BXBX NOVEL Chapter 78 - From Afar
Rebecca smiled. "Laura and I... we're just chatting," she replied casually. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at the woman sitting on the bed. "I'll take my leave. I'll come back later," she told her.
Laura nodded her head. "Okay, see you later," she responded.
She was left alone again in the room, recalling everything Rebecca told her about the twin's history. Graven's fiancee knows everything about him and his twin!
She was surprised that Rebecca has been generous enough in telling her all the info regarding the history of the twins when they were still young.
Rebecca was about to touch the topic regarding Luke's strange illness and death when Graven knocked on the door.
She released a deep sigh.
Does she need to poke further and inquired in detail what is Luke's strange illness? And why it was not cured right on time resulting in his death?
The more she's getting info about the brother's history, the more she was craving for answers to all her questions. Her mind was now fine-tuned to know what exactly happened to Luke. She hopes that Rebecca will continue to tell her more about the events surrounding Luke's death.
Although she's ready now to believe that Luke is already dead, some part of her can't accept the fact that he already passed away five years ago when he just made love with her last month. How to explain that?
Sighing, Laura went inside the bathroom to take a bath, to freshen up her mind and subdue her troubled heart.
~
Meanwhile, Graven and Rebecca were having a serious conversation on the balcony.
Rebecca looked at Graven in the eyes. "How can you explain Laura's claim? She insisted that she made love with Luke just last month. I don't think the girl was dreaming, fantasizing, or hallucinating? I think she's telling the truth," she said.
Graven sighed deeply.
"Do you want to know what's on my mind?" Rebecca asked.
Graven looked at her. "What's on your mind?" he asked, eyeing her closely.
"I have a feeling and suspicion that you are the one who made love to Laura in physical form, and it was your brother's spirit that controlled your body..." Rebecca said.
Graven raised a brow. "Huh? Why would I do that to my sister-in-law? That's an outrageous claim! I wouldn't do something like that!" he denied.
Rebecca smiled. "You won't do it on your own accord. But did you remember when you disappeared for a few days last month? Horace and I have no idea where to find you. You just disappeared like that!" she said and made a demonstration with a snap of her finger.
"I do... I remembered it!" he admitted.
"And I found you in one of your properties. The housemaid told me in secret that you brought a woman named Laura and have a good time with her. You told me that you have no idea how that woman, whose name is Laura came into your house? Who later happens to be your sister-in-law!" Rebecca reminded him.
"I don't have any idea what I'm doing during that time," Graven confessed.
"If you are telling the truth...could it be that...your brother's Luke's spirit entered your body and controlled your consciousness and act accordingly based on his will? It will lead to my next question. Is your twin really dead or still alive until now?" Rebecca asked.
"He's dead when we put him inside his coffin. We brought him to the cave where he wanted to be left alone. That was his last wish before he died. End of story." Graven recalled.
"Exactly. We knew he's dead. But what if he's still alive? I mean...what if his spirit never leaves this world and continue to live among the living?" Rebecca suggested.
"That's possible," he admitted.
Rebecca looked at the sky. The sun is already shining above. "Did your twin ever mention of a woman dear to his heart? What I'm trying to say is... did he met a woman that he's in love with? Did he fall in love with someone that looks like Laura?"
"Why did you ask that?"
"Your twin brother can't stay in one place. He always travels to different places. There's a possibility that he met some beautiful women out there. Maybe he fancied one or two of them?" Rebecca made another suggestion.
Graven wracked his brain, trying to recall a specific conversation he had with his twin when he was still alive. Ah, he remembered it now! "There are a few times he mentioned of a woman that he likes very much, but he told me that he doesn't have the heart to introduce himself to her," he said.
"Did he mentioned a specific place where he saw that woman and the name?" Rebecca asked.
"Maybe he did or didn't, but I don't pay attention to it during those times. Besides, he doesn't elaborate much. I can't remember if he told me the name of the place, though," he replied.
"I should go back to Laura's room and ask her if she meets a strange guy before in her hometown," Rebecca said.
Graven was silent for a moment. "I think I have to return to that cave and see the status of my brother's coffin. He died last year, and next month will be his first death anniversary," he said, thinking aloud.
"Horace and I will come with you," Rebecca offered.
"Okay," he agreed.
Rebecca was thinking of something. "It's a bit confirmed now. Your twin was using your body to make love to Laura. Am I right? If he was resurrected and come back to life - he is getting more powerful than we anticipated. Is that a good or bad thing?" she asked.
Graven shook his head. "He might have plans to get Laura for himself..." he muses.
"And what would happen to Cooper? Your other brother?" Rebecca asked.
Graven released a deep sigh. If Rebecca's theory is correct. He now has two brothers who are after Laura.
Rebecca smiled a little. "Don't tell me you are also after Laura?" she teased him with a smirk.
Graven was not able to reply right away.
"By the way, for how long should I pretend that I'm your fiancee?" Rebecca questioned him.
Graven looked at Rebecca for a long time. She was handy to him considering that Cooper was always acting jealous every time he visited his father Nicholas's mansion. Ever since he introduces Rebecca as his fiancee to his family, Cooper no longer bothers him. His brother doesn't care anymore if he will visit the mansion every day as long he will bring Rebecca with him.
"I will tell you one day. Right now, we still need to pretend in front of my father, Cooper, and Laura," he replied.
"Okay, as you say so. I'll go back to Laura's room to ask her if she had contact with Luke before," Rebecca said.
He nods his head.
Rebecca rose to her feet and left the balcony, heading to Laura's room. When she arrived outside the door, she knocked first. "Laura...can I come in?" she asked permission.
"Yes, the door is open," Laura replied from the inside.
Rebecca pushed the door and entered the room. She went to the chair nearby and settled on it.
Laura was currently drying her long hair with the towel.
Rebecca waited for the woman to finish drying her hair.
Laura noticed that Rebecca was waiting for her to finish drying her hair, so she stopped her activity and looked at her. "I'm sorry, I keep you waiting," she apologized.
"It's okay. It's nice seeing someone drying her hair in front of me. It's relaxing to watch," Rebecca grinned.
Laura smiled, she finds the woman's statement a bit odd.
"I come back here to continue where we left off because we got cut from our conversation earlier. Where are we? Can you remind me?" Rebecca asked.
"We were discussing Luke's strange illness, the reason for his death," Laura reminded her eagerly.
"Ah, okay. Let's continue..." Rebecca said.
"Please tell me the severity of Luke's strange illness!" Laura requested.
Rebecca looked at her. "Much better if I don't go on with the details of his illness, it's a bit gory. You might not be able to stomach it," she replied.
"No! Please tell me! I'm ready to know about his illness! Tell me everything. I can stomach it!" she insisted.
Rebecca shook her head. "It's enough that you know how he died," she said.
Laura pouted. "Fine. What did Graven do? He didn't find any healer or physician that would provide a cure for Luke's strange illness?"
"He did... just that the strange illness has no cure. Many healers and alchemist visited Luke and try to heal him, but they all failed. Luke is destined to die, and Graven was feeling tortured seeing his beloved twin brother dying in front of him," Rebecca said with a gloomy sigh.
Laura's face turned sad.
Rebecca watched the devastated expression on Laura's face for a few moments. Then she cleared her throat. "When you were still in your hometown, did you meet Luke before you got romantically involved with him? Where you aware of his presence when you go to the church, go to the market, or go anywhere. Nobody was following you?" she asked.
Laura's brows knitted together. She's trying to recall in her mind if she had seen Luke previously? But she already knows the answer to that question. "No, I can assure you that I never meet Luke before. But regarding your question, I sometimes feel that someone is watching me from afar. But every time I have that gut feeling and turned around to find the source of that feeling, I can't find anyone staring or looking at me. I just have that feeling that there's someone out there watching over me, but later on, I no longer give any more attention to that feeling," she said.