章 9: 9. New Home.

Sometimes you just have to let go of the reins of life and let it take you to wherever it want. No matter how badly you want things to change and go back to the way they were, it wouldn't. You just have to take a pause, breath and let it take you wherever it wants.

With all the sudden happenings of events in her life which her brain finds hard to keep track of, Que felt as if she was losing her mind. She didn't know where to begin; she was numb, stressed and a whole lots of things she couldn't even name, she might soon drop dead if care is not taken. Now that she's starting a new life, one she had no idea what her fate would be, she decided it would be best for her to take a break, stop worrying and prepare for what's coming next.

And by preparation she meant a good rest.

That is how she found herself drooling over the expensive leather seats of the car that was supposed to take her to her new home. Her body finally shut down as the fatigue and lack of sleep for days finally caught up with her probably triggered by the warmth and lush seats of the car that was better than her bed back at home.

"We are here," A deep throaty voice of the driver, Beardy jerked her awake. She blinked her eyes wiping her mouth as she looked through the windows. All she could see were tall green trees that lined up a path where the car had parked. Her mind flashed back to her trip to the cabin. Opening the doors she got out clutching Bubu in her arms.

"Go ahead, I'll bring your stuffs in." He had already came down and was taking out her stuffs. She was too tired anyways so she readily agreed muttering her thanks to the man who seems to find the bags more interesting than her, she doesn't have anything valuable in there anyway. Que walked silently down the granite floor of the gigantic grey mansion which was supposed to be her new home.

Each step she took made her stomach turned and it took all her might to not turn around bolt. The old victorian home stood in all of it's dark and imposing glory. It was dark outside already and she wondered how long they had been driving. Maybe it was the darkness that made it look straight out of a demonic fantasy movie. Now that she think of it, it kinda resembles the house from the haunted house. It was surrounded by huge trees from all sides without a single building in sight.

She knocked on the heavy front doors and waited. It was unbelievably quiet that she could hear the sound of her breathing. She knocked again and when no one answered, she twist open the door knob which open under the slightest push. A strong and cold wind gushed from inside the house making goosebumps appear on her arms. She suddenly felt the dress she was wearing was too small and hugged the cat to her chest.

"Hello," she said when she was in but there wasn't anyone around. A dark hallway stretched in front of her with several openings leading to various parts of the house, probably. She half expected to see cobwebs and peeling walls judging from how old the house looked but the place was tidy enough, though the lights were dim, almost as good as none.

Is this place abandoned? It truly did look abandoned from how quiet it was. She wondered if she was even at the right place. She slowly made her way down turning around a slightly brighter hallway. The idea of being sold to traffickers seeming very possible.

"I'm not a child anymore, should anything happen, I would be able to defend myself." At least she's not that all defenceless, she could murder plants and maybe animals with her touch. With a slightly more killing intent, she should be able to inflict injuries on her attackers, right?

She twisted and turned around the maze of hallways, coming across few rooms on her way. As she walked by, she realized that the entire mansion had one thing in common, dark interiors. All the colors were cold, dark, and gloomy with touches of gold and silver that weren't in excess. Just enough to indicate the owner is wealthy. There were ugly and grosteque sculptures and statuesque etched on the wall and around corners that held a twisted beauty that'll keep most people away. Aka her.

Whoever lives here is not normal. That was certain.

She knocked on the doors she came across, when no sound came from within, she'd twist the doorknob and when it open, she'll peep inside before going further. She've come across five rooms so far. Among these five rooms, two were locked. The ones that were open were all grand but gloomy and covered with white cloth, clearly a sign that no one lived there.

Descending a long array of stairs, she stopped in front of a locked door of the last room at the end of a vacant hallway. She had reached a dead end. There were only two doors in this hallway which was darker than the rest. It had a single bulb with no windows and judging by the stairs she used, it must be an underground.

Opening the door, she peeped inside the dark room which was lit with a dim candle light. She only caught a glimpse of large metallic table in the middle when a voice came from behind her making her jump around.

"Mrs. Menalik," She froze clutching her chest as if caught in the middle of a crime.

The voice belongs to a young girl in a uniform and looked not more than 13. She is tall and looked timid with two buns on top of her head. She was holding a set of clean white towels in her arms.

The girl nervously glanced at the door behind her.

"Are you perhaps looking for something?" She blinked at her.

Que glanced at the door behind her and back at her.

"Is that a dungeon?" Que pointed at the door behind her.

She shook her head shrugging, "I suggest mistress should not come here often. Master hates probbing."

Quirking up a brow, "Is your master hiding something?" It was too late to catch herself so she just coughed. The girl shook her head again.

"Master forbids anyone from coming here. Or other parts of the house apart from the main places. We righteously obey him without asking questions."

"Forget I just said that, I was only kidding. Ahem, I kinda got lost." she stirred the conversation back to the beginning scratching her head.

"Ah, I see. This way please, I'll show you to your room." She said with a nod, and walked towards her. She locked the door and turned around.

"My name is Hanna, I'm in charge of cleaning the rooms."

"Nice to meet you Hanna, I'm Que."

"We didn't expect you to arrive this early, we are still cleaning up the house."

"Did you just move here?" She had managed to worn herself to the opposite side of the house. "No, the house is just too big so only the main building is used." After walking like for eternity, they arrived infront of a polished doors on the second floor. It was the only room in this hallway.

"This is your room." she said pushing the doors open.

"Thank you."

"Ah, no need. I'll be on my way, if you need anything just let me know. You shouldn't wander around on your own least you offend aunt Talia. Believe me, she is the last person you'd want to meet." And with that she waltz away.

How is she supposed to let her know? Que wanted to ask but the girl was already out of sight. It's not like she could hear her if she scream, and searching for her is out of the question. If she manage to get lost in this maze they wouldn't be able to find her in a week. The maid had even warn her against that. And who on earth is aunt Talia? She imagine a white ghost roaming around the empty hallways making her shudder.

Crap, now she is making things up.

Walking inside the room, she realized all her bags and the gifts she'd gotten were already brought in, sitting in the middle of the spacious room.

"Wow," she exclaimed taking in the room for the first time.

Que took in the magnificent room made of emerald green and cream with a touch of silver and gold. It screamed luxury at first glance.

She walked across the room, running her hands on the surfaces. She stopped in front of the floor to ceiling windows and split the curtain open, what behold her sight was a balcony overlooking down a lush garden and a swimming pool on the side.

This place might not be bad after all.

She went into the bathroom to take a shower and get rid of the drool on her face from her short nap in the car. She cringed at the heavy makeup still on her face when she caught a glimpse of her reflection on the mirror. How could she have slept with this? It had smudge and distorted her face. Whoever said humans evolved from apes must have seen her.

Everything here looks good. The deco wasn't too bright. It was dark and gloomy but not that depressing, just cold. For some reasons she found it comfortable.

She got out of the shower, cleaned herself and decided to rest before dinner arrived. She needed a good rest if she's starting work soon.

Wrapped in a bath robe, she snuggle under the warm and heavy beige comforter of the queen sized bed. It was soft and lush and she felt all her worries fade as soon as her head hit the pillow. She looked forward to a new beginning come tomorrow morning. With that thought, she was lolled into a peaceful sleep.

Sometimes during her sleep while dreaming about sweet coffees and cream, her body became uncomfortably hot. She subconsciously tried to get rid of the source of heat by kicking off the blankets, but her legs were tangled up in the blanket and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't move. The bed dipped under a heavy weight and she stilled, seizing all movement. She soon realized that the uncomfortable heat was coming from a body hovering above her's which had a strong coffee and cream scent only this time it was mixed with smoke and leather. She laid still afraid to even breath, she do not have to think twice about who the person was.

Her heart thumped in her ribcage and she bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming.

"Boo..."

"Argh..." She trashed around the bed madly and ended up crashing on the floor with a loud thud. From her position on the ground she could see a shadow moving along the bed. A deep masculine chuckle came from the darkness as it moved further away.

"Wait," she called after him as her blood begin to boil, anger bubbling up in her heart. She got up from the floor and chased after it. He is not escaping, not this time. What did she do to deserve this endless sleepless nights and constant torturing? It is supposed to stay in her past like all the rest. She didn't mean to grab at his belt if that was what angered him, who asked him to stand in the middle of the road at night.

"Who are you and what do you?" Que fumed as she mindlessly chased him down the dark hallways neglecting the fact that it might not be human at all.

"I've had enough of this nonsense." Bold of him to think that he could scare her! He should know that people quiver in fear at the mention of her. His built and heat radiating body would not scare her.

That's right, she definitely do not fear him, her voice was only shaky because she just wake up from sleep.

"Show yourself if you are not afraid! I, Que Mo Hendricks does not fear the living,"

"Say, does that mean you fear the dead?"It breathed into her ear.

"Diee!!" She yelled punching the air as she spin around.

"I'm going to kill you, show yourself already!"

"I'd love to see you try," The husky voice was more accented this time coming from the far end of the room. There, a massive cloaked figure languidly leaned on the wall, his long, black leather cladded legs crossed lazily and his beat down boots shone under the dim light. She raised her head to what felt like miles towards its massive broad shoulders to his cloaked face covered with the hood to the cloak. "Sweet.." It twirled a sharp curvy weapon in a gloved finger "...mother," raising it's head slightly at her voice "of Jesus."

"Wrong! I prefer God," he stated proudly giving her a side glance cloaked face and from her position at the opposite end of the room, she caught a glimpse of metallic piercings on his face. The pretend courage she mustard melted away and a whimper escaped her lips.

"But the ultimate devotion of your mind, body and soul matters more than the tittle," With a swing of his finger, the shiny curvy object came flying towards her. She fell to the ground dodging the sharp object that narrowly avoided hitting her with a sharp 𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨. The object hit the wall and whirled back to his hand.

"Are you out of your mind!? You almost killed me!" Narcissistic bastard.

"What happened to your strength?"

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath regretting chasing after him in the first place. He twirled the boomerang preparing for another attack.

Not good. So not good! Crawling on all fours she hid behind a cupboard when another 𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 came, slicing the cupboard in half.

"Stop! Just tell me what you want." She cried in horror as it came again and again.

"Aww, but I am having fun." Fun? Is this his idea of fun? She's about to sliced in half!

"Please, I didn't mean to offend you the other night. We can talk this out like matured humans."

"Oh you do," he chuckled, "You even took your sweet time while at it."

"Bastard, I hope you burn in hell," Before the words were out of her mouth she was whirling in the air and slammed to the wall. His front pressed against her's crushing her to the wall. The hard ridges and contours of his broad chest painfully crushing her plump chest.

"Say that again," he licked the base of her ear threateningly. She squirm gulping hard.

One of his hand was on the wall beside her head caging her while the other one was tracing small circles on her stomach.

"Stop licking me, perverted bastard,"

His chest rumbled sending tiny sparks throughout her body as he chuckled.

"Gattina, you are one to talk. You should learn to take responsibility of your actions. I'm only returning the favour."

"I..I didnt. That was a mistake. You....stop!" She gasped when a gloved finger parted the robe she was wearing. His body suddenly went rigid and his movements paused for a second.

"Oops, my bad. It was also a 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦." He eased away from her.

Que wobbled as the weight of his body vanished, steadying herself on the wall she struggled to stay upright.

"My presence is required, untill we meet again. Adieus, Gattina." His disembodied voice rang in the darkness as he vanished into the night.

And for the 5th time in a row, Que laid wide awake on the bed. Only this time with a slightly flushed face.