CHAPTER THREE
When I woke up, the first thing I noticed wasn't pain but it's the silence, the kind of silence that presses against your ears until your heartbeat becomes the only sound left. The dim light from the chandelier flickered above and was trembling like a dying flame.
My body felt heavy, my wrists sore and my throat dry, the blanket covering me smelled faintly of smoke and old iron, the air carried that scent of wealth, something expensive and cold.
I tried to sit up, then the blanket slipped from my shoulders, revealing a bandage on my arm. I was so confused because I didn't remember being hurt, I didn't remember leaving the rain.
Then I heard a sound, a soft click, then the door creaked open, a man stepped inside, a man that's tall, he was putting on a dark suit and posture also looks too perfect to be accidental. His face was carved sharp, his hair black enough to shimmer blue under the light.
He looked like someone who didn't ask questions that he expected answers.
He didn't say much, he just studied me in silence before setting a glass of something dark beside the bed laid on "You're safe," he said finally, his voice so low and even. Did he just say safe, the word didn't fit this place at all then when I tried to speak, my voice cracked. "Where am I?"
He didn't answer immediately, instead husgaze shifted to the chandelier above and then back to me. "Somewhere you were always meant to be," before I could ask what that meant, the door opened again and two more men entered, their movements were so smooth, practiced and were too synchronized to be strangers.
The first had a scar running from his jaw to his throat, he looked like someone who'd seen war and carried it quietly, the second was fair-haired, almost gentle though his eyes betrayed calculation
Something about them felt familiar though but I couldn't say why.
The man in the suit, the one who'd first spoken moved closer, his presence was like gravity. "You've been hidden for years," he said, "and now the wrong people know where you are." he added.
I blinked. "Who are you? and which people are you talking about?" but he gave no name, not even an explanation, only an
unflinching stare and then the one with the scar muttered something under his breath, a laugh but the tension in the room didn't break. Then the fair-haired man spoke, calm and quiet. "You shouldn't have been left alone for this long." My chest tightened. "Alone?"
They exchanged looks, something wordless passing between them then the one with the scar leaned forward with his voice rough. "You've been living with a borrowed name, what actually happened is that your father made enemies and sent you away before they could finish what they started." I froze, "My father is dead," the man in the suit didn't move, he didn't even blink. "You've seen the signs, Serena, the photograph, the letters and you already know that's not true," his tone made it sound like a memory I should've remembered. My breath hitched, "Then where is he?" I demanded a response but everywhere became silent again and it stretched so long that it hurt. Then I stood up abruptly, the blanket fell on the floor. "If you all won't talk then I'm leaving." The man with the scar blocked the door before I took a step, his eyes glinted. "You won't make it past the gate."
A cold dread spread through me like ice, then I scanned the room I gazed at the tall ceilings, the portraits with eyes that followed and heavy curtains swallowing the night. It didn't look like a room but instead, it was a cage dressed in gold.
"Why am I here?" I whispered. The fair-haired man sighed and said. "Because if they find you first, you will die before you understand why." The words landed like stones, just then something moved behind the curtains, it was faint,so fast and deliberate and then the lights flickered, once, twice then it went out, darkness swallowed everything.
"Stay quiet," a voice whispered to me,
I heard a gun click, footsteps and the scrape of boots on marble and then my pulse thundered in my ears just then a crash shattered the silence. It was a glass I guess, it broke somewhere down the hall. "They found us," one of the men said. A hand grabbed me, so strong and steady, dragging me behind a heavy desk, the air smelled of metal and rain.
Then chaos erupted again, gunfire, screams, shadows flashing against the faint moonlight seeping through the curtains. Just in a few seconds the room became a blur of movement and fire.
"Go!" someone yelled.
A wall shifted, revealing a secret passage behind one of the portraits then I stumbled through, the sound of gunfire began to fade behind me. The corridor was so narrow and carved from stone, the air was so damp and cold, my breath came out uneven and quick and was echoing off the walls but I still didn't stop running until my knees finally gave out.
When I looked down, I realized that I was holding a folded handkerchief that had embroidered initials flashing faintly in the dark and I saw 'L.D'. My father's name, Lorenzo Dante.
The truth hit me like thunder, I pressed my hand against the wall to steady myself to be very sure and when I saw it more clearly this time.
I also saw a carving etched inside the stone, it was a black rose, its petals were as dark as ink like the same symbol I saw at the doorstep of my apartment.
When I look up I saw marking on the wall, strange symbols that were half faded and beneath them I saw one that was faint and worn off and the write up was
"Blood remembers even when you forgets"