CHAPTER 9. Mt. CARMEL
Brayden's POV
Sometimes I try to scrutinize the saying 'You don't know what could happen to you the next moment.' As now I seem to agree with that. Just when I thought that it's going to be a cozy, memorable vacation, I woke up from my comfy dream and here I'm, in my Acura NSX2017, looking for ways to kill someone who was supposed to be dead already but he isn't. My grip tightened on the steering wheel. It would have been easy if I could walk up through this hilly terrain. My life was so messed up and I didn't even know. I feel like breaking anything I want to but then I think of this girl. If I would have been in her place, I don't know what I could've done. Maybe just lock myself up in my room. "Arghh... Elif, you're making me look like a stupid. I won't let you go this time. Just you see." I blurted out with all my frustration.
I'm driving for over an hour and all I could see is trees, long trees and valleys. 'Hey, am I lost or what?' I took a right turn from the front and saw a restaurant. Well, it's not like your Italian, classy restaurants rather a traditional one. I stepped on the break and the car came to a stop.
I walked into the restaurant or, a cafe is more appropriate. With yellow ambient lightning and the fine, wooden furnish, it looked good for a cozy winter. I walked to the counter, where an old man was sitting with his glasses on and reading a novel, "Umm excuse me Sir, could you tell me where is this Mt. Carmel Bishop Church exactly?"
He looked at me and glanced me from top to bottom as if I looked like someone suspicious to him. He tilted his head and spoke "Why do you want to go there?" I raised an eyebrow.
"My friend lives there." I said.
"Hmm... okay I'll tell you." He said like it was something to be grateful about. I nodded. "Go straight up that valley, then take a right turn to the Nashville Gardens, then go straight through the narrow passage, then take a left to the Midnight Jazz bar and go straight to the nearby alley, from there you'll see a narrow pathway going straight to the hill town, just follow the way and you will reach to Mt. Carmel Bishop Church." He finished. I felt dizzy.
"Okay. Thank You Sir." I said and stepped out of the cafe.
"Next time you come here, make sure to park your car outside the garden." I heard the old man saying from back.
I gulped and turned around, "I'm Sorry. I'll keep that in mind next time." I apologized. "I will keep in mind not to come over here again." I muttered under my breath.
As we know, we all have been looking for something all our Life. And my search ends here, at Mt. Carmel. After following all the right turns and left turns as the man said, I have reached here. On the top hill, I saw a church with a cross at it's peak. There was a sign board down the hill, written in bold, Mt. Carmel Bishop Church. I drove to the top of the hill and parked my car 'outside' the gate.
I saw another old man, sitting at the desk near the entrance. I walked to him and asked, "Sir, I'm looking for a girl who is supposed to be living here. Her name is-" He stopped me.
"Sorry Sir but the convent for sisters is separate. It is 2 minutes away from here. You can walk there too." He said. I nodded and left without a second glance. 'What a drag !'
I took my car despite his idea on walking to here. I rang the bell. A girl, wearing a black, floor length dress, came and opened the door. "Yes Sir. How may I help you?" She asked politely.
"Umm actually I'm looking for a girl, she is supposed to be living here. Her name is Elif Wilson. Can you tell me where she is?" I asked.
"I'm sorry Sir but there is no Elif Wilson who lives here." She said. 'That's impossible.' I thought.
"No, this can't be true. She has to be here. Could you please check once again?"
"Actually I'm new here but there is no one with that name here. Umm... do you have any picture of her?" She asked.
I don't have any picture of her or no... 'That picture' I remembered. "Sister, I have this picture... but I'm not sure if it's her or not because the last time I saw her was 15 years ago." I looked for the photo in my backpack and I found it. "Sister, here it is. Have you seen her anywhere? Please it's important." She took the photo and started to remember. I waited.
"Yes I've seen this girl somewhere.. in Sister Jennie's room." Finally, something positive.
"Oh thank God, can you call her then?" I asked and she nodded.
"Sir you wait here and have some water. I'm calling Sister Jennie." She ran up the stairs.
Another girl came with a glass of water. I took the glass. "Thank you." I said.
The girl came back accompanied by another lady. She was also wearing the same dress and a black and white wimple over her head. "Sir, this is Sister Jennie. You can ask her whatever you want to know." The girl said and left.
"Yes Sir, how may I help you?" Sister Jennie asked.
"Sister, do you know any girl with the name, Elif Wilson?" I crossed my fingers.
"Why do you want to know about her?" She asked the same question which Father Xavier had asked me before.
"Father Xavier had send me for her. I need to see her. Please tell me where is she, please." I pleaded. She seemed to soften a bit.
"If you want to know then I'll tell you. But remember that only you should be the one to know this and no one. She had asked me not to tell her whereabouts to anyone. I hope you will understand." I nodded in agreement. She took a paper from the desk and wrote an address on it. "This is her address. She lives with Sister Marissa there. If possible, don't make things more complicated for her than it already is." She looked worried.
"Thank you. I'll take care of it from here."
I drove to the address which Sister Jennie wrote to me. It was a small town named, Hollins, with brick roads and brick houses. People still dress in old-fashioned clothes here. 'I guess I shouldn't have brought such a big car in a place like this.' I thought. I parked my car near the alley end and walked from there. A man was passing by with his son, I asked him where the house is and he showed me the direction. And finally, I found the house. I rang the doorbell.
A lady in her late 40s opened the door. "Yes Sir?" She said.
"Are you Sister Marissa?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm Sister Marissa. But who are you?" She asked.
"Hello, I'm Brayden Davies. I was told by Sister Jennie that Elif lives here. So can you call her for me?" For a moment, I felt like she was horrified to see me.
I waved my hand in front of her face. "Sister, are you alright?" She looked at me with a sudden jolt.
"I'm Sorry Mr. Davies but there is no one with that name here. You might have heard wrong." She said and was about to close the door, but I stopped her.
"Excuse me. I know that Elif lives here. You can't lie to me. I'm looking everywhere for her. Please Sister trust me." I said.
"I'm telling you there is no one with that name here. Please leave Sir." She ignored me and started closing the door with more strength.
I pushed it open and walked inside. "I know she is here. I need to see her. Why won't you let me see her? See I promise, I won't harm her. I just want to see her once and then I swear I'll leave. Just let me talk to her for once."
"You think you can protect her?" She mocked at me. "You can only hurt her and nothing else. She had had enough of your problems, now I don't want her to get into anymore trouble. So please leave." She snapped at me.
"I won't. Until I see her." I said in a low, threatening tone. She was caught off-guard.
"Sister, who is there?" I heard another voice from the upstairs.
I ignored Sister Marissa's restrictions and climbed up the stairs. I heard footsteps coming this way and I stopped. I saw her. She looked just like the girl in the photo and even more beautiful. She was pale white, with dark brown hair, tied in a bun. She was slim and tall about 5' 7", wearing a floral print frock. Her face looked young and her eyes were of the same hazel color as it was when I last saw her. I stared at her until, "Hey you, how can you intrude into someone's house just like that? Don't you have any manners? Who are you?" That was harsh.
I shook my head. "Hi Elif, I'm Brayden. Brayden Davies. You remember right?" I asked with a smile.
"Brayden? Sorry, but I don't know you." She said. My smile disappeared.
'How can she forget me?' "You must be joking. How can you forget your childhood buddy? Hey, now stop the act. We have things to talk about." I held her hand and said.
She pulled away her hand. "I don't know you. Will you leave by yourself or shall I call the police?" She threatened.
"I won't go until you tell me why are you ignoring me like this?" I yelled. 'I don't understand what's going on here.'
"Okay fine." I chuckled. She grabbed my hand and pulled me and... twisted my hand and pushed me out of the door. "Go back to wherever you came from. We don't let in strangers and this is not a hotel." She yelled.
I stood outside the door for a while and tried to figure out what the hell happened just now. 'Did she... did she hit her head and lost her memory?' I thought. But neither Uncle Matthews nor Father Xavier told me anything about it. 'Well they didn't know about her new place too. Well I can't stand outside for the whole night, freezing in this cold winter. What should I do? It's already 9 p.m. The way is also dangerous and I can't drive back at this time. Ahhh this is so frustrating.' I ran my hand through my hair. "What should I do?" I murmured. 'I think I should try some other way.'
"Hey Elif... Elif... Elif Wilson" I shouted outside her window. She opened her window and looked down. "So finally you heard it. Hey just tell me one thing, did you hit your head and lost your memory?" I shouted.
"Are you mad? Did you hit your head that you're shouting at this hour and disturbing others?" She yelled back.
"No, I'm fine. But if you don't let me enter then where will I go at this hour?" I shouted back.
I could see she was losing her patience. "If you don't leave this place right now... then I'll call the police." She yelled again.
'This is not working.' "Then, why don't you say that you know me, already? I'll leave then." I shouted.
"Do whatever you want I don't care." She yelled and closed her window.
'Guess what? I, Brayden Davies, have to spend a night in his car, with an empty stomach. Such a Drag.'
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Hello everyone,
Hope ya'll are doing well. So tell me your thoughts on the chapters so far. Also comment on your favorite parts too. And do you like long chapters or short?
Take care.
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