Olivia’s POV
I was up a bit late the next morning. Alvida had made me train late into the evening for hours at a time. I had improved, but I burned out easily.
Breakfast was ready by the time I had dragged myself from the bathroom and downstairs. Sephora was helping set the table. I looked at her neck again. She had a new mark on her neck. The last one had faded.
I looked at her suspiciously.
“Oh, sorry.”
Pierre bumped into her as he brought the steaming plate of bacon. He also had a matching one on his neck.
My eyes were wide. The two of them…
“Woah!”
I was pulled in close and Andre stealthily stole a kiss from me. I was flushed as he pulled away. Alvida gave a small smile and went back into the kitchen.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
He didn’t even let me answer and kissed me again. He pulled me in deeper. The passion gushing from him was overwhelming. I could feel the way his hands circled me. He was fighting hard, keeping himself from ripping off my clothes and taking me right there at the table.
I bit my bottom lip once he pulled away. I would have loved that. When was the last time I had him buried deep inside of me?
The realisation of the waiting glares made me peel off his chest, and my face flushed harder.
We all sat at the table together. It was like having a meal with my family: my new family.
“I am so hungry.”
My stomach growled, and I felt no shame. Sephora smiled and passed me a large plate of food.
“You should eat up. You really burned yourself out last night. I thought I was a tough tutor, but Miss Alvida here seems to take it to a whole new level.”
Alvida gave a weak smile and ate silently.
I smiled as well and ate, trying my best not to get caught in Andre’s disarming stare.
The bacon and pancakes were wonderful. I looked at Alvida and Sephora and tried to guess which of them had made them.
Alvida was the first to put down her cutlery. Her grey eyes stared at me, and I was immediately agitated.
I couldn’t eat. My appetite had vanished, and I set my fork and knife down as well.
“Olivia, I want to take you somewhere: To your parents’ house and their graves. As a daughter of Solvan, I believe that it is only right that you reconnect with the land from which you came.”
My heart skipped a beat. Everyone at the table paused for a while. The clattering of the utensils against the plates disappeared.
My heart raced. See my parents’ home? Their graves?
My hands began to shake as I mulled it over. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to see all that. What if I couldn’t handle it?
I looked at Andre, hoping to see an answer in his eyes, but his green irises gave nothing away. I was alone. This was entirely my decision.
I gulped. I knew what Jonas’ family had done to my family. I knew that he was a traitor. I had befriended the murderer of my family.
Shame clouded me, and tears came to my eyes.
Maybe I was a traitor too. Maybe reconnecting with my family even though they were dead would help me.
My thoughts fell deeper. In a way, their death was all my fault. They had tried their best to save me, and it orchestrated their downfall. They gave up their lives for me.
My expression became stern, and I stared back at Alvida
“Let’s go. I want to see them. I want to see my parents…”
******************************************************
The car drive was silent. Andre took a handful of men. Pierre, Sephora, Alvida, Andre, and I drove in one car, and the men followed in the other. Andre had instructed them not to tail us so close from behind so that we wouldn’t attract attention.
I sat beside Andre, shivering. The uncertainty of what I would see rattled my bones and plagued my mind.
I didn’t even realise that my fingers were shaking until Andre slipped his hand into mine and squeezed affectionately.
I looked up at him, and his green eyes told me not to worry. I hit my lower lip and rested my head on his chest. His beating heart gave me solace, his hair in my hands made me feel protected, and my head was peppered with kisses.
I blushed and sunk deeper into him.
“You are going to be alright. I’m here with you…”
“We are here.”
Alvida’s voice was cold and sad. My heart skipped a beat. I was teetering over the edge of a mild heart attack.
We pulled up in front of…nothing.
It was a clearing with a few trees scattered about. I looked around anxiously. Where was this?
I was about to ask Alvida, but she got out and began to walk towards the neighbouring forest. I was confused and hesitant to follow her. Is something like this what happened with Ophina?
Alvida didn’t stop, and soon, she disappeared into the forest. I didn’t think again and jumped out to follow her.
Everyone else followed me and we trudged after Alvida. The forest was dark and thick; it looked nothing like the outside. I sniffed the air; Alvida was not too far from…
I paused.
My eyes grew wide. Right in front of me was the familiar wreckage, or at least that is what it looked like.
There was burnt wood and bricks lying on the ground that was slowly being reclaimed by nature.
The wood boards that I saw were soggy and had mushrooms growing from them. There was even a little tree in the centre.
“Alvida is over there.”
Sephora pointed to her, and I turned my head. She was at the far end of the wreckage, kneeling, apparently looking at something.
“Olivia, wait…”
Andre called out to me, but it was too late; I had already begun to skip over to her.
I soon reached her side, and as soon as I did, she stood up and stood beside me.
My eyes finally saw what she was looking at: there were two gravestones, pristinely polished, like someone had been coming over to make sure that they hadn’t faded from the elements.
The engravings stared at me; I fell to my knees.
Here lies the beautiful souls of Grayson and Maria Solvan. Their sacrifice and kindness will always be remembered.
“I found your mum and dad in the wreckage. After the genocide, The Reiss set the place ablaze. Your father was badly wounded and had used his dying breath to save his wife from the fire. When I saw him, he was unrecognisable, and your mother was also about to breathe her last. She asked that I bury their bodies here, away from public view and close to their home.”
I felt a tear drop from my eyes. I fingered the flower that lay there. They looked like they had been changed a few days ago.
“I have been coming here every week since their death to clean the grave and pray that their heir was safe. I seemed to have forgotten to bring a change of flowers.”
I ignored everything that she said and continued to stare at the grave. I felt other people around me, and I knew that they were watching me.
My eyes were transfixed on their names. My father died trying to save his dying wife, my mother. I could only imagine how much he loved her.
The tears fell even more. I couldn’t speak, and when I did try, only a hoarse, croaky groan came out of my mouth.
I was shattered. Jonas was a monster! I couldn’t believe I had thought of him as a friend.
I felt a hand on my shoulder: It was Andre.
“Olivia, don’t worry. We are going to make sure that they pay for everything that they do. I promise you that.”
I thought I would feel comfortable by his words but I only felt angrier.
“Don’t touch me!”
I shrugged him off, and he let go. I turned to see the shock in his eyes.
“That won’t bring them back from the dead! Revenge on Jonas and his family won’t turn back time!”
Andre looked distressed. He took a step closer.
“Olivia, I understand…”
“You understand nothing! Go away!”
My voice echoed eerily through the trees. I felt overwhelmed and I heard the rustling of footsteps.
I looked away from Andre and saw everyone else taking steps back, withdrawing from me. Their eyes were a ghostly white.
Once they were a considerable distance, they stopped and seemed to awaken from a trance.
Murmurs of ‘what happened’ and ‘how did we get here’ filled the air.
Alvida was a bit closer than the rest. She was stunned, but I could see glee flickering in her eyes.
“Olivia, you did it! You did it!”
“What?”
I tried to comprehend, but I could feel my brain failing me. My limbs went numb, and the forest began to spin.
“Olivia!”
I felt a pair of hands catch me.
“Andre?”
His green eyes were all I saw before darkness swallowed me.