Amelia was walking slowly along the alley, the fallen yellow foliage rustled under the girl's feet. Despite the autumn, the day was warm and clear, the sun warmed young children, playing with enthusiasm on the lawn in the depths of the park.
It was the middle of the working day and there were few people around, with the exception of some couples walking around the park and not noticing the people around.
The girl went to one of the benches on which the man was lying. His jacket and trousers were wrinkled and smeared with something incomprehensible; it was obvious that these things had not been washed for a long time. Instead of shoes, there were only socks on his feet. Of course, they were not clean either, but they were at least not holey.
The man was lying on his side, looking away towards the back of the bench. On top of him there was yesterday's newspaper, which he used as a coverlet. And, apparently, it served as a shelter from the sun.
Amelia raised her leg and kicked him lightly on the side. An unhappy growl was heard in response to her actions.
"Dude, even if you're from the police, get away, you are cruising for bruising," the man muttered in a hoarse voice.
Amelia ignored his threat and kicked him again. Significantly stronger.
The man rolled over on his back, "Don't you understand English?! What the fu-" he took the newspaper from his face and immediately shut his mouth to restrain obscene language in front of the girl.
"Oh, young lady, if are looking for new acquaintances, I advise you to find another object for sexual harassment." Then he put the newspaper back on his face, folded his hands on his stomach and began snoring demonstratively.
Amelia with a sharp movement tore the newspaper from his face, and the bright sun rays eagerly struck the man's eyes.
"Ahh, hell, what the heck?!" Armand took a sitting position and began to rub his eyes, his damn excellent vision was damn sensitive to bright light.
"We need to talk," Amelia broke her silence, the girl's voice sounded unusually serious and discordant with her appearance.
Armand sighed heavily, the youth these days did not know what respect for elders was.
"Listen to me girl," the man sat back, scratching his chin, covered with a scruffy strubble, "If you need to talk, go to a psychoanalyst, I'm not an expert in solving the heart affairs of little girls."
"And if I sing a song?" Amelia asked the following question, which made the situation even more absurd.
Armand raised an eyebrow in a great surprise and looked around, "Is this some kind of a show with a hidden camera? Have you decided to prank the poor homeless person? If not, a place for public speaking on the next street from the park," he leaned over, picked up a fallen newspaper from the ground and prepared to return to his afternoon siesta on the bench.
"Ask the clouds in the sky
For a gift of dreams so white
Night is floating as we'll try
In to the world of mystic lights-"
"Who are you?!" The man jumped from the bench and grabbed the girl by the throat, his eyes burned with fierce fire. He heard this lullaby only once in his life, and only from one person who had long been dead.
Amelia gave a sign to her bodyguard so that the latter would stand still.
The girl looked at the man who looked pale as a ghost, but his sky-blue eyes still shone no less than the most bewitching sapphires.
'Damn, he's prettier in reality than in my vision. So that second one is also like this,' the girl thought to herself.
"I asked you a question, who are you?! Where do you know this song from?!" the man would not calm down.
"Armand Taubert, and you are well preserved for a man who was born in the 1920s. What, now you want to talk? You seem to be off topic," the girl smirked.
The concept of fear was clearly not included in the set of her life competencies; if she decided to do something, then she would stick to her decision no matter what. And now she wanted to make this man one of her main weapons in a future possible battle.
Armand let the girl go, his expression was far from friendly. "Hmm, I did not expect that in this world there will be an outsider who knows about my humble personality."
"My name is Amelia. The mother of the girl who sang this song for you was a servant in our family many years ago. I know what your heart desires and I can help you fulfill this desire. In return, you will make a contract with me and fulfill it at the appointed time," she said.
Armand looked in disbelief at the young lady who appeared like a bolt from the blue, "You know, that sounds like an offer to buy a pig in a poke. Why should I even listen to you, and to even make some kind of agreement?"
"Do you have other options how to diversify your dull and monotonous life?" Amelia raised an eyebrow, notes of undisguised malice were heard in her voice.
"Tsk, and you, as I see, you are sharp as a tack, miss?" The man sighed, although he did not know what he was going to get involved in, the fact that the family of this strange girl was somehow connected with the mother of his beloved Polina made him at least listen to Amelia. "Ok, and what do you want me to do?"
"First agree, then I'll tell you," the girl insisted. She needed to do this as quickly as possible before she met that other person.
Armand scratched his head, in any case, he did not lose anything, so a little carelessness would not hurt.
"Okay, I agree," he held out his hand and squeezed Amelia's palm that the girl had been holding forward for a couple of minutes already.
"That's great," she smiled and continued, "I, Amelia Lucia Teser, call you..."
Armand listened as the girl uttered words that made no sense to him, but as soon as she finished her speech, the man's palm lit up with fire, and he felt an unknown, but pleasant warmth began to spread throughout his body.
...
Autumn foliage rustled monotonously under the feet of a girl walking along a narrow path along a small lake.
She was in no hurry, because she had nowhere else to hurry. All that she could do at the moment, she did. Now it remained only to wait for this meeting.
The meeting, which was scheduled many years ago and which she tried so hard to avoid.
"Are you here?" Amelia asked, although there seemed to be no one near her.
"Yes, miss, I'm here," the bodyguard confirmed his invisible presence.
"I want you to follow Armand. Make sure that he left this place, I do not want them to meet now. It's too early for that."
"But, Miss Teser—"
"This is an order," Amelia answered briefly, leaving no room for disobedience.
The bodyguard bowed her head and bowed, "As you say, Miss. Will be done. Only ... Promise that you will take care of yourself."
"I promise. Otherwise, why did I do all this?" The girl smiled, and her bodyguard disappeared as imperceptibly as she appeared.
Amelia walked forward a few meters and leaned on the railing, silently watching the calm surface of the lake.
She mentally counted the seconds until after the last she heard a slight rustling of leaves behind her.
The girl closed her eyes. It was him.
"Today is such wonderful weather for walking, isn't it?"
The railing creaked a little when the man leaned on it with his weight, standing next to the girl. "What do you say, Miss Teser?"
Amelia turned her head and a pair of blue eyes met her, instantly captivating with their beauty. But the emotions on the girl's face remained equally indifferent. She knew well that a real demon was hiding behind this attractive mask.
Marcus smirked, amazed at the girl's restraint, and handed her a yellow maple leaf, "Here, a small gift in honor of our first, so to speak, acquaintance. Although, I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself, right?"
Amelia took the leaf from his hands, "Thank you for the gift, but it was not necessary. I suggest to solve our problem here and now," a maple leaf slipped out of her hands and again fell to the ground at the feet of a standing couple.
"Frankly, I refuse to help you with what you are up to. And the future that can connect us, I propose to avoid it and no longer intersect," the girl said.
Marcus barely restrained himself so as not to laugh out loud from the arrogance of this petty girl. "Are you sure that you have the right to dictate the rules here, huh, baby? Did you forget who are you talking to? Do you think you alone can see the future?" The man took a step forward and Amelia immediately stepped back.
"I knew about you even before you were born, I saw how you were born and how you grew all these years. Do not have naive illusions that I don't know something about you or do not know what you are up to," his voice was getting lower and lower, and like a heavy stone, it pressed on the girl's shoulders to subjugate her will and break her determination.
Amelia froze and put forward her hand, blocking the approach of Marcus. As soon as she touched his chest, a wave of goosebumps ran through her body, she immediately pulled her hand back.
The man frowned, his face contorted with a grimace of disgust. Marcus tilted his head forward, his eyes were at the level of Amelia's eyes,
"I hate you. I hate to the very core, like I hate all your filthy little family. Therefore, do not dare to stand here and indicate with importance what I have to do. Got it, A-me-lia?" the man hissed.
The girl squeezed her lips into a thin line, she always considered herself a restrained person, and did not expect that Marcus's words would hurt her so much.
"Then it is mutual," she answered, trying to keep her voice as even as possible, "So why do you need me if you hate me so much? If you yourself know everything without my help?"
Marcus tilted his head to the side, pretending to reflect on the girl's words. "Hmmm, really, why?" The man scratched his chin, and then straightened up and slapped Amelia on the shoulder,
"So be it. Why do I need to spoil my mood with the presence of a person with such disgusting roots as yours? Okay, I was not happy to meet you, so come on, ciao!" Marcus waved his hand, turned and walked away.
Amelia was standing for several minutes and looked at his receding back, not understanding what was happening.
"What, and is that all?" She wandered to the opposite side in complete confusion.
The most terrible thing for her was that in the presence of this person all her visions became vague and, no matter how hard she tried at the moment, to see at least something on the event horizon, everything was in vain.
"No, something is not right." But the girl did not even have time to think about further options, as cold fingers squeezed her throat.
She felt the man's second hand grab her by the waist, and Marcus pressed her back to his body.
"Oops, did I say that you are free to go?" His voice, like burning steam, sounded next to the girl's ear. "I'm sorry, but I'm not so constant, ahaha!"
The man laughed out loud and from that voice Amelia was ready to shrink into a small lump.
"Don't even hope to run away from me," he added, and the couple dissolved in the air, leaving only crumpled fallen leaves instead of traces.
Guys, can you give me the feedback about how the story is going so far? What do you think about the second book compared to the first one?
Anyway, now you know how Amelia met with twin brothers.
Next chapter will reveal one important fact, so... See you and thank you for support! Take care about yourself and your beloved ones!