The morning mist veiled the tar road which was covered in leaf litter , either side of the road was covered in dense forest , the sounds of birds and insects caused the area to have an pleasant ambiance , monkey's with dirty white hair and red faces swung around the tree branches , some ate fruit and others tended to their young.
The headlight of a car pierced through the fog its wheels crushing the leaf litter , the monkey's gazed at machine with curiosity , inside Michael Laurent sat gazing outside the window listening to music , he looked at the tree's and water dripping down the window due to the morning mist .
Michael was a young lad of 17 , he would be turning 18 in a few months , he had jet black hair with a slightly brownish skin , with the signature blue eyes of the Laurent family , he was tall but had a rather frail figure and his face was mostly listless.
Next to him sat a little girl , 8 to 9 years of age with red hair and identical blue eyes , it was his half sister Clara , she was currently engaging in a rather heated argument with the woman in the driver seat , the woman in question was unfortunately his (and Clara's) mother Carmen Laurent , she was a woman of pale complexion and brown hair , the only trait she shared with Michael were the eyes.
As the argument between mother and daughter continued her facial expression twisted , she clenched her hand into a fist and raised it into the air like the European dictator she was always meant to be , Michael could hear her shouting through the music , when she argued it was hard to argue back it was what made her an exemplar lawyer , he felt pity for his half sibling whatever it was they arguing about she had no chance of ever winning now , the red haired man next to her reached out caressing her fist as he shot her a smile so bright it caused Michael eyes to tear up as if he were looking at the sun , it pacified his mother with terrifying efficiency as her demeanor changed akin to a full factory reset, the man was Carmen's second husband Emil .
Michael's father had passed away 11 years ago due to pancreatic cancer , he and Carmen had met in college , how they fell in love was a mystery among the family , one that Carmen refused to clear up , they soon married and had their first son Michael Laurent , those first few years of his life were a blur however Michael imagined himself happiest then.
After Michael's father died Carmen began to push herself more and more on her legal career , trying her best to move on , in retrospect she had probably bore witness o most of her husband's suffering since he refused to wear anything other than a brave smile in front of Michael , the experience of watching the man she loved waste away without hope and full of regret had thoroughly crushed her soul , hence her wish to move on was warranted but reason wouldn't matter a young boy who lost his dad , Young Michael probably saw his mom as cold hearted person.
While on a trip to the UK , she crossed path's an old college buddy Emil , they fell in love and got married afterword's planning of moving to Uk and taking Michael with them , Michael wanted to complain and protest but seeing his mom so full of life and happy stopped him , he wanted his mom to be happy so he stood out of their way and went to the UK with them in resignation.
Due to Michael's accent he never really made any new friend's so he spent all his time using social media to stay connected to the friends he had made in India, however this resulted in him watching other's living their lives to the fullest , rather than put any effort into improving his own.
His voluntary reclusion led to his frail physique and aloof nature and his mom had bussyed busied herself with Clara and her career , thus he ended up in solitude , where he found his own solace and happiness , he wasn't resentful and no one resented him for anything either , in a way his life was perfect.
The car suddenly grinded to a halt as both Michael and Clara screamed being thrust forward in their seat's , their mother's driving was entertaining if you didn't mind the chance of injury or death.
Carmen swiveled in her seat a bit looking back at her children , Michael quickly tore off his ear bud's as she shot him a glare before sighing.
"Kid's wait outside while we get the bags out , Michael look after you sister"
Emil turned speaking to Clara "Daddy will buy it for you later okay?"
Michael quickly nodded opening the door and stepping out , Clara stuck with him trying to stay as close and far from his at once , Michael was always gentle with her but she seemed uneasy around him. Their mother had even suspect him of bullying until it was confirmed otherwise.
Both stood in silence watching as their mom and Emil started taking out the luggage , Michael breathed in the cold air as watching the sun pierce through the thick fog , then he saw it , right above a misty cliff stood the Laurent estate with its ivy covered stone brick's and red brick roof.
The estate had been built in a location only accessible through a cable cart system , how it was built there in the first place was a mystery , none of the native's had actually seen the thing be built that along with rumour's that their ancestor dabbled in the arcane and occult resulted in ridiculous stories and poems of how Laurent family were wicked witches and wizards from the west , at least it rolled of the tongue.
Carmen and Emil walked toward their children carrying the bags , Carmen wore a high rise long black skirt with a white shirt with blue buttons her brown hair cascaded down her back reaching her hips , Emil meanwhile wore a grey hoodie with cream coloured pants and a red beanie freakishly simply in comparison to his wife , as they approached Clara ran towards Emil and hid behind him snuggling against his leg which elicited a chuckle from carmen , she turned to Michael inspecting him like a hawk until her brows deepened , she stepped forward brushing Michael's hair as he recoiled.
"How many times have i told you , i don't like when your hair covers your forehead , brush it back!!!!".
Michael sighed , the only times she talked to him nowadays were when she noticed something wrong with his appearance , the way he acted or the way he did things , it was less frustrating and more soul crushing to think that she only saw faults with him and never took effort to see anything else.
Michael did as was told and brushed his hair back he didn't want to argue in the morning especially since he hadn't had any coffe, he began following the three towards the cable cart's until he noticed figure's approaching from the mist , Michael froze having watched to many horror movies to be ignorant to such a development.
Yes in such a situation running would be the best option , As Michael prepared to run a scream not of terror but pure joy stopped him.
"Hey you guys" A woman voice rang in a peppy tone like a generic teenage girl in a web series.
Michael turned to see a women with blond hair tied to a bun with an , attractive figure and the blue eyes of their family she wore a sleeveless red turtleneck with jeans , it was aunt Moira , Moira extended her hands out and pulled Carmen into a suffocating hug.
"How's my dear little sister? i missed you so much!!! You know how much i missed you ? This much!!" Moira said tightening her grip around Carmen and chewing a mouthful of her hair.
"Well ive been quiet alright my dear 'older' sister but i wont be if you keep tightening your grip!! and stop biting my hair!!!" Carmen said with reprimanded pushing her away as Moira opened her mouth letting the strands of moistened hair fall out.
Moira's husband Nikhil or as everyone called him uncle Nick walked over rubbing his head , he had slightly tanned skin neat hair with a stubble and aviator glasses with a short stature so short it was funny but not short enough to be pitiable.
"she did it again , didn't she?" he asked with resignation as Emil nodded furiously.
"She's as energetic as ever" Emil said with a smile.
"Atleast she's not scary like Carmen honestly i don't know how you do it Emil , but i respect the hell out of you" Nikhil said raising his glasses , trying to look cool but failing.
"Well all ice can be melted with warmth right? I am the one who cant understand how you handle someone as energetic as miss Moira" Emil said with an easy going shrug as Nikhil chuckled , they got along in a strange way.
As the men conversed Moira was busy attacking both Carmen and Clara , She had grabbed a hold of both their cheeks and was stretching them like rubber eliciting scream's of sheer agony from the two.
Michael watched this with a blank expression , he was wondering weather to laugh or cry , this was too similar to a sitcom for him to take seriously anyway , Michael lampooned in his heart until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Makes you wonder , weather to laugh or cry right?" A soft voice spoke.
Michael turned his seeing Damien wearing a smile on his face, Damien was Moira and Nikhil's son he had inherited his mother blond hair and blue eyes and his father's handsome features , Michael scanned him and was momentarily stunned noting his stronger more toned physique it was obvious Damien had been going to the gym.
Michael face turned into one of envy and annoyance
"How have you been?"
"Really good actually , the college i applied to agreed to give me a scholarship , im going to Lithuania in a few months"
"What about your girlfriend ?" Michael asked with a smug
Damien gritted his teeth as his cheeks reddened "Ya well what about yours? hmm??"
"They say you pass on the dream's which you , yourself cant fulfill to your sons and daughters" Michael said mimicking an old sage.
"Besides the initial price tag and the membership for those things is pricey as hell i don't want to deal with that i got bills to pay" Michael shrugged.
"WHAT BILLS?!! , And the hell you mean by 'membership'? , initial price tag?! Also did you call me your SON???!!" Damien spoke exhaspirated.
Emil's voice interrupted them "Hey you two ,stop fooling around and come or we-''
"WILL!! leave you behind!!" Moira and Carmen finished the sentence as both boys ran towards the cable cart they weren't dumb enough to test their mother's.
As they entered the cable cart it shook violently for a while until it started to move , Uncle Nick was crouching down giving Clara some candy in exchange for a picture she drew meanwhile Emil was holding her up as she insisted business transaction's must be done face to face.
Nick regretted it seeing that Clara had drawn him as a hobbit.
Meanwhile Moira was conversing with Carmen about their own important subject's.
"I mean my outfit's nice but i am afraid that i look fat in this dress" Moira spoke rubbing her belly.
"You look fat in every dress ma" Damien cut in unable to stop himself.
Nick and Emil burst into laughter at hearing this as Moira squinted her eyes shut before pointing to Damien.
"They say that your enemies in your previous life are your children in this one , this brat it living proof of that" The comment elicited chuckles from Carmen and Clara as Moira whined...
As the Cable cart reached it's destination as the people on board stepped out , walking through the garden they took it the scents as Clara extended her hand out to pick some of the flowers but Emil dragged her hand stopping her , they approached the door which opened before they could ring the bell.
A man wearing a butlers outfit with long blond hair green eyes and a monocle on his left eye stepped out , he was in his late 40's and his face showed signs of aging but he was still handsome , he wore a easy going smile on his face , he bowed with the grace of an aristocrats servant.
"Welcome home"