Chapter 12 - The First Mystery Part 1

I was having the best sleep of my life. I dreamt I was defeating a giant black dragon while wearing a long red robe, waving a bejeweled oak staff, and muttering nonsense words that exploded in giant plooms of blue fire. I saved the princesses, there were two for some reason, and stood proud with them hanging off my arms in admiration as wind blew my robes and hair epicly. I lay smiling contentedly in my comfy bed when a bear's growl had to go and ruin it.

"What do you mean she doesn't work for you? How did she get here to plant the listening spells then!?!"

I sat bolt upright and wide-eyed as the peace of sleep fell away from me. More shouting could be heard from downstairs echoing through the entrance hall and up to my room. I ignored it and threw myself back down on my pillow rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

'Urg. Thanks, Dad...' I grumbled as I pushed aside my red silk sheets and swung my feet out of my California king-sized bed and onto the warm wooden floorboards with a yawn. I loved my bed. It was too much for a kid like me, but not in a 1,000-year-old treasury kind of way. It was too much in all the right ways. I know I had it good, and I was thankful. My bed was my temple and I worshiped it as any good zealot should. I straightened my blue silk pajamas and stumbled sleepily to my own private bathroom.

My bedroom was like a normal house's master bedroom, or so some kids who visited once had told me. Enormously spacious, with a vaulting 8-meter ceiling decorated in dark wooden cross beams and hanging lights. There were two dormer windows set in the slanted ceiling that let light flow in naturally. I had a remote near my bed that could close the shutters on them, but I left them open most of the time as I loved the light and warmth they brought. The walls were plastered and painted a calming light blue and the wooden floor had several rugs thrown around stylishly. My four-poster canopy bed was located in the middle of the North-side wall and two end tables sat on either side of it as well as a chest at the foot of it. To the West of the room was my closet and bathroom, two equally massive rooms in their own right. A small end cabinet sat in between the two rooms. It was empty but was there to be fashionable or something.

The East wall housed my entertainment center in the middle with a 60' television and several game consoles gathering dust below it in their own cabinets. DVDs and VCRs were lined neatly in tall one door cabinets on either side of the entertainment center. Across from that, on an expensive rug, was a small leather couch and two wing-backed leather chairs facing the TV. I had great fun playing video games with all the friends I had over...Oh, wait...

In the left corner, where the East wall met the North, was an old antique record player cabinet and a temperature and humidity-controlled chest of records. On top of the record cabinet was a modern stereo system that linked to several speakers mounted all around the room. These doubled with the TV speakers to make my room 11.2 surround sound capable, though I almost never used them.

The South wall had my long dresser with a mirror mounted in the center and my three jewelry boxes. Yes, I had three. Honestly, they were just there to house the useless junk I had collected over the years and I almost never used anything in them. For some reason, producers and directors loved to give out watches, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and other jewelry to celebrate the times I made them a ton of money. On top of my dresser on the left side was an old beat-up baseball cap that held my wallet, keys, sunglasses, and a few accessories I did actually wear. It looked entirely out of place in the orderly and clean room, and it was the only thing that reminded someone entering the room that a kid actually lived in here.

Facing north, the right side of the dresser was the door into my room and to the left, in the corner nearest to the bathroom, was a beanbag chair and reading lamp along with two large bookcases on either side filled with fantasy novels. The beanbag chair was worn and stitching was starting to come loose, showing that this was the place I spent most of my time.

I made my way into my bathroom, a huge affair that had a long red rug on the floor, a double sink cabinet with a large glass mirror and a door into my closet on the right wall, a separated toilet room and an enormous four showerhead walk-in shower on the left wall, and finally a six-person jacuzzi styled bathtub with jets and all the bells and whistles on the far back wall. Ignoring most of it, I used the sink I always used to wash my face, then stepped into the shower to wash. I let myself relax into a puddle of nothing under the hot water hitting me from four angles. After a ten minute shower, I got out, dried off on a huge red monochrome towel with my initials on it, and walked naked into my closet from the adjoining door.

Apparently, this closet actually used to be a room for personal servants and each room in the house had one. However, my family had long since done away with that practice and made the rooms into giant closets instead. One side was lined with clothing racks separated from formal, semi-formal, business casual, costumes and props left over from movies or photoshoots for nostalgia purposes, and then, finally, my real clothes. The other side matched the categories, but with shoes and accessories on shelves. The back of the room had a raised alcove with three floors to ceiling mirrors set so one could step in and inspect their attire from all angles. I had used it a grand total of zero times.

I ignored the fancy suits and dress shirts, I, instead, went to the corner with my casual wear. There I put on boxer briefs, faded blue jeans, and a black AC-DC t-shirt before heading back to the bathroom to do my hair and get ready for the day. This was going to be a big day. Grandpa and I had talked for over an hour last night before bed to plan out how to do this. I just hoped it worked as we wanted it to...

Stepping out into the second-floor hallway from my room, I noticed Suzan standing over the banister looking down into the Entrance Hallway. She was starring, but not actually looking as she chewed on her lip in the same way she always did. Suzan was a tall woman of 17 years, with short, wavy auburn hair reaching her shoulders, brilliant green eyes, and a sharp intelligent face. She wore stylish glasses and had many piercings on her ears and a stud in the side of her nose. She was the artistic, punk princess of the family, dressed in black ripped-beyond-reason skinny jeans, a hot pink crop top, and a dark faded denim jacket over it. Susan was a genius and an artistic savant. She attended a prestigious art college in London and she had pieces up for a stint at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The National Gallery and is even slated to have a piece displayed in The Louvre for a small period of time.

As you might expect, she is intimidating at the best of times and we never really had a reason to talk or get to know each other with our seven-year age gap. Every time we had tried in the past, it turned into an awkward mess with long minutes of silence before one of us made an excuse to leave. Today would be different, though. I was going away for an entire year and I wanted to get to know my sister, or at least put in the effort to do so before I left.

Taking a deep breath and centering myself, I started walking towards her and called out, "Hey Susan! I think you need new jeans, yours seem to be more holes than denim!" Everyone loves jokes, let's start with this and win her over. I know I can do it this time.

Susan spun around quickly and faced me, her cheeks turning slightly red which was very noticeable on her pale skin.

"Jordan....Hi..." She said in her lazy almost bored sounding voice. Her voice always made me think she had no interest in anything I had to say or even that I was bothering her for wanting to be there with her.

"Hey, Susan..." I say again awkwardly as I close the gap and lean over the railing next to her. "Anyway, I am going away soon, so I was wondering if you wanted to...I dunno...hangout, or something sometime before I leave?"

"I..." Susan starts, staring at me with wide-eyes, "You want to hangout...with me?"

"Yeah! I even promise I will reign in my awkwardness this time!" I say with a self derisive laugh.

"...You aren't awkward, Jordan...I'm the one who's awkward..." Susan says and leans back over the railing biting her lip again. After a brief pause, she turns her head to lock her green eyes onto my grayish-blue ones. "You know I am slightly autistic, right?" She says softly, then looks down. "Fuck....I am not good with this stuff...I'm...I'm sorry, Jordan..."

I reach out and put my hand over hers on the banister. She flinches slightly but turns to look at me again not pulling her hand away. "As long as I don't make you uncomfortable, I am willing to take as long as you need for us to get closer. If it doesn't happen before I leave, then at least we can lay the foundation. We always tried before, but it wasn't you that stopped us. I never really put in the effort because I was too intimidated by how awesome you are. I'm sorry, Susan...I am trying now, will you let me?" I ask and she looks at me in shock.

"...You think...I am awesome?" Her shocked eyes look into mine trying to find the lies she expects to see.

"Yes, sis, you are awesome," I say, not breaking eye contact and smiling at her. Her face turns completely scarlet as she blushes, but she smiles back awkwardly anyway. "Maybe we can do something next week? I have a feeling that I will be busy over the coming days..."

"You get to learn fucking magic...Do you know how rad that is?" Susan says with a genuine smile this time.

I pat her hand a few times and say, "Give me a couple of years and I will be teaching you too!"

More yelling could be heard downstairs and I miss her reaction to my words. I take it as my queue to head down. "I better go down there and make Dad calm down. It is time to start the show! You are welcome to come if you want?"

"Nah...I don't do well in crowds..." Susan says and looks down to the entrance hall again.

"Alright, no worries," I say and surprise her by pulling her in for a hug. It is awkward, but I don't care. I put all my affection into it and hope she will feel it. "Can I ask for something before I go?"

"...What is it?" Susan asks, staying petrified for a few seconds before finally hugging me back tentatively.

I let the hug go on for a few more seconds, then pull back and look at her. She has tears in her eyes, so I squeeze her arm and smile at her as I ask, "Can you make me a painting to take with me to school for my birthday? It can be whatever you want, I just want something from you."

She gives a huge and happy smile at my request and nods several times, tears still in her eyes. "I can do that."