It was of course, the talk of the small town when people heard of the family who bought the mansion finally showing up, maybe two days after I broke into the grounds. I rode my bike over towards the house before parking it in the woods as I moved on my feet till I saw that mansion across that three lane paver lined street. The dark stone and fixtures glittering like it was brushed with liquid mirror, the huge gate out front open inwards as I could hear people loudly laughing and talking outside of the home, one of the moving trucks still out front as the workers were bringing stuff out of the truck and taking it off into the house. The driveway split off at one point coiling off to the left to the other half of that bottom floor just past the hill’s crest, but that black and red, chrome muscle car was still out front. I could see someone standing with a very large black parasol overtop their head and on their shoulder. I slipped forward as I stepped out onto the sidewalk as I felt this…strange pull, it was almost magnetic, the way I felt this cord at my chest making me walk forward. My books softly padding at the pavers as I walked across the street before stopping at the entrance of the gate as I twisted my hands in my jacket pockets before nodding softly to myself as I took a few steps forward before having to steel myself again as I started walking up the slightly steep driveway.

            “That goes in the study with the suits of armor” the person with the parasol said, the moment I heard that voice made me instantly pause in my walking, like I had walked into a wall as this venom of pure lightning and ice dripped down my spinal cord, but my muscles were trembling and everything felt like I was covered in static. They turned a little before pausing as they turned to face me fully, the parasol softly tilted back showing the figure whom was holding it  “Oh, hello…are you a neighbor?” she asked

            “Oh, yes, um…hi, I’m James” I said

            “Charmed, I’m Raven” she said, she was…a fair bit taller than me, nearly half a foot taller than me at least, icy…icy pale with masses of freckles covering her skin, but these sharp eyes that almost looked black, but were without a doubt a dark blue, manicured black rows and this curtain of pin-straight black hair hanging down her back. She smiled softly, face adorned with sharp, high cheekbones and full lips painted neon red, her hair was tucked behind an ear showing a sharp point at the tip as jewelry went down the cartilage and filled her ears, there was a matching gold ring through her left brow, the middle of her lower lip and a snug fitted gold ring through her septum, but as she smiled showed rather pronounced dimples and these neon bright white teeth. She was dressed…strangely, she’s already quite tall, but had these platform and high heeled boots on her feet, wide straight legged black trousers of deeply pleated leather, cropped black shirt with a turtleneck and long sleeves, though the sleeves, neck and a lot of the chest were simply fishnet instead of actual fabric, a red harness around her torso making her slight chest seem much more pronounced, she had black gloves on her hands with all of these bracelets and pieces covering her forearms, rings down her fingers, stacked and layered jewelry and a black leather almost caplet rested on her shoulders attached to the harness as it fell down her back, a pair of sunglasses down her thin nose with red coffin shaped lenses and a wide brimmed black hat back on her head. The cropped shirt showed a bit of extremely muscled abs and I could see tattoos through the fishnet, but I couldn’t see what they were exactly. She stood with an over-straight posture and the way she held her body reminded me of boudoir models: broad shouldered and hipped, but a tiny waist and extremely shapely limbs and a statue like face: widow’s peak, large eyes with a slight upturn to the outer corners, thin roman nose, high sharp cheekbones, full lips with an over-defined bow to her upper lip, sharp jaw and absolutely…flawless skin, I couldn’t even see pores. Her dark eyes were edged in dark makeup flared out almost to her hairline, metallic pigments along the high points and that bright neon red lipstick that still looked neon despite the fact she was fully in the shade.

            “I was…surprised to hear that someone bought this place…it’s been abandoned for like…decades” I said, she laughed softly.

            “My parents wanted somewhere quiet and to ourselves, somewhere that people wouldn’t be giving us such a prying eye.” She said as she rested a hand on her hip, softly twisting the handle of her parasol in her left hand, her right hand moved a little as she flicked open a very, very large hand-fan, ink black and edged in thick white ruffs with a large spider adorning the center of the fan as she softly batted it at her chin.

            “Well, to be honest, you chose the worst place to pick to stay to yourselves…this place is…people are constantly trying to know absolutely everything and anything about everyone around them. They’re not happy if they don’t know everything about you.” I said with a soft laugh, she sighed.

            “You may think that, but…we have our ways and our…special ways of keeping people from treating us in ways that we don’t want to be treated.” She said, “Are you from Boughburg?” she asked

            “I am” I said with a soft nod, “Born and raised. You?”

            “Oh, my family is…we’re kind of from all over, but I was raised in Maine.” She said

            “Must be cold there”

            “You get used to it after a bit, barely even feel the cold lately.” She said, I looked up towards the parasol.

            “You…conscious of the sun or something?”

            “Just cautious: I know how dangerous extensive sunlight is for anyone and you can obviously see that I have a very…very pale complexion so, I burn like a match with the shortest amount of sunlight, so…I prefer to stay like this.” She said with a shrug.

            “Miss Seltsam?!” One of the workers asked, “Artwork?”

            “Gallery!” she called out over her shoulder

            “Seltsam?”

            “It is our family name and all, my father mainly is quite important to whatever he wishes to do.”

            “What do you mean by that?”

            “My father has always been…he does whatever he wants, so he has hands in many different business ventures”

            “Must have been interesting growing up.”

            “Oh, extremely.”

            “Oh, Raven!” A very, very chipper and sing-song like voice called out, Raven sighed deeply as she held her closed fan in her teeth as she pinched the bridge of her nose…but I could have sworn her teeth were…almost wrong, it was too quick of a motion to make me sure of it, but I could have sworn there was something just different about her teeth.

            “Yes, Auntie!” she called out before sighing, “Please, come in…I’m sure my parents have some questions about the area and all”

            “I couldn’t trouble you like that. You’re family is just moving in, you probably want the time to unpack.”

            “No, we paid to have people do that for us.”

            “They’ll do that?”

            “People will do anything if you pay them enough.”

            “Are you…going to the school over in Martelv?” I asked, that’s the bigger city that my school was in.

            “No, I have already finished my colligate escapades, I am more than comfortable where I am and all with helping…kind of be the fact of whatever my father is choosing to try next.” She said with a laugh.

            “Raven!” that same voice added, still singing, but sounding maybe a touch annoyed, Raven rolled her eyes as she sighed.

            “That is my aunt, as you hear me before…she probably lost her perfume or makeup collection and is asking me if I know where it is. I have a phone and all, but she refuses to text me with shit like that. Please, I insist, at least come in for a cup of tea, my grandfather makes the best tea you will ever taste, makes it all himself to the extent of growing the tea himself too. James, I assure you my family would love to meet you.” She added.