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The loud sound of birds chirping awoke Lucius. Sunlight filtered into the room, a light breeze rattled the windows. He sat up, brushing sleep from his eyes. It was a cool spring day. A few months had passed since Gene’s death along with more corpses showing up around the mansion. Mother had begun to descend into a state of frantic madness. An exorcist has visited the mansion twice now, along with a few priests. Father doesn’t seem as affected as mother, yet he is still a bit shaken up. He has become much more agitated and on edge lately, while detective McGuffin works tirelessly around the mansion. No one has begun to suspect Lucius yet, as if they could. A small boy who rides around on his bicycle all day and bounces his red ball happily poses no threat.
Satan had been very proud of Lucius’s progress and had even given him some new powers to play around with. Lucius had found them quite useful. He might even be able to access the basement now. However, that was for another day. Today he had a lesson with his teacher, Mr. Oakwood. Lucius didn’t mind his studies and had an odd fondness for math. He’d much rather do something else such as ride his bicycle or play pranks around the mansion. A week ago he had used his newfound powers to turn all the lights off in the mansion, and had laughed to himself as he watched everyone run frantically around like ants. Lucius was always looking for ways to entertain himself in this empty mansion.
Satan had scolded him a few times, reminding him that he should be focusing on his killings. However, Satan understood the childlike mischief of a six year old after all. Lucius had gotten out of bed and had begun getting ready when he heard a faint knocking at the door. He opened it and found his mother’s brown eyes staring back at him.
“Alistair has a surprise for you downstairs in the grand room. You must complete your school lesson with Mr. Oakwood first.” Lucius nodded, a faint smile appearing on his pale face. Alistair was his favorite resident of the mansion, they had a special connection. Mother had taken notice of this, chuckling quietly to herself whenever she saw the two together. She pushed past Lucius to set some clean, folded clothes into his old wooden drawer. Lucius made his way out into the hall, and soon down to the grand room. Grandfather was seated in a chair, smoking a thick cigar. The smoke unpleasantly filled the room, it’s harsh smell smacking Lucius in the face.
Lucius walked over to grandfather with a glare.
“I hate when people smoke.” He told him bluntly.
“What do you want, kid.” Grandfather sneered bitterly. The chandelier flickered, and for a second the thought of using his powers crossed Lucius’s mind. No, he couldn’t use them out in the open like this. He would have to wait for grandfather to be alone. Lucius wondered what Satan would think if he killed someone he wasn’t assigned to. He probably wouldn’t mind, he was Satan after all. Matter of fact he would probably be quite proud of Lucius. Grandfather took another puff of his cigar and blew the charcoal smoke directly into his face.
“I hope you choke and die on your food you damn old man.” Lucius spat with irritation. He was usually quiet, not ever saying much but grandfather always stirred something within him.
“Respect your elders kid, that’s not how you speak to your old man. I was planning on showing you the basement but with this recent disrespect…” That immediately caught Lucius’s attention. An opportunity to access the mysterious basement had finally arisen. He sighed and looked Grandfather straight in the eye.
“I’m sorry..I didn’t mean that. I just quite dislike it when people smoke. It gives me a terrible headache.” Grandfather chuckled.
“Aha I see now…alright I’ll show you the basement soon sometime. Now go run off and play.” Lucius did not need to be told twice to get away. He needed some fresh air, it would help alleviate his headache. He pushed open the double doors and walked out into the courtyard appreciating the fresh spring hair. It was a sunny day and the birds were chirping happily. The mansion’s gardener was out planting flowers and tending to the trees. It was a peaceful day. After pacing for a few minutes Lucius decided to head back inside, he had his lesson with Mr. Oakwood after all.
Once inside Lucius made his way to the top floor where his classroom was located. He greeted Mr. Oakwood with a small wave and took a seat. Lucius tapped his fingers against the wood desk with boredom, wishing he could play with his red ball.
“Today I will be teaching you the concept of multiplication.” That perked Lucius’s interest a bit, he has always liked math. It came easy to him and clicked in his head. The numbers had always felt safe and secure. Mr. Oakwood’s lesson flew by fast, and soon it was time to see the surprise Sir Alistair had planned for Lucius. Excitement filled the boy’s stomach. Perhaps it was a new toy to play with? That would be nice. After all Lucius only had his ball and bicycle, and he often grew bored of the mansion quickly. Playing pranks around the mansion had been fun however the servants caught on quickly and he had to stop.
Lucius stood up from the small desk and waved goodbye to Mr. Oakwood. He then hurried down to the grand room where Alistair commonly resided. On his way down he heard detective McGuffin and father conversing in father’s office. He stopped and pressed his ear to the door.
“I worry for the boy…all these freakish accidents can’t be good for him.” Father shakes his head in agreement of McGuffin’s words.
“I know it’s been a dreadful past few months. My wife is not doing well either, she hasn’t been herself lately. We’ve already had an exorcist come cleanse the mansion twice now…I’m not sure there’s much more we can do.” McGuffin sighs.
“We still have found little to no clues. Despite all of these deaths having been confirmed as accidents I still can’t shake the feeling that a third party is involved. Don’t worry Mr. Wagner, we won't be stopping the investigation any time soon. By the way, is there anyone who could possibly be involved in these freakish accidents?” Lucius can hear father rummaging for his pack of cigarettes.
“Well…now that I think about it my father has always been…odd. I often hear him mumbling to himself and he’s always been super secretive of the basement and what’s down there. If I’m being completely honest even I don’t know what lies down there myself.”
“Maybe we should investigate the basement then. Are there any reasons as to why your father may be doing all of this?” Father takes a pause to think.
“I can’t think of any particular reasons at the moment but he’s always stuck out like a sore thumb. Even Lucius isn’t very fond of him.”
“Well it’s decided then, we’ll start investing in the basement tomorrow morning.” Lucius hears father grunt in reply.
“I’ll have to get permission from my father first…I’ll try my best, don't worry. See he can get quite agitated about this topic.”
“Oh I see..well then we’ll hold off on the investigation until we get permission. But about Lucius, I think some therapy would be good for him. It’s important he has someone to talk to through all this.”
“That’s a good idea, I’ll consult my wife about it. Anyways I think this meeting has concluded I have some business paperwork to attend to.” Lucius hears detective McGuffin getting up from his seat and quickly moves away from the door and continues his way down to the grand room. He must explore the basement soon before they start investigating it….
Lucius can hear a soft and lovely melody coming from the grand room as he approaches. Alistair is playing the piano as usual. The beautiful sound of it always adds color to the greyness of the mansion. A small smile soon appears on the boy’s face.
“Well hello Lucius!” Alistair calls over to him. Lucius hurries over to the piano in excitement of his surprise.
“Hello Sir Alistair..what did you want to show me?” Lucius can barely hide his excitement. There’s a gleam in Alistair’s eyes and a big smile on his face. He carefully gets off the piano seat and walks over to a curious brown box. “Here open this!” He exclaims, handing the box to Lucius.
Lucius stares at the box for a few seconds wondering what could possibly be inside. He then carefully opens it and pulls out the contents inside.
“It’s a…camera!” Lucius exclaims excitedly. Finally he had a new gadget to play with.
“You can even take pictures in color too!” Alistair boasts happily. He watched as Lucius fawned over his new toy. Warmth filled the old man’s heart. It was such a nice day.
“Let’s take a picture together!” Lucius exclaimed excitedly. He turned the camera on and held it up in front of himself and sir Alistair. “3..2..1..snap!” A polaroid picture of the two posing happily slid out from the camera. Lucius held it up smiling. “I’m going to pin this somewhere in my bedroom.”
“What a grand idea!” Alistair replied warmly. For the rest of the day Lucius took pictures of himself all over the mansion, polaroid photos of his adventures were soon found all over the place.