THE MOMENT
"This is what you signed up for...," Patty sighed to herself as she surveyed the bedroom to pick a starting point. The heavy black curtains took effort to move and a heavy cloud of dust filled the air. It swirled in the sunlight as she added more dust by opening the other curtain. Once she had some light it was obvious that this was a teenager's bedroom once upon a time. A boy, she guessed just by the mess.
A king-sized four-post bed sat in the center of the room with the blood-red bed covers balled up on it. Dark clothes littered the floor all around the bed. The dark stone walls were lined with various posters; but, Patty didn't recognize any of the names or people depicted. She guessed some of the group shots were bands or sports teams; they had names like, "Magi-knights" and "CyberRiot". Other posters seemed to be movie or game art. A large old-style scribe desk sat in the corner with a dusty grey stuffed unicorn resting on the chair.
"Poor Mr. Unicorn...," Patty smirked to herself and decided to rescue the plush toy first. Though, as she approached the desk, her focus shifted to its surface. A thick book with a rainbow cover drew her attention. She realized it was a binder and wondered if it was a scrapbook of some sort. She ran her hand across the cover and wiped away a layer of dust and revealed the colorful glossy rainbow beneath. "When's the last time someone opened you?" she wondered aloud as she pulled the cover.
The dust hadn't managed to penetrate the closed pages and Patty found several vivid pictures of a young, pale woman and a baby with rainbow hair. The woman was her new employer, that much was obvious. She had no idea how long the room had been abandoned. Her boss, Alicia, did not look any older when they met than she did in the pictures.
"Lucky," she giggled to herself and turned the page. This time she saw more pictures of an older boy, still with rainbow hair, and Alicia again. She was curious enough to keep going and flipped through the rest of the book. Page by page she watched the rainbow-haired boy grow into a preteen and then into a lean, pale teenager; but, Alicia remained the same.
Then, near the middle, she found something else along with the pictures. She felt it before she saw it, part of the bottom page was stiffer than the previous ones had been. She felt around the edges and discovered it was a transparent rectangle saved in the plastic. It felt solid like glass and it was labeled with the only text she'd seen in the album so far. [Backup - 16 years]
As she wondered what exactly was backed up she flipped the page again. The next page was empty except for a document with a bold header: Birth Certificate
"246?" Patty voiced her surprise. Then, she jumped when someone spoke up from behind her.
"Hi, who are you?" a young voice said. She spun around and saw a pale teenage girl with rainbow hair glaring at her from the doorway. "How did you find this room?" she asked without giving Patty a chance to answer the first question. Despite the fact that she was an obvious member of the family, Patty's nerves began to flutter.
"Hi... uh, I'm patty. Alicia hired me to clean. Uh.., it's my first day and I don't know?" she shrugged as she answered. "This is just the first room I found. I'm sorry, am I not supposed to be here?"
The teen seemed to relax, but her eyes darted to the scribe desk and the open album. She strode into the room, through the sunbeams, and brushed past Patty to slam the book shut. It released a cloud of dust, but the teen ignored it and turned her attention to Patty.
"I'm sure no one told you, so there's no harm done," she nodded. "But, please stay out of this room from now on."
"Oh... okay...," Patty nodded. She was confused, but also relieved. It was a large castle and having one less room to deal with was a blessing.
"Um...," she spoke up as the girl headed to the door. "I noticed your mom's birth certificate in there," she said. "Just letting you know in case she wants it back." The teen stopped and turned to face her.
"My mom doesn't hire anyone without telling them exactly what they're getting into," she said. "You know what we are?"
"Vampires," Patty nodded. The teen held the book up to make her point.
"She doesn't need an ancient birth certificate and furthermore, forget this entire album. You opened it, so you saw the boy, right?" Patty nodded.
"There's a reason no one's been in this room," she said. "And a reason you won't find pictures of him anywhere else in the castle."
"Oh..," Patty quickly imagined Alicia mourning the loss of her child. Despite being a vampire, Alicia was kind and friendly throughout all their interactions. She seemed like a genuinely sensitive person and there was no doubt that a loss like that would affect her like any mother.
"Do me a favor and don't mention any of this to my mom. Not the album, not this room. As far as anyone knows, I never had a brother, got it?"
"Yes!" Patty nodded quickly. She did not have any children of her own, but she could understand not wanting any reminders. It's probably why she wasn't warned not to go into the room. Alicia must have blocked every memory of him. "You can count on me!"
"Thanks," the teen said. She finally seemed to relax. "I'm Monday, what's your name?"
"Patty," she replied.
"Thanks for understanding, Patty," Monday said. "My mom would kill me," she added under her breath as she left Patty alone in the room.
Patty decided to leave the curtains open and moved to leave the room also. But, something about Monday's last mumble left her wondering again. She couldn't imagine Alicia being angry at being reminded of her lost son. Distraught, maybe, but angry? As she closed the door a stray thought popped into her mind. She glanced up the long, narrow hallway to see a rainbow ponytail turn behind a corner.
"Why didn't I see Monday anywhere in the album?"