Chapter 1
"Master"
The boy turned and gazed at the elderly man with empty gray eyes.
"What is it Aubrey?"
"They're coming."
They boy nodded. "Thank you Aubrey."
Pallas...
The boy turned and gazed at the elderly man with empty gray eyes.
"What is it Aubrey?"
"They're coming."
They boy nodded. "Thank you Aubrey."
Pallas...
"We're moving."
I gawked. I didn't want to move!
"Why?" I cried. "We're okay here!"
"Your father has been offered another job," Mom said. "We're moving into a larger house--we promise to give you a bigger room and a place to practice your martial arts."
Mom and Dad forced me to listen to their lecture about moving for the next forty minutes. So far, it sounded like we were moving into a 200-year-old house no one had used in decades. I could already see it. Overgrown weeds, moldy walls, creaky stairs, paint peeling off the crumbly walls. Not exactly my dream house.
"You'll love it Alexei," Dad said. "I'm sure you will."
That's how we ended up moving into an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. As we drove to our new 'home' on that tree-lined road, images of ghost towns flashed into my head. I hadn't seen a single living creature since we'd left the last town, about fifteen miles away.
Soon enough, we arrived at the entrance to the estate. The entire territory had a large wall surrounding it, that ended in what seemed to be a solid gold gate with a golden apple in the middle acting as a lock.
"The owners must have been pretty wealthy to do this," Dad said as he admired the intricate gate from the car. "You don't see a gate carved out of gold every day!"
Just as dad was about to get out of the car to open the gate, it swung open as if by magic. Mom and Dad gave each other a strange look, then we rolled along into the estate on a narrow cobble-stoned path lined with apple trees. What was it with this family and apples?
"There she is," Dad sighed. "Our new home."
The house was nothing like I imagined. It was large, yes, but magnificent in every way. It looked more like a palace than a house, with its perfect paint and golden window sills. There were even rather large balconies emerging from large bed chambers. The grass was neatly trimmed--as if it had just been mowed this morning. Overall, the house looked nowhere near 200.
"Wow."
We all got out of the cramped car--all except for three-year-old Merry, who was fast asleep in her baby chair--and admired the house.
"You never told us we were living here," I said.
"I didn't know it looked like this when we got it."
Mom had told us she'd inherited the house from an old dead relative who hadn't even lived in the house. What luck we'd had that Dad had gotten the job at the same time she'd gotten the house.
My parents smiled goofily, making themselves look like idiots. I rolled my eyes and unbuckled Merry from her turture chair and hauled her out of the car. As I did so, I wondered where our U-Haul truck containing most of our furniture was. They were trailing us just ten minutes before.
"Let's go inside and take a look," Dad said, opening the truck as we rushed to grab our bags and headed toward the ornate front door, me struggling to hold Merry, her bags and my stuff.
The large mahogany door creaked open by itself as we set foor on the grand porch. Just as I stepped through the door frame, I got the feeling like someone other than us was there.
"You have arrived at last," a voice said from above. I jumped in surprise, almost dropping my sister and our stuff to the marble floor.
A grey-haired man wearing a suit walked down the sunlit staircase and smiled politely at my parents. His gaze rested on me and smiled brightly, giving me the creeps.
"I am Aubrey Moreau," the man said with a hint of a French accent. "I am the estate's caretaker and will be seeing to your needs during your stay. I do hope you enjoy inhabiting the mansion for the time being."
Dad put his suitcases down and steped forward. "Hello, I'm Jacob Callaway and this is my wife, Janet," he said, shaking Moreau's hand.
Mom nodded and said, "These are our children, Alexei and Merry."
"Pleased to you all of you," Moreau said. "You may call me whatever you want--preferably Monsieur Moreau."
Monsieur Moreau kept his gaze on me as he spoke. His cat-like eyes gave me the chills, seeming as though he could eat me any second now.
"May I help you with your bags, Master Alexei," he said suddenly, stepping forward to take the stuff I held. "We wouldn't want you to drop your younger sister."
"Uh, sure," I said nervously, allowing him to take my stuff.
"Feel free to explore the house," Monsieur Moreau said, smiling. "I have already arranged you furniture and picked out your rooms to avoid inconvenience. Have a nice stay."
And he dissappeared.
"At least we don't have to unpack," I said anxiously after a long period of awkward silence.
Mom sighed. "Alexei, go upstaris and find Merry's room and put her in the crib," she said. "I don't want you to drop her."
I nodded and walked upstairs. It didn't take me long to find Merry's room. It was in the exact place Mom would have wanted it--right next to hers.
I laid Merry down in her crib gently and walked out of her room, careful not to wake her, and set off to search for my room and explore the house.
I found my room not long after and noticed my stuff was in the same place I'd put it. That kinda creeped me out.
I entered the room and looked around, admiring it. My room was large and bright, very like a modern house. There was a large bed pushed against a wall, covered with girlish covers. I'd have to change that later. My desk was expertly placed by the window, my computer already set up on it. There was a large wardrobe right across from my bed, and with further investigation, found out my clothes were already in there, folded neatly. My books were already in the book shelf conveniently close to my desk.
I smiled. Who'd done all this? I gazed around taking it all in. Right by the bed, there was a large window I could have easily jumped through. There was a seat right there, the closest it got to a balcony.
I headed toward the bed and sat on it and smiled once again. Suddenly, I saw a person--a boy--with waist-long black hair and wearing billowy white clothes sitting on the window seat, staring out the window. I stood and stumbled back, trying to convince myself it was my imagination--but the image of the boy just grew clearer and clearer.
The boy turned and gazed at me, his empty gray eyes windening with shock. He stood and started toward me, raising his hand, as if to touch me.
"Pallas?" he whispered, edging closer, his hand outstretched. "Is that you Pallas? Pallas?"
My hear beat raplidly as the boy edged closer. I was about to scream for help, but my voice caught in my throat as I realized I could suddenly see right through him.
I finally screamed and bolted out of the room, runnign at top speed down the stairs, crashing into Monsieur Moreau.
"Master Alexei, is everything alright?" he asked as he helped me up. "You look as though you've seen a ghost!"
"I did!" I cried, my heart beating at an unnatural pace. "There was a gh-ghost in my room!"
"Oh Master Alexei, there can't possibly be a ghost in your room," Monsieur Moreau laughed. "Your imagination must be working to hard."
When I returned to my room twenty minutes later after alerting my parents about the ghost and being laughed at, there was no mysterious ghost boy by the window.
Pallas...
