Nalda started to get the hang of what that being had done. All she needed to do to understand was think about what it had said.
''If you want to run, then run.' That being enhanced my speed! I'm faster now! How did this being even know I was having trouble with speed? Don't tell me that that's the physical form of the letters... But how would that even make sense? Mave couldn't learn about the letters when I told her but now she could suddenly fight them? Is it because they're in physical form?'
If the reason why the letters had been quiet for so long was because materialising actually came with a prize then it all made sense. She didn't know that the letters could do all this. It was quite a pleasant surprise.
Now she was certain that as long as she took many turns and ran for as long as possible then she'll be able to get that idiotic Davenport and possibly even get a hint on who the second serial killer was, if she was lucky of course.
She couldn't wait to set her plan in motion.
***
On Tuesday, she asked to go to the supermarket near the school with her mother. Nalda didn't need to buy anything, she was just looking around in a not so obvious way.
Now it was Wednesday morning. It was breakfast and she sat in front of her mother.
"Mom." She probably sounded like a robot talking but really it wasn't her problem. Her mother probably sensed that Nalda was up to something again and was staring at her with that scary expression. "Can. I. Go. Home. Alone. Today?"
Now that she was looking at her mother's expression, she suddenly remembered where Mave learned how to make those expressions.
Her mother stared at her for a good five minutes before eventually shaking her head. "Alright but answer me when I call you." She said sternly.
Nalda lit up and almost began to sing out of happiness. "I'll do it! Don't worry mom! I'll answer you whenever you call me! Even in the middle of class if I must!"
That last sentence probably wasn't necessary because her mother's glare returned for a brief moment. It was a warning to put her phone on silent during class.
She quickly ate her breakfast and ran away. She needed to get to school as soon as possible. Luckily today it was Mave who would be taking her and not her mom.
"Mave! Mave! Mave!" She was walking in circles around her elder sister to get her to hurry up. Mave was still half asleep tying her shoes. "Quick before mom comes and-"
"I'm done!" Mave somehow tied her shoes in a second at the mention of their mother. She probably got a good scolding a few days ago and didn't want to anger their mother any more.
The two sisters quickly ran out of the door, they closed the door carefully before they began to run again. They only stopped running a few streets further and then they began to walk to the school.
There wasn't much conversation between the two. Mave was very sleepy and Nalda was a little angry at all the secrets Mave was keeping. The walk was just… quiet, for once.
Obviously this couldn't go on. Nalda actually wanted to ask her sister something. So she cleared her throat loudly and began to speak. "Ahem! Mave, on Monday, what were you fig-"
A hand flew to her mouth shutting her up. Nalda looked at her sister who was staring at her with wide eyes. "How did you- ow- you stupid monkey-" Nalda bit Mave's hand which caused Mave to call her a monkey.
"I'm not a monkey. You're actually very monkey-like. Even the way you walk is similar to an Australopithecus afarensis'." She replied without missing a beat.
Mave gave her a look. "A what now? No, actually don't tell me, I'm not an idiot that studies words to make a joke."
"I'd say I'm rather smart for studying willingly."
"If You're smart then I'm Isaac Newton the second."
"More like 'I ignore my sister's serious question through bickering because I think my little sister is oblivious and stupid'." Nalda replied sharply because she was genuinely annoyed.
She knows what Mave was doing. She always did this to avoid questions but this time Nalda wouldn't let her be.
Mave immediately went quiet after hearing that comment. Of course she went quiet, what could she possibly say to that comment?
"Where did your tongue go? Did you swallow it?"
"Nalda." When Nalda looked at Mave she saw her sister's expression turned from sleepy to stern. She looked a lot like their mother but when they made the same expression they were almost identical. "Don't."
That sounded awfully a lot like a warning. Usually Nalda would've stopped there but her life was on the line here. She deserved to know at least a little bit.
"No, Mave." Nalda shot back quickly. "I'm going to die in three weeks and a half and I know nothing. Nobody is saying anything and everyone except for mother is acting like everything is normal." She hoped that she came over as determined. "I… you don't have to tell me your secrets, just tell me what's going to happen. What happened on Sunday and what was that on Monday."
Sure Nalda had an idea but it wasn't enough. From what she noticed until now was the more information the more powerful you could appear. It wasn't always necessary to fight in order to look powerful. If you're a good bluffer then you can get the entire world to bow for you but you'd have to be a really good one.
Not that she was aiming to do anything remotely similar. The only reason why she was thinking about it was because of how she tricked Idiot Davenport. He looked minutes away from digging a grave and hoping in it himself without ever figuring out that she was a normal human without any superpower. That was only possible because she had a vague idea of what was going on, had she known more than she probably could've spooked the guy into an early grave.
The point was that information was the only 'superpower' Nalda could ever have. That's the only thing she could rely on.
Her sister seemed to be deep in thought all of a sudden. Eventually she sighed, realising that Nalda was planning on letting it go. "I'll be very and I mean very honest with you Nalda." She stopped walking, causing Nalda to stop walking as well, and directly looked her in the eyes. "You won't be able to handle it. There's just too much you don't know and it's better if we keep it that way."
A frown wasn't enough to express how unfair that sounded. "Even if my life depends on it?"
"Your life would never depend on knowing or not knowing stuff." Mave said firmly. "I wouldn't allow it." She sounded very certain of her claims.
"You don't know that." Nalda retorted without missing a beat.
"You're right, I don't know that, father does." Her sister was just as fast though.
That didn't make sense. How would he know anything future related? "Dad can't see the future."
Well, superpowers were always an option so it wasn't impossible. Actually it would make a lot of sense if her father could actually see the future…
This caused Mave to freeze but only for a moment before she shook her head. "Yeah, you're right, he can't see the future." She said with a smirk. "Otherwise we'd be helpless on what to do with you."
Nalda, who was about to say something, was surprised at the last sentence. Was Mave actually revealing the existence of superpowers to her right now? She had to get her sister to tell her. "What does that mean?"
Mave looked around them and then started walking again. "Later, there are too many people here right now."
Seeing her sister starting to leave, Nalda quickly followed. "Hey! You can't just say that and then walk away!"
"I can and I just did." Her sister didn't even intend to stop walking. She just kept on walking faster and faster the closer Nalda got.
"No! By my law you can't!" Nalda felt like she became a five-year-old throwing a tantrum but occasionally in life, you needed to become a tantrum throwing toddler in order to get what you want.
The heartless and cold Mave didn't even spare her a glance and instead chose to ignore her. Really, why was Mave so mean? She wasn't actually offended by Nalda's earlier comments, right?
'Why did I get stuck with such an evil witch as my sister?'
Following her sister, Nalda could only look forward to the future explanation. Though she stopped thinking about it for now, it was pointless to break her mind before getting to school.
She'll hear the full story after she gets permission from the creepy guy. Hopefully he won't silence her before she heard the full story from her sister.
***
"Hey!" Someone said cheerfully as they sat in the seat in front of Nalda. "You didn't forget our deal, right?"
'Oh. It's that girl that wanted to sit with me on the bus… Why is she framing it as if it's a shady deal?'
Nalda naturally returned the energy the girl gave her with even more energy. "Hi! No I don't forget! I only remember!"
She saw Irene try to become as small as possible out of the corner of her eye. She was probably embarrassed by Nalda's loud and energetic greeting or maybe because their classmates turned to look at them.
She suddenly got the feeling that someone was glaring at her. When she looked around she found that there were two people glaring. One was Irene and the other was the smartest person in their classroom.
Well, it wasn't her problem. She just wanted to show her energy. If the others were lacking the ability to respond to her energy then that wasn't her problem.
It did feel a bit oppressive though so she acted as if she didn't notice anything and thought about something else instead.
If Nalda wasn't mistaken, the girl's name was Olivia. Most people just called her Livie though.
The strong energy seemed to be a bit much for Olivia because she was looking at Nalda with bewilderment. "Wow, you're actually yelling…" Her gaze drifted towards Irene who had stopped her glaring and was starting in a straight line in front of her.
At first Nalda didn't understand why Olivia's reaction or Irene's staring but then it suddenly clicked. "Hey, hey, hey, did you two bet on my reaction or something?"
Irene shook her head and finally stopped staring ahead of her, turning her head to look at Nalda instead. "I umm, we didn't bet. We just, um, discussed something."
Olivia nodded eagerly. "I wanted to learn more about you so I spoke with Irene yesterday!"
This was actually shocking. Irene talking with people? Irene having a full conversation? Irene making friends? What? No way.
Seeing her look full of bewilderment, Irene didn't even try to explain. She just shrugged weakly before finding something new to focus on.
"Uhm, the conversation was very one sided though." Those words brought the attention back to Olivia.
That did sound more like Irene. "That sounds more believable." Nalda nodded along while she spoke.
There was a quiet, disappointed sigh coming from beside her but Nalda ignored it without a problem. Once again, that wasn't her problem.
Olivia was looking between the two with a hesitant smile. "Anyways, I wanted to ask if we could hang out. Like I said, I want to learn more about you~"
Nalda frowned at the tone Olivia used. "Please stop or I will punch you."
Now it was Olivia's turn to be bewildered by Nalda's words. "What did I even do?"
"Your tone is annoying."
"Uhm, Nalda, you're usually the annoying one…" Irene butted in quietly.
"No I'm not!" Nalda replied to the accusation.
"Enough talking!" The teacher said before Olivia or Irene could retort. "I'll begin the lesson now." The teacher's stern tone silenced every other classmate that was speaking.
Olivia quickly turned around to look towards the teacher and Irene's head also snapped towards the teacher.
Nalda was silently relieved because it looked like Olivia and Irene were about to gang up on her and tell her how annoying she was. This was the second time someone said it. Sure she occasionally did it on purpose but that didn't mean she did it all of the time. She might start believing them if people continued saying it…
No! Now was the time to focus on the lesson!
With that in mind, Nalda focused on the lesson and ignored what happened just a few moments ago.