Forcing himself out of his reverie, Jean shook his head and grinned darkly. Turning around to face the entrance, Jean stealthily moved forward. He was heading somewhere. Somewhere that could have been closer if he was to use the rear door to exit the house. But since it was still locked, he couldn't use it at the moment.
When he was just like a couple of steps away from the entrance door, a rattling sound disturbed the serenity in the house. He immediately froze in place as his heart raced in his chest.
With wide eyes, he turned his neck back slowly until he had a clear view of the direction that the sound came from. Immediately he saw what had caused the noise, he was disappointed on the spot.
Natalie was just finishing opening the rear door and her eyes at that moment were fixed on the outside.
It was clear that she was done with taking her suitcase to her room and had already returned in the living room. If it was not for Jean's concentration being somewhere else, he might have noticed her movement at the back.
Sighing and faking a cough, Jean turned around and took a couple of steps towards Natalie. After staring at her for some time, Natalie turned around and noticed his stare.
"Have you taken a tour of the house?"
Jean scratched the back of his head and blinked a couple times.
"Oh! I was just about to start… I wanted to start with the outside first before I resume with the inside."
Natalie gave him a reassuring smile and shrugged.
"Good choice!"
Jean nodded in agreement. Natalie then stepped outside of the rear door and said,
"Then you can accompany me."
Jean hesitated for a moment before following Natalie to the outside of the house.
'Should I ask her about the tree on the rear side, or should I just keep it to myself. There is no need as I might sound insane to her and who knows, things might take another turn. But wait…. I don't need to be so direct when asking about the tree. I might just behave like I just wanted to know some basic information about it.'
A few minutes later, Jean was walking alongside Natalie as he curiously studied the compound of their new home. The floor under their feet was tiled with the same type of tiles that resembled the ones on the front side of the house. At the furthest edge of the rear space, a tiled path led to a narrow steel gate on the perimeter wall that surrounded the compound.
'Maybe it is an emergency exit.'
Jean immediately slowed down, as he gave the gate a relatively long stare. A few moments later, he accelerated forward and caught up with Natalie, who was now caressing the beautiful flowered plants along the perimeter wall on the right side of the house.
"I have been keeping a close eye on you. Tell me, what have you discovered?"
Feeling flustered, Jean gulped as he tried to suppress his groan. He then tried to figure out what Natalie alluded to.
'The ominous tree. She might have noticed my…'
At that moment, Natalie looked at him right in the eyes and wore a complicated look. This act of hers snapped Jean out of his reverie.
"What have you noticed about the gate, just to be more specific with my question. I have seen you staring at it just a few moments ago."
Suppressing a sigh, Jean lingered for a moment, turned to look at the gate and then back at Natalie.
"Oh! That… I was just wondering if that is an emergency exit."
With a bright smile shining on her face, Natalie glanced in the direction of the narrow gate, which now stood like a half a dozen meters away from where they were standing.
"Yes, it is indeed an emergency exit, but that isn't its main purpose."
On hearing this, Jean's heart skipped a beat.
'What is its main purpose then? I must ask her before she diverts the topic, as she normally does.'
Jean sighed and glanced at Natalie.
"What could be its main purpose?"
Natalie gave him a nonchalant look.
"The answer to your question just lies behind the gate. Why don't you go and find out yourself?"
Jean shuddered as he stared at Natalie with a contorted face.
"What if it is locked?"
"Then I could have offered you the key to the gate."
From Natalie's statement, Jean could tell that this was not the first time that Natalie was visiting this home.
'If it is true, then when was she here and what was she doing here? If she was truly here before, then is there a possibility that she was the one that cleaned the house? But the compound was suggesting otherwise. It might have been a while since she was last here and that might have given way for the surrounding trees and vegetation to litter the compound. Does this mean that she is the owner of the place? Perhaps I'm wrong.'
Jean thought deeply.
A few moments later, Natalie added,
"If you can look keenly, you can easily notice that the gate isn't locked. So, you can just go through it without my help."
When Jean shifted his gaze and glanced at the gate, he confirmed Natalie's statement. The gate was not locked - It was only closed.
This sudden request from Natalie, threw Jean into a crossroad of choices. In one hand, he wanted to accompany her and clear his doubts about the ominous tree. While on the other hand, he was curious to find out what laid behind the narrow gate.
If he was to choose to head over to the gate, he would let go the opportunity of inquiring about the tree. However, all these could be accomplished some other time, the Urgency that Jean felt of accomplishing either of the two tasks at hand, didn't allow him to let go the opportunity. So, he had to choose between the two.
"I think that will have to wait for now"
Jean answered after a short moment of contemplation.
Gesturing Natalie to follow him, Jean started moving forward. Natalie hesitated for a moment before moving in Jean's direction.
They were now moving further to the right side of the house, and a few meters from them, there stood the ominous tree. Jean tried so hard to avoid staring at the tree as they moved in its direction.
He made this choice, because he felt that this was the perfect opportunity that he had to have a hint of what he felt initially, when he stared at the tree. As they moved, Jean noticed a few empty flower vessels along the walls of the bungalow. They were moulded from clay, and on their surfaces, attractive shapes and patterns could be spotted from a distance.
'The shapes and patterns on those vessels are very intricate. Now this is the perfect moment for me to clear my doubt.'
Jean thought with a smile as he stared at the flower vessels with a gleam of curiosity.
At this point, he froze in place when he tilted his head and looked in Natalie's direction. She had turned and was heading in the direction of the ominous tree.
'Is she feeling the same way I felt before or she is just curious to study the tree?'
During this time, in the western horizon, the setting sun had painted the world in beautiful orange shades. If the was someone that couldn't notice this beauty that was being dissipated by the rays of the setting sun, then it was Jean. His concentration was currently directed towards Natalie, who was now heading in the direction of the ominous tree.
While still pondering on the matter, Natalie took a couple steps and studied the bark of the ominous tree curiously. In the next moment, she raised her right hand and placed it on the bark of the tree.
Now standing a few meters away from the tree, Jean gulped as he suppressed a shout.
'Hopefully nothing vile happens to her.'
Jean thought with a smirk.
Some moments later, Natalie sighed and looked in Jean's direction.
"What are you still doing there, come here and join me!"
Upon hearing this, Jean felt a cold chill down his spine. Forcing himself to remain calm, he slowly raised his head for the fear of looking at the ominous tree in front of him. He hesitated for a moment and then started approaching the tree.
As he approached the tree, he lowered his gaze in order to avoid staring at it. The closer he moved to the tree, the faster his heart raced in his chest. He was obscured from the main cause of the inexplicable feeling that the tree subjected him to, the first time he set his eyes on it.
'She is my mom and she can't subject me to harm. What if this turns out to be false, not that she is wicked, but just in case she accidentally or unknowingly subject me to harm.'
Now at the foot of the tree, Jean forced himself to raise his head and have a closer look at this menacing tree in front of him. He was dreadful of the impact of his actions, but since he didn't want to disappoint his mom, he had to do this.
After staring at the tree for some time, he subconsciously jerked to the side.
'Something is not right!'
(---)