This Chapter is dedicated to the persons who contributed to this book in one way or another:

_ShadedDreams_

Thanks guys:)

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Sunday
March 20, 2011
7:30 am
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"Come on Katherine!" Dad bellowed from inside his car. "If we don't leave now then we'll be late!"

"Coming!" I yelled back as I locked the front door of our house while trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach. The day had finally arrived and I could hardly contain my excitement.

Rushing over to the car, I hopped in and closed the door with a huge grin on my face. Gavier Castle, here we come, I cheered mentally, anticipating the car's movement but was sorely disappointed when I felt none whatsoever.

"Ahem! Ah Kat? I know that you're extremely excited about leaving, but just remember that I also have to be inside the car before that can actually happen. A little help here?" Jake grunted as he struggled to lift his own suitcase from the pavement.

"Um, I'm kinda busy. Don't you see that I'm too excited about this to even allow myself to be distracted by you or your bag?" I replied shaking my head. "Even though you're my best friend Jake, you can be so conceited at times." I teased, smirking at him through the open passenger window of the car. He rolled his eyes at me and paused to wipe the sweat from his brow. I laughed. I swear he reminded me of a girl sometimes with the amount of luggage he brought wherever he went. My laughter was cut short however when my dad cut in to cease the delay.

"Katherine, go and help the boy out. You're the one who begged him to come in the first place and if we stay here another minute, we are going to miss the entire welcoming assembly." he ordered with a shake of his head.

"Fine." I sighed.

"I swear you're both only kids in adult bodies."

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11:00 am
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"Wow." I murmured in awe as I looked through the window and out at the huge castle standing some distance away. Jake, even with the difficulty of trying to see around my head, was obviously also entranced by the sight before us.

I still could not believe it! We were going to be staying at a castle for an entire week and it was all thanks to my dad.

He had gotten a promotion at the beginning of the month, moving up from just a member of the staff to Vice President George Harrington of the third building in Remora Business and Shipping Corporation. Let's just say that he had accomplished more than he ever had, in two years of working there, this month. His goal is actually to work at the first building of all nine companies of the corporation, but he's going to have to be a lot more than just amazing to earn a job there.

Remora Business and Shipping Corporation, just saying the name mentally made me shiver involuntarily. Even though I didn't really know that much about the corporation, I think I knew enough. As I had mentioned before, the corporation is made up of nine companies; the ninth, the eight, seventh, and so on, with the first and head building being the Remora House. The companies get less important as you go down the line, from the Remora house to the ninth building, so I would say that my dad was in a really good position at the moment being the vice president of the third most important building of the corporation.

The first building was built originally by Mr. Charles Remora, one of the most important business men in the country, if not the world. But rumor had it that he was planning on leaving the company since his son, Riddian Remora, had been handling things so well for the last three years. His son was the one who built the remaining eight buildings and supposedly works at the Remora House.

To tell you the truth, I didn't know much about the guy, only what was said in the magazines about him. According to their reports, he's a mystery to most, and not really the romantic or playboy type even though he attends every social event of importance like charity balls. He was also unsociable and he hated the press. That was probably the reason why his hand in the camera's face or the back view of his body were the only poses he saved for them. Talk about ambition and reputation.

"We're here." Dad muttered opening a door, snapping me back to reality. The car was now parked in front of the castle and there was a bell boy ready to take our things.

I opened the door quickly, jumping out in excitement. Jake followed after me and soon we were standing right at the bottom of a number of stairs that led up to the huge, black, double front doors of the castle.

"This is amazing." Jake muttered, looking away from the front of the beautiful castle to observe the rest of the grounds which were in sight from where we were now standing.

The castle grounds was surrounded by the Roland forest. We had to make a turn off from the main road, going down a path in between trees that went in for miles until we were facing the huge walls of the castle. The drive was seriously worth it since the place was so beautiful though.

A tree, trimmed into the shape of a huge rabbit, stood in the center of the huge outer ward of the castle which you entered as soon as you drove through the gates. The long driveway which ran from the front gates to the castle, made a wide circle around it and then branched off to the left where it went through a path of trees and two buildings to where I assumed there was a parking space.

Trees were trimmed into beautiful shapes and forms all around the castle, creating paths to different areas of the grounds like the one to the parking space. These trees also served as decoration and eye pleasers to on lookers.

I could see the starting of the beautiful flower and butterfly gardens I had read about in the pamphlet and according to this pamphlet, there was a huge pond to the back, an ancient fountain, hedge mazes, towers, stables and so much more. If I thought about everything that was accessible to us in the moment, I would have surely fainted from all the excitement. I was definitely going to have fun here.

"So...Could you explain to me exactly how your dad managed to book a week for us all here without having to pay a cent?" Jake spoke up from beside me.

"Oh, right," I muttered stupidly, forgetting that I hadn't really told him much. Reason? I knew he wouldn't have come freely without lots and lots of persuasion so I kinda left out most of the details about where we were going until we were too far away from home to turn back.

The thing was, Jake kinda despised the rich...well, only the ones who acted as if they owned the world, treated others like dirt and were misers. The others were fine, but because of this hate, he chose to stay away from things like this where very important, rich people were guaranteed to be at.

I smiled nervously and turned away for just a second before replying.

"Well, it turns out that every year, the Remora family sponsors a vacation trip for all the presidents and vice presidents that work at the first five buildings of their corporation. This year they sponsored a week's stay at this castle where we will be participating in different activities like bird hunting, fishing and- you did read the pamphlet right?" I asked, cocking an accusing eyebrow. He scoffed.

"Of course I did. If I hadn't, I would've come here blind. Oh and by the way, thanks for giving me this morning, in the car, on our way here." he hissed making me grin.

"You're lucky I even gave it to you. I mean I could've just told you we were going to an hotel and-"

"Ahem, you did tell me that we were going to an hotel. That's how you got me to pack in the first place." he reminded me angrily. I gasped offended.

"Oh come on Jake, don't be so grumpy when you know you're excited. It's gonna be fun here...and weren't you the one who said he wanted to enjoy the rest of this month because he'll start working next month?" I asked crossing my arms.

Silence.

"See, you have nothing to say cause you know I'm right and you are going to enjoy this week. Cut these people some slack, that's the least you can do after they're sponsoring this trip." I stated before walking off behind the bell boy who was slowly making his way up the front steps with great effort as he was the unlucky guy who had to carry Jake's bag. I heard Jake sigh as he followed me.

"Okay fine, I'll...try to cut them some slack, but only because you asked." he grumbled making me grin.

"Good." I nodded before throwing an arm around him and then following my dad who was yelling at the bell boy who accidentally dropped his bag. I smirked as Jake laughed. I was right, this was definitely going to be fun.

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3:15 pm
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"Oh my gosh, seriously?" I asked, grabbing my torso as I tried to stop laughing. Jake and I were lying on the bed of the room I was staying in for the week, and he was telling me this hilarious story about a prank he'd pulled on his roommate last semester when he was still studying. He was twenty-four, two years older than me, and still he pulled more pranks than I did. I had to admit we've never really been great at being good...well except in schoolwork, so I guess we weren't that bad huh?

"Yeah, he was so mad...he actually threatened to beat us with his mother's roller pin that he'd brought for protection." Jake continued chuckling making me laugh even more.

Knock! Knock!

I stopped laughing for a minute, wondering who could be out there as dad had gone downstairs to greet his colleagues so they knew he had arrived.

"I'll get it." Jake offered, getting up and going over to the door. I quickly jumped up curious.

"Sorry to um...interrupt sir, but all visitors are requested downstairs for the meet and greet and the welcoming assembly. Also, since you all arrived late because of the long drive here, we have been asked by the Remora family to begin the activities tomorrow instead of this morning. Please wear something casual if you aren't already and join us downstairs in the most, twenty minutes." A man wearing a gray and navy blue uniform told us before moving down the hall to inform whoever else was on this floor.

"Okay then?" Jake murmured before turning to me with a confused look. I rose an eyebrow at him but then he shook his head.

"I'm gonna go change. I'll meet you downstairs in fifteen okay?" he suggested. I nodded and gave a small smile.

Closing the door behind him, he left, leaving me to think about whether I should also change or not. I was wearing blue, knee ripped jeans and a navy blue, spaghetti strapped blouse. Normally I would just go down not caring, but taking pity on my dad, I exchanged them for a yellow, knee length sundress with red hibiscus flower patterns.

I quickly slipped on my brown flats as well and then let my hair down out of its messy ponytail. I brushed it down a bit and added a little gloss to my lips as I wasn't too fond of makeup. I then left my room which was thankfully across from Jake's own.

I thought of waiting for him outside his door but decided against it since the hallway seemed boring apart from the few portraits which hung on its walls. I'll just wait downstairs, I thought to myself before doing what we had planned originally and heading down the hall.

Author's note

Hey there! S4_angel here!...Hey I just rhymed! But anyways, first chapter to After Effects is up! I know it wasn't very exciting but trust me when I say that if you stick with me, by the third chapter you won't wanna leave. As I mentioned before, this chapter is dedicated to my dear friends, _loves_to_sing. They are the ones who helped to make this book come to life, whether by approving some if my ideas or adding in themselves. Thanks lots guys.

Anyways, this book will get better, I promise. Just keep reading, comment and share. And if you don't mind, touch the star below and vote. These will be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading and see you at the next chapter.

💕S4_angel