The Unknown

“Why were you with her? Are you two…dating?” I asked curiously.

“Of course not. She’s another example of untrue tabloid gossip,” Edward stated like that much was supposed to be plainly obvious.

“So, which of those tabloid gossips are true?” I asked, half-jokingly.

“Don’t ask things you don’t want to know,” Edward replied monotonously.

I sighed. We’ll leave that at that.

“What about Irina?” I asked, bring us back on track.

Edward sigh audibly.

“Irina has been after me for a while now. So, I guess, the tabloids are half true. Of course, I’m not interested in trading money and fame just to have sex with her. If I just wanted sex, there are other women out there with less baggage. So, I’ve been avoiding all her advances,” Edward explained, clearly bored of this conversation.

“What about today?” I asked accusingly.

“My friend who works in PR asked me for a favor to meet up with her to give her advice on how to promote a charity campaign that she had been chosen to represent. Turned out that she had other ideas besides work when she turned up,” Edward explained in a bored tone.

“If you’re not in a relationship with her, why were you kissing her?” I asked.

“Because she wanted it and it was the fastest way to shut her up. I had to pick up this Princess from her interview, you see?” Edward explained like it was no big deal.

“I…see…” I replied vaguely.

“Yeah. Little did I know that that naughty Princess would be hiding there watching the whole thing,”

Edward teased before laughing a little.

I would be lying if I said that I was fully satisfied with Edward’s explanation. I mean, you wouldn’t just kiss anybody to shut them up, right? However, I could see someone like Edward doing just that. After the topic of Irina came to an anti-climactic close, I realized that we were driving up a hill as I looked from the car window at the tall trees on the side of the road and the thick forest beyond.

“Have you been here before?” Edward asked casually.

“Umm…I’m not sure…” I replied honestly. Something about this hill and this road feels familiar.

Perhaps, I’ve been here before…

“Do you know what’s up on this hill?” Edward asked as his hand pointed towards the top of the hill.

“No…” I replied softly.

I had just remembered that I have been here before recently. Reiner was the one who took me up this hill on our date to see the stars. I remembered him carrying me on his back to walk through the thick forest and that I had my eyes closed all the way because I was scared of the dark forest.

“I think…I’ve been here before,” I told Edward, leaving out the part that I was with Reiner.

Edward grinned at me before turning back to watch the road. I didn’t know why, but I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as if something dark and sinister was waiting at whatever was on top of the hill. It wouldn’t be long before I realized that my sense of foreboding would be scarily accurate.

…

“What is this place?” I asked when we arrived at what must be our destination.

Edward parked the car in front of a very large but seemingly abandoned building. I guessed it was abandoned because the gates were closed off and rusty. The building was worn down like it hadn’t been used for years. I could see some glass windows were broken, colors peeling off some walls and nature had started to take over the whole place. Wild grass, vines and trees had started growing in random places on and in the building.

“Let’s go inside,” Edward said as he took my hand and pulled me after him.

“It’s locked…how do we get inside? More importantly, why are we going inside?” I asked.

I was confused at what was going on and panicked. We’re not supposed to be here and if we enter in there, we’ll be trespassing. Plus, this place looks scary like it was haunted or something. It gave me the creeps and I felt the hair on the back of my neck standing up as I looked around.

“It’s ok, I have the key,” Edward stated smoothly as he pulled out a keychain with many keys attached to it.

I was speechless as I stared wide-eyed at Edward. Edward in his navy suit was trying each key one by one into the lock, trying to open the gate. He has the key to this place? How?

“It’s been so long, I don’t even remember which key is which anymore…” Edward mumbled his complaint, his hands busy with trying to match the lock and key.

“What is this place?” I tried asking again.

“You’ll see when we’re inside,” Edward replied. This guy surely likes to keep the suspense going and it’s driving me crazy. I stood helplessly to his side as I watched him try several more keys into the lock.

The gate creaked opened after Edward had finally managed to unlock the lock. The space between the gate to the building was large but very sparse. It must have been a parking lot back in the days that the building was still actively in use. Now it was reduced to nothing more than a cracked cement floor with weeds and moss growing randomly everywhere.

“This feels like a haunted hospital or institution…” I muttered to myself as I winced. I knew that a scene like this existed in real life but I never thought that I would ever set foot in a place like this. I felt like I had been sucked into a horror videogame and that zombies would be popping out from everywhere soon to get us.

“Not quite…but close…” Edward replied in a spooky whisper next to my ear. His response was not helping my poor heart at all.

I jumped in panic as I felt shivers run through my body. I took in deep breaths to calm myself and thank the heavens that we were not here at night as I placed a hand on my own chest.

When we arrived at the building’s entrance, it was also locked with a thick chain and a huge lock. I watched Edward repeat the same process of matching the key to the lock. It was clear that he had not been here for ages and had no idea which key belongs to which lock.

“Do we really need to go inside?” I asked when the door became unlock.

“Come on,” Edward invited as he grabbed my arm and pulled me in after him.

Oh great, here we go again…

--To be continued…