Kin's mysteries

Through the window

His mother had spared him from asking about the strange woman who was in the shop the day after Henry's mysterious meeting. He'd already heard her name and it was obvious his brother knew her. But he had spoked too soon. In the end, she asked him who was that 'nice girl' who seemed to be interested in something else than the products they sell. He shrugged and looked inquiringly at Henry. They were eating in the large living room, filled with wooden furniture. The place wasn't so bright, the table was in the centre, the big fireplace on one side and an elegant sofa on the other. It was lunchtime and everything was so silent that hearing a single voice would have felt strange. In fact, his brother's sounded so odd that he had to look at him to be sure he was actually speaking.

He explained she was Jenny's half-sister. They were born from the same mother, but had different fathers. She probably thought her sister was at the shop, that was why she came in.

-"But she didn't ask Kin about Jenny...right?" said his mum, looking at him.

-"No...actually, she wanted to see the owner..." he answered.

Henry suddenly looked uneasy. He stood up and began to pile the dishes. Kin and his mother were waiting for him to say something more about the episode, but he didn't.

-"I have an headache, I should rest a bit if I want to be in the shop this afternoon." he murmured, leaving the room.

He sure was acting weird. Normally, Kin wouldn't care much about his brother's mood, but that time he felt he should learn more about the situation.

That night, he suddenly began to feel cold. He covered his head with the blanket, turning his back at the window. He tried to fall back at sleep but the wind was freezing his hair. Something was going on in his room, but he was too tired to find out. Someone's pace was making indistinct noises on the wooden floor. He had to check it out.

He abruptly stood up and distinguished a shape near the closet. He jumped out of the bed and carefully approached the breathing shadow. He didn't even grabbed something to protect himself or hit what was hiding in the corner...he was hopeless.

When the shape moved to the left, towards the window, he tried to stop it. Suddenly, he found himself grabbing someone's shoulders, someone who, he soon realized, was a girl.

-"Please, let me go!" she cried.

Kin was shocked. How could she enter his room through the window and ask him to let her go? He couldn't look at her properly, because of the darkness, but a moon beam suddenly illuminated her face, making her brown eyes and blond hair visible. She was pretty and probably older than him.

-"What are you doing here?" he finally asked.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. It seemed she was in a hurry and wanted to leave the room quickly. She looked around suspiciously, then nervously glanced outside.

-"I need to go soon, someone's following me...I was going to leave a message for you..." she explained.

Then, she handed him a piece of paper. It was quite heavy to be just a message.

-"Here you go...look after it for a while. I'll come back to pick it up soon...thanks."

He wasn't holding her shoulders anymore, rolling over the packet in his hands. She went near the window, and was going to jump outside, then stopped.

-"... ah, one last thing...don't trust your brother." she said, then disappeared.

Kin stared at the window several minutes after she left, then went to close it. He sat on the bed, inspecting the paper envelop the girl gave him. He shook it. Something small but heavy was inside. Finally, he opened it. There was a key, an old fashioned one.

What was going on? It was so confusing...why would she gave him a key?

He shivered. He almost forgot about the message!

Hi, you probably don't know me but it's better that way. Please take care of what I handed over to you and try to forget about it, if someone asks. Don't give it to anyone else but me, you just have to wait for my return. Of course, don't say anything about this, to anyone, even your family. After finished reading this, please burn the paper.

It was a short and vague message. It didn't say anything about her, neither about the key. That girl was just using him. He was the keeper of the key, nothing more.

He went in the kitchen to get rid of the message. He grabbed the lighter and drew it near the paper. It began to burn and Kin felt relieved. The flame was consuming it so fast that he didn't notice he was going to get his finger burned. He moaned quietly, letting the paper falling on the floor. He threw himself on it, but the light went out and he couldn't find it.

He stood up for half an hour, looking for the piece of paper, but nothing was left of it. In the end, he assumed the fire had consumed it entirely, so he went to sleep, thinking he would have continued his search in the morning.