” Yo, my man.’ Alac said the moment he picked up his phone, ‘ so what’s up about it.” He said then waited for few seconds.
Anny had no idea on whom he was talking to or what he was talking about and watched him get up and pick his keys.
He was going out again.
Recently he has been going out much to where no one knew of. Anny wondered what he was hiding and why he was always talking in codes whenever he was home.
Was it about the plan? The one he said he would execute on the third moon because it was out already.
Nah! He probably can’t be that cruel, cruel enough to kidnap or kill somebody. Wait but he could. Oh no! Should she shout and inform someone or she could tell Mackie through her thoughts.
She thought.
And he should do what? Confront him?.
The tiny voice antagonized.
Well, maybe, he could stop him from doing any of it.
She replied the voice.
It took a minute and it spoke again.
Anny, when will you stop being gullible and stupid. We both clearly knowaster Alac knows only you heard his plans in the whole of the house. So tell me how you want your death? Skinned or burned alive.
The tiny voice said, making Annabel stop and really think of it.
The voice was right, everything meant death to her.
Okay Anny then you had better keep your mouth shut.
She told herself.
She was starting to think there was more to the voice in her head than normal.
How come it always knew the right thing to say? How come it knew the next thing to expect? Was it the voice of her mother or maybe that of a Guardian Angel.
She asked herself, hoping the voice would reply her and it certainly did.
Oh Anny! One, it’s called common sense so go get some, you should never let your feeling cloud your sense of reasoning. Two, I am so not your mother nor your guardian angel but when the time comes, you will know who I am.
It replied.
” Okay, I will be on my way. Just give me some minutes to catch up with you guys.” Master said and got up to wear his jacked and every other piece of clothing, he needed to not fry outside.
Anny had forgotten he was even in the room. He was going out? This clearly meant she could spend the day with Mackie, talking about last night.
Oh she needed to inform him now.
She placed her hand on her neck but it was empty.
Where could the necklace be? Where had she dropped it?.
She got up and paced around the room, lifting every object she knew could be on it.
Okay, so she went close to the bed and jumped through the window.
She went near her Master’s bed and tried to see if it would be there but it was not in sight.
Or maybe it had fell down while she had jumped.
She thought.
As soon as her Master stepped out, she would have to go check. Hopefully, she prayed he wouldn’t lock her in and he didn’t. She had guessed he was too happy to notice her presence.
Well thank you Luck.
She said.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Anny ran into the garden, the one she had jumped in yesterday and started the search. She had to find the necklace soon. Mackie must clearly be worried sick about her since she left without waking him and he could also start thinking she didn’t care about him anymore.
She moved near the leaves and widened them with her bare hands, ignoring it piercing through her palms.
Nope, not here.
She did same to all the fruit tress in the garden but it wasn’t there. She got scared as to maybe someone from the house picked it and it would be dangerous. How was she supposed to explain to them that it belonged to her when clearly all their belonging were snatched and kept before being sold out.
You have to find it Anny, you just have to.
She told herself.
Wait! Maybe it got off while she jumped off and hung on one of the windows.
She brought her head up, ignoring the hotness of the sun on her forehead. Looking through a hold she made with her right fingers, hoping it would make the object appear closer.
Humm.
She murmured as she searched with her eyes.
Nope, not there also.
Could it be that she had lost it in there park or maybe when they had made love?.
She paused and blushed, her checks turning red.
Get your acts together young lady and look for the necklace.
The tiny voice said.
Anny could totally picture the voice as a human. She would be nosy with a mean look and probably finding her arms while scolding her after every talk. That aside, she had forgotten to check the scene.
She crawled past the mango tree, making way to the park.
” Child.”
Anny froze and looked back, it was Number 2 and she was busy with the fruits, putting them in a basket she had on the grass. Geez!
How could she have forgotten that Number 2 plucks fruits every morning for the Master especially Master Malburt whom likes fresh fruit juice.
” Mamito.” She said and moved closer to her, giving her a hug.
She was so happy to see Mamito was fine but this wasn’t the right time to.
” Little Kid.’ She said and smiled, rubbing Anny’s head. ‘ Where were you off to?.” She asked, curious about why she had being in such haste to not notice her presence.
” Humm, humm, Mamito, actually I was doing an exercise.” She lied.
How was she supposed to explain it all to her in a way that it wouldn’t sound odd and weird or totally unbelievable.
” Really, an exercise? In the garden?. ‘ Number 2 asked, finding it hard to believe her. The Anny she knew never did exercises and would never use the garden for it. She was puzzled about what she was hiding to make her lie to her Mamito. ‘ What happened to Master Alac’s room.” She asked, wanting to know how far she would push through with the lies.
Anny was clearly hiding something and Number 2 was sure of it. First she stayed out all night by walking through an unlocked door now she lies about having an exercise in the garden. She hoped whatever it was she was hiding wouldn’t put her in more trouble or worst still claim her life.
Please save her soul. My poor little girl, she must clearly be going through much.
” Actually Mamito, I just thought a nice view of the park, I mean the garden would do some magic.” She lied and wished Number 2 would believe it and stop pestering her. It was starting to piss her off, as much as she liked her caring for her, this was just too much and she doubted she would be able to lie further.
Calm down Anny, remember she saved your flat ass.
The tiny voice said.
” Okay child but we really need to talk once I’m done with the chores okay. You have got some explanation to do Kiddo so think about them.” She said and focused on what she was doing.
Oh my! Things were about to get heated. She had clearly tried to avoid this, the whole talk. How many more lues was she supposed to come up with when she even had no idea what Mamito would ask.
She asked, hoping the rude voice would come up with an idea to save her ass but nopr, it was as silent as the dead.
” Okay Mamito, I will be in my room.” She said and crawled back into her Master’s room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It had been thirty minutes since they had breakfast and Annabel laid back in the room hoping Number 2 would forget the talk and move pass it. Mackie had asked that his meal be delivered to his room by one of the pets.
Guess he was tired too. Anny was also tired that she drifted off to sleep.
” Anny.’ A voice said, shaking her to jolt her back to reality. It continued for some seconds as she was too tired to respond. She finally opened her eyes and saw Number 2 above her, wearing a smile. ‘ Of little kid. You must be so tired. What have you been up doing, kneesing all your energy?.” She sounded concerned.
” I’m fine Mamito.” She said and got up on her knees.
Time for the talk Anny.
The voice sahoe
” Let’s go to our part of the house. It seems Master might be back home late today and the others are cleaning up the house, I want us to have a private talk.” She said ad helped her up.
Time to confess Anny, time to spill out the truth to her.
The voice told her.
Anny knew she had no choice but to say the truth since Number 2 wouldn’t give up that easily and she had saved her the other morning.
They walked into the room and Number 2 shut the door behind her.
” So child, start spilling it all out. First you spend the night out then you claimed to be exercising in the garden and I almost need to know how you were able to walk through a closed door.” She said and sat close to Anny, holding her hand and staring into her eyes. She knew it would be hard and difficult to lie to her eyeball to eyeball.
Anny thought about it for a while, she had no idea how and when to start from.
Could she confide in her? What would be Mackie’s expression once he found out, she spilled everything to Number 2? Could the necklace be with her, was that why she want to know so badly? Or she just cares enough to want to?.
A thousand thoughts ran through Annabel’s mind. If only she had her necklace with her, maybe she would have asked Mackie first.
Here you go Anny, spill it all out cause you have no choice.
Annabel knew the voice was right, she really had no choice. Growing up she always found it difficult to lie not to talk more staring into Number 2’s eyes while she did.
” Hummm Mamito, I don’t know where to start from.” She said, wishing Number 2 would just give up but no she didn’t. She had her head bent on knowing the truth.
” Just start from anywhere my child, I will definitely understand. ”
” Humm.’ she paused then continued, ‘ it all started when i had a dream Mamito, Master Mackie was in it. Almost every night he would appear and we would talk.” She stopped to watch NUmber 2’s expression.
” Go on my child, I’m all ears.” She assured her even though she found it hard to believe.
” At first I thought it was all a dream but one night he gave me a necklace that enabled us to read each other’s mind and I lost it.”
” Oh child, was that what you were looking for in the garden this morning? Why did you think it would be there.” She asked, curious if her Master had snatched it and thrown it out.
” Yes Mamito, actually the other night. Hummm Mackie asked me to jump down from the window and he caught me before I landed so I thought it might have fallen while I was jumping.” She finished and Number 2’s eyes widened.
She thought of things that could happened to Anny if he hadn’t caught her.