07-06-2020, 08:27 PM
Part One of the story of Olivia Pierre is available in Secrets of the Council.
Middle Of Nowhere (Olivia Pierre Part 2)
Residence of Flora Alvarez, Sister of the Prime Minister
6th June 2020, afternoon
Flora Alvarez wasn’t much like her younger sister. Flora was incredibly shy, and loathed the spotlight. When her sister had begun her rise in politics, a journalist turned up at Flora’s house causing her to relocate her family to a farmhouse in Melissa province, which bordered the forest and was only accessible up an ancient dirt track. She was a rather eccentric woman, and shunned the existence of the internet, meaning her property was exceptionally cut off from the outside world.
Her eldest son had gone to live with his uncle when he turned sixteen as a result, which had hurt Flora, but only made her double down on her beliefs. She still had two other children, though her husband had left a long time ago and taken the youngest with him. The middle child, Alex, was the only one who liked the lifestyle his mother wished to lead, and thus the pair were exceptionally close, much to the distress of child services, which kept a close eye on the household.
The best way to reach Flora was on an aging landline with a curly cable which sat collecting dust in a corner in the kitchen. She used no answering service, and spent much of the time outdoors, so it was a rare occasion that someone could actually speak with Flora Alvarez, especially her sister, who she refused to speak to on the grounds of a conspiracy theory that Josephine was allowing foreign technology companies to brainwash children.
On this day, however, the caller chose the right moment, when Flora was baking a loaf of bread – shop-bought loaves contained mind-altering chemicals in Flora’s opinion – to dial the number of the aging device. Grumbling and washing her hands to rid them of the smattering of flower that had covered them, Flora narrowed her eyes at the phone and snatched it off the hook.
“If you are a spam caller you should know my lawyer has already sued ten of you this year,” Flora lied in Spanish as she answered the phone.
“Hello, is this Flora Alvarez?” responded a voice in English after a pause.
“Yes, this is she,” Flora replied in the same language. “Why would someone who does not speak Spanish call me?”
“Forgive me, I got your number from… well, it’s kind of a long story. Look, I’m going to be brief. My name is Emma Woodward, I am the personal secretary of Councillor Jennifer Hale of Kerlile. We have reason to believe that three very important Kerlians have headed to your location, one of whom is a child. They wish to speak with the Prime Minister and are going through you. If this happens it will jeopardise…”
Flora slammed down the phone before Emma could finish, and promptly yanked the cable out of the wall.
“ALEX!” she screamed up the stairs. “KERLIANS! KERLIANS ARE COMING HERE! GET THE EMERGENCY BAGS!”
There was a commotion through the house as Flora and her son began hurriedly grabbing bags and throwing them into her aging car. It was common in that area to fear Kerlians, but Flora’s terror was on another level. During the war, people had come to her house despite the dirt track, to interrogate her about her sister, and they had threatened her with Kerlian interrogation. She’d thrown up.
When the car was packed, she took a hammer out of the shed, and destroyed the fuse box for her electricity. After all, she reasoned, electricity is how they spy on you. So, there mustn’t be any electricity in the vicinity (aside from the car battery, but that was needed to escape, or else bad things would happen). Then, she got in the car, and sped down the track, heading for the road south, as far from Kerlile as she could get.
*
“She hung up on me,” Emma Woodward reported to Councillor Hale.
“That was to be expected,” shrugged Jennifer. “From what Josephine told me, Flora was not particularly sane. If they were indeed heading there, I’d fear for their safety. That call was mainly to scare her away from her own property to prevent her from hurting them if they should show up at the door.”
“I’m surprised there’s not more in the news. Surely if three heirs to Council seats showed up in Lauchenoiria it would be in the news,” Emma frowned.
“Either they weren’t detected crossing the border, or…” Jennifer hesitated.
“Or?”
“Or the Lauchenoirian authorities have them and aren’t telling us. If that’s the case, I worry about the health of Xia’s baby. She’s already been detained far too much during this pregnancy. Let’s hope the Lauchenoirian border guards are just incompetent.”
“Yes, let’s hope,” agreed Emma.
*
“I’m sorry,” Olivia Pierre said for the twentieth time that hour. Xia remained silent, stroking her sleeping daughter’s face as she stared at the wall. “Come on, I didn’t know they’d detain us. It was very unlikely they’d detain us.”
Silence.
“They won’t keep us here for very long, Lauchenoiria has laws against this kind of thing… come on Xia, speak to me. I know you’re upset, but I just can’t see Alvarez doing anything bad to us. This is just a precaution, to make sure we didn't forge the documents. The Aurora thing had them all in a panic, they'll let us out once they've verified it... please, Xia..."
Olivia slumped down, and put her head in her hands. She could only hope that she spoke the truth when she tried to comfort Xia. Truthfully, though, Olivia was far less certain...
Middle Of Nowhere (Olivia Pierre Part 2)
Residence of Flora Alvarez, Sister of the Prime Minister
6th June 2020, afternoon
Flora Alvarez wasn’t much like her younger sister. Flora was incredibly shy, and loathed the spotlight. When her sister had begun her rise in politics, a journalist turned up at Flora’s house causing her to relocate her family to a farmhouse in Melissa province, which bordered the forest and was only accessible up an ancient dirt track. She was a rather eccentric woman, and shunned the existence of the internet, meaning her property was exceptionally cut off from the outside world.
Her eldest son had gone to live with his uncle when he turned sixteen as a result, which had hurt Flora, but only made her double down on her beliefs. She still had two other children, though her husband had left a long time ago and taken the youngest with him. The middle child, Alex, was the only one who liked the lifestyle his mother wished to lead, and thus the pair were exceptionally close, much to the distress of child services, which kept a close eye on the household.
The best way to reach Flora was on an aging landline with a curly cable which sat collecting dust in a corner in the kitchen. She used no answering service, and spent much of the time outdoors, so it was a rare occasion that someone could actually speak with Flora Alvarez, especially her sister, who she refused to speak to on the grounds of a conspiracy theory that Josephine was allowing foreign technology companies to brainwash children.
On this day, however, the caller chose the right moment, when Flora was baking a loaf of bread – shop-bought loaves contained mind-altering chemicals in Flora’s opinion – to dial the number of the aging device. Grumbling and washing her hands to rid them of the smattering of flower that had covered them, Flora narrowed her eyes at the phone and snatched it off the hook.
“If you are a spam caller you should know my lawyer has already sued ten of you this year,” Flora lied in Spanish as she answered the phone.
“Hello, is this Flora Alvarez?” responded a voice in English after a pause.
“Yes, this is she,” Flora replied in the same language. “Why would someone who does not speak Spanish call me?”
“Forgive me, I got your number from… well, it’s kind of a long story. Look, I’m going to be brief. My name is Emma Woodward, I am the personal secretary of Councillor Jennifer Hale of Kerlile. We have reason to believe that three very important Kerlians have headed to your location, one of whom is a child. They wish to speak with the Prime Minister and are going through you. If this happens it will jeopardise…”
Flora slammed down the phone before Emma could finish, and promptly yanked the cable out of the wall.
“ALEX!” she screamed up the stairs. “KERLIANS! KERLIANS ARE COMING HERE! GET THE EMERGENCY BAGS!”
There was a commotion through the house as Flora and her son began hurriedly grabbing bags and throwing them into her aging car. It was common in that area to fear Kerlians, but Flora’s terror was on another level. During the war, people had come to her house despite the dirt track, to interrogate her about her sister, and they had threatened her with Kerlian interrogation. She’d thrown up.
When the car was packed, she took a hammer out of the shed, and destroyed the fuse box for her electricity. After all, she reasoned, electricity is how they spy on you. So, there mustn’t be any electricity in the vicinity (aside from the car battery, but that was needed to escape, or else bad things would happen). Then, she got in the car, and sped down the track, heading for the road south, as far from Kerlile as she could get.
*
“She hung up on me,” Emma Woodward reported to Councillor Hale.
“That was to be expected,” shrugged Jennifer. “From what Josephine told me, Flora was not particularly sane. If they were indeed heading there, I’d fear for their safety. That call was mainly to scare her away from her own property to prevent her from hurting them if they should show up at the door.”
“I’m surprised there’s not more in the news. Surely if three heirs to Council seats showed up in Lauchenoiria it would be in the news,” Emma frowned.
“Either they weren’t detected crossing the border, or…” Jennifer hesitated.
“Or?”
“Or the Lauchenoirian authorities have them and aren’t telling us. If that’s the case, I worry about the health of Xia’s baby. She’s already been detained far too much during this pregnancy. Let’s hope the Lauchenoirian border guards are just incompetent.”
“Yes, let’s hope,” agreed Emma.
*
“I’m sorry,” Olivia Pierre said for the twentieth time that hour. Xia remained silent, stroking her sleeping daughter’s face as she stared at the wall. “Come on, I didn’t know they’d detain us. It was very unlikely they’d detain us.”
Silence.
“They won’t keep us here for very long, Lauchenoiria has laws against this kind of thing… come on Xia, speak to me. I know you’re upset, but I just can’t see Alvarez doing anything bad to us. This is just a precaution, to make sure we didn't forge the documents. The Aurora thing had them all in a panic, they'll let us out once they've verified it... please, Xia..."
Olivia slumped down, and put her head in her hands. She could only hope that she spoke the truth when she tried to comfort Xia. Truthfully, though, Olivia was far less certain...
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax