Spiralled

Chapter - 3

"Hey." I smiled walking to uncle who embraced me with a smile on his face and open arms.

"How have you been kiddo?" He asked patting my head.

I could see age take its toll on my uncle a bit. He looked older and a bit tired too, it made me a bit bittersweet thinking that the people that raised me are aging so rapidly.

I smiled at him.

"I've been busy but great." I said softly.

"This one here chants your name every minute. I think she secretly wants you to stay here forever." He whispered loudly.

I giggled.

"you go get freshen up. We will set up the lunch table your aunt and I in the meantime."

"Yep. I'll be back in ten." I said and hurled my bag to my room.

My aunt had set up my room quite nicely in the new home just like I liked it. I smiled as I looked at the baby pink walls and a queen-sized bed.

I quietly kept my bag in my wardrobe and went to the bathroom and changed into comfortable clothes and splashed water on my face.

The smell of delicious food wafted all over the house and my stomach growled.

"I smell the food coma." I joked walking into the dining room.

Under thirty seconds, my plate was literally piled up with at least 15 dishes in large quantities.

We had a pretty cheerful dinner exchanging everything that happened since last time I visited. Aunt and uncle were settling in very nicely in this new home. She even made friends with some neighbouring ladies. The neighbourhood that this house was in was not too rich or too poor, just the right one for people who belonged to upper middle class and wanted to spend their retried life in peace and harmony.

We went out and did some light shopping and ate a ton of ice cream before we returned home. We were exhausted by the time we made back. My uncle was sleeping on the sofa, snoring lightly with a book in his hands.

"It happens every day." My aunt giggled looking at him.

"He's enjoying the peaceful life." I said. "I'm going to put these bags away. I'll put yours in your room too."

"Thanks honey. I'll make us a nice glass of milkshake if you would like and then we can relax in the backyard for a bit before going to bed. What you say?" She suggested.

"That sounds wonderful. I'll have chocolate one and make sure to put a lot of chocolate on top too."

I put away my bags first and changed clothes. I quickly went into my aunts room and opened her cupboard to keep the clothes. As soon as I did, a box came crashing down and marble sized beads scattered all over the floor, catching me off guard.

"Fuck." I cussed and jumped.

Looking at all the mess I huffed.

I picked up the scattered beads from the room and slid my hand under the cupboard to get the remaining ones out. With a little grunt, I pushed my hand as far away as could to get the last beads, instead of beads my fingers touched something cold that felt like a handle. I pulled it out and picked it up.

It was an old metal box covered in a thin layer of dust. It looked like it had been around for a long long time. The edges were rusted and the box was dented in various places. Strangely, there was no lock on it.

Curious, I sat down and opened it to reveal a folder and few jewellery boxes. It also contained an old watch which had weird brown stains on it. I picked up the folder and opened it only to find pictures of my mother, father, aunt and uncle. They were standing on a farm with smiles on their faces. There were a few more that showed them eating dinner, in some fancy gathering and under a random tree. At the very end of the folder was an old piece of paper which was slightly burnt at edges.

I opened it to realise it was a letter.

"Dear Catherine,

I never thought I'll be writing this letter but here I'm, scribbling words on a piece of paper that is going to change the future. We are in trouble, someone double crossed Jonathan and now people are after us. I don't care what happens to us but they should never know about Olivia. I refuse my little girl to be the part of this bloody mess. She should never know about the violence and chaos. I'm afraid we don't have much time so me and Jonathan have decided to sign away our parental rights to you and Nathan. I will drop off Ollie to your place as safely and as soon as possible. I apologise from the bottom of my heart for burdening you with such a harrowing secret and responsibility my little sister but we have no choice. Our little girl is the only treasure we love the most. Don't ever tell her what happened to us and give her a normal life. All the bloodshed, all the violence will end with us. We promise that no shadow from past will haunt you. We have arranged everything to ensure your safety. Soon I'll transfer all the details to you. I'll be forever grateful to you.

Your sister,

Liliana"

The ground below me just rattled violently as I read the whole letter. What the f**k were my aunt and uncle exactly hiding from me? Bloodshed? Didn't they die in a house fire? Did someone kill them?

My head started to spin as I realised my whole life was built on a lie. I needed answers and I needed them now. As if my whole body was on autopilot, I got up and went outside. Like a robot, I made my way to the kitchen with my mind in middle of a storm.