主妇丈夫倡导的户外生活

Harker 2.0 materialized and thankfully, Joan wasn't able to notice because it was so dark and she was already at the far end of the staircase, her footsteps echoing. She was using a lighter to see inside this secret underground passage.

"Harker, I see a long passage overhead. You coming or what?" She asked from below.

"Yeah, just a moment!" Harker replied.

He communicated with Harker 2.0 telepathically, since they share the same brain anyway.

'Make sure Roland and Mina are safe, but don't let them see you. Eliminate all threats towards them. After that, you merge with me before we all meet up by morning'.

Harker 2.0 just made a cheeky salute. 'Yessir'.

The clone got out of that broken wooden entrance, and wore a devilish grin as he picked up an ax from the display. He opened up his chest cavity, black worms parting to give way for the weapon to be hidden inside.

"Here's Johnny!"

---------------------------

The gala was everything Roland expected it to be.

Wacky outfits, celebrities pretending that they're fashionable and 'to die for', loads of cameras flashing left and right, and loud shitty runway music blaring at the speakers.

A Parisian model was remarking the ingenuity of the 'duck balloon hat' that a rockstar was wearing to promote against climate change, when it's obviously just an excuse to wear something quirky. Couple of young 'celebrities' who were really just nepo babies with nothing to account for their fame were trying to stir things up to gain the media's attention.

His only hope was that he doesn't encounter his fiancee amidst all the chaos. He was already wearing the disguise of a 'bearded paparazzi who's already in his 4th divorce and grown a beard, but maybe he should have pretended to be an old lady like Alejandro just to be sure.

After all, Angela has a very discerning eye. Like a vulture that can quickly spot a carcass from a mile away, she can easily pounce on Roland as long as they're in the same room.

But luckily, Angela seemed busy as she was met with tons of fans, groupies and cameras alike as she made her walk on the red carpet. She'd have to strike a pose and take a picture every three steps, and it would take her forever to reach the area where Roland and Mina were.

"That's her, right?" Mina asked.

"Yes." Roland sighed. "Let's try to keep our distance since I don't need a harpy going after me right now—"

"No. I meant the little girl earlier. Look."

She pointed at the direction of the crowds fawning over Angela MacBheata, and there she was. She was a little hard to spot because of her height, but sure enough, they also saw this 'Uncle Tao' by her side.

"Uncle, Uncle! It's Angela MacBheatha! Oh my god…. She's absolutely stunning as I expected! Her fashion sense is impeccable, truly divine!"

Another man was by her side, probably Clementine from that long fiery orange hair.

"Haha, calling something that's of the material plane as divine would have counted as blasphemy in the olden days, Sasha." He told her.

"Bah! You won't get mardy just for someone using divinity in a non-religious context, would you, Uncle Clem?"

"I am a man of the cloth, after all." He chuckled. "Nah, I'm just messing with you. Do you want Uncle Tao to get you an autograph?"

"Yes, please! Jesus Christ, that would be heavenly!"

Mina watched them vigilantly like a tiger, her eyebrows turning into sharp Vs. When she saw them moving, she moved towards them.

Roland placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, you promised Harker not to get into trouble. We're just spying at them, remember?"

"I'm just making sure I don't lose them." Mina pushed his hand away.

Mina had moved too fast for Roland to catch up in the crowd. Eventually, he was catching his breath as he had to sprint inside this room full of obstacles and sweaty bodies. He did find Mina, but she was too far away.

She was just a row behind the two uncles and the little girl while they watched the runway exhibition by some of those waking 'high fashion' artists.

"Ah, seriously." Roland grumbled. "She's just as stubborn as—"

He felt a presence behind him, almost like someone breathing down his neck. He turned around, but there were too many people around to tell who it was.

But he doesn't think any of them was the one breathing over him like a creep, because he felt it once again.

"Cut it out!" He yelled as he tried to turn quickly to catch this person.

But he didn't, and some of the people busy watching the show looked at him strangely. Roland's jaw clenched, and just as he was about to leave the area…..

"Don't turn around. Don't try to see me."

His eyes widened. Why is he here…..

No. It wasn't him. The voice was the same, the supposed height he should be was also the same, and his overall presence felt the same. But it wasn't him.

"Who are you?" Roland snapped back between gritted teeth.

"Does it matter? I'm not your enemy here. I was sent here to protect you. You can think of me as your guardian angel."

He was whispering right next to his nape. Roland tried to turn around again, but this impostor gripped his shoulders hard to keep him still.

"Don't turn around. Do you know this guy named Orpheus? That man who went to the underworld to see his beloved? All he needed to do was not to turn around, and yet he did. So he lost his beloved forever."

Roland's temple veins pulsed. "I thought you were supposed to be my guardian angel, and yet you're threatening me right now. Just like what you did this morning."

The man chuckled. "Oh, whatever do you mean, Roly-poly? I gave you a flower this morning. How is that a threat?"

Instead of entertaining his games, Roland asked bluntly. "What do you want?"

He could imagine this man wearing a shit-eating grin as he said: "I want what he wants. Whether it was something he was aware of himself or not. I'm his more honest self."

"Honest?" Roland scowled. "You pretended to be him to take advantage of Joan last night, and you're honest?"

"I'm not pretending. I am him, he is me. So you should be grateful. He's bitten more than he can chew, so I'm chewing the rest for him. That way nobody gets left behind and feels lonely…."

He gave Roland a tight bear hug. "Do you feel lonely, Roly-poly~?"

Roland stiffened. "Don't touch me. In fact, don't go near any of us at all. You'll get caught eventually, and thieves get their hands chopped off."

"Thief?"

"I can see through you. You're trying to steal his women from him. I won't let you do the same with Mina."

He suddenly guffawed at this. "Hahaha! I have no interest in that blondie. I don't go for my fellow replicas, I like 'em real and original."

Roland frowned, wanting to punch this guy in the face so bad. "What do you mean by that?"

The impostor spoke in a low, almost secretive tone. "Oh, we both know what I mean. Even a little kid could see it. Only difference between me and her is that she actually has a backstory and a vendetta, but she's just a clone like me either way. In his eyes, it was never 'her'. It's—"

"Shut up!"

He did get quiet for a while. Eventually, he unwrapped his hands around him, and Roland breathed a sigh of relief.

But then he was lifted off the ground and carried past the crowds!

"Hey! What the fuck—"

"They're on the move, and she's going after them." The man laughed as he ran like a maniac. "This is going to be so much fun!"

They soon reached outside the gala and onto what seemed to be a club for the afterparty. The niece was gone, and seemed to be sent out to take the bus back to her house. The only ones left were Tao and Clement, who passed through bodyguards by holding out a ticket.

"Two tickets to Elysium." Clement presented it with a smile.

The guard checked it, then let them in. Roland felt himself being wrapped in black, slimy things bringing him towards the vent….

And found himself inside Elysium, just like that.