Inspired by a book but not following the story
'Welcome home, Sebastian' was written in glitter on a poster held up by an attractive, middle aged woman at Gatwick airport. Her maroon eyes peered eagerly at the passengers flooding off the plane from sunny California and smiled in delight as she spotted a tall, dark-haired young man who resembled the woman right down to the reddish flecks in their eyes. It only took a moment for the young man to spot who could only be his mother holding the glittery greeting.
He gave her a half-hearted wave as he slumped over and gave her a hug. "Hi, mom," he greeted and kissed the woman on the cheek.
His mother beamed at him. "Sebastian, honey," she pushed her son's unkept hair out of his face and took his bags, "Tanaka is waiting in the car."
Sebastian's expression turned bitter. "Right." he mumbled, irritated, "Time to meet the new dad."
Waiting in a sleek, black 2003 Rolls-Royce Phantom VII was an older man with white hair and a moustache. He smiled good naturedly as he got out to shake Sebastian's hand. "Good to finally meet you, young man," Tanaka had a very clear, upper class, British accent and it became very clear what had first attracted Sebastian's mother to the old man. The manners and the car clearly announced family money and it wouldn't be untrue to say that Sebastian's family were completely broke. That didn't mean that their marriage had been arranged based purely on finances but it was an excellent bonus.
"Good to meet you too, Sir." Sebastian replied coolly; polite but reserved.
Tanaka let go of the young man's hand and turned to his wife. "Jennifer, dear, allow me to take the luggage."
Jenny smiled warmly at her husband, a slight flush dusting her cheeks as she allowed her attentive partner to relieve her of her burdens. Once the bags were safely secure in the boot of the pricey car, the small family got in and left the airport to take the teen to his new home.
"You're going to love the house. We decorated your room especially," Jenny said over her shoulder to her sulking son in the back seat. "There's so many antiques and you can have parties in the ball room and the gardens are exquisite..."
"Hang on..." Sebastian interrupted, alarmed. "Antiques? Ball room? How old is the house?"
Jenny rolled her eyes but it was her newly beloved husband who replied. "Ho ho ho… well, young man, the history of the Manor dates back long before the 19th century. It belonged to the Phantomhives, cousins of Queen Victoria herself and she often had them do special royal missions. A fire killed the family and it was passed to my family at the end of the 19th century when the last of the Phantomhives were found deceased. The youngest was not far off your age, Sebastian… now, what was his name…?"
"Nine...teenth…?" Sebastian's voice took on a higher pitch. "Deceased?"
His mother sighed dismissively at her son's negative reaction. "My dear, Sebastian has a ...thing about old houses. He doesn't like them much," she then directed her words to her son. "You will try make it work, won't you, Sebastian?"
Sebastian was silent.
"Sebastian?"
The teen shifted. "Sure." he replied, if only to appease his mother.
Driving slowly up the decorated driveway to the front of the house, even the angsty teen couldn't help but gawk at the splendour of the old manor house which could easily be dated two centuries. Ivy crawled up the aged stone walls and there were some renovations on the roof. The garden out front was the home to a hedge of white roses, obscuring the view to the side of the house. From the little that could be seen, the newest lady of the house was right; the gardens were indeed exquisite.
A small figure in a window on the third floor caught Sebastian's eye and the two stared at each other for a long moment before Sebastian gave the person in the window a cautious wave.
"Who are you waving at, sweetheart?" Jenny asked, following Sebastian's line of vision and then frowned. "It's not… it's not happening again, is it?"
"Of course not, mom," Sebastian assured his mother, "I was getting a fly or something out my face. They're everywhere."
"It's the middle of Summer, my boy," Tanaka said cheerfully as he came around with some of the bags, "Expect bugs."
"Middle of Summer, huh?" Sebastian grumbled, glancing at the dark clouds overhead.
"Welcome to England," the old man laughed and led the way inside.
Babbling happily about the wonders of the house, Jennifer led Sebastian up to the third floor to see his room. It only took a second for Sebastian to note the problem with it but tried his best to avoid looking at the issue. To anyone else, the four-poster bed with deep red drapes, computer desk set up and private bathroom would be any teen's dream.
But then… most people couldn't see what Sebastian saw.
"Do you like it, Honey?" Jenny asked her son anxiously, glancing around the large room herself and set down the bags she was carrying by the wardrobe. "I got the Iron Maiden poster you like. And there's a tree by the window. Your computer is set up. Is it ok?"
Sebastian forced a smile. "Of course," he assured her, "Mind if I make myself at home? I'm pretty beat."
She immediately relaxed, "Right, jet lag..." Jenny explained to herself as if scolding herself for her own stupidity. "I'll leave you to it."
Once she left, Sebastian closed and locked the door behind him, tossed his bags onto his bed then addressed said problem. "Ok… who are you and what are you doing in my bedroom?"
Two big, sapphire blue eyes widened and a pair of lush pink lips parted as the boy they belonged to turned to see if there was someone behind him and then back at Sebastian before coming to the conclusion that… "So you can see me?"