Chapitre 7: Secret place

Morning arrived and birds were chirping happily outside my window. I sat up in my bed and stared blankly at the wall. The incident that happened yesterday was still overwhelming me. The memories of that 'cursed' day which I tried so hard to forget all came back to my head.

After falling asleep at the wolf's back that day, I woke up back in my room with my dad sitting at the edge of my bed. My dad was worried sick something bad had happened to me and my mom when he found me lying asleep outside of our porch. Turns out his worries came true and his beloved wife who he had just kissed the morning before was no longer in this world.

We went back to the forest the next day to search for my mom, hoping that we could find her alive and well, but the little hope that we had shattered into pieces when we saw my mom's body lying lifelessly on the ground. Her throat was slit open and her body was cut into small different pieces. Her pale skin was also disgustingly slashed, leaving her flesh to be seen. It was like they toyed with my mom's body after killing her. The smell hanging in the air resembled something like rotten meat, making me feel nauseous at the first inhale of it.

I felt guilty and regretful that I left my mom alone that day. I was frustrated with myself because I couldn't do anything to help her. I ran away to save my life and left my mom to be dead. The horror of my 8-years-old self looking at my mom's murdered body still haunts me to this day.

I hugged my knees and tucked my head between them. Warm tears fell on both sides of my face and I felt like shit. What did we even do to them that made them want to kill me and my mom? We had never even seen them before, so it was not possible for us to make any kind of mistake with them. If I didn't meet that guy from yesterday, then I would still think that those wolves were just thirsty for blood and unfortunately, we were the ones who they found first. But now I know that was not the case at all.

"Violet?" Someone knocked on the door and I mentally cursed myself. I didn't want anyone to see the messy state I was in right now, so I quickly went to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face, then straightened my messy hair. I still looked like a damsel in distress, but maybe a little bit better than before.

I opened the door and saw Sir Luke standing in front of me. "Are you—" he scanned my appearance and sighed, "You are not okay, obviously."

I forced out a smile which quickly vanished by the next second, "Why are you here, sir?"

"I wanted to see you," he gave me a small smile, "Will you mind if I ask you to accompany me somewhere?"

I tilted my head to the side and questioned him, "Where do you want me to go?"

He scratched the back of his neck and looked around as if avoiding my gaze, "My secret place."

"Why... do you want me to go to your secret place with you?" I frowned, thinking about how weird his suggestion was. It was his secret place, so it was supposed to remain a secret from everyone.

"I always go there when I am feeling sad. It cheered me up, so I want it to do the same for you. If you don't want to, then—"

"Then... I'll go," I agreed. This word caused his eyes to wander back at me and a smile appeared on his face, making his already handsome face even more pleasing to one's eyes.

"Really?" he beamed.

I nodded my head to him and smiled a little. I was thankful that he was worried about me and wanted to cheer me up, so I agreed. I followed him out of my room and he led me to the garden of roses I saw before. I couldn't come here at that time because of the rain and it feels great now that I'm here.

It didn't look like it if we were not close enough to the garden, but I realized that this garden was made similar to some kind of a maze. Luke kept walking into the maze as if he knew all the routes here, which was very confusing to me as there was nothing else here besides bushes of roses.

A couple of turns later, I saw a huge gate. The gate was rusty from all the years it was left unattended by someone, fastened by an equally rusty chain. The base of it was partially covered with tall grass, showing that it had not been opened for a long time. Luke opened the lock and it creaked open. As I passed over, I realized that we were now deep in the forest. We walked a bit more and arrived at the edge of a cliff.

What surprised me was that a deep blue sea was seen underneath. I gasped at the amazing sight I was looking at. I had never been to the sea before and I didn't know it was this beautiful. The open free sky with its dancing clouds above meets the beauty of the waves underneath. It was a very enchanting view. They complimented each other and their beauty captivated me to the bones.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Luke smiled while looking at the scenic view in front of us, "You know, the garden back in the house was just a camouflage of an escape route my mom made. She wanted to run away here to be freed from all her burdens and worries for a little while."

"It is indeed beautiful," I smiled. This time, it was not the forced smile I let out before, but a genuine smile.

"You finally smiled," he glanced at me, his smile became wider than before, "You look even more beautiful when you smile."

The unexpected praise made both of my cheeks feel warm, so I quickly turned away to hide it from him, "Y-you are speaking nonsense, sir."

He laughed at me and sat down on the ground. I followed him and sat beside him, still keeping the distance between us. We stayed there without any attempt to make a conversation, but I didn't really mind it. The silence was both comforting and calming. The only sound I could hear was the chirping of the birds and the distant sound of sea waves. I then closed my eyes and focused my senses on the relaxing sounds of nature.

"If you are worried about something, try talking to someone," he said, breaking the silence, "It helps."

I opened my eyes and glanced over at him. He was staring at me with an unknown emotion on his face. It was a look I was unfamiliar with. Almost like the gaze that my parents used to give me before, a look of endearment. I barely remember what they looked like before because the one I was given to for these past nine years was only the look of disgust and hatred from people.

"...I'll try," I said with a small voice. It was still hard for me to open up to someone else and I didn't know if I would ever be able to do that. All the people around me before did nothing besides hurting me. No wonder I have difficulties trusting others.

"I used to come here with my mom until she left me," his gaze went back to the sea and his smile vanished from his face, "I have never gone back here ever since."

I was not sure whether I could ask about what happened to his mom, but then he continued, "She was sick," he said softly, "It was an incurable disease. There was nothing to help her recover from it."

His eyes shone with tears and I could tell how much he loved her. I know very well the feeling of losing someone close to us, and it hurts so much. I don't ever want to go through that same feeling again.

"You must have had a hard time," I said, obvious to what he was feeling as I didn't know any words of encouragement I could give to a sad person.

He laughed sourly and said, "Yes, it was a really hard time." He quickly wiped the tears that welled upon his eyes and stood up, not wanting me to see his tears. "Let's go back."

I stood up immediately and followed his lead to go back to the house. The way back was also quiet, but now it was a lot more uncomfortable because of the gloomy conversation we had before.

As I didn't know how to start a conversation, I remained quiet for the rest of the walk. Luke also appeared to be deep in thought, so the journey home was not filled with conversations. We returned to the same path we had taken before and were soon back at the house. I was grateful for the small journey we took, as it made me feel a little better than before.

"Thank you for bringing me there," I said, a small smile crossed my face.

"You are welcome," he returned my smile, saying, "If you ever want to go back there again, tell me. I will take you there anytime."

I nodded at him and we parted our ways at the front door of my room. I flung my body on the bed without bothering to change my clothes as I was a little too lazy to do that. The picture of the sea I saw just a moment ago flashed through my memories and calmness washed over me.

I lied on my bed for a few moments and stood up when I thought I saw someone's shadow outside of my window. I involuntarily glanced at it but there was nothing there. I quickly closed the window's curtain and turned away from it. Well, when I just said I was calm before, now I am not and I needed to calm myself again. I decided to take a warm bath, then went to the library to engulf myself with books.

When I arrived at the library, no one was there just like usual. Even though Luke said it was his personal library, he never went here, so I stayed here almost as often as I spent my time in my room. The library was always quiet, and the smell of books hovered around the air, which I deeply appreciated. Reading a book always kept me away from bad thoughts I didn't want to think of, so I always read when I had the time to, or should I say when I was not beaten by my dad. Now it just became my hobby because there were a lot of interesting things written in books which my seventeen year old self had never experienced before.

I didn't realize how long I had been reading until I felt someone's presence beside me. I was alone in the library and that fact itself sent shivers down my spine. I stayed there quietly for a few moments, trying to convince myself it was just the burst of imagination I had from reading all these fantasy novels, but suddenly one of the books from the bookshelves fell down to the ground by itself.

Now I couldn't convince myself that this was not a mystical thing happening around me. I was not alone. Someone or something was also in this room. I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and practically ran out of the library.

I went inside my room and quickly hide myself under my sheets. I have stayed in a dark room many times before, but I rarely experienced anything as bizarre as this. I forced myself to sleep, trying to get rid of the fear I was feeling. Fortunately, it worked, and soon, I was no longer in control of my consciousness.

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