The Devil's Mistress

Chapter 3

As Nina left the room Calysta went up to get freshened in the attached bath. She opened the tap and splashed water on her face tying her hair back in a messy bun. As she finished rinsing her face and stood up straight to see herself in the mirror she saw her mother standing behind her with a knife in her hand poised above her with the intention to stab her. Calysta screamed and ducked instinctively hitting her head on the basin and losing her consciousness.

Suddenly after sometime she woke up just like she did every night at her villa in Sicily. Before she could hit her head once more her eyes fell on the twinkle under the basin almost near the copper pipes. She looked at it carefully and saw that something had been taped to the basin with a brown tape and it had been concealed so masterfully that it would not come to anyone’s vision. Calysta slowly removed the tape carefully so that the thing which was taped did not get lost because she was sure that whatever was hidden was very small.

After getting the tapes out which had become glued with more dust and were murky she found that it was the key which she had seen her mother wearing in her vision that morning.

Calysta just looked up and said,”Mom, is it necessary to scare me in this way always?” because she very well knew that her mother’s spirit was nearby and she was haunting her in such a way that she would get to know the clues and all those necessary in order to get into the right track.

She got the small key in her hand when she heard a knock and Frederick’s voice outside the door.

“Mistress, Mr. Vincent has been seated in the study.. He is asking that when shall the proceedings commence. And at what time can we expect your arrival?”asked Frederick outside the locked door.

“I shall be in the study within fifteen minutes and tell Mr. Vincent that no cigar is to be smoked in my house in my presence or absence,” said Calysta with her new found authoritative voice.

“Your wishes will be made known and clear to him Mistress,” said Frederick from outside the door.

Inside the room, Calysta was working out how to keep that small discoloured key attached to her body. She could not wear the key as a pendant in her chain like her mother because she was not wearing it when she came into the house and it would be immediately noticeable to everyone who saw her.

But it did not matter anymore, she attached the key to her chain and wore it as a pendant. The place where her head was hit was throbbing with pain and she looked at her mother’s portrait who was still smiling and sighed. She finished brushing her hair and went downstairs to meet the lawyer in the study.

Frederick was standing at one corner of the room and Mr. Vincent was sitting at the chair near the fireplace where her father used to take place when he used the study. The man did not even bother getting up seeing Calysta enter the room.

Calysta walked upto Mr.Vincent and said in a cotton candy sweet voice,”I see you have made yourself very comfortable, is it?”

“Oh yes! Very much , Thank you,” replied the man.

“But unfortunately Mr. Vincent this comfort is not gonna last long, you see. The chair in which you are sitting at the moment belonged to my father and will be kept in his memory. His body has not yet left this house and you have already started taking your claim on my house? Well in that case I would have to ask you to either get up from this chair and find some other suitable place or leave the documents you came to read out, I shall not be continuing with your services anymore,” said Calysta in a voice which could chill anyone to the core.

The man to whom this was addressed looked up at her and said,” I did not know that the girl who was Mr. Alexander’s daughter knew how to speak, now I am doubtful that you are the legitimate heir,” without even moving an inch.

“Frederick, would you be so kind to retain the necessary documents from Mr. Vincent and escort him out of our premises, “said Calysta.

“Mistress, are you sure?” asked Frederick feeling afraid for the first time.

“Well I hope that you understand the language I am speaking so yes, I am pretty clear that I want this or it would not take me another second more to call the police and media and give the statement that the man sitting in front of me was involved in the untimely death of my father,” said Calysta.

This time Mr. Vincent saw that this was not the girl who was to be intimidated by his boorish behavior or misinterpretations because the girl who had left the home and the one who had returned might be the same but something substantial had shifted inside the person. He did not think it would be better to argue with the girl so he got up from the chair and sat at one which was the usual one in which he took seat when he came home.

As he got up from the seat, Calysta could once again hear someone clapping at her performance. She knew this time that it was her mother who was doing all these things in order to help her get affairs under control.

As Mr. Vincent got up from the seat and took the seat Calysta took the seat which was designated for the head of the family.

“Well then we should start I think,” said Mr. Vincent.

“Yes we will, after Nina comes here with the tea we shall definitely start, but before that I believe Mr. Vincent there is something which is mine which is still in your possession. A letter from my father dedicated to me and kept in your safekeeping. I shall like to read it first, till then you can enjoy the tea and the beautiful lemon cakes which I remember are to your liking,” said Calysta in a warm condescending tone.

As if on cue Nina entered the room with a tray holding cups of English tea and warm lemon cakes.

Eugene Vincent was astonished at the way he was being instructed and handled by a woman less than half his age and he was bound to comply to her instructions. He took out the letter in the thick vellum paper inside a sealed envelope and placed it on the ornate teak table. Calysta picked up the letter with ease and poise and smelled it deeply and looked at him.

“Mr. Vincent, I do not think that you had the instructions from my father to open his sealed letter and then reseal it again before handing over, now I do not even know that it has the original letter or not. Do you have anything to say regarding this?” asked Calysta not even bothering to open the letter.

The lawyer was at loss for words when he was accused of falsification and treachery, he knew that whatever she was saying was absolutely correct but he did not know how she had come to know such things which his assistant was also not aware of.

“I assure you Miss that nothing has been done with the letter and I had to check the letter in order to know if any separate possessions were mentioned about were to be handed over to you,”said the lawyer but unusually his voice lacked conviction.

“Well then you should be also knowing that the letter which is inside has been poisoned, so that the moment it comes in contact with my skin I am to have a heart attack, isn’t it?”asked Calysta with a smirk on her face which she herself did not know she was capable of producing.

“As far as I understand this letter was false and my father did not write me anything and it is just a ruse made by you in order to get me out of the way. I am really grateful to Frederick for warning me beforehand. Well I hope you liked the lemon cakes?” asked Calysta.

“I assure you Miss, nothing of that sort was my intention and…” said Mr. Vincent but he could not complete his sentence.

“Since you liked the lemon cakes then our job is easier done than said. Frederick when he falls unconscious please tie him up and keep him in our family mortuary till I come back home. I need to get some fresh air. This conversation has become horribly un-interesting and dull,” remarked Calysta leaving her seat and placing the envelope on the table and leaving the room with sure steps and leaving a flustered Eugene Vincent on the verge of unconsciousness and a softly grinning Frederick who was backed up by Nina.

Calysta took a short walk in the compound in front of the house where her mother’s grave was and stood infront of her and said,” Mom, I know you are here to help me. I know that you have always protected me from everything but what is happening to me is beyond my comprehension. You always knew that I was never good with words or at dealing with people which is precisely the reason I have always hidden all my life but suddenly what happened today that everything is going awry inside me. I know that it is me but it is not me. Please stop scaring me and help me out Mom.”

But she stood there still as the flowers from the lush willow dropped on her head and shoulders in slow continuity. There were no answers from the grave. This was reality not her visions, when she was about to turn back and move towards the gate she thought that she saw something shift behind her and turned to find that the gravels before her mother’s grave had been shifted to write.

YOU TURNED 21 TODAY

Seeing this Calysta was creeped out of her mind. How the hell did his nonsense happen, she was just standing there and her birthday was not before ten days. But here something else was mentioned completely which said that she had turned 21 today and that meant that this was the reason that it had started was because something had shifted truly inside her. All the visions, her new found personality and every goddamned single thing was happening because it was her birthday today. She had come of age and the worst part of this was she herself did not know that it was her birthday today.

It was 31st October today, which meant it was Halloween. Something was really wrong with her, either someone was trying to make her mad or she was losing everything slowly or the worst case could be she was one sick puppy.

Calysta found Nina and Frederick coming towards her and she turned towards them, once glancing back to find that the gravels had scattered themselves once more.

“My Lady that man has been bound and locked in the mortuary with your father’s corpse and I am sure when he will wake he will s**t in his pants seeing where he has been kept. What do you say Frederick?” asked Nina.

“You being a lady should not be using such crass language in front of our Mistress. I beg your pardon in case her language offends Mistress. But if I try to say that once again I am unsure that I can put it in a better language,” said Frederick.

Calysta could not help but smile at their expressions and reaction. She understood why her mother trusted Nina and why her father had trusted Frederick so many years and she was glad to have them both by her side. Now it was her turn to solve the mysteries which were happening and of course it was her house.

It was high time she staked her claim on it.