Chapter II – The first meeting and the first night

From now on, it was official; Nicky surely hated planes, flying and anything that made even the slightest connection between the two horrors. She could never imagine staying next to that fat lady who done nothing but eat peanuts, drink coffee and fart. And all of this for almost a day! Who ever knew the trip from New York to London was that long… Well, it was certain she knew. Hopefully, her old mad hired a driver to drop her to her orphanage too, so she didn't had to walk almost 14 km towards it.

This trip wasn't that long; in 15 minutes, Nicky was asked to get out, and not even the sight wasn't that bad. Well, the fact that she arrived at night, around 2am made it 'better' since the girl always preferred night time. But she could see it was a rather normal looking farm, with a nice yard and enough rooms for everybody. But still, it wasn't Nicky's kind of place. She always preferred the cold and hard concrete instead of fresh green grass and dirt. She sighed; it was either this place, or living with Cornelius…

Grabbing all her stuff, the teenager started to walk to what seemed to be the main entrance. Whish each step she took, her heart pumped her blood faster and faster because of the emotion. Nicky wasn't fully sure with this decision. She wondered if there was still time to turn around and run after the taxi, beg the driver to pick her up and leave her in London. After that, she could find her way around the place, and she didn't had to get into this idiotic orphanage thingy… Still, when she heard the knock she left on the door, she knew there was no turning back. 'Damn…my own body betrayed me…' she thought full of sarcasm as she waited for a response.

One minute passed. Two minutes passed. Five minutes passed. The teenager started to think no one will ever answer this dammed door. Pressing a hand on her hip and lowering her head, she was ready to knock again when the handle was pressed and someone opened the door. The only thing that made her flinch was the deep, strong and masculine voice of a person.

"Yes?"

By this time, Nicole would rise her head and stare at the stranger. And boy, it was quite an odd view. In the darkness of the night she could notice only the fact that he was rather tall, he was dressed in a pretty elegant black suit (or so it seemed) and she saw his pale, almost white skin radiating in the sea of black that surrounded both of them. Shaking her head twice, Nicky decided it was best if she would adopt the normal attitude an orphan should have; lower head, humble posture and seriousity.

"Gray's house for War Orphans…?" she asked in a low voice as she kept her gaze at her feet. After receaving the hummed response of the man she continued. "I'm Nicole Castle. My tutor, Cornelius Benton singed me up to stay here until I will be 18." Digging her hand deep into her pocket, Nicky took a piece of paper and showed it to the stranger. She dared and rose her sight, but only until her eyes met the fabric of his clothes. 'black silk…?' she mentally questioned herself as she examined it as close as she could.

After a few minutes of silence in which the girl felt like she really screwed it up, Nicole relaxed when the man spoke again.

"I am sorry, but the owner is sleeping now."

Nicky mentally slapped herself. Really? What could people do at 2 in the fucking morning? Aerobic? Maybe this wasn't a good time after all…

"But if what you say is true, I think I might allow you to spend the night in the living room. You shall discuss this properly with Mr Gray in the morning."

The girls eyes went wide. Was he serious? Wow, Cornelius had done a pretty good job after all with this place! Nodding her head only once and muttering a small 'Thanks' Nicole entered the house as soon as the man made her way to do so. Once in, the lights turned on. Turing her head around, she noticed that he was the one who done so. Even if the light was dim and her eyes were tired, she couldn't help but notice his features a lot better. It was true, his skin was pale and flawless, and his blue eyes matched it perfectly. Also, it made quite a contrast with his wavy black hair which was tied up in a ponytail, just like she used to do with her own when she danced. The 'suit' turned out to be a simple but elegant black jacket. If she would have seen him in NY, she could have swore he either was in a metal band either was a really big fan of one. His look was so different from her baggy, hip-hop and almost vulgar one. It was then when she remembered that under her half zipped hoodie she wore nothing but a sport bra. Noticing this, as well, she turned around quick and zipped it up to her neck, even if it was so damn hot outside and inside the house.

"I don't know where you room is, but you can sleep on the couch." He told he in the same monotone voice as he opened a door leading to the living room. Nicky peeked her eyes inside and saw nothing too special. Just an old fashioned couch, a couple of chairs, a coffee table and an old fashioned tv. It was still better then sleeping outside or in the taxi or hell knew where. Stepping inside, Nicole carried her backpack and suitcase as well and left them at the sides of the couch.

"This document will be the first thing Gray shall see in the morning. Good night."

With the sound of the old wooden door closing, he left Nicole alone, staring towards the way he disappeared. So... ceremonial, even if there was no need to be this way. Even if she didn't really realized that at the moment, inside her mind a little question about this man was born. All that mystery around his made Nicole flinch with both wonder and fear. A total enigma. A complete challenge. The girl would have smirked if her facial muscles weren't so tired. Dropping the idea and embracing the fact that maybe he was a simple servant in the house, Nicole didn't even bothered to change her clothes. Yes, she knew she was all smelly and so on, but she could care less about that little detail. Using her backpack as a pillow, Nicky collapsed under the weight of her own body on the hard couch. After a few minutes in which her skin got used with the rough material, the girl finally relaxed all her muscles for the first time that night. It felt so good to know she finally had some time for her own by her own, even if it was in this cottage.

Closing her eyes, Nicole finally fell asleep, sinking deeply into her own world of dreams and memories. Oh, how much she wished to simply forget everything about the limits of space and time and flow back in the body of the 11 year old girl she was 5 years ago and simply enjoy life like the child she was. But that was nothing but a memory. A simple, ghostly part of her life, long gone and untouchable. Now she lived a lie. Nicky, became Nicole, the 16 year old orphan whos parents died recently in a car accident. The only problem was, it was not true. The one she said was her tutor, was her father who sent her here, with the help of fake ID cards and money, just to get rid of her. The only truth was her mother was indeed dead, but she died when she was 6 years old, not 6 months ago, as the paper the servant took said. Nicole herself was a top high school student, not a formal street crew member and a break dancer. And this was only the start. It was the start of a beautiful and painful lie, all of it.

Still, there was no use to tire her mind once more with such details. Her mind drifted away in her dreams and nightmares soon enough. She fell asleep on the couch, crawled up in a ball right in the moment when a deep and smooth melody start playing.

'A cello…?' was the only thing that ran through her mind before slipping out of this reality.

TO BE CONTINUED…