Silver In Our Blood
Chapter 2
Man In A Suit
The next day was rainy, but not those kind of boring rainy days where rain comes and goes away, not the kind where it's cold and windy. No, it was a beautiful rainy day, the kind that happened after long days of extreme heat, where rain fell heavily and constantly, where birds chirped and frogs croaked in happiness. The kind of rain that I liked to call: The Salvation Rain.
I was sitting in the solarium, quietly reading a book when I heard three distant knocks. I closed my book and quickly got up. I made my way across many gigantic rooms before getting to the entrance's massive wooden doors.
I pulled the door open with effort and greeted the stranger. "Afternoon, What can I do for you?" I smiled before recognizing the said stranger. It was the guy that ''interrupted'' me and Dean the night before.
The tall man extended one of his hands towards me as the other one reached the interior pocked of his tight fitted black suit. " Hi, I am Agent Lancaster, FBI." I shook his hand as he pulled his badge out of his suit's inside pocket and showed it to me.
I slightly frowned. "Blaire Argent. Come on in don't stay outside." I motioned him to enter.
He obeyed and I closed the door behind him. The look on his face was absolutely priceless.
"This place is... Wow." He breathed out looking around him in awe as I laughed lightly.
"Why thank you." I smiled and he returned the favour. "I had the same reaction only a few days ago." I laughed to myself remembering.
"Welcome back to the Argent Manor, miss Argent." Emrich, our most loyal butler's old booming voice echoed in my ears.
The scenery of this place was absolutely breathtaking.
In the distance, at the end of the pavement alley on which we were rolling, stood a gigantic building made of pale stone to which clang flourishing vines. Two wings departed from the central piece and entrance, East and West. The West wing was shorter than it's sister, at the far left end of it stood a tall tower from which, I was sure, we could overlook the whole domain. The East wing elongated towards the right, at it's end stood another tower, but this one was larger than the other one. As the first one was simply to enjoy the view, the latter, if I was correct, held on it's first floor the ballroom and on it's second, third and fourth, the master bedroom and other bedrooms. Far behind the manor I could almost discern the roof of the staples, as well as the large fields and gardens extending far behind.
It had been 20 years that I hadn't set foot in this huge house of luxury and it suddenly made me feel strange. I felt the urge to straighten my back and act with grace. It was stupid, but there was just something emaning from that house, it felt like I was back in time.
I got out of the car and stood before the entrance, frozen on my feet. The place was so beautiful, even more magnificent than in my memories. And the best part was that it was my house!
A bloody huge house to say the least, but hey, who would complain about living in something like that?
"Welcome to the Argent Manor." I smiled with pride.
He observed everything, to the marble flooring and grand staircase cascading down to the antic paintings decorating the walls.
"From the exterior this place was already insane, I feel like I'm in a book or something." He laughed and I crossed the room, walking through the arch at our left and entering what I called the blue sitting room.
"I had the exact same feeling, we can almost hear violins and pianos playing." I said and he nodded with amusement, and I saw him straighten himself just like I had a few days before. "Take a seat agent Lancaster." I demanded as I sat on one of the powder blue sofas.
"How old is this place exactly?" He asked with interest.
"The manor celebrated it's four hundredth birthday 2 years ago. It is one of Iowa's most precious jewel. Something to be proud of!"
Blaire, you sound so uptight, relax it's just a federal agent.
His eyebrows raised. "Wow, this is truly amazing." He frowned and quickly looked down before staring back at me, he was on questioning mode. "Tell me, Argent, it's french isn't it?"
"yes, our ancestors were french nobility, fur traders, one of the only french immigrants to actually stay in america in 1600. The climate here was too rough compared to France, but my ancestors were determined people." Truth is, he was kinda cute, and cute people made me nervous, and nervous made me a talking encyclopedia on legs.
Oh my god Blaire stop talking so much, he probably thinks you're the biggest nerd on this whole planet.
"Do you still have connections in France? Family you still know?" He reached for his inside pocket again and took out a small notebook and a pen.
My brows furrowed as I tried to remember, I knew he was here for my parents' brutal murder, there was no way in hell the locals could elucidate this puzzle. "There's my uncle Christopher, he used to live in Beacon Hills, California, but his whole family got murdered too."
He scribed stuff before looking bak at me. "Could you give me their names and their position in the family?"
"Sure, Kate was my aunt she was my father's and Chris' sister, Victoria was Chris' wife and Allison was their daughter, my grandpa Gerard also died, they were all Argents"
"Were all of your family members close?"
"I think so, I was never really here, and we rarely saw each others" I shrugged.
"Do you know if your family had any enemies?"
"Not that I can remember of, of course my family had enemies, everyone has enemies, but who? I have no idea. I wasn't really here to notice and know stuff as you may already know."
"Right, how was boarding school? Was there a reason why you went?"
"It was absolutely great, I loved it. I spent most of my life there since school there was year long." I explained. "We learned thousands of things, from education to day living, politic, house keeping. My parents sent me because they wanted a higher and classic education for me. They wanted me to gain as much knowledge as I could. I've always loved to learn stuff so the whole 'not coming home' thing didn't bother me that much because of that."
"That explains the accent." He smirked.
With that smile, some of the pressure that had built up in my shoulder dropped.
I smiled back and got up flattening my blouse. "Speaking of accent, I was about to make tea would you like some? Or any kind of beverage for that matter." I added.
He chuckled and a smiled crept across his face. His cheeks were carved by adorable dimples sliding down the side of his cheeks when he smiled. His smile was slim and gentle, genuine, not exaggerated and obnoxious. His nose was quite wide but the curve of it was soft in a way so that it wasn't ruining the smoothness of his features unlike his friend, Dean, who's traits were franc and sharp. The only thing about his face that was neatly sculpted was his square jaw, a strong defined line that descended towards his chin. His eyes, mounted by highly placed eyebrows, were a warm hazel brown that, when confronted to broad daylight, took blueish and greenish undertones. They seemed peaceful, calm nordic seas while curtains of hair rained down each sides of his face. His long brown locks were pushed back behind his ears and lovely framed his face, he sure was a fine man. "Sure." He answered.
I noticed his fidgeting as he looked around. "Go ahead, have yourself a look." I proposed him and he silently thanked me while I exited the room.
I walked through the corridor, or more like the hallway since this place was so huge, when I came across Richard, our cook.
Because yes we had a bloody cook.
He was pushing a trolly on which was a steaming teapot, teacups, sugar and spoons.
He offered me a smile constituted by crooked teeth as he greeted me.
"Good afternoon Miss Argent, I figured that you'd like to keep your traditions, so I made you some tea."
"Oh you really didn't have to Richard!" I exclaimed, feeling slightly too important, it was like everyone in here was ready to kiss my feet. It was really starting to make me feel uncomfortable.
"Oh please Miss Argent, It is my job after all." The small plump man spoke up before I could protest more.
With that, he decided our conversation was over and carried on with his trolly towards a room that I had yet not seen before.
The room was pretty large with on it's left a facade high windows that overlooked the backyard gardens and I imagined how this place would be greatly illuminated on a sunny day. There was a gigantic stone fireplace leaning against the back wall. Before it, were placed three antic navy blue sofas that formed, with the fireplace, a rectangular shape that had, in the middle, a coffee table.
"Emrich told me you had a guest I'll go get him for you." The cook told me and quitted without waiting for an answer.
"I suppose this is the tea room." I whispered to myself.
I walked towards the chimney and examined it's head. There was a big A carved in the shape of a arrow head in the stone. The same A that was carved on pretty much everything around here, doors, headboards, cutlery, everything that was carved had an A on it. I knew A stood for Argent, but why the arrow head?
I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Richard entering the room with the agent on his trails, the young man's impressed expression hadn't yet leaved his traits as he looked around.
Richard stated to serve the tea as our visitor walked around the room and stopped, just like I had, at the foot of the fireplace. But instead of staring at the head, he took an odd interest into the ashes sleeping in the heart of the chimney.
I never understood their technique to investigate on cases, how could burnt stuff help you find a killer?
An idea suddenly crossed my mind. "Richard why don't you join us? I'm sure you'll be way more useful than me to answer Agent Lancaster's questions." I proposed while sitting.
The agent looked down at me then at my cook who was now pouring a third cup of tea.
"I'll take that as a yes." Lancaster commented as he came to sit with me on one of the sofas.
The oldest of our trio put the tray containing our tea on the white coffee table and sat on the sofa facing ours.
I outstretched my arm towards the tea set and poured sugar into my cup.
My neighbour picked his spoon up and studied it. "Silver." he said and I felt my cheeks warm a little, I didn't want him to think that all we cared about was money and ourselves.
"Fancy, I know. It's a little too much for my own taste." I quickly answered.
"This family isn't called Argent for nothing." Richard added. "It means silver in french." He explained while adding sugar to his cup.
Our guest nodded and then looked down to his own beverage with a puzzled look.
I leaned towards him and whispered, smirking: "It looks kinda strong, I'd put a lot of sugar if I were you, especially if you're not used to the taste."
His eyes looked up towards our cook then back at me and he understood that what I meant is that Richard wasn't really a pro at making tea.
5 spoonful were needed before he could drink the beverage without scrunching up his nose.
"I'm more the coffee type." He laughed as if saying 'sorry'.
Richard, oblivious to our little conversation about the quality of his tea making skills, spoke up. "So, what do you want to know from me, boy?"
"Right." The agent answered before settling his cup down and taking out, from his inside pocket, the same notebook than earlier. "Can you tell me if there was anything weird in your employers' behaviour before the incident."
Richard's thick black eyebrows furrowed as he thought.
"I remember they were working on a new project and that they were working more than usual, but apart from that, they acted pretty normal if you ask me."
"Was any of the employees in conflict with Mr and Mrs Argent?" He asked while scrubbing down notes that I couldn't comprehend.
"Oh no, not at all, all of the staff here is really grateful for the family's hospitality, it's almost as if we're a part of it. We owe everything to them."
"Meaning?"
"Oh the Argents gave us shelter when we didn't have anywhere to go, when everyone else shot us out, when we thought everything was lost."
Just like the agent, I was learning as much as him about this family, this family that was mine. I just then realized how I knew nothing about them. I felt like a teenager going through it's existential crisis. Except I knew who I was, I just didn't know a single thing about the people who had brought me to this world.
"Did they had any enemies that could have wanted them dead?"
"This family had it's enemies like any other, Mr Lancaster. But I can't think of any that would want them dead."
"where were the bodies found again?" He asked and quickly looked over me as if to see if it was a touchy subject.
I took it as a cue to answer the question myself "Near the pond at the far end of the gardens."
"There was no sign of a fight, no weapons?"
"Nothing, they just slashed my parents's throats open and left." I said, shrugging.
"Did the police found any DNA? Foot prints?"
"Nothing, the dogs didn't even bark." It was Richard that answered the question. "It was a completely quiet and ordinary night."
"Did you heard any strange noise?"
"Like I said, absolutely quiet." The cook answered getting slightly annoyed.
I quickly looked outside to realized that it had now stopped to rain. "I can take you to the pond if you want." I proposed him.
He looked at me and nodded: "That would be great."
I put down my empty teacup on the tray before getting up and thanking Richard for his time.
The young man did the same and we both quitted the room to head outside. The sun was now piercing through the clouds, casting a vivid light onto the fields and gardens before us.
Once outside the walls of the manor I spoke up. "Now I can't promise anything, last time I went there I was accompanied by Emrich, let's just hope we don't get lost." I said as he laughed.
"Don't worry, us men have a great sense of direction." He joked while we made our way through allées of neatly placed flowers and trees.
Everything was groomed to perfection, even the colour of every single flower seemed to have been chosen with logic and complexity. The stone path on which we were walking walking was lined by oak trees on both sides. Their branches leaned towards the middle and tangled together creating an everlasting arch high above our heads. Rays of light poked through the green leaves making the fresh rain drops sparkle like diamonds. The atmosphere around us was delicate and serene, as if cut out of the world by the roof of leaves. We were walking, side by side, with only the soft sound of our footsteps to remind us of our very own existences. It was strange to see how such a tall and strong men could be so delicate and caring. You could see it in the way he stood, in the way he moved, in the way his eyes explored the world and communicated emotions. There was something quite curious about him, like a million years old secret that he carried upon his shoulders. A burden that weighed him down with each steps he took, you could sense it in the tension in his shoulders, always so straight, always trying to live up to a greatness that he couldn't yet achieve. He was trying desperately to grasp it, to have a taste of that greatness, but he just couldn't. Although I was barely even able to reach the height of his shoulders, he was a small man, a small men on the interior, a small men if he compared himself to whoever he looked up to.
He was the one who broke the silence first. "So," He said staring at me, hands in his pockets. " How long are you going to stay in this town?"
His eyes now almost seemed greyish under the warm sun beams, they held an incomparable warmth and a 'je ne sais quoi' that made talking so easy, it was like every word you had to say was the most important thing in this world. I didn't need to lie, he truly had mesmerizing eyes.
"I don't know yet." I answered, hugging one of my arms to my body with the other. "Apparently I have a cousin that I have never heard about that's supposed to come down in a couple days. If he accepts to stay in the manor, because someone has to stay here, than I guess I'll go back to London." I explained.
"You don't like it here?" He asked me.
I sighed. "I do love it, I mean this place is absolutely insane, but I don't know why, it feels weird to be here. I don't know how to explain it."
"Like it's too much?" He completed.
"Yeah!" I exclaimed looking at him and he smiled back. "Plus the guys at the Royal Ballet needs me." I shrugged. "Although I'm sure my safe double is only dreaming of me leaving."
His eyebrows shot up "You're a ballerina?"
I laughed at his reaction, pushing a strand of jet black hair behind my ear. "Yeah."
"I thought ballerinas were taller and.." He scratched the back of his neck as he frowned. "skinnier."
His eyes swept over me to see if he had offended me in any sort of way. Seeing I just smiled back, the pressure in his shoulders dropped.
"Stereotypical ballet dancers are as skinny as toothpicks, but think about it, try to lift your leg up behind you so your foot is the same height as your head, and all that while standing on the very tip of your toes." I explained. "Most of us have better thighs than American Football players." I joked and we both laughed. "I bet I can run faster than you."
"Is this a challenge?" He asked, falsely gauging me by staring at me up and down.
"Maybe?" I teased. "You might have taller legs, but you're also heavier. I'm way more aerodynamic."
He took a fake offended expression. "Are you saying I'm fat?!" He wiped a non-existent tear from his eye.
"Maybe?" I answered again and we both laughed.
It felt great to laugh after staying in this huge manor where everything was so serious and solemn. Even if it was with a stranger that was here to know more about my parents death. It felt great to have a somewhat friend.
I was always one of those who believe that it doesn't matter for how long you've known someone, if you have a good feeling about them then why stay away. You can only go further in a relationship if you actually go further. It's just a matter of instinct.
Detaching my eyes from his' to look before us, I noticed that we were arriving to the pond. Oddly, I guess I was supposed to feel sad or feel at least deranged by the place. Instead, the only thing I could think about was how the scenery of the place was absolutely breathtaking. So peaceful and quiet. Hard to believe my genitors had been brutally murdered right where I stood.
"Here we are, you can do your thing Agent Lancaster." I said clasping my hands together before outstretching them towards the pond.
"Call me Sam" He smiled before walking into the open area, sun shining down on his gorgeous features.
Nice to meet you Sam.
So This is the second chapter of this FF. We met Dean, now Sam. We learned a little bit more about Blaire. Please review :)
XxX - Hell-Later-On
