THE FAMILY
The mansion sat atop a large field of grass, the green cutting off at the edge of the mansion's back as it was then replaced with sand as it met the beach, upon which the waves softly crashed and churned. Someone was watching the process from the balcony of the mansion on the highest floor, the fourth floor, a glass of water in their hand as their eyes focused upon the continuous, sparkling water twist on itself to form small waves that gently lapped against the soft sand. She leant against the glass railing, the breeze gently moving her black hair, the natural red streaks entwined with the darker areas. Leila turned when she heard the sound of a gentle pitta patter behind her, and her eyes fell upon the large dog they owned. It was a great German Shepherd, it's body coat of fur a deep grey while it's head was the colour of the blackest night, his large brown eyes staring at Leila loyally.
Leila chuckled and knelt down, gently scratching the Shepherd behind the ear. Instantly, the dog hit the tiled floor of the balcony and rolled onto its back, exposing his belly playfully. Leila scratched, giggling a little as she did so. "Sometimes I wonder if you just disguised yourself as a guard dog just to get cuddles, Cookie," she whispered, and Cookie barked as though in agreement. Leila smiled, stood, and walked inside, Cookie following obediently behind her, his claws gently scratching against the floor. Leila quickly descended down the large spiral staircase to her left, straight past the third floor and reached the second floor. Or as they liked to call it, the Media Floor. Almost every room here had a TV or gaming console, so that all of them could have at least a gaming room to themselves. She stopped for a moment in the wide hallway.
She could hear voices from one of the closest rooms, excited and exhilarated. Two female voices entwined together as they shouted commands and exclaimed in surprise, and Leila neared the room, reaching forward to twist the door handle and open the door. On a large screen opposite of Leila was the game Star Wars Squadrons, split screened as two people were currently engrossed in the game, shouting into their mics and occasionally groaning in defeat. Sitting on a large therapy pod in the centre of the room were both Chloe and Nicola. Chloe's light brown hair flowed gently over her shoulders and down her back, her light brown eyes squinted in concentration as her fingers flew across her controller. Sitting next to her was Nicola. Nicola's hair was brown like Chloe's, although much darker, and her skin was paler, making her look ghost-white on the days her blood sugars dropped.
She too had a mic on, her eyes trained upon her slice of the screen as she dove her X-Wing across several enemy fighters, lighting up the darkness of space with laser fire and shrapnel. They hadn't noticed the door opening, and Leila, chuckling, decided not to disturb them. She quietly snapped the door shut, turned to the staircase and headed down to the first floor. Here, at this early in the morning, everything was alive. A pool table was nearby and leaning against it with a cue pressed against the inside of his palm with Darcy, slightly larger than the rest of them, his short blonde hair glancing in the lights above while he focused upon the white ball in front of him. Standing nearby with a cue in hand was Luke, watching Darcy's progression keenly and waiting for his chance to chip in, his red hair curled atop his head as usual.
Then, sitting on a white couch that was neatly pressed against a nearby wall were both Vivian and Vironica, both on their silver laptops, fingers flying across the screens. They both had long dark hair that flowed down to their waists as they typed hurriedly. Vivian wore rounded glass, her dark eyes focused upon the screen in front of her while Vironica had the same dark skin and dark eyes, although she did not have a need to wear glasses like her twin sister. Leila stepped through the main room quickly and walked towards another staircase at the other side, stopping in front of a large glass sliding door and looking down at the large and wide driveway that stretched on for another kilometre. Someone was riding up the driveway on a motorbike, the wind whipping their long dark brown hair behind them as they revved up the drive.
Leila grinned and hurried down the staircase to the first floor, Cookie still in a hot pursuit. She waited by the staircase that led down to the basement excitedly, knowing exactly who was coming home. Cookie leapt at her leg excitedly, and Leila quickly stooped to give him a scratch behind the ears, which Cookie wagged his tail at and asked for more. The door beneath shut loudly, and footsteps mounted the staircase beneath. Leila waited anxiously, and then the dark head of hair appeared at the bottom of the steps before quickly ascending to a step below Leila. It was Rachael. Her hair was long, flowing down to her hips, and a dirty blonde, save for the several streaks of pure blonde in her hair. She was pale today, her brown eyes seeming more illuminated than usual. "Hey," Rachael said, smiling, and Leila smiled back, "Hey."
Rachael looked down to Cookie and then sighed, crouching to give his belly a quick rub. Then, Rachael rose, and Leila embraced her in quick, tight hug, which Rachael returned gladly. "How was the West End?" asked Leila as Rachael slid the black leather jacket from her body. "Busy as usual," she replied smoothly, a small smile upon her face as she spoke. "I mean, you are the main star of most your shows," Leila said, and Rachael shrugged, as though it were not an important detail. Leila sighed, but before the two could exchange more words, a roar of apparent fury arose from upstairs. Then, quiet. Rachael raised her eyebrows as she stared up at the ceiling, and then a scream came. "I WILL HAVE BLOOD!" Rachael and Leila turned to one another, panic on their face, and they sprinted to the stairs. It took them three minutes to sprint from the first floor to the third floor, where the yelling was coming from.
They both skidded to a halt outside the door where an apparent battle was taking place. Shouting and bangs were coming from inside, and then the door sprang open. In the doorway stood Chloe, eyes wide and pale skin somehow paler than usual, an enraged expression upon her face as her eyes flicked between Leila and Rachael. "BLOOD!" she screamed as though it were a command. Something spun through the air behind her, a glass of water, and smashed onto the back of Chloe's head. Instantly, the furious expression disappeared from her face, and she smiled. "Hey, what's up?" she asked as Nicola appeared behind her, panting. "I beat her…" she murmured, and Rachael groaned. "We've talked about this. You know what happens when you beat her!" she muttered as Chloe grinned at them. Leila just shook her head. "How the fuck did she not die?" she whispered.
Chloe didn't seem to hear as she turned to Nicola and said, "Another game?" Nicola groaned, and Leila, giggling, turned to Nicola. "You can deal with her," she said, and Nicola nodded, a pained expression upon her face as she turned to Chloe, the door snapping shut behind her. Leila shrugged and turned to Rachael, who seemed to be struggling to contain her laughter. "Well…now we have to clean up the glass before someone steps on it," Leila murmured as she carefully avoiding the almost invisible sharp spikes littered across the floor like a minefield. Rachael nodded and hurried off to grab a dustpan and brush while Leila carefully treaded around the broken glass and to stand around the staircase that led back to the fourth floor. She didn't hear the footsteps from behind a pair of hands suddenly grabbed her shoulders. Leila shrieked and leapt away, nearly stepping upon the several glass shards.
She spun and found Jacob standing on the steps behind her, his messy brown hair curled atop his head like Luke's and his blue eyes staring at her quizzically. "What happened?" he asked, sounding as though he was trying not to giggle after scaring the life out of her. "Chloe went insane after losing…again…and to calm her down Nicola smashed a glass over her head," Leila explained, and Jacob groaned. "I thought we told Nicola to not beat her every time!" Leila nodded and chuckled, turning when she heard Rachael hurrying back to sweep up the glass. She paused as she stared at Jacob, and Jacob grinned at her. "Glad to see you made it back safely," he said, and Rachael nodded, grinning back at him. "Couple people on the road recognised me I think. They started tailing me. I mean, no one manages to tail me for long…although you might not want to check the news."
Someone groaned loudly downstairs, followed by a screech of, "RACHAEL!" Rachael groaned and ran a hand through her hair, looking tired as she glanced toward the staircase. "Like someone just did," she muttered darkly, ignoring the glass as she rushed to the staircase and downstairs, Leila in hot pursuit. "I'll go grab Sienna!" Jacob shouted after them as they disappeared down the steps. It took them a couple seconds to reach the second floor, where they found Mikayla standing in front of a large, wide TV screen of the news. The others had gathered around her, even Nicola and Chloe, who must have snuck down when Leila was talking to Jacob. They were all staring at the news, looks of horror and amazement on their faces as they observed a figure on a black motorbike speeding down the motorway, pursued by two police cars.
"When you said people recognised you…" Leila whispered, and Rachael groaned, "At least they don't know it was me. I had a helmet on during that, but I dumped it before I got here." They kept watching for a few more moments before Darcy reached and turned off the TV, a look of annoyance upon his face. "I thought we told you to stay out of trouble," he grumbled, and Rachael nodded, a look of annoyance upon her own face. "I didn't want to end up on the nine o'clock special," she moaned, and footsteps came from behind, making the Family turn. Jacob entered the room, looking around as though to discover what had them all worried. Behind him entered another girl. She was skinny, her dark brown hair falling down to her upper back, slightly frizzled. It often reminded Jacob of waves, crashing along the beaches of her flawless skin whenever he saw her.
"What happened?" Jacob asked, looking around at the Family, and Rachael was the one who answered him. "I managed to get onto the news." He raised his eyebrows in surprise, wondering why it was such a big deal considering she was always on the news, and then Luke interrupted. "Yeah, by news she means being chased by police officers." Rachael winced and shot Luke a glare while Jacob sighed. "I'm either very surprised, or not surprised at all. Still deciding," he murmured, and a few of the others laughed uncertainly. "How's the book coming along?" asked Darcy as he stared at Jacob, and Jacob grinned, although his smile seemed to have an effect of freaking people out. It sent a shiver around the group, but as usual, he did not take notice. "Pretty good. The Study is a mess, though. I wouldn't go in anytime soon," Jacob replied.
Sienna nodded beside him, and then a knock came from nearby. It was the front door. "I got it," Leila offered before anyone else could, and she bustled off toward the front door. She reached for the door, quickly turned the keys that were already in the lock, and opened it, revealing a teenage boy with short brown hair and green eyes, a small smile upon his face. "Danny! It's so good to see you!" Leila exclaimed, quickly hugging the older boy, who chuckled and hugged her back. "Hey guys," he said after releasing Leila, nodding at the Family with a small smile upon his face. "What brings you around here?" asked Rachael as she eyes Danny, and Danny chuckled again before stepping over the threshold. "There was a party happening tonight. Mainly for my sister, but I needed a group of friends to talk to," Danny said as a way of explanation.
"What kind of party?" asked Darcy interestedly, his blue eyes gazing at Danny intently. "Just a birthday party. Nothing different from a regular party. I was thinking of it being at the usual place we gather sometimes. Trinity it's called I think. You know I'm no good with names," Danny said, and Vivian nodded for the rest of them. "That would be nice, Danny. What time is it happening?" she asked gently, and Danny seemed to struggle to remember for a few moments before his eyes widened with memory. "Seven till around eleven!" he declared, and Jacob nodded, stepping forward to quickly shake Danny's hand. "Go home and get reservations sorted. We'll be there, I promise," Jacob said warmly, and Danny nodded, grinning before hurriedly stepping out again and shutting the door behind him. The second the door snapped shut, Jacob groaned. "I'm no good at parties," he muttered darkly.
"Babe, you'll be fine," Sienna said soothingly as she gently cupped Jacob's hands in her own, a soft smile upon her face. Jacob returned her warm smile with one of his own as Darcy cleared his throat. "I guess we should start getting ready. It's already eleven. We have a few hours to dick around, then we need to prepare for the party."