***
Margot took after Hunter down the hallway. She didn't have to go far before she found him sitting against the wall sobbing uncontrollably with his head folded into his arms.
"Hunter…" Margot said softly. She took a seat next to him on the floor and put her arm around his shoulder. "Elly is in good hands. It was an accident. It wasn't your fault."
"She followed me…" Hunter cried. "I shouldn't have snuck out."
"That's true," Margot frowned. "But what's important is that you're safe now, and Elly is with Patricia. She'll make her better, I promise. She's safe now."
Hunter didn't respond, instead he continued to sob quietly into his arms. He felt so far away from home-so lonely. None of this would have ever happened if his parents hadn't been on that stupid plane when it crashed, at least that's what he kept telling himself.
"You know something, I'm going to break some rules here, but I want to show you something that might cheer you up." Margot stood up from the floor and offered her hand to Hunter. "C'mon, it's okay."
Hunter held Margot's hand as she led him back towards the elevator.
"I don't want to go back in there," Hunter said hesitantly.
"Well, we're not going downstairs. I'm going to show you the Administration Quarters level. That's where Ms. Ellingbee and I live. This second level is the Academic Level, where we house our guests and students," she explained.
"Students? This place is a school?" Hunter asked slowly, regaining his composure a little.
"More of a training facility, but yes, I suppose you could call it a school as well. As you know, you and your sister now live here with us, and we'll be providing your education."
The elevator doors chimed open. Hunter hesitated with his step, but he felt safe with Margot and entered the lift alongside her. She hit the button labeled "3 Administration Quarters." The elevator took its course upwards for a few seconds until the doors opened once again. They walked out into a large bright room filled with stark white tables and chairs.
"This is the mess hall," Margot explained. "Each of our quarters has its own dining room, but a few times a week the staff likes to get together and eat here. It's also where we celebrate holidays and birthdays."
The room was nothing like the bland cafeteria from his middle school, which was just the gymnasium transformed into a large room filled with tables and chairs for eating. Instead, this room was adorned with a myriad of décor very different from what he had been exposed to in the other levels of the mansion. There were no gargoyles or mounted heads of strange creatures, nor any futuristic giant computers. The room was much more modern, with two sixty-inch, flat-screen televisions at either end of the cafeteria, which were showing a twenty-four-hour news channel.
Hunter noticed on one side of the room was a long counter, a large industrial-looking sink, fridge, microwave, and a very state-of-the-art stove. The opposite wall held six windows that looked down onto one of the many greenhouses housed on the land. Even in the cold wintery weather, Hunter saw a plethora of lucid green plant life inside the large, glass-walled building. The flora held within the glass structure looked like the rainforests Hunter had learned about last year in his geography class.
"That's the eastern conservatory, the ‘Demeter Station' as we call it. We're seeing fascinating breakthroughs in the field of botany. The Belmonte Estate studies many different aspects of life. Botany is just one of many." Margot couldn't help but to smile as she spoke, peering out of the window with Hunter. "We study, collect, and protect just about everything that the world has to offer. I like to think we're making a difference."
"Botany?" Hunter asked. It seemed that the mansion was no place for children with their fancy computer rooms and large glass buildings housing enormous plants. He had heard the word ‘Botany' before in school, but he didn't really know much about it.
"Yes, botany is the scientific study of plant life," Margot answered. "We've recently had a few breakthroughs in medicine. We have plants growing in our possession that no one else in the world has seen or even would believe existed. That's what makes us special."
"What else is studied in the mansion?" Hunter asked, trying to keep his mind off other pressing matters.
"Well, that list is a long one, and a confusing one at that." She laughed a little as she tried to explain. "Let's just say they are many secrets around our estate. There are even things that I'm not at liberty to know, but I can tell you that we've been doing this for generations and have helped many of people in many different ways."
"I see. It all seems scary to me," Hunter said, walking away from the window and taking a seat at one of the tables. The excitement and tragedy of the night had left him exhausted. His eyelids grew heavy, and he rubbed them as he held back a large yawn.
"Well, I assure you, the only reason you and Elly are stuck in your room is because of something outside the norm. In over a hundred years, we've never had an incident like this happen." She pulled out a chair and took a seat opposite Hunter. "That creature roaming around the mansion will be taken care of shortly… Anyway, all the mysteries and scientific stuff going on around you isn't scary. We're trying to help people, sick people who are suffering from things modern medicine can't help them with. We're not just helping people either, but all sorts of animals and wildlife too." She smiled and took Hunter's hands into her own. "Hunter, we just want to help. Right now, you're too young to understand fully what it's going on around you. That's why when we bring in young people like you, we don't go into detail about what exactly the Belmonte Estate is all about-it would be far too confusing. We ease you into it, and by the time you're your parents' age, you'll have the knowledge and understanding to fully appreciate and partake in what we do-making the world safer, and better for all its creatures, big and small."
"Okay," Hunter replied with a faint smile. He understood what she had said and could feel her sincerity and excitement when she spoke. Despite the positive notion, he still felt uncomfortable and alone. He had never asked to come to the Belmonte Estate, he would much rather be home with his parents, with his friends… with Elly, who wasn't hurt because of something he did. Making the world a better place seemed like a wonderful thing to do, but who was making his world any better? He knew he was being selfish, but he didn't care about the world or helping sick strangers get better. He would trade everything he had ever known to get his family back.
"Anyway, the cafeteria wasn't what I wanted to show you." Margot stood back up and grabbed Hunter's hand with excitement.
She led him out of the cafeteria and through what Hunter assumed was some sort of adult games room. His eyes momentarily lit up with enthusiasm at the sight. The first thing he noticed was the three tournament-size pool tables. Hunter loved playing pool with his parents. The sudden sight brought back wonderful memories of his parents swirling in his head. They had a pool table in their basement at home, and he remembered his father loved spending weekends with Hunter teaching him how to play. His father always told Hunter that he was a natural, and that with practice he could become quite a good player. He beat his dad once, and he never let him live it down.
Hunter then turned his attention to the walls of the games room. They were fitted with giant flat-screen televisions broadcasting twenty-four-seven sports channels. The room offered more than just pool and television. Hunter also noticed a few ping-pong tables, a large oak poker table, and even a giant foosball table. Hunter didn't care where Margot was taking him; this room was more than enough to cheer him up. He was excited, and once Elly got better, he wanted to bring her back to this room and teach her everything his dad had taught him about pool.
"I thought you'd like the lounge room," Margot said, noting his interest.
"It looks fun. My dad and I played pool, and I even beat him once."
"Your mother was quite the pool player too," Margot added.
"Did you know them well?" Hunter had forgotten Margot knew his parents.
"I knew them
well enough to know how much they loved you. That's what I wanted to show you." Margot led Hunter through the games room and into a wide hallway that resembled the hallway outside his room. They passed a dozen or so doors until Margot came to a stop.
"I think you'll like this room." Margot smiled as she typed in a six-digit number on the keypad next to the doorframe. Hunter heard the lock mechanism click and couldn't help but wonder what on Earth she wanted to show him. Margot smiled again and held the door open.
Hunter entered the room and was confused. Why was Margot showing him this? He looked around in bewilderment. The door had opened into a very-modern-looking, cozy and warm living room. Unlike Hunter and Elly's room, which was just one giant bedroom, this was actually more like an apartment. Fully furnished, equipped with a stand-alone kitchen, two bathrooms, a main bedroom, exercise room, dining room, and living room that even had a fireplace. The apartment was very clean, and Hunter guessed it hadn't been lived in for a while.
"Take a closer look around," Margot said as she followed Hunter around the quarters.
He continued on through the living room and into the kitchen. There he found something that perplexed him. On the fridge, he found a magnet holding up a letter he had written to his parents before they had left on one of their anthropology trips last summer. What it was doing there? he wondered. Hunter looked at Margot with confusion. She gestured into the bedroom with a compassionate nod.
Hunter hesitated at first but made his way into the bedroom. The first thing that caught his eye was a series of picture frames hanging above the headboard of the bed. He instantly recognized them. He felt his stomach tighten, and his hands began to shake. They were pictures of his parents. Some older, some more recent, and in the middle of the collection of pictures was one large family portrait. He stared at that one the longest. He remembered the day that photo was taken. It was three days after his parents had brought Elly home from the hospital when she was born. It was also the first time Hunter had ever got to hold his little sister. He sat between his parents on their large green couch holding his little sister in his lap with a large smile across his face. He remembered his parents said he was too young to hold her on his own, so she lay mostly on his lap with his parents holding her up for the picture. He remembered that Uncle Joey had taken the photo. Hunter was only three, but his parents always told the story of the photo. He had the same one hanging in his bedroom at home.
"I don't understand… Why are my parents' things here? Did my parents live here too?" Hunter asked Margot, who nodded her head.
"You know how your parents took a lot of very long trips for their professions as anthropologists?"
Hunter nodded. It was a regular occurrence that his parents would leave for business trips, sometimes for as long as a month at a time; he had grown accustomed to their nomadic lifestyle.
"Well, a lot of that time was also spent here doing research and collecting the data they'd get out in the field. Actually, before you were born, they lived here all the time. It wasn't until after you came into their lives that they decided to raise you away from the estate." Margot took down a photo from the wall and sat down on the bed. She tapped her hand gently on the mattress next to her, signaling for Hunter to sit down. "I knew your parents from living here with them; my door is three doors down from here. They were so nice to me when I moved in. Just like most of the others, they stayed here off and on when they needed to. They never stayed a day longer than what was required of them, always eager to get back home to you kids. They also told me the story of this photo. They were so excited for you both to reach the age where they could share the mansion with you."
"They did?"
"Very much so." Margot flipped the frame over and began taking the velvet backing off from the casing. She carefully unhinged the backing. "I wasn't supposed to show you this room, or even discuss my relationship with your parents until things settled down. I think the professor doesn't want the two of you getting confused over everything that's been happening. He's also very busy right now and wants to be able to explain everything in person once the timing is right. Hopefully you can meet him soon."
"Margot?" a muffled voice spoke from the radio in her purse.
She took out her radio. "Yes, this is Margot. _Over."
"We have sedated and stabilized Elly. She is resting now and everything looks good. We're just waiting for the sedative to work its way out of her system. We just need to keep a close eye on her. Do you have Hunter with you?"
"Yes, I do, and that's great news," Margot answered with a bright smile.
"Do you mind staying with Hunter in your quarters until Elly makes a full recovery? I'll be staying here in Hunter's bed to keep watch."
"Of course, I'd love to have a sleep over with Hunter."
"That Cusith was a great idea," Ms. Ellingbee added. "The pup hasn't moved from Elly's side. He's going to make a proud pet."
"I thought he'd be great for them," Margot answered.
"Tell Hunter not to worry, and we'll save the discussion of his disobedience until after Elly is better."
"Will do," Margot replied.
"Thank you. We'll see you both in the morning here in the kids' room after breakfast," Patricia finished.
"What do you say we sleep here? You can have the bed, and I'll sleep out on the couch."
Hunter smiled. A sleepover seemed like a fun idea. Even though he wouldn't admit to it, after everything that had happened in the last few hours, he was too worked up to sleep alone in a strange place.
"You can have that photo, but keep it safe." Margot took the photo out of the frame and gave it to Hunter as a keepsake. "Keep it close to your heart-always."
She gave Hunter a giant hug before turning off the bedroom lights and making her way to the couch. To Hunter's surprise, sleep came fast.