Olivia’s POV
“If you want to know more, I will take you to a place,” the woman started, but I was already shaking my head before she could continue.
“If there’s anything you know, you should tell me now.” Although she looked weak, I couldn’t leave here with a stranger.
“If we really must go, you would have to follow our team.”
The woman’s eyes widened into saucers.
“No…no…”
“I can’t leave here in a grand way. If I do, I will never see another day.”
Seeing the fear in her eyes made me worried and I looked around.
“I, Ophena, worked my whole life for your family. It’s fine if you don’t trust me, but if I die, there will be no one to wipe their grave when the weather changes.”
As tears rolled down her eyes, pity gripped my heart, and I nodded.
“How far is this place?” I finally asked.
“Well, if we pass the back route, we should be there in half an hour. I often walk the entire distance since I sneak out only at night. But today…”
After listening to her detailed explanation of how we would sneak out, I decided to trust her. Mrs Ophena grabbed a bag and threw some items inside before leading the way.
We went through the route I had passed the other time and eventually took a different staircase.
The back of the inn was busy, with many staff members moving around, but Mrs Ophena clearly knew her way around because we finally moved away from the inn into another alley without anyone noticing us.
I glanced back at the inn, feeling a little guilty that I was leaving without informing Andre or anyone from our team.
However, as long as I saw the route, all I needed next was to rush back and then take them there the next time.
This could lead me to know my family and maybe find some more clues about Papa.
As we walked off, I asked her some questions and asked if she had seen Papa around.
“Hmmm, it’s possible that I might have met this person. However…” she paused and took a deep breath.
“We are not allowed to speak about our customers with other customers.”
“If you didn’t look like her so much…” very quickly, her brown eyes teared up again, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of closeness with her.
Just how well did she know my mom?
“My mom…what was she like?” I couldn’t help but ask, and Mrs Ophena smiled as she looked at me.
“She was perfect. Like a goddess walking the face of this earth…”
Up until we hitched a ride on a bus, Mrs Ophena kept talking about my mom and a part of me couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of loss.
To think that I had such a mother but had to deal with Nicole for so many years.
Growing up, I had always felt inadequate because of how Nicole treated me.
Always hard to work hard to earn a smile or even a glance from her.
Because of her, my insecurities kept me from making friends in my old pack, and I stuck to Papa all the time.
But now, knowing what I missed out on, I was even more determined to find out everything that happened.
If they were dead, I needed to know what or who killed them.
“We are here,” Ophena announced, pulling me out of my thoughts.
As we alighted from the bus, I couldn’t help but wrap my arms around myself as I felt like the entire place was a little creepy.
It was clearly a land mass that spanned into the distance. Of course, apart from the building we were standing in front of, there was no way to tell that these things were all connected. The only distinct feature was that they were all ruins.
All of them showed signs of having held buildings that had been brought down.
The entire place also reeked of abandonment.
“You know, they didn’t even have a proper graveyard,” Ophena said with tears already streaming down her eyes.
“What happened here?” I finally managed to find words, my heart heavy at the clear wreckage that had been done here.
It was hard to tell how long it had been, but the destruction could not be hidden. It was everywhere, and somehow, I felt like I could sense some darkness and gloom hovering around.
“It’s a long story… a story I don’t want to tell.”
Ophena moved forward and walked towards the building that was still standing.
I didn’t follow her immediately, and I stood there, still taking things in.
Although I had never been here before, I couldn’t help but feel a strong connection to this place.
Something here called to me.
After some seconds, I hurried after her, entering the dilapidated house.
The entire place was in ruins but there was a clear path, most likely a sign of Ophena constantly coming around.
I saw her at the end of the hallway, standing in front of what looked like an altar, and several pictures were hanging around.
However, the largest of them was of the woman who looked so much like me.
As I stood there, an intense stirring filled my entire being a rush of energy moved through my entire body and made me fall to my knees.
“Home,” Nima echoed in my head, and I held my head.
“What’s happening to me?” I asked in confusion while holding my head.
Not getting any reply, I looked up and turned to look at Ophena, “what’s happening to me?”
Ophena looked down at me, and the warm and sad smile that I had seen on her face for the last two hours was gone; instead, a sinister and scheming smile hung on her face.
Her eyes glowed bright, and I crawled backwards, trying to strengthen my bones so that I could stand up.
“Silly.” Nima cursed, and at that moment, I finally accepted that we were not a team.
“What.. what are you trying to do?” I finally managed to ask as Ophena closed the gap between us.
Her lips curled into a wider smile, and she clapped her palms together.
“There, there, princess. You shall know soon.”