to go" Emma replied
"And you say you are not Sherlock Holmes" Smiley spoke sarcastically
"When Emma came down the stairs she waved to Smiley before she went towards the town
Emma went towards the forest path and the path was peaceful without any problems or obstacles and she finally got out of the forest and when she left she felt that Smiley was watching her from afar but she ignored the idea even if he was a supernatural being it is impossible even for him
Then Emma decided to go and wait if there was any bus nearby in the area to take and she had a really long day
"There's something I have to do first"
.....
After two hours in the town
At a certain place where there were many antiques and tools, Emma was looking at a man in his forties looking at the money and smiling happily
"So? Is it in good condition?" Emma asked
"It's excellent! Yes, I will definitely agree! This is the agreed upon money" The seller spoke
"Thank you" Emma spoke
"You're welcome, it's been a long time since I've seen a good set of them" The seller spoke as he looked carefully at the old money
The seller was so obsessed with the money that he didn't notice Emma leaving his shop
"Wow, that was the last one" Emma spoke as she put the rest of the money in her bag
Emma's plan was to sell the old money in separate sets in all the trusted antique shops and she got almost double the money due to its rarity and while she was going she saw a clothing store on her way
"Hmm..... I feel like I need some new clothes I have a lot of money, some change is okay, and I have to "I buy a new bag" Emma spoke
Emma went inside and when she came out her old bag was almost full
She used to wear a gray jacket and regular pants but now she wears a black hoodie with the word hell written in red and black sweatpants I have some pockets
"Okay now let's go home"
.....
At Blackwood's House
"I'm back" Emma spoke as she opened the door
"Oh hi sweetie you're back early, hey are these new clothes?" Mrs. Blackwood asked in surprise when he looked
"Yes, I decided to buy them after my piggy bank was full" Emma lied
"Wow.....they look good" Mrs. Blackwood spoke
"Thanks, I'll go to my room" Emma spoke
Emma went to her room and noticed that Andrew's room was locked and there was a sign saying do not enter and she decided to go to her room without asking why she put it there
When Emma entered her room she put her bag on the floor and opened it
It was inside the bag on her back Her old clothes and put them in her closet and after making sure that the money would be enough she decided to go down and leave the house
"Wait one last thing, Emma looked towards a certain place...
Mrs. Blackwood was surprised by Emma's sudden return she thought it would take longer in the past she would never allow her to leave at night but because she was ostracized and hated by everyone around her she thought of letting her do whatever she wanted
And when she looked at Emma she smiled and thought about spending time together
"Hello dear what do you think"
"I'm leaving mom" Emma spoke interrupting Mrs. Blackwood's words
"Wait are you going that fast, how about you eat with us together" Mrs. Blackwood spoke sadly
"I'm sorry but I promised my friend I'll come to him later" Emma spoke
Mrs. Blackwood looked sadly at Emma and Emma noticed that
"I'll be back before my father comes don't worry about me" She spoke Emma
"Well, just be good," Mrs. Blackwood replied resignedly
"Yes, mom," Emma said as she walked out the door
When Emma closed the door, Mrs.blackwood looked sadly
Yes she went to go back to her boyfriend but I'm worried" Mrs. Blackwood spoke with some fear
"Why would you let her out anyway, you didn't even let me out at this time" Andrew spoke with annoyance
"In order to meet her boyfriend, she needs a boyfriend even if I don't know who he is" Mrs. Blackwood replied
"But I hope she's okay....." Mrs. Blackwood spoke with some fear
"She'll be okay she'll survive anything, I know that better than anyone" Andrew spoke with some suppressed anger
"Yes I hope she's okay" Emma spoke
.....
Elsewhere Emma's eyes were moving away because there was a gun pointed at her and the muzzle was close to her forehead
This day was the closest she could have come to dying.