She knew that if she exited the castle from the main gate, the guards would notice and they wouldn’t allow her to go out unless escorted. Ever since Mia was just a toddler, Hunter had made it a rule that she couldn’t go out of the castle unless accompanied by the guards or nannies or…. more guards After his marriage, River had also come in the circle of this rule.
Mia couldn’t take River because she didn’t want to put her under duress. She was already under a lot and was braving through her morning sickness At the same time, she wanted to go to Howard’s house and see if Faria had gone there. Mia felt guilty of planning it out with Faria to go and check out Natalie’s room for clues.
In order to go unnoticed, Mia went to the rear of the castle where the serv*nt quarters were. It was midnight and most of them were already sleeping A few were awake but they were either drunk or having fun in their own way. The thing she liked about Hunter was that he wasn’t strict with the serv*nts in their own version of fun. The serv*nts were omegas who had weak lycan beasts or none at all.
Mia darted to the rear gate. Since no one ever used it, brambles and vines grew all around, covering the iron bars. Mia climbed over the tall gate and then jumped to the other side. There were dense woods on the other side, but Mia knew this place very well. She hurried inside the woods. She stayed close to the boundary wall of the castle and made her way to the front. Soon she hit the road to the West Hill where Howard’s house was
West Hill was a… hill. It was a beautifully developed mound whose builder was none other than her brother. The houses were lined up in a spiral around the hill. At night lights from the houses and street lamps looked like stars dotting the ground. It was simply breathtaking.
Mia made her way to Howard’s house that was somewhere in the middle. As she began to walk on the streets, a thunder sounded in the distance. This was going to be bad if she didn’t hurry up. In order to make herself less noticeable, she had put the hoodie on her head. In order to suppress her smell, she had applied lavender oil on her body.
The streets were empty and she was thankful for that. Occasionally she would hear a rustle of leaves or a hoot of a night owl. Rodents.
Louder thunder sounded in the skies and she smelled a hint of rain in the air. “***!” she rasped. She had to hurry up or she would be soaked wet in the rain. While it was okay to return back to the castle soaked in rain, she couldn’t take the same chance in Howard’s house. She didn’t want to leave a trail of her presence. So she started running. By the time she reached his house, her chest was heaving more out of nervousness than out of breath.
Howard’s house was shrouded in darkness. She couldn’t get through the front door, so she circled the perimeter of the house. The wooden fence around it was painted ***and there was a thin line of wire intertwined in it which meant that Howard had a security system to discourage intruders.
Mia jumped over the fence, lightly landing on the other side on the soft ground. She stayed frozen, crouched on the ground for a **. There was no movement in the house. She got up a few ***later and slowly padded her way towards the house. Natalie’s room was on the first floor. She rounded the corner and came to stand right below her room’s balcony
Thunder sounded again. Winds picked up and blew around the trees with a powerful passion. The trees swayed and creaked in its wake. Strands of her hair escaped her pony and flew around her face chaotically. Lightning cr*ckled and forked in the sky, threatening to hit the ground. She had to get inside as soon as possible.
Mia tipped her head up to see the balcony that had burst into thousands of roses, she wondered that if Faria had come here, then could she not make it back? It wasn’t so hard to go back. Or was it that she was in the house, murdered? Was it possible that Howard was hiding something? So many questions
bounced in her head. She thought of backing out for a second, but then her efforts to find Faria would be futile. She had tried to find her throughout the day, but she couldn’t. Surely, Faria was in there, murdered or kept hostage.
Mia looked around the wall to find a way to climb it. Her eyes landed on a pipe. Quickly, she climbed up and jumped onto the balcony over the rose pots. “Ugh!” she muttered when her pants got caught in the thorns. She untangled it not before getting it torn. As soon as she was free of the thorns, she took a deep shaky breath. She had never ever done this kind of thing in her life. What if Howard got up and caught her? If he handed her to Hunter, Hunter would go wild.
She shoved those thoughts down. She had to find Faria, her nanny. Faria was with her ever since she was an infant. She loved that woman and even to think that Faria was in trouble made her very restless.
Mia walked to the glass door that opened in the balcony and wondered if it was locked from the inside. She pushed lightly against it and it opened. Dread surged through her. If the door was open, it could mean that Faria was inside or Howard had forgotten to close it. Goosebumps pebbled her skin. She opened it a bit more and entered Natalie’s room.
It was too dark and quiet on the inside. The room smelled of clean linen, wood and paper. She closed the door behind her as softly as possible. She had come to Natalie’s room earlier also, so she knew how to make her way through it. She took her phone out and switched on the torch. Swinging the light of the torch, she started to look for her cupboards when all of a sudden, the lights of her camera caught a dark silhouette. Mia stilled. Her heart thundered inside her ribcage and she stifled a scream. Was it was it-
1 told you not to investigate further ***!”
Mia turned sharply to run for safety outside, but a sharp needle pierced her skin on the thigh and she fell down instantly with a loud thud. “Ahhh!”
Fana was also a ******like you,” the voice that came out warbled, said. “******* *********.”
Mia’s eyes were closing fast. She tried to grab the person who was now sitting next to her, but her hands were limp. She wanted to cry for help. but her tongue was swollen. A cloth covered her face. Darkness surrounded her rapidly. Mia passed out.
