The Sullivan's

Chapter 11

Rosarina POV.

"Please don't give me that look. It was orders from the above," I said as I raised my hands to surrender, making them chuckle.

"From how I saw your daughter, I am sure she is really capable of just that," Hannah said and Olivia nodded her head in agreement.

"She has always been the family's baby hence she was spoiled rotten by my parents and brother. Anyways, do you know whether I can get what I want?" I asked.

"Yes, you can. We should get going," Miranda said.

We hailed a taxi. While I was in the car, I could see kids running up and down while some teenagers were carrying their bags as they walked to the direction the taxi was moving. We came across Donaldsonville High School which surprised me.

"This is the school where the girls go. Gabby will join them, right? Hannah asked with a smile on her face.

"Of course she has to go to school. Furthermore, didn't you all tell me that there is only one high school?" I asked.

"Yes, it's only one and that's why it occupies a large area,"Olivia said and I had a lot of questions in my head.

"The town isn't small. Why can't there be other schools?" I asked after we passed the institute and I turned my head to them.

"Don't think that this place is as peaceful as you think. Even though we all live in harmony, there are still the owners of the town," Miranda said in a whisper as if she was afraid that someone might hear her and get into trouble.

"The town's owners?" I asked and they nodded their heads and I could see fear evident in their eyes.

I wondered whether I made the right choice in coming to this place. What if I get my daughter in trouble? but I decided not to think about that for now.

"I don't think they will have any problem with that," I said.

"We weren't born so we don't know how they looked but they aren't staying here currently," the driver voiced out making us all turn to his direction and at the same time, I sighed in relief.

"Yes, it is a story we are given by our grandparents who also had it with theirs," Hannah said.

I looked at them with confused eyes since I couldn't understand why they were still afraid of these people even though it was a long time ago. Maybe it is more than a thousand years old.

"Maybe they are dead. There is no need to worry about such unnecessary things," I said to them with a smile and they shook their heads.

"You can be arrogant but please stop for your daughter's sake. The town was built by the siblings. At that time, people were taught by their elders and there was no need to go to school. As years passed and schools were invested, people started rebelling against the siblings. In that process, a lot of people were killed. All this town, the land belongs to them. Seeing what had happened to their loved ones, the residents stopped fighting and we agreed to live in harmony. Maybe the siblings would change their minds."

"As they waited , days turned into months, months turned into years, years became decades, decades became centuries. When the people were giving up, they were all called by their siblings. They claimed that they were turned to live in one place hence they will be travelling around the world. Since they had seen that the people had lived together in harmony, they gave out a thousand acres of land and some money to the residents for them to do whatever they wanted. Before leaving, they said that even though centuries pass without them coming back, we shouldn't think that they are dead, they will always have some eyes here. The people built the schools. So you shouldn't be arrogant thinking that they might be dead. Until we see their bodies, that is when we will know they are dead." the driver narrated.

Hearing that, I was shocked but not surprised entirely cause I know that people may live even for a thousand years but never heard of people owning such a large land and also ruling people.

"I never thought that this place had such a history," I said after I calmed myself.

"Yeah, we just live here and in harmony as we wait and see whether the so-called owners will come back but nothing ever escapes their eyes. Just know that. They are alive and what happened fifteen years ago is evidence to that," Hannah said, making me be more curious than I was but I also knew when to ask questions and when to stop.

I shifted my gaze and looked out of the window. It was like an estate because of the presence of bungalow houses next to each other.

"We all live here. Our kids are so close to each other since they are neighbors and it seems that you will also become one," Olivia said while cheering, making me chuckle at her.

We alighted the car and started walking on the pavements. On the way, a lot of people were greeting us while asking who I was. They all seemed friendly but that was creepy enough for me.

"This is the fist vacant house," Miranda said as she walked in a compound which had tall grasses and sounds of crickets.

Looking at the house in front of me, I couldn't comprehend what my emotions were. The roof had rusted while the white painting on the wall had already turned into a black and brown color.

"How long has this house been vacant?" I asked as I felt something awful with the place.

"Fifteen years," Hannah said, making me frown deeply.

If it had been vacant for all those years, why did no one want to live here? The more we walked closer to the house, the more my breath became unstable. Although I wanted to walk in and see what was inside the house, I knew that something bad might happen.

"Stop," I shouted just when Olivia was about to touch the lock.

"What is wrong Rosa?" Olivia asked as she looked at me with questioning eyes.

"Something is wrong here. We need to leave," I said, making them look at me. "Why are you all looking at me?"

"How do you know that something is wrong even before walking in?" Miranda asked and it was evident that she didn't believe me at all.

"I really don't know but believe me when I say that something is wrong with this place," I said as I pleaded with them to listen to me.

"I guess she is right. Don't you remember what happens when anyone tries to walk in here?" Hannah broke the silence.

I saw both Miranda and Olivia shiver in fear. I wanted to ask but I was afraid that something might even happen if I opened my mouth to ask.

"Let's leave now," I said as I started walking towards the exit.

We walked into more than ten houses but I felt the same way I did when we walked into the first compound.

"If you don't want to live here just say it instead of wasting our time," Miranda said angrily and I looked down in shame.

"I am sorry," that is all I could say.

"Are there any vacant houses?" I asked after a few minutes.

"Yes, there are only two mansions which are vacant but they are not nearby," Hannah said, getting my attention.

I looked at her as a gesture for her to continue talking.

"Are you kidding me? If she is afraid of entering these houses, it is the mansions which she will be able to," Miranda said clearly annoyed.

"Maybe we should give it a try," Olivia said.

1323 words.

15.11.2023

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