97 Hopelessness 2

Sofony embarrassedly climbed out of the cab. But because she knew what to prioritize, she got it out of her mind and rushed towards the lobby of the police station.

The moment she arrived at the open doorway, she immediately asked the first blue-uniformed officer she met.

"May I know where Wendy Gomez is?"

The female officer who was about to go home from shift stared at the pretty girl who spoke. She smiled and answered,

"You mean, Officer Gomez' little sister? Oh, she's already left! I remember she's with her boyfriend! Who knows where they headed but they left around four or five minutes ago!"

They?

"Miss Officer, I-I'm her best friend. As far as I know, she's still single. Who's the guy you're talking about?" she asked because she became worried why there was suddenly someone unknown on Wendy's side.

"Errr..." The female police officer turned her head to another passing officer and passed Sofony's question to him. "Hey, SPO2 Rey, who's the boy with our Wendy?"

The one asked was a man with dark circles under his eyes. It was Rey Salazar, one of Simonne's good friends.

"Huh? That annoying brat has a boyfriend? Are you sure there's someone who can stand her sh*tty attitude besides her equally detestable brother?"

"Hey! We're in front of a kid! Mind your language!" chastised the female officer. She also shook her head at this colleague. In Simonne's presence, he would politely address his sister as Miss Wendy, but once his back was turned, Rey would call her annoying brat.

Rey disinterestedly looked at Sofony. "Are you after the annoying brat or the young man she brought here earlier? Hmm, is it a love triangle story? I see a case opening up in front of me!"

Sofony wryly smiled, "Sorry, I'm in a hurry. Forget about me asking who that guy is. Please just tell me where Wendy is!"

"Ah... It's already past 8 pm. Where else can they go if not home? Motel?"

Sofony felt impatience in her heart so she just asked the system.

While hating herself for stupidly asking unhelpful people and wasting precious time, she began sprinting at full force towards the direction pointed by the system. While at it, she also asked who the guy was, and was surprised to hear Chris Meyer's name.

Sofony didn't know the reason for their meetup, but she prayed for none of them to be under Clarissa's control!

She gritted her teeth after seeing the tall building where the restaurant was. She cursed the system because she only saw the destination after a little more than five minutes of running!

'Ugh, you told me it's only two minutes away!'

She did not have time to complain anymore as around this time, she raised her head to where the people in front were pointing their fingers were.

Yes, outside the main entrance of the commercial building, many people had gathered and all of them had their heads raised.

Out of curiosity... and a bit of bad feeling about it, Sofony also looked up. Sofony's sight was enhanced by the system so under the illumination of the moon, stars and some bright lights above, she clearly saw what was up there. Unfortunately, it was also because of this that she was greatly stunned by the sight.

"Wendy!" Great dread overwhelmed her as she shouted. She felt like cold water was splashed all over her. She trembled at the scene, her heart also feeling the coldness.

She felt extreme fear drowning her as she entered the building and headed for the staircase. She didn't wait anymore for the elevator to descend. She just ran the long flight of stairs as fast as she could!

Sofony was very frightened because she saw her friend standing at the edge of the rooftop with her arms spread in the air! If that was only what Wendy did, Sofony would not have been that alarmed. There was a safety railing up there so as long as Wendy stays where she was, there should be a small chance of an accident happening.

However, she saw her friend slowly and unsteadily climbing it! Because of this, Sofony's eyes widened and she became very anxious and scared! She realized that Clarissa had most definitely mind-controlled Wendy to jump off a building!

Clarissa wanted Wendy to commit suicide! Clarissa wanted her to lose one of her reasons for staying sane! All in the name of revenge!

At this realization, Sofony's tears started to stream down her face. Her legs never stopped the sprint. She was doing her best to arrive at the top floor as soon as possible to the point of jumping up two or three steps per lift of her foot.

She did not even think twice to answer, 'YES!'

'Damn you!'

She really hated that it even did something like this given that it perfectly knew how serious the situation was. As she gradually neared the rooftop's door, she kept on cursing Clarissa and the system, her tears still flowing down and sometimes clouding her vision.

"Wendy!!!"

The moment she appeared on the doorway and arrived at the rooftop, she anxiously shouted her best friend's name. Her voice even cracked, showing just how upset and afraid she was.

Unfortunately, when she set foot at the place... In the moderately lit rooftop, the only thing she saw was the back of a tall but lean teenager in a black long-sleeved shirt and blue denim pants.

At this sight, Sofony shook her head and tried to look around, disbelief written all over her tear-stained face.

Unfortunately, from her position, no matter where she looked...

There was really no Wendy.

.......

At Cryptos.

Because of the warning from someone, no one dared to set foot in the floor. They did call the police to notify them with a murder case. But they were yet to arrive. Normally, Clarissa would have really appreciated this information were it not for the fact she was still trapped in the barrier. She couldn't deactivate it because the system said she no longer have enough points.

Thirty seconds before the expiration of the barrier, Clarissa despaired when she was met with a barrage of bullets that rained down from above. Of course, she was still temporarily safe, but once the thirty seconds were up, how would she survive?

'Do I have no choice but teleport out using 'her' token?'

Clarissa bit her lips in frustration. When hopelessness finally struck her, she seemed to realize that things were odd these past four days. To be exact, it was she who became strange! She became too irritable and impulsive! Though she really had that tendency, it should not be to the point that she'd be as mad as she had been these past four days!

'He's aware of who I am, so it's normal to get agitated. After all, the enemy knows my real identity and is also trying to fish out who 'she' is. I don't even know what fishy motives he has!'

'He did piss me off and anger me so much. Especially today! Because of it, I purchased an item which he later rendered useless! Because of him, I suffered from a severe lack of points when I confronted Sofony Mendez!'

'I totally get now why I lost... and it's laughable that I only did when I became cornered like this.'

'But because I'm finally sobering up, I can finally see how odd things are for me! I'm not supposed to be this impulsive, complacent, and hot-headed! I only prey on the weak! If it's a host stronger than me, I'm not the type to provoke and go after him! So why! Just why did I do all those stupid things before?!'

When there were only twenty seconds left before the shield disappears, Clarissa shivered and felt chills all over her body.

She then grimly asked to herself,

'What if the first time I saw that boy, he activated another skill against me? I only heard it once from 'her', but what if it's a skill which amplifies negative emotions, especially wrath and pride? If so, then that explains why I've been too irrational these days! Damn! Damn! I've been really had by a powerful and lunatic host!'

Three seconds before the expiration, she rained profanities towards the two hosts. Then from the neckline of her shirt, she took out a necklace hidden there and crushed the black small oval shaped tourmaline-like pendant on it. Extreme reluctance and resentment showed in her eyes. It was because the black pendant was important for her.

It was the first and only item she ever received from 'her'.

Unfortunately now, it was crushed, its particles turning into a burst of white light... Just to save her...