IN THE DARK
Jace, the driver, dropped each and every one at their respective houses, starting with Omal, Eric, Karson, and then Ares.
"Have a good night, sir." Jace told the boy as he sat in the driver's seat since his offer to open the door was declined.
"You too. Thanks for dropping me." Ares told him and saw Estella lowering the window behind the driver.
"Make sure to come by some time near," She said while keeping her fiance in his place. She then popped her head out the window and gestured for the boy to come close to the car. When he did, she whispered to him in the ear, "Could you send me THE pictures?"
Ares backed up with an instant blush on his face with big eyes. The person who told him that, also had adorable red cheeks as she looked down cutely.
"Please?" She pleaded.
Before Ares could answer, Orion had gotten out of Estella's grip and brought his face next to hers to be mixed into the conversation. "What did you tell him?"
"Nothing." Estella immediately rolled up her window and shut Orion up. "Start the car, Jace."
"Yes, young mistress."
"Good night, Ares." She wished him from the half-rolled-up window.
"Good night." Ares replied and nodded once to the previous request. As the car drove away, he heard Estella's high-pitched squeal.
The boy waved at the car before the vehicle joined took a curve and could not be seen.
Ares smiled and did a ninety-degree turn towards his house. They had dropped in front of his house gate which was about three hundred metres away from the actual house.
He went to the right side of the massive gate, as tall as a giraffe and pressed the tiny black buzzer in the red brick walls.
When he heard the line was connected, although nobody spoke, he said, "It's Ares. I'm back." Within a second, he heard the gate for people unlock and was let in.
As soon as he stepped in and lightly pushed back the door to close, it automatically locked itself again.
The path to the house was tidy and made of white bricks that were lit by a combination of tiny lights and street lamps all the way. As he walked to the house, he sighed.
The house was lit. Every light bulb outside of the house was lit making it look like it was a house-sized lightbulb. It was too bright for him. When he looked up to the sky, he couldn't even point out the constellation of Orion. He couldn't even imagine the electricity bill his parents were paying for doing this every single day of the year.
When Ares reached the door, he went through the three steps of unlocking the door which was the twelve-digit passcode, the house key and the fingerprint sensor to finally be able to push the door handle and get in safely.
If he got one of them wrong or skip, the alarms would go off, calling the police and an army of men with guns. He had done that once in the past and the next thing he knew, helicopters were flying and the SWAT team coming to his rescue. He got plenty of scolding and had to apologise to the neighbours for causing a commotion in the middle of the night the next day.
The house was quiet, like usual and the soft thud of the door closing echoed into the house.
Ares locked the door as quietly as possible but to no avail, he felt a familiar strong presence behind him and without looking at the shadow they made, he knew that person was going to have crossed arms just like any other day.
"Hi, Willow..." The boy hesitantly turned his body to the person he was trying to avoid with his eyes down.
"Welcome back, young master."
The woman was definitely taller than Ares and even Eirene Queen who was about one-eighty-centimetres. She was muscular and was wearing a black poet shirt, a long black skirt and a white apron in the front. The crossed arms appeared like two trunks of large trees. Unlike her bulky body, her face was fairly small and had high cheekbones, casting a shadow on her face.
Willow stretched her right crossed arm in a flash and checked the time on the watch at her wrist. "10:13 pm..."
Ares peeked at the woman but instantly lowered them when their eyes met. "I can explain."
"Oh, really." The head maid placed her arm back into the original place and tilted her head slightly. Her black, partially turning grey, hair was in a beautiful bun without any strands out.
"I was at this garden called Red Queen's Garden with the others," He didn't need to explain who he meant by 'others' since he knew that she knew. "And talked to the owner for a long time that I forgot the curfew..."
"Mm-hmm." Willow nodded. The faint light from behind her made her appear bigger than she already was.
The boy didn't know what to make an excuse of and just stared down.
"I thought you promised me and grand madam that unless you don't have your work, you will come back by ten?" Her voice was very intimidating.
"Yes, I did..."
"And what's this?"
"..."
Willow sighed and at last, let her arms be rested at her sides. "Do you know how much I was worried about you? This morning, you told me that you don't have any shifts today and would be back before seven. I cooked you your favourite dinner and waited for you. Waited for you and you still didn't show up. I was almost going to call the police when I received a call from young master Karson. I expected to hear from you, young master."
Ares looked up after quietly listening to her words. "I'm sorry, Willow."
The maid softened her expression as she stepped closer to the boy. Somehow, that action made her seem less big and intimidating. "Don't do that again, please. I thought my heart was going to stop."
"I promise to not do it again. From next time, I will inform you." Ares softly hugged the woman who had been taking care of him since birth.
"You better." She smiled after being let go. "Are you hungry? If so, I will warm up the food."
"I am hungry but I'll be taking a shower first." Ares began heading for the grand staircase on the left while Willow nodded and left for the kitchen after hearing him.
When Ares reached upstairs, he first checked if his parents were back when no lights were seeping from the door to the floor, he just walked past the four large doors and went into his room.
----
Eirene Queen sighed deeply when she closed the door of her hotel room. The shoot took longer than expected because of the strong wind from the shore which kept on blowing on the set.
After she left her bag and the coat on the floor, she began stripping herself on the way to the shower room in the dark as if she was an owl and had night vision.
Eirene walked past the floor-to-ceiling window but didn't dare to face the reflection and walked straight into the bathroom without turning the lights on. She showered and had a bath in the dark and in the cold, and all the while, she had a stone face on.
She didn't speak a single word until she looked at herself in the mirror after the bath, naked.
Her thick black hair was in a messy bun, and around her neck was a simple but gorgeous golden necklace with a tiny silver shell hanging from the middle. Her collarbone was perfect and looked like a bridge between her neck and throat, but despite that, her chest, belly and hips were in a surreal, healthy, hourglass shape. Her thighs had just the right amount of meat with no scars visible.
Her body and appearance were what every girl, woman and even man dreamed of, but the owner of the dream body wasn't looking at any of the points that were pointed out.
Eirene blankly stared at her left upper arm and that one point in the muscle where she had a tiny scar from an injection she received years ago. The injection that ended her life and left her with a deep scar and a memory she wished to rip off from her past.
She stood there for a fair amount of time with water continuously and unsteadily dropping off her hair from time to time.
The actress moved from her position when she heard her phone ring in her bag. She approached her bag on the floor like a cat, without making noise and picked up the call.
"It's me," said Jaxon, the first moment she picked up.
"What is it?"
"Just checking up on you. You seemed distant today."
"I... just didn't get enough sleep yesterday." As she spoke, she turned her body slightly towards the tinted window which was slightly exposed since the curtain wasn't closed fully. The space between the curtains brought the city lights into the room and shone the goddess-like figure of hers partially.
"Okay." The manager kept silent for some seconds before he said, "Well, I hope I didn't wake you up. We'll meet tomorrow. Good night."
Eirene approached the window and stared out. Since she was holding the phone with her left hand, the upper arm she used to stare at was fully in view. "Good night."
Just a millisecond before her hand went down to her side, tens of slashed scars reflected the lights for a moment. The scar tissues were hard and had a shiny surface and that was what made them stand out.
But before anyone could see them again, Eirene harshly brought the two curtains together with an icy glare.