She touched by my sincere formality softens up a little. "How about you give me an introduction first Young Miss?"
"Loretta Knight. I... My grandfather is Morgasson Knight."
"Ohh so you're the—hmm... How long has it been?" She calculates in her head then says, "Morgasson Knight... Boy was he a dashing man of 25 back then!"
"See how old we've gotten mother," her son smiles fondly at his mother. "That's why you have to meet my son Jonathan. It's been five years since he became the incharge after returning from India," he says to me this time.
The older woman bares her teeth, something I thought I wouldn't see as long as we're here. "That lad was adamant about not being an orphanage incharge. Look at him now... Staying there for a few years changed him for some reason."
"If it's not a big enough trouble, then of course we'd like to meet him," I state.
"He's inside his office. Go ahead."
Both of them walks off outside. Evening walk I guess?
"Guys we shouldn't keep standing here anymore," I suggest looking at them.
They nod and we enter into the building. We find Jonathan in the front office accordingly.
He requests us to sit. "How may I help you?" He asks staring at Aiden then me then at Levi. "I don't recognise you people but you look familiar."
We offer him our details with a smile.
"Now that's why! The trio's back."
"Huh?" I give him a questioning look.
"The newspaper... About five days ago... I read about you guys in the newspaper something like—'The Trios Back! Is Aiden Jordan still in love? Mr. Fawcett spotted with Loretta Knight alone.' A love triangle maybe?"
Aiden coughs but doesn't say a word.
"So you read gossips as well—fake news and juicy trending topics..." I remark.
Levi scorns. "Paparazzi are on us all the time... Sometimes open but most of the time hidden."
"Just the headlines catches me sometimes. I didn't even read further or know about you. See now, the world is small," Jonathan says.
"Right. Then shall we get down to business?" Levi asks.
"Yes. Do tell why you're here."
I decide to do the talking. For some reason I get the feeling that revealing Nero's real name regarding the topic won't do us any good. As if someone is whispering at the back of my head that Nero came here. I don't know why. 'we often go back to the places from where we wanted to escape... and we succeeded'— the line rings in my head.
A little lie never hurts.
"Mr. Jonathan... Actually we need records of an old friend of ours."
"John will suffice. You have to give me their details then. For starters, their name?"
I gesture them secretly to play along with me. "Sofia Miller."
His expression shifts in somewhat disbelief as if he wasn't expecting me to come up with a name like that. Something about this place screams Fishy.
"There's plenty with that kinda name throughout the years. Although it's not right to..."
"I know Mr. John. I really do. I'm willing to do whatever it takes in exchange of this," I plead.
He sighs inwardly. "Which year was it?" He asks finally agreeing to help us.
"That...we aren't exactly sure of but... Maybe 85?89?" I say feigning pretense again.
"What exactly do you need it for?"
Which excuse should I take out now?
But Levi saves me. "She's actually my step sister," he answers in a calm and somewhat empathetic voice. "My father did wrong to her and now I need to... You know, it's quite personal."
"I will do as much as I can. But you need to be quick. And I cannot allow you here going through all these records for hours."
"On the contrary." I add, "We won't even take one full hour. We'll be working together so it'll be faster."
Mr. John glances at his watch gingerly. "Alright follow me."
Jonathan takes us to a basement room. Then he leads us to the right section of the old dusty room. There are stacks of shelves and wooden almirahs. "In this part you'll find all the records of 1950-90. Boys are in that left side. But you don't need it anyway."
"Why did you lie?" As soon as John leaves Aiden's whisper reaches my ear making me hyper aware of our situation again.
"I don't know. Call it intuition that urged me. As if it's a part of some plan..."
"Now what?" He asks.
"Digging in I guess. Except... it's not tasty foods." Levi says in sarcasm.
"Guys this is our last place. I request, Do not slack off. If you can't locate it at first glance, double check. And once we check all the boys records we'll go through the girls too just in case..." I order heading to the nearby shelf.
I take a short glance at my wrist flipping through pages. Only 15 minutes are left of an hour. Notebooks are scattered all over the floor. And to think that we have to replace them once we're done before he's back worries me. Oh Arkan just help me solve this puzzle in any way please... I know Aiden is innocent. I have never liked injustice. And the clock's ticking.
"Hey look!" Levi calls for our attention, his hand raised holding a crumbling notebook. Its weathered fragile yellowed sheets peeking from the corners. "I've found it!"
We scramble to him leaving whatever we were holding.
"Records of 1986." He says turning the page which he kept on hold with his third finger.
Aiden takes it from him. His finger halts on the familiar name: Nereus Augustus.
He traces the oxidised dark letters on the crippled page: "6yrs. Found malnourished, beaten, bruised, on the outskirts of Nowe. 1st July 1986.
3rd Day: We have a name. Nereus Augustus. Beautiful name we all thought—for a kid like him. Those bluish grey eyes of his indeed remind me of untidy sea waves."
A clear crisp sound of page flipping stabs the intense quietness ever so slightly as my eyes continue going through the paragraphs without breaking attention.
"4th day: We're trying to talk to him but he's still terribly shocked. Quiet... he's too quiet.
One week has passed and finally we have seen some light. He talked. We learnt about the man (possibly his father) who left him there. But nothing more about himself... He's not willing.
There's nothing to figure out more than knowing that he's a victim. Most abandoned kids are. A dark past and they be forever running away from it. We tried to find him on our part but Nereus seemed scared and more reluctant when we mentioned it so we stopped. Still, it seems he isn't happy here either."
The record journal of a notebook entry ends at October. The day Grandpa brought him home! "Not very concrete so far," I opine, "They didn't write anything about his background. Nothing solid about his past." Which makes me want to find him more.
"We've tried," Levi adds in a consoling tone. "What more can we do anyway... Wait is it about time that we file a missing report?"
"Let's get out of here," Aiden pulls on my hand.
After putting them back to their right place we walk out of the storage room. It's already late of the evening. I peer at the old house in the distance.
"Mr. Jonathan..." I speak pointing to that direction. "What's there in that house?"
"Just as you're seeing—old and discarded. We don't use it anymore. I was thinking just a week ago to renovate it."
"Can I go in there..? Just..."
"No!!!" As if realising the emphasizing on his tiny little exclamation he calms himself fast. "I mean no... it's dark and dangerous. Who knows what might have made it its home? Snake, bats, rats... It's been too long since anyone used it."
"I just have a weird taste about old abandoned houses that's why..." I say.
He squares his shoulders warily. "Today I have a lot of work to do. And it's late. Miss Loretta, why don't I indulge you some other time?"
He wants us to leave. Shutting me off like that...what's he hiding?
Levi grabs my hand. "Alright. Time to go back."
"Something's off," Aiden whispers.
I pass him a 'I know' look then we leave its premises. Why does it feel like I'm forgetting something? I just can't brush off this deja vu feeling.
I take off my clothes in the shower after coming back and think about what happened there again. It's been an hour since we've returned. Aiden was upset. Thats normal given we didn't really get anything. Levi's probably still drinking coffee in his room now.
Wait! A door. That door! That ruin of a house... It's the same in my dream! Crap! Just how did I miss it?
I quickly dry myself and dart across the corridor to find him.
Seeing me Levi sets his cup down. "Woah sit down. What's the matter?"
"I remember now!" I feel my heart racing faster with those words coming out. "That house Jonathan forbade us to enter it's the same from my dream of Nero. Levi... Don't you think he was acting weird?"
"Hm... But why should he ?"
"If I hit the sack tonight the piece of the puzzle will be forever lost."
"What do you plan then?" He asks furrowing his eyebrows.
"We need to check that out. I have to see what's inside of that house. Probably something more about Nero? His past locked away... something nobody knows?"
"But we just got back from there Loretta...and won't we look suspicious if Jonathan finds out? Hell we could be taken into custody for trespassing without permission at the late of the night..."
"Levi please. It's not just about Aiden anymore. If only you trust me this once..."
"I trust you Loretta..."
"Then please... tonight we have to..."
Levi uncurls his fist. "Tonight it is then. Mission Invade."
"That's the plan. After 10p.m. We'll set out. Hopefully we'll reach in less than an hour this time since the roads will be almost empty."
"Loretta," he puts his hand on mine. "You sure?"
"Think about it Levi. Why—why Nero disappeared all of a sudden? What could possibly be the reason? Tell me was he unhappy here? Not to mention that abrupt discovery about him witnessing Annie and Aiden..."
Levi sighs. "He's always been like that. I thought I understood him and his thoughts. But we can never fully read another person if that person doesn't allow us to." He gently brushes the heel of his palm against my right cheek. His touch so light that a slight tingle dances across my body.
I catch his hand giving it a squeeze. "Will you help me?"
Levi smiles. "Always."
Suddenly I feel the urge to hold Nero and question him what was wrong in his life and why his father left him. The note...it couldn't be from his father. No... Ugh I should stop giving it too much of my thoughts. I still have some time left. Why don't I practice piano a little? To keep my head off of things.
But when I try to concentrate my head doesn't cooperate. Levi told me that he needed some time to think about this plan of mine so I let him be with his thoughts. Now I feel bored. My concert is approaching. Just thinking about it makes me nervous.
I try to press random keys inattentively. Right this moment I feel like her. Like Morana shouldn't exist in this body. I'll atone for the previous mistakes of Loretta Knight. Nero—a past buried deep...
A soft shrill unevenly vintage tune begins to float. They reverberate through the air dancing mysteriously. As if an unfamiliar presence has been welcomed here suddenly as an uninvited guest. I quickly move my head back. Arkan? No. Highly unlikely that he'll see me anytime sooner. There's no one.
A minute later Levi enters. "Dinner's ready. Here to get you. Oh that music was phenomenal Loretta. Very mysterious very unusual," he compliments.
But it's very short though. I've played for like 2 minutes... Gotta stretch it longer.