BOXES

"You've been eating a lot of chips, Emi. You need to start eating healthier, or you'll end up feeling sluggish," Adrian advised with concern, holding Emilie's bag of chips up in the air.

"You don't get to decide for me. I'll eat whatever I want. If you're fed up with it, you can kick me out, but don't toy with my emotions," Emilia replied with her usual emotionless expression.

"You've been indulging in too many soap operas lately, young lady. It's high time I put you on a TV diet," Adrian remarked, with a hint of amusement, while looking for a hint of emotion on Emilia's typically stoic face.

"Ground me? This is as much my house as it is yours, Adrian. You never see me trying to control your actions, do you? It's because I believe in maturity and sensibility, and I respect your choices," Emilia calmly retorted, her head subtly nodding in agreement with her own words.

"sigh"

"That's right. You'd better be terrified, starting from the day I become a rebel," Emilia declared with a hint of playfulness in her voice.

Adrian couldn't help but facepalm as he settled into his own luxurious chair.

"Alright, fine, since you're hurt, you can have this seat. I'm feeling generous today," Emilie quipped.

Hearing Emilie go on and on about whatever she liked, Adrian couldn't help but regret the day he had invited her into his house.

"Wasn't Selena supposed to pick you up today? Just make a friend already. Even though she's not your age, she can still be your friend," Adrian suggested, clearly weary of Emilie's daily antics.

"Now that you've reminded me, she promised to take me out, and she's willing to fulfill it, unlike a certain someone," Emilie retorted, pointing an accusing finger directly at Adrian.

"There's no point in finger-pointing, Emi. At ease, lass," Adrian teased.

Just as Emilia was about to continue, they heard a knock at the door. She went to answer it and returned with a box adorned with a Hello Kitty design.

"Still no one, just this box. This is the fourth box in the last two weeks. I'm willing to bet it's from that woman again," Emilia remarked with a hint of annoyance.

Upon opening the large box, they found the same thing as in the previous three boxes: a broken piece of mirror. Emilia expressed her concern, saying, "Usually, mirrors don't signify anything good among our kind. What should we do about this woman?"

"I'm thinking of just ending her," Adrian said with a cold tone. Emilia, noticing the frustration in his voice, knew he was fed up with this woman's antics, and she felt the same way. This had been going on for two weeks. After that day, she hadn't called, and they thought it was over, but soon they started receiving these mirror shards.

"You understand better than anyone," Emilia remarked. "But if she truly is behind those coincidences, she might not be as simple to eliminate. Didn't she feel like an ordinary human to you?" She was struggling to make sense of the situation after the events of the past two weeks.

Emilia noticed the shift in Adrian's eyes, which grew exceedingly dark. She understood that Adrian had been contemplating this course of action. He retrieved the mystic needle from his cane and held it in his hand. To Emilia's amazement, blood began to flow from his arm without any visible wound, a sight that left her genuinely surprised.

Emilia couldn't contain her curiosity any longer and inquired, "What is this needle, Adrian?"

Adrian didn't answer; instead, he began to sense his connection with a realm known only to him.

After a while, his blood stopped flowing, and the needle lost its radiance. "So, what did this do? Do you always have to lose blood for this? It's gross," Emilia remarked, turning her face away in mild disgust.

"I couldn't find her. She's just a normal human," said Adrian, a genuine surprise on his face.

"Wait, what? So we've been unjustly doubting her all along. I always knew she had a kind heart. It seems I allowed myself to be misled," Emilia stated unapologetically, emphasizing that she was not the one who initiated the name-calling against Katharine.

Emilia inquired, "What's on your mind now?" Her curiosity piqued as she sought to delve into Adrian's thoughts.

"We're proceeding with the plan to confront her. Even if she's innocent, these mysterious boxes serve as undeniable evidence that something's amiss, and we can't disregard the possibility of her harboring a relic," Adrian contemplated, convinced that it was the necessary course of action.

Hearing this, Emilia couldn't help but concur with Adrian. She understood the importance of making tough decisions when the situation demanded it. She wasn't an ordinary girl. "What's your strategy, then?" she inquired.

Adrian retrieved his phone and dialed Katharine's number, intent on arranging a meeting to bring closure to the situation. He intended to confront the aftermath once their conversation was concluded. However, perhaps he had overestimated his importance, as Katharine didn't answer his call.

Emilia and Adrian exchanged dumbfounded glances. "You weren't anticipating this, were you?" Emilia remarked, taking a seat and switching on the TV. Adrian regarded her with a sense of betrayal in his eyes. "How can you remain so composed? We were just engaged in this profound, heartfelt conversation," Adrian exclaimed, a tinge of frustration in his tone.

"If she's not answering your calls, there's not much else we can do. All we can do now is wait for her to reach out to us," Emilia suggested, her attention shifting away from Adrian.

Three days passed without any further mysterious boxes or calls from Katharine, almost leading Adrian to believe that the ordeal had come to an end. However, it seemed as though fate was mocking him when, unexpectedly, the doorbell rang.

Emilia rushed to the door without needing Adrian's prompt this time. To their surprise, there it lay: another mysterious box.