One Last Wish ✔

9.

With innocent eyes, long braid and half-drenched black clothes, the tall lady was standing right in front of me, holding her furled umbrella in her hand.

The beautiful lady was unfamiliar, but the shape of her face was reminding me of someone – someone I’d just met.

“You_ you are Abigail,” she said, rather she whispered, her voice was hardly audible. Ascending two steps, she eyed me with knitted eyebrows; surprise was dancing over her face. Placing her umbrella against the wall, she glanced at her wrist watch, curling her sleeves. “It’s 12:30. Er what are you doing here at this time?”
I didn’t understand how the lady knew my name. On the other hand, her presence near Rick’s house was little suspicious. I was near Rick’s house, because I wanted to find Rick. What did the lady want? What she was doing during midnight?

“Um how do you know my name?”

My question softened wrinkles on the lady’s face. Meeting my eyes, she parted her lips and pulled heart-shape pendant in her silver chain.

“Actually...” she trailed, “I know you_ you stay in front of our house. Um I had seen you many times here. You lost your mother two months back, right?”

Recognition hit me. The lady was non other than Rick’s mother. The basement where I was standing was of the lady’s house, and I was doubting her identity. But Rick had told me his mother left the house. Did his mother return back to her son? Or there was something else?

“Abigail, I’m sorry.” Lady touched my forearm, gaining my attention. “I_I shouldn’t have asked you that.”

“It’s fine, Mrs_”

“Mrs. Maria,” she introduced herself with an interruption. Small smile spread across her glossy lips. As my eyes dwelled over her face, I found dark circles underneath her beautiful eyes. Her puffed eyes were telling about her sleepless nights. The same face I’d encountered earlier – it was of my mother. She was pale; her anxiety had drained the blood out of her body. Her condition was miserable.

“Um Abigail, you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing here?”

“It’s Rick.”

“What?”

Blinking, I said: “I’ve come with Rick. When did you come back?” Words left out my mouth. “He told me_”

“He told you?” Expressions on Mrs. Maria’s face were strange. Each wrinkle on her face was demanding an answer from me. Her squeezed eyes were accusing me of being insane – I wasn’t the one.

“Who_who told you what?” With each second Mrs. Maria’s face was squeezing bit more.

“Your son, Mrs. Maria.” I frowned.

Beautiful lady in front of my eyes froze. Her mind seemed calculating and finding some sense in my words.

Passing her tongue over her lips, she pressed her palm against her forehead.

“When did you meet my son?” Her voice cold and broken. Her eyes were not meeting mine.

Feeling strange about my behavior, I answered the truth. “Today, I saw your son today. He_"

Mrs. Maria’s snapped her attention back at me. Her eyelids fluttered rapidly – eyes glistened with streamed tears.

“Do you know what you are speaking?” She gritted her teeth. Veins in her neck bulged with raising anger. Have I said something wrong?

“Mrs. Maria?” Fear tickled my bones, looking at Mrs. Maria’s bloodshot eyes. Suddenly, her innocence took form of blazing her. Her hands curled into a tight fist and skin of her face puckered in frightening form.

“Have you come here to make fun of me?” she growled, taking a frightening steps towards me. My feet instantly moved back. “Have you come here to make fun of my son?”

“No! I_I" Words were not slipping down my tongue. My throat was chocked with sudden reaction of Mrs. Maria. I wasn’t getting any idea why she was accusing me of such things? I hadn’t done anything wrong?

I had to call Rick then. He had to come for my rescue. “Rick, where are you?”

It was my bad move. Mrs. Maria lunged on me and grabbed my shoulder with her strong her hands. I screamed as the violent lady in front of my eyes shook me furiously.

“Stop making fun of my life! Stop saying that name! Stop making fun of my son!”

I was clueless. The lady was digging her nails in flesh of my shoulder, and I was screaming. No one was coming for rescue. Tears started burning my eyes and I started crying for my life, feeling helpless.

Where I’d thrown myself into?

“Hey, Maria!” Masculine voice pierced the thick of helplessness around me. Violent Mrs. Maria’s hands hovered over my body, giving me a well-needed freedom to run. I jumped back and was then about to dash back to my farmhouse when the tall man in front of my eyes blocked my way.

The man with salt-and-pepper beard stood tall with inquisitive eyes on me. His looks were similar to Rick – with broad shoulder and towering figure, the man was almost the copy of the boy whom I’d met some time back.

Man’s eyes eyes lingered over my face for a while and then shifted back to Mrs. Maria.

“Don’t leave her, Nathan!” Violent lady’s voice once again made me jump where I was standing. Immediately, I ordered my legs to run before the lady grab my neck.

I ran, ran for my life, stamping on the slippery leaves beneath my legs. But when my feet slipped on the sticky ground, I yelped with pain as I felt deadly pain in my ankle. With that pain, I instantly bend down to rub the tender spot, placing my other hand on metal of the gate; that’s when I heard something.

“...My son has gone. Why everyone is making fun of him, Nathan?”

I pricked my ears when Mrs. Maria said that. She was crying, holding the man’s collar. The emotional pain was clearly visible on her wrinkled face.

“Even that girl is making fun of him. Rick had loved her, Nathan. She was his love.”

Why Mrs. Maria was referring to her in past? And...she knew that Rick was in love with me. Did Rick have told her about me? Was he that open to his mother? I would have not told to my parents, if I'd been on his place.

Mrs. Maria’s forced words were throwing me in the pit of confusion. But her next sentence shook my senses.

“On his last breath he had uttered her name, Nathan.”

“What do you mean Mrs. Maria?”

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