Afar off

Tiana sat by her window side; staring outside; she loved the view of the huge estate from her window; a gardener was pruning the lawn, and there were three maids, sitting on a street bench under a flower shade, giggling about something; the air was beautiful; it took away her worry for a split second.

When she had come for the first time, she was in so much panic that she did not look around the estate; it's been five days since she was taken away from the darkroom, and knowing she would stay there for a long time, she had to get acquainted with her surroundings.

The estate was a very large one, there were three gates guarding the estate, each of the mighty gates was guarded by over twenty guards, who kept watch, day and night. The estate housed three mansions and that man lived in the Mansion in the estate's heart, which was where she was staying too.

The Mansion was very huge and vast; it had three floors; the maids and the house workers stayed on the first floor; on the second floor there was no-one staying; and on the last floor, he lived, alone.

She wondered why no-one stayed on the second floor and he had the last floor to him alone, but then she waved away the thought, it was obvious, no-one wanted to stay close to a dreadful demon like him.

Nothing had been said to her after the day she was released from the darkroom, she had thought she would meet him that night, so she had stayed awake all night, waiting for a knock on her door, but until morning, nothing had happened. It's been five days, but yet she had not slept a bit; every night had been torturing.

She was still lost in her thoughts when suddenly; everyone started running; she stood up immediately wondering what was wrong; even the gardener, who was pruning, ran. She wondered if they had been attacked; and she quickly locked her door, her heart panting heavily, although part of her wanted it to be an attack so her terror would be over.

Coming back to the window, she realized that no-one was in sight, not even the sweet little birds that were chirping on the beautiful blossom flower tree; then she saw a train of cars approach the mansion; she wasn't acquainted with the names of cars, but she knew that they were expensive; they were five in all; all black. The cars approached slowly and stopped at the mansion; the car doors of four cars pulled open and horrid looking men stepped out, they raced to the car in the middle and gently opened it;

Tiana's brows creased as she wondered who was so ceremonious that everyone had to run away; then he stepped out, he was looking at something on his phone as though everything happening was natural; he raised his eyes from his phone and said something to his bodyguards and they nodded in unison.

She hadn't witnessed him returning to the mansion since she started living there. That was the first time, so she didn't know that it was the normal routine.

She wondered how much evil he had done to imbibe so much fear in everyone; he could not see her from her window so she sat there and watched him talk to his guards;

He looked normal from afar off; his dark eyes, the terror in them, his fearful aura, none could be seen from where she sat; without those features, he looked like a walking god; charming and breathtaking, but it was just afar off, on a closer look, you would see the monster for who he was.

As though he noticed her stare, he turned towards her window; Tiana's heart skipped a beat, but she was unperturbed, she had put off her light. There was no how he would know that someone was watching him. As though her instincts were correct, he looked away and started walking into the mansion.

He had his separate dining room upstairs; in fact, he had everything he needed upstairs, thus Tiana waited for some minutes for him to retire up the stairs before leaving her room. After having dinner, she retired back into her room. She brushed her teeth and took a bath, changed into her nightwear; then lay down to sleep.

She hadn't spoken to her sister since she left that day; they had taken her phone from her the day they took her to the darkroom; she hadn't seen those men since then, so she didn't know how she would get it back. She wanted to know how she was faring if she was okay.

Before she left, the people her father owed harassed them; she wondered whether they had come back again. Before long, Tiana drifted to sleep. She hadn't slept in days, and her eyes felt so weak.

She hadn't slept for up-to thirty minutes when she heard a knock on her door; she waited to hear it again, and the second time, it was louder. Rubbing her muzzy eyes with the back of her hands, she stumbled from the bed and unlocked the door;

The sleep in her eyes vanished when she saw Ma' Lee standing with three maids on the other side; she had learned from the maids that the elderly lady's name was Ma' Lee and she was one of the boss's trusted servants; Tiana wasn't surprised, she was as wicked as her master.

As soon as Tiana opened the door; the Elderly Lady pushed the door open and stepped in, followed by the three maids; one maid held a basket in her hand; Tiana noticed that clothes were wrapped inside.

Her heart began beating against her chest; there was only one thing she could think of at that moment and although she didn't want it to be true, there was no other explanation for their presence.

''Go take your bath. ''

Ma Lee said, not caring to explain why they came.