Shining

Note: This is Not bettaed so I admit there may be mistakes, hopefully not too many. Enjoy!. Comments are appreciated.


It was almost getting light outside when he returned to the mansion. Carefully taking the horse into the stables, he tried to get into the house as quietly as possible hoping that no one would notice. Aros knew he was in for some punishment but just wanted to go to his room before he had to face his mother.

He had somehow managed to make his father hate him by his obsessive gambling habits and after being sent away by his dad, staying with his alienated mother Naen was the only other option he had and he didn’t want to ruin it.

He decided to go through the halls and use the extra backside stairs to go up to his bedroom rather than the front stairs to avoid confronting anyone or waking anyone up.
Although it was getting light outside, it was hard to see inside. It looked to Aros as if the maker of the house didn’t want light to get in, maybe the maker hated light, Aros thought Naen hated light too. That has to be the reason why she decided to live in this house and the main reason why she spent so much time in it not getting out very often. It was a strange feeling but Aros never really believed that Naen was his real mother, she seemed so different, so distant, and at times scary.

But there was no denying it either. He really seemed to look after his mother; he could see his mother’s features whenever he looked in the mirror, the most obvious being straight dark black hair and big black eyes, something that was not very common where Aros lived. His dad, Pian, had light chestnut hair and grayish green eyes and his step brothers had brown eyes and blonde hair. Was it even possible for his mother with such dark black main to have children with golden blonde hair? He was then wondering why he was having such thoughts when he should be worrying about other things instead. Tipsy, definitely a bit tipsy.

He decided to get to his room as quickly as possible and lock the door and get a good sleep before he had to face what was ahead. With that thought he started to walk faster but still quietly and tried to focus on finding the door to the extra stairs when he noticed something.

Someone was sitting on the couch on the far side of the big room. It was a female. It was Naen! She was holding a drink. Aros couldn’t see her eyes but she didn’t show any signs that she was aware of him being in the room. Maybe she fell asleep there? Maybe she was too drunk.

Aros turned around to resume walking when he heared Naen talk. ‘So you are back?’ Her voice sounded surprised..yes definitely drunk. Aros didn’t know how to react. Maybe he should acknowledge that he heard her. But he decided to keep walking. If she was really drunk she wouldn’t remember it later and even if she did, it wouldn’t make a difference anyway. For now, he just wanted to get to his room. But then he heard another voice..a man. It was Melk his oldest step brother.

‘Don’t you think it is rude to ignore us. Especially after we have waited for you almost all night?’ Then there was a girlish giggle but it was definitely a man. Aros wasn’t sure if it was Giedi or Tem but whichever one it was, he was drunk too. He then stopped walking and turned around. So they were all waiting for him here. What a lovely bunch, he thought to himself.

It was Naen who started talking next. ‘So you just decided to steal some of MY money again and use it on gambling Aros right? I think I have already warned you about not stealing my money. And to think that it has only been less than four months since you came here. No wonder Pian threw you out and I always thought he was a really nice person, although not my type.’ Now her voice did not sound surprised anymore but downright condescending.

Aros didn’t really know what to say. There was not much he could say anyway. If it was someone from the school, a classmate or a teacher, he would have probably bombarded him with insults of his own by now like he was famous for. But it didn’t seem like a smart strategy right now. He decided to stand there and take all her insults like the other times and maybe then it would be over and he can get to bed.

It surprised him why his oldest stepbrother was always present when he was being insulted by Naen. The bastard definitely enjoyed it. But then he was brought back to reality when Naen started talking again. 'I don’t think you are going to change your ways, you are rude at school and really a useless person the way I see you'.

Aros was pressing his nails to his palm to keep quiet. Not that he really cared about what Naen thought about him. It was true that it really hurt him when Pian told him what he thought of him, but he didn’t really care about Naen. He was only trying to keep himself calm to refrain from answering back and he knew how easy it was to slip in a couple of insults when he had alcohol in his system.

The next thing Naen said, however, was really a relief. ‘Maybe you should go to your room and rest now. Melk and I were talking about what is the right thing to do and we came up with some plans. We will let you know tomorrow. So go rest now Aros.’

Without saying anything, Aros started walking towards the main stairs. At least the old hag didn’t seem angry anymore, Aros thought.