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Anastasiya watched from behind the musty window of the guest room as her sister left the house once again. It was the second time that she had gone out since Ana had went with her to deliver a box of money, for reasons she still didn't know.
She continued to stare out of the window, watching her sister's retreating back as she walked along the edge of the drive, down a path that Ana could faintly remember. It was a path that she could recall trailing through when she was younger, with her mother and aunt. Memory was a strange thing, she thought. It was always the seemingly useless pieces of the past that would resurface at random times, only to be pieced together after it was needed.
Perhaps that would be the case with the code word the man had apparently given the other night. 'Constantine.' Why did it seem to nudge at her consciousness at the oddest moments of the day, with that moment being one of them?
But at that second, the itch of curiosity was far greater than that of a lost memory. Why did Tatiana give that man (Mr Shelby was it?) the brief case of money? There was something bigger going on.
Ana was pulled away from her daze by the swift movement of a deep shadow in the corner of her eye. It was that of a tall, suited man, walking toward the front door with a confident stature, her sister following close behind. He was a priest, and had been to visit the house on multiple occasions.
There was something off about him, Ana had thought that from the first moment she had seen him lurking about the second floor halls as she stepped out of her room. Then, he had seemed to emerge from the dark corners like he was just another limb of a shadow. But, now, Ana couldn't help but see him as old, his movements too overly sly and sloppy to be deceptive, in what she had now forced herself to call home.
She pried herself away from the window and to the top of the stairs. The priest had made it to the door way and was pulling a coat off. She watched him from above as he disappeared into the dining room, where she knew her family would greet him.
Ana, of course, had not been invited to their secret meetings. They had become so regular, that she had taken to dining in her own room, the meagre and cold food often being placed into her vanity before she had returned from an evening walk. It was if the whole house had been wired to keep her way. The maids would leave her bed unmade and the cook would leave her the left overs- but it wasn't as if she even cared. She was thankful for whatever came her way, given the mess that was at home.
The hallway to the bottom of the stairs had been emptied of pattering feet and hushed voices. All that was left was the new pair of shoes that were left next to the coat hanger, in the corner next to the door. Ana lifted a foot and placed it onto the cold floorboard of the stairs, cringing as it creaked under the pressure of her following foot.
"Miss, could I get you something?" Ana sighed at the voice of the housekeeper that emerged suddenly from the doorway beneath the stairs.
The housekeeper was a tough woman, her mean words as sharp as her hard glare and the moment Ana had stepped into the household, she had hated her with a burning passion. Ana couldn't help but think that, had she been wearing grand jewels and an ugly dress, Mrs Barker may have resembled her grandmother.
She smiled mockingly, before replying to the housekeeper. "Yes, I was just coming down for a drink. I didn't seem to get one with my food, this evening."
Ana continued down the stairs as she spoke, before resting at the bottom of the hallway, adjacent to the dining room. Mrs Barker raises her brow, staring her down.
"Wait there a moment and I'll bring one up." She said, with a warning glance, before disappearing back down the back stairs to the kitchens.
Ana waited a few seconds, until she was surely gone, before turning and shuffling through the coats on the coat stand. She recognised none of them, until she moved to the side, her eyes landing on a black, suit coat that she had caught a glimpse of from her window.
The left pocket was empty. She dug through it, her fingers fumbling until they grasped a book from a hidden slit. Pulling it out quickly, she tucked the hand book into the waist of her under layers.
"Your tea." Ana turned in time to hear Mrs Barker's voice as she emerged from the door beneath the stairs.
She looked down at the murky white liquid in the tea cup. "Thank you." She muttered, before moving to the stairs quickly, hurrying her speed as she felt the slipping of thin pages beneath her night dress.
The bedroom door was shut with a slam as Ana raced to place the tea on her night stand. The notebook had already dropped to the floor by the door.
She sat on her bed, flicking through the pages. It was mostly filled by illegible scribbles, however she stopped on a page with red ink splits. The page was filled with what seemed to be addresses with names. She didn't recognise most of them, until her eyes drifted to a sentence that was underlined on the bottom of the page.
5 watery lane, Small Heath Shelby
Shelby. Was it the man from that night? Ana stared down at the writing, flicking through the pages. She was interrupted by the approaching sound of footsteps. The book was shoved under a pillow, in time for her sister to enter her room.
"You're back." Ana said, staring at Tatiana as she stood, brows raised.
"Dinner is ready. Come sit with us, we have a guest."
