CHAPTER 8

"When no one believes you,

Then it's time to start believing in yourself.

Because you know, you're right!"

Marietta P.O.V

I opened my eyes and saw a familiar white ceiling. I hurriedly shifted into a sitting position and stared at my surroundings, doubtful and confused.

After staring at the room which was my own for 10 minutes, I slipped out of the bed. I was still wearing those party outfit, which was wholly covered in mud and dirt.

Was it a nightmare?

I looked around as confused as hell. If it was only a dream then why it felt so real? As if, it was real and happened to me. Why those feelings felt so real? I went to the bathroom and stare at my reflection in the mirror.

It was as same as I saw in my nightmare or dream or whatever it was. Face, arms, outfits, all trimmed in the mud. If it was a nightmare then where this mud came from? I rubbed my temples frustratedly.

I tried to remember what happened last time with me but nothing came out except the dizziness like everything around me started to twirl. I gripped the table so that I won't end up on the floor.

When I felt a little better, I opened my eyes and splashed some water on my face. Then I took a warm bath to calm my nerves. Might be it could help me to remember something.

After taking a long bath, I slid in a dusty-pink dress which ended just below my knees. Letting my hair fall on my shoulder, I walked out of my room.

My phone was nowhere to be seen. Did anyone know where I have forgotten it? Might be somewhere along with my memory.

With confusion and lots of questions, I descended the stairs and found a terrible silence in the air. That irked me in a very bad manner.

I trekked towards the kitchen and found Anna who was giving orders to maids. Her appearance made a weird knot inside my stomach. She had worn a black dress and her hairs were tied up in a tight bun. While her expressions were as straight as ice.

"They'll be back any time. So, try to prepare the lunch as soon as possible according to the menu I had given and if Ma'am Emily woke up inform me immediately. Is that clear?" She said with eyes fixed on her iPad.

I looked at the wall clock of the kitchen and it showed 12:30 pm. My eyes grew big. What the hell happened to me last night? I tried to remember again but nothing came out except a headache.

I tried again and a flashback started to play in my mind. I took a ride with Al and Mia... Then... Then everything went black. What happened next? I struggled to remember further but useless.

What happened next?

When did I come home?

How did I come home?

Did I sleep in the car? No, I didn't remember anything like sleeping. Then what happened? What happened after the darkness? I tried, again and again, but nothing came out except a hard throbbing pain in my head. I hissed with pain.

"Princess!!!" Anna shouted and put me out of my trance.

"Oh my god!" She gasped, covering her mouth.

"Where were you? Where were you disappeared?" Anna asked and I looked at her confused.

"Where the hell were you? Answer me! You were missing for 48 hours." This time she snapped with anger.

"What?" I whispered and rubbed my temples which were already throbbing hard but incapable of remembering anything.

After ordering all maids to go out she turned towards me and exhaled loudly as a lone tear roll down on her cheek. Her tear and black dress developed an unknown fear in my heart.

"Don't tell me you don't know anything. They are finding you in the whole country." She snapped with anger as she walked towards me.

"Why?" I again whispered and felt like I shouldn't have asked this question. That I will regret asking it later and I did.

"Because Alessandro Amino and Mia Amino died in a car crash and their bodies have burned so badly that we haven't even found their skulls. And you were with them in the car but disappeared at the very last moment. How?" She growled as two more tears roll down her cheeks.

I blinked as I felt a hard rock hit my head and heart. My lungs stopped working as I tried to register her words. A part of me was saying that she was lying, just to irritate me but another part was screaming that it was true.

"Stop lying Anna. This is not a good joke." I found myself whispering which was barely audible. Of course, she was lying. How could it be possible that Allessandro...... I stopped the urge to scream at her with frustration.

"The worst part is about to come because they are suspecting you. You had just disappeared. Where were you? Do you have any explanation? How are you gonna explain this to them? You do realize..." She spoke something else but I couldn't comprehend it.

It wasn't possible. How could it be?

I felt everything around me blurred and started to twirl.

"Princess, I'm asking you something! Where were you?" She asked, jerking me through my shoulders. I looked at her. She was angry and concern and scared.

"I was in my room," I released my breath along with the tears, I was holding for so long. As my legs stopped working and I collapsed on the floor.

"What? When did you come back? Why didn't I saw you?" She asked, surprised and shocked and too fearful. But when she looked at me, she knelt in front of me and hide me in her arms.

As soon as I found embrace, the pain became unbearable. I sobbed more loudly and burst into tears.

"Allessandro!!!!!" I screamed, very loudly, like a baby who lost her favorite toy and I did lost mine.

Now, who will call me a monkey? To whom I will share my heart out? How could I lose him like that? How could he leave me like that? Why? WHY???

"They are back," Anna said and pulled away. She looked at me with a pitiful smile, wiping her tears away. "I won't ask you not to cry but please, have patience. It was their destiny and we can never fight against one's destiny."

I wanted to tell her she was wrong, that we could change our destiny but I felt she was right and I hated it even more. Why we could not fight against our destiny? Why was destiny so cruel?

Her words didn't help me and more tears started to fall on my cheeks. The Brother who always loved me and always took care of me. Now, I could never saw him again. This thought made more tears fall out of my eyes.

After patting my shoulder, doing a useless attempt to encourage me, Anna stood up and walked outside, leaving me alone.

Mom. Where is Mom?

I stood up and ran out of the kitchen to find Mom. I knew only she could help me to endure this pain. I came out to the hallway. When I entered the hall, four pairs of eyes shifted towards me, making me halt in my run.

I stiffened when every pair of eyes were locked with mine. There was a doubt in them. Whether belief it or not that I was standing in front of them. But I was!

"Marie!" Veward was the first one to yell my name and ran towards me. He hugged me tightly enough to stuck my breath, but somehow I felt as if, his hug just made my lungs the power to work again. I felt a weird warm feeling of comfort under his touch.

"Thank goodness, you save!" He pulled apart and whispered, looking at me with relief in his glossy eyes.

"Where the hell were you?" Caro snapped with anger. I looked at her unable to answer her question.

Where the hell was I?

How did I come home?

What happened next? What happened after that darkness?

My tongue was twisting inside my mouth and words were not coming out. I looked at Daddy and he was looking at me, I couldn't explain that it was anger or concern or love in his eyes.

Veward whispered, "Stop crying. You have to defend yourself right now." I didn't understand how could I defend myself. I didn't remember anything about the last 48 hours. Except for the nightmare!

"Don't you think, I have asked for something and you should answer me," Caro said with a hard glare, gritting each word angrily.

"I was in......." I paused.

What should I say?

I wiped my tears. Room or nightmare?

'Am I missing something?'

"What???" Liam and Caro, impatiently growled at the same time. Veward looked at me for an answer and Daddy's eyes were also at me.

"I was in my room." I retorted. I knew there was no use in crying in front of them. They could never understand my state. Because I knew who saved me this time just like the other times.

There was a pin-dropped silence prevailed in the room for a minute. Their faces were showing different emotions, disbelief was most prominent in them all.

"When did you come home?" Liam questioned, breaking the silence.

"No, the right question is how did she come home?" Caro snapped, irritation dripping in her voice.

Who brought me home? That was the right question.

"I don't know," I whispered.

With every passing second, my heart was going down and down, somewhere deep down the sea. Because I knew no one would believe me but I do believe in myself. The belief, which helped you to again swim back to the surface of the sea after looking at the beauty of the deep down secrets.

Those deep secrets that never revealed before.

"Nonsense! You don't know!" Caro spitted with sarcasm. While Daddy stared at me in silence, observing my every move.

"Impossible," Liam added, chuckling humorlessly.

'Well, yes, maybe I know who brought me back home. But how? And what happened in the last 48 hours, I still don't know.' I thought and looked down on the floor as tears again started to fall out, as if, they didn't come out of my eyes then something would happen to them.

"You were in the car with them, right?" Caro asked, somehow in a polite tone.

"Yes," I answered because that was true. I was still gazing down on the floor. Tears were falling on the floor from my eyes.

"They got in an accident and....." She stopped, exhaling loudly she continued, "Just tell me one thing, why did you do that?"

"What did I do!?" I screamed, looking at her, losing all patience I had.

"Stop pretending like an innocent. You are alive while you were with them. It clearly proved that you did this. But why?" She screamed back, with a much aggressive tone. Her words made my heart shattered.

"Why would I do that? They were my family. He was also my brother." I helplessly whispered yelled.

"NO! This is not your family! He wasn't your brother! He was my brother! Just mine!!!" She shouted.

I lost all the remaining words here. I lost the last drop of endurance, this was too much, the pain was so unbearable. She was blaming me that I killed my brother. How could she even think like that?

I stood there silently with tears in my eyes. I stared at her, hoping she didn't mean it but the look on her face said otherwise. She meant it by heart.

"Caroline! Mind your words!" Daddy broke the silence, gritting his teeth angrily, his jaw clenched tight, and his eyes throwing daggers at Caro.

"And you--" Daddy pointed at me with his index finger, "--go to your room. Now!" And I ran, all way to stairs, up to my room, controlling all the tears, but unable to stop some from rolling down my cheeks.

The first thing I did was locked the door then I moved near the window. I sat on the carpet, hugging my knees, and cried all my heart out. Until I lost tears.

When I let out all the exhaustion and got tired of crying, I lifted my head and stared at the sky. It showed a clear blue sky without any clouds but my heart felt like it was lost in some dark clouds. Dark, I hate darkness. But now, I was somewhere in between darkness with no hope.

Daddy and Caro also thought that I did this. They were not even understanding me, no one was believing me. If I told them about my 'Masked Savior' that might be that savior had saved me again. I knew no one would believe me. I hugged my knees as a sob left my mouth.

How? How did that savior save me? I was in the car then everything went dark. What happened next? If I wasn't in the car then where? Where was I?

I remembered, sitting in the car then....... What happened next? How did I come home? And if masked savior saved me then the question became more complicated. How?

Sharp pain arose in my head as black dots appeared in front of my eyes. I struggled to keep my eyes open but darkness enveloped me...