Secret Scent Of Lavender

It was a nice meeting

Violet went straight into her private room on the east wing of the building. It was designed especially for her –big enough to have a cooking area, a dining table beside the window, a working desk and a set of couches. It even had a green room next to the bedroom, decorated with green plants and flowers. The evening light hit the glass and created the comfortable scenery of the green room.

Violet stepped into the bedding area and grabbed her bathrobe from the hanger before getting into the bathroom.

After a long shower, she wrapped the robe around her lean figure. The water dripped from her long hair to the floor but she didn’t even care to dry it off and let it wet the cloth. She went to take out a first-aid box from the cabinet and took care of the bruises on her hands, gently blowing on the ointment. She suddenly paused –who knew some bruises could make her think of someone she’d never thought she’d think about. Then she pulled her thought back and finished treating it. The evening slowly fell into night. After a soft dinner, Violet sat on a couch in the green room, a cup of warm tea in her hand. With the lavender scent filling the place, she could feel more relaxed. The warmth from the evening​​ still lingered there.

Slowly, she put away the cup and closed her eyes, falling asleep –it was the part of the day she hated the most. It had been ten years, yet she still had those dreams –illusions of her parents’ death. She couldn’t let it go. The way their bodies fell down to the floor, the blood flew from where they got shot and the eyes of the criminal –those brutal eyes scared her every time. It took her about fifteen minutes to wake up from the dream. The tears had already been formed in her eyes –at that moment she let them down –freely flowing on those flawless cheeks.

Those years she tried hard to disguise her real identity, those years she had been staying under shade because she wished she could at least punish the one who killed her parents when she became stronger. It would have been worth the effort if she could discover that man now. Yet, ten years –those ten years, after surviving a near death experience, she started to search for him from scratches –the eyes, the only thing she could identify. But with that little clue, the chance was too low –like way too low.

Recently, some news came to light as she anonymously released something about a lavender secret, the project her parents worked so hard on back then. The name of the project randomly appeared on some science topic on the internet and she purposely left some traces of her identity. And as a result, she got chased and almost got herself killed. She knew she would be in danger – she still risked her life just to lure her target out. Anyway, there were two teams –one attempted to kill her and another one tried to protect her. She was not sure if it was Rith, it might just be an incident, but who knew –she couldn’t put her trust in anyone.

Rith, on the other hand, went into his room after reporting what had happened that day. It sounded nonsense at first –full of doubts, but then everything turned right even if he didn’t feel right at all. The right thing was, he was eager to get the criminal, the sooner the better –and the wrong side was that he didn’t want what he expected about Violet to be true. He didn’t want to judge the book by its cover, but if the cover was too beautiful –although it carried meaningless or useless content -he still wanted to read it. He could only hope there was a reason which he could understand behind those acts.

With the thought of her, he caressed the black cloth around his hand gently. Its color made the blood stain almost invisible. It was a nice first kit from someone who was not even a nurse or a doctor.

Rith then decided to untie it and clean the wound again by himself –it would be a joke to his friends if he appeared with it the next day.

*******

In the same dark room where the late Evin Dean was, laid the tall body of a middle-aged man, hands tied and his mouth taped. On the table under the TV, there was a water-based air purifier. The almost visible smoke carried its scent to hit the man’s nostrils, which he had no choice but to inhale. Although he knew it was poisonous, he couldn’t resist that pleasant scent –too good to refuse. It had been days since they left him with that smell without food and water. But strangely he didn’t feel hungry nor tired –he felt perfectly fine. It seemed that scent gave him strength and he was not happy with it. From his information, he got to know that the pleasant smell which he enjoyed inhaling would slowly kill him and wouldn’t leave any trace of poison, just like what happened to Evin Dean. First, it made him feel stronger, feel no hunger, feel no thirstiness and become completely healthy –and at the last stage his breath would go off at a slow pace –it’s the time when he would suffer the most before dying.

And the next morning, Mason William was found dead next to the abandoned tunnel, outside the town. Of course, the place was f*******n, no CCTV, no witnesses.

The case agenda was clearer to Rith and his teammates –a confirmation that the hotel had something to do with the missing men and the deaths. The night before, at ten sharp, the hotel shut down the camera again. The moment when the camera was blocked, Rith and Seth rushed to the orange farm but found nothing strange. Seth regretted not being able to install their camera on time. They could have seen what happened if the criminal really appeared there.

Just like Evin Dean, Mason William was killed the same way, nothing notable about his death –just simply out of breath with a very healthy body condition.

Kaiden finally arrived in the afternoon to report what he had found. He went to Korea just to get more information about the chemist couple –mainly Mr.Park Kang’s daughter.

“The people there seem to be innocent. They live in their own lives as if they never had a brother or a niece staying overseas. And the thing is the girl whose name Bora Park had never been to Korea. It is reported that the relatives from Korea adopted her and brought her with them after the funeral but she had never been there.” Kaiden started to report and, for the first time, the members could understand him without feeling tense. Every time he had something to report, he let them finish his sentences and he enjoyed seeing them suffer trying hard to guess what he was going to say next.

Suddenly, he became serious about the new case.

They got to know that Bora Park had run away when she was on the way back from the cemetery with her aunt and uncle. She asked to use the toilet and escaped after leaving a letter with a cashier. In the letter, the fourteen-year-old girl only wrote three sentences, ‘I don’t want to go to Korea. It’s not safe. Don’t find me.’

The aunt and uncle tried to find her but they gave up after two weeks and went back home –ten years passed and they had never gotten any news about her at all, not even a call. That’s it.

“So they don’t know whether she’s alive or not,” Mark pointed out.

“It seems so…”

“So that’s all you got from being there for a week?” asked Mark, playfully throwing a tissue bag at his friend. Kaiden gritted his teeth back and Seth quickly clicked his tongue to stop them before they could start filming their Tom and Jerry scenes.

“This case is not as simple as we think it would be. It’s more than what we can imagine right now. The thing is that it was not only me who went there for Bora Park’s information. The neighbors told me that someone asks to see her now and then, from time to time, until now. There’s always someone unfamiliar watching over the family in case they get her contact. Do you think it is normal to watch over some people for ten years? No! Right?” Seth and Rith nodded at the question.

“And these are the pictures of them. Fortunately, the house is located in the town where the cameras are everywhere, so I can get every single one of them.” Kaiden proudly displayed around a hundred photos on the table. Seth and Rith took some and looked at the details on the back of the picture which was written by Kaiden –carefully and neatly. Those men’s detailed information also showed up on the screen for Mark to read.

As he was about to continue his journal, Rith’s phone vibrated, showing a text from an unfamiliar number –an unknown contact. Seth raised his eyebrow sensing something abnormal. It wasn’t that they didn’t respect each other’s privacy, but they’ve been living and working together for years –they’re quite sensitive to anything when it came to something new about the members. Rith had no habit of texting –not even giving his number to strangers. Except the members, his mother and their boss, no one had ever gotten his contact yet.

A quick glance at his phone screen was enough for him to see the text and the meaning made his heart quicken for a second.

‘This is Violet Sandra. I have something to do in the town and think it is a good chance to pay for two cups of coffee if you happen to be available.’

He shouldn’t waste his time. Next, the texts were replied and received –they got to know where and when to meet.

“You guys check them out and tell me the details later. Got something to do.” Rith didn’t give a chance for his teammates to ask anything as he had already got into his room and changed into something more convenient, as if he was really a businessman. It was a workday –formal dress should be fine.

The way the members followed Rith’s steps, the way Mark scratched his head and how Kaiden looked back and forth between Seth and Rith showed how new it appeared to them.

The city was crowded that day –as it always was. The daybreak seemed to be busy and loaded with people having their lunch break and meal. Violet knew she had been being watched ever since the funeral incident or maybe before that. But because she hardly got out of the hotel, it was hard for them to make any moves. There, she’d like to test the water –she’d take risks. She chose a mall to roam around, shopping for some stuff and acted as if she had no idea about a man following her everywhere.

Apparently, she should have been prepared for it –the way she dressed clearly showed how she expected what was coming to her. Her hair was tied up into a tight bun. With the black jeans, t-shirt and a jacket, she looked totally opposite from her image at the hotel. She even hid something in her bag –it was a bit bigger that day.

In a café, Violet chose a quiet corner on the first floor to wait for Rith. While sending him the location, her eyes darted indirectly to a man who had kept following her since she left the hotel. His dark outfit made it even obvious that, instead of being a normal person, he looked more like a stalker than a spy. She smirked at the thought.

After five minutes of waiting, Rith finally arrived in his shirt and simple black trousers with a dark gray tie which he tried his best to dress as a young and fresh businessman. He almost couldn’t hide his smile at the sight of her. She looked different, totally different. It’s like her aura changed according to her appearance –not always gentle, not often steady and calm –yet sometimes adorable.

“I hope I’m not too late.” That sounded plain, but at least he felt sorry. He sat down on a seat across from her –putting his bag on another chair. He noticed her gaze which was on his hand –the injured one. She was checking whether it was getting better. At least she cared.

“It’s my first time waiting for someone, so I don’t know if it’s too late or not.”

“Sorry,” he sincerely expressed, again and she nodded as it was accepted and at the same time she wanted to tell him to cut off that topic.

“Sir, your coffee.” A waitress pardoned herself before putting a cup of coffee on the table and another take-away –as his request, no more no less. Rith chuckled at seeing what was ordered for him in advance. No more next time –the message.

“Well, this is so kind of you,” he joked, and as expected she didn't laugh.

“Thanks for saving me. I didn’t say it properly last time. And to pay this little, I feel bad…”

“Then pay more.”

Her expression made him chuckle again as she looked at him as if she was about to throw more cups of coffee at him.

“I’m just kidding. I mean, not everyone expects to get paid for helping…Really,” Rith sincerely tried to tell her to feel at ease. Violet sighed. Beating around the bush only made it harder for her to get away. She didn’t know his passion nor did she personally want to get to know him better. She admitted she suddenly felt safe being with him since the shooting at the cemetery and even before that –when they were standing side by side in the garden –she didn’t care. Violet had never once fantasized of any relationship from the beginning. She reached for her bag and took out a size-s paper bag –its logo contained three pots of violet in a light purple circle –similar to the hotel logo without the letter H&R. Gently, she put it on the table, simply pushed it at him. Rith eyed the bag but never wanted to touch it, not because he was doubtful, but because he didn’t want it to be the last object between them.

“Thank you. And…let’s end it here. I’m not feeling bad because of the amount of payment after you risked your life saving me. I’m feeling bad because I’m afraid I can’t end it here. Let’s not see each other again. It was a nice meeting anyway. Good luck!”

Rith watched her back as she walked out of the café feeling like he was losing something important. He wanted to follow her and grabbed her back because something within him kept telling him that she would be in danger –or perhaps he would get something important for tailing her. Yet, Seth kept texting him to go back to the place. With a heavy heart, he went back.

Violet walked out of the café with heavy steps. She wished it would be the last time she'd meet him there. If they were meant to be strangers, let it be one last time –if not, she might be the one who cut it off before it could even happen.