Saving Athiya

FIVE

AARON

Nate and I moved next door to the Holloway family yesterday. The day before yesterday, Captain gave me that mysterious folder and told me that I was on a new mission with my best friend, Nate. It was interesting to say the least.

As soon as I got home from the HQ, Nate and I ripped open the folder and found pages upon pages of information on Athiya Holloway. The familiar name from the burner phone that I retrieved from that man.

After reading the thick pile of papers, it came to my understanding that Nate and I were now part of a new undercover team, Alpha 6. As of yet, we were the only members of the team but soon, we are going to have 4 more team members. When? We have no idea.

For now, our mission is to keep an eye on Athiya and her family. The same Athiya who was kidnapped by Hades 3 or so years ago. The same Athiya who was the victim of years of abuse and mental torture. The same Athiya who was now afraid of her own shadow.

According to the mission plan, we are supposed to be near her at all times. For now, we have to keep an eye on her but in a few weeks, we are supposed to move Athiya to a remote location where Hades and his men can't find her.

Turns out, he was released from prison after the significant evidence against him was found to be corrupted. We all knew it was his doing, but the law asks for proof and Athiya is the only living proof to testify against him which made her a target with a capital T.

"Aaron! Are you even listening to me?" Nate's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned to face him.

"What do you want now?" I asked huffing. He crossed his arms on his chest.

"I can't come to the dinner. I am going to keep an eye out for trouble while you chat up the pretty lady!" He explained. I nodded.

"That sounds reasonable but are you sure, you don't want food?" I asked him while quirking my eyebrows at him. We both knew that he ate like a pig. He needed food every two hours. I still wonder how he stays in shape after eating tons of food, literally.

"I have got my snacks packed up and everything. Don't you worry about me. Just take care of our girl." He said proudly pointing at his backpack stuffed with different varieties of food. I shook my head at him.

"I am leaving now!" I said while heading towards the front door.

···

"Please have a sit, Aaron." Mrs. Holloway requested. She had invited me for dinner at her house yesterday when we "accidently" bumped into each other while I was unpacking boxes from my car.

It was clearly a well thought out plan to get invited to their house so that I could get closer to Athiya. Pretending that my roommate and I were horrible cooks, I had accepted her invitation when she offered to cook for us.

"Thank you, ma'am." I thanked and sat down.

"Oh, hello darling!" I suddenly looked up as I heard Mrs. Holloway speak. My heart skipped a beat. In front of me was the most beautiful woman I have ever led my eyes on.

She had raven black hair pulled up in a messy bun. She was wearing olive colored bottoms with a fancy black top. Her cute toes were peeking out of her silver sandals. To me, she looked like a fallen angel that had descended from heaven.

I noticed her jerk back when Mrs. Holloway had greeted her. Her face had a very peculiar expression; almost as if she was terrified of something to pop out and scare her. "Oh baby! I am so, so sorry. I forgot." I heard Mrs. Holloway apologize. I wonder what was going on there. I actually have a hunch as to why she reacted that way. I thought to myself.

"That's okay, mom." Even her voice was like an angel's. Suddenly, she looked up at me. I saw her scan my face, her eyes lingering on my eyes the most. I got that look a lot seeing as I had two different shades of eyes. My left eye was light blue while the right one had a darker tint to it, almost navy blue.

After a few seconds of silence, I greeted her, but only more silence was invited. I guess what I read in that report was accurate. I thought. The report said that she had a medical condition called haphephobia, a fear for being touched, which was developed after her rescue from Hades.

I saw her looking at her mom followed by her dad. I could see there was an internal conflict going on in her head, but I didn't let that disturb me at all. I kept a huge grin on my face to put her at ease.

I could tell she didn't want to shake my hand and I was okay with that. I didn't want her to feel pressured since I knew about her circumstances.

It took me by surprise when, all of a sudden, she raised her hand and shook mine. She also introduced herself, shyly I might add. One more second of hesitation from her and I would have put my hand down, but she had surprised me.

There was an awkward silence in the room. I looked around towards Arya's parents and saw that they had an expression of shock on their faces. I saw Mrs. Holloway shake herself off and moved her attention towards me.

We talked about out professions for which I kept my answer simple by identifying myself as a cop. I knew that we're working undercover and, even though I don't want to hide this from Athiya for some reason, I have to. For her safety.

During our conversation, I learnt that Athiya was adopted which I already knew about, from the documents. Along with the fact that Margie, her supposed aunt, was not actually her aunt. Athiya wasn't found in the church. She was found, half buried, next to a newly constructed United Methodist Church.

The police were never able to find the birth parents and so the child was given to a Margie who found Athiya and alerted the cops. The child was soon adopted by the Holloway family and the truth was hidden under a carefully constructed lie.

I guess, they did the right thing. I wouldn't want to tell my adopted daughter that she was thrown out like garbage by her parents. I thought.

I moved my eyes to her, again. I have been staring at her since I got here. Only moving my stare when I was talking to her parents. Even then, my eyes would automatically move towards her face. "So, Athiya. What do you do? Are you a student?" I finally asked her, wanting to hear her voice.

"Uhm...I...uhm...I...I..." She stuttered. Oh! I probably caught her off guard. Good going there, asshole!

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" I told her. I didn't want her to feel like she had to tell me. I just wanted her to feel at ease.

"No, no...I...uhm..." She tried again.

"No worries, Arya. I don't mind. Tell me when you are ready. I am not going anywhere. I mean, I do live next door!" I said to her honestly. I didn't care that she didn't want to tell me. I was just happy that she was at least looking at me.

I had waited the whole night for her to raise those beautiful green eyes towards me and give me her sweet, seductive smile. Plus, I practically knew everything about her. A little too much.

"Sorry." She mumbled apologetically returning her eyes back to her plate. I smiled.

"No worries!" I reassured her. The whole night was spent in conversations and now it was time to go back to the house. I wonder how Nate is doing with his "snacks."

"Well, thank you for having me tonight, Savannah," I looked at Athiya's mom than moved my eyes towards her dad, "George. I had fun and the food was absolutely delicious!"

"Oh, you! We are glad you came. We enjoyed your company. Maybe, we can do this again?" Savannah asked flattered. "Marie, our cook, used to be a head chef of a 5-star hotel in New York City. She makes the best food!"

"Yes, she sure does. She left me licking my figures. It was that good. Do say thank you to her on my behalf." I said and angled my body towards Athiya to talk to her. "It was great meeting you Athiya. We should hang out sometime!"

I could tell she didn't know what to say. Finally, she simply nodded her head while standing behind her parents.

"Great! I look forward to hanging out with you! Have a good night now Savannah! George!" I replied excitedly, "Bye, Athiya!" I looked one final time at Athiya and headed towards my house.