"Atasha, where's Ellaine? I waited for her from noon til daybreak but she didn't come home! Tell me, where is she?" Vier ambushed Atasha with questions first thing in the morning the moment she comes out of her bedroom. Was he waiting for her to wake up? How long has he been standing in front of her door? She blinked a few times, trying to absorb all his questions into her still sleepy mind. Ellaine didn't go home last night? How could that be?
As realization struck her, Atasha hurriedly ran to her cousin's room, checking her things and all. It was true. Ellaine really didn't come home last night. Where could she be?
"I... I honestly don't know." she stuttered. "She told me she found a beautiful place in the forest but she didn't specify where it actually is. The island is not very vast. I thought she would be fine on her own and..... " Vier started dashing out before Atasha could finish her sentence. She watched as Vier disappear from her sight. "... errr... she wanted to be alone. She won't meet any trouble, would she?" She whispered, talking to herself.
Meanwhile, inside a small hut, a girl was lying on a bamboo bed unconscious. She looked pale and lifeless, not making even a slight movement.
"Brother, is she dead? She's been sleeping like that since yesterday. How come she's not waking up?" that voice, belonging to a small child was the first thing Ellaine heard as her consciousness slowly returned to her. She thought she was having a dream and kept her eyes shut.
"I don't know. Maybe she'll wake up later. If her breathing stops, then we will just bury her in the back yard."
Ellaine felt goosebumps after hearing that sentence. She forced herself to wake up as if to run away from a terrible dream. Her lashes were plastered to her cheeks and she couldn't open her eyes fully, but she managed to let out a groan.
"Hear that brother?" the small voice asked. "Did she turn into a ghost?"
Ellaine wasn't able to open her eyes and soon drift into dreamland again. In her dream, he saw a man wearing black digging a grave. He then dragged her into it while she was screaming and crying! She suffered through that nightmare, until regaining her consciousness after a few hours later. She was covered in cold sweat when she was able to wake herself up. She looked around and realized she was in a unfamiliar place. Two round eyes were staring at her beside the bed. Both of them were stunned.
"You.... you're not dead, right?"
Ellaine couldn't help but smile. In front of her was a five to six year old small girl. She shook her head and then touched her aching head.
"I'm alive. Thank you for taking care of me." she said. "Where am I?"
"We took you home. Yesterday, we found you sleeping beside the Elves rock near the big pond. I thought you were dead." the child explained. "My mother died in her sleep, so I thought you wouldn't wake up too."
Ellaine's smile faded. Such a small child is already an orphan? Poor kid.
"You're awake. How do you feel? Are you hungry?" Ellaine turned to look at the person who was asking those questions. She found a young man about eighteen to twenty years old standing at the entrance. He has brown skin but was still evidently good-looking. "Your stuff are over there." he said, pointing to a corner.
Ellain turned to the corner and saw her carry-case. It was the thing she brought yesterday which contains art materials like canvas, paints and paintbrushes. Perhaps she fainted as she was painting the pond?
"Thank you. I'm alright now." she stated. Perhaps he was the one who said she'll bury her? Well, that really gave her a fright. Maybe she should go home now?
"Where do you stay? I haven't seen you in this island before." the man asked.
"I'm Ellaine. I live on the other side of the island. Thank you for taking me in. Well, can I have your name?" she said as she tried to get up, but she still felt a bit dizzy and so she lay back down.
"I'm Nanna!" the little girl exclaimed. "That's brother Conno!" she pointed to the young man.
"Ellaine, please stay for the night. It's getting dark now. Tomorrow, I'll escort you home." Conno said before turning to leave.
"Yes! yes! Stay please. I'm going to get you some food first." Nanna echoed before she dash out of the room.
Ellaine looked around. Their house was indeed small. Her room in the mansion might even be bigger than this. The wooden bench, the bamboo bed, and a small dining table were all compressed inside that small house that one would easily bump into things if he walks carelessly. If she slept on the bed since yesterday, then where did the siblings sleep?
***
"Erica! I thought you're not planning to come home anymore!" Yago said as he saw his sister entering the front door. Erica scratched her head and avoided eye contacts as she strolled forward. Her brother was sitting at the sofa while working on his laptop. Was he waiting for her to come home? Otherwise, shouldn't he be in his study room now?
"Sorry brother. I overstayed at my sister in law's place. She was very fun to be with..." she answered awkwardly as she peeked at clock on the wall. It's already 10 in the evening. She spent one night and one whole day at Arianna's place. If she could, she would have stayed another night.
"Yeah, I can see that. I'm now wondering just how much you've sold me off." he probed, putting down the laptop on the center table to have a better look at her.
Erica hurriedly waved her hands. "There's no such thing, brother! We didn't talk much about you! Just.... some unimportant matters... " She explained, trying to get out of the interrogation quickly. She pulled out her phone and opened it. "I'll give this to you as a gift. Just don't get angry anymore!" Erica said as she offered him her phone.
Yago narrowed his eyes. "You're bribing me with your phone? Why would I need your phone! You dummy!"
"You're dummy!" Erica blurted out before she covered her mouth. "I mean take a look at this first!" she yelled impatiently.
Yago sighed and took her phone. He glanced at the screen before squinting his eyes. He stared at the screen for a few more seconds before his face broke into a smile. "Send this photo to my phone." he said as he passed her back the phone. He then hurriedly stood up and took his laptop to his room.
Erica secretly smiled. Her brother is so easy!
Inside Yago's bedroom, he was standing near the window when his phone lit up with a ding! He hurriedly checked his phone and saw the file that Erica sent him. It was a picture of him and Arianna in the boutique while the woman was wearing her wedding dress. They were standing side by side, with him leaning closer with a smile. Arianna wore a bashful expression and looked really adorable in his eyes. It looked like a wedding picture. It was breath-taking.
Yago leaned against the window in a daze. He was basking in joy at that moment when everything was interrupted by the sound of glasses breaking. Yago suddenly saw fragments of glasses from the window behind him flew before his eyes. It wasn't his imagination. He actually did hear gunshot sounds from a distant! He ducked out and hid before sensing a sharp pain above her temple.
"Brother!"
Erica ran to her brother's aid when she heard the loud noise from his room. She kicked the door open only to find her brother collapsed on the floor with half of his face coverered in blood!