CHAPTER THREE

"There!" Mom says proudly as she pulls the last curtain away from the final window, clapping her hands together to rid them of dust before wiping them on her jeans. "Done!"

I copy her motions, wiping my hands on my own jeans as I move to stand beside her, looking around at our handiwork. Now that the curtains are open, we can actually see one another. I see that Carrie is staring intently at something on the wall. I walk over to where she is and tap her gently on the shoulder. She turns to me and I smile gently.

"You alright?" I ask quietly.

She nods, turning back to gaze up at the wall. Confusion written all over her face, she asks, "Who's that?"

"Who?" I reply, following her stare. I find myself entranced like she is when I see a large portrait of a young man, dressed in fine clothing and holding a walking stick, posing gallantly. The picture looks old, judging by the way he's dressed. Probably something placed there by the original owners of the Collinwood Mansion.

"Oh," is all I can manage. Maybe it's just the crude brush strokes and odd-colored paints, but the man in the portrait is rather ugly. "I don't know who that is," I tell her honestly. "Mom?"

"What, honey?" she calls back, not looking up from smushing a bug with a Kleenex.

"Do you know who this is?"

She looks up, confused, but that quickly fades when she sees my finger pointing to the painting. "Oh, that's Barnabas Collins," she says, as if I have any idea who she's talking about. "He was the son of Joshua and Naomi Collins, the couple who moved here from Liverpool, England in the year 1760. They founded the town of Collinsport and built this mansion."

"And named if after themselves?" I guess, raising an eyebrow.

Mom nods, chuckling. "Exactly. They named both the town and their mansion using their own family name."

"Uh huh," I say, glancing at the portrait once more before reaching my arms up high in a stretch, feeling a satisfying pop in my back and shoulders. "So, can we go pick out our rooms now?"

Mom laughs. "Never one for history, were you Tyler? Alright, let's go pick out our rooms."

Todd whoops and races off ahead of us down the hallway. Carrie starts to run ahead, then stops and glances back at me as she begins to walk instead. I roll my eyes and jog up next to her, looping my arm through hers and tugging her along with me as I begin to run, following after Todd. Her breathless laughter makes me grin as we hurry along.

I also forget the portrait, and Barnabas Collins.

~DS~DS~DS~

The first room we come to has a large king-size bed, with a silk canopy draped over it. The walls have paintings of flowers all over; a collage of floral beings.

I notice Mom has her hand pressed to her mouth. "You like it?" I ask her. She nods, eyes wide. I hear Todd whining about something and turn in time to see Carolyn smack him on the arm.

"Ow!"

"Carrie!" I say, shocked and amused at the same time. "What was that for?"

"What she said!" Todd splutters, rubbing his arm furiously.

"He was being annoying," Carrie says, shrugging. Todd mutters angrily and digs around in his pocket, searching for his iPod no doubt. Carrie rolls her eyes and leans closer to me. "He was making fun of Mom," she explains quietly, so the other two won't hear. "He was just being rude and annoying."

"Oh," I reply. I glance at Todd who's tapping away on the device. He doesn't look up. I scowl and turn back to Mom, who's still staring wide-eyed around the room.

"Mom, if you like the room so much, then you take it," I tell her, placing my arm around her shoulders. She turns to me and I can see in her eyes how much she wants to.

"Are you sure?" she asks anyway. "None of you guys want it?"

"Mom, take it," I say firmly. "You deserve a room like this. I know how much you like flowers," I tell her, and that convinces her. She nods, walking over to the bed and dropping her suitcase on it.

"I'll use this one," she announces, smiling broadly. Todd merely nods while Carrie and I return her smile.

"Alright," Mom says, clapping her hands, "Who's next?"

"Todd," I say, and my brother glances up at the sound of his name.

"What?" he asks, his fingers still for a moment.

"Your room's next."

"Oh," he says, and goes back to his game, clearly uninterested.

I roll my eyes and lead the way to the next room.

The walls are plain, unlike Mom's, and the bed is a queen. Todd shrugs and throws his backpack on the bed. "Mine," he states simply.

The room next to that is much the same, save for the floral print on the walls like Mom's. Carrie claims it.

"What about the flowers?" I say, raising an eyebrow. Carrie's not normally a fan of plants.

She shrugs. "I'll make an exception. Besides, it's actually kind of pretty." She places her luggage on the queen-size bed, and the room is hers.

"Now for Tyler's," Carrie states, rubbing her hands together. "Now, it has to have a huge closet to fit all her clothes into, tons of storage space, no flowers on the walls-"

"I didn't say I wanted a huge closet!" I protest, cutting my grinning sister off. "Though it would be nice..."

"See?" Carrie smirks. I cuff her gently.

"Shut up."

"Tyler!" Mom calls from the hallway. "Come look at this one!"

She's gesturing to the doorway across the hall from Carrie's. I make my way over to where she is, and take a look around the room. It's huge, but I'm beginning to think that every room in this building is huge. The walls are plain, which is perfect - no patterns to draw attention away from my posters. Plus, the closet is large and spacious. Bingo.

"This is so mine," I say, dropping my Louis Vuitton suitcase on the bed and placing my hands on my hips, surveying the room. I'm already planning exactly where I want my Johnny Depp posters.

"Perfect," Mom says, smiling. "Now... Who's hungry?"

Three hands shoot up into the air immediately.