The footsteps of the three men echoed in the hallway as they walked toward the receptionist. The emotions they are feeling are buried deep inside them and, their faces remain blank.
Soon they reach the receptionist to see her on a call.
"... Mr. Smith is already on his way down to handle the situation... Thank you, Mr. Johnson."
The lady sighed as she placed the receiver down. She looked up when she felt eyes on her.
Her eyes widen when she saw the three De Luca men in front of her.
The oldest of the three men cleared his throat and asked the receptionist, Miss Davis.
"I am Richard De Luca, here to meet my daughter, Avyanna Verena De Luca."
Miss Davis, after breaking out of her daze in shock when heard the name of his daughter.
"A-Avya-nna is your dau-daughter?"
Richard raised an eyebrow and replied, " Yes, indeed she is. Any problem?"
Miss Davis did not know what to do. She surely can't tell them where his daughter is so, she thought for a moment. She fidgeted with her fingers before clearing her throat and shaking her head and smiled as she answered,
"Of course not, sir. There is no problem. Her dorm number is DG220. It's on the second floor and the last door is at the end of the hallway. Will you be able to find or should I send someone with you?"
"What about Avyanna. Where is she?" Another man asked in an emotionless voice.
"S-she uh..." Miss Davis stuttered as she thought of an excuse when a thought passed her mind, "Oh Yes! She went to buy some stationery items for the school office. She will be back in a while."
The three men knew in an instant that she is lying. That's why Richard narrowed his eyes and asked the trembling Miss Davis,
"Last chance to tell us where she is?"
"S-Sir, why don't you wait in her dorm-m while Mr. Smith gets her." She replied in a weak voice.
"Where is she?" The last De Luca man asked, and the three waited impatiently to know where their baby is.
The father of Avyanna lost his control and banged his hand on the desk as Miss Davis mumbled in total fright.
"What?!"
"P-Police Station."
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
".... At last, having enough of me, she sent me to detention for the next two hours, not knowing that I messed with her to save everyone from the loads of assignments she was planning on dumping on us for the weekends. We got full weekends without any homework."
Laughter echoed in the cells as they laughed at the girl's story. Even the guards laughed at the girl's story.
A guard walked towards the cell where the girl who has been narrating stories since she has been here, which was like 15 minutes ago before, is sitting.
He opened the small cell door and motioned her to come out.
Her expression turned amazed.
"Wow... That was fast..." She stood up and stretched her hands before walking towards the door as she continued, "... Well, see you later, fellas." She gave a finger salute to her cellmates before tucking her hands in her jean's front pocket as she followed the guard.
Soon they reached the office area of the police station, where several police officers waved at her. She waved back with a small smile on her face. The guard she was following pointed towards the cabin of Mr. Johnson. She nodded before walking towards the cabin.
She barges into the room without knocking and saw Mr. Johnson sitting behind his huge desk. His face graced with a smile when seeing her entering his office. She plopped on one of his office seats beside Mr. Smith.
"Well, Hello, Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to meet you all again on such a fine day." The girl said in a happy voice, with a huge grin on her face.
Mr. Johnson cannot hold back his little chuckle but collected himself.
"Hello, Avyanna, I shouldn't say this but, I'm happy to see you here but not happy with what you have done to get here." He said pointedly making the girl chuckled as she replied, "Well, the smile on your face said it all, and I was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Between, during this time, the whole process was fast. I was barely there for 15 minutes. You practice hard, Mr. Smith."
The said male smiled as he shook his head, "I am practicing hard, that's true but, this time it was because of some other people."
Avyanna P.O.V.
I looked at Mr. Smith with confusion and turned toward Mr. Johnson. He was also smiling a lot, more than usual he does, may I add.
"Okay, done with this, whole, suspense. Who helped you?" Various names crossed my mind as I wait for the answer. Was it Rony, the guy whom I helped the last time I was here? Or was it Blake, who is responsible for getting me here maybe the guilt might have trapped him and, he helped Mr. Smith to get me out of here?
"The De Luca men who are sitting behind you." Mr. Johnson said in a cheerful voice and, probably he and Mr. Smith are expecting me to celebrate and do a happy dance and witness a family reuniting. But his news has an opposite reaction on me as I froze up.
I hesitantly turned around to see a man sitting on the bench as two others stand on each side of him. All the three men wearing suits and faces blank but, eyes saying a thousand words as they stare at me. I saw the man in the middle opening his mouth but, I turned back around before he can say anything.
"I should say you got me for a second there, David." I laugh half-heartedly.
David Johnson gently smiled at me and answered, "I am not kidding, kiddo. Right there is your father, your eldest brother, and your second eldest brother. I would have liked to see the reunion, but I have got work to do. "
I gulped as he stood up and walked towards the men. I didn't turn as I stood up from the really comfortable chair. I imagined him shaking their hand, and, soon he is standing in front of me. He smiled as he bends down to my level.
"Avyanna, I am going to miss you, but don't get in trouble where you go next, buddy." His words didn't fully register in my mind but, I got emotional.
"You are saying like I deliberately get into trouble to see you and others here. And I don't invite trouble, they always find a way to get to me." I smiled at him with tears in my eyes.
I took a step closer and wrapped my arms around him. He didn't hesitate to hug me back. His hugs are always warm and comforting. He placed a small peck on my forehead before pulling out of the hug. He smiled at me before leaving the cabin.
"We should head back to the Academy. You guys can talk there." Mr. Smith suggested and, I nodded without looking at the men. Thankfully, they left the cabin first and were followed by Mr. Smith. I took a deep breath before following them as I waved at the people I knew.
Soon we are standing in front of the police station.
I internally rolled my eyes when I saw five cars parked. Four cars are black SUVs, and the middle one is the Black Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagon.
One of the men, which I'm guessing is the second brother, opened the door for me. I didn't even bother to look at them.
Mr. Smith cleared his throat and walked towards the parked silver car but stopped when I said, "I can't go with you."
I saw from my peripheral view that their faces twisted in confusion and, I might over imagine it but, hurt and disappointment also flashed on their faces for a second.
"What are you saying, Avyanna. We all are going to the Academy. You as well travel with your family." Mr. Smith said softly.
"Yes, it will be nice to have you aboard, honey." The man who opened the car door said, effectively making my inner demon roar in pure rage.
But I remained calm on the surface, " I can't go with you because of the policy of the Academy..." I continued when I saw Mr. Smith open his mouth. "... And we have some formalities to finish up, we can do that in the car too, so I will have to travel with him."
I didn't give anyone a chance to respond as I grabbed Mr. Smith by his elbow and pulled him towards the car. He is so surprised that I could pull him to the car and even shove him inside before I also entered the car.
The driver thankfully started to drive right away. I looked behind us to see the cars following us. Soon, two of the SUVs overtook us and drove in front of us as the Mercedes and the other two SUVs followed behind us.
I deeply sighed as my mind turned into a fighting arena with thoughts of them and their purpose for coming here.
Thank you for reading the chapter. Do comment on what you liked and if you my mistakes or any other thing you just want to say.
PUBLISHED ON - 8 JULY 2022