𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕷𝖎𝖔𝖓 𝖂𝖆𝖗𝖗𝖎𝖔𝖗

Sufi

He just smiled.

Aliza stood up with her book in her arms and said, "I'm going to my room."

She turned around walking away. It was only mid-afternoon, and she didn't have much to do so she decided to watch Wall-E.

After she was gone, Camille said, "You still haven't told her, have you?"

"Nope," Vincent replied.

Marcel frowned, "Why not?"

Vincent shrugged his shoulders, "She told me not to tell her. And I want to see how this goes. Trust me, you will thank me later."

"What will you do when Aliza finds out?"

Vincent smiled, "I for one will be hiding somewhere. I'll just sneak out and wait for a few hours and then show up with a strawberry milkshake and maybe even samosas."

"You evil man." Marcel laughed and patted Vincent's back.

_____________________________________________________________________

Aliza walked towards her room, going through the notes she had just written. She came to a halt when she heard a loud thud from the room that was at the end of the hallway. She was about to ignore it but she heard it again.

She thought if she should check it out. She was still unaware of how many rooms were there in the house. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel curious enough to explore but it would've been rude. She was a guest so it wasn't her place.

But the noises made her wonder if it was the man again. He was one hell of a clumsy ghost. She remembered he almost made her fall out of the window.

Almost.

Aliza made her way towards the room where the noises were coming from, clutching her books to her chest with one arm. She glanced sideways to be sure that she was alone, opening the door and stepping into the room.

It appeared to be a storeroom, there were boxes and papers and books and broken furniture all over the floor. Sunlight poured through the open window, making the dust that covered most of the room look golden. The smell of old paper, wood, and dust made her scrunch her face.

She closed the door behind her, walking further into the room. She kept looking down, cautious not to step over anything. She bent down to pick what appeared to be an old newspaper. The paper was yellow and rough. Aliza shook the paper, turning away so that she didn't end up inhaling the dust.

Aliza's eyes widened when she read the date. The newspaper was from the year 1922. She read the headline that was highlighted with red.

Shootout in one of the most famous bistros in Chicago.

Aliza was about to read the article written below but stopped when she heard the loud noise again. She folded the paper and stuffed it in the middle of her notebook in a hurry. She noticed that noise was coming from the corner of the room, behind a bunch of cardboard boxes that for some reason were stacked one on the other. She strode towards boxes, walking around them.

She gasped when she saw what was behind them.

"Hey there buddy." Aliza reached out her hand ever so slowly towards the little sparrow that stared at her with its wide eyes. She noticed that the bird was mildly tangled in woolen threads.

"I'm going to help you, okay? Don't freak out. I won't hurt you." She said.

Aliza was always good with animals. Her mother once called her a 'Disney princess' because she befriended a squirrel and a pigeon. It was rather weird because no matter which animal she came across, they were never scared of her.