9 Chapter 9- Cold, hard cash

Feeling the ground beneath her, her fingers met with a metal pole. Confused, she followed her hands and looked up. Her eyes budged in fright and her heart beat out of her chest but no noise came from her mouth. It was a severed head of a man.

…

In the deadly silence of the room, she could almost hear her own heartbeat beating out of her chest. Her head was spinning but she regained her consciousness and took a deep breath. Archie had never expected to see this but now that she had, she felt the extreme desperation to run out of the room, away from the head of that man who started down at her from the metal pole. His mouth wide open as if he was in the midst of yelling.

Archie stood back up and fixed her dress, wiping the suffocating dust off her hands. She checked her pockets to make sure she hadn't lost the photo she took from the frame earlier before hastily making her way out the door, but this time, she was sure she would return to get a closer look.

She had gone in there in hopes of finding cash instead, she was met with the severed head of a man. Somewhere in the depths of her lost memories, his face held a resemblance but once again, it wasn't enough.

She knew her father kept cash somewhere in this house as she had seen him give some to the workers and guards often, but she never bothered as to where it was although now it was crucial to know.

After inspecting the room for quite some time, and to no fortune, she decided to leave when she noticed a bundle of keys sitting at his office desk. She knew they didn't belong to any room of the house as some religious symbols, like the once she had seen in the handle of the door before were carved into the chain. She picked it up and left, shutting the door behind her when she noticed one of the guards standing outside looking at her with a questioning expression.

She froze in her place before realising it was Augustine, the newly appointed worker. She had been wanting to see him anyways. She straightened her back which she hunched in shock at his sight before and tilted her head sideways as if asking him 'what'.

"May I know why I have caught the daughter of Raj Krishna, miss Architha sneaking around her father's room… although he makes it clear that it was not allowed?"

"Ehm, who said I was sneaking around? I have something to talk to you about", Archie said sound stern as she didn't want him to think she was intimidated.

He held his arms to the left and bowed down as if sarcastically gesturing her to walk in front, to the hall where he followed her.

They both sat down at once and did so for what Augustine felt like was an hour. As he was about to ask her the reason for her silence, Archie sat up and walked outside to the balcony where she leaned against the ramps which faced the forest. Augustine followed her.

After remaining silent again for another 5 minutes, she says.

"I want to leave this place, and I'm gonna need your help."

Augustine bursts into a forced, nervous laughter.

"As if I would ever-"

Archie cut him off mid-sentence by holding up the keys she found at her father's desk and swung them in the air before his face as she watched his smile slowly turn into a serious expression.

He remained calm as if in deep though for a while before saying,

"Deal"

Archie wasn't sure what the key was for, but as far as her plan had worked, it was the key to the safe where her father kept all the cold… hard… cash.