Waking up today felt too familiar, one which I hadn't had the pleasure in feeling for a while. For instance, my body was intoned with the bed and surrounding. I could feel the familiarity seeping through my bones getting me relaxed instantly as I opened my eyes. Getting up, with too many fluffy pillows and warm blankets got me smiling as I stretched my limbs further out. 

The happy tweets and chirrups got me looking to the windows which were opened and dusted. In fact, the whole room was dusted and clean and looked too close like my old room.

Scrunching my brows, I looked around. Indeed the room was familiar, it was my room. The realization got my alarms buzzing. I opened my eyes widely and looked around. Nothing was amiss and nothing was changed. Everything was just as it was before.

Tangled in my bed sheets, I sat there looking out feeling a déjà vu pass through me. What am I gonna go now; bothered me heavily. I remember the next clue was in the attic this time. Something was telling me by the time I figured it all out; it's going to be too late. But, I don't mind, I just want to take my time and find it. It's not like they or I am in a hurry.

The room was opened slowly and in walked Annalisa with a tray in hand. When she saw me up and awake, she paused by the doors, leaning against the frame and looked at me with tears in her eyes. I smiled at her. She walked in, closed the doors and set aside the tray to the bedside table and then threw herself on me. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore, even though she was our maid, she was the only thing that showed me kindness.

The fresh smell of bacon, potatoes, waffles, and syrup got my tongue in a twisted mess. I smiled and started to eat the homely goodies. Anna just waited there for me to feel full. There was a hardboiled egg with milk too; I golfed down that, leaving behind no crumbs. When I was full, I positioned the pillows and plopped back again with a sigh.

"How are you?" Anna was unsure to talk to me.

I looked at her and just stared at her for so long. "My mom washed her hands to mess up mine and I couldn't be happier."

"Don't say that."

"Or what Anna, you tell me." I got up from the bed, "She did this so she could escape, otherwise what possible explanation could she tell for dragging me into this mess? I wasn't even there to protest."

I had tears in my tears, come on, you can't blame me. Though I wasn't too keen on having an education; that doesn't mean I didn't want any. I was ripped out from it because I had to look for the clues. And what were the clues leading to; I have no idea, why should I find it and for whom; I don't know. You see, am I blessed with such a twisted fate?

"She wouldn't have done this if she wasn't in such a mess Lily, you have to understand."

"She could have done anything else but drag me in Lisa, you certainly can't talk to her."

"From what I heard, she was threatened by saying they will kill you. She couldn't afford that."

"So, yea, she says when I reach a certain age, I will find whatever it is for them and like a fool they accepted? I can't believe that."

"I don't know about that, but I don't think she would have done this if there wasn't a reason."

"You talk as if you are really standing by her- you know my mother and you don't even know her."

"I am not, I am just saying. I don't know... no mother will do something if they don't find something positive and right in their motive. I just trust mother instincts."

"When you put it like that, I think I might find something but still Anna, you can't say that my mom was completely right. She ripped my life from the hinges and didn't even bother to mend it for me, for a better life. I am still swimming in a dead pool."

"What's a dead pool?"

"I don't know... it felt right and nice to say. Shut up!"

Annalisa laughed hard, throwing her head back and then wiped a tear off her face. Afterward, she was deep in thought and so was I. Of course mother must have had some right in her decisions but I am finding it hard to accept.

After a while, Evelyn walked in with a knock on the door. She looked at Annalisa and then to me. Anna hurried out with the tray in hand and Evelyn came to me. She sat down where Anna was sitting

"I hope you are good."

"Since when did Evelyn start to speak politely?"

Surprising me, she wiped a tear away and said, "I was surprised when Tom brought you home last night. I never thought you will come back. Sam couldn't sleep a wink last night and I believe he might build up the courage to come to you. We are sorry and I want you to know that."

"I didn't know he was bringing me here. If I had any bit of energy left in me, I would have protested with my life. Sorry isn't going to fix this mess." I turned away.

"Lily, I am sorry for being a jerk to you. I was forced to, we were forced to, we had..."

"You had a choice Evelyn; you had many chances to let me know. You had many chances and choices to act politely if not lovingly. Even if Tom did see you talking and acting nice to me, what will he do to you? Kill you? I don't think so. So, yea, you threw me to the wolf pack and sat back and enjoyed. No, thank you, I don't want to hear your excuses."

"I didn't expect you to understand the situation we were in but one could try."

"So now you are putting the blame on me, lovely."

"Lillian, you must have received the letters, you must have read it all. I wasn't, couldn't bear to put our family life in danger because of what your mother did. It wasn't easy for us to live a life under the gunpoint all the time. It wasn't easy for us to rehearse and say according to a script given to us. We weren't able to act and talk freely around you, we had to catch our tongue and talk accordingly. Like I said, I didn't expect you to understand but know this, these years long, we were too living a life of torture and in fear. You were not the only one. I am sorry, I shouldn't have come here. I should leave. I do need to say, please stop running. You can find it all in here. End this and free us all."

Evelyn got up to walk out. I just let her go. She has a point but they don't understand. I was just starting to live, I had a future. I had a life to live, and I had everything in my life put out in front. I was only eighteen. They could have let me know about it all. I wouldn't have waited to turn eighteen. I would have done something and ended all this mess years ago.

I was stupid to live under the rock even though I knew something was up. They were stupid to fear a man who was only talking.

No... no... no... Tom was not the only talk; he was a man of action. I underestimated it all. I saw him kill Louise without thinking twice. I gasped, pulling my hands through my hair, letting it fall back like a curtain as I inhaled and exhaled powerfully. The images clear and crisp in my mind now; it tortured me to no end. Why did Louise do the stupid thing? Why did Tom have to kill him? I was finding it hard to breathe when the door got opened and in walked Sam with red eyes and nose.

"Hi, Lily," he said.

"Sam..." I acknowledged him. Somehow I couldn't just let him hanging in there.

Suddenly he fell to his knees and cried hard holding close both his palm together and supporting his temple on his thumbs. I oddly waited there for him to stop which never happened so; I put my hand on his shoulder. He raised his head and smiled weakly at me.

"I will be in my room." He said, prepared to leave.

"Hey, what happened?" I asked despite my inner voice that signed a contract it will not speak to any of them.

"I don't have any means to end this, not then, not now. I lost my beloved wife and now my only daughter, please forgive me lily. When all of this ends, I want to be alive to see you... her... but I doubt that."

"I will protect you," I said suddenly affirmative that I should.

He smiled weakly, "Always like your mother. I hope so Lily, but they are so strong."

"And I am ready... father, I am."

He smiled as he walked out of my room leaving me behind with my vortex of thoughts.

Sam and Evelyn seriously had a change in mind and indeed they are too affected by it all which means they might have never had a choice. Am I saying this?

Frustrated, I ran my hands along the length of my face, sighing hard. In fact, I was growling in anger.

I had this urge to walk through my house and see it as I had left which seems like too long ago. Getting out, I changed my clothes to one of my favorite pajamas and didn't bother to have a shower. I got out and just like always, the place was a buzz. I heard Simon and Tiffany in their usual fight. I didn't hear Stephen. I didn't hear Evelyn's raucous orders or Sam's papers.

I walked into the kitchen and saw Tiffany fixing herself a drink and Simon drinking some juice from a straw. I rolled my eyes at their over the rainbow control on the body. When I walked into the kitchen for eating cereal, they saw me walking in.

"Hello, look who has graced our house with their esteemed presence," Tiffany said in her high pitch voice.

"Your mushroom butt...?" I couldn't say some fantastic comeback. I have to sharpen my senses too. I am being too mushy lately.

"I see... The time away from us hasn't deprived you."

"Unlike you Tiffany, I won't cry around the streets for my mama, I learned to live in circumstances which I am not sure if you can ever do."

"Listen here you wuss, stop acting like you are the fuc*ing victim here."

"What are you talking about? If you are out of comebacks, let me fetch you a bone." I said as I spilled my favorite plain Kellogg's corn flakes into a bowl.

"Well at least I am not the one who has to run around like a headless chicken," Tiffany said not ready to admit defeat. I was really enjoying this morning omelet.

"That is the difference between you and me. I won't be running like a headless chicken cause I ain't you." Tiffany's nose flared in anger and was about to say something back which I know will be so lame but Simon cut in. I almost forgot he was there.

"Enough! You are giving me a headache."

"Go get yourself some aspirin then," Tiffany said.

"Be a good doll and be that aspirin by keeping your mouth shut; both of you!"

"Wow, glad to know you can actually see me," I said, slowly munching my partially soggy crunchy cereal. Oh boy, I think taking this was as an excuse since my stomach was full and I don't think I can eat it all.

He didn't say anything, finished his drink and walked away. Tiffany did the same but she flipped me the bird and I laughed hard, throwing my head back which only infuriated her.

As they walked away, Evelyn and Sam walked into leave for office. They left me too with a smile and a wave. That is a progress. Having nothing else to do, I wandered through the house looking for something to pass my time.

I decided to watch some movie and inserted some old horror movie in and sat back.

"Didn't peg you as a horror kind of girl," a voice startled me by speaking just behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Shaun.

"You don't know me well to peg me for anything." I simply said.

"Well, that is true but you know we get to see a girl and think about her something. I did see you as an action girl but nothing horrible. And that one is damn horror."

"You scared?" I asked amused with how the conversation was going.

"A little; I don't mind admitting my weakness. I guess that makes me a man. Now come on, tell me what all interests you apart from this."

"Aren't you shaken up by your father's death?"

"I was sure about this trait of yours."

"What?"

"The cutthroat type; I mean you are not one to sugarcoat things but you try hard."

"Yea, I try!"

He was silent for a long while. I was even sure he wasn't going to answer. But once again he startled me by talking. "Well, I expected him to die a little while ago. But Tom was the only one who was keeping the men under his wing protected. I didn't expect Tom being the one to kill him but he did and here I am. I don't feel sad for any of those men lily, they are brutal, savage. I was born into it; I didn't have a choice. If I had, I would trade it for a normal life even if I didn't have a morsel to eat; any day." he stopped talking and looked into the screen blankly. I know he wasn't paying attention because the scene was quite grotesque.

When he came back to his senses which I knew by his long sigh, a sudden dramatic effect popped right up with a blasting music making him jump and scream alike. I doubled over laughing, watching him scared for his life.

"Not funny!" I continued laughing. "I said not funny," and he started to tickle me. I continued laughing and then stopped after a while. He was still tickling me. What he didn't know about me was I could control that part. So if anyone was doing it when I knew they were going to do it, I had total control of it.

"Aren't you even ticklish?" he asked to which I mocked him with a no in sing song voice.

It was then I noticed how close we were in position. He was on top of me by the side looking at me and then somewhere down my face which must be my lips. I had a playful thought occur to me and I acted on it. I loosened his hands from my waist and put it in my hands. Then with my legs and hands, I pushed him down.

Anticipating my move, he held onto my pajama top and I fell down on top of him laughing wildly. He was lying down with me on top of him. He was suddenly serious and tucked my hair underneath my ears and said, "When this is all over, I am running away with you to Italy. No turning back."

I cleared my throat and got up to sit on the couch. When he said that, I thought about Seb. He was there for me and somehow I trusted him more than Shaun but I was not too sure.

"Hey, I won't force you, alright."

"No, it's just... ah, this mess, it..."

"I understand, don't worry, you will find it in time," he assured me.

"What if they kill me once I find it for them?"

He remained silent for the rest of the movie. Either he knows something or he didn't know what to say for that. Whatever it may be, I let him be silent and I embraced the feeling of being with someone but in silence. It was soothing.

When the movie ended, he walked up and went away saying he has to be in places. I didn't say anything. I let him leave.

Deciding it was enough time that I spent, I walked to Tom's room. I opened it to find it was unlocked. A terrible mistake from his part, I am sure. I wandered to find something out of place but it was all meticulously placed without any hint of his personal being there.

I looked around more carefully and saw a button in his closet just like one in mine. The password determiner blared in front of me for the password and I simply typed in my name and birthday. It worked. I got in and looked around to see a small workspace complete with many TV screens and panels. I was watched at all times.

I looked around the small congested room and found many wires leading to a panel underneath his desk. They were all connected at one different section to the main switch. With all my luck, I switched off the button. The TV screen all went blank.

I knew it was too easy for me. But I didn't mind. I didn't care. I went and closed all the doors and windows shut and then went in search of the attic.

My next clue and my next move were embedded in there.

I should have known everything easy in my life came with a price.

___________________________ 

Things are going to go pretty deep.

Did you expect this?

Now, what will happen?

What will she find in the attic?

Tune in for more ;)