Phase I; XII
720 Words
I; XII
"What did you just say?" I was shocked.
'I said I am the first daughter of the Hearani clan, therefore, your ancestor as well,' Aleka said.
"B-but-" I stuttered.
'Andronika, I know it is hard for you to take this all in but I need you to believe that I have no ill intention in entering you. I only want the jewel to be restored to where it was taken' she said.
"I understand. I would have never gone this far if I didn't trust you," I said.
'Thank you'
"But who removed the jewel from its place? I mean, if it's so important for it to be in its place then why would one take it away?" I asked.
'The evil in this world is so powerful that sometimes even the greatest force can't stand against it,'
"Aleka, what happened?" I asked.
'That would be a story for another day, I don't want to overwhelm you with all these,' she said.
"But-"
'Shh! Your aunt is on her way. Go upstairs now!' She said
"What?!"
I ran up the stairs immediately and was careful enough not to make any noise with my footsteps. When I got to the closest, I yanked the door down and made sure the carpet used to hide the lock looked completely untouched.
'Be quick!' Aleka rushed me.
"I'm coming!" I moved some things to rest on the wall so she won't suspect anything and I closed the door behind me.
By the time I ran to the living room and settled down on the couch with an impassive expression on my face, the door clicked open and my aunt stepped in.
"I'm home" I heard her voice.
I intentionally waited for a few seconds before I stood up and went to the door.
"Hey, aunt. You're back so quick" I said with a smile.
"Yes, the meeting went smoothly and I couldn't wish for anything more" she turned and frowned when she looked at me.
"Wha-what?" And I just had to stammer to make things worse.
"Why are you panting? Did you run somewhere?" She asked.
"I'm not, it's just...I may need to start going to the gym," I shrugged and waved it off.
"O...K," she said and gave me a strange look.
"I hope you were able to hold your hunger in, I brought some grilled chicken with pizza" she handed me the food with an excited smile on her face and I just prayed mine mirrored hers as well.
To be honest, I had no appetite. After everything I had learned today from Aleka, my appetite has been washed away and food wasn't on my to-do list.
The jewel that was in the necklace which was dangling from my neck with a heavyweight is what I am concerned about.
Nevertheless, I gave her a sweet smile as we moved into the kitchen to get out plates to eat.
As I brought the plates, my head wandered back to what I saw in the basement and what Aleka had told me.
'Do you wanna ask her about it?' Aleka asked.
'I don't know, should I?'
'If you want to, just don't let her suspect anything' Aleka said.
I took in a deep breath as I braced myself to ask her the question that has been burning in my head lately.
"Aunt-"
"Hey, what's the project all about?" Aunt asked.
"Project?!" I frowned.
"Yeah, you said you had to go to the museum for a project, right?" She asked as she placed the food on the plate.
'The excuse you used for going to the museum, dummy' Aleka gritted.
"Oh, yeah, that..." I trailed off.
"Yeah...?" Aunt raised her eyebrows.
"It's about ancient jewels and their origin," I said.
"Oh, I see" she nodded but kept her eyes on the table.
"Do you know any ancient jewel that could help?" I asked warily.
"W-what?" She looked up.
"Of course not, just check online, I'm sure you can find some" she dismissed it.
"Sure, just asking" I nodded.
We ate dinner in silence, neither of us saying anything, but few sentences.
My head was occupied with what I learned about in the basement and how I could ever be able to achieve that.
I wonder what was going on in my aunt's mind?
- Writer
