Decadence

Absence of Malice

Nicholas' P.O.V

I had lived with the Alloyds for eight months now. In that time Damian had gone from being uncomfortable around me to just preferring to ignore or avoid me. If Damian told me that he didn't want to see me, I simply obeyed and went off somewhere.

After the first month though I soon realized that walking around the house was a bit scary, so I usually stayed in one place. Most of the Alloyds were bigger and stronger than me and because I'm only eleven they kind of look down on me.

I share a room with Damian, but the thought of it still makes me squirm since he dislikes me. I don't think either of us gets that much sleep. Ms. Lilia is the only one who is nice to me though in the house. Actually, she's the nicest person I ever met.

Still Ms. Lilia told me this morning to try to spend time with Damian because he might be in a good mood. I happened to bump into her in the hall where Damian's bedroom was.

I was really confused when she suddenly popped up and said this. She also asked me to watch Damian and make sure he was okay. I agreed of course, even if I wasn't exactly sure what she meant.

In the short time I had stayed here I found out that Damian's favorite place is the courtyard on the side of the estate. We sat there together once when I first came here in the winter when everything was frozen and dead.

It was spring now and although I rarely ventured to the courtyard, I knew that it must be a lot prettier now. I hurried to my destination, sure that Damian would be there playing. On the way I had to avoid bumping into people which was hard because this house was unusually crowded.

I had assumed at first that my old house was bigger, but it turns out that there are a lot less people in my family. That had to be the reason why it was so quiet at my house and so noisy here. I think I like the crowdedness better than the emptiness though. They didn't have a courtyard to begin with at my house anyway so it wasn't as pretty there either.

I reached the large, glass doors that led to the courtyard quickly. Using both hands, I grabbed the handles and slid the doors open with a heave. I stepped up and slid them back shut. Afterward I turned and gaped, awestruck.

All of the trees had their leaves back and the leaves were a bright, pinkish color. The bark was lighter than usual also. If I remembered correctly, they were called cherry blossom trees.

Damian had told me once that they weren't really supposed to grow here but his mom put a spell on them since she liked them so much. There were also red and yellow rose bushes, but they had thorns. Many other types of flowers were sprouting out of the ground too, but I didn't know what all of them were called.

Some were sunflowers, geraniums, pansies, and orchids to name the ones I did recognize. The pond farther in the courtyard had melted and now held clear blue water. It was surrounded by stones and I wondered if there were fish in it.

I stepped down from the porch and felt damp grass underneath my bare feet. I was still in my pajamas, which were a solid red long sleeve t-shirt and black shorts that reach my knees. It was slightly breezy and I was admittedly cold, but I wasn't concerned about that at the moment.

Instead I enjoyed myself by walking around and taking in the scenery. I did not see Damian at first and started to walk farther into the courtyard. I called his name several times, but there was no reply. I reached the small pond and stopped. Not able to find Damian so far, I leaned over to see if fish were indeed living in the pond. To my disappointment, there were none.