Scott walked right up to the mailbox in the front of the garden, frowning a little as he did so. A letter from the postman? Surprising. Letters so rarely came in those days. Who could the letter be for this time?

Opening the top of the red mailbox, Scott picked out the white envelope, reading the name written on the outside.

Roberto de Costa.

A letter from Brazil.

"For Roberto. Hmmm…unusual. He himself mentioned he no longer keeps in touch with his old acquaintances back there," Scott mused to himself.

He returned to the mansion and immediately gave the letter to Roberto.

"A letter for me?" Roberto raised his eyes in surprise. "All the way from Brazil? Wow." His tone went suddenly flat and sarcastic. "Thanks anyway, Scott."

Scott nodded, and departed, so that Roberto could read the letter in peace alone.

"A letter from Estevao?" Roberto raised his dark eyebrows in surprise, as he saw the contents of the letter all written in Spanish, by his father's servant. "Funny…why should he suddenly write to me? Something doesn't seem right about this…"

Retreating to a quiet corner in his room where he was unlikely to be disturbed, he sat down to read it.

Seconds turned to minutes, and the minutes turned into almost an hour. Still Roberto stared at the letter, eyes fixed on it as though nothing else in the world was worth looking at.

No, no, no!!!! This can't be real! It must be a lie! What's happening? Something like this can't occur! No, no, no!

No, a little voice whispered in the back of his head. No. Not a lie. You know Estevao never lies. He's been like your father since your mother died. He wouldn't make up a story like that!

There was absolutely nothing in the world he could do now. His heart seemed to cease beating, and he felt distinctly light, as though he was curiously floating up above. Perhaps, for all he knew, he no longer existed in this world. Only when he heard distant footsteps did he suddenly regain his senses. Still too horrified to know what was going on around him, he blindly stood up and headed to the door, the letter falling unknowingly onto the floor.

"Hey Rob!" Ray unexpectedly popped his head round the door, with his usual cheerful grin. "What's up? Do you want to come and….hey! What's up with that look?"

"Leave me," Roberto muttered, sounding as though he was speaking to a wall.

"Rob, are you OK?" Ray asked concernedly. "You look so…pale and upset. What has…"

"I SAID, LEAVE ME!!!" Roberto exploded, clenching his fists so tightly that Ray could even see them turning white. "Go away, and tell everyone to leave me alone! Just go!"

Stunned by the look of sheer, unholy fury and rage on Roberto's face, Ray flinched backwards, his mouth dropping with shock. He had seen Roberto angry once or twice, but Roberto had never been this furious. The boy's dark eyes were now blazing more fiercely than fire, his face paler than death as he stormed down the stairs and towards the main door.

What on earth?

Retreating to the room they shared, Ray noticed a bit of white paper lying on the ground, with neatly-written words on them. A letter, no doubt.

But how could a mere letter send Roberto into such a rage?

"Ray, what on earth is going on?" It was Kelly this time, looking confused and astonished as she peeked into the room. "I just passed Roberto by the stairway, and, golly, he looked as though he wanted to tear down the whole mansion! What's gotten into him?"

"I don't know. Can you interpret this for me?" Ray, looking equally confused and shocked, held out the letter to Kelly. "It's Roberto's letter, I think. Written out in Spanish."

Kelly nodded, and curiously scrutinized the letter. Her mutant abilities, the envy of many others, enabled her to not only make words appear anywhere she liked, by simply passing her hand over the surface, but also to understand and speak any language you could think of, no matter how rare or foreign.

As she read on and on, a frown formed on her pretty face, before her skin turned pale altogether.

"What's the matter?" Ray asked anxiously. "Kelly?"

"Ray, we'd better pass this letter to the Professor to read. I think it may concern Roberto's future life seriously!"

Sorry for a late update, readers!!! Been too busy recently...sigh...

Anyway, same thing, guys. I won't update until I reach a total of 50 reviews!!!! (and I really mean it!!!) No 5 reviews, no chappie 12...

Come on, you know you want to review... According to the stats, there are always tens of people reading this!!!! Why is it so hard sometimes just to get 5 or more reviews???!!! As I've said before, my stories are all open for even NON-MEMBERS to review no!!!! So, please feel free to REVIEW, member of FF or not!!!

Tq!