Learning To Bloom In The Darkness (✔️)

Chapter Sixteen: Stercus Accidit

(Amaryllis's POV)

I was nervous.

Very nervous.

"You sure no one will be there?"

"I'm sure." Vick said.

"If we get caught...."

"We won't get caught. If we do then.....Harvey and I will make something up. Don't worry. Do you have the key?"

"Of course I have the key."

My jaw almost hit the ground when we pulled up in front of the house.

"Lincoln grew up here?" I asked as we got out of the car.

"Yeah, but don't let the shiny and pretty exterior fool you. It mostly all a facade." Vick said.

An older gentleman opened the door when Vick knocked.

"Amaryllis?" He asked.

"That's me. You're Harvey?"

"Yes, ma'am. Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Shall we get this treasure hunt started?" Vick asked, rubbing his hands together.

"The rest of the staff has the next two days off so it should be just us. It'll be faster if we split up." Harvey said. "Lincoln sent me a picture of the key from all angles, so we won't have to keep passing it around. If we find something that looks like it'll fit then we'll call for you, Amaryllis. Sound good?"

"Sounds good. Tell me where to start." I smiled as he gave Vick a copy of the pictures.

He handed me a hand drawn map.

"These are all the places that Lincoln and I believe whatever we're looking for may be. These are places his father spent the most time at in the house. If it's not in any of these places then we'll expand."

I started in what used to be his dad's office. Now it's his stepfathers office.

I looked in every inch of that room. I looked underneath things, behinds things, and on top of things. I even went so far as to knock on the walls to look for hollow spots. I came up empty handed. Vick and Harvey also came up empty handed.

I was on my way out of the last room I was checking when I accidentally knocked over a vase. It shattered on impact and Vick came running.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, but I broke a vase."

He shrugged. "Stercus accidit."
(Shit happens.)

"Latin?"

He chuckled. "Lincoln gets these quotes of the day and reads them to me sometimes. That's the only one I remember."

Harvey came over seconds later with a broom and dustpan.

"Sorry." I apologized.

"It's alright. To be honest I've never liked this ugly thing and it's been broken before. I knocked it over once and glued it back together. They never noticed."