Red Aint The Colour Of Love.

CH 10🎀

Osvane turned a heavy key and let them into the mansion, Monven went inside last smiling to himself, and was caught doing so when Luvaric turned around to check if he was even following them inside. He humbly returned a meek quick smile and turned to look at the mansion's interior. Monvean jogged and came beside Luvaric, strands of pink blushed hair sticking to his forehead. Luvaric had been trying not to focus on Monvean yet now with the dim lights on, he could make out some of his features. A sweet pink colored hair, a pastel pink three-piece, probably tanned skin , fairly taller than him and a bit wider.

"Are you curious about something ?" Monvean asked Luvaric.

"Not really but if I were, I wonder why I have never heard of you especially if my father knew yours.", Luvaric asked looking at Monvean , he noticed this time, his curly hair cascading down to his shoulder. 

"I didn't know about it honestly, Osvane was the first person to mention that to me too." Monvean looked down at Luvaric, a small hint of a smile lingering on his lips, "We can't ask our fathers now, can we? After all they both are dead." 

Luvaric looked ahead again, an awkward silence stretching over the space between them. 'Come up with something!' , he told himself but the nonchalant mention of their dead parents had taken the power from him, to think. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked, hoping he would say yes and let him be free from this cumbersome awkwardness. He almost telepathically wanted Monvean to make a better choice in his words so that he wouldn't have to mark him in minus out of five on his first impression. 

"Well, of course," Monvean uttered, looking at him from the corner of his eyes. 

" I know I sound ridiculous but, why did you dye your hair pink? " he asked realizing he had run from the handcuffs only to jump inside a cage with no way out. 

"Oh! This?" he asked touching his hair and looking towards the ceiling, taking in a deep breath, "I had once killed a man, and in a hurry had rubbed my hand on my hair.", he looked down at Luvaric, "But I was so dumb, I had forgotten that I had bleached my hair only the day before. My hair was naturally black. No matter how many times I washed the blood still left its tint , as you can see." 

"How long will we keep walking , Osvane?" Luvaric asked louder than it was necessary. 

"Man I am right here , no need to scream." Osvane blurted out , recovering from the minute shock. 

"Did you, really buy it? " Monvean asked, smirking at Luvaric.

"Of course not!" , 'Please shut up' Luvaric had caught on to the fact, that Monvean was teasing him, enjoying every word, question, and expression he was making. He had been reduced to nothing but an object of ridicule. 'Minus hundred out of five'. 

"So here we are, look at the roof. The sunlight fills this hall during the daytime." Osvane intervaned the flammable air between them, stopping in the middle of the hall. The room was a spherical space, the walls peeling off, the pillars tall and cylindrical at the base, stretching out as it moved upward to hold onto glass sherds which once of conical shape. 

Luvaric wondered who had owned this house before Osvane, that guy would have received a five out of five for his exquisite taste. This house looked almost two centuries old. The railings rusted. The colors faded. The eerie vibe that it gave was intense it made Luvaric stand close to, Monvean and Osvane squeamishly. He noticed Monvean was scribbling down on his notepad, sometimes looking up and again down at his notepad. Osvane uttered while pointing in different directions. There were faded paintings on the wall. The stairs that led upstairs looked so fragile, almost as if it would completely come undone if someone stepped on the first step. 

"We won't go there today, I will leave it to Monvean to be taken care of !" Osvane stated, sneaking next to Luvaric."Follow me!" he said, as he made his way behind the stairs, on the right side, it was dimly lit. 

"You got lights here? Are you sure the second floor won't break down on us?" Luvaric asked concerned for his life and negligibly about the other two's. 

 "It might.", Osvane replied nonchalantly.

They entered a vast room, divided at the center by a small wooden plant, which held some old books. 

Entering a vast divided room he stopped, making Luvaric and Movean look at each other. The room was vast, with a workspace at one of its corners, divided only by a wooden plank. The left side had a table and chair, a study space, while the other side held a big bed with a bedside table and a closet right beside it. 

"This is the last owner's room! " Osvane said turning towards them.

"Oh okay!" Luvaric walked ahead towards the table , some papers were lying about , some books and the pen stand still holding onto some pens. A layer of dust covered everything yet it looked cleaner than a mansion that had not been inhabited in twenty years. 

"It is a rumor that this mansion was going to be converted into a hotel a few years back. The project would not have been able to draw any profit if they had proceeded with it. Who would visit Vilower and stay so far away from the city? Osvane uttered. 

"That's my question, why did you buy this, in this location? Present ? Who would you present this to? Who would even prefer to stay here?" Luvaric looked at Monvean for some support but he looked away. 

"You will know." Osvane waved him away. "Look what I had found!" Osvane uttered picking up a box from the floor right behind the table and placing it on it. Luvaric rather unwillingly and Monvean willingly flocked around the table. "You see, I found this the day before yesterday, I was in a dilemma these are not exactly government property but could be donated to the museum or for other educational purposes" , he paused looking at both of them in the dim golden light. "What do you say? Does any of the items spark your interest?" 

Luvaric's eyes went towards a bracelet, it glowed under the light. A sudden realization hit him, everything here was someone else's once. From the corner of his eyes, he felt Monvean move, his hands reaching toward the box. Before he could register, he had already snatched away the bracelet making Monvean stop and look at him for a while, a smile erupting on his face. "I saw it first, I wanted it first! " Luvaric said moving away from the table. He tried studying the bracelet, yet the light denied him of such an advantage, he could feel the engravings on it against his thumb. Looking back he saw Monvean handling a small knife in his palm reminding him of the prior conversation, Monvean might have some weird hobbies or he might just be a noir fan. 

"So Mr Floink, we will start the work in two days, if it's okay with you?" Monvean asked,  trying to balance the knife on his thumb.

"Yes, it's fine. Take your time but you do know it's a contract for one month, starting from today? " Osvane agreed, looking at the life-less chandelier, at the center of the ceiling. 

"I do, I will make sure to patch it up by then." Monvean guaranteed him. 

Osvane's leniency and flexibility was somewhat concerning Luvaric, any more questions and he knew he would be waved away again and he didn't desire any more embarrassment than he had already gained. 

"Then that's it I guess? Let's wrap it up and head to the room I prepared for us to stay." 

"Stay?" Luvaric cried out. 

"What? Do you expect me to drive when it is past midnight, through the storm?" Osvane replied rapidly. "I had made prior arrangements, had cleaners come in, and prepared rooms for Monvean and his teammates to stay. Luvaric dear, when will you again get to spend a stormy night at a ten-score-year-old mansion in ruins ?" 

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Author Note - Ten chapters down, more to go. Have a good day.