Chapter 315
Rachel sat in her room, a cup of tea warming her hand as she covered it with her palms. It's been two weeks since the Yuxuan incident. Gale had stayed a couple of days after that but had never slept on the bed, preferring the hard floor.
And now, everything was too quiet for her liking. She needed to do something. But what was there to do?
Gale was busy with his classes. Something about catching up on missed assignments and some YouTube videos. Lily was still resting in the hospital unit, looking better every day as floating bluey stares at her in her room. Apparently, she's gotten so used to it that she can fall asleep as she normally would. Kyle and Clyde were out on some investigation of a demonic haunting at the Toronto Zoo. Ollie was busy resting as he should.
And lastly, Isla was taking her own classes without her. She did miss most of last semester's classes by getting rifted into the Tomb.
Did Grandma somehow know that she was going to make it out alive from getting rifted? Gerard should've shown up when Alexei had trapped all of them in that dome, but he never did.
Still, she did show up alive, and Grandma just welcomed her right back home, feeding her more food than usual, which she did like. Other than that, it was business as usual. It was as if her whole life had been laid in front of her, forever just doomed to stay in this suffocating house.
Taking another sip of her tea, she set it down again. Picked it up, took another sip, then down again.
Rachel was completely bored, and the assignments for university were the last thing she wanted to do.
Suddenly, she stood up. Walking over to her PC, she sat down and turned on the monitor. The screen display started out dim then gradually became brighter. She immediately moved her mouse to open the web browser clicking on the DotAur bookmark.
She scrolled down and down, looking at people posting about their daily life in Aur. Most weren't even about Aur stuff. Just mundane things such as cooking recipes, conjuring water more pure than distilled water, or using liquid manipulation to recreate a specific combination of a drink in the Coke Freestyle dispenser.
Taking her mouse over to the search bar, she typed in 'Sombra'.
There was nothing new, though. She watched it everyday for any new piece of information. Yet the last post was about a week ago, the same one about whether they had disbanded due to the spook of being hunted. That one was also a speculative theory of people saying that Sombra was going to get hunted next.
People really needed to just mind their own business. Maybe if they hadn't created such stupid posts, Sombra would still be fully active out there, waiting to get hunted by her group of friends.
Hovering her mouse over the browser URL bar, she typed in 'recent dangerous drugs Toronto' and clicked enter. The last article was actually also from 2 weeks ago by the Toronto Star.
Again, no luck there. 2 weeks was fairly recent, but it was still at the same time the Yuxuan incident ended.
Pulling out her phone from her pocket, Rachel opened her messages and clicked on Aunt Leah's contact near the top of her recent conversations.
[Rachel: Hey Aunt Leah. Have you encountered any crazy drug addicts around Montreal? Like with rashes growing and crazy kinda looking eyes?]
The reply came a few minutes later.
[Aunt Leah: nope! nothing over here! definitely no crazy looking crazy eyed people that look like alive zombies.]
[Aunt Leah: Whats up, Rach?!]
Rachel smiled.
[Rachel: just asking...]
[Aunt Leah: this about that sombra boy band?]
[Rachel: yeah, exactly.]
[Aunt Leah: from whati've heard, sombra went into hiding after Yuxuan died. thats what i got from nathaniel tho. didnt really look to the boy band myself.]
[Aunt Leah: everyone's talking about the big stuff that went down at lakeshore though. very big news]
[Rachel: What are they saying?]
[Aunt Leah: 95% passthrough rate on a dust vial for drugs?! thats holy moly cow crazy. to add to that, Glory Industries is stagnating since ollie's been taking a 'vacation'.]
[Aunt Leah: is he really taking vacation? does he want some of cheese cake?]
[Rachel: he really is. i'll bring him some cheese cake when I go to his place]
[Aunt Leah: he's gotta try my new recipe for disaster cheese cake!]
[Aunt Leah: secret ingredient is gun powwder but don't tell him that.]
[Rachel: Sure. thanks auntie. Let me know if you hear anything else.]
[Aunt Leah: Will do!]
[Aunt Leah: And tell me about the steamy nights you had with that boy what hapepend there?]
[Aunt Leah: don't stop texting me now!]
[Aunt Leah: RACHEL. PLEASE. I NEED TO EAT SOME WATERMELON.]
Rachel shook her head, set her phone down and dropped her head onto the headrest of her computer chair. Maybe she also needed to take a rest, like Ollie. Get her bachelor's degree first, then think about finally doing something for the family.
[Rachel: hey ollie, Wanna eat something?]
[Ollie: Already ate. About to take a nap.]
[Rachel: It's 3pm in the afternoon.]
[Ollie: Which means its nap time. The bed awaits.]
Rachel smiled at the text. Ollie's words were starting to get lively once again, just like in the Eclipsed. The man had barely slept at all when he was 'the Machine,' as he called himself. Always running from one project to another while dealing with problems that came his way every minute.
Maybe she should also take an afternoon nap. Thinking about it, though, she really didn't think that she'd have an easy time falling asleep right now.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Going back to her browser, she went back to DotAur and clicked on the articles section. It was right at the headline.
'Mystical Stand Off at Lakeshore West Heights'
Below it was the picture of the stand off. All of them were there. Zhang Bai, Liang Wei, Bruce Landsowne, and Grandma, all standing in the middle of the broken park. Behind her were Rachel, along with Gale, Kyle, Clyde, Jeanne, and Marine.
Someone had taken a photo from the skies, most likely from a drone, at the exact moment Grandma was taking a sip, with not a care in the world about what was happening. This could only mean that Grandma absolutely planned this mess.
Rachel's fist clenched at the thought, but then she thought about it for a second. Why was Grandma so focused on Gale? What was the point of making him indebted to them again?
Ever since the airport incident, Grandma had treated Gale differently, with a certain interest that didn't seem like she was just trying to poach him. Even Gerard had called him 'Master' when he never called her that at all. What did 'Master' even mean?! They even referred to Erin with her proper title as Researcher...
It was... curious.
There was something going on. Something that Rachel didn't know about. Something that involved Gale and Erin, and probably a whole lot of other things that she had been kept in the dark about.
Rachel stood up suddenly.
She stared at the door of her room. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides.
Fine. If no one was going to tell her, she would find out herself.
She stomped toward the door and threw it open. As she walked through the hallway, the maids moved out of the way as they continued their cleaning of the halls.
On the way to the lobby, she saw Abigail.
"Young Lady Rachel, we have to talk about your grades," Abigail said.
"Sorry, Aunt Abigail, I need to go to my grandma!" Rachel continued walking.
"Then later tonight!" Abigail said, now further away from her.
"Sure!" Rachel shouted.
As Rachel arrived at the lobby, she went up the staircase and moved west towards Grandma's office. Soon enough, the door loomed in front of her, waiting to be kicked in.
Arriving in front of it, she kicked it open with a satisfying bang.
Inside, Gerard stood by the desk, teapot in hand, mid-pour. Grandma sat in her chair, a slice of cake on a plate in front of her, fork halfway to her mouth.
Neither of them flinched while still continuing what they were doing. Grandma took the bite of the cake from her fork while Gerard finished pouring tea.
"There's something weird about Gale and Erin," Rachel said firmly. "And you're going to tell me what it is."
Esther took another bite of her cake before replying. "Rachel, you should really try this cake. It's a new recipe that Gerard is trying out."
"What?" Rachel asked.
"Triple chocolate with cayenne pepper," Gerard said.
"It has a spicy kick, and it's absolutely delicious," Esther said.
Rachel moved forward slightly, looking at the cake on grandma's desk. The scent of chocolate wafted at her, seducing her to take a bite. It was also triple chocolate, her 2nd favourite. The 1st one being matcha crepe cake.
"Spicy in chocolate? How does that work?" Rachel asked, sitting down on a seat in front of the desk.
Gerard set down the teapot and moved to slice a piece of cake. "The family enjoys spicy food in general. I've been experimenting with how to incorporate more heat into desserts." He placed the slice on a plate and handed it to Rachel along with a fork. "Though I must admit, this particular recipe is not spicy enough. As Researcher Erin would say, it requires more research. For science."
Rachel took the plate and fork. She cut off a piece and brought it to her mouth. The triple chocolate was indeed rich, creamy, dark, and smooth all at the same time, as expected of Gerard's skill. And then there was a hint of warmth that put a slight kick in her mouth. Though the kick wasn't as hard as she'd like, it was still there.
"The chocolate is good," Rachel said, taking another bite. "But the spiciness is a bit underwhelming. It's a good idea though. Whose idea was it?"
"A couple of weeks ago, Lady Esther commented about why desserts aren't spicy," Gerard said. "Thus, I began a mission to add a proper kick to the Ann family's dessert menu."
Rachel took more bites, almost devouring half of the slice she had. She looked at her grandmother. "Actually, a pretty good idea, grandma."
Esther smiled. "Perhaps it would be better to use pure capsaicin instead. Just a pinch."
"That's a good idea," Rachel nodded.
"I shall try it as soon as possible," Gerard said.
Soon enough, the cake had disappeared from her plate. She held out her cup. "More tea, please."
Gerard poured her a cup without a word.
As Rachel sipped her tea, her eyes wandered to Grandma's computer screen. A familiar word caught her attention, 'Sombra'.
"Did you find anything about them?" Rachel asked.
Esther glanced at her monitor. "It looks like they got the spook of their life when the standoff happened at Lakeshore West Heights. Half of their members left the country."
"Where did they go?"
"The UK."
Rachel almost choked on her tea. She laughed, setting down her cup. "The UK? That's probably the worst place to do their activities."
Esther laughed as well. "Indeed. They won't last long there." She gestured at the cake. "Would you like more?"
Before Rachel could answer, Gerard cleared his throat. "I have good news for the young lady."
Rachel looked up at him.
"Lady Esther has allowed electric scooters in the hallway," Gerard said. "However, no golf carts or anything larger."
Esther raised a finger. "Just be careful with the paintings and decor."
Rachel mentally fist pumped. Isla's going to love this. Setting down her plate and pulling out her phone immediately, she went over to her conversation with Isla.
[Rachel: THE SCOOTER IDEA IS A GO]
[Isla: WOOOOO]
[Isla: I'M SLEEPING OVER AT YOURS FOR EASTER WEEK]
[Rachel: earlier is fine too]
[Isla: OK]
[Isla: I have more tea btw]
[Rachel: talk about it next time you're here!]
Rachel shoved her phone back into her pocket and turned back to her grandmother. "About Sombra. Is it even worth it to go after them right now?"
Esther leaned back in her chair. "The drug distribution to mundanes has dropped to zero cases in the past two weeks. It's your choice whether to pursue them or not."
Rachel narrowed her eyes. That wasn't usually something grandma would say. It smelled like a scheme.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Esther shrugged. "Our current intelligence hasn't been able to pinpoint Sombra's hideout. Chasing ghosts is just a waste of resources at this point."
Gerard appeared beside Rachel with the cake knife. "More cake, young lady?"
Rachel nodded and handed him her plate.
Gerard cut another generous slice and returned it to her. Rachel took a bite, chewing slowly. Then suddenly, she remembered why she came here in the first place.
"Grandma," Rachel said, setting down her fork. "I think Erin and Gale might be Dainvs too."
"What makes you say that?" Esther asked.
"His ether. It's a different quality from everyone else's." Rachel leaned forward. "It's more like... essence. Like ours."
"Many awakened have unique ether qualities."
"No, it's not just that," Rachel said. "I felt the difference between Yuxuan's Qi and Gale's energy during the fight. Yuxuan's was refined, compressed, exactly what you'd expect from a cultivator. But Gale's was thicker. Like comparing water to syrup. Like ours."
Esther took a sip of her tea. "Others in the Path and Neutral Grounds have classified him as an irregular. Those come and go like time itself."
Rachel's fist clenched around her fork. The metal bent slightly under her grip. "And what about Erin? She's always focused on Gale. Always watching him like his teacher... which she is, but that's beside the point. Erin also came out of a vat pod and she's probably millions of years old. Why would a million year old floating bluey like her care so much about Gale?"
"Don't tell me you're jea-"
"I'm not!"
"Well, regardless, Erin has a unique mind," Esther said. "She's helping our family develop new technologies. And her interest in Gale could simply be for science."
"There's no way Erin isn't a Dainv." Rachel's voice rose. "She even talks about her timeline in stars! That's equivalent to a hundred years of Earth time! Who else would use that kind of measurement other than immortals like us Dainv?"
"There are other immortals that live in the universe besides Dainvs."
"Then how come I've never heard of them?! Or seen them?!" Rachel stood up, her chair scraping against the floor. "Not even in the library where the species encyclopedias are."
"Not everything is in that library." Esther's voice remained level. "We only have what was left over from the Collapse. Our family left in a hurry. Many records were lost."
"And that's the thing. No one wants to tell me about the Collapse." Rachel leaned over the desk. "I found that word in the Architect's Tomb. They talked about the Collapse Era like it was the end of everything. Like we're all living in a post-apocalypse and nobody wants to admit it!"
"There are many cultures that would feel like they're living in a post-apocalypse," Esther said. "Enough of this childishness, Rachel."
"It's not childish!" Rachel slammed her palm on the desk. "Even Erin's essence feels as thick as ours. As thick as the Anns. And Gale's is the same."
Esther looked at her granddaughter for a long moment.
"So what if they are Dainv, Rachel?"