What the fuck?
Heavens!
What exactly am I looking at?
Gwen stared at the scene on the sofa inside the room—at Locke holding Carrie in his embrace. She felt her blood pressure surging drastically, carrying a powerful urge to shout a profound swear word!
Could it be... everything Kim said was actually true? The one I really needed to watch out for wasn't Helen Cho, but Carrie?
"Hiss—!"
"Gwen?"
The exact instant the door opened.
No, wait.
The moment Gwen was preparing to unlock the door, Locke had already perceived that highly familiar presence outside the entrance. Once the door clicked open, he turned his torso around to look back, finding the sight somewhat hard to believe himself.
The next second.
Locke observed the rapid transformation across Gwen's expression—shifting dynamically from joyous anticipation, to a rising wave of fury, and finally landing on a gaze of profound disappointment. Snapping back to reality, he instantly understood exactly what was happening here.
Gwen recovered from her state of absolute disappointment. Turning her torso around, she prepared to depart. She was a highly proud individual, after all.
Locke raised an eyebrow, speaking hurriedly, "Don't speak. Close the door, Carrie just fell asleep."
"WTF?" Gwen turned back around, her furious expression reclaiming the high ground once more. What? You actually want me to close the door? Dammit!
Gwen couldn't restrain herself anymore. The exact instant she opened her mouth to unleash her words, Locke made a shushing gesture.
He pointed toward the tissue paper resting across the coffee table—not a small amount, but a sizable pile that had just been utilized to wipe away Carrie's tears—and pointed toward the red-rimmed eyes of Carrie nestled in his embrace.
A succession of question marks sprouted across Gwen's mind.
However... the moment she caught sight of Carrie, who had visibly just endured a massive fit of weeping, her intellect suppressed her fury. She walked inside, setting her luggage down as she watched Locke rise to his feet, carrying Carrie toward the adjacent bedroom.
Inside the bedroom.
Locke carried Carrie back to her room, placing her gently onto the mattress before pulling the comforter over her body. Following that, he grasped Gwen's hand, leading her back out into the main space.
*It seems I completely overthought things.* Gwen suddenly realized this point.
But...
"What exactly happened?" Gwen entered Locke's primary bedroom, observing the space which—much like the bedroom back at the Star Tower—maintained an absolute sense of pristine neatness without a single stray strand of Carrie's hair present.
She sat upon the mattress, looking at Locke as he walked back inside from the outer area carrying a glass of liquor, asking inquisitively.
"Why was Carrie crying?"
Locke shrugged smoothly. "Still over the death of her friend, I suppose."
Everything traced back to the demise of Anila Kazz. Naturally, while the root cause was Anila Kazz, the weeping itself was entirely a physiological response triggered by the events of last night.
Beyond a sense of grief over the fate of her own kind, it also involved pure instinct. Take a person who has never taken a life before; vomiting after doing so is an uncontrollable, natural instinct.
After offering his explanation, Locke looked at Gwen curiously. "Why did you travel all this way?"
Gwen opened her mouth.
The next second, Locke recalled the events of just moments prior. Looking at Gwen with a brilliant smile, he noted, "By the way, Gwen... were you just experiencing a massive wave of jealousy?"
"Huh?"
"The moment you walked inside just now, did you assume Carrie and I..."
"No!" Gwen shook her head, offering a flat, immediate denial. "Why on earth would I be jealous? Absolutely not, completely impossible. You clearly misread the situation."
Locke looked somewhat suspicious. "Is that so?"
Gwen's eyes were perfectly clear as she stared at Locke. "I believe in you, Locke!"
Locke: "..."
Perfectly clear eyes while telling a lie. That happens to be my signature trait, how did you manage to steal it away?
Locke internally delivered a soft complaint regarding Gwen's expression, before wrapping his arms around her, breathing in the exclusive fragrance lingering across her large ponytail.
"Is that real? I don't believe a word you say, unless..."
Gwen was just about to speak.
Subsequently... an exclamation of surprise!
It lasted for a standard hour once more.
With her cheeks flushed pink, Gwen emerged from the bathroom clad in a fresh bathrobe. Turning around to look at Locke, who was following her out from the interior of the bathroom, she simulated a bite against his forearm.
"You bad thing!"
Dammit. She had fully intended to deliver a grand surprise to Locke, yet the scene unfolding the moment she opened the door acted precisely like a lightning strike, directly blasting away all the words she had prepared beforehand.
However... Gwen spoke up, "That was actually the very first time I've ever seen Carrie cry."
After all, back at school, whenever Carrie wasn't speaking, her expression was thoroughly icy, resembling a literal iceberg. It was genuinely difficult to imagine the sight of an iceberg weeping.
Hearing Gwen's statement, Locke spoke with a smooth smile, "You're acting somewhat unusual, Gwen."
Gwen rolled her eyes at Locke, waving him away as she began to organize the somewhat rumpled sheets. She had already attained the capability to entirely ignore the damp water stains lingering across the material.
*Flop.*
Gwen stripped the sheets off, tossing them directly to Locke behind her. "Place them into the hamper. We'll have the hotel staff replace them with a fresh set later."
Locke gripped the sheets, his smile exceptionally brilliant. "I thoroughly love this surprise, Gwen!"
Gwen paused her movements, turning around to glare at Locke intensely. "Step aside!"
*I absolutely do not love this surprise.* The moment she recalled the scene where a surprise had nearly transformed into a massive scare, Gwen made a firm decision inside her heart: from this day forward, she would never play the surprise game ever again. It simply wasn't suited to her.
...
Very swiftly.
Having gone without sleep for an entire night, paired with the psychological impact delivered by the sights at Lake Pontchartrain, Carrie finally awoke after a lengthy period of weeping.
Her eyes visibly red-rimmed, Carrie organized her hair as she stepped out from her bedroom. Catching sight of Gwen seated within the living room, she blanked slightly, before speaking with a hint of genuine delight.
"Gwen! Why are you here?"
Gwen rose to her feet, sharing a warm embrace with Carrie. "Are you feeling any better?"
Gwen had captured Carrie's delighted expression perfectly just now, which thoroughly dismantled the final trace of suspicion lingering within her heart.
After all, if something were truly going on between Carrie and Locke, Carrie's expression wouldn't be one of pure delight—it would be absolute consternation.
*Never playing the sudden surprise game ever again.*
Thinking back to the visual delivered the moment the door clicked open, Gwen felt a lingering fear, repeating the vow internally once more. Following that, she looked toward Carrie with a smile.
"I heard the suspect was already dealt with by the Dark Sovereign."
Carrie blanked slightly. The Dark Sovereign? Wasn't that her?
Seated across the sofa, Locke glanced at the news reports that had newly loaded across his phone, reciting the contents for Carrie's benefit before shifting the topic, seemingly arriving at the reason why Gwen had surfaced here.
"George didn't tag along?"
"Dad headed directly over to Lake Pontchartrain. Uncle Thornton is currently stationed over there."
As expected. Locke raised an eyebrow. He honestly should have anticipated this; how could George possibly forgo any opportunity to bring him to justice? If a Crime Notice surfaced right at the South Pole, Locke harbored absolutely no doubt that George would immediately pack his bags and depart for the South Pole.
"Huh? The South Pole?"
Locke's eyes lit up. He felt he could genuinely execute this exact sequence: drop a Crime Notice straight onto the South Pole, and inform George of the reality. If that transpired... George would depart for the South Pole.
As everyone knew, the South Pole was exceptionally cold with abundant icebergs, making it an absolute paradise for a quiet retreat.
Documented. To be utilized as a backup strategy.
With those thoughts running through his mind, Locke secured his phone.
"Let's go. Let's head downstairs to grab some food. Everyone must be starving."
Gwen and Carrie nodded in perfect unison. Carrie was starving due to going without sleep for an entire night paired with a massive fit of weeping.
Gwen, on the other hand, had rushed to catch an early flight, followed immediately by an hour of intense exercise, resulting in a heavy expenditure of sweat and fluids; she was naturally starving as well.
Locke rose to his feet, donning his outerwear as he looked toward Gwen. "Cop introduced several exceptional restaurants to us. Let's head out."
Although Gwen's sudden arrival would render his plans two days from now somewhat troublesome, her willing departure to travel all this way just to deliver a surprise to him was an incredibly joyous event. Locke was highly pleased.
As for the Coven Assembly two days later? If it was troublesome, then so be it. It wasn't as though he hadn't encountered troublesome affairs before; it was no big deal.
*Ding!*
The elevator doors opened. The three individuals stepped out from the elevator cabin.
Resting her arm over Locke's shoulder, Gwen's eyes lit up as she observed the space ahead. She smoothly released Locke, noting, "Wait for me a moment."
Locke blinked his eyes, watching Gwen sprint toward a hotel receptionist standing not far away.
A brief moment later, Gwen led the blonde receptionist back over, introducing her, "Dee, a wonderful new friend I just met. Let's all go together, Locke?"
"Of course." Locke shook hands with the visibly constrained Dee. "Hello, my name is Locke!"
Carrie shared a handshake with Dee as well. "Carrie!"
Dee offered a slightly forced smile as she completed the handshakes. While walking over just now, she had already listened to Gwen's explanation.
It turned out this iceberg-type girl was merely this man's younger sister. She had initially assumed it was the other kind of "sister."
The dining venue wasn't the hotel's internal restaurant, but rather located just a single block away.
Inside the restaurant.
Gwen observed the crowds continuously passing by the exterior entrance. "The witch culture around here is truly dense."
Joining them for the meal, Dee nodded. "This place stands as the absolute cradle of witch culture."
"Right." Gwen recalled the Coven Assembly scheduled for two days later, subsequently speaking to Dee, "Dee, for the Coven Assembly two days later, let's all head over together."
Seated beside her, Carrie cast a swift glance at Locke.
Locke smiled smoothly. "You're referring to that cosplay gathering over at City Park, right?"
Gwen nodded her head.
Dee blanked slightly, waving her hands. "I can't. I'm scheduled to work at the hotel that day."
Gwen appeared somewhat disappointed. "Is that so."
Seeing this expression, Locke spoke with a smile, "No matter. We'll simply have a word with the hotel manager later; he will grant his consent."
He was a prime VIP, after all. What of it? If he requested a hotel employee to accompany him throughout his itinerary, would the hotel management risk offending a VIP spending two thousand dollars a night just to utter a refusal? If they dared to say no, he would blacklist the establishment instantly.
Gwen's eyes lit up, subsequently looking toward Dee with a smile. "Problem solved."
Dee opened her mouth. However, recalling her boyfriend—who spent his days training for boxing matches, and whom she hadn't managed to share a relaxing moment with lately due to her demanding work schedule—she nodded, offering a grateful smile toward Gwen. "Thank you."
The corners of Gwen's eyes curved slightly. "I should be the one thanking you. I was initially worried I wouldn't be able to deliver the surprise to my boyfriend."
Although the surprise had nearly transformed into an absolute scare. But that was merely due to her own misinterpretation; it still counted as a surprise.
Right at that moment, the wind chimes hanging at the restaurant entrance chimed sharply.
*Ding-ling-ling.*
The transparent downy hairs across the back of Gwen's hand suddenly bristled once more.
"Huh?"
"Locke?"
"..."
***
Quite close to 400 stones y'all. Please throw some stones 🙏
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