Time

Brew Manor

   Much like everyone else in Gotham, Damian Wayne was aware of Brew Manor.

   The massive house was the only home on Gotham Island that rivaled  the original Wayne Manor in size, age, and elegance.

   It was perched atop a large hill, not unlike Wayne Manor, overlooking its extensive property. Its dark nature and eerie atmosphere, coupled with the lengthy vacancy period and whimsical rumors, made for breeding grounds of ghost stories and legends.

   Many of the youth in Gotham traded stories of vampires, ghosts, and murders like baseball cards.

   The family owning the property was also a somewhat common topic among the residences. The Brews had been alongside the Waynes and other founding families when Gotham City first arose. And after a single generation, they left suddenly one night. To this day, the descendants still owned the property, and no-one was allowed inside.

   They were just as elusive and mysterious as the house itself.

   So Damian liked to think he had a right to be surprised and confused when, on the way to school one early September morning, he noticed a stretch limousine pulling down the road that lead out of town and to the grounds.

   His adoptive older brother, Tim, realized his confusion and followed his gaze as they passed. This lead to his own confusion. "Bruce?"

   The older man sitting on the other side of the back cab looked up from the screen on his phone with a questioning, arched brow.

   "Is someone moving into Brew Manor?" They eldest of the two boys pointed to the road, where the red taillights of the limo were glowing in the morning light.

   The older man nodded. "I've heard the Brews are moving in again. I believe they have two kids, too. Should be going to Gotham Academy."

   Damian's brows furrowed. Wonderful, he thought, more entitled, ignorant children.

   The next day, he was once again surprised when the loud chatter filling the hallway was reduced to quiet whispers. Confused, he turned away from his locker and toward the front doors, to see what could possibly silence such a crowd.

   Three people stood at the doors. Two looked to be identical twin boys, likely around the age of sixteen. One was holding one glass door open for his brother and their younger sister. The girl looked to be around Damian's age, fourteen, with her nose buried in a book.

   They all had the same shining mahogany hair color. The boys shared the same bright blue hue, but the girl's eyes were shaded a boring-looking brown. Both boys were fairly muscular, from what Damian could tell, while their sister seemed more fragile. Her fingers looked thin and long against the hard black back of her book.

   The hall fell completely silent as they passed, bringing with them a foreign air. Damian made note as they passed, that they smelled of peppermint and sage. There were whispers of them being the Brews' children.

   Damian watched the girl snap her book shut as they turned the corner, headed for the main office. His eyebrows furrowed at the way she ignored the stares and the echoing sound in the hall.

   An odd feeling washed over him. It was somewhere between tense and calm; between too quiet and too loud, but not perfect. Like a haze that settled over him, but didn't prevent anything. Just something he was aware of and wanted to change.

   One of the other boys he'd chosen to associate himself with leaned over from his own locker. "I heard they're all witches. The kind that sacrifice animals."

   Damian scoffed at the boy's stupidity. "Witches don't exist, fool." He was lying through his teeth. He'd seen magic. Maybe not from a witch, but from something close enough to be called one.

   The boy shrugged. "I know, but you've gotta admit," he paused and lowered his voice, "that whole family's strange."

   Damian stuffed his Latin textbook into his messenger bag. "They haven't been here long enough to decide that, Haring."

   Malcolm shrugged again, leaning against the lockers as he eyed one of the cheerleaders across the hall. "My mom says they're as rich as you." The blond grinned flirtatiously at him. "Maybe she'll be as rude as you, too."

   "She?" Damian shut his locker.

   "Yeah. The girl. She's supposed to be in a few of our classes." Malcolm's mother was on the school board, which meant he was a good source of information. "Second period, I think."

   Damian's eyes narrowed at that. There was something wrong with this girl. Damian needed to figure out was it was, or it might just drive him crazy.

   By the time second period rolled around, the odd feeling still hadn't left him and his curiosity was peaking. He sat himself down at one of the joint desks, Malcolm taking the place next to him a few minutes later. His eyes were trained on the door, watching the unimportant faces pass one by one. Only a few minutes before class was to begin, a head of long mahogany hair came around the corner of the doorway.

   He watched her wander in, brown eyes still focused on the pages of the book she held. Without looking up once, she took a seat near the back row. No-one joined her.

   The moment the teacher saw her, his eyes lit up. This was one of Damian's most hated classes, mainly because of the teacher. He was loud and over-exuberant. 

   "Miss Brew!" he chirped, clapping his hands together with a wide grin spread across his face.

   The girl looked up at him, first through her eyelashes, then fully turning her attention to him. Instead of giving a bored expression, or even a smile, her face remained emotionless. "Yes, Sir?" The first personal thing Damian could put down on paper was her British accent.

   His smile drooped just a little at the edges, while Damian's twitched. He had only ever been the one not to return the man's enthusiasm. "I see you've joined us at last!"

   Voice void of emotion, she replied, "Only temporarily. My parents are heavily considering homeschooling, so I presume my brothers and I will be pulled out of this academy after winter break."

   Mr. Kart's smile dropped completely, obviously put out by her dim words. "I see. Well, we'll be sure to make your time here memorable, then."

   Damian could have sworn he saw her scoff and mutter something, but the movement of her lips was gone before he could be sure.

   The lesson was long and boring. It wasn't anything Damian didn't already know, and it would appear the Brew girl had the same opinion. She kept her eyes down, to the pages of her book the entire time. The only time she stopped was to perfectly answer the question Mr. Kart had smartly thrown at her, assuming her to be clueless when she answered.

   Damian didn't see her again until Lunch. She and her brothers entered, received their respective trays, then found a seat at the very back of the room.

   He debated with himself silently, struggling to determine the best plan of action. So far, none of the Brew children seemed keen on talking, not even to each other, so that was off the table. Asking around would likely yield nothing but rumors and muffled nonsense. He best bet would be to observe from afar until a new opportunity arose.

   This was a puzzle with a scavenger hunt to find the pieces, and Damian was determined to put the pieces into place.

[This is the only Author's Note I will have in this book, I promise. This is the first chapter, acting currently as a bit of a teaser for what's to come. As soon as I complete the book, I will begin releasing the (much longer, I promise) chapters once a week. I will post an update schedule on my profile, or in the book's information.

   - M. W. Solstice]