The Mansion

Chapter 7

“They will not rest until they have finished you,” he said, his hazel eyes becoming more and more daunting. “You are now on the verge of discovering the truth,”

“Whoa, whoa, wait,” I said. “Who are they?” I asked, trying very hard not to show any signs of paranoia. I hated the thought of someone thinking of me as a weakling.

He looked around like he was afraid somebody would be eavesdropping on us. He took out a crumbled piece of paper from his pocket and slid it across the table. I clutched it with my slightly quivering hand.

“You need help,” he said, his intimidating eyes boring into me. “Before it’s too late,”

I looked down at the worn out piece of paper with a mixture of fear and curiosity. A messy yet legible handwriting was scribbled across the paper. It said:

“Library,”

“Stay out of trouble,” I heard him say.

By the time I looked up, he was gone. I surveyed the room in search of Alex but he was nowhere to be found. I stared at the paper in my hand in perplexity. Mingled feelings of confusion and fear clouded my mind. My mind was flooding with so many questions: Who are they? Why are they coming after me? What do they want with me? But the most important question arose in my mind: Why is Alex telling me all this?  

I crumbled it in my hand, balling my fist and shoving it into my pocket, vowing never to take a look at it again. I could not and would not believe this absurdity. But then again, how could he have said this so calmly? I don’t even know him, then why do you believe him? Stop it, I told myself, ignore it. That’s what I do best: ignoring. I tend to ignore things that trouble me – just like my Mom did. When Dad went away, she would act like nothing happened. I remember – from my dim memories – of her throwing anything that reminded her of Dad. But I guess she wasn’t over him as she didn’t throw away the photo albums in the garage.

Mom…

I didn’t even notice the tears welling up in my eyes until one of them fell on my forehand. Startled, I quickly rubbed my eyes, hoping no one saw that. I had completely forgotten that I was sitting in a room full of people and this was my first day at school so probably people who saw me would immediately remember me as a ‘cry baby’ and I can’t let that happen. I got up hastily and pushed the tray away, attempting to get away from all the noisiness and disorder of the cafeteria. Putting my hands in my pocket, I strode out of the deafening room and into my lonely class. To my relief, not even a single person was there. Oh, the wonderful feeling of loneliness.

The day passed by in a blur with me struggling to forget about Alex and that strange hallucination I saw earlier today. The teachers didn’t even seem to notice me here—fortunately. They didn’t even bother to ask me questions. Maybe it was because of my mood that kept them away from doing so. Adrianna kept on pestering me the whole day asking where Alex was while I was trying to forget about him. Finally, I lost it and raised my voice at her. Her lips quivered and she was on the verge of tears. I had to immediately apologize and coaxed her into believing that I wasn’t angry with her. Luckily, she was the kind of person that believed a person very easily.

The last bell of the day rang and I rushed out of my seat after mumbling a hurried ‘goodbye’ to Adrianna. I rushed away before anyone could exit out of the door. I slung my blue bag over my back and rushed into the corridor before it got too crowded with chattering students. When I hurried towards the exit, a familiar stench which I disliked greeted my nostrils—rain. I groaned and shuffled my way towards the door and exited. I stood near it, taking cover from the rain—I detested cold things. I had a bitter history with cold things which I didn’t want to think about.  I surveyed around the parking lot but there was no sign of a shiny black Mercedes. I leaned with my back against my wall, trying to shake off that illusion I had seen earlier today. It was happening too frequently for me to ignore. I had no one to turn to—they all will think I’m crazy. That was a good thing I left my country to come here, they all already thought I was mad. Then Alex’s face flashed through my mind. Annoyed, I pinched myself in order to forget about him. I heaved a sigh and looked out into the pounding rain.