It was a bright Sunday morning when a loud buzz of a phone woke up Natalia. Whiningly, she reached for the phone. "Hello", she answered the call. The person on the other end, let out a string of words that made Natalia spring out of her bed in one swift motion. She sprinted towards her bathroom and cleaned herself as quickly as possible. Dressing in a clean and crisp suit she got ready to set out for an important task that she had ahead. "Mother", she called out hastily. An old woman early in her seventies came out of the kitchen with bright puzzled eyes.
"Dear, didn't you promise Ana, that you would spend the entire day with her?", she asked softly.
"Mother, I've got to go. It's important", Natalia answered back softly. She didn't want it either. She had been promising her daughter that she'd spend more time with her for months now. But every time something comes her way, and she would be put in a position where she would have to break her own promise.
"She will forget your face. If you keep doing this", her mother tried to reason with her. With a heavy heart, Natalia left the room after that. She rushed downstairs and then reached the building entrance to hire a cab. "Marvin Center", she informed the cab driver and then rushed on the back seat immediately. Her heart was beating hard against her chest. She was silently cursing herself for failing to remember such a huge and important event. She managed to reach the destined place in about fifteen minutes due to the light traffic on a Sunday morning. She paid the cab driver and sprinted towards the entrance, asking the receptionist on the way for the directions to the conference hall.
She greeted her with a broad smile and helped her with directions looking at her hastiness. Natalia let a huge breath of relief when she saw that she wasn't late and that the guests were just appearing one by one now.
"Holy heavens", someone swore behind her. Wearing a huge smile, Natalia turned around to face a tall gentleman-like figure with bushy beard and mustache which could've looked cleaner if groomed properly. "You look like you ran a marathon", he told her, looking at her panting self. "Consider I did something like that", Natalia retorted back. Dr. Richard was her senior, he had been working in the university way before then she even joined. He was also a very good friend of Natalia along with being her colleague. The research they worked on together was published earlier and today was the first day when they had to present it.
The talk started and many scientists from various parts of the world started presenting their work. Natalia had lots of time for preparation (or she didn't need preparation at all) she was always best at everything that she did, but still, she wanted to make sure that everything went right so she went through her presentation slides for any mistakes. A slight tap on her shoulder made her turn back. A young man who looked in his early twenties held out a letter to her. Natalia received it from his hands and before she could even ask anything he walked away. Puzzled she kept staring at the small envelope on which her name was scrawled in small cursive writing. Curiously she opened it up and found a small note inside.
Do not raise an alarm. I am waiting in Room no: 578. Come if you do not want any harm caused to your mother and daughter.
Natalia kept reading the contents, again and again, wishing for the meaning of it to change every time. Panic started building up in her chest. She surveyed her surroundings, she was not alone in the room. There were many people around her. She had lots of help. She could inform someone. She stood up from her chair and walked a few steps ahead to spot Richard, who was talking to some person.
"Excuse me", she interrupted their conversation. "Can I please have a word with Mr. Richard", she addressed the other person directly. He nodded at her with a sweet smile. Natalia shoved Richard towards a corner, where she thought she wouldn't be heard. She started to speak when she spotted that young man appear again, from the side of her eyes. She took a glance at him. He was standing at a distance away from her...not too close and yet not too far. He gently tapped at his watch and shook his head negatively.
"Is there anything important?", Richard asked her for the third time, as he failed to obtain an answer from her.
"Nooo", she fumbled. "It's about the presentation. How...How long do you want me to speak? I wanted to ask that?", She lied. She didn't hear anything that Richard said after that as her full attention was fixed on that stranger only, who now was watching her actions openly. After Richard finished she thanked him and started to move away from there towards him directly.
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The chapters are not going to be long:)))
I hope you'll liked the first chapter. Plz don't forget to VOTE:). Have a nice day
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The Vanished
Mystery / Thriller"Three vanished and one suicide on the same night, it cannot be a coincidence"- Mr. Yahontov. As Natalia a brilliant young scientist gets selected for a secretive project, she takes on the opportunity with big dreams and aspirations. Little does she...
