Treacherous - Chapter 15

Hmm... so finally a big secret is revealed! Wanna know who's Lily?

Mr. Woodson and I rushed upstairs and found Rose lying on her back on the floor... yes, her ankle got twisted. I know I did a very mean act over here but I had no other choice and it's just a twisted ankle and no fractured bones.. yes, it could've been a fracture but God saved me from the guilt!

"Ow! It hurts," winced Rose.
"Don't worry honey, you'll be ok," said Mr. Woodson while getting her up on bed.
Then a doctor was called and Mrs. Rose was confined to bed for over 2-3 days... mission successful!


Over the dinner table, I jumped on to the next step of my plan.
"Mr. Woodson, um... actually I wanted to talk to you about something." I said.
"Call me dad." He replied.
"I'm sorry, I-I just forgot... sorry!"
"It's okay what do you want to talk about?"
"Um... you know I have a flight to attend tomorrow... I mean I have to go to New York."
"Yes... but we can postpone that for now. You know Rose cannot travel."
"Ya, but I can... I mean I can go alone. You originally wanted to send me alone, didn't you... so I can go alone now?"

"Well... I guess we'll postpone. What's there to hurry about?"
"Well, you know it-it's... it's my birthday next week and I want to celebrate my birthday here with all of you. No... not that it's my real birth date, but every year in the orphanage I celebrated my birthday on the same date." Of course I lied.
"Oh, then you'll have to go by tomorrow... but are you sure?"
"Yes... yes, I... I can manage." I said scratching my head.

"Ok, then I'll drop you to the airport tomorrow morning and I'll call the orphanage authorities once to make sure that someone is there to pick you up when you arrive."
"No... no there's no need to call them. Miss Fiona said she'll call again whenever they're free."
"But when did you talk to her?"
"When she called you... she called again and that time I received her call and..."
"Fine, I'll see when she calls, otherwise I'll call them." He said and then left the dinning table.

I smiled to myself and then went into my bedroom.
At about 11:00 pm I called Ms. Fiona... she told me she was having night duties these days so I had to call her at night only.
"Hello?" She said as she received my call.
"Hello Miss Fiona, it's me..." but before I could complete my sentence she said, "Felicia! You don't have to tell me. I remember your voice very clearly."
I was speechless for a while, but then I gathered my consciousness and said, "Well, I called to give you a good news."
"And what is it?"
"I'm coming to New York tomorrow!"
Well, she was absolutely delighted to hear this. After that I told her to call dad and assure him of everything and that was all.


Next day Mr. Woodson dropped me to the airport and all I know is that the next moment I found myself back in New York... oh! How happy I felt, all the busy streets and hoardings, how much I missed it.

I stepped out of the airport, hired a taxi and headed straight towards the orphanage.

When I arrived at the orphanage, I quickly scrutinized the entire building once again.
"This place hasn't changed a bit." I thought but then I realized that it has only been a month since I've left this place, but my world is moving too fast that it seems to be a year-long.

I paced towards the front door and rang the bell. The door was opened by a new house lady who looked at me strangely and said, "How can I help you?"
"Hello... I'm Felicia. I'm here to meet-"
"Miss Fiona, right?"
"Yes, but how do you know?"
"She told me that you were coming... come on in!"
She welcomed me inside the orphanage. Oh my, this place felt so much like home, no wonder ten years of my life passed by so smoothly over here.
"Felicia." I heard Miss Fiona behind me.

I turned around to face her and the next thing I knew, that I was crushed into a tight embrace by her. She hugged me so tightly, I nearly suffocated to death.
"Oh... you look so pretty." She said while taking my face in her hands.
"Thanks." I said while holding back my tears.

"Now come in." She said and I followed her into the conference room. Well, it wasn't a very grand room that you usually think of when you hear the word conference room, but it was a very small room with a set of chairs and a table, along with a bookshelf.

I sat on a chair and Mrs. Fiona took a chair opposite me and said, "So? What is it that's disturbing you?"
"I told you about the strange behavior of almost everyone in the family except Mr. Woodson who seems quite normal to me, but that doesn't mean he is not hiding something from me."

"So what brought you here? How can I help you?"
"Um... well there's just a small favor I ask for?"
"You know Felicia I'll go to any extent to help you... just ask."
"It might seem silly, but when I first came here or should I say when I was brought here, did anyone take any picture of me?"

"Yes, we keep that for records."
"You mean when I came here you took my photo?"
"Yes, we did."
"That's great... can you just show me that photograph."
"But why do you-?"
"Well, that's a long story, I'll tell you when my doubts are cleared up, now please can I see that picture."

"Ok, wait here, I'll be back in few minutes."
I waited for Ms. Fiona to return with my fingers crossed... I just hope the pieces of the puzzle start taking shape.
"Here you are." Ms. Fiona startled me as she came in and kept a heavy blue-colored file in front of me.
"Have a look." She instructed.

With shivering hands I opened up the file and noticed a form with all the necessary details on it. And with a heart beating as hard as a hammer I looked at the passport size photograph clipped at the one corner of the form... the girl in the picture was Lily which means that I... I'm Lily!

Oh! How was I unaware of my own identity all this time? How did I lose my memory? How? Yes... one point is clear that I'm Lily and if I'm not wrong, the Woodson's surely know about it. But now the question is, why were they trying to hide my own identity from me?

"Uh!" I exclaimed.
"What happened?" Asked Miss Fiona.
"You know what Miss Fiona when I came to New York this time, I thought I would run away somewhere far from the Woodson's mansion, but now I'm not running away anywhere because now I know how wrong I was when I thought that I didn't belong to that place, because now I've come to realize that the only place I belong is there... it's my own home. And now I just want to know that who kept me away from my house for so long... who kept me in dark for so many years? And I won't back down Miss Fiona... I won't back down."


Replies to Comments

Kunal - Hope you like this chapter. Keep reading and commenting.
Em - So now... you know what was she up to?
Beauty & Em - Ok, so your guess was right, but the mystery hasn't ended, there's a twist that no one can expect.


To the Readers,

This isn't the end yet, there are still a lot of secrets to be unraveled. And yes, there's something totally unexpected that is going to happen.
Published: 5/16/2013
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