Secret Scent Of Lavender

Violet

With the purple shades, the room was filled with light purple things and furniture. It was decorated in violet shades. The wind went through the window and it gently passed over the girl’s hair. Her soft silky hair swayed back and forth from her shoulder to her back. With a pencil in her hand, she drew a rough sketch of a puppy on a table. A smile appeared on her beautiful lips as the sound of the bell rang rapidly toward her. She gently put her pencil down and turned to look at a small puppy which was swaying his tail at her. Gently, she picked it up and it made a happy sound as she brushed her nose with that wet tip. The girl giggled while walking out of the room toward the kitchen before putting the puppy down on the table. She smiled, patted its head and took out the purple bowl. She slowly poured the puppy’s food into the bowl as the smile never faded away from her beautiful lips.

“We’re going to see Mom and Dad, alright?” She sounded so happy but her eyes didn’t say so. Her beautiful orbs were full of sadness and sorrow like she was crying hard inside.

With a bunch of fresh lavender in her arm, the girl walked her dog to the purple bike in front of the gate. It seemed she liked purple that much, everything about her was purple.

“Violet, visiting your parents?” A middle-aged woman asked as she walked by. Violet was her name. Just like her name, everything in her house was light purple.

“Yes, Auntie. Today is their tenth anniversary.” She replied with a weak smile, putting the bouquet in the bike basket. The puppy cleverly hopped on the back part of the bike and sat there comfortably with his tail swinging back and forth.

“Tell them my regards. Although I don’t know them, I can feel they’re awesome to have such a great daughter like you.” The auntie praised her, feeling sorry for a girl who had to live on her own all along.

“Yes, thank you, Auntie,” Violet said before circling her bike away.

In front of her parent’s grave, she sat down slowly. Her eyes suddenly became teary but she had to hold back her tears. Yet, finally she sobbed softly to herself, expressing how she missed her parents. They left her without any words, in front of her eyes, cruelly killed. Their blood scattered around the places while she watched them falling down to the floor. She was covering her own mouth under the desk and couldn't do anything but hide well to protect herself. She was not too young back then and remembered every detail that day, but the only thing she didn’t get to know was the one who killed her parents and an uncle who came to rescue them but also got killed at the spot immediately. He was wearing a mask and glasses with a cap as well and he was unfamiliar to her.

The only thing she could remember was his eyes –a pair of deep-set eyes she never imagined she’d encounter. There was no regret in those eyes when he killed her parents. There was no feeling nor any emotion and it scared her –like a phobia, she’d never forget it.

Meanwhile,

“Rith, do you want to say something to your father?” asked Mrs. Joan, Rith’s mother. Her black dress reflected her gloomy orbs expressing her missing of her late husband. Rith, with his black suit, turned to his mother before kneeling down beside her. Even his usual messy brown hair turned pitch black that day.

“It has been ten years, Dad. We miss you but it’s scary to see your b****y face in my dream. So no need to visit me tonight, ok?” He said slowly, just to earn a smack from the older woman beside him.

“Ouch!!!” He painfully held his shoulder where he got hit.

“Who taught you to say those things?” She scolded.

“It’s true. Anyway, I think I need a beautiful doctor to treat my wound again,” he said with a playful voice.

“You’ve got hurt again?” The mother became worried as she realized he was injured.

“Yeah,”

“Where?”

“Here,” he pointed to his shoulder, pouting.

“Then let’s clean it up.”

“Yes, Madam.” He saluted, earning a smack again, but this time it was on his head.

“You should have been more careful. Let’s go,” She said, getting up and he followed with his hand on his shoulder. His eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a familiar figure while he was walking behind his mother.

“Rith, come on.” As he was called, Rith gave a quick look before following his mother to his car.

As soon as they got into the house, Mrs. Joan quickly headed to grab the first aid before going to her son who was taking off his jacket with a painful expression because of the pressure on his shoulder.

“How did it happen to be this serious? Didn’t you treat it properly?” The mother stood behind the couch and asked, pulling Rith’s black shirt down to reveal a b****y bandage on her son’s shoulder.

“Can’t help it, Mum. Last night, no one came back in a beautiful state,” he said, smiling before flinching because of the pain when his mother cleaned the wound.

“Serious? Where are they now? They should have been treated properly.” With mother’s care, she voiced her concern.

“They will be better once they get enough rest and I guess they are now.”

“And you, too. This is why I didn’t want you to do this job in the first place. What if, one day, you leave me like your father did?” She said sadly. Rith lowered his head down and didn't know what to say and both of them became speechless. He clearly stated that he had to do that job and she was an object at first, but she couldn’t keep him from doing it. So she had to hold all of her worries in whenever he had a mission and came back with injuries.

“Mom…” He mumbled softly. She responded with a hum in her throat while carefully treating his wound.

“Why did dad go to that house that night? It was his holiday anyway.” He asked, his voice was low, afraid that he could hurt his mother’s feelings.

“You know, your father was very diligent and helpful. He could do anything to help people…that’s why he became a detective. That night, he got a call from his friend and he rushed there as soon as he sensed they needed his hands…” She explained, putting the bandage on the wound and finished treating the wound before placing all the things into the box.

“What happened that night?” He continued while buttoning his shirt. She sighed, sitting down beside him. Rith stared at his mother, waiting for an explanation. He didn’t know what happened back then because at that time he was studying abroad. And he didn’t get any details from his mother either, except the pictures from the news and police. But he was eager to know more, since he needed to get hold of the case. He sensed something related between those two cases, his father’s death and his best friend's project.

“Please, Mom. I need to know everything,” he pleaded, looking at his mother. She avoided his eyes but he turned her to him. She tried her best to keep everything from him because she was afraid that he would do something wrong. Yet, he persistently kept on seeking out history and there she knew she couldn’t keep it in anymore.

“I… OK…” She nodded and he smiled weakly at her.

“That night, your father’s friends were killed along with your father when he was trying to help them. They were chemists. They researched and developed medicine back then. I don’t know why the murderer killed them. The police said that it happened because of revenge or something. But it was unlikely. They were always kind, too generous to be hated. Both of them only helped people, they healed people with their work. But after all, we couldn’t find any details about their death until now.” She paused before letting out a big sigh. Rith remained silent after finding out some details.

“Revenge? You mentioned revenge, Mom.”

“Yes, but I don’t think it’s because of revenge,” she added.

“You didn’t mention their family. Did they have any children or relatives?”

“Yes, they had one daughter and I don’t know where she is now. After the funeral, I heard some of the relatives took care of her.” She said, and Rith blinked his eyes in thinking. It triggered his thoughts suddenly.

“And is there anything you know about their works? I heard it’s because they found something big about lavender flowers.” Rith asked and it almost hit the point he wanted to know.

“Mm, about that I’m not sure, either. I was very depressed about your father’s death though.” She said with her teary eyes. Rith nodded and he stopped asking. He could feel how his mother felt.

“Mom, I’ll stay here tonight.”

“For real?”

“Can’t I?” He asked playfully.

“It has been so long since you were home. What do you want for dinner?” She said happily that her only son was finally home. They were too busy to stay together those years.

“Anything,” he said, smiling, and she nodded before going into the kitchen. Rith looked at his mother’s back, grinning before his smile turned into a sad one.

Right after dinner, Mrs. Joan got a call and she had to rush to the hospital, leaving her son alone again and it was not an abnormal thing, since they knew how their work affects their daily lives.

“Son, I have to go to the hospital now. Take care and make sure your wound is dry, got it?” Mrs. Joan said, walking down the stairs while Rith was in the living room with his laptop on his lap.

“No worry, Mom.” He responded carelessly as she rushed out. Rith then got up and walked up to the next floor. He slowly opened the door, revealing a neat room. It was his father’s office. The boy carefully looked around, stepping into the room before turning on the light. He placed his laptop on the desk. Stuffing his hands in his pants pockets, Rith stood in front of the bulletin board full of papers that his father posted there. Then he took out his phone to capture some pictures of them before turning his attention to the desk again. The young detective turned on the old desktop before opening the drawers. He found nothing interesting until a picture caught his eyes. Slowly he picked it up and examined it thoroughly. It was not so clear and the original color had faded a bit since it was from ten years ago. The picture showed a small glass container containing purple liquid with some petals of flowers beside it. Rith was lost in his deep thoughts staring at the picture before putting it down on the desk. Sitting down on the chair, he started to work on his father’s computer silently.

After a while, Rith took out his phone and dialed a number.

“I’ve sent you some files to print. I’ll see you tomorrow with those files. Thanks.” He said before hanging up. His eyes glued to the screen in front of him as he leaned his back on the chair. A picture of a family with three members was displayed as he stared directly at a girl who was standing behind the couch which her parents were on with her bright smile. She was so beautiful with long brown hair and a purple dress.

“01 August, 2009…it’s Bora’s 14th birthday. She asked for nothing but a family photo. How sweet our daughter is.” Lowly, Rith read the note which was written under the picture. So it was taken eleven years ago.

“She must be 27 by now. Bora…so the name is Bora...” he mumbled, staring into the girl’s eyes in the photo, she had such a pair of beautiful eyes, clear and bright. What a brave soul. The question was ‘where is she now?’