Annabel’s
Little Secret
(What happened to her?)
Episode 18
Vanessa’s Pov:
We all stood in the room and waited for her to return. We had seen her coming in throu-gh the gate. So, we all knew she’d be here any moment.
We were all prepared.
Shortly, the door opened and she walked in. She halted when she saw all three of us in the room.
Then her eyes caught the sight of the n£¢klace in my hand and that of the diary in Esther’s hand. They opened wi-de in shock.
“Is that my diary?” She asked irascibly, fixing her eyes on it.
“Annabel, we nee-d to talk”,I started the conversation.
“Talk about what” she asked immediately, taking her eyes to me.
I sighed and held up the n£¢klace.
“Do you remember this?” I asked.
For a moment, she kept mute.
“My…missing n£¢klace?”, she said diffidently.
“Yes. Your missing n£¢klace. And it was found on a crime scene” Renee replied and she furrowed her brows.
“Wh…What crime scene?”
“The family of s£nator Zayn, on the night they were murdered” I replied.
She batted her lashes and scoffed.
“Okay; so, what are you tryna say? I mean, how did the n£¢klace get there?” She asked.
“Really? Well, I think we should be the ones asking you that question because we’re pretty confused what you were doing at the crime scene” Esther said.
“Hold on; are you thinking I was there at the s£nator’s house?”
“Yes, Annabel”.
“I…I don’t get you. Why would I be at the s£nator’s house? I told you the n£¢klace went missing, right. It’s possible whoever took must have gone to the s£nator’s house with it and…I don’t know, then what happened, happened”.
“So, can you explain why his name was coincidentally found in your diary?” Esther asked and held the diary out to her.
“And why the names of the people that’s been murdered in the last few days, were also found on it” Renee ch!pped in.
Her eyes glinted immediately.
“You were not supposed to re-ad it!!!”,She gritted her teeth and made a fist with her hands.
“Haven’t I warned you enough not to poke into my privacy?”
“We’re sorry, Annabel, but we were just being concerned about our sister.”
“Or someone we thought was our sister” Renee ch!pped in.
“Well, stay away from me!!!” She screamed and hit the table, ma-king it fall on the floor together with all the contents on it.
What?
She started breathing heavily as she turned around And backed us, running her f!ngersinto her hair.
“You really wanna know the truth, huh?” She snapped to look at us again.
“Well, yes; I killed them! I murdered them all in cold blood and that’s because they deserve to die as pigs!!”
The n£¢klace fell freely from my hands, going to the floor.
What?
“Those people, they don’t deserve any mercy; they don’t deserve to live, not after what they did to me! They all deserve to die like animals.
“So, yea;I killed them. I murdered them in cold blood. And I don’t feel any regrets about it.
“And you…stay away from me. I’m warning you. Don’t come close to me” she pointed her f!ngersat us and moved backwards towards the door.
We were too transfixed with shock to even move.
Was this Annabel?
She opened the door immediately and locked it from outside, locking us in.
Then, she ran away.
*
*
Annabel’s Pov:
I knocked on the door and prayed he opened up sooner.
I felt so bittered.
Shorty, he opened the door and I breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Annabel?” He called, surprised.
“Leo” I winced his name.
He closed the door and c@m£ to meet me.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay? Is…is there a problem?” He asked and I sniffed.
“I…I just wanna stay here for a short time. plea-se, Leo. Let me in. I just nee-d somewhere to calm my head” I said tearfully and he hvgged me.
“Hey, it’s okay. You don’t have to cry. What happened?” He asked in an unfeigned concerned voice.
“Its a long story. But I nee-d to stay here for the meantime. plea-se, Leo, I have nowhere else to go”.I whimpered as we separated from the hvg.
“Well, its…its fine. It’s okay. You can come in”.
I wiped my tear as he held my hand and tried leading me into the house.
“And plea-se, Leo” I st©pped and Called.
“I want you to keep my stay here as a secret. I wouldn’t want my sisters to know about it” I said and he furrowed his brows in surprise.
“Huh? But why?” He asked.
“plea-se Leo, I just don’t want them to know I’m here. Just do it for me, plea-se” I whimpered and bur-sted into more tears.
“Annabel, come on; you don’t have to worry about it, okay? I promise not to tell them” he held my chin and said tenderly.
I sniffed and embr@ced him.
“Thank you” I wavered and he ru-bbe-d my back and took me into the house.
Leo’s Pov:
I made sure Annabel was fast asleep before I left the room. She looked so tired and had refused to eat, saying all she nee-ded was sleep.
Its not like I have a problem with her staying here with me, but the question is; why did she run away from home? And why doesn’t she want her sisters to know she’s here with me?
I went out to the garden to stand.
That was so unusual of Annabel. She’d never run away from home. And the way she was crying..
I think something must be wrong and I can’t just keep shut about it.
I nee-d to let her sisters know about this.
I brou-ght out my phone and dialed Vanessa’s number.
TBC.