“Um…( glancing at Nickolai ) I…” He cut me off by saying, “She saved me from getting killed” Everyone snapped their heads towards me, I nervously stared at them.
“You saved him?” Darwin asked me with curiosity evident in his eyes.
“No… I just convinced him not to shoot Nickolai that’s it” I said, almost like a whisper.
Darwin and Alan looked at each other with a slight smirk at their lips and Flora had a slight smile on her lips. Even Penelope was smiling while glancing at Nickolai. All this confused me, “Is everything alright?” I asked, looking at everyone.
“Oh! Don’t worry Everything is fine dear,” said Penelope, while looking at Nickolai who was quietly having his breakfast. I turned my head and had my breakfast quietly. This was the awkward breakfast that I ever had in my life. No one spoke anything at all, everyone just had their breakfast and left for their work.
****
I was sitting in my room, Staring at Dimitri who was busy with his tail.
**Knock***
I looked up to see Penelope standing with a smile on her face.
“Please, come in” I don’t know why but she has something in her which makes a person comfortable with her. She smiled and walked to me while sitting at the edge of my bed she glanced at Dimitri and said, “Why is he following you?”
I sighed and told her the back story of me and Dimitri, she started laughing out loud after hearing my sad story. “I’m so sorry, I can’t control myself,” she said in between her laughs.
After laughing her heart out, she composed herself and asked: “How did you end up here anyway?”
And this one question has brought all those memories back to me and all of a sudden tears started to roll in my eyes. She noticed it and said “if you don’t want to say it please don’t” I turned my head to look at her and in her eyes I can see her concern.
“Some other time,” I said and for that, she nodded her head. “Okay then, Let me show our Island Come on,” she said while standing up from my bed and pulling me with her.
“Okay, okay,” I said laughing while she pulled me with her. We walked out of the mansion and she turned me around. Looking at the mansion my mouth literally dropped to the ground.
The mansion loomed proudly in front me, flanked by rows of trees crowned in crimson, swaying gently to the chilly autumn wind. At its threshold stood the delicate marble fountain, the soft gurgling of the clear water melodic as it resonated in the surrounding silence. It was so beautiful to look at. It was a very big mansion with three floors and which had a big garden and a swimming pool and a big garage. “Come let’s sit here!” She said leading to a bench which was in the middle of the garden. We walked there and sat down.
“Tell me more about you Venessa I really wanna know about you,” she said with curiosity.
“I..” She cut off by saying “oh wait let me bring coffee and continue this” she got up and started walking towards the main door.
I rubbed my hands on my thighs and stood up from the bench, the cool morning breeze hit my face making my black hair move back from my neck bones. I slowly walked towards the way in front of me which leads towards the backyard of the mansion. The sunlight was dim on this side of the mansion because of the tall trees covering the mansion from every side. The sound of my steps was combined with the sounds of the birds humming and singing on the trees which gave me a countryside feeling.
It somehow relaxed me more and more. Hearing the sounds of nature I walked and walked into the route which was leading me deep into the forest, there were no other thoughts in my head. While I’m walking into this unknown place. I began to hear the sound of waves coming from the other side of the forest, I concentrated on the sound of the waves and walked more into the forest.
I walked and walked into the forest until I heard a sound of multiple footsteps. I stopped and looked around and realized I walked into the deep forest and I don’t know the way back home. Before I could react I heard footsteps again, I turned around to see someone walking on my right side straight into the forest, I curiously walked behind him.
This man walked and walked into the forest, I was following him very carefully, without him noticing me. He reached some men there in the middle of the forest. Among those three men, two of them were dressed in a black suit and they looked like bodyguards. I stepped closer and hid behind a tall and thick tree in front of me. The bodyguards were guarding a person who was standing in between the bodyguards but he was a few meters away from the bodyguards and they were behind him. One of the bodyguards was blocking the middle person. It was difficult to get a glimpse of the person they were guarding. The man I followed walked to the bodyguards and reached the man who was blocking the middle person.
He said something to that bodyguard and stood behind in the middle, that bodyguard walked to the middle person and said something in his ear. That middle person nodded to him and then the bodyguard walked back and stood in his place but a few meters behind in the place where he stood before this led me to see the person in the middle and it’s none other than Nickolai, standing straight with his hands in his pockets. I can see him waiting for someone because of the way they are standing and that also in a place like this, where no one could see them. It gave me the idea that this is something that Nickolai wanted to hide from us and maybe this is important or something illegal. The idea gave me chills.
Then I heard multiple footsteps coming from the other side from where I was hiding, I moved back and saw three more men walking in black clothing towards Nickolai. While the three were walking towards Nickolai suddenly the two men from either side stopped but the middle man walked straight towards Nickolai and grabbed the collar of his white shirt. I moved closer and put my both hands on either side of the tree to get a closer picture of the man who grabbed the collar of Nickolai, but the bodyguard was blocking the face of the man. The sun rays were falling on the bodyguard’s face resulting in him moving back a little bit and because of that movement, I got a glimpse of the man who grabbed the collar of Nickolai. And my breathing stopped, the pressure of my hands on the tree increased, tears rolled in my eyes while my heartbeat, increased like in any movement it may explode out of my ribcage. Staring at that person unknowingly my lips moved and whispered,
“Lorenzo”