Chapter 288Park to Places

To my surprise, it wasn't raining. Maybe the sky had shed all its tear together with me during the day. But that meant there would be more rain later on, as my own tears were far from done. There was just enough peace for me to try and talk to Muriel, but...

My dear friends...

I'm so sorry.

With those words I rose up in the sky and headed for the park. The air felt damp and cool as it touched my skin, but the sounds of the city were once again audible and unmuffled. To my surprise it calmed me a lot...

It was the feeling of everything else still going on. The sound of lives being lived, going on without the abrupt ending that my friends received.

My dear friends...

When I arrived at the park I was surprised to see Muriel already there, standing at the edge of the water and looking out over it. She turned around when I got near, making me wonder how she heard or felt me.

She looked at my face and smiled. "Hello Amy."

She looked a lot better actually, warmer and more alive. I wondered how her night with Afentis was. But it would be rather impolite to ask. Wouldn't it?

My curiosity was gnawing on me in the back of my head, but I slapped it to be quiet. I realized my mind was doing its 'let's think about everything else so we won't have to remember the important thing' again. I sighed.

I wasn't sure how to begin. "How did you notice me?"

"Your heartbeat. It takes some practice, but it's possible to hear the heartbeats of those nearby over the sounds around you."

Okay... that explained one thing, but I still wasn't sure how to continue. I guess I wanted to say one of the things that was on my mind. "Muriel... I think I forgive you."

She looked at me a little surprised before looking downcast. "But..." She sighed. "Thank you. I still feel responsible, but... It's not just your friends, I've let myself be led for so long. I can't believe I may have killed innocents."

I nodded. "And what about Isabel."

She spoke very slowly. "It's weird, but it feels as if Isabel, the girl, isn't the final step. She's powerful, but doesn't look like she makes the story."

I blinked. "You mean she's working for someone?"

She nodded slowly. "It's kind of odd, but I've had this suspicion for a long time now, where certain key 'dark' people were part of something else. But I thought they were just linked by their practices, not anything else."

"What makes you think this?"

She took a deep breath. "The way she forced things to go according to plan. Not just annoyed that they weren't, but something else..."

I blinked again, she did have a point. "So you think Isabel is only a tool?"

Muriel nodded. "Yes, albeit a powerful one."

I wasn't sure how to respond. "But... I've never seen her with anything. She just appears to know a lot.

Muriel shrugged. "I'm not sure, it's just a thought." She smiled. "Shall we try and look for her?"

"Yes, I think that's a start, we can speak while we're searching."

And with that we rose up silently into the sky after looking around for any peeping eyes. There were none that we could see. It was still cool and calm up here and it was odd to be beside someone else that could fly again. Faith... I hoped she was doing better now.

And Isabel... Were you really just a tool? Or did your innocent visage hide a scheming darkness?