An Adventure at Night..

The Panda.. It was always very special to her.. Her father's gift, that's what Annie had told her one day. But the diary told more than that.. It was something her father loved the most and her mother had held it close to her when she was born.. Though it was a lifeless toy, it had seen it all.. felt it all.. her father's love for her.. the last moments of her mother.. The Panda was a clue, and only she could knew it since it was her toy..

She was feeling that somebody was following her.. she could feel the stealthy careful vibrations on the ground. She ran as fast as she could and sighed atlast as she saw her Aunt's house nearing..

As she reached the gate, she quickly gazed behind for a second.. She saw them.. There were three men, and two of them looked dangerously heavy build and appeared as if they could easily smash Bella within a blink of an eye. The other one was short and fat and looked like a leader of the other two.

She quickly closed the gate behind her back and walked to the front door.

She rushed to open the door and ran to the storeroom. She was interrupted by her Aunt and felt she was shouting at her.. but Bella did not mind, this was not a time to explain. She shut the door of the store room and took her little toy in her hand.. The Panda appeared to blink at her..

Bella examined the toy carefully.. The material with which it was made was not clear but it was always so smooth to touch, like silk.. but it was firm to feel.. With some strange stuffs inside.. She looked all around the toy and found out what she had been looking for..

There was a small hole in it, very small that she would never would have noticed it,,.. She took out the key from her pocket.. It was a tiny key and looked ancient.. She put the key in the small hole at the Panda's back.. She suddenly screamed with happiness as she found that the key perfectly fitted the hole.. She turned the key a few times and found the belly of the panda moving front. She was startled and excited. Inside the belly, which appeared like a rack, there was a key.. it was bigger and was hung to a keychain that read 'L & J'..

Bella gazed at the key in her hand for a long time.. This was the key that the gardener searched for, his entire lifetime, and for whom there are still people around her, ready even for an attack.. She knew she was nearing to her mission.. but she could still feel the strange human warmth around her.. and they were all strangers, they smelled dangerous.. the thorn bushes behind her windows moved vigorously.. She have to go to their old home soon.. the address was written in her mother's diary. She hoped the garden was still there…

It was already very late, and was dark outside.. Though the danger lurked around her, she felt she had no time to waste, the key was no longer safe in her hands.. she got out of the house and took a cab, she did not have a slightest clue where the address in her hand would take her..

" Its half an hour from here.." the cab driver replied…

The inside of the car was very cool and damp... The rain has not ceased the entire month and she could feel the humid air blurring her view of the moonlit road. She closed her eyes tightly for a while.. It was a tough journey for her the past few days.. The food that Mrs Thompson forcefully fed her in the afternoon was the only time she did some justice to her flaccid belly.. Now it was gurgling again, demanding anything, even water could make it happy.. She dozed off in the rhythmic tune of her grunting stomach for a while when suddenly she was startled as the car halted with a sudden jerk.. She could not hear what the driver was saying neither could she pick out his lip movements from behind but saw him get out from the cab and open its bonnet to examine a heated engine..

He came near her and exclaimed with an extremely sad face..

"I am sorry mam, I don't think my cab can move any further.. I ll try to get some other vehicle for you.. But mam, if its so urgent, its only a ten minutes walk through that cut door.."

The driver pointed to a narrow road lit by a street light. She looked at the road for a while.. there were no signs of any vehicles throughout.. She payed the cab driver and moved to the direction where he pointed..

The road was poorly lit and there were no people in the vicinity. She could still feel that strange human warmth around her, now nearing… she could even smell the perfume..

She dared not look behind and walked faster, with wider pace.. She could feel the vibrations of footsteps nearing her and stopped frozen as someone grabbed her shoulders..

The hold was very strong that she could barely move, she saw two people approaching her from behind and the three of them encircled her..

" Give me the key…" In the blur street light she could see his large lips moving roughly..

She could recognize them clearly.. They were the same people who had been following her for a while.. These people were no competition to her, … even if she resist, or fight back, she will get injured deeply.. they looked ferociously dangerous..

But she could still try.. a last attempt.. to save her mother's last wish... Her father's unfulfilled dreams..

She tried to push them away and ran.. but they caught her again and this time slapped her across the face.. It pained and fresh blood oozed out from her mouth..

She was starting to loose her every hope and was trying to come out of the hold of the monsters who held her effortlessly in their tight grip..

Suddenly, out of nowhere a huge wooden stick landed on the head of the tallest guy who held her, then it lifted off and fell onto the other.. She looked to see who it was behind the two men when the third man rushed to block the stick beating him.. He struck it back onto her savior's head and he staggered and fell on the ground..

There were thick red blood drenching him entirely.... As he struggled to free Bella from the third stout man...