The Shadow of Love

Prologue-2

Emily looked around the library and soaked in the majestic view of it. As a writer, Ethan’s library was bound to be her best friend. “Second best friend”, she thought and crackled. Emily could still feel the pain of falling in her body but ignored it. She sensed the library calling her the books calling her to unravel new worlds and mysteries and to soak in the beauty of a whole universe. The library was majestic and huge looking. It was filled with a well-designed array of books. Emily looked up and shook her head. This was more than she could ever think of. Emily wondered, “ Were these for decorations, or did Ethan take time to read and soak in all of these books. What about members of this household”, Emily thought silently and shook her head.

She remembered her dad and how he always discouraged her from being a writer. He'd always wanted her to go on the traditional path. But Emily had dreams and a fire burning in her heart. She had to let it out. Keeping her fire in her was only going to burn her, and she wasn't about to let that happen. Surveying the library and eyeing through old but gold books, Emily randomly picked a book, walked, and approached the desk table with a small limp.

Admiring the view of the library, she sat at the desk table and wondered what might be keeping Ethan unavailable and busy. Emily was in her thoughts despite having picked a book from the bookshelf. Slowly and briefly, a golden folder caught her eye. It was beautifully wrapped. The golden folder was at the bottom of a few well-arranged books on the desk table. Curiosity got the best of Emily as she started putting the top folders and books across the desk table. As Emily single-handedly touched the golden folder, she heard footsteps across the room and wondered if anyone was approaching or entering.

“I should probably lock the door”, she thought. Tip-toeing, she slowly moved to the front door of the library room. Emily put her head against the door. The sounds of the footsteps seemed light and disappearing. Emily let out a faint sigh and locked the door. Three times. She locked the door three times. “I shouldn't be doing this”, she thought. But Ethan had left her in the blue for so long. She wondered if this was the gate-kept secret that would unravel doors for her and let in the light. Ethan had kept her in the dark for long.

There was a strange aura around the golden folder. It was probably why it caught her eye. Call it a woman’s intuition or whatever, but Emily sensed there was something she had to know. “Anyways, why would this mystery folder be lying there idle if it held any secret she had to unravel…”, Emily wondered to herself and shrugged. She was now seated at the desk table with the golden folder placed in the middle of the table. Breathing heavily in and out, her delicate fingers touched the front of the golden folder.

She slowly turned the front of the book cover and viewed pages she didn't understand. There seemed to be a structure of a building showing camera locations, alarm systems, safe rooms, or vaults. That wasn't all. This seemed to be an architectural plan. The following page had room configurations, corridor and hallway layouts, ventilation, electrical and public systems, and more. Underneath was written “Blueprint”. Emily shivered, and the well-constructed architectural plan was hard to configure. She wondered what all this meant and why Ethan had this. That wasn't all. The silence in the room was deafening. Emily turned over the pages, squinting her blue eyes in search of understanding the foreign materials.

The next pages had a ledger with cryptic entries, transactions, events, and activities that made no sense. It had unusual symbols, numbers, and huge amounts without clear context, names, and initials with no apparent connection to Ethan. Aside from these were dates and times with no corresponding events or descriptions as well as random words and letters that made no sense. At this rate, Emily wondered what this was all about. Ethan had never mentioned these dealings. Everything in the document by far of what she had read and discovered seemed shady and highly secretive.

That wasn't all. She briefed through the pages and saw a list of coded names and numbers. Emily shivered down her spine. There was also a receipt for a large purchase of surveillance equipment. At this rate, Emily wondered if she was being watched. She looked around and saw no signs of cameras. “But what if they were hidden”, she thought. She started panicking. Emily speculated the time she must have spent in the mysterious library but had no clue.

“I shouldn't be doing this”, she thought hesitantly. “But what if this was the clue to knowing who Ethan was true. The deeper side of him. Hmm”. The house was very quiet. She could hear the heavy breathing and deep sounds of her breath. Everything about Ethan, his home, and all screamed mystery and suspicion. Emily wasn’t about to fall deeper for someone she had no clue of. It broke her heart to think this way. It hurt her to think this of Ethan, her one true love. “But what if, what if..”. She was thinking wildly now. Secretly, Emily hoped all of this meant nothing. She hoped she was safe. She hoped she wasn’t crossing boundaries to an infinite return. “God have mercy”, she thought. What would she think of herself if all this meant nothing. How would she explain to Ethan if he ever found out.

“Then, never make him find out”, she muttered. Emily felt a rough sheet in the folder. She turned over the page, and what she saw shocked her. Ethan was posed with a group of shady individuals. They were dressed in black. They looked rough and not the usual class of people Ethan, a successful individual would walk with. Emily took notice of the strange faces. They were in an incomplete abandoned building.

Emily’s heart jumped at the thought of someone knocking at the door. She well-composed herself, put the documents in place , exactly as she found it, and tied her hair in a ponytail. She pat her dress, acting as if she’d seen nothing headed towards the door.

Copyright © 2024 Shadow Of Love