The Beast Of Green Manor

The tool belt dug into Eleanor's hips as she climbed the front steps of their small house. Her shoulders burned from a long day of hammering and sawing, but it was the good kind of pain. The kind that came with putting food on the table through honest work.

She reached for the door handle, then stopped.

Something smelled... different.

Eleanor inhaled deeply. Smelled like bread.

"Coconut bread?" she whispered, her eyes narrowing.

She pushed the door open slowly, like she was entering a crime scene.

The living room sparkled. Every surface gleamed. The floors looked freshly mopped. Esther, her youngest sister, stood at the stove humming some cheerful tune, as she stirred. Martha, the middle sister, hovered near the dining table with a folded napkin in her hand, wearing an innocent smile that didn't reach her eyes.

And Samuel, her baby brother who could barely boil water, stood there holding out a glass of smoothie like a waiter at a fancy restaurant.

Eleanor knew something was wrong. This is not the normal routine of her younger siblings.

"Okay," she said flatly, dropping her tool bag by the door. "Who died?"

Samuel's smile stretched too wide across his face. "Nobody died, Ellie."

"Yet," Esther muttered from the kitchen.

Martha rushed forward, still clutching that damn napkin. "We just thought you deserved a proper welcome home. You work so hard for us."

Eleanor stared at her. "That's new."

"Can't we do something nice for our favorite sister?" Samuel tried again, pushing the glass closer to her.

"I'm your only sister who works," Eleanor said, not taking the drink. "And you three only act this sweet when someone's about to confess something stupid." She crossed her arms. "So. What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Samuel said too quickly.

"Liar."

Martha gestured to the table like she was presenting a prize. "Just sit down and eat, Ellie. You haven't had a proper meal all week."

Eleanor didn't move. She studied each of their faces, Martha's forced cheerfulness, Esther's guilty eyes, Samuel's nervous fidgeting.

"You made coconut bread," she said slowly.

Esther gave an innocent shrug. "You love coconut bread. We thought you could use some comfort food."

"Uh-huh." Eleanor finally sat down, mostly because her legs ached and her stomach was screaming. "You people only 'comfort' me when somebody's about to drop a bomb. And just so you know, I don't have money to give anyone right now."

Samuel practically shoved the smoothie into her hand. "It's made with ginger. Just the way you like it."

"You're all insane." She took a bite of the bread anyway and used a spoon to scoop out jam. It was warm and perfect and that made her even more suspicious. "If this is poisoned, I'm haunting every single one of you."

Esther giggled nervously. "At least you'll die happy."

Martha clapped her hands together. "Oh! And we cleaned your room too. No more sawdust on your bed."

Eleanor put her spoon down with a soft clink.

The room went quiet.

She looked at each of them, one by one, her dark eyes sharp as glass.

"That's it," she said quietly. "What the hell is going on?"

Samuel shifted his weight. "It's... it's not really that bad."

"Samuel."

"I just didn't want to tell you until you ate something..."

"Samuel," Eleanor repeated, her voice dropping to that dangerous tone they all knew too well.

He swallowed hard. Ran a hand through his dark hair. "I made a mistake."

"No kidding," Eleanor said, arms folded tight across her chest. "What kind of mistake? Gambling? Drugs? Did you steal something?"

"You know I don't steal..."

"People change!" Eleanor snapped, her patience cracking like thin ice. "Now tell me what the fuck is going on!"

Samuel took a breath, and then another. His hands were shaking.

"I got someone pregnant."

Eleanor blinked slowly, her mind struggling to catch up. The piece of bread in her mouth suddenly felt dry, tasteless.

Her hands tightened around the edge of the table, as if anchoring her to reality.

"You..." Her voice came out strangled. "You did what?"

Samuel looked like a little boy caught breaking their mother's favorite vase. "I didn't mean for it to happen! We were in love, Ellie. It was just one time. One time and now everything's a mess!" His voice cracked. Tears were building in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Who?" Eleanor's voice was so low, so deadly, that Martha actually stepped back. "Who is she?"

Samuel glanced at his other sisters. Neither of them would look at Eleanor.

Esther finally spoke, her voice small. "Maybe you should sit back down for this part."

"I'm already sitting."

"Maybe... sit harder?"

Eleanor's heart was pounding now. A cold dread was spreading through her chest.

"Samuel," she said again, and there was steel in her voice. "Answer me."

He met her eyes, and she could see the fear, shame and guilt.

"Valentina Green."

Eleanor stood up and let out a sinister laugh, she laughed for a really long time then it translated to broken cries that she immediately seized.

"No," she mumbled, 'Is it April already?" she goes to the calendar to do a proper check to be sure she wasn't actually in the month of October.

Then, she looked back at her sisters, they avoided her eyes, she shook her head,"You guys are kidding, right?"

Martha started,"Ellie...'

"Not... not the same Green family I'm thinking of. Please tell me it's not them."

But she could see it in their faces, it was the same Green family she knew,  "Tell me you're not that stupid,"

Samuel's face crumpled. "I love her."

Eleanor's world tilted. "You've got to be kidding me," she said, her voice breaking. "That family? That girl? Do you have any idea what you've done? They're going to kill you, Samuel. They're going to kill all of us!"

"She's not like them!" Samuel said quickly, desperately. "She's kind, Ellie. She's sweet. She didn't want this to happen this way either..."

"Oh, of course not!" Eleanor's voice rose to a shout. "Nobody ever means for anything to happen, do they? It just happens! Oops! My bad!" She slammed her hand on the table. "Samuel! SAMUEL! SAMUEL!!!"

The walls around the house seemed to shake.

Esther reached out carefully, touching Eleanor's shoulder like she was approaching a wild animal. "Ellie, please. Don't lose it."

"Of all the families in this goddamn city. Of all the girls in this world. The Greens?" Eleanor whispered, and her voice was so broken it barely sounded like her own. "You've handed them a reason to destroy us."

"I love her," Samuel said, and his shoulders straightened. His jaw set. "And I'm going to marry her."

Silence crashed over the room like a wave.

Eleanor stared at him. Then she laughed. It was a dry, horrible sound that had no joy in it at all.

"Of course you are," she said. "Of course."

She started pacing the small living room, hands in her hair, trying to breathe, trying to think.

"Wait a minute." She stopped. Turned. "Why do I even care? You know what? If they kill you, at least fifty percent of my problems disappear. I'd actually be relieved."

She laughed again, then she screamed.

"SAMUEL!!!!!!"

Samuel dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry, Ellie. I'm so, so sorry. Please. You have to help me."

Esther and Martha knelt down too, hands clasped like they were praying.

"Please, Ellie," Martha whispered.

Eleanor stared down at them, confused on what to do, "Does the Green family know?" she asked suddenly, her voice cold and sharp.

"Not yet," Martha said, standing slowly. "We were going to tell them together. That's the plan."

The others stood too.

Eleanor barked out another laugh. "Oh, they're going to love that. Marcus Green, finding out his precious baby sister got knocked up by a De-Laurent." She whipped around to face Samuel. "Have you actually thought this through? Do you understand what kind of war you just started?"

"It's already done, Ellie!" Samuel shouted back. "It happened! I can't take it back! And I don't want to take it back. We love each other. That has to count for something!"

Eleanor stared at him. He looked so much like their father at that moment. Young, stupid, stubborn and full of reckless conviction.

"You idiot," she whispered. Then louder. "You stupid, stupid boy."

She turned away, pressing her palms against her eyes.

"Please Ellie..."

"Get away from me," she said quietly. "I need to think."

There was no thinking her way out of this.

Her brother had just dragged them into hell, and the devil's name was Marcus Green.