As the visitors had left, Zubera was intrigued as to who these people were and why they were looking for Nafre. Why do you suppose they were seeking Nafre? she asks Ebba. 'Because your grandma said Visitors will come,' Ebba replies. Ebba had not yet taken her gaze off of them from the window.
'When?' Zubera displayed bewilderment. 'Your grandma left a note beneath the cat this morning.' Ebba remarked casually.
'You really think that?' Zubera scoffed at that remark.
'Sure, it's possible,' Defiantly, Ebba stated. After Zubera had stared out the window for some time, thinking, "I wonder," Both resumed cleaning and dusting, rearranging the jars, while Ebba renamed and reorganized the items by alphabet.
Ebba was thrilled to see the same cat attempting to break in again, and she leaped with joy when she saw it. In a flash, she had the door wide open for the cat. Zubera intervened physically to thwart her. 'I ordered you to leave her in the shelter,' she yelled sternly.
'We did, but the fact that she tracked us down again is significant.'
'Absolutely meaningless,' Zubera scoffed and rolled her eyes.
'She intends to be with us; can we keep her till we find her family?' Ebba made the request. 'It's a stray cat. It doesn't belong to anyone,' Zubera reasoned.
Ebba stroked the cat's hair and added, 'We can be her family.'
Cat sneered at Zubera as she gazed at it and reached out to pet it. In response, Zubera bared her teeth and hissed at the cat, but it continued to lick her paws, unfazed. Backing away, Zubera covered her mouth with her palm as she sneezed. They were clearly not a good match, and she immediately despised the cat.
'Give it a bath. Look at how unclean and stinky it is,' Zubera urged.
'Sure, I'll tidy her up' Ebba carried the cat around with her as she danced around the store in glee.
Seeing Ebba's theatrics, Zubera couldn't help but secretly smile. Zubera was a tough cookie who found joy in the little things in life.
Zubera's thoughts kept going back to the mysterious visitors. She was dead set on discovering why they were there. Moreover, why did they come in search of Nafre, who has been missing for years? Zubera was keen to know about the hidden mysteries striving to emerge.
After an absence of several years, the Folc siblings returned to their old family house that they had abruptly abandoned many years earlier. The mansion stood on the outskirts of town and was one of its sort in Willowdale and the neighbouring towns. The Folc Mansion was the grandest and most stunning property in the area. A private route could only reach the big iron gate to the mansion, shaded by a grove of ancient trees. A thicket of vines and foliage engulfed the Iron gate.
Darius pried the creeps from the gate and pushed it open; the gate slammed into the stone wall with a resounding crash; the birds, alarmed, flew out of the towering trees, their wings whistled, making a mesmerizing sound, and they rose into the sky in a hypnotizing flock of hundreds. The loud chipping and buzz of the birds echoed through the air, breaking the stillness.
Darciana lowered her car window, stuck her head out, and watched the mysterious aerial phenomenon she had never witnessed before.
The gate opened, revealing a once-beautiful landscape reduced to unkempt hedges and weeds. It was like entering a wild, hidden garden, with walls so tall that no one could see inside.
The Folc mansion was located a little distance further into the land, and its walls were covered in ivy, giving it the appearance of a big moss lump. Darciana was fascinated, but she was hesitant to enter the building. When Darius opened the massive main door, it creaked as it swung wide to reveal a spacious chamber with two sets of curved staircases leading to the higher levels on either side of the space.
The room's focal point was a colossal chandelier, and immediately below it was a leather Chesterfield sofa set arranged in a circle around a polished teak centre table. On top of that were crystal centrepieces arranged in an orderly fashion. Strangely, the inside of the house did not appear to have been affected by the exterior's deterioration, giving the impression that it had been carefully sealed.
Darcian pulled the tall window's lengthy blackout curtains letting the evening sun illuminate the living area. She stood at the window that looked out into the back garden of the house. There was an unmarked grave in the rear garden, filled with overgrown wild roses. The very sight of it brought tears to her eyes. Darius walked up behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She took a few moments to compose herself before asking Darius, 'Is that dad's grave?'
He responded with 'Yes' while looking in the same direction as his sisters.
'She never brought us here before, so why now? It will only reopen old wounds,' Clinging to her brother's hand, Darciana sobs.
'There is a reason, and we must discover what it is.' Darius said.
Darius sat in the armchair beside the fireplace, his head propped on his fingers as he began to ponder deeply. On his right, Darciana sat on an ottoman and indicated, 'Mother wanted us to look for Nafre, and the woman at the store claimed that she has been missing for 19 years, likely dead.'
'She might bring us to solutions to our question,' Darius suggested.
'She didn't seem like she could be of any use, so we probably should go back to the city,' Darciana's words came off as uninterested.
'I had the flashback to that day, and it was as clear as if it had happened yesterday; that day has played out in my dreams countless times over the years,' Darius said in a hushed tone.
'You've been having these dreams since we left this place; what makes this any different?' Darciana said, attempting to downplay the gravity of the situation.
Darius continued, 'Yes, it was the same as the dreams, but this time it seemed like I was living it, and as if I was teleported back in time, I could see that little girl's face clearly, and it was not distorted this time, I cannot forget that night, and I will never forget the face.'
'Furthermore, in addition to the little girl, I heard two women talking in the background, and one of them sounded like our mother; this had never happened before, as if those flashbacks were unfolding themselves and disclosing truths one at a time.'
'I need to find out more about this woman Zubera and why I got this flashback in her presence.'
'What is she?'