Mr Blackwood

'I celebrated my fifteenth birthday last week, and I made a bold move and bid farewell to my tutor, Miss Poppy. Despite her pretty face and rather soft approach to mentoring me, I couldn’t help but feel that sense of relief as I said my last goodbyes to her rigid schedule and constant supervision.'

'My father, however, was not pleased with my rebellion. He values obedience and discipline above all else, and my refusal to toe the line was a major source of frustration for him. But I can’t help it - I’ve grown tired of being caged in and controlled, and I’m ready to start exploring the world on my terms (as tacky and cliche as it sounds). My mother hated Poppy anyway. She could have sworn on my life that she was sleeping with my father.'

'Miss Poppy may have been a bit more lenient than my previous tutors, but I still couldn’t stand her... it didn’t help that she had this thick smell of floral perfume that was always around her. It wasn’t until Aziel-Jack mentioned it that I figured out it was there... But that is not the point. THE POINT: She is gone, and I am free.'

JOURNAL, What does one do when they are FR-’

“Mae- mae... Maelys, what are you doing?” my seven-year-old brother, Aziel, barged into my room with so much force he almost fell on his face. I slammed my diary... journal shut when I caught him coming closer and closer through my sidevision. I knew my brother, he would tell my sister, and they, being the evilest duo in the entire universe, would steal it, read it, and never let it go.

I really was expecting Aziel to jump on me, which he did, and I was so thankful in that moment that my journal was safely tucked under my butt. I stared at my brother, waiting for him to start speaking, but he just kept on staring at me while sitting in my lap.

“What do you want?” I shoved him off my lap to the other side of the bed. Violet barged into my room. Of course, wherever there was trouble (which there apparently was) my sister, Violet, was sure to follow.

Privacy is an expensive commodity around here.

“What’s going on? Why are you guys so… jumpy?” I asked. Violet was taking very deep breaths very quickly.

“Three men, going into Father’s office,” she held my arm tightly and started pulling me. And sticky. Jumpy and sticky. I pulled my arm out of her grasp, fighting the urge to squeeze her neck.

“So?” What is the reason why I can’t have my time to myself?

“So... father is busy, that means we can sneak out,” Violet said.

“No, that does not mean anything at all,” I blurted. That would be the worst thing to do... The best thing is to stay out of that maniac’s way for as long as possible.

“Oh, come on, don’t be that kind of big sister, please”

“Violet...” I said under my breath and before I could even finish talking, she gave me puppy dog eyes. I hate them.

That did it. I mean, what exactly can go wrong? We all went down to the living room, we first had to find out which office my dad was using so we could go through a safer route, We eventually found out he was using the office closest to the dining room, so we went out the front door- quietly and slowly.

Our neighbourhood wasn’t exactly a good place for playing outside and if my father found out we were going out of the house, he would kill us, drag our ears, and scream the speediest French curses he could find in his gigantic head at our dead bodies.

Aziel was skipping around and roaming in the grass while Violet spent her time riding a bicycle. I am not sure who got it for her. I just stood under the tree, leaning on it and watching them. I heard a gunshot, which made me jump a little. Gunshots were normal around here, so I was not that surprised. I had to take them inside just in case of stray bullets and things like that.

“Aziel! Violet! Your time is up, let us go inside the house,” I don’t know if he wasn’t thinking, or he felt like making me angry, but Aziel, at the very last minute, jumped into the nearby shallow puddle of mud. I immediately let out a frustrated scream and then started pulling my hair inside. I officially hate this boy. He is going to trail mud everywhere, on Dad’s probably expensive new carpets, EVERYWHERE.

“Aziel, must you behave stupid?!” I yelled at him and he dived into the mud again, rolling around more this time.

“Get out of that mud right now!”

“Ow, my eye!” he exclaimed.

“Come on,” I groaned, and he started rubbing his eyes violently. “Stop it. You can hurt yourself, or give yourself an infection” I hosed out his eyes, and he hugged me with his muddy body when he could finally open his eyes. Why does he always have to make my life miserable? What was the point of a baby brother? My new white dress was already very stained with mud, and that meant I had to go in and get cleaned up. Aziel ran in the house’s direction and he was still caked with excess mud. I widened my eyes and started running after him, but it was too late. He had already gone into the house, and brown splotches of mud were on the carpet. I continued running after Aziel until I bumped into someone and fell on my butt.

“Oomph.” I made a very funny sound at the impact.

I looked up slowly, and a young man with an annoyed scowl on his face looked down at me.

“Now I’m dead,” I muttered under my breath and picked myself up. This guy was annoyed with me, but it didn’t stop me from shamelessly noticing his features. If I had ever seen handsome, he was it.

He had dark hair and grey eyes that turned green if he moved his head a little and the light passed through it. He was dressed in a black polo shirt and black tailored trousers. He didn’t let me look that long for me to explain how well it fit him. His eyebrows were still up arrogantly. I couldn’t stop myself from looking at his beautiful face.

“Stop staring at me like that,” he snapped

“Uh- I’m so sorry.” I stared up at him, and his eyebrows lowered slowly, and I thought I saw his gaze soften, but it was just a trick of the light.

I wondered what he was doing in our house. My father never had young visitors, ever! He always entertained a specific sort of guest. Grey-haired and pot-bellied.

“I am… Maelys.” I wanted to raise my hand to shake him, but I realised my hand was being held down by my brother, and the other hand was being held down by Violet. I shook myself free, then outstretched my hand.

The man stared at my dirty hand for a while before putting his back in his pocket. I mean, good for him.

“I am the well-mannered one,” the guy from behind came forward and grabbed my hand into a firm shake despite the muddiness “Grayson, Grayson Blackwood, and this is my brother Si-"

The handsome one cut him off, "Keane Blackwood."

"He is quite rude. Take no notice of him, that is my advice for you.” Grayson bent down towards me and whispered.

Keane.

Grayson was obviously younger than Keane, and that is probably why he didn’t look quite as handsome and strong-looking as Keane. Keane had a strong and chiselled jawline and a straight nose, and even though I hadn’t been kissed yet, I had read all the romance books my mother hid in the library, and his lips were what those books described as ‘kissable’.

My father eventually came into view, whom I recognised as Peter Blackwood, the leader of the mafia family I was going to belong to for the rest of my life.

My dad glared at me. I guess he noticed that we three children had been out of the house. He then faked a smile at the stone-faced boss.

“I will surely tell her about it. Have a nice day, sir,” the man with a faint scar on his face nodded and signalled for the men to follow him out. Immediately after they were gone, my dad grabbed my right ear painfully. I squealed in pain. “Can you be a proper lady for one second, huh, Maelys?!”

“Dad! Stop it,” Aziel interfered and kicked my father’s shin. That didn’t faze him at all. He lifted his free hand to hit Aziel, but Violet blocked it for him, and it hit her instead.

“Take these children inside, Brianna,” my dad ordered my mother, who came just in time to save us. Better scolding than physical abuse. That night my dinner was delayed because I obstructed the person he wanted to kiss ass to.

Dearest Journal.

I met Mr Blackwood today.