The Da Vinci Term

July 15th.

Left the airport at 10.50, arriving at House of Wolves 17 hours later. It was a long journey home. We should have arrived earlier but the airplane hits turbulence. Not good. The stewardess said it's normal, planes have to go through turbulence sometimes, I should've known- we've been in a lot of plane rides- we've traveled around the world, from America to Japan. And Russia! Standing on a stage facing the beautiful Baltic Sea, performing to nearly one hundred thousand audiences- awesome.

We did it. We are living the dreams.

And now it is back to school.

The black, shiny SUV stopped; the driver jumped down, and held out his hand to assist Gerard to alight. Then he took his luggage, and placed on the ground beside him as the House Master stood close to the great mahogany door, taking out his key and opened the door with a soft creaking sound.

The grand lobby of House Of Wolves was dark, lighted only by a few dimmed lights embedded in each sides of the wall. The old grandfather clock ticked slowly, showing the time of his arrival- 4.00 am sharp. Gerard looked around and stood in silence as the SUV driver sped away. The house seemed lifeless, as if it had been empty for a long time. There was a big banner above the majestic staircase - with a big "WELCOME HOME HOUSE MASTER WAY" written in black and red font, but no one was there. "The girls are probably asleep," he thought to himself and walked slowly to his quarters.

Just as he began to insert his key into the keyhole, he heard a soft footsteps approaching. He turned around and the footsteps sound stopped. Gerard sighed and turned his key when he heard the footsteps approaching again. He turned around, and the sound disappeared once more.

"Relax, it‘s just your imagination, Gerard," he thought, trying to calm himself down. He took one glance to the dark lobby, but still, no one was there. Inside, he was a little scared- the House Of Wolves itself is a very old house, built a few hundred years ago by a British baron, and although it was fully renovated, the aura of the bloody past still lingers around like a ghost in the snow. There was an eerie tale about the house, which he refused to remember, but it keeps on coming to him especially when he is scared. The story about the massive fire that killed three of the Baron's children and his wife, and the story of a wealthy businessman who puts a gun in his mouth during the 1929's Great Depression...

The key clicked with a grunting sound of a long disuse and the door swung back. Gerard ran into his house and slammed the door shut, leaving all his nine suitcases at the front door. Tiny cold beads of sweats began forming on his forehead as he moved away from the door, running to his bedroom. But he tripped on a small Balinese statue and fell to the floor.

"Damn!" he cursed and looked around the dark house. It looked so unfamiliar in the dark, lighted only by the moonlight which shone through the window- in fact, even if it's in bright light, it would still looked unfamiliar to him since he had left his house for months. “Touring is a bitch,” he murmured to himself and sneezed from inhaling the dust that had formed on the floor-, he was allergic to dust and cats- a very little known fact about him that only family, friends and die-hard fans know about.

The sound of the footsteps was closer now, and Gerard got up and ran to his bedroom. He jumped on the king sized bed and buried himself under the bed cover. "Go away... go away... whatever you are..." he said. Then he realized that he forgot to lock the door, but he was too late as the door was already creaked open, the sound of rusty bolt filled the house as Gerard crawled under his bed like a six-year-old girl hiding from a monster inside her closet. He closed his eyes as he heard the footsteps sound stopped in front of his bedroom door.

"Go away..." He whispered and cupped his face with an old, dusty soft toy, which probably had been under the bed for eternity. As if it heard his voice, the footsteps sound came closer and stopped right in front of his bed. Gerard closed his eyes and bit his lips, as bright lights bathed over his face.

"Mr. Way?"

Gerard opened his eyes and saw a woman smiling at him. He did not know who she was, she was not Ean, or Emily, or Brandy, or anyone he knows from House Of Wolves. The moonlight cast an eerie pale glow on her face and even though he was scared, Gerard managed to collect all remaining energy in his body and screamed:

"Go away you ghost!" he said and threw the dusty soft toy to the woman.

"Mr. Way! How rude! Get out of there now!" The woman screamed and pulled Gerard from under the bed. Gerard struggled and the woman pulled him harder.

"Stop acting like a kid, Way! Get out of there!" She said and pulled Gerard harder. The woman succeeded in pulling him out and Gerard stood up, facing the woman.

"Who are you?” he asked.

"Gosh, Gerard. Of course you don’t know who I am, you were away when I arrived here... Anyway, I'm Miss Tallulah, or you can call me Liv. I am the new House Master in Dunearn... And I am taking care of the Wolvers while you were away... Anyway, It's so nice to meet you..." She said and offered a handshake. "...although it is a little bit awkward pulling you out of the bed..."

Gerard smiled and wiped the sweat on his face with his sleeves. "Oh, of course. You emailed me about the Wolvers... "Gerard said and took Miss Tallulah's hand. "...I'm sorry but I thought you were..."

"... A ghost?" Miss Tallulah said with a laugh. Gerard nodded sheepishly.

"Anyway, the girls... are they okay? I mean, did they follow the rules... and everything?" Gerard asked.

"Yeah, they've been good, and they've been missing you so much," She said with a smile. Gerard nodded and felt relieved that the girls were behaving well when he was gone.

"Anyway, Mr. Way... It is good to see you... I think you should take a rest... "She said and walked away. She stopped for a moment at his bedroom door and looked at Gerard,

"Oh, and welcome back home."

Gerard smiled and said, "Thank you Miss Tallulah... “

“Liv. Just called me Liv, “ she corrected him

“Oh okay. So, Liv...Thanks for taking care of the girls..." Gerard said politely. Miss Tallulah nodded and she walked away, leaving Gerard alone in his room.

Then the fatigue of a long journey home overcame Gerard, and he sank onto his bed, closing his eyes for a good night sleep.