Chapter 14: Caroline Shore
"Are you sure you're not being played a fool?" One of them eyed the newcomer dubiously. "No matter how you look at it, the place doesn't look like a clinic to me. If it is one, why is the place so drab and foreboding? It seems like it deals with matters of death rather than living if you ask me."
It was obvious that the two had trouble believing what the third member said.
Arthur had to agree with them. If he wasn't the operator for the Midnight Emporium and he dissected this from a detached manner, the place really did not give off the vibe that it could have anything to do with the medical profession at all, so Arthur had no clue where the young man got that idea. Perhaps his friends were right, he had been duped.
"No, it's true. Listen to me." He tried to argue, "The place is a clinic that specializes in miracle pills."
"Miracle pills? Now you're really off your rockers." One of them laughed at the idea while the other considered it semi-seriously, "Miracle pills, like those as seen on tv products? Diet pills that will keep your figure slim no matter how much you indulge? I've seen the infomercials for those before when I was surfing through the channels. Are you talking about those? So the place deals in illegal slimming pills?"
The guy rolled his eyes in frustration. "No, of course not. I'm talking about literal miracle pills, the mystical cure-all."
"Are you high? Do those things even exist in real life? There's a higher chance of me believing the place deals in shady slimming pills," One of the guys countered.
"That's what they say, take it or leave it. Words on the street is that some mysterious doctor moved into the abandoned office building on the Third Street and started charging exorbitant money for these miracle pills that supposedly cure all diseases," The man explained.
"Sounds like a scam to me."
It was at this point that Arthur frowned. 'Third Street? But the Midnight Emporium is not on or no where near Third Street so either the young man got the address wrong or they had been talking about some other thing this whole time.'
"Supposedly you go in from the side and there would be a waiting area where a nurse is stationed..." The young man continued to relay the rumours that he had heard and by then Arthur confirmed they were not talking about the Midnight Emporium. As mysterious as the Midnight Emporium was, it had a front door and last time Arthur checked, there was no nurse.
Since it was just an urban legend that had nothing to do with him, Arthur swiftly turned his attention away from the group of youngsters and focused back on the task at hand.
Arthur finished his lunch and hopped on a bus that took him to Caroline Shore. The place was packed with tourists and seeing the sandy beach and blue, inviting ocean, he did not feel a tiny bit happy. If anything, Arthur was assaulted by pangs of guilt and melancholy. He couldn't help but draw the comparison to Blue Lake.
The place must once be as gorgeous as Caroline Shore but human greed had ruined a great slice of nature. Arthur shook his head to draw himself out of the slump, he reminded himself once more that there was nothing he could possibly do for Blue Lake. He was only one person. Arthur sighed, he hoped he would come across some magical item that could help him cleanse Blue Lake in the future.
Many people descended at the same stop as Arthur. Based on the way they were dressed and the excited look on their faces, Arthur guessed correctly that they were holiday-goers. Arthur promptly got himself out of their way because he wasn't there that day to have fun, he was a man on a mission.
According to the hint given by Diana, he was to walk down Caroline Shore until he reached the end. Honestly, he had no idea what lied at the end because Arthur didn't have any memory traveling that far down the shore before.
Arthur glanced at the time on his phone, it was 2 pm. If he wanted to reach his destination before dark, he needed to start moving. He ambled down the shoreline and saw many people having fun on the beach. The adults were playing beach volleyball, children were building sandcastles and some were swimming in the ocean. Everywhere Arthur turned, there was the sound of joyful laughter.
Arthur continued on his journey and after a while, the crowd started to thin. The scenery around him started to change as well, the sandy beaches giving way to jagged rocks and tide pools.
The young man soon found himself completely alone. However, Diana did mention the lagoon was well-hidden so he did not worry as much.
His journey became more difficult to navigate because the trail had died off and it petered into the wilderness. The city council didn't pay much attention to the conditions here because they did not expect people would wander so far from Caroline Shore and normally people won't. Arthur was a special case.
As Arthur climbed over yet another boulder, he started to wonder whether Diana had lied to him. All he could see were barren rocks jutting out of the sea, there was nothing that resembled a lagoon.
Arthur stopped to take a breather and suddenly he heard the sound of horse neighing. Initially, he thought it was just his imagination but then it happened again. It was true, there was indeed a horse nearby.
He angled his head to the wind to try to tell the direction where the sound came from. After some time, Arthur managed to confirm it came from his left side. He had been making his journey by the edge of the shoreline but based on the direction of the neighing, he should be moving more inland.
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Lonelytree
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