CHAPTER 12

“I thought you'd never give that to me.”

“I almost forgot.”

“Let's get this party started. What is it that you want to know first?”

“Rita.”

“Okay. Rita has been secretly dating someone for two years, but to avoid being an unfaithful daughter, she began seeing you. Let's just say she doesn't love you and you don't love her. You don't love her, so I suppose there's nothing to be concerned about.”

“How did you find out about that?”

“Have you forgotten that I'm a witch?”

“Stop laughing at me and tell me more.”

“She is dating a poor guy, but don't worry, everything will be fine as long as you both make your position clear before things get out of hand.”

“Are you also a fortune-teller?”

“Probably.”

“Is that all her fault?”

“Nothing significant; she isn't particularly interesting after all. I'm not interested in wasting my time on people like her.”

“Does that mean you have more information about my mother?”

“Maybe, yes or no.”

“Are you fooling around with me, Violet?”

“This way is more exciting. Don't you just adore suspense?”

“It's my mother we're talking about now!” he yelled at her.

“Wow, look at that rage! I absolutely adore it.”

“Stop it right now and just tell me.”

“I used to be a very impulsive person like you until I learned that patience pays. When it comes to receiving important news, you must remain calm and rational. Do you want me to close your mouth or freeze you, so you don't do something stupid when you hear bad news if you're like this?”

“Do you mean there's bad news?”

“Think whatever you want; for now, I'm going to calm you down, and when you become rational, signal me, and I'll come to your rescue.”

“What do you mean by that exactly?”

“Let's do a magic show,” she said, snapping her fingers and instantly freezing Dylan in place.

He couldn't move and was struggling, but she told him to "calm down first."

He ended up dosing the moment he froze, unable to fight whatever Violet was doing to him, and the next thing he knew he blacked out. He saw his mother from the time he was a child, how happy she was when she gave birth to him as if it were a dream.

How she raised him by herself, doing all kinds of work and going through all kinds of hardships. He saw his and her lives as if he were in a movie theater, watching and helpless whenever he saw something that hurt him. Violet's treatment of him was heinous.

He remembered the day his mother abandoned him at his father's house, how much he begged her not to leave, but she turned her back on him and never looked at him again. He despised her for it, but she was still his mother, the person he missed the most.

What happened next surprised him. She cried a lot more than he did as she was leaving, and she fainted as she reached the corner. She was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors were in a panic. Was she going to die?

He couldn't help but cry as he watched his mother lie helplessly there, surrounded by doctors frantically attempting to save her. He watched as the line on the monitor began to straighten, then screamed and his eyes opened.

He looked around; his mother was nowhere to be found. Violet was nowhere to be found, and he was lying in an unfamiliar place. He looked around again, and this time Anne entered with a glass of water in her hand.

“Are you awake? Please have some water,” she said as she came to a halt next to him.

He sat up straight, took the glass from her, and drank the water, “thanks.”

“Not a problem.”

“Where has she gone? I have to see her.”

“I'll drive you to her. Let's get started.”

He arose from his bed and followed her out of the room. It was his first time seeing the inside of the mansion, and it lived up to his expectations. The walls were covered in paintings, and no photographs were discovered.

The corridor was quite long, and after a while, they came to a fork in the road that led to the door. What was the name of that room?

He was perplexed. Anne rapped on the door and yanked it open. He followed Violet, who was seated in a large white chair fit for a queen. Her eyes were closed as she listened to classical music; he had never been a fan of that genre. It made him sleepy, so he turned it off.

“Mother, he has arrived,” Anne said as she came to a halt in front of Violet.

Wait a minute, did Anne just say to Violet, "Mother?"

What was going on in this location? He had never considered the possibility of them being related.

“You are free to leave.”

“Would you like me to bring you something?”

“No, but please notify the club that I will be having dinner there. Tell them to get something ready.”

“I will notify them. I'm going to leave.”

And then Anne was gone, leaving him and Violet alone.

“I can hear your heart racing from here; you should sit down and relax.”

He didn't want to argue because the last time he did, it resulted in something even more painful and cruel, so he sat on one of the chairs.

“Did you happen to see your mother?”

“What was it? A hallucination method.”

“Perhaps but tell me what you saw and thought.”

“I witnessed her demise.”

“Did she really?”

“Because it was over so quickly, I didn't get to see what happened.”

“All right, now I'll ask you some questions, and you, my boy, will answer truthfully.”

“As long as you tell me about her, I'll answer anything and give you everything that you want.”

“What will you do if you discover she is no longer alive?”

“I will visit her grave and perform my duties as a son, and I will beg forgiveness.”

“What did you do that you needed to beg forgiveness for?”

“I hated her for abandoning me to those people for a long time. If she were still alive, she would not have allowed them to treat me in this manner.”

“You should be grateful that someone is looking after you, giving you money to spend as well as freedom and attention.”

“Are you speaking from personal experience?”

“I am the one doing the questioning. So, what if she makes it?”

“I'd like to see her and question her about everything. I'd like to hear her side of the story and find out if my current parents have anything to do with my mother's
disappearance.”

“That makes sense; if it were me, I would ask the same question. Regrettably, I did not receive my answers.”

“Persist, and I believe you, like me, you will get your answers.”

“As for your mother's question, you will get an answer soon,” Violet said as she dialed her cell phone; Anne arrived moments later.

“Bring him into the room.”