For the Love of Lacey

The House and School

The door isn't locked so we just walk in. His lights have been left on, too. And he had the nerve to tell me about conservation! The house seems empty and quiet so I guess his friends aren't here yet. As we walk through the large house I notice that there's not a lot of clutter, or any empty boxes. They really seem to have gotten everything all set up overnight.

We head back down the hallway toward the front door and look into a room up front that serves as the library/office. Bookshelves line two of the walls and they are mostly filled with books and a few statues, and pieces of art. There's a leather couch and a couple of leather chairs with a desk in one corner. There is no overhead light, but there are lights on a few tables scattered around and Xavier has turned on one of these when we walked in.

The dark rose-colored walls are a bit of a surprise to me, but it's a very inviting room with a fireplace along the far wall. Over the fireplace is a large portrait of Xavier dressed in period clothes from around the 1800's.

He saw me looking and said, "That's actually my great, great, great uncle, Garber Grenovich; the husband of your witch lady." He looks at me with a smile on his face.

I smile back, "A very handsome fellow," I say in a false aristocratic voice.

We head out and he opens the door across the hall showing us a small bathroom, "One of the upgrades I had your mother put in. This used to be a closet."

It's dark gray with just a sink and toilet, but it's neat and clean, which is always a plus.

Another door and the stairs are ahead on the left and there's a door on the right. We turn in that door and he turns on another light on a table next to the door illuminating a living room. There's another fireplace across the room with a couch and a couple chairs facing each other around it. A flat screen TV is set on the wall to the left of the door and a long banquet table beneath it set with a small display of flowers. Again, a little surprised at the flowers. At least the walls are a nice dark green.

The door just before the stairs opens into the dining room. Cream walls and oil paintings of English Fox Hunts accentuate the heavy dark cherry dining table and buffet. There's a door leading, I assume, to the kitchen in the back right corner. The chandelier over the table looks new, but the rest of the furniture looks like family heirlooms. He turns out the light and we turn back toward the back of the house.

Past the stairs is the kitchen, which we've already seen, but he avoids taking us upstairs and heads back in there instead.

"Wow! You pulled this place together fast!" I say.

"I like an orderly home. Feel free to drop by anytime after dark, both of you," he looks between Latham and I.

"What's the deal with the after dark thing?" Was what I want to know, so I ask.

He looks down at the floor and answers, "My friends and I have a medical condition that precludes any sun exposure, so we just live our lives after dark."

"That makes sense." Creepy sense, but what else can I say?

"Yeah, we need to get going," Lathe says into the awkward silence.

"I'm sure we'll see you around," I say over my shoulder as I follow Lathe back to the front, "Thanks for letting us drive your car and the great dinner."

Xavier follows us down the hall, "Like I said, you're welcome any time," he looks pointedly at me before closing the door after us.

As we're driving home in our old Buick Regal, no Mustang for us, Lathe says, "Well, that was.....interesting."

"Yeah, I wonder what kind of medical condition they have that doesn't let them go out in the sun. It's a gorgeous house, though."

"At least we don't need to keep up the surveillance anymore."