The Events at Crullo Manor (FIRST DRAFT)

Chapter 3

I'm sitting on my bed, trying to read a book, but I can't stop thinking about what the leader had said. I've been trying to figure out a good time to ask my father about the Fanged Shadows, but the time never feels right. I hear a light knock on my doorframe, pulling me out of my thoughts. I look to my left and see my father standing there, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"May I come in?" He asks, quietly. I nod and he walks in, slowly sitting on my bed with a sigh. "What's wrong echo?" 

"Nothing dad, I'm alright." I assure him with a slight smile. He doesn't look convinced, I sigh, then tell him, "I've been thinking about the Fanged Shadows." 

He takes a deep breath and clenches his jaw. "What have you been thinking about?" he mutters. He doesn't look happy but nonetheless I answer his question. 

"I was thinking about the leaders, do you know of any of them?" I ask. I didn't expect him to be upfront, but I'm surprised when he coldly tells me no. He gets up and tells me not to stress about them anymore before leaving. 

It's late at night when I'm walking past his office, and I hear whispering coming from behind the doors. I open one of them, peeking in and see Will standing at my father's desk. I walk in, quietly shutting the door behind me, I walk over to him and tap his shoulder. He freezes then slowly turns around. 

He lets out a breath, "You nearly gave me a heart attack." He huffs. 

"What are you doing in here?" I ask. I feel my heart pounding in my chest, when I look over his shoulder and see a box full of folders with files in them. "You're snooping, really!" I shout. 

"Shh, he's going to hear you." He whispers, putting a finger over his lips. "Also you can't fully blame me, you didn't want to look. I did, so I'm looking." He grumbles. 

I squint my eyes at him, "That doesn't give you the right to break in and go through our things." I argue. 

He rolls his eyes then opens a folder, "Yeah alright, but if I just sat back and waited on you, I would've never found this." He tilts it so I can see the file inside. When I look down I see a few names I don't recognize, then my dad's name labeled as 'The next in line to be the leader of the Fanged Shadows'. 

"What are you doing in here?" My fathers voice booms through the quiet office. We turn around, he looks at me, his eye is glowing, and I can see a faint glow from under his eye patch. He's squeezing his cane so hard I'm sure the bat isn't happy. I feel a little bad for it. "You know you're not allowed in here." he says to me, before looking at Will. 

He stalks toward him, then sees the file in Wills' hands. "Why are you rummaging through my things?" he growls. I see Wills' eyes widen, but he quickly recovers and puts on a smirk. He hands the folder over, then tells him, 

"We know you used to be the leader of the Fanged Shadows."

My father leans closer to Will and slams the folder down on the desk behind him. Will leans more into the desk to put some distance between them, reaching a hand behind himself to keep from losing his balance. His other hand comes up to toy with a ring on his necklace, as he smirks at my father.

Father took a glance down at the folder reading the title ‘Family History of F.S. Leaders’ "How much did you see?" He finally shouts, losing his cool. Will flinches, I step in to help him out. It's not fair he gets all the blame, when I had some part of us finding out. 

"We found out because we spied on them, not because of the file." I say, he looks at me, "They started to talk about you, we didn't go there to find out anything about you." I clarify before continuing, "It was completely unexpected, now the file confirmed what they said." 

He looks back at Will, "Why did you take her to them?" he asks. 

"She came to me." he mentions then adds, "Granted it was my idea to spy on them, but she's fine." he gestures toward me. 

"I don't care who came to who. You shouldn't have let her go." he argues, pointing at Will.  

"I'm an adult, capable of making my own decisions." I remind him. Will agrees and my father backs away from him with a sigh. Will also lets out a breath of relief. 

"You're completely right, but that was reckless of you." he says, sounding disappointed, "William, I think it would be best if you leave." he says, then turns, and leaves the office quickly. Will and I look at each other, as he waves his goodbye before climbing back out the window.