Honestly, Erica's behavior right now really puzzled me.
No, really, what had suddenly come over her?..
I frowned and tried to pull my hand free, but Erica's grip turned out to be so strong that I was amazed that a ten-year-old child could have such a grip.
Erica clutched my hand so tightly, as if her life depended on it, but I really couldn't understand the reason for her behavior.
"...Erica, let me go and explain properly," I asked. "Why don't you want me to go there?"
I spoke in a calm tone, and Erica hesitated for a moment, as if still resisting letting me go.
But in the end she sighed and slowly unclenched her fingers.
"Haven't you heard that it's dangerous for children to be alone in the city right now?" she asked seriously.
"What?"
"Do you not read the news at all, or what? Several children have gone missing over the past month, and they still haven't been found. The criminal still hasn't been caught, so it's simply unsafe to be in the city. What are you even thinking, going there?"
When Erica unexpectedly started scolding me, almost like an adult, I was momentarily dumbfounded.
I even involuntarily forgot that she was two years younger than me. And nevertheless... I really was a little surprised that Erica mentioned this.
Hey, hadn't she herself said that she doesn't read newspapers?
And nevertheless...
I also sighed quietly, rubbing my wrist, which had now turned red after Erica's grip, and said:
"Yes, I heard about it. So what? Are you saying that now we all have to sit within four walls and not go anywhere?"
I really did know about it.
The maniac who became the cause of Hazel's death in the original novel was already active.
Of course, the girl was far from his first victim, and by the time of her death the criminal had not been caught for several months. That was indeed true. But...
Right now I wasn't too worried about my safety for two reasons.
First, the Summer Flower Festival had not yet arrived. Following the plot of the novel, Hazel was supposed to get into trouble precisely then, because otherwise it would violate the original storyline of the novel. Thus, I really doubted that anything could happen to me before that day.
Well, and second... Our meeting was set in the city center, in broad daylight. And don't maniacs usually run wild in the evenings?
Thus, if I simply stayed among people, I could avoid danger.
At least, at the moment I was relying on precisely these arguments. Even if the maniac really existed, did that mean I had to completely shut myself in and not go anywhere? That made no sense. Especially since he wouldn't be caught anytime soon.
When I said this to Erica, she pressed her lips together.
No matter how you look at it, I had said a fully justified thing that was hard to argue with. Besides, Erica herself was still too young to worry about others. Instead, I would have liked her to think first of all about herself, and not about me!
"Erica, thank you for worrying about me. But I can take care of myself."
Erica's red eyes trembled strangely for a moment when she looked at me at these words. For almost a whole minute she was silent before finally quietly asking:
"So you really are going to go there?"
"Yes. I'll just go there and back. It won't take long."
Erica was silent for a little while longer. Apparently, she had already realized that she couldn't talk me out of it, and wasn't going to hold me back by force. She sighed heavily.
"All right, you can go. But then I'm going with you."
"...What?" I was surprised.
"I'm going to go into the city together with you. Is that too difficult?" she frowned.
No, it wasn't that it was difficult...
Actually, I wasn't against Erica coming with me. But the problem was that I hadn't arranged this with Mr. Loren's student... Would everything be all right if I simply brought a friend along without warning?
I hesitated a little more, and then Erica decided to "press" me:
"If you don't take me with you, then you won't go anywhere yourself. I won't let you go!"
I sighed heavily.
Fine... Apparently, I had no other choice anyway.
"All right, then let's go together."
In the end I had to take Erica with me to this meeting. Even if it was unexpected, I hoped that Mr. Loren's student would react normally to this circumstance. In any case, after that we left the orphanage grounds and quickly reached the city center.
Entering the cafe "Lily", we chose free seats and sat down. I don't know, maybe because today was a weekday, but there weren't many people in the cafe. The waiter came up to us and with a polite smile asked:
"Dear visitors, what would you like to order?"
The waiter's gaze lingered on Erica for just a moment, and he looked a little agitated, but quickly hid that emotion.
"Nothing for now, we're still waiting for our friend."
"All right, then when you want to place an order, let me know."
After that the waiter left, and Erica and I remained alone.
"Well, is your acquaintance coming soon?" she snorted.
"This..." I hesitated a little, looking at the wall clock hanging in the cafe. "We were supposed to meet here at three in the afternoon."
"Isn't it already three in the afternoon? Then why hasn't he come yet?"
Honestly, I didn't know that myself...
"He's probably just late. Let's wait a little!"
Nevertheless, in the end Erica and I had to uselessly wait in this cafe for another three hours.
I felt how with every passing half hour the waiter's gaze, which pierced the backs of our heads, became more and more disapproving. Several times he came up to us again, asking whether we were going to place an order, and each time we answered that we still weren't going to order anything... Honestly, I was already terribly embarrassed.
No matter how you look at it, going to a cafe without money was real torture.
Instead, it would have been better to arrange the meeting in a park!
In the end, while I still hadn't lost my last hope, Erica was the first to give up. She leaned back on the sofa and sighed drawn out:
"Don't you think that this 'acquaintance' of yours simply stood you up?"
"What? That's impossible!"
"But he's already three hours late. What else would you call that?"
"Exactly, he's late!" I clung to a straw. "He must have simply had some urgent business..."
"Of course, you can keep comforting yourself with that."
While Erica openly mocked me, I was already losing patience myself.
Indeed, Mr. Loren's student hadn't come for three hours already. It could hardly be called an ordinary delay... Was he really not going to come today?
It was precisely now that I encountered the obvious imperfection of this world. What a pity that the people of this world didn't have messengers or even basic cell communication to contact each other in such situations! After all, otherwise everything would be much simpler.
"And how long are we going to wait here? Until night?"
I pressed my lips together.
I myself understood that it was already quite late now. So, after thinking a little more, I sighed and said:
"...All right, let's go."
And in the end we finally left the cafe under the hateful gaze of the waiter.
I decided that something urgent must have happened to Mr. Loren's student, since he couldn't come today. In any case, I definitely refused to believe that he had simply stood me up! No, I didn't believe that the student of a person like Mr. Loren could act in such a way.
I think that later I should ask Mr. Loren himself what exactly happened...
Sighing heavily, I was about to return back to the orphanage. But then Erica suddenly stopped me:
"Hazel, wait a little."
"What is it?"
"I think I forgot my thing in the cafe. I need to go back to get it."
Huh? I was a little surprised at this, since I hadn't seen Erica take anything with her at all.
"What exactly did you forget?"
"It's my thing. Do you really have to know?"
I sighed.
"All right, go. Then I'll wait for you here."
Erica nodded and went back into the cafe, while I stayed outside waiting for her.
Nevertheless, having entered the cafe, Erica headed not at all toward their table. Instead, she headed toward the black exit of the building.
Coming out through the black exit, Erica found herself in a dark alley, where trash containers stood nearby. And next to this trash, something else was also happening.
A certain young man lay on the ground, and his hands were nailed to the ground with nails. It was unknown how this had even been done, but that was how it was. The young man, who could no longer scream from pain, was surrounded by a crowd of people in dark expensive suits.
When Erica came closer, they noticed her presence and parted.
Erica looked at the pitiful mutilated body beneath her and snorted.
"Ollie, so that's his name? He really didn't lie."
This guy really was named Ollie, and he was seventeen years old. Nevertheless, all the remaining information about him still had to be carefully checked.
Meanwhile...
Apparently, someone had been smoking here quite recently, because the smell of smoke could still be felt. Only upon catching it did Erica desperately want to smoke. And she would have done it, even despite her current age. Nevertheless, she remembered that Hazel would definitely notice the smell of smoke coming from her, and changed her mind.
Instead, with a feeling of deep dissatisfaction, she had to find a way to let off steam in another way.
Erica stepped on the palm nailed to the ground with all her strength. The young man, who seemed no longer able to scream, couldn't hold back and cried out. Nevertheless, his cry was muffled by the gag in his mouth.
"Shake everything you can out of him."
After that Erica removed her foot, leaving a spreading red stain on the ground.