It took Rhénee almost half an hour to comfort Miss Griselda. She was soon fast asleep on Rhénee's bed with a help of a sedative. When Rhénee was sure that she was deep in her sleep, she left Miss Griselda's side and headed out for the door.
She found Kevin waiting in the hall, outside Miss Griselda's room with Sophie right beside him.
"How is she?" Kevin asked as Rhénee got closer to him.
"Not good," Rhénee answered. "Whatever's in that bathroom, it really terrified her."
"It will make you terrified too."
Rhénee gulped as she stared at the door of Miss Griselda's room. Did she really want to go in there? Miss Griselda told her not to. But she wanted to know.
"Do you want to go in?" Kevin asked. He saw the look on Rhénee's face.
"I have to know. I'm curious."
"I hope you don't mind, I called Malcom and Greta over. This may concern them too."
Rhénee knew for Kevin to call them, they were dealing with something serious.
"It's okay," said Rhénee. "I better go in there."
"I'll come with you."
Rhénee smiled at Kevin. She was glad she was going in with someone. Who knew what she would find.
Kevin led the way into the room and Rhénee followed with Sophie trailing behind her. The cat didn't seem afraid about the whole thing. Rhénee admired the courage the black cat portrayed. For a minute, she felt she would trade places with it.
As they neared the bathroom, Rhénee took in deep breaths, hoping that she wasn't going to see some gruesome scene. But she was counting that she would.
Kevin reached the door of the bathroom and slowly turned the handle. He drew the door open and he looked at Rhénee.
"Are you ready?" he asked.
Rhénee gulped. She looked down at Sophie who was also looking back at her. Rhénee went back to looking at Kevin.
"Yes, am ready," she answered.
Rhénee went round Kevin and before she could even step inside the bathroom, she stopped. Straight from the door, was the bathroom mirror directly facing her. But this time, Rhénee couldn't see her reflection as it was covered in red ink, or was it blood?
Rhénee gasped as soon as she noticed that it was blood. Large droplets of it also covered the sink below the mirror. What shocked her even more was what was written on the mirror. The message read:
"You know what you did! I'm coming for you next!"
"Oh my goodness," said Rhénee as she backed away from the door, her hand covering her mouth. "Does that mean Miss Griselda is in danger?"
"I'm afraid so," said Kevin as he came to stand beside her.
"But who could do this?"
"I feel we're dealing with one and the same person here."
"Do you mean the stranger whom I talked to over the phone?"
"Yes."
"This doesn't seem right. I mean, he's already troubling me with this nonsense about the cottage. Why would he trouble Miss Griselda? And with blood for that matter."
"I don't know. But the way I see it, it seems Miss Griselda knows what the message is all about. She seemed tormented by it."
Rhénee went back to looking at the bloody message on the mirror. This time she made sure to read it more carefully. "You know what you did" was the first sentence. Could it be that Miss Griselda had done something? For that message to be up on that mirror, the person must know what Miss Griselda had done.
"I'm so confused," said Rhénee as she looked at Kevin. "What did Miss Griselda do? I'm afraid if I ask her, she will just get upset."
"You're right. Whatever she isn't telling us, she will make sure to keep it to herself no matter what."
"Meaning we will have to figure it out for ourselves."
Kevin nodded his head. Rhénee shook her head in disbelief. Now she had another mystery to solve apart from her grandmother's death, the cottage in the forest and the sapphire necklace. She couldn't help but feel that she was responsible for what's happening to Miss Griselda. What if Kevin was right and the man over the phone was the one who left the message for Miss Griselda on the mirror? He did warn Rhénee that if she involved anyone in all this, there will be serious consequences. What if this was just one of them?
"How long till Greta and Malcom get here?" Rhénee asked.
"Not long," Kevin asked. "Are you having second thoughts about going to the forest?"
Rhénee bit her lip and placed her hands on her hips. She went back to looking at the mirror. She could easily just call off their plan. The others were willing to go with her because of the promise they had made to her late grandmother. Whatever the late Emelda had been up to, it was leading people to lay their lives on the line, especially for Rhénee.
"I don't know," Rhénee said.
"If you think of going there alone, that isn't an option for you."
Rhénee raised an eyebrow at Kevin. "You sound just like my dad, you know?"
"Sorry," Kevin looked startled by her comment. "Is that a bad thing?"
Rhénee didn't know how to answer him as she was confused. She didn't know how she brought up her dad into the conversation. She hadn't thought of him in what felt like forever. She had had enough of thinking of what to do about what was going on and now her father had suddenly appeared in her thoughts. She felt like whacking her brains so as to get herself back on track.
"No, sorry," said Rhénee, regretting for saying that out loud. "I didn't mean to-"
"Hey," Kevin held her shoulders. "You need to relax, okay? You've had a stressful few hours already. Before the others get here, I think you better go take a shower. It will do you some good."
Rhénee felt a sudden sense of warmth from the way Kevin held her shoulders and the way he looked into her eyes as he spoke to her. She was captivated by his eyes. For a moment, she felt lost in them that she forgot where she was. It was until she felt something lightly brush against her leg that she snapped out of the trance she was in. She realised what had happened that she ended up blushing and looking down at her feet.
Sophie's long black tail was what brought her back down to earth. Sophie looked up at Rhénee as though she knew that doing that was necessary. Rhénee could already imagine what the cat would have said if it could secretly talk to her, "I had to do that. You're welcome."
"Ya, you're right," said Rhénee as she went back to looking at Kevin, trying to shake off the thought of a talking cat. "I need to take a shower."
Kevin nodded his head as he dropped his hands from Rhénee's shoulders. "I'll be waiting for the others downstairs," he said.
Rhénee nodded back and quickly went out of the room, with Sophie following close on her heels.
Kevin remained behind. He was worried about Rhénee and he hoped she wasn't going to change her mind and end up going to the cottage alone. He had Emelda's promise to keep. And he was slowly growing fond of Rhénee, that he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.
Kevin went back to looking at the mirror in the bathroom reading those horrifying words. He wondered how anyone could have entered the house unnoticed to do such a thing. He entered the bathroom and looked up at the windows above the bathtub, close to the roof. They were tightly closed shut. No one could come in that way and it was way above the ground from outside. Besides, the window was also too small to fit an average sized person.
Whoever had come in might have had access to the front door or some place else. Which was which?
Before Kevin could turn around to head back to the bedroom, he noticed something in the sink. There was a small red pool of blood and Kevin almost looked away when he saw what was swimming in it. A cut out human index finger.
***
Malcom was waiting in the car for his sister outside their house. After receiving the call from Kevin, he really wanted to go over to Rhénee's, quickly. But Greta seemed to be taking too long in the house doing God knows what.
They had to get away before their mother notices that they were gone. After the little incident at the house some nights before, she became alert with what goes on in the house. She was also one who didn't get comfortable around anyone very lightly. She considered people untrustworthy, including her own children.
Malcom heard footsteps and he looked into the rearview mirror. He saw his sister, rushing to his car. He sighed in relief. For a moment, he thought his mother had caught her going out in the last minute.
"Sorry," said Greta as she came into passenger's front seat.
"What took you so long?" Malcom asked as he started the car engine.
"I forgot my phone in my room. And when I was trying to leave, mum was in the hall talking to one of the house help."
The car started to move out of the premises.
"I'm glad you got out in time," said Malcom. "I was going to leave you."
"I would have easily followed you if I wanted. I also have a car, you know?"
Malcom just rolled his eyes without looking at her. As much as he loved his sister, he had to admit that there were things about her that he found really annoying. But he just had to live with it as her older brother.
Just as his car made it's way out through the gate and made a turn on the road, Malcom noticed a black Ferrari sports car coming from the opposite direction. The Ferrari's indicator turned on and it was then that Malcom realised that the Ferrai was making a turn for his mother's house. He looked at the rearview mirror as he drove, and indeed, the Ferrai did make a turn and went through the gate. Greta noticed it too as she looked behind her on her seat.
"Is mum expecting visitors?" Malcom asked.
"None that I know of," said Greta.
"I couldn't see who the person driving that car was. Did you?"
"No. The windows were tinted. But there is only one person I know who owns a Ferrai around here."
"Who?"
"Ummm," Greta snapped her fingers as she tried to remember. "I remember I was talking about it with some friends when we met some time ago."
"Really? How can you not remember?"
Greta turned to look at her brother with an annoyed look on her face. "Can't you see I'm trying to? You're making me lose focus."
"Sorry," he said, not really meaning it and Greta knew it herself as she folded her arms and sighed.
"Have you remembered now?" Malcom asked after a few moments of silence.
"Goodness, Malcom," said Greta, looking irritated. "Leave it be. Whoever it is, it doesn't even matter to us anyway."
"Everyone who visits mum at this time does matter. Even her closet friends."
"Whatever. We have to get to Rhénee's."
"Doesn't it bother you that mum tried to poison Rhénee at the party?"
"It does. We already know that mum has been up to no good. She's the reason why dad isn't-"
"Greta." Malcom sounded strict and firm, even when he didn't raise his voice. "You know how I hate talking about dad."
Greta knew she had slipped there as she placed her hand on her mouth. For a moment, she was worried that she might have struck a nerve like she always does, but Malcom didn't show any signs of anger as he continued to drive the car.
"I'm really sorry," said Greta. She went back to looking at the road in front of her. "I didn't mean to talk about him like that."
"I know. I just miss him. That's all."
"I know helping Rhénee out with all this is taking a toll on you because you're convinced that mum is involved-"
"Well, isn't she?" Malcom interrupted her.
"She is. Well, kind of. Last time you weren't pretty convinced about it either. Look, all I'm trying to say is, you don't have to feel bad about what happened to dad. And I can tell you're afraid that what might have happened to him, could happen to Rhénee too. I get it."
Malcom didn't say anything. But with each second that passed, his demeanor went from stoic to sad. Talking about his father was a touching subject for him. No one ever talked about him at home not even his own mother. Why would she even try to bring him up when she was the reason why he wasn't around?
Before Malcom could set his mind on the past, he soon came back to reality, focusing on the road as they were now at the town centre. Soon, they were in the little neighbourhood where Rhénee's house was situated. Within a few minutes, Greta and Malcom found themselves at the front gate of Rhénee's mansion.
"This place always seems to amaze me," said Greta.
Malcom extended his arm out of the car window so as to press the bell alarm next to the gate. "Why is that?" he asked.
"From the green lawns and beautiful flowers, to the gate and the house, everything is just magnificent."
"Well, Mr. Sinclair did maintain the place by hiring back it's workers. No wonder the place looks like a masterpiece."
Greta suddenly jumped in her seat as soon as the gate in front of her automatically drew open. Malcom for a moment, didn't understand why Greta jumped the way she did. She seemed excited for some reason. Malcom put the car in drive and the vehicle drove up to the house. The gate was left wide open behind them.
"OMG!" Greta said excitedly. "I know who the owner of that Ferrari is."
"You do?" Malcom asked as the car went round the fountain on the driveway and packed in front of the house.
"Yes. It's Mr. Sinclair's."
"Mr. Sinclair owns a Ferrari? I usually see him driving his luxury Ford."
"He's a lawyer. He can have as many cars as he wants. I'm telling you, that's his car."
Malcom shrugged his shoulder as he turned off the car engine. "If you say so. But what would he be visiting mum for? He's not her lawyer and they aren't very close friends."
"Maybe they are friends and we just never knew. We can't know all of mum's friends."
"If they really are friends, why wasn't he invited to her party that she was hosting for Rhénee?"
"Maybe he was on the guest list and he didn't show up because he had other things to worry about."
"No, Greta. He wasn't on it. I checked it out myself. If he's name was there, I would have known. It's not that hard to miss."
"Ya, you've a point. Then why was he going to our house?"
"That's something to worry about for another day. Let's go."
As soon as Greta and Malcom got out of the car, the front door of the mansion drew open and Kevin stepped out.
"Hey, Kevin," said Greta as she and her brother went up to the doorstep. "How is Rhénee doing?"
"She's fine, just a little shocked," said Kevin as he made way for the two of them to enter the house. "Miss Griselda is the one we should really be worried about."
"It's that bad, huh?" Malcom asked as they stepped into the foyer.
"It's awful." Kevin closed the door behind him and he soon went ahead of the others so as to lead the way to Miss Griselda's room.
"I hope what you're going to show us isn't so scary," said Greta as they approached the stairs and made their way up.
"Then I recommend you wait outside the room," said Kevin. "You need to have a strong stomach for what you're about to see."
"Knowing her, she probably would want to see," said Malcom as they soon got up to the landing.
"I'm not that scared of anything," Greta said. "I'm going to see this thing with you."
"Okay, if you insist," said Kevin as he made his way towards Miss Griselda's room and opened the door.
Kevin led the way into the room with the other two right behind him. He approached the bathroom, the door to it was wide open. When Greta and Malcom saw what was inside, Greta ended up squeaking in fright that she jumped behind her brother.
"What the heck?" she said as she slowly looked into the bathroom. "Is this some kind of a horror movie?"
"Seems too soon to be a Halloween prank either," said Malcom, as he read what was written on the mirror.
"Whoever wrote this," said Kevin, "was directly sending the message to Miss Griselda. You should have seen her reaction. Someone is messing with her mind."
"They have messed up mine too," said Greta.
"Poor Miss Griselda," said Malcom. "I can only imagine what she's going through right now."
"We gave her a sedative to calm her down," said Kevin. "She's resting in Rhénee's room as we speak."
"And what of Rhénee? Where is she?" Greta asked.
"She's taking a shower."
"I better go and see how Miss Griselda is doing. You two can take care of this bloody mess, right?"
"We're big boys, Greta," said Malcom as he slightly turned his head to look at his sister behind him. "We will handle it."
Greta would have pulled a tongue out at Malcom for being so corky, but she didn't want to look childish in front of Kevin. So, she quickly started to walk out of the room when she stopped and turned to look at Kevin.
"Wait, which is Rhénee's room?" Greta asked.
"The last room down the hall," Kevin answered.
"Thanks," she said and she was soon out through the door.
"Who do you think did this?" Malcom asked.
"Rhénee and I were thinking it was the man she talked to over the phone," Kevin answered. "It must be him. For him to do this, something tells me he knows what Miss Griselda had done in the past and she knows it too."
"Asking her about it will be pointless. If she's been keeping whatever this secret is that even the mysterious stranger knows about, for so long, getting her to talk will be just as difficult."
"Do you think this secret has something to do with the late Emelda?"
Malcom looked at Kevin with an eyebrow raised and he asked, "why do you say that?"
"I just have a hunch. What secret does Miss Griselda and this person share?"
"Whatever it is, it's not a secret for Miss Griselda anymore."
"Malcom! Kevin!" came Greta's voice, shouting at the top of her lungs. "Come here quick!"
Kevin and Malcom quickly rushed out of Miss Griselda's room and headed towards Rhénee's. When they got there, they found Miss Griselda, still asleep on Rhénee's bed and Greta, standing in the middle of the room.
"What is it?" Kevin asked as he went to check on Miss Griselda. "Is she alright?"
"No, she's fine," Greta answered.
"Then why are you shouting on top of your voice like that?" Malcom asked. "You'll disturb her."
"It's Rhénee. She isn't here."
"Isn't she in the bathroom?" Kevin asked.
"She isn't. The bathroom is empty."
Malcom quickly rushed to the bathroom and opened the door. The room still felt damp and misty, a sign that someone had just taken a hot shower. But there was no one in the room. He went back into the bathroom and he noticed a purple bathrobe and pyjamas on the bed next to the sleeping Miss Griselda.
"Could it be that she just went out in the garden?" Malcom asked.
"That's strange," said Kevin. "I was waiting downstairs for you two. I would have seen her go out through the back or the front door."
"Could she have jumped out through the balcony?" Greta asked.
The three of them turned towards the balcony and they noticed the doors were wide open. Kevin went over to check. He was more than convinced that Rhénee had somehow managed to get down through the balcony with the help of the pipe next to it.
"Damn it!" Kevin muttered as he brought himself back in. "She's going to the cottage by herself."
"She couldn't have gone far," said Malcom. "We can still catch up to her."
"Greta, can you stay here and check on Miss Griselda till we get back?" Kevin asked as he looked at her.
"Ya, sure," said Greta.
"Let's go," Kevin said to Malcom and the two rushed out of the room.
"Do you have any idea where the cottage is located?" Malcom asked as they rushed down the stairs.
"No, Rhénee didn't tell me where," said Kevin. "It could be anywhere in the woods."
The two of them approached the front door and they were soon out of the house. They headed for Malcom's car.
"I think I know who to ask," said Malcom as he unlocked the door to his car.
"Who?" Kevin asked as he was on the passenger side.
"Miss Marie. Rhénee might know the cottage's location, but I have a feeling Miss Marie knows the exact spot."
"How are you so sure?"
Malcom smiled at Kevin. "As far as I have known, Miss Marie is rumoured to like taking long walks in the woods. And if she really was friends with the late Emelda, she knows where the cottage is. Come on, we don't have much time."
Kevin and Malcom went into the car. Malcom started the engine and the car drove out of the premises, through the open gate.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
