Saudade: Wisps of the night
The sky and clouds watched
The living and the dead
A heavy bargain he couldn't pay
A wishful night that came to pass
Inside a nursery garden
Deep within the forest
Lies an untold story
A beating heart of love and sincerity
A lonesome hand
Reaching out to be touched and reciprocated
The scars of this world are never tended
And never forgotten
By Bounty Bunny
Chapter 1
Tragic Coincidence
THE CLOCK STRUCK 10PM, and Charles realized
that it was indeed late with him still being in his office. He
had just finished with the clinic's papers and was now
reading about how the reconstruction of the school he was
funding was going. Its destruction and the events that
followed up to its demise were one tragic event to the other.
Since the clinic was situated in a secluded part of Kelsus, a
lot of people there depended on it, and the same applied for
that school.
However, working on this project wasn't easy for
Charles given its history and the reason behind its
construction. Even though he had all the money and
resources on his side he couldn't build what he truly wanted.
There were a lot of gaps and patches in his life he wondered
if he would ever be able to mend
them and finally get the joy he so desperately longed for.
The more he thought about the school Charles was
reminded of his nephew Riley. He was the main reason
behind Charles' motivation to build this school.
After his parents died Charles took it upon himself to
take care of the young boy. They both bonded over the fact
they had both experienced a great loss and Charles hoped
that they could help each other heal.
The loss of a loved one is very unfortunate as it is, but
even worse when they die with no satisfying explanation as
to how they died and not having anything to do about it
He really wanted to know more about what happened,
but he was not ready to confront the past yet.
Charles sighed as he put the papers down to clear his
mind. How it all ended up like this was still a huge field of
events he wasn't yet willing to look back on, no matter how
much they hurt and haunted him every night there was no
looking back.
But looking on the bright side, the school was coming
out pretty well. This was Charles' second work which was
part of his life project. It was something he decided to
dedicate his life to until his last breath. After the school
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under the Amar'e family was burned to the ground, Charles
took it upon himself to build another school, Miss Dianne's
School of Kelsus, to replace and compensate for the one that
burned.
Taking in a deep breath, Charles took all the paper on
his desk and placed them in a drawer with several others,
then locked it. The tea he was drinking was finished so he
took the cup so he would put it away on his way to bed. He
stood up from his chair to close the curtains of the large
window behind him, and while he was at it he took a look at
the view outside; a quiet and moonless night with just stars
in the sky.
He looked down from the sky and saw a glimpse of the
vast grassy land ahead, the area around the estate he felt joy
and sadness all at the same time.
As he was about to close the curtain something caught
his eye. In the dark, in the empty dark night... His eyes
widened before gasping in shock. Charles dropped the cup
he was holding and stumbled a few steps back, he had to
blink a few times to make sure what he was seeing was
correct.
It came closer and closer slowly as if wanting to see if he
would run, which would only be futile in this situation. Only
a few meters and glass separated Charles and what was
outside. A sudden sound from behind him managed to make
him turn around. The door was opened.
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"Sir, are..."
The butler opened the door looking for Charles, but he
couldn't finish his sentence because there was no sight of
Charles in the office. He frowned a bit as had just heard
something break when he was about to enter, but when he
opened the door the room had no person in sight.
He reached into his pocket to get his watch to check the
time, the butler was sure that Mr Sinclair was supposed to be
in here during this time of night as usual. He mostly spent
his time going through some paperwork and unfinished
projects before he retired to his room, but lately he has been
focusing a lot more on the work than usual.
Normally he would look at the papers in the afternoon
and then a few touches in the evening, now he spent most of
his day in his office working which is contrary to how happy
and social he used to be.
As he was about to leave the office to look for Charles
somewhere else, something caught the butler's attention
outside; the curtains were not closed properly. He looked
outside through the large window and saw that there was
something white and misty outside, which was quite
strange. That particular day it was certainly hot and it was
summer, so there was no way there was supposed to be mist
or fog at any time of the day.
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Walking towards the window to see what it was and to
properly close the curtain when he was done, and that's
when he saw the thing that made the breaking sound when
he was about to enter the office, but he wasn't ready for what
was next to the broken cup.
The next morning Kinsley was very troubled that he
couldn't focus on his tasks that day. Everything that has been
happening for the past few months was worrisome, but what
happened last night was the last straw because he was now
really worried about Charles's wellbeing. That day he
decided to make a call to him to inform them of what was
happening as this was the only person who could speak up
to Charles and stop him from overworking himself.
All this time Charles was acting strong and hiding what
was truly happening to him, but after talking to this person,
Kinsley was sure that he would set Charles straight. He had
the right to know everything, especially after what happened
the previous night in the office.
However, before he could do anything Charles told him
to keep his silence on the matter and made him vow to not
disclose anything to 'those two'.
"I don't want anything to happen to him or get dragged
into this, I already failed once to protect the ones i loved and
it won't happen again. He is all I have left to treasure, and if
suffering in silence is what it takes to keep him safe then so
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be it. I know that when he finds out everything, not even I
can stop him and I'm pretty sure he will be the next target,"
Kinsley's hands were automatically tied as soon as
Charles told him to keep quiet. His heart was heavy with the
guilt that was going to come soon and burning with the need
to do what he thought was right, but at the end of the day he
had to follow the orders he was given by Charles.
What else could he do? He was merely a butler and there
wasn't much he could do after what Charles said.
But for how long will he have to lie? The Sinclair family
was where his loyalty lay, now he had to lie and deceive
them to cover up for the other. Those were the orders
though, and there was nothing more he could do.
In the days that followed Kinsley resumed his normal
duties as always and there was nothing out of the ordinary.
He made sure that all the maids were on duty and doing
their work as ordered before going to the kitchen to check if
Charles' breakfast was ready to be served. One thing he
wasn't sure of was if Charles would come downstairs or he
would skip it like other days.
The time to begin setting the dining table and serving
breakfast came, and Kinsley could feel some fear and anxiety
creeping up on him.
What if Charles didn't come downstairs? What if he got
serious overnight and…
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He quickly pushed the thoughts away and went back to
what he was doing.
As he was on his way to the dining room, Kinsley was
called to the mansion's entrance because someone had come
to deliver an important file to the Sinclair household.
Without wasting much time Kinsley went to receive the file,
which was meant for Charles. He thanked the deliveryman
and took the folder with him so that he could place it in
Charles' office, however, on his way there Kinsley suddenly
stopped.
Even though he knew it was wrong, Kinsley opened the
folder to see what was inside.
"Not this again," Kinsley sighed, his shoulders slumping
and face falling, "how much longer is it going to take."
The file which Kinsley was holding contained details
concerning the school project Charles was working on. He
didn't understand much of what was inside but there were
names that made him quickly close the file and continue his
way to Charles' office.
When he arrived at the door, Kinsley did knock or enter
the office. He waited outside for quite some time just staring
at the door, tightly gripping the file in his hands.
Once he had made up his mind, Kinsley folded the file
and placed it in his jacket. He took in a deep breath and took
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one more look at the door before walking away as if nothing
had happened
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