CHAPTER 5; THE FIRST CONNECTION
1071 Words
I read through the diary slowly.
The handwriting was elegant, rushed sometimes, also sometimes steady, like someone hurriedly writing .
It went on to the next page and it continued
“Vendeya,
If you are reading this, do not fear the mirror. Do not fear me. There is more to our connection than you remember. I will appear to you when the time is right, thank you for not breaking the mirror.”
My heartbeat stopped for a bit. More to our connection?Than I remember?
I leaned back on the garden couch and stared at the letter the same as ever. Something deep in my chest struck but it is not fear this time, but something softer. I did not know
Suddenly, footsteps approached me from behind, Miss Clarke again.
She stood beside me quietly before speaking, her eyes softer than yesterday. “You’re adapting quite well, more than I even expected.” she said. “Most people that work a night here panic or run away.”
I smiled faintly. “I won't lie, Miss Clarke running away crossed my mind.” I said “Why didn’t you?” she asked moving to my side fully
I looked back at the mansion before facing Kendrick’s room, “Because… Something tells me I am meant to be here. Even if nothing makes sense yet.”
Miss Clarke studied me for a moment, then sighed. “Madam Voss has seen many people try and fail. But you… you might be different.”
“Might?” I raised a brow.
“Oh, you are.” She nodded sharply, as if confirming it to herself. “Just be cautious. Everyone in this mansion has a secret. And those who pretend not to… have the biggest ones.”
Before I could ask more, she excused herself and walked away briskly.
I watched her leave with narrowed eyes.
This place was full of puzzles but surprisingly, I was not afraid anymore.
“Why do I feel like I’m already involved in something for a while much longer than now?” I whispered to myself.
But even as I was complaining, a strange force pulled me back to Kendrick’s room. Not fear. Not caution but something else.
Kendrick’s room.
Back inside Kendrick’s room
I walked in softly and glanced at him lying still, peaceful, as handsome as usual. The room smelled faintly of the cologne he probably used when he was alive.
I approached the bed and gently adjusted the sheets around him. “You’re really troublesome, you know that?” I asked under my breath. Although I knew he would not answer me physically
I looked at his face and I swore I saw the corner of his lips curve upward. Not strangely but a smile.
My breath stopped.
I stepped back immediately, shaking the thought off.“No, I am not doing this with you today.” I scolded the unconscious billionaire like he could hear me and deep within I smiled back at my seat
I took a seat by the reading desk, diary on my lap, and whispered “Kendrick… what exactly are you trying to tell me?”
The air felt… warm. Softer, like someone was sitting beside me, Not scary, but protective.
I closed the diary gently and rested my hands on it.
“Fine,” I whispered. “I’ll wait. But you better show yourself properly next time. not through mirrors or cryptic messages. Deal?”
Everything was silent but somehow, it did not feel empty. I leaned back.
I did not know that Kendrick was listening. And the bond forming between us was deeper than I could ever imagine.
After a few minutes, I closed my eyes for a short nap and that was when it happened.
A gentle warmth touched the back of my hand.
My eyes shot open.
Kendrick’s hand was still resting at his side not touching my hands, but his presence was there. Like an invisible thread pulling us closer.
I stared at him, His expression never changed, very peaceful and impossibly handsome he was asleep whatever state he was in.
But the air had shifted.
“Okay what was that?” I whispered, while checking around looking for something i cannot tell, “You are doing things without doing anything that is not nice”
The diary responded this time but with a soft sound, like a page gently sliding, I opened it.
A line had been written on a page that used to be blank “Every bond begins with a touch.”
My heart jumped.
“Really?” I muttered. “You’re poetic even when you’re unconscious.” I placed my palm over the ink, feeling its warmth.
“So that was you,” I whispered.
The room went still again.
I stood up and walked to Kendrick’s bedside slowly.
“If you can hear me,” I said softly, “then listen… I’m not here to fix whatever happened to you. I’m not a doctor or some mystical chosen one or whatever else your mother seems to think.”
I moved closer and lightly touched the back of his hand. Warmer than before. “I am here because… somehow this feels right. And I do not know why.”
His fingers twitched.
I gasped softly, my eyes widening, but I did not pull away. “This connection between us,” I whispered, “what are you trying to show me?”
The diary flipped a single page on its own. With a new handwritten line
“Not everything begins in this present world.”
I froze.
Before I could say anything, the door suddenly opened
I jerked my hand back from Kendrick’s just as Mrs.Voss burst into the room, her eyes scanning everything too quickly, She paused when she saw me.
“Vendeya,” she said, breathless. “You need to come with me. Now.”
My heart raced.She hesitated.
A rare crack in her perfectly controlled expression.
“It’s… about Kendrick.”
I swallowed, glancing back at him, He looked the same.
“Please. There’s something you must see.” Mrs Voss said as she stepped aside and gestured urgently.
I took one last look at Kendrick, whispered quietly, “I’ll be back,” and followed her out.
I could not see that after I left, Kendrick’s fingers curled very slightly, as if reaching for where my hand had been.
- Writer
