CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN | Burns Meet All

"NOW THAT YOU are in my domain, I would like to remind each and every one of you to stay away from all the priced vase collection of my mother's. She hates it when someone touches it."

"Who cleans it then?" I curiously asked when I saw the white hallways opening into a vast hall. Large, spotless black and white tiles ran through the floors of the mansion with a huge, expensive rug placed in the middle. An ebony colored table was in the middle, fresh white tulips springing out of the decorative black vases.

The entire place was gorgeous.

Spiraling, white chandelier hung down over the hall, illuminating the entire place. The entire walls leading up to the white ceilings were laden with built in paintings that were live painted by one of the best artists of Paris.

"My mother only trusts her chambermaid Giselle with the vases so it's alright," Natalie shrugged as she led us to the middle of the stairways.

"Daddy's in his study so we'll have to take the west side staircase. Follow me, bitches."

On the posh Boca Do Lobo couch, was a set of grey and brown sequined throw pillows. Above the couch was a portrait of Natalie standing in her private study room, a satin sash covering her chic look. Her hair was light brown in the picture and the vain streak glistened in her eyes. As always.

We followed her up the stairs, Holly trailing behind me. Cora was in the front with Natalie behind her. Savannah was next to Natalie.

"This is the lounging area. No one sits here, obviously. It's only for show. That door in the corner leads to Daddy's study room." She pointed towards the white, plain door next to the fire place. Bright light fell in rays from the large bay windows.

"Who uses the piano?" Cora juts her hip out to show sassiness.

"Dad bought it for me on my fourteenth birthday party. Now it just sits there. I sometimes play one of his favorite pieces to entertain him on Sundays and show him that I still cherish his gift when I don't because it's boring, to be honest."

Savannah was idly looking over at the piano, her hands in her leather jacket to indicate indifference towards her place. I couldn't find any expression to analyse because the numbness in her was too dominant. It seemed as if all the emotions had exited her one by one, leaving nothing but lamenting and numbness of her soul.

Natalie slowly pushed open the door to her father's study. She went inside first and closed the door behind her to prepare her dad too. I wonder how she would prepare her dad for the meeting in which we were supposed to be judged?

Cora and Holly were in the front while Savannah and I were stood behind them.

"You guys can come in now," Natalie exclaimed from inside. Holly went inside first, nervous to the core. Then followed Cora. I rubbed my sweaty hands against the back of my jeans. Then I furiously ran my hand through my hair before pushing my entire weight to my other foot.

What if he saw me and then stood up only to kick me out because I didn't suit his criteria of being worthy enough to get the invites to Bejeweled's masquerade party?

Everything and anything could go wrong.

"Stop fidgeting like a chicken," she hissed. "No one hear looks or sounds posh, we're all going to wing it."

Her cold fingers pressed down on my wrists and my legs became mushy. They encircled my wrists firmly. The sensation of her touch was so feathery, it almost felt like air was caressing my skin.

"Just focus on the breathing, you breathe like a person who's fucking dying an inevitable death."

Taking a deep breathe, I pushed the door open with my other hand and we stepped through.

"And that's my other friend, daddy. Savannah James and this is her...boyfriend. Sebastion Meyers."

Wait, what?

Savannah abandoned my hands at once, the warmth of it vaporizing along with her touch. I looked down at her and saw her eyes displaying another emotion. Helplessness. Fear. Dread. Was she that scared of the idea of us being together? My heart sank. Am I that despicable?

Awkwardly shoving my hands inside my pockets, I glanced over at Mr. Burns. His round face was covered with full beard, laugh lines marking the area around his doe like eyes. Anyone could identify the bright raven wig settled on his probably balding head. The mayor of this town was quite child like.

Jack was there too.

Oh.

My.

God.

The Sherrif was off duty, that much could be observed. He wasn't wearing the uniform but the shirt was still very duty like, a badge was stuck on the front. His blonde hair were spiked up at the front due to the hat he was wearing. It was on the desk before him. A coffee mug was also placed beside his items. The Sherrif turned in his seat.

"Oh, kid. What're you doin' here?" He asked gruffly.

I spotted a concealed gun holster under his shirt. Narrowing my eyes, I shrugged.

"Here with my...friends," I spoke in a terse manner, uncomfortable with the idea of him interacting with the mayor of this town.

"Good." He casted a gruff smile at me before looking back at the Mayor. "Now that the meetings over, Mr. Burns, excuse me and allow me to see my phone. It's been buzzing since the afternoon."

Mayor picked up his mug and motioned for him to do whatever that he wanted to do with his phone. Natalie was standing beside her father's large chair, waiting for the Sherrif to leave. I guess.

"I'm sorry for making all of this uncomfortable for you," I leaned down to her height and mumbled. She didn't look at me but her lips twisted to the other corner of her mouth, eyes staring in the distance. I think that was rejection.

Sherrif jumped up from his seat, expletives escaping his mouth. "I swear I'll wring her neck," he cussed as he glared at the screen. My ears perked up at the mention of Tessa who was a good soul.

"What is the matter?" The Mayor asked.

"Oh no no, nothin' too serious. My Deputy accidentally locked herself in her office and bribed one of the officers to unlock the door. One of them unlocked it and now she's actin' up."

Yeah right, accidentally? His made up logic didn't even make sense.

Later when the Sherrif had left, Natalie's dad made us sit on the four seats in front of his desk. Natalie chose to take the love seat by the nearest shelf of books, her tan legs crossing over each other.

Her dad was a patient man. He gave plenty of time for us to speak about ourselves, didn't rush us. Whenever we answered his questions the right way, he'd nod and Natalie would proudly smile at us.

"They're great people, dad. You can trust them," she proclaimed. "Especially him," she jokingly winked at me. I gulped. She was literally attempting to flirt with me, a supposedly taken guy, in front of her dad. Wow.

"Young man, would you like an invite to the private launching ceremony of the necklace where you can take note of it personally for your school assignment?"

Yeah, we were doing this for a school assignment. Sure. That is exactly the whole point of coming here.

I nodded, unable to hold his gaze.

"You'll get the VIP passes along with the personal invite on the day of the event. Until then, you can enjoy your invitations to the masquerade party."

His smile caused his eyes to glitter with mirth. Natalie ran to hug her dad. "I love you. I love you. I love you. More then Valentino and Balenciaga," she uttered, hands lapping around her dad. Her dad only grinned in response. "Okay, maybe not more then Valentino but I'd let you into my shoe vault."

Natalie was something else...

A week later, I couldn't keep my nerves under check because tonight was going to be an interesting night. It was the Literature class with Mrs. Wyatt and we were given extracts to analyse but my mind was elsewhere.

In all the movies I've binge watched, I kind of know how all the masquerade parties go but this is the real one. A real deal. A one of a kind, elite variety show for rich people to show off their wealth by dressing up in clothes that barely conceal their identities and spending the rest of the night either drunk or just dancing way to walts. I think?

After the class, I was feeling super exhaustive but excited at the same time. That's when I felt Alec falling into step with me, his leather jacket hanging off his one shoulder only.

"Hey," I lazily glanced over at him.

"Hey yourself, freak." That was his reply.

"What do you want, Alec?"

"How's Alayna?" He wasn't looking at me. Dark circles left deep crescent like shadows behind, eyes rimmed with crimson. He was high as fuck right now.

I shrugged. "Sleeps, burps, shits but still manages to look gorgeous."

"You've really managed to infiltrate deeper into the Underworld, didn't you?"

Ah.

"No, no I still don't know about the one who's working the inner network of the Underworld. They still don't trust me what with my stupid breakdown on the day Logan was killed." I spoke the half truth.

He nodded as if he understood me. "Yeah..."

Then I grimaced. "I can only be a part of their posse when I'm with...Cora."

Another lie.

"I-I apologize again for doing that to you," he quietly admitted, a hand pocketed while the other balancing his jacket onto the left shoulder. "It was Conan's idea to pick you off the road and pull that shit on you."

"Conan's the silver eyed douche?" I quizzed. "The one with the violent streak?"

He did that half mouthed smile. "Yeah, he loved John too."

A stone dropped in my chest. Alec was good, he was never the villain of this story. He was good. He's still good, at least to me. I shouldn't have lied to him. He doesn't deserve these lies that are being fed to him. He has no driving force except for the death of his innocent brother. He had no agenda with the girls before his younger brother got himself involved with the Underworld. Now he calls them monsters...

My eyes trailed to the red, pinkish grazes on his arm and I narrowed my brows but didn't dwell on it. Something was wrong with Alec but he had no plan to share it so I would not bother him about it even though, the curiosity was killing me.

Later that day, I tried to reason with my dad to give me the car keys for this one night but he blatantly refused and mom phoned Cora to come pick me up for the party. I was 17 but they still didn't trusted me with their car. Talk about utter embarrassment.

Prying my hand away from my collars, mom straightened my collars up. She set them upright and then knotted the sleek black tie, her eyes transfixed on them. Meanwhile, dad busied himself in styling my hair away from my eyes. Every few seconds, I would feel him click his tongue in annoyance and start all over.

After tying my tie, she shoved a creased and patterned silk cloth in the front pocket of my tuxedo. Dad sprayed his 'special occasion' cologne on me.

The car horn went off outside. I immediately got up but mom pushed me down. "Mom, let me go! This isn't prom, for god's sake." I whined.

Soon they let me go. Finally. Dad handed me my wallet, house keys and mom remembered to hand me the invite for the masquerade party. After saying the good byes, I kissed Al and exited the house. The red Mercedes Benz E Class zoned into my neighborhood, outside my house.

"Get in, loser!"

Cora was in the driving seat, her eyes shaded with gold and black. Gold glitter covered her strong cheekbone, lips reddened to a smooth perfection. She had a smirk on her face as she eyed from top to bottom. "You cleaned up nice, Meyers."

I got in the car with a gratitude filled smile, eyes falling at Savannah in the passenger seat. The waves of dark blue shimmer dress poured over her long pale legs, silver heels strapped to her feet. I leaned back to control the rapid beating of my heart. Her hair were curled at the bottom to cover the jagged ends and they even looked more voluminous than before.

Holly was in the middle. She was in a peachy pink gown, her blonde hair pulled in a low bun. "Pretty," I complimented her. She casually removed few creases from her gown. "He bought this for me," she replied lowly so the others wouldn't hear. I looked at the dress and then immediately, Alec's face began to spiral in front of my vision.

I looked away.

Shaking my head, I trailed my gaze to Natalie who was on her phone. The reflection of her phone screen was caught up on the glass window of the car. Now I didn't wanted to be nosy but the messages were on clear display. Well.

Unknown
I miss you
7:45 PM

Natalie
off to a party w all the others, see u soon on Monday
7:46 PM

Unknown
In school?
7:46 PM

Natalie
no no not in school, maybe after school? I'll say
it's theatre rehearsals again.
7:46 PM

Unknown
Can't wait to see u again, Nats
7:48 PM

Natalie
Love you x
7:48 PM. Read.

After that, she shut her phone off.

Who could be this Unknown guy and why didn't she name him if he was so special to her? Why did she got so defensive when she first found me looking at her messages and did the girls know of this?

Her phone dinged again but this time I didn't look. Instead, I casted my eyes to the one sitting in the front. Her head was leaned on the cars head rest, eyes closed. She seemed calm.

I closed my eyes too.

A. N:

Who could be Unknown? Leave your theories below and why is she hiding him from the Underworld, do tell.

Besides, Seb is so nosy 😂

don't be shy, give me more feedback ❤️

-f. q.🥀