A Den of Villains

'What a way to welcomes the young miss.', Riddhi smirked as she climbed the stairs that led to the eerie and vacant looking mansion.

Without bothering to knock, she walked in as if she owned the place. Again, that she did.

Veer followed her, with his guard on.

"Riddhi, is that you?", a voice echoed and suddenly, the once dark and scary mansion lit up to unveil a magnificent interior, making Veer's jaw drop in awe.

A grinning middle-aged lady excitedly walked towards her with a ladle in her hand.

"How was your trip, dearie?", she asked eagerly.

Veer heaved a sigh of relief inwardly.

Atleast, there was a sweet old lady here and not some kind of scary guard with an ancient lantern like those cliché horror movies.

Though women overreact and he could bet that this old lady would cry waterfalls on knowing that her young miss was almost killed, he could still endure it.

But oh boy, how wrong he was.

"Not too bad. Some immatures were playing around and the old man won't stop fussing", Riddhi replied, snorting as she slumped on one of the cushioned sofas in the hall.

"You should've brought them home. It's been so long since I played cards.", the old lady grumbled with a sad pout.

Oh, so we have a gone-case here too, Veer thought to himself.

Or maybe she was just too lonely. Elderly people were cute. He chortled on the inside.

How naive of her to think that those crooks would play cards with her.

And as if sensing his thoughts, the woman's gaze fell at him.

"And who is this little chick?"

Veer almost choked on thin air.

Chick? Seriously? From which angle does he look like a chick?

"What is your name? What do you do? Are you here to court my child?", she showered him with questions before turning towards her miss, "Should I finish him off, dearie?"

"No need, Aunt. Let him be.", replied Riddhima before getting up to walk upstairs.

"..For now.", a distant voice echoed, making the lady grin in happiness.

"Uh, hello aunt-"

"Hang on, kid." The lady interrupted him sharply, her eyes scanning him as if he were an unwanted object delivered to the wrong destination. "We're not that close. Call me Madam Butler or Miss. Li." The old woman harrumphed before tossing a card at him, that he thankfully grabbed in time before it could slice his precious face.

So.. This is what she meant by playing cards.

...

"Oggy.", a feminine voice called out lazily.

"Oh, not that pathetic nickname again.", Augustus thought to himself as he scowled inwardly while making his way towards his master with quick steps, defying his very pride.

His eyes scanned the faces of the maids who were carrying out their routine chores while not forgetting to bow to their young miss as she walked past them. But as soon as their eyes landed on him, their bodies stiffened at their places for a moment before they steered away from his path. His calculative gaze has never failed  to frighten them to the core.

Nobody in the mansion was fond of this particular scheming Siberian cat with an aura that screams evil- except their young miss, of course, on seeing whom he acts all cute and innocent.

Veer gave it a deadpan look as the furry creature passed by him and to his surprise, the cat returned the gesture.

His eyes instantly widened, but he recovered in just a few seconds and schooled his expression.

Did he just see a cutesy kitten give him an expression of contempt? And why does he feel strong bloodlust from a furry animal?

Surely, he is hallucinating because of being sleep-deprived. Or so does he choose to believe.

And much to his amazement, as soon as its master looked at the feline, it put on a pitiful face- big-wide eyes that were brimming with tears- like it had been wronged and wanted to be comforted.

At that moment, he pretended to be an angel who is lost and looked so out of place that the toughest of stoned-hearts would melt like wax to sympathize with the poor soul, except a few, of course, that included its master, who just smirked at her pet's Smith-worthy acting skills.

"Hmm.. Uncle Darry just brought in a replacement for his ever-whining dog.", she muttered softly, as if talking to herself.

"What do you think, Oggy? Aren't you a bit old now?", she smirked, looking at him as if he were a dangling piece of meat while licking her canines.

The cat immediately understood his master's wicked plans and discarded his facade, grinning at her mischievously.

Satisfied, she kneeled down to scratch his ear, making the cat purr against his wishes.

Before their figures disappeared from his sight, he felt a murderous glare sent his way and heard an ominous voice whisper in his head, which he unfortunately chose to ignore.

'Go away, dog.'

Blah, blah, blah! Neither was he a dog, and nor was he going away. Hah! Try scaring him. As if he is going to bite the bait.

...

Veer was waiting in the study for a stout man with a bulging belly to make appearance. The details of the client was kept confidential, so he really didn't know how he actually looked like.

But one couldn't really blame him. He had read too many novels.

But contrary to his expectations, what greeted him was the sight of a rather handsome man with an aloof aura who looked like he was in his early-thirties.

He wanted to ask, 'Excuse me, Brother, but do you know where's the master?' but a single glance by the former shut him up.

"V-Veer from Blue Crescent Corporation, Sir.", he introduced himself with a stammer in a trembling voice.

The older man hummed in response while going through his file.

"Here are your room's keys.", he said calmly before sliding a pair of keys towards him, but the way he smirked subtly made his instinct scream at him.

This is bad. Really, really bad.

Why does it feel like he has entered a den of villains?