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questions. I had to do it. If not, I might very well be dead
without any knowledge of anything.
So I jumped out of the bed and changed out of the dress
and into the jeans and sweater I had come in with. They had
been placed neatly on the chair. I brought them to my face. They
were warm and had the scent of laundry lingering in the air as it
filled my nostrils with pleasure.
I took one of Evie's black ponytail holders, the ones that
came in the 100-packs that dollar stores always sell. I figured
she wouldn't notice if one of them went missing, especially since
I had never even seen her in a ponytail.
I turned off the lights in the room (yes, they were
working by now) and set out looking for anyone who could tell
me anything. From what Ines had told me, the Sins had left. The
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only people who would be left would be people who were not
Sins. That was my reasoning.
As I walked down the halls, it seemed as though Ines
was right. Even though it was almost always silent, this time,
there was a feeling of emptiness. I walked quietly and slowly. I
mean, it wasn't as though I was in a rush to do anything.
I knew it was early morning and that meant that I had
the rest of the day and the days that followed to wander around
and possibly do nothing. Of course, I had decided that nothing
wasn't good enough. I had to do something.
I walked down to the first floor, deliberately making sure
that I did not go anywhere close to the ballroom. Imagine if I had
walked in there and the body had not been disposed of yet.
So I went the other way, opposite in the direction of the
wide hallway that housed the ballroom, dining room, kitchen
and library, and perhaps other various rooms I had not yet a
chance to explore yet.
I had only been in this hallway once before. It was much
narrower and wasn't lit up as well. But as I neared the end to
come to a fork, I heard whispering voices.
They were too far away for me to be able to hear what
they were saying, but I was sure that I had heard something,
and it seemed to be coming from the right.
So I walked that way. As I walked, I did notice that it
really was getting darker. The windows had altogether
disappeared and the lights were now being placed so far away
from each other that there were actually dark spots on the floor
where nothing could be seen.
The voices became more audible, though not yet
recognizable. And then, I realized that one of the voices was
extremely familiar. They were all men's voices, but one stood out
because for a split second, it sounded like my father.
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The voices stopped talking and once they had resumed,
the voice of my father was no longer there.
The nearer I got to the door at the very end of the longest
hallway I had ever walked down, the louder the voices became
and finally I was able to recognize them: Aiden and Holst.
I put my ear to the ancient looking door that did not
seem to fit in with the rest of the palace because it was a dark
brown and appeared to be made out of wood, while all other
doors were white and pristine.
"We can't keep him in there forever!" I heard Aiden say.
"No, but there's nothing else we can do. We're going to
have to beat it out of him. And tonight is the perfect night. His
brother is coming. Two for the price of one." Holst said.
"But there's no point. He's not going to tell us! You've
been trying since Samada appointed you. What makes you think
he's going to tell now?" Aiden countered.
"We have the girl. She's already here. If we have to, we're
going to have to hurt her to get to him." Holst replied, in a much
more calm manner than Aiden. I dreaded the answer to who the
girl was that Holst was referring to.
"But what if we hurt her, what if she really is the
answer? Then what?"
"Well, that's not going to happen if he knows what he
should be doing."
"So you find out what you want to know, you're going to
kill him anyway. He knows that. He's not going to answer! Don't
you get it?"
"What I don't understand is why you're still here. There's
no use in arguing. Tonight, it happens. You can't stop it, Madus.
They've already gone to get Roger. By the way, may I remind you
that you had him, but didn't do anything?"
"How were any of us supposed to know what he looked
like? It's your fault. You should've been there."
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I heard Aiden cuss and the next thing I knew, the door
was swung wide open and I had a bruise forming on my cheek.
Aiden closed the door behind him quickly.
"What are you doing here? Snooping around, huh?" He
demanded as he grabbed my hand and dragged me back with
anger and frustration still evident on his face.
When we were finally at the door of his room, he let go.
Immediately, I felt physical pain. My cheek was throbbing, my
legs too weak to stand up straight and my lungs giving up on
providing me with enough air to breathe.
"You better watch it." He said. I don't know if it was a
warning or a threat.
"Is that a warning or a threat?" I asked.
"Both." He answered. And he opened the door to his
room and shut it right in my face.
I was shocked. What I had heard Aiden and Holst
discussing gave me the creeps. I stood right in front of Aiden's
door without moving the slightest bit.
All of as sudden, the door opened and he gestured me in.
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