Chapter 39
Whispers in the Attic
The early morning sun filters through the high, arched windows, bringing a cold, sharp stillness to the vast house.
It does not feel like daylight; it feels like a pale illumination casting long, skeletal shadows across the floorboards.
In the quiet sanctuary of their bedroom, the silence is absolute, heavy, and expectant.
Then, a faint, hesitant knock echoes against Kai and Kael’s bedroom door, breaking the stillness with the erratic cadence of someone who is deeply afraid.
Kai moves instantly, his predatory instincts always alert, and pulls the heavy wooden door open.
Grandma stands in the dim hallway. Her posture is fragile, her small frame swallowed by the shadows, but her eyes are bright with a quiet, desperate longing that feels almost suffocating.
She looks up at the two brothers, her hands trembling slightly against her sides.
"Can you call Tessa?" Grandma asks, her voice soft, cracking under the massive weight of her unspoken emotions. "I want to talk to her."
Kael steps forward from the shadows of the room, a warm, reassuring smile spreading across his face as he deliberately tries to lighten the suffocating mood. He looks down at her with genuine fondness. "Why not, beautiful woman?"
Kai is already moving, his fingers tapping rapidly across his phone screen with practiced efficiency.
The bright screen flashes in the dim light as he initiates the secure video call, the digital ringing sound cutting through the ancient house.
The connection goes through almost instantly.
Without a single word, Kai steps closer and gently hands the vibrating device over to Grandma, his touch careful, as if she might break.
Tessa’s face appears on the screen, illuminated by the harsh glow of the display. She looks exhausted, her eyes shadowed with dark circles, but she becomes instantly attentive the moment she recognises the background.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Grandma says, her voice trembling violently as her fingers grip the edges of the phone.
"Good morning, Grandma," Tessa replies from the other side of the digital divides. Her expression softens completely, the defensive walls she usually wears instantly melting away at the mere sight of the older woman.
Grandma opens her mouth to speak, desperate to say everything that is weighing so heavily on her fractured heart, but the words trap themselves in her throat.
The psychological pressure of a lifetime of secrets is too much to bear.
Tears well up in her eyes, thick, hot, and unstoppable, before spilling over her pale cheeks.
She breaks down completely, weeping silently into the camera, her shoulders shaking with an old, embedded grief.
Across the screen, Tessa’s heart shatters. The helplessness in her eyes is palpable, a raw wound exposed to the air. "Oh, Grandma, don't cry," she pleads, her hand reaching out toward her own screen in a futile, heart-breaking gesture of comfort.
Unable to handle the overwhelming wave of pain, and desperate to hide her vulnerability from the girl she loves so much, Grandma shakes her head. "Alright, let me hang up now," she whispers hoarsely, her thumb frantically searching for the red button.
Before Tessa can protest or say another word, Grandma cuts the call, leaving the screen completely blank and lifeless.
In an instant, Kai and Kael close the distance between them. They do not hesitate. They wrap their strong arms around her fragile frame, anchoring her in their protective hold, shielding her from the coldness of the hallway.
"Don't cry," they soothe in unison, their voices fierce, unyielding, and laced with a quiet promise of violence to anyone who threatens her peace. "We are with you. In the future, we are making sure Tessa will come here. We promise."
Grandma takes a deep, shuddering breath, her fingers tightening around a linen napkin to wipe away her tears. She finds a strange, grounding comfort in the fierce loyalty of the two dangerous men standing guard around her.
Grandma steadies her uneven breathing, her fingers smoothing down the damp napkin as she steps back from their embrace.
"Let us go and eat something," she says, her voice dropping into a serious, guarded whisper that instantly puts the brothers on high alert.
"After that, I will give you some important information. And some letters."
The brothers exchange a sharp, knowing look. The unspoken promise of answers hangs heavily in the air, a thick layer of psychological tension that follows them as they trail her downstairs into the cold dining room.
"Now, sit down," Grandma instructs softly, gesturing toward the heavy, dark wooden chairs that line the long dining table.
They take their seats, the tension in the room thick enough to cut with a knife.
The morning light does nothing to warm the space.
Kai leans forward, his arms resting on the polished wood, his expression carefully masked in his usual nonchalance, though his sharp eyes pierce right through her.
He waits for the exact moment she sets her hands down.
"How do you know Don Blackwood?" Kai asks casually, his tone light but his gaze unblinking, tracking every micro-expression on her face. "I saw your face go pale. Your expression soured, like you know something more than anyone else in this twisted game."
Underneath the table, Kael’s heavy leather boot flies out, delivering a sharp, warning kick right to Kai’s shin. Shh! Kael commands silently, shooting his brother a murderous glare. It is not the right time to ask this type of question. You will scare her off.
Grandma ignores the silent exchange between the brothers.
She walks over from the kitchen counter, placing three full plates of steaming pasta onto the table, the rich scent of herbs doing nothing to ease the suffocating atmosphere.
She does not look up immediately; her movements are deliberate, slow, and heavy.
When she finally raises her head, her eyes are eerily calm, reflecting a cold certainty.
"I know Don Blackwood," Grandma says, holding their gazes with an intensity that freezes the blood in their veins. "He is the father of Lucius."
The words hang in the air like a sudden, violent drop in temperature.
Kai’s eyes widen in sheer shock, his nonchalant mask slipping entirely for the first time in years.
Beside him, the colour drains completely from Kael’s face, leaving him deathly pale against the dark woodwork of the room.
In an instant, the atmosphere in the dining room turns suffocating heavy, the psychological weight of the revelation pressing down on their chests.
Seeing the stark terror and rigid tension gripping her grandsons, Grandma lets out a soft, strained laugh. It is a dry, humourless sound, meant only to reduce the suffocating pressure of the moment, but it sounds hollow in the vast room.
As soon as they finish eating, the heavy silence drives Kai and Kael into immediate motion.
Behaving like perfectly dutiful grandsons, they stand up in unison and take their empty plates to the basin.
They wash and clear up the kitchen with careful, quiet efficiency, determined to help their grandmother so the physical strain of the chores does not hurt her aching, fragile back.
They move like ghosts, their minds racing with the implications of the Blackwood lineage.
Kai turns away from the sink, drying his hands on a towel as a wave of quiet regret hits him. He stares at the floor, his jaw tight. It is definitely better if he keeps his mouth shut during breakfast instead of asking that dangerous question. He let his curiosity override his caution.
Kael notices his brother's tense posture and shakes his head, his voice dropping to a low, barely audible whisper as he leans against the counter. "You probably do not even know that Lucius actually has a brother. There are two of them, Kai."
Grandma looks up from the table, her sharp ears overhearing their hushed exchange, and she nods slowly, her expression grim. "Kael is right. Lucius has an older brother. His name is Raven Blackwood." She pauses, her sharp, knowing eyes fixing onto Kael. "How do you know that, Kael?"
"I read the newspapers," Kael answers calmly, crossing his arms.
"I see a massive controversy about him five years ago. The media tries to confirm if he is the son of Marius Blackwood. When the controversy reaches its peak, Raven changes his surname entirely to vanish from the grid."
He offers a small, knowing smirk, a flash of intellectual pride cutting through the tension.
"I have Raven’s hacker, Leo; confirm it for me weeks ago."
A faint, impressed smile touches Grandma's lips, though it vanishes as quickly as it appears. "Clever," she murmurs, her expression swiftly hardening as she leans in closer, the shadows of the kitchen framing her face. "Now, it is time for the hidden information."
Kai's eyes widen, his pulse spiking against his throat. "What kind of information?"
"The things that you both—and Lucius—need to hear and know," Grandma responds, her tone final, chillingly serious, and devoid of any warmth.
Kael shadows her every move, a highly curious, analytical expression settling over his sharp features. "If Lucius has a brother, then why does he never speak about him? Why does he never mention his brother or his father to anyone, let alone to Tessa?"
Instead of answering, Grandma turns on her heel and begins walking towards the narrow, creaking stairs leading up to the attic.
The brothers follow her in absolute silence, their heavy footsteps echoing rhythmically in the quiet house.
She reaches the top of the landing and pushes open the heavy, weathered wooden door.
As the door swings inward on protesting hinges, a thick, stagnant wave of ancient air rushes out to greet them.
A heavy, suffocating blend of rotting wood, aged paper, and disturbed dust fills the narrow space.
The sudden, dark cloud catches violently in their throats, making both Kai and Kael choke and cough as they step across the threshold into the forgotten past.