Into The World

#1 - More Than A Knock

Eliza paces with a tinge of restlessness before the Dining Hall, her steps harmonizing with each tick of the enormous cartel clock above her. Her patience grows thinner by the minute as troops of mice bombarded the impenetrable borders of her stomach. The rich aromas from the Dining Hall waft through her nose but fail its usual mission of toying with her mind: her best friend Jenny has missed her last two meals, as she was preoccupied with last-minute prep for tonight's event. 

"Where is she?" Eliza says, as the clock strikes nine. The last message Eliza received from Jenny plays in her head: 'I found your copy of King Lear in my room. I'll bring the book when it's time for dinner.'

This was code for, 'Something bad happened while I was prepping for tonight's party. Meet you in the Dining Hall at eight.' 

Eliza and Jenny were throwing a party tonight for Adam, to celebrate his resolute willpower of not using his powers for the last ninety-nine days...

Buzz! 

Eliza taps her earpiece. "Jessie, is Jen-"

"You have a scheduled meeting with Fred in an hour," an automated voice named Jessie speaks in Eliza's earpiece.

"N-n-no-no." Eliza's pacing escalates. "I told you to reschedule it to Friday afternoon."

"He said he will be tutoring Jenny on Friday afternoon."

"Okay. Um" Eliza rubs her forehead. "How about Saturday morning?"

"You have a meeting with your father," Jessie replies.

"Then reschedule it to a time when we both are available. Inform Fred that I won't be able to make it tonight."

"Okay. I will check and confirm the date and time with you as soon as possible."

"Thanks, can you-" Jessie disconnects the call. Eliza taps her earpiece, but there's no response. 

"Eliza?" a voice from behind her calls. 

Eliza turns to face a young, pale boy, "Yeah, Justin?"

Justin clears his throat before speaking. "Um, I wanted to ask you something..."

Eliza completely trails off from the conversation, nodding at whatever Justin speaks. What taking her so long to come? She hasn't even picked up my calls...

"Thank you!" Eliza flinches while Justin skips past her with a broad grin. 

       Eliza resumes her pacing, now ruffling through her hair. "That's it!" Eliza taps into her earpiece while storming out of the atrium. "Jessie-"

Ping! 

Eliza halts at the atrium's exit and hurriedly taps her black wristband, anticipating an update about Jenny. A holographic screen emerges from it and appears before her. She sighs with relief upon reading the notification. "She's finally here."

Eliza confirms the notification of Jenny's arrival on the screen. She then heads toward the foyer to unlock the front door for Jenny. 

Buzz! 

"I have scheduled your meeting with Fred at 11 am this Sunday," Jessie says.

"Thanks, Jessie." Eliza strides past the portraits across the hallway.

"Also, I recovered some information about the case."

Eliza slowly comes to a halt. "Send it to my computer."

She steps closer to her family's portrait, playing with her mother's ring on her left index finger. I will finally know what happened, Mom. 

 
Bang!