Chapter 3
Trust them
A knock on the door stops my chaotic thoughts, surrounded by exhaustion and the fact that I couldn’t sleep a wink last night.
I took advantage of the button next to the bed, and now, half an hour later, at seven in the morning, Blake comes with a couple of trays and places them on the living room island. I can also smell the divine scent of the coffee, which calms my troubled thoughts.
This morning, something feels strange about Blake, besides the profound tiredness that fills the air. For some unknown reason, he seems deeply stressed and agitated. Plus, he doesn’t seem to have had a good night’s sleep, either, given the dark circles around his eyes.
I smile softly to thank him for the breakfast, but he just exits the apartment without saying another word.
I hardly get up, away from the notebook I stared at all night, and take a seat on the chair in front of all of the covered food. I take their lids off and find an omelette, some baked vegetables, a couple of fresh tomato bruschetta, and something that makes my mouth water: maple syrup pancakes.
My favourites.
I take one plate at a time, leaving the dessert for the end, but all my attention is on the pancakes. I often missed the omelette and ended up with an empty fork reaching my mouth.
I put aside the vegetables and eat a single bruschetta before digging into the sweets, which takes my taste buds by storm. The first bite flies me to a magical realm, next to rainbow unicorns, which are jumping next to me due to the angelic taste.
The lack of sleep is real. I am starting to hallucinate.
Luckily, the coffee succeeded in taking me back to reality, waking me up instantly because of how strong it was.
That’s exactly what I need for a full day.
Thanks, Blake.
I go to lock the door and bring the notebook to the table.
In the first half of the night, I tried to figure out what the deal was with the wedding I was supposed to have, but no luck. I haven’t remembered a thing, so I decided to let time solve the wedding enigma. It wasn’t the most important problem I had.
The mystery of this town occupied the second half of my night.
I stayed on the last page of this notebook, not being able to find a relation between all those words.
They looked so innocent separately, but together they formed the most lethal combination.
I got out of this chapter just with a beautiful headache.
Theoretically, I can get on the next train and get out of here.
Practically, I have no freaking clue where to go. I don’t even know where this town is on a map. Also, I have no money, and the food here is too good to get out into the world and wash dishes just to buy a slice of bread.
I take a black pen from the colourful pile and write on the first blank page of the notebook ‘The Tamwine Mystery’. I just have to fill in the clues I’ll find along the way.
I don’t even know where to start. Clearly not with a discussion with Blake on this matter, even though he brings me the most delicious meals.
I should ask him who cooks them to know who to congratulate. Besides that person, I don’t trust anyone else. I mean, not that I fully trust the food that is brought to me, but I haven’t felt something different yet.
I am probably safe at the moment.
I’ll start from the beginning and simply explore this town. Maybe I will convince someone to tell me what’s with all the flowers around here. They are giving me thrills, especially combined with the other disturbing words.
I put the notebook at the bottom of the pink bag, but not before hiding the penknife under it. I don’t know what to expect of these people, so I have to be prepared for anything.
I change into another pair of jeans and a simple white t-shirt, which seems less creased than the others. I put on that pair of sneakers, being the only shoes I have.
I instantly regret my outfit when I open the closet to put my clothes in.
It is packed.
Summer dresses, elegant suits and shoes, heeled boots, and a couple of colourful sneakers. I guess I can leave aside the idea of getting some money for an elegant wardrobe.
I stare inside the closet for a while, not believing the image in front of me, but then I remember that this apartment is mine. I was just waiting for someone to tell me this was all a joke, given that all the clothes were my size.
It seems that this place was like a second home to me. I can’t explain the multitude of clothes any other way. Maybe just through the fact that all that I carried with me is completely different from what’s here.
Why did I struggle with that suitcase? I don’t know what I was thinking.
I leave the frustrations aside, take a white dress with red flowers from a hanger, dress up, and exchange my sneakers for the black heeled boots. Now, the pink bag really does fit with my clothing.
I take a look in the high mirror next to the closet and smile approvingly of my choice, but then I see a very frustrating detail.
Getting closer to the mirror, I realise that my face is not ready to get out with the dark circles around my eyes. I get my dirty makeup bag and improvise a simple makeup, adding just a little bit of pink eyeshadow.
I’m sure I’ll also find some more stuff around the room, but I will leave the rummaging for the evening.
I now have a city to explore while the sunlight illuminates the atmosphere.
Tamwine is already giving me a sinister vibe, so I will not walk around the unknown streets at night and wake up raped in some dark corner hidden from the world’s eyes.
?
I should’ve taken advantage of the fact that I had too many pairs of sunglasses. The light outside blinds me.
I’m walking down the stairs of the hotel and sit on the first bench I see on the right side of the building. I open up the map I took from the reception, and notice that it’s a relatively small town. Or that is my first impression of it.
I take the pen I put in my bag, mark a route to follow, and get up while still looking at the map. I manage to hit a strong body, being so caught up in my own thoughts that I haven’t paid attention to what was happening around me.
“Sorry, I was daydreaming, I m-mea…”
The words get stuck in my throat when I look up at the man in front of me, who is smiling down at me. My eyes go to his curly hair of a caramelised shade that makes me wanna sink my fingers into it, as for how beautiful it is.
He is dressed the same way I was planning to before the wardrobe change, in a pair of black jeans that highlights his muscular legs and a simple white t-shirt that fits him perfectly.
My gaze goes to his emerald eyes, which make me freeze for a few good moments. It is like I am caught up in a trance without any chance of escaping, but I’m not the only one in this situation.
“It’s my fault,” he clears his voice, getting me out of the hypnosis. “My thoughts kept me captive in the last couple of days.”
What a coincidence.
“Given the map you got lost in, I guess you aren’t from here either,” he says, pointing at the map I am still holding.
He is looking at it while swallowing hard, feeling even more nervous than I am.
“What’s the problem with it?” I ask.
He gets closer to my ear to whisper. His presence sends a kind of static electricity through me, quickly spreading throughout my whole body, keeping me frozen in place as I wait for his penetrating voice.
“I just wanna know what the hell am I doing here,” he mumbles, making me shiver.
I didn’t expect to hear these words come out of his mouth, but at the same time, I had wished for someone in the same situation I am in.
“What do you mean? Why shouldn’t you be here?” I ask, whispering in a lost voice.
My heartbeats start to accelerate. The heat of his whisper is fighting a fierce battle with the suspense of his words.
“I don’t think we can talk here,” he says, quickly looking around with a serious expression on his face, then bringing his gaze to the map in my hands. “Let’s go to the park, and I will explain everything.”
“What’s your name? It’s the least you can tell me if you want me to follow you. I don’t know what kind of perv you are or if what you’re telling me is true.”
“Lucas,” he softly laughs. “I cannot promise I’m not a perv, but I have other things on my mind besides that,” he says, studying me from head to toe with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
I haven’t heard what he said after that. The smile on my lips is diminishing while the wheels of my brain keep spinning like crazy, putting the details that didn’t seem to have caught my attention until then head-to-head.
Lucas… I’m sure I saw that name before somewhere. I take a glance at my bag and open the notepad to its first page.
Shit, I am right, but my brain was too rotten to register all that was written there.
Lucas Stewart is marked with a red line and two exclamation marks at the bottom of the page.
I read all the names on this page, I know that for sure, but I think I was too caught up in all those circles around Blake’s name to be able to remember the rest of them.
He looks at me curiously while peeking at my notebook. I put it back in the bag, and I follow his actions. He takes a similar notepad out of the back pocket of his jeans and shows me his first page in my calligraphy. It is the same name circled, but my name is the one underlined in red.
He puts the notebook back pretty fast after I caught sight of what I had to see.
“You’re Anmara, right?”
I remain motionless, only being able to nod.
“Then you really need to come with me,” he says on a darker note.
I couldn’t talk this time either, being too panicked from what I just found out, so I chose to look at the map and go to the park, with Lucas following me from behind.
?
We sit on a bench in the park close to a waterfall. We’ve sunken deep inside it, far from the buildings of the city and all of its people. It is quiet and nice, but my state isn’t getting better at all. I am more stressed and confused than when I woke up on the train.
“Show me the last page,” I tell him, while getting my notebook out and on its first page.
“This is your writing,” I say at the same time he claims it’s his own writing.
We then look really confused into each other’s eyes.
I see a detail in his notebook that makes me stare again at the whole page. There are the same words, but with a small but significant difference, in a more tidy calligraphy: Trust them.
What do you mean by them?
I look once again at the last page of my notebook and see that it doesn’t spell him, but them in a dizzy writing. As dizzy as I was when looking over all the letters or the names.
Great job, Anmara.
Oh, thank you so much, dear.
“How long have you been here? I woke up yesterday, jerked off the train with a backpack and suitcase thrown next to me.
Oh, and I only have two more nights to figure out what the hell I'm doing in this fucking place," he says while looking at the waterfall, frustrated, with his hands in his jeans’ pockets.
“Two days ago, and what do you mean by only two more nights?”
“I asked around for a hotel, and they told me that Tamwine Ville was the only one around. Surprise: I already had a room in my name and just three nights booked. A staff member told me that I’d be moved to another room after those nights if I’d like.
I only have to trust the hotel to find a solution,” he snorts, rolling his eyes.
“And I, who own an apartment in the hotel,” I speak without thinking, and instantly regret it when I see his frowning expression.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“That’s even more interesting: I have no idea. Just have half of the superior floor to myself.”
I can see the fire in his eyes, like he is ready to stab someone with his clenched fists, close to breaking his notebook. I just hope that I won’t be the victim of his anger.
My gloomy thoughts want to capture me again, and I barely restrain myself from moving far from him.
“Ok, rich lady. What else are you hiding?”
“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew,” I frown in his direction.
“So, what is your plan to find out who we are?” he asks, changing the subject without looking affected by my response.
“Firstly, I want to find out what’s up with this city and all the flowers,” I say, pointing to the multitude of colours around us. “I don’t wanna think about my identity more than I did. You can do that, but the time isn’t in your favour.”
“Good for you,” he says while chewing his lips.
If I take a better look at him, he is just as beautiful as Blake, even more charming. And those lips, the way he’s biting them when he gets angry…
Shut up! Let’s get to what really matters.
I have a big problem with how these men look.
I subtly shake the ideas my conscience puts upfront out of my head. Even though she is right, I don’t have time for that.
“Okay. Let’s say you have to get out of this town in two days. Where would you go? You don’t know anything about yourself, you have no idea where you came from or why you woke up in a train. You don’t even know if someone drugged you to not remember a thing…”
“Wait, wait, wait. When did you get to the conclusion I was drugged?” he growls, angrier than before, with a frown as big as his forehead.
“I thought you were in the same situation I was in. I passed out when I got to the hotel and felt horrible before, and I thought it was from some drugs. How can you better explain the loss of memory? I’m sure there’s something for everything.”
“We need to find out what’s up with this town,” we say simultaneously, our glares intertwining.
His frown decreases while his green eyes conquer mine. Eyes that aren’t foreign to me. Eyes that I know from a memory that doesn’t wanna come back. The two forests I am a prisoner of make me feel something exciting, painful, and suspicious at the same time.
But not more suspicious than Tamwine.