Charlie and Samantha weren't as leisurely as the girls. The two were full of love, working hard every night trying for a baby. They were currently in the stage of saving money and working hard, so they certainly couldn't just jaunt off on a vacation.
"There's so much work at the precinct, we definitely can't go. And it's not safe for two girls to go to Paris!" Charlie stated his opposition clearly.
Samantha held a similar view. "It is a bit far. Why don't you go to New York instead?"
Mom and Dad both thought this trip was too far. Bella was eighteen and had full legal capacity, but Natasha was a bit younger. Legally speaking, she needed her parents' written consent to go abroad.
What's so great about New York anyway? Bella didn't want to backpack to New York only to spend her holiday fighting gangsters and various villains. She shook her head repeatedly, refusing firmly.
Natasha pestered and pleaded. After three days, she finally persuaded her biological mother to agree to the Paris trip. With Mom handled, she dragged Bella along, and the two begged together. Charlie, the stepfather, was no longer an issue.
"Actually, staying away from Los Angeles and the Zodiac Killer is a good thing. Paris is much safer than Los Angeles," Bella argued, bringing up the likely-dead serial killer as a talking point.
Charlie and Samantha pondered it. Seems to make sense? Going abroad for a holiday did seem like a good thing. So, they happily agreed.
Before leaving, Bella made arrangements for the ghosts in her house. After three months of recuperation, Shaw (the truck ghost) and Pyramid Head had returned to normal.
Pyramid Head had a contractual summon relationship with Bella; he was on call and nothing to worry about. This hunk was also extremely reclusive. If not ordered or provoked, he could stand like a statue for ten days straight.
Shaw was different. This female ghost had experienced the baptism of gunfire in Silent Hill, and her mindset had completely changed. In her words: The world is so big, I want to go look at it.
To look at it from a different perspective, with a different state of mind.
Go if you want. She had the pickup truck for transport anyway. As long as she didn't expose her spirit body, she could stay in the car even during the day.
The relationship with Shaw was somewhere between guest and friend. Bella had no binding force over her; she could only admonish her not to hurt people, and that was that.
As for the little ghost girl Violet, she continued to stay at home. Bella left the manuscript of The Da Vinci Code—which she had written over the semester, totaling 250,000 words—for the little ghost. If you're bored, read the book. While you're at it, help me check for typos...
With the house arranged, Bella began preparing for the trip. She brought a lot of skincare products, but there wasn't much else to prepare.
Firearms were definitely a no-go. Whether it was a rocket launcher or a small pistol, none could be brought onto a plane. The two could only secretly leave their various weapons and equipment at home and walk into the airport with their suitcases.
"To the Seine! To see the Eiffel Tower! The Arc de Triomphe!" Natasha chirped, her voice bubbling with excitement.
"To the Louvre! To the Musée de l'Orangerie to see Monet's Water Lilies!" Bella's words were full of artistic flair.
Paris receives 42 million tourists annually, and American tourists account for at least one-fifth of them.
There were many people going to Paris at the airport. Many needed to go with tour groups because they didn't understand French.
Bella and Natasha had absolutely no language barriers.
The little beauty had chosen French as her foreign language class in high school. Bella, needless to say, had now mastered English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Latin—and that's not even counting the language of a certain country you're not supposed to mention.
From an ordinary person's perspective, she was a solid straight-A student. Conducting daily conversations in French was no problem at all, which was a major reason Charlie and Samantha felt reassured.
As their parents put it: If you run into trouble, go to the embassy for help. Bella and Natasha were quite perfunctory about this advice.
The two waved goodbye to Charlie and Samantha and slowly walked into LAX.
It was peak holiday season. The Zodiac Killer had made many girls uneasy and anxious all day long. For self-defense, tasers on the market were sold out. After all, not every girl could pull a pistol and a silencer out of her bag.
For ordinary people, a frantic serial killer wandering the city was a terrifying thing. Letting their daughters travel with classmates during the holiday was the common wish of these parents.
The airport was crowded, mostly with girls, the majority being in Bella and Natasha's age group.
When it came to flying, Bella was still a little worried.
She craned her neck and looked around. Looks okay. She didn't detect any anomalies.
No Death Premonitions, no bearded Middle Eastern men, and no spirits haunting the vicinity.
Finally, she whispered to Natasha, "Do you know how to use a parachute?"
"I do."
"Great! You have to hold me tight when the time comes; we are sisters, after all!" Bella looked delighted, only to receive a massive eye-roll in return.
"I have no blood relation to you."
"Don't say that; it breaks my heart."
Less than five minutes later, Bella asked again, "Do you know how to fly this kind of civilian airliner?"
"Cut the crap! Flying is very safe!"
Another five minutes passed, and Bella worried again: "How about we take a boat? Let me tell you, I'm really good at swimming!"
Natasha: "..."
The two boarded the plane. Bella still cared about her image in front of others; she didn't want passersby to see her anxiety, so she wore a calm and composed expression.
"Hi! Can we switch seats? My friend happens to be sitting next to your friend," a black-haired girl said to Bella, pointing at the seats.
Bella and Natasha were separated by the aisle, so talking was indeed inconvenient. She looked at the seats. The black-haired girl's seat was on the other side of the aisle, right next to Natasha, while Bella was sitting next to a blonde girl—most likely her friend.
"Sure." It was convenient for others and convenient for herself; there was no reason to refuse. Bella swapped seats with the black-haired girl.
The black-haired girl extended her hand to introduce herself: "Kim."
"Bella."
Natasha, who was casual with family but always cool with outsiders, didn't want to get to know these strangers. She just nodded as a greeting.
The black-haired girl, Kim, wasn't very extroverted either. She gave a sweet smile and returned to her seat.
In contrast, her companion was extremely enthusiastic. She waved to the two across the aisle: "Hi, I'm Amanda. You guys are going to Paris for a vacation too, right? Want to go together? I can introduce you to some handsome Parisian guys!"
This Amanda spoke with dancing eyebrows and radiant delight, bluffing and blustering—screaming pure "dumb American teen" energy.