Trails - Chapter 23

Jasmine was stood outside of the Ferris train station anxiously, shuffling on the spot, her cheeks slightly flushed, and a great feeling of embarrassment rising in her chest.

Five minutes had passed since Eric was meant to meet her for their ‘date’ but, for whatever reason, he hadn’t shown up yet, leaving Jasmine standing nervously by herself.

Why do I have to stand here like this? She yelled in her head.

The Night Before…

“Hey, Jasmine, can I request something for tomorrow?” Elthia asked.

“Sure,” Jasmine cheerfully replied with a smile.

Elthia’s face lit up. She leapt off her bed, ran to her wardrobe and, after rummaging through her clothes, took out a dress that was clearly too big for her.

“Please wear this tomorrow!” Elthia screamed, thrusting the dress at Jasmine.

“H-Huh? Why?” Jasmine cried.

“Because I think you’ll look great in it.”

“E-Even then, why do I have to-?”

“Because you’ve got a date tomorrow.”

“It’s not even a real date.”

“Regardless!” Elthia shot Jasmine a stern glance and moved closer to her. “Please wear it tomorrow.”

Jasmine looked at Elthia, then at the dress and, upon seeing how cute it was, her cheeks turned pink. “I don’t want to,” she mumbled.

“Why?” Elthia asked innocently.

“Um, well…”

“You’re already using my date plan to help move things along tomorrow, so why not wear what I’ve bought you too?”

“Wait…you’ve bought more than just the dress?” Elthia nodded enthusiastically. “When-?”

“After you suggested talking to Eric.”

“…You always intended to set this up as a date, didn’t you?” Elthia giggled and Jasmine let out an exasperated sigh. “How much did it-?”

“Does it matter?”

“…I guess not.”

“So, with that said.” She pressed the dress up against Jasmine. “Please wear this tomorrow.”

“It’s not like this is even a real date,” Jasmine protested, pushing Elthia’s arms back gently. “I’m just using that as an excuse to tell him the truth about us.” Elthia’s expression dimmed. “It’s not a real date, so what’s the point in-?”

“Even then!” Elthia pushed the dress against Jasmine again, before grinning at her. “It’s not every day that you get to go on a date, even a pretend one, so what’s the harm in making an effort?”

After not being able to come up with a good counter argument to Elthia, Jasmine gave in and, come the next morning, got dressed in the clothes Elthia had bought and put on some makeup.

Even now, Jasmine couldn’t help but sigh when she thought about it.

She was wearing a soft white dress that had a zip running up the front of it, ballet shoes without any socks, and a little bit of makeup on her face, highlighting her features. While Elthia had told her that it made her look more beautiful than she had ever seen her, Jasmine hated being in clothes like these.

Girly things like this really don’t suit me, she thought, tightly grasping the hem of her dress.

Unlike her normal casual clothes which she wore because they were both comfortable and practical for a combat situation, her dress and shoes were far from practical, and she stood out like a sore thumb in a crowd, attracting the curious stares of passers-by which made her even more embarrassed to be seen like this.

What made the situation even worse was that Elthia had insisted that Jasmine and Eric met up somewhere instead of leaving the house together to make it even more like a real date. Jasmine had been adamantly against it, but Eric had readily agreed to it and so Jasmine had to give in.

“Why did I use the date as an excuse?” She whispered to herself, putting her closed hand to her chest.

She let out a slow exhale and reached down to her lower back and reconfirmed that the silver pistol was still there.

Just in case.

“Sorry I’m late!” Eric said, catching his breath. “I never thought I’d be late for a date when I left the same house as my date.”

Jasmine’s cheeks turned slightly red, but she still giggled past her embarrassment. “I don’t think anyone would expect something like that. Let me guess: Connor?”

“And Ajax. And Kiara. Ajax stood in front of me and kept telling me how jealous he was and wanted to go with me, and the other two blocked me either side, teasing me about today.”

“Sounds like you’ve had it rough this morning.”

“I tried to break through, but Ajax’s is quite strong and I’m never going to beat a Vampire in a contest of strength without my Armour. Even then, I’m sorry I’m late.”

Jasmine shook her head a little and smiled. “It’s fine.”

Eric smiled back. “You look beautiful.”

Immediately, Jasmine felt her body become flushed and she thought her face had turned bright red.

Even though his compliment had made her happy, it did little to remove the embarrassment to be seen like this in public.

“Thank you,” Jasmine said, her cheeks still flushed and held out a hand to him. “Shall we go?”

Eric blushed back and nodded, taking her hand in his.

I’m sorry Kaida, but don’t worry, it’s not a real date, Jasmine apologised.

***

“You know, after everything that’s happened to me over the last few months, I didn’t think I’d see anything that could possibly surprise me,” Eric said, nodding to himself as he read the sign again. “Visiting the Imperial War Museum on a date, that’s a first.”

“Hey, museums aren’t an abnormal choice for a date,” Jasmine protested, pouting a little. “Anyway, I asked you out so I get to choose where we go and what we do.”

Eric sighed softly, but then smiled. “Fine, shall we get started?”

Jasmine smiled back and took his hand in hers.

As soon as they had bought their tickets and got inside the museum, Jasmine had immediately darted towards any and all exhibits involving firearms. The museum had entire areas dedicated to every major war and conflict that Britain had ever been involved in including: The Blood-Moon Rising, World Wars One, Two and Three, The Age of Demons, and The Colonisation and Breaking of the Great British Empire.

“You really like guns, don’t you?” Eric mused, looking over an antique flintlock in a thick glass case.

“It’s fascinating to see how much they’ve changed since they were first invented,” Jasmine casually replied, closely inspecting a Renaissance era rifle. “It’s always strange to me to think that it took hundreds of years to move from something like this to what we have today, given how quickly new firearms, weapons and technology are created nowadays.”

“Well, they didn’t have all the resources and technology that we do today.”

“I know, but I still find it so bizarre to think about. I wonder if the people who created firearms would react to seeing how much they’ve changed.”

“Who made the first ever firearm?”

“I’m not too sure, to be honest,” Jasmine admitted, standing back up. “Fire lances were probably the first real firearms before flintlocks and muskets, but I don’t think anyone’s technically credited with inventing them.”

“Jasmine, can I ask you something kind of weird?” Eric asked.

“Sure.”

“Why do you like guns so much?”

“Who doesn’t find some type of weapon cool or interesting? Don’t you like swords? It’s sort of like that.”

“I see.”

“That, and I’ve always had one for as long as I can remember,” she mumbled, just loud enough for Eric alone to hear her.

Before Eric could ask her about it, she stepped away, spun around, smiled and said, “Come on, we’ve got a lot more to see before we’re done here.”

***

Once they had spent two hours looking around the museum, they had decided to head out and get something for lunch.

“Ah, I know of a nice place nearby,” Jasmine had said, confidently leading Eric through the streets to the right place.

When they arrived however, both of them had been surprised and both quickly became embarrassed.

It was a cute little café which specialised in cakes which was clearly targeted for a female audience and was dressed up to look as cute as possible. Inside were girls from as young as four to as old as sixteen, some of whom were even in their school uniforms, and the waiters and waitresses were wearing bright pink butler and maid outfits.

“T-This is the place?” Eric asked.

“I-It can’t be!” Jasmine yelled. She took out her phone and a small piece of paper and typed the address she had into her phone. When the search results came back, she simply said, “Ah.” She tightly clutched her phone and grit her teeth. “Elthia…”

Of course, Eric thought.

“We can go somewhere else,” Eric said, smiling awkwardly.

As he tried to walk away, she grabbed his hand and held him in place. “I’ve already been more embarrassed today than I’ve been in my entire life, so this is nothing,” she sternly said, her face bright red.

Seriously, we don’t have to go in! Eric yelled in his head, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“…Have you always wanted to go to one of these places?” He asked. She looked away from him. “I thought so.”

“A-Anyway!” She yelled, marching to the entrance. “We’re here now and everywhere else is busy, and cafes are places people go on dates so this is fine!”

Even though she had said that, Jasmine had still been visibly embarrassed even as they were shown to their seats, more so when a few people began looking at and whispering about them. After quickly ordering the cheapest cakes, they waited in an uncomfortable silence, both equally embarrassed and nervous to try talking to the other.

If Connor ever found out about this, my life would be over!

“Here are your cakes,” The waitress said, placing two cakes which were heavily decorated in pink and white icing, and covered in cute drawings.

Once the waitress had left, Eric and Jasmine slowly cut a piece from their cakes and tried them.

“It’s really good,” Eric said.

“Yeah, it really is,” Jasmine agreed.

“Jasmine.”

“…Yeah?”

“Let’s not tell the others we ever came here.”

“…Yeah.”

***

“Two tickets for ‘The Flaming Embrace’, please,” Jasmine said.

Confused by Jasmine’s choice of film, Eric scratched the back of his head and looked at the poster for the film again.

It was of an attractive Hollywood actor holding an equally attractive Hollywood actress, holding one another in a passionate embrace and both looking at him, a stern and serious expression on their faces.

“A romance film?” He whispered.

“What?” She bent her neck back to look at him. “You don’t like them?”

“It’s not that, I just found it surprising that you wanted to see one is all. You just didn’t seem the type is all.”

“Well, I guess. I haven’t ever seen one before, so-” Jasmine quickly cut herself off and shook her head slightly. “I haven’t seen one in a while, I mean.” She laughed nervously. “Slight slip of the tongue. Anyway, isn’t it standard to watch stuff like romance films on dates?”

“It is, but I don’t think a date which includes a trip to the War Museum counts as a ‘standard’ date.”

They laughed together as the man handed them their tickets. “Want to get anything to eat or drink?”

“I’ll wait until we’re done.”

They went into the theatre, sat down in their seats and, soon afterwards, the film began. While Jasmine was completely into it and enjoying it thoroughly, Eric wasn’t able to completely focus on it as Jasmine’s words from before kept repeating over and over again in his mind.

That didn’t seem like a slip of the tongue earlier, Eric said, frowning a little and glancing over at her. Unlike him, she was smiling and fully invested in the film. How does someone reach our age without ever having watched even one romance film?

What bothered Eric about that was if Jasmine had never had the chance or time to watch even a single romance film in her life, what kind of life must she have been living before she came to Ferris?

***

With a long yawn, Jasmine stretched her arms high above her head, clicking her joints, and let out a small sigh.

“God, that was a long film,” Jasmine complained.

“How comes you didn’t know it was going to be three hours long?” Eric asked through a yawn.

“I’d only heard that it was good! I didn’t hear anything about its runtime.”

“Well, at least it was a good film.”

“Yeah. If it hadn’t, I would be complaining a lot more.”

“Even though you picked it?”

“Shut up.”

They both laughed a bit and held hands again.

By the time they had finished the film, it was around eight in the evening and the early night life in Imperial was fully underway. The streets were filled with people and were lit up by bright lights and signs from the surrounding buildings.

Even though the flow along the streets was fairly fast, Eric still felt a little bit suffocated because of the sheer number of people around him. Even after living in Imperial for his entire life, Eric had always felt uneasy being in crowds and in loud and busy places, more so since he had become one of the main points of attention at Ferris.

“Hey,” Jasmine said, yanking on his arm a little. “Let’s cut through here.”

With a strong pull, Jasmine pulled them into a side alleyway which was dimly lit and swiftly lead Eric through it.

“Where are we going?” Eric asked.

“A shortcut to the restaurant,” Jasmine explained.

“What was wrong with the-?”

“You didn’t like being on the busy streets, right?” Eric went silent. “Even though they’re right next to us, it’s much quieter here, isn’t it?”

He was glad to admit that she was right.

It was much more peaceful in the dank alleyway that they were in now than it was on the streets, and there wasn’t a single person in it apart from them. It was dirtier than the main street and Eric was a little concerned for Jasmine’s nice clothes but, as she didn’t seem to have a problem with it, Eric didn’t mention it.

“Yeah, it is,” he said as Jasmine pulled him around another corner. “Hey Jasmine? When did you even discover this place?”

“Ah, when I first moved here, I spent a few weeks memorising the streets and side alleys in the city, like I was-”

As she looked back at him, blood spewed into her vision.

Eric’s hand slipped through hers and he fell forward, three spouts of blood spitting from his body and, behind him, Jasmine could see a man holding a pistol at them, a silencer on its barrel.

She grit her teeth, scowled and screamed with all of her hatred and fury, “T!”