chapter 6:Revelations

"There's a lot I know about you." He replied.

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"Are you just going to stand there or you ask what you want answers to?." He said with a look of nonchalance.

Adria frowned, she walked towards the couch and settled down. She was contemplating on what questions to ask first as there were a lot on her mind, she decided to start simple.

"Where do we know each other from?" She decided that would be her first question.

"Seriously, that's your first question." He said smirking.

Adria felt a bit of anger surging through her as he deflected answering her question.

"That's the question I want answers to first, so where do we know each other?" She repeated, her voice firm.

"What do you remember of that day?" Andre asked instead, a look of curiosity on his face.

"What?" Adria asked, confused by his question.

"The day you watched your parents die, what do you remember?" He asked bluntly, sitting up on the chair as he stared into her as if he could see into her very soul.

Adria was taken aback by how blunt he was.

"I don't understand?" She said with emotions in her voice as memories from that fateful day came at her with full force.

All she could remember was there being a lot of blood, seeing her parents body taken away in a body bag by strangers. She remembered being dragged away as she tried relentlessly to hold on to her parents body, refusing to believe that they were dead.

"Why are you asking me this?" She requested as a tear rolled down her eyes from the memories.

"I was there." Andre said dropping the bombshell.

Adria hadn't fully comprehended what she heard as she muttered a small

"What?"

Andre sighed, not knowing how she would feel when she found out the truth even though he didn't plan on telling her everything.

"I was there the day your parents were killed." He repeated. Seeing the confused look on her face he knew he had to explain.

"The day before your parents were killed, your father requested a meeting. He asked to meet me since I had taken over my father's business." She didn't fail to notice the way he said business, like he didn't want her to know the type of business he meant.

Andre continued.

"Your father knew they were coming and knew he needed to protect his family. We had met that day. He made me promise to protect you and I did and am still protecting you." Seeing the look on her face, he knew she had remembered.

"You were the one I bumped into in the hallway. You were also the one who dragged me away from their bodies as they took them away. You were really there?." Adria meant it as a statement but it actually came out as a question.

"Yeah, I was really there." Andre affirmed. But the look of confusion never left her face.

"What else do you remember?" He asked, pushing her to remember more about that day.

Adria had that faraway look as she recalled memories that she didn't know was there.

" I remember overhearing dad talk on the phone about them knowing about their plan. He had also mentioned something about an alliance. I was leaving when I bumped into you, we talked a bit before my dad called you into his office."

Adria paused as she remembered everything that happened that day but questions still lingered on her mind. She asked him the one that kept on nagging at the back of her mind.

"Why am I only remembering this now?, why was I not able to remember knowing you until you brought that day up?." She really wanted to know why.

"That night you had a panic attack and passed out. You were rushed to the hospital and was in a coma for three days. The doctor said that you may not remember exactly what took place that day as it was your brains method of a coping mechanism. He advised that you should be kept away from anything that could trigger your panic attack. When you woke up the only thing you remembered of that day was that your parents were killed and you seeing their body. You didn't remember other things that happened that day." Andre explained.

"I didn't remember you." Adria said in a small voice as she felt a bit guilty for forgetting him.

Andre knew this and he smiled sadly, "it wasn't your fault." He said trying to reassure her.

Adria only nodded.

"You mentioned that 'they were coming', who was the they you were referring to?" Adria questioned.

"The shadowhand clan." Was all he said which left her with another question.

"That's part of the information you stole that those guys were after you for. The shadowhand clan, who are they?" Adria probed for more answers.

"They are a very dangerous set of people who you should hope not to cross paths with." Andre stated, trying to instill fear into her.

Adria wasn't a bit scared, instead she became more curious but knew that it was a topic for another day.

Right now she needed an answer to the question she was about to ask.

"The omertà alliance, what is it about and why was my father involved with it?" Adria studied his reaction to her question but Andre only had a calm look on his face.

"The omertà alliance is a clan just like the shadowhand clan but with stronger manpower and weapons. As for the reason why your father was involved I can't say " Andre replied.

"Why?" She asked.

"Because I don't know the reason either, I don't know why our fathers were involved or who the third person mentioned is." Andre was getting frustrated, he wasn't getting any closer to knowing why their parents were involved or the real reason the omertà alliance was created in the first place.

All he knew was that his father left behind a legacy for him to fulfill but he wasn't sure what the legacy was.

Adria could sense his frustration and decided to stop the questions tonight but it didn't mean that she didn't have more. Infact she had tons but she knew that now was not the time, so she was going to go home and process all the information she got tonight.

Adria stared at his face and noticed how weary he looked.

"When was the last time you slept well, huh?" Andre just looked at her, he saw that she wouldn't back down without an answer and he knew the answer she wanted.

"I honestly haven't been sleeping well." He stated.

"Why?" She inquired.

Andre didn't say anything, he couldn't tell her that he would rather let himself fall asleep due to fatigue than try and sleep peacefully only to fight against the monsters that plagued him.

"It's late, I should probably get going." Adria said her eyes leaving the time on her phone which read 9:30 pm and faced him. She didn't realize that her phone had been on silent since she had left the library. She had almost a dozen missed calls from nanny Esther, remembering that she never informed her that she would be home late. The old lady must be worried sick as she didn't pick any of her calls.

"Yeah you should." Andre affirmed.

Getting up from the couch and grabbing her car keys, she turned and addressed him,

"You should stay home and rest tomorrow. I'm going to come after school is over, would that be okay with you?" She inquired looking at him with a smile.

Andre found her cute at that moment, he stood up and walk towards her. He was standing very close to her as he raised his hand and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ears.

"You are always welcomed here." He told her as he gazed at her unwaveringly.

Adria's heart skipped a beat as she registered the proximity of their closeness. Staring at his eyes from this close she noticed that they had specks of blue around the grey. They even looked more beautiful and captivating this close, she could stare at them all day.

They broke out of the trance they were in when Adria's phone rang. She saw it was Esther calling her as she answered the call.

"Hello." She said with her heart still beating fast from being that close to him.

"Finally young Miss I've been trying to get you for a while now, you didn't inform me that you would be staying out late, I was worried that something had happened." She rushed out in a breath.

Adria could sense her worry through her tone and she felt guilty for making her worry so much.

"I'm sorry for making you worry but I'm completely fine. Something came up and it slipped my mind that I hadn't informed you. I'm very sorry, it won't happen again." From her peripheral vision she saw Andre lean against the wall while he had his eyes closed.

She heard nanny Esther sigh through the phone before she heard her voice.

"It's alright as long as it won't happen again. What time would you be arriving?"

"I'm already on my way and would be home soon." She responded, hearing a sound of agreement before ending the call.

"You shouldn't trust anyone." Andre said pushing himself off the wall as he walked towards her.

"What do you mean?" She asked with a look of confusion.

Andre sighed.

"Your parents were killed in their own house which is supposed to be a safe haven. It means what it means, you shouldn't trust anyone." He explained.

Adria nodded, she knew he was right.

"Good night Andre." She told him as she headed towards her car.

"Good night Renee." She heard him say behind her.

Getting into her car, she drove out of the compound and into the road heading home. Looking at her rearview mirror she acknowledged the car that had always been following her making sure she arrived at her destination safely.

She has always thought that it was her father who appointed the guard before he died but now she knew better. The guard worked for Andre and he has been assigned to always protect her even if it meant risking his life.

Adria got home safely and parked her car. She came out and went into the building which she had always called home for years but now she realized how empty the house really felt.

As she tried to sleep she couldn't help but recall all what she got to know today. Andre's words kept replaying in her mind. She knew what he meant by her not trusting anyone. She kept thinking about the possibility that her father was betrayed, but by who.

As she was deep in thoughts her phone rang. Looking at the time she saw it was 11:05, who could be calling her this night. She looked at the name flashing on her screen and saw it was doctor Matthew.

She quickly sat up, having an idea to what the call was related to. Picking it, she whispered an hello in it. The words that she heard next had her heart beating fast in anticipation.

"Hello Adria, it's about your sister."