BAB 6 I False Morning Headline

An alarm sound woke Mia from sleep. Her gaze was still heavy when she found her cellphone on the table beside her bed. It was too early. Several times she blinked away the fog in her head until the sound of a knock on the door brought her back to her senses.

Moaning softly, Mia got up from the bed. She was still clad in her shirt from last night.

Her white bag is close to her cellphone. The motel room she rented was in the same condition as the last time she left, but her brow creased when she found the black coat on the other side of the bed. She was about to grab the coat when the sound of knocking on her door was heard a second time.

“Room Service!” said whoever was behind the door.

Mia forgot the suit and saw who woke her up at this hour.

The smell of butter-covered bread teased her as soon as the door was opened.

“Looks like you’re in the wrong room,” she said to the maid girl in the maroon and black uniform in front of her.

The girl smiled kindly at her.

“This is an order for room number three, and while working here, all I know is this is room number three,” she explained.

“This is room number three, but I didn’t order anything.”

“I’m just delivering orders, and it says room number three. Look.” The girl handed over a full receipt with several items ordered on the list, but strangely there was no price or total quantity of all the food ordered. It only says ‘Paid Off’ at the bottom of the list.

Sure enough, there is a number three in the right corner with a large circle.

“Are you sure this is my order? How about we check at the reception? Maybe someone forgot the room number? “she asked again, although she held back the temptation to accept all the food. Even the scent of butter and honey combined purposely makes her hungry.

“No need. We already confirmed the order before bringing it here,” the maid replied as she pushed the trolley in without listening to Mia’s protest.

“What if the order is wrong? Do I have to replace all of this? “Mia asked, half panicked, half giving up with her stomach starting to grumble, embarrassing herself.

“Don’t worry, things like that only happen a few times. We are always fully responsible,” said the maid after her work was done and walked out of Mia’s room.

Mia glanced at the breakfast dish in front of her. She was even surprised that there were two Advils and a glass of water, among other foods, as if the motel knew she was drunk last night.

“Oh.” Mia realized she went to a nightclub last night and unknowingly… drank. She felt she didn’t drink much. Just a glass. It doesn’t finish either. Her memory of last night was also hazy. She couldn’t remember clearly talking to a man. She had forgotten entirely. She couldn’t even remember how to get back to the motel again.

“Okay, Mia, now you know liquor is not for you,” she whispered.

…

Mia visited Denver Park, who knows how many times. She felt that her search was starting to be in vain. She won’t know what the old man thought when he gave her an impossible mission. Even the ducks in front of her looked at her with pity. She was sure of it. Now see, the ducks no longer want to accept breadcrumbs from her either.

“Do you think this is funny? If asked to choose, I don’t like Denver either,” she grumbled. “Oh my God, now I’m out of my mind talking to these ducks.”

Mia stood up suddenly, which caused all the ducks there to fly in all directions, even attacking her until Mia felt some of the duck’s feathers in her mouth.

Arrggg! She growled in annoyance and left the place.

Her gaze was fixed on a man sitting on one of the park benches, seemingly focused on reading the newspaper, but his face seemed to hold back laughter.

Great! Now I’m a joke at this place.

Mia pretended nothing had happened earlier and walked past the man, but her steps stopped when she saw the headlines in the newspaper that the man was reading. She disrespectfully pulled the newspaper from the owner and ignored the man’s surprised scolding because her focus was only on the bold block letters in the newspaper entitled; “JAXON BRADWOOD AND RED CAGE CLUB HELD A FRIDAY PARTY IN AURELIA’S CASTLE, DON’T COMING.

NO ONE WAS INVITED TO THIS PARTY. JUST A USUAL RED CAGE PARTY!”

Mia stared at the newspaper closely, could not believe the name printed on the newspaper. It turns out that Jaxon Bradwood exists, not a pseudonym, still alive and going to have a party without Guests.

The funny thing is, there is no article under that title, just the address and the party hours start with barely readable and very small text. Still, the title of the sentence is deliberately in bold to attract people’s attention.

Mia read the newspaper several times to convince herself that what was printed was really what she read. Who made a title like this?

But she didn’t care because eventually, her mission would end. She would come to that location and, no matter what had to finish all of this and get back to Blueberry Hill as fast as possible.

Mia glanced at the newspaper owner. With an embarrassed smile, she returned the newspaper.

“Sorry, I just wanted to see something,” Mia said shyly and sincerely.

The man only grunted and nodded once. Polite, Mia thought.

“Do you know Jaxon Bradwood?” asked Mia while pointing to the newspaper’s title.

The man cleared his throat, then shook his head and returned to reading the paper. The conversation is over.

…

Mia finds out about Aurelia Castle, but there is not one piece of information she can get on the internet. Even the map only showed a patch of green forest at the address, making her unsure if a castle was standing there. Once again, Mia glanced at the clock on her cellphone. The party was less than two hours away, but she still had no idea how to get into the place.

The yellow envelope that became her mission was neatly stored in her backpack. She grabbed the bag and ignored her appearance. The only goal in that place was to hand over envelopes, not to have fun at the party.

After driving her old truck several tens of minutes later, Mia arrived in front of a giant black gate. She couldn’t even see what was beyond the gate. There were men in black suits guarding the entrance, and one was holding a rifle.

Mia gasped at this and hesitated to continue the stupid mission with the armed men in front of her.

Unconsciously she squeezed the steering wheel of her car so hard that her fingers turned white, and cold sweat flooded her back. The scene before her evoked an old memory that she had buried.

“Miss, this place is a restricted area. You better turn back to the way you came earlier.”

Mia jumped in surprise to hear the voice of one of the men in suits who was now standing near her old truck. Mia tried to smile, even though she knew her smile was not as sincere as she expected. From the expression of the man in the black suit, Mia knew her guess was correct.

“I’m one of the guests of Jaxon Bradwood,” she said with an innocent face and a sweet smile that would melt anyone’s heart. In the past, this expression she used always worked. From the reaction of the man in the black suit, Mia is sure that she still hasn’t lost her talent for acting.

“Wait a minute, Miss, I need to confirm a few things,” said the man before disappearing into the back of her truck. Mia didn’t know what the man was doing.

In less than five minutes, the man came back with the cell phone to his ear.

“Sorry, Miss, what’s your name?”

Mia bites her lower lip, a habit that always reflects her uncomfortable mood or when she is thinking and making decisions.

“Mia Heart, my name is Mia,” she answered honestly.

The man repeated her name to anyone on the other side of the line. The man’s face is focused on Mia’s face while listening to his speaker, making Mia nervous.

Not long after, the man nodded and pocketed his cellphone.

“Please enter, Miss Heart. Mr. Snow awaits your arrival at the Lobby,” said the man as he pressed the sensor which opened the large gate in front of them.

Mia stared at the man in the black suit in disbelief. It felt like this was too easy. Her eyes fell back to the rifle that the other man was carrying. Even though they were far away, evil thoughts ran through her head.

She didn’t want to die young and get into a snake trap when she just came out of the lion’s den.

With a sigh, Mia decided to let her instincts work. She was at least one step away from completing this stupid mission.

She smiled faintly at the man who gave her the way and drove her old truck into the snake trap. Hope that there is no single snake at the end of this road.