FIFTY- SIX

I got a video call from Mark and gladly picked up then he asked,"Tommy, where are you? The staff are looking all over for you."

"I'm in a log cabin owned by a lady who saved me from the forest, it's actually a long story how, but here she is."

I pointed the screen to her and she stopped drinking her ' soup ' and looked at Mark.

"Hello, you must be his father."She said.

"Younger brother."We both said, simultaneously.

"But how is that even possible?"

"It's a long story."We both said, simultaneously.

"Madam, I want to thank you for taking care of my brother, he's everything to me."

"Aww."I said with puppy dog eyes.

"Don't be cheesy."They both said, simultaneously.

They talked for a little bit, then he talked to me and hung up. I went to bed soon after that.

I couldn't sleep, I regretted not eating that ' soup ' because I was starving!

I crawled down from the bed and crawled by her, sleeping on the floor to the kitchen.

I stood on my better leg and searched through the empty cupboard for something edible, then saw two mice, fighting over a piece of bread, I was so desperate, it looked like gold to me and I snatched it from them.

I was about to eat it when I heard three bangs and squealed, then crouched and covered my head with my hands in fear.

She came closer and said,"Kid? I thought you were a burglar."

"No, it's j- j- just me, y- y- you can p- p- put the g- g- gun away now."I stuttered.

She put it down then asked,"What are you doing here?"

"I'm starving! I lied, I did need second helpings because I threw the first out of the window, and I'm sorry...do you think there's any of that soup left?"

She went to a creaky part of the floor and opened a secret door then put the covered pot on fire and gave me some soup—without air quotes.

The next day, she carried me back to the villa and the servants literally hugged me and that was new as they were usually too shy to get close to me.

She was about to leave then I said,"Don't go, you saved my life, let me make it up to you."

"How?"

"Stay in the villa, there's enough room and food for a thousand people, please?"

"I don't want to be a burden."

"You wouldn't be, please?"

She eventually reluctantly agreed.

She went and took her belongings which all fit into one backpack, then went in.

She was mesmerized and looked around as it looked even larger from the inside, and now I had some company.

She stayed with me since then and I wasn't so lonely anymore.

I found out her name was Priya Gomez and she had lost her husband and baby daughter to a bear and wasn't able to keep her house after that, so she was kicked out and had to move into the old, creaky, abandoned log cabin.

I was in the villa for about a month and Mark made sure to visit frequently so I was never alone and my lessons still went on.

I also made sure to contact my friends everyday and keep in touch.

I was eating supper while talking to Lucille when I realized something about her eyes, I looked more closely and was stunned...

"Why are you acting weird?"She asked.

"Your eyes, they're just beautiful!"

"Aww, a lot of people say that."

"Of course they do, how did I never realize this? They have blue centres which gradually change into silver."

"Oh yeah, my mom's like that too, she said it's a harmless medical condition called central...umm, hetochroma...I think."

"Medical condition?! I want it!! PS, it's central heterochromia."

She shrugged her shoulders and I was like wow! Lucille was so perfect! Eye colour, shape, facial features, everything.

After we ended the call, I went to watch some TV with Ms Gomez, then went to bed.

I was on my bed when I heard whispering,"You think you're safe? Well let me assure you, you aren't..."

With my eyes closed I pushed the button on my phone to call security and they barged in.

They came closer and asked me,"Are you okay Master Tommy?"

The whispering went on and one of them went under the bed and brought out an old fashioned audio recorder, playing the whisper.

That wasn't the only time, another night, I heard singing, not cute, Lucille like singing, but quiet, horror movie singing where the words were just la, la, la, la, la...

I also saw pictures of myself asleep on my phone. I didn't know why but I suspected Ms Gomez.

But I almost fainted when I found out Mark was in the hospital, he for some reason, just fainted backwards in the middle of an important meeting.

I cried that night because I couldn't be with him, but thank goodness, he was better a few days later.