It was old and dusty and it looked like it passed through a tornado twice, but it still was sturdy enough. The color was black, but what caught the attention of Claire and Arthur was a faint symbol on the top, colored white (once). It looked like a ghostly D, shaped to match the letter P inside it.
"I found it in my attic. It has photos in. Now we know what he looked like."
And then, Jacob Grahams-Fenton, opened the box with a click.
"Oh! I like the drama!" Nina clapped her hands together enthusiastically.
"Yeah, yeah. But we're not here for the drama, Nina." Claire punched her twin on the forearm and moved a little closer to inspect the contain of the box along with the boys, who were already getting them out and placing them on the table.
"Woah..there's so much cool stuff here!" Arthur exclaimed, taking an old piece of what looked like high-tech handsfree, and placed it on his ear. "Does this still work?"
"Probably no. After all, they're all at least 200 years old." Claire pointed out, browsing through some blueprints.
Suddenly a slight gasp was heard from Nina, making the pair look at her and Jake, who were still rumnasing through the box.
"What is it?"
"There ARE photos here..." She said, holding up some old pictures for them to see.
They got down to business immediately, looking at the photos.
The first one was a bit more faint than the others, and it showed a couple on their marriage. The groom was huge, tall and with an intimidating posture, but with a bright proud smile and happy loving blue eyes (for some reason, the colour was very clear, in contrast with the rest of the picture). The bride looked petite compared to him, even if she was normal- sized, but her voluptuous curves still showed through the wedding dress. She had obviously vibrant hair, but the colour was fainted, and she,too, had light- coloured eyes, but in her case the colour wasn't visible enough. A small description was written on the base of it.
"Maddie and Jack Fenton: Just married!" Read Claire and handed the picture to Jake. "Must be your great-great grandparents or something."
He nodded, staring at the picture and then placing it back in the box.
The rest of the pictures were more colorful, so obviously they were newer.
The next one showed the previous couple, now wearing what seemed to be bright hazmat suits, and two children. A girl, at about age 10, with bright orange hair matching her mother's and cerulean eyes, and a boy, at age 7-8, with big blue eyes and a mess of black hair. The girl was hugged by her mother, grinning on camera, and the boy was on his father's huge shoulders, with a shy smile on his face. At the bottom it read 'Maddie, Jack, Jasmine and Daniel: Family Photo!' Nina cooed at the photo.
"Aw...those must be their kids..." She said, handing the photo to Jake, who placed it in the box.
As they flipped through to the next picture, an ominous figure appeared over their heads. They four teens froze instantly and turned, eyes wide...
...only to meet the curious face of Ned Tonnef. He was holding an ipad, obviously there to take their orders, and after he did so he left quietly, leaving only a lingering sense of mystery that always seemed to be around him and his fiancée. Nina stared at his back for a little while before returning to her previous job.
"Jee, be a little more creepy, will ya?..." she mumbled and sighed.
"Did you say something?" Arthur turned at her questioningly.
"No, nothing...it's just that...those two really creep me out." she answered, throwing an uneasy look at the direction Ned disappeared.
"Well, you're not the only one." Arthur threw his own uneasy look and gulped. "
"I swear those two are..." He began to say but then Alie appeared with their orders. They paid on the spot and sighed with relief when she turned and left.
"Honestly, what's the deal with that look?" Claire murmured. Suddenly, her phone rang. The other three turned to her as she answered it.
"Hello?Oh, mom! Yeah, we're at the Raven..Yeah, she's here...Arthur and Jake,too." she moved her phone away from her ear. "Mom says hi." She put it back on her ear again. "Okay, mom. We'll be there in a few. Bye!" and she hung up.
"What did she say?" asked Nina.
"She said that we should start heading back. Tomorrow grandma is coming over and we gotta be prepared." answered Claire while picking up her stuff.
"Oh ok..." Nina started getting ready to leave too. "Hey Jake! Can we borrow the box for today to check stuff out? We'll give it to you tomorrow, I swear!"
Jake eyed his friend suspiciously for a second and with a defeated sigh handed her the metal box.
"But be careful, chipmunk. This stuff is from my mom's family, and you know how she is for her things."
"Yeah,yeah, of course we'll be careful, doofus!" She grinned and held the box close, while standing up.
"So, see you tomorrow!" They waved goodbye and head towards the exit.
While Nina remained oblivious as ever, Claire didn't fail to notice the intense stare of the female shop owner when they passed by the counter. She shivered and pushed her sister to move faster.
But the red-haired girl did fail to notice the troubled look that Ned Tonnef was throwing towards a certain black metal box her lovable sister was holding.
"Another ghost attack, huh?" Krista Fenton stared dejectedly at the TV screen that was currently showing the latest ghost reporting. The front door bell ringing snapped her out of her thoughts, and she moved to open up.
"Hey! Welcome back, kiddo! How did it go? Did you start putting the new film together yet?" she asked, smiling warmingly at the newcomer.
Jake smiled back and threw his backpack and jacket on an armchair nearby when entering.
"It went well, mom. No, we didn't start yet. There's still missing info about both Phantom and the Bloody Queen, so that's currently a big no-no."
Suddenly a bundle of black skipped down from the second floor and stopped in from of Jake, looking up at him with huge blue eyes.
"Oh, it was only Jake..."
Jake snorted.
"What was that, pipsqueak? Aren't you happy to see your big brother, Mari?"
The small girl answered without a second thought. "Nope."
"Why you..." Jake started hunting his little sister around in the old Fenton residence, while his mother laughed heartily at her children's antics.
She looked at the photograph sitting atop the fireplace and sighed, a smile on her face.
"If only you were here to see this, darling..." and with that, she turned off the lights in the living room and followed her kids upstairs.
A/N: So, here's the second chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed (even 1 review is enough for me) and I hope you enjoyed it. Like I said, I want to make this a big fic, so details about the characters' backgrounds will be revealed slowly. In this chapter it was Jake..next chapter I'm thinking of the twins, cuz Arthur has a very complicated backstory...If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask on the reviews, and I accept criticism,too! ^^
Lastly, I will try to update regularly, but in 3 days summer exams start so I don't make any promises...that's why I'm updating a lot right now...^^
