Chapter 3: Breakfast with Father

Knock, knock, knock, knock…

"Julian, wake up son."

Groaning, I slowly woke up to the sound of my "father" knocking on my door. I yawned and stood up immediately to open the door.

Once I opened the door, the man smiled at me.

"Oh, hello father." I said, as I looked directly at how the man would react to the sudden attitude of his own "son".

"Well, now that you're awake, I'll be heading back to the dining area.", then he patted me on the head and said "Oh, and I also cooked your favorite, pancakes!"

After that, the man smiled once more and went downstairs. I rolled my eyes and closed the door so I could change to my regular clothes. Thank goodness, this skull – printed pajamas were comfortable. I did need some warmth, especially from the wretched cold. Once I started stripping to my undergarments, I suddenly smelled a familiar but awful stench. I immediately coughed and covered my nose.

Goodness! I smell exactly like the Land of the Shadows!

Then I suddenly heard my stomach grumble.

Sigh, I know I'm extremely starving, but I must get rid of this reeking atrocity. The pancakes can wait. I'll just have to wash myself first before I go downstairs.

"I feel much better now." I said, as I went downstairs and headed straight to the dining area. The dining area was quite large. It looks a little simpler than the living area, although I could still see some antique vases and family portraits. The dining table was made from probably mahogany or another good type of wood. And so does the chairs. I saw the man sitting in one of them. He was reading a book while sipping on cup of hot coffee. He looked at me and waved gleefully. I sat down and hurriedly grabbed the plates so I could eat the pancakes immediately. Good thing the pancakes had butter and maple syrup on it. The man stopped reading his book for a while and laughed a little.

"Someone's hungry today." the man said.

I stopped eating for a while so I could at least talk to him, in a convincingly normal way.

"Well you see, I'm a growing boy father." I said and gave him a wide, toothy smile.

He laughed and went back to reading his book. My smile went down to a frown afterwards.

Ow, that kind of hurts…

I went back to eating the last piece of pancakes, when all of a sudden I noticed that the woman is not home.

"Father, where's mother?" I asked.

"Oh, she went out to meet a client at the nearby coffee shop." he said, as he took a sip from his cup.

"Client?" I asked again, but this time I looked confused.

He chuckled and took another sip, "Oh son, you're probably still too exhausted from tons of school work."

I raised my brow and continuously look at him confused

Well of course, I have to know since I'm not exactly your son."

"You're mother is an interior designer," he said

I suddenly smiled and smacked my face a bit. "Oh yes, I remember! She's an interior designer! Yes, yes. I remember now..."

We laughed until our laughter slowly faded into silence. He went back to drinking coffee while reading his book. The book's cover art looked oddly familiar. It looks similar to one of the posters I saw in Julian's room. It read Phantom of the Opera.

"Father," I said "May I ask you something?"

He stopped reading his book "Sure son, what is it?"

"Is that book a good one?" I asked.

He looked at the book once more and smiled "Yes, it's a very good book. Especially if you're a fan of Gothic romance novels."

Hmm…interesting. A romance novel you say?

"Well, to be honest Julian, I started reading book because I wanted to relate to you and your mother." he said "I wasn't exactly a fan of these kinds of books. But once I met your mother, my perception on Gothic novels changed. I ended up starting to appreciate these novels. Then I ended up appreciating them more when your mother and I had you."

I just listened to him talk about the main reason why he started reading Gothic literature. He did not tell me anything about the book, except for some "cheesy" sentiments about reading Gothic novels such as "Phantom of the Opera".

"Well, that's wonderful father." I said "You really do love mother and I"

Sweet…Disgustingly sweet…

He smiled, patted my hat twice, and stood up.

"If you need, I'll be at the living room." he said, then he got the book, and went to the living area.

I smiled a little, then I went back to finish eating the pancakes. I must admit, these are good!

After that, well, delightful breakfast, I went to my room immediately. After I closed the door, I heard a voice calling for help.

"Help! Anyone? Can anyone hear me?"

"Julian?" I whispered. I started finding the source of the voice. I inspected the bed, the walls, the posters. Everything. Then I realized, there was a mirror hanged near the skeletons.

Then, there was Julian.

"Hello, Julian." I said "What a pleasant surprise…"

"Um, hello." he said, in a nervous tone.