by Anna Collins
I was taken aback by his loyalty. This man really cared for his employer. He was speaking good about Robert; did it mean that my monster was not a real monster after all?
"Thanks, Henry, we really appreciate your help," I said.
With tired steps and sweaty bodies, we managed to reach the third floor by taking those creepy, uptight spiral stairs. And the view raised several questions in my wondering head. Why the hell was he taking us to Robert's room? when I had clearly mentioned that I wanted to check out Joe Hudson's room. "Something is not right" I whispered to Rick.
Rick nodded "I had my doubts. His extra sweet nature seemed too good to be true" he said in a matching tone as mine.
His fears seemed to come true when Henry stopped, took out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number "Mrs. Hudson, Freya mam is here. Should I send her in? All right madam" he smiled and ended the call.
"Mam, Mrs. Hudson wants to see you. Earlier when I talked to her about you, she was very keen to meet you" Henry informed with a flat face as if he was reading the evening news on TV.
My forehead wrinkled "Mrs. Hudson, as in Caroline Hudson, wife of Joe Hudson?" I asked.
Henry shook his head "No, Mrs. Hudson, the mother of Robert Hudson" he announced.
Our eyes went bigger as I and Rick stared at each other with extreme shock written on our faces.
~
Rick stepped in to handle the situation. He cleared his throat "Henry, are you sure about your information? Because as far as we know she is dead."
"I am sure sir, and she is very much alive. It will be better if you ask the rest to her. I shall take your leave now" he said and walked away.
"Sis, till now I have done everything with you, theft, listening to people's secret, but meeting a dead person, this is a totally new genre for me," said Rick in a shaky voice as he stepped backward to lean with one of those huge pillars of the corridor area.
"I don't understand; how can she be alive? I want to go and check" I said and before I could make a move, Rick yelled "Nooooooo!"
"Rick don't create a scene" I warned.
~
Mrs. Hudson was alive? But Robert told me that she was dead. Jeez! Now, what the hell was this? I frowned, looking at the door, thinking about the possible consequences.
"Why are you staring at this door like this?" Rick shook me.
"I'm wondering what or rather who is behind this finely curved door," I said with a stern expression, while my eyes never left the door and my mind was busy in memorizing the heavy leafy patterns of that ancient design.
"I don't understand, why does this place look so mysterious and old? I mean it's in perfect condition but something just doesn't feel right" Rick pointed.
"I know right. This place is holding a lot of secrets. I did my research, Robert inherited this mansion from his great great grandfather. There is also a picture of him somewhere in this huge corridor" I informed.
Rick's face went pale "what if the spirits of those dead people are still roaming around this mansion? sis, this is super creepy. Let's leave" he tugged on my hand.
"Uff! Don't act childishly. There are no such things as ghosts" I pouted.
Rick raised his eyebrows "oh really! Then what about that veiled woman who held you at hostage?"
I rolled by eyes "bro, she was a witch, not a ghost. Witches are not spirits, they gain their powers with hard work and tough years of practice. They need to memorize spells, you idiot" I hit on his head.
"Wow, sis! You have become an expert on this stuff. That kidnapping really added up to your knowledge" Rick said in awe.
"Forget that, see, again we got busy in our silly conversations and forgot the reason for which we climbed that mountain of stairs in the first place," I said.
"Sis, this is too freaking dangerous, I don't want to meet a dead woman" Rick swallowed.
"How many times do I have to tell you that she is not dead" now he was making me feel annoyed.
I straightened my hair and took few deep breaths to calm myself down and then continued "see Rick, you can still go back if you are feeling scared. But I am not coming with you. I am here for Robert, he might be a monster, the worst person in the world, but still I can't dissolve the feelings that I have for him. I can't sit peacefully while knowing the fact that he might be on the verge of death" I sighed, feeling extremely weak and helpless.
Rick picked up my fallen face "sis, don't say like this. And he is not the worst person in this world, he too has the same feelings like you have for him. When you went missing, he was worried as hell. I saw that desperation on his face" Rick informed.
"Really? He was worried for me?" tears began to form in my eyes.
I continued with desperation in my voice "don't remain silent. Tell me Rick" I urged.
"He did every possible attempt to find you. I was very surprised to see that. He was ready to bring the sky down to the earth, for a girl whose actual attempt was to destroy him. And for the moment I could see the hint of goodness that he had very carefully hidden behind the face of that monster" Rick breathed.
By the time my vision was blurred by those warm streams of tears that had filled my eyes.
Chapter 43
Robert
I stomped my feet, one leg after another trying to create some noise to contrast the ocean of darkness in front of me. But none of my muscles moved. Pitch black darkness and the sound of waves crashing, was that all there? The feeling of suffocation with a tint of hopefulness was what the state of my mind was at that time. No matter how hard I looked all I could see was black; black that was engulfing me, strangling me.
I just let the pain take over me. It was not so difficult because the coldness had made by body completely numb. And now I even stopped trying to break free.
The never ending night was sucking up the drops of life from my body. By body was injured, weak and my heart was filled with the woes of separation.
"Freya" my bruised lips felt the slightest of relief when I uttered her name. But where was my voice? Why couldn't I hear what I was speaking?
The crashing sound of waves had blocked my ears. I no longer knew if I was alive or dead. I just felt I was floating over a bed of waves. Every now and then a rib-shaking sound of howling could also be heard, but now I was immune to that sound, it no longer shook my ribs.
In fact, my whole body was frozen, none of the muscle of my body was ready to move. But the piercing pain won't go anywhere.
It felt like I have been iced like this for ages. All of the parts of my body were worn out, except for my heart which was only longing for Freya, I just wanted to catch a glimpse of her. But would I ever be able to see her again? Would I ever be able to feel the warmth of her body? Would I ever be able to kiss her?
But when I closed my eyes. I saw Freya, looking into this blackness and then when I tried to reach her, everything seemed to have gone just… blocked! There were no beginnings, no end, just a long never ending trail of darkness. My mind went blank as if there was no life inside me. Words failed to describe my immobile, yet mobile state. I felt as numb and as dead. And every now and then I just kept wondering, was I even alive?
Freya
Holding my heart in the palms of my shaky hands I stepped inside that ever so familiar room. There had to be something positive news, the negativity of the whole situation had begun to affect my self-confidence.
"He surely lived like a king. Man, look at the decoration of this room and that giant round bed" Rick's eyes went bigger as he blabbered in my ears.
I squinted my eyes at him "really? Is this the time to make a list of his possessions? The man is practically dying."
"Sorry," he bit his tongue.
And continued "but sis, where is the mother? I can't see anyone" Rick rubbed his eyes.
"I am here," said someone in a very soft, ear-soothing feminine sound.
We looked up to be greeted by an extraordinarily beautiful middle-aged woman dressed entirely in white.
Her face had that sculpted perfection, and her eyes were deep pools of blue. She brushed off her mercury red hair and greeted us with a smile of tenderness. It no longer felt like she was a stranger to me, in fact, it felt like I had known her for several years. My lips parted in awe of that charming lady who was taking elegant steps towards us.
"She surely doesn't look like a ghost" Rick sighed in relief.
"Shut your blabbering mouth" I pinched him.
That woman had to be in her late forties but she looked nothing more than a woman in her early thirties. Her eyes and those lips reminded me of Robert. And I no longer needed any documental evidence to say that she was Robert's biological mother.
"You must be Freya, it's a pleasure to meet to you, my child" she held my hands warmly.
I tried to mimic her gentle smile but I knew my face hadn't left its shades of nervousness.
"Mrs. Hudson, are you alive?" Rick blabbered out of nowhere.
"Rick" I glared him with angry eyes gestured him to stop speaking.
He looked down sadly.
"Don't hush him, it's natural for him to react in this way. I am dead for the world, only a few people know that I am alive" she sighed as gloominess appeared in her blue eyes.
"Does Robert know that you are alive?" I asked.
"No" her answer came immediately.
"But why? Why are you hiding from everyone?" I couldn't help my curiosity.
"Because she asked me to do this, she even threatened to kill my son. And with those powers, she can do almost anything" she said, closing her eyes and a drop of tear welled down her cheek.
"Who?" Rick asked impatiently.
But I already knew the answer, it was that veiled woman.
"My own sister. Her name is Rebecca. She is crazy, black magic and supernatural powers are everything to her. She was jealous of my happy life. She killed my husband and now she has captured my son too" and the woman broke down into tears and sat down on floor, weeping uncontrollably.
Rick and I exchanged few glances and then joined that woman on the floor. I supported her by holding her shoulder. Poor woman, she must have been through a lot of trouble.
"How do you know that Rebecca is the one to capture Robert?" Rick asked.
"She told me, she told me that she has captured my son and will kill him soon" Mrs. Hudson sniffed.
"I came here to seek help from Joe but he is not here" she added.
"There is no use, Joe Hudson will never help you. He and Rebecca are doing this together" I informed.
Mrs. Hudson's face went blank "then you are my only hope Freya, you have to help me with this. Henry told me that you and Robert shared an intimate relationship."
"But how can we compete with black magic?" I asked, as my body shook with fear.
"With the power of goodness. I know a way by which we can save Robert. I am not an expert like Rebecca but I too know some spells and if you do this ritual with me then...then Robert might come back to us" she described with hope beaming from her eyes.
God! What was she saying? It made no sense to me and how could I agree to do something like that with her? I barely knew that woman. But the information that she had given about Rebecca, couldn't be totally wrong. And she was Robert's mother after all.
I looked at Rick but got no signs of reassurance from him. He was still trying to comprehend her words.
"Sis, you love him and I think you should totally try this" Rick spoke up but his expression told me that he was surprised by his own words.
Okay, enough of this emotional drama, now it was time to speak about some logic "how can you be so sure that this...whatever you are calling it, will work?" I asked.
"I don't know if it will work or not but I want to try. The power of love can do anything. My dear, you just have to sit in front of a pile of fire and pray to God. He will bring him to you" She said.
"But this seems too vague. I think, we should beat up that Joe and ask him to spill the truth, yes I will do that only. Come on Rick" I stated and got up on my feet.
"Rebecca will save Joe and you will not be able to compete with her," said Mrs. Hudson.
I hated it when someone else was right.
"I think Henry was wrong. You don't love Robert. If you had loved him, you would have agreed to do this ritual because believe it or not this is the only way to bring him back. I could have done this alone, but it requires two people. That's why I am begging you to help me but I think your heart is just too stiff to care for anyone else" she said while wiping her tears, the desperation and sadness in her tone was totally noticeable.
Ahh! Who was she to lecture me about my love for Robert? Maybe it bothered me more because I was still unsure about my own feelings. Yes, I felt something for him but love was a very strong word to define it.
Dude! I was Freya, the overly curious and selfish girl. I never really thought about someone else. But this woman was a helpless mother she was asking me to help her.
Freya, how can you be so heartless? What if it was your mother instead of her, would you have denied her too? My subconscious hammered me with these questions.
No matter how lame her plan sounded but it was the only way out. I couldn't deny the presence of black magic nor the presence of that veiled woman because she tried to trap me too.
Finally, I gave up "please don't say like this. My brain is too worn out to deal with anything. Fine! I will do it, but not because I have faith in all these, I will be doing this because my manners don't give me the permission to turn down an elderly woman" I sighed.
She smiled "thank you so much. Please don't mind my words I said those out of anger"
"Don't worry, sis always blabbers a lot of things too" Rick said with a smile which faded immediately with an angry glare of my eyes.
***
"I can't believe it. How did she fell for it? " Joe Hudson's eyes were opened wide.
Rebecca smirked "it was easier than expected. That girl is an emotional fool. She fell for my crocodile tears" she said while checking herself on the round glass mirror.
She continued "this getup helped a lot too."
Joe walked up to her "yes you look totally different, almost human. Except for the heart," he taunted.
Rebecca's eyes went fierce and Joe looked away in fear.
"Emotion never meant anything to me and don't you dare lecture me about not having a heart. You too are hungry for wealth" Rebecca shrugged.
Joe's eyes were now filled with regret. It looked like a part of him was repenting.
"But where is Robert? Have you killed him already?" Joe's voice shook.
Rebecca laughed "no silly! Why will I kill my own blood? I have trapped him in that painting. I will release him once Freya gets married to my master. Till then my poor son will just have to suffer" she winked.
Her blue eyes were slowly changing into red. The getup that she had taken to fool Freya was starting to come off.
"Ahh, this place still smells like old times. There was a time when I used to groom myself up in front of this mirror. Sometimes I really miss my old life" Rebecca sighed.
"Then you shouldn't have killed him. He really loved you" Joe added nervously.
Rebecca laughed "I knew that guy was crazy for me like Freya is crazy for Robert. People get so dumb in love"
"Rebecca, can't you chose any other girl for this? I...mean..to say that Freya just seems too innocent and she never really did anything wrong to you. I mean, killing is another thing but getting her married to the devil...is worse than death" Joe gulped, rubbing his palms.
Rebecca clenched her fists and went for Joe's neck as she pinned him to a wall. Joe was fighting to break free, but her force was too powerful. "Have you forgotten your level? How did you even dare to speak in front of me?" her voice was deep and too scary.
"I'm sorry" Joe pleaded.
Then she released him "don't make this mistake again" she warned.
***
Freya
"See there is nothing.
There is no sign of that creepy bungalow" Rick stated in an I-know-everything tone.
I frowned, this was my straw to find Joe Hudson and the veiled woman, oh her name was Rebecca. By now, we had checked almost everywhere. Hudson Mansion, the office, warehouses and now this disappearing bungalow. It seemed like they had disappeared in the thin air, oh wait... it totally possible. Maybe they had disappeared, but where was Robert? Did they also take him along with them?
