Surely, she had a point.
“Anyway,” Kitty continued. “We’re partnered up for the cellular mitosis presentation next week. I don’t care too much for our topic, but I feel like I just won the lottery! I get the pleasure of working with the super smart, super handsome, and super rich, Levi Lancaster. Want to work on it tonight?”
Levi was able to filter out her praise and unorthodox approach. He was used to it by now. There were many students that could not keep their composure around the Lancasters. Even though it was their father who was famous, the children were essentially celebrities by association. Before answering, Levi casually removed his planner from his backpack. He flipped through a few pages, stopping on today’s date. He clicked his pen as he tapped it against his full lips.
It was Friday.
In all honesty, it was an ideal opportunity to dedicate time to group work.
He had no piano lessons.
No cross country practice.
No tutoring.
And most importantly, no debate club.
His schedule did display an hour dedicated to self-reflection that his father recommended he should take in the family’s Zen garden, but he could move that to tomorrow. He made note of it in his planner and then closed it shut.
“Sure. Today works well. Where would you like to meet? Your place or the library?”
Kitty pressed her fingers together and tried to play off a smirk. “I was actually hoping you’d be open to working on it at Lancaster Manor…”
Levi held out a finger and shook his head ‘no’ calmly. “I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” he refuted. “It’s strictly off limits to guests. You’ll have to forgive me. My siblings and I aren’t allowed to have friends over. Under rare circumstances and celebrations, we can invite guests, so long as they are vetted and receive our father’s approval at least a week in advance. Today would be too short of notice for him. I’m sure you understand.”
Kitty frowned. She was not used to guys rejecting her, let alone so coldly. She was intelligent, hence her acceptance into Elysium Prep. But more importantly, at her old school, she was a cheerleader. She was easy on the eyes with her smooth olive complexion and had curves in all the right places and knew how to use them. Getting dismissed over something as trivial as homework made her pout. Levi appeared so disinterested with her to the point where Kitty misinterpreted his nonchalance as playing hard to get.
When school ended, the Lancasters were picked up by Bartleby, the family butler. He was not just a butler and chauffeur. He was the closest friend of their family for decades, serving as their immediate go-to for anything and everything.
There was other help that was hired for cooking, cleaning, and keeping the children on their schedule, but they were all screened by Bartleby. He was the only one permitted to live at the estate. All other help had to abide by a strict schedule. There was a cook that came in to prepare breakfast and lunch at 6am. The second cook came at 4pm for supper time. There were three maids that arrived at 8am. They worked on one end of the home during the mornings and would be done with sprucing up by the time evening hit. Luckily, the children were adequate when it came to keeping their rooms tidy, so the maids’ workload was relatively light.
Each of the children had their mentors as well. There were physical trainers: track and field coaches, weightlifters, fencing, swimming, tennis, and more. Music teachers too: Piano, guitar, singing, etc. It did not necessarily matter what instrument each child chose, but their father required each of them to learn at least one. “Well-roundedness is close to godliness,” their father would say. Then, there were their tutors: calculus, trigonometry, chemistry, biology, anatomy, English, Literature, Japanese, French, German, Spanish and more. Each of them was required to maintain a 4.0 GPA. There were no exceptions.
Bartleby stood outside the limousine, holding the door open. One by one, the Lancasters entered, youngest to oldest. They sipped lemonade as they unwound and enjoyed their leisurely ride home.
“Did you hear about Mauve?” whispered Troy when they arrived. He was the heaviest set of the children and had a passion for all things food—cooking and tasting. He gossiped amongst a few of his brothers about the black sheep of the family as the children untied and removed their shoes, leaving them at the door. He cupped his hand. “She ran out of father’s office screaming last night during the middle of her evaluation. Apparently, they were clashing because her GPA dropped to a 3.8.”
The youngest Lancaster boy at the age of thirteen and meanest brother, Sion and Allister respectfully, both chuckled when they heard the amusing gossip. They knew something was upsetting their gothic-clad sister more than usual lately.
Troy divulged that Mauve had been grounded from leaving the house and that she would no longer be receiving an allowance until her 4.0 was recovered. Each of them earned the same amount. Two-hundred dollars a week as long as they met their father’s high standards. In theory, they could spend their money however they wanted, but any of them would feel uncomfortable using it for anything other than what was approved by Father Benedict. They were too busy to travel, go to concerts, or play video games, due to their hefty schedules, so most of their money went directly to their savings account or various investments recommended to them by their family’s financial advisor. Since the vast majority of the Lancasters’ meals were cooked for them each morning and evening, Mauve losing her allowance was more humiliating than a punishment that would impact her quality of living.
Allister joked that his sister’s days as a Lancaster were numbered. According to him, she would be disowned before the end of the year. He added insult to injury by making light of her punishment. “Is grounding her really necessary? Think about it. Does she have any friends anyway? Is father keeping her from some secret social life we all don’t know about?”
Unfortunately, he was not as discreet as his brothers. Of course, Mauve was standing near the back in earshot of the gossip the whole time. She could have easily guessed what they were all laughing at. She sniffled and grit her teeth as she stomped up the winding staircase to her room in misery. “I hate it here and I hate you all!” she cried.
When Pearl swooped by to lecture Allister on his cruelty, the weirdest thing happened. The doorbell rang. The Lancasters stared at it in puzzlement. They had so few guests over that they often forgot what it sounded like. When Levi answered the door, he was surprised to see his classmate—Katherine Chao a.ka. Kitty.
He was stupefied. He immediately wondered if he misinterpreted their last conversation. He questioned his communication skills altogether. Was he not clear? He could have sworn he made it undeniably apparent. She was not welcomed here.
When he asked her purpose for being at his doorstep, she joked that she could have sworn on the Holy Bible that he invited her over for their project today. She helped herself in and immediately started taking pictures of the grand entryway and the double-winding staircase. Levi’s hand blocked her from snapping a shot of their chandelier that twinkled like a small star-filled galaxy.
After promising to put it away, Levi handed Kitty back her phone. When asked how she got here, she admitted she trailed their limousine. She pointed beyond the yard to the edge of their property fence. Her car was parked just outside the automatic gates. She bragged that hopping the perimeter was no challenge for her. “How did you get past security?” asked Levi. “We always have guards on duty.”
Kitty raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t see any guards at all,” she admitted, just as surprised as he was.
Something was wrong. Rain or shine, there were always at least two security guards on patrol at Lancaster Manor. Levi began to wonder if they perhaps both called off sick for the day. It would be unlikely. The only other possibility would be if Bartleby gave them the day off for some reason.
“Who’s the babe?” chuckled Troy, making his way through and leaning against the stair railing. He reached out and placed a delicate kiss on the back of Kitty’s hand.
“She’s a new classmate of mine. Daughter of Blyton City Mayor, Debra Chao. Kitty Chao,” introduced Levi, maintaining his manners despite his frustration. “She was just leaving.”
“Kitty Chao?” asked Troy with a grin. “Like cat food?”
The other Lancasters joined in and bellowed in laughter. Kitty admitted that it had been an ongoing joke for years and she adored it. Most of her usernames and email accounts included some kind of tuna or cat food related reference.
Right away, she had a strong magnetism with the Lancaster family, including the girls that gathered around her. They traded compliments on each other’s hairstyles and purses. Some of them even recognized her walking the halls of Elysium Prep earlier in the day. “Aw, is she your little girlfriend, Levi?” asked Pearl, tugging at his cheek. “I’m sure father will find her delightful!”
He denied any connection, other than being her study partner, but that did not stop his siblings from teasing and drawing conclusions of their own. When Hiroshi found out that she was a cheerleader, he effortlessly lifted her up and placed her on his broad shoulders to show off his strength. “So, would I have made the team?” he joked in a baritone grunt.
Kitty ate it up. She immediately started taking selfies with the Lancasters and added them as friends to her social media. Levi could tell that she must be the life of the party wherever she went. With every second longer she stayed, the harder it would be to get rid of her.
“Well, we’ll let you two hit the books,” winked Cynthia, Levi’s tech savviest sister as she sent the two on their way.
Surrendering to the social parasite, Levi cringed as he brought Kitty up to his room. She acted like she had never seen an elevator before, and he could practically hear her ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ in her head. She reached for her phone, but when Levi glared her way, she held herself back from taking any more pictures. When the doors opened, Levi’s worst nightmare appeared.
Beloved Father Benedict.
He was being escorted by Levi’s most rivaled sibling, Blake, who pushed their father along by his wheelchair. Both Blake and their father eyed Kitty with perplexment.
“How shameful.” Blake loathed the sight. Everything about this Lancaster was sharp—his glare included. Not only was he tall and lanky, but his shoulders, nose, and spiky hair pointed as well. He was a stick insect in human form. Since his teeth seemed sharper than his siblings’, much of the family said Blake looked as though he could pass for a vampire, regardless if it was Halloween or not. “Look, father. Levi brought an uninvited guest into our home. It must have slipped his mind as he broke your rule of providing at least a week of notice. Would you like me to escort her out?”
Levi felt like he swallowed a rock. Would he be the next to make his father’s list? Would there be talk of him getting disowned like Mauve? He felt like a disgrace, a traitor to his father’s clear and quite reasonable expectations.
“Nonsense,” laughed Benedict. “Don’t be rude! Levi is doing remarkably well in all areas, academic and otherwise. When it comes to his evaluations, he is my one and only perfect-scoring child. He deserves to have a friend over.”
Father Benedict could not see Blake’s expression because he was behind him, but his son grimaced horrendously. “Benedict Lancaster, at your service, miss,” he greeted, using his creased and veiny hands to shake hers. He gently kissed it and invited her to stay over for supper as well. He claimed it was going to be quite an exceptional feast and that he would not take ‘no’ for an answer.
“You have fun now, you two!” nodded Benedict as Blake wheeled him away. “Don’t study too hard.”
“See,” laughed Kitty. “Your pops is a chill dude.”
Levi sighed and let it go. He nearly had a heart attack. Maybe the rumors were true. Maybe he was his father’s favorite as the others had often suggested in the past. At the risk of having an inflated ego, he doubted this theory. Everyone, with the exception of Mauve, had been accused of being Benedict’s “favorite” at some point. Pearl was the first to be adopted, so they joked that she was the favorite. There was even an ugly rumor spread by Allister that she was a little too close to Father Benedict in a ‘wifey’ sort of way. Fortunately, as far as their family dynamic went, their father never seemed to cross any lines other than an occasional kiss on the cheek that seemed a little too intimate in the eyes of the others. There was also Hiroshi, who was the first boy to be adopted, so the others claimed he was the favorite. Eden was the golden child who never had a negative thing said about her in the papers, so many gossiped that she was really the favorite. Then there was Blake. Academically speaking, he was the smartest and had the best grades. He was also the biggest suck-up, so the younger ones nagged and thought he was the most cherished in the family. Levi hoped that just as with most typical parents, there were no actual favorites. He prayed they were all loved equally.
In his room, Levi was surprised he and Kitty got as much work done as they did. She really was smart. It was as if she had her fill of soaking in the acclaimed esteem of Lancaster Manor and was finally able to focus on what Levi cared about most in this moment.
Mitosis.
Beautiful diploid cells, DNA, gametes, and zygotes!
Cellular division.
He needed to keep his grades flawless. As long as his father was proud of him, Levi could be proud of himself as well. Kitty removed a picture of splitting cells from his printer and began cutting them out with scissors. She pasted the cells neatly on a poster board. Levi began his favorite part of any project, typing up their talking points. In a way, he viewed it as additional practice for his focus area—public speaking. He typed as he answered a few more of Kitty’s superficial questions regarding his family’s wealth.
‘How many vacations do you go on each year? Where was the coolest place you visited? How many parties does your family throw? How much spending money do you get?’
He had no issue answering them, so long as they remained productive. However, their productivity did not last long. Kitty seductively reached around him and made excuses for close body contact. She stood behind him as he worked on the computer and placed her hands over his, typing in her own notes. Soon, she placed her arms around him entirely.
Despite being a Lancaster, the top of the food chain by society’s standards, Levi was terribly nervous. Normally, he was so busy with his schoolwork and extracurriculars that he had no time or interest in relationships. His pits were starting to moisten with an anxious sweat.
“We…won’t be able to date,” Levi mumbled awkwardly. He would have blushed if his dark complexion allowed it. “My father has me on an incredibly busy schedule. I don’t want to lead you on…”
Kitty bit down on her lip and leaned in with a whisper. “Who said anything about dating?” She situated herself on his lap as she pressed her lips into his.
Levi was experienced in a multitude of subjects.
This was not one of them.
Luckily, he was a fast learner. He caught on to the groove as they made out for a few minutes. Their hands seemed to move on their own as they searched each other’s bodies.
Surely, she was a gold digger. Or at the very least, probably made out with most guys she met. Somehow, even knowing this, Levi did not seem to mind in the moment.
In the corner of his eye, a shadow slithered from behind Levi’s desk. Kitty popped her head around when she sensed its presence. Her heart skipped a beat and she stood up. Two white hands reached out from the abyss beneath the draping covers under Levi’s bed. She screamed as the arms wrapped around her legs.
It was Helena.
After Kitty caught her breath, she was introduced to the newest addition to the Lancaster family.
“Helena, what did I tell you about hiding down there?” Levi asked sternly.
As usual, she responded with no words or sounds. Helena simply shrugged and sat upright. She kicked her feet up and down from the edge of the bed and hooked her curious gaze on the new face that m
ade its way into her home. “You scared me, little one,” laughed Kitty.
Helena did not acknowledge her, but kept her pupils locked on target, following each of their guest’s minute movements. Levi explained that Helena did not talk and that as the spokesman and debater of the family, he was chosen by their father as the one best suited to manage her progress. He read to her, taught her songs, showed her flashcards, and even practiced his speeches and monologues on her. Other than receiving an occasional thumbs up or down, she did not communicate. He did not mind mentoring his new sister and helping her open up, but in the back of his mind, Levi believed it would not lead anywhere. At most, he thought he might have heard Helena yawn a few weeks ago. If her muteness persisted, Father Benedict recommended hiring a sign language tutor for her and the rest of the family.
When it was time for supper, Kitty was once again in awe of the place. Levi thought her jaw would never rise again. She soaked in every square inch of the great hall in the formal dining room. She felt like she went back in time to the middle ages—in a king’s castle. Two chandeliers hung above the long wooden table, dressed in an emerald green tablecloth. Placed every few feet or so were wax candles, setting the mood with flickering flames.
At the end of the long room was a roaring fireplace. Above it, was the Lancaster family guardian.
The Great Leviathan.
It represented many things, depending on the culture or religion. Some viewed it as a demon, others as a force of nature. At the end of the day, it simply was what it was—a sea monster.
It was a terrifying wooden mask—an ancient relic of the past. It was goldish green in color. Textured too, as it imitated finite fishy scales. Each of the thousand scales shimmered in translucent jade and azure depending on the angle of the lighting. The mask resembled a dragon with fins and gills. Two devil horns sprouted from the top, curving into long pointed tips. Alongside the mouth and chin were several catfish-like whiskers that dangled like the beast’s facial hair. Its eyes were simple red swirls. It looked like it was in some sort of trance. In turn, Kitty’s eyes circled as well, following the trail of the spirals. She had to shake her head to snap out of it.
The Leviathan Trial Page 2
