--8 Years Later--
Droplets of precipitation pounded on the glass windows, as light failed to enter it's pane for the morning. Winchester was always dark even in the earliest hours. Isabella opened her wide eyes after a night full of investigating. At 18, she was working hard. She sat up in the comfy navy blue bed, in her room she was given eight years ago courtesy of her grandfather. She turned to the side of the bed and dug her feet in the snowy white carpet that covered her floor.
She could already hear the buzzing and zapping of the video game player right next door to her. He screamed awfully loud, because he had lost. She muttered, "Doesn't matter how many times the object of the game fails Matthew...his yelp will always cause me to jump..." She searched around the room for her fuzzy green house slippers to tell him to lower the volume, but she couldn't find where they were. Usually they were ready to be filled with a pair of freezing feet, but they did not show. She opened the doorknob of her room and turned the corner to another wooden door. She pounded loudly hopefully to overcast the noise, "Matt can you turn it down?" She spoke high above her natural volume. An annoyed groan was admitted from the room beside her and she smiled and walked away, as her headache slightly lowered. Now to find those slippers, she thought. Isabella went down the hallway to the next room of another orphan. This room had a soft singing voice coming out from the bottom of the door, she knocked softly, "Lizzie?" She asked. Small footsteps were heard from the opposite side of the room and the door opened to a small girl about the age of nine. "Yes, Bella?" She said with a calm look to her face. Her orange locks curled together so perfectly, and her golden eyes shone brightly. "Would you happen to know where my slippers are?" She said sweetly. Lizzie thought about it for a few seconds, "Maybe Near has them...did you check? He did complain that his feet were awfully cold...maybe he should put some bloody socks on instead of walking around barefoot!" She argued. Isabella nodded and thanked her and headed next door again to meet up with Near. While she was about to knock, he opened the door, as if he was expecting her. "Yes?" He asked in a simple voice as he twirled his white locks; refusing to meet her eyes. "If you knew I was coming, then I suppose you know what I'm pondering for." She responded. The thirteen year old boy finally met her eyes, "Don't ask me...ask him." He said back. She turned around, she already knew who he was. Isabella walked all the way to the end of the hallway where there were no more doors leading up to a slightly bigger one.
Ah, the Prince of the house...she thought. She didn't go into this room as often as she should be. It wasn't all her fault though, it was the way he acted...he was too distant for social conversations. It seemed like he would suck up to Wammy all the time, according to her. They had played together a couple of times when they were littler, in her first months of the House. She slowly approached the door, she hadn't seen him in two weeks. Her knock echoed throughout the hallway.
"Yes...come in." Said the slightly monotone voice. Isabella opened the door and entered the room. It was too blank for her. White walls, white carpet, she sometimes thought it was all to match his white shirt. "How may I be of assistance?" He said without looking up at her. He was sitting strangely on his boring white bed with a laptop. "I wanted to know if you knew where my slippers are?" He put the tip of his finger on his lip and scanned more information on the laptop, "Yes. I am aware of where they lie." He said simply, still not meeting her gaze. Sometimes this guy reminds me of an older Near...she thought. "May you tell me?" She answered back. Finally, his darkened eyes which were hid under a very dark shade of hair matched hers...reminding her of the first time she had laid her eyes upon his silhouette. "Evan has taken them. After all, you refused to play hide and seek with the boy...this is his...what do you call it...revenge." She nodded, still surprised that he hasn't looked down back to the screen just yet. He took his finger off his lip and got up from the bed and walked hunchbacked to her spot in the room. His posture wasn't that of a human, but more like a polite ape. Isabella wondered why he was so close, but after all, there were too many mysteries still to be solved about this boy. She was still surprised that he was the same age as her, he seemed much older and...much unearthly then someone of her age. "Er, thank you L." She mumbled. He nodded, but he didn't move from his spot in front of her. "I have not seen you in a while, I." She nodded just like he had did a moment before, "Yes, I haven't seen you since your last mission in Taiwan, how was it?" He turned around and sat upon his bed once again, "It was fine I suppose. Criminals simply do not imagine the consequences of their actions on that part of the world." Isabella wondered why he was suddenly speaking so much to her, really, this was more then he usually discussed with her. "Good to hear. I'll see you next week." She noted with a small smile. He remained as blank as a statue to her, "Next week?" She let out a small giggle, "You only come out once a week, that's the only time I see you." With that thought she walked away, closing the door behind her. "That will change Isabella...that will change." He muttered as she left the room.
She walked down the empty hallway, turned the corner, tripped over a few of Near's toys that he had left lying around as usual, and knocked on Evan's door. Evan was a 12 year old boy with very light hair, almost platinum blonde, and very dark eyes. Three minutes passed until he opened the door and looked at Isabella with a knowing smile. "Yes?" He said with a broad smile. "I would like for you to give me my slippers please?" She said calmly, holding back her anger for the devious child. Evan was known to be the troublemaker of the house besides Matt. Although him and Matt didn't really get along ever since Evan shoved bananas in Matt's video game console. "I do not have your slippers Isabella." He noted with a grin as usual. "Evan...The Prince told me you had them." Evan's jaw dropped and he yelled with excitement, "He's back?! He's back?!" She sighed heavily...he always got the attention she deserved. Evan ran from the doorway of his room and headed down the hall to where His Majesty stayed in his time being back home. Isabella muttered words of annoyance to herself as she went into Evan's room and reclaimed her slippers she's been hunting down this entire morning. When she turned around, she saw Matt leaning against the doorway looking at her with a sly smile. "Done with playing games, video boy?" She noted cooly. Her and Matt would play around with each other a lot, being that he was one year younger then her. "Just taking a break to watch the Fair Maiden get upset over slippers." He said. Isabella sighed of sarcasm, "Fair Maiden? I hope you're not linking me up with The Prince." She said as she exited Evan's room, shutting the door behind her. Her and Matt were speaking with each other in the hallway, which was much more quieter then they expected. They then headed back to Matt's room and sat on a few video gaming chairs, "Nah, not you and L. Does that guy even come out of his room? I mean...he's supposed to be teaching us about what he does for a living but I don't get how teaching us through messages on the computer will freaking help if he's just down the hall." She laughed sweetly at Matthew's response, he was one of the only ones that she got along with in the house of geniuses. "Sometimes I wonder why people can't be more like us and less like L." She said not meeting him in the eyes...or the goggles. "We're in a house of geniuses. Everyone wants to be like him because he's...like royalty. God forbid if we even touched a pastry that was set aside for him!" He rambled on. "Yeah but...me and L are the same age, no one gives me that type of attention." She responded with a bit of sorrow. Matthew winked at her, "I give you that attention." She sighed but a smile slowly spread across her face as she lightly punched his shoulder, they began laughing as he continued to tickle her.
"Excuse me...what is all the laughter about? Am I er...missing anything?" Said a voice that just appeared from a body around the corner. It was the same monotone voice that had just spoke with Isabella a short moment ago. "So you've finally come out of your palace?" Matt said jokingly. L did not seem to be amused. For someone so young, he should have laughed. Isabella giggled though. L stared hardly at Matt, different from the blank stares he would usually give people, "Would you mind?" Matt looked at Isabella's quite surprised face from the tone he had just given Matt. "Er, okay...see you around Bella." Matthew left the hallway they were now in where all the chatter that existed disappeared. Isabella was together with L for no reason, usually she didn't converse with him unless she had to. "Why do people around the house call you Bella?" He spoke quietly raising a swirly colorful lollipop to his mouth and taking a few licks. Her eyes met the sweet sensation before she responded, "It's a short way to say Isabella." He looked at her with that same, blank empty stare. "It's my name...?" Isabella said questioning the genius's look of wonder. He nodded and slowly began walking away. Isabella stopped him, "That's all you wanted to talk to me about?" She said annoyed. "Who said I wanted to talk to you about anything?" He said with a smile slowly forming on his lips. He walked away leaving Isabella clueless and filled with annoyance. Geniuses...they're all the same.
