In Rio's Shadows

Chapter 2 Leaving Home

CHAPTER 2

LEAVING HOME

Blanca Castellano sank her body into the comfort of her brown leather sofa and sighed. Her baggage evoked so many thoughts. Her eyes roamed around the house. Its ambience calmed her. Her shoulders relaxed.

She moved around her old Moorish-style home with its floral scroll designs. The house had always brought her comfort: the old brick fireplace below a mantelpiece and square mirror, the landscape oil paintings on the pale green walls, and the classic wooden bookshelf which held a range of books on journalism and current affairs.

The roomy house’s eighteenth-century Baroque combination of plain and fancy architectural design had led Blanca to choose it several years ago. She loved the old-style grandiosity. The round arches in the foyer gave the house a Roman feel, and the dark antique furniture blended in well with the house’s decorative features.

She would miss it, but business called: tight budgets and staff shortages had led to her boss assigning her to fill in for six months at the magazine’s office in Brazil. The senior editor position in the Rio de Janeiro office would be a step up from her editor position in Spain’s capital, albeit a temporary one. Not only would she have more responsibility—it would be a new if challenging experience to expand her knowledge of the Portuguese language and experience a new culture.

She rose and checked herself in the foyer mirror, smoothing her jet-black hair, which reached all the way down to her shoulder blades and accentuated her height. She looked close to make sure her dark brown eyes weren’t puffy, nor that her almond-shaped face betrayed the trouble she had had sleeping.

Turning at the sound of footsteps in the hall that led to the bedrooms, she greeted her friend and housemate. Daniela stood in the hallway in a flimsy nightgown that did nothing to hide her trim, taut figure. Her dark brown hair was tied up high in a bun and her green eyes brightened. “I’m happy to drive you to the airport, Blanca. What time are you leaving?”

“In an hour. And thanks, but no, I’ll take a taxi. You have your young ballet students to teach, and it’s not like you can get any back-up teachers at this late notice.” She ignored the butterflies that had been fluttering in her stomach ever since she’d been offered the new job.

“And what about your parents? Are they still upset about you going back to their native country? I can’t understand why they’re bothered by it, girl.” Daniela headed towards the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot Bianca had prepared earlier.

Blanca shook her head. “I don’t know why, either. The last time I was in Brazil, I was ten. Now that I decide to return, they get angry about it. I’ve never understood why we left so suddenly. I remember my aunt telling me over the phone that she was worried something had happened on our trip back then.”

Daniela sipped her coffee and sat at the kitchen table. “I take it they still haven’t explained the reason?”

Blanca joined her friend at the table, shaking out her nerves by lifting her shoulders. “I’ve always wondered. When I asked my dad again, he used work as an excuse. But with the bits and pieces I remember, something shocked him on the day we left.”

She didn’t know why she shuddered at the thought of returning to a country she’d last travelled to at the age of ten. “For seventeen years, I’ve never stopped wondering why my parents cut their vacation short. And when I told them about my temporary work transfer to Brazil, they expressed shock and resistance. At twenty-seven, I’m old enough to make up my own mind.”

“At least they calmed down when they learned you’ll board with your aunt and uncle in Rio,” Daniela said. She rose and wrapped her arms around her. “I am so going to miss you, girl. Please let me know as soon as you arrive in Brazil.” She pulled away. “Are you still having nightmares?”

Blanca nodded. “Sometimes. I’ve always had them sporadically, but they’re more frequent now than ever.” The vivid nightmare she’d had that morning made her flinch. Male voices resounded in her head. Fragments. “She knows too much. The boss said not to touch her. Leave her alone.” She didn’t want to share the nightmare. Why worry her dear friend?

The nightmares gave Blanca a sense of déjà vu, but the only thing she remembered about that vacation at ten was that she’d had nightmares for years after returning home to Madrid. Her parents hadn’t believed she needed therapy for the nightmares as a teenager—it was their old-fashioned way—but she’d gone to therapy once after saving her own money. The first session made her anxiety skyrocket, so she’d stopped.

As she grew up, the nightmares had become less frequent. But they had returned, more vividly, since she received the offer of a position in the Brazil office.

Going back to Rio De Janeiro would stir up memories, but she had to find out the truth. She knew her family had long-held secrets and was determined to discover them.