Beneath The Blackwood Sky | ✓

Chapter Twenty-One: Kids These Days

ROSE'S EYES POPPED OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS THE MOMENT SHE SET HER EYES upon the magnificent house looming up in front of them. She considered whether she should call that a castle or not. On the second thought, it bore no resemblance to a castle. It was massive, that's it.

Rose remembered The Blackwood Castle, standing for two hundred years, showing no signs of collapsing soon. It was the pride and soul of their city, grand and somehow inspiring.

She glanced at her companions who were gawking at the large gate in front of them along with her. George's house was one thing, this was another. While George's house somehow reminded of houses from Greek mythology, all pillars, intricate designs carved onto the surfaces, and the greenery, this one was very elegant.

In the case of George's house, Rose knew that something magical and magnificent was located behind those large gates as she roamed around the city. But Rose never expected what could be behind these gates, because it was a gated residential. Normal people couldn't enter the gates unless they had a permit.

She tore her eyes from the oddly elegant house, staring at the other oddly elegant houses lining the entire street. She sighed and glanced at Theo, "Call Beth."

Theo, who had been glaring at the house for some reason gladly took his phone and called his sister. "Damn it, Beth," he muttered into the phone. "You said that the house would catch you off guard but this much? Come out, will you?" Beth had warned them about the houses, warned them about the kids too, who were kind of arrogant. It's absolutely fine if you don't want to babysit them. I can totally imagine Kai losing his patience because of them, she had said.

Bethany McCallister's face emerged from the shadows, more like the opposite of shadows. She appeared from the light, walking over to them and throwing her arms around her little brother. She ushered them inside as she laughed at their awestruck expressions.

She ruffled her brother's hair, gave Kai a fist bump after which they made a 'whoosh' sound, gave Will a high five, gave Shay a warm hug, pulled Jade's cheek and came to Rose who was behind all of them. Rose held her arms out to hug her but stopped when Beth was still. Suddenly without a warning, Beth yelled out, "Boo!"

Even though she was right in front of her and there was no reason to be surprised, Rose flinched and put a hand on her heart. "How many times have I told you not to scare me like that Bethany?!?" The elder girl just laughed, "Seriously? How does that count as scaring?"

Rose opened her mouth to disagree but stopped when a pretty woman in a suit came walking towards them. She had a tired look on her face but managed a genuine smile when she looked at them. "Bethany told me about you guys," she said, smiling kindly at each of them. "So good to meet you guys. I'm Isabelle Carter, but please call me Isabelle. Mrs Carter makes me feel old." She told with a laugh.

Bethany excused herself after she got a call from her father, hugged Isabelle and her brother, wiggling her fingers in their eyebrow before leaving with a sarcastic bow and tipping of an imaginary hat. Siblings were so alike.

They followed Isabelle into the house, staring with open mouths for the second time in the same week. While George's house had statues with fountains outside the house, there were some statues inside this house, and Rose walked as far as she could from them. Even though she was distanced from those statues, she couldn't help but dread the prospect of breaking one of that priceless stuff. She would be indebted to them even after their death, her ghost hovering around to pay them money.

Or to haunt her best friends.

A girl who looked two years older than them passed them as she headed towards the main door, and Rose could say that she wasn't from Blackwood. They knew everyone in Blackwood. The girl stared longingly at Will, who didn't notice her. The girl paused to admire Will from afar.