AN OFFER SHE CAN'T REFUSE

The Lower Level

I went straight to work after the Quads took off.

Valerie and David made sure to make me feel quite welcome—Valerie gushing over me like I was her very own daughter.

"We'll be around if you need us," Valerie announced as they left me to work.

"Thank you so much and thank you for allowing me into your home," I gushed.

David smiled, "You are going to do wonders here, Sabrina."

I took off, Maggie allowing me to get to work with the first list and then the second. I didn't see much of anyone, save for a few chefs or butlers who didn't live at the estate. I made my way through the corridors and rooms like I already knew the place. I was a quick learner, but this was ridiculous.

"How old is this house?" I asked Maggie when we ran into each other during a quick laundry room session, "I know it's modernized, but it feels like it has an old soul."

Maggie beamed like I'd said something award-winning and inspiring.

"Oh, Miss Sabrina! This home has been here since the late 1700′s, I think 1782."

"Holy cow! Has it always been in the Calhoun family?"

"Yes, it has," She smiled, "You really are intuitive."

I didn't really feel that intuitive. I was hearing voices and fainting. Rayanne checked on me quite a bit. I asked her if she had gone to the same college as Quinn was attending and if she worked at the same hospital, but she as eerily vague.

"I am sorry if I'm nosey," I lowered my gaze, "I have never really had too many people to chat with."

"Oh honey, it's fine," Rayanne said, "I am a holistic doctor, but I did practice and yes, I do have a degree from Aurora, actually."

"That's nice. I thought about going back to Aurora to go to school, but I am not sure."

"Guess you have some time?"

"I think so," I nodded, "Mr. Calhoun has been very generous with his offer."

"He's a good man," Rayanne said, "You still feeling OK? I can give you a care package that I think you'll enjoy!"

"Oh, please do! That lavendar tea knocked me right out."

When she was gone, I tended to the chore list—getting a couple of silly messages from the Quads throughout the day.

It felt strange, tho, and it felt nice. I shouldn't have been helplessly attracted to them in such a way that I wanted to spend every second of my life with them. I hated that they were gone and my heart sank when they said goodbye that morning.

I was wandering mindlessly throughout the house, texting them on my afternoon break—texting Tina who was sending me silly memes all day to keep my spirits up.

I went down another staircase and found myself in the basement.

"Well, this isn't on the list, but I can take a peek."

Stepping through the door, I looked inside to nothingness. It was dark and damp with a few boxes strewn here and there so I walked around for a few minutes, scrolling social media. What a joke. I shouldn't have even had social media when I had no friends to be social with.

I leaned against the wall and rested my head. I was just about to walk out of the room when a light caught my eye.

Turning to face it, I noticed a small stone jutting out of the wall near the far corner of the basement.

"I wonder..." I shoved my phone in my pocket and crept over, tapping the stone and then pushing on it, "Silly, Sabrina..it's not a hidden..."

"AHH!" I found myself fumbling through the hole in the wall, the small- hidden in plain sight- stone door pushed itself out of the way and I went falling into another room, a room full of items.