Fire And Ice

33. Morgan Estate

“Here we are,” Victor said. He pointed out the passenger side window. “Over there.”

I sat up and ducked my head to stare out the window. There was a high stone and iron wall around a corner lot, with trees just inside. Between the bars, I could see a large grass yard.

There was a gazebo and fancy square-cut bushes and manicured walking paths. I couldn’t see a house.

"Where's the house?" I asked looking around.

He pointed out the front window. “There’s the house.”

Even with him pointing, I was leaning far over him to try to get a view of the whole house. I caught a glimpse of the top two floors over the wall and through the trees.

Victor made another turn, bringing us to a wrought-iron gate, exposing the grandeur of the front of the house.

  The house was ... huge.

Yellow siding was layered between white carved trim. Two curving staircases lead up to a broad front porch. There were second and third floor balconies above. What struck me most was the enormity of it. Compared to a few of the other neighbors, this one appeared to be double the size.

Victor drove past the front of the house, around the corner. Further down, there was a break in the wall. Victor pressed a button on his car, and the gate opened up.

He pulled into the drive. There was a second house behind the first one, and it was about as big as my house, with two stories, and a chimney. Two other buildings sat on either side, one looked like a huge garage, the other one almost looked like a smaller house.

"I'm lost. Can someone tell me which building is which." I said frowning. How many house do they need for just 3 people?

Victor chuckled. He pointed at the two story house. “That’s a kitchen house.” He pointed to the smaller house. “That’s a carriage house and the other building is the garage.”

I slid back into the middle seat, turning to him in shock and awe. “You have a carriage?”

They all started laughing.

 “No, sweetie,” Victor said. “It might’ve held a few carriages a long time ago. These days they usually renovate them into living quarters.”

 "Oh. Okay?" I said.

He stopped the car in the driveway and got out and opened the door for me. I smiled at him in thanks as I got out, slinging my book bag over my shoulder.

We all got out and heading down a pathway that wound around a manicured fern garden on the way to the main house.

My eyes darted between the bushes, the tall old oak trees, the back door to the large house, and the wall that blocked us in from the rest of the neighborhood. The gate had swung back into place. What would happen when the others arrived? Did they have a way in?

Up the steps, through a rear door, and down a dark, short hallway, Victor led the way to a back staircase. He moved quickly and I barely got a glimpse of wood floors, gaudy gold-framed portraits, and side tables clustered with pottery.

The ceilings were intricately carved. There were palm leaves down the middle, and the trim along the corners depicted scenes of fields, dogs running, and of forests and oceans. Some were of old houses and streets similar to the ones we drove on downtown.

My mouth was hanging open, the whole time. Three floors up, Victor stopped short after the stairs. He turned, catching my hand, tugging me along.

Down a hallway to the left, there were matching doors on the left and right side. Victor passed these and headed to the end where the hallway opened up to a room.

The area reminded me of something like a living or entertainment room. There were several wide windows that overlooked the large grass yard. A beige rug covered much of the dark wood floor. A white couch sat against the far wall, wider than I’d ever seen a couch before.

There was a round, dark wood dining table to the right, with seven chairs surrounding it, with two more chairs under the window by the wall.

Next to the table, against the wall was a small kitchenette, with a mini fridge built into the cabinet, a small sink, and an overhanging wrought-iron rack holding glasses, mugs, and dishes.

  To the left was a collection of leather armchairs surrounding an entertainment center cabinet.

  The room smelled familiar to me. There was Victor’s berry and moss, which I expected. There were the lingering aromas of spice, vanilla, and cypress, and other scents that I knew. There was also the headiness of old furniture, leather and cleaners I wasn’t used to, settling on top of it.

I looked around the room, everything looked perfectly clean and.

  “The Historical Society wants to keep this home in the Stone Age,” Victor said catching me looking at all the things in his room which looked way older than anyone I have met.

“I can hardly move a chair or replace the sheets without permission of the committee. I’m probably lucky to get running water up here.”

Nathan and Luke sat on the white couch, dropping their bags on the floor. "Yeah, it's better up here. Downstairs you can’t touch anything."

The entertainment cabinet on the other side of the room was closed up. There were four leather armchairs surrounding it. “What are the other rooms?”

“One’s just an office. The other’s my bedroom.” Victor’s fire eyes started to spark. “Do you want to see it?”

I frowned why would he want me to see his bedroom? "Uh.. okay?" I replied, placing my bag next to where the guy had dropped theirs.

Before Victor could answer, Luke got up, eyes hopeful as he said, "How about we eat chocolate chip pancakes first?"

"Sure, I'll tell Muriel to make some. Do y-" Victor stopped mid sentence and pulled out his phone. "Actually can do that?" He asked to Luke.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked as him and Nathan stood up from the couch, shoulders stiff.

"Nothing, I got a lead on the guy we're tracking." He said, then glanced at me. The others relaxed slightly at that.

"Wanna help, Princess?" Victor asked holding his hand out. " You can see what's behind the first door."

"Are you sure? Isn't there academy stuff in there?" Nathan asked.

"She is academy and its upto her whether or not she wants to come." Victor said shrugging slightly as he still held his hands open for me.

Instinctly I took his hands, and let him pull me to the hallway. The fire in Victor's eyes blazing to an inferno as we walked to the twin door which he had said it was a office space.

They are trusting me and I shouldn't pry or poke around. I repeated to myself in my head as I walked into the room.