The mysterious man

It was Christmas Eve, there was a lot of food and drinks, spread over a long table, tempting with the multicolored presentation and flagrant smell; on another table there was a mountain of cookies and cakes as well as a chocolate fountain which was surrounded by marshmallows on the sides, and music was heard on the balcony mixed with peoples voices, and from time to time, coming from the street, with a hum of voices and carols getting louder and then softly disappearing, as groups of family and friends were  passing in the front of the house.



Inside the house there was a big commotion, servants running everywhere, like little bees next to a beehive, catering to the needs of the guests. The latter were laughing and dancing, some out on the balcony with their sweethearts, others, gathered in groups, were telling stories of other Christmas holidays and funny happenings from the  previous year’s party; meanwhile, some old people had gathered together and started discussing their grandchildren’s hope for the future and how good things had been  when they were young, reminiscing their youth.



When seen from afar, the house had all the lights on and shined brightly like the stars on the sky, illuminating a part of the street much more than the street lights. At about 12 o’clock one could have seen a shadow entering the yard, and swiftly entering the back door of the house. Then, after half an hour, the same shadow went from the door, through the yard, and out the gate, but this time, unaware of its pursuer. Following them, we arrived at a dark corner of an alley, where the unknown shadow, finally realizing he was being followed, hid after a corner, until its pursuer stopped and looked around puzzled. When a car passed the street, he could see his pursuer was only a little girl, at around age 10, with blonde curly hair, and blue eyes that sparked with life. Dressed in a crimson red dress she seemed like a porcelain doll out of the shelf of a toy store. Her small body looked even flimsier under the moon light, like at the most gentle touch she could break and shatter into little pieces, and her skin was as white as snow, with a pinch of red in the cheeks because of the cold wind.



She looked around for a few minutes then started walking on the street in front of her. He waited for her to be a little further then started following her. While walking behind her, as he passed several street lights, you could see he was a man around the age of 20, with black hair and blue eyes which shone with intelligence and a slim build, moving gracefully in a suit that looked especially made to fit him perfectly. The girl started to quicken the pace, looking desperate as she passed streets she didn’t recognized and going down a road with fewer lights and no people in sight. Realizing what had happened the man took a turn and dropped the cape in a corner, then started walking on a street right towards the girl, until he became visible to her. Seeing a person the girl stopped and tried to distinguish the man in front of her, but due to the scarcity of light she couldn’t see him well, so she approached him shyly until she was standing in front of him. Then she said:



“Excuse me sir, I believe I’m a little lost, could you please tell me how to reach the main boulevard from here?”



He stared a little at her and then smiling faintly he answered:



“Yes, of course, little lady, I will lead you back…but can I ask what you are doing at such a late hour without an escort in this neighborhood? Are you perhaps looking for someone?”



“Ah no!” she quickly replied while looking at the ground, “I was just taking a walk and I got a little lost…”



“Ah, I see,” he said smiling, “Next time you should ask someone to accompany you, missy, when you go on a walk so you won’t get a “little” lost.” And he started laughing.



The girl turned red and replied:



“Oh never mind, I can find my way back alone, I’m sorry I disturbed you sir.” And she started walking fast moving away from him, swinging her fists furiously through the air.

Still chuckling he started after her and when he was at her right side he said:



“Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t intended to offend you, it was just some advice, please let me escort you back”.



She turned to him while walking but before she could reply anything she tripped and fell on the ground, grazing her knee. A few seconds passed till she realized what had just happened, and as tears was starting to ooze down her face, the man got out a white handkerchief with green lacing and after handing it to her, he picked her up in his arms and started walking slowly on to the main boulevard, without saying anything, while she was hiding her face in the handkerchief, she was desperately trying to retain her tears from falling.



“You should cry if it hurts”, the man said when they reached the main boulevard, “and after you finish crying stand up and raise your head, and walk forward no matter the what.”



She looked up at him and said in a trembling voice:



“You can put me down now, we reached the main boulevard and I can walk on my own now, I’m sorry for such a shameful presentation.”



“It’s ok” he said smiling, “I’ll escort you all the way to the house since it was my fault you tripped” She looked at him confused for a few seconds and then started laughing.



“How was it your fault?” she asked, “It was my clumsiness that was at fault, if anything you helped me, so please accept my thank you”.



He looked at her a little in awe and then started laughing.



“You really don’t act like a little girl” he said.



“Why do you say that?” she asked.



“Well you are too polite and restrained, you should laugh and cry more easily” he replied. She stared a little at him and then exclaimed:



“But a real Lady doesn’t do things like that!”



He started laughing even harder.

“Ah, I see…”



She pouted and looked away.



“That’s more like it” he said while looking gently at her.



Despite herself, she smiled.



“Can I ask your name?” he said.



“It’s Elisa” she answered, “Elisa Romanov. What’s yours if I may ask?”



“Oh, my name is not of such importance” he said looking a little sad.



“But…” she started but he interrupted her: “We’re here” he said looking at her parents coming before them in the yard.



Her mother, Joan was a small thin woman, around the age of 35, with brown hair and brown eyes, dressed in a blue silk dress that accentuated her paleness, while her dad, Henry was a sturdy man, with brown hair and blue eyes, a thick beard and a mustache to go with, dressed in a black suit, custom made; you could tell he had a good lineage and was well educated.



“Where have you been?” the mother asked while she was hugging Elisa, “You just disappeared, and you know it’s dangerous to go out alone at night,”



“It’s ok mother, this sir helped me back, I was just taking a walk when I got a little lost” she said and looked at the man but he wasn’t looking back, he was staring at her father, and even Elisa could feel some tension between them.



When the mother looked up at the man she froze, and didn’t said anything anymore. Elisa was confused, why were her parents acting like this? Was there something wrong?



“Nice to meet you, but I’m afraid I have to leave now, I’m expected somewhere else”, the man said after a few moments of awkward silence, and left without saying anything else.



“Hey wait!” Elisa shouted, “You didn’t tell me your name”



He stopped and turned around “I told you it’s not important” and smiling he left and disappeared at the end of the road.



After a few seconds, Henry took Elisa in his arms, and asked trying to sound casual:

“What did you talk about with that man?” Then Elisa told her parents how she had met him, and what they had talked about.



That next day Henry and Joan were having a conversation in the living room, while drinking their coffee. Elisa had just woken up and went down to greet them, but before entering the room she suddenly stopped when she heard her parent’s grave voice.

“We should have been more careful, we can’t risk her finding the truth, it will only make her suffer,” her mother said while grabbing the cup of coffee that had gone cold.

“Yes, I didn’t think he would try to approach her, since he had agreed himself  it was not a good thing to shock her, but maybe he’s thinking of taking her with him” he said while holding a cigar between his index and middle finger.



“But he can’t, right? She would be even more confused and could start asking questions, then how could we answer her?” she said in a crying tone.



But before he could answer anything one of the maids walked in carrying with her more hot coffee.



Elisa decided to make use of the interruption and made her way to her mother’s chair.

“Good morning mother, father!”



Her parents jerked a little but it remained unnoticed by Elisa

.

“Ah good morning dear, did you sleep well?” her mother asked.



“Yes” she answered. “I’m going to have breakfast and go in the garden for some fresh air afterwards.”



“Ok honey, don’t go out of the garden please, we wouldn’t want you to get lost again” her mother said, smiling.



“Yes mother” she answered and left. Something wasn’t right, she thought, but after a few days passed and nothing new happened, she even forgot about the conversation she had heard. Everything was as always, normal days, filled with happiness.



Several years passed that way, and on Elisa’s 14th birthday, while she was getting dresses for the party that  was scheduled to start in about two hours, a maid came to give  her a piece of news that changed her life forever. Her parents had been in a car accident, and were now in the hospital.



The days passed in frenzy and on the 3rd day Elisa’s parents died, at an hour distance one from the other. The relatives arranged for Elisa to live with her aunt and her family after the funeral.



Her aunt’s name was Charlotte. She was a short stocky woman, who took care of the household, while her husband was chubby and bold, and owned a construction company. They had a son who, unlike his parents, was slim and pretty tall for his 12 years, and who liked to study, being an overachiever.



On the day of the funeral rain was pouring down, and the ski remained closed even through the night. After the funeral, Elisa was to move to her aunts house, so after all the people were gone, she went up to her parents room and took her time looking at everything very attentively so as to imprint the memory of the room in her brain, each detail having a memory attached to it. In the end she fell asleep on her parents bed.



When the clock stroked 2 Elisa opened her eyes slowly, rose from the bed, descended the stairs, went out the door without even putting on her shoes, and started walking down the street. She fell down but got back up and kept walking till she arrived at a cemetery, the one where her parents were buried. When approaching their grave, she saw a shadow crouched at their tomb. Uncertain at first she approached the stranger by the grave. When he saw her he rose and walked away. She passed her parents grave and tried to cry out for him, but her mouth just wouldn’t open. All of a sudden, he turned around and looked at her, then approached her slowly. When she saw him coming towards her, her feet gave out and she fell on her bottom. Unable to say anything she just stayed down and kept looking at him as waiting for him to wake her up from the nightmare. When he reached her, he kneeled down in front of her, took a white handkerchief with green lacing and bandaged her right palm which was injured from her falling down on the street on the way here.



“You should get that disinfected” he said in a low voice while looking at the hand. She still didn’t said anything, just looked at the bandaged hand and nodded.



“Are you ok?”he asked, still avoiding to look  into her eyes. Elisa didn’t say anything, just grabbed his hand and squeezed it, and slowly tears began to fall, one after the other, until she started sobbing violently. She wanted to talk, to tell him all that had happened to her, but she just couldn’t stop crying.



“It’s ok now, cry as much as you want, it will ease your pain” and he hugged her and stroke her hair gently until she fell asleep in his embrace. When he noticed that she had fallen asleep, he took her in his arms and carried her in the direction of her house.

“What am I going to do with you now?” he asked while looking at her, while some tears were still dropping heavily on her cheeks.



“Mama? Papa? Where are you?” she mumbled. 



Hearing her, a tear started making its way from his eye on to the cheek and dropped from his chin.



“Poor child, what a sad destiny she has, always having to say goodbye to her most loved ones. Will I only bring her suffering? Should I really awaken her memories or let them sleep undisturbed?”



While walking down the street, the sun started showing it’s rays, and finally they were at her house.



“Elisa, come on, wake up”



“Mother? Let me sleep a little more…”



“Elisa, it’s time to move, come on, be a good girl and wake up”



Elisa suddenly opened her eyes and looked around, but before she could awaken entirely she felt her eyes heavy and a  strong headache quickly set in. She quickly closed her eyes so the sun couldn’t hurt them, then opened them slowly and looked around her felling at a loss. She was in her room, in her bed, but she remembered falling asleep in her parents room, how  had she ended up back in her room? When she decided to listen to her aunt and get up, she felt something falling from her hand. It was the white handkerchief, which she had received from that man when she was only 10, but why was it in her hand? Then she began remembering what had happened the night before, but it was all hazy and her headache didn’t subside at all so she postponed it till later.



She got out of the bed, washed her face, got dressed in her black dress and started packing up her clothes one by one, all the while remembering how she had bought each of them with her mother and how her dad had always praised her, and told her how beautiful she was. After about an hour her luggage was ready and her uncle was loading it in the truck of the car. She took her time and looked one last time at her room, and she noticed something red under the pillow. It was the white handkerchief stained with blood. Then she remembered the cemetery, and the man, whom she called the mysterious man, and her crying in his arms and falling asleep. The memories of the previous night made her blush slightly, and then she even smiled for a  brief moment at the thought that maybe destiny was bringing her and the mysterious man together when she needed him the most. She had really felt  much better after she had cried her hearth out, and she was glad it was him who saw her and not some stranger or someone from her family. Then she realized she didn’t remember how she got home, or in her bed. She only remembered a light touch on her forehead and some words that didn’t make any sense to her: “let memories sleep undisturbed”. Were those words addressed to her or was there someone else around who talked to the mysterious man and she just heard them? Vainly she tried to remember more, it didn’t work, so she took the blood stained handkerchief, shoved it in her pocket and went downstairs when her aunt started calling her.



Time flew.  Two years had already passed since her parents died. She was now 16 years old. She had grown  taller, more feminine, but her blonde hair had preserved the same pure color she had had as a child, soft and shining, with the  curls falling  over her shoulders down to her waist. She usually wore hear hair in a pony tail at the back or the side of her head, while some rebellious curls framed her face, outlining the shape and color of her eyes.



She was a good student, friendly with everyone, and helpful; younger kids admired her, and older people respected her, for she was always kind and objective in resolving a situation. Still, she didn’t have any good friends, because unconsciously she isolated her heart and didn’t trust anyone, not even family, and when someone got too close to her she pushed them away.



She didn’t forget about the mysterious man, and sometimes she would go out at night hoping he would appear, but he didn’t, they hadn’t met once since  the last time, so that it was like he didn’t even existed, and only the two handkerchiefs were proof of his existence.



One day, having just returned from school, she overheard her aunt and uncle talking in the kitchen.



“I heard the boy is working for him, he made a little fortune for himself that scoundrel; imagine what would have happened to Elisa if she had really been left with him. He would suck all the money dry from her,” her uncle said. Elisa stood there still, without making any noise, concentrating to hear every word that was spoken.



“Well she doesn’t get any money till she’s 20, so I don’t think he could have done anything to get his hands on the money, imagine the impertinence, demanding to let her live with him, saying that her parents wanted that, God rest their souls, they would turn in the grave at such horrific idea. He didn’t even know the names of her parents, said it was Lytton, can you imagine that? It’s disrespectful to the Lytton too, poor Earl, having your kid with his wife and grandchild die in an airplane crash, a real tragedy. And he even approached her when she was little, her parents told me, I understand their worry…” And her aunt would have kept going on and on but their son just then came home and entered the kitchen.



Elisa went up to her room quietly so they wouldn’t hear her, opened the drawer from her nightstand and took out the white handkerchiefs, sat down the bed, and started processing what she just heard. Was the mysterious man the one her aunt and uncle were talking about? Is it possible he was confusing her with someone else? So all the time that he helped her, it should have been another person, not her? This line of thoughts made her sad but she couldn’t tell why.



“And why would they say he’s only after money, he isn’t that kind of person, I just know that,” she  said as to encourage herself, it’s all a misunderstanding, “And if he really was only after the money, he wouldn’t have to bother with me, after all…like uncle said, I’ll only be able to get my money in four years time, the little something my parents left me, which isn’t really a fortune …”



From that day onward, Elisa started to be more attentive to the people and events happening around her, and one day, when she was coming home from school, she saw a familiar figure walking on the little streets between houses and shops. Without giving much thought to what she was doing, she went after him, on the little streets, further away from the main stream of people buzzing on the street, until she lost sight of him, when he turned a corner and vanished. But in the place he disappeared, there was a little musical box and an envelope on which it was written: “For Elisa”. She took the musical box, the envelope and went home, and silently climbed the staircases and entered her room, where she excitedly opened the envelope. Inside she found a green card on which it was written: “Blood will out”. What did he mean? Putting the card away, she took the music box and opened it. It was lined with green silk inside and there was a ballerina that started dancing as soon as she opened the box. The melody the box played was familiar, she knew it, but couldn’t remember the name exactly. Inside the music box there was also a silver necklace, with a rhombic shape, and in it a green stone shaped as a tear. When turning the necklace, on the back of it, she saw the gravure of two initials: T and S. Was this for her too? It was time she started getting some answers to all these questions.



She first went to the music teacher of her class, to ask her about the song. When she found out the name of the song was “Fur Elise” she couldn’t stop a smile. Next were the initials, she thought hard how she could identify them and the best idea she had was to at least start searching for names starting with those initials, so when she got back home from school, she opened a drawer from her writing desk and got out a little black notebook, which she started carrying with her everywhere she went, and when she remembered or heard a name with those initials she would note it down on it.

So days passed and the notebook got more and more names and Elisa still had no clue how to filter through them. Near Christmas time, Elisa started to feel sick, and it got to the point where she came down with the flu and a fever on Christmas Eve. Her aunt and uncle together with their son went to the annual Christmas party, and she remained at home in bed;  a neighbor was supposed to come and check on her from time to time, but she was too busy with her own family to  find the time for that .

Suddenly her fever rose, and she started tossing in the bed, coughing violently until finally she calmed down and fell into a state of semi consciousness. After what seemed like a few hours to her, she felt a cold touch on her forehead, and slightly opening her eyes she saw through a thick fog, a pair of concerned green eyes looking at her. She closed her eyes again and concentrated all of her senses on the cold hand touching her forehead, the familiar feeling which relaxed her, and the joy it brought, just by being there, was almost overwhelming. After a few minutes, vacillating between consciousness and sleep, she felt a warm touch on her lips, and soon a liquid thicker than water, a little bitter, was flowing in her mouth and then easily down her neck. She could feel a wellness sensation growing in her, from her stomach to her hands and head, and then she fell into a deep sleep.



She woke up only the next day, at noon, felling better. She could eat and even rise from the bed for a little, which was a very good sign. She asked when they came back, but they said it was only in the morning, so she believed that the person who helped her in the night was none other than the mysterious man. But why did he come here? Did he have something to tell her? She started looking at her room, to see if he didn’t left anything for her, but she couldn’t find anything, then, suddenly, she got an idea , so she jumped out of bed and reached to her writing desk, where the black notebook was, and flipped through it in rush. She was right, he did leave her something, there were two names underlined: Thomas and Stephanie. So these were the names that she had been searching for. But who were these persons and what connection do they have with her or the mysterious man?



Since the little visit of the mysterious man was real and not just a dream, it was enough for her for now, knowing he had come to see her. That meant she wasn’t indifferent to him, although he had probably realized that she wasn’t the one he thought, the daughter of the Lytton. But if he had, was he still acting the same to her, as he would have done with the Lytton heiress? Was he being as gentle and attentive with her too? At that moment she started wishing she was the girl of the Lytton family or that the girl really had died in that plane crash.



A few weeks passed with nothing unusual happening, and the mysterious man was nowhere in sight. On day Elisa received by mail a box wrapped in colorful paper and a green ribbon on top, addressed to her but with no sender’s address. Luckily for her, there was no one at home when the package arrived so she could move the box to her room unnoticed. She hurriedly opened the box and inside she found a white teddy bear dressed with a checkered green and red vest and pants, and an envelope. She opened the envelope and found inside a black and white picture of a couple with two kids; one was a baby in the arms of the lady and the other was a boy around 10 years old smiling happily while looking at the camera, standing in front of them; and a man standing beside the woman had his left hand on the boys shoulder and was smiling happily.



This box brought with it a new series of question: Who was the couple in the picture? Did they have any connection to her? And what was it that the mysterious man wanted to tell her?



After thinking throughout the night and meditating on her next step, by morning she had decided, so she went to her old house, and climbing the staircase, she entered the attic. There were lot of old objects, and cases, and after inspecting a little the content of the attic and the order of it she started looking for old picture albums and letters.



After 4 hours of searching through  the dust, rags and a couple of falling boxes, she finally found, in a small casket, a picture of the couple, together with her parents, when they were younger. This was the connection she had searched for, the relation between the two couples and naturally, between her and that couple. She turned the picture, and on the back there was a date, 8 July 1985, and four initials: H&J and T&S.

She knew immediately that H&J were the initials of her parents, and T&S were the persons to whom the necklace belonged, namely Thomas and Stephanie. So now she needed to find out more about the T&S couple.



Said and done, the next day she went to the library and searched through the newspaper archives for the names, where she found several stories but only one attracted her interest. It was about an airplane crash, and several deaths which included Sir Thomas L and Madame Stephanie L as well as their girl. Miss Caroline L age 5. The article was the following:



“Yesterday, at 11 o’clock in the morning, a terrible accident ended the lives of several people including the distinguished Sir Thomas and Madame Stephanie L, along with their little girl Miss Caroline L, of only 5, as well as the copilot, Mr. Seth M. and a pregnant lady called Catherine S., coming from Italy. The plane started experiencing problems as it was approaching the landing site, when the turbine suddenly exploded sending the plane in free fall, towards the lake near the airport. Authorities are still investigating the causes of the technical problems experienced, and might be suspecting foul play.”



This was probably the Lytton family she had heard her aunt and uncle talk about. But the newspaper clearly stated that the girl, Caroline,  had died along with her parents, so why was the mysterious man looking for her? Or was it just a rumor that he was searching for her? Regardless, she found it most likely that these were  he people she had seen in that picture  with their children. And if the girl was the only one who had died, that meant that the boy was still alive. But could she be certain that the boy in the picture was really the son of the Lytton family? There was no mentioning of the Lytton’s having a son.



More days pasted as she was turning in her head all that she had found out, and everything was leading to the Lytton family and the boy in the picture remained a mystery. She decided to conduct some investigations on  the mansion of the Lytton family, so one afternoon, after asking people were the Lytton’s used to live, she noted the address and didn’t wait long to go there.



It was a mighty mansion, seated in the middle of a vast yard, which was framed by an imposing, black wrought iron fence, with flowers sculpted on it; on equal bases there were pointed spikes meant to discourage trespassing, and these were covered by vines usually called traveler’s joy, while the little white flowers blocked half the view of the garden. The mansion’s grandness was emphasized by its simplicity, illustrating neo-Georgian architecture, it was a structure at which people turned their heads, admiring its beautiful and imposing build. The garden was clean, with beds of dark-red roses, surrounded by trimmed hedges, which formed a circle, and in its center there was an old cast marble fountain with sparkling water gushing from the center of it, forming a beautiful view. Next to them, there was a road especially made for vehicles , and further away there were two marble bird baths.



Elisa approached the fence and while looking through the vines she saw the main door open and a man came out, in an expensive suit, got inside a car, and left the house through the giant cast iron gate that closed heavily after them. When the car passed Elisa, she could distinguish through the window in the back seat a raven-black head bowed over a newspaper. She knew who that was, and she realized what that meant: him, the mystery man, was the son of the Lytton. But why did he guide her through all this information? Something wasn’t clicking together. What was she missing, what was the piece of vital information that she lacked?



She then approached the iron gate and tried to open it, but it was tightly shut. Out of nowhere, an old man, wearing a black tailcoat, enquired on the purpose of her presence there.



“I am looking for the young master of this house” replied Elisa.



“Young master?” the man said surprised, “Unfortunately the young master died a long time ago along with his family. There is only Sir Earl now.”



“Ah I see, but then who was the man in the car?” she inquired.



“I’m sorry I can’t tell you that, and it’s better if you don’t ask so many questions little miss, or people may think you’re up to no good”, the man said. “Well have a safe trip home, goodbye!” and he turned and left, entering the house.



“Hmm, are they just hiding things or is my suspicion wrong? It seems that, after all, the  only way for me to get the answer is to talk to the mysterious man and ask him.” She turned on her heels and walked back home, determined to give it more thought the following day. .



Mama? Papa? What’s the matter? Why aren’t you getting up?



It’s okay Carol, just go with him, we’ll come later too. Now be a good girl and listen to what he says.



Looking up she sees a pair of green eyes filled with tears, a young boy was grabbing her tightly by the waist, and pulling her away from two people who were crying too.

While she’s struggling to break free from the clasp of the boy, she’s shouting through her tears :



What’s happening? Why must I go? No…I don’t want too... Mama, papa, let me go!



But it’s all in vain, and the boy is dragging her further away. Just then, a loud noise startles her and she sees red flames embracing a white shell and a thick black smoke rising up from it, obstructing the sun, making it seem like the middle of the night.



She abruptly rose from her bed and with tears still in her eyes she looked around frightened, trying to figure out where she was. After a minute or so, she calmed down a little, got out of bed, and walked to the kitchen to get herself a cup of water. After she poured herself some water she heard branches snapping outside so she turned off the light and looked out the living room window. There was a shadow lurking in the dark, turning in circles around the house. She woke up completely, took a knife from the kitchen cupboard and she went out the back door, slowly, making her way to the shadow.



But as she approached it, she realized it was the mysterious man, so she left the knife fall down and ran to him, hugging him from behind. He jumped in surprise and violently shook her off, and she fell on her bottom, letting out a small cry. After he realized it was her he quickly helped her up, by taking her by the waist and pulling her up, and draw her to his chest for a few seconds before letting her go.



She looked at him pouting and said: “What manners, you should know better than to treat a lady like this!” He started laughing.



“What lady? You were the one that almost pushed me down from behind” She smiled.“Well, I missed you a little.”



“Well, I’m flattered… and a little glad.” He replied. They both started laughing.



“So what are you doing here at night?” She asked looking curiously at him.



“Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, and decided to see if anyone was still awake, and then I heard some noise from the garden and was checking it out.” He said, while avoiding to look at her.



“But what are you doing at this hour of the night still awake?”



“Oh, I had a terrifying nightmare, and came down to get a glass of water, when I saw you in the garden.”



“What was the dream about?” he asked jokingly? “A dream where you couldn’t eat your dessert?”



“No! If you really want to know it was a really scary dream. I was crying when a boy was pulling me away from a sea of fire and smoke, and I think my parents were in there…”, she said, and the some tears fell involuntary from her eyes.



The man froze for a second, then seeing her cry, he took her in his arms, and patted her head gently, while hiding his face in her disheveled hair.



“It’s ok, everything is alright, I’m here” he said gently. Cry all you want…” And for a few minutes they didn’t say anything anymore. After she calmed down she asked:



“Why?”



“Why what?” he replied



“Why are you so kind to me? Why did you send me searching for the Lytton family?



What connection do they have to my family?”



He didn’t say anything for a few seconds, wondering how to answer her questions and weather she was really ready to know the truth? While hesitating, she looked at him trying to read his expressions, and then she suddenly asked:



“Is your name still unimportant? Cause I want to know what you are called.”



“Well, it really isn’t important to know my name but if you ask me to introduce myself, I can’t say no to such a cute young lady as yourself.” Then he smiled.



“You can call me Keith.”



“Keith, nice name, and I don’t know why, but it fells familiar.”



“Yes, well it should, you used to always call for me”.



“I did? When?” she asked.



“A long time ago, long before you even knew me...” And then he didn’t say anything else. She just sat there and thought of the words he had said, and what they could mean.



Was it possible she had known him before she was 10? If so, why  couldn’t she remember?



“Can I ask you something now?” he asked.



“Sure!” she said being only half attentive to what he was saying.



“Six years ago, why were you out on the street? Who were you searching for?”



She then turned to him surprised and said: “Well I saw something moving in the garden, and I thought it was Joe, the driver, and I followed him with the intention to scare him, but then he just disappeared, and I got a little lost” and she smiled at the memory.



He started laughing. “Ah, yes, Joe, same stature.” She looked confused at this answer, but then suddenly she realized, Keith had the same height and build as Joe, so it was very possible she confused them, and she was really following Keith.



“So…it was you that night? The one that I followed?”



“Well yes…” and he kept smiling. She blushed slightly, then continued:



“But then what were you doing at my house?”



“Oh I just had a little conversation with your father. And I was on my way back to my house.”



“I didn’t know you knew my parents…” she said



“Yes, well, you didn’t see me coming to your house, so of course you didn’t know about me.”



Elisa wanted to say something but before she could do it, they heard noises coming from the house.



“I think it’s time I left, looks like your aunt is up.” As he said that, he slightly bent forward and kissed her forehead. “Next time we meet I might bring you suffering, so I’ll say I’m sorry now.” And he left. She remained there, with a blank stare, until her aunt saw her and came screaming at her.



“What do you think you are doing little miss? Have you gone mad? It’s not ladylike to go outside the house dressed like this, and not healthy either. What if someone saw you or you caught another cold? Go back to your bed right now!”



She looked at her aunt and nodded, then she went upstairs and got into bed, but she didn’t sleep, just stood there with her eyes open, thinking of what Keith had said.

“Why suffer? Did something bad happen? He’s still a mysterious man for me, just when I feel like I’m beginning to understand him, he says something which confuses me even more.”



And while thinking, she finally fell in a heavy sleep, to recover the sleep lost thru the night.



A few days later, while she was at school, she overheard two teachers talking about the Lytton family.



“You know, I heard they finally discovered why the plane crashed, and apparently it was a clock bomb on one of the turbines. It’s said they were targeting the Lytton family.”



“And they surely did a good job since all three of them died. poor souls; To think it was just because some people couldn’t handle the jealousy! But oh, petty people do petty things.”



Hearing this, Elisa thought about going again to the Lytton house, but she decided it would be better to wait some more and meet with Keith again.



A few days later, while she was going to town, looking for a magazine for her aunt, she saw Keith buying some flowers from a shop on the corner, and then getting back into a car. She tried to follow it but she was on foot, so she thought about the places he could go in the direction that the car went.



The only place she knew that way was the cemetery where her parents were buried, and since he was carrying flowers, it was likely that he had gone to visit the grave. So she started walking to the cemetery. When she there, she went directly to the grave of her parents, but he wasn’t there, so after saying a prayer she wanted to go out to its other side of it, and while walking on the main path, she saw in the distance a man, dressed in a back suit, with black hair, kneeling before two graves, who had fresh flowers on them. She approached him silently, and when she was a few steps away from him, she read the names engraved on the grave. It said: Thomas Lytton and Stephanie Lytton and between them, there was a little tomb with the name Caroline Lytton. Seeing this, she suddenly felt dizzy, her feet grew limp and then all went black around her.



After about half an hour she felt something cold and wet on her face. She opened her eyes and saw Keith, who was standing at her bedside, with a wet towel, gently rubbing her cheeks.



She rose slowly and Keith jumped up from the chair and helped her, putting more pillows under her back.



“How do you feel?” he asked.



“Fine, I think… what happened?”



“You fainted at the cemetery”



“Ah, I see…the girl didn’t die in the accident right?” She felt him flinch and felt the tension in the air. She was a little uncomfortable but she didn’t say anything, just waited for a response. Meanwhile Keith had turned pale, but he knew this was the right time to tell her the truth.



“Drink some orange juice first”, he said, and gave her a glass with freshly squeezed orange juice. She took two gulps from it before passing it back to him. Seeing that she was done, he took the glass, put it down, and answered:



“Yes…it’s true”.



“You saved her didn’t you? From the plane crash, before the plane exploded…”



“Yes…but…” and before he could finish his sentence she asked:



“Why didn’t you tell me all this time? Caroline is me, right?” He looked at her with a pained look on his face and replied:



“Because you chose not to remember, and the doctor said not to force you…and besides, if I could help it, I would have liked for you to remain Elisa.”



“Why?” she asked with a choked voice



“Because then you wouldn’t have to remember all you went through, and you could have lived happily…I still remember how miserable you were the days that followed the accident, and how you didn’t wanted to eat, or drink anything, and just stood there, in your room, staring into space…and at night you would wake up screaming for your parents, and wouldn’t calm down unless I held you in my arms for a few hours…so, after you blocked your memories, you were happy again, smiling and playing, eating normally…That’s when the Romanov family, who were good friends of your parents, decided to tell you that they were your parents and raise you accordingly.”

She couldn’t say anything anymore; she just stood there in the bed, and listened, while big heavy tears were running down her cheeks. Keith continued:



“So it was decided to let you live your life without knowing who your real parents were.”

She raised her head and looked at him.



“Who decided that? Who gave you the right?” He looked away and continued.

“I know…I know… I’m really sorry, I tried to make you remember. That’s why I sent you to research your family. But there were others who didn’t agree you should be told the truth. Like the Romanov…” She stared at him and asked:



“Was this what you meant when you said you would make me suffer? You helped me remember in the end, so why did you say that?”



He looked at her and with a low voice he said:



“You remember that I was in the plane, right? Then, you cried and begged me to go get your parents, but your father  and mother told me to get you to a safe place, and asked me not to return, so I listened to them… but now I think that if I had made an effort, I could have saved at least one of them…”



She looked at him to see that his eyes were red and he was restraining his tears.  She took his head in her palms and gently kissed him on the forehead.



“Thank you!” she said “You saved me twice already. It’s ok, you did all you could, and I know how much you being near has helped me, so thank you!”



She hugged him as hard as she could and Keith returned the hug. They kept their embrace for a long time, and then they fell asleep still holding hands.



THE END