Chapter 3: Uncle Joe

Thanks a lot to Therese Valeña, my bestest friend, for proofreading this chapter.


"She's awake." I mumbled, glaring accusingly at my siblings as Jessica started mumbling incoherent profanities under her breath. Her face was scrunched up in an irritated way as she buried her face in the pillow I gave her.

"Sorry," Hailey mouthed, before proceeding to argue with George, in a, thankfully, more toned down voice. Ivan handed me the medicine Jess had to drink, just as I grabbed my twin's water bottle.

"Wake up." I commanded, shaking her shoulders. Jessica groaned. "But Jaaames," She whined, "I don't wanna." I almost laughed out loud at her behaviour. Katherine's face popped out of nowhere, glaring at the two of us. "Oh COME ON." Katherine screeched, "Just drink your freakin' medicine and go back to sleep!"

If Katherine likes to screech and sneer, Jessica would groan and whine. Needless to say, both girls get irritating during their bad days.

"I. DON'T. WANT. TO!" Jess replied just as loudly, throwing off her pillow and glaring heatedly at her younger sister. Katherine scowled at her. "Then DON'T! Just shut the hell up and STOP WHINING!"

At this, Jessica's eyes narrowed. But before she could say anything, George wisely intervened. "Stop riling up your sister, Kath," He said sternly. Katherine huffed, but complied. She never listens to anyone but George. "And Jess, Kath's right. You should drink your medicine." But, unfortunately for George, Jess never listens to anyone but Ivan.

So Jessica just huffed and turned away with an irritated look on her face, not doing anything when I gave her the medicine and water bottle. "Drink it. Now." I ordered, glaring at her. Jess pursed her lips and glared at me.

The family was eerily quiet after Katherine's sudden outburst, and so even Jessica's quiet gulps of water were heard.


We stopped at Winchen's, just as Hailey and George wanted. We all ordered pizza, and Hailey ordered a Beef Brisket soup for Jessica, who was shivering as soon as she got off of the car. I've already took out her wool jacket and gave it to her, but even after she wore it she still felt cold.

We were all like that, actually. It's like we're forbidden to get wet or something. Even if it's hot outside, we still wait for the shower to get warm before bathing. I don't know why, and they don't even notice it. I've also noticed that we don't sweat as much as other people, which isn't exactly rare in Phoenicia.

Anyways, as we were eating, Hailey's phone rang. She immediately took it out from her purse and went to the bathroom. Katherine grinned happily and took out her phone, immediately starting to call her boyfriend, Andrew Rivers. Andrew's a nice guy, but don't blame me for being irritated at him. He's just so... GIRLY to be a guy! I'm sure he's only going out with Katherine because she's popular, and nothing else.

Such I material girl, I thought, thinking about Andrew's outfit when he went to visit us. George must be thinking the same thing, because he grinned, mouthing "Drew Drew's calling again" at me. I grinned back, still wondering why on EARTH Katherine wanted to date HIM of all people.

Ivan was being his quiet self, while Jessica was busy trying to shovel soup and pizza down her throat. I flashed George an amused look and he chuckled. Did I ever mention that George and I had some sort of telepathy? I still wonder why he's not my twin.

We were all startled, however, when Hailey bounded towards us, a huge grin on her face. "Uncle Joe and Aunt Marge is coming," She was saying, "He's going to bring us to his new flat in New York City. He'll be around in about-"

"Hey all!"

My head whipped around to the direction of Aunt Marge's voice. Margaret Pheonix is a plump woman in her thirties. Her hair is blonde and curly, and it bounces a lot whenever she walks. She used to live in Texas, that's why her accent is western. You can say she's pretty, with her face and bright blue eyes, but she isn't really concerned with her appearance.

"Aunt Marge!" Katherine squealed, jumping off her seat and running towards the woman. Our Aunt smiled at her then they started whispering.

"Brat," I muttered, just as Katherine started batting her eyelashes at the older woman. Aunt Marge chuckled before waving at us.

"What's up? Wow, Georgie! You've gotten bigger! Hailey, is that YOU? You are so PRETTY, hun. Aww, here's my sweet lil' Ivy! You've gotten tall! My Jess'ca, do you have a cold? You should be restin'! Oh- Jamie, darling, I didn't see you there! Come here, I want to show you somethin'."

No, I don't dislike Aunt Marge or anything, but I hate it when she gets too fussy.

"Joe's out front, so you should be already moving." She reminded us. George, Ivan, Katherine and Jessica went to the car. Hailey paid the bills first before exiting the restaurant as well. I tried to follow her, but Aunt Marge stopped me.

"Here," She said, handing me a silver ring. It was thin and- dare I say it- elegant. There are several gold stones, which are shaped liked stars and suns, dotted across the band. I stared at it in wonder, just as Aunt Marge continued speaking; "This is from your father and Aunt- not Christie or Loren, but his sister" She added when she saw my expression, "They told me to give it to you. Thought your dad was jokin' when he told me you needed this."

I blinked owlishly up at her. Father? I thought he was dead!

I took the ring gingerly. She smiled at me. "Don't worry, dear. It's a gift. Use it wisely, and tap the appropriate stones ONLY when needed." And with that, she stepped out of the restaurant, leaving me feeling confused, happy, and angry at the same time.

Confused as to why he was giving me THIS, of all things (Not that I'm not thankful or anything...), happy because he even remembers me, and angry because he didn't show up. Ever. I have never seen my father in person, only in some pictures Mom showed us. But they're gone now, because Uncle Ken thought it wise to bury Dad's pictures with my Mom's coffin.

I swallowed the lump in my throat as I noticed my nickname carved at the back. Mom told me long ago that my biological Dad used to call me Polar, short for Polar Night, because I was so white and chubby as a baby and because my eyes were navy blue. I knew there was another reason, but Mom didn't bother telling me.

I wore the ring, immediately noticing the way it buzzed and heated up. It wasn't THAT hot, though, but it's still creepy all the same.

But I just ignored it and made my way outside.


The drive to Uncle Joe's house was, thankfully, uneventful. We got off the car with our bags and put them up in tbe Guest Room. Aunt Marge didn't let us unpack, however, telling us that we are going somewhere tomorrow.

And so we picked out rooms, And because there are only two guest rooms (The others are unfurnished), we would have to seperate by gender. I have no problem with that, per se, but with George's unusual behaviour and Ivan's quiet demeanor, it was destined to be a quiet night, and I don't DO quiet. I didn't even bothered making conversation with them, and just went straight to my bed and slept.

I woke up when music started blaring loudly. I sat up, rubbing my eyes just as Christina Aguilera sang Moves Like Jagger with Maroon 5. It was annoying, in a way. I mean, being woken up by loud objects can really make you irate.

I got up and stumbled into the hallway, noting George and Ivan's empty beds. It was still fairly early, maybe six or seven in the morning, but I wasn't surprised to find Jessica having a shouting match with Katherine. I spotted Ivan and George slumped on the couch, and I sat on the armchair beside it.

"What happened?" I asked, looking around for Aunt Marge or Uncle Joe. Hailey was nowhere to be seen. George sighed, and Ivan just closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Uncle Joe and Aunt Marge went to the convenience store to get something for Katherine, who woke up early and started playing loud music as soon as they left. We got here to see Jessica and Katherine. And no, we haven't seen Hailey yet." George added as soon as I opened my mouth. I shut it and nodded.

"I... see. That's normal, I guess." I muttered. Ivan nodded his agreement. A few minutes later, Aunt Marge and Uncle Joe burst through the front door with a panicked look on their faces. "In the car. NOW." Aunt Marge said, her face very pale. Everyone nodded, but Uncle Joe stopped us.

"Marge was talking to Katherine and Jessica." He said. Ivan, George and I must've looked bewildered, because Uncle Joe told us to just stay put and follow their instructions. Aunt Marge then turned to Uncle Joe, saying "Go get Hailey, and remember the one in the basement".

Uncle Joe looked ready to protest, but Aunt Marge glared at him and he shut his mouth. So he just nodded tersely, a grim look on his face, before exiting the room.

And then Aunt Marge turned to us, opening her violet purse and reaching- yes, REACHING- as in, her arm is deep inside the purse- for something. She recoiled her arm later on, gripping something.

At first I thought she was holding a stick- and H-shaped stick. But as she took it out from the purse fully, I finally noticed that it definitely is NOT just a stick, but a baselard. It was made of pure silver, and it glinted beautifully in the bright light in the room.

"Wow," Ivan breathed out, reaching for the weapon. Aunt Marge handed it to him. George furrowed his brows, as if he just noticed something. "Hey, since when did you get a ring?" He asked, addressing me, "And what are you running from, Aunt Marge? Why did you look so panicked?"

Aunt Marge shook her head before I opened my mouth to reply. "We'll explain later. Go outside and you'll see."


To be honest, going outside wasn't such a good idea.

I mean, facing a five-headed, blue-scaled monster is enough to darken anyone's day- especially if said monster was out for your blood.

As soon as we stepped onto the porch, the gas tank of a car nearby exploded. Through the heavy smoke and blazing fire, a Hydra stepped out, its heads snarling and breathing fire. Immediately Aunt Marge rushed to the car, capturing the monster's attention. One of the heads caught sight of us, and it roared.

It started making its way towards us, and I almost passed out (passed out- not fainted, because fainting is for girls) in fear.

"Get in the car!" Aunt Marge called. We obliged, almost tripping at the speed of our run. The car roared to life, and we sped down the road, the Hydra hot on our heels.