Chapter 3

The Gargantuan House And The Gorgeous Guys?

"You know, last time I checked, this was a free country." I had been chattering away for the past ten minutes of the car ride about the most random things. A part of me was hoping it would annoy Claude so he would send me back, and another part of me was just nervous and angry all at the same time. We had left my neighborhood and was now just on the outskirts of Canby.

Claude cast me a curious glance out of the corner of his eye. "It may be free in some aspects, but for all of the illegal things you've done, I believe even a judge would condemn you to this punishment."

"Exile." I corrected. Claude chuckled.

"So do you wish to know about your new roommates?" he asked. I gazed out the window and watched as tree farms passed by the small forests in the distances. There were fields and horses and cows and barns and I suddenly wondered…

"I wish to know where the hell we're going! Why in the world are we so far from the school?" I demanded, spinning in my seat to glare at Claude. "I'm beginning to think you're betraying us and taking me to some worn-down warehouse to kill me!"

Much to my fear, Claude let out a roar of laughter. I stared at him in horror. Finally, after a couple moments, he cleared his throat and shook his head. "No, no. I wouldn't want to ruin your trust. But if you insist…" he glanced at me with raised eyebrows and I shot back away from him so my side was against the window.

"N-No, I'm fine with how everything is going now." I let out a shaky laugh. Claude smirked, and I couldn't help but blush. Then I reprimanded myself This guy was probably thirty years old! I studied him as he drove. But he sure didn't look it.

"Why are you staring at me?" he suddenly asked, shocking me. I quickly averted my gaze.

"I was actually just wondering how old you are." I said boldly. Well, half my life I had grown up being bold. Claude let out another chuckle.

"I just turned thirty-seven four days ago. Why?"

I turned the opposite way to hide my embarrassed blush. "I -err, though you were like twenty…but that had to have been impossible. I mean, you don't even look a day past twenty-one!" Oh man, I hated babbling senselessly. We suddenly turned onto a narrow, gravel road, shadowed by the large forest of trees hovering over us.

"Thank you… I think." he replied. "Now, please keep a leash on your jaw."

I looked at him in confusion. "Huh?" I asked, as the car went down a small hill. I suddenly knew what he meant. The Darquecaster house was more like an up-to-date twenty-first century castle! It hovered at least five stories off the ground, and the exterior was painted a dark, stone gray. Around the base of the house starting and ending at the colossal front door was a dark red brick embroidery. The awning that shadowed the porch was held up by two large shafts that were decorated by green vines with leaves.

Leading up to the door were three dark-wooded steps that conjoined with the wrap-around porch. My eyes traveled up the length of the house, to each spectacular rounded window that had white windowsills. Surrounding the whole house was the forest of leaning and swaying trees.

"Wow." I choked out unbelievably. Claude opened his door when I finally managed to hold my mouth closed, and he popped the trunk. I leapt out of the car, suddenly excited to be here. I couldn't wait to see the inside!

"I tried to warn you." Claude muttered, grabbing my suitcases and walking to me. "Come on." he motioned for me to follow with his head, and I quickly trailed after him. He opened the door and allowed me to walk in first. When I did, I was robbed of my breath.

This was definitely not the house that I wanted to ruin. Everything was either different shades of gray, red, black, brown or white. At first thought, someone would think these people had no taste in colors. But their style is infinite and wonderful. Even though the outside appeared to be updated, the inside looked like over exaggerated monument. The first floor was the largest from ground to ceiling, probably around twenty feet. The hall we walked through was wide and roomy, and at the end sat a large stereo, a few doors, and a night table.

I almost paused when I heard voices coming from the room at the end of the hall. I glanced behind me and Claude nodded for me to walk on. I followed the voices and ended up in a large living room with a plasma television that was currently showing a video game. There were several people sitting on the three couches, as well. As if I had just run into the living room and screamed, "Surprise!", they all looked over at me.

I realized they were all guys, and Alec sat on the farthest end of the couch on the opposite side of the room. There were four guys in all, not including Claude. My jaw dropped. Please somebody tell me I didn't have to live with them! Not to mention they were all drop-dead gorgeous!

Claude appeared beside me and set down my luggage. "Boys, I would like you to meet our newest house maid, Avanni Maddox."

"Ava." I managed to correct him, while still staring shock at the guys. Claude glanced over at me with another smirk.

"I asked if you wanted to know about them!" he reminded. I blinked and quickly closed my mouth.

"I -uh…hi."

Great. My first time being confronted by a room full of the male gender, and all I could do was stutter and then say hi? I was officially an idiot. Alec was the first to speak up. "What a pity," he began, "that Miss Maddox was embarrassed not once, but twice in one day. I feel so…empathetic." That was sarcasm. That was definitely sarcasm!

I gritted my teeth and glared at him, suddenly ignorant of the others in the room. He had a defying smirk on his pretty face. "Alright, Mister Darquecaster," I said. Two can play at this game. "I understand your wanton need for me, but I don't go for guys like you."

He didn't seem taken back, but the guy next to him gave a snort. "She just insulted you, Alexander."

I looked over at the guy who just spoke and studied him. He had short, spiky blonde hair and the same, pale blue eyes. His face took the same shape as Alec's, but his lips were a bit more fuller. Then I noticed he was staring right back at me. He gave me a toothy smile and waved a hand at me. His other hand held a video game controller. "Yo, what's up? I'm Brent."

I gave a weak smile and waved back. Why did I feel so foolish in front of them, but not Claude or Alec? Maybe because I didn't know how far I could push their buttons until they exploded. I looked back at Alec finally to see him scrutinizing me.

"You aren't my type either. I go for the more sophisticated…and…" he eyed me from head to toes, making me feel self-conscious, until he finally finished with, "and much more curvy and filled."

I could have sworn my eye twitched. What was wrong with my body? I had large breasts, and lots of curves! Jerk! I tilted my head so my nose was in the air. "Sophistication is boring." I retorted. Before things could get vicious, Claude put a large hand on my shoulder.

"How about I show you to your room, and then we can all introduce one another later?" he suggested, giving a curt glare towards Alec. He crinkled his nose in distaste and turned back to the video game as Brent unpaused it. Claude led me past them and down another hall; but as we did so, my eyes landed on the green-eyed, dark haired hottie sitting across from Alec and Brent. He was watching me with his hawk-like eyes as I passed by, and I felt as if he were undressing me with them.

I quickly turned away as we entered the hall. Creepy.

"Your room is on the third floor." Claude told me as we walked up a spiral staircase. The railing was smooth wood and was held up by ivory posts. We walked to the second floor, but to my surprise, he stopped at a door.

"I thought you said the third floor." I reminded him, as he opened the door. He threw me a welcoming smile.

"This is the third floor." And then he disappeared into the room. I looked about in confusion. We had only walked up one staircase though… Nevertheless, ignoring Claude's hopeless counting skills, I walked after him. I nearly buckled at the knees.

The bed, in the center of the room, was huge. It was covered in blankets and pillows that were all a soft looking white and gray. At each corner of the bed were long posts that held up a flat canopy that covered the bed in shadows. Draping from it were red mosquito nets that surrounded the bed all the way around. It was beautiful.

In the room was also a bedside table with a vase of newly picked roses and a paper that spelled "Welcome" on the front. To the far right of the large room was a dresser and a body mirror that stood beside it. Another door, which I assumed was the closet, stood juxtapose the mirror.

"When will this house ever stop surprising me?" I gasped. Claude set my suitcases on top of the dresser and turned to me.

"It won't, trust me." he said seriously. I smiled in response.

"Well, I dunno whether to thank you for stealing me or to kill you." I replied, approaching the netting around my bed. I ran a finger over it and grinned like a maniac. This was all so new to me! And awesome! I felt like a rich person! I turned back to Claude with a question. He had a large smirk on his face. Before I could ask anything, he said,

"I think you'd find it impossible to kill me."

I laughed and moved the netting aside to sit on the bed. It was comfy! "Anyway, when you said this was the third floor, I couldn't help but wonder if you suck at math…"

Claude laughed softly. "Oh, we have a basement that's just as large as our first floor. It's underground though." he said. My eyes lit up. I loved basements and attics! They were always so terrifying and I enjoyed danger -of course.

"Can I see it? Can I?" I begged, shooting up to my feet. Claude's face went serious again.

"I'm afraid not. Only us Darquecaster's can go down there. We have some old, private…gallery items down there. Not to mention sometimes the basement door closes on its own and becomes stuck. There's been something wrong with it since the day we bought this house. Door jam sticking or something like that…" he trailed off and I raised an eyebrow, clearly disappointed.

"So why don't you fix it?" I asked. Claude merely shrugged a shoulder. Finally he walked by me and paused at the doorframe to look back at me.

"Want to go greet the others now?" he questioned. I nodded and trailed after him.

"Do I get permission to kick Alec's ass if he continues being a smartass?" I inquired innocently, walking next to him. Claude snickered.

"You can try."

"I can succeed." I righted him.

"You are a strange organism." Claude muttered under his breath. I smiled brightly.

"I would say strange is my middle name, but badass is already-" I froze and stopped walking in midstep. Claude stopped after a couple steps ahead of me and looked back in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

I had suddenly realized something. This house was gargantuan. I was the only maid. I put my hands to my hair and yanked at it as I shouted in astonishment, "I have to clean this damn place?"

Joshua, Becca, the Darqeucaster's were going to work me to death.