The Family Accepts New Guests

When we came home from our semi-successful mission, the first thing that mom asked me to do is to have dinner. Luckily, her two super-servants seem to know every necessary element in the world, so they both happily complied with the family matriarch's request and quickly headed to the kitchen. While we were waiting in the living room, watching TV as the food got cooked, we could hear Susan still punishing her son for doing God-knows-what this time. Oh well. The kid is a growing boy, and he needs proper guidance from a loving mother. He'll be just fine. We asked Mike if he wanted to join us for dinner as he shook violently in the corner of the room. Unsurprisingly, Mike refuses our generous offer, for he said that, and I quote, "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR STUPID FAMILY!" end quote." Harsh, I know, but it's his loss too. Christopher and Alejandro make the second-best dinner meals in the whole wide world; of course, the person who owns the first prize is my wonderful mother—no contest in that. I think he only said those words because he knows that his contract with mom ends today. She doesn't seem all that bothered by it, though, so we just watched TV peacefully as he cried like a cold hairless cat at the corner, hissing at anyone who would even look at him.

Thus, Mike went to rest in the guest room prepared for him after taking about three hours in the shower. Meanwhile, Alejandro prepares the dining table while Christopher escorted Susan and her ugly little son towards the dining table. When we went there, the twins were already seated on the long, rectangular, wooden table decorated with beautiful white silk on top. Placed over the silk covers of the table are many of my favorite dishes that my mother herself requested the servants to cook. My mouth watered as I saw plates beautifully decorated with a steaming medium-rare steak. I squealed with a swiftly beating heart when I saw a huge bowl filled with an abundant amount of fruit salad. I sat right away on my place at the dining table when I saw three glass pitchers filled with different juices—orange, pineapple, and apple, respectively—that I loved most in the world. I allowed the aroma of the fragrant soup made from an original family-made broth that my mother had created in her youth to embrace my nose gently. I sighed lovingly with my hands clasped tightly as I looked at a massive serving of steamed broccoli beside my steak. Lastly, I sliced on my favorite smoked salmon placed on top of a homemade burger with a sweet and sour onion sauce before chewing them softly, allowing it to melt in my mouth.

Bliss—this is what it feels like to be at home. My mom then chuckled as he rested on the dining table. My sister Susan then sat in front of me beside her son. The twins were already seated on my right side. Meanwhile, the servants just stood on each side of my mother while we ate our food quietly. My mother showed a proud nod while looking at me as I squirm in excitement every time I chew my meal.

Meanwhile, Susan alternated on eating her meal and feeding her son while the twins just kept on consuming whatever they can put on their mouths without a hint of stopping. The dining table remained quiet until Kyle dropped something metallic on the floor; when I looked down, I saw that it was the boy's fork. Susan grunted an annoyed sigh as she grabbed her son's jaw tightly.

"Why won't you eat your broccolis again?" She asked with a fuming pair of reddened eyes.

"I don't like the taste, mommy..." Kyle said with tearful eyes as it diverted its eyes away from its mommy's shaking pupils.

"Ugh!" I scoffed, stopping myself from devouring the soft steak while looking at Susan's thing. "What a stupid thing to say!" I uttered as I sent daggers towards the boy with my sharp gaze.

"I'm sorry, everybody. I will properly scold him later." Susan said as she smiled while waving her hands around her chest.

"You better!" Mom said while taking a sip of the soup with a disappointed glare.

 Alejandro then quietly moved between Kyle and Susan to pick up the fork on the floor with his usual poker face. However, as he bent down to take it, Susan swiftly grabbed his muscular hands with gritting teeth.

"No! Let the boy do it!" Susan said with a raised voice, making me see just how hard she's trying not to scream out loud.

The dumbfounded servant simply nodded as he raised his upper body. Seeing this, Susan released her grip on the servant's arms before looking at the boy again that was ignoring her while slowly chewing its food. Since Alejandro's sleeves were pulled up to his elbow, Susan managed to leave a red arm print on his tanned skin.

When Alejandro finally left their side, Susan spoke, "Take your fork on the floor."

The kid decided to continue ignoring its mommy as it kept on eating its meal like nothing was happening. Seeing this, Susan chuckled with a pair of eyes that were ready to pop out at any moment before brushing her long brown hair upward, revealing her broad forehead.

"Christopher, take my son to the dungeon," Susan said while chuckling before drinking the apple juice in her glass.

"I beg your pardon?" Christopher asked as his already paled skin turned even paler.

"Wha—?" Kyle finally looked up at his mother with a pair of worried eyes as his hands started to tremble.

"Oh boy," I said as I observed this little drama before me with broccoli in my mouth.

"I said," Susan uttered with a voice that sounded like a bomb, ready to detonate, "Take my son to the dungeon—take him as deep as it can!"

"Take him to the hound room." My mom said while gently placing her hands on Susan's arms.

Susan then snapped her fingers before pointing at Christopher again. "Yes. Take the boy to the hound room."

Christopher then pulled his long hair back as he slowly walked towards Kyle. This amount of stress must have been why all of Alejandro's hair had all become gray now. Christopher then wordlessly carried Kyle upward by placing his arms on his armpits.

"NO! NO MAMA! MOMMY, NO, NO, NO, MOM, MAMA! I'M SORRY MOMMY! I'LL EAT MY BROCCOLI, MOMMY, PLEASE NO!" The boy screamed, kicking all over the air as Christopher carried him downstairs. Meanwhile, Susan just proceeded to eat, not even looking at her screaming son, wordlessly eating her stress away.

"Can you believe that thing?" I said as I started laughing away while imagining the boy's agonizing wails. "noooo mommmyyy! I is soorryyy!" I laughed even further while mocking the way the boy sounded as he was forcefully dragged away into the cobblestone rooms downstairs.

"Careful now, Anatoly!" Susan grunted as she pointed her spoon at me. "That's still my son!"

"Ironic of you to say that after taking it to a place that's literally called DUNGEON!" I said as I leaned my body towards her with a nod. "Ever thought of that when you ordered the servant to put it to the DUNGEON!?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, Anatoly, are you still calling my son an 'it'!?" Susan said with a violent scowl after mashing her hands on the dining table, making the plates shake. In doing so, her spoon fell onto the ground along with three other forks, one is mine, and the others are from the twins.

"How many times do I have to tell you, never to use the Lord God's name in vain?"

"And how many times do I have to fucking tell you," She then stood up, slammed the table again, and screamed with all her might as she roared right into my face. "NEVER TO CALL MY SON AN 'IT'!"

I then

Susan was about to lose herself again to the madness creeping within her soul when we heard the doorbell ring twice.

"I'll get it," Alejandro whispered with a bow as he stepped towards the lounge.

"No need." My mother said as she stood up while wiping her mouth with a white cloth on her lap. "Why don't you be a dear, Alejandro, and take Mike downstairs instead? I think his escort is finally here." She then looked at me with a relaxed smile. "Come with me, my son." As she said so, I stood up right away and stood beside her as she placed her hand on Susan's shoulder. "As for you, my daughter." Mom then nodded with a stern expression. "You did the right thing. Stay here for now and calm yourself, will ya?"

Susan then heaved a sigh as he sat back to her chair again. "Yes, mom."

Mom then nodded with a smile as she walked towards the main entrance of the mansion with her hands wrapped around my arms. Meanwhile, Susan continued eating peacefully with the twins who were still chowing their meals without an end in sight.

Mom then opened the door and what greeted us are two men, both of them are unfamiliar to me. One of them was wearing a posh-looking navy-blue tuxedo and slacks while the other is wearing all-black—no designs, just black tee and black jeans.

"Good afternoon, Lady Antonova." The bright-looking man wearing a tuxedo said as she shook mom's hands.

"It has been a while, ma'am." The pale and thin man wearing all-black said with a genuinely happy smile.

"My, what a treat this is I am seeing before me!" Mom said playfully with her hands on her bosom. "Timmy and Jimmy!" Mom then looked at the man wearing all-black. "Lucas' little fucktoy," She then diverted her gaze to the man wearing a tuxedo. "and Veronica's foot freak." She then

The man who apparently is named Jimmy, the one wearing the tuxedo, just looked at mom with an uncomfortable gaze while clearing his throat. Meanwhile, the man named Timmy, the one wearing all-black, merely chuckled upon hearing what she said.

"This must be your son that we heard so much about!" Timmy said as he extended his arms towards me. "Hi, I'm Timothy Philips, but everyone calls me Timmy around here."

When I was about to shake his hand, mom pushed Timmy's hand away with a sarcastic smile. "That's off-limits, dear."

"Oh, but I won't do anything bad to him!" Timmy said with a sunken expression as he pulled his arms away from me.

"I know, but I don't care." Mom then looked at Jimmy with a sigh before clicking her tongue. "Just get to the point, will ya?"

"Well, as you may have already known, we're here to take the product," Jimmy said as he fixes the collar of his tuxedo. I could see from his sweat that what he's wearing must be making him so uncomfortable.

"My servant is already taking it from upstairs," Mom's eyes then narrowed as she tightened her grip around my arms. "but I'm sure you want something else. After all, your owners will not send their most trusted confidants here unless you come to do something important." Her eyes then fell down as she finally noticed the four large body bags on the floor. I had also just realized that they had something with them. I was too engrossed in meeting these new business partners of ours.

"Well," Jimmy continued as he cleared his throat. "Mother heard about your unsuccessful mission earlier."

"Unsuccessful?" Mom then laughed lightly as her grip around my arms tightened even further. "If you're just here to insult my obviously perfected methods, then I would like to ask you two to leave instead."

"No, err..." Timmy chimed in as he placed both his hands around my mom's other hand. "What my partner here is trying to say is that uhm... Veronica wishes to ask more favors from the kindness of your heart because, as we all know, uhm..." He stuttered as he started to feel the animosity coming, not just from my mom, but from me as well. "Since the agreed upon the contract you and Veronica signed together last week is not met based on our expectations, we were sent here to, uh... fulfill that through something that you will find..." He paused as he tried to find the perfect words to say without losing eye contact with my mom. "... amusing."

"And what, pray tell, might this amusement be?" Mom said with a knowing look as he gazed at the body bags on the floor with a newfound joy.

Timmy then opened the body bags slightly, revealing the faces of four unconscious people inside of the body bags. Jimmy then wordlessly pointed at them as a joyful grin crept upon my mom's face.

"So, what exactly do you wish for us to do?" Mom said as he loosened her grip around my arms slightly while looking at the unconscious faces before her.

"What you do best, Lady Antonova," Timmy replied with his arms clasped tightly. "These people are some of the people who crossed Veronica gravely in the past few months. If I may be frank, these people betrayed her group that is famously called Plural Heights these days. We have kept them stored in her affiliated malls, but I am sure you can understand that containers can often..." Timmy paused with a defeated sigh. "... max out."

"And you wish for me to take these prisoners in my care knowing exactly what may or may not happen to them during those times?" Mom said while licking her upper lip.

"Exactly, Lady Antonova! Smart as ever, I see! Your age didn't fail you at all! The train ride must have really served you well!" Timmy enthusiastically replied while rubbing her hands swiftly.

Mom then chuckled while staring at the bodies on the floor some more. "Quit the flattery, will ya? My memory remained sharp as ever even before I was kept in that train and saw that girl's head explode in front of my very eyes." She then looked at me with a pondering look before replying, "Well, tell Veronica this," She then moved her head to face Timmy's worried expression. "The family accepts new guests."

Timmy and Jimmy then both sighed in relief at the same time before closing the body bags again entirely.

"So, where exactly do you wish for me to contain these lovely boys and gal?" She said while looking at both Timmy and Jimmy simultaneously. "As you may have already known, I have two prisoners. Which is it then? The mansion or the dungeon."

Both of the men before us looked at each other with a chuckle. "The dungeon, of course!" They said in unison."

"Great answer." Mom said with a nod.

After a while, Alejandro finally went down with Mike. Before Mike finally left the mansion entirely, he glared at me with gritting teeth as he spat on the floor with phlegm and all. The two men then forcefully dragged him away from us, leaving only the four body bags as they drove away in a posh-looking black vehicle.

"Well," Mom said as she took her hands away from my arm. She then stretched her back and wiggled her arms. "Time to work!"