Someone In The Mansion?

Allicia sat by the window and gently pushed up the window pane. A gush of fresh air blew across her face and her hair danced alongside the breeze. Her elbow propped up on the desk in front of her, she cupped her face in her palm and her weight rested on her elbow. She watched the branches and leaves of the trees sway in the tune of the gentle breeze. 

She had slowly gotten used to being alone in the mansion especially after she had stayed there for a week and more. The nature of her job in the mansion was quite simple, she just cleaned up a few places and prepared her own meals. She lived in the mansion all day as though she owned the place and she only left when it was evening. She had gotten used to the routine. In the big house, it was just her… or so she thought. 

Actually, she wondered if she was truly alone or if there was some other person who was there with her. It was always eerily silent in the mansion but there had been times when her ears picked up tiny sounds that seemed like the breathing of a person. She could not be so sure but her instinct just told her so. A soft sigh slipped past her parted red coated lips. She subconsciously looked behind her and her eyes flickered across the hallway. Her gaze stopped on the door at the extreme end of the east wing. The room have always been closed. The only person who ever had access to the room was Master Felix. 

What could be hidden in the room…? 

She pondered in her heart. She was curious but when she recalled the first grand rule, she swiftly pulled her eyes away.  

Allicia… out of sight, out of mind. She whispered caution to herself. 

Allicia knew that she had been rather lucky to have gotten a job as such. Although she was not getting any pay, the agreement she had with Master Felix was that at the end of the three months she would be spending in the Mansion, he would send her to college rather than pay her. She was going to turn nineteen soon, all other of her mates had long gone to colleges. She was just unfortunate not to have been part of the lucky ones that got adopted by good people from the orphanage. 

She had been told that her parents died in a car accident when she was five. Since no one came to pick her up after the death of her parents, she was then sent to the only orphanage in the town. She was rather a smart ad pretty little girl at a young age and had a lot of chances to be adopted. However things turned sour after she was adopted. 

Her first adoptive parents were kind to her at first, until her adoptive mother got a job at another town and left the young Allicia with her adoptive father. The man who used to be so good to her attempted to molest her. Luckily, the man was caught by a neighbor who immediately reported to the police. The police withdrew her from the first adoptive parent and returned her to the orphanage. Once again, she was in line for adoption. 

When she was eight, she was lucky to be adopted again. However, it was another unfortunate event for her. Her so called adoptive parents were human traffikers. They were going to trade young kids like her into prostitution and drug pushing. 

The two unfortunate incidence traumatized poor young Allicia and since then, she found it hard to embrace anyone again. She was scared to getting adopted anymore and could only watch the kids like her got adopted into new homes. Everyone was happy but her. 

The older she became, her chances of getting adopted became slimmer. Every family wanted a cute little child, no one wanted a teenager like her anymore. She soon became the oldest kid in the orphanage while all her friends had left. The director of the orphanage could no longer keep her after she had become an adult. He was kind enough to find a job offer for her and she left the orphanage. 

Sigh…

Allicia exhaled deeply, she had indeed come a long way. She could barely wait until she was able to go to college, she knew in her heart that she would become a successful woman. 

While she was lost in her reverie, a colorful bird flew towards her and landed on the windowsill.

"Tut tut…" the bird sang in a pitchy voice. 

Allicia's attention drifted to the bird and she chuckled softly. 

"Tut…" the bird chirped once again. 

For a moment, Allicia lost herself, the bird was her first companion since she had been in the mansion. Each time, she sat by the the window leisurely but, it was the first time something came to her. A sweet smile spread on her lips and she parted her lips. 

"Fly, fly away. 

Let me see you once again, 

Before you go

My wondering love… 

In this world we are, 

Just me and you…" 

She sang and a sweet melodious harmony escaped her lips. It was only a soft singing but it felt as though her voice was all that could be heard. The ray of the Sun cast an ethereal glow on her face and she was in the spotlight without even realizing it. 

"Tut!" The bird chirped, it flapped its colorful wings and flew away. 

"Ah-" Allicia paused and arched her beautiful brow. She reached out her hand as though she wanted to catch the bird but it was long gone. She pulled back her hand and sighed softly. Loneliness clouded her eyes.

In that instant, a loud 'tick-tock' resounded in her head and her turned around. She fixed her eyes on the wall clock that was at the corner of the room, the second hand struck 5:00pm just as soon as her eyes reached it. She got up from the chair immediately and pulled down the window. She grabbed her bag and rushed out of the mansion at a high speed and locked the door after her. She was pretty used to doing that everyday. 

"This one is quite different" someone commented. 

"Hm…" they have watched her leave like that for two months. 

Surprisingly, it was not just the two figures guarding the mansion secretly that had noticed Allicia. An inauspicious young man resting peacefully in a room had also listened to her sweet singing voice, his fingers twiched and his lashes quivered.