บท 23: Out of Time (1)
Lia had not realized that she reached their house. Her mind reeled with what she learned from Ed. But the plot was moving faster. This should not have happened yet. Not when she had not thought of ways to deflect it. People would surely point fingers at them when this whole thing blew up.
The closer it was to the day of the festival, the more nervous she got. According to the novel, during the festival, people got drunk and then got sick, only to be miraculously cured by the same alcoholic drink that started it all. The worst result was, they'd commit actions thinking that they were only dreaming. They would do wild, mostly violent things. They acted out their deepest and darkest desire. It was as if they were mad. When these delusions passed, they would not remember any of it. But the seed of anger and revenge had already been planted, resulting in brutal fights all day.
In the original, the protagonist was here to investigate the matters around the drink while under the guise of a guest of honor for the festival. When Lia came home, still in cloud nine from winning the cooking contest and in love with the handsome protagonist, she was shocked to find people in front of their house hell-bent on dragging and imprisoning them. She was angry, confused, and frustrated at Tamara but pleaded to create the antidote for the guy she was in love with. After Lia got the antidote, she gave it to Eldric to appeal to him.
When they were freed, she abandoned her mother and followed Eldric in his journey. Tamara tried to follow after but was soon captured. And that was the last thing that was heard from her.
In all of Lia's sympathy for her namesake, this was the part where she wanted to throttle the novel Lia. She understood where that came from, but that move was pure evil. She could have used her brain to do greater things. Of course, her heart had to rule out everything else.
Lia was older and hopefully, a lot wiser than her namesake. She was going to live her life to the fullest and would live differently. Gosh, that was easier said than done, though!
She massaged her forehead, feeling an oncoming headache, as she opened the door to the workroom. When Tamara focused on her work, she saw and heard nothing else. So Lia sat in the corner and watched her mother work. She was running out of time and out of ideas. If they could only just run away from all of this…
Lia sat up straight then groaned at her idea. Was that really her default reaction to anything that not even two lives could change that? She glanced at Tamara. Her mother had been jumpy since that night. She may have tried to cover it up, but the way she stiffened with every unusual sound or that she kept her machete at her side all the time gave her away.
"You look tired. You should rest first," Tamara said when she finally noticed Lia. She held a flask and swirled the contents, her eyes watching in satisfaction at the finished product.
"I'm just wondering," Lia started as she groped for words to somehow soften her question. She gave up eventually and just went for it, "Have you ever thought of leaving this place?"
Tamara froze. Slowly, she placed the flask down and turned to face Lia.
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