Chapter 2 Secret Place

"I hear there's a new servant who dares to bother Mr. Aaron," a maid quipped to Valerie, as Dwyne happened to be passing by as Valerie was heading to the storeroom.

"It's just a misunderstanding, that's all," despite her irritation, Valerie tried to put on her sweetest smile.

"You don't seem to know that there is no forgiveness in this place. You should be careful in taking steps, just wait to see what punishment you'll receive."

The drums of war were already beating, Valerie didn't mind having one more enemy.

"Is that a piece of advice? Thank you so much for caring about me," Valerie snapped, no longer masking her bad mood.

"You'll regret taking my word for it," the woman concluded. With a stomp of her foot, Dwyne left.

"What are these people doing with their lives? Why are they all acting so obnoxious?!" Valerie squinted at Dwyne's departure.

The warehouse was located in the corner of the room, with no ventilation and very little lighting, making Valerie look like a person with night blindness.

Valerie's feet were barely on the doorstep of the warehouse when she heard the sound she had been dreading.

"I thought rodents only existed in shabby places. It turns out this luxurious place is not spared either."

Valerie stood still. She didn't want the noise she made to attract the rats to come to her.

"Argh!"

Valerie gasped. A mouse had just scampered past her feet.

"Get away you damn, ugly, disgusting creature!" Valerie tried to drive the rodent away with the broom. Pulling out all the taekwondo moves she had learned.

"Is this shithead dead?" after a while Valerie was busy fighting. "I think so," Valerie wasn't a psychopath, but seeing the rat in its sprawling, battered state, Valerie was satisfied.

Valerie walked towards the door, wanting to get out of that stuffy place.

"I don't remember closing this door," Valerie was not at all proud of her poor memory.

"But why won't this damn door open?" fear quickly seized Valerie.

"Does this mean I'm locked in here? I'm going to spend the night with the corpse of the rat I slaughtered earlier?" Karma was coming at Valerie too fast. She didn't want to be a murderer either.

"Please open the door! I want out," Valerie kicked the door in frustration. "They all have ears, but none of them work."

Valerie sat down on the cold floor. Tears began to stream down her smooth cheeks. She felt like the most persecuted person.

"No!" Valerie wiped her wet cheeks. "Tears won't solve the problem, I have to find a way."

The 20-year-old girl got up from her slump.

"In the movies I watched, usually fancy places have secret doors."

Valerie scanned her surroundings, examining the surface of the wall that looked suspicious.

"Why does this wall surface look strange?" Valerie's velvety palms rubbed against the rough surface of the wall.

Valerie accidentally pressed a lever. And the wall in front of her opened.

"I think I can get out this way," Valerie entered the mysterious door.

"This place is dim, I can't see very well," Valerie complained, her body colliding with the objects around her several times.

She used both hands to feel the walls on her left and right. Valerie had memorized the exorcism spell by heart, it shouldn't be a problem with Valak's sudden appearance.

"Where does this wooden staircase lead to?"

Instinct led Valerie up the fragile wooden stairs in front of her. Valerie continued to walk through the mysterious place. Until the smell of rusty iron reached her, growing more pungent as her footsteps moved forward. "It smells like old, dried blood."

***

"Bernard, what's the latest news today?" Aaron asked his right-hand man.

"You probably won't be happy with what I've brought."

For generations, Bernard's family has served the Rodriguez clan. Bernard took his father's place as Rodriguez's confidant since he had passed away in an accident that Bernard did not want to remember.

Bernard held out a stamped envelope.

"Somasi?" asked Aaron after a moment of reading the letter.

"Please explain to me, why are the neighborhood residents so bothered by the existence of this mansion. Long before they settled in this area, wasn't it the Rodriguez family that was here first?" Aaron's eyebrows raised in displeasure.

"They don't care about that fact, sir. Lately, there have been rumors that Ivy's death has something to do with the Rodriguez family. Two days ago residents found a body floating. After an autopsy, it was Ivy," Bernard explained the reason why the neighborhood wanted to burn down the Rodriguez mansion.

"And who else could it be, Ivy?"

"One of our servants, sir," said Bernard.

"Before she was found dead in the lake, several people close to her thought that Ivy looked dazed. Of course, suspicion leads to the last place she was before she died," Bernard explained further.

"A few days before she was found dead, I saw Ivy trying to break into a restricted area."

"And they blame us?" Aaron's laughter echoed through the silence. "But that's the price to pay, for someone who's gone too far."

Aaron burned the letter he had read to ashes. "Case closed," Aaron said finally without rebuttal.

"Speaking of rebels, there seems to be a girl who wants to follow in Ivy's footsteps," Aaron remembered the new waitress whose behavior was very similar to a chihuahua, they both liked to bark.

"Investigate the new maid who started work today, Bernard. My instincts tell me she has ulterior motives," Aaron ordered in cold blood.

"I'm sorry, sir. But for what...,"

Knock!

Knock!

Knock!

"Come in!" exclaimed Aaron from inside his study.

Ashley stepped into Aaron's study. The annoyed look that she couldn't shake off let Aaron know that Ashley was going to bring bad news.

"What bad news brings you here this time, Ashley?"

Please don't be fooled by the relaxed look on Aaron's face, it's just a trick. From the cold glare in his eyes, Ashley knew his master was in a bad mood.

"My apologies, Mr. Aaron. I had my share of mistakes this time. I should have been more strict in accepting new maids...."

Aaron raised one hand to interrupt Ashley's regret.

"Let's get to the point, Ashley. Don't make me even angrier with your rambling remarks," Aaron cut in.

"A maid said that she ran into Valerie on her way to the warehouse. But after a long time, she didn't show up. When I went to look, I found out that the door was locked and couldn't be opened anymore," Ashley squeezed her fingers, unable to hide her irritation.

"Is it really like that, Ashley?"

Aaron knew the ranking system made services elbow each other. It seemed like someone was bullying the new waitresses.

"What do you mean, sir?" asked Ashley who didn't understand.

"It's nothing. We'd better see for ourselves."

They walked towards the warehouse.