Needy's Destiny II: The Legend of Fox Cipher Chapter 2: The Other Woman

Some would have you believe that I am, and always have been, a little impulsive. Yet, others would merely say I was eager, or perhaps a little impatient. Still, semantics aside and whichever story you may have heard, believe me, venturing out into the unknown was not on my to-do list that morning. Certainly, two weeks earlier, I didn’t imagine my search for Frankie would lead me there.

***

At that point it had been two months of restless nights and knowing glares from my peers. I guess they felt pity for me, but that’s the last thing I wanted them to feel. I wanted them to feel as frustrated as I did. I wanted them to feel the loss that I felt. And I wanted them to do something about it. I was getting tired of doing it on my own, of bearing an anxiety that nobody would alleviate. My hope for Frankie’s return was being eroded by the apathy expressed by everybody else. Even though the investigation had been left by the wayside, the interrogations continued, only now they were being conducted by myself and myself alone. Predictably, my peers soon grew tired of my prying and relentless questioning. They hated being viewed under the microscope as much as I had only a couple of months earlier. But I didn’t care about them and after a time, it seemed that they didn’t care much for me. So be it, it didn’t matter, I only cared about her. Still, there was one person that didn’t look at me with the same disdain as the others. One that actually offered to help, only minutes after I had gotten through interrogating her. Rebekah - the companion that, ironically enough had been staying in Frankie’s old room since her disappearance – was more than obliging to help out in any way, gathering information herself when people had grown tired of talking to me. I continued to work as much as I could, but socially? As far as friends went, Bek was the only one left to talk to. I guess I used her in a way. She was the only one that didn’t actually avoid me in the halls, and so she was the one I vented my anger to, and she was the one I strongly encouraged to find out all she could. Even though I had begun to feel finding Frankie was my own personal duty, at the same time I made sure it was hers too. Looking back now, maybe I didn’t pay enough attention to her as I could have done, listen to her with as much interest as she had listened to me countless times over. But, in my own mind, I felt that there were more important things to worry about, more pressing matters at hand. And so on that Thursday morning when I paid her a visit, I didn’t worry whether she’d be inconvenienced by what I was going to ask her next, nor question whether it was right for me to use her in that way. I just did it, knowing that it might be the only way I’d find out what happened to Frankie.

“Morning” Bek smiled as she opened the door to me, stepping aside as I walked in uninvited like so many times before.

“Hey” I rattled off a reply as I walked past her and towards the middle of her room.

The room, like most things, had sadly seemed to have forgotten all about Frankie, never mind the fact that it had been hers for so many years. But now? Now it was Bek’s. She had in fact returned to her own room after the requisite police search but, in just two hours, a water leak ensured that she was back in Frankie’s. With so much going on, it was a while before anyone was brought in to address the maintenance and so it was only a matter of time until Bek settled in to her new room. After a couple of weeks, Bek’s belongings began to be sent to the room as a matter of habit, and only a few weeks more, the dresser started to resemble Bek’s own. I believe it had been Madame Daae’s idea that she should remain there, it must have been, for not long after, the Madame gave Bek’s original room to Zsuzsana, the new resident that, whilst only being twelve years old, was already well along in becoming another finely trained companion. I couldn’t blame Madame Daae really, just as I couldn’t blame Bek. It was Madame‘s responsibility to look after Crescendo and her fellow companions. If there was a seemingly empty room then she was going to make damn sure it didn’t go to waste. And so it was, Zsuzsana moved into Bek’s room, and Bek remained in Frankie’s. And what of Frankie? Where would she sleep when she returned? It wasn’t discussed - she was gone, and that was that. The cold hard truth was a tough pill to swallow, if Frankie did return, it would almost be for nothing, for it seemed there was no longer any place for her there. Despite all the years she’d put into her job, despite the support she’d given to the house and to individual girls, they had all abandoned her. I guess Crescendo wasn’t a home, not really - it was just a rest stop.

“What can I do you for?” Bek said in her finest mock outer-rim accent, interrupting my brain from dwelling too long on such thoughts. As a result, I was able to recall the real reason I had gone there that morning

I gave her the obligatory smile and swiftly got down to business. “What do you know about Samaire Huizhong”

“Straight to business then” she had replied free of any comedic accents this time, instead her voice was modulated just as it should for a woman like herself, a proper woman, heralding from Sihnon. “Samaire Huizhong?” she then asked, it clearly being the one question she hadn’t anticipated, the one direction she would never have thought of heading in.

“Yeah.”

She shook her head and batted her eyelids for a second before answering “Not much really.”

Seeing I wasn’t content with mere ignorance and simple yes or no answers, she continued, hoping that the few facts she did know would provide me the answers I wanted.

“Companion, used to work here a few years back, I believe she was even here when it first opened. A real fighter from what I hear, did some work for the Alliance…” she paused, likely to recall some more facts about a woman she had never met. “Uhm, she retired and moved away, I think in 03, or 04.” Then she had taken in a breath, mulling over in her mind whether that was all she knew.

During her rundown of facts and events I already knew about, my mind wandered once more, transfixed by a trio of lilacs sitting in a vase by the open window. The flowers, though somewhat out of place, fitted in quite well with the rest of the room. The room had once been dominated by a haven of reds and mahogany, and whilst the walls still remained a neutral colour of cream, the rest of the room had been overcome with new colours and shades. Subtle pinks juxtaposed against a bold purple, cream drapes hung over a four post bed which also lay covered in a deep purple duvet; and those lilacs, sitting on the window sill, staring at the sun, bathing in its warm light. Frankie’s scent had become feint now even within her own room, masked by new aromas – the aforementioned lilacs were beautiful but contributed little, at least in comparison to the perfume that radiated from the conditioner, filling the room with the smell of fresh fruit. They had a soothing effect, that’s for sure, and probably worked wonders for the clientele, but it only served to highlight the fact that this was no longer hers and…

“Why is it you want to know about Samaire?” Bek asked, interrupting me once more from thoughts that weren’t healthful. I didn’t even have time to answer before she followed it up with “Surely you don’t think she had anything to do it with it, do you?”

I turned away from the lilies and the window, looking her in the eyes for once.

“No” I shook my head doubtfully “I don’t think she had anything to do with this.” The response seemed to relieve her somewhat; perhaps she feared I was turning into a conspiracy theorist, pointing the finger at anybody that knew her. “But there’s a chance she might know something”

“How?” she had asked shaking her head, not quite understanding where I was going with it. Had she missed half of the story? “She hasn’t been heard from in years as she? Why would she know something?”

“You might be right” I had admitted “but still, I’d like you to track her down if you could”

“Track her…” she had started to ask incredulously.

“Bek, I know it might be crazy, but I’m running out of leads here. And besides, I remember Frankie saying that Samaire was… I don’t know, somebody she could turn to”

“And that’s all you’ve got?” Bek had started to become agitated now, and I feared that she may have been ready to tell me that she couldn’t do it any more. I had felt I had nothing left to lose but I was wrong, and I just couldn’t bear the thought of Bek abandoning me too.

Walking up to her I reached my hand out, placed it on her own and as she gazed up to look at me I stared deep into her eyes. “Please Bek, do this for me. Trust me - Frankie liked her, she respected her. I truly believe that if she was in trouble, she might have tried to track Samaire down too.” Bek swayed her head, still unconvinced “I wouldn’t ask this of you if I didn’t think there was anything in it” I told her.

Though she had lowered her gaze and was now staring at an empty section of floor space beyond me, I could see her smile in acceptance “Okay” she nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out”

“Thank you” I said in a heartfelt tone, squeezing her hand tightly before letting it go. “I really appreciate it”

“Sure” she replied, walking intently over to her dresser and removing a diary from its desk drawer

“Listen, I’ve got to get back” I announced, much to her dismay

“You’re…you’re leaving already?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a client arriving, right about now actually” I said looking at my watch

“Ok” she replied, her voice sounding more strained than usual.

“Well I’ll stop by later, to see how you’re getting on” I added, almost out of the door already

“Sure, stop by whenever” she replied, head down in her diary, apparently unwilling or unable to look me in the eye.

“Hey” I called out, slightly louder this time, forcing her to tear her eyes from the book in hand and look at me directly. Then, in a softer tone I stated “Thanks… Bek” and gave her a warm genuine smile

“Don’t mention it” she said her eyelids blinked noticeably “I’ll see you soon.” And with that she went back to scanning her diary.

*****

So there I was, two weeks later, staring at a single note passed onto me by my one loyal friend. Simply it read: SHARPE, TAMSBOROUGH. It wasn’t as definitive as I may have hoped but it was as good as I was going to get, and hopefully it was enough. From what little I knew about Tamsborough, Sharpe was one of three small villages surrounding the town – the type of villages where everyone knew everyone. Tamsborough was small enough, but in the villages of Sharpe, Jiang and Piper, nothing went unnoticed. Gossip ensured nobody lived in secret, and, years ago or not, surely somebody knew of a former companion moving in. It was only a matter of time before I found Samaire.