Sup fellow fans. This is just to say hi. Here's the first chapter
Fowl Manor, Now
"Did you bring it?"
"Right here", the centaur, Foaly said putting down a large cardboard box. "With all these funds coming in from the Fowls, we've been able to get more shipments in."
"Good",Butler sighed. "Do what you can"
Foaly nodded sympathetically. He knew it had not been easy for the residents of Fowl Manor lately. It had been only months since the berserker incident and Artemis' funeral. His medical report did not make things any easier. Artemis' cloned self was diagnosed with organ failure and white blood cell drop. Foaly had been working up theories of the cause for weeks, running every single solution he had.
Could it just be the clone,he thought.
He mentioned the thought of moving Artemis to a Haven research hospital, but the Fowls were opposed to this.
Foaly was just about to explain his new theory to Butler when Juliet came into the conference room,exhausted.
"I finally got the twins out of my hair",she huffed. "They won't stop going on and on about Artemis".
Juliet was on a break from her recent wrestling tour to help out around the mansion.
"You wouldn't believe it! I found them trying to bust the key-card lock"
Foaly sighed and rolled his eyes. "Great, now I have to order a four-old proof lock".
"I see the new equipment arrived", Juliet nodded towards the box on the table.
"Just came in today",he replied. Foaly picked the box up from the table. "I'm going to set these up. Then make a few calls for a lock".
Foaly was so paranoid about anything else happening to Artemis so he had a key-card lock installed on his bedroom door. You can only get in if you have a key-card and if you are not ill, hence his immune system failing. But now that Myles and Beckett almost broke in, they had to get a new one quickly before the germ infested boys can get in.
"Don't let the twins see you", Juliet warned Foaly as he trotted out the door.
Butler turned to his sister. "Did you call her?"
Juliet threw her arms up in frustration. "I tried",she sighed. "Nothing. Are you sure this fairy communicator is working?"
She pulled the device Butler had given her from her pocket.
"The communicator works fine", Butler took the device from her. "She's just not answering".
"We haven't heard from her in months. Don't tell me that she's still upset".
Butler shook his head. "She blames herself".
Juliet rolled her eyes. "Please. There was nothing Holly could have done. It was his choice".
"And Holly thinks he shouldn't have been the one to make it!"
"She's being ridiculous!", Juliet exclaimed. "Everyone is right here, doing something while she goes off the grid,still grieving".
"Holly needs time, Juliet", Butler was getting annoyed with his sister. "You should know that people grieving in different ways"
"We're all still grieving!"
The Butler siblings just stood there glaring. They knew that this debate could go on for an eternity. Every word that they said of the matter pained them, but it was the honest truth.
The manor, over the past few months got colder and quieter with everything that's happened. Everyone hated talking about it, but it was the only dinner conversation anymore.
The subject of Holly's wellbeing was just as difficult. Holly had not spoken to any of them in months. After they were all informed about Artemis' condition, she had a mental breakdown and shut them all out.
Everyone felt sympathetic towards Holly, but Juliet believed that she was being overdramatic. Holly was in a state where she needed her friends the most, but no, the only way people knew she was still alive was from her emails to work, calling in sick. Juliet had enough of this. She was on the verge of taking a shuttle down to Haven herself and dragging Holly out of her house by her pointed ear.
Juliet and her brother decided to drop the conversation, for now.
Juliet sighed. "I'll go check on the twins".
With that, she turned, whiplashing her blonde hair and slammed the conference room door behind her.
Butler sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His sister was so stubborn about the subject.
The large Eurasian man looked around the conference room in Fowl Manor. In the middle of the room stood a long table with chairs all around it as you would expect. On one wall hung a wide window looking over the courtyard. It was dark with some natural light coming through the window. Although maybe this room just had a dark environment. It was the same conference room where they learned of Artemis medical report.
Butler remembered how shocked everyone was, then there was Holly. That day was the last day they saw her.
Butler walked over to the corner with more of Foaly's boxes piled and picked one one up. He might as well help the centaur out.
Butler reached the bedroom door and got out his key-card and swiped it through the lock.
The first thing he saw when he walked in was all the machinery. Monitors and IV's that were all connected to the boy laying on the bed in the center of the room. It was truly, a heartbreaking sight.
Foaly was standing next to one monitors by the sleeping Mud Boy. He's was recording information when Butler came in.
"Here's some more equipment", Butler said, setting the box on the floor.
The paranoid centaur jumped when he heard Butler speak. He'd been so concentrated in his work,would it kill people to leave him that way.
Foaly glared at Butler but said nothing. Butler shot him a warning back so Foaly stepped down.
"Thanks", Foaly said grudgingly then turned to continue recording the data.
Butler looked at his charge sleeping in the bed in front of him. He looked terrible. His skin, even paler then it normally was. His hair, unruly and a little longer. He had a breathing tube down his throat. He was hanging on for dear life.
Butler could not take his eyes off the boy. The boy he was supposed to protect. Just the sight of him brought a flood of memories of the horrors they had faced what seemed like a lifetime ago.
Perhaps, that's why Holly left, Butler thought.
"Any news?", Butler asked Foaly.
Foaly looked up and sighed. "Well, his white blood cell count hasn't dropped more, but it hasn't gone up either. Same as far as his organs go".
ButLet crossed his arms. "That's good news for now".
Foaly walked over to a tray with vials of liquid in them.
"I should run some more tests", the centaur explained. "Now that I have the d-"
He was interrupted by a blaring alarm. Butler knew that alarm all to well. That only meant one thing. Someone was in the manor.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Juliet was walking down the hall, muttering to herself after her argument with her brother.
" 'She blames herself', 'that's why she left'", she said in a mocking tone. "Huh, please! Someone needs to drag her out of her hole".
When Juliet reached the twins bedroom, she hoped to see two behaving four-year olds, but instead she saw the two with a toolbox and a small contraption which she assumed was for the key-card lock.
Juliet felt her face heat up.
"What.Do.You.Think.YOU'RE DOING!", she screamed.
The two looked up at her innocently.
"Myles was showing me his exploding box", Beckett pointed ant his brother.
"Beckett,you simpletoon", Myles whisper yelled.
Juliet had enough of people today. "Myles don't call your brother a-"
That's when the alarm went off.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Butler and Foaly raced to the security room, The burglar alarm echoed throughout the manor.
They reached the security room and Butler quickly unlocked the door. The security room was small. One wall, mounted with screen monitors and a computer. Flashing red light flooded the room.
Butler sat in the chair in front of the computer and logged on. Foaly watched the monitors for the intruder.
"Where is it coming from?!",Foaly asked.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out!",Butler yelled.
As Butler surfed the network,trying to find the source of the alarm trigger, Juliet came running in to see what all the fuss was about.
"What's going on",she asked concerned.
"Someone triggered the alarm!", Foaly yelled frantically.
Foaly often got paranoid at times like this.
"Juliet gave him an annoyed look. "Well I figured that much".
"Then why did you ask?", Foaly shot back.
"Are the twins safe",Butler asked Juliet.
Juliet nodded. "They're in the panic room. Now would someone tell me what's going on!".
Butler ignored hos sister. He kept searching for exactly where in the manor the alarm went off.
However, there were no hits in Fowl Manor.
As the alarm kept blaring in their ears, Butler thought about how this could be. Then a terrible thought occurred to him.
Juliet saw her brother lift his hands from the keyboard.
"Dom,what's wrong".
She only used his first name when she was really worried.
"The alarm wasn't set in the manor", he said without looking up from the screen.
"Well,where else could it have?",the paranoid centaur asked.
Butler stood to face them. They could tell he was worried by the look in his eyes.
Juliet and Foaly looked at each other then back to Butler.
Butler sighed. "Artemis's grave".
Juliet and Foaly were shocked. Butler soon ran out the door, Foaly followed. Juliet stayed where she was.
"Since when do you put an alarm on a headstone",she yelled at them before joining.
0o0o0o0o0o0
Butler, Juliet, and Foaly sprinted down the hill on the Fowl estate. The alarm set off was the one placed on Artemis' grave shortly after his funeral.
As soon as they reached the top of the hill, the could see the entire estate. It really was breathtaking on a sunny day like this. But this was no time for sight seeing. At the bottom of the hill, they could see the ring of orange roses that grew next to the grave.
The group continued down the hill with haste. Juliet ran ahead of the others.
She was about to reach the front of the headstone when she froze next to it on the side and gasped.
"Juliet!",Butler called.
Juliet just stood there like a statue. Foaly and Butler came over to see what she was staring at. When they saw it, they too froze in shock.
"Oh my God", Juliet whispered with her hands covering her mouth. Tears welling up in her eyes.
They all couldn't believe their eyes. What they saw was absolutely horrible.
What the saw was a dugout, open grave. At the bottom was a small wooden casket with the top pried off. Inside the casket was nothing. That was the worst part. The empty casket meant one thing. Artemis Fowl the Second's body was stolen from his grave.
Oh cliffhanger. What have I become. More to come soon people.