Page 6 of Autumn Secrets

There were books from floor to ceiling, and a big north-facing window where my grandmother’s armchair still sat. In the corner was an old fireplace, very similar to the one I had in my own room. It was an old-fashioned library, reminding me a little bit of the library in town, but not as big. This was my grandmother’s own private collection of books. I walked over to her armchair and let my hand touch the velvety fabric. I used to sit here in my grandmother’s lap while she told me amazing stories: some from the books we read together, and some from her own wild imagination.

I sat down in the chair and closed my eyes, just for a minute, before a familiar noise forced me to open them again, interrupting my moment of nostalgia. On the other side of the room, one of the books had fallen off its shelf and was now lying on the floor a few metres away from me. This was the second time in twenty-four hours that this had happened to me. My grandmother’s words echoed back to me.Be aware of the signs.Was she here? Was she trying to tell me something? As ridiculous as that sounded, curiosity got the better of me. I got up from her chair and approached the book with piqued interest. I didn’t really believe in signs or anything supernatural, but this felt a little bit weird and unusual and it intrigued me.

As I got closer and saw the title of the book, my breath caught in my throat and the room started to spin.Fallen Angels and Demons.The same book from the library.

I picked it up with shaking hands and looked over its cover. It was definitely the same book I found on the floor in the library. This wassonot a coincidence. There was something more to this; there had to be. Oddly that didn’t scare me; I felt like my grandmother was speaking to me.

“Okay, Grandma, I hear you,” I mumbled to myself. I took another look around the room before I switched off the light and left the library with the book in my hand. I had finished my other book on the jetty earlier and didn’t have anything else to read anyway, so why not?

When I got upstairs, I walked straight to Mum’s bedroom to say goodnight. As I moved down the hallway towards her door, I heard her voice inside. She was still talking on the phone. I decided to go and brush my teeth instead, but as I was about to walk away I heard my name. I stopped and tried to listen, but I couldn’t hear anything properly from where I stood. I had never eavesdropped on her before, but something made me go back and move closer to the door. That’s when I heard her again.

“I know, and I promise I can protect her. It’s safe here, but we have to do it. There’s no other way.”

Silence.

“She will never know. It’s the only way for now.”

I stood there in the dark, frowning. What on earth was she talking about? Was she talking about me? Why would I need protection?

“I’ll let you know, okay? But I know what I’m doing. I would never put her in danger.”

Her voice came closer, and I turned around and sneaked back towards my room. I had just flicked the light on and was about to put the book on my desk when I heard a knock on my door. I don’t know why, but I tossed the book in a drawer as Mum opened the door.

“There you are. I wanted to say goodnight.” She gave me a big hug and looked at me. “Everything okay in here?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.”

“Okay, I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow morning?”

I nodded and sat down on my bed. “Sure thing.”

“Everything will be fine. We made the right decision coming back here.”

“I’m sure we did, Mum. I’m sure.”

“It was a good night, wasn’t it?”

“It was great, Mum.”

She smiled. “Good, I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’ll see you in the morning then.”

I nodded. “See you in the morning. Goodnight, Mum.”

She kissed my forehead. “Goodnight, Aurora.”

I watched her close the door behind her and as soon as she was gone I got back up again. I was too worked up to sleep. My mind kept replaying the conversation I’d just overheard. Assuming it was about me, what was it that I didn’t know and why did I need protection?

That’s when something hit me. Dad. Was he back? Did he want to see me? Mum had always shut me down whenever I tried to bring him up in conversation. The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that my dad was trying to reconnect with us. Was Mum going to let him back into our lives? I wasn’t too sure after what I’d overheard, but I knew she would never do anything to hurt me. So, what now? Should I pretend that I’d never heard any of this? A part of me didn’t want to ignore it. If this was about my dad, I wanted to know what was going on. I had the right to know.

After tossing and turning for hours, I decided I would give Mum a deadline. I would give her until my eighteenth birthday to say something, otherwise I would have to ask her. I checked the calendar on my phone. It was only four weeks until my birthday. Surely, I could wait that long…

Chapter 4

By the time Monday morning arrived, I was so nervous about school that I was seriously thinking of taking a sick day for the first time in my life.

“You’ll be fine, Aurora. You’ve done this so many times before. Besides, isn’t Lexi meeting you outside?” Mum asked, looking at me from across the table.

“Right.” I nodded and tried to finish my toast, which seemed to be growing in my mouth.

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