• Chapter 2 The mansion


    She leapt into the truck, the others occupied the truck bed, Matt took his drivers seat again. The two in the back awaited me to join them, but I decided to make a run for it, taking off full speed I ran down the desert rode, only to be caught a few seconds later by Matt.
    “Don’t run away” he commanded tossing be head first into the truck bed.
    “Good shot Matt!” The youngest called, I looked up at him with a hateful look. “Well looks like your in for the night of you life.” He grinned at me as he helped me to my feet. My skin turned pale, as my mind filled slowly with horrified thoughts, one included me being dissected in a medieval like torture chamber, filled with devices and skeletons.
    “Scaring him is hardly a good thing if she catches you.” The older one said grimly as he tilted his head back, letting the freezing desert air blow freely against his face. “Looks like we’re going to have to build you some muscle,” he said grabbing the side of the truck bed, and slowly lifted his body into a hand stand. My jaw dropped not cause of the hand stand, but how long he did it, he kept it up for about two hours, then sat back down on the side of the truck.
    “Show off,” muttered the younger one, his eyes trained on the desert, his eyes never leaving the desolate sea of sand. “So Jake how did you die?” The younger asked, still staring at the desert. Jake gave a angry stare at him, as he started to open his mouth, but then just decided not to say anything.

    This would probably be one of the most intense situations, because anyone in a hundred mile radius should be able to feel the tension in the air. On the other hand it seemed to me that Jake wasn’t angry, but more surprised at the question that he was given. They both fell silent after that, both staring back at the desert.
    It felt weird like this, the energetic people I knew just seemed depressed, and lost in thought. Unlike before when everyone was talking, they seemed dead like (well of course their all already dead) I peeked through the back window through the back window of the truck, Kay was fast asleep, the driver Matt was busy concentrating on the rode in front of him. My eyes shifted to Kay, and how her flawless face, looked as if it were touched by an angel. Her features gentle and cute, almost like an innocent girl, but from what I have seen and heard she is nothing like that. In fact she is more like a demon in more then one way.
    “Watching Kay sleep?” A voice whispered in my ear, a voice I wasn’t hoping to here like a snake in a patch of tall grass. I turned around, and the young boy stood over my shoulder laughing. I thought of telling him to shut up, but all I could do was hide my embarrassed face. “Don’t worry I won’t tell the others.” He went back to his side of the truck bed.

    I laid back, and stared up at the stars. Somehow the view calmed me down, the whole me being taken prisoner seemed to fade away. Strangely somehow I fell asleep, cause the next thing I knew it was daybreak.
    “I was about to wake you,” the young one said. “Also just call me Chris.”
    I found myself gasping at the breathtaking new location. Tall, green trees as far as the eye could see, multicolored flowers, an lush green grass filled the space between them, even the air was different. It felt almost like another world to me. As we continued down a path that was cut through the forest. I soon found myself gazing, at everything that was new to me such as trees, flowers, and the occasional woodland creature. This was a place that made me have one of those feelings, like it was truly paradise. A surprising sound started led me, as Kay knocked on the back window capturing my attention. She pointed to a large mansion set on a hillside, across from the path we were traveling.

    The arrival took no longer then six or seven minutes, but it felt long, as I explored the new surrounding, but not traveling farther then eight steps from the group. Especially since Matt was watching me with his cold, dark eyes. Strangely the others seemed more carefree then earlier, maybe it was the location they were at, or something else.
    “Okay now that we are at the mansion.” Kay announced energetically, her eyes fixed on me, as she opened the door. “Jake will fix our lunch today, then Chris the next day, and then you Tim.” She walked through the door and into the dimly lit mansion. As the others did, Matt kept a fixed watch on me as if I were a prisoner. He finally dragged me inside, although I was reluctant to go, the inside was different from what I pictured in my head. The entire mansion look like it was new, a dark carpet, with small patterns of dark blue, crimson, and a color that was between purple, and black covered most of the hallways. A few coffee table, and display cases were set out in each hall also. The dining room was the biggest room that I had ever seen, it had a table the length of three or four SUV’s, a old grandfather clock standing against a half way point, a fire place setting behind the main end table, with a shield two swords crossing it standing over like a trophy, a few painting of exotic landscapes that varied from mountain ranges, to the sea, and every place in between.
    Another one of the largest rooms reminded me of a coliseum, with a large ring set in the middle, a few racks that supported freshly polished spears, lances, short swords, long sword, and the occasional mace. Although the room itself was just a cheap knock off of a sparring arena, the place looked like it had it’s share of use. There were scuff marks all over the floor, you could still see sweat stains on the poorly padded floor. This told me that I was possibly going to have my share of fights, by staying here at this mansion.
    My favorite room would have to be any of the twenty eight bedrooms, but specifically the one that was off limits. Off course I had the curiosity to try and sneak a peek. I slowly approached the door, my eyes shifted to make sure no one was near me, as I put my hand to the knob. Turning it slowly hoping not to make any noise, as I thought I would only take a quick look, and then return to a hands free tour. As I started to pull back on the door, I found myself not looking into a room, but at the ceiling. “That room is for Kay only.” The demonic voice of Matt echoed. I had just figured out that was just thrown twenty feet, when I saw him standing over me. His eyes giving me a dark look, as he grabbed the back of my tuxedo (Which reminded me I never got any new clothes) he drug me all the way back to the entrance, where the others has assembled. Their faces were less tense then earlier, each was relieved that they were here.
    “Okay now that you’re here you will meet your instructors. Each of these boys have mastered one aspect of battle, such as unarmed, weapons , and long ranged.” Kay smiled, her eyes focused on Chris, as a smile appeared across her face. “Chris you will not kill him right?” She asked the boy.
    “If not close to it,” he replied, as he looked at me. His eyes were different from his normal carefree attitude. “Hope you can survive three hours against me, cause its three hours of unarmed combat tomorrow morning.” His expression darkened, then it returned to his regular I’m an idiot face. “Didn’t mean to scare you buddy,” he smiled cautiously.
    “Oh well guys,” said Kay, as she walked up the steps of the mansion. “Lets go to bed,” she disappeared around a corner, only hint of where she was, was the faint noise of a door closing.