Le Desespoir: The Cursed Paradise

Family Reunion

"What do you want from us? Why the hell do you want to keep us here?"

The soft breeze blew in answer.

Je suis tellement désolé vous ne pouvez pas quitter cet endroit…

The wind whispered just as the front door of the house opened on its own.

I'm really sorry, you can't leave this place, was what the wind had told them, and Jerome almost laughed in disbelief if only he wasn't trembling in fear.

"It's asking us to go inside?" he heard Austin ask and Jerome shook his head.

There's no way he'd go back there with his brother, knowing its bloody history, and knowing that things beyond normal existed there. "No, we're staying here."

Suddenly, as if running out of patience, the wind blew towards the door of the mansion, carrying dried leaves on its wake. Slowly, they twirled around like a small tornado in front of the open door.

The brothers' hands tightened their hold on each other as they watched the leaves twirl and twirl upwards and then suddenly dispersed to reveal a slender form of a young man.

Austin’s eyes widened upon seeing him. He was the boy he had followed. He was the boy in the picture— the third heir of Le Désespoir.

"Mes frères..." My brothers, Julian de Lancret called out to them as he raised one hand as if asking them to come over.

Austin stood up suddenly, dragging his brother with him, but the older man did not get up at once.

"Stand up! Stand up!" he yelled at his brother who finally stood up albeit slowly. "Let's go," Austin continued frantically as he turned to run while still holding onto his brother's hand, but Jerome didn't move. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

Jerome was still staring at the ghost as if mesmerized by him. Austin watched as his older brother's eyes turned hazy as if he was being hypnotized.

"What are you spacing out for? Let's run!" Austin pulled at his brother's arm hard. Still, the older sibling didn't budge. "Jerome?" he called as the older man blinked several times and then stretched his body as if he'd just woken up.

"Why are you panicking brother?" Jerome spoke lazily with a smile on his face as he turned to Austin who frowned. Jerome had never called him brother before, and he couldn't understand why he looked so happy when they're facing something unexplainable. "Why are you trying to run away?"

"What are you talking about?" Austin was beginning to get confused now. Jerome was acting weird. Julian de Lancret did not move from where he was standing as he continued to watch the two of them but his hand was still stretched out to them, beckoning. "Aren't we going to escape?"

Jerome raised an eyebrow impatiently— something the usual Jerome did not do.

"What are you scared of, silly? That's Julian," he said amusedly as he pulled Austin towards the other boy much to his younger brother's horror.

"Julian, vous n'êtes pas devenus plus grands," Jerome spoke to Julian who smiled at his words and Austin’s eyes widened some more in confusion.

"Jerome, he's a ghost," he said as he tried to pull away but Jerome’s hold was firm.

Why the hell were you bantering with a ghost?

Of all things, the first words Jerome said to Julian were a comment about his height. Julian, you haven't grown taller, he said.

"You haven't changed much yourself Johann," Julian told Jerome as he turned to Austin, and the smile Julian was wearing turned wistful again. "You too, Jehan."

"Jehan?" Austin’s lips trembled as he mentioned the name. "I'm not Jehan," he said but nobody paid him attention.

The three of them walked inside the house normally as if they were just visiting. Only Austin remained bewildered, but he had no choice but to come with them since Jerome was still holding onto him. The two of them were speaking in rapid French and Austin had a hard time understanding them.

They all sat on the couches near the fireplace and Julian turned his eyes to Austin and smiled. "Mes frères ... Il est temps pour vous de vous souvenir."

Austin frowned. "It's time for us to remember what?" he asked and Julian's eyes lowered as if remembering something sad and when he spoke again, it was in a whisper.

"Everything," he answered as he looked at his two elder brothers. "It's time for you to remember everything."

Austin watched as Jerome leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Jehan, you too," Julian told him and Austin felt himself getting drowsy and he closed his eyes as he followed Jerome on his journey into the past.

Julian stood up from where he was sitting and reached out both of his cold hands to touch his brothers' faces— the faces he hadn't seen in almost two centuries.

"I'm so happy I finally got the two of you together," he said as he looked at Austin. "I'm so tired now. I couldn't watch you die over and over again, Jehan. Remember everything, my dear brothers. When you do, please set yourselves free and please, please forgive me…" he whispered to them as tears fell from his eyes down to his ghostly cheeks as he slowly faded away. "Forgive me…."

==========

All four of them stood nervously in front of the parapsychologist's office. None of them seemed to take the initiative to open the door first. For several minutes now, they just stared at the brass plate in front which read Dr. Chase Allart.

Originally, they made an appointment with a female parapsychologist. She, however, suddenly had a family emergency and couldn't assist them, so she had referred their case to a colleague whom she said was one of the best in the field— much better than her.

Honestly, they didn't want to have a new person to consult with. But since they're in a hurry, trying to unlock the sisters’ memories before the fourth of July, the anniversary of the m******e which was three days from now, Sam and Caroline brought Jessica and Hannah there.