Romancek: A Hemlock Grove Fan Fiction

Roman

Chapter 2

'Tide out, tide in, a flood of blood,
To the heart and the fear slipstreams,
Breath in, exhale, I've poked a nerve,
He'll slap me like a whale'

"Wake up, my little prince", a voice as soft as velvet was invading my dreams. Dreams of a high tide, washing back and forth from the shore, but the tide was crimson and it stained the sand and the sea shells along the coast. What a pleasant dream.

"Little prince, you're several hours late for school", the voice came again.

Fucking bitch.

I opened my eyes slowly and turned to face Olivia.

"Stop calling me prince, Olivia. What am I prince of?", I asked, shaking off the last remnants of sleep.

"You're the prince of my heart, Roman. And of this town. One day you'll own it", my mother, Olivia, always assuming I would stay here in Hemlock Grove. Always assuming I would want to inherit Godfrey Institute, my fathers company, but where was he? He left me his name, I needed him, and all I have is a name.

"How late am I?", I asked my mother as I climbed from the four poster bed and headed towards my wardrobe.

"Three hours, four by the time you get there. Which should be by lunch. Don't worry, I called to tell them that you were studying with Dr. Pryce, again", my mother said, smiling.

Dr. Pryce was head of the medical team at Godfrey Institute, and my mother had everyone convinced that he was my own personal tutor. I couldn't stand the man.

"Skipping class is pointless if you get me off the hook every time, Olivia", I replied while pulling on slacks and tucking a sweater into them.

"Roman, please, stop calling me Olivia. I'm your mother", she said to me as she stood to leave.

"Sure, Liv. I'm going for a run after school, so have someone pick Shelley up", I said, not so much a question as a command.

"Try to make it to at least some of your classes today. And be careful running, little prince", and with that she left the room.

I packed my school bag with gym shorts and a hoodie, no need for books when you were 'the' Roman Godfrey. Then I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, there was only one message. The message was from Elise, asking if she would see me today. Elise was as twisted as I was, and although we weren't together, we did have a relationship, if sadistic sex counts as a relationship.

I glanced at the clock, 12:10pm, lunch would be starting in twenty minutes. I had an hour for lunch, then just two classes after that.

I shot a text back to Elise telling her to meet me in the back lot of the school during lunch. Then, headed out of my room and into the hallway.

Our home was big, too big for the three of us; mother, Shelley, and I. But Olivia lived a grandeur life, always dressed in fine dresses, always throwing large parties, always the best for her and most importantly, her children.

I passed by three empty rooms on opposing sides of the hallway, until I reached the spiral staircase leading down to the foyer. I ran down them and grabbed my keys, my fathers keys. He had left me a 1961 Jaguar XK150. It was beautiful, red and convertible. But still, it was just another part of the Godfrey name.

I headed toward the front door. My mother stood in the archway of the sitting room, the fireplace blazing behind her, even though summer was quickly approaching. She walked over to me and handed me a thermos of coffee, the heat seeping into my skin. Then she kissed my forehead.