Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Alex Rider series.
I carried the all-too important message to Alex Rider. I had to get it to him. For his sake. For my sake. And for their sake. I rang the doorbell.
The door opened to show a pretty blonde teenager. "Oh, hello."
"Uh, hi. Um, is Alex here?"
"Alex? Hmmm, it might take a while to find him. Would you like to come inside?"
"Thank you."
I stepped inside and was led into a living room. The young woman motioned for me to sit on one of the sofas, and then she walked away down the hall.
I looked around. The interior of the house was brightly lit by the sunshine streaming through the windows and skylights. There were pictures of a happy looking family. The mom, dad, the daughter, and a boy, smiling, yet he was sad. This was Alex.
"Hello. I heard you were looking for me?"
I stood up at the voice, turning to face the young man named Alex.
"Ah, yes. I believe I haven't introduced myself. My name is Shasta."
"What?"
"And I believe you knew my birth mother."
"Who?"
"Jack Starbright."
He fixed me with a cold look before demanding, "How?"
"I'm not entirely sure. All I remember is that I was brought up in an orphanage. They wouldn't tell me who my mother was. Something about secrecy and all that. And then when I was 12, a man came to the orphanage and said that he would like to adopt me. No one had wanted to adopt me, but he did. He said he still owed a debt to a boy named Alex Rider. So, he adopted me and I became his son. I've just turned 16, and I managed to sneak out to find you. I just wanted to let you know, thank you for loving my mother. I'm sure she would have been happy."
"And your father?"
"Well, my father now is Yasha Gregorovich. I believe his name used to be Yassen?"
"He-he's still alive?"
"Yes. He managed to survive, and he's been working as a book translator."
"Oh my, he's a book translator now?" The young woman finally spoke up, having been listening in.
"Yes. I believe I am addressing Miss Sabina Pleasure?"
"Yes, that's me."
"My father has always wanted to express his deepest apologies for what happened that year. He knows that he can never do anything to make up for it, but he wishes to apologize. I would have made him come here and do it in person, but I snuck out because he definitely did not want me to leave the house without him. He can be quite overprotective at times."
"Yes, he can, can't he."
"Um, if you aren't too upset, Alex, could you possibly tell me about my mother?"
And Alex finally smiled. A happy smile, not his sad picture ones. One that was bright and refreshing.
"Yes, I can, Shasta. I'll tell you all about your wonderful mother."
A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. I'm not sure where I was going with this, but I figured that I should probably post something, since I haven't in a very long time. I might just start posting the hundreds (literally) of ideas that I have. I've been more focused on school than anything, so sorry about that. Happy (Belated) New Year everyone! ~VM