Page 29 of Autumn Secrets

“Okay. Thanks, Mia. Well, I better go. Mum is calling me,” I said, feeling guilty as I delivered another lie to my new friend. I wasn’t normally a liar, but somehow it was starting to become a nasty, but familiar habit.

As soon as we hung up, I grabbed my jacket and the car keys and drove towards Angel Falls. I wasn’t sure what my plan was exactly, but I needed to try and find some answers somewhere. This whole thing was driving me crazy.

I didn’t meet a single car on my way in, and the town looked deserted. I drove through the centre of town and kept travelling south.

After another ten minutes, I turned off the main road and continued through the beautiful forestry. I wanted to go back to Julian’s house and see if my memory would come back to me. Then, I needed to find Lexi. If Julian was home, he could give me Luca’s address, just in case Lexi wasn’t at home or continued to not answer her phone.

The afternoon sun was highlighting the beautiful landscape that makes me love this part of the world. It was so peaceful here that it almost made me forget about my mission. A few minutes later I spotted the big house in front of me, and felt my stomach turn inside out. It looked different in the daylight – empty, like no one lived there.

I parked my car outside the entrance and jumped out. I stood there for a while and looked up at the house, while I tried to settle my nerves. There was a reason I felt this way and I needed to understand why. Determined, I walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell.

I waited patiently, but I couldn’t hear anyone approaching the door, so I tried the doorbell one more time. After waiting another few minutes, I put my hand on the doorhandle and gently pushed. To my surprise, the door was unlocked. I hesitated for a second, then my overwhelming need for answers took over, so I opened the door and stepped inside.

“Hello?”

Nothing but silence greeted me. I hesitated for a moment, then took another step and closed the door carefully behind me. I tried to listen for any clues that would tell me that I wasn’t alone in this big house, but it seemed completely deserted. I took off to the left and entered the old ballroom that we had danced in last night. It looked even bigger in daylight. My eyes darted to the opposite end, where I thought I’d sneaked through the mystery door last night, but there was still no door there. There were chairs piled up on top of each other and a few tables in the other corner, but definitely no door.

I realised then, that there was no way you could reach the second floor from here, because the ballroom was a single-level extension of the house. I hadn’t noticed that last night. I let my eyes sweep across the massive room one more time, before I turned and left. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all? It just made me feel more confused.

Back in the hallway I stopped and listened again for any signs of life, but I seemed to be the only one here. The other stairwell, to the right, tempted me to keep searching for answers. What did I care about trespassing at this stage? I needed to know what had happened to me and I had a feeling that those answers were upstairs.

“Hello, anyone home?” I tried again, just to be sure I was alone. I grabbed the railing and started climbing the stairs. This was certainly not the same staircase I’d gone up the night before. This one was straight and wide, covered with a soft, white carpet. Something had definitely happened to me inthis house though, and I felt more and more determined to find out the truth with every step I took.

When I finally reached the second floor, I stopped for a minute to catch my breath. My heart was hammering against my ribcage. I’d never done anything like this before, and I was equally excited and terrified. I wondered where Julian was, and what he would say if he found me up here. What would be my excuse? Or worse, what if his parents came home? Well, it was too late now. I was already here, and I refused to leave until I’d seen every inch of this floor. I decided to head to the right first, and I found myself in the long hallway I’d been walking through last night.

Without hesitation I knew this was it. I felt a rise of panic in my chest. What had happened to me up here last night? The long hallway was bathed in a soft light, just like it had been the night before. I had to force myself to calm down, and not turn around and run as far as possible from this creepy place. I had to do this.

I glanced at my surroundings, and a memory came back to me. The portraits. There were so many portraits on the walls, but there was one in particular that had stood out to me last night. My eyes desperately searched the wall next to me, even though I knew I had to walk further down to find it.

I forced myself to move my feet from their frozen spot on the soft carpet. I studied every portrait that I walked past carefully, but none of them looked familiar. Halfway down the hall, I stopped. There was an empty space between two of the portraits, with only a hook in the wall. Was that the one I was looking for? But why would someone take it down? Because they didn’t want me to see it? No. That made no sense at all. I had no connection to these people on the wall, or to this house for that matter. But then I remembered my grandmother’s words in my dream:Beware of the signs, Aurora.

I looked at the empty space on the wall.Someone would have gone to quite an effort to make sure I wouldn’t find it. If that was the case, I couldn’t figure outwhy. There were still too many missing pieces to make sense out of anything at this point.

Another chill travelled down my spine and sent my heart racing again, and I knew it was time to leave. I turned around and ran back down the stairs. When I reached for the doorhandle, I thought that I had made it out unnoticed. I was safe. However, I suddenly found myself staring into the dark eyes of the party host from last night.

“Julian…” I said with a shaky voice and took a step back. I found myself inside the house again.

“Aurora, what are you doing here?” he asked in a smooth tone and followed me through the door, closing it behind him. I swallowed nervously and tried to come up with something to say. What was my excuse for letting myself into his home?

“I-I was looking for my handbag, and the door was open. I was waiting for someone to come…”

He tilted his head to the side, his black eyes boring into me. We stood there in complete silence for what felt like eternity. Could he tell that I was lying? I started chewing on my bottom lip, as a slow grin appeared across his face.

“Aurora, don’t worry. You’re most welcome to visit me any time. You took me by surprise, that’s all. A good surprise though.” He smiled. “Come on, I’ll help you look for your handbag.” He walked past me, and I turned and followed him towards the kitchen.

“Are you thirsty?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Uh, sure…”

He threw his keys on the dining table. “Have a seat.”

I sat down and watched him search the fridge for something to drink, just like he’d done the night before. I clearly remembered how close we’d come to kissing each other in here. I wondered if Julian had been drunk last night and didn’t remember any of it? Wouldn’t he have said something by now? It felt a little bit weird. I mean, were we supposed to pretend it never happened?

“Well, there’s not much to choose from, unless you want something stronger to drink, but I remember you told me you’re not a keen drinker.”

“That’s okay. Really, don’t worry about it—”

“Ahh, wait! Here we go,” Julian interrupted and smiled. “Lemonade?”