Midday Flame

Chapter Three

There is an inn located near the entrance of the beach. South of the inn is the open bar and south of the open bar is the beach volleyball court.

"Two rooms, please." Harold said to the receptionist.

Stella and Lyla are in the lobby and looking for a sofa to sit down on. Stella is exhausted from playing beach volleyball and walking all day. Lyla, on the other hand, is feeling fine and energetic.

"Two? There's only you, though." the receptionist said. The receptionist is a young man in his late twenties or early thirties. Tanned and black hair and shorter than Harold as with all the locals of the beach.

"Yes, two rooms." Harold said. "How much for two rooms?"

The receptionist gives Harold a look and then a price for two rooms. Harold paid and walked to Stella and Lyla after receiving the keys.

"Alright! I gave us two rooms." Harold said and then looked at Stella. "Lily, you and Lyla will share one room. Bruno and I will take the other."

"Okay! Let's go. I'm so tired." Stella said to Harold who led the girls to their room.

Chang and Ming had left the open bar and were heading somewhere. Bruno made sure to stay behind them to avoid being seen but still within hearing range.

"Do you know who those guys were?" Chang asked Ming.

"No. Should I?" Ming replied.

"Kang said they would be coming here."

Ming looks annoyed. "And? That's it?! You confronted them for that?"

"You don't know anything!"

"Well, then tell me!"

Chang makes a frustrated sigh. "Fine! You know Fen?"

Ming makes a show of thought. "Fen from Lizi Woods? Kang's friend?"

"Yeah him! He said a few foreigners came to Lizi Woods and attacked him. They were taller than us, lighter skin color, and lighter hair color."

"I'm confused. How do you know it was them? And if that were true, what reason did they have to attack Fen? And you said it was Kang that told you. Now you're saying it was Fen."

Chang is irritated. "Tsk! Just listen. Fen came here and told Kang and then Kang told me."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Ming said.

"Let's go home and we'll meet up with them tomorrow." Chang said.

Chang and Ming continue walking for several more minutes. Eventually, the siblings stop in front of a hut surrounded by several more huts. The only distinguishable feature of this hut is that the door was orange. The other huts have brown doors.

Now that he knows where the siblings live, Bruno makes his way to the local inn hoping to find his friends there.

It is about seven o'clock right now and the sun is about to set. The color of the sunset is a shade of red. Vermilion is the closest possible description. Five or six minutes have passed and Harold sees the door being opened. The person entering is none other than Bruno. Harold gets up from the sofa and waves to Bruno.

"Well? How was it?" Harold asked.

"I found out where they live." Bruno answered.

"Nice!"

"There's more. Remember Fen? He's somehow involved in this, too."

"The guy that Lily and Lyla beat up? Let's go to our room. We'll figure this out."

Stella is sitting in a wooden chair, and Lyla is lying on the bed. "I can't believe it just barely got dark."

"I know. I wonder if it's the season. It feels like summer here." Lyla said.

"It was pretty hot all day today." Stella agreed. "I wonder where Harold and Bruno are at."

"They'll be here, but what are we doing until they come?"

"It's too cold to go swimming again, and it's too early to sleep. If we go out right now, Harold and Bruno might come back." Stella frowned. "I guess we'll wait until they come…"

The two girls talk for about ten more minutes until they hear a knock on the door. Stella immediately jumps out of the wooden chair. "That's them!"

Harold enters the room first and Bruno enters last.

"Lily! Lyla! We're here." Harold said to both Stella and Lyla.

Lyla sits up from the bed. Stella walks up to Harold.

"Yes, now you can explain what you and Bruno found out." Stella said.

"So," Bruno began. "I was following these two siblings named Chang and Ming to their home. During the surveillance, Chang said that Kang said that Fen said that Fen himself was attacked by foreigners with light-skinned and light-colored hair. Somehow, Chang thought the foreigners who attacked Fen were us."

"Fen? You mean that Rabbit guy who attacked us first?" Stella asked.

"That's what I'm assuming." Bruno said.

Harold nods. "That's what I'm also assuming. We were in Lizi Woods and only three battles took place. One of them was Fen. He must have found out we were coming here, came here before us, told his friends here that we attacked him for no reason. Now his friends are aware of us."

"What?! He's a liar! He attacked us and we fought back in self-defense." Stella said.

"You're right, Lily, but it doesn't matter now. What matters is they think we attacked first." Harold said and put his left hand on Stella's shoulder.

"Okay, but what now?"

"Well, we need to find out who Kang is. Chang mentioned his name. We think Kang is the jade-eyed guy, but we need to make sure."

"I can't believe Fen is such a coward." Lyla said.

"If we run into him again, we'll beat him up some more." Bruno said with a grin.

"Bruno found out where Chang and Ming live, so he and I will go there early tomorrow morning to follow them. Hopefully, they'll lead us to Kang or Fen." Harold said. "Before we sleep, is anybody hungry?"

"Yeah! I'm so hungry." Bruno said.

"You're always hungry." Lyla said.

Bruno flexes his arms. "These muscles don't feed themselves, you know!"

"Let's go! I'm bored." Stella said happily.

The group heads out to eat and then spend the night back at the inn.