Mansion in the Forest

FIND THE QUEEN

"Where have you been?" Siena asked Iris as she saw the latter entering the small house.

"Just got some fresh air, it's been so long since I inhaled that." Iris shrugged her shoulders and strutted her way back to the table, sipping on the cup of coffee she left earlier.

"I think we have to stay here for a night, the dark is approaching." Chantelle said as she made her way to the small kitchen where Herlie was almost done cooking. She's just 10 years old but already knows most of the house chores since she was living with her grandpa only..

"Where were you?" Jisu asked from the couch, still consoling Jazen.

"To the bathroom." Chantelle replied nonchalantly.

Uncle Sam stepped out from the room after he finished treating Trevor's wound and put him back to sleep. He immediately looked for Lexi but when he didn't see the young lady, he proceeded outside. And there was Lexi, now sitting at the root of the tree, eyes still closed and not aware that the night started to appear.

"You should go inside." Uncle Sam told Blake as he passed by the young man.

"How's Trevor?" He asked.

"He's stable now and just needed some rest and apology from you." Uncle Sam said as he gave a meaningful glance at Blake.

"I will." Blake smiled at him apologetically before walking back tot the house. Uncle Sam continued his way to Lexi and tapped Lexi's shoulder.

"Let's get inside, it's dangerous here at night."

"I'll be fine." Lexi dismissed him but the old man didn't even move a nerve and stayed where he stood while staring at Lexi's face.

"You have really grown up." He said after a brief silence and sat down next to Lexi. "You know, I've been through a lot since that night, but with the help of my granddaughter, I accepted it as the days passes by."

"Good for you."

"And you should do that too."

"I will, but not now. I still have to finish what I started." Lexi said and she was about to stand up but Uncle Sam stopped her from doing so by grabbing her arm. "Uncle Sam.."

"Do you know I hated myself for abandoning the children that night?" Uncle Sam started, Lexi didn't know what he's up to but decided to sit back down and listen to him. After all, it's good to know that one of the persons she cared for is sitting next to her after 10 years. "I really thought that everyone died and I wasn't able to save you or Trevor."

"But we did save ourselves, actually Trevor saved me."

"And I'm happy to hear that. He promised that he will protect you no matter what happens even if his own life is in danger as it is now. He caught the knife that should be for you."

"I don't know what you're up to, but I'm thankful that Trevor is always there for me and I think it's time for me to return all the favour he did for me." Lexi said with scowl on her face as she finally stood up.

"All I want to say is don’t ignore all the sacrifices Trevor made just to keep you alive." Uncle Sam said, his voice was deep and full of threats that whatever Lexi was planning to do would be her doom.

Lexi looked over her shoulder and smiled wryly. "It's sad to say this, but this is what I have to do to end all the problems I've hidden for ten years."

Uncle Sam watched Lexi's back as she enters the small house. He then looked up to the sky and let out a sigh.

"Sitrus, how am I going to stop your daughter?" He mumbled.

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Everyone ate the food that Herlie cooked in silence, no one dared to speak because they could feel the thick tension lingering in the air inside the small house.

Lexi stood up first even if she hadn't finished her meal. Jisu looked up to her and wanted to say something but decided not to and just squeezed Jazen's hand.

"I'm going to check Trevor." She said and excused herself.

As she got away from their earshot, Denver released a sharp breath. "What's just going on?" He asked.

"Just eat your food and don't ask." Blake tells him.

"Uncle Sam?" Siena called, the old guy looked at her with questioning eyes. "Sorry for asking, but how did you know Lexi and Trevor?"

"I was going to ask the same question!" Denver exclaimed.

"Lower your voice, we shouldn't be speaking at this hour or they might hear us." Uncle Sam rebuked them but since Siena was waiting for his answer as well as everyone who's curious to know, he let out a sigh of defeat and he motioned his hand to get them closer so he didn't have to speak loud. "Did they ever tell you that they are orphans?" He asked.

"Yes, actually they were there at the night where the monster's attacked that mansion." Iris said.

"I'm one of the caretakers of that mansion and those two kids are my favourite kids back then."

"Oh I see, but how did you managed to survived?" Chantelle asked.

"The night before the attack, I escaped with Herlie and put her in a safer place. When I made sure that those monsters won't see her, I decided to go back to the mansion but it was too late, everyone was dead and I thought that Lexi and Trevor were one of them."

"So you knew that there would be an attack, why didn't you warn them?" Jisu asked this time. Uncle Sam shook his head as he leaned back to his chair.

"I did, but Father Sitrus didn't believe me."

"So you mean to tell us, it wasn't really Lexi and Trevor's fault why everyone died that night?" Jazen asked, she's really interested in knowing every detail of that incident since her sister is one of the victims.

"I don't know why the government wanted to blame those two kids, they were literally 7 years old at that time and of course, they were scared and couldn't think straight, and also, it just happened that father Sitrus decided to hide the kids at the basement rather than hiding them in secret rooms." Uncle Sam made a hissing sound and shook his head once again. "That basement is one of the ways to get out of the mansion."

"Ooh, that was the place where every monster are hiding, we've been there." Siena said.

"See? How come that it'll be Lexi and Trevor's fault if father Sitrus made a wrong decision in the first place."

"All these years, I've been carrying this resentment towards Lexi and Trevor which turns out that they were innocent." Jazen said to herself, but everyone who heard her except Jisu, was looking at her confusedly.

"What are you talking about?" Iris asked.

"One of the victims of that incident is my sister." Jazen replied.

"Who is your sister?" Uncle Sam asked curiously.

"Jasmine, the one who's with the guy who brought the monster in that mansion."

"What the hell? So you mean, your sister brought the monster to an orphanage?!"

"Shh!" Uncle Sam shushed Denver. "Tone it down."

"Sorry." Denver apologised but he still couldn't believe that Jazen's sister is the real reason why the children and everyone in that mansion died.

"Okay, listen to me. If you're thinking that her sister is the real culprit, then you're wrong. It was father Sitrus." Uncle Sam rebuked what's running inside the teenager's head because he could tell that they were blaming Jazen's sister the way they looked at her. "He volunteered to hide the Queen in that mansion and in return, the government will fund the orphanage as long as the queen is there."

"Queen? You mean Sakura?" Iris asked.

"No, actually I never heard that name before but Lexi mentioned her earlier. So I was confused as to what connection she has with what happened then and why you are here." Uncle Sam said and he looked at the teenagers.

"If there's a person you need to ask who is Sakura, it's Lexi." Chantelle answered Uncle Sam's silent question. "She met her before entering the mansion."

"Then why don't you guys ask me?" Lexi spoke behind them, they snapped their heads to look at her except for Jazen as she was still upset at her from breaking up with her all of a sudden.

"Great, we don't have to ask you since you already heard everything." Iris said as she spun around to face Lexi. "Who is Sakura?"

"I already answered that question before." Lexi shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you know about the incident ten years ago?" Chantelle asked and they nodded their heads, as if Chantelle asked the right question.

"Nothing, really." Lexi lied but Uncle Sam know that she's lying.

"Okay, let me change the question, what did Sakura tell you before you entered the mansion?" Chantelle asked again, but this time, Lexi knows that there's no way she could avoid answering that question.

"Find the Queen." Lexi answered.

"Who's Queen are we talking about?" Denver asked in confusion.

"The Queen of monsters." Uncle Sam said to answer the question. "She's the first monster that arrived in that mansion."

"And you found her, right?" Blake asked even if he knew the answer as he saw how Lexi killed the queen while he's hiding.

"No."

"Liar." Blake scoffed. "You killed her, I saw you." He added which made Lexi freeze on her spot and she snapped her head at Blake. "I was there, I was planning to kill you once you come out, but I got scared of you after I witnessed everything."

"So that explains why those monsters are running after us, because you killed their Queen! And we are not their target, it was only you!" Iris growled and she stood up abruptly from her chair, which made a loud screeching sound on the floor.

Uncle Sam stood up as well when he heard the snarling outside the house, he quickly ran to grab her granddaughter and dragged Herlie with him.

"I told you, no sounds!" He sneered at the teenagers as he took his shotgun from where its hanging. "Herlie, I want you to stay silent as much as possible, okay? And never leave my side." He tells the kid, who nodded her head as an obedient child.

"Damn it." Lexi mumbled and she ran back to the room to get Trevor. While everyone prepared themselves as the snarling and growling are getting near from where they are. Denver extinguished the fire in the little lamp in the middle of the table.

"Dumbass, why did you do that? They are blind!" Blake hissed at him for doing that and now, they barely see anything.

"I forgot, sorry." Denver apologised and light it up again using the match.

"Silent." Uncle Sam whispered hard at them as he grip his shotgun tightly while Herlie fisting the hem of his shirt.

They all stopped talking and waited for the monsters to attack the house, but after a few minutes, nothing happened. Until there's a loud crash in the room.

"Lexi!" Trevor's voice blasted in the middle of the dark and the growling and snarling became loud.

"Shit." Jazen mumbled and she quickly ran to the room to check what's going on. The wooden walls on Trevor's side were ruined and Lexi was nowhere to be found. "Where is she?!" She yelled when she didn't see Lexi. The lamp suddenly fell on the fall and everyone started to panic when the wooden floor set on fire.

"Herlie!" Uncle Sam shouted when someone grabbed his granddaughter and took her away.

"What the hell is going on?!" Denver yelled as he started to panic while trying to put out the fire.

"Lexi took Herlie!" Chantelle shouted and she ran after her.

"Chantelle! Wait!" Jisu shouted but Chantelle didn't even stop and she ran faster when she saw Lexi's silhouette .

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