Betrayal

A letter from Grandfather

"It's from Richard. He replied to our message" I was happy for no reason. Why am I so excited about his message?

"Let me have a look" Mia took my mobile and read the message.

"Hello Ms. Anna, visit me at Richeraz Villa, Sausalito, California...."

"Nothing else," said Mia "What are we going to do?"

"Visit him"

"When?"

"It's not too late. Now?"

"Yeah"

Sausalito was just 30 minutes of travel from my Uncle's house. As he was a famous writer, it was quite easy for us to locate his house. Mia rang the doorbell. A fat lady opened it after a few minutes.

"How can I help you?" she asked.

"We are here to meet Mr. Richard Thomas," said I

"You are?"

"Oh! I am Anna and I am from Berkeley"

"Susan, let them in," said a voice from inside.

"Yes sir, come in" she opened the door for us and let us in.

Maybe she is his servant maid.

Richard was sitting in the living area reading a book. He greeted us with a smile. We were shocked to find that he was paralyzed in a wheelchair.

"Hello, Anna?"

"Yes Sir" I replied "and this is my sister Mia" I added "we are here to ask you..." before I completed my sentence he looked at his servant maid and said "Susan, you were talking about going to the market. Take your time"

"But Sir, what if you need my help?"

"Don't worry, they are the daughters of my friend. I will be fine with them"

"Well sir, I will be back before the girls leave, and please don't mind.." she told us

"No problem we will be fine with our uncle. It had been a long time since we met him last time so we have many things to discuss with him" said Mia.

Richard smiled. I think he appreciated her smartness.

"Oh! Please be seated and make yourself comfortable" he said when Susan left the front door with the shopping bag.

We sat on the couch opposite him.

"What is it all about?" I started.

"How did you buy that villa?" he questioned me instead

"From the ad in the newspaper" Mia replied "We were excited about how cheap it was without knowing the strange history of its silence"

"Poor girls"

"After reading your article we wanted to ask you in person about what exactly happened to that person you mentioned in your writing"

"I never mentioned a word related to the villa. How did you get it all?"

"We experienced half of what you have described"

"Half?"

"Yes. The strange music and get him...everything resembles" I said.

"We heard her screaming" Mia added

"Screaming?"

"Yes. She screamed 'Get him'"

"When she told me this, I didn't care a second"

"Who?"

"My lovely wife Razia, she was an archaeologist and interested in examining historical artifacts"