chapter 1
Milena felt good. Good was an understatement, she felt like as if she was in the Maldives sipping a mojito by the vast sea. The wind whipped her blonde strands all over, making her iced matcha fall all over Reese’s jeans.
“Argh, you stupid arse!” Her sister scowled at her as she swerved through the lane.
“Reesie peas you’re so happy from all the shopping that you can’t even be mad,” Lena pouted her lips before continuing,” Shopping truly is your favourite thing in the world after me of course.”
“Shut up, we’re getting late for our salon appointment.” Reese hid her smile and forced out another scowl.
Lena felt content. Her older sister and her shopped till their arms hurt, they got matcha and macaroons before going to get their nails done. It truly was a wonderful day.
Lena settled for a forest green with a little heart on her middle finger.
“Look Reese, now when I flip people of they’ll be met with a beautiful little heart, the world finally has come to peace.” She said as she stretched her legs.
Alas her eyes caught the sight of the bill, $300 was a bit much for getting their nails done. And then she thought of all the money they both had spent on the clothes and the shoes and the perfumes. Lena wasn’t like this, neither was Reese.
“Reesie peas, I think we’ve run Greg’s wallet dry.” She told her sister on the car ride back.
“You know, Leni your hair is so icy blonde, you remind me of the arctic except in reality you are a little ball of sunshine.”
“Reese, Mum’s finally happy and Greg is sweet, I suppose.” Lena met her older sister’s eyes she knew Reese was ignoring her but she still went on.
“I know we’re not happy with mum and she promised us we would not move again and here we are in London and we’ve moved for the sixth time in two years but-
Reese cut her little speech off,” Look we’re not rich, we never have been and none of us have nice things. Okay no we have a few nice things but we seldom have enough money for even a little coffee date and if our new stepdaddy’s pockets run deep, we should make the most of it.”
Lena unpacked all her stuff and went for a nap. When she awoke the first thing she heard was, ‘Did I stutter’ said by Stanley from The Office. It was 6:30 in the evening on her phone, her television had been playing episodes from the office for two hours, empty boxes and bags lay sprawled on the floor, and the sky outside was a fiery magenta.
“Munchkin, how are you?” Her mum asked as she peeked through the opening of her door.
“Well, I am-
“Guess what I’ve almost convinced Greg to let us all move to Scotland this winter!” Her mum excitedly chattered as she sat on her youngest daughter’s bed.
Lena had to calm down otherwise she was going to say something terribly mean. This was the first time she had spoken to her mum in two days and she first thing that came out of her mouth was about ‘moving’ again.
“Oh look how precious Jim and Pam look together.” Her mum went on talking about everything unnecessary but all Lena could think of was about their next ‘move’.
It was always just three of them. Mum, Reese and Lena. They loved each other, though they did not get each other too well. Well Reesie peas and her understood each other, they just didn’t understand their mum. It was Seattle, then a small town in Spain, then Toronto and the list went on. But Lena barely had any memories, they moved so often that every place felt the same. She never got enough time to settle in or make friends and the list went on.
“Mum.” Lena felt as if she could not breathe.
But her mum still continued talking about backpacking in the Highlands.
“You know it is absolutely breathtaking, we could see the castles, stop at the lake…..”
Lena wanted to scream and ask her mum if she cared about her. These days it felt as if all she cared about was going to new places. But how could her mum think of new places when they had nothing in the old ones. When her sister and her never made friends, struggled with languages, did homeschool for two years when none of them wanted to.
“Well, for once in your fifty years of existence can you think about someone else?”
That line got her mum’s attention. “Darling I was talking about Aberdeen and its-“ Her mum sported a confused look and she stared at her daughter.
“Look I know I’m not as direct as Reese but I’ll say this. Neither one of us wants to move. We just got to London a month ago, we have not attended a day of school and you are still thinking of another move,” Lena breathed in and out, if she wanted to prove her point she had to do it composed. 4
“Do you think I like the feeling of instability? We spend a few months here and then move somewhere else. You say you move us around the globe for a heightened cultural experience but why do I have nothing but sadness and no sense of belonging in any of the cities we have stayed in. You never ask us if we want to move, its always about you.”
Lena thought she made her point clear until she heard screams. Reese had heard her whole rant and was engaged in a screaming match with their mother.
And so she gently opened her window and slid out of it onto the grass and lay on. Mud was etched on her cheeks but she could not care. Lena walked and walked until her legs hurt and the moon shone.
She sat on a bench in a slightly forested area and stared outside. The last remnants of winter were present in the icy air and she shivered as she sat on the damp bench.
She didn’t know for how long she sat until a woman sat beside her. Saying she sat would be a lie, she daintily put herself on the bench with much elegance. Lena would have been scared but she was cold and tired.
“Darling, are you alright?” The woman beside her gently prodded.
“I don’t think so but I will be.” Lena forced herself to give a fake smile to the lady when she gasped.
The woman besides her was gorgeous. Her hair was as blonde as Lena’s with midnight dark streaks. She wore an emerald wrap around dress with very high heeled sandals. On her neck, there was a diamond necklace and on her wrists there were a plethora of silver bracelets.
That’s when it struck her, when she was in one of the stores with Reese they both had seen the silver bracelets but they had been too expensive to purchase.
“Did you get your bracelets from Lavender & Blue? It’s a store in London.” She asked.
“Why yes, how very clever of you, darling.” The woman beamed at Lena.
For some odd reason Lena was not scared or even slightly frightened, she felt almost comforted. Even though she was talking to someone who she didn’t know in a dimly lit forested path.
“I’m Narcissa, what’s your name darling?” The blonde stranger asked.
“Lena.” She swore she saw something flash in the woman’s eyes before she masked it.
“Well Lena, if I had a daughter I don’t think I’d like it if she was wandering alone so late,” Narcissa continued,” Your mother must be dreadfully worried.”
And she walked home, a little confused but too tired to care.
The days passed and it was the beginning of April. Reese and Lena had finished their academic year slightly early in San Francisco so they could have a longer summer in London. Their mother had forgotten all about the little argument they had and was vacationing with their stepfather Greg in South America. Vacations were a strange concept to Lena. They moved so frequently that each place felt like a holiday without luxury and with her mother struggling to make ends meet.
“Eight grade huh?”
“Yup, eight grade it is for me, Reesie peas.” Lena mumbled as she munched her fries.
“It’s a private school.” Reese shot Lena a look she couldn’t decipher. Up until six months ago their mother was struggling to make ends meet. As they moved so frequently their mum couldn’t keep a stable job and so she worked wherever there were vacancies. Sometimes she was an English translator, a receptionist, a waitress. And attending a private school was not normal.
“Shoo! Now that Greg and mum are gone for a week we can do anything in this large mammoth house. Like absolutely anything.”
“Sure we can call our non- existent imaginary friends and throw a house party like they show in the movies, where the house reeks of alcohol and vases are broken.” Reese told her sister.
“I approve but shut up let me finish Clueless.” Lena grumbled.
She felt warm and incredibly cosy as she stretched her legs on the soft bed. This was the best sleep Milena Reyes had gotten.
“Reese what’s the time?” She shouted, too lazy to grab her phone.
Minutes passed.
“Reese, you idiot what is the time!” She screamed even louder.
That’s when she opened her eyes and clamped her palms on her mouth. Fvck, crap, shit, holy shit. She was not supposed to swear but she was kidnapped for god’s sake! This was not her room.
The room was a little too big for her liking. The walls a dove grey adorned with beautiful paintings. The humungous bed was made of wood and the rug was made of a rich material. Her kidnappers seemed to be ridiculously wealthy, and she was not chained to anything. That was a win in her books.
Lena had to think of a plan, the windows overlooked a never-ending lawn with pine trees at its side. But the windows would not open. As time went on, the more fear enveloped her body and mind.
Reese would miss her for sure, her mother would too. Albeit her mother would miss her and take Reese for a trip to some foreign place claiming it was what Lena would have wanted. The worst part of this entire kidnapping was the fact that she didn’t have her phone. With her phone she could’ve called someone, messaged Reese or made a TikTok crying for urgent help.
And then she thought what in the world what Dwight from The Office do? Okay her current plan was to be Dwight but she didn’t know karate and she certainly didn’t have weapons at her disposal.
And the door opened revealing a man with silvery blonde hair that cascaded down his shoulders. He wore dark robes and yes now Lena knew she was certainly kidnapped.
“I beg you Sir, do not kill me, my family can pay you.” Lena pleaded as her eyes shut.
The man simply stood at the doorway and his face was almost expressionless except for his eyes. They widened ever so slightly when she spoke.
“No, Milena, I-“ His voice was cut off by Lena’s shrieks.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” She screamed into the pillow.
“You piece of absolute shit how does kidnapping a teenage girl bring you joy-“
Her rant was cut off by his words. “My treasure I mean no---
“You sick asshole.”
“Are you finished?” He asked her in a smooth neutral tone. He gave her an odd smile, which ended quickly before Lena could fully observe it. The smile looked unnatural on his face.
“Why yes thank you for asking me, kind sir. You could have asked me if I wanted to come with you before kidnapping me. Now that would have been the epitome of politeness.”
“Milena, I mean no harm, my name is Lucius Malfoy. And you are currently in the Malfoy Manor situated in Wiltshire. If I wanted to kidnap you I would’ve not told you about your current residence.” The way Lucius spoke in a smooth manner, as if nothing was wrong and they were talking about the weather made her blood boil.
“You kind of look like you’re from The Game of Thrones with the hair and everything.” Lena clamped her palm on her mouth. Now she definitely would not be getting out of here.
There was silence for a couple of moments. Before Lucius opened the window of the room letting the fresh air permeate through. The wind’s iciness made her shiver. She was nervous, freezing and on the brink of a very sad future. And she was only thirteen. Lena tried to think of happy memories but she just could not. And she drove her nails into the inside of her palm till it hurt.
Oh gosh her nails that she had gotten with Reese in London. That day was perfect, absolutely perfect until her fight with her mum.
Alas Lucius or whatever his name happened to be walked closer to her and uncurled her closed fists.
“Milena what have you done to your palms?” He questioned as his voice rose a few octaves higher.
“My treasure I promise you, you are safe with me and I would do nothing to ever harm you.” He continued as he inspected the nail marks etched on her skin.
He pulled out a wooden stick very gracefully before he realised something was amiss and threw it on the floor.
“Err what was that long stick?” Lena hoped it was not a torture device.
Before he could answer a woman barged into the room. And that is when Lena gasped. She had seen this lady in the forested area when she ran from home. Oh gosh it all made sense now, the lady must have followed her home and kidnapped her from there. Why did she have to talk to the lady that day? She felt so incredibly stupid that she wanted to scream.
The lady elegantly sat on the bed and put her manicured hand on Lena’s.
“Darling I-“ Her eyes was blotchy and red, her clothes ruffled and her hair was all over the place.
“Darling you’ve finally come home after so long”
“Narcissa you weren’t supposed to tell her!” Lucius exclaimed.
They glowered at each other before Narcissa continued.
“No Lucius she has to know what we’re her parents, she deserves to know that I’m her mummy and you’re her papa.” She hiccupped before crying a little too elegantly for Lena’s taste.
Parents? Mummy and papa!
Lena wanted to laugh, these people needed professional help but then it struck her what if these people were her parents. After all she was adopted. And as she looked between Narcissa and Lucius. Lena felt her fingers rake through her arctic blonde strands. And then her eyes went to Lucuis icy blonde hair and Narcissa’s mixture of blonde and black. Her eyes were a cool blue and Lucius’s a steely grey and Reese always described Lena as having bluish grey eyes. Gosh no. She averted her eyes, she didn’t want to see more similarities and besides many people looked similar and that didn’t mean they all were related.
“Milena?” Narcissa gently prodded.
“NO this is a terrible nightmare when I wake up I’ll tell Reese all about it and we’ll laugh and she can write about my nightmare in her flashy blog and it’ll be okay. It will be all okay.” Lena mumbled to herself.
Alas she did not wake up, even after some moments. She was still nestled on the cozy bed with Narcissa and Lucius standing on the side who she hoped were her kidnappers and not her parents.