Tori Hospital East

September 18^th X288

 

At the hospital, six days until the unwanted award.

Florian was out like a light. While asleep, the events pieced themselves together in her mind, as did the words of discouragement and the mysterious clues.

“That’s it! That’s it! I figured it out. Now all I need is the evidence to prove my theory.”

Her stolen motivation reignited.

Hope hugged Florian, waking her up in her hospital bed. Her parents ran to their side, embracing them both. The iguana and dog souls comforted the seashell dove and Florian.

“What were you thinking?”

“We’ll never forgive ourselves if anything happens to you.”

Hope snuggled her head against Florian, shivering with tears of relief. Hope gripped tightly, shaking her head, communicating that she would never let go. Her seashell dove nestled up against Florian.

Florian smiled and hugged them back in tears. “I’m sorry. I love you all so much.”

 

🙠🙢

 

Florian tried to get up from the hospital bed. “Where’s Dr. Ronaldo? There’s something very important I need to tell him.”

Hope and her parents stopped her.

“Where do you think you’re going? After what happened, do you think we are going to just let you walk off again?” her father said.

“I have to confirm something with him. It’s very important.”

“We met with Dr. Ronaldo earlier. He apologized for everything, implying he was responsible for all this,” her mother said.

“Of course, we disagreed with him as he didn’t leave your side through the entire ordeal.” Her parents were cross.

“We all know you’re most likely the one that dragged him into this. You’re the one that’s always up to something. So we decided to ground you.”

“You won’t be allowed to go anywhere without one of us accompanying you.”

“That’s fine. I was wrong and almost got Dr. Ronaldo and myself killed. I made a huge, selfish mistake. I won’t run away, and I’ll accept any punishment. But this is bigger than me, bigger than all of us, and it can’t be ignored. So please, come with me to consult with Dr. Ronaldo.”

The Cobblestone parents sighed.

“Dr. Ronaldo said he didn’t feel qualified to help you and he’ll release you from his care. He insisted on not seeing you.”

Florian sank a bit. “What? Is this his form of reprimanding me? Is he like this because of what that boss said? Doesn’t he realize all of this doesn’t make sense? That idiot.”

“Don’t call Dr. Ronaldo an idiot. We need to apologize to him. I’m sure he’ll turn around after a few days,” her mother said.

Hope signed to her sister, “Apologize to him and your friends too!” Hope’s face full of tears puffed with angry scorn, then reverted as she went back to hugging Florian.

Florian signed to Hope. “I promise.”

Hope nodded, pointing toward the door. There stood Alex, Sera, and Amalia. The monkey, koi fish, and bat spirits were at their side.

“I can’t believe you left us out this time!” Sera said.

“Are you kidding? What could we have done to help her?” Amalia said.

“Come on, guys. We did do something! We protected Hope,” Alex said.

“I’m sorry.” Florian broke out into tears. She remembered what had happened to their mother.

“What’s the matter? You don’t need to apologize to us. We had fun hanging out with Hope,” Sera said.

Florian realized they didn’t know yet. “Can I borrow your phone to text your mother?” Florian asked.

“Okay? I don’t know what for, but fine with me.” Sera handed Florian her cell.

Florian typed and sent a heartfelt apology. “This is Florian; I’m sorry for everything. I caused so much trouble, but I will not give up. I’ll get back at those that wronged you.”

“Hmm? I wonder what that means?” Amalia said, looking over Florian’s shoulder.

“It’s nothing.” Florian handed back the phone, rubbing away the tears.

The chief of police walked in with his pug spirit. “I hope I’m not interrupting; I heard you finally woke up.”

“No, just the person I wanted to see. I also have a few questions of my own,” Florian said.

“Whoa. You have a completely different attitude than when we questioned you a week ago. I’m impressed.”

“Please, can this wait? She’s lucky to be alive.”

“It’s fine, Mom.”

Officer Keen walked in on a crutch and wearing a neck brace. “This kid here is a hero. She drove some big bad guys out of Tarot Tori City. She got us sketches of their faces and even got us some of their names.”

“Cool! It’s about time you all realized how awesome Florian is!” Alex and Sera cheered.

Officer Keen grinned and tilted his head holding his greased hair back. His fox spirit sat straight with its head lifted upward.

“I arrived just in the nick of time. Doc fought hard and collapsed on the floor. I shot my taser like this. The kid protected Doc as I knocked out this big thug that was on a rampage.”

I clearly remember you were the one that got knocked out by the so-called big thug.

Alex and Sera were awestruck. Their spirits’ jaws dropped. “Wait till the others hear about this!”

Florian’s parents were just relieved she was all right.

“Now settle down. We have a lot of questions to get through,” the chief said.

Florian gave as much information as she could without mentioning her apparition vision. She told them of the remaining gang members consisting of a pickpocket, a nurse, a gunman, a man of muscle, a driver, and a boss.

“So they had a signal jammer along with blueprints of some buildings?”

“Yes, they also mentioned something about a bigger job. The attempted kidnapping was not their main objective.”

“You’re telling me this isn’t the last we’re going to see these guys?” Keen asked.

“Yeah. They’re not done. We were just a hiccup in their real plans. Whatever those plans were, they haven’t given up on them,” Florian said.

“That confirms it, then.” The chief nodded to Officer Keen.

“Confirms what?” Florian asked.

“After we talked with Dr. Ronaldo, we looked up a few of the names he brought up. With your side also lining up with his, it’s safe to confirm that the gang you guys uncovered wasn’t your ordinary criminal syndicate. They’re notorious thieves from the underworld, wanted across the world. They’re known as Ghost. The man that goes by the name Selucius is their leader, the devil himself,” the chief said.

Florian clenched her teeth, engraving the name in her mind.

“Of all places, I would’ve never guessed they would be hiding in our city,” the chief said.

Florian sat up and cleared her throat. “I have a few questions of my own; I’ve never done something like this before, so please, bear with me.”

Officer Keen couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh, sure. Ask us anything, kid.” His fox spirit nudged the chief’s pug spirit slightly.

Florian took a deep breath. Her friends and family were all silently watching with their spirits locked on Florian.

“Ignoring the fact that the organization known as Ghost is in the city planning something else, their original target was Mayor William Rite Banquet. Do you have any idea why they might have targeted the mayor?”

“They were most likely trying to disrupt the election in some way,” the chief said.

“Ghost stated it was a small job. Does that mean they were hired to kidnap Blythe Banquet? Possibly by Banquet’s rivaling political candidate?” Florian said.

“It’s possible. But we didn’t find any suspicious activity when we investigated her,” the chief said.

“So someone else must have hired Ghost. Does Mayor Banquet have any other enemies?” Florian asked.

“Of course he does. Outside of our jurisdiction,” Keen said.

“What do you mean?”

“Mayor Banquet’s one of the founders of this miraculous city. Do you know what kind of reputation a city like ours has for the rest of the country?” the chief asked.

Florian shook her head.

“A socialist regime,” the chief said.

“What does that mean?” Florian said.

Keen scratched his head. “In English, it means we’re the enemy. This city is so successful that it’s challenging the way the rest of the country runs. The President could label us as a failed state even if we mind our own business.”

“Wait a minute,” Amalia said. “Tarot Tori City isn’t socialist or communist.”

“The previous mayors combined economic theories, established an efficient geographical foundation, and implemented decades worth of planning. We have strict rules in place that make sure individuals work and stay healthy. Capital is offered as an award for being a productive member of society. This entire city is developing because of how desirable it is to live here, with record numbers in every field.”

The chief paused. “Those details don’t matter. Whenever there’s a threat to capitalism, labels get thrown around like wildfire. Since you grew up in this city, you were lucky to get the education to understand how this city accumulates wealth. Unfortunately, the rest of the country has no idea, and not knowing is enough to fear the next superpower.”

“Superpower? We’re a small city in the middle of nowhere. How’s Tarot Tori City a superpower?” Amalia said.

“Mayor Banquet greenlit construction to expand the city limits a few months ago,” the chief said.

“No way? You don’t mean? How far?” Amalia asked.

“Three feet from the border.”

Amalia and her bat went wide-eyed.

“Is this bad?” Florian said.

“Not yet. In a year, construction will be complete. What do you think Banquet will do after that?” the chief asked.

“He won’t stop?” Florian guessed.

“You know him well for the short time you’ve known him. Anyone who doesn’t want Tarot Tori City to get bigger, consuming cities or popularizing our economic ways, could be targeting Banquet and his family,” the chief said.

Florian began to understand Banquet a little more. Still, she couldn’t narrow down the suspects at this rate. “I see. Ghost said they were here because of a bigger job. Is there anything else in this city they might be after?”

Keen leaned back in his chair. “Who knows? This city has too much money to count, celebrities, museums, and technology exclusive to the city. Hell, they could still be targeting our political figure, Mayor Banquet.”

Florian and the chief looked at one another.

“How long do you think they’ve been going unnoticed in the city?” Florian said.

“We have no idea. There’s no way to tell,” he said.

“What about other gangs in the city?”

“What other gangs? There aren’t any left.”

“Teenage gangs?”

“If there’s any, none are causing any trouble.”

“When was the last time you had reports of a gang in the city?” Florian asked.

“Maybe six years ago.”

“What happened to that gang?”

“If I remember correctly, they dissolved.”

“I think Ghost may have been the cause.”

“What makes you think that?”

“A boy from my school joined Ghost after his teen gang confronted them. His name’s Sticks. He mentioned he fought with the huge thug named Juke once before.”

Sera snapped her fingers. “Wait, Sticks? He was in one of my classes. He dropped out of school, and his girlfriend Choco has been looking for him every day after school.”

“All right, we’ll get his parents’ information from the school. Do you know his friends’ names? We can question them if they encountered the huge man named Juke,” the chief said.

“Of course.” Sera provided their names.

Officer Keen leaned on his crutch. “You have a bright future, kid. Have you ever thought about being a police officer?”

“All I want is to put a stop to these guys once and for all and confirm that Sergeant Honest’s name is cleared,” Florian said.

“Dr. Ronaldo said the same thing. I’ll apologize to his face when I remove the ankle bracelet, even if he doesn’t forgive me,” the chief said.

“You’re incredible, Flori!” Sera said.

“I told you, sis! She’s helped countless classmates in school, and now she’s helping the police!”

“Flori would make an amazing detective!” Amalia said.

“Hmmm? Detective? Keep your cases small scale until you’re older and more qualified,” the chief said.

“Detective Cobblestone. That has a good ring to it,” Officer Keen said.

Her parents were speechless as they witnessed their daughter find her calling.

“Detective Florian Lilly Cobblestone,” her parents whispered.