19 Uneasy Heart

Natalia got into a cab that was parked near her home, "P-98 street please." The driver of the cab turned towards her and asked politely, "Please ping the exact location of your destination on the screen." He was pointing towards the screen that was attached at the back of the driver's seat. Natalia quickly pinged the location of Alexis's home and then the cab took off immediately.

Natalia was very worried about her friend that she might be in danger again. And if something had happened to her, Natalia would not be able to forgive herself for not being able to protect her precious friend.

The screen inside the cab was now playing the news update about the unidentified flying creature that was spotted earlier, "The spokesperson of the government said in the press release that the government has sent 15 military specialists in the search of the unidentified humanoid creature. It was spotted earlier in the sky of P-97 and P-98 before we lost sight of it in the Dead Zone. The specialists are searching for that creature in the Dead Zone as we speak."

Though Natalia was following the news earlier, she did not give much attention to the update right now. She was busy worrying about her friend. She kept on fidgeting her legs while looking outside the window for any sign of Alexis.

The cab reached P-97 Street and took a turn. Natalia noticed something peculiar; a certain part of that area was damaged as if there was some kind of explosion. She immediately asked the driver to stop the cab, "Will you please stop the cab for a minute? I need to check something here."

"Sure, but you'll be charged more if you stop for more than 30 seconds", the driver stopped the cab and then replied calmly. By the time the cab stopped, it was way ahead of that damaged area due to the speed of the cab.

"Could you please reverse a little and drop me by that damaged area behind?" Natalia spoke in a low voice as she had already made several requests and was afraid that the driver might snap. But the driver quietly took her back. Natalia got off immediately and then started to investigate the area. She looked around and saw that the damage was done in perfect circle as if it was accurately measured.

Slowly fear crept into Natalia's heart, "This is the area where Alexis was found unconscious that day. Could these damages mean that something bad happened to her again?" Then her eyes fell on a familiar bag which was lying on the ground beside the cab. She quickly went near and then grabbed the bag to look inside, "This is Alexis's bag. Both her cell phones are still here. Something definitely happened to her."

Natalia's heart started to pound even more and she quickly got inside the cab, "Please take me to my destination as fast as you can." The cab immediately zoomed forward and in no time reached in front of Alexis's home. Natalia transferred the points to the driver and walked towards her friend's door.

She rang the doorbell twice and Melissa opened the door for her, "Hey Nat! Didn't expect you here today." Melissa's eyes were red and watery as if she had been crying when Natalia came over uninvited. Her hair was messy and she seemed too drained to even stand.

"I'm sorry for coming like this. But I was worried about Alexis. She was out of contact and I was afraid that something bad happened to her again." Natalia was still standing outside the door as Melissa did not invite her in yet, which was very unlike her.

"Oh! You don't need to worry. Alexis is sound asleep in her room. Maybe she was too tired from all the stuffs going on lately." Melissa lied to Natalia. Even though Natalia was her daughter's best friend and was very trustworthy, she did not want anyone to know about Alexis's secret which she had managed to hide well until today.

Natalia could feel that something was off. She wanted to see her friend with her own eyes, "I was worried for nothing then. Can I see Alexis before I go?" Melissa still did not invite her in and was just looking away. Seeing hesitation in Melissa's eyes, Natalia showed Alexis's bag and asked again, "I found her bag on the street. I would like to give it to her before I go."

Melissa immediately snatched the bag from Natalia's hand and then laughed nervously, "You don't have to worry about this. I'll give it to her. I would have invited you in but she is sleeping peacefully after a long time. I don't want to disturb her right now. I hope you don't mind Nat. I'll tell her that you dropped by when she wakes up."

Although something smelled fishy, Natalia could not just barge into other's home. Then she tried to ease herself by thinking, "Maybe they fought over something and that's why Melissa seems so gloomy. Every family fights. I'll just meet her tomorrow at the academy."

Natalia smiled and said, "I'll leave it to you then. Tell her not to lose her things and make us worry about her. Take care! Melissa." She then waved her hand as she left for her home.

Melissa waved back and tried to pull up a smile. Then she locked the door behind her and sat down on the floor in despair.

Natalia slowly started to walk back towards her home with all sorts of thoughts playing around in her mind. When she was talking to Melissa, she could feel that something was not right but she could not exactly point her finger. And that feeling was still bugging her. Her train of thoughts got interfered when she got a call from Vorian.

"Hey Vorian, I was just about to call you." Natalia said as soon as she picked up the call.

"Did you find Alexis? Is she okay?" Vorian asked in a curious tone.

"I was just returning back from Alexis's home. Melissa said that she was sound asleep in her room, so I thought it would be best to let her rest." Natalia did not share any other details with Vorian because she thought that she might make him worry unnecessarily.

Vorian didn't seem to believe it as Alexis did not ever miss a call from him even if she was asleep, "Are you sure that's the reason for not picking up both of our calls? You're not lying to me right?"

Natalia quickly defended herself, "Why would I lie to you? That's what her mom told me. I guess she wouldn't lie if Alexis was in some kind of danger."

Vorian pursed his lips and said slowly, "Yeah! I guess she wouldn't lie about something like that. Okay, thanks for letting me know Natalia. Goodnight!"

"No problem! Goodnight!" Natalia cut the call and started to walk towards her home again with an uneasy feeling in her heart that she still could not get rid of.

Back at Alexis's home, Melissa was still sitting on the cold floor. She was clutching Alexis's bag to her chest. Then she broke down into tears again which she had managed to hold back when she was talking to Natalia and whispered, "My dear baby! Where are you?"

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