The Truth Behind The Door...1

The drive to North Dakota was long. Nearly an entire day. I was asleep for most of it. During the time I was awake I was wishing. Wishing for this new life to be of only happiness. My old life was behind me now. And I know the memories will still be there but I can push them away when they threaten to come back to me. The car pulled up to the house. Calling it a house was an understatement. The old medieval looking mansion loomed over me. I never knew these type of houses were even in North Dakota. It reminded me of the type of house the neighborhood kids would call haunted. I smiled to myself at the thought.

The car stopped with a jolt. I paid the driver with the money I had left and I got my stuff out of the trunk. My feet crunched on the gravel as I walked up to the door. It was tall and it looked like an oak door. There was no visible doorbell so I used the door knocker, a lion with an iron ring hanging from its mouth. Three heavy knocks was all it took. The door began to open slowly and I took a step back.

A man, looking to be in his in his fifties, opened to door. He was wearing, well, butler's attire. Wow. I didn't know he was this rich. The man at the door greeted me with a warm smile.
"Good evening miss. You must be Miss Serene. Please come in, he is waiting for you." The butler stepped back so I could enter. I walked into the entrance hall. A double staircase rested opposite of the door. It was beautifully made of wood and went up to the second floor.

"You may leave your things here. Someone will bring them up to your room for you. Follow me. I will take you to him. I nodded and gently placed my bags down on the marble floor. It was so shiny I could see my reflection.

I followed the butler to a doorway at the left. It led to a short hallway which we walked down to the end of. We passed many doors and I wondered what could possibly be in them. We made a right and came to a stone staircase. The butler stopped just at its base and turned to me.

"Up these stairs is the door to his office. Knock before you enter and we are all happy to have you here Miss." I nodded and smiled as a thank you. He walked back to the hallway we came from and left. What did he mean by we? So far, he has been the only person I've seen.

I looked back towards the stairs and I began to feel nervous. When I first heard of him, I was sure it wasn't true. There was no way I could have family other than my parents. But I had later learned that it as true, all of it was. I didn't understand then why my parents would keep a secret like that from me. I slowly began climbing the stairs. They spiraled up what felt like a turret to a castle, which was weird because I hadn't seen any on the house. Maybe I missed it when I came up. It felt like it went up for more than two floors, which made me wonder even more.

Finally, I came to the top of the stairs. I was slightly out of breath so I rested for a moment. During that time, I surveyed the door. It was wooden as well but smaller and less gran then the front doors. It had a round handle made of iron and a large keyhole. I was tempted to peek through it but I refrained from doing so.

I gathered my courage and reached for the handle. The knob twisted silently and I pushed open the door slowly. I was amazed by the sight before me. His office was a high-roofed, medium size room full of strange and interesting artifacts. I could tell they were form other countries. So many things filled the shelves and made this room seem antique. There were shelves of books as well. They all led to a second floor, just behind him. He wa sitting at a cherry-wood desk located in the middle of the room. It was obvious that he didn't hear me enter because he was bent over his desk, writing on some paper. I cleared my throat purposely, he lifted his head. His face made me lose my ability to talk. From his cold gray eyes to his long and wavy black hair. He looked just like my father. Tears threatened to fall from my eyes but I bit my tongue, holding them back.

"Serene, have a seat." Even his voice was the same as my father's. I stared at him, numb from shock.
"Serene?" he asked, looking a bit agitated. I snapped out of my trance and I sat down in the chair in front to his desk.

He eyed me curiously and I began to sweat from being so nervous.
"I'm sorry to hear of your loss. How are adjusting to everything?"
"Um, I'm adjusting very well, thank you."
There was a moment of awkward silence. He took a deep breath then spoke.

"I know all of this is a shock to you. It was that way to me. I didn't know my brother had married and had a daughter, mostly because we haven't spoken in so many years. I received news of his death through a friend of mine. I was actually looking for him. I wanted to rekindle our relationship as brothers. But of course know it is too late." I listened to him. As he spoke he seemed to be thinking about the past. I wondered what made them hate each other for so long.

"When I found out that I had a niece, I felt... I don't know how I felt. I guess I was happy but at the same time I was so sad about it."
He left off with that. His voice had become shaky.
"I am happy you agreed to stay with me Serene. I know that you must miss your friends and you old home but I would really like for you to stay here with me. You are the only family I have left."

A single tear rolled down my cheek. I never knew that someone's words could make me cry. Everything he said was true. I would miss my friends and getting to know my uncle better would benefit both of us. Plus, he was my only family now. Just me and him to the Hazington family name.

"Thank you, uncle, for letting me stay here. I don't think I could have lived through it if I stayed back there. And I would love to stay here and be of company to you. Thank you." I don't think I could thank him enough. He was so kind to take in a seventeen year old girl that he barely knew.

"I'm glad to here that. I'm very sorry but right now I'm in the middle of some important business. I'll have Nina come and give you a tour of the house. I'll see you at dinner Serene." He smiled and instantly brightened the room. Literally, the room seemed a bit brighter than when I first entered. Maybe it was the sun, but there are no windows. The room was lit with many candles.

"That's okay. I didn't mean to interrupt. Bye uncle." I stood up, happy and no longer nervous. My uncle was cool and he looked like a good man. Living here was looking to get better and better.

I went out the door and down the spiral stairs. To my surprise a young woman in a plain dress and apron was waiting at the end of the stairs. She greeted me with a smile. From what I could tell, she was only in her twenties. Why would someone so young be working as a maid here? She had long brown hair and coffee colored eyes.

"Hello Miss Serene. I am Nina and I will be helping you get situated with the house." she had a kind voice.
"Oh, okay. You can call me Serene by the way."
"Alright, follow me to your room." she walked at a steady pace as we made it back to the entrance hall. She picked up the bottom of her dress and began walking up the stairs. I did the same (but I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt) and jogged to keep up with her. We reached the top and I was breathing hard. She kept going without hesitation. How did she have all that energy?

We turned down many halls and went up one more flight of stairs before she came to a stop and a dark brown door.
"This is your room Serene," she said excitedly. I grabbed the handle and opened the door.

All words were lost to the beauty of this room. Dark blue walls and a lush white carpet were the basics. From there it became a marvelous room with amazingly handcarved furniture. There was a big bed with cream colored blankets and light blue pillows, a dresser that was a dark brown along with the desk and the vanity table. There was a large Tv across from a small sofa. The best part of the room were the small set of stairs leading up to an indoor balcony over my bed. There were shelves of books up there and the far wall was entirley made of glass. There was no doubt that it had a nice view. The ceiling had beautiful paintings on it and a crystal chandelier too.

"Whoa," was all I could muster.
"Do you like it? Your uncle was very nervous about whether it would fit your needs. He even put in a large bathroom and a walk-in closet."
"Are you kidding? This room is amazing! I've never seen anything like it. It even has a second floor! How cool is that!?" Nina began giggling and I walked throughout the room, admiring everything in it. I hurried up the small stairs and I leaned over the railing. I could see the entire room and Nina, who was beaming with joy by the door.

The books on the shelves were both old and new. All of them books that I couldn't wait to read. I giggled with glee and went back down to Nina.
"Well I'll be sure to let him know. Why didn't I show you the rest of the place." I agreed happily and we left my super fantastic room.

For the rest of the evening, Nina showed me other parts of the house. She showed me the grand room, the music room, the art room, the kitchen, the living room, the indoor pool and then we headed towards the library. I didn't think there could be anymore books in this place but there was a library. It had grand double doors that led to a large circular room. The shelves were very high and every space was occupied by a book. Nina told me some of the books were actually records of the family and some of towns. There were a few ladders that reached the tops of the shelves placed throughout the room. A large table was in the center and there were piles of books on it.

We were about to leave when a loud crash came from somewhere amidst the shelves. It was followed by a loud moan.
"Eli? Are you there?" called Nina.
"Yeah," came a mumbled reply.
"Oh goodness gracious! You fell again didn't you? Get up and come over here. Hazington's niece is here and you should meet her." Eli groaned in reply and the shuffling of books could be heard. While he was trying to make it over to us Nina whispered to me.

"Eli is the son of your uncle's dear friend McCoy. He lives here in the guest room and his son lives in the opposite turret to yours. I think you will find Eli to be a young man of interest, he's a bit clumsy though," she sighed. Of my interest? I'm so not ready for any kind of relationship. I don't even know what he looks like.

Then he came from the shelves. He had longish dark brown hair and hazel eyes. He didn't seem like the clumsy type at all. He actually looked like ge would be one of the cool kids. He was tall with a fit and lean body. he had to be at least 6'3". He was looking in a book when he walked up.

"Serene, this is Eli. He works here in the library, organizing books and such," he closed the nook and held out his hand with a smile. A very nice smile. I could feel my heart flutter just looking at him. I shook his hand, blushing slightly.
"Hi there, nice to meet you. I hope Nina didn't talk your ear off. She has a tendency to do that." Nina gasped and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Eli you're such a jerk. Sorry Serene, but we should go before he starts to drool over you," she said snidely.
"I am not drooling over her!" he said defensively.
"Really? Because it's so obvious that you like her." I was turning red as they had their argument. Was she serious or was she just messing with him.
"You're a liar! I just met her."

"Awww! Your blushing Eli. You really must like her. How cute!" Eli was blushing and it made me start to laugh along with Nina. Eli gave up and stalked of into the library somewhere. Nina laughed even more.
"He's so fun to mess with. C'mon, it's almost dinner and you need to get ready." We walked back to my room and I was surprised to see all my stuff put away. Where were the people doing everything in this house? It can't be just Butler, Nina and Eli.

I got dressed and Nina walked me to the dining room. She started to leave before I walked through the door.
"Wait! You're not coming?" I asked nervously.
"No silly. I have to help serve dinner." she walked away gleefully. Oh yeah, she is one of the servants. I forgot about that. I braced myself and walked through the doors.

The first thing I saw was my uncle, sitting at the head of the table. Another man was sitting next to him and a lady was next to that guy. There were a few others but the one thing that made me freak out was that Eli was there too and the only open seat was next to him...
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Lolz, I got bored so I wrote this random chapter. I think I'm gonna make it into a fantasy type story so....yeah, and there might be romance. But don't think it will be with eli, cuz I'm bringing in more characters, hehe. Any who plz comment so I know if I should continue or not, thx! ;D