Chapter 68 : The Secret of Veronica

They parked in front of the old building after a few moments. Rakiza examined it for a few moments before getting out of the car.
"Oh, I told you I'd been here before," Chin responded.
Rakiza inquired, "For what reason, Chin?"
Chin told Rakiza, "My poster parents adopted another baby from this orphanage. That was a long time ago. I was fifteen years old at the time. "
"Let's go in and finish this agony I'm in right now," Rakiza said as she hurriedly walked in.
The orphanage was old and creepy, as evidenced by the signage *"Children of Hope Orphanage"* which was broken and dangling above the huge entrance door.
The neighborhood around the orphanage was deserted. It was a four-story building with broken windows.
Rakiza came to a halt on the first flight of stairs.
"What made you stop, Rakiza?" Lupe inquired.
"I was scared," Rakiza admitted.
"If you're worried, I'll just go in there and ask the caretaker what you want to know," Chin suggested.
"No, "sighed Rakiza and began to climb five steps before coming to a halt in front of the large door.
She knocked three times on the door with the door knocker.
Her knock was loud. They didn't hear anything inside, though.
Chin hurriedly knocked on the door.
They soon heard footsteps inside, making their way to the door. The large door suddenly opened.
"What do you require?" asked the elderly gentleman.
"We simply had to inquire about those who had previously worked here," Chin said. "A long time ago, my younger brother was adopted here."
"I'm sorry, but no one works here anymore; this orphanage closed five years ago," the old man said, about to close the door when Lupe handed him cash. The old man's eyes widened as he saw the money in Lupe's hand.
"We just want to look at the old records of the workers here," Lupe said firmly.
"And of those adopted here," Rakiza added.
The old man's gaze shifted away from the money and toward their faces. After a few seconds, he took the money and pushed open the large door. "I'll give you half a day to dig, and I'll be back at five o'clock in the afternoon. If there's a knock, don't open it," the old man said as he walked to his car and quickly fled the building.
Rakiza wasted no time in entering the building and locking the door.
"Where do we begin?" Chin wondered.
Lupe indicated a door. "Let's start in there."
The door was marked with an office, and they begin digging there.
The cabinet took up most of the space in the room. Each cabinet has a year. And the contents are folders containing children adopted by that orphanage.
The three of them stared at the majority of the cabinet in front of them.
"What are we going to look for here?" Chin inquired.
"We're looking for adopted ones from 2005," Rakiza said.
From 2005 to 2018, they began digging cabinets. There were no kids they could link to Rakiza after hours of folder flipping. "If your adoption is what we're looking for here at the orphanage, Rakiza, we don't get it," Chin said. She'd already stopped digging.
Rakiza, on the other hand, was still tensely digging through the folders of adopted children.
Then Lupe, who was sitting in a swivel chair in the office, spoke up. "What is the name of your mother, Rakiza?" he inquired.
Rakiza replied, "Veronica, Veronica Zanier, no middle name."
"Does that look like your mother?" Lupe pointed to a wall with medium-sized photographs pinned to it. In 2005, the best employee of the month was Veronica Zanier.
Rakiza dropped all the folders she was holding onto the most shocking part of their excavations. Her mother worked as a nurse at that orphanage and kept it a secret from her. She walked slowly towards the wall and touched the old pictures on it, no doubt her mother Veronica. Her tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Why, mother?" Rakiza cried, "Why did you keep all these secrets from me? What is it about this orphanage that you don't want me to know about? Who am I, mother? "
Rakiza raged over what she had discovered, and Lupe and Chin stood there watching Rakiza vent her anger.
Lupe suggested some possibilities, saying, "Perhaps she was just protecting you from harm."
Rakiza looked at Lupe. She needed someone to lift her spirits at that moment.
"From what harm was she shielding me?" Rakiza inquired.
"Perhaps from vampires or werewolves," Lupe remarked casually.
Rakiza suddenly remembered Theo. He was the only werewolf who made the decision to protect her. She said, "Let's go find a way to save Theo and Nikolas." Grabbing Veronica's picture off the wall.
***
Theo was running into his cottage when he noticed the door was broken. "What exactly is going on here?"
"Someone broke into your cottage," Ajella said, surprised. She went inside to look into it. Theo was following her and came to a halt when he noticed writing on the wall.
*Follow me back in time.
Rakiza*
Rakiza was here, "Theo exclaimed, scouring the cottage for more evidence of Rakiza's presence. His bed was another piece of evidence. "She slept in my bed."
Ajella just stared at Theo.
"I need to see her," Theo laughed as he opened the door. He was overjoyed to discover Rakiza was still alive.
The cottage appeared deserted, and the woods outside were swaying in the wind. Theo took a deep breath, as if he was trying to smell Rakiza's direction. "She was too far away," he said as he returned to the wall with Rakiza's message and stared at it.
"What was she trying to say with that past track?" Ajella was intrigued.
"She was looking into her past, and she wanted me to know," Theo explained.
"What's your plan?" Ajella locked her gaze on him.
"She left that message." Theo said. "We have to track her down and figure out what she's up to. Why was her past so important to her? "
"What are we going to do now, Theo?"
Theo said firmly, "Follow Rakiza," and they left the area.
Theo gave a nod and said, "We must arrive on time. I need to see Rakiza. "
After an hour of driving, Theo and Ajella arrived at Rakiza's old house but were unable to enter because someone was inside with a group of men dressed in black uniforms.
"Who are those people, Theo?" Ajella inquired. "What are they doing at Rakiza's house?" They could see them from across the street.
Theo gritted his teeth. "Those are probably Nikolas' day people," he added. "Nikolas is a vampire, and vampires cannot move during the day. However, they have people who can do dirty work under the sun for them."
"What are we going to do now?" Ajella asked.
"We can't do anything against those people because they're normal people, and we can't touch them," Theo explained.
"I can talk to them," Ajella thought. "I just act like I'm looking for Rakiza and flee."
"Be cautious," Theo concurred.
Ajella quickly turned around, donned her dark glasses and black cap, and waved her way to the house's porch.
"Hello, there," she said as she approached the two men standing outside the porch. "Is Rakiza in the house? I'm her classmate, and I need to ask her about our project."
"There's no one inside," a man said to Ajella. "We're also waiting for her to return home. "
Then another man came out and said, "The Queen commanded us to stay here and await any sign of Rakiza," turning to Ajella. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rakiza's classmate." Ajella smiled. “And I have some questions for Rakiza. But since she wasn't there, I had to go. " She then dashed around the corner of the next block, where Theo was waiting, leaning on the firewall of another building a few meters away from Rakiza's house.
"They're also waiting for Rakiza," Ajella reported, "and was told by some Queen to stay and wait for Rakiza to appear."
"We have to wait for Rakiza to emerge," Theo said quietly. "And protect her whatever happens."
"We need help," Ajella said.
"It's too late for that," Theo said. "Anytime Rakiza will arrive," Theo said, excited that Rakiza was out of the vampire's domain and that some men were looking for her. That's a relief for him. *Rakiza, where are you now?*
***
Lupe was driving quietly with Rakiza next to him. They'd gone through town and were on their way to Ghazin City. Chin was sound asleep in the back. Rakiza noticed his concerned expression. "Are you worried about Nikolas?"
"He treated me like family and he was now in danger, "Lupe sighed.
Rakiza felt the guilt, "And that happened because he saved me." She sighed, "And that made me responsible for his death."
"You're important to Sir Nikolas," Lupe lamented. "And treason is a capital offense, mostly punishable by death."
"What? Stop the car, Lupe! " Rakiza said aloud.
Lupe slammed the brake that awoke Chin. "What happened? Did we hit anything?"
"We must save Nikolas," Rakiza stated emphatically.
"What? That's suicide," Lupe exclaimed.
"Not unless we are prepared," Rakiza said to Chin.
Chin understood what Rakiza was thinking and nodded.