Miracle Child.

Chapter Four.

"Ready for that tour now Sandra?" She smiled kindly. Sandra, why out of all the nicknames did she have to pick that one? Was this god's way of telling me my mind wouldn’t stay peaceful forever?

"Please don’t call me that," I couldn’t help but blurt out "but yes I'm ready" I gave her the best smile I could. She took my hand and started to lead the way.

"Such a shame Cassandra, I wish that smile was a little more genuine, it didn’t reach your eyes." Her words drowned me, almost suffocating me. Those were almost the exact words Alexander had said to me.

"Ms. Stacey? Sorry to ask this but what is your last name?" It can't be, of all people, of all places!

She looked at me knowingly as if she expected my question

"Sharp, Stacey Sharp."

I inhaled a breath through my teeth. How could that be! It was such a slim to none chance, I had almost forgotten about him it's been two years since I last saw him, before I could question her any further she continued on walking and pulling me along until she stopped in front of a set of wooden doors. Yet these were nothing like Ethan's office doors, they were much larger and less intimidating, beautiful designs were engraved onto the doors and I couldn’t help but notice the words that were carved with so much care, 'in loving memory of Christina Woods'.  By now, there were millions of questions rushing through my brain to the point where I got a little dizzy.

Thankfully Stacey pushed open the doors to reveal the most beautiful sight I've ever seen. A gigantic room stood before me with endless shelves swirling around the walls of the room, rows and rows of them all stacked with books of different shapes and sizes, each with a color more enchanting than the previous one. Blue, red, black, it was extraordinary, a sight for sore eyes.

"This is the library, feel free to use it whenever you like. There is also a librarian here but she's on holiday for now she will be back in a few months. If you need any books from the higher shelves there is a ladder here somewhere" Stacey explained, but I was too mesmerized by the beauty of this place "there are labels on each shelf telling you what type of books are on it, fiction, nonfiction, things like that"

"Got it, thank you" I finally acknowledged Stacey since we've been here.

She led me out of the library and through another maze of corridors before stopping in front of a glass door. Through the door I could make out large machines that didn’t strike me as familiar and the floors of the room were made of a soft material.

 "This is the gym," she pulled me inside with her "you can work out here if you're into that kind of stuff, I highly doubt that as though you're only thirteen"

Yanking me by the arm yet again, she continued the tour around the house, pointing out the rooms that I was not allowed into, they were Ethan's. They consisted of his bedroom, a home office and another room which Stacey didn’t explain to me, I couldn’t help but notice yet another engraving that caressed the wood of that room's door, and it read Christina Woods. It was the same name that was engraved on the doors of the library.

I didn’t ask any questions hence I sensed Stacey's discomfort so we continued making our way back to the kitchen.

"You can go watch TV in the living room or go to the library until lunch is ready. I will come find you when it's done"

"Okay, thank you again Stacey."

"No problem Cassandra!" Turning around, she left to help Marie cook lunch.

I went back into the direction we came from, Stacey and I, and made my way to the library. While I was making my way towards heaven on earth, I came to a halt in front of the door that lead to the gym, the once empty room now had Ethan inside running on one of the machines. It was fascinating to say the least, how he could run in place. His head suddenly turned to face me, im guessing he sensed my presence looming behind the door. He pressed a button on the machine and slowly stopped running; he then hoped down and made his way over to where I was standing.

   "Come in, little Cassandra" He smirked as he knew that nickname aggravated me. "im guessing Stacey already gave you a tour around my humble home"

"Please, this home is anything but humble"

"You know nothing," he growled at me his eyes suddenly going dark. "So! Come in I'll show you what goes on around here" his tone quickly changed from angry to normal.

Not wanting another display of anger, I followed him inside.

"These are the treadmills" He ushered to the machines on the right that he was previously running on.

"Those over there are the body building stuff, weights and all that" he pointed to the left where heavy machinery sat almost in a daring manner.

"This is where the magic happens, the boxing ring" he pointed to what looked like a stage with ropes around the sides in the far right corner "and the MMA mat" he pointed to a mat directly in front of us "and these are the punching bags" he finally pointed to the far left corner of the room.

"What's MMA?" I had read about it in a book once but never understood what it meant.

"MMA means Mixed Marshal Arts; it’s a sport that combines boxing, judo, karate and a lot more. It’s a contact sport." He replied to my question with amusement

"So it's a violent sport?"

"That my dear depends on the fighter and his opponent" he laughed, it was the first time I'd heard him laugh, it was really music to the ears since he's always so mysterious.

"So I take it you are into that kind of stuff?" I felt myself begin to loosen up a bit, this sport really catching my attention.

"Indeed I am, this world has no place for the weak my dear"

I couldn’t help but agree with him, I had always told myself that whenever I started to portray emotions or reactions, I always had to keep my guard up because nothing was made to stay; it was the cycle of life.

"Would you mind showing me how it's done?" I let myself ask before I could think it through.

"Sure." He seemed taken aback by my request but I saw a gleam of respect in his eyes, I bet he thought I was a weak little girl who would cower away at the idea of violence or blood.

He walked towards the small wooden closet next to the boxing ring opening it and taking out two pairs of gloves.

"These gloves are used specially for MMA they're not regular boxing gloves. Here," he handed me the red and black pair, taking the plain black ones for himself. This was going to be fun, I could feel it. I couldn’t help but smirk as I watched him confidently make his way to the punching bag; just like that I was taken into a world better than anything I'd ever known.