Chapter 112 - Chapter 18

" Lily" I heard through my sleepy daze Enid calling me " Wake up Lily," She was frantically shaking me, trying to wake me up. I opened my eyes, and forcefully blinked a few times, only to find Enid bent over me fully dressed, looking rather terrified. I panicked, stood up, and looked around the room. It was in the middle of the night.
" Enid. What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?" I worriedly asked frowning and trying to get a grasp of the situation. Was the house on fire? I wondered." Grab what you can. We need to go, now " Enid snapped, and I panicked. Why? Where? So many questions but Enid grabbed my bag and began shoving things into it. It had been two days since Mason left." I will tell you what I know in the car" Enid hurriedly said as she threw on the bed a t-shirt and pair of jeans for me to get dressed. I hadn't moved. Stumped didn't even begin to cover, how confused I was." Now, Lily " Enid snapped again and I finally moved to get dressed. I wasn't very fast, but not slow either. Still reeling, trying to grasp the events that were unfolding right before my eyes. I couldn't make much of it. I didn't know enough." Come on," Enid grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door, charging through the corridor and out the front door before I even had enough time to formulate a coherent thought. Enid jumped in the car and threw the bag in the back seat. Hers were already in the car. More questions arose in my mind but one was more important than the others." What is going on, Enid?" I asked as she put the car in drive and floored it as if we were running." Adam called. He said to get out. Something happened to Mason on the business trip. I don't know what that is. This never happened before." Enid replied, scared. I was petrified when she said that something happened to Mason." Enid, what does Mason do for a living?" I thought that the answer would help me understand what occurred on his trip." A lot of things. It is hard to tell which one went sideways. Before you came, he was hardly home but he took a step back trying to be there for you. Mason took his duty very seriously " Enid explained but didn't. And that he'd done." Okay," I mumbled when her answer did little to no help " Can Adam give us more information?" I queried further trying to analyse every possibility." No. Adam has gone under, he is scared too. I could hear it in his voice. Adam is a former convict. Not much scares him." Enid replied as we veered left toward the docks." Louis and Carter? " I wasn't relenting. I wanted to understand why we had to up and leave in the middle of the night." Carter and Louis went with him. So, if Mason is in trouble they are too." Enid kept rubbing the steering wheel, restless." Where are we going?" I probed further trying to wrap my head around the situation. A business deal gone wrong. The only reason he would get into this kind of trouble would be because he was doing illegal business. " Brockhart Island. Back home. Those were the instructions Mason left and that's what we are doing." Enid replied after a brief moment of silence. An Island thirty miles off the Morston shore. Quite literally in the middle of nowhere." For how long?" In less than a month I was going to start at the academy. There was no way, I would miss that." Until Mason comes back," Enid glanced at me and frowned for some reason. I didn't know what look I was wearing at the time but it wasn't a happy one. She didn't say he was dead. Just that he was in trouble. So whatever it was maybe he could find a way out of it. Every problem has a solution. When we finally reached the docks, Enid jumped out of the car and grabbed the bags while I was still trying to wrap my head around everything. Nothing made sense. How could a business trip turn into something so dangerous?I went through the motions, numbly getting out of the car and followed Enid on the docks. Mindlessly, I climbed into the boat while Enid untied it and turned it on, And before I knew it, the salty sea breeze was already combing through my hair. No matter, how much I tried to make sense of things, it was pointless.I could still remember the cold shine in his eyes peering at me from behind his hat when he came to the house that day to strike the bargain. Where are you, Mason?" Come dear," Enid urged me, sobering me up as she tied the boat to one of the wooden poles on the small pier on Brockheart Island. Morston was still deep in its slumber, with lights twinkling in the distance very much like fireflies. I took a deep breath and trailed after Enid as she walked on the creaking pier on the dead-silent Island. Clueless, my eyes drifted left to right trying to get a grasp of my surroundings. There wasn't much to see other than a few secular magnolia trees fencing the little road that crossed the Island. Sparse lamposts shrouded the trees in a golden glow, and the little houses behind them.I don't remember how far we had to walk in solemn silence, but at one point Enid stopped in front of a small cottage guarded by two damson trees and pushed a rock to the side. She said we are going home. Whose home? It wasn't my home.Slabs of grey stone served as a porch, while the little cottage was built out of similar stone. Ragged, with sharp edges, and a little brittle as I brushed my finger over it. Again, I trailed after Enid inside, after she'd fiddled with the lock for a few minutes. Old. The cottage was old, the furniture seemed ancient and worn out. It most certainly had seen better days. Spiders had made themselves at home. Cobwebs everywhere you looked, and the stale, damp air inside made it hard too breathe." We should get some rest," Enid said as she threw the keys on the table and dropped the bags on the floor. " We will figure things out later" She added and looked around the small dining room. A small fireplace was built inside the wall, with little scribblings on the wooden mantle. Only a child could have made those. Depictions of horses, spiders and other animals decorated the mantle all around.I nodded and dropped my bag on the chair. Apart from being scared for us, for Mason, the thrill of being woken up in the middle of the night, to run away had taken its toll. I was shattered, I needed some shut-eye. Dawn was already yawning. I turned around to look around for a bedroom. Opposite the fireplace, there were three doors." Choose whichever you like. The one in the middle is the bathroom." Enid said pointing towards the doors. Gone was the chirpy, jaunty woman that I knew. The clouded expression and the clipped tone were enough to deter me from prying further. Later. I didn't feel like talking, anyway. I was too tired. Everything had crashed and burned in a matter of days. The life I had been living was gone. Now, we had to start again.I didn't reply and entered the bedroom closest to the front door and I could hear Enid's footsteps receding and the door creaking open and shutting. I didn't know what Enid was thinking. She looked concerned. I was too.