𝓚𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮
"You told me, whenever I'm ready, come to you", Laila said.
I nodded."This is something that needs to be discussed with my sisters." I cup her hand between my hands. "First, I need to hear this from you", I paused and looked her in the eyes, "Are you ready?"
"I wouldn't fly all the way to London if I wasn't sure", she replied, "I want this", she spoke with confidence. "I need this."
My lips stretched into a small smile."We'll discuss further tomorrow. You may stay in my room for tonight. You should get some rest", I said softly.
I started to pull my hand away from hers but she reached out for it and held it in a firm grip. I looked at her questioningly.
"Thank you", she whispered.
I tilted my head and gave a soft smile.
"Don't thank me yet."
Middle of the night
"Charm."
My eyes shot open.
That voice.
I don't recognise it.
While I lay on my back, I stared up at the ceiling. There are memory fragments that appear in my mind while I sleep. In my dreams, I'm given these hints about my past. It's up to me whether to go back to sleep or wake up.
Charm.
What does it mean?
Next day
While driving up the hill, thought about my dream last night. Not really a dream, I didn't see anything. I just heard a voice.
I told Sophia I needed to do something and it couldn't wait. So today I'm skipping my classes. She'll come up with something to tell the girls and Laila is staying in my room until I come back because for now, we can't let anyone know she's here.
There was just something that pulled me back to that castle-like mansion on the hill. I needed to go there.
My phone rang. I checked who was calling first before answering.
ON-CALL
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂?
𝗠𝗲:
𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲.
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁? 𝗪𝗵𝘆? 𝗡𝗼. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁.
𝗠𝗲:
𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴?
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗬𝗲𝘀. 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴.
𝗠𝗲:
𝗡𝗼. 𝗦𝗼𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮 𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗲.
I heard her sigh heavily.
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂.
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗔𝗹𝘀𝗼, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.
𝗠𝗲:
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱?
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲.
𝗠𝗲:
𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲. 𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁? 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂.
𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹:
𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼𝗼.
I hung up and placed my phone back in my black leather backpack.
"That place just doesn't feel right."
"Not freaked out at all", I mumbled.
A few minutes later, I drove past the open gates and parked my car directly in front of the mansion. I placed my backpack straps over my shoulders and stepped out of the car.
Once I opened the large wooden doors, I stepped in. Fortunately, it was less eerie since its morning and the sun up. My legs moved one after another on their own accord. The next thing I knew, I was standing in front of a faded white door. The night I was here with Sophia, we didn't open every single door in this place. Including this one.
There really is something behind this door and it's calling me, but not my name. I looked down at the old-fashioned doorknob and thought for a second.
Go back to sleep or wake up.
I've woken up many times but this time it wasn't just my eyes. It was more than my mind and I could feel it.
I took in a breath.
"I'm waking up."
I watched in slow motion as my hand twisted the doorknob and I pushed open the door. The breeze passed and my hair blew off my shoulders. The dead leaves swiped across the wooden floors while I walked into the room. A bedroom. My eyes shifted from the king-sized princess bed with curtains on the right side of the room, to the wooden grand piano on the left side.
While taking slow steps, I made my way toward the wall. What caught my eyes was the designs, they were so beautiful. I placed my hand over the golden phoenix and trailed my fingers down its body to its fiery tale. My fingertips traced up the mystical creature's head as my legs moved towards a wooden shelf. Something silver gleamed on the floor. I bent and reached for the tiara. My eyes trailed over its trim of diamonds and I traced a finger over them.
I . . . I wore this.
When I placed the tiara onto the shelf, an antique box caught my eye. Old, dusty but beautiful. It's golden patterns were delicate and enchanting as they layered over the cream colour. There was a lever at the side.
"A music box", the corners of my lips tugged upwards. I've always loved music boxes.
My hands carefully took hold of the antique and I lightly blew the dust off. There was something engraved over the lid. I used my thumb to wipe off the remaining dust. I took in a shaky breath and this sudden pain shot into my head. I closed my eyes for a few seconds to let the pain pass before re-opening them once more, and read the word engraved in gold italics.
𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓂.
I opened the lid of the music box and inside was a gold motor covered over a plate of glass. There was also a separate compartment beside the motor, but it was empty. At a slow pace, I started to rotate the lever three times. Once I stopped, a familiar melody played and I couldn't believe it myself.
Lavender's Blue.
"Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly. And the lambs play. We shall be safe, dilly, dilly. Out of harm's way", I sang softly, "Lavender's green, dilly, dilly. Lavender's blue. If you love me, dilly, dilly. I will love you." I didn't know why but I could feel the tears prickling at the corner of my eyes. When I sang this, I could hear a women's voice singing along with me.
The tears didn't fall.
I didn't allow it.
I straightened my posture and closed the box. There was something about this box, it felt like was a piece of me. I placed the box into my backpack before continuing to walk around the room. While I walked past the piano, my fingers dragged over the keys. My eyebrows furrowed as my fingers glazed over a rough surface. I looked down and noticed there were words engraved on the wooden lid. In all my life, I had never come across such a beautiful set of words.
𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐡𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝.
❇❇❇
"What's your story?", Sophia asked Laila, who sat on the couch in my room.
Laila didn't reply instantly. She glanced at me and I gestured to her to tell by giving a firm nod. She then looked back at Sophia, who stood in front of her with her arms crossed.
"Story?", Laila asked.
"All of us have one. You wouldn't be here with us right now if you didn't", Sophia answered softly.
Laila sighed and there was a short moment of silence before she replied.
"My parents recently died in a car accident." Her lips quivered. "That was the night of my 17th birthday." She looked down at her locked hands on her lap. "They wanted to take me out to celebrate at my favourite diner that night but I said no. Instead, I went out with my friends. They surprised me with this party at our classmate's house. I didn't know that it was already getting so late." She paused. "Worst, I was drinking. My friends dared me to drink it and I didn't want to look like a coward - so I drank it", she said hastily and the look of shame covered her face. "I was so lost and confused. Everything seemed like a blur. It started to get so late, my parents came looking for me. I must've passed out because I didn't pick up my phone. But when I did it was too late - over 20 missed calls and 15 text messages. One call was from the hospital." Her voice broke. I took a seat beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She glanced at me and I gave her a sad smile. "You know - when I arrived home that night, there was a present on the kitchen counter." She smiled sadly. "They bought me the Gucci heels that I've been asking for months. We didn't have much money to afford that kind of luxury. We barely had any money. But my parents . . . . they -" She burst into tears and I pulled her into my arms.
"Let it out. It's okay." I started to move my hand up and down her back to comfort her.
"I want my mom. I want my dad", she cried hysterically.
Tamara sat on the other side of Laila and placed a hand on her shoulder. I looked at Tamara and she was looking opposite her. Her face was calm but I can tell she felt very sorry for Laila. Sophia kneeled in front of Laila with a tissue box in her hands - she started to gently wipe Laila's tears.
❇❇❇
"Where should we place her?", Sophia asked.
"She can't stay in London?", Tamara asked.
"Not now. There's nobody to watch over her. Anywhere else?", Sophia asked.
"Back in New York?", Tamara suggested.
"If she wants to go back there", Sophia said.
They both turned to look at me.
"For now, she shouldn't be by herself. I'll call Laurene and she'll take care of Laila. We'll send them to the LA home. Laurene is in charge of training her until our next meet."
"Laila's a newcomer with no experience. She needs at least one of us", Sophia said.
"Laurene is more than capable of training Laila. Even just a few basic skills are good enough", I said.
"What about inheritance? She said her family barely had money", Sophia asked.
"I'll handle it."
"You'll do the same for her as you did for the three?", Tamara asked me.
I nodded.
"You're lucky we're rich." Sophia sighed.
"Anyways, did your boyfriend text or call you? Do you have a date tonight? If so, which one?", Tamara asked all at once.
"You've been dying to ask all that haven't you?", I asked.
"Yes, I was dying", she exaggerated.
"But still breathing." Sophia sighed.
Tamara gave her the middle finger and I chuckled
"All of them texted, except Nicholas. I told them I had this urgent full-day meeting in the city", I said. "And yes, I have a date tonight."
"Who?", Tamara asked immediately and grabbed my hand, squeezing it.
"You trying to break my hand?", I asked in a bored tone.
"Coming from the girl with an iron grip", Sophia gave me a pointed look. I just scoffed in response.
"Who?", Tamara asked in impatience.
"Xavier."
"Where's he taking you?", Sophia asked.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"Well, we need to plan outfit, shoes, makeup, accessories - what's wrong?" Sophia furrowed her brows while looking at me.
"Nothing."
"Liar." Tamara folded her arms and mirrored the pointed look Sophia was giving me.
Then, I realised that I zoned out and began to fidget while I stood. I sighed. "There's just someone I need to talk to. We bumped into each other this morning and he said we needed to talk. I said when I return from my meeting, we'll talk."
"Who is this someone?", Sophia asked sceptically.
"He's an acquaintance."
Sophia narrowed her eyes at me for a split second before sighing."Be back soon. You have a date to get ready for."
I smiled."I'll see you two later." While walking toward the bedroom door, I gave Tamara a side hug before walking out. "Laila", I called.
Laila stayed in my room living room, while my sister's and I discussed in my bedroom. Once she heard me call her, she stood up from the couch.
"My sisters will help get you settled. I'm sorry but you'll have to excuse me, I have somewhere I need to be. If there's anything you want to talk about or ask, we can talk later you and me." I gave her a small smile which she returned along with a nod. I walked toward her and pulled her into a hug. "You'll be alright", I said.
❇❇❇
I walked into the academy's garden and started to look around.
"So you are a lady of your word." I heard him say from behind.
"I do not make promises I can't keep", I spoke as I turned around to face him.
When we came face to face, its as if we were miles apart, worlds apart. There has been something very off between the two of us, but I can't quite figure out what that is. The sun reflected in his sad blue eyes - his fair skin glowed and his brown locks melted into a beautiful shade of gold.
"Luca", I greeted.
He returned the greeting with a small smile. "Kristine."
"You seemed impatient this morning. What is it you would like to talk about?", I asked.
He didn't reply instantly. Instead, he took a few steps closer to me.
"Let's talk somewhere else", he said.
"Where?"
"Somewhere."
"For sure that's already obvious."
"There's a place by the lake I know. It's just a walk through the forest."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Don't worry I'm not a ghost who's haunting you", he chuckled.
"That isn't what I'm concerned about at the current moment", I said and glanced at the forest before looking back at Luca, "Lead the way."
A few minutes later
"How did you find this place?"
We were now standing in front of the academy's lake, it was an open area that was further within the forest. The colours blended beautifully just like at the waterfall, and the scenery was like a painting. There was a dock stretched over the turquoise water and I could picture this as a summer get together place.
"I like to walk around in the forest sometimes."
Luca walked down the dock and I watched as he took a seat by the edge. I followed not long later. I sat on the dock beside Luca and lightly swayed my legs over the edge. We sat there in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet. The scenery was breathtaking, the fresh air hitting my skin felt reviving and the aromatic scent of nature was calming. I can imagine myself coming here frequently. I would be sitting here cross-legged, guitar in lap, songwriting book on the knee, sketchpad laid beside me and my journal just next to it. I have many hobbies that I love doing - they make me show my true self. However, the imagination of my guitar and songwriting book made me wonder . . .
Why?
That's become a dying hobby. It has been for a year now.
"It's been like a month you know?", Luca asked all of a sudden.
"What has?"
"Since the day I showed up by your doorstep, bleeding." He turned his face to look at me. "The day you helped me." I turned and looked up at him. "You could have just shut the door in my face and left me to bleed. But you helped. You helped me. You saved me", he said while maintaining eye contact.
"Why wouldn't I help you, Luca?"
"Why would anyone help me?", he mumbled and glanced down at the space between us.
"Why would anyone not?"
"Believe me, there are more reasons why anyone wouldn't", he said in a bitter tone.
Silence.
"Then . . ." He looked up at me again and I maintained eye contact as I spoke. "That just means you haven't met that someone who would. Believe me, there are more reasons why that someone would. That someone who wants to help you Luca, exists."
I noticed how his breath hitched and his sad blue eyes softened, even more, causing his features to showcase pain and sadness.
"Is it possible you're that someone?", he asked with hope in his eyes as he stared into mine.
"Anything's possible", I returned.
In the faintest tone, he only asked, "Who are you, Kristine?"
I didn't respond. Instead, I gave a small smile and turned to look forwards. Luca was right. It has been around a month since that day. I could take this step, but I can only hope I won't regret it.
"What happened to you that night?", I asked and turned to face him again.
"Oh, you do care." A corner of his lips lifted into a smirk.
"I never said I didn't."
I just tried to deny it.
He raised an eyebrow in amusement before nodding.
"I can't tell you."
"Alright then. It's your story, your business", I replied.
He sighed. "I only said that to expect some sort of reaction."
"Congratulations, you got one. It's a not-so-curious kind of reaction."
A short beat of hesitation from Luca before he asked, "You're not very interested in other people's lives are you?"
I blinked. "Maybe I am. I just don't show it", I slowly answered and surprised myself by saying it.
Silence.
"I just got into a really bad fight that night", he explained.
"With the wrong people. You were fortunate the wound wasn't that deep", I said in a serious tone.
"It's normal. Bad is always attracted to the wrong. It's an addiction."
"Every addiction has a cure. It just takes patience to find it."
He chuckled, however, it was bitter. "Yeah well . . . that fucking sucks, because I find it hard to be patient."
I inhaled a long breath. "I want to start from the beginning . . . . What's your story, Luca?"
"You really want to know?", he asked in a bored tone.
"I wouldn't come here with you if I didn't bother to. I would certainly not be bothered to ask you either."
He was silent for a few seconds and he poked the inner of his cheek with his tongue. I noticed that he does that often.
"When I was eight, my dad left", he casually told and I was taken aback by the news. "He just . . walked out and slammed that door shut." He paused. "Then it was just me and my mom. She died a year later." He hesitantly glanced at me. "Drug overdose."
I knew what I was supposed to say right there and then, but I waited for him to continue instead.
"Like hell, I was going to be a foster kid", he said and clenched his jaw. "I ran away and was on the streets on my own for a while. Eventually, I was taken in by this family who found me. So now, I'm here." He looked at me. "That's my story."
I sucked in a breath. "It shouldn't be", I mumbled quietly. "I guess your life took a real turn then. You're here", I said, almost making it sound like some sort of relief.
"At the most prestigious academy in the entire world?", he chuckled sourly.
"You're just . . .here."
When Luca didn't say anything, the air around us thickened. He just stared at me like that night he sat with me in the garden. There was this pain in his haunted eyes and I knew exactly how he felt. The next thing I knew, I held him in my arms and found myself hugging him. I felt his body tense and I faintly rubbed his back.
"You need a hug . . you need it, Luca", I whispered.
I heard his breath falter before letting out a low sigh. Hesitantly and very slowly, he placed his hands on my back.
"You can't change your past. But a story can always be rewritten", I assured. "It depends on the one making that choice."
A breath.
A gust of wind.
A broken soul who's desperate for love.
I guess that was the two of us.
Luca wrapped his arms around my torso and I felt the faint brush of his cheek against my temple. As
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