Chapter Text
I had to say, the new house my father and his family bought had to be the ugliest building I have ever seen. Not that it was actually a house. It was a mansion, once owned by a big time Hollywood star that had passed away very suddenly a couple years ago. I remembered it was a big deal at the time, on the cover of every newspaper and magazine. If I recalled correctly, he was a big action star that had gotten recently divorced.
But back to the point at hand. The mansion was ugly with a capital U. It was massive, built on the side of a hill above Malibu. To give credit where credit was due, the view was absolutely stunning, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The sunsets were phenomenal. It has a massive garden, surrounded by a 10 foot high security fence and an electric gate with an intercom that I had to buzz to be let in. Driving down the long gravel driveway, flanked on both sides by palm trees, I instantly knew I would hate this house and its obnoxious display of wealth. Walking up to the front door, I am met by two walls on either side of the door, emblazoned with the curious words “Casa del Cage”. This made me raise my eyebrows. What a strange name for a mansion.
Stepping foot into the mansion made me hate it even more. The building itself was huge and an all-round strange shape. Calling the inside spacious would have been an understatement. The main hall was open plan, high ceilings and huge windows facing out towards the both the sea and the hill next to us. There was a fire place to one side (this is California, wasn’t it hot enough here?) with raised platforms surrounded by steps. All I could think of was what a tripping and falling hazard those steps would prove to be. But most bizarre of all, was the infinity swimming pool that was half in and half out of the house, leaving one side of the space open to the elements. God this was a stupid house. I prayed the first floor would be somewhat better.
I barely had time to glimpse at the expensive looking furniture before my two younger siblings came racing through the house to meet me. Antony got to me first, crashing into me, wrapping his arms around my waist. Ruby got to me seconds after her brother, trying to wrap her arms around my hips. I laughed and crouched down to hug them both back. I had missed them when I moved away. They had grown so much in the year since I had lived at home.
“You’re coming to live with us!” Ruby bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet. I tucked the curls falling out of her ponytail behind her ears and smiled fondly at her.
“Just for a little while sweetie. But yeah, I’m staying with you guys.”
“Did you see the pool? It’s huge! It’s bigger than the one at our last house! It’s half inside the house!” Antony babbled, evidently thrilled with the mansion – a stark contrast to his tears at being told they were moving house last month.
“I know, it’s big isn’t it? Are you going to set up your pool floats when you unpack?” He looked like he was ready to jump into the stack of cardboard boxes piled next to the door to find his pool floats.
“Hey you two, give your sister room to breathe. She’s barely in the door.” My father called down the corridor. I stood up to greet him. It was lovely to see him again. He looked just the same as always, the way his eyes crinkled at the sides when he smiled, the lopsided grin all a comfort to me. He gave the exact same strong warm hugs that nearly lifted me from my feet. I had missed him so much. “How are you doing honey?”
“I’m doing okay dad. Really.” I ignored his look of skepticism and turned back to the interior of the house. “This is a pretty big place. I didn’t think this would be your kind of dream home.”
“It’s a custom built mansion for the A-list actor Johnny Cage.” My face instantly fell upon hearing the voice of my father’s current wife, Josephine. She swept into the entranceway, necklaces clacking and beige satin pants billowing with her strides. She loosely wrapped me in a barely-there hug, and guided me further into ‘living room’. I grimaced over my shoulder to my dad who merely laughed. He knew well about mine and Josephine’s differences. “This is all original furniture, owned by the man himself. Came with the house. Unfortunately his awards and more expensive possessions were auctioned off after his death.” She continued to glide about the space, pointing out the matching couch and love seat set that cost more than I make in a year.
I hummed along, pretending like I cared about her plans to fill the currently blank walls with art from some artist I had never heard of. I was trying to rack my brains to remember who Johnny Cage was. Had I seen any of his movies? I couldn’t even really call to mind what the man had looked like. Not that it mattered. The one thing I did know about him was that he had horrible taste in architecture, if this house really was custom built for him. It was just the type of rich, artsy kind of place that Josephine would fall for. I had absolutely no idea how she and my father could have afforded a place like this. Surely another actor or even a pop star would have coveted a place like this?
I had been paying so little attention to Josephine that I barely noticed her floating away to the next room, so I grabbed the handle of my suitcase and followed along after her. I got a tour of the ground floor, including the kitchen, laundry room, downstairs bathroom and shower room for the pool, and a larger, wooden floored that had once been a home gym. More surprising was a small home theatre, complete with large plush chairs and wall to wall screen. Who the hell had the money to make a place like this? Oh right, rich suckers from Hollywood.
Luckily Ruby and Antony stole me away to show me the upper floor and the rooms that they had chosen. I was surprised to find that upstairs was smaller than the down stairs, with only four rooms. The first room belonged to my father and Josephine, the second to Ruby and the third to Antony. The last room at the very end was going to be my room. Antony excitedly pushed me into the room, delighted that our rooms were next to each other. To my surprise, the room was fairly simple. The wall paper was dark crimson, the space more enclosed, a complete opposite to the openness and brightness of the rest of the house.
I sat down on the bed, feeling somewhat out of place. While the rest of the house looked like a show home, straight from a magazine, this bedroom felt more personal, more intimate. It gave me the distinct feeling like I was intruding on something private, that I wasn’t mean to see. My spine tingled as though I was being watched. I cast my eye about nervously. Nothing. Just a bed, a window, more stupidly expensive furniture and a door through to the ensuite.
I shook off the feeling of not being alone. It was probably just that new house feeling- I just needed to get settled into my house. I just needed to make the space my own! Determined, I started to unpack my suitcase and put my clothes into the oversized wardrobe.