CHAPTER EIGHT
The Man in the Garden
I had no idea where I was going.
That was becoming a problem.
The corridor seemed to stretch farther every time I turned a corner.
I stopped beside a tall window and looked around.
Nothing looked familiar.
"Great."
I exhaled slowly.
"Brilliant, Bella."
I had successfully managed to get lost inside a house.
A house I had already spent seven days in.
I turned around.
Maybe I should retrace my steps.
I took two steps.
Stopped.
Which way had I come from?
I closed my eyes.
"This is actually ridiculous."
"Young Miss?"
I spun around.
A woman stood several feet away.
One of the maids.
She looked at me calmly.
"Are you lost?"
I considered lying.
"No."
The maid waited.
I sighed.
"Yes."
A faint smile touched her lips.
"Your room is this way."
I frowned.
"You know where my room is?"
"Of course."
That answer bothered me more than it should have.
Still, I followed her.
Neither of us spoke.
The mansion slowly became familiar again as she led me through the corridors.
Eventually, she stopped beside a set of enormous glass doors.
I looked outside.
Beyond them was a garden.
Not the small decorative garden I had expected.
It seemed to stretch endlessly beneath the night sky.
The maid opened the door.
"You may sit outside if you wish."
I looked at her.
"Outside?"
She nodded.
"Fresh air may help."
Before I could ask anything else, she walked away.
I watched her disappear down the corridor.
Then I looked back at the garden.
I didn't know why.
But I went outside.
---
The garden was breathtaking.
Moonlight spilled across the stone paths, silvering the leaves and making the flowers look almost unreal.
Tall trees surrounded the grounds, their branches moving gently in the night breeze.
Somewhere in the distance, I could hear the soft sound of running water.
For the first time since I had woken up in this mansion, everything was quiet.
Actually quiet.
I stepped farther into the garden.
The cool air touched my face.
I breathed in slowly.
Maybe I needed this.
Maybe I had spent so long trying to understand everything that I had forgotten what it felt like to simply stand still.
I followed the sound of the fountain.
Then stopped.
Someone was already there.
A man stood beside the water, his back partially turned toward me.
I knew him.
My stomach tightened.
The mysterious man.
He turned slightly.
Our eyes met.
Neither of us spoke.
Something about the air changed.
There was a heaviness around him.
Not threatening.
Not exactly.
Just... impossible to ignore.
I folded my arms.
"You're here."
His gaze remained on me.
Silence
I frowned.
"What's your name?"
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then—
Still nothing
I groaned
"What the hell is your problem, can't I at least know the name of my helper....or kidnapper" I whispered under my breath
"Vaelric."
Hmm, wait did I just hear wrong
I looked at him just to confirm I heard right, but he wasn't even steering at me.
"I guess it was my imagination" I heaved
"Vaelric"
Woahh the silent god finally said something.
The name was quiet.
Almost careless.
I repeated it under my breath.
"Vaelric."
He looked away.
"So you do have a name."
Silence.
I waited.
Nothing.
I sighed.
"Fine."
I looked around.
"Where am I?"
His gaze returned to me.
"My home."
I blinked.
That wasn't the answer I expected.
"Your home?"
He said nothing.
I stared at him.
"And why exactly am I in your home?"
Silence.
Of course.
I rubbed my forehead.
"Do you ever actually answer questions?"
"Sometimes."
I looked at him.
"When?"
"When necessary."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
"Okay. Then let me ask something necessary."
His eyes settled on mine.
"Why can't I leave?"
He didn't answer.
The silence stretched.
I looked away first.
"Right."
I muttered.
"Should've expected that."
I walked toward the fountain and sat on its edge.
I wasn't going to stand there all night begging answers out of a man who seemed determined to give me as little information as humanly possible.
I looked up.
The moon hung high above the trees.
Stars scattered across the sky.
There were so many.
I couldn't remember the last time I had seen that many.
For a while, I forgot about the mansion.
Forgot about the strange child.
Forgot about the phone call.
Forgot about the door.
I simply watched the sky.
Beside me, Vaelric remained silent.
I didn't look at him.
I didn't need to.
I could feel his presence.
I should have been uncomfortable sitting there beside him.
Somehow, I wasn't.
Maybe it was the quiet.
Maybe it was the sky.
Or maybe I was simply too tired to be afraid anymore.
_ _ _
Bellmere
The photograph was blurry.
Very blurry.
Ethan stared at it anyway.
"Zoom in."
The officer beside him did.
The image sharpened slightly.
A dark road.
Trees.
A vehicle.
And—
"Wait."
Mira leaned closer.
"What?"
Ethan didn't answer.
He took the phone from the officer.
The image was barely clear enough to identify anything.
But he knew that car.
His eyes narrowed.
"That's Bella's."
Lyla stepped closer.
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
Mira looked at the screen.
"Where was this taken?"
The officer answered.
"A security camera outside the eastern district. Three nights ago."
Three nights.
Mira's expression changed.
"But her car was at home."
"It was," Ethan said.
"So how—"
"I don't know."
Lyla pointed at the photograph.
"Can you make out the driver?"
The officer shook his head.
"Not from this footage."
Mira folded her arms.
"Then what exactly does this prove?"
The officer hesitated.
"It proves the vehicle was there."
Ethan stared at the image.
Something wasn't right.
He zoomed in again.
The car was parked beneath a streetlight.
Its headlights were off.
The driver's door was open.
But there was no one standing beside it.
No pedestrian.
No visible driver.
Nothing.
"Wait."
His finger stopped on the screen.
"What's that?"
The officer leaned closer.
A faint reflection appeared in the car window.
A figure.
Tall.
Almost completely swallowed by the darkness.
Mira's voice dropped.
"Is that a person?"
"I can't tell."
Ethan stared at the reflection.
Something about it bothered him.
Not because the figure was there.
Because it looked as though it was standing directly behind the car.
Watching.
His phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Unknown Number.
His expression hardened.
Mira noticed.
"What?"
Ethan opened the message.
There was no text.
Only an image.
For a second, he didn't understand what he was looking at.
Then he did.
His entire expression changed.
Lyla stepped closer.
"What is it?"
Ethan didn't answer.
He enlarged the image.
Bella.
Standing somewhere inside a room he didn't recognize.
Alive.
Her phone was in her hand.
She was looking slightly away from the camera, completely unaware that she was being photographed.
Mira covered her mouth.
"That's Bella."
Ethan's jaw tightened.
"I know."
Lyla stared at the screen.
"Where is that?"
"I don't know."
"Can you find out when it was taken?"
Ethan looked at the bottom of the image.
There was a timestamp.
His eyes stopped.
"Tonight."
Silence.
Mira looked at him.
"Tonight?"
He nodded.
"Then she's alive."
For the first time in seven days, hope flickered across Mira's face.
But Ethan didn't look relieved.
He kept staring at the photograph.
There was something else.
Something none of them had noticed.
In the far corner of the image, barely visible through the darkness, stood a man.
Only part of his silhouette could be seen.
Mira leaned closer.
"Who's that?"
Ethan didn't answer.
The officer looked over his shoulder.
"Can you zoom in?"
Ethan did.
The image blurred.
The figure became almost impossible to distinguish.
Then—
the message disappeared.
Ethan froze.
"What?"
Mira looked at him.
"What happened?"
He turned the phone around.
The image was gone.
The entire conversation had vanished.
No number.
No photograph.
Nothing.
Lyla stared at the blank screen.
"Someone deleted it."
Ethan's eyes hardened.
"No."
He looked toward the officer.
"Someone wanted us to see it."
---
Somewhere else
The fountain continued to run quietly.
I pulled my knees closer and rested my arms over them.
The garden was peaceful.
Too peaceful.
I glanced sideways.
Vaelric was still standing there.
"You know," I said quietly, "you're really bad at making people feel welcome."
His eyes moved toward me.
Silence.
I stared at him.
"You know, at this point he was really trying to annoy me" I sighed
Then laughed under my breath.
"See? That."
He said nothing.
I looked back at the sky.
For some reason, I smiled.
It was the first genuine smile I'd had since waking up here.
For a few minutes, I wasn't thinking about leaving.
I wasn't thinking about the child.
Or the voice.
Or the locked doors.
Just the sky.
Then something caught my attention.
A movement beyond the trees.
I sat up.
"Did you see that?"
Vaelric didn't move.
I looked toward the trees.
Nothing.
Probably nothing.
I shook my head.
"Never mind."
I stood.
"I should go back."
Vaelric's gaze followed me.
I took a few steps.
Then stopped.
I looked back at him.
"Goodnight, ...Vaelric."
He didn't answer.
I turned and walked away.
Behind me, the fountain continued flowing.
I slipped my phone from my pocket.
The screen lit up.
A new message.
I frowned.
Not Mira.
Not Lyla.
Not Ethan.
Unknown Number.
I opened it.
Three words.
Don't trust him.
I stopped walking.
Slowly, I looked back.
Vaelric was still beside the fountain.
He hadn't moved.
He was looking in my direction.
My fingers tightened around the phone.
I looked down at the message again.
Then back at him.
Vaelric was still watching me.
I steered at him for a long moment.
Who the hell had sent this?
Hell how did the person even have my contact?
And how did they know I was here with him?
I slipped my phone back into my pocket.
And for the first time, I questioned if I had been wrong to feel safe around him.