Infection

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

It was just a few minutes to midnight. Ashlyn was in her room, doing last minute preparation for the next day’s exams. Her room was large, with a personal bathroom and balcony. In fact, her whole room was the size of a small apartment.

Closing her files, Ashlyn leaned back and closed her eyes, mentally going through concepts. She only hoped that she would be able to pass, considering that Geography was her weakest subject.

She went over to the balcony and opened the sliding doors. Stepping out into the warm, humid night, she shivered. The temperature outside was much higher than the 19 degrees in her bedroom. The view overlooked the front of her house. She frowned. Her father would normally leave his car next to the marble fountain, just beside the swimming pool.

It wasn’t there now.

Normally, her father would have been home hours ago, unless he had to work overtime. Even so, he would have called to inform her. She had been so busy studying that she was oblivious to whether or not her family had arrived home. She quickly went out and down to the main hall. Walking down the grand stairs, she saw Sebastian waiting at the door, his back facing her.

“Isn’t dad home yet?” She asked, concerned.

Sebastian spun round, surprised. “Oh! I’m sorry Miss. Yes, he isn’t home yet. I tried calling him but there was a busy signal.”

“What about Ashton? Is he in his room?” Ashlyn queried, as she started walking in the direction of her brother’s room.

“No, Miss. The young master has not arrived home either…”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

Where could Ashton had gone? Was he staying at his hostel? No. He didn’t have a room there. Ashton was studying at the local university, just a couple streets away from the mansion. In lieu of the close proximity, he was excused from taking residence at the hostel and returned home every day. Unless there was a project on and he stayed overnight, but then again, normally he would have called home first.

“I’m sorry. I did not want you to worry, Miss. You were busy studying, so…” He trailed off.

Ashlyn nodded slowly. “Sorry for yelling... Erm, I’ll try to call them…” She replied, feeling apprehensive suddenly.

She feared for their safety. But what could happen to them anyway? She was acting up again, as usual. She went over to the phone and dialled her dad’s mobile. The line was busy, as Sebastian had said. It was the same result for his office. Ashton’s mobile was switched off.

A chill went down her spine. Normally she wouldn’t have been so worried, since they were all busy with their lives. But the incidents of the day had caused her to think that something had happened, and immediately she had the thought that her father and brother were in some sort of trouble.

What happened to them? Her father had mentioned that there was an emergency at the office earlier, when she called him to ask if he could pick her up. But he didn’t mention what it was, though he sounded anxious.

Thinking back, wasn’t he overly evasive to her questions?

‘“Dad, could you pick me up now? I’m sorry to bother you, but there’s something which happened and-”’

‘”Oh, I can’t pick you up today. There’s an emergency here.”’

‘“What happened?”’

 ‘“No worries. Okay, get home quickly, honey.”’

Perhaps something did happen.