Secrets of the Past

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was odd, to say the least. The envelope was fresh, and the ink used to write her name was still glossy. Whoever had kept the envelope here wasn't far off and it hadn't been a while ago since it was dropped.

Anna decided that was true as she pondered about it. The wind would have blown it away long ago if the envelope had been there for more than an hour. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the piece of paper and the handwriting on it, hoping to recognize it. She was unsuccessful.

So why was she still staring at it? Anna gulped, wondering why she couldn't bring herself to open the envelope. She was just begging for answers a few minutes ago on the bus, the paper in her hand most likely had all the answers she needed. So why was she hesitating?

A loud thud made her spin around impulsively. The sad look on the face of her rolling duffel bag made her feel guilty as she realized she had abandoned it by the wayside. She bit her lip as she hurried after it.

“I'm going to need a car, dear God,” Anna muttered to herself. She grabbed her duffel bag and a smaller one that sat beside it as she slowly unlocked the front door and stepped into the house.

The smell of chocolate reeked the air. Anna looked around the kitchen, wondering if her grandmother's ghost still spent time in the house making the delicious chocolate Anna vaguely remembered she used to make.

Her eyes caught her brown briefcase waiting by the wayside. Anna facepalmed and hurried out of the front door. “Sorry,” she said to the object, almost as if she expected a reply. “I almost forgot you too.”

As Anna returned to the house, the brown briefcase clutched tight under her armpit, a feeling of uneasiness weighed on her, compelling her to look down the road to her right. It was quite usual for streets like this one to have coffee shops and small businesses but what was weird about this particular coffee shop was that it looked. . . 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥.

Anna frowned. Surely a coffee shop shouldn't be that derelict. And yet again, it was. The door was wide open and the cup of coffee sign standing by the side of the building was hanging on by a thread. The building wasn't in use anymore, Anna concluded. But why hasn't anyone thought to purchase it to start a business of theirs? Especially in such a populated street.

Anna shook away the thought and returned to her house. The uneasiness remained still. As she moved everything in place, cleaning up the extremely dusty house, Anna found herself continuously looking over her shoulder. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘥, she thought to herself. Well, who wouldn't be in such a quiet odd house?

She tried to laugh at the feeling that she was being watched. Spied on. But she was unsuccessful with that too. With every move she made Anna had the feeling that someone was peering at her, observing her so keenly that they could write an essay on her activities that day seven years from now.

What was she forgetting? Something that had been intriguing her so much a few minutes ago. What was it?

Resting on the kitchen table was the envelope and a horrid look painted itself on Anna's face.

𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵. Her mind kept speaking to her. This time clearer and louder than it usually did. Maybe it was whoever had kept the envelope that was watching her. Waiting to see her reaction to whatever was written inside. Maybe if she'd just open it, whoever it was would go away. And so would this feeling of uneasiness.

Anna grabbed the envelope quickly not letting another thought crawl into her head and she started to rip it open.

But there was a noise. Anna's ears perked. What was it?

It rang again. The door? What kind of weird doorbell did her grandmother install? The next sound was a knock. Anna believed that whoever had rung the bell was as disconcerted about the sound as she was.

But who could it be? The first name that swam into her mind was Larry. Of course, it was Larry, he knew where she was going and when. Maybe he had followed her, so they'll both be alone in a city far away from where he lived. And now they were alone and he could finally end her. Kill her. The whole company would be his with no one left to contest him for it. Larry was smart and this was a really smart thing to do.

Anna started to panic.

But it could be Jason. Here for revenge even though he was not completely healed. Revenge had a way to fuel and drive someone, doesn't it? Jason could be on the other side of that door holding a weapon in his hand to strike her down.

Or an assassin sent by any of them. . . or both of them! They could be in this together. Larry and Jason. This could be—

Another knock.

Anna reached for the knife holder by the side of the kitchen sink and firmly pulled out a large sharp blade, not bothering to even look at the weapon. She slowly approached the door, forcing the envelope into the back pocket of her denim jeans.

“Who's it?” she asked loudly as she placed her hand on the nob. No response.

“Larry? Is that you? Jason?”

Still no response.

Anna took a deep terrified breath as she opened the door quickly, raising the knife in readiness to defend herself.

“Woah, woah, woah!” A tall slender Canadian man stood in front of Anna. A surprised look on his face as he raised his hand to shield himself from Anna's blade. The same handheld a huge wine bottle. Anna's eyes narrowed as she stared at the man, dumbstruck.

“Alvin?” she asked. A small gasp escaped her lungs as she noticed how grown-up her high school friend was. “Alvin!”

“Yup, the one and only,” the man replied with a nervous smile. “Why uhm. . . why the knife?”

Anna realized she still had her hand high in the air clutching tight to the kitchen utensil and so she slowly brought it down, giggling. “Oh, I'll explain later. I just. . . Alvin?”

“Yup, it's me,” Alvin replied, waving with the wine bottle hand. He opened his arms wide open and pulled her into his muscular chest

“Still as hot as ever,” Anna thought to herself.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he said as they unwound their arms and smiled back at each other.

“Come on in,” Anna invited, making way for him to pass through. “Come on.”

He stepped into the house gingerly, a part of him happy to see his high school friend while another part wondered why she had tried to attack him.

“I heard you were here so I wanted to you know. . . welcome you.” Alvin placed the wine bottle on top of the kitchen unit and turned to face her.

“Thanks, Al,” Anna replied, dropping the knife back into the holder. “Who told you I was back?”

“Larry.”

Anna halted. What? Why would Larry do that? Could Alvin be here for another reason? Did Larry send him? Is Alvin going to kill her—

“Okay, Anna. You're acting weird. I haven't seen you for what? Fourteen, fifteen years? And this is the version of you I get?”

Anna rubbed her forehead. “You're right, Al. I'm sorry. It's just that I got a lot on my mind right now. I am really happy to see you though, you've got no idea.”

“Lay it all on me,” Alvin grabbed the wine bottle and glass then sat beside the kitchen table as he effortlessly opened the bottle cap. “That's what I'm here for anyway...to make sure you’re ok. We have a lot to catch up on. What's up?”

Anna watched Alvin pour a good amount of the wine into his glass cup and gulp it hurriedly down his throat. The earlier suspicion she had that the drink might have been laced, disappeared. Alvin has always been much of a listener and he renders great advice most times…problem is, he doesn’t use that advice on himself

“Well, I'm having some family issues at home,” Anna declared as she sat beside him on the kitchen table, pouring herself her glass. “Everyone is acting so weird and untrustworthy. I just needed to get out of there and find a place to rest for a little.”

“Yeah, I feel you,” Alvin said, “You know I've also been h—”

“Did you see the coffee shop down the road to the right?” Anna's question spurred out.

“Uhm. . .”

“It was really weird, wasn't it?” she asked again. “Deserted like no one is using it and no one wants to use it.”

“Yeah, well someone is eventually going to buy it,” Alvin replied

Anna looked closely at him before letting out a sigh as she gulped down what was left in her glass. “I guess so, yeah.”

“I've got a story for you, Anna!” Alvin said with unsure enthusiasm.

“Really?”

“Yup. . .”

There was a short silence as they both stared at each other. Anna awaited him to begin his story and Alvin awaited the go-ahead order. Eventually, he gave up and just started talking.

“I'm bankrupt!” he slowly let out. His eyes looked distant like a buried pain had just sprung up again.

A short moment past before Anna burst out into laughter, the wine glass in her hand threatening to fall if she kept jiggling like a jester.

“What?” Alvin asked in a confused manner.

“You?” Anna asked with a pointing stare. “Bankrupt?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Alvin did his best to keep his story as short as he could. His parents had cut him off from the family money and he was left to manage on his own with basically nothing.

Anna listened to his tale with a very bantam amount of interest but the story instantly engrossed her in his next statement.

“. . . and I've got three of my ex-girlfriends kidnapped with me as the prime suspect.”

Anna raised her left brow as she struck him with a look of suspicion. “Ex-girlfriends?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

Her death stare remained as she waited for him to understand. “Alvin?”

Alvin almost laughed when he finally grasped the context of her deathly glare. A smug smile on his face. “Oh c'mon, Anna. We were 9 and 11. What could have possibly happened between us.”

“Mhm, hmm. So you're saying I'm safe?” Anna asked jokingly.

A loud cackle exploded from Alvin's ribs. He still had that high pitch shriek of laughter he had when they were younger. “Of course you're safe, what are you talking about? Just be careful. This town isn’t as safe as it used to be”

The binoculars turned off and the woman put them back into her briefcase. She opened the takeout that sat beside her and started to stuff her face with a large creamy hotdog as she stared into the house Alvin had walked into. Almost as if she could look through the walls.

What was Alvin doing in this woman's house, she wondered. And who was this woman by the way? She quickly wrote down the home address as she chewed roughly on her hotdog. Following Alvin had been too much work from day one, especially because the man never sat his bum in one place.

She hissed. “I have a lot of work to do”.