Hiraeth

Chapter 27

Samara Shaw

It was one of the many crooks of the mansion I'd never seen before.

Even with all the years I spent in it, I had access to few places in my home and those were the ones I was permitted to use. It was either my room, study, dining room or the last floor where we hosted people. It rarely exceeded those four and I didn't realise how huge my home was till then. My parents stayed in separate rooms and even still, both were out of my boundary. There never arose a reason to go anywhere else and with my mother's constant supervision, I could not leave my room without getting questioned. It wasn't a topic I thought of frequently. It may have surfaced to my mind a few times but not once did it become a problem for me. I used to think they belonged to the workers and the ones well looking for my brother and father.

We were somewhere in my house I'd never seen before, one of the many empty rooms at the last floor. It did not look like somewhere anyone paid any attention to. It was abandoned, with tarps covering the furniture and a thick layer of dust over everything. My mother was one that never tolerated the slightest speck of dust, I could not imagine what it would be like if she saw a room so dirty in a house she'd give anything to maintain. This made me realise that even mother herself didn't know places like this existed here.

Why we were back where I came from, I didn't know but Accius thought it right to bring us here. It took a two day journey to get there and at the end of it, I would call it the most foolish idea anyone would ever imagine. I didn't give a remark about it, besides my first frequent comments on how I didn't want to be here and it seems Justin was more troubled by it, seeing the remaining of my thoughts was said by him. I had more to deal with, considering I could accidentally meet mother and we could get caught. It originally started with running away from Vince and finally, we had two people to avoid.

It was only two days but all the running was beginning to wear me out. From a simple conversation with Accius to our quest to find the truth, the whole matter was a lot bigger than I imagined. More than thrice were we almost caught in the forest. The trees could cover but no matter how much we tried, there would always be a reason to get up after thirty minutes of rest. Unlike me, Accius and Justin were unbelievable fast and running wasn't an issue for them. Good for them, speed was the only thing we needed but unfortunately for the latter, he had to carry both the weight of me and himself. I was a burden to them and it was a matter so obvious, it occasionally caused me discomfort. They could go hours without eating and I could too but the difference is,  it took the little energy I had left in me while they remained just as strong as they used to be. I also wasn't immune to mosquitoes and life outdoors wasn't for me. For those reasons, it was difficult to live with them. We finally made it to a place where there were houses to hide in and since then, there was more to do myself. Besides the two of them, no other person could see my face without realizing who I am and so, I walked around in disguise. The fear, however, was something I couldn't control. Every time I felt someone would realize it and although it never happened, I wished there was more I could do besides sunglasses and a scarf.

The mirror at the further end of the room took my attention and there my gaze went as I stared myself. I'd never had to do something so strenuous. Accius made it clear that was the only room in the whole building we could stay as every other one was cleaned every day. It was the worst out of all and with no other choice, we began cleaning the place. It had been an hour or more since we started and at the end, it wasn't the cleanest but that was the most we could do. The sheets needed to be washed and cobwebs hung from the ceiling but without materials to clean them, they were left undone.

"I brought us here because this is the last place he would think of" Accius said after moments of silence. That was the answer to the thousand questions and comments Justin and I made and it was given to us after minutes of his ignoring us.