Magnet for Troubles

Troubles seem to just keep on coming - one after another.

Adrian is now facing the worst trip he has ever experienced so far. First there's that engine failure, then that clamor at the pub. Now, they just got themselves a bombing incident, blasting off their chance to get to their destination.

What's more, Adrian had his cellphone broken for good this time. He didn't realize that it slipped from his hand and abruptly fell on the ground right after he rushed to push Cassidy away earlier. His wife's, on the other hand, also cracked in her pocket after they crashed on the side of the road.

"Ughhhhh... Really, this is the worst," Adrian sighed exasperatedly, ruffling his hair in vex all the while.

"Yeah. This is the worst," Cassidy seconded from beside him, a downcast expression splattered across her face.

The two of them are now waiting beside a bus stop. It's a good thing that the pub owner told them about a thing or two on how they could navigate their way around this place. With that, they learned that there's a bus stop a few miles away. 

Even then, they don't know if there's a bus that's scheduled to pass by in this hour. At this point, night time is about to fall, but they still remain stuck at that deserted road.

Adrian takes a moment to peer at Cassidy through the corners of his eyes. Contrary to his expectation, his wife seems to be tough enough to pull herself together again after that horrendous incident. 

For someone who just had a similar traumatic experience only a couple of months ago, Cassidy didn't react so horrified that she'd be bawling like there's no tomorrow. Though there's the fact that she lost her memories, Adrian still kind of expected that she'd be more frightened - not that he wanted her to, though.

In fact, he probably wouldn't be able to take it if he were to see her have a breakdown out of nowhere. He couldn't imagine this fierce, intrepid and relentless wife of his having an emotional outburst and looking all helplessly fragile. 

Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't really know what she's genuinely afraid of. If she still has her memories, he presumes that her greatest fear will have something to do with ending their relationship.

"At any rate, I should look into this matter as soon as I get back. Good thing Charles will be at the party. We can talk about doing a secret investigation..." Adrian thought silently to himself, his expression contorting into that of a malevolent beast.

"Whoever did that bombing would definitely pay tenfold."

"Hey, bossman..." Cassidy called all of the sudden, making him snap out of his murderous thoughts. 

"Where's the driver, by the way? You sure he's alright?"

"I'm not sure if he's fine nor do I know where he is, but if he's able to send that warning with such an impeccable timing, I think he is still faring well. Rather than worrying, shouldn't you be at least wary of him?" 

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"No... Nothing. Forget what I said."

Perhaps, it's best not to spill out his suspicions for now. This entire predicament will only get even more burdensome if he does, especially for his wife. Besides, he has already laid out a plan to deal with this situation once they return. 

At least, right now, Adrian has one more proof that some entity out there is probably after Cassidy this whole time. He has that presumption weighing down his mind for a while now ever since he learned about the burn mark on her back. 

And in all honesty, Adrian is really starting to be convinced that Cassidy is one heck of a magnet for troubles - whether she's the one doing it or not. 

"Hey, did you hear that?" she suddenly blurted out, looking somewhat on guard. 

"Hear what?" he asked, staring at her in puzzlement.

"I think I just heard a-"

Then came a roaring thunder from a distance. 

Cassidy ends up jolting at this in immense flummox while Adrian simply tilts his head up and looks at the gradually darkening sky. Without them noticing, it appears like night time isn't the only one that's about to fall. 

It's also going to rain.

"Great. Just great. After fire, now there's water. Oh, and there's thunder too..." Cassidy grumbled underneath her breath, utterly peeved.

"In any case, we should go."

"Huh? We're waiting for the bus, aren't we?" Adrian chimed in, taken aback to find her starting to walk away in a hurry.

"We've been here for an hour now. Nothing's coming."

"Maybe the bus is running late? And in case you've forgotten, we don't have any idea if there are some lodging houses or hotels somewhere that's not beyond fifty miles. Plus, it's night time."

"Don't get me wrong, bossman, but with that rolling thunder there...? I don't want to spend a night under the rain."

"But hearing a thunder at this weather is normal as it might be caused by the rapid cooling of the hot ground."

"You can quote me science, nerdbrain, but I'm leaving."

Thinking that they're onto their usual argument again, Adrian can't help but sigh in exhaustion. Cassidy doesn't get it at all. She just keeps charging in without any proper plan. 

This time, though, he's not in the mood to put up with her stubbornness once more. He's already stressed enough as it is. With that, he went ahead and grabbed her wrist, making her halt on her tracks.

"Why are you so headstrong?! I said we should wait. Something might happen again!" he bolted out in anger, already losing his cool. 

"I said I don't want to! If you're so adamant, why don't you wait there by yourself-"

"Can you stop causing troubles to me already?! Try to comply for once! Whenever I'm with you, we just keep running into one problem after another!"

Then, he paused.

Adrian didn't realize that he already said something too insensitive - only when he caught sight of Cassidy's extremely pained expression did he sense that he somehow screwed up.