He didn’t know how he had gotten there, but Indie stood facing the impressive institute. The Lux Initiative, as Mr. Avery instructed them to call it, was a wide, grey, flat building that appeared to be three storeys tall. Long, dark vines left wide curlicues across the façade. Each floor had five windows that were immensely tall and all but one had dark coverings blocking everything except the faintest of light. The ground floor only had four windows and where the middle one would be was a double-wide door. It was by far the most impressive part of the front of the building, contrasting the relatively light grey with a dark black. Each door had a bright gold cross from top to bottom and across the entire width.
“You will be quite comfortable here, I assure you,” Mr. Avery said, catching Indie’s apprehension. The teen only nodded and looked at his little brother on his right. His eyes were enormous, and he looked not only scared, but excited. Indie held out his hand and the boy immediately took it.
“I’m already comfortable.” Indie heard Jay murmur to his left. He glanced his way and saw a roguish grin splitting his face. “This place is…” For once, the well-read, intelligent Jay had nothing to say and Indie smiled.
“This way, gentlemen.” Mr. Avery led the way to the door. The black door was matte and the gold that crossed it was highly polished, giving the contrast a very interesting effect. The door also had a huge golden knocker on the right side. Indie saw that it was in the shape of a beast’s face, fierce and ugly, with fangs and a smooshed-in snout. Mr. Avery used the knocker and rapped three times. They waited and then heard a faint click. Then the door opened.
Indie wasn’t sure what to expect but he was taken aback by the entryway. Just inside the door, on either side were small doors which he assumed was where coats and the like were kept. The walls were a dark mahogany wood and two huge paintings of historical, austere-looking men flanked both coat closet doors. The floor was black wood and a long, deep red runner ran down the length of the hall, which broadened into a narrow twin stairway. Indie looked up and saw that the entryway was lit by a colossal chandelier that sparkled and winked as they continued. On the ground floor, the hall split to the left and right, the same dark red runner carpet and black floor throughout.
Something silver caught all five brothers’ eyes and they all exclaimed at the same time in wonder at two sets of armor standing silent guard on either side of the stairway. On the left was a leather and silver suit. While impressive itself, it was overshadowed by its partner. The other one, with a sharp and familiar pointed faceguard and oddly protruding chest piece made Indie pause. It was very striking and looked almost alive when the light played across it.
“Greenwich,” Jay said, nodding to the set Indie was staring at. “Henry the eighth probably wore that sorta thing.”
“Elizabeth the first, actually,” Mr. Avery amended, but he had a hard time hiding how impressed he was.
“I told you, I graduated with honors. For a reason, Mr. Avery. I ain’t some dumb hick,” He grinned at Mr. Avery.
The man led them up the stairs. Indie noted that the wooden panelling continued on to the second floor which was lit at intervals by black sconces placed between doors. Mr. Avery turned left and pointed to a second set of stairs.
“This is the way to the third floor and there is a second set of stairs at the other end of the hall.” He turned and pointed behind them into the gloom. Indie could see a duplicate of the steps before them. Mr. Avery turned left again and gestured to the door.
“This floor is where you will stay. These are two bathrooms, one on each end of the stairway hall. You will find you won’t be here much unless you’re sleeping or possibly studying. You will each be assigned a room of your own.” He paused and looked at each brother’s face. Indie saw Jay’s grin light up the darkness and the twins exchanged looks, their eyebrows raised. Already, they all had more luxury than they were ever expecting to encounter in their lives. Indie looked at the smallest brother and gripped his hand tighter. He wasn’t sure the littlest of them was equipped to sleep alone.
They continued down the hall and Mr. Avery stopped them at a set of double doors. He took out a key and unlocked the doors and swung them both open, revealing a large bedroom with a wide bed covered in a dark silken blanket, a small closet and a huge wooden desk pushed up against the floor to ceiling windows. Black drapes were pulled back to reveal the moonlight.
“This is exactly how each room looks. I have no doubt you will be comfortable.” He bade they follow and left the door open behind them. He continued down the hall and unlocked and the doors to a second room, pushed the doors wide open and walked on. They came to a crossway in the hall and he pointed to their right.
“This hall has three more rooms on the right, but on the left…” he waved them along. He dug in his pocket, frowning. “They key was…I just had…” Finally, he shrugged and waved his hand in front of the door. Indie heard a click as the lock disengaged and the door swung open. His brother squeezed his hand once and Indie looked down into his face to see him grinning.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
As Mr. Avery entered the room, he slapped on a light switch and along the ceiling three immense, glittering chandeliers lit up. All along the wall were racks and racks of clothing. Above the racks were boxes and hats. Beneath the clothing were shoe racks filled with every style imaginable. Indie caught glints of sequins and the shine of satin. The little brother gasped aloud.
“It’s beautiful!” he exclaimed as he released Indie’s hand to clap his two tiny hands together in glee. Mr. Avery smiled patiently.
“Yes, it is rather exquisite. This is decades of work and I am very proud of the Initiative’s collection. If you can’t find something that you like and that fits you here, please let us know and we will find you something.” He left the room and signalled for them to follow. Back at the main hall, they all gathered around Mr. Avery who glanced once at his golden watch and blinked in surprise.
“Come with me, gentleman. It’s time to find each of you your own room and leave you for the night.” He led the way to the corner room that faced the front of the building and unlocked the door. “Alexander.” He held his hand out and waited for the young boy to move.
“It’s ok, Rat. I’ll see you in the morning.” Indie let go of his hand and nodded to the room. As Indie was getting the boy to close the door behind him, Mr. Avery turned to the door directly across the hall and held the door open again.
“Indiana.” Indie nodded and smiled weakly. His stomach was in knots and he felt like he could easily both throw up and sleep for days. The last time he felt this sick to his stomach was right before his little brother had done something new and big with his gifts.
He turned and looked at his new room and was struck by how beautiful everything seemed to him. It was lit from above by a shiny golden chandelier and a smaller matching lamp on the desk and an even smaller lamp on the side table near the bed.
The wide bed was draped in the same maroon red satin bedding as the first room they were shown. The carpeting was also dark reddish brown but there was a separate area rug near the bed that was a bright yellowy gold on black. A pair of black slippers were resting on the rug and Indie noticed a dark house coat style robe hanging on a hook on the wall by the door. On the foot of the bed was a neatly folded stack of clothes, which turned out to be black satin pyjamas. Indie decided to change into the new clothes and left his own clothes folded on the chair at the desk. They felt silky and cool on his skin and they gave him goosebumps when he moved.
He peeked into the tall wardrobe in the corner, which held nothing but hangers and, on the bottom, a large black felted box that was padlocked. Indie idly wondered if he would get the key to the chest eventually.
Having inspected all he could in the room, he realized he needed to pee. He pulled the housecoat on and slid his feet into the plush black slippers. He noted a crest on the breast of the robe and on the toes of the slippers, embroidered in golden thread.
The door squeaked quietly as he opened one of the two double doors and peered out into the hall. Directly across from him was his littlest brother’s room and he wondered how long the boy would last before he came knocking on Indie’s door and begging to sleep with him. He exited and left the door ajar. Every so often he would stop and listen to the sounds of the night. A tightness in his gut pulled him back toward his brother, alone in a huge room, but he first needed the washroom.
He found his way down the hall to the bathroom. It was quite possibly the most opulent thing Indie had ever seen. Creamy ivory, deep red and black assaulted him in slick and smooth surfaces. A huge bathtub and enormous standing shower large enough for four people dominated the room but the sink was the showstopper. It was a geode with blood-red crystals behind a completely clear layer of resin. The golden taps sparkled in the warm lighting.
Indie used the toilet then washed his hands using the dark red soap pump near the sink and dried his hands on a towel hanging nearby, a smaller version of the fluffy black one in his room. He couldn’t find a light switch when he left, so the light remained burning brightly as he shut the door. When he clicked it shut, he saw the light at the bottom of the wooden door wink out. Impressed beyond reasoning, he made his way back to his room.
Indie paused outside his little brother’s room and listened carefully. He put his ear to the door and rested his hand softly against the warm wood. He heard nothing beyond his own breathing.
I can hear you. The boy’s voice in his head startled him and he bumped his head against the door when he jumped.
“Ouch, Rat,” Indie whispered as he turned the knob on one of the doors. He pushed and nothing happened. “Let me in.” A second later, the door swung open and his little brother stood before him in his matching set of black satin pyjamas.
“We look fancy.” The little boy held out his arms as Indie closed the door behind him.
“Yeah, this shit is nuts,” Indie agreed. He looked around his brother’s room and found it was the mirror image of his own room. “The rooms are fancy, too,” he added.
“Indie…” his brother said, as he wrung his hands shyly.
“Yeah, let’s go.” Indie waved him over, understanding that his littlest brother would much rather share his bed than sleep in this strange room, regardless of how fancy he found it to be. They left and Indie stopped his brother from shutting the door behind them.
“What if you can’t get back in?” He said and stopped the boy’s hand.
“I ain’t worried. The doors will open for us.” He pulled the door shut and motioned for Indie to try it. He did and it was locked.
“I told you it—” he was cut short when his brother opened the door with ease.
“The doors know us,” was all the boy said before he led the way across the hall. Shaking his head, unsure if he would get used to the strangeness of all of this, Indie followed his brother and shut his own door behind him.