Chapitre 23: Twenty-third
His mischievous smile didn't leave his face, showing off his admirable dimples. "C-Castor?" The shock was evident in Tamitha's tone. "Yeah?" He responded in a child-like manner; biting his lips, excitement glistened through his eyes when he looked directly at Tamitha. Both Tamitha and Pollux remained silent for a while, trying to process Castor's sudden appearance.
"W-What are you do—" She immediately cut herself off, and her dark black eyes widened the moment she realized something. "Where's Pearl?" Tamitha shifted her position to get a better view of Castor, who's sitting comfortably in the back seat. Pollux started the engine, revved, and the car immediately took off. Their trip to the North Stadium finally started.
"She told me not to wait up for her anymore 'cause she needed to deal with something."
Pollux and Tamitha exchanged looks, both thinking that Pearl's absence was up to no good. Castor's brows furrowed. "W-What's that? What's with that look?" He shifted his gaze from Tamitha to Pollux, fishing for an answer. Tamitha cleared her throat before responding.
"W-What do you think she meant by that?"
"I-I don't know?!—" He deeply breathed. "She acted weird when I told her you received another le—" "What?!" Tamitha shouted hysterically and sprung from her seat, shifting her body more to face the back seat. "Why would you do that?! I told you not to tell her!"
Her cheeks turned red with her eyes flared up, getting frustrated with what Castor did. The lad became conscious; he scratched his head, getting a little hot regretting what he did. Tamitha faced front and rested her entire body on the seat, feeling defeated, but she tried to calm herself. She buried her face in her hands, getting more worried for her best friend. Tamitha knew that Pearl's safety is getting slimmer and slimmer. She closed her eyes and took a deep sigh to relax.
Pollux and Castor got concerned for the lass, but both tried to shove their feelings and tried to keep themselves together.
"I-I'm sorry, Tammy. I-I slipped, I didn't mean to tell her anything. I don't even know what had gotten into me..."
"Hypnosis?" Pollux pondered, while he's still fixated on the road.
"W-What?" Castor and Tamitha said in chorus. All attention at Pollux, waiting for his explanation. He looked at Tamitha for a second before returning his sight on the road; then locked at the rear-view mirror to look at his brother, giving the same look as Tamitha: both anticipating and very curious about his response.
"That thing might hypnotize Castor pushing him to tell something."
"What do you mean, that thing?" Castor bellowed.
"That's possible?" Tamitha questioned softly. "Yes, I told you this is not just an ordinary Flicker. Now, remember, Anika never confront her on your own no matter what the circumstances are, you hear me? She's too powerful." Pollux made himself very clear, making Tamitha nod quickly as an answer.
"W-What? A flicker? A demon? What the hell is going on?! Don't leave me in the dark! What freak are you talking about?!" Castor ranted. "I deserve to know something... Pearl's my friend too!" He slammed his hands into Pollux's seat, getting frustrated, and moved closer between the driver's and passenger's seats.
"You don't need to kn—" His brother immediately interrupted him.
"No! No, you don't get to decide that for me. Now... tell me what happened to Pearl." Castor's tone was full of conviction, sending Tamitha chills down to her spine. This was her first time seeing him like this, and she doesn't want to see it ever again. He knew Castor as a sweet and calm person and seeing him like this; furious, she can't help but fear him.
As the night falls, the snow continued to pour; but all thanks to the warmth the car provided they don't feel the cold breeze the weather blows on the open street. The city's busy for today's event, inaudible sounds from outside dominated the car; no one dared to speak. Uneasiness took over Tamitha; she looked over Pollux and noticed how his jaws clenching still, his icy hazel brown eyes fixated at the road; Tamitha also noticed how he tighten his grips from the steering wheel. She hates to be in the middle of this. Tamitha swallowed a big lump to her throat before speaking.
"A-Alright..." She started. "Anika!" Pollux protested too quickly to cut Tamitha off. "He deserves to know!" Tamitha gesticulated. Both looked at each other intently, battling with looks. Castor creased his forehead while impatiently waited. Pollux sighed in defeat.
"Pearl can be in more danger, as we speak. The Pearl who's been with us might be a powerful celestial..." Pollux began. "That thing is way more powerful than any other Flicker existed — This is a real deal never confront that thing on your own. Just act as if she's really Pearl don't let that thing know that we're onto her 'cause we could put Pearl into much more danger than she is right now, you got me?"
"Am I supposed to believe this thing?" Castor scoffed and looked at Tamitha; She, on the other hand, gave him a soft look before nodding. "What the hell is this Lux? How do you know about these things?"
"That's the only thing you need to know, C." Pollux coldly stated before shutting down the engine; Tamitha looked outside, and she's surprised to see that they were already at the event's parking area. Pollux didn't give his brother a chance to ask another question, he simply stepped out of the car and preceded somewhere. The two remained silent for a moment.
"H-How did you kno — Why didn't you tell me?" Castor sounded betrayed for leaving him in the dark; clueless to what's happening to his friends. He sighed loudly while shaking his head, feeling disappointed.
"Y-Your brother wanted to keep you safe. He — I didn't want to drag you into this mess too, C, that's why I agreed. You're my f-friend and I don't want to lose you too."
Tamitha felt a slight awkwardness when she said the word 'friend'. Complete silence filled the car once more. Both contemplating things, Tamitha sighed. "Come on, C. Let's just enjoy this concert, okay? Will deal with this next time." She looked at Castor, who seemed to process the information he received. He returned the gaze before nodding. They got out of the car at the same time. The moment they closed the door, they heard a single beep as a sign that the car locked up.
They walked towards the entrance of the venue while scanning the place. The event was too crowded and loud, which was all against Tamitha's preference for making her feel jittery. The band's popular song blasted from all over the place and everyone seemed to enjoy it some were even singing along with it. Tamitha came closer to Castor, afraid that she might get lost to this sea of people swarming all over the place.
Castor gave him a sweet chuckle before placing Tamitha in front of him and gently placed his hands unto Tamitha's shoulder, then lightly pushed Tamitha to continue walking. As soon as they arrived at the food stalls, delicious food registered to Tamitha's sense of scent. The scent of cheese and cinnamon made her craved popcorn and churros, but she fights off the urge to buy foods.
"Where did Pollux go?" Tamitha asked while still roaming her sight, hoping she could find Pollux to this sea of avid fans. Many indeed put too much effort to meet their idols up close. Some of them even prepared banners and glow sticks that perfectly matched their outfits, making a fashionable statement. Their efforts left Tamitha fascinated and amazed.
"There! He's already at the entrance." Castor pointed at his brother who's cooly leaning at the wall looking pissed off. Finally, they got to Pollux's place, Castor remove his grasp into Tamitha's shoulder and moved beside her. "What should we do now?" Castor asked.
"Should we w-wait for... that thing? I mean for P-Pearl?" Tamitha sounding hesitant. The entrance of the event was way more crowded than outside because many already started lining up to enter the venue and it's well lit up, probably to avoid robbery, which definitely happened before plus it's easier to see a familiar face with this lightning. "If we're going to wait for her, can we at least go somewhere else, I mean where there are fewer people?" Pollux looked very annoyed at those girls checking him out.
"Chick magnet as always." Castor chortled, Pollux just glared at him and walked away. Tamitha and Castor laughed and just followed the lad. Everyone seemed to be very excited about this event. It was pretty obvious to their faces making Tamitha smiled how genuine those smiles she's seeing. 'Too bad you can't see this, Pearl.' She thought to herself.
"T-Tamitha? Oh my gosh! I can't believe you actually came!" A very dashing blond girl approached her. She's the typical look of the entitled queen bee in high schools: a perfect face with an outrageous sense of fashion. She's wearing a high-waisted jean skirt partnered with a brown muscle tee along with a thick brown coat and knee high leather boots.
"H-Hey! Debra, right?" Tamitha confirmed. She's not sure what's the name of the girl however she looked familiar. She's one of Pearl's block mates and friends. "Yeah! By the way, where's Pearl? And wow... who do we have here?" Debra started twirling her blond hair, trying to flirt with the man in front of him. The Cunningham brothers immediately stepped back and hid behind Tamitha.
Tamitha laughed at their reaction. "She's on her way." She sweetly replied. They're about to walk away from Debra when she suddenly raised her hands. "W-Wait. I want to ask something about Pearl..."
"What about Pearl?"
"Don't you think she's acting kind of weird?"
The three of them exchanged looks, then focused back their attention on Debra. "What do you mean, Debra?" Tamitha questioned with a serious tone.
"I don't know—ugh! She said back at the boxing tournament day that she was excited to watch this concert with us, then just a few weeks passed by, she suddenly changed her mind and told me that she wanted to watch the concert with you! Ugh! She's so scary when she asked me for more tickets for you guys!" Debra blurted out, she's speaking too fast, making Tamitha struggle to catch up. Fortunately, she understands everything.
Debra kept rumbling a bunch of things stomping her feet, but Tamitha's attention was not on her anymore. "Thank you, Debra." Tamitha thanked before grabbing the guys out there. When she found a secluded place, she faced them and said, "T-That Flicker from your boxing tournament was probably a diversion to take Pearl away. But why? Why Pearl?" She placed her hand to her forehead, trying to think why would someone do this to her best friend and most especially who's behind all of this.
"That message may give us an answer. We just need to figure out what that means..." Pollux assured.
"How sure you are that those messages could actually tell us Pearl's whereabouts?" Castor questioned. "I just know," Pollux stated coldly.
"Finally! I found you guys! Let's get this concert started, shall we?"
The person they've been talking about for the past hours finally arrived. Excitement filled her eyes while fanning the tickets in front of them. Her well-being looked very convincing. No wonder Castor fell for her deceitfulness.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone