Whispers Between The Two Houses

Chapter six

That night Daniel could barely sleep. What happened that day kept ringing a bell inside his head, the unknown old man, the letter that was given to him and what might be inside the later. He kept on staring at the ceiling tossing from one side of the bed to another, sighing. His thoughts kept flashing back to the letter he had hidden. Someone had stopped the letter from getting to his grandp for decades but why? And who could have done it? He kept asking himself.

The house became completely calm. His parents had already gone to bed. He stood up and went to the drawer where he had kept the letter and brought it out. He opened the letter and read the last part "let's meet tomorrow to discover that truth". But that meeting never took place.

Daniel frowned. That meant something must have gone very wrong that night. All of a sudden, Daniel stopped. He quickly turned his head to look at the door, he held his breath and paid close attention. For a short time, everywhere was quiet. Someone was walking softly down the hall outside his room. Daniel's heart started to race, his parents had already gone to bed. So who was up and about in the house at this hour? He thought to himself. The footsteps stopped right by his door. Daniel felt a strange tightness in his chest. Then, slowly the handle on the door started to turn. Daniel quickly folded the letter and put it back in the envelope.

He didn't put it back in the drawer. Instead, he quietly lifted the loose floorboard next to his bed and hid the envelope there. The door creaked open just as he was done. A shadowy figure came into the room. Daniel quickly ducked behind the wardrobe and held his breath. The person moved slowly across the room, making sure not to make any noise. The light from the moon outside the window only showed a shadow. But it was clear that the person was looking for something. The figure went straight to Daniel's desk. Then someone opened the drawer. Papers were moved out of the way. People picked up books and put them back down. The person looked for a long time, almost desperately. But the search stopped after a few seconds. There was nothing in the drawer.

Daniel could hear the intruder breathing hard.

Then the person said something quietly to themselves. The voice was soft, but Daniel recognized it. He was shocked and his eyes got bigger, because that voice came from someone in his own house. The intruder looked through the desk again clearly, after a little while, the figure quietly left the room, and the door closed quietly behind them.

Daniel stood behind the wardrobe for a few seconds before coming out, his heart was racing. Someone in his family had been looking for the letter, which meant one thing. They knew about the letter, and they were scared of what it revealed.

Amara stood on the balcony of her aunt's house in the busy city of Port Harcourt and looked down at the lights of the city below. Cars kept going through the streets. The city felt different from Ogwashi in every way. As the wind blew on her face, Amara put her arms around herself.

She had gotten there earlier that afternoon, but the strange feeling in her chest hadn't gone away. During the long drive, her father hardly said anything. When they got to her aunt's house, he just told her she would be there for a while, until things settled down. But Amara already knew why. He just wanted to separate her from Daniel.

Her phone buzzed softly in her hand. A message popped up.

Daniel:

Someone came into my room tonight.

Amara's eyes got bigger, and she typed back right away

Amara:

What? Are you all right?

Daniel:

Yes. But they were searching for the letter.

Amara:

"Did they find it?"

Daniel:

No. I put it away first.

She let out a sigh of relief. But then a message showed up.

Daniel:

I think I knew the voice.

Amara:

Who was it?

There was a long break, then he answered.

Daniel:

Someone in my family.

Amara suddenly felt very scared. If Daniel's family knew about the letter, the secret that caused the fight was much more dangerous than they thought.

Amara heard footsteps behind her at that moment. She quickly locked her phone.

Ngozi, her aunt, came out onto the balcony.

Her aunt said softly, You should be resting.

Amara nodded, I will. Something on the small table next to the chair caught her eye as she turned to go inside. It was a picture from a long time ago. Amara grabbed it, she couldn't breathe. There were three men standing together in the picture, she knew right away who two of them were. Her grandfather and Daniel's grandfather. But the third man was unknown to her. Amara asked her aunt. Who is this man? For a moment she didn't say anything, then she said calmly. That is the man who ruined both families.