Quest For Harmony

by destinedjagold

Chapter 118 - Recollection

“Claire Cortes”

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M-my...sister...

I...I really can't believe that my sister has been kidnapped...by someone I know... I don't know what I should feel. I don't even know what I should do...

M-my sister... I haven't seen her for a long time now. It was as if...I already have forgotten about her...

My dad spent too much time in his work, and it left me and my sister all alone. We longed for his love, but he never gave us any of it...until I left home to live by myself.

I...couldn't really remember how I convinced myself to leave and live by myself. I guess it all started during my third year in college. College life was tiring. There are too many things I needed to focus on. I needed to concentrate on my studies if I wanted to have a nice life.

Back then, I swore to myself to graduate, so I can leave the house and live by myself. I...couldn't really remember why I just suddenly decided to leave, but the only thing I remember was the thought of waiting. Why am I waiting and punishing myself like this if I can leave right now?

It was also a week after mom was gone. I guess, with her gone, it added to my frustration towards my dad. It took me a week to convince myself to leave. I wrote my frustration on a piece of paper, and after that, I wrote that he shouldn't bother looking for me. Then, I left my room and left the house. Now that I think about it, I also didn't bother to check on my sister before I left... I didn't even considered how she'll deal with it...

I went to the city and started to look for an apartment. You could say that we were rich. I guess, since we live inside a huge mansion. Although dad didn't gave us any attention back then, he always remembered to put money in my credit card. After I found a nice apartment, I went to the mall to buy myself some clothes and other stuff that I could use, since I'll be living alone.

After that, I settled down inside my apartment. I still remember that I was lucky that I have bought that microwave for a cheap price. While I was waiting for the oven to finish cooking my dinner, I lied down on the sofa, aimlessly changing the channels on the television. After minutes of aimless switching, a thought hit me: I needed a job.

I decided that the next morning, I'll go out and look for a job. And I did. The next morning, I went out and walked around. I still had a few cash that I withdrew yesterday, and I believed that it was enough for me to survive until I could actually find a job.

I walked inside stores and establishments, asking if they were hiring. I read a few posters on walls, trying to see if there are any job opportunities written. This went on for hours until the clock hit noon. It was a cloudy day, which I was thankful for, but it still drained a lot of my energy.

I stood in front of an appliance store while I ate some hotdogs in the street. Through the glass, I watched the local news on the many displayed television sets. I didn't mind the people walking in front and behind me though. Rentelbud's a busy city. Anyway, I couldn't remember what the reporter was reporting at that time before she switched to another. And it was about the city's infamous scientist's daughter gone missing. My breath froze as I saw my picture displayed on the televisions.

I was starting to panic back then. Thankfully, no one seemed to be paying any attention to the news. Everyone were occupied by their own thoughts, I assumed. But still, it was best to stay and hide for today. I just hope the apartment owner wouldn't recognize me when I walk back inside.

I quickly walked inside an alleyway. A few meters in front of me was a dead end. Not that it mattered at the time, since I only wanted to hide and calm my nerves before I quietly go back to my apartment. It was a few blocks away, if I remember correctly.

I suddenly felt a large arm around my neck. As quick as I felt it, it was already around my neck, and the other covered my mouth before I could get the chance to scream.

“Hush, doll,” a cold voice whispered near my ear. I felt the man's cold breath, and it sent shivers down to my spine. My heart was pounding hard and fast, and my mind was racing with lots of thoughts that it left me unable to move. “Now, why don't we walk forward, shall we?”

We walked slow, and the more we got closer to the end of the alleyway, the more frightened I felt. I saw large trash bins leaning on the walls of the buildings, and whatever the guy planned to do to me, I feared that he could do it while we were behind those bins. He was strong, muscular, and I had no chance to fend him off. I felt my eyes started to water.

“Aw, don't cry, doll,” he whispered, but I felt his grin and excitement.

Quickly, he pushed me against the wall, knocking my senses momentarily. He took that chance to tie a handkerchief around my mouth before putting me down on the ground, completely hidden behind the tall bins. I regained my consciousness, and saw him already pulling my jeans off. He looked at me, and grabbed my neck with his one hand.

“You try and do something doll, and you'll be dead,” he smirked as he moved his gaze down to my... “Don't you rather want to feel good before I finish you off?”

I heard a faint voice from somewhere, but my mind was more worried about the guy's other hand, completely pulling my jeans off of me. He then wriggled his fingers in excitement, and just as he was about to grab it, the faint voice I heard earlier became loud—very very loud.

“—yeah, that's the address, now please hurry and send some police over here, quickly!”

“S-shit!” the guy sharply turned his gaze back to the street as he gritted his teeth and fist.

“The poor girl's gonna be raped!” the voice shouted loudly as the guy started running towards the street, leaving me behind. “Oh shoot, he's gonna hit me—no wait, he's running away! Hey!”

I was still stunned from the events that I didn't realized that I stopped breathing. I felt a tear rolling down my face as soon as I realized that I was okay... I was okay!

“H-hey miss, you oka—oh shoot!”

Another guy ran beside me and as soon as he laid his eyes on me, he quickly turned around and walked back to the street.

“Uh, no, I didn't see anything!”

I...don't know why but, his voice and his claim made me smile. Finally, I realized that I wasn't wearing my jeans anymore, so as soon as I calmed my nerves down, I slid on my jeans and stood up.

“Rainbow Dash!?”

A loud voice from outside made me blink. It sounded familiar. Very familiar. I saw Kronz's expression, and he too, recognized it. We both quickly stood on our feet, and as soon as we did, we heard a painful thud, followed by a low groan.

Kronz and I turned to the sofa, and Rainbow Dash was missing, and the window was wide open! We quickly ran towards the window, poked our heads out an— “J-J-Jay...!?”

It really was him! I can't believe it! It's him! It's really really him! Kronz and I called out his name, but he doesn't seem to hear us. He was lying on the wet sidewalk under the rain, rubbing his head, while Rainbow Dash was on top of him, probably unconscious. What the hell did Rainbow do to him!?

I quickly ran towards the door, flung it open and threw myself down the stairs to the ground floor. Kronz was following behind, and as soon as he caught up with me, I was already outside the building, and there I stood a few meters from Jay. He only has a plain white t-shirt and black shorts below his knee level... I wanted to say something, anything, but...

“Ow... R-Rainbow Dash... What the heck...?” Jay groaned as he opened his eyes, and blinked a few times.

...Rainbow's rear was on Jay's groan...

“Uh, bro...” Kronz said, and then a white light flashed from his phone. Jay turned to us. At first, I saw his smile, but after he saw our shocked and amused expressions, his smile evaporated.

“W-wait! No!” he hastily shoved Rainbow off of him, making the pegasus groan and recover her consciousness. Jay bolted up on his feet. “T-that wasn't what it looked like!”

Today was like the day I first met him. He denied he saw anything back then, and now, he's denying about what he just did. Of course, he didn't do anything to Rainbow, but it's sometimes fun to poke some fun on him...but that'll be for later.

Just like what I did back then, I hugged him, and thanked him as I let my tears roll down my face.

Author's Note:

I wanted to give Claire a background story...but I don't think I did it nicely. Aw well...