I gave the man his fare and went inside my house, I hung my coat on the wooden coat hanger and looked at the old pendulum clock, it was midnight by now. I didn't have an appetite so I went upstairs to my room. When I got upstairs I was quite startled by what I saw. I saw the window in my room open, as long as I can remember I closed the window before going to post the letter to Rosanne. With that thought I suddenly realised that I didn't do what I went for, I didn't post the letter to Rosanne. It's strange why I didn't realise it earlier, maybe the happenings of the past few days kept my mind so busy that I didn't think about it. To check if the letter was still there I opened my Italian brown leather briefcase. Luckily, it was still there sealed carefully just like I sealed it last time with my love I let out a sigh of relief. When I picked the letter up in my hands I noticed something colourful underneath it. It was a hand-drawn picture, it had a little boy wearing a blue shirt and brown pants buckled with a suspender belt and a tall man standing beside him holding his hands was wearing a beige-coloured overcoat, brown pants, green shirt, black and white lined beret hat and brown leather shoes. They were surrounded by several colourful flowers and a bright yellow sun was present in a farther corner of the light blue sky. They both resembled me and John, I already knew who it was and I turned it and there it was something written with a red crayon,
"Dear Mr Samuel,
Thank you so much for staying with me and father and taking care of us. You're the kindest, sweetest, most generous, friendly and handsome man. I Love you so much please visit us again, I will miss you a lot. Thank you for all those memorable moments, you made me happy sir. Also, I'm sorry and ashamed for sneakily putting this in your suitcase. Please forgive me.
From,
John."
It was by the sweet little John, I was touched by the sweet gesture of this little one. How thoughtful of a seven-year-old kid to write a letter to thank me and remain a gentleman he didn't forget to apologise for putting this in my suitcase without my permission. I will never forgive this little boy ever. I didn't do this much for this boy or his father yet he was grateful this shows what a kind and pure soul he is. I smiled and put both of these letters back in my briefcase and lay on my comfortable bed. Sometimes, I feel so lucky to have such wonderful people around me who love and care for me truly. In this cruel and selfish world, one is fortunate to have some people who care for you more than themselves. It's good to know that some people care about my existence, I don't know if I still return their love and care back to them. Maybe my life is finally becoming pleasant after my horrible past. Maybe it's the end of my pain and finally the time to live my life happily like others. The dark times had ended for good. Now, the first thing in the morning I would do was post this letter to my dear Rosanne she must be worried for me. It's been a while since I left Italy and made a long journey to London for meeting a mate, after all, she is the only one I have there to care for me. With these thoughts, I didn't know when I drifted into a deep sleep.
Suddenly I felt a tight grasp around my neck, I quickly opened my eyes and saw a shadow-like man. He was someone trying as vigorously as he can to choke me to death. His eyes were filled with revenge and it seemed like the only thing that would fulfil his vengeance would be the end of me. I struggled for my survival, trying forcefully to remove his filthy hand from my neck.
I was starving for oxygen, it felt like the last moment of my life a tear of sorrow fell from my eye, and in front of my eyes were coming to the faces of my beloved ones, John, Rosanne, my little sister, my father and my dear mother. I was so close to death when my eyes lend on the copper jug beside me, I picked it up with all the strength I had left from my side table and hit it as forcefully as I could on his head. He finally let his vicious hands off me and fell on the floor. I loosened my collar immediately and started breathing heavily to get back to life, my heart was pounding really fast and loud enough that I could hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears.
I could still feel the suffocation that I felt when he was trying to kill me. I could hardly see anything and my head felt heavy in front of the trauma of death I just experienced. I finally felt that I was alive, It felt like death was so close to me and passed. After I got myself together I looked at that horrendous person,
His mouth was covered and he was wearing a Jet black attire to hide in the darkness of night like a Night Shadow.
I checked his pulse to check if he was still alive, now I was sure that he was still alive yet unconscious because of the hard hit. I made him sit on the chair of my study table and tied him tightly with a rope making sure that he could not escape no matter how much he would try. I searched him through and found a dagger along with a mere letter, I quickly opened the letter,
"He has finally arrived in London after this long wait. His current address is house no.234 Brandon street, and right now he is not at his home so it will be easier for you to reach there before him and prepare for his death. I want to get rid of that nuisance now no matter what, do what I said to you in the previous letter and I would pay you the amount you asked for once the job is done. Be careful not to get caught at any cost. I want you to do this today at midnight, and remember I would not afford any mistakes this time. Inform me after the work is done, my men would be waiting at the end of the street for you.
Good luck."
Who could this be? What does he want from me? Why does he wish for my death? How does he know my address and about my absence? Who is the one hiding behind the mask like a coward who lacks the courage to face me?