I slammed my room door shut and leaned against it, soon sinking down to my knees.

Ouch.

I could feel my head pounding terribly in my head. It was as if a hammer was hitting my brain at full force. Let me tell you something; this is not a pleasant feeling at all. I buried my face into the palms of my hands and leaned my forehead on both my knees.

I feel so, so tired. And my pounding head is not helping at all.

Groaning, I used up all my energy just to get up and walk to my chest of drawers. I pulled out the first drawer and blindly rummaged through it.

Aha!

My hand caught hold of the edge of the folder, and I pulled it towards me. I quickly closed the drawer, and went to sit on my bed, cross legged. And then, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to text Gray the minute I got back.

So, I sent him a short and quick text.

"Got home safely. See? There's nothing to worry about. :D xoxo – Willow"

I took off my jacket and threw them onto the floor beside my bed. I put my phone beside me and took a deep breath.

What's inside this folder Is it something good? Or is it something bad? I feel nervous. But whatever it may be, I sure hope that I am prepared for it.

~~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~~

"Willow Annabelle Rayne. I see you have found this folder. I was expecting it so, don't worry. I won't scold you for taking this without permission. And I hope that you will find this folder... Useful... There is currently nothing in here. But there is soon to be.

I knew you might want to... Drop by my office for a visit perhaps? So I removed everything from here, and kept them in yet another folder, which I carry around with me. But don't worry. You will still get what you want.

I also know that you are very curious, am I wrong? How do I know? Well, it's only very natural for us human beings to be curious. So, I've decided to be slightly... Kinder... This time around... You got lucky, Willow Rayne.

I am going to send pieces of information to you. Piece by piece. Until you've got them all. And hopefully, you'd have figured everything out already by then as well. You know, it's just like fixing a jigsaw puzzle together.

Okay, so enough said. Because after this message, I have specially written for you, Willow Rayne, your first piece of information, the base of it all.

And don't worry, it won't be hard to read and understand it, because it's all in story form. I have especially written for you – or rather, rewritten for you – all these information in story form. I am very sure you read storybooks, so it should be easy for you to understand.

I am pretty sure you are about to find out a lot of things through this little... Story... I have in-store for the likes of you. I am also sure that your father never told you any of this before. I hope you'll finally understand this little... Situation... Your father has left you in.

Well, Willow Annabelle Rayne, this is the first piece of information. Have fun reading.

'There was once a girl who goes by the name of Geraldine, or rather, Dina. She went to Paris in the year 2007, when she was nineteen, to further her studies in culinary arts. Or at least, that was what her parents thought.

But, before she left, she met someone in her senior year back when she was still in high school, Desmond. She did end up going to Paris, but not all alone. Desmond had followed, her, for they were already going out.

And she did go to Paris to further her studies. But that was not her one sole purpose of choosing Paris to further her studies.

When she found out about something in her freshmen year in college, that was when she contacted them. To do a job for her... Which she knew had it coming all along anyway...'

So... How would you like to know more? I know you want to. Just wait for the next letter. Or rather, the next piece of the story. And... Have fun piecing them together... One. By. One."

~~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~ ♥ ~~~

I stared at the paper that was unfolded in my hand, and it drifted to the floor. I was dumbfounded. But... How could this happen? It does not fit! But... It's here anyway. This... Letter... From Desmond... Supposedly explaining everything he thinks I need to know in the letters to come.

So, it was a trap after all, wasn't it? I was beginning to think that it was all just a coincidence, and that nothing was planned out, and that message I had read from Gray's phone was all just too deceiving to the eye.

But apparently, I was wrong.

It is a trap.

So, Desmond knew that I was going to pay a visit to his office all along, didn't he? And from what I read from Gray's iPhone messages, Gray indirectly prompted me to go there. But... I still don't get it. I don't understand anything. I still don't.

Why?

This three-letter-word has been swimming in my head for so long already. Why? Why is all this happening to me? Why me? Why am I caught up in the middle of a game that I don't know how to play? Why? Why am I the target? Why?

I sighed. This girl – the one named Geraldine – is probably Geraldine Lopez, Gray's older sister. From what I've managed to gather so far anyway... At least, I think so... And maybe... Maybe Geraldine is also the one who wrote that letter that looked so old.

I bent down to pick up the slightly crumpled paper that had landed at the foot of the chair. My eyes scanned through it quickly once more, and tried to think if there was a deeper meaning to it all. But sadly, I was never really good in Literature anyway...

Argh! This is all so confusing! My head is in a total state of mess and confusion right now!

"Boo," someone all of a sudden breathed into my ear.

Much to my own horror, I screamed. I just had to scream. My eyes darted around the room to see who made that sound. Apparently, it was Gray. Figures!

His lips were curved up into a smirk. He looked like he was on the verge of laughter. I scowled.

"Whatdidyoudothatfor?" I demanded in one breath – way too quickly for comfort – and it sounded like that question was only one word. One long word.

"What?" he asked, looking very bewildered.

I snickered at his reaction. "Ok. Allow me to slow down. What. Did. You. Do. That. For?" I repeated, extremely slowly this time.

"Oh," he replied, looking a bit stupid.

I had to stifle my laughter by biting on my lower lip. His expression is just so priceless!

"Well, I just wanted to see your reaction," he reasoned with me.

I rolled my eyes. What a lame reason! "Boys..." I muttered under my breath, not meaning for anyone but me to hear.

But sadly, Gray heard me say something. And luckily, he didn't catch what exactly it was.

"What did you say?"

I looked away. "Nothing," I mumbled.

My cheeks started to feel a little hot. Damn! Why do I have to get embarrassed so easily? It gets very annoying at times.

"So... What is it that you're reading?" he asked, nodding his head towards the paper I was still holding in my hand, the one that I haven't kept yet.

The one I totally forgot about until he brought it up.

Oh shoot! How could I forget to keep this? I don't want him to read this! I don't want him to read the letter! Oh hang on a second, I do know how I totally forgot about this until now... And it's all Gray's fault for trying to scare the soul out of me.

"Oh this? It's nothing..." I tried to cover up for myself as I hastily folded the paper in half and stuffed it quickly into the folder that was still lying on my bed. Then, I rushed over to my chest of drawers, yanked one open at random, and hid it under the pile of clothes that were in there, obviously not doing a good job of it.

He shrugged. "Well... If you say so."

There's that tone in his voice that suggests that he knows I'm not telling the truth, but at the same time, he still chooses to believe me. There's that twinkle in those grey eyes of his. The same look as that guy in that car...

I pushed that thought quickly out of my head and continued with my other thought. There's that twinkle in his grey eyes that gives me an impression that he is amused at something. But... At what? At me? Maybe... Who knows? Only he does.

"Come over here," he said, dragging me out of my thoughts.

My eyes looked around for the owner of the voice as he's not in the room anymore. And I didn't see where he left to either. When I finally found him, he was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and he was patting the seat beside him, indicating for me to sit next to him.

"Come on."

His voice has that... Amused ring to it. And it's quite prominent... If you listen closely.

I walked over to the sofa and sat next to him.

And now, back to my own little world, where I think.

I still don't get anything... I wonder... I wonder... What is it that Gray knows? But whatever it is he knows, he is clearly not intending to tell me. Always leaving me in the dark. Everyone is. It's hardly my fault that I don't know anything. It's all because no one bothers to tell me anything.

Which brings me back to the next question. What is it that Gray finds so amusing? Ever since he noticed the paper in my hands, he suddenly found something very amusing. What is it? But—It all does not make any sense at all. The puzzle pieces don't fit.

Or maybe it's because there are still a lot of them missing...

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How was it! XD Hope you liked it! :DDD Arigatou~ (which means thank you) For reading! XDD