CHAPTER 3: THE STRANGE INVITATION

Desolation hit me, the pain of losing the only person in your life cannot be compared to anything. I needed to bring myself together in order to give out a better farewell for him. Before that, I went into a dilemma whether to call my mom to let her know about this or not. Ever since I left her boyfriend’s house to live with my dad, our relationship went really down. We never called or texted, but dad used to tell me that she asked him my whereabouts and all, but I didn’t know if I could trust him or not. With anguish and despair, I locked the door of my cottage and made up my mind, not to tell my mom until I witness his death with my own eyes. I also needed to find out how he was actually killed/murdered and for that I need to talk with the police, detectives, whoever it may be. I quickly made my way to catch a bus from Polperro to Looe. The cold breeze hit my bare arms sending me shivers all over while waiting for the bus to arrive. The bus finally arrived after 20minutes of waiting alone, feeling dead inside making sure not to cry my heart out to let go of this huge void that I feel inside me. Looe arrived even before I realized it did, until an old man next to me in his mid-sixties something brought me back to this living world. Since, it took me approximately 23minutes to reach Looe, in order to catch a train from Looe to Cardiff, I needed to wait for the next 4 hours and I don’t think I can survive if I don’t eat anything now because it’s some 5 to 6-hour journey and by the time I reach Cardiff central it will be midnight. Even though I decided to eat something, I didn’t want to move an inch from the bench that I am sitting on. After a while, the station became empty just like myself left alone in this world without anyone next to me. A few pathetic hours later, a train finally showed up and it’s almost time for a setting sun and I realized that yesterday I was enjoying the sunset to the fullest and now I couldn’t care less. Also, I was wrong about sunsets being a starter pack, an escape from our pain and misery. Nothing will be like before, and I need to accept this fact. When some people leave, they also take a part of us with them. It depends on what role they play in our life. He was the sweetest person I could ever ask for! Nothing truly ever mattered for me except for his happiness but now, all I have is this huge emptiness in me.

Two hours later I felt really hungry and twisted inside but it was too late to feel anything. My mind kept thinking about how I’m going to accept my dad, how should I take care of his funeral because I need to give him a grand but simple, one he deserves. While my mind kept thinking about all these things, my stomach kept growling, my insides kept twisting and are making these weird grumpy sounds. I bet passengers heard me, but I’m too weak to even be embarrassed about this. I didn’t even bring a watch or mobile or something that can tell me the time. A teenage boy was sitting next to me with his headsets on, I hesitated at first but did ask him, got to know that only 30 minutes more to reach Cardiff central. The passengers were lesser than when I got on the train and it was almost midnight, so it makes sense. The teenage boy that sat next to me walked alongside me. Thanks to him or else I would’ve broken down since this was the first time I’ve been to Cardiff. I grabbed a taxi to the University hospital of Wales. Took me a while to get a taxi, because of the rare timings. The taxi driver kept talking and asking me questions when I replied to him, he went silent, probably felt sorry for me. He didn’t bother me anymore and drove silently. When he dropped me off at the hospital, tears started to run down my cheeks, I need to face this all on my own. When I entered the hospital, it was a bit dark with only a few lights being turned on. The receptionist lobby was empty and I didn’t know which way to go because it wasn’t that small to wander on my own. Just then, a lady approached me.

“How can I help you miss?” she asked wondering, probably didn’t expect someone at this hour.

“Yes, I want you to help me get to my father”

“Please tell me his name, I will find him for you,” she asked with a faint smile.

“Yes, it’s James Cortez” I replied will teary eyes.

“Uhm, he’s in room 09H with other…, yes in room 09H” she answered, but this time without a smile. I went along the directions she gave me, and I couldn’t yet find the room, I kept wandering through the empty corridors and realized I was lost. Just then, I heard some strange footsteps approaching towards me from the adjacent corridor and I could vaguely hear them talk,

“How can he be dead?” came out an angry voice. I quickly hid next to an adjoining wall between both the corridors. The footsteps stopped approaching, I hear another low whisper,

“He was shot with three whole bullets sir”

“What, did you check on the bullets?”

“They were in police custody sir”

“So, are you saying we don’t know who shot him?”

“Yes sir”

“Forget it, what about his daughter?”

“We’re on this sir, we’ll make sure to get her”

“Good, I heard she’s staying near Cornwall, get her as soon as you can”

“Yes sir, rest assured”

“Do you think she’ll come here to get her father?”

“No sir, I don’t think so”

“Ok, make sure to capture the girl”

Both of them left after the conversation and I just stood there not knowing what’s happening in my life. They’re even going to come after me now if I’m not careful. Slowly, I peeped my head out, stretching out by holding onto the wall to see if anyone of these men were still there and when I made sure it was empty, I walked through the corridor, the same way these men came from. I passed through another doorway entering another corridor and found the H series of rooms and carefully looked for the 009H room. I could see 006 and then 7 and then made my way to 9. Even though, I’ve placed my hand on the doorknob. I wasn’t bold enough to open the door and face him. The lady before, from the receptionist lobby, came towards me slowly and asked,

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked with consolation in her eyes.

“Yes, please, can you do that?” I cried

“Yes, of course, come with me, hold my hand” she replied

We slowly opened the door and made our way inside. It was a bit dark and a bigger room than I expected. There were other bodies present as well, I can’t believe I called my dad, my father – a body. She took me towards the centre of the hall and guided her hand to one of the berths. The berth was covered in a white cloth all over.

“Do you want to see him?” she asked me slowly.

“No, I don’t want to see him like this” I replied, tears running down my face.

“This will be your only chance to look at him” she advised me. She placed her hand on the small of my back and pulled me closer still holding my other hand. She pulled over the covered white cloth a bit and I took a step further to take a closer look at him for one last time. He was pale and looked cold, he didn’t even look like himself, I cried in low sobs with both my palms covering my face. She pulled me out of the room giving me light taps on my shoulder and made me sit next to her on the small bench outside. She placed a small piece of paper in my hands and urged me to turn and face her. I got scared for a moment because she seemed like she knew me already and I was clearly shaking inside not knowing what she was doing.

“Your father was alive when he was admitted in the hospital, and since he’s been shot, while they’re getting him ready for the treatment, I was there next to him and he told me about you, also asked me to give you this, this paper”

“Did he mention, who shot him or what happened to him?”

“No, but he asked me to stay with you and also asked you not to stay here for long”

“But I can’t leave him here, he doesn’t deserve this!”

“No, come with me” grabbing my hand, she took me all the way down to her receptionist lobby and asked me to sit in a chair and told me to wait for her, and she went away. I opened the folded paper in my hands and started reading it:

Dear Gabriel,

You might be confused as to what’s happening around you, but no matter what happens, I want you to be safe. I couldn’t explain everything in this message but rest assured my girl. Someone will take care of you in my place and everything will be okay. These people are someone very close to me and just stay careful until they come looking for you. Don’t you feel depressed about me, I know it’s hard for you to accept my death like this but I want you to live your life to the fullest and know that I’ve always loved you with all my heart.

Take care Gabby,

With love, your dad.

My heart ached so much after reading his message, even in his last moments, he still thought of me. How can I ever repay his love, when my own mother never cared for me? Who in the world would want to hurt him in this way? My mind kept thinking about the men who just left the hospital who were planning something about me and why my dad kept asking me to stay safe. What relation do they have with my father? My mind went insane in bewilderment followed by a mental breakdown. The woman who left earlier came back running towards me and tugged me out of my chair pulling me into some darkroom in a hurry. I wanted to ask her what happened but she covered my mouth with her hand hinting at me to keep quiet. We both saw two men pass by us through the glass pane of the door. The undersized room made me suffocate, my palms became moist with sweat. Everything appeared to be entirely stilled and silent that it seemed the right time to get out of this tiny room. We made our way towards the front door holding our breaths with a steady pace and quickly jogged our way to the nearest bus stop which is just a few blocks away from the hospital. We stood there for a while still catching our uneven breath and drank some water taking our time. Now, I’ve got a perfect chance to question her the details,

“What’s happening, why did you grab me out all of a sudden?”

“Listen, some suspicious men came looking for you, and when your father spoke to me this morning, he asked me specifically to not let you meet them at any cost. He even gifted a chain to me, so that I will take care of you when you enter the hospital”

“Then, why did you leave me alone to look for him earlier? I almost met him or them”

“Listen, I was just checking if anyone else has come looking for your father, and I came after you immediately, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but I almost met them in the corridor you know? I was scared, they seemed like they were talking about me or something” I cried, breaking down into her arms. She comforted me and pulled out a chain from one of her pockets and handed over the chain to me. She held it out until I accepted it, I carefully observed the chain and yes, it belongs to my father, but she gave it back,

“Why are you giving this back to me?” I questioned her out of curiosity

“Yes, he gave it to me, but you need this more than me. He will always be with you even though he left the world. Never lose hope and be strong wherever you are. Stay safe, because now all you need to do is follow your father’s instructions and stay low to not get caught to whoever your father asked you to stay away from. Please go back, because someone will be taking care of his funeral and he himself told me about this, I called you here so that you can come to see him for one last time and say your goodbyes. Now, go back safely, here take this scarf along with you and cover yourself well” she draped the scarf all over me covering my head over my shoulders just leaving out a small space for my eyes.

“Thank you so much, I can never forget the help you provided me today. Thank you, thank you so much” I hugged her for the last time and quickly hopped onto the bus that arrived which will take me back to Looe, and then I need to catch another bus back to Polperro. The whole journey will get me back the next day. I protected myself properly completely covering myself and unknowingly fell asleep. The next day, it was 8 in the morning and I’m on my way to walking back home but decided to stop at the café to explain everything to Pop’s and Mrs Holly. As soon as I entered the café, Mrs Holly came running towards me and hugged me tightly. I didn’t expect this heavy reaction but what does she even know? To behave in this way? No matter what, her warm hug melted me into her. She was even crying while hugging me, wait why is she even crying? I got worried and asked her “why? What happened?”

“Someone came looking for you and told us that you need to go with them and they were huge men, very masculine and some even carried pistols and honey, we were so worried about you. Where did you go early in the morning? Are you alright?” she asked me gasping and out of breath and started speaking again,

“Did you know, that someone’s going to come to look for you?”

“Actually, I’m coming back from Cardiff”

“Wait, why did you go to Cardiff in the first place?”

I told her and Pop’s what happened and they were shocked to death, they looked like their soul has left their body. They clearly looked aghast and were unable to say anything.

“So, the men who visited our café looking for you are the ones you need to stay away from?”

“Yes, and my dad left me a message saying I should not get caught to them and that he made arrangements for me but I don’t know anything about that”

“But they left a package for you and asked me to give it to you”

“Wait, a package?” I wondered what.

“Yes, a package, wait, I’ll go get it for you” saying she ran inside to look for whatever she’s trying to find, meanwhile Pop’s came towards me and made me sit at my favourite place, my corner. He held my hand but remained silent, didn’t utter a single word. I can see the warmth in his eyes, and this is the first time he ever looked at me the way he looked at that point, which made me realize that he always cared for me. We waited for Mrs Holly but she was nowhere to be seen meanwhile Pop’s came closer to me and whispered,

“Listen Gabby, I guess you won’t be staying here anymore because it might not be safe, but always keep this in your mind, you’re always a part of us, and you don’t have to feel alone ever” and his words showed me some light in this dark world. I might not know what kind of situations I may face but these both brought some hope into my life. Mrs Holly came back running with a package in her hands and handed it over, for me. The package was completely concealed and pretty bigger than it appeared to be. I slowly opened the seal and both Pop’s and Mrs Holly were eagerly waiting with their eyes widened and focused completely on me. Oh my god! There was some cash and a small and mysterious invitation kind of a card which is also sealed. The cash was a pretty decent amount and the invitation card seemed familiar with its design and cover but not sure. When I opened the invitation, I can see Mrs Holly’s terror. It was a letter which read:

This letter is to inform Ms Gabriel Cortez, that you are kindly invited to come to live with us at our humble manor, The Old WB manor, and we are eagerly waiting to welcome you from the bottom of our hearts. Sending you condolences for your late father, my dear friend Mr James Cortez, my beloved companion since childhood. We are held back due to strict conditions to not put you in any danger and are hoping that you would come to find us on your own here at our manor, the old WB manor lying among the Wareham Forest Woods, Dorset, Southwest England. Please try to stay lowkey and as private as possible. Hoping to meet you soon.

With kind regards,

W.B. Harlow.

I held out the letter for Mrs Holly and Pop’s to read as well, Mrs Holly grabbed the letter and both of them read it as if their life depended on it. At first, they were taken aback but then relaxed after a few minutes and whispered to each other about something expecting me to not hear a single word and finally, at least I think so, that they came to some decision with which they were clearly not satisfied with just when I interrupted them,

“So, what do you guys think?”

“We are in a dilemma and are contemplating, I mean what if these are the men that are keen on looking for you? How will you know if they’re safe like they’re saying” they questioned?

Meanwhile, Pop’s started searching the package suddenly, and he found something and interrupted his wife, gesturing her to stop, and showed me what he found. It looked like an old picture from some 40 years or so back. When I looked closely, my eyes started to get watery and yes, it was my dad in his youth and he was standing next to some tall handsome man, probably his friend and when I turned the image, I found something handwritten on it, extremely bottom of the picture but it wasn’t clear, and the ink seemed to be disappearing. I somehow managed to read something like,

Friends till death do apart,

W.B. Harlow,

Cortez James.

“So, this is proof!” I exclaimed.

“Is that your father?” Pop’s questioned.

“Yes, and this is the same person who sent me this letter,” I said pointing to the man who’s next to my father in the picture.

“So, you’re going?”

“I can’t stay here anyway and I need to go because if my father wanted me to go live there then there must’ve been a reason for it. Also, I need to find out what really happened with him”

“Yes, but” Pop’s cut her off with “If you going there means that you will be safe, then please go ahead, because we don’t want anything to happen to you”

“I need to know who killed him”

“But honey do not put yourself in a dangerous situation”

“No, I won’t, don’t you worry Mrs Holly”

“But how will you even go there?”

“It’s ok, I just need to go by myself staying low-key and Mrs Holly I need you to bring my belongings, I can’t go back to my cottage, I can’t be seen in the streets”

“Oh! Yes, sure, anything important for me to not leave behind?”

“I don’t have much luggage, just some clothes, books and do not forget to get me the box under my bed” I explained.

“Okay! When do you plan to start?” Pop’s questioned.

“Today! Evening, after the sunset” I told them, determined.