บท 26: Son of a Chameleon

He stepped forward right next to her ear and blew on her ears, bringing her back from her ranting trance.

Alicia snapped out of her trance only to gasp, widening her eyes. "What are you? How come you're-"

"I just thought of waking you up from your little turmoil of a trance." He smirked as he looked at her, rubbing her ears and gazing at her reddened ears. A slight grin tugged at his lips amusingly as he saw her skittish behavior.

Alicia's eyes widened as if she had remembered something out of the blue. Adrien frowned as he saw her expression, averting his gaze from her ears.

Alicia felt her heartbeat quicken as soon as she felt his gaze linger on her ears for a long time. She had not covered her ears, and the whole thought had slipped out of her mind with all the sudden events. Given that people rarely visited them at a time like this, she usually didn't bother covering her peculiar ears and would let them be. She was thankful that she had let her hair down. But still, fear crept into her with negative thoughts. What if he had seen her ear tips through her hair, and she closed both of her ears using her hands and attempted to step back, away from him?

"Step away from me!" She glared and pushed him away. Adrien chuckled and stepped back, inserting his hands in his pocket. He walked past her and out of the kitchen.

A loud sigh left her lips as she rested her head on the wall. "Goodness! That was close. But did he see it? He wouldn't have, would he?" She contemplated it for a while. "Tch! Tch! Nahh. He wouldn't have, or he would have asked about it, right?"

"Alice?!" She heard her mother call out. "Aren't you coming to have dinner?" Alicia quickly dashed out of the kitchen, but not before seeping her hands through her hair, making sure she covered her elfish ear, and switching the lights off.

She gave them a tight smile and joined the dinner, listening to her mother have a conversation with the cop. She seemed to enjoy his company.

"I hope we get to find the bike as soon as possible," said Mrs. Anderson, sipping from the cup of coffee with a worried look.

Adrien reassured. "Mrs. Anderson, I've been investigating the case along with the other case, and I assure you, we are doing everything we can to locate the missing bike and find the savior. It's a matter of time before we solve both cases."

"Thank you, Mr. Archer. But I don't understand..." Mrs. Anderson looked perplexedly at Adrien, appreciating his reassurance. "What do you mean by both cases?" She asked confusedly.

"You-"

"Uh... That is- what Mr. Archer meant was that he's got another case to solve at the same time and thinks it would be great if he was able to finish both of them at the same time." Alicia kicked and stomped over Adrien's foot under the table as she gave him a sign not to speak of it and placed her spoon on her lips, gesturing for him to shush.

Adrien gave her a dangerous glare, but she seemed unfazed by it, as she was more focused on not wanting to let her mother know anything about the cafe incident. "Isn't that right, Mr. Archer?" She asked with an innocent smile on her face.

Adrien just hummed, not taking his eyes off Alicia.

"I'm glad Alicia has someone like you helping her."

Adrien nodded, his expression serious. "It's my pleasure to assist. I'll do my best to resolve this matter as soon as possible."

As the conversation progressed, Alicia's mother began to feel more at ease, realizing that Alicia had taken the situation seriously and had sought help from a professional. She trusted Adrien's expertise and felt a sense of relief that they were actively working to find the bike.

They continued their dinner, engaging in lighter conversations to ease the tension that had filled the room earlier.

Little did they know that their web of lies would soon be put to the test as the search for the rogue vampire might take unexpected turns, revealing hidden secrets and uncovering a deeper mystery that would challenge their resolve and their bond.

"Alright, Mrs. Anderson, it is time that I leave. I had a wonderful evening today. Thank you for inviting me for dinner, and I apologize for coming into your home at an ungodly hour." He nodded his head as he stood at the table. Alicia almost puked at his overly-nice behavior toward her mother.

What was he, a chameleon? She heard her questioning herself.

"Let me see him off, Mother," whispered Alicia, getting a nod from her mother, who was already collecting the dishes from the table.

"Mr. Archer!" She hurried her footsteps after the cop, who seemed to have already memorized the way out of the small two-story house.

"It's Adrien, not Archer," he said, not bothering to turn around and look at her as he turned the door knob.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. "We need to talk, " she said, following him out of the house and closing the door behind her.

"I had enough time to spend with a dunderhead like you," she heard him say, and she fumed.

"How dare you?!" She fisted her palm furiously as she saw him walk past the little gate. "You son of a chameleon!" she screamed, stomping her feet hard on the wooden porch.

Adrien swiped his jet-black hair back with a smirk playing on his lips and took a turn toward the dense jungle, humming a tune under her breath.

After a long while, the dark figure that lurked behind the trees came out with a sinister look on its inhumane face and disappeared, only to appear beside Alicia's house. It stood there for a while, staring at the open windows. Curtains flutter along with the slight breeze of the night.

Alicia pulled out a book from her shelf and sat near her window. Sliding the curtains aside, she started reading with the help of the small lamp, which provided enough amount of light for her to read the book. As if sensing a gaze lingering on her, she looked out of her window with a frown forming on her forehead.

There seemed to be something lurking beside the postbox. Alicia squinted her eyes trying to figure out what it was. She blinked her eyes twice only to see it gone. She shook her head and returned her focus to the book that rested on her hand.