•Elia
'So, till next time. Hopefully, I'll be on my way to ACA!!'
"ELIA!!" The sound of grandma yelling my name knocks me out of the journal induced trance so suddenly, I had to blink a few times and look up, only to realize that the sun had long set.
How long have we been reading? And when did grandma get back?
I look over at Lita, who also has the same expression as me, and I am also shocked to see that she is almost through with the novel she is reading. Impressive.
"It's half past 10? How? I swear I only read for a few minutes." Lita stated after checking her phone.
"Well I guess time fli-"
"GIRLS!!" Grandma's voice echoes again, this time louder. She's calling us for dinner, but dinner was two hours ago. Why didn't she call for us then?
"We better head down before we anger her any further." I rise from where I was seated on the hammock.
"Wait, hold up." Lita picks up the book and quickly flips from page to page until she reaches the end, closes the book, and proudly announces, "Done! Let's go."
"There's no way you registered any of that."
"It's the epilogue, I was gonna read it like that anyways." She shrugged and began to lead the way out, while I followed behind.
Bad idea.
"Left." I direct as she was obviously heading in the wrong direction. I decide to take a step ahead so I can be the one leading the way.
"The housekeeper told me you girls were in the room all day. What happened to the house tour? Don't tell me you read all day?" Grandma narrows her eyes at us.
The dining table is set for dinner and it looks like even grandma hasn't eaten. Did she just prepare dinner? That would mean she got back later than expected.
"We kinda slept through the day Granny. Her bed is so comfy. It's like sleeping on clouds." Lita answers as she takes a seat. "And I woke up really hungry. This looks delicious."
We all join her to seat and begin to dig in.
Grandma and Lita engaged in some kind of conversation which I tuned out.
My mind starts to drift back to mom's journals.
Mom got expelled because she doesn't have magic? Her parents ended her education because of their reputation? That's not fair, and not to mention also very illegal over here.
Mom got constantly bullied and her parents, no one around her, cared. No one except Liv.
And Liv cared because she didn't want mom to end up like her sister, Iris.
Iris. That's who mom wrote about in her novel 'Anodohra'. It wasn't about her, it was about Liv's sister, who was also like her. It's a tribute to Liv's sister. Her sister who met a bad ending because of the twisted laws of the kingdom. Did mom also end up like her?
I do not know if she was using magic as a metaphor for something else or not, but either way, something wrong is going on in Anodohra.
"Harrison informed me that he would be returning sooner than expected," Grandma begins, "Let's say, the day after tomorrow"
I look up at her with widened eyes, while Lita begins to slightly choke on the water she was chugging up.
"I understand that you girls were excited to hangout here together," She continues, "Especially you, Lita. But that excitement was short lived because you will have to leave tomorrow, unfortunately."
"Why?" I manage to say through the shock. "I thought Dad would be gone at least a week"
"I thought so too. Turns out he wrapped up his work earlier than he planned." She answers.
Or maybe he rushed through it so he wouldn't have to leave his 'precious daughter' out of sight for too long.
Either way, this is bad. And not just because our sleepover was cut short.
What bothers me the most is how he would react when he discovers I know.
How I would confront him. Whether I would.
•••
"What are we gonna do?" Lita ponders.
We're both now pacing back and forth in my room wondering what to do about the change of plans.
Dad will be back after tomorrow. No doubt he wouldn't be happy about me reading mom's journals. I could hide it from him and secretly read them whenever he isn't around or when everyone is asleep. I could sneak them off with me to college? No, bad idea.
I should probably keep it a secret. But I want to know why he hid it from me. Would he be honest with me this time?
"I can't believe we could only hang out for a day." Lita whines.
"Seriously Lita?" I stop pacing and face her. She stops pacing as well.
"What? That part bums me out too. But yeah, what are we gonna do about the whole journals and forbidden library situation?"
"I think I should confront him about it. No, no, I shouldn't. Should I?" I'm conflicted and panicking a little.
"You should." She answers.
"And if it ends badly?" I question.
"Then you might probably never get to see Anodohra." She concludes.
Forget Anodohra, I might never get to know who mom really was. But if it ends well, I could get more information about her from dad. He might even know how to find Anodohra.
I don't know what to do right now.
"I have an idea. A stupid one." I blurt out.
"I'm listening." Lita has a sly smile on her face, as if she expected this.
•••
It's six in the morning and Lita and I are already awake. The maids and butler are also up, but grandma is still asleep. We're also expected to be asleep by this time.
"I'll be back soon. Help me think of a good excuse as to why I left early." I tell her.
"You can count on me." She gives me a smile right before I head out the door.
•••
When I get back home, Lita is already done packing and ready to leave. It must not have taken her a lot of time, since she didn't even get to unpack properly yesterday.
"You didn't get the tickets?" Lita says loud enough for grandma to hear.
She had earlier texted me the excuse she made up:
That we found out just last night that our favorite rockband was having a concert in town soon and tickets would be sold out this morning. And we could only buy them physically. She'd have come with me but I told her to stay behind and pack up.
Luckily, grandma believed her.
"I did," I smile at her.
"All set?" I ask her.
"All set." She smiles back.
Later that night, after Lita had left, as I layed on my bed while playing with the key in my hand, I hoped our little plan would work.
•••
"So, how have you been?" Dad asks me.
He had just returned two hours ago.
I've positioned myself on a seat in his study, while he is pacing around arranging a few things.
He hasn't gone into the library yet.
"You were gone only three days, I don't think much happened." I answer. My answer being a huge contrast to what really happened. A lot of things happened. A lot of things have changed.
"I guess you're right." He smiles a little.
I stare at him as he goes about his business. Does he feel bad about keeping this from me? He should, but he doesn't look like it. Has he ever regretted keeping mom's life from me? He never even told me about Anodohra. Never even mentioned it vaguely. Does he believe he is right? Or does he have no other choice but to hide the truth?
"Do you have something you want to say, Ellie? You have been staring at me." Dad asks without looking up from what he's doing.
"Umm, I do," I start, "Where did mom come from?" I ask hesitantly.
He stiffens a bit at the sudden question, only a bit.
"You have asked me this before." He tries to brush it off.
"I can't remember." I state flatly.
He looks up at me only to see a blank expression on my face.
He turns his attention back to what he was doing.
"She was from England, like me. That was where we met before moving to Scotland." He lies. Lies through his teeth.
"That's not what her journals say." I jump straight to the point. His head shoots up when he hears me. He has a shocked expression on his face, like he had just seen a ghost. Kinda like the expression I had when I saw mom's library.
"You went in there." His voice is still calm, for now.
"I did." I nod, my arms folded.
"I forbade you."
"You did." I nod again.
There is a short moment of silence before he speaks again.
"You will not go in there again." He commands.
"What if I do?" I appear to be confident on the outside, but I don't think my heart has ever beat this fast before.
"You won't!"
His harsh tone makes me flinch a little but I try to maintain my composure.
He immediately dashes out of the room, and I follow behind him.
When he enters into the library, he stops in front of the desk which had mom's journals stacked on it. I feel his anger begin to rise when he sees it empty.
"Where are they?" He demands.
"Where are they?!" His tone rises when I don't answer.
I still don't answer.
"Your secret compartment?"
My eyes widen, "How do you-"
"That's where it is."
He bolts out of the door and heads towards my library, while I follow behind again.
Of course he'd know about that place. It is his house after all. I don't know why I thought I had my privacy.
He enters into the library and pulls up the carpet, then he puts his hand into a small creak and lifts a whole section of the wooden floor, revealing a nook. Too small for me to enter but large enough to hide anything I want.
But he doesn't find anything inside. That's because the journals aren't even in the house, they are with Lita. He's too angry about the fact that I broke this rule, that he wouldn't even think about the first rule I broke. Hopefully, his mind wouldn't go there. Instead, he would order all the maids and servants to search every inch of this house. He would ask all of them where I went to. He wouldn't ask if anyone came over. And they wouldn't tell him unless he asks specifically.
He groans after not finding anything there and plops onto a nearby seat, his face buried into his hands in frustration.
I just stand there, watching him.
"When did you find out?" He finally speaks, his voice much calmer than before.
"A day after you left for your trip." I answer
"What made you go in there after all these years?"
"I've always been curious dad. I just never got the chance." I reply.
Another moment of silence passes, but I break it this time.
"Mom had magic." I state instead of asking.
"You shouldn't believe everything in those books, Ellie."
"They aren't books, they are her journals." I state firmly.
"They were merely drafts for her works." He counters.
Does he think I am stupid?
"Lies!" I snap. "Her entries were written with so much passion, too much passion. Every word I read there had the energy and innocence of a young girl. Those weren't ideas, they were feelings. And it might not all make sense, but it certainly makes more sense than whatever reason you had to hide something you claim are 'drafts'."
"Ellie-"
"I want to know why you hid this from me. I want the truth." I demand in a soft but firm voice.
He looks at me for a brief moment before looking away.
He sighs, "Y-Your mom didn't die while giving birth to you." He begins, but his voice is shaky.
My heart begins to beat even harder, and I try to listen through the pounding in my head.
"It was a normal day," he continues, "I had just picked you up from the babysitter, because we both had important events to attend that day. While I was driving back home, that was when I received her message. It was a goodbye message. She knew she was about to die. She couldn't stop what was going to happen to her. It was something that was out of her control. Something supernatural." He trails off.
Something that had magic written over it.
My head is spinning, trying to grab all of these at once. Not only did he hide her life from me, he also hid what ended it.
My mom didn't die giving birth to me.
She was murdered.