Life, Death, and Strange Encounters

When Lucy and I were almost bursting with excitement already, wanting nothing more than to know what Isaac had in store for us, we were finally guided towards a massive glass door. Fortunately, the door was transparent. The sight before our eyes made us squeal like little girls in a candy shop. Lucy even gave a little dance of joy.

“You have a pool!?” was our collective outburst.

Isaac rolled his eyes playfully and smiled in response to our energetic reaction. “Of course I have a pool. I knew right away that you would like it, since you told me before that you loved swimming. We can go there afterwards, but I believe I should show you where you’ll be sleeping before we do anything else.”

As I turned my gaze from the beautiful sight behind the door and looked at my best friend, I noticed her smirk. “See, I told you - you weren’t crazy for bringing your bikini!“

With a light shrug, I admitted my defeat. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Hey! No need to get cocky on me!" Arms crossed, I gave her a fake glare, pretending to be offended.

She only cackled evilly. "Oh, but it's physically impossible for me to get COCKY."

I rolled my eyes and smacked her on the head. "You’re so dirty!" My comment only earned a grin from Lucy, making us both chuckle and proceed to shake hands, pretending to be reconsiled as if after a long fight.

Isaac, who had been staring at our little show in amusement, laughed and shook his head in disbelief. "Girls, you argue over the strangest things."

His remark brought on another fit of giggles. I nodded my head with approval. "Yes, we're aware of that."

After our small spectacle in front of the pool, we started to head back. "Shall we continue our tour?” Isaac asked us with a smile. “You haven't seen your rooms yet."

The mention of our awaiting bedrooms brought yet another bright smile to my face. “I'm dying to see my room! Mostly because then we can go swimming!”

Tired of waiting for us, Lucy grabbed my hand along with Isaac's and started determinedly dragging us back through the corridor.

“Do you even know where you're going?” I asked, secretly amused because I knew the answer very well.

She shrugged and the answer was clear to us. “No, but I figured we just have to go the opposite way,” she explained with confidence, “because if you didn't notice, the corridor kind of ended with the door to the pool, so...”

Our host chuckled. I was glad of his positive reaction, because I myself would have proclaimed Lucy completely insane if I didn’t know her on a daily basis. “I think I should take the lead again,” Isaac claimed with a grin, “or else you will get lost.”

“You of all people should know where we're going and therefore correct me if I’m wrong!” Lucy exclaimed, a bit offended that we questioned her skills of orientation.

“I do, but what makes you think that I'm going to tell you? Maybe I WANT you to get lost?”

Lucy shook her head. “Nah, you're not that evil.”

That earned more laughter from Isaac. “You're right. If you really want to lead, then take us back to the staircase. I promise to tell you if you’re straying from the right course. We have to eventually go upstairs, by the way.”

My best friend shot him an annoyed look. Her mood swings were completely normal, therefore I didn’t even flinch at her reaction. “I KNOW. You told us before that the bedrooms are on the second floor. I'm not an idiot.”

Isaac raised his hands in a manner that said 'Sorry I said anything' and turned to me, silently forming the words “Is she always like that?” I nodded my head in response.

Lucy gave us another of her infamous looks. “Don't think I didn't see that.”

Isaac and I looked at each other and burst out laughing at her impossible observation skills, Isaac suggesting that she should become a ninja.

Fortunately, we made it upstairs to the first floor without getting killed by Lucy. Isaac walked in front of us again, leading the way, because we hadn't been on that floor before. When we came up the stairs, we saw entries to two separate corridors, one on the left and one on the right. We turned to the right. Isaac told me there were twenty bedrooms in that corridor and the same amount in the other, earning another gasp from me. I had thought he’d given up with trying to impress me, the glory always seemed to scare me for some reason.

We passed many doors and almost reached the end of the corridor before we came to a halt. Isaac gestured towards the last door on the right side of the corridor. “This is my room. Johanna, yours is the one next to it and Lucy, your room is across from Johanna's. Okay?”

We both nodded. What could we possibly have had against these arrangements?

He smiled, glad that we were pleased. “Now, open your doors - I’m sure you’ll love what’s inside.”

With big grins on both of our faces, we proceeded to explore. I walked into my room and looked around in admiration. It wasn't huge - a bit bigger than the one in London - but it was breathtaking and the decorations fit my taste perfectly. The walls were dark red while the floor was made of dark wood. When I looked up towards the ceiling, I could see that it, too, was of dark wood and had cravings in it - a common theme in old houses. A small chandelier was hanging from the centre of the ceiling, but it didn't have real candles. Instead, there were small light bulbs in the shape of candles. The bed was a huge canopy in the centre of the room with dark red silk sheets and many pillows. I could see my suitcase lying on it. There was a closet and a comforter in one wall, a table with a chair across from it. A small reading lamp stood on the table. I noticed three red candles and a little mirror on the comforter. The furniture was all made of dark wood like in London, and it was with no doubt genuine antique. A door led to the bathroom that I soon discovered.

The bathroom walls were covered with red tiles, while the floor was tiled black. There was a huge hot tub for relaxing but also a practical shower in the room. A big mirror was on one wall with a sink under it and a toilet was next to the sink. A wide shelf held towels, shower gels and shampoos. I even opened a cupboard to discover a pack of cotton pads, razors and other necessities.This was probably a request from the house keeper. Such a sweet woman, she had thought of everything! When I had looked through all the things I could find, I made my way back to the corridor, where Isaac was still standing. I ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! My room is the most beautiful I have ever seen!"

He chuckled and held my hands in his. "I'm happy that I managed to make you happy. Now, go on! Take your swimwear and a towel and let's go to the pool. I'll go get Lucy."

I ran back to my room and opened my suitcase, quickly pulling out my black bikini with silver skull prints and I also grabbed a hair tie. Then, I went to the bathroom and took a towel from the shelf. When I made it back to the corridor I could see that Lucy was already waiting for me, towel and swimwear already in her hands. I looked around for Isaac, and Lucy told me he had gone to gather his things. After a minute, Isaac came out of his room, closing the door behind him.

He smiled at us, lifting his towel. "Ready to go?"

Lucy grinned and clapped her hands in excitement. "Hell yeah!"

We almost ran through the corridors until we reached the glass door. It was very warm in the room, the pool probably had a separate heating system to keep us from freezing when coming out of the water. Isaac led us to two doors, one was a dressing room with showers for women, the other one was for men. We went into separate dressing rooms to get changed.

My best friend and I quickly put on our bikinis, deciding to take our towels along and put them on a bench we noticed outside, so that we could instantly wrap them around our bodies when we were done swimming.

When we were ready and left the dressing room, we saw Isaac already waiting for us by the door, only wearing a pair of swimming trunks. My mouth fell open at the sight.

In front of me stood a total god! He already was unearthly with clothes on, but it was unbelievable how good he looked without a shirt! He wasn’t bulky, just very fit - a flat stomach with gorgeous abs showing and his hands beautifully sculpted with muscles. I had to admit, it was a fine sight to look at! I probably stared. But then, apparently so did he.

Lucy snapped me out of my daydreams, giggling. “You can both stop gawking at each other now. Let’s go swimming!”

I blushed and avoided his eyes. When I flicked a glance towards Isaac, I could see him blushing too! Why was he embarrassed? I was the one who was staring! But maybe Lucy had noticed something I hadn’t.

When we reached the side of the swimming pool, Lucy decided to take a shortcut and jumped straight in. I looked at Isaac and we both chuckled.

I said “Oh, what the hell!” and mimicked Lucy. The water was surprisingly warm… And deep! When I stood on my toes, I could barely keep my chin out of the water. I heard a splash behind me, but didn’t see anything, because suddenly I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist and I went under the water. When the grip was released, I turned around, still underwater, and saw Isaac who had a very smug look on his face. I mock-glared at him, then grinned and swam away.

I couldn’t get far because once again, I felt a pair of arms around me, now pulling me to the surface. When my head pierced through the water and reached air, I took a deep breath and opened my eyes which had been closed because the chlorine in the water stung a bit.

Isaac still had his arms around me, and was looking down at me with a smile on his face. His expression then turned into a worried one. “Did I scare you?”

I laughed at his unnecessary concerns. “No, it was funny.”

He grinned and lifted me up, so that my shoulders were out of the water and I didn’t have to struggle to keep my head on the surface. I put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself. I was now on eye level with him. His eyes roamed over my body and then stopped at my eyes. I blushed and looked away. He chuckled. “Why are you blushing?”

“I don’t know,” I said. We looked into each other’s eyes… until we were poured over with water.

Isaac turned around, taking me with him. What did we see? Lucy, of course, who was cackling evilly. When she saw us glaring at her, she made an innocent face and splashed more water at us. Isaac and I looked at each other and grinned. We lurched forward towards Lucy and grabbed her, pushing her under the water. When she came to the surface, gasping for air, she was greeted with water splashing to her face. Of course, we got a similar response from her. The splashing turned into a full on water war, where everyone stood only for themselves.

Finally we stopped, totally worn out from all the splashing and laughing. We called a truce and just swam around. Lucy and I amused ourselves, walking under the water on our hands. It was something we’d done since we were children.

When we had played around for a while, the door of the pool opened and in walked a redheaded girl, carrying a towel and a swimsuit. When she saw us, she smiled and waved. She came to the edge of the pool and we all swam there to greet her. Isaac introduced her as his long-time friend, Jane. He said he knew her from his days of studying art in university. She shook our hands and then went to change.

Jane soon joined us in the pool and we messed around a bit more. We learned that she was a photographer like me, so I had a little obsessive moment with her, telling each other about our crazy ideas and best concepts for pictures. She seemed really nice and funny, a bit crazy - the kind of girl who gets along well with Lucy.

I was starting to get cold, so I told the others I’d go have a shower and get dressed. They said they would soon do the same. I had a strange feeling a certain male friend of mine stared at me when I made my way out of the pool and into the dressing room, but that might have only been my imagination…

When I was almost done with my long hot shower, I heard Lucy and Jane come in, laughing excessively at something. I grabbed my towel and dried off, then went to put on my clothes. Lucy looked up when she saw me coming and said “Jane and I are going to the cinema after dinner. Is it okay? You have Isaac to keep you company.” She winked at the last part and Jane grinned.

I eyed them suspiciously. “Lucy, have you already engaged Jane into your evil schemes concerning Isaac and I?”

This earned another burst of laughter from them. Lucy only had to mumble “they are not evil,” when I instantly knew she had told Jane. I glanced at Jane worriedly, but the redhead only winked at me and said “Trust me, I would be more than happy to see you and Isaac together. To be honest, I’m rather scared of Helena.”

I chuckled. “So am I… I fear that she’s going to kill me.”

Jane smiled and made a dismissing gesture with her hand. “Whatever, we’ll get rid of her first.”

This caused Lucy and I to laugh loudly. “YOU,” I pointed at Jane, “are even more evil than Lucy.”

We got dressed and made our way out of the dressing room. Isaac was sitting on the bench outside the door. Well, of course he was quicker to get dressed, he’s a GUY. He stood up when we came out and we all walked back to the staircase. Lydia came to greet us once we reached it, and told us that dinner was ready. Our little group looked at each other in awe.

“Is it really this late?” I asked.

“Well yes, it was five o’clock when I came to the pool,” Jane said. “Now it must be about seven, because that’s when they usually serve dinner.”

“Isn’t it hard to make food for all those people?” I inquired from Lydia.

She shook her head. “Oh no, darling, not many people actually eat dinner in the house. The people here are used to eating out, since they are always coming or going.”

“Oh, okay.” I looked at the wet towel and swimwear in my hands. “Uh, I should go put those away.”

“Don’t worry,” Lydia assured me, “I’m going to ask someone to wash them. They will be brought back to you when they are dry.” She gathered the wet clothes from all of us and gave them to a passing maid. The girl promised to take care of them and we thanked her. Then we followed Lydia to the dining room.

I know Isaac had shown it to us before, but it still amazed me. It was tremendously big! There were a few other people in the dining room already, and the long table that could fit about one hundred people had been set for only twenty, if I counted the plates right. I understood that there were probably two times as many people living there than the ones who ate there, but still, twenty people seemed a lot to me. The cooks were used to it, though, I suppose.

Dinner was quite uneventful. Jane and Lucy were discussing what film to watch at the cinema and I was just enjoying my food. Isaac was talking to one of his friends, Carlos, a Hispanic guy who was even taller than Isaac and too beautiful for his own good, like the rest of the people who lived in the mansion.

After eating, Lucy and I went back to our rooms. She needed to change and I thought I’d unpack my things. When I had just finished putting my clothes into the closet, I heard a knock on my door. Lucy stepped in, all dressed and ready to go out.

“Hey, what do you think of my outfit?” She asked. “I’m meeting Jane down by the staircase in 5 minutes.”

I looked at her clothes. She was wearing a red and black striped skirt that reached her knees, a black tank top, black fish-net stockings and her favourite pair of combat boots. She had her black coat and purse in her arms.

I nodded in approval. “You look great as always, honey.”

She grinned. “I’m happy you think so.” Then, after a moment, she added with a sigh, “You know, I’m already missing Damien. I wish he could come sooner!”

I smiled at her reassuringly. “He’ll come soon enough, don’t worry. I know you like him a lot, it’s pretty obvious.”

“I know, Jo. I really do like him. It’s weird, because you know I’m a big flirt… But I NEVER fall in love with a guy this fast. And I never sleep with him on the first night. But with him, it just felt so right.”

“I’m not saying you did anything wrong. I really do think he’s the right guy for you. You kind of… match!”

Lucy chuckled. “Okay, honey, I really have to go now! You and Isaac, behave yourselves!” She winked and ran off, laughing.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU PSYCHO BITCH?” I yelled after her, but she was already at the other end of the corridor. Damn her.