His Tainted Heart

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Adrianna couldn’t believe her eyes.

It had to be a coincidence. There was probably a thousand other people who had the exact same gold bracelet as the woman in the picture. After all, a plain band like that was common, but to what extent? Would other people have the exact same cursive lettering etched into the metal too?

Somehow she doubted it was a fluke. Yet if it wasn’t some sort of fluke, what could this mean? Was someone trying to tell her something? Is there some sort of connection between her and the photograph?

Adrianna scrutinized the photograph once more before she tossed it to the side of her bed in frustration. There was nothing else she could gain from looking at the picture, which meant she had to go to her parents and ask about this. They should have some information as they were the one who had given her the bracelet.  Unfortunately the only problem with that solution was that she wouldn’t be able to get an immediate answer until they came home from work.

With an irritated sigh, Adrianna started to pace back and forth across the room. It drove her insane that she couldn’t figure this mystery out. The whole situation was like a puzzle she couldn’t solve. While she had some of the linking fragments in front of her, she still missing a few crucial pieces that were needed to complete the puzzle.

It was then that Adrianna decided to switch to plan B. She would try to figure out the language that the journal was written in and find some way to translate it. Maybe it would reveal some important information that she was missing.

Just as she was about to walk towards the cherry oak desk where the journal lay, the door to her room flew open and revealed a short dark haired girl that was covered in mud.

“Hey do you know where my cleats are?” she asked while leaning against the doorway.

For a couple of seconds, Adrianna stared at her younger sister in utter horror. She had to bite her tongue to keep herself from yelling profanities at her. The thought of Casey tracking mud into herroom was the equivalent of falling into cow manure. Both made her cringe.

As if Casey read her mind, she dragged her mud caked hands down the edge of the door and walked into the room with a smirk on her face. “So do you know where it is?” she questioned while plopping herself down onto the bed. “I really need it since I found out that my school has tryouts for the soccer team.”

Adrianna closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had to inhale and exhale slowly to keep her anger in check. When she opened her eyes, she was still tempted to throw a lamp at her sister. She had spent hours scrubbing the dirt off the floors when she first moved in, and now she had to do it again. “Casey, get your stinking body off my bed! I have no idea where your cleats are and I don’t care. Why are you caked in mud anyways?” she demanded in annoyance.

Casey grinned. “Well my lovely sister, I had soccer tryouts today and the fields were really wet from the rain. In fact, I had to kiss the ground a few times because of the sneakers I was wearing.  And so as you can see, I really need to find my cleats if I want to go home mud free,” she explained while snatching up the photograph lying on the bed. “Ohhh, hey what’s this?” she asked curiously.

Adrianna inhaled sharply as Casey’s muddy hands touched the photo. It was one thing to leave mud on the floors and even on her bed, but to touch a fragile picture was another thing. “Okay, get your ass out of my room now!” she shouted angrily.

To Adrianna’s dismay, her sister only ignored her. Instead, her eyes were intently focused on the photograph. She was about to throw Casey out of her room, when she spoke.