▬▬▬CHAPTER ONE
THE MANSION IN THE WOODS
and if you don't love me now,
you will never love me again
▬▬▬fleetwood mac
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"WELL, thanks for visiting."
She just smiled and closed the door.
Coming out of room 3-15 she walked as quietly as she could down the hallway. The only thing that could be heard was the material of her boots dragging over the clinic floor and the sobs and screams of madness that seemed to haunt the walls of the building.
She continued to look straight ahead, towards the receptionist at the front while mindlessly playing with her visitors pass. She was never too fond of the bland white and blue walls of this place, nor the plastic chairs or the bars over the windows but she grew to be familiar with them and soon enough, this place was like a second home to her.
A hand grabbed her arm tightly as she walked past the lounge. She looked towards the man while trying not to show that she was a little bit afraid. She met all sorts of mentally ill people here, meaning it was truly unpredictable what they’re able to do. But looking back into the dark chocolate brown eyes of this man, she felt strangely at ease.
“Do you want me to read your future?” he asked, with a smile that could seduce even the best of them.
But before she could even answer, he smiled knowingly and looked deep into her eyes.
“Someone is looking out for you these days; you should trust them and take a leap of fate.”
She stared back at him with disbelief in her eyes, before scoffing and pulling her hand away from the stranger.
“Believe me, no one’s looking out for me.”
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Sitting in the car of the stranger, she watched the all too familiar buildings pass her by without a care in the world. There were a million questions she wanted to ask the stranger sitting next to her, but all of her thoughts were overpowered by the peacefulness and quiet that had filled the car and even though she had learned to never trust anyone, she hadn’t felt this save and at ease in a long time.
“So, what are you running from?”
The man asked, glancing towards her for a split second.
“The cops.” She answered, shrugging her shoulders while watching her old Kindergarten pass by.
He just smiled at that and turned towards her again, “Obviously, but I mean from what are you really running right now?”
She turned to inspect him a little closer, on his silver dyed hair was a black baseball cap that had a ring in the left side. Around his neck was a camera that looked more expensive than anything she had ever owned. But what really caught her attention was the way his hands were so lazily wrapped around the steering wheel, his long fingers caressing the seam of it.
That’s when she noticed.
Changing her seating position so her back was slightly against the car door, she smirked as she tapped his shoulder with her shoes.
“You’re that weirdo from the clinic, aren’t you?”
He turned towards her, a small smile on his face “You can call me the professor.”
He could see in the corner of his eyes the face she pulled after that, “Nah, I think I actually won’t.”
She sighted, “So, where are we going?”
“I’ll bring you somewhere you can live, somewhere you can hide. And after that, I’ll let you meet the team.”
“The team? You picking up criminals regularly?” She asked with a smirk.
“Just for the last few months,” he said in a matter-of-faculty way, “I’ve got a mission for you.”
“Oh, so there is a catch,” she smiled, looking out of the window again as she noticed the car was parting from the road and heading into a forest.
“And what’s in it for me?”
The car stopped in front of what looked like an old forlorn mansion, some of its windows were broken and the façade was crumbling off the walls. It was the kind of home you’d avoid walking past when you were little, the kind your classmates would tell horror stories about.
She couldn’t think of anyone who would want to live in there, but who know she was about to be proven so wrong.
“Well, if everything goes as planned,…” the Professor unbuckled and leaned over towards her, “1.5 billion euros.”
She needed a few seconds to process, but the Professor didn’t wait for her to unlock the doors and head into one of the rooms.
After fiddling with her seatbelt, she stumbled after him into a room that looked oddly familiar like a classroom, the walls was plastered with all kinds of papers, pictures and maps and there were 7 other men, sitting in school chairs and staring back at her.
She took a deep breath, before looking back at the professor in confusion, but he only gestured towards an empty seat in the front row and waited for her to choose what her next move would be.
She could easily make a run for it, the keys were still in the car if she remembered correctly and the engine was still warm, she could try to use the money in her backpack to leave the country and maybe in a few years she could come back and visit Hakkun for a moment or two.
But no, instead she walked slowly towards her seat, plopping down and waiting for whatever would happen next, wondering what the fuck she got herself into.
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▬▬▬authors note
I really hope I didn't make any mistakes this time and I won't lose my motivation, let's get this bread!