Vesta Mansion: Book One - The Power Inside

by P. A. Priddey

  ‘I know, sweetheart, but you’re safe now. Where’s Asima?’

  ‘The police took her away.’

  ‘What? How could the police leave you to those men?’

  ‘They said she was an illegal immigrant, and she told us to run home as quick as possible, but those men came.’

  He took his phone out and made a call.

  ‘Hello, Alex, is everything OK?’

  ‘No, George, we have a problem, Asima’s been arrested for being an illegal.’

  ‘What? I have her papers here — do you know what station she’s been taken to?’

  ‘I’ve no idea, but we’re at Tower Street underpass now.’

  ‘It’ll be the main one in town. I’ll go and get her out.’

  ‘Thanks, George. I’ll take the twins back to Blaze’s.’

  ‘My god, was they out alone?’

  ‘They were with Asima and Sally until the police came, and left them at the mercy of ten men.’

  ‘You believe they knew they were leaving the girls in danger?’

  ‘They knew what they were doing . . . I’m in no doubt about that.’

  ‘This is serious. I’ll go and get her out.’

  Alex put his phone away and noticed Sally, the young, slim, blonde woman wearing glasses was sobbing. He indicated to his girls who ran to her. ‘I’m taking you all to Blaze now, are you OK to come with us?’ he asked Sally, who embraced him.

  They arrived at the house not long after and explained what happened. Alex could see Blaze was upset as she realised the girls were not as safe as she thought.

  ‘Are you going to take them away now?’

  Alex didn’t know what to do, so he tried to sound reassuring. ‘No, this is still the safest place for them at the moment.’

  ‘I’m worried I won’t be able to protect them from such people.’

  ‘You will, Asima will be back soon, and I won’t be far away. I can get other help for you.’

  ‘I don’t want lots of men around my home.’

  ‘You won’t have any men apart from the ones you know anywhere near here. You won’t even see the help, but it’ll be here soon.’

  ‘You know I love the girls, but I love my friends too, and I don’t want to put them in danger.’

  Alex could see her predicament, and felt for her. ‘If you want me to take them away I will.’

  Blaze looked at the twins and shook her head. ‘No, I won’t let anyone hurt them.’

  ‘I’ll sort it, trust me, I know it might—’ He stopped what he was going to say, as he noticed a woman and a young girl at the far end of the room. ‘Who are those two?’

  ‘That’s Summer, our favourite cook, and her niece Tia.’

  Alex couldn’t help but stare at the little girl. ‘What’s wrong with her niece?’

  ‘Her parents died in a car crash. Tia was the only survivor, and hasn’t talked since.’

  Alex walked down to them. The little girl looked about ten years old, her blue eyes just stared ahead, glazed over. Alex felt like he could see her soul, as images entered his mind. Summer was about to say something when he picked the girl up. He could see her pain. Tia was just a child travelling in the back seat of the car her father was driving. He was arguing with her mother. Tia hated these times and screamed for them to stop. The car swerved and hit a tree. Her parents died instantly, and she blamed herself. The argument was about her father being drunk. Her mother had told him as much, but the girl couldn’t understand. Alex didn’t know how he did it, but something passed from him which made her realise it wasn’t her fault. She let down her walls and sobbed in his arms.

  Summer gasped, with tears in her eyes. ‘What did you do?’

  He passed the little girl over to her. ‘I just made her understand whose fault it was.’

  She took the sobbing girl off him. ‘Thank you.’

  Alex turned around and the others were staring at him, he stopped in his tracks. Standing next to them was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He turned his gaze away from her quickly, and walked over to them.

  ‘You’re full of surprises,’ said Blaze.

  ‘Hi, that was a wonderful thing you just did,’ said the new woman, who had black shoulder length hair, with the ends all blonde.

  Blaze smiled at him. ‘This is Carrie, one of my friends, and our hair stylist.’

  ‘Hey, I’m Alex, he said, smiling.

  ‘I know, I’ve heard so much about you,’ said Carrie, and embraced him.

  It shocked Alex, but returned the embrace happily. Something inside stirred, a feeling he had never felt before. Her scent was intoxicating, and he didn’t want to let her go.

  Carrie did let him go, however. ‘Sorry about that.’

  Alex felt a little embarrassed, with everyone smiling at him. ‘Don’t be, I’m not.’ He turned to Blaze. ‘I see some of your friends are pleasant.’

  ‘All my friends are, but most don’t trust you. I did tell them you were nice, but I don’t think they believed me.’

  Carrie was still smiling. ‘I did.’ She really did.

  James grinned. ‘This is where you’re supposed to say . . . do you wanna come back to my place?’

  Alex raised an eyebrow. ‘Behave . . . there’s a lot of builders in at the moment.’

  There were many workers, but they were not working at the mansion, as they were waiting for Alex to decide on how he wanted it.

  ‘Lots?’ said Blaze, giving him an unsure look.

  ‘I haven’t counted, but it does need plenty of work.’

  The children ran down to the other end of the room to Tia, as Summer came up to them. She wasn’t slim and not overweight, and Alex guessed she was mid-forties.

  ‘What did you do?’

  Alex shrugged. ‘I don’t know — I could feel her sadness and guilt.’

  ‘Tia has nothing to feel guilty about.’

  ‘She believed it was all her fault because she screamed, but it was her drunken father who caused the crash, and she never knew.’

  Summer parted her shoulder length brown hair. ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘She told me,’ he sort of lied.

  Summer raised both eyebrows, but never questioned it. ‘I shall cook you a meal one day.’

  ‘That’s something I’ll look forward to, as I’ve heard about your cooking.’

  * * *

  George drove down to the police station, and was taken to the custody sergeant. ‘I believe you’re holding a young woman called Asima as an illegal immigrant.’

  ‘That is correct,’ the sergeant replied, with no emotion showing on his face.

  George opened his briefcase. ‘Well, I have all her paperwork here which shows she is not illegal, so can you release her please?’

  ‘Sorry, I can’t, she is to be deported.’

  ‘Excuse me, I just told you I have all the paperwork here, she is a British citizen, so I would like you to release her.’

  ‘Sorry, you are too late.’

  ‘What do you mean, too late? She is still here?’

  ‘Yes, but not for long,’ said the sergeant, still with no emotion showing on his face.

  ‘Did you even give her the right to speak to a solicitor?’

  ‘No, there would be no point as she is going.’

  George became frustrated at the strange behaviour of the sergeant. He took out his phone and called a number from the contact list.

  ‘Chief Superintendent Chris Hastings,’ said the voice on the other end.

  ‘Chris, it’s George Mizar, I have a problem with your custody officer.’

  ‘Hi, George, what’s the problem?’

  ‘He refuses to hand over a woman who shouldn’t even be here.’

  ‘I’ll be straight down.’

  Three minutes later, a high-ranking police officer and four other policemen joined the solicitor. The Superintendent greeted him warmly. ‘What’s going on, George?’

  ‘Your man here has a woman locked in a cell for being
an illegal immigrant, she, however, isn’t and I have the paperwork to prove it — he didn’t even offer her council.’

  ‘Is this true?’ Chris demanded of the sergeant.

  ‘Yes, Sir.’

  ‘Then release the woman immediately.’

  ‘Sorry, sir, I cannot as she is to be deported.’

  ‘Is there something wrong with your hearing, Sergeant Hodge?’

  ‘No, Sir.’

  Chris started to get irate. ‘Release the woman now.’

  The sergeant stood there with a blank expression on his face. ‘Sorry, sir, I can’t.’

  ‘You’re relieved of duty until further notice.’

  ‘No, you can’t do that.’

  Chris turned to one of the other police officers. ‘Sergeant Harris, I want you to take over here for now.’

  The custody sergeant refused to go and two of the officers had to restrain him.

  ‘What do we do with him, Sir?’ one of the officers asked.

  ‘You better put him in a cell for now, and get a doctor to examine him, and while you’re in there release the lady for Mr Mizar.’ The officers did as asked. ‘I’m sorry, George, I’ve never come across this in all my years in the force.’

  ‘It baffles me too, and the arresting officer left the young girls Asima was watching in some danger,’ said George, as she came out of the cells.

  Chris looked at a small medallion around her neck which had the image of the sun. ‘I’m so sorry, my lady, I will get to the bottom of this.’

  * * *

  Alex waited with the girls until George arrived, whilst trying to keep his eyes off Carrie. The twins ran out and hugged Asima as she walked down the path.

  ‘I’m sorry, I’ve failed them a second time,’ said Asima, as she approached Alex.

  ‘How is it your fault?’

  ‘I let them take me when I should have stayed.’

  ‘To stay, you would’ve had to resist arrest, or to even assault a police officer, which is what they would have wanted you to do.’

  ‘Who are they?’

  ‘I don’t know at the moment, but I think the police officers were just innocent pawns in all this.’

  George shook his head. ‘The one at the police station didn’t look innocent to me.’

  ‘What was his behaviour like?’

  ‘Strange, I have met him before. He’s normally an easy going fella, but had to be restrained and put in one of the cells.’

  Alex considered it. ‘Did it look like he was hypnotised?’

  ‘Yes, now you mention it, do you believe he was in some sort of trance?’

  ‘Maybe, and I bet he won’t remember any of it tomorrow.’

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  Alex smiled, as an image entered his mind. ‘Spend some time with the girls, then I’m going to the house . . . it’s time to get started.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  Changes

  Alex arrived at the mansion on the night where Rho was pacing up and down outside.

  What happened?

  ‘The girls were in danger, but we dealt with it. They are safe.’

  For now, you need to get this place sorted for them.

  ‘I know, and that’s why I’m here, I want the builders in tomorrow.’

  The wolf looked up, his eyes going big. You know what’s needed?

  ‘Yeah, it came to me today. It’s quite simple really, but it’ll need a lot of work and workers to complete it in time.’

  I’d love to help, but I’m no good with a brush, and tend to scare most people away.

  ‘Well, you are quite a big wolf.’

  James leant on the car. ‘You want me to wait here?’

  ‘No, I’ll be most of the night, you might as well get some sleep,’ said Alex, as he entered the mansion, he looked around and knew what he wanted. Before he started he told House about the girls, and from tomorrow there will be unrest in the mansion for some time.

  OK, where do we start? House asked.

  ‘The wall you moved the first night, can you move it here?’ Alex pointed to a spot on the floor which was fifty feet from the back of the mansion. House did, and it moved a lot smoother than before, but was still noisy. ‘You’ve been practising?’

  Yes, I have separated all the walls from the floors to make it easier to move, and if I was not here they would collapse.

  ‘That’s comforting,’ said Alex, as his thoughts was going from the job in hand to Carrie, the beautiful Carrie. Damn, get out of my mind, I’ve work to do.

  It is the reason I did not ask to travel with you this week when no work was being done.

  Alex stepped through the doorway into the now large looking space. The side walls looked a little redundant now they were so far away from the main wall.

  Rho stared down the long space. This is what all the noise was about?

  Alex nodded. ‘Are you staying to watch?’

  After I tell Chi what’s happening.

  Alex stepped over to the far left wall, and walked down while counting his steps. ‘Can you move one of those side walls here?’ It was thirty foot from the left hand side of the mansion.

  It will look odd on its own, do I need to move another one here, too? House asked, as he moved the wall.

  ‘Yeah, there’ll still be a gap between them, but we’ll leave it for now.’ Alex paced down another sixty feet and pointed to where he wanted the next wall.

  This is going to be a large room.

  ‘There’ll be a few large rooms down here, and smaller ones upstairs. Can you move a wall upstairs?’ he said, as Rho came back inside.

  Yes, watch this. The ceiling opened up, and a wall vanished through the gap.

  That’s clever, said Rho.

  Thank you, I can move almost any part of the mansion to where I want.

  The next room was fifteen feet long, and the one after was as big as the second, and the last was the largest in the mansion. House moved the side walls leaving a gap in the middle. They made their way back into the main hall.

  Alex raised his eyebrows, impressed, and pleased with how fast the spirit could do it. ‘I’ll want double doors on these rooms.’

  Will you need the existing doors and frames?

  ‘No, they’ll have to be replaced, except for the double doors behind the stairs.’

  Good, said House, and all the other doors and frames came away from the walls and floated to the middle of the hall. It will be much easier moving the walls without them.

  I’m so glad I met you, said Rho. This is great to watch.

  Alex smiled. ‘Yeah, and I’m not having to lift a finger.’

  Show me where you want the double doors, said House, and I will entertain you even more.

  ‘The middle of the first room, and the left hand side of all the others.’

  The parts of the wall above the door spaces disappeared upstairs, as did some of the walls. House moved them around like a picture puzzle, until they were where he wanted.

  What do you think now?

  I’m impressed, said Rho.

  ‘I’m very impressed,’ said Alex, quite amazed at what the spirit could do.

  What do you want me to do now?

  ‘Move all the walls in the servant’s area upstairs.’

  OK. There was a large rumbling sound. Done.

  Alex and Rho walked through the doors to an empty hall. House moved the wall they stepped through to fifty feet from the right side of the mansion.

  Alex returned to the last room at the back. ‘Can you make a hole?’

  I could, but why would you want me to?

  ‘Just an idea I have,’ said Alex, and walked around the room showing House what size hole he wanted.

  The ground rumbled as the earth shifted for the spirit who appeared to control everything at the mansion. They made a large room on the front right side, and six smaller rooms along the front, leaving plenty of space to let the light in during the day.

  Alex walked back into the
hall, and to the large room at the far right which had the double doors. ‘Can you get rid of the ceiling?’

  No, I cannot slide it anywhere. I could break it up if you want.

  ‘Hold on a minute,’ said Alex, and ran upstairs above the room he was just in. ‘Can you move the walls so they’re directly above those below.’

  OK, but will it make any difference?

  ‘Yeah, it’s a floor now, not a ceiling.’

  Rho stared at him. You are joking?

  Alex grinned at the wolf. ‘Can you make a room here the same size as the one below, and drop the floor at an angle from here?’ he said, pointing to just in front of his feet.

  The walls moved into place. There was a loud crunching noise and the far end of the floor lowered down. Rho decided it would be fun to slide down, and Alex joined him.

  This is very confusing, said House.

  ‘I know, but it’ll come clearer soon. Can we lose five feet from the end of the floor you dropped, and move the doors over there, too?’

  House did as asked, and Alex walked back upstairs making many more rooms with an even smaller one next to them, they did the same on the third floor until they ran out of walls.

  * * *

  Who is this man? Carrie’s mind was spinning at the thought of Alex. The attraction had been instant the moment she saw him. She had never hugged a man like that before, but hugging him was better than jumping on him. With the others there it might have been embarrassing, added to the fact her legs had almost turned to jelly.

  Carrie sat with the children. She already loved the girls, but now they were a connection to their father, and it felt important to her. Carrie thought she had been in love before, even when her partner ended their relationship, which saddened her. This was different as she couldn’t stop thinking about Alex. She tried, but when Sarin sat next to her, and showed her the photos she had taken at the zoo, most had Alex in them.

  Claire sat in an armchair shaking her head. ‘You hugged him?’

  Carrie smiled. ‘Yeah, and I’d do it again.’

  ‘I would after what he did for Tia,’ said Summer.

  Sally sat down. ‘I did earlier.’