CHAPTER 5 - SECRETS AND SIRENS

“Mum?” I sprinted for the door as I saw her walked past, still in that dream again I never get past every single time, probably a nightmare of some sort but I didn’t see any blood yet.

I opened the door to check if mum was alright, she was right there, within reach then I stretched my hand forward only to be pulled back to square one my room again then I hear multiple gunshot.

I woke up with instant force, my heart still racing in my chest as I opened my eyes, slightly relieved that it was all a dream, I’ve been having that nightmare since my mum died, I hoped it would go away but the dreams seemed stuck and never moved passed me getting dragged back, and gunshots blaring outside the house.

I picked up my phone to check if I got any calls, also checked the time too, just 4am and no one had called so I slipped off the bed and walked down to the kitchen to get some water, the whole mansion was still dimly lit, so I couldn’t see much, I returned the cup I used to the cupboard and was heading to my room upstairs, then I heard footsteps coming from the living room, it only got louder by the minute, I was 100% sure I wasn’t hallucinating this time.

I moved closer to see who it was, then I was pulled back by a strong hand, I looked back in fear only to see that it was Lucien, I was so scared I almost fell back because of the force, thankfully just this once, he caught me in time

“Let go, I screamed as I tried to pull my hand forcefully from his grip, but he held on to my wrist tighter than before “Please you’re hurting me, don’t you have anything better to do than to always bully me?”

“What are you doing out here so early?” I asked as I twisted my hand a bit to see if I could get loose from his grip but he was much more stronger than me

“I could ask you the same thing, and I also I came to get water, do I need your permission for that too?” I shrugged.

“I just wanted to make sure the house is safe, I thought it was some intruder.”

“By intruder you mean my ex? No, he’s not here, now leave me alone, would you?”

“Hmm” He paused a few seconds then looked straight at me with a gaze that made my blood run cold “Go back to your room”

“You can’t tell me where I need to be at any given period of time”

“Don’t piss me off Natalie” he paused for a few seconds before stepping closer into my space… “Go to your room” then he held on to my waist with a grip that nearly forced the air out of my lungs

“Don’t you have better things to do than to always hurt me, let go, fine I’m going” I forcefully yanked me hand free from his grip, he let out a faint hum as he watched me leave.

I reached the front of my door but before opening the door I heard some whispers coming from downstairs, Lucien was whispering to someone in the dark, I couldn’t make out the voice of the other person, but Lucien’s voice was a bit loud, and he sounded angry about something.

I tried to lean in closer to hear bits of what they were discussing downstairs, then Lucien looked up with a cold unreadable gaze that scared me so hard, it was like he knew I was there, and I was pretty sure I was well hidden, but I guess not to him.

He gave me the ‘I know you’re there’ look and that made shivers run down my spine, so I rushed inside my room and shut the door fast.

I tiptoed to my bed, then laid down slowly so he wouldn’t hear me from downstairs.

I couldn’t get that letter out of my head, then what just happened downstairs, the whispers, secrets, they were all getting too much so I just sat there, not moving or doing anything, just waiting for something… anything to happen that explains, what the fuck is going on.

Everything got quite and just all felt like void, it was now peaceful but a little too quite then there was a gunshot, the bullet flew threw my window, shattering the window into a million pieces, I was close to the window and the bullet was getting close fast, I stopped right there in my tracks, my body betrayed me, and I couldn’t move.

Lucien rushed in and pulled me away before the bullet could hit me… I was still in shock, watching all the pieces of glass laid on the floor of my room

“Natalie? Are you ok?” I heard him ask, but I couldn’t respond because I was in shock, he hugged me tight, his chest heaving from the pressure, his breath hitching and his heart racing fast. “Answer me Natty?”

“Yes, I’m fine, that was close, who were they?”

“Whosoever it was, I’ll find him and kill him” He replied in a sharper tone as he loosened his grip on me

“Do you know who they were Lucien?”

“I don’t… but I’ll find out, you can get some rest in my room downstairs, it’s safer, I’ll get this cleaned up and fixed”

“Ok.” I walked down to his room and locked the door from inside, his room was way bigger than mine, and he had a lot of book shelves and a reading table… hmm I didn’t know he was a fan of reading, well some of the books looked boring so I didn’t bother looking through them, I sat on his bed just staring at the plain walls , then I noticed a crack on the wall, much more than a crack, it was like an opening like a room was behind so I went to check it out.

I walked slowly towards the opening and there was a small room behind, picture frames scattered on the floor of the room, with lots of drawing materials on the side stool.

I walked in and removed the covering on one of the paintings, it was an uncompleted drawing of me.

“Natalie?” His cold voice stopped me in my tracks, I shouldn’t be in here, fuck.