AVERY POV

It was barely 4am in the morning.

I woke up, soaked in my own sweat. It felt as though this was a dream, but this felt like reality.

Something felt off.

The air in the room was very still, almost too quiet as the entire mansion was holding its breath and the world paused, pulsating for a minute. I sat up, glancing at the window.

It was pitch black.

But there was movement outside, a faint light flickering like a flashlight or a lantern moving up and down in the garden in the mansion.

“Why would anyone be out there at this hour?” I thought to myself.

I should not have moved. I should have just stayed put, laid back down, closed my eyes and pretended I didn't see anything.

But my curiosity got the best of me, something deep down my gut kept whispering “You need to see this”.

THE FORBIDDEN GARDEN

I slipped a hoodie onto my nightshirt and oversized skirt and quietly opened my room door. The hallway was dead silent, the type of silence that almost beat that of a cemetery, the kind of silence that would make your footsteps sound almost like thunder.

I walked slowly and quietly past the kitchen, passing the grand staircase and going out through the side door into the open space leading to the garden.

The garden was made up of hedges, beautiful fountains and rocky stone paths. It was beautiful to see during the day, but at night it was terrifying.

I followed the flickering light, carefully avoiding casting a shadow until I reached where they were, and I saw them.

Two men were standing near the stone bench. One holding a flashlight and the other…

Holding a body.

I gasped and ducked between the hedges, my heart hammering. I could not believe what I just saw.

It was not a corpse, at least not yet.

The girl was still breathing, she was barely conscious with blood stains in front of her dress.

I recognize her. It was Rose.

One of the junior maids. A sweet, calm and quiet girl.

“What did she see?” One of the men whispered.

The other spat on the ground and looked at him. “It does not matter.” We had orders from Lucas! She talks, she disappears.

At that instance, I could feel my blood slowly turning into ice as I stood still, unable to move. I just wanted to disappear at that instance and pretend I never saw or heard anything.

“What the hell did I just walk into?” I whispered.

I turned, trying not to make any sound. One step back…then another one.

I stepped on a twig and it snapped.

I stood there like a statue. I froze.

“Did you hear that?” one of the men said.

“Should we check it out?” the other man said.

I slowly picked up my slippers in my hand, and was about to run when a hand clamped over my mouth with full force and dragged me into the shadows of the garden.

I kicked, twisting my body from side to side in panic until I heard a voice I could recognize,

“Stop” He whispered

Lucas

He was behind me, holding me still. I could feel his warm breath hitting my ears as his mouth moved around my ears.

“What are you doing out here at this time?” He growled, slowly.

I tried to speak, but his hand stayed over my mouth.

“They are going to kill her” I whispered against his palm, barely audible.

“They said you gave the orders”

At this point, tears had already clogged my eyes and I just wanted to go back to my room and pretend this did not happen.

He let me go slowly. I turned to face him.

“Is that true?” he asked.

His expression did not shift. Not even a flinch. It was almost like he knew everything. He just stared down at me like a statue made out of glass that he could just push down to break.

“Go back inside” he said coldly.

“No”

“Avery”. His voice dropped into a commanding tone. “Go. Now”

“I’m not leaving her out here to die”

To think that a minute ago, all I wanted was to disappear back into my room, but now, I suddenly changed my mind to see the end of all this. I shrugged.

He grabbed me by my wrist firmly and pulled me back towards the house. I tried resisting, but it was as though I was pulling against a wall.

"You have no idea what’s happening here," he said.

“Then tell me,” I begged. “Please tell me, don’t make me part of this if I will just be another girl who will disappear one day.”

Then he stopped walking, almost as though something came over him.

Then he said, almost too softly, “You are already in too deep, you are not going to disappear.”

THE BIG REVELATION

He dragged me into the house, and next thing I knew, we were in his study. The same forbidden room 27

He locked the door behind us and pulled me to the center of the room. He went to the cabinet on the far wall and pulled out a file, a thick, worn-out file sealed with black string and tossed it onto a desk in front of me.

“Open it” he said.

My hands trembled as I undid the tie. Inside the file were photos, documents and reports.

Pictures of staff, of me.

“Why are there pictures of me?” I asked, my voice cracking.

He stepped closer, his voice low.

“You weren’t sent here by accident, and Rose wasn’t attacked because she cleaned the wrong room or didn’t do her job well. She overheard something she shouldn’t have.”

“Like what” I asked.

“There is a ledger hidden in this house that contains every important information on a black syndicate that we have been targeting.”

My mouth went dry.

“Mafia?” I asked

He shrugged, he didn’t deny it.

And suddenly, everything began to make sense. The security, the cameras, the whispers on the walls. It all started to make sense.

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

Before he could respond, a knock thundered against the door.

Lucas' entire body stiffened; he was not expecting someone.

He turned and looked at me, signaling me to keep shut. My body froze, and I could feel my blood become warm.

A DREAM

At that instance, I shot up from my bed, soaked in sweat and my chest heavy like I’d run a mile.

It was still dark, and the clouds would still make sounds like it had just finished crying.

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

But it felt so real. I looked around the room, still silent.

Then I saw it.

A slip of paper under my door

I climbed out of bed, my feet trembling, and picked it up.

Just four words, sloppy handwritten

“YOU WEREN’T DREAMING, AVERY”