The old English style black lamps dimly lit up, the hallway for the three as they walked up to the double doors. Old wooden carvings of the same design of the front door downstairs came into their view.
"Pillow- San, what's up with the lights?" asked Jiro after a second flickering of the same tempo from the lamps.
"I'll make sure they check it," he nervously answered to the back of a distracted Kacey's golden locks.
"I feel like I've been here before," she whispers to herself.
"Well, maybe you visited your gramps here when you were younger" Junior said while pushing past her to open the door. He steps inside, leaving the door ajar behind, a crashing sound of the suitcases against wood heard behind the door as shortly pops his head out.
"Well, come on in," he prompts merrily and startles Kacey and Jiro, although they follow inside.
"Wow," marvels Jiro.
"You've never been inside here before?" Kacey asks.
"Nope, not really. Nobody except the old man."
The wooden floor creaking under their footsteps as they walked further into the room.
A spacious room, centred in the middle, a king-sized bed with four tall wood carved bedposts around each corner of the bed. A simple white and lilac decor of curtain, duvets and matching painted walls. A Victorian style room fit for a princess, Kacey thought.
"This room has been empty for years," Junior says, he and Jiro walkover to the bed. Neatly packing the luggage next the bedside table.
"Mr Troy, never allowed anyone to use and never said who the previous owners were either" he continues.
"Where's all my boxes for this room?" Kacey questions with furrowed brows. Visibly confused and Jiro follows suit.
"Yeah, where's the boxes?"
"Oh uhm- you see well, remember when I said no one has ever been inside" he nervously starts in a shaky voice.
"Yeah," both Kacey and Jiro answer in unison. Junior shoots Jiro a peeved look before turning back to Kacey.
"Well, since no one's allowed inside..."
"Wait," Kacey cuts him off and following along what he means.
"That means this is your first time inside too, right? "
"Yes, Miss Troy. Exactly that," he lets out with a sigh. A way of releasing some tension, he reaches for a linen handkerchief in his back pocket and dabbed his forehead before putting it back once more.
"I get that, but then where's all my stuff?" She asks, and he instinctively goes back for it once more.
"They are with Miss Fitzgerald for the time being" he answers with handkerchief to forehead.
"Oh, but don't worry! Now that I have the keys we'll be able to finish packing up all your belongings" he quickly finishes before directing his attention to Jiro next to him.
"And why are you acting so high and mighty?" He whispers through his teeth and, tugging at Jiro's arm once more.
They begin to argue, and Kacey notes that this 'cat and mouse' routine was a daily occurrence for them.
She distracts herself with the large glass window, draped over in thick white curtains, though softly flowing from the handle. Walking over to inspect it.
The window was a glass door and slightly open from where the handle is. It seemed to lead to the balcony's patio in front, but before venturing further Kacey asks Junior, "I thought you said no one has entered before," to no response she continues.
"So, why's the door open?" she turns around to an empty room, left alone.
Jiro and Junior existed sometime ago, still arguing, to bring over her boxes.
Not sure what else to make of herself, Kacey explores the rest of the room.
A bathroom to one side of the room and study room to the other. She noted the entire room was the size of her previous family home. The bathroom holding a pool- sized round bath tube taking up half the room, white tiled shower to one corner, twin washbasins and toilet with bidet attachment. Something she'd only experienced in fancy five-star hotels, when tagged along with her late father's business trips.
Kacey marvel and overall overwhelmed by all the space, exits and walks over to study room. Placed squarely to one of the side, in the corner of the room. The room's door left wide open. A wooden door with the same carvings of the previous front door and bedroom door.
"I'm going to call in the regular cleaners for tomorrow since noon has drawn in pretty quick," Junior announces while returning to the room. Empty.
He calls out, "Miss Troy?"
"Yeah, sorry, I was about to check out the study over there" she says while approaching.
"Oh my, it really is massive to occupy all this and a study around that bend as well" with a whistle, he adds.
"Okay, so I only get my stuff tomorrow then,"
"Yes, you can grab any essentials for the being as I'll take you over to Miss Fitzgerald,"
"Oh and the balcony door is slightly open over there" she motions to it with a tilted head.
"Oh no, I surely hope Mr Troy hadn't left it open after his last visit" he says, rushing over to the window.
"It's been a long few months since his passing-" he halts and queries Kacey.
"Miss, Troy, the window is not open"
"Would do mean?" slightly alarmed.
"It's closed" he blankly states and grabs hold of the handle, wiggling it up and down.
"More so, it's locked"
"That can't be possible, I checked it my-"
Kacey's responses nervously and rushes over to Junior, but soon cut-off by Jiro entering the room.
"Hey guys? Macy's throwing a tantrum," he informs them politely.
"Macy's throwing a tantrum? Also, where did you learn about tantrums?" a now distracted Junior queries.
"Yes, she was yelling and saying "when is that fool coming back?" and Akira said I threw tantrums when I don't get what I want," Jiro relay's in-between playing with Rubik's cube in hand.
"Oh no!" Junior's pleas desperately before speeding out the door.
"Uhm- Jiro?" Kacey questions politely. She never had much experience with children, as she was the only child, although a few interactions babysitting for the neighbours had now come in hand.
"Yeah, Kacey- Nee" he says, looking up and down from his fiddling with the Rubik's cube.
"Can you take me over to where my boxes are? You would be really helping me out, right now" with a smile.
"Mmm, okay!" he obliges and starts walking towards the door.
"Thank you," she lets out a sigh and follows after Jiro as they walked out.
She hangs back for a second, pensive of the happenings prior. Had it been an illusion of some sort?, she thought.
Kacey and Jiro enter into the elevator, fiddling with the gold round buttons Jiro curtly says, "It's the olden day one's so you, have to press all the floor numbers." As he punches a sequence of numbers following, one hundred and ninety-nine, one floor below them.
Walking out, following Jiro's lead, Kacey notices the difference in the interior from her floor. "Yeah, yours is fancier, Kacey- Nee," he looks up at her with a grin, and she ruffles the top of his head in response. He shakes her hand off, "I'm not a kid," clearly embarrassed.
The design of the hallway's decor had hung lighting, long red rug like those of hotel suites and cream painted walls. They passed numerous silver painted and rose-style encrusted doors on each side.
Jiro pauses at one of the silver doors, the cube in the palm of one hand, and knocks twice with a balled fist of the other. Before returning his concentration, he steps back and a voice sing-songs "I'm coming," and fiddles once more with the colourful contraption.
The door shoots open to reveal an oval faced, blushed girl. Large rounded eyes, hazel green eyes, filled with a sea of passion and curiosity. In wide pursed lips, she answered, "Oh, and who might you be? I was excepting someone else," with a high-pitched British accent.
"You were exc- excepc-," Jiro stammers on the new word, attempting to pronounce it and pausing in-between, "excepting the fool?" He finally manages, and Kacey cheers him on.
"Hey, you got it!"
"Yeah," a modest reply.
"Fool? What fool?" nervous and feeling of just being 'caught out', she shoots Jiro daggers and him, as well as Kacey, jolt back. Both replying with a similar sheepish grin, "Sorry,"
"Oh no there's two of them now," she scoffs sarcastically under her breath, Jiro hears this and counters in Kacey's defense.
"Hey, Kacey- Nee is the new owner, Fitz- Neesan" and proudly states.
"New owner?" baffled and retorts "Also, I told you to call me Macy" adding a fake smile.
"I'm fine," he shoots and simultaneously clicks the cube to fill a full colour side of yellow.
"I wasn't asking whether or not you were fine with it" she spits back, thick brown eyebrows woven in a 'w' in-between and moving closer to Jiro.
"Okay, so I'm Kacey Troy" she intervenes, covers over Jiro's, fear stricken face with her arm.
Turning to him, "Jiro it looks like you're almost done there, so can you finish up down at the elevator and wait for me?"
"Mm, okay!" after walking away, she extends a hand to the girl. She was shorter than Kacey and more curvy in her black shorts and petal pink cropped hoodie.
She takes her hand, smaller than Kacey's and replies "Macy Fitzgerald", "Man, your hands are so soft" Kacey exclaims.
"Man? What an odd expression, you're not British, are you?"
"No I'm-"
"I figured," Macy interjects, adding "Yes, they are," eyeing her white tipped nails," now do come inside" moving aside.
Kacey looks down the hallway in search of Jiro, empty, she figured he must have left for home and proceeds to step inside.
Macy seemed to be a few years younger than Kacey, although her persona she carried was of a mature madam.
"Cool place you got here Fitz" Kacey marvelled, stepping inside and closing the door behind her.
"Thanks" a cheerful smirk, but quickly creased into a frown. "Don't call me that".
"Call you what?" Kacey feigning innocence, but quizzical expression, made Fitz assume she was an 'airhead'.
"Never mind," with a sigh.
The room laced in rose gold pink walls and furnishings from bed duvets, curtains and miniature sofa against the windowsill wall.
She settles on the sofa, and calls over to Kacey to join her.
"Is that a person?" Kacey asks, squinting her eyes, to see through the window and without turning around behind her, "Yeah, that's Colchester" Fitz replies.
"What's he doing?" flopping down on the sofa beside her. "All the way up there?" The young man had been walking through the woods, at the edge of a cliff across the mansion.
"It seems his tasked with patrolling the area for to-," interrupted by a knock on glass sound behind them.
Both Kacey and Fitz let out a screeching cry.