The knock at the door sounded deafening in the quiet of the house. Vanessa had only just arrived back at the Mansion and was unsurprised to find it quiet as a tomb. Still even the servants were not to be seen which puzzled her and she sent Hans off to go find where they had gotten to. She guessed that her parents and brothers were out on some business or other, her brother Elliot was still at school. But not liking to feel she was the only one in big empty rooms, she had retreated to her bedroom.
She wondered why Hans had knocked so loudly on her door - he knew she hated that.
But when she told him to come in, her manservant was not alone. Flanking him were two tall members from Pandora. One she did not know with short brown hair and glasses and another she recognised. Of course, the great Xerxes Break - or at least that's what Elli would call him. He'd taught her brother to sword fight, she remembered.
She rose to greet them, apologising for not having known they were there.
"I am only just back myself, you see. The servants are… where are they, Hans?" She asked, remembering the reason for his departure.
"They're not here, m'lady." He spoke in his slow, doleful tones. She frowned in confusion.
"Strange… did Mother give them the day off?"
Break stepped forward then, catching her attention.
"Please, Miss Nightray-"
"Vanessa." She said, interrupting him.
A faint smile, but not much of one, she noticed. Wasn't that strange somehow, she wondered… wasn't this man known for smiling all the time?
"Vanessa," He conceded with a nod of his head. He motioned with his cane to her dressing table seat. "You may want to sit down. I'm afraid… we have some rather bad news for you."
She stayed standing. She was a Nightray - she would not bow so easily to the whims of others. Looking from the solemn faces of one man to another though, she began to suspect there was something deeply wrong.
"What is it? What's happened? Was Pandora attacked and you want our help? I'm really the wrong person to ask, you know - perhaps Claude-"
"He's dead, m'lady." Han's words were abrupt.
She felt the blood drain out of her face and her legs felt wobbly.
"No… that's… I only saw him not a week ago."
"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Vanessa. But your brothers were involved in an… attack by a killer our organisation has been trying to catch for some time."
She felt ice in her stomach.
"Brothers? How many?" She managed to ask.
"I believe… Elliot was safe as he was still at school. But the others…"
She sank to her knees on the floor, shaking.
"No… no, that can't be. I… I just saw them." She looked up, her face twisted. "Has someone told Mother? And Elliot… does he know? He'll be so upset…"
Vaguely she knew that she was also upset but she didn't want to think about that right now.
"A message has been sent to them. You need not worry. Someone should be with you now… the killer is still on the loose and you should be protected. Perhaps at Pandora…"
She waved him away.
"No. My place is here in the Mansion. I have my servant - that is enough. I… why was noone here to save my brothers? Why…? Why would they do such a thing?"
She wasn't stupid. She knew the Nightrays were not the most popular of Houses - but to be murdered in cold blood like this was simply beyond her comprehension. Fred, Ernest, Claude… they're all gone. Only Elliot is left to me. No, it's too cruel… too cruel.
A few tears leaked from her downcast eyes and she looked at them in shock. Then she felt the bulky presence of Hans by her side and she clung to him, clung to him as if he'd been a boulder in the middle of the sea she was sinking in. And she sobbed onto his shoulder.