How angry are you with me?
...
Yeah. I thought so, too. I'm sorry I haven't been updating for like... a month? It's just we're down to like four weeks of classes and we need to fulfil all our requirements. A total of seven projects due on the last week of February. If we want to graduate.
Peachy, ain't it? Anyhoo, this is another instalment of The Start of Pain. And yes, The Start of Pain is a sequel. The preceding story is on my account. XD
Watch out for grammatical errors and give me a heads-up. XD Thanks ever so much :)
I do not own The 39 Clues... That's why I'm on . :P
Read on.
oooooOooooo
Chapter 1
There was angry shouting inside the kitchen. That said, let us now activate our prior knowledge. If there is angry shouting, then certainly there must be a lot of intense arguing. Therefore, it is safe to say that people in their clearest state of mind should not - at any cost - get near, even on a ten-mile-radius distance, from said room.
But of course, if you're a Cahill from the line of Lucians or Ekats or Tomas or Janus or Madrigals, living in the Cahill manor for the past few weeks, you wouldn't have to activate any prior knowledge. It is already a law of nature that if Amy Cahill raises her voice and Ian Kabra strains not to raise his voice back, you should keep your distance.
But, then again. Cahills don't do 'keep your distance'. Never did and never will.
And so, they – all of them including the Rosenblooms and Tolliver – crouched beside Dan and Hamilton, both of whom are too busy concentrating on listening to what was going on inside the room through their drinking glass. For a Cahill, eavesdropping by hearing through a glass (let's say, a glass of water) pressed against a wall is pretty... amateur. Surely they could do better.
Let us just assume that desperate times call for desperate measures.
"And Kabra says," Hamilton started, sounding like a sports announcer from a boxing match.
Dan cleared his throat importantly. "'I don't care if you think I'm endangering my life, Amy,'" he said, his countless times of imitating Ian's British accent finally paying off. Dan sounded a tad more like Ian. "'All of us are entitled to make our own choices. Or are the Madrigals keeping us from that right, too?'"
Everybody winced at that. It was a low accusation and all of them knew that. Dan was pretty sure that last line made Amy wince, too.
"Insert Amy's sigh," Hamilton said, his eyebrows creasing, "continuing with a, 'Nobody ever said we're keeping you from making your own decisions, Ian.'"
"'All I want you to realize is that,'" Dan continued, his eyebrows scrunched in deep concentration, "'we really don't have any concrete idea of what could happen if we pursued with this plan of yours. Are you really willing to risk lives, Ian?'"
Sinead smacked Hamilton's arm. Hard. "That's exactly what I said," she told him smugly.
Hamilton made a face at her not because of the smack, but more on the fact that she even tried to smack him. The girl never learns.
"'If Dan was in Natalie's position, what would you have done?'" Dan whispered. His voice had gone oddly soft that it was a bit harder to understand. Regardless, all of them knew who said that.
Nobody from both rooms spoke for quite a long moment. Silence ensued for a moment more.
"You know," Jake said, voicing his musings loudly. "Although, Amy has her own reasonable views, Ian sort of has a point."
Evan nodded slowly, deliberating the situation. "If only I had a sister, I would have done what Ian wants to do. We couldn't blame him for that." His glasses shone against the luminescence of the fluorescent above them. "Especially when Natalie's in the hands of his bro – I mean, half-brother."Apparently, Ian found it necessary to fill Jake and Evan with necessary information about current issues in the Cahill family. This so they could be of more help.
"Evil half-brother," Atticus added as if that made things better. Which didn't or wouldn't for that matter.
Sinead sighed irritably. The only ones who think this plan is pointless and futile are her and Amy. And maybe Angelle, if only she was awake. "Do you really think that barging into the Vs headquarters would be the most brilliant plan in the world? Ekats are not much into strategies, but even I could tell that even if Ian and his little troop of three," she glared pointedly at Hamilton, "bring the latest technology with them in their hot pursuit, nothing would happen."
"The Vespers would just treat their attack as a petty game of hide-and-seek," Ned commented, rolling his eyes at the redundancy of everything. They've had this conversation over and over for the past days and if only he knew, he would've recorded the first five times and played it when necessary.
"Exactly!" Sinead exclaimed indignantly. "They don't even know what they're looking for and where to look for." Her fingers were slowly curling into fists.
Hamilton cleared his throat and raised his hand. "Uh, excuse me, but we do know what we're looking for and that is Natalie. Not to mention where to look. We know one possible main headquarters."
"Possible being a subjective term," Sinead interjected haughtily.
"And I really don't see how our conversation became one of your businesses."
All attention swivelled to Ian and Amy who were trying their best to keep their distance from each other. Strands of reddish-brown hair fell from Amy's ponytail and she blew them away from her face exasperatedly. Ian had his hands stuffed deep in his pockets, eyeing all of them with disdain.
Dan straightened and faced Ian clearly unimpressed. "It became our business since we became Cahills, Cobra." He snorted mockingly. "What I don't see is how we aren't included in this so-called conversation of yours."
"He's right, ya know," Ted supplied, clapping Dan on the shoulder. "Why do you keep on talking about this rescue mission with the two of you as your own audience? You never know, we might have something to share."
Reagan yawned hugely. "What they are trying to say is that they have an alternative plan," she said sleepily.
Madison looked blankly at her twin. "They do?" she asked, dumbfounded.
Reagan pointed her thumb at Sinead. "Smart girl has, I think."
"You do?" Amy asked the auburn-haired girl who was suddenly took quite an interest on the velvet carpet.
Sinead didn't answer. She bit her lip, looking as if she's considering something huge and she can't afford to lose. She looked up, opened her mouth and closed it again.
"Well?" Ian prodded impatiently. "Are you going to speak or not?"
Hamilton shot him an annoyed look. "Can't you see –"
"I'm thinking," Sinead cut him off, still biting her lip. "That maybe we should try a different angle first."
"What kind of angle?" Ian said dubiously, raising a demanding eyebrow at her.
"A sure-win angle," Sinead shot back. Ian's cockiness is slowly creeping into her nerves and it wouldn't be pretty if it went farther than that.
Amy looked nothing more than baffled. "That being...?"
"She's talking about Alistair Oh," Hamilton said, noticing that Sinead's discomfort. "Something happened and it's clearly Vespers activity."
A collected gasp of shock silenced everybody. Phoenix and Keightlyn looked at each other with eyes widened by fear. "What –"
"I need to speak with a chosen few," Sinead interjected, before anybody could ask what happened. The lesser audience, the lesser people who would see her crumble to that pain again.
xxxOOOxxx
"So that's what happened," Amy mumbled, feeling another entire weight pressed on her shoulders. Weight, huh? The product of force and acceleration due to gravity. Nine-point-eight meters per seconds squared and –
Ian was looking at her. "So, doesn't all this prove my point that we need to act fast?" A smirk so huge it was the size of Atlantic Ocean donned his features.
Sinead couldn't take it anymore. She smacked Ian upside the head with her sketchpad which she so conveniently brought with her to explain the situation clearly. "You just don't get it, do you?" she exploded at him, shooting up from her seat. "I told all of you what happened to Uncle Alistair because I want us to work together to solve his cryptic message and head to that hospital! Not as an affirmative to your suicidal plan!"
Ian barely paid attention to her shrieking. He was too busy digesting the fact that this girl just smacked him on the head. "Did you just hit me?" he asked quietly, not quite believing his statement himself.
Hamilton sniggered. "Dude, get over it."
"Moving on," Amy said, pointedly looking at Ian. "We should consider Sinead's –"
"No, we don't!" Ian shouted, glaring daggers at her. "We can't waste anymore time! How stupid can the lot of you get?" Ian was standing now and leaning towards Amy.
"Hey, hey, no trash talking around here," Dan interrupted, his fingers clasped together in front of him, sitting with his back properly straightened like a judge in the court.
Nobody heard him though, for all of them continued with their scream-fest. "Look, Ian. We are not stupid or daft or a bunch of useless gits," Amy angrily shot back, using Ian's derogatory terms which he uses frequently lately. She also stood from where she sat and was leaning towards at him, too. "If you'd just be humble enough to accept that there's a perfectly thought-of plan in front of you!"
Ian growled, slamming his fists on the dining table. "Amy, do you realize what Starling's plan wanted us to do?" He continued even before Amy could open her mouth to say something. "She's asking us to wait! To stay here deciphering some godforsaken code, for heaven's sake! Pray tell me, what the point in that is exactly?"
Hamilton rolled his eyes at Sinead. "Hey, Ian, dude. Chillax, 'kay? Let's talk about this maturely."
Ian switched the intensity of his death glare to him. "I would be mature, if people around here would start being such," he spat, sparing the rest of them a demanding glance.
"Oh, so now we're immature," Amy huffed, glaring at him with the full intensity of her jade-green eyes. She chuckled darkly. "Unbelievable."
"Every minute we spend arguing," Ian spat though gritted teeth, clenching his fists against his sides, "is another moment we let Natalie stay with that beast."
Amy and Ian stared each other down. "Fine, then," Amy snapped, resuming back on her seat. "You want to have things your way, fine. Do your plan or whatever you call it."
"And?" Ian asked dubiously because obviously there is a catch with Amy's supposed resignation.
"We'll proceed with our own."
Hamilton was already nodding when he did a double-take. "Wait, what?" he spluttered, thinking that maybe he heard wrong.
Sinead looked confused for a moment, but she seemed to understand where Amy was heading. And from the satisfied look on her face, she is completely on the same page as her.
Ian's amber eyes glinted dangerously before he arranged his features into an interrogating serenity. "I see. And how do you plan on doing that exactly?" he asked Amy, clearly challenging her.
"We are independent enough to make our own plans," Amy told him. "Or, do you doubt our abilities?"
Ian smiled. It was a humourless, warmth-less and challenging smile. "I see. Do as you please then." And with that, he left the room with a satisfied repose. He finally got what he wanted after all.
Hamilton stared after his wake, not quite digesting what happened yet. "Whoa. What just happened?"
"Girl power," Sinead replied, suppressing a smile.
Hamilton shot her an annoyed look. "And girls go on about men being sexist." He grunted, clearly upset by the sudden turn-out of things. "Why didn't I get the chance to say something?"
"Because you've already made up your mind," Sinead reacted, unperturbed by his defensiveness. "You told Ian you'd join him and Jonah, so there."
Hamilton rubbed his palms against his face in an agitatedly brisk manner. "Ugh," he groaned due to his raising aggravation and grogginess. "This so freaking confusing, but all I know is that this so not a good idea."
"So are yours, but apparently we're just of the female kind and we can't say something about it," Amy said flatly before taking her leave as well. Sinead nodded solemnly and followed after her.
"Well," Dan said, finally making his presence known. "That went well."
Hamilton scowled at him. "Not helping, little buddy. Not helping at all."
oooooOooooo
Hm... Have you noticed anything with Ian? *shudders*
Where, oh, where is this fight going to end up to? Two words: Stay tuned.
Haha. I missed this.
Oh yeah, muchos gracias to the following awemazing people: FascinatingRhythm (my awesome co-author in Fabula Secunda), cross, NatalieKFan, booklover1209, TheOtherUsernamesWereTaken, IHeartScience, Daughter of Oceanus, 39cluesgal, StuckInSpace, Happyzen, Authorcooking6 and hikari-oni.
Tell me what you think, what you said and what you expect to happen by pressing that li'l button called REVIEW.
Thanks y'all!
-ASpring.
