CHAPTER 2: THE TESTAMENT AND THE OLD MANSION.

October 29, 1988 – London, England.

POV Carlos Thawne.

It's 7:30 A.M. When the bell rings, indicating that someone is knocking, I look up from the newspaper I had in my hand, I proceed to place it on the table and tell my wife, who at that moment was preparing breakfast, that I will go see what It was about, getting up from the chair in which I was sitting I go to the door, to see who it is, realizing after opening that it was the postman, I receive the correspondence and reviewing it I find an envelope from the Police Investigation Office from London, after reviewing it I realize that it must be the report on my father's accident, but before I can open it I hear my wife tell me to go get Alex and Magnus up, since breakfast was already ready, so which I place the envelope on the dining room table and go to the second floor of the mansion specifically to Alex's room, knocking on the door I inform him that breakfast is ready, to which he tells me to come down in a moment.

POV Alex.

I wake up early along with the sound of the alarm on my nightstand that shows 7 in the morning, still lying down for a few minutes assimilating my situation and realizing that everything that happened yesterday is true, I recover the memories of my past life, at least those of the world I find myself in.

Getting up from the bed I go to the bathroom in my room, to relieve myself, looking in the mirror I found myself seeing a face that, although still as a child, appears handsome and pleasant to the eye, with a white complexion, but without looking sickly but rather healthy, yellowish-green eyes similar to those of a cat, pitch-black hair, perfectly symmetrical nose and mouth, which together result in a totally attractive conclusion! Yes, I thought to myself.

After showering and drying off I go to the closet, where I choose a set of clothes suitable for the day, long khaki ankle-length pants, a white long-sleeved shirt, a blue jacket and brown loafers, I try to comb my hair, but In vain my hair doesn't look so good and I can only give up and look at myself in the mirror wearing a newly styled style that, although it doesn't look bad, I can't get used to it.

It was at that moment that my dad knocked on the door of my room and informed me that breakfast was ready.

I went down and went to the dining room where I sat in my usual position, realizing that the day's correspondence was on the table. When I reviewed it, I found an envelope sent by the London Police Investigation Office. While I was reviewing it, I heard the footsteps. of my dad coming down the stairs with my brother in his arms, who still seemed sleepy, I left the envelope on the table along with the others and went to the kitchen to help my mom bring breakfast.

Upon entering the kitchen, I could see my mother finishing serving breakfast and standing behind her, I hug her and surround her waist with my arms.

- Good morning! Mother; I tell him.

- Good morning! Baby, how did you wake up? Do you feel good? She answers me by turning around and hugging me.

- Yes, mom, I'm fine now, I'm sorry for worrying you, and don't tell me baby, it's embarrassing; I mean.

- Ha ha ha; She laughs, "My little Alexander has grown up and will soon leave his old mother and go far away," she said, acting sad and hurt.

- I help you bring breakfast; I said and picking up the plates I headed to the dining room without paying attention to my mother's craziness and her tendency to act dramatically.

When I return to the dining room I put one of the plates of food in front of my brother and I put the other one on my place and proceed to sit down.

- Good morning! Tadpole; I say to my brother as he ruffles her hair.

- Bad brother, don't call me a tadpole or I'll call you a bookworm; Magnus said as he made an angry face.

- Hahaha, but if it's true you are a little tadpole; I told him while he laughed at his face.

- JUMM; He huffed, turning his face away so she wouldn't see him and starting to eat.

- TCH!; I said and turning to look at my dad who had finished reading the letter they sent from the London Police Investigation Office, I asked him.

- What did the letter say, Dad?

But before she could answer me we see my mother enter the dining room carrying her and my dad's breakfasts along with a jug of orange juice for my brother and me, as well as coffee.

When she gets to the table, my dad helps her organize everything and she notices the letter that he had left on the table, asking her who she was from and what it was about her.

- It was from the police, it is the report of my father's case; he answered him.

- I see and what did they say?

- That it was indeed an accident.

- I'm sorry! Honey, my mom said as she took my dad's hand.

- Well, this is better than discovering that it was something premeditated; She said and shaking her head she proceeded to start eating.

Listening to my parents' conversation, I also felt the same way.

After breakfast and while I was playing with my brother and my parents were finishing their coffee, the phone rang and my dad got up to answer it. After a while he returned to the table and my mom asked him.

-Who was it honey?

- My father's lawyer summoned us at 11:00 today to read the will.

- Oh! A bit fast; I said.

- Maybe your uncle Claudio is under pressure to speed up the reading.

- Well, the sooner we finish this the better, let's get ready and leave at 9:00 to the lawyer's office; my father said as he stood up from the chair and walked to his study.

- Well, come Magnus, let's get you ready to go out, said my mother, getting up from the chair and going to pick up my brother, who upon hearing that he had to bathe so early, ran out with my mother behind him screaming.

- Help me pick up and clean the dishes Alex.

Laughing at the antics and misfortune of my brother, who considers that getting up early and taking a shower before 9:00 in the morning is the greatest torture in the world, I collect all the plates and glasses from the table and head to the kitchen. to be able to wash them.

Having arrived at the building where my grandfather's lawyer's offices were located a little before 11:00, my family and I met my uncle, Claudio Thawne, who looked at us in an indifferent manner, as if those in front of us were They were not his family but a stranger.

- Hello brother; my dad said.

- JUMM, you are not my bastard brother and I no longer have to pretend that I can stand you now that the old man is dead. Claudio said with an expressionless face.

-As you wish Claudio, after today he does not open any relationship between us; said my dad, although I could notice his resignation and sadness when he saw that his relationship with his half-brother could not be fixed; Because yes, Claudio and my dad are children of different mothers, Claudio's mother being my grandfather's first wife who died when he was 7 years old and my dad the son of a governess who came to give him lessons and from whom his father He fell in love and he never accepted this, causing his relationship with his father to turn bitter.

- Finally something we agree on; Claudio responded.

After saying that he proceeded to climb the stairs towards the lawyer's office on the third floor of the building.

- Don't worry honey, don't feel sad, your family is here to support you; my mother told him as she took his hand.

- Yes, dad, sometimes separation, although painful, is the best for both parties, I told him, making him look at me and caress his head while smiling.

- You are absolutely right, champion. Let's go up and see what he has to show us and tell us the lawyer.

Going up the stairs and arriving in front of a hall where a beautiful young woman was sitting, my father tells her that he is coming to see Attorney Smith, to which she asks him his name and my father tells her, then he calls on the phone and then After hanging up, he tells us to continue because the lawyer is already waiting for us.

When we arrive in front of the office, my dad knocks on the door and we can hear a voice telling us to continue. When I open the door, the first thing I notice is a man sitting in front of a desk, who, upon seeing us enter, stands up and tells us. He invites us to sit on the set of sofas in front of his desk, where I notice that Claudio was already sitting.

After we sat down, the lawyer proceeded to read the will, where my grandfather decided to leave Uncle Claudio 40% of his shares in the conglomerate, which corresponded to 70% of the total shares; In addition to some bank accounts and properties abroad, I leave my dad 40% of the shares, along with some bank accounts, the house where we live in London and a mansion in Switzerland, to my mother I leave his collection of Art along with 5% of the conglomerate's shares, I left my brother 5% of the shares, from which the dividends will be consigned to a trust from which he can only withdraw a certain amount each month until he turns 20. , along with an apartment in New York and that the voting rights of the shares would be in charge of my father until he reached the age of majority, I left 5% of the shares to my cousin, Claudio's son, with the same conditions of my brother except that on this occasion the voting rights belonged to Claudio, along with a house in France, he left the remaining 5% of the shares to me, except that the limit on the amount of money I can withdraw from the trust was 5 times greater than that of my brother and cousin, demonstrating the trust that my grandfather had in me for my intelligence and responsibility, the part of the right to vote remained the same, he also left me a house in Italy and the old Thawne mansion on the outskirts of Ottery St. Catchpole in Devon, England.

After the lawyer finished reading the will, we were all impressed. Claudio couldn't believe that the share my grandfather left us was greater than his own. He began to argue with the lawyer, but when he realized that everything was true and that the will had no errors and was completely legal, he could only leave the office angrily, but not before giving us a look full of indifference.

After Claudio's departure, the lawyer guided us through the procedures that had to be carried out to complete the suction as well as the papers that my brother and I had to sign in the presence of our parents.

By the time we finished everything it was already close to 3:00 in the afternoon, and my brother complained that he was hungry with an aggrieved look, as if to say why they haven't given him food and they are just talking, which made us both laugh. everyone and proceeded to go to a restaurant for lunch.

November 5, 1988 – London, England.

POV Alex.

I was in the back of the car with my brother, my dad was driving and my mom was co-pilot and in charge of the music, heading to Devon – England, more specifically to the town of Ottery St. Catchpole, where the old family mansion, and which was now mine, to see what it was like and if it needed any repairs, it was 2:00 in the afternoon and we were already on the outskirts of the town, I was watching the landscape come and go, with my brother leaning on my man sleeping after playing with me all the way from London, when through the window I could see a slightly fat woman accompanied by a pair of red-haired twins, who were playing pranks on another child a few years younger that they, about Magnus's age, while the lady was scolding them while she was holding the hand of a girl with the same shade of red in her hair, the scene seemed curious to me because I noticed that the clothes they were wearing, although not It seemed out of place if it looked a little old-fashioned, like what people would use if they lived about 30 years ago.

Not giving much importance to what I saw, I turned my head and asked my dad:

- Dad, how long until we get there?

- Little champion, just cross the town for another fifteen minutes and we will arrive.

- Okay; I said.

Not long after, we found ourselves in front of a construction about 20 meters high made of red brick, with a white door and large windows, the ivy grew on the walls giving it an image of abandonment, the front of the mansion was full of weeds and it was noticeable that the roof had several holes, looking at the mansion he can only sigh at how abandoned it seemed.

- Wow, how long has it been since anyone came here?

- I'm not sure, but from what I see it's been a long time since anyone bothered to check this place, my father said.

- HAAA! Let's go in and see how it is inside; Sighing, I told him.

- I don't want to!; My brother said, it's scary, it looks like a haunted house.

- In fact, it's haunted, don't you see the ghost looking at us from the second floor window? I told my brother to scare him.

- No, it's a lie, lying brother; Magnus said with wet eyes and hiding behind my mother.

- Ha ha ha; I laughed, glad that my joke worked.

- Don't scare your brother Alex; My mother told me while she gave me a look that sent a shiver up my spine, I immediately shut up and turned to face forward without making a sound.

- Why don't you wait here in the car with Magnus, dear? Alex and I can go check the house.

- Ok, but be careful, if something happens to my baby you will deal with me Carlos; my mother said to dad, giving him the same look that she had given me not a minute ago and that made my father shudder.

- Hehehe, laughing at my dad's reaction, I could only continue forward behind him and towards the old house, which looking at it now does seem like a haunted house, knowing that it could very well be considering the world in which I was.

Upon entering we were greeted by an entrance hall full of dust and cobwebs, to the left of which we could see a living room, in front there were stairs on both sides of the living room that led to the upper floor, to the right we could see a study or What was left of it, continuing through the living room we reached the dining room, on the left there were two doors, one led to a hallway that connected to the living room that we previously saw, as well as some bedrooms and a bathroom, the kitchen was behind From the other door, to the right there was another living room with a fireplace and some double doors that when we crossed them we found ourselves in a huge two-story library that connected to the study that we previously saw, it was there where I told my dad that We separated so we could finish before inspecting the house, to which he agreed, but not before telling me to be careful, he headed back towards the dining room to finish checking the outside, leaving through the door that was in the kitchen and Given the back area of the house, I went up the spiral-shaped metal stairs that were in the library and that led to the second floor of the library, where I could see another living room that I assume was used for reading. more pleasant and relaxing, in which you can see another pair of double doors that when I crossed them took me to a hallway where you can see the rooms, counting about five rooms of which three had individual bathrooms and the other two had a shared bathroom, but it was in the main room, after entering I found a bookshelf full of books that, although full of cobwebs and dust, were otherwise in perfect condition, which seemed strange to me, considering the state of the entire house, cleaning the spines of the books a little I didn't find anything surprising in the titles, it was just a bunch of literary works, which although old were not particularly interesting, it wasn't until I took a step back and was about to leave that I noticed at the bottom a book that had no name, intrigued. For this reason, I bent down and took it off the shelf. When I held it, I noticed it was warm in my hand as if it were alive. I blew off the dust that adhered to it, noticing that the cover was silver with inlays of what looked like gold and violet metal, and on the In the center was a purplish blue gem that seemed to attract you when you looked at it. I ran the palm of my right hand over the metal inlays of the cover, trying to clean the cobwebs that I had, when I got a cut on the palm of my hand. When passing it over one of the inlays, hissing in pain, I did not notice that the blood that had remained on the cover went towards the gem in the middle, which attracted it and devoured it, turning the gem as red as blood. and beginning to release a red light as the cover of the book shone in silver light.

It was at that moment that a pain in both my heart and my head assailed me, to the point that my vision became cloudy and I lost consciousness; Not much time had passed when when I opened my eyes again I could see that I had fallen and when I stood up I noticed a small book-shaped tattoo on my left arm, which strangely had a disturbing resemblance to the book that was previously there. holding, I also noticed that the wound on my right hand had healed and there was not even a thin mark or scar left to indicate that I had previously suffered a cut.

Puzzled by what just happened, I started to look around and that's when I realized that the bookshelf that previously seemed intact was now nothing more than a pile of rotten wood and old, dusty books of which nothing remained; It was at that moment that I heard dad's voice calling me.

- Alex, are you okay? I heard a loud noise.

- Yes, dad, I'm fine now.

When I went downstairs I found dad standing in the entrance hall waiting for me, leaving we met up with my mom and my brother and noticing that it was starting to get dark my dad took us to look for a restaurant in the town and a room in a hostel to spend the night. night and return to London the next day.