New Beginning

CHAPTER ONE

Adelaide’s P.O.V

(Two weeks before the incident that happened in the prologue)

Dress, Checked! Shoes, Checked! Accessories, Checked!

“What else is there to tick of the list?” I mutter to myself as I am busy marking down everything on my list, or shall I rather say, ‘check sheet.' I’m busy preparing myself for our High school’s annual Talent show, which is tonight at 7 pm. It’s been a tradition, since the school opened their doors ten years ago, to end the school year off with a Talent show. And once again I enjoy being a part of it. I love dancing, singing and acting. My dream is to become a famous actress one day, but my parents has other ambitions for me. This is my third year participating. I started participating in Grade 8. Our school is a combined school, so it has a Kindergarten, Primary - and High school which is next to each other. The Kindergarten is for children aged 2 to 5. Then the Primary school starts from Grade R, which is for the 6 year old children. Then it is Grade 1-7. High school starts from Grade 8, the year when you turn 14, up until Grade 12, the year when you turn 18 years old. Although only the High school may participate in the Talent show. The kindergarten and Primary school has their own concerts or Talent shows at the end of the year.

Some might say I have a serious case of O.C.D (Obsessive-compulsive disorder.) For those who don’t know what it is, it’s when a person has a tendency towards excessive orderliness, perfectionism and great attention to detail. HAHA! I don’t actually have it, but sometimes I can act like I do have O.C.D. I don’t see it as something negative, but rather as something positive. I just like being prepared and most definitely don’t like any surprises.

I enter through my room’s door and my eyes scan across my huge, beautiful and custom-made bookshelf, which is on the left side of my room, at the adjacent wall which is actually covered with a window on the left and right side and in the middle is a huge double sliding door, which opens up to a large balcony. The bookshelf is in front of the left window which is full of reading books, study guides and handbooks for school. In front of the right window is a double-seater sofa and at the wall next to it (which is the wall opposite to the entrance door for my room) is another double-seater sofa. The sofas are a royal blue color. In front of the sofas is a round Dalbergian wood coffee table, decorated with a square golden-brownish tablecloth, with a vase on top of it with my favorite color roses, yellowish-orange, and blue.  

In fact, all the furniture in my room is custom made. We went to India one summer vacation (while it was winter in India) and I absolutely fell in love with the Dalbergian wood furniture they manufacture there. The color is a golden to brown shade. And like the spoiled brat that I am, I immediately asked my dad if I can have the furniture in my room made with this wood. Well, obviously he said yes. 

So, two months later they delivered my dressing table with matching stool, with a beautiful Angel bed frame which has exquisite carved details on it. The bench in front of my bed is also made of the same wood and also has beautiful carvings on it. I even had them manufacture doors for my room, walk in closet and my En-suite bathroom. The floor skirtings and the ceiling cornices are also made of the same wood. Yeah, I bet you guys think I am going a bit overboard, but I have a good eye for beautiful things.

My Angel queen size bed is situated on the right side of my room, when you enter through my door, on the opposite wall, with a bedside table on either side, which obviously was also made of Dalbergian wood. On each bedside table there is a light brown bed lamp. My bedding is also royal blue and the scatter cushions are a golden-brownish color, which matches my furniture. The large cushion on my bench, in front of my bed, is also the same color as my scatter cushions. 

My floors are completely tiled, and is a beige, light-brownish color. In front of my bed, on the opposite wall, where the entrance door to my room is, my huge flat screen TV is mounted to the wall, and underneath it is my customized TV stand for my DVD’s, CD’s and a very good sound system which is also connected to my TV. I also have a few gaming consoles, neatly arranged at the bottom of the TV stand.

From the entrance of my bedroom door the first thing I see, on the opposite wall (where my bed is on the right hand side, and my one double-seater sofa is on the left hand side) is a large desk with my laptop and accessories for when I do my homework. I also have a comfy office like chair in front of the desk. On the other wall (the opposite wall where my windows and sliding door is) about two meters away from my bed is the entrance door to my En-suite bathroom. 

My bathroom is also decorated with royal blue and white colors. I have a corner bath in one corner and the shower is in the other corner. In the middle is a double sink and underneath is a cupboard where I store some of my bathroom accessories. The towel rail is next to the bath and the toilet is next to the shower. I guess by now you guys think I'm totally blue and brown crazy! HAHA Well, blue is my favorite color and the golden-brownish color compliments it well. 

Well, back to my room. My large walk in closet is about two meters away, on the right side if you enter my room. The closet is about three meters wide and about six meters in length. Straight at the back of the closet is my dressing table, filled with perfumes, jewelry, hair accessories etc… On the left and right of the walk-in closet there are plenty of racks filled with clothes, shoes, hats, bags and what ever else I need.

I take another glance at my  dressing table and try to think of what else I should still do before getting ready for the Talent show. I spot my cell phone. Damn it!!! I must still give Daemon a call to ask if he’s coming to the show tonight. 

Daemon Gedeon is my very handsome boyfriend. He is probably the most popular guy in our school, no scratch that, he is the most popular guy in school, because he is the captain of both the First rugby - and cricket team of our school. He is about 1.98 m tall, has light brown hair, has beautiful grey eyes which can see right through your soul if you look at them. He is quite buff and well built, probably because of all the sports he participates in. 

I still can’t believe I got so lucky for him to notice me at all. Yeah sure, I’m also popular in school, I’m in the cheer leading squad, a straight ‘A’ student, I play netball and hockey and I’m in the Drama club. So, you can say I participate in a lot of extracurricular activities at school and after school. But still I wouldn’t say I’m the most beautiful girl in the school, although I get a lot of compliments on my beauty, even from strangers. 

I am not the type of person that thinks I am better than others. I like to believe that I'm a humble person who likes to help others. I would say that I am a plain Jane, unlike Adriana Shultz, the captain of the cheer leading squad who thinks that the world owes her something. She is the queen B of the school with all her minions. They are known as the school bullies and like to make people feel bad about themselves. She has had a thing for Daemon for years now, but he never even looks in her direction, even if she always tries her best to get his attention. Adriana and I are like opposites, she’s so chatty and flirty with guys, while I’m an introvert who is shy and mostly withdrawn from other people.

Daemon is a year older than me, well technically a year and a half. He turned 17 five months ago, in July, and I’m only turning 16 this month at the end of December. Yeah, like I said somehow, he noticed me at last year’s Talent show when he came to watch his older sister’s performance. He got my cell phone number from someone and started texting me during the Summer holiday.

Oh, I’m so sorry guys! I forgot to mention, I’m from South Africa and our seasons and school terms work differently here compared to some of the other countries. So first let me explain the seasons: December, January and February are Summer. March, April and May are Autumn. June, July and August are Winter then lastly September, October and November are Spring. We have four school terms. Our school year starts in January, normally at about the 10th or 11th, then our first break is from about the end of March until the beginning of April. It’s always about 10 days or so. The Winter break is between June and July, which is normally about 3 weeks. Then Spring break is from about the end of September until the beginning of October which is also normally about 10 days. Then lastly Summer break, which is my favorite by the way! It’s from about the 4th or 5th of December until January when the new term starts again. I sincerely hope you guys understand. HAHA I know for some it might seem confusing.

So back to Daemon and me, initially I thought it would only be a Summer fling, because he is after all known as the player of the school. I told him we can take things slow, since I know about his history. So, he also understands that I am not ready to give him my V card yet. I’m not even sure if I’ll ever be ready for that. Daemon knew about my insecurities and he assured me that I mean much more to him than a mere fling. There are certain things that he does not know, and I’m not sure if I will ever have the guts to tell him about my past. 

We spent most of the Summer holiday together, going on dates, watching movies together. On my birthday the 20th of December he took me for a picnic on the beach where he also officially asked me to be his girlfriend. It all felt so unreal, like I’m in a fairy tale or something.

By the time the new school year started, in January, the news about us dating spread like a wildfire. I still remember this day like it was yesterday. He came to pick me up for school, at my house or should I say mansion, because the place is so huge, but anyway back to what I was saying. He picked me up and we drove to school. 

The ride to school from my house is about 10 - 15 minutes, when there is not a lot of traffic. I was quite nervous to reach school because I know how the people at this school can gossip. Before I knew it, we stopped in front of the school, Cape Town Private Academy. It is a private school for only a few elite members in the society. So basically, it is only for rich children. It’s in Cape town, about 20 km from where I stay in a suburb called Clifton. This is also a very upper-class neighborhood and I like it because it's not as busy as the city of Cape town, which is also where my parents' law firm is situated, in the middle of the busy city. Both my parents are Lawyers. They started their own law firm about 5 years ago and it's already a very successful firm. That's why they are almost never home because they represent a lot of important clients and have to travel a lot. 

So back to where we were, we stopped in front of the school and immediately all eyes were on Daemon’s new bright red Ferrari 488 Pista 2019 model. My hands instantly started sweating because of nervousness. Daemon climbed out of the car and like a real gentleman he walked around to my side of the car to open the door for me. He took my left hand and helped me out of the car.

He leaned in closer to my ear and whispered so sensually in my ear: “Relax, baby. Just ignore them.” I could feel his breath on my ear and I felt shivers run down my spine and I had goose bumps on my arm from our close proximity. And that is when the crowd went silent. Only a few murmurs could be heard, because this is the first time that Daemon came to school with a girl. I could feel all their eyes on us. Some of them even stood there with their mouths open in shock. Well, and obviously there were a few girls that gave me b!tchy glares, but the group that stood out the most was Adriana and her three minions. They gave me death glares. I'm sure they were just jealous, because they never got the opportunity to be so close to him. 

Daemon just ignored everyone and took my hand and walked us to the boot of his car and got our school bags out. He carried both our bags while still holding my hand and we walked through the crowd into the school building directly to my locker. I decided to ignore all the gossip and dirty looks I got.

And so, the rest of the year went on. It was actually a great year. Everyone got used to us being a couple. I even got used to his friends. The only person who still had a problem with me was Adriana. She just couldn’t get over the fact that Daemon was my boyfriend. She was still flirting openly with him in front of me. At least he told her to get lost, every time, and go and bother someone else. 

My best friend Lydia, the only close friend I have, since we grew up together, was also very supportive of our relationship. Although she was very skeptical about our relationship in the beginning because he was a real ladies’ man and she heard rumors once that he cheated on me, but I assured her that I trust him completely because he never once gave me a reason not to trust him. I guess she eventually changed her mind because she saw how he treated me and how he would always do special things for me, like getting the florist to deliver roses at school for me, or always leaving sweet notes in my locker with a cupcake, because he knows it’s my favorite, or he would surprise me with random picnics in the park, at the beach or even sometimes during our lunch time he would throw a blanket under a tree and act like we are having a picnic. 

There is so much more I can tell you but then I would never be able to finish writing this chapter! HAHA! So here we are at the end of the school year, Friday 6 December 2019, and it was the last day of school today. And tonight, is the Talent show which basically represents our farewell to the end of this school year.

Anyway, back to the task at hand… I mark down the last item on my list. ‘Call Daemon.’ “Maybe I should just leave it. He will come. I know it.” I say these words knowing that I don’t believe it. A wave of emotions washes over me, making me feel sick to my stomach. I hate it when we fight! “Oh dammit! Let me just get it over with.” I pick up my phone from my desk and walk to my bed. I sit on my bed, making myself comfortable sitting crossed-legged. As I start flipping through my contacts, I can’t help my wandering thoughts as I think back about the fight, we had two days ago.

Before I had a chance to dwell on that thought for too long, I see his name in my contact list. ‘Babe.’ I hesitate for a moment but eventually press the call button and put the phone to my ear. I feel so nervous I start biting my nails while waiting for the call to go through. At last it’s ringing… RIIING RIIING…  RIIING  RIIING… RIIING  RIIING…    

Just as I was about to end the call it switches to voicemail… “Hi there, it’s Daemon here and as you can hear I’m not available right now…” Before listening any further I end the call and throw my phone across the bed making it fall of on the other side of the bed.

“Seriously Daemon! It’s been two days!!!” I yell out in frustration. He hasn’t been answering my calls since our fight. I guess he’s just busy with stuff, but yet again I’m trying to make excuses for his sh!tty behavior. It was so good to hear his voice again, even though it was only on his voicemail. “I wonder what is going on in that handsome head of yours Daemon?” I feel tears start to build up in my eyes, but I quickly wipe them off with the back of my hands. I can’t afford to get emotional now. I have a show to prepare for so I can’t stress myself out any further. 

Just as I was about to get up from my bed, my cell phone starts ringing, I startle because I was so deep in thought. It must be Daemon calling back, I hope... I reach over to grab my phone that fell on the floor. As I take a peek at the caller ID, I can’t stop the nauseating feeling in my stomach, disappointment… It isn’t Daemon… It is our housekeeper.

“Hi, Lina.” I try not to sound disappointed because I don’t want her to worry about me. “Hello dear, Benji just informed me that he is back and ready to leave when you are.”

“Thank you, Lina. Please tell him I shall be ready in about 40 minutes time.”

“Sure sweety, would you like to eat something before you leave?” I can hear the sincerity in her voice, she cares so much about me. She is like a second mother to me. She’s been our housekeeper for over 20 years now. She started working for my parents when she was 20 years old.

“I’m good thanks Lina. I had a few cupcakes to eat earlier.” I can’t help but chuckle like a naughty schoolgirl. Lina is always encouraging me to eat healthier. But cupcakes are my favorite. I just can’t stay away. Sometimes I even eat them for lunch. She also starts laughing. “My dear, you do realize you won’t always stay 15 and have that great body of yours. You should start taking care of yourself.” Her words give me a warm feeling. It is so good to know that someone cares so much about me.

"Yeah, Yeah! I know Lina, I won’t stay 15 forever, because in two weeks I’m turning 16.” I start laughing at her again. “And besides Lina, I am blessed with a fast metabolism so I can eat as many cupcakes as I want.”

“All right sweety, you have a good point there.” She says this with a chuckle in her voice. “I’m sorry I can not make it to your show tonight my dear. I have to prepare dinner before your parents come back from their meeting.” I can hear the sadness in her voice. Shame she always tries to be at all my activities because she knows my parents are always busy.

“Lina don’t worry about it. I totally understand. But… You can make it up to me by making me another batch of those delicious cupcakes.” I laugh to lighten the mood. She also immediately starts laughing. “Sure sweety. Now you better start getting ready or else you will be late. Break a leg. I know you’ll be great.” As I hear the excitement in her voice, I start getting this awful and dreadful feeling in my stomach. I have no idea why I feel like this. It’s like I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen. 

I guess it’s just nerves. “You’re right, I better start getting ready. And Lina… Thank you… Thank you so much for everything.” I say it with utmost honesty. I really love this woman. She is more like a mother to me than my own mother. It’s sad, but true. “All right sweety, enjoy your evening. Bye.” and with that said, she ends the call.

I put my phone on my bedside table and take a glance at the clock next to my bed. “OH MY GOSH! It’s already 6 o’clock!” I run to my En-suite bathroom and turn on the shower. As I wait for the water to get ready, I run to my walk-in closet to get the clothes that I got ready for the Talent show. 

Fifteen minutes later I’m out of the shower with a towel wrapped around my body. I go straight to my walk-in closet. I start to blow dry my waist long, natural blond, hair. I decide to keep my hair down with my natural locks hanging freely. Once my hair is dry, I round it off with a silver tiara, to keep the hair out of my face. 

I decided to go for a fairy look. Inspired by Disney’s Tinkerbell. I put on some body lotion and face cream. After that I put on a lacy white Victoria Secret bra with matching thong. Then I put on the lime colored V-neck dress. The top part of the dress is made of Paris Chiffon. It fits perfectly, showing a bit of cleavage, but not too much. It goes down to my waist, fitting like a glove, showing of my curves. The bottom part of the dress looks like a classical tutu, all frilly made of bright yellow and lime Tulle fabric. It ends just above my knees. I decided to wear a lime green Jockey hot pants underneath, just to make sure that my thong doesn’t show when I do my sing and dance performance. 

I take a quick glance in the mirror, making sure I look fine. Once satisfied, I start with my make-up. I’m only putting the minimum make-up on. A silver-glittery eye shadow, black eyeliner and black mascara. The eye shadow combined with the eyeliner and mascara, makes my light blue eyes stand out even more, especially with my long eyelashes. For the finishing touches, I put on some glossy light-pink lipstick on my full plump lips. 

I grab my favorite perfume, Gucci Bloom Nettare Di Fiore, from the dressing table and spray a decent amount on my body. It’s my favorite because of its woody, floral fragrance, which reminds me of nature. I round my outfit of with a silver diamond necklace with matching earrings and bracelet. Lastly, I put on my silver pumps. The heels are not too high, so I won’t have difficulty moving around and dancing in it.

“Oh goodness! I almost forgot to take a handbag.” I get a silver clutch from my walk-in closet, to match my outfit and accessories. The small clutch is just big enough for the essentials that I might need for tonight. My cell phone, makeup bag, hand lotion, cherry lip balm and my purse. I take a glance at my clock and realize it’s already 6:45 pm. The show starts at 7 pm and is 2 hours long. At least I’m last on the program to perform, so my performance will only start at about 8:45 pm. I like to be there when the show starts and watch the other performances as well.

“Sh!t I’m going to be late for the Talent Shows’ opening!” I immediately start running downstairs, to the foyer, where I know Benji usually waits for me. “Benji! We better leave! I’m going to be late for the shows’ opening!” I ramble these words so fast, I don’t even know if Benji heard everything I said.

“Good evening to you too, Miss Saunders. So, lead the way so we won’t be late for this very important Talent show of yours.” He says this with sarcasm in his voice and a smirk on his face. I can’t help but to chuckle at his reaction. I thought he would be offended by the way I spoke with him. I mean I didn’t even greet him. I start leading the way to the elevator and press the button for going down. It instantly opens and we walk in. Benji presses the button so we can go to the ground floor. While we wait, I take the chance to apologize for my behavior.

“Benji, I’m sorry I did not greet you properly. So, hello Benji.” I start to chuckle and take a look at his face for his reaction. I can see he has his usual serious expression, but he has a slight smirk on his face. “Come on Benji. You know I did not mean to be rude.” I look up to his face again and to my surprise he starts laughing!

“Sorry Miss Saunders, I just couldn’t help it. It’s hilarious seeing you so vulnerable, and seeing you so regretful is not something anyone gets to see every day.” Oh, my word. Seriously he was just mocking me! I give him a shove on his shoulder. “Shame on you for teasing me like that! I will definitely get you back for that. And by the way, stop calling me ‘Miss Saunders’ it makes me feel so old! Call me Adelaide!” He starts laughing. “Sure Miss… sorry I mean Adelaide. I will try to remember that.” Just as he says that the elevator door opens.

I step out first and start walking down the stairs. Just as I’m at about the fifth step down I hear gunshots! What the hell! Freaking gunshots! It’s as if everything happens in slow motion. I can faintly hear Benji giving instructions to the rest of the bodyguards. I see one of the bodyguard’s falls to the ground next to the SUV, he has been shot. Suddenly Benji starts shaking my shoulders to get me back to reality.

“Adelaide, listen to me! We are under attack. You need to get back in the house and press the alarm so that all the staff can get to the bunker. You must also go straight there and lock the door once everyone is safe inside. And you do not open that door, no matter what. You will only open it once I say you can.” I’m in such a trance but at least I realize the severity of the situation. I quickly run back up the stairs again and once I’m inside the house I press the alarm button. I run into the elevator and enter the code for the elevator to go down to the bunker.

Once inside the bunker I wait for all the staff to arrive. They are just as terrified as me because they also heard the gunshots. Tears start building up in my eyes and immediately Lina is next to me with her arm around my shoulder, comforting me.

“Don’t worry my dear. Everything is going to be fine. There’s a lot of guards, trained to handle these kind of situations.” I can hear the doubt in her voice, but I appreciate the fact that she’s trying to comfort me. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Why are we under attack? Suddenly I realize something… For the past week there has been more security and bodyguards following my every move. The only explanation is that my parents know something that I don’t, like always I’m kept in the dark…

Once everyone is inside I close the double metal doors and press in the code to seal the door properly. There are a lot of terrified people around me, but I try to stay strong. I just hope and pray that Benji and the rest of the guards are alright...