When Sindra and her parents pulled up the the large Bates' estate, there were already several cars parked in the driveway. They parked beside a white Rolls-Royce, and Sindra shrunk into her seat.

"Dad, you didn't say Granddad's brother would be here, too…" She said, glaring at the back of her father's seat. Reginald gave her a sympathetic look from the rearview mirror.

"Sorry Sindy, but if I had you wouldn't have come, would you?" He gave a small chuckle upon seeing Sindra's betrayed look. Diane turned in her seat and looked at her daughter.

"Don't worry dear, we won't make you share a room with him or anything." Reginald snorted loudly, and Diane giggled as Sindra crunched up her nose in disgust. The three of them got out, and began to unpack the car. As Sindra reached for her things, a small blonde girl came running out of the house in their direction. Sindra barely had time to think before the girl pounced on her, squeezing her with a tight hug.

"SINDY SINDY SINDY SINDY SINDY SINDY! I AM SO SO SO SO SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE, OH MY GOD!" The girl shrieked, continuing to hug Sindra mercilessly. Sindra held back a groan, mostly because she couldn't breathe.

"Hi, Adelaide." She managed, taking in a deep breath as Adelaide finally released her. Her cousin gave her a huge grin, and began bouncing around her enthusiastically.

"So, did you hear? I got a boyfriend! His name is Henry and we are SO perfect together! Seriously, we are going to be together forever- Here, look!" Adelaide shoved a bright pink phone into Sindra's face. Sindra backed away, taking the phone lightly. She blinked down at the photo.

"That's great, Addie. But, aren't you still only 10?" Sindra said, handing the phone back to her cousin. Adelaide took her phone and giggled profusely.

"Oh, Sindy! Age is just a number, silly!" She said, suddenly grasping onto Sindra's wrist and pulling her toward the mansion. Sindra stared back at her father who mouthed "Sorry" to her as she was dragged away from him. Diane put her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"She'll forgive you someday." She said, trying not to laugh.

Adelaide pulled Sindra all the way into the drawing room, where all of her other cousins were sitting around, the youngest ones babbling away while the others played on their phones. As they entered, all of them looked up. Each and every one of them had the same light blonde hair as Adelaide, but none of the others seemed as excited at her appearance. The eldest, a boy named Austin, called out to them.

"Oi, Sindy. I didn't think you'd come." He said, looking rather taken aback. Austin, who was 2 years older than Sindra, was the "leader" of her group of cousins. He was notoriously bossy, and had a special talent of convincing the others to take the fall for problems he created. Out of all her cousins, Sindra hated him the most.

"Well, I guess you were wrong." Sindra said, enjoying the dirty look he gave her. Adelaide, not sensing the tension, pulled Sindra down into the middle of the group. Austin smirked.

"Aren't you supposed to be at some boarding school, anyway?" He questioned, trying to read Sindra's expression. Sindra looked at him blankly.

"Yeah, but I got the week off. They let you do that when a family member dies." She said, trying her best to say it as blandly as she could. "God, if only I could jinx him." She thought to herself, cracking a small smile as she did so. Austin was about to press her further, but luckily for Sindra, her Aunt Julia poked her head into the room.

"Alright kids, dinner is on the table. Make sure you all go wash your hands!" She said brightly, before leaving again. Everybody got to their feet, and began to meander over to the dining room. Sindra sighed with relief, and made her way to her parents, who were already sitting at the dinner table. She walked up to her father and whispered in his ear, "I'm already dying." Reginald laughed, and shooed her away to the kid's table a few feet away. As Sindra sat down besides Adelaide and her 5 year old cousin Miranda, her grandmother Oriana walked into the room. Oriana, a tall woman with golden-grey hair pulled back into a bun, gave a few looks around the table before smiling. She sat down at the head of the table, before turning to Reginald, who was sitting beside her. Sindra couldn't quite make out what she was saying to her father, but since it looked important, she made a mental note to ask him about it later. She watched their interactions closely as she ate her dinner, getting more intrigued by the second.

"What do you think, Sindy?" Adelaide said loudly, pressing herself into Sindra's side of the table. Sindra jumped in her seat.

"What?" She asked, having completely forgotten her cousins were even there. Austin, who was sitting across from her, flashed her his signature smirk.

"We were wondering why Uncle Reggie has black hair, since neither Granddad or Nan had dark hair." He said, still smirking. Sindra was surprised. She looked from her father, down to her own black hair. Truthfully, she had never thought about it before. But now that she was, she couldn't come up with a single idea why that would ever be.

"I don't know…" She said, pressing her mind for a possible solution. "Maybe there's some gene somewhere that gave him dark hair." Austin watched her like a hawk.

"You sure? I reckon maybe Uncle Reggie isn't really part of our family. Maybe he brainwashed Nan into thinking he was her son." Sindra glared at him.

"You're stupid." She said, lacking a better response. Angrily, she threw her fork onto her plate and got up from the table. Giving one last hateful glance at her oldest cousin, Sindra left the table and went to go find the room she'd be staying in for the week. After scouring through the rooms looking for her suitcase, she finally found it. She threw herself face-down onto the bed, and let out a loud groan. There was a soft knock on the door.

"Sindy, you in there?" Her father's voice came from the other side of the doorway. Sindra grunted loudly in response, and her father entered the room. He walked over and sat down on the bed beside her. "I'm sorry you had to come to this," he started. "Honestly, I didn't want to myself." Sindra rolled over to look at her dad.

"Dad, why is your hair black?" She asked. At first, Reginald looked taken aback, but then he smiled and nodded softly to himself.

"I've been asking myself that question since I was your age, Sindy. I still don't really have an answer. Is that what Austin was bothering you about?" He answered, looking down at her. Sindra responding by shoving her face back into the blankets. Reginald sighed.

"Sindra, this week will be over before you know it, I promise."

The morning of the funeral hadn't come quickly enough for Sindra, having spent the last week attempting to avoid nearly all social interactions with her relatives, specifically Austin and her obnoxious Great-Uncle. As her parents and her got ready for the day, Diane leaned over to Sindra.

"Sweetheart, can you go downstairs for me and ask your Uncle John when breakfast is?" Diane asked. Sindra nodded, and left to go downstairs. After receiving her answer, she walked back upstairs, but stopped when she heard her grandmother's voice.

"Come in," Diane said, Sindra watched from afar as her grandmother walked into the room. "Ah, Oriana, to what do we owe the pleasure?" She heard her mom say as the door closed behind them. Sindra snuck up the remainder of the stairs, and pressed her ear against the door.

"Now why would she close the door…?" Sindra thought to herself, quietly pulling on the handle and opening the door just enough so that the could see inside.

"Is Reggie in here?" Oriana asked, looking around for her son. Reginald, who had been in the bathroom combing his hair, walked out to greet his mother.

"I'm here, Mum," He said, still running the comb through his hair. Oriana smiled at her son.

"May I speak to you and Diane? There's something I need to tell you two." She said, looking rather serious.

"Of course. What is it?" Reggie asked. Oriana sighed and sat down on the bed beside Diane. Reginald sat on the other side her, looking a little concerned. "Mum?" He asked, turned his head slightly to the side questioningly.

"Do you remember when you were a child, and Felix got drunk and started yelling that you weren't his?" Oriana said, looking over at her son. Reginald nodded. "Well," Oriana continued, "He was right." There was silence, as Reginald looked from his mother to his wife. Outside the room, Sindra's heart pounded in her head. She pressed herself as hard as she could into the oak door. Reginald finally broke the silence.

"Okay. So who is my father, then?" He asked, taking deep breaths. His mother smiled, and got to her feet. She walked over to the vanity across from the bed, and looked into the mirror at her own reflection.

"It was a long time ago. I was just a girl… but I was in love." She looked back at her son and daughter-in-law. "His name was Reggie." She said. Diane gasped, and Reginald got to his feet.

"You named me after him?" Reginald said, staring off into the distance, dumbfounded. He looked back at his mother. She gazed into his eyes lovingly.

"Yes. And you look just like him, too." She said, looking back into the mirror. Sindra couldn't believe her ears. She needed to know more. Reginald began pacing around the room.

"Alright. Okay." He said, reassuring himself. Oriana took yet another deep breath in. Diane stared at her, looking as if there wasn't anything in the world she wasn't ready to hear. "Mum, who was he? How did you meet? Why didn't you marry him?" Reginald asked, sitting back down on the bed. Oriana's smile faltered. She thought for a moment before answering.

"We were childhood sweethearts. I met him one day playing in the river down the road from my home. He was just a boy, very distant from everybody. But I managed to befriend him, and soon we became best friends. I didn't marry him…" She trailed off. Looking a little pained, she turned around and leaned against the vanity. "I didn't marry him because he died." Silence. It was so silent, Sindra was surprised her family couldn't hear her breathing. Finally, after a minute of complete shock, Oriana spoke. "It's a long story, Reggie. But I thought I should tell you." She turned again, and opened the top drawer in the vanity. After digging through a few of the dusty papers that were within it, she procured one of them, along with silver chain with a glass orb hanging down gracefully from it. She took them with her and sat down between her son and his wife again. "This is the last gift he ever gave me." She gave the paper to Reginald. Sindra watched as he read the letter, his face gradually becoming more melancholy. Thinking quickly, Sindra closed the door as quietly as she could, before opening it again loudly and walking through.

"Mum, Uncle John says breakfast will be ready in 15 minutes." She said, feigning ignorance of the whole situation. The three adults jumped in their seats and Reginald quickly threw his arms behind him, hiding what Sindra knew to be her Grandfather's letter. After staring at them awkwardly for a few seconds, she asked "...So, how's it going?" Oriana got to her feet and gave a warm smile to her granddaughter.

"I was just leaving dear, I'll see you at breakfast." She said, placing her hand fondly on Sindra's head. As she strolled out the door, Sindra turned to see a glimmer of silver dangling from her fingers. When she spun around again, Reginald was over at the other end of the room, closing his suitcase. Diane stood up.

"Should we all go downstairs, then?" She asked, looking from Sindra to her husband. Reginald nodded, and they walked to the doorway.

"I'll meet you down there in a sec." Sindra said, walking over to her own suitcase, and beginning to rummage through it. Her parents looked at each other suspiciously, but shook it off.

"Okay Sindy, we'll see you down there." Diane said, and the two of them left the room. Sindra carefully walked over to the doorway and made sure her parents were walking down the stairs before turning towards her father's suitcase. She lifted the top, and with trembling hands, picked up the letter.

My love, My Oriana

By the time you read this, I'll be gone. For that, I am truly sorry. I know I haven't told you much about what I have to do, but believe me when I say I'd rather still be there lying next to you. Please, go and live a full life for me. Marry Felix, and be happy. Knowing you'll be safe is all that's driving me, otherwise I don't think I'd have the strength to do this. I don't want this to end. I love you so much. But I am responsible for so much, and must pay the debt that I owe. I love you. All I have to leave you are my memories, watch over them. Don't forget me. I'll be thinking only of you when the darkness consumes me. I love you. I love you.

RAB