Marcel Audrey the Greatest Equalizer

Chapter 6: History

Marcel entered while Dr Phil and the other two men left. He wasn't sure of the adjective to qualify the apartment. From outside it appeared average in size but here it appeared like a different house in another house.

The apartment was duly arranged ranging from the study room to the bar to the bedroom. It was like every detail mattered. He can swear that no dirt or microorganism has ever graced the apartment.

"It is good to see you again boy, you have grown into a man since the last time I saw you"

The gruesome voice of an unseen figure said.

This jolted Marcel who looked around the room to see who was speaking but mysteriously he couldn't see any. He wasn't sure on what to reply or do hence he kept mute.

"Is alright son, don't be afraid, I know that feeling, I felt the same way the first day I was introduced to this fam.., ehm well to whatever you can call it"

"Ok sir but where are you, I can't see anyone here" Marcel replied with a shaky voice as he trace the direction where the voice was coming from.

"Oh! Yeah forgive my inadequacy, give me a minute"

"Ok sir"

Just then Marcel's eye got hold of a portrait of two handsome looking men with an older looking man in between them. Their striking resemblance amazed him.

"Look at you, you are now a man" An old man in his late seventies said while grinning. He went close to Marcel and hugged him. He fondled him and kissed him on his forehead. The man was evidently tall as he could kiss the forehead of 6 feet 5 inches Marcel without straining his neck. His eyes were red, clearly ripe for tears but he couldn't spoil the moment as he forced it back.

"Bless be to God who made this day to be" He said with utmost sincerity and gratitude.

Marcel was perplexed as he preyed his gaze on the man. He wasn't sure of how to feel, he still found himself in the dark. 'What is going on?' He asked himself. At this juncture he strained his memory to know if he has seen the face before but still nothing

"Am sorry for that but I needed to do it, please have a seat " he clears his eyes and forces a smile to ease the tense emotionally plagued atmosphere.

Marcel carefully finds himself a seat just directly opposite him. He was shy hence he always had his head bent or twisted to one direction or the other though he occasionally stole some glances on the old man who he still failed to understand how they were related.

"What's your poison?" He asked with a heart warming smile while pouring some drink inside the cup tumbler.

"I'm ok sir"

"Ok, but you must know that you're an Audrey and anything you wish for you can surely have" He said with sureness and authority.

Marcel nodded his head in affirmation.

"I know you have many pestering questions but before that I want to apologize wholeheartedly for your state. I was acquainted with your plight both within and outside your University but I want you to know that all these are now behind you."

He pauses and then said "The ointment has gone a long way in your body and I believe that this is just the beginning "

Marcel was confused by this last statement of his. Little did he know that all these transformations, healing and upgrades were due to a powerful and mythical ointment called the Solive of Winslow. Termed mythical because its existence has been strongly denied, it was accredited to be a product of some fallacious stories. Science and realists couldn't believe that any natural element has the power and ability to heal all conditions, diseases, injuries and most importantly causes a remarkable transformation both physically, mentally, intellectually , psychologically and medically to a certain group of people called the sons of Winslow.

It is an ancient piece dated back to the time of Aristotle. The Audrey are luckily to be one of the Winslow, their ancestors.

"Forgive me sir but I think you guys are mistaking me for someone else "

Hahaha! The old man, Mr Audrey laughs softly

"No , we are not mistaken, if we were you won't be alive because the ointment being administered to you will kill you instead of saving you besides there is a tattoo on at the proximal end of your left arm"

Marcel was stunned and frightened, for the first time in his life someone saw the tattoo that had been on his arm since the first day that he saw it. It shocked him because no one had ever seen it. The tattoo is only visible only when a candle light is shone on it. It has been invisible to everyone except these people. 'What in the name of God are these people?' He asked with worries written all over his face. This tattoo was peculiar to the Audrey family, another symbol of identification.

"Calm down son, I'm Terry Audrey and I'm your grandfather. We have been searching for you for fifteen years now ever since the ugly incident that changed all our lives. You were the only survivor in a fatal car accident, an accident that we believe was premeditated. We lost your father, my son that day, on 29th of October 2000 though you lost your mother and your younger brother, Danny too." He hands an old newspaper to Marcel, a scene of the accident

"You must know that your parents loved you so much, it is a shame you never saw how good they were. You survived but you were rescued by an unknown person though we believe this person deliberately saved you but instead of getting you to us he left you to the care of the people you believed to be your parents. I feel guilty for not finding you on time please forgive our inefficiency " He mumbles as he cleans his eyes with a handkerchief.

Marcel could feel tears forcing their way out of his eyes. He felt emotional as he heard the tragic story from his grandfather. He could tell from the portrait that he saw earlier that his grandfather was the one in the middle while his father and the other unidentified one were the ones beside him. He was sober, gloomy and sad. He now understands why the relatives of his foster family hated and despised him. They never saw him as part of the family hence they never wasted time to leave him with nothing when they died.

"Is alright son, all this is behind you now. I won't promise you that it will be an easy journey but I'm sure of one thing and that's that you are now going to live the life that you deserve. A life that everyone dreams of and ironically has seemed to elude them. This is your time, your time is now . It is time for you to take over our family empire"