Chapter 2 Alexandria Marie Mortalis
–Alexa–
2020, March 3 Pandemic
So, it’s a lockdown. I spent my 20th birthday here, locked down in this old mansion. A gothic mansion, I would say. School’s online, but it made me lazy. I spent my days sleeping and cuddling with my fleece blanket, then reading dark romance and fantasy. Some sick romance or whatever unhinged or deranged it was. It fascinates me, but I haven’t lost my mind yet.
“Miss Alexa,” a maid knocked as I opened my eyes. I barely slept the whole day, but I was up all night. “Madam said that I need to clean your room.”
“Wow,” I chuckled to myself after hearing the maid. It’s the very first time that they have indeed offered to clean my room.
My parents would always tell me not to depend on the maids. But they happily cleaned each of my siblings’ rooms. I mean, half-siblings. I’m an illegitimate one. Not until my father married my mother after his annulment from his first wife.
I groggily walked toward the door and opened it.
She handed me a box with a label of designer clothes. I took it.
“You need to wear this for dinner tonight, too.” Mina was always kind to me. She’s forty years old, I guess.
I sighed. “Why?” I asked.
“Well, we have a visitor as per your grandfather. A very important person.”
I let her in, and she even gathered my well-sorted laundry. As for laundry, I do my own, but Mina always told me to just bring it out of my room so she could wash it. But I don’t want my mother to scold me.
“Important person?” I asked as I placed the box over my bed and opened it. A woodrose-colored dress with embroidered daisies and dandelions by the hem. It’s a mini dress with a corset design. “Wow,” I murmured.
“It was a gift from the Godfather.”
“Godfather?” I asked. Mina smiled at me while she tidied up my study table.
“When you came out of your mother’s womb, this rich man arrived at the residence…” She stopped. “Well, that’s all I know.”
“Rich man, huh? If I had known that I had a rich Godfather, I would’ve already asked him to take me out of this hellhole.” I murmured to myself. I bet she didn’t hear me since she didn’t say anything.
I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, washed my hair, and tied up my thick curls into a messy bun.
I helped Mina, but she told me to just go downstairs for lunch. Yup, I woke up already in the middle of the day. But I helped her out instead and cleaned up my own room, vacuumed the floor, checked under my bed, and fixed the pillows around it.
Weirdly, I always wake up on the floor. I always fall without waking up. My body would always feel stiff, and my dreams would be forgotten.
“You haven’t eaten or drunk anything,” Mina reminded me.
I finally went downstairs and happened to pass by the library when I heard them whispering. It sounded like my father and my grandfather.
“He killed my brother, your son!” I heard my dad hiss at my grandfather.
“He was killed because he did that to that woman!” Grandpa sounded agitated. “We need to pay now…”
Pay? Pay what? Are we bankrupt? I mean, I have my own allowances and funds. I received a lot from my own bank account that my grandpa gave me on my 18th birthday. There was no party at all since they always mourned my uncle’s death anniversary, but he gave me that at the end of the day. That’s why I could buy a lot of books.
“What if she were taken? He swore to wipe out our bloodline. He’s a monster.”
I walked by slowly.
“We can’t give Ale~~”
I froze as I turned my head sharply toward the ajar door.
“Enough!” Grandpa raised his voice.
Weird. Is it me? I mean, I was never chosen or anything at all. I was a discarded daughter. I’m not that important to them anyway. I headed to the kitchen, the staff glanced at me, and I made my own tea. I sat by the barstool and was surprised when the new staff member, with pale skin, a flashy smile, and those little fangs, pushed a well-plated dish in front of me.
“H~Hi?”
“Hi,” he cheered. I think he’s around twenty-five or so. From the look of it, he doesn’t look poor at all. I mean, he looks like a rich person who doesn’t need to serve in this family. “I didn’t see you at dinner and then at breakfast. So, here. Eat a lot.” He cheered me up.
“You are new here, right?”
“I’m just helping my mom here.” He smiled up and somehow added, “You don’t eat a lot.”
That’s indeed true. I haven’t eaten much.
But with a full plate now, I think I don’t need any snacks. I was already fat. They kept commenting on my body and about how fat I am. That’s why I always wear oversized tees.
“Thank you.” I gave him a little smile as I sat by the barstool and started eating. He even sat next to me and chatted.
“I’m Sy, by the way.”
“And I’m Alex,” I nodded as I hummed at the tuna while eating pasta with white sauce. “This is good.”
“Yes, I made it.” He chuckled.
“So, you cook here occasionally?”
“Yes,” he nodded.
“How come I never see you?”
“Oh, I also deliver food to your door. I think you’re busy. Mina said to just leave it outside your door,” he added.
“R-really? Huh,” I nodded. So it was his doing. Mina told me that someone would deliver me a meal if I skipped one. That happened when one of my siblings got COVID. We were confined to our rooms.
“It’s good that it’s locked down, you know.” He added, “Every twenty years.” He murmured something.
“What about every twenty years?” I asked as I chomped on the food.
“A tragedy to our family.” He shrugged. “Happens every twenty years.”
“Sorry about that.” I shrugged, and he only smiled at me.
“At least you are safe.”
“Hmm, I am.” I only nodded and agreed with him. He’s weird.
His phone rang, and I glanced at his latest iPhone. No, he’s definitely not just a maid’s son. He’s someone else. He’s lying through his teeth.
“Oh, my father is calling again for updates. He’s very strict.” He winked and left.
He’s very handsome, and I think he’s rich. I just don’t know why he’s lying and why he’s here.
I finished my meal as the house chef, who was always silent, took the empty plate from me and gave me dessert.
“Thank you.”
08:00 PM
I stayed upstairs, by the wooden parapet, watching as men entered, clothes were sanitized, and the tallest man caught my eye. He wasn’t wearing a face mask, and he looked up at me… directly into my eyes. I gaped upon seeing those rare hazel eyes.
I stepped back. He looked dangerous and frightening.
