Damien

"Hey,"

I turned towards the voice, Anna was sitting on the left desk, with a smile on her face.

"I think this belongs to you," I passed her the dress.

She muttered thanks and turned her gaze towards the teacher, "Do you know we are going on a trip today?" she whispered.

"Everyone knows it," I replied, making sure my voice was low.

She rolled her eyes, "Okay then, do you know we are going to see the exhibition?"

The thought of visiting a museum was far away from my liking, looking at the old things, knowing more about their history never really fascinated me. 

"Is it compulsory to go?"

Anna stared at me as if I asked her something she was not expecting, "Would you rather stay in the school and study all day?"

I pressed my lips in a thin line, not answering her question. I turned my eyes from the teacher towards the window, it was a clear day, the sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping loudly outside. 

I was too engrossed in my own world that I failed to hear what our teacher instructed, "What's going on?" I asked Anna when I saw the students leaving the class.

"We are going to see the exhibition," she picked up her bag and started walking. I followed her, not wanting to be left alone in the class.

"I can't wait to get there and see all the beautiful things there, won't it be amazing to see all those wonderful collections they have? Do you know....."

I drifted away, thinking about the purple rose and those glowing eyes. Anna kept rambling about the things to which I replied with a yes or no. Soon, we were standing in front of our destination. 

A huge black gate welcomed us, from where a path made of marbles, led us to a two-storied grey building, with a large door between two pillars. There were some squares on the door, each square had a distinct design on it.

"Wow," Anna's eyes were wide open, "I could live here."

She put her dark blonde hair in a loose bun and ran her green eyes all over the area, trying to take all the details in.

The interior was no different from the exterior, everything looked pristine, all the things were arranged in a systemic order next to each other, with a small card in front of them, telling the visitor about the tale behind that object. Three medium-sized chandeliers hung through the white ceiling. The ceiling had a unique design all over it, something I had never seen before.

"What is this place a museum? I have never heard about it?" I asked in a hushed voice.

"This is actually not a museum but a home, imagine living here," she said in a dreamy voice, "the owner is a billionaire or something, who is doing some sort of a charity event next week. According to my father, he is just trying to look good in everyone's eyes."

This made me curious, usually, my family knew everyone and if someone new came into the town, it meant my parents would arrange a meeting with them, to be in their good books. According to them, everyone is useful in one way or another you just need to know their right value.

"What do you mean?" I asked, Anna sighed clearly getting annoyed by my questions. She wanted to listen about the first item that was on the display, it was some type of a dagger. Even though I was pretty sure she already knew about it, from the card.

"Dad said, he is shady. He just appeared out of nowhere one day, practically owning most of the buildings in the town."

She answered as we moved over to the next item I had no interest in knowing about. I was more interested in knowing about the new member who appeared out of nowhere in the town.

"Who is he?"

"Am I interrupting something?" a muscular man with a large mustache asked. Every eye turned in our direction, some were curious, some were annoyed but a pair was glaring in our direction.

Our teacher walked over to us with a smile on her face, that did not hide the reality I was seeing in her eyes, "I don't want to hear any more words from either of you, I do not want to get embarrassed in front of these people, understand?"

"Yes," I muttered, while Anna nodded quickly, her cheeks turning pink.

With a sigh, I continued walking paying no attention to any of the things or the words that large man with the mustache was saying.

"Anna," I whispered, she gave me a hard look with the sign to stay quiet.

"I am going to look for the bathroom," I whispered one more time, her eyes got huge but before she could say anything, I started moving backward.

It was killing her to stay at the end, but it also meant getting more time to see everything.

There was no sign that could lead me to my destination. I tried searching everywhere, when I could not find it I took the stairs to look at the other floor. Wandering aimlessly, I came across a large brown door. Without giving it much thought I opened it slowly, it was someone's room.

The bed was made neatly, sunlight was falling from the large window across the bed. The walls were grey, with the furniture made to match everything perfectly. The room was opposite of mine, it was soo simple for my taste, with just one large painting of a crown on the wall. I opened the door at the end of the room and finally found what I was looking for, I quickly finished my business and instead of going back decided to look around a little.

Almost everything was locked in the room so it left me with no choice but to leave the room. That was until my eyes fell on something peeking through the drawer next to the bed. It was a small book, with brown leather on it. Before I could open it, I heard someone's footsteps outside and placed it back in its position.

I hid behind the curtains, hoping for the best, even though I knew it was useless if anyone opened the door. But it was my best option, the room had no space to hide.

I stood there for a few minutes but no one entered the room. When I thought it was safe to go outside, I ran back to where everyone was, the only problem, no one was there.

I texted Anna, asking her where they were but got no reply from her. 

I decided to wait there when two men wearing suits came from the front door. I did not want to get in trouble so I did the first thing that came to my mind, I hid behind the artifact.

"We have to tell him," the first man said and started walking.

The second man held his arm, "Not right now, there are students here, remember. We have to wait until they leave."

I could not see their faces.

"What should we do with the body?" the first man asked.

My breath got stuck in my throat as I heard it. I put a hand over my mouth to make sure I did not make any sound, the game of hide and seek just got scary for me.

"Keep your voice down, Jermey," the second man said sternly, "let's just hide the body until they leave, then he can tell us what we should do with it."

The sound of their footsteps kept getting away but I stayed hidden in my spot, I did not know what to do with the information, should I tell the police? But who would trust my words, I had no proof.

I slapped my head when I thought about it, I could have recorded everything.

The murmuring of students gave me the sign that everyone was back, I quickly ran and stood in the back with Anna.

"Where were you?" she whispered with a glare.

"I couldn't find you guys. I texted you."

"Well, I am sorry for not replying, I had no interest in getting a detention," she spat, "now stop talking to me before you get me in trouble again."

I stayed quiet for the rest of the time, my complete focus was on the conversation I heard earlier. I needed to know about their boss even more.

Maybe he was in a mafia or something.

We almost reached the gate when I realized something, my phone was not with me.

"Anna, I forgot my phone in there, just tell them to wait for me. I will be back in a minute."

"You can just get a new one," she replied with a scoff.

"Look, I will be back in a minute, okay?"

"Fine."

I ran back inside, I knew I had it when I was hiding. I checked behind the artifact and found my phone. 

Quickly I picked it up and turned around when I bumped into someone, a small scream left my lips when I looked at the person in front of me. 

A tall muscular man in a black suit was standing in front of me, his hair dark as coal whose strand fell over his forehead, defined jawline with some stubble on the chin. There was no imperfection, I couldn't take my eyes away, but it was not because of all the other features, it was those captivating blue eyes that held all of my attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked in his deep rich voice.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"What are you still doing here?" he raised his eyebrow.

"Umm...I was just getting my phone."

He kept staring into my eyes as if looking for answers.

"I am Damien, the owner of this house."

It was him. He was the one they were talking about.

"Nice to meet you, I should go now, everyone is waiting for me."

Without waiting for his reply I walked away or more like ran away.

I thanked Anna as I reached there, luckily I didn't have to sit with her on our way back to school.

"What took you so long?"

"I just saw Damien."

"Isn't he dreamy?" she squealed, "most of the students found their new crush today, even our teacher was giggling."

Ignoring her sentence, I asked, "Why is he in the town?"

Anna shrugged casually, "Doing some business, I guess. Shouldn't your family know about him?"

I was hoping they didn't, "I don't know."

She scoffed, "Well, dad also said he might be a competition for your father's business. Your father should be more careful."

I gave her a sweet smile, "Don't worry about my father's business, Anna. He knows what he is doing."

I collected my things and started walking home, it was only 15 minutes away from school and if I was not getting late, I preferred walking.

It was probably the first time, I could not focus on the birds flying happily in the sky, or the children playing in the park. 

Who was the person they killed? Maybe I was wrong, somehow I misunderstood the whole thing.

I went straight to my room.

During dinner, I decided to ask my mother about him, "Do you know Damien?"

She froze, putting the spoon back in the bowl, she looked at me with a hard look in her eyes, "Where did you hear that name?"

"We went to the exhibition today, it was in his home. My classmate told me he is a competition."

I replied, confused by her reaction.

She wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin and took a sip of water, "He is no one important, you should focus on your study instead of focusing on senseless things."

"Sweety people always enjoy gossips, learn not to pay any attention," grandma said gently with a smile.