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  THE SECRET DIARY

  THE HUNT

  SOURAV DEKA

  © 2020 Sourav Deka

  This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, companies, organizations, places, events, locales, and incidents are either used in a fictitious manner or are fictional. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, actual companies or organizations, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, scanned, or transmitted in any form, digital or printed, without the written permission of the author.

  For rights and permissions, please contact:

  Sourav Deka at [email protected]

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  THE SECRET DIARY VOLUME 2: DYING HUMANITY

  AS TIME WENT BY

  BLOODRUSH BLOODLINES SERIES

  BLOODRUSH BLOODLINES VOLUME 1: THE AWAKENING

  BLOODRUSH BLOODLINES VOLUME 2: THE RISE OF ZOZGON

  BLOODRUSH BLOODLINES VOLUME 3: THE DESTINY CRYSTAL

  If you are interested in fantasy, sci-fi and thriller books then visit http://souravdeka.com/

  To my beautiful readers.

  Thank you for taking a chance on me

  CHAPTER 1

  I was sitting at the beach watching the sun going down over the horizon. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the fleeting colors of dusk began to fade away. There was a slight breeze that felt so cooling on my warmed up skin that I nearly shivered. My little brother came towards me with a chocolate ice cream in his hand.

  “Ross, here it is,” he handed me the ice cream.

  I grabbed it and tasted it. “Thank you, Aaron,” I said.

  Aaron sat beside me. “We got fifteen minutes.”

  I nodded. “I know.”

  He had round eyes and an oval face like me. We were teenagers living with our uncle. Our parents were missing for years, so he took us in. Ten years ago I saw my mother leaving me behind. Back then I was just nine years old. She advised us to leave our father when we both grow up and move on, so that we can live a happy normal life. A happy normal life? What did she mean? We were happy and normal until she left us. Why did she leave? She promised she would return for us but she never did. When I asked her why she was leaving she didn’t say anything. From that day I never saw her again. That was the last memory I have of her.

  I always wondered why mom asked us to stay away from father and move on. I asked about this to my father several times, but he always ignores it by coming up with excuses and tell us different made up stories. I knew he was lying. I always knew that something was there, which my both parents were hiding. I asked him to find mom for years but he never tried. It’s like he didn’t care. I was so angry. Why was he like that? Why does he ignore me when I ask about mom?

  I knew he wasn’t going to try, but I needed to know what he was hiding. As he kept ignoring me, I decided to spy on him and search everything that he owns. Maybe I will find something that will reveal his secret. I thought of telling Aaron about this, but he didn’t talk much with anyone after mom left us. He was a loner and I was his only friend. But later I found out that he was trying to spy on dad like me. He was also curious and wanted to find out what dad was really after, but like me he didn’t find anything. I guess our family was good at keeping secrets, very good.

  Like mom, dad also went missing after three years. Then our uncle Bill took custody of us. His wife, our aunt divorced him five years ago. Since then he has lived alone. I was always depressed as I wasn't able to know why both of my parents left me. It’s like I never knew them. Why did they leave me and my brother? We needed them and they just left us, we deserved the truth. We didn’t even know if they were alive or dead. We wanted to find them, but we had no choice. We were just teenagers who got stuck with their uncle.

  Uncle Bill was also a mysterious man like our parents. He keeps on changing home after a couple of months. At first I thought he did it because of his job, so I never asked him. But a year after I found out that he had left his old job two years ago. He changes his job whenever we move from one place to another. I asked him once why he keeps on moving. But he never told me the truth, only lies like our parents. This made me wonder, is he running from someone? Perhaps he has a huge debt, which he never paid. Is someone chasing us? What the hell is wrong with our family? I don’t get it. Why does everyone keep running away?

  One time we stayed for six months in a single place. There I met Ambrose. He was a nice guy with blue sharp eyes, a pointy nose and curly hair who most of the time chewed gums. We used to hang out and became good friends. Aaron also liked him. Every evening, we used to play video games in his home. His father was our uncle’s friend, they were in college together.

  One day Ambrose told me that uncle Ben went to talk to his father. His father told uncle to take me and Aaron and leave town as soon as possible. It has become dangerous for us to live here. Ambrose overheard them and told us. Now I was sure, there must be some reason, uncle keeps moving.

  “He always does that,” Aaron sighed.

  I clenched my jaw. “Not anymore. Enough with the secrets, we are not going to move anymore.”

  “What would we do? He is going to force us.”

  I shook my head. “No, we have spent most of our lives like this,” I gulped. “We deserve the truth.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to change schools anymore, every time I have to make new friends.”

  I inhaled deeply. “Yes, we aren’t going to move again, Aaron. We are going to do something.”

  Later on that day when we reached home, Uncle Ben called me and Aaron to pack our bags. He was packing his bags in his room.

  “Why are we leaving uncle?” I asked.

  “I lost my job and we have nothing left here to do,” he said, zipping his bag.

  “Don’t lie to me uncle, I know something is wrong,” I finally gathered the courage to ask him. “I know yesterday you went to Ambrose’s home and his father advised you to leave because of some kind of danger. What is the danger, uncle? Tell me.”

  “I am doing this for you,” he gathered some of his clothes and put it in another bag.

  “Mom left when I was a kid and then dad went missing, and now we are leaving? We always do this. What is the problem, uncle?” I questioned again.

  “You have nothing to do with this. You don’t need to know,” he zipped his bag. “We are leaving. It is my final decision.”

  “I will not leave, not until I find out what happened to my parents,” I argued.

  He gazed at me in anger. “Don’t force me Ross. We need to leave. You and your brother is my responsibility, I am protecting you both.”

  As I was arguing with my uncle, Aaron was quietly listening standing at the door. Later he stepped forward and broke his silence. “Uncle, leave us here. We don’t want to move every time,” he lowered his head. “I feel like we are some kind of underground criminals who run every time.”

  “No,” Uncle Ben said. “I can’t allow this. You both are leaving with me, and if you don’t listen to me, I will have to force you,” his face turned red and pointed his finger towards the door. “So go on and pack your bags now!” He raised his voice.

  I went to my room and Aaron followed me. “What should we do Ross? He is going to force us,” Aaron said.

  I pointed my finger at him. “Pack your bags, we are leaving,” I said.

  Aaron raised his eyebrows. “What? You changed your mind?”

  I went towards my cupboard to collect my clothes. “No we are not leaving with him. We will run away from him,” I sighed. “I had enough of this. Everyone keeps secrets from us, first our parents and now Uncle Ben,” I lifted my chin. “We will find out ourselves what happened to our paren
ts,” I opened the cupboard and took out my clothes.

  Aaron nodded. “Okay, but we are just teenagers. How can we find out?” He shrugged. “We got nothing. What about our school? We don’t even have a home.”

  “We will think about that later,” I slammed the cupboard’s door. “We always change schools when we move. I don’t want to study like this every time. Come on! Pack your bag.”

  We both had a little bit of money. We sneaked out of the house through the windows when Uncle Ben was in his room. He was busy talking to someone on the phone, so he didn’t hear us sneak out. We had nowhere to go, so Ambrose helped us to stay in one of his friend’s house who lived on rent in an apartment. His name was Sam Melton, a white guy with straight hair and sparkling green eyes. He was a chain smoker, always had a cigarette in his hand.

  “These are the guys I talked to you about,” Ambrose said.

  Sam nodded and took out the cigarette from his mouth. “Sam Melton,” he forwarded his hand.

  I shook his hand. “Ross Cromlin and this is my brother Aaron Cromlin.”

  He forwarded me his cigarette. I shook my head. “I don’t smoke,” I said.

  Sam smirked. “Come on, give it a try.”

  We were going to live in his apartment. Rejecting his offer would be rude, so I took the cigarette and smoked. I coughed as soon as I tried to smoke out the air from my mouth.

  Sam laughed. “That happens for the first time.”

  We explained to Sam what happened with us, and told him our whole story.

  “Secrets huh?” Sam chuckled. “Well, you two can stay here, but we all will have to share the rent.”

  “We will get jobs,” Aaron said.

  Sam nodded. “I know someone who can help.”

  As days passed we started running out of money. Sam knew an owner of a restaurant, so he helped us out and got us a job in a restaurant.

  Sam’s place was dirty. Only one window was in his home and most of the time he holds a lighted cigar in his mouth. Everything was a mess in his room. It smelled of cockroaches and rats. I guess he only cleans his room once a month. Aaron didn’t like the place and neither did I, but we didn’t have a choice. We had to stay as we had nowhere to go. Our uncle must be searching for us. That was the only option we had. The owner made us work for long hours at our job, it was hard. We wanted to move from Sam’s place, but we didn’t have enough money. Even if we saved for months, it wouldn’t be enough to get a new place.

  ***************

  A month passed away. On a lonely night I was walking through the street thinking about our problems. The sky was full of clouds, it seemed like it was going to rain soon. The streets smelled like sewage, it hasn’t been cleaned since the drainage system flooded the road a few days ago. I stopped at the bus stop waiting for my bus. A beautiful girl wearing a red dress came to me. She had shiny brunette hair, glittering eyes and was wearing a gold watch which sparkled in the street lights.

  “You are Ross Cromlin, right?” she asked.

  I shuddered. “Yes, I am. Who are you?”

  She forwarded her hand for a handshake. “I am Andrea Morse, my mother asked me to find you.”

  I shook her hand. “Your mother?”

  “She wants to talk to you,” she said. “I was trying to find you for months, it is very important.”

  “I don’t know you,” I said with a confused look and shrugged. “Why should I go with you?”

  She smiled. “You are Richard Cromlin’s son. My mother knows your father.”

  She knew my father? Can I trust her just because she mentioned my dad? What if she is lying? What if my uncle planned this to bring me back to him? But there is also a chance that it can be related with my missing parents. After all, they were hiding something for years. Perhaps I can finally know what my parents hid for years, their secrets which I always wanted to find out. I should take the risk. If I find out it was my uncle who tricked me, then I will run again, he can’t just lock me up. Aaron and I made our choice, we are not going back. He can’t force us. I successfully fled once. Hopefully I can do it again. It was risky as I didn’t know the girl but I wanted to know about my parents, and this was a chance I didn’t want to miss. So I agreed to meet her mother.

  “I will go,” I said.

  There was a black Mercedes waiting for us a few blocks away. She took me to her and we left.

  CHAPTER 2

  The car stopped near a mansion. It was beautiful and a huge one. There was a big garden in the front which was covered with red and yellow flowers. The sparkling lights outside the mansion made the garden glow at night. Andrea and I walked to the main door and she pressed the doorbell. An old man opened the door after a minute and invited us inside. I could tell seeing his white shirt and black pants that he was the servant. He escorted us to a room where a lady was sitting sipping tea. She was a middle aged woman who had bulging eyes, a pointy nose and some wrinkles on her face. The sparkling jewellery on her neck can grab anyone’s attention. I looked around the room. There were many antiques which were alluring, and some paintings hanging on the walls. It was not hard for me to guess that she was rich.

  “Hello Ross. I was searching for you for a long time. I am Mrs. Gloria, come on sit,” she placed her cup of tea on the glassed table in front of her.

  “Thank you ma’am,” I said, sitting on the sofa in front of her.

  “What will you have? Tea, coffee or some juice?”

  I cleared my throat. “A glass of water will be fine.”

  She signaled her servant to bring me some water.

  “Your daughter said you want to talk to me, what is it about?” I asked.

  “I know you are desperate to find out about your parents.”

  I nodded. “Yes, I am.”

  She smiled. “I guess you have a lot of questions in your mind.”

  “Yes.”

  “So ask.”

  “Did u know my parents?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I knew both of your parents for a long time.”

  “How do you know them? What happened to them?” I shrugged. “Why did they leave me and my brother alone?”

  “Your father had a secret that he never told anyone,” she sighed. “But it’s time. You should know about it.”

  “What?” I clasped my fingers. “Tell me.”

  “Almost seven centuries ago in the year 1327 there was a man named Nibshaw bell, who was a scientist. He was an Englishman, lived in the city of London who had five sisters and a brother. All died at an early age suffering from different diseases. He also had a loving wife. After two years of marriage his twin sons were born, seven years later his both sons and wife died suffering from some fatal disease. He was very depressed as everyone close to him died, so he vowed to make something. Something so powerful that can cure any disease in the world, even life threatening diseases like cancer.”

  My eyes widened. “Wow!”

  “Eleven years later, he succeeded in making some seeds. The plants grown from the seeds can grow flowers. The flowers secretes a liquid which can be made into a juice. That juice can cure any disease in the world.”

  “That was a great discovery,” I said.

  She grinned. “Yes, it was. Later on he helped many people curing their diseases. It didn’t matter what kind of disease they had. The juice cured everyone. The king at that time heard about him and wanted to steal the seeds and use it only for him, so that he never suffers from any disease and lives an immortal life, as the juice also prevents humans to grow old.”

  I rubbed my chin. “So it also gives immortality?”

  “Yes, if a person keeps on using the cure. He doesn’t age. The King wanted immortality. So he ordered his soldiers to get the seeds from Nibshaw and kill him. But one of the soldiers was Nibshaw’s friend, so he ran to Nibshaw before the soldiers got him. He told Nibshaw about the king’s plan and advised him to flee away from the country.”

  “Did he run away?”

  “No, Nibshaw didn�
��t run away. He hid the seeds somewhere else and wrote a diary about his story of making the seeds. In the diary there were many codes like some addresses, numbers and names. If someone breaks all the codes, it will lead them to the seeds. He believed that someone who is intelligent and brave enough to break the codes deserve the seeds. Since then, for centuries the book has been stolen from one another, but no one succeeded in breaking all the codes.”

  “What does it have to do with my parents?”

  “Your dad is one of those people who found the book.”

  “What?” I gasped.

  “He tried his whole life to break the codes, Ross. He did break some, but not all.”

  “Where is he?”

  “He died a year ago.”

  I lowered my head. “No.”

  “I am sorry, Ross,” she said in a low voice.

  I paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “How did he die?”

  “It is still a mystery. He gave the diary to me a week ago before his death,” she took out the Nibshaw’s diary from her bag. “He asked me to give it to you. So take it,” she placed the diary on the table.

  “What about my mother? Where is she?”

  “I don’t know. She went missing ten years ago. No one knows where she went,” she pressed her lips. “I am sorry Ross, I don’t even know if she is alive.”

  I was shocked by hearing all this. Now I knew why my mother asked me to stay away from dad when I was a kid. She wanted to make sure that no harm comes to me and my brother. That must be the reason Uncle Ben kept changing homes. He also knew about it. But mom could have taken me and Aaron with her. Why did she leave me alone? Why Gloria doesn’t know about her? There must be some reason, she promised to come back but she didn’t.

  Meanwhile the servant offered me a glass of water. My throat got dry. I drank the whole glass in one go and placed the empty glass on the table. I picked the diary and opened it. The diary had a green color cover at the front and the pages were white and black like a normal diary. I just looked a few pages frequently and closed it. It consisted of many names, numbers and addresses as Gloria mentioned.