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On the train to Brookesfield, I call my father. He lives in Dubai, but I see him at Christmas and on my birthday. He and my mother were not together when she had me, I was an accident from a one-night-stand. Despite not wanting to be together, they managed to tolerate one another enough to co-parent me through childhood.

I lived out of a suitcase as a kid, spending weekends at my dad's and living with my mother on weekdays. I didn't mind it, I loved seeing both of them. When I grew up and went to university for my art degree, my father took a job out in Dubai and it was hard at first, seeing him only twice a year. Now, at twenty-four, I'm used to our biannual visits.

I'm invited into the solicitor's office where I meet Evora, my aunt's friend and executor of her will.

"Now that both beneficiaries are present, we can begin," Mr Cotton states.

A sum of ten thousand pounds is left to Evora, a woman my aunt has known for years since they went to university together. Evora cries but is incredibly grateful for the gift. Evora is dismissed and I wait with bated breath, very curious as to what my aunt has left me. We were never close, so I never expected to be left anything.

"For Felicity Ava Figo, I leave all the residue of my estate under the condition that she must live at the house until she has (a) read her mother's diaries in full and (b) received a sensible offer from a one Mr Pax Ortus."

The statement baffles me completely. I had no idea that my mother kept diaries, let alone that my aunt had possession of them. My eyebrows draw together as I wonder why my aunt is so insistent on me reading them.

"The total sum of her estate, not including the property, comes to £37,560. I will need you to provide bank details for us to make the transfer for you, Miss Figo. Remember that you have six months from the end of this month to pay the inheritance tax."

My jaw nearly hits the floor. My aunt has left me nearly forty thousand pounds and her house.

"There must be some mistake, are you sure that I am the only other beneficiary?" I blurt to the solicitor.

He nods and smiles at me. "I am sure, Miss Figo, but please feel free to take a look for yourself. Congratulations, you have just become a very wealthy woman."

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Half an hour later, I step onto the street from the solicitors, still shell-shocked. I was expecting some heirlooms, maybe a hundred pounds or something. I cannot believe that I could count on one hand how many times I met that woman, and she has now left me all this estate.

The whole train ride home I stare out of the window. I don't even listen to music; I just dwell on what has happened. I feel guilty for inheriting so much. If it were the lottery, I would feel lucky. But knowing that I am being giving something for free, something that my aunt no doubt worked hard to earn...it doesn't sit well with me.

I will definitely uphold her conditions from the will. I decide to book tickets to travel to wherever her house is when I get back to my flat. I will go to her home, fix it up for selling and read all of my mother's diaries. I've always wanted to know my mother better; my aunt has now provided the perfect opportunity.

When I get home, I search up the address on the internet. It doesn't seem right, so I close the web page, open another and search it again. I refresh the page, and nothing changes.

The address drops a pin in the middle of a green patch on Google Maps. When I change it to satellite mode, there is nothing, but trees shown. It must be a mistake, there can't be some random house in the middle of a forest...can there? If there is, it's going to be one heck of a job trying to sell it.

The address is listed as 21 Arbor Close, Arcis, Brookshire. It is an hour away from Brookesfield City, where I was this morning. When I look up Arcis on the internet, nothing comes up about the place. There is nowhere listed as Arcis, but I do find out that it means 'citadel' in Latin. I guess there must be some sort of dwelling in the middle of that forest.

I guess there's only one way to find out.

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"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here like this," the Black man mutters the words with clear dislike.

The Asian man remains expressionless, assessing the state of undress of the Black man. He is wearing only a towel around his waist in the doorway of his front entrance. He must have gotten out of the shower in a rush because he is not yet fully dry and there are droplets of water on his burly chest. His locs hang around his face, dripping more water still.

"Is this a bad time?" The Asian asks in an amused tone.

"What do you think? Mare is here."

At the mention of the woman's name, the Asian man's face hardens.

"You're still with her?" He shows unchecked emotion for the first time.

The Black man sneers. "Jealous?"

"No," he replies tersely, his jaw clenched. "But you know it is a mistake to be with her, she is not meant for you."

"How about you tell me why you're here instead of sharing unwelcome comments about my girlfriend."

The Asian man sighs and shakes his head. "I've been having dreams."

At his confession, the Black man immediately tenses. The Asian notices this and his eyebrows raise expectantly.

"You've been having them, too."

There is no need for the Black man to confirm it, the answer is written all over his face.

"They mean nothing," he says defensively.

The Asian snorts without amusement. "You don't believe that and neither do I. You know exactly what they mean and they're the reason I came back. She's here."

"She's not here," he snaps in response. "There is no one new here."

"Give it time." The Asian smirks. He puts his hands in his pockets and takes a step back from the door. "Now that I am back, we will be seeing a lot more of each other, Al. Let me know when you let Mare go, I'll be waiting for you."

The Black man's grip on the door tightens in anger. "Don't call me that," he snarls. "And I'm not breaking up with Mare. She isn't here, Asper, it's a fantasy."

"Damn hot fantasy," he calls over his shoulder and walks away whistling to piss off his former friend.

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"I am so completely lost."

My statement hangs in the air, the silence echoing it back to me. I turned the radio off fifteen minutes ago when I tried to track down the turning to get into the forest.

It's been two weeks since my aunt's funeral. She was cremated and her ashes with scattered with her husband's, on a beach they liked to visit each year. There were only three people in attendance: myself, Evora and my father. He managed to catch an early flight and stay for a couple nights in a hotel. Although he'd never met Stella before, he felt the need to pay his respects to someone who has left his daughter such a generous estate.

It was really lovely to have him back for a bit. He helped me to get my affairs in order. He also let me use his car that he keeps in this country for when he needs it. It's what I'm using to find my aunt's house, I thought it would be easier than a taxi.

My aunt owned the house outright so there is no issue of mortgage repayments. It turns out she hadn't been living in her house for nearly a month because she moved to a temporary care facility after losing her husband.

I was a bit confused as to why she was living there as it was like a retirement home and she was listed as being forty-nine years old, hardly retirement age. The nurse did say she had suffered from broken-heart syndrome after the loss, so maybe she needed the palliative care, I don't know.

Google Maps was hopeless when I got about forty-five minutes out of Brookesfield City. It's like the area around my aunt's house doesn't exist to technology. I pull over and revert to the old paper map I have in the trunk of my car. It takes a few minutes to track down the right page and when I do, I find nothing but green again.

"How can this place not exist?" I ask exasperatedly to myself.

The sound of an engine makes me look up. I wave at the passer-by without thinking of the consequences. It's only when the truck pulls up next to me and a man in his fifty's leans out of the window that I realise what an impulsive decision I just made.

"You alright, love?" He asks.

I eye him uneasily but feel a little more at ease due to his friendly manner.

"You don't happen to know where Arcis is, do you? I can't see any signs for it anywhere and the maps are useless."

He smiles and lets out a soft chuckle. "Don't waste your time, love. That place ain't on no maps. There's no signs for it, either. The folks that live there like to keep to themselves. You sure you want to go there? They don't take well to strangers."

What a peculiar place.

"Um, yes, I need to visit a house there."

He shrugs. "Okay, but don't take any offense if they're not the friendliest bunch, alright? You wanna drive about five minutes back that way, take the left turn and keep going along that road by the tree, there will be an unmarked turning on the left that will take you straight to the town. It's in the trees, you see."

"The town is inside the forest?"

"Yeah! Crazy, ain't it?"

It seems Google Maps wasn't wrong about the house being in the middle of the forest.

"Thank you so much."

I get back into my car and follow his instructions. Sure enough, there is an unmarked but perfectly tarmacked road that breaks through the trees.

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