2. Courtney
I t’s been a week since I moved into Morelli Mansion, and I still haven’t learnt my way around. At first, I spent all of my time walking around in awe, exploring each room with eyes full of wonder, as I’d never seen anything like it before.
This place is pure luxury, and I quickly found my favourite rooms. I have spent hours exploring the massive library that covers two floors, filled with more books than I could ever read in a lifetime.
There’s even a sliding ladder to reach the upper shelves, and I have been living my best life sliding along, lost in a fairytale, like I’m a child all over again.
There’s also a cinema room, with comfortable recliner chairs, complete with its own popcorn machine in the corner, which is far too big for the amount of people that live in this house.
The home gym is stocked with the most up-to-date equipment, with at least two of each machine, and is a million times better than the one on the university campus. Everything is kept clean and immaculate, and there’s a fridge full of water and energy drinks.
But my favourite part of the house, by a long way, is the large heated indoor pool.
It’s located at the back of the house, in what can only be described as a sunroom.
There’s a domed glass ceiling that covers the pool, but there seems to be a protective coating over it, as whenever the sun is out, it never feels too bright.
There are sun loungers and chairs spaced out around the pool, so you can sit or lounge wherever you choose. There’s also a hot tub in the corner of the room, making it look like a high-end spa rather than an at-home pool.
What I love most about the pool is that it’s always the perfect temperature. Even when I’ve wandered down here in the middle of the night, when I’m fighting against the nightmares that will inevitably come if I fall asleep, the water is always perfect.
Despite loving all that the Mansion has to offer, the shine has started to wear off, and I’m feeling on edge constantly. I’m also much more lonely than I ever expected, given that I usually like my own company.
I see Mrs Branch all the time, and she’s always polite and friendly when we make conversation. There’s also a constant stream of staff who bring me meals, or tend to my every whim, but despite being around so many people, I feel very alone.
My nightmares are keeping me up most of the night, even though I feel safer here than I have in most other places. Whenever I close my eyes, they creep up on me, burrowing under my skin, so that even when I’m awake, the fear is still with me.
The all-consuming fear is starting to get the better of me, and I’m scared of going outside now.
I won’t even talk to the few friends I have left on the phone, in case it gives away my location.
I’m so paranoid that I don’t know who I can trust, or if someone I thought was a friend could be betraying me.
It’s gotten to the stage where I’m trying to put off going to sleep, as I know with a certainty that the nightmares will come, and even when I wake up, it’s like a part of it still lingers beneath the surface.
It’s past midnight, and I’m exhausted after a week of poor, interrupted sleep, but I don’t want to get into bed, as falling asleep will be easy. So instead, I find myself wandering the halls of the Mansion, exploring new places that I’ve still not seen.
This place is that big, I could wander the hall for weeks and still not see everything. For one thing, I’m constantly getting lost, as all the hallways seem to look the same.
My rooms are located in the East wing, and I’ve spent the last week familiarising myself with the different floors on my side of the Mansion. I’m sure there are still a lot of rooms within the East wing that I’ve not yet explored, but I know the layout well enough.
The main part of the house, which is in the centre of the layout, is mostly where I lose my sense of direction. As it’s the shared part of the house, it took me a while to gather the courage to explore, as I didn’t want to interfere if anyone else was using that part of the house.
As a result, I’ve yet to learn the layout as much as I have in the East wing, and with all the corridors looking the same, I regularly get lost—though I’m getting better each time I explore .
One thing Mrs Branch was clear on showing me was the boundary line for where the West wing of the house starts. The West wing is Maximus’ private wing, and he was very clear that I’m never to pass the boundary line. It’s one of the rules he stressed to me on the very first day.
He must spend all his time in the West wing, as I’ve not seen him even once since I moved in. I know the place is massive, but there are a lot of communal rooms in the main part of the house, so I expected our paths to cross at least on occasion. But nothing.
More than once I’ve wondered if he’s deliberately keeping out of my way, but if that’s the case, why? This is his house, he shouldn’t feel like he has to avoid parts of his own home just because I’m here. I’d tell him as much if I ever saw him.
Normally, when I reach the West wing boundary, I turn back straight away, but tonight, for some reason, I find myself lingering. My brain isn’t functioning at normal capacity, as I’m seriously sleep deprived, but that’s the only excuse I can come up with for why I’m teetering on the line.
I’ve always been inquisitive—or nosey, as Miles would say—and having a whole wing of the house that’s off-limits is driving me crazy. I’m constantly wondering what he has in his wing that warrants me not being allowed to even get close.
I think of the mafia world that Maximus is part of, and then my imagination runs wild. I picture torture chambers and dungeons, where Maximus keeps his enemies as he proves to them how powerful he truly is.
I meant what I said to Maximus on the first say—I’m a good girl, a rule follower—which is why I’m so shocked when I find myself willingly crossing the boundary line, fuelled by my crazy need to find out what it is that Maximus Morelli is trying to hide from me.
The ground floor is decorated the same as the rest of the house, with dark wooden flooring and neutral beige tones on the walls, with just the odd pop of dark green and silver to add some colour.
There’s a dark feeling to all of the Mansion, but there’s also a strange sense of warmth and calm that’s grown on me the longer I’ve been here.
The rooms are what I expected to find; mostly sitting rooms, meeting rooms, and spare office spaces. There’s a massive room at the far end of the wing that looks like it would be used as a ballroom, but is sitting empty at the moment.
There’s a door with Maximus’ name on a plaque in the centre, which is clearly his home office, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I try the handle, only to find it locked. I don’t know what I would have done if it had been open.
Whilst snooping around the wing doesn’t seem too bad, and I might be able to talk my way out of whatever trouble I’ll be in if I’m found, I’m almost certain there will be no explanation I can give if I’m found rifling through Maximus’ private office. I’ll be out on my arse before I can blink.
As I make my way up to the next floor, I can’t help but note the lack of personal items all around me. I thought it was strange that there was none in the main part of the house, but I told myself they were probably all in Maximus’ wing, out of the way of prying eyes.
Although neither Maximus or Marcus seem the sentimental type, I still expected to find at least some family pictures. Maybe a baby photo of Marcus, or proof that a child once grew up here.
I think back to the doorframe in my childhood bedroom that’s covered with markings from where Miles would record my height every birthday. There’s nothing like that here, and it strikes me as odd.
With each step I take, edging closer to the floor above, my heart races faster. The adrenaline is doing a great job of chasing away the exhaustion, and so I keep pressing forward once I reach the long corridor that runs the length of the wing.
I’m a little disappointed when I find that most of the doors are locked, and all I can do is speculate as to what might be behind them.
Since I don’t hear any screams, or people, and there’s no signs of any blood or torture devices, I rule out my earlier crazy theory.
Instead, I settle for thinking they may just be spare bedrooms, which is not as exciting.
When I reach the large room at the end of the corridor, which is directly above the ballroom, as I wrap my hand around the doorknob, I send out a silent plea that this one opens, as I desperately want to see what’s in here.
As the knob turns and the lock clicks open, I let out a muted squeal of excitement whilst pushing the double doors open slowly, making sure to be as quiet as I can. Once they’re open, the lights overhead come on automatically, and I gasp as I take in the large room.
It’s another large gym, but this one is very different to the one in the main part of the house. Taking up most of the space, in the middle of the room, is a full-size boxing ring, and there are different styles of punching bags all around the outside of the open-plan space.
There’s a treadmill and some other cardio machines, along with a whole row of different weights.
This explains how Maximus stays in shape, and why I haven’t seen him in the main gym.
He’s got too many muscles not to be exercising in some way, and I’ve been in that gym at all times of the day and night, yet I’ve never seen him—now I know why.
There are a couple of doors leading off the gym, and as I move to investigate, I’m shocked to find a sauna, a steam room, and what looks to be some other pamper-type rooms. Despite knowing they are off-limits, I really want to find a way to use them.
Combined with the pool and hot tub in the main house, this place isn’t far off being its own spa.