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Chapter 2- Kingdom Come

"Huff… Huff… Huff…"

Kill me now. Please just kill me now and end my misery here.

Wiping the sweat off of my forehead, I scowled up at the sun, which was burning brightly in the cloudless sky. Glancing at the temperature display on the watch Dad had given me on my last birthday, I groaned when I saw it was now 92 degrees. How was that even possible? It was near freezing yesterday night! Turning my attention to the time, I groaned even louder.

Perfect, now I'm half an hour late.

It wasn't even my fault, either. After tossing and turning all night and jumping at every spooky noise I heard, I finally fell asleep somewhere near midnight. Then I woke up at six this morning, since my body still hasn't registered that I can sleep in now because it's summer vacation. Since I couldn't fall back to sleep, I unpacked all my stuff and took a shower in the bathroom I'd stumbled into yesterday night when I was looking for a room to crash in. Then I explored the house a little more before I decided to try and wake my uncle up so I'd know where to go for the job he'd gotten me.

As it turned out, I would have had better luck waking the dead. Uncle Walter slept right through everything, even when I got right up next to his ear and screamed his name at the top of my lungs.

Finally, I gave up after twenty minutes of trying to get the crazy old man to wake up, since it was obvious that nothing short of an atomic blast would get Uncle Walter out of bed before he was damn well and ready. Looking back over the papers he'd given me yesterday again, I found something legible among the weird swirly foreign writing (Arabic, maybe?) in the form of an address scribbled hastily in the top right corner. Figuring that Uncle Walter wasn't going to be much more help today (Funny, that seems to be a pattern ever since I got here…) I got my stuff together and set off to find '13279 Garden Rd' on my own. I got laughed at by the dude at the gas station when I asked him for directions as I bought a donut and coffee for breakfast. And the mailman I asked after that just told me to get lost and not to bug him with my stupid kid games. Luckily the third person I asked, a lady who owned some grocery store, was much more polite and gave me the directions I needed. Though she did seem a little confused as to why I was heading that way, which didn't help with the weird feeling I was starting to get about this new job of mine, especially when some of the customers who'd overheard where I was heading started pointing in my direction and whispering to their friends.

It kind of felt like being back in high school, only instead of everyone looking at me like I was some kind of mutant freak, I got a lot of head shakes and pitying glances, like I was being sent to the gallows.

Sighing, I glanced down at the directions Grocery Lady (I think her name was Mrs. Kelly?) had written down for me. Even though they seemed pretty simple at first glance, there was a lot of walking involved, mostly uphill, and right now I was at the point where I'd kill for a car. Thankfully, I was almost there so maybe I could play nice and get on my boss' good side so that I didn't lose this job before I even got it in the first place. A part of my mind was screaming at me to turn back and forget all about this whole thing, especially after the weird reactions from the locals, but thirty bucks an hour was a lot to give up. I mean, think of what I could do with that kind of cash! And whatever weirdness I had to put up with would only last three months before I leave for home, so as long as I can survive that long, there wouldn't be any sort of problems. Steeling my resolve, I turned onto Gardens Rd and got ready to search out 13279.

And stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I realized there was only one building on the street.

No way.

No. Freaking. WAY.

Are you kidding me? Dracula's Castle was my new job?!

Granted, it didn't look much like Dracula's Castle anymore without the dark, ominous storm clouds and lightning in the background, but even in the sunlight it was still a pretty intimidating looking place. Even though both the building and the grounds were well taken care of, the large, lonely castle still had a bit of a horror movie feel to it, and I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me from one of the hundreds of dark windows as I stood in front of the tall, wrought iron gate that was nestled between stone walls that had snarling gargoyles perched on top and peered back up. God, no wonder everyone freaked when they heard I was coming here…

Creeeeeeeeak!

I jumped at the cringe-worthy scraping noise the gates made as they slowly swung open to let me in, letting out a bit of a squeaky shriek as I did so before immediately kicking myself in the ass and feeling like a complete dork. I knew that it was just the mood of the place affecting me, but that I had such a girly reaction made me feel like an idiot. The gates probably worked on some sort of motion detection, and my boss had probably been expecting me to show up for a while now. Determined to make up for my earlier stupidity, I started along the cobblestone path leading up to the front entrance. I was NOT some sissy who'd get spooked by something as stupid as a creepy old building. I was gonna do the job I'd come here for, and nothing was gonna stop-!

!!!

…Did that gargoyle just MOVE?!!

Twisting around, I looked back at the stone gargoyle sitting on top of the gate, which was still looking straight ahead just as it had been when I entered. Weird, for a minute I thought I saw it turn around to wave hello at me as I passed by. Staring at the stone decoration for a moment longer, I shook my head, feeling even more like an idiot then I had before. I was more spooked then I thought if I was seeing waving gargoyles…

Turning back I made my way up stone steps to the antique wooden double doors, which looked like they'd weigh a ton. Hoping that they had the same automated opening device as the gates, I reached up and grabbed the braded rope I found hanging next to the door and gave it a hearty tug, cringing as a deep, booming bell sounded loudly throughout the castle, resonating through my entire body as it did so and leaving my ears ringing long after it had ended. Well that wasn't fun…

Groaning as a headache started forming right between my eyes, I fervently hoped that I wouldn't have to ring that stupid bell every time I came here, for the sake of my hearing. Maybe I should look into buying some earplugs or something? I'd probably need them, if I didn't want to be deaf before I turned twenty.

Wait, was that growling?

It took about a second and a half for my sixth sense to kick violently to life and scream at my brain that someone was watching me from behind. I turned to see if my instincts were true or not, when there was a blur of speed and motion and suddenly I was against the door, dangling two feet above the ground by the iron grip on my throat as nails dug into my skin.

"You have no business here, boy."

Startled by the rough male voice, I gave up my struggle to breathe for a second as I looked down at the man who was holding me. Pale blue eyes the color of electricity glared back up at me, filled with anger and mistrust.

"W… wait…" I rasped out with great difficulty, trying to breathe.

"I don't care to know what foolish dare you hoped to win by coming here." The man continued, ignoring me entirely. "But make no mistake that you're trespassing on private lands, and I am well within my rights to kill you for that where you stand."

Dizzily, I opened my mouth to respond to this, not sure which of my thoughts was going to come out first. It seems like a tie between reminding the guy that I wasn't technically standing, something I was pretty sure he was already well aware of since he was the one holding me up, or telling him that the so-called right he had to kill me didn't apply unless I was inside his home without his permission, and was perceived as a threat to his life or possessions.

Sometimes it pays to be the only son of two workaholic lawyers…

Before I could say anything though, the door next to me opened with a groaning noise comparable to the one the gate had made, and a sharp gasp drew ol' blue eyes' attention away from me just before a voice rang out that was music to my ears.

"Lucien! What on earth do you think you're doing?! You put that boy down this instant!" The man holding me visibly rolled his eyes before giving a disdainful snort and letting go of my neck. Naturally, I wasn't exactly prepared for this, and the lack of oxygen had made me a little bit weak-kneed, so I slid down the length of the door and hit the ground hard.

After a couple seconds of reintroducing my lungs to the wonder known as oxygen, I turned to thank my savior only to freeze when I got a good look at her face.

"Ms Walmer?!" I said, stunned by the coincidence. Ms Walmer, who looked like she was getting ready to turn this Lucien guy into swiss cheese before I distracted her, looked even more surprised then I felt. Ms Walmer worked here? Wow, no wonder she didn't seem all that happy when I called this place Dracula's Castle… And judging by his attitude, I'm guessing this Lucien guy was the one who sets computers on fire. He definitely had the temper, if the bruise that I could feel forming on my neck was anything to go by…

"Ryan!" She said, her voice unnaturally high. "What are you doing here?!"

Good question. What the heck was I still doing here after this snobby old man just tried to strangle me? Glancing warily at the Lucien, who was glaring down at me over the crook of his nose, I awkwardly pulled the paper my uncle had given my out of my back pocket to show the two.

"Well, I work here now… I guess…" I told them uncertainly, watching in confusion as both Ms Walmer and Lucien went deathly still.

"You… what?" Ms Walmer asked, looking a bit faint. Before I could ask if she was okay, Lucien snatch the letter out of my hand, leaving me hissing against the stinging pain I was now left with.

"You could've just asked, you know!" I snapped at the man as I grabbed the papercut I was now sporting on the skin between my thumb and finger. He ignored me, focusing on the paper so intensely that I half expected it to burst into flames.

"It's real." He finally said, still examining the letter so closely, he may as well have just pulled out a magnifying glass. "It's from Master Wyvern. He really did hire him for the summer." Ms Walmer drew a sharp breath when she heard this, going pale, and I couldn't help feeling just a little bit insulted. I could understand Lucien, since he seemed like a creep, but even Ms Walmer didn't want to work with me?

"Ryan, sweetie…" Ms Walmer said, sounding a bit panicked. "Have you ever met the man who owns this castle, or anyone he's closely acquainted with?" I blinked at that question. Why was that an issue? Unless… maybe the owner was a bit of a weirdo or something? Was that why she was freaking out about me being there? Ms Walmer seemed like the type who'd worry about things like that after all.

…Come to think of it, it should have been a given that the guy was weird, if he was actually on friendly terms with my uncle…

"No." I answered, a little bit relieved that Ms Walmer's reservations weren't technically because of me. "Uncle Walter just gave me that letter yesterday and told me that the guy hired me to do some odd jobs around here."

"Walter?" Lucien repeated, looking up from the letter he was still pouring over with a fine tooth comb. "Walter Scultz? That crazy hermit writer living in the forest? He's your uncle?"

"He's not that bad!" I snapped back. I didn't care if people insulted Uncle Walter, after the crap he pulled on me, just as long as it wasn't this jerk.

"Of course he isn't." Lucien responded, his sarcasm making the faint French accent on his words a little bit more pronounced. I glared at the man in response, and Ms Walmer elbowed him sharply, making him grunt in pain, he turned to scowl at the shorter woman, but Ms Walmer just grabbed him by the collar of his white dress shirt and yanked him down to her level, whispering something in his ear that seemed to make him a little bit grumpy. As soon as Ms Walmer let Lucien go to face me, he immediately straightened up his shirt and turned his back on me and the redhead.

"Ryan, dear, how much experience do you have with people with… unusual talents? People who aren't like normal people, I mean?"

"Unusual talents?" I repeated, baffled at where Ms Walmer could be going with this. "Uh, one of my friends can scratch behind his ears with his toes. Do you mean stuff like that?"

"Uh… not exactly…" Ms Walmer said slowly, a look of repulsion on her face. "Oh dear… well, I'm not quite sure how to say this, but…"

"Get out." Lucien filled in for Ms Walmer abruptly. "Go back to your monkey friends. You don't belong here, boy."

"Lucien!" Ms Walmer hissed in warning before fixing me with an apologetic look. "Don't mind that man, Ryan, Lucien's just extraordinarily rude. What I meant to say was that working here is… complicated. I'm not saying that you're not a capable young man, but I'm afraid that you probably wouldn't be prepared to deal with a lot of the things you'd encounter while working here. This castle isn't exactly normal, and… well…"

"Is there a problem here?" I jumped a bit at the new voice, turning to see who else had joined in the conversation.

Only two words came to mind when I got a good look at the guy;

Holy crap…

As big as I thought Uncle Walter was, this dude was huge! He was easily at least foot taller then my five eight, and seemed to be sculpted out of pure muscle, made more pronounced by the fact that he was sweating so hard (which was no surprise, given the heat today. The fact that his skin was such a dark shade of black probably didn't help much, either…). He was dressed more simply then Lucien, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants, stained with dirt and grass, and no shirt, which left his six-pack prominently on display. His dark eyes were trained on me, but there was no hostility in them like Lucien had shown me, just curiosity and a little bit of wariness.

Though why a guy who could snap me like a twig with one hand would be wary of a shrimp like me, I have no idea.

"No problems, Lark." Lucien answered the man glaring at me distastefully as he waved my letter around. "Walmer and I were merely taking care of a slight annoyance."

"Lucien!" Ms Walmer hissed in warning, giving the new guy a long-suffering look as he came closer, taking the letter from Lucien with a curious look, which turned into surprise as he read it.

"A new employee?" he asked, studying me again. "This kid?"

"Not if I can help it." Lucien scoffed. I scowled at him. What was this guy's problem with me, anyways?

"We were just telling Ryan that he probably wouldn't be comfortable working here." Ms Walmer explained with a heavy sigh. "It's not exactly a place most people would be able to work in, after all, I'm sure you understand that, Ian."

"True… " The man (Lark? Ian?) agreed, studying the letter again. "But really, none of us have any say in the matter. Orion hired him, after all. Are you guys really going to explain to him that you ran off his new employee at the front door?"  Lucien and Ms Walmer froze at this. Obviously, they hadn't thought of that.

"B-but I'm sure Master Wyvern didn't know." Ms Walmer said, looking between me and Ian frantically. "If he had, he never would have-!"

"He knows." Ian said firmly, holding a hand out to help me off the ground, which I accepted hesitantly, not really sure what was going on at this point. What the hell were these guys talking about? "Orion isn't stupid, do you really think he would bring someone here and not figure something like that in?  He's up to something, more then likely. Why else would he involve Walter Scultz?"

"Up to something?" Ms Walmer repeated, looking at me questioningly. "But… why on earth…?"

"You'll have to ask Orion himself." Ian cut Ms Walmer off, giving her a look. "First though, you might want to take care of the kid. He's bleeding, and it's causing some problems." Bleeding?  Blinking, I looked down at my papercut and saw a little drop of blood swelling up.

"This?" I said, covering the papercut with my other hand, "Oh, it's no big deal." Even as I said that, though, Ms Walmer gave me an alarmed look.

"Bleeding?" She repeated before she started to shove me towards the door. "Oh, no, I didn't even think- Come along, Ryan, let's get you cleaned up."

"Really, Ms Walmer, this is nothing! I didn't even notice it until he pointed it out!" I protested, resisting as she tried to pull me into the castle. It was embarrassing to have people making such a big deal about a stupid little papercut.

"Please, just listen to her." Ian said before I could say anything else. "It really is for your own good." I hesitated a second before sighing and figuring I might as well go along with them. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Ian seemed like a decent guy, and I didn't think Ms Walmer would do anything bad to me or anything.

"Come in, dear, come in!" Ms Walmer said anxiously, looking a bit jumpy all of a sudden. Why all this panic over a simple papercut? Shaking my head, I started forward only to stop when large hand caught hold of my shoulder.

"Ryan, was it?" Ian started in that kind, patient tone I had already started to expect to hear from him. "I'm Ian Lark. Don't be afraid to come to me with any questions you're sure to have, okay?" Smiling, I nodded at the man.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I said, a little surprised at how earnest I was with my response. "Thanks, Mr. Lark."

"Ian." The large man corrected me before he glanced at something in the distance and threw me a wry smile. "I have something I need to take care of now, so just stick with Mirabel for a bit, okay?" I nodded at this, earning a more honest smile from Ian. "Great. Good luck with everything, kid. You're definitely gonna need it." With that said, Ian threw me one last wave and started away at a casual jog for whatever he needed to do. Shaking my head, I followed Ms Walmer into the castle at last, ignoring Lucien as I did so.

"Luck? Bah! All the luck in the world won't help that boy now…"

As soon as I was inside, Ms Walmer pushed the door shut behind me, grabbing my arm and dragging me away before I could get a good look at my surroundings.

"This way, sweetie!" She said as she dragged me along, shooting me a nervous smile. "I have a first aid kit in my kitchen, I'm sure I'll be able to fix you up in no time."

"Kitchen?" I repeated. " Are you a cook or something?"

"Something like that." Ms Walmer said absently. "I handle all the housework. Cooking, cleaning, looking after guests and their needs, all the things like that." So… like a maid or something? I glanced dubiously at Ms Walmer's cream colored tunic and brown ankle length skirt, still convinced that she looked more like a housemom then anything else. I kept this thought to myself, though, and decided to ask about the other two instead.

"What about Ian? What does he do around here? And that jer- I mean, Lucien?"

"Ian? I guess you can say he's in charge of the plants and animals." Ms Walmer said in a delicate sort of way that made me think that wasn't all the dark-skinned man did around here. "And Lucien handles the money, among other things."

"Other things?" I repeated, curious. Ms Walmer didn't seem to hear me though, because instead of answering she let go of my arm to open up the door we had just stopped in front of.

And immediately slammed it shut before I could look inside.

"Oh my! I-I just remembered that I haven't cleaned up in here in a while! Could you wait out here for a moment, please? Just for a moment, dear!" I didn't have the chance to say anything before Ms Walmer suddenly opened the door again and bolted inside, slamming it behind her as soon as she got in and leaving me staring blankly at the wooden barrier as loud banging and clashing noises suddenly came from within.

Well, that was weird…

Shaking my head, I used the free moment to look around at the décor of the castle, which was just as lavish and intimidating as the outside. The room I was standing in could fit my room at home in it about fifty times over easily, and my footsteps echoed loudly as I walked towards the staircase, careful not to touch anything as I did so. Most of the stuff decorating the large room probably costs more then I'd make in my entire life, after all. Expensive looking paintings, statues and furniture were everywhere I looked. The ceiling was even painted with all kinds of astrological signs and a lunar calendar. It was really detailed, too. I couldn't really make heads or tails of it since it had more of that weird swirly writing plastered all over it, but it looked really cool even in the eyes of someone who didn't know anything about stuff like that, like me.

'Ding! Ding! Ding!'

Blinking, I turned away from the ceiling to look at the floor, where a little silver bell on a pink ribbon sat next to my foot. Confused, I bent down to pick it up, looking around to try and figure out where it had come from as I straightened back up. My answer came when rapid footfall came down the stairs, drawing my attention to the second floor landing just in time to see a girl round the stairwell on her way down form the third floor and make her way down to me.

"Hey!" She said, as she continued down the stairs. "Get back here!" When she finally got down to the ground floor, she crouched down and started to look around on the floor. "This isn't fair, you know! We have to find Nile! Bella!"

I stared at the girl, too shocked to even speak. And not just because she was talking to the bell she'd dropped either, though that was pretty weird (especially naming it). What surprised me even more was the clothes she was wearing.

From head to toe, the girl was dressed like she had stepped right out of the 1800s. Seriously, she was wearing an old fashioned baby blue and white dress with a dark blue sash that made her look just like the one of those girls you see in all those paintings at the art museums, with these buttoned up brown boots and a white bonnet covering her long, curly golden hair. A bonnet, for crying out loud! She even had on these white gloves like those prim-and-proper little old ladies wear.

"Come on, Bella, this isn't funny!" The girl huffed sullenly as she continued to search for the bell. Finally coming out of my shock, I took a hesitant step forward.

"Uh, excuse me? Is this what you're looking for?" I asked slowly as I held out the bell in my hand for the girl to see. The girl looked up at me, her eyes widening at the sight of her prize.

"Bella!" She exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing the bell from me to glare at it sternly. "You sneaky little brat! This isn't the time for games, you know. It's your fault Nile's mad, so you have to help me find him so you can apologize!"

…Oh yeah, this girl was crazy alright. Glancing towards the door that was still blocking me from Ms Walmer, I backed slowly away from the strange girl as she started muttering to herself (Or maybe to the bell again, I wasn't sure who she was talking to at this point). Unfortunately, my getaway attempt caught the girl's attention, and she turned her focus completely on me.

"…Hey, I've never seen you before." She observed, looking confused. "Who are you?"

"Me?" I clarified, just in case she was talking to the vase next to me or something. "Uh, I'm Ryan. I work here now… I think." To be honest, I wasn't sure what was going on at this point.

"Really?!" Brightening considerably, the girl grabbed my hand, shaking it so vigorously that I was afraid she'd pull it off. "Oh, this is great! I'm so glad there's someone my age around here at least! I mean, Mary, Lucy and Ian are all great and all, but they're always so busy with this and that! And Nile's so grumpy a lot of the time, and Bella- Oh, I'm forgotten my manners! I'm Juliet, by the way, and it's really, really nice to meet you, Ryan!"

"Juliet?" I repeated, too confused by the rest of the girl's rant to try and make heads or tails of it. Did she just call Lucien Lucy…? "Like Romeo and Juliet? The Shakespeare play?"

"Yep!" Juliet responded cheerfully. I just stared in response. Her parents seriously named her after a chick who killed herself over some guy her family didn't want her to marry? No wonder this girl was so messed up…

"…Right. It's nice to meet you too, Juliet, but, uh, I think I have to get back to Ms Walmer now."

"Wait!" Juliet said, grabbing my arm and stopping my escape yet again. "Mary will know how to find you when she needs you, do you think you can help me with something right now? I need some help finding Nile, and I really have to find him soon before he starts getting cranky! He's bound to be really upset because of Bella, and when he gets mad he always starts tearing things up! Honestly, that cat can be such a pain sometimes… anyways can you help me look for him? Please?"

Cat? She lost her cat? In this place?! That was like looking for a needle in a haystack! Still, as much as I wanted to say no, I couldn't just leave the girl to search on her own, I wasn't that kind of creep.

"Uh, sure… I guess…" I told Juliet, who didn't seem to hear the reluctance in my voice.

"Great!" She beamed back at me, dragging me up the stairs. "Nile should be up here somewhere, on the second floor. He likes to sulk around in our Egyptian room whenever he's in a bad mood."

…Huh?

"Wait? So you already know where he is?" I clarified, feeling a little irritated at being lead around by this kid. "If you know where to find him, why do you need me to help you look?"

"Company, of course!" Juliet responded brightly. "After Bella and Nile make up, I'll be all by myself and bored!"

Great, so now I've been reduced to a plaything…

"Look, Juliet, if you don't actually need my help, then I should probably get back to Ms Walmer." I snapped, trying to pull my arm away from the oddly dressed girl. Juliet refused to budge though, and I couldn't get my arm free. Just how strong is this girl? No way is she above 5'2, and she's skinny as a twig! Maybe I should start working out more or something…

"Oh come on, Ryan!" Juliet groaned as she dragged me along, looking like she didn't even notice I was trying to get free (It was official; I definitely needed to work out more). "I'm sorry I lied, but I really, really want someone to talk to! It's boring just sitting around in my room all day, and everybody else is busy! I'll explain everything to Mary, I promise, just please spend some time with me until she needs you? Please?" I felt myself crack at the loneliness in the girl's voice, which was soon coupled with a tearful, pleading look. Damn…

"Alright." I groaned. "Look, don't cry. I'll hang out with you until Ms Walmer needs me. But only until then!"

"Really?" Juliet asked, looking at me like I had just given her a diamond necklace. "Thanks! You're pretty nice!"

Nice? She thought I was nice? I only agreed to hang around because I felt bad for the kid, and it wasn't something I was all that thrilled to do. This girl had a pretty strange standard for what 'nice' was… but then, maybe that was just a side effect of hanging around that Lucien guy for too long…

…Come to think of it, why was some middle school kid even in this castle in the first place?

"Hey, Juliet?" I  called out, getting the small blonde's attention. "Um, I know that Ms Walmer and the other two work here and all, but what about you? I mean, you're too young to work a part time job, right? So what are you doing here?"

"I live here, of course." Juliet responded absently, as if it should have been obvious. "This is my home. Well, technically it's Daddy's home, but he only comes to visit every month or so, so really it's mine. Daddy brought Mary, Lucy and Ian here for me, so I had some company. And now you too, I guess!" I froze.

Wait…

WHAT?!

This girl was my boss's daughter?! Why didn't anyone bother telling me this sooner? It was a good thing I agreed to spend some time with her, since Lucien was probably already looking for a reason to get rid of me, and something told me that getting on the bad side of the girl who's dad owned a castle twice the size of my apartment complex. Though it kind of explained the weird outfit and everything, since rich people tend to get really eccentric (Something I noticed all the time with my parent's clients).

"Here it is!" Juliet said happily, leading me to a door black door with a pyramid engraved into the wood, encircled by more of the swirly writing from before.

"What language is this, anyways?" I asked Juliet. The question had been bothering me since I had first seen it on the letter my uncle gave me, but between all the confusion and insults, I never found time to ask Ms Walmer or Lucien, and Ian was there and gone before I could ask him to explain it.

"Merline." Juliet replied. "I can't read it myself, but Daddy uses it for almost everything."

"…Wait, Merline? Like the wizard Merlin with an 'e'?"

"Of course." Juliet responded flippantly as she opened the door. "That's where the name comes from." I followed her into the room, even though I was still confused. I'd never heard of any languages named after Merlin before…

I was about to ask more about the language and it's origins when the room before me caught my attention, banishing all thoughts of Merline from my mind.

"Whoa…" I breathed as I looked around the room. "Cool!"

Juliet wasn't kidding when she called this the Egyptian room. The whole place looked like ancient Egypt come to life, with hieroglyphics, Egyptian pottery and furniture and all sorts of other amazing things decorating the room, and a fine layer of dusty desert sand filmed almost every surface, swept away by Juliet's skirt as she crossed the room to head towards an area of the room that was curtained off, where I could make out the silhouette of an elaborate throne. There was even this 'window' across the room that showed a view of the desert that looked so real, I almost believed we really were in a dry, forsaken wasteland instead of a small village by the sea. Studying the window, I wondered if it was like some kind of high tech TV thing or something. It all looked so lifelike, especially the camel that was plodding it's way slowly through the sand, eventually disappearing behind the vase that was sitting on the windowsill.

"Nile! Ni~le! Nile stop pouting and come out here! Bella wants to apologize!" Startled, I drew my attention away from the window to look at Juliet, who was glaring at the curtains with a stern expression. I opened my mouth to say something when a scoffing noise made me freeze in confusion. What the…?

"Apologize?" A little boy's voice said disdainfully. "And just why should I accept an apology from that miscreant? Leave me be, Juliet, and take the winged scoundrel with you before I decide it would be easier to just eat her and be done with it."

"Nile, you're too old to be acting like a spoiled brat!" Juliet sighed in a long suffering kind of way. "Look, just come out here and talk to her face-to-face. If you don't, I'll have Lucy and Ian come in here and break the barrier you put on the curtains. Don't think I won't, Nile!"

Wait, so Nile was a kid? I thought we were looking for a cat!

"Juliet, what-?"

"You honestly think that those children could overcome my powers so easily?" Nile asked scornfully, cutting off my question to the small heiress. "I can't believe you think so little of me, Juliet."

Children? Ian was, like, thirty and Lucien was easily somewhere in his fourties! No way this Nile kid could be older then ten with that voice, and he called those two children?

It's official; everyone in this castle must be insane. God, I hope it's not contagious…

"Ian could tear through this barrier like it was toilet paper and you know it." Juliet shot back, frowning at the curtains with big, watery eyes. "Come on, Nile, please come out here and make peace with Bella! For me?"

"…Very well, if you insist." Nile sighed in defeat. Apparently, I'm not the only one around here weak against tears…

My train of thought derailed, though, when the curtains shimmered for a moment before parting just a little bit at the bottom, just enough so that a small gold kitten could poke it's head out of the gap.

"Well, Bella? I'm waiting."

…

No way.

It's impossible. There is no WAY that voice just came out of that cat! This had to be some sort of trick, a prank on the new guy. I bet there was a ventriloquist behind the curtain, making it look like the cat could talk. That was NO WAY I was seeing a talking cat right now.

"Come on now, out with it!" The cat snapped, padding further out into the room and ruffling his-

Wait, were those WINGS?!

So not only was this a talking cat, but it was a talking cat with little yellow canary-like wings growing out of it's back?!

Just when I thought I was gonna pass out, the bell in Juliet's hand glowed for a moment  before morphing into a tiny silver pixie-like creature with a slim, feminine body and insect wings, like a dragonfly or something, growing out of it's back. The wings started to hum softly as the creature took off, flying down to the cat's eyelevel to make these weird chirping noises, like a bird.

"'Never do it again?' Do I look like a fool to you, Bella, I know better then to believe that for a moment!" the cat responded angrily to the pixie's chirping. More chirping followed this statement, and the cat narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "I have your word on that? You'll really agree to a week without your powers if you misbehave and meddle with my collection again? And you'll stay in bell form the entire time?" The pixie nodded vigorously and the cat frowned in consideration. "…Very well, I suppose that will do. I accept your apology."

Pouncing forward, the cat made its way over to Juliet, exposing it's neck to the golden-haired girl.

"If you don't mind, child…?"

"Not at all!" Juliet said as the pixie flew back to the girl's hand and turned herself back into a bell with a pink ribbon. Crouching down, Juliet tied the bell around the cat's neck. It seemed satisfied with the girl's handiwork, since it preened for a moment before heading towards the door.

"Let's get going then, Bella. We still need to straighten out the mess you made in my quarters, after all…"

"Bye Nile! Bye Bella! No more fighting from now on, okay?" Juliet said with a giggle as the two left. "Sorry about all that… Ryan? Are you alright? You're white as a sheet…" Juliet's words only barely registered to my mind, which was now full of talking cats and pixies that turn into bells.

"Wh-what… how…?!" I was so freaked out by everything I had just seen that even noticed I had been backing away from Juliet until I was halfway out the window I had been looking at earlier, the vase on the windowsill toppling downwards as I knocked it off its perch.

"Careful!" Juliet yelped, jumping forward to grab my arm and pull me back into the room. "In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of a long way down…" Peering out the window at the shattered vase I'd knocked down lying in the sand below, I definitely noticed. Just like I noticed that the 'window' really was a window, and not a high tech TV like I thought.

"…It's real…" I breathed out numbly, not even caring that I had just broken a vase that was probably worth ten million times everything I own. "It's all real…"

"Huh?" Juliet looked confused at my babbling. "Real? Of course it's all real. If it was fake, then it wouldn't be any fun! Hey, Ryan, are you sure you're feeling okay? 'Cause you look like you need to sit down for a little bit…"

I didn't bother responding to Juliet's observation. Passing out usually makes that a little bit difficult, after all.

Why me?!

Description
Chapter 2- Kingdom Come

"Huff… Huff… Huff…"

Kill me now. Please just kill me now and end my misery here.

Wiping the sweat off of my forehead, I scowled up at the sun, which was burning brightly in the cloudless sky. Glancing at the temperature display on the watch Dad had given me on my last birthday, I groaned when I saw it was now 92 degrees. How was that even possible? It was near freezing yesterday night! Turning my attention to the time, I groaned even louder.

Perfect, now I'm half an hour late.

It wasn't even my fault, either. After tossing and turning all night and jumping at every spooky noise I heard, I finally fell asleep somewhere near midnight. Then I woke up at six this morning, since my body still hasn't registered that I can sleep in now because it's summer vacation. Since I couldn't fall back to sleep, I unpacked all my stuff and took a shower in the bathroom I'd stumbled into yesterday night when I was looking for a room to crash in. Then I explored the house a little more before I decided to try and wake my uncle up so I'd know where to go for the job he'd gotten me.

As it turned out, I would have had better luck waking the dead. Uncle Walter slept right through everything, even when I got right up next to his ear and screamed his name at the top of my lungs.

Finally, I gave up after twenty minutes of trying to get the crazy old man to wake up, since it was obvious that nothing short of an atomic blast would get Uncle Walter out of bed before he was damn well and ready. Looking back over the papers he'd given me yesterday again, I found something legible among the weird swirly foreign writing (Arabic, maybe?) in the form of an address scribbled hastily in the top right corner. Figuring that Uncle Walter wasn't going to be much more help today (Funny, that seems to be a pattern ever since I got here…) I got my stuff together and set off to find '13279 Garden Rd' on my own. I got laughed at by the dude at the gas station when I asked him for directions as I bought a donut and coffee for breakfast. And the mailman I asked after that just told me to get lost and not to bug him with my stupid kid games. Luckily the third person I asked, a lady who owned some grocery store, was much more polite and gave me the directions I needed. Though she did seem a little confused as to why I was heading that way, which didn't help with the weird feeling I was starting to get about this new job of mine, especially when some of the customers who'd overheard where I was heading started pointing in my direction and whispering to their friends.

It kind of felt like being back in high school, only instead of everyone looking at me like I was some kind of mutant freak, I got a lot of head shakes and pitying glances, like I was being sent to the gallows.

Sighing, I glanced down at the directions Grocery Lady (I think her name was Mrs. Kelly?) had written down for me. Even though they seemed pretty simple at first glance, there was a lot of walking involved, mostly uphill, and right now I was at the point where I'd kill for a car. Thankfully, I was almost there so maybe I could play nice and get on my boss' good side so that I didn't lose this job before I even got it in the first place. A part of my mind was screaming at me to turn back and forget all about this whole thing, especially after the weird reactions from the locals, but thirty bucks an hour was a lot to give up. I mean, think of what I could do with that kind of cash! And whatever weirdness I had to put up with would only last three months before I leave for home, so as long as I can survive that long, there wouldn't be any sort of problems. Steeling my resolve, I turned onto Gardens Rd and got ready to search out 13279.

And stopped dead in my tracks as soon as I realized there was only one building on the street.

No way.

No. Freaking. WAY.

Are you kidding me? Dracula's Castle was my new job?!

Granted, it didn't look much like Dracula's Castle anymore without the dark, ominous storm clouds and lightning in the background, but even in the sunlight it was still a pretty intimidating looking place. Even though both the building and the grounds were well taken care of, the large, lonely castle still had a bit of a horror movie feel to it, and I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me from one of the hundreds of dark windows as I stood in front of the tall, wrought iron gate that was nestled between stone walls that had snarling gargoyles perched on top and peered back up. God, no wonder everyone freaked when they heard I was coming here…

Creeeeeeeeak!

I jumped at the cringe-worthy scraping noise the gates made as they slowly swung open to let me in, letting out a bit of a squeaky shriek as I did so before immediately kicking myself in the ass and feeling like a complete dork. I knew that it was just the mood of the place affecting me, but that I had such a girly reaction made me feel like an idiot. The gates probably worked on some sort of motion detection, and my boss had probably been expecting me to show up for a while now. Determined to make up for my earlier stupidity, I started along the cobblestone path leading up to the front entrance. I was NOT some sissy who'd get spooked by something as stupid as a creepy old building. I was gonna do the job I'd come here for, and nothing was gonna stop-!

!!!

…Did that gargoyle just MOVE?!!

Twisting around, I looked back at the stone gargoyle sitting on top of the gate, which was still looking straight ahead just as it had been when I entered. Weird, for a minute I thought I saw it turn around to wave hello at me as I passed by. Staring at the stone decoration for a moment longer, I shook my head, feeling even more like an idiot then I had before. I was more spooked then I thought if I was seeing waving gargoyles…

Turning back I made my way up stone steps to the antique wooden double doors, which looked like they'd weigh a ton. Hoping that they had the same automated opening device as the gates, I reached up and grabbed the braded rope I found hanging next to the door and gave it a hearty tug, cringing as a deep, booming bell sounded loudly throughout the castle, resonating through my entire body as it did so and leaving my ears ringing long after it had ended. Well that wasn't fun…

Groaning as a headache started forming right between my eyes, I fervently hoped that I wouldn't have to ring that stupid bell every time I came here, for the sake of my hearing. Maybe I should look into buying some earplugs or something? I'd probably need them, if I didn't want to be deaf before I turned twenty.

Wait, was that growling?

It took about a second and a half for my sixth sense to kick violently to life and scream at my brain that someone was watching me from behind. I turned to see if my instincts were true or not, when there was a blur of speed and motion and suddenly I was against the door, dangling two feet above the ground by the iron grip on my throat as nails dug into my skin.

"You have no business here, boy."

Startled by the rough male voice, I gave up my struggle to breathe for a second as I looked down at the man who was holding me. Pale blue eyes the color of electricity glared back up at me, filled with anger and mistrust.

"W… wait…" I rasped out with great difficulty, trying to breathe.

"I don't care to know what foolish dare you hoped to win by coming here." The man continued, ignoring me entirely. "But make no mistake that you're trespassing on private lands, and I am well within my rights to kill you for that where you stand."

Dizzily, I opened my mouth to respond to this, not sure which of my thoughts was going to come out first. It seems like a tie between reminding the guy that I wasn't technically standing, something I was pretty sure he was already well aware of since he was the one holding me up, or telling him that the so-called right he had to kill me didn't apply unless I was inside his home without his permission, and was perceived as a threat to his life or possessions.

Sometimes it pays to be the only son of two workaholic lawyers…

Before I could say anything though, the door next to me opened with a groaning noise comparable to the one the gate had made, and a sharp gasp drew ol' blue eyes' attention away from me just before a voice rang out that was music to my ears.

"Lucien! What on earth do you think you're doing?! You put that boy down this instant!" The man holding me visibly rolled his eyes before giving a disdainful snort and letting go of my neck. Naturally, I wasn't exactly prepared for this, and the lack of oxygen had made me a little bit weak-kneed, so I slid down the length of the door and hit the ground hard.

After a couple seconds of reintroducing my lungs to the wonder known as oxygen, I turned to thank my savior only to freeze when I got a good look at her face.

"Ms Walmer?!" I said, stunned by the coincidence. Ms Walmer, who looked like she was getting ready to turn this Lucien guy into swiss cheese before I distracted her, looked even more surprised then I felt. Ms Walmer worked here? Wow, no wonder she didn't seem all that happy when I called this place Dracula's Castle… And judging by his attitude, I'm guessing this Lucien guy was the one who sets computers on fire. He definitely had the temper, if the bruise that I could feel forming on my neck was anything to go by…

"Ryan!" She said, her voice unnaturally high. "What are you doing here?!"

Good question. What the heck was I still doing here after this snobby old man just tried to strangle me? Glancing warily at the Lucien, who was glaring down at me over the crook of his nose, I awkwardly pulled the paper my uncle had given my out of my back pocket to show the two.

"Well, I work here now… I guess…" I told them uncertainly, watching in confusion as both Ms Walmer and Lucien went deathly still.

"You… what?" Ms Walmer asked, looking a bit faint. Before I could ask if she was okay, Lucien snatch the letter out of my hand, leaving me hissing against the stinging pain I was now left with.

"You could've just asked, you know!" I snapped at the man as I grabbed the papercut I was now sporting on the skin between my thumb and finger. He ignored me, focusing on the paper so intensely that I half expected it to burst into flames.

"It's real." He finally said, still examining the letter so closely, he may as well have just pulled out a magnifying glass. "It's from Master Wyvern. He really did hire him for the summer." Ms Walmer drew a sharp breath when she heard this, going pale, and I couldn't help feeling just a little bit insulted. I could understand Lucien, since he seemed like a creep, but even Ms Walmer didn't want to work with me?

"Ryan, sweetie…" Ms Walmer said, sounding a bit panicked. "Have you ever met the man who owns this castle, or anyone he's closely acquainted with?" I blinked at that question. Why was that an issue? Unless… maybe the owner was a bit of a weirdo or something? Was that why she was freaking out about me being there? Ms Walmer seemed like the type who'd worry about things like that after all.

…Come to think of it, it should have been a given that the guy was weird, if he was actually on friendly terms with my uncle…

"No." I answered, a little bit relieved that Ms Walmer's reservations weren't technically because of me. "Uncle Walter just gave me that letter yesterday and told me that the guy hired me to do some odd jobs around here."

"Walter?" Lucien repeated, looking up from the letter he was still pouring over with a fine tooth comb. "Walter Scultz? That crazy hermit writer living in the forest? He's your uncle?"

"He's not that bad!" I snapped back. I didn't care if people insulted Uncle Walter, after the crap he pulled on me, just as long as it wasn't this jerk.

"Of course he isn't." Lucien responded, his sarcasm making the faint French accent on his words a little bit more pronounced. I glared at the man in response, and Ms Walmer elbowed him sharply, making him grunt in pain, he turned to scowl at the shorter woman, but Ms Walmer just grabbed him by the collar of his white dress shirt and yanked him down to her level, whispering something in his ear that seemed to make him a little bit grumpy. As soon as Ms Walmer let Lucien go to face me, he immediately straightened up his shirt and turned his back on me and the redhead.

"Ryan, dear, how much experience do you have with people with… unusual talents? People who aren't like normal people, I mean?"

"Unusual talents?" I repeated, baffled at where Ms Walmer could be going with this. "Uh, one of my friends can scratch behind his ears with his toes. Do you mean stuff like that?"

"Uh… not exactly…" Ms Walmer said slowly, a look of repulsion on her face. "Oh dear… well, I'm not quite sure how to say this, but…"

"Get out." Lucien filled in for Ms Walmer abruptly. "Go back to your monkey friends. You don't belong here, boy."

"Lucien!" Ms Walmer hissed in warning before fixing me with an apologetic look. "Don't mind that man, Ryan, Lucien's just extraordinarily rude. What I meant to say was that working here is… complicated. I'm not saying that you're not a capable young man, but I'm afraid that you probably wouldn't be prepared to deal with a lot of the things you'd encounter while working here. This castle isn't exactly normal, and… well…"

"Is there a problem here?" I jumped a bit at the new voice, turning to see who else had joined in the conversation.

Only two words came to mind when I got a good look at the guy;

Holy crap…

As big as I thought Uncle Walter was, this dude was huge! He was easily at least foot taller then my five eight, and seemed to be sculpted out of pure muscle, made more pronounced by the fact that he was sweating so hard (which was no surprise, given the heat today. The fact that his skin was such a dark shade of black probably didn't help much, either…). He was dressed more simply then Lucien, wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants, stained with dirt and grass, and no shirt, which left his six-pack prominently on display. His dark eyes were trained on me, but there was no hostility in them like Lucien had shown me, just curiosity and a little bit of wariness.

Though why a guy who could snap me like a twig with one hand would be wary of a shrimp like me, I have no idea.

"No problems, Lark." Lucien answered the man glaring at me distastefully as he waved my letter around. "Walmer and I were merely taking care of a slight annoyance."

"Lucien!" Ms Walmer hissed in warning, giving the new guy a long-suffering look as he came closer, taking the letter from Lucien with a curious look, which turned into surprise as he read it.

"A new employee?" he asked, studying me again. "This kid?"

"Not if I can help it." Lucien scoffed. I scowled at him. What was this guy's problem with me, anyways?

"We were just telling Ryan that he probably wouldn't be comfortable working here." Ms Walmer explained with a heavy sigh. "It's not exactly a place most people would be able to work in, after all, I'm sure you understand that, Ian."

"True… " The man (Lark? Ian?) agreed, studying the letter again. "But really, none of us have any say in the matter. Orion hired him, after all. Are you guys really going to explain to him that you ran off his new employee at the front door?"  Lucien and Ms Walmer froze at this. Obviously, they hadn't thought of that.

"B-but I'm sure Master Wyvern didn't know." Ms Walmer said, looking between me and Ian frantically. "If he had, he never would have-!"

"He knows." Ian said firmly, holding a hand out to help me off the ground, which I accepted hesitantly, not really sure what was going on at this point. What the hell were these guys talking about? "Orion isn't stupid, do you really think he would bring someone here and not figure something like that in?  He's up to something, more then likely. Why else would he involve Walter Scultz?"

"Up to something?" Ms Walmer repeated, looking at me questioningly. "But… why on earth…?"

"You'll have to ask Orion himself." Ian cut Ms Walmer off, giving her a look. "First though, you might want to take care of the kid. He's bleeding, and it's causing some problems." Bleeding?  Blinking, I looked down at my papercut and saw a little drop of blood swelling up.

"This?" I said, covering the papercut with my other hand, "Oh, it's no big deal." Even as I said that, though, Ms Walmer gave me an alarmed look.

"Bleeding?" She repeated before she started to shove me towards the door. "Oh, no, I didn't even think- Come along, Ryan, let's get you cleaned up."

"Really, Ms Walmer, this is nothing! I didn't even notice it until he pointed it out!" I protested, resisting as she tried to pull me into the castle. It was embarrassing to have people making such a big deal about a stupid little papercut.

"Please, just listen to her." Ian said before I could say anything else. "It really is for your own good." I hesitated a second before sighing and figuring I might as well go along with them. I wasn't sure what was going on, but Ian seemed like a decent guy, and I didn't think Ms Walmer would do anything bad to me or anything.

"Come in, dear, come in!" Ms Walmer said anxiously, looking a bit jumpy all of a sudden. Why all this panic over a simple papercut? Shaking my head, I started forward only to stop when large hand caught hold of my shoulder.

"Ryan, was it?" Ian started in that kind, patient tone I had already started to expect to hear from him. "I'm Ian Lark. Don't be afraid to come to me with any questions you're sure to have, okay?" Smiling, I nodded at the man.

"Yeah, I'll do that." I said, a little surprised at how earnest I was with my response. "Thanks, Mr. Lark."

"Ian." The large man corrected me before he glanced at something in the distance and threw me a wry smile. "I have something I need to take care of now, so just stick with Mirabel for a bit, okay?" I nodded at this, earning a more honest smile from Ian. "Great. Good luck with everything, kid. You're definitely gonna need it." With that said, Ian threw me one last wave and started away at a casual jog for whatever he needed to do. Shaking my head, I followed Ms Walmer into the castle at last, ignoring Lucien as I did so.

"Luck? Bah! All the luck in the world won't help that boy now…"

As soon as I was inside, Ms Walmer pushed the door shut behind me, grabbing my arm and dragging me away before I could get a good look at my surroundings.

"This way, sweetie!" She said as she dragged me along, shooting me a nervous smile. "I have a first aid kit in my kitchen, I'm sure I'll be able to fix you up in no time."

"Kitchen?" I repeated. " Are you a cook or something?"

"Something like that." Ms Walmer said absently. "I handle all the housework. Cooking, cleaning, looking after guests and their needs, all the things like that." So… like a maid or something? I glanced dubiously at Ms Walmer's cream colored tunic and brown ankle length skirt, still convinced that she looked more like a housemom then anything else. I kept this thought to myself, though, and decided to ask about the other two instead.

"What about Ian? What does he do around here? And that jer- I mean, Lucien?"

"Ian? I guess you can say he's in charge of the plants and animals." Ms Walmer said in a delicate sort of way that made me think that wasn't all the dark-skinned man did around here. "And Lucien handles the money, among other things."

"Other things?" I repeated, curious. Ms Walmer didn't seem to hear me though, because instead of answering she let go of my arm to open up the door we had just stopped in front of.

And immediately slammed it shut before I could look inside.

"Oh my! I-I just remembered that I haven't cleaned up in here in a while! Could you wait out here for a moment, please? Just for a moment, dear!" I didn't have the chance to say anything before Ms Walmer suddenly opened the door again and bolted inside, slamming it behind her as soon as she got in and leaving me staring blankly at the wooden barrier as loud banging and clashing noises suddenly came from within.

Well, that was weird…

Shaking my head, I used the free moment to look around at the décor of the castle, which was just as lavish and intimidating as the outside. The room I was standing in could fit my room at home in it about fifty times over easily, and my footsteps echoed loudly as I walked towards the staircase, careful not to touch anything as I did so. Most of the stuff decorating the large room probably costs more then I'd make in my entire life, after all. Expensive looking paintings, statues and furniture were everywhere I looked. The ceiling was even painted with all kinds of astrological signs and a lunar calendar. It was really detailed, too. I couldn't really make heads or tails of it since it had more of that weird swirly writing plastered all over it, but it looked really cool even in the eyes of someone who didn't know anything about stuff like that, like me.

'Ding! Ding! Ding!'

Blinking, I turned away from the ceiling to look at the floor, where a little silver bell on a pink ribbon sat next to my foot. Confused, I bent down to pick it up, looking around to try and figure out where it had come from as I straightened back up. My answer came when rapid footfall came down the stairs, drawing my attention to the second floor landing just in time to see a girl round the stairwell on her way down form the third floor and make her way down to me.

"Hey!" She said, as she continued down the stairs. "Get back here!" When she finally got down to the ground floor, she crouched down and started to look around on the floor. "This isn't fair, you know! We have to find Nile! Bella!"

I stared at the girl, too shocked to even speak. And not just because she was talking to the bell she'd dropped either, though that was pretty weird (especially naming it). What surprised me even more was the clothes she was wearing.

From head to toe, the girl was dressed like she had stepped right out of the 1800s. Seriously, she was wearing an old fashioned baby blue and white dress with a dark blue sash that made her look just like the one of those girls you see in all those paintings at the art museums, with these buttoned up brown boots and a white bonnet covering her long, curly golden hair. A bonnet, for crying out loud! She even had on these white gloves like those prim-and-proper little old ladies wear.

"Come on, Bella, this isn't funny!" The girl huffed sullenly as she continued to search for the bell. Finally coming out of my shock, I took a hesitant step forward.

"Uh, excuse me? Is this what you're looking for?" I asked slowly as I held out the bell in my hand for the girl to see. The girl looked up at me, her eyes widening at the sight of her prize.

"Bella!" She exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing the bell from me to glare at it sternly. "You sneaky little brat! This isn't the time for games, you know. It's your fault Nile's mad, so you have to help me find him so you can apologize!"

…Oh yeah, this girl was crazy alright. Glancing towards the door that was still blocking me from Ms Walmer, I backed slowly away from the strange girl as she started muttering to herself (Or maybe to the bell again, I wasn't sure who she was talking to at this point). Unfortunately, my getaway attempt caught the girl's attention, and she turned her focus completely on me.

"…Hey, I've never seen you before." She observed, looking confused. "Who are you?"

"Me?" I clarified, just in case she was talking to the vase next to me or something. "Uh, I'm Ryan. I work here now… I think." To be honest, I wasn't sure what was going on at this point.

"Really?!" Brightening considerably, the girl grabbed my hand, shaking it so vigorously that I was afraid she'd pull it off. "Oh, this is great! I'm so glad there's someone my age around here at least! I mean, Mary, Lucy and Ian are all great and all, but they're always so busy with this and that! And Nile's so grumpy a lot of the time, and Bella- Oh, I'm forgotten my manners! I'm Juliet, by the way, and it's really, really nice to meet you, Ryan!"

"Juliet?" I repeated, too confused by the rest of the girl's rant to try and make heads or tails of it. Did she just call Lucien Lucy…? "Like Romeo and Juliet? The Shakespeare play?"

"Yep!" Juliet responded cheerfully. I just stared in response. Her parents seriously named her after a chick who killed herself over some guy her family didn't want her to marry? No wonder this girl was so messed up…

"…Right. It's nice to meet you too, Juliet, but, uh, I think I have to get back to Ms Walmer now."

"Wait!" Juliet said, grabbing my arm and stopping my escape yet again. "Mary will know how to find you when she needs you, do you think you can help me with something right now? I need some help finding Nile, and I really have to find him soon before he starts getting cranky! He's bound to be really upset because of Bella, and when he gets mad he always starts tearing things up! Honestly, that cat can be such a pain sometimes… anyways can you help me look for him? Please?"

Cat? She lost her cat? In this place?! That was like looking for a needle in a haystack! Still, as much as I wanted to say no, I couldn't just leave the girl to search on her own, I wasn't that kind of creep.

"Uh, sure… I guess…" I told Juliet, who didn't seem to hear the reluctance in my voice.

"Great!" She beamed back at me, dragging me up the stairs. "Nile should be up here somewhere, on the second floor. He likes to sulk around in our Egyptian room whenever he's in a bad mood."

…Huh?

"Wait? So you already know where he is?" I clarified, feeling a little irritated at being lead around by this kid. "If you know where to find him, why do you need me to help you look?"

"Company, of course!" Juliet responded brightly. "After Bella and Nile make up, I'll be all by myself and bored!"

Great, so now I've been reduced to a plaything…

"Look, Juliet, if you don't actually need my help, then I should probably get back to Ms Walmer." I snapped, trying to pull my arm away from the oddly dressed girl. Juliet refused to budge though, and I couldn't get my arm free. Just how strong is this girl? No way is she above 5'2, and she's skinny as a twig! Maybe I should start working out more or something…

"Oh come on, Ryan!" Juliet groaned as she dragged me along, looking like she didn't even notice I was trying to get free (It was official; I definitely needed to work out more). "I'm sorry I lied, but I really, really want someone to talk to! It's boring just sitting around in my room all day, and everybody else is busy! I'll explain everything to Mary, I promise, just please spend some time with me until she needs you? Please?" I felt myself crack at the loneliness in the girl's voice, which was soon coupled with a tearful, pleading look. Damn…

"Alright." I groaned. "Look, don't cry. I'll hang out with you until Ms Walmer needs me. But only until then!"

"Really?" Juliet asked, looking at me like I had just given her a diamond necklace. "Thanks! You're pretty nice!"

Nice? She thought I was nice? I only agreed to hang around because I felt bad for the kid, and it wasn't something I was all that thrilled to do. This girl had a pretty strange standard for what 'nice' was… but then, maybe that was just a side effect of hanging around that Lucien guy for too long…

…Come to think of it, why was some middle school kid even in this castle in the first place?

"Hey, Juliet?" I  called out, getting the small blonde's attention. "Um, I know that Ms Walmer and the other two work here and all, but what about you? I mean, you're too young to work a part time job, right? So what are you doing here?"

"I live here, of course." Juliet responded absently, as if it should have been obvious. "This is my home. Well, technically it's Daddy's home, but he only comes to visit every month or so, so really it's mine. Daddy brought Mary, Lucy and Ian here for me, so I had some company. And now you too, I guess!" I froze.

Wait…

WHAT?!

This girl was my boss's daughter?! Why didn't anyone bother telling me this sooner? It was a good thing I agreed to spend some time with her, since Lucien was probably already looking for a reason to get rid of me, and something told me that getting on the bad side of the girl who's dad owned a castle twice the size of my apartment complex. Though it kind of explained the weird outfit and everything, since rich people tend to get really eccentric (Something I noticed all the time with my parent's clients).

"Here it is!" Juliet said happily, leading me to a door black door with a pyramid engraved into the wood, encircled by more of the swirly writing from before.

"What language is this, anyways?" I asked Juliet. The question had been bothering me since I had first seen it on the letter my uncle gave me, but between all the confusion and insults, I never found time to ask Ms Walmer or Lucien, and Ian was there and gone before I could ask him to explain it.

"Merline." Juliet replied. "I can't read it myself, but Daddy uses it for almost everything."

"…Wait, Merline? Like the wizard Merlin with an 'e'?"

"Of course." Juliet responded flippantly as she opened the door. "That's where the name comes from." I followed her into the room, even though I was still confused. I'd never heard of any languages named after Merlin before…

I was about to ask more about the language and it's origins when the room before me caught my attention, banishing all thoughts of Merline from my mind.

"Whoa…" I breathed as I looked around the room. "Cool!"

Juliet wasn't kidding when she called this the Egyptian room. The whole place looked like ancient Egypt come to life, with hieroglyphics, Egyptian pottery and furniture and all sorts of other amazing things decorating the room, and a fine layer of dusty desert sand filmed almost every surface, swept away by Juliet's skirt as she crossed the room to head towards an area of the room that was curtained off, where I could make out the silhouette of an elaborate throne. There was even this 'window' across the room that showed a view of the desert that looked so real, I almost believed we really were in a dry, forsaken wasteland instead of a small village by the sea. Studying the window, I wondered if it was like some kind of high tech TV thing or something. It all looked so lifelike, especially the camel that was plodding it's way slowly through the sand, eventually disappearing behind the vase that was sitting on the windowsill.

"Nile! Ni~le! Nile stop pouting and come out here! Bella wants to apologize!" Startled, I drew my attention away from the window to look at Juliet, who was glaring at the curtains with a stern expression. I opened my mouth to say something when a scoffing noise made me freeze in confusion. What the…?

"Apologize?" A little boy's voice said disdainfully. "And just why should I accept an apology from that miscreant? Leave me be, Juliet, and take the winged scoundrel with you before I decide it would be easier to just eat her and be done with it."

"Nile, you're too old to be acting like a spoiled brat!" Juliet sighed in a long suffering kind of way. "Look, just come out here and talk to her face-to-face. If you don't, I'll have Lucy and Ian come in here and break the barrier you put on the curtains. Don't think I won't, Nile!"

Wait, so Nile was a kid? I thought we were looking for a cat!

"Juliet, what-?"

"You honestly think that those children could overcome my powers so easily?" Nile asked scornfully, cutting off my question to the small heiress. "I can't believe you think so little of me, Juliet."

Children? Ian was, like, thirty and Lucien was easily somewhere in his fourties! No way this Nile kid could be older then ten with that voice, and he called those two children?

It's official; everyone in this castle must be insane. God, I hope it's not contagious…

"Ian could tear through this barrier like it was toilet paper and you know it." Juliet shot back, frowning at the curtains with big, watery eyes. "Come on, Nile, please come out here and make peace with Bella! For me?"

"…Very well, if you insist." Nile sighed in defeat. Apparently, I'm not the only one around here weak against tears…

My train of thought derailed, though, when the curtains shimmered for a moment before parting just a little bit at the bottom, just enough so that a small gold kitten could poke it's head out of the gap.

"Well, Bella? I'm waiting."

…

No way.

It's impossible. There is no WAY that voice just came out of that cat! This had to be some sort of trick, a prank on the new guy. I bet there was a ventriloquist behind the curtain, making it look like the cat could talk. That was NO WAY I was seeing a talking cat right now.

"Come on now, out with it!" The cat snapped, padding further out into the room and ruffling his-

Wait, were those WINGS?!

So not only was this a talking cat, but it was a talking cat with little yellow canary-like wings growing out of it's back?!

Just when I thought I was gonna pass out, the bell in Juliet's hand glowed for a moment  before morphing into a tiny silver pixie-like creature with a slim, feminine body and insect wings, like a dragonfly or something, growing out of it's back. The wings started to hum softly as the creature took off, flying down to the cat's eyelevel to make these weird chirping noises, like a bird.

"'Never do it again?' Do I look like a fool to you, Bella, I know better then to believe that for a moment!" the cat responded angrily to the pixie's chirping. More chirping followed this statement, and the cat narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "I have your word on that? You'll really agree to a week without your powers if you misbehave and meddle with my collection again? And you'll stay in bell form the entire time?" The pixie nodded vigorously and the cat frowned in consideration. "…Very well, I suppose that will do. I accept your apology."

Pouncing forward, the cat made its way over to Juliet, exposing it's neck to the golden-haired girl.

"If you don't mind, child…?"

"Not at all!" Juliet said as the pixie flew back to the girl's hand and turned herself back into a bell with a pink ribbon. Crouching down, Juliet tied the bell around the cat's neck. It seemed satisfied with the girl's handiwork, since it preened for a moment before heading towards the door.

"Let's get going then, Bella. We still need to straighten out the mess you made in my quarters, after all…"

"Bye Nile! Bye Bella! No more fighting from now on, okay?" Juliet said with a giggle as the two left. "Sorry about all that… Ryan? Are you alright? You're white as a sheet…" Juliet's words only barely registered to my mind, which was now full of talking cats and pixies that turn into bells.

"Wh-what… how…?!" I was so freaked out by everything I had just seen that even noticed I had been backing away from Juliet until I was halfway out the window I had been looking at earlier, the vase on the windowsill toppling downwards as I knocked it off its perch.

"Careful!" Juliet yelped, jumping forward to grab my arm and pull me back into the room. "In case you haven't noticed, it's kind of a long way down…" Peering out the window at the shattered vase I'd knocked down lying in the sand below, I definitely noticed. Just like I noticed that the 'window' really was a window, and not a high tech TV like I thought.

"…It's real…" I breathed out numbly, not even caring that I had just broken a vase that was probably worth ten million times everything I own. "It's all real…"

"Huh?" Juliet looked confused at my babbling. "Real? Of course it's all real. If it was fake, then it wouldn't be any fun! Hey, Ryan, are you sure you're feeling okay? 'Cause you look like you need to sit down for a little bit…"

I didn't bother responding to Juliet's observation. Passing out usually makes that a little bit difficult, after all.

Why me?!