Mausoleum

I smiled when I heard him say that. No one has ever told me I did great or commended me for my hard work except my late parents and I even almost forgot how it felt to be commended.

Gerard remained like that and didn't say anything for a long time which was kind of awkward.

Finally, he said something but I was really surprised by it. His calm cold voice spoke close to my ears making it easier for me to hear what he was saying even though he wasn't talking loudly.

"Three months. If by three months you still want to leave, then I'll let you. I don't want you to see me... this place as a prison yard."

I was dumbfounded. He was really going to let me go if I still insisted on leaving three months from now?

This was great. I can finally be free and live a life that suits me, a life where I would be under nobody's rules, a life where I can make a name for myself and be a woman of high status.

But is that what I truly want? Am I sure I want to leave? I have bonded with some really cool people here. People who treat me right and love me regardless of where I came from.

My mind was in a dilemma but then, I recalled that I still had three months to think about this so I simply nodded in his embrace and pushed the thoughts behind my mind temporarily.

The day went by quickly and all I could think about was school. I'll be officially resuming tomorrow and this is going to be the beginning of my success story. Or maybe the beginning of this success story actually started a few months ago.

I have never been as nervous as this in my life but imagine going to a school full of students and some kids younger than my age.

Although the results came out fine and I was given a direct entry to the second year, I was still a little nervous about the whole idea.

In the afternoon, I was given some books and a laptop for my studies. I was surprised by all these expensive materials that were being provided to me and I really felt like there was no need but I was grateful anyway.

I looked at the books and when I opened them, I realized that these books were not new to me as I had read them countless times. I wasn't sure if these were the textbooks for the year I would be going to but if they were, then it would be quite easy for me.

The laptop was the least of my worry as I looked through the books over and over again. I was nervous about the whole thing but I was also glad that I would be going to college.

I got tired of staying in my room all day and decided to go downstairs. With everyone minding their own business, I walked outside to feel the cool breeze.

Gerard's house was far from the city and in fact, far from other houses. To me, it seemed like there were no neighbours and only the Jareks stayed in that environment.

The house was surrounded by trees both in and outside the gate. A wild thought crossed my mind that Gerard naturally didn't like the sun because the house was surrounded by trees that blocked the sun, he rarely goes out and if he does, he uses a shaded glass. Also, the curtains in the Jarek mansion were never opened.

Because of the trees that surrounded the house, the air was fresh and it gave me the feeling that I was staying in an area gifted with the purity of nature.

I walked around the house and surprisingly, I wasn't followed by a guard nor concerned maid. I could tell that they saw me leave but they just didn't stop me which I liked.

The Jarek's mansion was the biggest I had ever seen. Walking around it was almost impossible to cover in 40 minutes.

I finally got to the back of the house and noticed that there was a mausoleum situated there. Anxious, I went in to see what was there.

Walking down the stairs of the mausoleum which seemed to have taken me back to the '80s, I didn't get any eerie feeling even though I heard from most people that ghosts roamed the mausoleum at night.

Because it wasn't too dark and this wasn't a rainy day, I didn't think I had anything to be afraid of.

There were wooded torches lighted with fire which just made it look more ancient and cool.

I finally got to the base of the mausoleum with one of the wooden torches in my hand. I roamed around the corners of the place seeing all the words inscribed on the walls that were in a foreign language.

I moved backwards and suddenly stumbled on something that made me almost trip. It was the cemented grave of someone but as I raised my torch higher, I noticed that there wasn't just one nor two neither were the three.

There were too many cemented graves to count and I panicked before running out of the mausoleum. I returned the torch to the place where I picked it and ran as fast as I could.

I was a few meters away from the door where I saw Gerard walking out. He looked angry but I couldn't figure out why because I was in so much panic to even think.

He looked at me intensely and I wondered if he somehow knew that I was coming from the mausoleum and didn't like it. Or could it be that he didn't like the fact that I left the house without saying anything?

"What are you doing here?" Gerard's voice was very cold and angry that I felt like my heart was already in my mouth.

I blinked twice as my heart pounded even louder. "Huh?"

"Ayla, go to your room and don't look back." it was only then that I realized that he wasn't talking to me but someone behind me.