Chapter 204 - Head-on

[THE NUMBER YOU HAVE DIALED IS NOT RESPONDING, PLEASE TRY AGAIN LATER]

"Urrghhh! Why isn't he answering me at least once!?" 

Frustrated from getting the same response every time she dialed Zeus, she tossed away the phone perplexedly on the bed while constantly walking back and forth inside their room. She seemed extremely impatient, glancing outside through the glass windowpanes while biting her nails. Her mind was clouded with several cynical thoughts, she seemed much restless fidgeting with her worriments.

"No...I can't stay here inside like this... What...if he...he is facing something dreadful again!? My...heart is shaking right now, I can't sit idly. No..." 

Mumbling anxiously, she groped the red floral jacket from the closet putting it over her white jumpsuit, and stormed out of the room frowning her eyebrows perplexedly. But, in that disturbed state of mind, she forgot to take the phone along with her that was left on the bed.

As soon as she dashed outside, she was a bit startled. The giant hallway of that magnificent was entirely vacant with no trace of a single person serving in the resort, not even the maids. Impertinently, she rushed down the stairs seeming a bit concerned while glancing around her. As she was about to head outside the entrance, luckily she saw a timid, nervous-looking young girl dressed up in a maid attire was carrying some white clothes inside the staff's room. Just by peeking a small glance at her, she felt a little relieved and curiously rushed towards her. 

"Ex...Excuse me?" She called her out aloud. 

The girl seemed to flinch hard with her sudden call and quickly turned around. As soon as their eyes met each other, she bowed her head down lowering her eyes. From her facial eloquence, she resembled quite tensed.

"Yes...Milady?" She quivered. 

"Why...Why is this place so empty? Where are the other people? Where is...Zeus?" She tossed several queries at once, looking very ardent. 

She gulped her saliva and seemed to be a little fidgety with her sharp queries. Lowering her eyes down, she chose to mumble politely, "Milady...Mr. Graham...has committed suicide... A few of our members are preparing for the funeral ceremony whereas the rest of us...are leaving this place." 

"What? Leaving the place?" She blurted out aloud, being quite surprised. 

"Ma...Master Zeus has commanded every one of us to vacate the place within today. While half of our members are preparing for the funeral... the rest of the others have already started leaving... Well, I am waiting for my mother, once she arrives...we will head out too..." Her eyes had darkened, holding a skeptical gaze she was uttering nervously. 

"Why would he ask everyone to leave the resort? That's strange... But...it seems...he has suspected something dreadful might happen to these innocent people too if they stay in here! Gosh...I was right! Something was definitely off around here..." Wondering inside her mind, she cleared her throat before asking her back. "Where is Zeus?"

"I don't know...Milady..."

"What?"

"After he ordered us to leave, I... had seen him once around 3 hours ago when he was carefully examining Mr. Graham's body by himself. After that, he hurriedly rushed to the west side of the coast and...I lost his sight after that..." Fidgeting her fingers, her chapped lips mumbled out the answer.

"Westside? Why would he go there?" Scrunching her brows, she continued her interrogation. 

"That's where the graveyard lies...Milady. The funeral...would be held there..." 

Her answers were short and cold while she looked very anxious just from her expression. It was evident, all the workers seemed to be worried about such a kind, senior strong-willed person's sudden death. Besides, Zeus's unexpected command to leave the place further puzzled them from the core. 

Suddenly, a thought struck her mind like a lightning. Keeping her silence for a few seconds  she fretted her grimace, inquiring her in a low voice, "have you seen...lady Olie?"

Abruptly, the girl looked a bit apprehensive hearing her name from Eva. Restlessly surging her eyeballs, she gulped her saliva replying with angst, "Today I...have just seen her from afar once..."

"Wasn't she there at the funeral ceremony?" Taking a small step closer to her, she asked her impertinently. 

The girl slowly shook her head in denial looking much concerned from her appearance. Retreating a step back from her, she whispered, "I suggest...you should...stay away from her, Milady. My...My mother said she has been acting a bit strange since yesterday." 

"Strange? What do you mean by--"

Before Eva could charge her interrogations at her, the girl immediately rushed inside the staff room aiming to avoid her queries for some certain skeptical reasons. Watching her leaving in such a rush, she stood still for a moment, thinking hard to deal with the absurd situation. 

"I think...I should head towards the west too! I know...there must be some certain issues going on which is Zeus trying to hide from me! Also...I must find out...why this girl ran away when I asked her about Lady Olie..." Mumbling on her own while fretting her face, she rushed out of the entrance heading straight towards the west side looking very tensed. 

...

Time was flying quite fast. It was almost past afternoon around an hour or two before the sunset. As she wandered several meters away from the resort premises on that desolated beach, all of a sudden her motion halted as she precisely heard a pair of firm footsteps following her from behind on the sand. She understood, someone was mysteriously approaching her and with a jolt, she turned around. 

Her eyes rolled wider in surprise to watch Lady Olie standing a few steps behind her holding a dark, cryptical small sneer. She had put on attractive chiffon embroidered long black gown. Surprisingly, her oval-shaped small face seemed very pale as if she was becoming severely anemic. But, her lips were specifically painted with a thick dark red lipstick with her black long hair tied up as a top bun supported by a pretty hairpin. She was wearing minimal makeup which Eva could clearly recognize from her pale display. Overall, she seemed to be perfectly groomed up. 

"Greetings...Milady." Tossing a sly small smirk towards her, she bowed her head a little while whispering gently. 

Eva was a bit startled to see her neatly groomed appearance on such a darkest day of her life! She gulped anxiously and continued scanning her from head to toe frowning her brows. 

"She...should be mourning now over her husband's fatal death...but...it seems, she isn't even bothered much! They have been together for almost 30 years...why does she seem too normal? There isn't even a tinge of sadness reflected in her eyes." She was wondering inside. 

"Milady...are you going somewhere?" She slowly walked a step closer with that cryptic sneer on her grimace. 

Keeping her anticipated silence for a moment, she nodded her head in approval responding to her query, "I was heading to the funeral ground of Mr. Graham. But...I am surprised, Lady Olie. Shouldn't you be there grieving for your husband for the very last time? What...are you doing here?" 

The smile she had on her face shrank a bit as she took a deep sigh out, gazing up at the clear blue sky. "Well...we don't have control over anyone's lifespan, milady... Even if I wanted to stay with him...ultimately, we were meant to say goodbye someday..." Her deep voice darkened as she murmured.

Somehow, a certain off feeling stuck in her mind while she was monitoring her gestures sharply. Though she tried to sound all morose and heartbroken, her eyes seemed very mysterious as if...she was trying to fake her feelings at that very moment!

"Why did...such a strong person like him took away his own life? What caused him to make such a bitter choice?" She chose to inquire her again, fretting her brow ridge holding a fixed gaze towards her. The sound of the waves crashing down the shore was further intensifying the situation both of them were in. 

"Life is bitter for everyone...milady. You never know...what's waiting ahead of you in the blink of an eye! The same reason...goes for him too." Wittily she answered quickly while reciprocating her fixed gaze in a dubious low pitch. 

"Something is...off with her! I can sense it...something isn't right--" Immediately the thoughts clouding her mind paused for a moment when her eyes witnessed a shocking sight right before her. The sun was slowly setting down the horizon but the bright rays were still evident on the beachside. While standing firm facing each other head-on, she noticed that her shadow wasn't reflecting back on the sand! It looked as if she was a person without a shadow which was absolutely impossible in terms of humans!

Shuddered in fear she gulped her saliva slowly raising her chin above from the ground to glance at her. She still had a carefree smirk on her grimace, minutely observing Eva with her rolled dark eyes. 

"Milady, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly turn so pale--"

"You...You are...not Lady Olie..." Shivered with cold sweat, she retreated a step back mumbling in a husky voice. 

"What?"

"You are...not a human... Stop...with your...nasty act of disguise... Who...Who the heck are you? Where is Lady Olie?" She screamed out aloud, surging her eyes wider in rage.