Chapter 13: Help

Blaze's POV

My eyes are wide and my mouth is agape. I see her eyeing my reaction seriously and I immediately calm myself and look at her blankly. I admit, her narrative shocked me but I need to hide my panic or else she'll be more wary with her suspicions. I discovered two things with her story. First, she is a very quick witted person. Second, Baldwyn freaking SUCKS. I can't believe he wore a very unique jacket that can easily be identifiable. And how can he just leave this lying around? Well, this is our hangout place so that's understandable. Wait, why did Neron even allow her to come up here? She's already living at the Velican, right? Ugh, never mind. Wyn, that idiot, will accidentally reveal our identity due to his carelessness.

"The truth is..."

I am still thinking of a reason to stray her mind from thinking that we're associated with The Anonymous but her deadly stares aren't helping me. I sighed in relief and thanked all the gods when my phone rang, breaking her from her reverie of finding out our secret. I almost utter a "yes" because of the timing of the call.

"Wait, let me answer this," I excuse myself. I didn't walk away because I think that will make her more suspicious, so I just faced the opposite side and immediately answered the call. I almost hissed at the caller when I found out who it was. "You dumb shit! What do you need?" I say in a lower voice.

"Calm down, bro. I need some help here!" Wyn says with a shaky tone. Damn. He must have created another trouble for himself, huh? I am still not done fixing his mess and here he is doing another one. I almost facepalmed myself.

"I am busy cleaning your shit," I hiss under my breath. I am about to cut the call but I saw from my peripheral vision that the girl is curiously looking at my every move. Geez, I guess I have to buy some time by talking to my scum of a best friend.

"Bro, they are going to kill me! Help me!" Baldwyn pleads.

I sigh. Do I even have a choice? Where's the other boys anyways? "Where are you? What have you done again?" I ask.

"I don't know where exactly I am, but I'm here at Messier 74, and the thugs are following me. Bro, find me."

Messier 74? The hell I know about that messier. I haven't gone to that place either, so how will I know where I can find him? "I am not familiar with that place too. Why are you even in Messier 74?"

The girl must have heard what I said because she raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms while watching me.

"Xeno said it's my next mission from the Society. Come on, bro. Ask someone who knows this place and find me while I am still breathing," Wyn says dramatically.

Look for someone who might know that place? I look at the girl at my side. She's a commoner right? So she might— Argh, No! I cannot ask for her help, not in our state. I close my eyes while hearing my friend's frantic voice from the other line. I hate to admit it, but I don't think I have a choice. I let out a very deep breath before composing myself. "What's your landmark?"

"Uh... I saw this huge dome protestant church."

"Okay wait for me there." I say before ending the call.

I look at her and stare at her for a minute before blurting out the question that I think will solve my problem. I just hope I made the right decision.

--

I am now driving my car swiftly, passing every gate of the lower messier at this late hour. Instead of sleeping peacefully, here I am travelling to the other end of the country and acting heroic for my lost idiot friend.

"I think it's best if we use the bus when we reach M70. You don't want someone to steal your things right?" she says.

Yes, I am now with her. I explained to her that the jacket's symbol is just the clothing's brand name; she eventually believed my reason and we dismissed the topic. After that nerve wracking confrontation, I boldly asked her if she's familiar with the lower messier and, unsurprisingly, she was. So I requested that she aid me in finding my friend who's lost in that place right now. I didn't have high hopes, knowing that our first meeting was rather unpleasant and adding the fact that she almost killed me with a vase, I was certain that she would disagree. But to my surprise, she quickly nodded and said, "sure."

"Where can I park my car, Shannon?"

If I didn't ask for her help, I bet we still won't know each other's name but I think it's a great idea to at least introduce ourselves to each other since we basically have a tenant and landlord relationship.

"There's a garage renting shop on M69," she answers to which I nod.

We are silent the whole ride and I decide not to open the stereo of the car since I don't know what kind of music she likes. Well, I don't really care about other people's opinions, but since she's helping me right now, I'm trying to be considerate. I also tried to hack Wyn's phone to track his location, but since I am not familiar with the safe routes in that area there's still little I can do, I am trusting Shannon on that aspect.

"I think you should remove your wrist watch too," she suggests. I look at my golden wrist watch then follow her advice before going out of the car. We are now in M69 and from here on out we are just going to use the public bus for our safety.

"Do not think that those people from the lower ranking are all thieves and will create harm by knowing that you are rich, not everyone is like that. But of course there's still people in the lower area who're not afraid to hurt other people especially if they find out that they are from the upper class."

I agree. The good behavior of someone is not solely depending on where he lives or what social class he belongs. No matter how good the majority of people in one group, there's still one, two, or a certain number of people who's not the same as others.

The use of public transportation leads us into a three hours drive. I am so bored and uncomfortable with my seat, but I don't have any right to complain. I can't believe the people here have to withstand this kind of discomfort every time. Wyn is also bombarding me with messages, asking me every minute if I am already near.

"Is he still in that place where he saw the dome church?".

"Yeah. He said he's hiding on a narrow street behind the church," I answer.

Shannon nods and takes the lead on walking so I just follow her. I don't know if I can truly trust her, but it's too late to ask that to myself since we're already here. I just hope that she's really sincere in helping me.

"Why are we here?" She just motions me to follow her inside the thrift shop. She picks up some girly clothes, a weird wig, and a pink hat. I can't believe she's shopping now in the middle of the night, importantly, in the middle of saving my friend. "What are you doing?"

She ignores me and just brings the items to the counter to pay for it. I remain quiet while she's doing her thing, that is why I am so clueless when she continues to walk outside the shop. She's not saying something so I stayed quiet by her side. I can't believe what my own eyes are seeing. Is this supposed to be like this here?

No other term can be used for this place's state except for "slums." The houses are so small and they're made of low quality woods that can be easily destroyed if a huge calamity comes. The streets are narrow, and garbage can be found everywhere. I can't believe that the government lied. The center of the country is greatly developed but this portion remains untouched. Unbelievable!

Not long after, I see a big dome church on the next street. I follow Shannon until we reach the back of the church.

"Text him that we are here now," she commands.

I don't know why I'm being submissive suddenly but I still did as told and asked Wyn about his current location.

"On the second corner of the last narrow alley."

I relay the information to Shannon and she quickly walks to that area. We are being extremely quiet and attentive with our surroundings. This part of the alley is really dark, and since we don't know who's here, we need to be extra careful.

"Wyn?" I whisper-call.

We almost stumble down because of a body suddenly colliding on us.

I can feel Wyn's body shaking as he tightly holds onto my arms. "Bro, you found me!"

He's too busy thanking me that he did not realize that I am not alone. When he finally notices it, he eyes me curiously. Alternating his gaze between Shannon and I repeatedly.

"Her name's Shannon and she helped me in finding you," I answer his obvious question.

She gives him the plastic bag full of the items she bought earlier. "You'll need to use that. Change your clothes so that they won't notice and follow you again." she said.

The corner of my lips lifts up in astonishment. This girl is really smart, I am amazed. She notices my reaction and she shifts her gaze towards me while raising a brow. I stifle a smile and avoid her gaze. Neron's right, she's not that bad at all, huh? I think she's very interesting.

After walking silently and tiptoeing our way to the bus station like ninjas, we breathe out a sigh of relief the moment our butts touch the bus seats.

"I can't believe they're that wild, man!" Wyn protests.

"Why are you in the lower messier?"

"Because one of our friends that goes by the name Xeno, told me that— ouch, Zac! What the hell?!"

I give him a what-the-fuck-watch-what-you're-saying look as I elbow him aggressively. He seems to get what I was trying to say because an "Oh" look suddenly plasters on his lips.

I notice how Shannon looks at us curiously, but her expression suddenly turns sour and she begins to look at us with eyes full of doubts.

"Uhh, so why did we ride a bus again?" I scoff at Wyn's painfully obvious attempt of changing the topic.

Shannon rolls her eyes upon his question but answers anyway. "Do you want them to rob your friend too? Do you want to be stuck in there for the rest of the night?"

I laugh heartily when Wyn furiously shakes his head like a kid.

"You have your answer then. Now, why are they chasing you?"

"I don't really know. Is it because of my charms? Maybe they can't resist my looks."

"Yeah, your looks" I said, eyeing him from head to foot.

I saw Rei stifled a smile upon my remarks but suddenly grim when she saw me. What's her problem with me?

"Ahh, at last!"

We both groan the moment our backs touch the soft leather seat of my car. I stretched my body before reviving the engine but much to my surprise, I saw Rei standing outside the car.

"What are you doing there? Get in." Wyn said

"I-- uh, I'll just go back by bus"

I was surprised when Wyn got off the car and held Rei's wrist firmly while pulling her towards the car gently.

"I can't let my savior go back alone, can't I? That's a huge blow in my ego."

After securing Rei on the back seat, he sat comfortably on the shotgun seat and throwed a wink at me.

The whole ride is silent. I saw Rei sleeping when I looked at the rear mirror so I nudged Wyn who's busy looking out the window. I almost stepped on the break pedal when I saw how serious he was when he looked at me.

"I can't believe what my eyes saw in that messier, Zac. People are becoming criminals because of hunger, while we enjoy our moments"

"I can't believe it either"

I glanced at Rei one more time to make sure she's really asleep before asking Wyn my question.

"Why are you there? And where's the others?"

"We dispersed one by one when Xeno sent us the missions. Why? Didn't you receive one?"

I looked at him with my puzzled face.

"What missions?"

"Well, I don't exactly know what missions the others get. But according to Xeno it's a mission that the society sent us. Mine was to collect some info on the lower Messier for future purposes they say"

"So that's why you're there?"

"Yeah. I didn't know that bringing a car, and wearing my normal clothes would be that bad for me."

I didn't say a word. He seems to have a lot on his mind because he didn't break my silence either. A lot of questions suddenly popped inside my head but what piqued my interest the most is, why did Xeno send them missions but left me out of it? This will be quite a ride.