Blood

"This is where we are going to live?" I asked my mother as we pulled into this long driveway.

"You don't like it?" My mother Joyce Remi asked me.

"No, I love it." I looked up at this old century looking mansion that stood in front of me. My family has always had money and I'm used to living a life of luxury. Well, let me rephrase that, I'm used to watching my family living a life of luxury. I'm the oldest Remi daughter. My name is Dallas Remi. I have two other sisters. Julie Remi and the youngest is Ruby Remi. We are all a year apart in age.

My father Richard Remi runs one of the largest law firms in California and New York. Needless to say, we have money. We have lived back and forth between California and New York for most of my life. Now my father is opening a firm in Seattle Washinton. We have all picked up our lives and have moved into a small town outside of Seattle called Candle Grove. We all got out of the car and stood back to look at this massive home. The house was overgrown with green everywhere you looked. The home was made out of bricks. It looked old and my mother, bless her heart didn't look too happy. "Looks like I've got a lot of renovating to do." She said and I just looked at her. My mother wasn't your type of rich woman. She was very laid back and outgoing. She was never one to follow a trend. Unlike my sisters who looked like we just moved into a trash heap.

"Really dad? I think we just moved to the start of a scary movie." My sister Julie said. Julie was the second oldest. I'm seventeen and Julie is sixteen and Ruby is fifteen. I had to laugh because she wasn't wrong. The house looked like it was right out of a horror movie, but that's what I liked about it. I'm nothing like my sisters or my mother. I take after my father. I'm quiet and keep to myself mostly. I'm the only one in the family born with jet black hair and deep blue eyes. All of my sisters have blond hair and blue eyes. They took after our mother, but I took after my father. I'm also the smartest if you go off of grades. I'm a straight-A student and I always have my face in a book.

I have never been the type to play into my father's money. My sisters on the other hand. They are all about the trends and living a rich life. Money has never mattered to me. Let me explain something to you. Before you get the wrong idea about me. I'm not this dark and brooding gothic girl. That's not true about me. I don't dress in black all the time and have a lost soul. That's not me. In my eyes, I'm just a normal girl who likes her solitude. I have never had much interest in people. In my eyes, all people are good for is pain and destruction. I know I shouldn't think like that, but I can't help it.

"Mom, can we at least see the inside before you start demolishing the place," I said crossing my arms and walking over to my father.

"Dallas is right. Let's check it all out before we make any major choices." My father said and just so you know. My father's word is gold. What he says go and there is no arguing with him. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You like the house don't you?" He whispered in my ear. I nodded my head at him with a smile. "I knew you would." He said. "It was first built in the seventeen hundreds. By a man named Nickolas Arrowood. It had only recently come up for sale when the last of the family line died off." He explained to me.

"There must be so many stories behind those doors," I said to him and he winked at me. I have always been daddy's little girl. My sisters hate it and always threw it in my face. I don't care, they don't bother me.

"So let's get inside. I want to see my bedroom. There had better be closest space." My sister Julie hollered out. I just rolled my eyes.

"There are ten bedrooms to choose from. You have plenty of choices." My father said. Still, I just shook my head. I followed my father up the huge stone wrap around porch. If I had known better I wouldn't have believed anyone had lived here in years. The place looked like it had been sitting forever empty. My father opened the front door and we all walked inside. The inside looked very different from the outside. It looked as though someone just picked up and left. The house was very clean and warm. All the last owner's things were still here. There was a house full of life. In the open living room was a large old fireplace that you could actually walk inside. I looked at my father. He just smiled at us. This house was the largest place we had ever lived in.

"Daddy, this place is huge," I said to him. He tapped my shoulder.

"I want to show you your bedroom," He said to me.

"I thought we get to pick out our rooms?" Ruby asked.

"Yes you do, but I have a room I want to show your sister first. She is the oldest." He said.

"That's not fair," Ruby said and Julie stood there with her arms crossed and I knew I would hear about this later.

"Trust me, girls. You will not be interested in this room." My father said and he took my hand and lead me up the staircase. We walked down a long hallway that leads to a single door away from all the other doors. He smiled at me when he opened the door. We were greeted right away by a staircase. I looked at him. He nodded his head at me as I started to climb the stairs. It opened up to a huge room. There was a massive bed sitting in the middle of the room. The room had its own fireplace and a set of huge double doors. I walked over and opened them. I had a pretty large balcony all to myself.

I explored the room while my father stood there and watched. I had my own bathroom with a huge claw foot tub and I had a huge closest. Not something I really cared about, but it was still nice sized. "Do you like it?" He asked me when I flopped myself down on the large king-size bed.

"Yes very much," I said.

"This room has a secret." He said and I sat up and looked at him. "Come here and help me move this." He said and I got up and followed him over to a dresser. He and I pushed on the one side and the dresser moved over to revile a small door. I looked at my father. "Go ahead, check it out." I smiled and turned the doorknob. I walked into a room that was big enough to be a small bedroom on its own. Only the walls were covered in bookshelves full of books. There was an overstuffed chair sitting in the room with a small table and table lamp. The room had a window but it was stain glass and it set close to the ceiling. I was in heaven and my father knew it. "Only you and I know about this secret." He said to me. I walked over to him and gave him a big hug. "Now you have space all to yourself that no one will know about."

"Thank you, daddy," I said.

Over the next two weeks all our things showed up and the house was coming alive with people coming and going. My family was changing things to the house, but I wouldn't let anyone touch my room. I wanted it left the way it was. The only thing I had been doing to it. Was cleaning out whoever was here last, personal things. Like clothes and old pictures. For some reason, I couldn't make myself throw any of it away. I think a young man lived here and he was very neat. I boxed his things up nice and neat and kept the box in the back of my closet.

My mother and sisters got their way and started to renovate the house. My mother made a good point at dinner one night when she said the house needed to be updated. The only thing my father wouldn't let them touch was the outside. The outside of the house and the grounds were to be left alone. We had groundskeepers come in and clean everything up, but nothing was changed. The rest of the house looked so different. My family had taken away it's authenticness, they didn't get their hands on my room though.

We only had about two weeks left before school started. I was looking forward to it. I had always loved school. I know most people like me wouldn't be looking forward to it. Only because of all the new people we were going to meet, but I had never let that stop me from learning. I was told this high school was a big one and had a wonderful library. I decided one day that I wanted to check out our new town. I took off in my car and started to explore. The town we lived in wasn't too big. It was covered in trees and woods everywhere you looked. I loved it here. I hated city life. It was always so loud and busy, but here it was quiet and peaceful. The weather was never too hot even though it was summertime. You woke up every morning with everything wet with morning dew. It was all so green and I couldn't get enough of it. I would be eighteen in just under a year and I wouldn't have to move back to the city if I didn't want to.

I spent the day checking out the town and having lunch with myself. I stopped at a small book store and checked it out. I loved privately own book stores. You found some of the best books in them. I walked inside and an old woman sat behind a counter with her nose in a book. She looked up at me and I smiled at her. "Well aren't you a pretty little thing." She said as she set her book down and stood up.

"Hello," I said to her.

"Hello dear, what can I do for you today?" She asked me.

"Well I'm new here and I was just exploring and I saw your store. Do you mind if I have a look around?" I asked.

"Of course, please. I'm Betty and I own this little store so If you need anything just let me know."

"I'm Dallas Remi. It's nice to meet you, Betty." I said and we shook hands.

"Are you a student Dallas?" She asked me.

"Yes, I will start my senior year here," I said.

"You will like the school. There is a lot of intelligent kids there." She said. "How long have you been here Dallas?"

"Let's see, it's been about a month. We moved into that huge home out on Gear road." I said. She looked funny at me for a moment.

"You mean the old Arrowood place?" She asked me.

"Yes, that's the one. My father bought it." I said. Betty looked at me like I was nuts. "Is everything okay?" I asked her.

"Oh yes dear, your home just has a lot of history in it. I also thought that the place was selling for millions." I just smiled to myself.

"My family has lots of money but please don't hold that against me."

"Okay, dear don't let me hold you up. Please have a look around." She said and then she disappeared into the back. That was weird I said to myself. I walked off to have a look around. Her place was larger then I thought. It had such a cozy feel to it and I knew I would be here a lot. I lost myself in a book and didn't pay attention to the time. I closed my book and started to head back to Betty to pay for it. When I bumped right into something hard. I almost feel to the ground if it wasn't for the pair of arms that grabbed me.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," I said as I looked into the darkest blues eyes I had ever seen. He smiled at me and held me for a little longer. I bite my bottom lip and tried not to smile at him. He was breath taken and I couldn't get over the feeling of comfort I had in that moment.

"Don't be, no harm was done. I'm August, what's your name?"