After her father's sudden demise,little Ericka is taken in by an unknown man who claimed himself to be her father's best friend.However,Ericka doesn't seem to remember him.....
As Ericka enters his house,she meets his four sons,namely,Eden,Fredrick...
It will not be good to say that the beginning of the story was with a death.However,it is true.Without that death,the story would have never begun.It could have remained confined in the old mansion that happened to be the property of a rich man,who,in the course of time,had fallen into bankruptcy,and the house was then left as his only property.When it happened,I was not more than seven years old.As I can remember it after so many years,I had seen my father fall down.Scared and frightened,I started to scream<"Father!Father!"
All of a sudden,there was a knock on the door.Hurriedly,I fetched a stool,placed it in front of the door,stood on it,slided the latch down and remained hanging to it because in trying to reach it,I had forced myself so much that my whole weight was put on my toes.
Someone pushed open the door with a great force,and,I,along with the door,was pushed backwards.The stool was also pushed back along with me.That person rushed in with a horrified look and then looking to the side,went behind the door where I was hanging.He pulled me down and made me stand on the floor.I looked up at him with a terrified look.I could not clearly examine his face because there was only a very dim light in the corridor.The man hurriedly arranged for an ambulance and my father was admitted to the hospital.His treatments began almost immediately.I prayed to God and cried immensely.That person introduced himself to me as my father's best friend.He tried to console me,to comfort me.He also brought me a packet of cake and a packet of biscuits;I did not feel the urge to eat them until next morning.
However,my father's soul had already left his body by the time i could wake up next morning.All the night I was unable to sleep because i was very much worried about my father.I realized that I must have dozed off.My father's "best friend",as he introduced himself to me,came and sat beside me and looked at me with red,teary eyes.
I looked up at him and asked,"Where is fatherr?"
Hesitatingly,he replied,"He is watching you,do not worry."
I was shocked for a while.I started looking around to see from where my father was watching me.
He again said,"He is watching you from among the stars."
Silence followed.
"he has asked me to take you with me,"he said.
I starred at him for awhile.I really did not feel that i had the audacity to disobey him.So i followed him into his car.He drove it to my house.It was locked.He took out the key from his pocket and opened the lock and asked me to take him to my room.I obeyed.
When he entered my room,he asked,"Do you have a suitcase?"
"Yes,"I replied,in avery feeble voice and hurriedly went to fetch my suitcase from the cupboard.
"Pack your belongings,"he ordered.
I was frightened.I went about my room,searching for every single thing I needed to pack.When i was younger,i had owned a lot of things.However,in recent years,I had owned only a few essentials,my clothes and my few books.That was all.So it did not take me much time to gather all of them and pack my suitcase.Then i followed the man into his car.
By this time,I had already examined this person carefully.He looked like a middle-aged man,young enough for being my father's "best friend".My father had grown acton of white hairs,but this man did not even have one.If enough makeup was put on his face,I felt sure that he could still act as one of those movie heroes,who by jumping from extraordinary heights,could entrap the hearts of young women.
As the car was driven,I was able to recognise the path.This forest was near to my house,but I had never come close to it.I had never stepped an inch on the lush green and soft grass that declared the beginning of the forest.So I felt scared as we entered deep into the forest.Though it wasn't really to that depth that the car was being driven into,it was only the outskirts,yet for a seven year old child as I was,the forest seemed thick.My heart started to beat rapidly.
When the car stopped,I looked outside.It was a huge old mansion located on the edge of the forest.Near to this place,there were a few resorts,some of which were private and some were for tourists.There were also afew hotels.The forest was huge and housed various types of species,making it a famous tourist spot with the number of safaris it offered.
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The car door was opened for me.I hoped down.The man carried my suitcase in his hand.He closed the car door and held my hand firmly while I was starring at the mansion in amazement.Beside the mansion,on a wooden sign,was written:"Welcome To The Red Moon."I did not understand anything at that time.All I could think was that how could the moon be red.
THe man rang the bell of the mansion and an unknown fear crept into my heart.My hands and feet were frozen.I did not have the capacity of any sensation.I lost my ability to move.As if to add to my fear,cold winds started to blow.The door slowly opened with a creaking noise,revealing a tall figure.The darkness inside prevented me from making any kind of observation.I stood still as I watched him open the door and then look down at me,after looking at the man,with an interrogating face.
