Jewels of Nature

CHAPTER 6

"I can't believe you fought that beast and won..." Felix said with admiration for his sister. Adria walked with smug satisfaction. "We still need to figure out how to escape him you know, we're still 16, until 18, unfortunately we still have him as our guardian." Adria said cautiously. "Oh don't ruin the mood, we'll figure out something, we always do, don't we?" Felix replied dismissively. "Still..." Adria began doubtfully. "Chill sis, look at the bright morning, the sun, the birds chirping, the door open and-". "Wait, did you just say that our door was open!" Adria stopped looking at Felix with worry. "Yeah, I did, oh" They both looked with distress at their open door. "Did you lock the door when we left?" Adria asked Felix with strain in her voice. "Of course I did, I always do." Felix replied with equal strain. "Then if you locked the door, and the door is open now, it means that someone has broken in right?" Adria asked cautiously. "Yup," Felix nodded.

Taking out a pocket knife, Felix started walking toward the door, discreet. Adria followed him inside.

Everything was dark inside.

No sounds.

Just an endless silence.

Suddenly a young man jumped behind Adria, his arms wrapped around her waist and her mouth in a flash. Adria froze. So did Felix with shock. He stared at the stranger with dread. The stranger whispered in Adria's ear, "Hello Foxy, long time no see." Ten years of memories sped in her mind.

"Carl! You little-" Adria gasped with both shock and relief, spinning out from her "captor's" hands.

It had been almost 6 years since she last saw him. Carlos Martinez, son of the wealthy businessman, Albert Martinez. Judging by his parents, one would assume he would be a 'God's gift to mankind' type of person. Instead, he is the complete opposite. Charming, funny and kind, he certainly made heads turn. Even though he was two years older, he was her best friend. She knew that she could always depend on him. She looked at him, admiring the change that happened in the past few years. He certainly is very tall now, Adria thought to herself. Handsome as well, with his dark brown hair, a crooked smile and warm brown eyes. He was still cocky and cunning, just like he was years ago.

Adria started laughing, recalling the fake attack he had sprung on them. It had been so long since he had called her Foxy. She still remembered the day the name was chosen, when she outsmarted both of the boys by herself in a game of capture the flag with sheer cunning when they were 9. Carlos laughed along with Adria, while Felix watched with rising anger. "Why the glum face, my dear old pal?" Carlos asked Felix, still laughing. "Do you know how risky that was? How did you get in anyway? You do know that breaking into houses is a federal crime right?" Felix almost shouted at him, inwardly sheepish that his cousin had tricked him. "Hey, it's not my fault that your door lock was easy to pick." Carl defended himself in a mock serious tone. Adria laughed again while Felix rolled his eyes. Same old Carl alright.

"Why are you even here? Don't you have to go and annoy someone else far, far away?" Felix grumbled, glaring at Carl. It's been years since they last saw each other. Even if they were childhood best friends, they always competed against each other, always driving their parents mad. Whenever they got into trouble, Carl flashed his charming and *ahem* innocent smile, and whoever was scolding them at the time just melted. The three of them were best friends for as long as they could remember. But that didn't mean that Felix was going to drop the question that had been pressing him, since he saw Carl.

"Well? What are you doing on a completely different continent?" Felix was determined to get an answer. 

"Calm down Felix... After all, it's been quite a while since we last saw each other. Years in fact. I didn't even think about why Carl came to see us, I was just so caught up in seeing him after so long. I really missed him... And I know you did too, don't even think about denying it." Adria teased Felix.

"I know, it's just that... As you said, it has been a while since we've seen each other, so I was just curious as to why Carl showed up, out of the blue... That's all..." Felix blushed, and amended his tone.

Carl, hiding a smile, looks at Felix in the eye, dead serious, and says," Something came up... Something urgent... I just needed to see you".

Adria frowned, suspicious," Are you sure? I feel like there's something more... Are you hiding something from us? Did something bad happen? What's going on?"