Knight | Celeste Academy Series BK #1

4th Chapter ♣ The Abducted

"Celestes are capable knights who fight against demons and defend the world and its prople. They're the symbol of power and honor since the ancient times."

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CHAPTER FOUR ♣ THE ABDUCTED

Valeriana was approaching a week after the incident with the demon, the lady, and her best friend. Luckily for her, when she had come home from the airport several days ago, her mother had gone to work and her brother was playing his video games in his room so no one noticed her arriving. She remembered grabbing the medicine kit from the kitchen, rushing to her bedroom, and attending to her wounds after throwing over a fresh set of clothes.

Still, she could not hide her wounds completely. Lily's motherly instincts kicked in and she found out before Valeriana could say poop. She withheld the incident with the thief and lied about falling down the stairs. After all, Lily knew Valeriana's tendencies of being horribly clumsy.

"You really don't have to do this, Valery." Her mother told her, feeling concerned.

She felt guilty having lost some money to the thief and so she found herself hunting for a part-time job to replace it.

It was scary how perceptive mothers could be. Lily must've already sensed her daughter's distress and discomfort in the past few nights, and who wouldn't? Valeriana had bags under her eyes and her complexion was pallid. She looked worse than she did when she came home a few days ago.

"Mom, I already told you, right?" Valeriana blew her bangs out of her face.

"The summer just came around. It won't be a problem for me at all."

"But you need to fix your registration to the university first before everything else!"

"There's a lot of time for that, alright?" she told her. "Besides, I think it's time I do this . . . experience is good after all."

"Why don't we do it this way?" Lily offered. "I'll let you continue your search for that job, but you enroll yourself at the university first."

She sighed at her mother's insistence, but realized she made sense. "Okay. Fine."

"Thank goodness."

"But I'll do it tomorrow."

Without further ado, she left the house in a hurry. Lily breathed out tiredly as she watched Valeriana go.

"Really . . . that kid makes me crazy."

As soon as she headed out, her annoying stalker was on the move as well. Valeriana was becoming ever wearier of being followed by someone she couldn't see

At first, it was scary. However, the stalker never really made any move to hurt her. As much as she was concerned, he maintained a certain distance and observed her from a well-calculated location.

She sighed.

Her foot still hurt, but she was able to walk straight now.

Valeriana inwardly hoped that she would be able to find the job she was after, but after trying her luck with five stores, she lost hope. She was ready to explode.

"Agh! Why am I so freaking out of luck?" She released an upset, guttural sound from the back of her throat as she punched a nearby tree. "Can't I find at least one job? One job! Why is the universe so against me on this?"

"Valeriana," a familiar voice echoed behind her.

She punched the tree one more time so hard that she even hurt her fingers. "Crap. Why does the bark have to be so rough?"