"Remember tonight...for it is the beginning of always."

Dante Alighieri

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“Road trip, road trip!” shouted my little brother Henry. I watched him run towards the silver minivan. “We are going on a road trip, road trip!” It had been almost two years since we went on our family vacation. Mom looked over her shoulder and crossed her arms along her stomach. She raised a brow at Henry and smirked. “Relax, karino...” she told him softly. “Now, climb up into the car.” Even as he climbed into the car, he was still chanting his famous little phrase. Road trip, road trip. You couldn’t help but laugh. At first it was annoying but then it turns comical when you listen to Henry trying to make a Reggaetón song out of it, and then Mom stops it because she doesn’t care for Reggaetón.

“Carmen, where do you think we’re going?” Henry asked.

“I’m not so sure,” I replied, pretending that I didn’t know. “Where do you think?” My little brother narrowed his eyes and scrunched his nose. He thought for a long minute before he replied. His brows shot up high and looked at me with delight. “A castle!” he exclaimed. I raised my brows. “A castle?” I repeated, playing along. I leaned towards him. “What kind of castle?”

“A castle with knights and a fire-breathing dragon!” he shouted. (Henry is obsessed with dragons and anything medieval.)

I laughed and scuffed his deep ginger hair. “I’m not so sure we’re visiting a castle,” I told him, “But I think dad is taking us somewhere cool!” Henry’s eyes grew round like saucers, his lips were slightly parted. “What kind of place?” he asked. But, before I could answer, my 25-year-old-brother Senovio broke into the conversation. “I know where!” he shouted. He appeared from the back of the car, scaring us half to death. Both Henry and I screamed at the top of our lungs until our cheeks turned a bright red. I placed my hand on my chest and hung on the car-seat. “Ay Dios mio!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “I think I just saw my life flash before my eyes...Senovio, why would you do that?!”

Senovio laughed and rubbed the top of my head. “Sorry, Carmen. It was just so tempting,” he replied. I rolled my eyes and looked towards Henry. He had pulled his shirt over his face, protecting himself from the scare. “Hey bud, you okay?” I asked him, softly. Henry popped his head out of his shirt and nodded. A smile spread across his face. “That was fun!” he shouted. “Let’s do it again!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told him.

“Aw,” said Henry, “Why can’t we?”

“I don’t think Mama and Daddy would like that,” I explained. I turned towards Senovio and laid my arms along the top of the car seat. “Anyway, spit it out, my man. Where is Dad taking us?” A cat-like smile spread across Senovio’s face as he leaned towards us. He looked left and right and whispered. “A haunted mansion,” he replied. I looked at him as if he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. I gave him a good slap on his shoulders and shook my head, unimpressed. “Yeah right,” I replied.

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“I swear,” he told me, placing his hand over his heart. “I swear I am telling the truth.” I raised a brow and looked at him, unsure whether I should believe him. I narrowed my eyes into thin slits and crossed my arms over my chest. Leaning towards my brother, I continued to stare at him, trying to make him confess what he was hiding. “Okay, it’s not a mansion, it’s a manor,” he replied, spilling out the truth.

“Senovio!” I told him. I had caught him fibbing again. Unbelievable. I thought to myself. I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying my hardest to remain calm. “It is!” Senovio protested. He was trying to convince me now. “Have you heard of the Baudelaire Estate, Manor, place?” I looked up and stared at him for a long minute before I replied. I threw my arm over my head and pressed my chin on the cushion of the car-seat. My eyes had grown heavy. I began pinching my cheeks to keep myself awake. “Yeah,” I replied, in a long sigh. “It’s in one of my textbooks that I bought from community college.” I let out my long awaited yawn.

“That’s where we’re going,” he replied, snapping his fingers. I tightened my mouth into a thin line. I nodded and turned away. “Right,” I replied. I turned around and placed my feet on the back of the passenger seat. I moved my feet from side to side, swaying them like a palm tree. I threw my head back. My eyes fixed on the sun roof. I watched the clouds that were passing by. “Plus, there is no way that place is haunted...” I finished.

Senovio smirked as he slowly sunk into the back seat. “A skeptic I see,” he said in his YODA voice. I looked over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes, my brother raised his hands at the level of his eyes. “Alright,” he told me, “It’s fine that you don’t believe me. But when you do, it will be in a spooky manor.” He finished his statement in a very faint spooky laugh before melting away into the cushions.

“You are so weird,” I muttered.

“It’s my job,” he replied.

“It’S mY jOb,” I mocked him, muttering under my breath. I rolled my eyes and turned on my phone. 9:00 A.M. I read in my mind as I typed in my passcode, trying to block out Senovio’s annoying voice. There were a few text messages from my friend Montserrat Almonte (she was out in Scotland with her family working on an excavation), and five from my cousin Johnny Ki. I was one-hundred percent sure that they were having a better summer vacation than I was. “Leaf ones?” I muttered to myself, reading the text message. Boi, you stupid. I replied.

“Okay guys, do you have everything?” asked their father, Dad. Mom climbed into the car. All three siblings nodded in unison, not giving their parents eye contact. “Are we going to a haunted house?” Henry asked. He kicked his legs up and down. Mom looked at him, surprised, and turned to Dad, staring at him with her dark brown eyes. I raised my brows and leaned towards him. “Haunted house, huh?” I repeated in a dark tone. Dad pulled his shoulders up and then gave a sigh. “Alright, who told who?” he said. Both Henry and I pointed at Senovio. He was still chilling in the back. Senovio looked up, staring at the two fingers pointing at him.

“Sorry,” he replied, throwing a hand up.

“Senovio,” Dad said.

“Hey, I wanted to spread the surprise,” he retorted.

“Well, is it?” asked Henry.

Dad chuckled and shook his head. “No,” he replied, “It’s just an ordinary house with ordinary people. Nothing special.” Mom looked at Dad for a long minute and a half before turning her head back to the windshield. “Whatever you say, Dad,” she muttered. Mom wasn’t taking Dad. “Lyanna, believe me, it’s not a haunted house. I don’t know why some people got the idea that it was,” Dad replied looking over his shoulder. Senovio whistled, pretending that he wasn’t the one that started the conversation.

He turned to Mom and planted a kiss on her cheek. “I promised you we were going to have a nice vacation and we will.” Once more, Mom stared at Dad. She was thinking, I could tell. The intensity of her body language was no longer subtle. Her long boney hands turned into tight fists. This caused her blue visible veins to pop out even more. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings as she bobbled her eyes and gave a small smile. I gave out a long, loud sigh. “Alright,” Mom said, punching him in the shoulder. “If you say so...everyone, seat belts.”