Keep calm fratelli, for the worst is yet to come ~ Hope Sinner
Everyone was waiting in the dining room, seated around the dining table, waiting for Hope and Meenakshi so they could start lunch. Meenakshi came in with a bunch of albums handing them to Ajax.
"Those enough or do you want more?" she asked with a teasing smile.
"Those are enough" he muttered.
All the chatter quietened when Hope came in. The atmosphere tensed. Ajax stood up.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's Nora." she muttered.
"You're leaving?" Everett asked her with a frown. It was then the others noticed a black and grey backpack at her side.
"She can just come here, right?" Meenakshi said.
"Are you kidding? Dimitri will have my head served on a silver platter if I ask her to come here."
Meenakshi chuckled. "True, though he can't have your head."
"What happened?" Ajax questioned.
"It's complicated. She said it was important."
Ajax frowned. His thoughts were all over the place. Nora never took anything seriously. So if she said it was important then it was.
"Where are you going?" Devon asked. He didn't want her to go anywhere. But in the past few days, he also learnt that when Hope was set on doing something, then there was no stopping her.
"Home. Jacksonville."
"When?" he asked.
"I leave in 30 minutes. I'll be back in three days at max"
"You can't actually be serious about sending her all the way to Jacksonville" Rueben exclaimed. Instantly eight pairs of eyes turned to him. Devon and Raziel were glaring at him. Finally Hope spoke.
"Do you honestly think you can stop me? I would like to see you try." Her Britain accent came out thick. Her voice soft yet deadly calm. He gulped.
"I wouldn't stand in her way if I were you." Raziel added and Ajax nodded.
"Just stay safe and call me everyday" Devon muttered. She nodded.
All the boys were gathered in the living room. It has been five hours since Hope left while Meenakshi and Raziel followed shortly. Ajax has asked them to meet him in the living room at 6PM though he didn't tell them why. So now they were waiting for him to show up.
"Pensi che stara bene?" (Do you think she will be fine?) Vincent asked. He has been silent when Hope left. He didn't want her to leave, but he saw that determined glint so he had wisely kept his mouth shut. But he was worried.
"Non lo so ma spero che lo sia" (I don't know but I hope she is) Hayes responded.
"Anch'io fratello lo faccio anch'io" (So do I brother, so do I) Everett muttered under his breath.
The doorbell rang. Devon frowned. Then he remembered Riven. He was going to die. He sighed as he got up to answer the door. "Merda" (Crap) he mumbled. He was surprised to find Atriya along with his brother at the door. He lead them inside. He held up a hand to stop Riven from asking any questions.
"Just go to your rooms. Meet me in the living room in 15. I'll get you upto the situation."
Ajax sighed as he looked at everyone gathered in the living room. He has been informed about the new arrivals as soon as he got down with the albums. Now he was waiting for the other two to get down. He sat up straight as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. He looked at them. Riven looked like an older version of him. The only difference between Riven and Rueben was the scar Riven has near his left eyebrow.
Atriya Alva was a gorgeous. There was no other word to describe her. She had chocolate brown eyes that suited her olive complexion. Her long raven black hair was neatly braided though there were a few strands hanging around her face.
"I am Atriya. Devon's fiancee." she introduced herself as she held out her hand.
"I am Ajax. It is nice to meet you." he said shaking her hand. She smiled.
"Care to tell me where my little sister is?" Riven asked, a sickly sweet smile on his face.
'That's creepy' Ajax thought.
"She is in Jacksonville" Rueben answered. Riven gave him a disbelieving look.
"Tell me you are kidding." When nobody answered his expression turned murderous as he stood up.
"Che diavolo ci fa a Jacksonville?" (What the hell is she doing in Jacksonville?) he snarled.
"English please" Atriya muttered.
"There is something she needed to take care of." Ajax replied.
"And you sent her there alone?" He got his answer when no one responded.
"Dio, have you lost your minds?" (God)
"Shut up and sit down" Atriya snapped with a glare just as Devon was about to answer. Riven shut his mouth up as she turned her glare on Devon.
"Now you, Devon Angelo Sinner are going to explain why your little sister is in Jacksonville, alone might I add." Devon gulped. Atriya can be scary as hell when she wanted to. He turned to Ajax waiting for him to speak.
"She isn't alone." Ajax chimed in though he regretted it the instant Atriya turned her glare onto him.
"Who is Nora?" Vincent asked.
"Not Nora, her name is Elenore Stryker. She is family of sorts." Ajax said.
"Good, now that it is out of the way, what did you want to talk about?" Atriya asked.
"I wanted to show you these." he said as he pointed at the albums. There were six in total. He passed an album to them.
To say Devon and the others were mesmerised would be an understatement. The first photo was of Hope. She looked about 13 years old in the photo. She was in a pure white long evening gown which had ivory coloured flowers on it. It was sleeveless. Her hair was the same as it is now. What surprised them was the happiness on her face. She was smiling at something when the photo was taken.
"When was this taken?" Everett asked.
"That was at Raziel's wedding." Ajax replied with a small smile. They turned the page. In this photo she was in the same dress. She was standing with Raziel and some other man with bottle green eyes and jet black hair. He was as tall as Raziel. Both of them were dressed in black suits. The names Raphael and Raziel were written under the photo in elegant black script.
"That's Raphael. Raze's husband."
They spent the next half an hour going through the album with Ajax explaining who everyone in the photos were. She was smiling in everyone of them. Devon stopped as he came across a photo of her along with a boy. The boy looked a few years older than her. He has greenish blue eyes that resembled the colour of an ocean with high cheekbones and jet black hair. It was her face that caught Devon's attention. Out of all the photos she looked happiest in this one. The name Aaden has been written in the same elegant black script under the photo just like the rest of them in the album.
She was holding what looked like a cup of melted ice cream in a hand while her other hand was reaching out to get hold of Aaden's cup. Aaden was looking at her, a silly grin on his face.
"Who is he?" Riven asked.
Ajax fiddled with the pendant hanging around his neck for a while before answering. He didn't know how to explain to them about the person in the photo. He sighed.
"That's Silver D'Aboville. His name is Aaden though only Hope calls him that. He goes by Silver."
The others nodded before going back to the album. The whole album was full of Hope's photos that were taken during the wedding and reception. And to the brothers annoyance Silver was present in 90% of the photos. There were photos of both of them eating, laughing, dancing and playing around. It was when Devon closed the album they noticed the title. The album was labeled Raphael and Raziel's wedding in the same elegant black script that was used under every other photo. Hayes frowned at that.
"Wait if this is their wedding album then how come every photo is of Hope's?" he asked.
"Those photos were taken by Rhys Marshall and Elenore. They assigned themselves as her personal photographers." Ajax replied with a chuckle. He passed them another album. This one was labeled Zaiden and Scarlett.
The whole night was spent looking through pictures in the albums. Zaiden and Scarlett's album surprised them. The whole album was full of photos taken in a beach. Ajax told them it was when Hope was 14 years old. This time she had tattoos.
"Holy lord, my baby sister is so cool. She has tattoos" Everett muttered in awe. Ajax chuckled.
'He is going to have a heart attack when he learns just how cool Hope is.' Ajax thought.
Atriya was in awe. She never expected Hope to be a female version of Devon considering she is Hayes's twin. She looked absolutely beautiful in anything. Her eyes held power and authority. Now she couldn't wait to meet her in person.
Most of the photos were of Silver and her. The next album was labeled Charlotte and Nathaniel. This album was full of photos of her and the others in traditional attire. A particular photo caught their attention.
She was wearing a yellow half saree with some jewellery. She has some sort of paste on her cheeks and she was holding the hand of a little boy.
"She looks so much like mom." Rueben breathed out. There was no denying it. Hope Sinner is a photocopy of Maira Sinner. Hayes sniffled. It caught the attention of others. She has been back for about three days now and it has only hit him now completely that his twin was back. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Rueben rubbed his back comfortingly.
"She has grown up a lot." Vincent muttered with a proud smile. That sent a pang through their hearts. Their brother and sister have grown up and they missed it all. Every first, they missed. Devon turned the page. This photo was of her and Silver. She was dressed in white and gold half saree while Silver matched with her in indo western wear. He was looking at her with an expression of adoration on his face. Though she looked like she was speaking to someone since she was turned a little away from him.
"Tell me about Silver." Atriya asked out of the blue.
"Silver is complicated. Though his behaviour and attitude comes off as downright rude and self-centered to anyone who isn't close to him, he cares a lot about his family and friends." Ajax answered.
"What is his relation with Hope?" Riven asked, his voice laced with annoyance.
"Silver has known Hope since he was six old. First and foremost he is one of her best friends. He loves her. Though he hasn't asked her out yet, I will bet you my left kidney that they will end up together. " Ajax answered.
"How are you so sure? I mean it could be attraction." Devon countered. Atriya smacked his head.
"Angelo that is just nasty. You do not know him." she muttered with a glare. Devon shut his mouth. The others still had doubts about Silver though. They continued looking through the photos.
Ajax handed them the last album. "This will clear your doubts about Silver." he said. The album was labeled Aaden 'Silver' D'Aboville 3.
"Why the number three?" Vincent asked.
"That is his third album"
The photo was taken in a beach. Hope was wearing a pair of black shorts and baggy t-shirt while Silver was in black shorts. It looked like he was giving her a piggyback ride. Both of them had pendants hanging around their necks which matched Ajax's. She was pouting though her eyes held a glint of mischief. The date under the photo indicated that it was taken during new year celebrations.
"She looks so happy in these photos." Atriya said. The others nodded.
The next few photos were taken on the same day. Then the background changed. In this one Hope was sleeping on a couch. Silver was lying down on his side on the same couch. He was looking at her with a huge smile on his lips, his eyes full of emotions. It was dated January 5th.
He was fixing a bracelet on her hand in the next one. He was watching her while she was playing a guitar in the next one. Then he was playing a piano in the next while she stood next to him. He was smiling though his eyes were closed as if he knew that she was there. Then they were both standing in the kitchen mixing dough laughing at something. He was putting flour on her cheeks in the next. Then the background changed to that of Charlotte's wedding. He was holding a bottle of water to her mouth while her hands were full with mehendi. The photos continued. She was applying what looked like turmeric paste on his nose while he stood there grinning at her, his arms holding her close to him. There were a couple more before they came to an end.
All of them sat in silence thinking about the last of the photos. There was one thing common in all her photos with Silver. She was happy in them. She looked so happy as if nothing in this world could make her lose that smile.
"What happened after Charlotte's wedding in March?" Everett asked after a while. He noticed that there were no photos after March. She looked so happy in those pictures. Now she looked like someone who carries the weight on their shoulders. 'So what changed in the last four months?' he thought.
Ajax chuckled bitterly. His chuckle sounded so hollow and painful, the others shuddered at that sound.
"I can't tell you that. All I can say is a few weeks after Char's wedding, life went downhill."
"It was something related to Silver, isn't it?" Atriya said. He nodded.
"What happened? Did he hurt her?" Hayes asked. Atriya smacked his head.
"Did you not look at the pictures? Even a blind person can tell that boy would kill himself rather than hurting her." she grumbled.
"Silver adores her. She means the world to him. He would do anything to keep that smile on her face intact." Ajax muttered.
"Then, where is he now?" Riven asked, his voice tinged with accusation.
"He is missing." Ajax replied before gathering the albums and walking out.