In the reflective silence that followed, Christina bore the brunt of the emotional turmoil, her tears flowing freely.
"Are you okay, Christina?" Susie inquired, but the red-haired girl remained silent, lost in her thoughts. "Christy? Hey? I asked if you were okay," Susie repeated. This time, Christina rose from her bed, approached the room door, and opened it. "Please. Get out of here," she instructed Clyde, gesturing outside.
Clyde complied, leaving the room with his phone and offering one final remark before departing. "I hope you didn't do anything stupid against my friend. Like what you did to Zack, Liam, and Rusty. And if so, I hope your conscience has pricked you," he declared as he exited the room and then the house.
Christina returned to her bed, eyes downcast, taking a few moments before wiping away tears. The emotional release didn't surprise her friends, given the bombshell revelation. They all grappled with the magnitude of their actions, fueled by those damning rumors, and the subsequent harm inflicted on Lincoln. Shame and guilt hung heavy in the air.
"I think we owe Lincoln an apology. Don't you think, girls?" Cici suggested.
"After what we did to him, an apology wouldn't be enough," Molly acknowledged.
"This is a lot to process. All this time, we thought what we were doing was justified. We thought we were trying to ward off a violent criminal. But it turns out we were attacking an innocent boy."
"In the end, we were the bad guys."
"And it's all because of Chandler's idiocy." Susie, visibly upset, recalled orchestrating two gangs to attack an innocent boy, and worse, one who was blind.
"It's not just his fault, Susie. Neither we nor anyone at school took care to check if the rumors were true. We all share the same guilt"
"Chandler. You. Me. Molly. Cristina, and basically everyone at school."
"At least they didn't send the gangsters to burn down his house," Molly remarked, reflecting on the gravity of their actions.
Cici nudged Molly's arm before turning her attention to Christina, who remained fixed on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Cristina. But this wasn't entirely your fault."
"I mean, yes, you sent the black cobra. But they just had to scare him away. It was their idea to burn down their house."
Christina started crying this time. Her friends approached her, embracing her.
"Yes, Christy. Don't cry."
"Yes, we made a huge mistake. Perhaps the worst of our lives. But we can try to change," Susie consoled Christina while wiping away the mascara from her teary eyes.
"One day we will have to admit to Lincoln that it was us who sent those gangs"
"I don't even want to imagine how he will react when he finds out."
Christina tightly hugged her friends, crying hard on Susie's shoulder.
Her friend patted her back to soothe her. "Yes, yes, Christy. Everything will be okay."
"No, Susie. Nothing will be right. It won't be again."
"Of course. The road will be long. But we can redeem ourselves."
"You don't understand, Susie. I... I did something I could never escape. Chandler knew it was all fake. And he still won't tell me anything."
"What did you expect? It's Chandler. This idiot would sell his grandmother to the devil for a dollar." ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
"It's not just the fact that he didn't tell me about Lincoln that the rumors were a lie when I hired him to run him out of town; it's what I had to do to get him to take the job."
The girls comprehended everything, recalling Chandler's proclamation to the girls as "Christina's new boyfriend."
"Oh my God, Christina... don't tell me you..."
Christina clung to her friends, her tears flowing. "I feel dirty."
That day, the girls learned two valuable lessons.
Don't believe everything you hear.
Everything has consequences.
At Lincoln's grandparents home.
The boy peacefully slumbered after taking spicy chicken soup.
Once again, Lincoln found himself in one of his dreams, wandering through the forest.
The snow transformed into a storm, with hurricane winds bending the trees. Snowflakes resembled icy glass shards capable of cutting through flesh. Gray clouds turned black, and lightning and thunder shook the earth.
Lincoln stood with the black wolf, while the gray wolf watched sternly in the distance.
The black wolf approached the boy to ask, "What do you think? Isn't power great?"
"Unbelievable. When I fought Hideki, I've never felt so good and so strong before."
"And, of course, you want more."
"Yes. I want more. Give me more power."
"Hohahahahahaha. Of course, I will give you more. Follow me."
The wolf led him to a pool of red liquid that had grown into a lake. In the center of this was a black obsidian throne, surrounded by black obsidian wolf statues. The obsidian trail also started on the lake shore.
"There. Power worthy of a king." The wolf kneeled before Lincoln.
The boy walked across the obsidian bridge, followed by the wolf. When he reached the throne, he sat on it.
On the rest of the arms, there was a cup made of the same material. The boy filled it with the crimson liquid flowing from the mouth of one of the statues. Then he raised his glass in a toast and proceeded to drink it.
Lincoln woke up from this dream feeling better.
Lincoln came downstairs, where his trusted pet greeted him with a lick. Lincoln reciprocated his pet's affection by stroking the wolf's chin. They both sat on the sofa, and suddenly his phone started ringing again.
Lincoln had to take it. He already knew who it was.
"Hello, Professor."
"Good morning, Lincoln. I heard you had a fight this afternoon."
"As always, you're well informed, Professor."
"Anyway. The reason I called you this time is not to fight."
"Okay. You already have my interest. What do you want to talk about?"
"I did you a favor. I'm sure you'll love it."
"I'm all ears."
"Found. The man who raped your sister."