The Real You

21. Don't Go There

Sandy

"This is boring," I said, holding Alex's hand, "What kind of party is this?"

"We girls were better off in your room" Victoria chirped in.

Julian and Evelyn were occupied in their cuddles and pecks. They were laughing about something. Rochelle narrowed her eyes at her parents. 

"Let's do something then!!" Victor got up and tugged at Alex's arm, "Order them, Your Highness! 'Get your arses up!' Say it already!"

Everyone laughed at that...except Noah.

He glared sharply at Victor when he referred to Alex with his title of respect. Victor seemed oblivious to the angry waves coming from his brother. Alex didn't notice it either. He asked Victor to calm down and enjoy the night's breeze.

Noah scoffed at that, "We are not here to enjoy the breeze. We could have done that from our rooms too"

"Yeah, sure" Alex smiled sarcastically at him, "You could have done more than enjoying the breeze in your room" He looked pointedly at the girl on Noah's lap. Noah almost reacted but Carter reacted faster. Why is Noah so hot-headed? Clearly, his male ego is wounded after Alex's coronation. And Alex takes immense pleasure in targeting Noah. He doesn't even try to hide his hatred for him, unlike his false pretense with the rest of the family. 

"Give some ideas. What do we do?"

Rochelle sighed, "What are we 12? Are we going to choose our favorite board game now?"

"The Mansion" The Word left Noah's mouth and even Evelyn snapped out of her romantic stance and glared at him.

"What did you just say?" She asked, shrugging out of her husband's embrace.

"Why don't we..." Noah hesitated a little, "you know, see if the mansion's story is true?"

There was a small log of wood right next to Evelyn and she threw it at Noah. He put up his forearm in defense and the log made a very disturbing sound after coming in contact with his upper limb. 

"Okay..." Noah cleared his throat and his face scrunched up in evident pain. 

"No one goes to the Mansion" Evelyn warned everyone, pointedly looking at each one of us. 

Everyone nodded in unison. 

"But what is this...Mansion?" Alex asked and Victor tugged at his arm again. This time, it was an indication to not speak anything.

Julian answered anyway, "There is a popular legend that is used to scare our young ones when they refuse to behave"

Evelyn turned to face her husband, "And this legend might be true so don't feed curiosity to these 'young ones'"

"Now I am intrigued" Alex gulped down his alcohol and waited patiently. 

Julian looked like a Lion with a long mare - especially when that light from the bonfire was reflecting off of his long locks. He is really very handsome. No wonder the most beautiful lady here was thoroughly smitten by his charms. 

"There is no harm in telling him. But you'll promise that you won't do anything reckless"

Well...no one promised. Everyone stayed quiet and Julian launched into telling the story. Evelyn wasn't happy but she did not stop Julian either.

"So, the mansion once belonged to a King who ruled over the vampires. He was unkind, ruthless, a womanizer, and hungry for power. So, the people decided to rebel against him. They attacked him when he came out to announce his heir in public addressing. The Royals conspired against him and killed his two wives. His heir...umm...what happened to him?" He asked Carter.