August 7th 1997- a villa in south Spain
There was a scent in the air that day, it blended in with the smell of fresh grass and the salty ocean, soaked up in the strong smell of chlorine being thrown about the patio of a garden in a luxurious house in Spain.
You can sense danger, but you only know it's there when it's gone.
Two ladies, a mother and her daughter, would visit this place every holiday. The mother would be the one sitting out on the terrace letting the sun gracefully brush her light skin, while the daughter of the woman spent the afternoon jumping in and out of the pool.
Astrid and Grace Wingham were a family, just the two of them and the maid, Ana. She was more like family to the women than any other blood relatives. She had stuck with them since Astrid was a baby. Grace made a decision to keep Astrid away from her dad. She chose the right life for Astrid. Her father wanted his daughter to be like him. To grow up to live as part of the criminal web, to be at the centre, to have every single robber and bad business man weaving their webs for her and his company. Him and his invention.
This man was that bad smell that day.
The thunderous noise of three giant rovers disrupted the peace of that day. As soon as she saw the cars racing down the tranquil road, Grace new what was coming. She quickly pounced up out of her seat calling for the maid and her oblivious daughter.
"Astrid, Ana!" she shouted, "come here, both of you."
The 14 year old sighed and pulled herself effortlessly out of the pool just in time to see her mother nod to Ana and whisper something in her ear. The maid rushed into the villa whilst Grace hurried to her daughter with a pool dress and immediately put her arms into it.
"Mum what's going on?" Astrid asked as she pulled the dress over her head and let it fall around her wet body.
"Put these on" her mother protectively urged her into a pair of boots, "I lied to you about your dad."
"Come on mum, we've talked about this."
"No! We haven't!" she almost yelled and Astrid leaned away from her mother as she shouted at her, "look, I'm going to tell you what happened and then you have to go, meet Ana in the forest. okay?"
"Mum, wha-"
"Okay?" she cut her off and Astrid nodded, "Your father isn't dead, he didn't die in a car crash, I ran away. He made a formula for a poison, that no matter whether you touched it, drank it, consumed it in any way, within the next 24 hours you would die. You couldn't tell how it happened, it just happened. I created an antidote, Ana is getting the formula now, for the poison and the antidote. She also has a plane ticket back to England for the two of you and a new identity for you."
"What the hell, what the actual fu-"
"Astrid! Listen to me! You have to go, alright. You have to remember me and you have to run away, go and don't look back, get to the airport, you and Ana. She has money and a bag with some things that you'll need, and just remember okay. I love you."
"What am I supposed to do with the plans for a murderous potion?"
"Just don't let them fall into the wrong hands, I'm not asking for a lot, just get them away from your father. You have to go, Astrid. Now!"
"No, no, no, no, no. You're coming too!"
"No, I'll buy you time"
Tears continued to pour out of the ladies' eyes as they embraced for the last time. As soon as Grace heard the door being kicked open she gently pushed Astrid away, wiping tears off her eyes.
"I love you mum." Astrid choked out through her tears.
"I know, I know," she stepped away nodding as she watched her daughter run away into the thick crowd of trees, After she disappeared, she slowly turned around to see her long lost husband walk out of the villa and stand intimidatingly in front of her.
"It's good to see you, Grace." The devil smirked as the final tear rolled off his wife's face. Five armed men emerged from the building. One of them walked up to the dark man, said something quietly to him and he nodded, dangerously. The dangerous odor was now known. Now mixed with the warming smell of pine and the stench of salt, not form the ocean, but from that last tear.
~~~
Astrid ran, her sweat assorted with the chlorine of the pool, tripping over every branch, shaking, from fear. It was not cold; it was Spain. It was sweltering hot. But she obeyed her mother, Astrid ran. She ran and ran until she was stopped in her tracks, by a gunshot, not at her, but it sounded from far away. The screech momentarily rang through Astrid's ears and echoed through the countryside. Fresh tears appeared on Astrid's cheeks as she slowly and cautiously made her way back. She needed to know her mum was okay.
Her path was blocked by two armed men. They were looking for her. Astrid ran again, and did what her mum said. She ran away, met Ana on the other side of the woods, got in the emergency car and ended up on the next flight to Gatwick airport. They barely said a word to each other. Every now and then they would ask a question, like; 'Do you want food', or; 'Are you okay?'. Only ever replying with mumbles.
"She begged, its was horrible. She wanted to be with you. He just laughed."
"What did he look like?"
"Dark, no resentment. No regret."
"He just did it."