The Tears Devourer

III

She lifted the bicycle up the four steps that lead her to the main entrance of the school and entered sweating in jets from the physical effort when carrying her small vehicle. Noticing that the place was apparently empty to her surprise, she approached Principal Chambers' office, almost at the end of the long hallway on the first floor, and entered without knocking first, but found no one inside.

    Sweet trotted on her way to the psychology office, where basically all the questions concerning the institution were asked, and where there was also a special punishment room. This time she knocked twice, politely asking for permission to enter. "Come in!" answered a kind voice from the other side of the door. Rachel left her bicycle against the wall just to the left of the door and shyly entered the office.

    "Tell me, honey, how can I help you?" Asked Mrs. Martell, who had been working at the school as a social teacher for more than ten years, but had recently taken the position of receptionist. Before her, a young and funny girl of only sixteen years old, occupied that position, until overnight, she disappeared from Dells. Rachel had seen images of the girl everywhere when her family moved in and had heard a couple of myths about it, which she didn't care about.

    She looked strangely at the older woman behind the glass and realized immediately that that wavy, golden, and lush hair that reached only to the earlobe of Mrs. Martell, gave the environment an eighties style, an old appearance. It's fantastic how one person can change the entire facade of a place.

    "My sister, Julie Sweet..." She breathed three times before continuing, recovering the air she lost on the way. "She was supposed to wait for me outside the school, with Miss Shepard."

    "Miss Shepard?" The old woman repeated, no longer hearing very well in her right ear, and much worse in her left.

    "Yes..." Rachel replied, losing her patience little by little. "My sister, Julie Sweet, was going to wait for me with Miss Shepard at the school entrance." This time she raised the voice so that Mrs. Martell could perfectly hear what she was saying.

    "Oh, I do remember… Miss Shepard. I remember when she was my student back in the ninety-three... Or was it ninety-four?" The old woman began to narrate, without noticing the worried face of the lady in front of her.

    "Excuse me, Mrs. Martell, I'd be delighted to hear your interesting… stories, but I'm in a bit of a rush now, and nervous, as I can't find my sister where she's supposed to be." Rachel said, losing her patience by baby steps.

    "I understand, girl." The old woman smiled for a second, before looking away to the screen at her side. The desk was behind a wooden half wall, which basically served to keep people out of line. "It says here that Miss Shepard finished her shift an hour and a half ago, hmmm," the old woman fixed her glasses returning them to their place.

    "I know that..." Rachel raised her face to the ceiling and rolled her eyes, snorting and taking a deep breath before returning to the old woman. "Do you have any idea where Professor Shepard might be?" She said, faking the best smile she could, raising both eyebrows and showing warm white teeth.

    "Oh, sure child!" Martell exclaimed, a big smile on her face. "Miss Shepard left a few moments ago, mentioned something about one of her cats... Oh, and she took a little girl with her... What was her name?" The old woman touched her jawbone with the tip of her left index finger, while she wrinkled her lips towards the right end of her wrinkled face.

    "Where does Miss Shepard live?" Rachel snapped, realizing the utter ineptitude of the archaic receptionist. She resisted the urge to cry and pursed her lips, still showing a pleasant smile so as not to bother the old lady.

    "On 510-G, honey, just two blocks from here," the old woman informed her. "You just have to go out there and take..." She began to slowly move both arms pointing towards the confines of the walls while explaining the directions of the teacher's home.

    "I know how to get there, Mrs. Martell," Rachel interrupted. "Thanks for everything." The girl smiled for the last time and launched herself into the hall, taking with her all the youthful freshness of the room.

    She almost ran out of the office, grabbed the bike, and left the school in a hurry. As she left the place, she relived that conversation between the officer and the recruit; recognized that 10-16 was happening right at 510-G. It means, whatever a 10-16 was, it was happening at Professor Shepard's house, and her sister Julie was with her.

    Rachel broke out in a cold sweat. She rode her 2004 Argon, her heart pounding in her chest, her throat choking her inside. Sweet felt a slight pressure on the stomach, and her breathing increased in rhythm even before she started pedaling.

    Recklessly, she rode the two blocks that separated her from her little sister, just as Officer Garb had warned her not to do more. From a distance, she could make out the police car parked in front of a picturesque green facade, with a beautiful well-pruned garden decorated with jasmine all around it. Rachel dropped her bike on the sidewalk. The vehicle screeched so loudly that the girl thought for a moment that she had broken it. She staggered from one side to the other, dizzy from the lack of oxygen thanks to the fatigue of the sudden effort she made to get to the teacher's house so fast.

    The mailbox was screaming 510-G, so there was no question, this was the house she was looking for. This was the place where the recruit needed reinforcements, and where her younger sister ended up because of her recklessness in driving so hastily and without consideration. Rachel's sister could be in danger, and she felt that this was all happening because of her fault.