SINDOORAH PROPHECY
APPETIZERS

Nina accidentally locks Commander Gerald's arm before the man realizes it. He did not care at all about the hot gaze from Olivia and Naomi behind his back. Nina does so to mark the commander, showing the ghosts of her followers that the man is not a threat for now. The ghosts that Sindoorah had given him could not speak, but they could be taught and ruled at will. Now, Nina is teaching them to be nice to a ‘friend’. 

“Do you want to see something interesting in this house first, Mr Chief Detective?” Nina turned to the man beside her. He could also hear the bated breath of two women who were tailing like duck-watching-behind them. The man looked back with a question mark. Clearly interested. 

By seeing the positive reaction, Nina in her old version of herself, might immediately pull the cop into her room, then show the CTF, the cursed bathtub that almost took her life the other day. He can point Olivia and Naomi in front of their noses. But that's not the plan. Too easily. 

“Good.” Commander Gerald's short answer published a knotty smile on Nina's lips that polished a fresh, red-gold moisturizer, as an accent of the simple kimono model dress she wore, but the seven zeros behind her were able to drive Olivia crazy, even having a heart attack because Nina paid for the fancy dress with her in-laws credit card. 

“Follow me, Mr. Detective Chief.” 

Inevitably, Gerald put a smile on his lips. Indeed, he had a choice as to what Nina was locking her arm in now. Meanwhile, Olivia and Naomi are breathing irregularly when Nina invites the commander to go up to the second floor. Naomi begins calculating tactics to subdue the cop if the situation turns out of control. He did not know the commander's fighting ability, but by comparing him to Sergeant Andi who was a bulldozer, it would be easier. Naomi feels confident in her abilities because she has often used Nolan, her brother used to be a life saver. 

Olivia and Naomi's heart was almost dislodged when Nina and the policeman walked through Nina's room, straight to the balcony on the second floor. They both thought they had done something stupid by not locking Nina's room earlier, then throwing the key into the closet so the commander couldn't check in. So, Olivia glanced meaningfully at her daughter, so Naomi inspired to raise her voice in the middle of their journey. “I'm sorry to go down first to check out the dish, Ladies and Gentleman.” 

Nina and Gerald spontaneously looked back. Nina did not care, but the commander seemed to keep a puzzle in his head. Seeing Olivia still with them, the man thought it was okay this time to let Naomi out of her sight. 

“Something's wrong, Commander?” olivia asked as she realized the police's gaze was momentarily following Naomi's departure.

Gerald shook his head. “You have a beautiful daughter.” Olivia's smile rises. He hoped to catch a look of jealousy on Nina's face as the commander praised her sister-in-law, whom Olivia could use to trap Nina, but her daughter-in-law's expression was completely illegible. It was precisely his own expression that paled when the commander added. “Your son must also be handsome, yes. I think it is necessary to meet him next time to speak.”

“Be-talk?” Olivia was attacked by stuttering. 

“Ya.”

“Mr Detective Chief, we are not here to talk about my husband, but there is something you should see.”

Nina cuts off the two men's conversation to make Olivia feel free by the police. At first glance, Commander Gerald could catch a faint flash in Nina's eyes when talking about her husband. The woman's light brown bead became clearer under the reflection of the moonlight, but kept the mystery. 

“Sorry, I forgot. With pleasure, Mrs.”

Nina's eyes then sparkled warmly and in Gerald's eyes it looked like honey was melting at the top of the ice-cream-warm as well as cold. Gerald temporarily put away the puzzle covering this woman and turned to the part of the villa that Nina wanted to show. Their steps stopped in front of a balcony overgrown with wild roses on its banks. The flower spreads a fragrant aroma that adds to the mystical impression. 

 “This place is really beautiful tonight,” praise the commander unknowingly while glancing out the balcony. The silhouette of a tree top was boundless, gleaming under the moonlight that was shining full without any barrier clouds. The flickering stars that were around him were as if swallowed by his brilliance. Staring at the panorama from the balcony of the second floor of Ricci's villa, they seemed to move into a great hidden world. 

“Is this place always beautiful like this, Mistress?” 

“I'm curious about Mr. Norman Ricci. It's been ten years since he left in an accident, huh?”

Olivia stung. Where is this conversation going? These cops keep an unexpected puzzle while visiting their place. Not only her, Nina's pair of eyes pouted for a moment. The topic of the death of the father-in-law that he had never met was something that was also a question for him. It was the part that Nina had never read from Olivia's heart since she lived in this villa. 

“Ya.” Olivia answered short, inedible. 

“I don't know your late husband personally, Madam. But, my father had handled this case first.”

“Ya, I remember.” Olivia responded coldly to the police chief. 

Both corners of Nina's lips were drawn faintly. He thoroughly enjoyed the scene unfolding before him while questioning the ending of the scenario he prepared tonight. If his former abilities were still there, he would have found the answer from Olivia's inner voice. However, Nina did not mind to enjoy the groove slowly now. 

“This balcony is indeed beautiful, huh? Well, but .. who knows could have kept a horror we don't know. Understand, the building is old, ancestral heritage.” Nina interrupted.

“You mean?” 

“Try you look down, Mr.” Nina invites Commander Gerald to look at the base of the balcony directly connected to the park. Olivia gawked. He was curious about the thoughts of his son-in-law who was suddenly strange and full of surprises.

“In your opinion, is it enough to kill someone if it falls from this height?”

Gerald's eye tails lifted automatically to stare at Nina directly into his bead. “Three meters. It doesn't seem like it, but it might just break some bones.”

“Ah, right too. I am still alive after falling into a well as deep as five meters,” muttered Nina who aimed as if at herself. Commander Gerald's thick eyebrows were completely raised this time. The incident of a woman he failed to help the other day turned out to be no illusion, then the woman now stands before him as adding to the mystery. 

“There's something you want to say, Mrs Nina?” Gerald immediately targeted the woman with their gazes still locked in the puzzle. However, the scenario was dashed by Olivia who advanced between the two of them. 

“Nina, it is not good to make guests wait to enjoy dinner.”

Nina did not feel disturbed and smiled pretend to Olivia until her in-laws were ambushed by a cold that did not come from the cold outside. “Of course, Mami.”

...***...