Chapter 4: omertà alliance

"Years and years of secrets buried. The time has come for all truth to be revealed.

The Omerta Alliance must rise from it's ashes, hidden no more, we fight the battle head on.

Signed: Wilhelm and kaiser."

************

Adria didn't understand what the message meant, she was completely confused. Deciding to see if she could uncode more hidden messages, she went back to the safe and got out all the documents she found there. Looking through each of them, she did find a few that had been coded but it didn't aid her in understanding what it meant, instead it brought more questions which she had no answer to.

A pattern she did notice was that they all seemed to be between three families; Wilhelm, kaiser and Lopez. One of the message that was from Lopez to Wilhelm read:

'truth has been hidden in darkness for too long,

We have to come out, generation should know'

Another between kaiser and Wilhelm was;

'weapons and armory at our tips,

To fight this war, and we must win.'

While Adria was writing the messages into her book, she discovered that one of the messages was sloppy and looked rushed and she thinks it wasn't deciphered. Reading through it, it looked like a warning. She was confused because the message seemed to be warning Dante Lopez, Andre's father.

'speaking in hushed whispers, the walls lean in.

Not being able to hear, they cave in.'

'birds in the sky we admire to be like,

Be warned for when you fly, you will have to pay the price.'

Looking at the date stamp, it was 3 years ago, two months before the day that her entire world shook. Adria was tired and decided to call it a night, she arranged everything back into the safe and locked it. She went into her room and put the book in which she had written the messages into her backpack, making plans to visit the library and see if she would be able to find anything about the omerta alliance.

When she was done freshening up, she descended down the stairs and went into the kitchen to have dinner. After she had eaten to her full, she went out back of the house and ventured a bit into the garden.

She couldn't remember the last time she was in the garden. She realized that her life in her house revolved around her room, the gym, the kitchen and living room. The reason why she had been avoiding this part of the house was because of the memories that came with coming here.

Hearing footsteps she turned and saw Esther coming in her direction with a smile on her face.

"I didn't expect you to be here." She said, knowing exactly while Adria avoided the garden.

"I know, I didn't plan on coming here either." She said turning to face the flowers.

"So what changed?" Nanny Esther asked her.

"Nothing much, just realized that me avoiding the things that would make feel closer to them felt like I'm trying to suppress their memory, trying to forget them," she faced Esther giving her a small smile and said "I don't want to forget them or suppress the memories any longer."

When Adria was in her father's study earlier, she realized that it was the first time in years she went into the room that contains a lot of memories. Memories she thought she would rather forget in order to stop the pain and longing that came with it.

But now she had a change of mind, she doesn't want to forget the memories of her family, of them waking up on holidays and spending the day either baking with her mum, or following her dad to the office so she could watch how he managed the affairs of his company that's now hers. She remembered how her and her then 7 year old sister would plead with their parents to allow them stay at their friend's house for a sleepover. How her mum was always reluctant but still allowed them nonetheless, how she called them her baby angels while they playfully bantered claiming they weren't babies anymore.

Adria hadn't realized when a tear slipped, but then it was like a dam broke as she cried. Esther pulled her into her embrace and patted her hair softly. You could hear how broken she was in her sentence as she spoke in between sobs.

"I...miss them.....so much. It still..... still hurts like it was..... yesterday."

If anyone was nearby and heard her, they wouldn't be able to not feel her pain through her voice. When she had stopped crying, she turned to look at the yellow blossoms that her mother never failed to tend to and always made sure they had a fresh bouquet on the dining table.

"Your Mom really loved those flowers, they were her favorite." Nanny Esther said, smiling at the memory of a young lady tending to the flowers.

"Yeah, they were." Adria replied smiling.

While Adria was sleeping, she had a dream about her parents and her little sister. It was more like a memory and it was the best sleep she had had in a long time.

****************

Getting to class the next day Adria couldn't help but notice that Andre was absent. She had thought that maybe he was running a bit late but that wasn't the case as he wasn't present for any of the classes they had for the day. She noticed how her mood dropped because of his absence and she didn't like the way he affected her in just two days of her knowing only his name and that he was a transfer student.

During recess, Adria stayed behind in the classroom room as everyone left. She brought out the book in which she had written in yesterday and started going through it, maybe there was something she missed.

What she was able to understand was that the omertà alliance was like some type of clan or secret organization and that her father and Andre's father along with a man named kaiser were involved in together. And it seemed like they were at war with another clan and as it seemed they made sure not to include the name of the other clan for a reason. She also understood that her father was warning Dante Lopez about a danger that was heading his way.

Reading all these made it look like the Wilhelm that was involved in all these was a different man from her father, because the man she remembered as her father was a very caring and loving family man who always remembered to buy his daughters and wife chocolates on his way back from work. A man who took her little sister for school drama plays as they sat in the audience cheering her up. Her father who thought her everything she knew about the business world.

She didn't want to believe that the man involved in all these was a man that she knew from birth but she couldn't deny the evidence right in her hands. As she kept on reading she heard someone enter the classroom and looking up she saw it was jade, she waved and came to meet her.

"Hi, I looked for you at the cafeteria but you weren't there so I decided to come to class and voila, here you are." She said with an infectious smile not leaving her lips.

"Yeah, I just wanted to be someplace quiet. So why were you looking for me?" She asked jade.

"Uhm, I don't know how this might sound but you are the only one have kinda had a proper conversation with and I was wondering if you would like to be friends, I know you don't have friends from what I heard because you like keeping to yourself, and I'm not trying to break that but I would like if we can be friends. It's okay if you don't agree because I would under..."

"Jade, I would love to be your friend." Adria said interrupting her.

"Really?" Jade wanted to be sure

"Really " Adria affirmed.

"Wait, you are not saying this because you feel obligated to bec....." Jade started but Adria interrupted her blabbing.

"Jade, I agreed to be your friend because I like your vibes and you have a bubbling personality, only a fool wouldn't like to have you as a friend. Besides you know they say opposites attract, so in this friendship I'm the quiet one while you are the chatty one." Adria said having a genuine smile gracing her face.

"Well that's great. So what do you suggest we do first?." Jade asked settling into the empty seat next to her.

"Well, it normally goes by getting to know each other more." Adria replied.

"Okay, so I'll go first. My full name is Jade Elizabeth Thompson. My father's a doctor and my mom's a lecturer, I have an elder brother who's name is Jason but he schools in another city. I love reading books and I have basic knowledge in cryptography and coding and I'm learning to be better at it."

"Cryptography and coding, don't they have to do with maths?." Adria inquired.

"Well yeah, that was part of the reason I needed your help in tutoring me in maths because then I would be able to master them better. I always liked coding but I wasn't that good in maths. Ok your turn."

"Well, I'm Adria Wilhelm. I also love reading books, specifically business related books. I plan on studying business management as a course." Adria told jade.

"That's nice. What about your parents and siblings, what do they do?" She asked curiously.

"My parents died when I was 15." Adria said trying not to let too much emotion slip into her tone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't know." Jade apologized for her loss, she couldn't imagine losing her parents. She couldn't imagine how Adria must be feeling.

"It's fine. Let's talk about something else." Adria suggested.

They switched topic and talked about their hobbies, well jade was doing most of the talking while Adria listened, her smile not leaving her face. She liked the thought of having a friend, even if she couldn't tell her everything, she at least has someone to talk to who wasn't nanny Esther.

After school ended for the day and Adria was done with jade's maths lesson for the day, she stayed behind in the library hoping to find some answers. She had already informed Esther that she would be running late. She started her search at the history section, because the line "years and years of secrets buried" hinted that the organization might have been around for a long time and she was hoping to find a clue.

Few hours later, Adria was disappointed that she couldn't find anything relating to secret organization's or the Omertà alliance. She wasn't able to check all the books but she had a feeling that they wouldn't contain what she wants.

Adria arranged her things so she can head home. As she was putting the books back in their respective places she heard someone running towards the section she was in. As she was about to round the corner so she could see who just rushed in she bumped into a wall, no it was actually a chest. She bumped into someone.

Looking up, her eyes locked onto those grey ones she had missed all day. She was about to ask him where he had been when he gestured for her not to say anything. Adria was confused and was about to say something when he dragged her into the furthest corner of the library and covered her mouth with his palm. They were standing dangerously close, their faces almost touching as their breath mingled.

It seemed like he was hiding, from who was the thought on her mind. As she was about to push him away to demand answers and get some of her bearings back because her mind was a jumbled mess because of how close he was to her, she heard footsteps approaching but they stopped a row away from where they hid.

"I don't think he is here, are you sure you saw him run in this direction." The first voice asked.

"Well I saw him running in this direction but I wasn't sure which door he took, maybe he's in the next room." The second voice replied the first.

"And you are very sure he is the same guy who broke into the information room and stole the papers." The first voice asked again.

"Well that was what the scan said but to be safe if we end up catching him and turns out he wasn't the one we can let him go." The second voice said.

"But don't you think it's strange, all he took was only the information on the omertà alliance and the shadowhand clan. Normally we aren't supposed to be worried about the information he stole because boss said that it wasn't real so why then does he want us to catch this guy badly. Something doesn't add up."

"It doesn't matter we do what the boss says and what he ..." Their voices faded as the went to the exit and left.

Only after they heard the distinct sound of the library door closing did Andre move back from her but his gaze never left hers.

Adria was about to ask him about what just happened when what those people said resonated in her mind again and her eyes widened. They talked about him stealing information on the omertà alliance and some shadowhand clan, did he perhaps know that their fathers were involved.

Her mouth parted slightly as different thoughts, questions and the need for answers passed through her mind. She came to the sudden realization that they might be connected in ways she was yet to discover and this only fueled her desire of knowing everything about him and find what the omertà alliance was all about.

And this time she won't let him go without getting her answers. She had that determined look on her face.