Lazarus

20

The gates to Azgar were black with no signs of rust on them. It was late in the evening when we arrived. I had been asleep for most of the ride.

In the darkness, I could make out the outline of four large buildings through the gate. On top, they all held different colored flags: red, green, blue, and purple.

Franklin got out of the car and pushed open the gate it made a horrible screeching sound that made me want to curl in a ball.

He got back in the car and drove straight into the town nobody was there to greet us thankfully. We drove straight for a few minutes until we made it to the castle with a red flag attached to it. Franklin parked in front of it. Lazarus opened the car door and led me to the front step.

"This was my old home," he explained.

"Before you moved to Italy?" I questioned.

He smiled before letting out a chuckle, "you talk to Stella a lot don't you?"

"I guess," I shrugged.

"To answer your question, yes it was before I moved to Italy and before I met you on the outskirts of Lucan," he smiled. He pressed his hand against the large door that looked identical to the ones at home and pushed it open. The inside was covered in a thick layer of dust. "I kicked everyone out before I left, I'm surprised it isn't filthier," he stepped inside. It was dark until he flipped a switch. A chandelier on the ceiling lit up and filled the foyer with warm light.

We didn't wait for the others, we just made our way up the stairs. I didn't even want to touch the railing because of all the dust and cobwebs. To make it to the bedroom, we had to walk up three flights of dust and cobweb-covered stairs. The hallway that led to his bedroom was filled with rooms that were probably meant for: important guests, servants, and close family.

His bedroom was at the very end of the hall with a burgundy coloured door, when Lazarus opened it he flipped another switch which filled the room with light. The bedroom looked like a red version of our bedroom back home except the fact it was covered in a thick layer of dust and cobwebs.

"Home sweet home," he mumbled before he walked towards the bed, he hung off one of the posts before he turned to me, "I think this room needs a cleaning what do you think?" he smiled.

"Are you going to help, or are you going to watch me?" I tried to sound playful, but it came out snarky.

"I'll help my little bride," he laughed. He stood straight before he walked past me and out of the bedroom door. I was left by myself once again. At first, I thought I hurt his feelings, but then he returned with a bucket of water and some washcloths. "Let's go," he smiled. We started by removing the bedding off the bed and beat all the dust off it before Lazarus took it to get washed. While he took it to get washed, I started on dusting. By the time I got done dusting the bedposts and the fireplace, the water from the bucket looked like it came from a swamp.

We spent most of the first night in the castle cleaning out our bedroom and Stella's, which she shared with Franklin. It was almost morning when Lazarus and I decided to crawl into bed covered in freshly cleaned cotton sheets. They felt so much better than the silk sheets we had at home, I contemplated taking the ones off the bed to take home. I drifted off to sleep pretty quickly after my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I was ushered out of bed to go sightseeing. I was not pleased, but I also wanted to know where Lazarus and Stella lived most of their lives. I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt with a sweater under my winter coat. Franklin was waiting at the car with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing a long coat with dress pants and shoes. On his hands, he wore leather gloves that showed a little bit out of his pockets.