Once they got past the gate, the car climbed up a hilly road lined with pine trees. They took two left turns and came in view of a magnificent gated mansion. It was well structured with defensive positions in which a handful of guards were stationed. The gate to the mansion was at the end of the trees. Immediately the guards at the gate saw the vehicle, they opened the gate so that they drove through.The car pulled up in front of the mansion and the rear doors flung open. The two men alighted and stood guard until Kristine came down too. She looked around and immediately fell in love with the place.There was a fountain across from the house with a standing horse sculpture right in the midst of it. There was a greenhouse to the east and an artificial stream that flowed into the pool. Kristine took her time to admire the environment until one of the men cleared his throat, bringing her back to her reality. Once again, her bitterness took over.“This way.” One of the guys motioned for
"You look stressed.” Camille said to Kristine who continuously paced around her bedroom while chewing at her fingers nails. “And you may have no finger nails left if you keep on like that.”Kristine paused, turned to Camille as if she wanted to say something, and in a blink her countenance changed to that of despair.“Hold on before this develops into something bad.“ Camille then held Kristine, pulled her to the bed and made her sit beside her. “Now take your time and tell me what’s wrong.”Kristine thought about how she could put everything in a way Camille won’t blow it out of proportion. She felt she shouldn’t let her know since her life was also at risk, two of them shouldn’t be running crazy at the same time. But then she had to.“I’m in a mess. A big one.” Kristine said at last.Camille laughed as if she just heard a joke. It sort of infuriated Kristine who looked her friend with disappointment written all over her face. Camille noticed and raised her hands to demonstrate surre
Alexander sat in his office , attending to some document when Martha, his secretary for roughly eight years walked in.“Good morning sir.” She greeted.“Morning.” He replied. “Just in time. How is my schedule for Tomorrow?” He asked.“Let me see.” She replied and scrolled through her tablet. “You have a meeting with Mr. Naoki at 3pm. Other than that, you’re free.”“Hmm. Seems odd.”“What sir?”“Nothing.” He replied. “I’ll be having a visitor tomorrow. Just make sure nothing is added to my schedule. Okay?”“Okay sir.” She replied and started towards the door.She stopped suddenly and turned to Alexander “Mr. Victor wants to see you.”“What? Let him in.” he ordered.She ushered Victor in and once he was inside the office, she left and shut the door behind her.“Cousin.” Victor greeted. He looked more ordinary and human than he did during the deal with Octavio.“My heart kind of skip a beat whenever you cone around.”“Evil people experience that lot.” He teased.“If evil was a person, it’
“Welcome Miss Kristine.” The receptionist greeted. She had this beautiful smile that could charm even the most subtle of people. Its no wonder she got the job here.Kristine wondered how she knew who she was, ‘had Alexander given her photo and name to the receptionist?’ that was her first thought but then she waved it off. He couldn’t be that childish. Its must be because she had an appointment and she came exactly on time.“The boss is waiting. Follow me please.” She said and motioned for Kristine to join her towards a door.The organized nature of the place thrilled Kristine. Immediately the receptionist left her post to take her to Alexander, another equally pretty lady took her place. And attended to the next person in the same warm manner.“This way Ma'am.” The receptionist repeated, snapping Kristine back to reality.They went through a door and into a dull-lit passage walled with thick glasses , shielding some artworks hung on both sides of the passage walls and transparent eno
Alexander and Kristine went down a dozen steps once they went through the door. A wave of emotions took over Kristine as they got to the base of the step. The place was a crypt, a spacious one and it had a lot of artifacts from different ages. The first thing that crossed her mind was Octavio's mission. ‘Could these be the stuff he was telling her about?’ She imagined the worth of the treasures laid before her eyes and how one person could amass such.Alexander noticed how bright her eyes were and how carried away she was by the things she was being exposed to.“What do you think?” He asked her.“Magnificent. They are…” she spun to reality and looked at him, her brows arched. “How did you get all these?” she pointed randomly at some artifacts.“Let me put it this way,” he folded his hands and faced her. She had an expectant look, waiting for an explanation as to how one person could gather such.“I am a collector.” He started. “I always had an eye for history, just like you. The artif
Any positives from today?” Camille asked Kristine, who hurriedly walked into the house and rushed to the fridge to take some milk. She took a whole glass in two gulps while Camille watched without any intention of interrupting her, but after she did the same to a second glass, Camille had to stop her. “I see your anxiety levels are night right now, you’ll probably drink goat piss if it was put in a glass before you.”Kristine just stood by the dinning, no word still.“Are you now deaf, dumb or both?” Camille was beginning to get worried.“Okay, so I met one of the best receptionists in my life today, I saw arts…good ones, I saw some wonderful collection belonging to him and they appeared to me like what we are looking for…” She stopped.“And?” Camille asked“I saw death.” Sweat drops began to break through Kristine’s forehead.“What do you mean by you saw death? Shouldn’t death be invincible?” Camille asked.Kristine frowned a little at her friend, it seemed she was surprised at the w
A black sedan car pulled up in front of the venue for the ball and Kristine alighted. The red was no red carpets nor paparazzi and the place was teeming with security details. There were two serious-looking guards at the entrance who checked passes of people who wanted to go in. “You can do this” she whispered and took in a deep breath and headed for the entrance."Pass please." one of the men requestedKristine held out her pass to the man who took if from her and inspected it, checked her name on the list of invited guests and then directed her through when he was done.Kristine walked into the party hall and had heads turn in her direction. She was elegantly dressed in a fitted plain long blue evening gown which matched her eyes.A waiter walked up to her with a tray that had some glasses of champagne on it and held out the tray to her. Kristine took a glass."A lone lady in this large pool" a man said as he walked up behind her "or maybe someone who enjoys the party in a way diff
The jet came to a stop and Victor came off to a cold but expected welcome. There was a black SUV with the rear door open and three mean-looking men stood by, staring at him.“Hello.” he greeted, not because he wanted to greet but it was a habit whenever the environment was tense. This time, it had no effect as none of the men responded. Not even a nod.One of the men got in the drivers seat while the other two got in the rear after Victor and the SUV drove off.Once they hit the road, one of the men at the rear took out a blindfold and put it over Victor’s eyes. He didn’t put up a fight because he knew better. It was something he had done a number of times so he was aware of the consequences if he struggled with them. Death might be mercy.They drove for over twenty minutes from the airstrip until they came to a jetty where a boat was waiting. The men handed Victor over to another set of men on the boat and drove off. Once the engine of the boat came alive, Victor was bundled into the