Chapter three: The things he never told me.
1847 Words
Eliana’s POV
For a few seconds, I couldn’t move.
I stared at the man standing in my doorway.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same photograph I had found beside my father’s body.
Except this time, he was real.
He was standing barely ten feet away from me.
My father’s hand tightened around my arm.
“Don’t listen to him Eliana.”
The man smiled.
“Still protecting her?”
“Get out of the house.”his voice was calm.
Almost too calm.
The man looked at me again.
“You deserve to know why they are coming for you.”
“Who are you?”
My voice shook.
He didn’t Answer.
Instead, he looked at the silver key in my hand.
His expression changed.
“You still have it.”
I looked down.
“How do you know about this?”
My father stepped forward.
“Enough.”
The man laughed quietly.
“You gave her the key?”
My father raised the gun.
“Leave.”
The man lifted his hands.
“I didn’t come to hurt her.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To warn her of course.”
“About What?”
The man’s eyes met mine.
“Blackwood.”
Why does everyone know about this school? What is so wrong or right about this school!!
I thought to myself.
My stomach tightened. “Why does everyone keep mentioning Blackwood?”
Neither of them answered.
I looked between them
“You know each other.”
Silence.
“You know each other !!” I repeated.
My father lowered the gun slightly.
“Elian, go downstairs.”
“No.”
“Now!”
“I am tired of being told what to do.”
The man smiled.
“She finally asked the right questions.”
My father glared at him.
“You have five seconds.”
“Then I will make this quick.”
The man reached into his coat.
My father immediately raised the gun.
But instead of a weapon, the man pulled out a photograph.
He tossed it onto the floor.
I looked at my feet.
I bent down slowly and then froze.
It was my mother.
She was standing beside two men.
One of them was my father, while the other was the stranger.
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
“When was this taken?” I asked.
My father said nothing.
I looked at him.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
The answer hit harder than I expected.
“Who is he?”
My father looked away.
“Someone I trusted.”
The stranger laughed bitterly.
“You trusted me until you decided your daughter was more Important than the truth.”
My father’s expression hardened.
“Leave.”
The stranger looked at me one last time.
“Ask your father about the “rose” name.”
“Then he turned and walked away.”
My father didn’t stop him.
I waited until his footsteps disappeared.
Then I turned to my father.
“Explanation please.”
“Go pack your bags.”
“Dad.”
“Now.”
“You are not getting away from this.”
He looked at me.
And for the first time, I saw something I had never seen before.
Guilt.
“Your mother and I were involved with people we shouldn’t have been involved with.”
“What people?” I asked calmly.
He didn’t answer.
“Why was that man in the picture?”
“Because he was part of my life before you were born.” He said.
“Amd my mother?”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“She knew him.”
I swallowed.
“Waa she afraid of him?” I asked.
“Yes, she was.”
The Answer came too quickly.
I stepped closer.
“Then why was she standing beside him?”
“I don’t know.” He said in so much rush.
“You keep lying over and over .”
“I don’t have time for this.” He tried to change the subject.
“You never have time, even for my mother!”
My voice broke as I said those words.
“You spent my whole life deciding what I should know and what I shouldn’t. Mum died, and you still told me an accident took her. Now you are telling me she was involved with dangerous people, there is a man watching me, someone broke into my room, and all of a sudden Blackwood is connected to it.”
He looked at me.
“You need to leave.” He said.
“Why Blackwood ?”
He hesitated.
“Because your mother wanted you to go there.”
I stared at him.
“What.”
“Before she died, she made arrangements.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me!”
“Because I thought I could keep you away from everything.”
“Clearly you couldn’t.”
He looked down.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Then he walked towards his desk.
He opened a drawer and pulled out a small envelope and handed it over to me.
My name was written across the front
My hands trembled, “what is this?”I asked
“Something your mother left.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the envelope.
“Why are you giving me this now?”
“Because I can’t protect you anymore.”
My heart dropped as I heard those words
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
A loud sound came from downstairs.
We both turned and then boom, the security alarm started screaming.
Dad immediately grabbed my hand.
“We are leaving.”he said
“Now?”
“Yes!”
“What about the security guards?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about them.”
We hurried downstairs.
The house was strangely quiet. Infact , too quiet.
One of the guards lay unconscious near the entrance.
I stopped.
“Dad…”
“Don’t look.”
But I had already seen enough.
He pulled me towards the back door.
Outside, the night air hit my face.
A car was waiting.
My father opened the passenger door.
“Get in.”
I climbed inside.
He got behind the wheel and drove.
Neither of us spoke.
I held the envelope tightly against my chest.
After several minutes, I finally asked.
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere safe.” He said.
“Where?”
He glanced at me.
“Your aunt’s house.”
I frowned.
“I don’t have an aunt.”
His hands tightened around the steering wheel.
“You did.”
“Did?”
“Well, she disappeared years ago .”
I stared at him.
“You are telling me I have an aunt that disappeared years ago?”
“Yes.”
“And you are just telling me?”
“I was trying to protect you Eliana.”
I looked outside the window.
The city lights blurred past us.
Nothing made sense anymore, my father had lied about my mother, he had hidden an entire part of our family and now someone was hunting me because of somethings I didn’t even know existed.
My phone vibrated and I looked at it.
It was a photograph from an unknown number.
It was our car, a picture that was taken from behind. Someone was definitely following us.
My blood ran cold as I showed my father.
He looked at the screen.
And for the first time that night, he looked genuinely frightened.
“Don’t respond.” He said.
“Who is following us?”
He stepped harder on the accelerator.
“Dad.”
“Don’t.”
“Who is it please?”
“He said nothing.”
Then my phone vibrated again
Another message.
You shouldn’t have left the house
I stared at it.
A second message appeared.
Blackwood won’t save you.
Then a third.
But he might.
I frowned.
“Who.??”
No Answer.
I looked at the father.
“Who are they talking about?”
He didn’t respond.
Then I saw something in the rearview mirror.
It was a black car.
The same black car that had been outside our house.
It was following us.
And somehow, I knew this wasn’t a coincidence.
My father suddenly turned the steering wheel and the car swerved onto another road.
“Dad.”
“Hold on.”
We sped through the empty street and the black car followed.
My heart pounded fast.
Then my father reached into the compartment beside him and pulled out a second phone.
He dialed a number.
Someone answered and my father only spoke four words “she knows everything now.”
He ended the call immediately.
I stared at him and asked,
“Who did you call?”
He didn’t Answer.
Instead, he looked at me.
“Tomorrow morning , you are going to Blackwood.”
I shook my head.
“I am not going anywhere.”
“You are.”
“Why?”
His eyes met mine.
“Because if they find you before you get there..”
He stopped.
“Get where?”
He looked by at the road.
“Before you meet jay vale.”
My heart skipped.
Jay vale.
The name from earlier. This was the name my father had told me to stay away from.
The name that had appearances in my messages without explanation.
But for the first time, i wondered why.
“Who is this Jay vale?”
His face hardened.
“I have told you, it’s nothing you should be concerned about.”
“I think I do.”
“No Elian, you don’t.”
“Why are you afraid of him?”
“I am not afraid of him.”
“Yes you are,”
He said nothing.
I watched his reflection in the rearview mirror.
His knuckles were white against the steering wheel.
“Is he dangerous?” I asked again.
My father’s silence lasted too long.
Then he finally spoke, “Jay vale doesn’t need to hurt anyone to destroy them.”
A chill ran through me.
“What does that mean?” I asked
“It means you stay away from him.”
“Then why am I going to Blackwood??”
He didn’t answer.
My phone vibrated again.
I looked down.
Ask him what happened to the last girl who trusted Jay vale.
My breath caught, I slowly turned towards my father.
He has already seen the message! His face went pale.
“Dad?”
“Delete it.” He said
“Who was the girl?”
“Delete it Eliana!”
“Who was she!”
He looked at me.
And for the first time since all this began, I saw something worse than fear in his eyes.
Recognition.
As if he knew exactly who the message was talking about.
And somehow, I knew he was about to lie to me again.
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