She rose from the chair watching as the big guy moved himself as if readying for her to do something dangerous. She rolled her eyes and walked from the room.
"Hanna dear wait a moment please." She ignored Lydia's voice.
She walked to the front door pulling it open to see Aleksander standing on the deck leaning against the railing. She started to laugh shaking her head, "You live her too? Here at the Monster Mansion, what is this some kind of school for monster and angel kids?"
He grabbed her arm pulling her into him. His white blue eyes mesmerized her, "You need to stay away from him." He pointed to Marcus.
She shook her head, "I think I need to stay away from all of you. You're some kind of toxic weird cult. I heard about this side of town and the cult. I just didn’t know my dad was a card-carrying member. But it makes sense now." She pulled her arms away from Aleks and walked down the stairs.
"Hanna wait please."
Marcus stood on the street looking ready to break into a run. She walked to him hearing Lydia calling her back to the house but she ignored them all.
Marcus looked relieved as he pulled her to him, holding her tight against his hard body she felt his lips graze the top of her head. She could feel him fighting to flex his muscles, her body nearly groaned against the force of his embrace.
"She meets you on neutral ground from now on." He spoke softly against her face.
"Hanna you do whatever you want to do okay. If you want to come here we will help you. We want to help you."
She pulled out of Marcus's grip seeing the hurt look on Aleks's face. She nodded and climbed into the car.
Marcus laughed, "Well mate I'd say she decided how she wants this to go. So guess we'll call you if we need you."
Aleks took a step toward Marcus but Lydia shouted something making him stop.
Hanna felt relieved when Marcus got into the car and closed the door, "Home Henry, if you please."
Henry started the car and drove. Hanna watched out the back window as the mansion and the people in front of it got smaller and smaller. Something in her gut told her she was making the wrong choice. With everything that had gone on she couldn’t convince herself the old woman meant her no harm.
Chapter Ten: You live in a castle, in Oregon
When the house came into view she felt her breath pull from her lungs, the house was huge. It made her fathers mansion seem as if it were the guesthouse.
"You live in a castle?" She asked feeling odd about him. She recalled the way he'd belittled her and Aleks for being lowly monsters.
He laughed, "It's not a castle, it's a gothic revival. I suppose it looks like a caste. I had it built years ago."
"Like how many years, it makes Lydia's place look brand new."
"Well Miss Smarty Pants I suppose it is a bit antiqued in comparison to Lydia's but it's very new to me."
She frowned at him, "Gross, how old are you?"
He laughed, "Old enough to know a nice style of house. You young people seem to think those boxes with yards that resembles a puzzle piece in size and shape are homey."
She laughed at him, "You're a snob."
He looked offended, "I am no such thing. I have educated tastes and a refined palette."
Henry drove up to the huge brick castle. She marveled at the different colored bricks in gold, beige, yellow, tan, olive, grey and white. The colors gave the castle a luxurious feel, which wasn’t hard. It was a castle. Henry parked under what appeared to be a covered drive-through, like in a hotel for guests to drop off luggage. The arched and peaked windows looked frosted. The roof pitched and peaked in several different places, adding to the castle look. A huge veranda wrapped around the home with pale green metal posts and pitched tent like canopy roofs. The yard was filled with old trees and gardens that appeared to be preparing themselves for winter. The driveway was even artistic with mosaics done in brick and cobblestone. She couldn’t help but look every which way all at once, stunned by the sheer magnificence and magnitude.
"Do you house Orphans or just live here alone?"
"You really are a pain in the ass."
She looked at him and smiled, "What? You don’t like being made to realize you live ostentatiously, giving to no one?"
He smiled, "Well you're an orphan and if you want you can live here with me." He tried to look stern, "I do have rules about sleeping arrangements."
She rolled her eyes, "You're a dork."
He looked affronted, "I'm a what?"
She laughed.
He walked to the house but stopped to turn back to the older man in the bowler hat, "Henry we have no further need for the car. Park it for the night I should think, if you please."
She frowned at him, "I'm not sleeping here with you."
He laughed, "I never said we would sleep." He opened the door for her grinning. She never would have entered the house had she not had the burning desire to see inside. She'd loved watching International House Hunters on HGTV with Rebecca and knew she would be betraying that memory if she didn’t at least have a glance.
The inside proved to be more incredible than the outside. She was floored seeing the tapestries and old world charm in the every corner, somehow matched perfectly with modern and stylish décor. The rooms were huge, she felt silly being the only person in them as she walked through. She felt his eyes on her as she looked around at each fragile carving or exquisite painting. He had a whole room dedicated to etchings.
""How long have you been collecting art?" She whispered, somehow knowing he would hear her from across the room.
"Too long to recall. Shall we?" He asked, pointing to a room through a huge hallway.
She nodded following behind him, noticing everything. She drank in the vivid colors of the abstract art and the smooth seamless finish of the marble carvings.
The floors gleamed, making her wonder if a maid would follow him around wiping up after he walked through a room. Nothing seemed out of place or lived in.
"Your house is so sterile. If feels like a museum." She spoke not thinking about how harsh it sounded.
He laughed, "Would you rather I had children running about with a little wife tucked away some where here?"
She laughed not responding.
He walked to a huge dark grey metal door with machines on either side of it. He looked into one machine as if it read his eyes and put his hand up against the other. She could see the scan reading his handprint. She raised her eyebrow at it, "Is this the bat cave?"
He stood up as the huge door slid into the wall with a loud groan, "It is. I will have to erase your memory before we leave."
She smiled not certain if he was telling the truth or joking. His humor still seemed to be too old for her to catch up to. She hoped he was joking and left it at that.
The lab was too stunning for her to recall anything else. The white room was huge with microscopes and glass walls with metal behind them. The huge metal door slid back into its place but she ignored it seeing only the most spectacular thing she'd ever seen.
"God, I wish I cared about science. This is incredible."
She looked back at him but he ignored her and walked to the huge metal counter in front of them with the glass slabs and three microscopes.
"I will need that piece of paper your father gave you." He spoke softly.
She spun watching his face, "What piece of paper?"
His jaw clenched, "The one you carry in your cleavage at all times." He looked up from the chart he held. His dark blue eyes hardened, "Lets agree not to lie to one another."
She nodded, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to nod but his look terrified her. Okay and maybe aroused her. Something about being afraid of him made her think about the car ride make out session they'd had.
He smiled bringing her back to reality, "Right well then, the paper." He put a hand out.
She put a hand into her bra and pulled the paper out. It felt almost like cloth having spent so much time in there. She grimaced handing it to him. He brought it to his nose and smiled, "Smells like you."
"Oh, god, don’t do that."
He laughed seeing the desperate discomfort on her face.
He laid the crumpled paper out and pondered over it.
She stood watching him, wondering what help she could possibly be.
She looked around for a chair but saw nothing beyond the three stools at a huge counter behind him. She walked around him and the large counter. She tried to pick up the stool but it seemed to weigh a ton. She dragged it, making a nasty squeal fill the open space.
He turned back giving her a disgusted look, "Do you need some help?"
She nodded letting the stool sit back on its four feet.
He sighed picking it up and placing it, as if it weighed nothing, next to where he stood.
She felt her face burning and looked at the drag marks on the concrete floor.
He muttered under his breath, "Looking less sterile and museum like every second you're here."
She sat on the stool noticing how comfortable it was.
"It's not my fault, this thing weighs a ton."
"One hundred and eighty five pounds. Considerably less than one ton."
"Whatever." She looked down at the paper and wondered what it all meant.
"My favorite answer by far. You teenage girls and your whatever mentality will be the declination of your species. Imagine the results you will have on your children who will no doubt adopt your whatever and careless attitude."
She frowned, "I can go home anytime you want to say the magic words to Hank."
He laughed, "Magic words?"
She raised her eyebrow at him and mimicked his accent, "If you please." She followed it up with a subtle bow.
"What?"
"You didn’t think I was smart enough to notice you say that every single time you get him to take you anywhere? I know I'm not a genius like my father but I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck."
She beamed.