Chapter 21, enjoy!
Warnings: a small blurb of smut, it's for the plot, mkay.
Unbetaed AF!
Can You Keep A Secret?
Chapter 21
A Green Book?
"This is your family estate?" Alejandro asked Brittany, as he drove through an automatic gate and made his way up to a Victorian Style house of a pale yellow, "Brittany, are you rich?"
'We're not money rich, we're just land rich,' Brittany said as Alejandro pulled up the roundabout driveway, where several other cars were parked, 'Don't mind the cars, we've turned this place into a bed and breakfast, years back, it'll stay that way until-' Brittany blinked and titled her head, 'I forgot, who inherits this place and land, it goes to someone, in the family.'
It was a nicely decorated place, with blooming summer flowers and fountains in some of the vast gardens. In one of the gardens, stood a stone wedding arch, and it seemed like a wedding was occurring, it was full of people and a couple stood under the arch, reciting vows. The inside of the house had a classical design to it, with antique furniture and pieces of arts lining the hallways and walls. At the check in counter, which looked to be as old as the house, there was a perfectly preserved book, hidden behind a case, opened to page 57.
'Interested in that, are you?' Brittany asked as she walked over the man, peering down at it as well, "It's a Green Book, a travel guide for people of color, decades ago. It helped travelling black families find safe places to sleep, eat and enjoy themselves. The Thompson Bed and Breakfast was one the first entries into this guide book. The majority of our clients are still people of color, I was told when it was built, my family bought the land from desperate plantation owners after the Civil War. Hmph, irony.
Alejandro looked over to Brittany and raised an eyebrow, was his girlfriend from old money? Brittany looked from the green book and pointed to the plaque on the wall, 'The African American Historical Society considers this place a landmark.'
"What do you consider it?" Alejandro asked Brittany, as she rang the bell on the counter.
"Grandma's house, I used to come here ,in the summers, as a kid and help at the bed and breakfast, used to get flack from the guests because I eat my grits with sugar," Brittany made a face and Alejandro chuckled at it and leaned down to kiss her cheek, "Good memories here, lots time with my cousins, aunts and uncles, we used to close up the inn for a week and have family reunions here."
"Little Brittany!" Brittany and Alejandro turned to see an older woman of color come out from the back, with a smile on her face, as she looked at Brittany, "I haven't seen you in ages, come here and give Mama Shriley a hug and some sugar!"
Watching Brittany light up and run around the counter to hug the older woman warmed Alejandro's heart, as the older woman fussed over Brittany and pinched her cheeks.
"Your Mother and Father told me a little bit about what happened to you, sweetums," Mama Shriley said to Brittany, looking her up and down, "If you ever need a place to hide from the world, you come here, we'll make sure you're taken care of."
'Thanks, Mama Shirley,' Brittany typed in her phone and then, almost shyly asked, 'Can Ali and I have lemon pound cake and ice cream after we're done?'
Mama Shirley gave them both fond smiles and said, "I always have a fresh cake and some homemade ice cream made just for you, baby, go on up, you have the attic key, right?"
Brittany nodded her head and Mama Shirley looked over to Alejandro and said, "Keep an eye out on that one for me, sugar, she's a slippery eel."
"Don't I know it, ma'am," Alejandro nodded to Brittany and then the two were walking away from the counter and up the stairs, "Mama Shirley?"
"She's been running this place for ages, helping Grandma and Grandpa before they died," Brittany led him back several rooms, with numbers on them and over to a door that was painted black with 'OFF LIMITS,' written on it, Alejandro noted that the door was a top of the line security door, with several manual locks and a security pad on the side of wall, "We have some family things in the attic." She pressed her thumb on the pad and then began to unlock the doors and opened it, "After you, Ali."
Brittany turned on a light and ushered Alejandro up a flight of stairs, closing and locking the door behind them, as she did. When they reached the top, the found themselves in a very organized , large space that was clean and well lit. The environment was well controlled and everything seemed to be in order.
"This place looks like vault, whose idea was this?" Alejandro asked Brittany, as she walked passed paintings, hidden behind glass shields and over to a bookcase.
"Mine," Brittany ran her fingers over the spines of some books, looking thoughtful, "I did major in history and I knew, from my time here, we had a lot of it, managed to get the aunts and uncles approval and we got it installed, ah-ha!"
Alejandro paused to admire a painting of a family, dressed in clothes from the early 1800's. They looked to be well off, the family were colored, wearing dresses and suits of silk. The older couple sat in middle of several adults and children and were holding hands. Alejandro leaned forward and looked at the woman. The painting was nicely detailed but the woman, it was strange, she looked just like Brittany.
"I was told," Brittany's voice had Alejandro turning to see the woman beside him, holding a book, in a protective box, "I was told, I looked just like Ellen Thompson, apparently the Thompson genes are strong."
"They are," Alejandro said as Brittany sat down on the floor and pulled the book from it's protective case, "What is this?"
"One of Ellen's children started to keep records on things, regarding the family," Brittany said as she gingerly opened the book, "Years after Ellen died, like a memory journal. My grandma found it and she used to read things to me from it. I remember her reading something that jumped out at me."
Brittany flipped the pages slowly, and Alejandro sat down beside the woman as she turned the pages until finally she stopped at a page, "Here we go," she pointed to an excerpt, 'Mother was always adamant, we would not be in the position we are in, if it was not for the help of her angel. She used to tell stories about the angel. A woman of blue, she would say, who came to her in her sleep. It was she who taught mother to read and to write and it was she who helped her escape a life of slavery. All of us, including our father, brushed it off as whimsical thinking, she often acted like a nymph, up until her death. Another rambling from a woman who had seen and done things no other person of color did, however that woman was my mother and I dearly miss her…"
Brittany closed the book and placed it back in its protective case, both she and Alejandro pondered for a bit, before Alejandro asked, "What does it all mean, Brittany?"
"It means, Ellen Thompson used to be Heidi's vessel, before she died," Brittany tapped her chin, "A lot of things are starting to make sense, except for the Unmentionable part."
The woman placed the book back on the book case and then said, turning to Alejandro, "Come on! Let's get that cake and ice cream, Mama Shirley makes the best desserts!"
The two went back downstairs and into a small dining room, where they ate sweets with Mama Shirley, who eagerly told Alejandro stories about Brittany as a child, much to the woman's dismay. When it was time to leave, Mama Shirley sent them both off with meals and more desserts, waving them off on the porch of the inn as they drove off.
"Fried pork chops, I'm going to enjoy these!" Brittany's voice gushed in Alejandro's mind as they drove through backroads, "And more lemon cake, Aunt Shirley spoils me!"
"You should be spoiled," Alejandro said, an easy smile on his face, turning to Brittany, "You deserve it, and don't say otherwise, in fact, how about I spoil-" Alejandro had looked back to the road and slammed on the brakes but it was too late.
The SUV began to sink as the wheels on it were popped. Alejandro looked back in the rear view mirror and hissed, "Tire spike strip," He turned to Brittany and said, as he pressed a red button on the steering wheel, "A Rangeman crew will be here in 20 minutes," he opened the glove compartment and pulled out a gun, "We might not hold out until then," He pulled the safety off, slowly and then handed the gun to Brittany, who looked at him with wide eyes, "Don't aim at me, and if you do aim at something, shoot to kill, got it?"
Brittany slowly nodded her head and Alejandro pulled his own gun out from his suit. As he did, he noticed, in the rear view mirror, a car, approaching fast, too fast. Alejandro swore loudly, quickly unbuckled Brittany from her seat. He opened her door and, with no warning at all, pushed her out the SUV, before jumping out himself, on top of Brittany, rolling them both to the side, just as the car, no a fucking semi-truck slammed into the back of the SUV, sending it flying.
"Fuck," Alejandro sat up and looked down at Brittany, checking her for injuries, "You okay?"
Brittany, a little shock for wear, let out a noiseless whimper and clung to Alejandro. The man looked up, hearing the truck beeping loudly, backing up in the middle of the road and turning around, right at them, fuck. The truck's engine let out a roar and the vehicle sped at them. Alejandro would roll them into a ditch but those fucking ditches on the side of road would break bones, due to their height, if they did that. Honestly, there was no option but for him to do what he did next.
Alejandro wrapped his arms around Brittany and the disappeared, with a loud 'POP!' just as the truck sped past where they were just at.
They landed, with a thud, on the floor of living room of the safe house and Alejandro swore loudly, once again, holding tight to Brittany, as she shook on top of him. That had been too close and he hadn't popped in and out like that in ages! Alejandro pulled his phone out and made a call to Carlos, who answered before the first ring could finish.
"Everything okay?" Carlos asked and the man let out a groan of pain and sat up.
"We almost got flatten by a semi-truck," Alejandro said, as Brittany rolled off him, checking him for his injuries, "It was a trap on route 143, tire spikes, and then a truck came out and almost turned us into ground meat."
"A team is going up there to check it out, I'll make sure Jeanne knows," Carlos said to his brother before he added, "You injured?"
"No, takes more than a semi-truck to rattle me," Alejandro laughed into the phone, making Brittany slap at his chest, "We'll talk when you and Stephanie get back."
Carlos and Alejandro and finished their call and then Alejandro looked down at Brittany and asked, "Are you okay?" he hissed at some of the scrapes and bruises that were forming, "You're the rattled one."
"I'd rather be covered in bruises than dead," Brittany leaned up and kissed Alejandro on the lips, "Thank you for saving me."
"It's my job, Bella," Alejandro ran a hand through Brittany's wild curls and helped her stand up, "Come on, let's go get these wounds cleans, sorry about the cake and pork chops."
"It's fine, we're alive and that's all that's matter," Brittany and Alejandro made their way upstairs to the bedroom to tend to their small wounds.
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
'Keep going straight,' Ver told Diesel as the man walked down the stone tunnel that was deep under his family's estate, 'I cannot believe that the Gario Clan built on top of the very foundations of my home! Burying secrets, thank the old ones you has sense enough to tell me you had no access to the treasury vault!'
Diesel held up a lantern, as he walked down the ancient tunnels of his family home. His father and grandfather hadn't known of these places, in fact, they had been shocked when Diesel found the entrance, a heavy set of stone doors that were built into the ground, behind the structure that housed Heidi's body.
While he invited the two to join in on his trek, they refused saying to the man that this was Diesel's fate, not theirs. When he had told them both he most likely found where their charge was hiding, they had been…cautious. No Gario male, not since Vercingetroix, the very man who created this family, had been able to locate the woman. Diesel had been adamant, and when he asked if they had any item of the woman, he was met with hard 'no's.'
That was until he spoke to Vercingetroix, who kindly pointed out that a few precious items from Gleti rested in the family treasure vault. So now, here was Diesel, going through a stone maze, looking for this damned vault.
'It was an efficient way to prevent thieves from robbing me of my riches,' Ver told him as he passed a pit that had stone spikes and a few bones of those unlucky ones who had fallen into it, 'Not once has anyone but a Gario has been inside of it.'
Diesel mumbled something but stopped as he came face to face with a single, stone door. This was it, Diesel thought, as he grabbed the ringed handle of the door and began to push it open, using his inhumane strength to do so, because fuck; this door was heavy!
When he opened the door fully, he found himself in a vast room, filled to the brim with gold coins, precious stones and anything else of value. Diesel's eyes widened at the sight and he said, "Dad and Gramps are gonna flip out when they find out how rich we actually are."
Diesel walked past the piles of gold and jewels but paused, feeling something tug at his soul. Diesel turned his head and lifted the lantern to see something resting against the stone wall of the treasury vault.
A spear, it gleamed in the lantern light, the sharp spear head had flowers carved into, the wooden handle was dark and looked well taken care of. Diesel slowly walked over to the spear and reached his hand out but paused, feeling Ver vibrate in his jacket pocket. Diesel pulled the book out and found words written in it.
'That's my spear boy, I once protected Gleti with it, but then I failed and because of that failure, I put it away, unworthy of it.' Diesel rolled his eyes, Vercingetroix was very much showy and dramatic, 'You truly house the spirit of me in you, boy, you've found Gleti, if I am to be correct…pick up that spear, boy, only if you think you're worthy of it.'
"I'm suppose to be looking for something that belonged to Gleti!" Diesel hissed but that spear was calling out to him and he had the strong urge to pick it up. He couldn't deny the call coming from it. Diesel let out a sigh and then wrapped his hand around the wooden handle of the spear and found that it pulsed with power, with something that made it feel like it was alive. Diesel lifted the spear, up and down, feeling the weight of the spear in his hand before he carried it off with him, looking for the item in vault.
'There it is,' Ver's word appeared in book, as Diesel looked at a simple necklace, with a small golden charm, that rested on a stone display, 'I forged it for her, myself, she wore it proudly.'
"Maybe we can do something with it," Diesel said as he grabbed the necklace and slipping it into his shirt pocket, he pocketed a few coins, "I want to see how old these are and how much and how long some collector will hump my leg to get them."
'When you say things like that, it makes me think there is little hope for the Gario Clan….'
"Diesel, son, why do you have a spear?" Diesel's father asked the man, as he walked into the study, where his father and grandfather sat, waiting for him to return from his trip.
"Something, something, fate, destiny," Diesel finished as he tossed a coin to his father, who caught it easily, "Dad, there's mountains of those in the treasury vault. Literally."
"Good old stolen Roman coins," his father admired the coin and then turned to his son, "I suppose we can start paying those taxes the country's been trying to grandfather into the estate."
"Like hell we will," Diesel's grandfather said, as Diesel left the room, "We're Garios, they ought to be paying us! We were here before Switzerland was a thing!"
(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)
"Insufferable! Why must you be like this!" Vercingetroix shouted to the woman, who sighed and began to comb her hair at her vanity, "Wretched Creature! Why must you do things that attract beasts to you!"
"It is not my fault that I am such a tempting thing," The woman sighed and turned to Vercingetroix, who folded his arms, his spear resting against the wall, "Wandering Warrior, you just do your job and protect me!"
Vercingetroix threw his hands up in frustration and left the room, grabbing the spear as he did. Thus began their daily fights. The creature was frustrating, she had no care in the world, did whatever she wanted, despite the danger she said was out there and made Vercingetroix's life hell.
Vercingetroix and the creature fought often, throwing food and wine, anything that crossed their paths. They butted heads, they argued every day. One day, Vercingetroix snapped and the man said something about the creature's height and she had snarled at him, ignoring her powers and just launched at the man, both of them falling into the flowers, rolling around as the wretched creature tried to cause him some harm but failed.
"YOU-!" The woman snarled, sitting up, but she slipped on flower petals and fell forward on top of Vercingetroix, their mouths crashing into one another, "Oh…." She whispered, lifting her head up, pulling away from the man's mouth.
"Come back, you," Vercingetroix growled and then the two were kissing one another, deeply, their tongues lashing out to toy with one another, "By all above, yes!"
As they kissed, they began to remove clothing from one another, rolling around in the flowers, as they found themselves naked in the arms of one another. The woman looked up at Vercingetroix and said, with a breathless puff of air, "Show me your strength, Wandering Warrior!" hooking her leg around Vercingetroix's waist and pulling him closer, "Do not hold back!"
Vercingetroix did not hold back, he was rough, entering the creature with a roar of pleasure, earning a cry of bliss from her. They moved as one, their breaths mingling as they kissed. This was much better than throwing plates and arguing, the man thought, as he hilted inside of the woman, these screams and cries were much better than the ones of rage!
He didn't last long, the last time he had laid with a woman, was when he went to the brothel in city far to the south, and the women there were not like the creature under him. She was addicting, he couldn't get enough of her! He came deep inside of the creature and fell to the side, panting heavily.
'I have not had my pleasure yet, Wandering Warrior!" The Lustful Creature cooed, climbing on top of Vercingetroix's groin, "You may not rest until I am sated and when you call out who tortures you in such a delicious way, call out my name; Gleti!"
"An unassuming name for such a creature like you," Vercingetroix laughed, as his cock was sheathed inside of Gleti, the wonderful creature on top of him, "We should have been doing this than fighting!"
They lay together, sated and calm, with Gleti resting her head on Vercingetroix's chest, running a finger over the scars on his chest. The man had slung an arm around her waist, his legs tangled with hers. They were whispering to one another, acting as if they had been intimate lovers for years and had not fallen into sex just an hour ago.
"You will have to sate me, like this, all the time now, my Wandering Warrior," Gleti whispered to the man, kissing his jawline and then his lips, "I hope I do not ask too much of you?"
Vercingtroix turned to look at the creature in his arms and said, with false sigh of stress, "If I must, Gleti," he ran a hand through her curls and then kissed her deeply, "I will bear this weight."
TBC...
Anger and lust are just two sides of the same coin, but different outcomes!
