The Last Hope

3

Since I was already terribly late I grabbed the box from the floor, threw it in my backpack for the weekend, ran to the hall, put on my short white heels- grandma Sage insisted on me wearing them- and got out of the door. I planned to open the box in the car while going to the countryside.

When I got out of the front door I saw my dad waiting for me in his vintage red VW Beetle on the other side of the street. It was quite an eccentric car, just like my dad, but its most noticeable trait had always been how old it was: one of the lights was cracked; the paint wasn't bright and shiny but rather dull and fading; on the left backside it had a small dent from when, a couple of years ago, my dad hit a big sunflower vase I had just put out in our small garden. Even with all of these imperfections my dad had never wanted to replace it- not that we couldn't afford it-, he said he kept it for its collectible value but he wasn't a car collector, or even a collector of anything else for that matter, he was a history teacher at the local highschool. I knew he kept it because of my mum; that was the car that took them on their honeymoon all around Europe, I saw it in the old pictures of their wedding that he kept carefully hidden in one of his desk's drawers; it remained him of her.

When I waved him hello he lowered the car window and says with a warm smile "Finally my princess! I thought I would have had to come rescue you from those heels", I suffocate a smile, "I don't need to be rescued by anyone, I'm quite capable of handling my own challenges" and as soon as I finish talking I trip on the sidewalk and fall face down on the ground. "Oh goodness are you hurt Lucy?" says my dad running nervously out of the car, I laugh "yes dad don't worry, not a scratch", "you might be unharmed princess but I don't think your dress can say the same". I look at my dress and I see a large tear going from my left ankle to my right hip "oh shit! No no no no no! Grandma Sage insisted that I'd be presentable tonight, she said it was gonna be a very special occasion", "well princess I'm sure she'll happily leand you something", "that's exactly what I'm afraid of!" I say as I look at him desperately. "Come on princess, don't fear, we'll find a solution, now just get in the car; you know how seriously Sage takes punctuality and we are already testing her patience".

I get in the car and we drive off, out of the town, into the fields of strawberries and trees of cherries. While I'm looking out of the window I get an idea, "oh please, please, please be here...Ah ahg!" I say holding out of one of my backpack's pockets some thread and a needle, "thanks Gran for your obsessions"- my grandmother demanded that, as part of my education, I learned the basics of sewing and especially that I always brought a small sewing kit wherever I went; she said it could always come in handy-. Seeing what I was doing my dad said "ehm princess I don't think you'll be able to repair a tear that big", "I have to try dad, if I can't I'll surrender to Gran's puffy ball gowns but first I have to try to save myself", he laughed and went on driving.

Just as I'm getting past the knees with my repairs I see, right past a wall of green oaks, the tip of the shining glass dome that covers the internal garden of my grandmother's mansion. "Oh come on, I've barely repaired half of it!" Well, to be honest repaired was a generous word, the part that was actually sewn back together looked like a badly stiched wound and I didn't have the time to even finish the rest of this terrible work. "Well I guess I must surrender to my fate" I sigh looking at my dad, he smiles but then proceeds to turn the steering wheel to the left, bringing the car on side of the road, right before the big golden gates of the mansion.

He turns off the car and faces me. "Listen princess, tonight is gonna be a very important night for you and, even though I desire with all my soul the be there, I can't. Sage forbids it" he says seriously, looking straight at me with his warm, chocolate brown eyes; he had that weird look that I only see on him when I'm in great danger, "but I want you to know that, no matter what happens, you'll always have me..." His voice cracked "I've loved you with all my being since the first time I held you in my arms on that night of the 28th of July, nearly 18 years ago. I want you to remember both your last names: Enoxos and De Alessandro. You are both Lucy, remember".

I don't know what to say. Why this speech? Why this seriousness? Why that look? Why now? After all it's just another weekend at my grandma's, right? With all these questions swirling around my head I'm not able to utter a single word. The only thing I manage do is start tapping on my leg, as if I were play the keys of a pianoforte- another one of my gran's educational requirements- to try to calm myself down. My dad doesn't wait for an answer, he simply turns the car back on and drives past the gigantic golden gates, down the oaks-lined road, up to my grandmother's mansion.

Ehi guys! I know these first chapters have been quite chill but I needed them to establish the storyline. In the next ones I promise you're gonna find more action and mysteries, maybe even some interesting newcomers... ;)
Let me now what you think so far <3