Hidden Gifts

Thirty-five

3:30

The woman had blindfolded the both of them and she, along with a couple of others, kicked Carter and Talia inside a house.

It was exactly like Vivian's but it looked more vintage and old if not haunted.

The woman shuddered. "You will never catch me step foot in this house."

"Yeah, me too." Another woman says.

"Why?" A guy says.

"Are you out that ignorant? It's just–"

"We have no business with the house. Our job is just to do as we're told, nothing more nothing less. We do not want to get on Devon's bad side. Being on his good side is scary enough." The woman who had kicked them in says.

"Anyway, you two!" He says to Talia and Carter as he undid their blindfolds. "Good luck. You'll really fucking need it."

They zoomed off leaving a trail of dust and probably piss in their wake.

Talia turned to look at Carter expecting them to both share a look but Carter never met her eye. He looked.. lost.

The kind of look someone had when they remembered something bad, something horrible.

He started walking and Talia followed until they entered the house. It was certainly dull. The light shone dimly and the chandelier swing slightly and made a creaking sound as it swung. There was a shelf beside where they stood with weird items, items that could be used to kill, including a brass knuckle that caught her eye.

There was a woman whose back was faced to them. She had short curly dark hair and she seemed to be drinking something. A cup of tea.

"Long time no see." She says in an accent that sounded like a mix of Devon and Carter. "Please. Sit." She doesn't look back and Carter stands there looking solemn whilst Talia stood there dumfounded.

Carter took in a deep breath and swallowed before taking a sit right in front of the woman. Talia finally saw her face. She looked in her forties and had those dark and slightly green eyes like Devon and Carter.

What is it and black and dark green eyes? Did she truly have it too?

"So tell me... Who's this lovely lady?" She asks Carter who doesn't even look her in the eye, he just kept staring at the floor as if he was scared.

"You know.. it's considered rude to ignore you're elders especially.. your mother." Carter shattered.

He broke into a million pieces. Right there. In that spot. A section of his brain that had been bound and tied together had broken into a thousand pieces and memories rushed into his mind like a flood.

He couldn't breathe.

3:00

"M– mother?" Talia muttered to herself. She looked at Carter's expression and no one needed to tell her that something was wrong. He said something about him being a distance from his parents because of how they tried to control him so she had a pretty good hunch there was some bad blood between the two.

"Anyway darling, would you like some tea? I made it especially for you. It helps relieve stress and calm one's nerve. It makes you feel like you're on.. cloud 9 as you kids say." She giggles and passes her a cup.

"No thank you." Talia rejects it and slides the cup back to her.

"Why not? Do you think I poisoned it?" The woman smirked. If it's games she wanted to play then so be it.

"Poison? Oh of course not. Tampered with it? Yes." Talia smiled back and the woman's smile grew wider.

"Well in that case–" she switched the cups so that Talia was with her cup and she with Talia's "–here." She takes a sip out of it to prove to Talia it wasn't poisoned.