The Shadow of Love

Prologue-3

Emily opened the door slowly. She could hear the sound of light footsteps approaching. Her heart skipped a beat. Emily slightly opened the door. There was Mr Finch. An old Butler, who had served the Blackwood for years and decades. He oversaw the household staff and ensured the manor ran smoothly. He seemed immersed in what he was doing. Mr Finch had a folder, which Emily had no idea of what it may be. He flipped through the pages thoughtfully and squinched his eyebrows. Mr Finch lifted his head and looked around. Emily was not certain if Mr Finch could see her or not.

Her greatest hope right then was that Mr Finch would not open the library door. He hadn’t taken notice of her yet. And it scared Emily because Mr Finch was a loyal and discreet person to Ethan Blackwood. It would be her wildest fear for Mr Finch to discover the person behind the library door. Because, how was she going to explain herself after the documents, files, and images Emily had discovered.

Mr Finch closed the document he had been holding in his hand. Emily’s heart skipped a beat. Was he approaching towards her? “He won’t” , Emily thought with her fingers crossed. It didn’t seem like a lucky day. Mr Finch turned towards the library door. Emily’s eyes widened. She was right behind the door, and it was slightly opened, where she could get brief glimpses of Mr Finch.

Mr Finch slightly touched and grabbed the door handle. Emily gulped. Mr Finch looked around. As he was about to turn the knob, Mrs White approached him. “Mr. Finch”, Mrs. White said, sounding relieved. “I've been looking for you, Mr. Finch”.

“What’s it mademoiselle”, Mr Finch replied sarcastically.

“We are short of some foodstuff in the kitchen. I wanted to inform you. Would it be okay to prepare a different dish?”

Mr Finch looked up thoughtfully, “ That’s fine. I'll see to the shortage of goods in the kitchen. Let me come with you to the kitchen.”

Mr Finch left his slight grab on the door handle and followed Mrs White to the kitchen. Emily sighed and let out a brief air. “ This is a narrow escape”, she thought. Emily made sure she could no longer hear the sound of their footsteps. Emily scaredly opened the door and ensured no one was outside. She looked left and right and did a sign cross. She then looked back inside, closed, and locked the door.

Emily went back to the desk table. She picked up the golden folder and flipped through it. At that point, Emily wondered what exactly Ethan was into. She shivered at the thought of it. Emily thought there could me more than meet the eye. As she stood before the desk table, her eyes wandered around. The library was big. The library was huge. She could lift her head and watch up to see the array of well designed books. Both contemporary and historical books.

Emily walked towards the left side of the library bookshelf. Emily admired the books with her intense blue eyes. She pulled out some books and looked into the empty space. There was nothing there. “Hmmm”, she thought in her head. Emily placed the books she had removed back into the empty space. She bent down and dragged down some more books. Her heart was beating fiercely.

She touched the wood, which carried the weight of well-written books. She wondered if it could be shifted. A thought striked in her head. She pondered if there could be something, anything behind the library, book shelves.

“That is it”, Emily reflected. She assumed there could be a mystery door, safe or room behind the library bookshelves. But how and where to find it was her problem. The floor looked like a mess from the books she had dragged down. She contemplated between arranging the books now or continuing her search of “true Ethan Blackwood”. Emily bent down, picked, and arranged the books accordingly. She stood and patted her hands off of her attire. She turned around and saw a light look alike ribbon on the floor under one of the bookshelves.

Her eyes lit up. She thought it could be a clue to something greater. Indeed, it was. Emily tread toward the bookshelf with the ribbon showing underneath. Emily touched the wood in-between the books but was not able to figure out a way to open it. She picked up the ribbon and thought there would be more than meets the eye. She dragged some more books down and touched the back of the bookshelf. Suddenly, Emily heard a crack and shift in the bookshelf. Emily suddenly stood up.

Her eyes lit up. “It is a mystery”, she thought excitedly. It seemed like there was indeed more to the golden document than met the eye. Emily pushed past by the bookshelf and ushered into the hidden room. She was immersed by the look of the room. It has strong surveillance systems, monitoring devices, and a safe. The surveillance systems were white in colour and looked polished. She initially wouldn’t have seen it. However, Emily looked up, and in the top right position was the surveillance system. Panicking, Emily stepped into a position where she hoped the surveillance system couldn’t monitor her.

She looked around, hoping to find a tape. Luckily, she found one on the right side of the hidden rooms’s wall. Emily picked up a chair and taped the surveillance systems and the monitoring devices.

“If this is all being recorded and monitored, I hope not to be caught. The covering with the tape will buy me sometime, and after all, Ethan isn’t home”, Emily thought silently.

Emily moved toward the safe. It was placed in the middle of the wall in the hidden room right opposite Emily. Emily touched it briefly and lightly. These objects looked expensive, and for a writer, it was strange to have or be living this lavish kind of lifestyle with not much background. Emily tried opening up the safe. She failed on the first attempt. She tried two more times and failed. At that rate, Emily’s heart pulsing beat. She was scared for her life. She had only 3 attempts left, and the safe would be locked permanently.

Emily thought carefully it would raise suspicion, even if she should, should the safe permanently be locked. And that would put her into trouble because Mrs. knew she’d been at the library. Cracking her head, Emily failed on the first of three attempts left. She was pacnicking now. Emily suspected time wasn’t on her side, and she would hurriedly need to get out of there.

She heard a crack, and on the 4th attempt and the safe opened. Emily lit up. She had droplets of sweat falling unto her attire. It was from panicking and dangerous excitement she may have involved herself in. Emily cleaned it and looked into the safe. Emily’s heart skipped a beat. From what she saw, Emily contemplated going back or staying. She thought she had come too far to give up.

This was the realest object she had seen. Ethan was not a police officer. So she needed an explanation as to why there were a collection of weapons, dangerous looking weapons. Emily remembered seeking an explanation, especially at this crucial point in time, which would be a dangerous move. Emily kept her mouth shut. She looked around once more and turned towards the safe.

There was a collection of handguns and rifles. The handguns were of different shapes and sizes. Most were black in color, and others had a silvery and reddish look. Emily wondered if it may be loaded.

The handguns looked like and took an “F” shape form. Emily speculated and touched the handguns.

Her heart was beating rapidly now. Ethan Blackwood wasn’t honest with her. He hasn’t been honest with her. He had a life full of secrets and unexplained mysteries. Emily knelt down and broke down in tears.

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