The car halted in front of a huge black metal gate in a secluded area with a long lonely road between a thick forest behind it.
Claire got down from the car though the chauffeur pleaded to her countless times not to. She stood in front of the huge gate over looking the long lonely road.
"Is this really where Duncan live? So secluded. No wonder the driver didn't want to drive me here." She said to herself. Yeah, indeed the place was really in a remote range. Though Claire also lived far from the city but it wasn't as lonely as this.
She sighed then walked over to the doorbell then pressed on it but there was no answer. She pressed on it the second time.
"May I know who this is?" A feminine voice came from the speaker above the doorbell. It was accompanied with a camera.
"Uh, I'm... Claire Klein. From Duncan's school. His classmate. I came to visit him."
"Young master never said anything about someone visiting him."
"Uhm, actually it's a surprise visit. I didn't want to let him know."
"What shows you are his classmate?"
"Uhm... yeah." Claire shuffled through her backpack then removed her identity card. She showed it to the camera smiling.
"Not enough." The woman said.
"Huh? Not enough? But what do you need?"
"Something more concrete to show you are really related to the young master." She said.
Claire just stood there confused. Something to show she really knows Duncan. But what's this thing. She stood there for about five minutes contemplating until a lightbulb appeared in her head.
"Yeah, I've got something!" She exclaimed digging her hand in her backpack.
She searched through it for some seconds then removed a black crest and showed it to the camera. The crest had Duncan's initials on it. It was in gold and designed in a calligraphy style.
'Thank God I never got rid of it'. She thought.
"He gave this to me." She assured. She stood there for a long time but the woman never talked.
"Sigh... Maybe I should just try next time." She said to herself then started for the car.
She had just taken a few steps when the gates screeched. She turned just to see the gates slowly opening automatically.
"Yeah! Thank you! Thank you so much!" Claire beamed seeing the gates opening.
She quickly jumped into the car and ordered the chauffeur to drive.
After a ten minutes drive without anything special to see but the cameras and huge trees, the car stopped in front of an enormous dark mansion. Claire slowly got down from the car gaping.
"What the... This is so f*cking eerie." She said as she started climbing the steps leading to the huge doors.
It seemed everything was calculated because just as she was about to press on the doorbell, the doors opened. A plump middle aged woman walked out with a smile on her face.
"Welcome to Dark Mansion." She said still smiling. Claire gulped hard hearing the name of the mansion. "Please come in." The old Missy allowed Claire to walk in before she did. She closed the huge doors.
Claire was awestruck immediately she entered. She realized though the exterior of the building was quite eerie, the interior was welcoming. Everything was extremely lavish but old fashioned. From the ceiling to the floor everything was antique. She walked over to the parlor staring around the house in awe. She sat on the white and gold lounge chair.
"The young master will be here soon. What would you like to have?" The old Missy asked
"Uhm nothing." Claire smiled.
"Okay. Enjoy your visit." She said bowing slightly then left.
Claire got up roaming around the parlor and admiring the decorations and relic features. Though, Claire was always surrounded by lavishness, she found this way too wonderful.
She saw a black ceramic vase quietly seated on a small golden altar. She leaned closer to have a better view and saw some strange patterns on it. She grazed her fingers on the pattern admiring it.
"Who are you?" A deep cold voice asked causing Claire to flinch hard almost dropping the vase. She immediately straightened the vase on the altar then turned. Her jaw dropped right on the floor when she saw the owner of the voice.
A tall domineering guy stood before her. He was extremely handsome, no words could describe his unearthly beauty. But that was not the only thing that amazed. What she found really strange and amazing was that, the guy had a striking resemblance like Duncan. He was like Duncan's duplicate but there were some slight differences; unlike Duncan, this guy had smokey grey eyes and his shiny silver hair was messed allowing his bangs to hide his dull orbs. He also looked more matured than Duncan.
For minutes, Claire was not able to locate her tongue. She stared at the guy mesmerized with his beauty. She was awoken by his deep voice which rang in her ears.
"Who are you?" He asked again.
"Uhm... well... ahem... I-I'm D-Duncan's friend." Claire stammered.
For some reason, she didn't know why she was easily intimidated by him. This has never happened. The only person or people she was always scared of offending were her parents. But today, her bones were shaking just by standing before this guy. Well whom could she blame. This guy looked extremely scary. He was like the devil himself as his cold aura oozed out nonstop making the temperature in the parlor fall several degrees.
"What are you doing here?"
"I... I... D-Duncan called me h-here."
"Get out." He simply stated in a much colder tone. Claire's eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.
"Huh?" She asked since she wasn't sure of what she heard.
'Is he kicking me out just like that?!!!... What the f*ck!! How can he be so rude to me?!!!... Like seriously!!... Where is that stupid Duncan too?!!!... He should get his ass here right now!!! Or else I don't know if I would be able to contain my cool!!!... This mister handsome is really trying to press the buttons of my anger!!! I will rip every single hair of his if he dares me!!!' Claire screamed in her thoughts as she stared at the guy with a calm face but clenched fist.
They both stared at each other for a long time. Claire's fear of him had already dissipated and what replaced it was sheer anger. If a third person was to describe the situation it will be like, they are sworn enemies.
"Listen here mister handsome or whoever you are. I don't care whether you own this property or not. I came here to see Duncan not you. If you try to drag my ass out of this house, then I won't hesitate to pull your pants down and give you a good spanking to teach you some morals if your mummy didn't!" Claire blurted out gazing at him with fiery eyes.
The guy was quite taken aback by Claire's words. Nobody in this world had ever spoken to him in such a manner and tone. Who would even dare. But Claire played blind seeing the limit line because she was extremely angry with the way the guy welcomed her. She wanted to tear his limbs apart.
The guy stared at Claire and noticed she was not just a common person. There was something unique, something intriguing, something extraordinary about her which piqued one's interest and quite amused and surprised him.
And apart from that he had this burning sensation in his body whenever he stared at her and a force of repulsion. He couldn't fathom what. He assumed maybe that thing made him want to kick Claire out. But why?
He continued staring at Claire who was puffing invisible smoke out of her nostrils.
He realized the strange feeling was anger, hatred and destruction towards the petite girl in front of him. But he never knew her. This was their first encounter with each other, yet he felt like ripping the flawless beauty apart. What was so special about her that he hated so much.
He started taking slow steady steps towards Claire, his eyes never leaving hers. Claire looked confused when he started approaching her.
"Hey d-d-d-don't you dare come anymore closer or else..." She made a hanging threat as she held out her arms to stop him.
"Or else what?" He probed still wearing the cold impenetrable look on his face.
"Or else... or else I'll shoot a video of you when you grab me and post it on the net then I'll write a caption under it saying, 'Poor girl visits her friend at his home but got harassed by his brother'. Doesn't it sound good." Claire threatened as she waved her phone in the air.
"And you think you can do that?"
"If you want to try." Claire replied stepping back as the guy continued to approach.
The slow steady chase continued until Claire couldn't move anymore because of a couch. Damn it! She fell into it and when she tried to get up, she was trapped between the muscular alluring arms of the guy as he kabe-don or sofa-don her staring intently into her angel blue eyes. His face was just an inch away from Claire when he leaned in closer to her and brushed his warm lips on her ear.
Claire found something also mysterious. His body scent was different unlike Duncan who smelled like wet earth he smelled something unfathomable, something nameless but his scent was very nice and refreshing.
"You-" He said but his words were cut.
"Hey, bro." Duncan called.
He was just below the stairs. He had been there for quite sometime, probably ever since Claire threatened to spank his brother. Duncan was very shocked and almost laughed out loud when someone threatened to spank his cold hearted brother who was just like a permanent glacier. Even he almost tripped since he was walking when he heard the threat.
The guy shifted his gaze to the stairs and still leaning in on Claire. He squinted his eyes when he saw Duncan's reddened face. Probably he was trying to stifle his laughter. Claire used this opportunity and pushed the guy away. She quickly got up and glared at him as he slowly got up. Duncan approached them but he couldn't reach Claire since the man stood between them.
"Who is she?" He asked Duncan in the same cold voice.
"She is my pet. I asked her to come over." Duncan said as he swiftly pulled Claire to himself.
"It'll be better if you learn to tame your pet. A wild pet can betray its master." The guy said then averted his gaze onto Claire.
Claire was very angry since these two guys were referring to her as a pet. She secretly pinched Duncan hard on his waist earning a flinch from him.
Duncan noticed the piercing glare from his brother on Claire. He immediately took Claire's backpack then grabbed her ponytail dragging her towards the elevator. Claire tried slapping Duncan's hand away because he has gripped her ponytail but it was of no use.
The elevator opened again on the fourth floor. Claire looked down the hallway and found it different.
This floor had a sense of modernity attached to it and it also had a dark,white and gold theme. She got off the elevator and stepped on the black marbled floor looking around. Though everything was in a different shades of black, and the walls were eerily gold, it still had this comfortable feel.
She followed Duncan in the corridor, taking a few turns before stopping in front of a black double door with golden handles. Duncan pushed it opened and entered as Claire followed him.
Claire awed as this room was like a mansion on its own.This seemed to be another parlor but unlike the parlor before, this parlor was designed in a modern style.
The sitting area had a three in one black couch, a black couple's couch and two black arm chairs, all surrounding a plain glass coffee table. There was a floor to ceiling window on the left which overlooked the massive and lonely landmass covered with densed forest which had huge trees around the property. The window was draped with thick black curtains which were opened. In front of the window was a podium on which stood a black piano with black stool. On the left and right of the piano were staircases which lead to another floor of the room. There was also a pool table at a corner.
At the right side of the room was an exquisite bar with various brands of whiskeys, wines and other alcoholic drinks. There were a lot of decorations which made up the room and they all screamed with luxury. 'How big is this mansion.' Claire thought as she looked around fascinated.
"Feel comfortable. I'll be back." Duncan said and left. Claire walked over to the piano which seemed to be the only thing that caught her interest. She grazed her long fingers on the bared keys of the piano giving out a serene sound.
"Hey little girl. How did you get here?" An unfamiliar voice asked.