Chapter four: Intruder
"Ha! Fools." Briar Cudgeon thought aloud. "They have no idea." He grinned an evil sinister grin. "With them thinking I'm dead, they haven't got a chance to beat me!"
After seeing his twin brother die at the hands of Opal Koboi, he fled but vowed revenge.
Cudgeon escaped aboveground to a small village for outlawed fairies on the outskirts of Asia and learned about an art suitable for revenge: cloning.
Presently, being and expert, he could get revenge on those he hated most. Namely, Holly Short, Artemis Fowl and Opal Koboi.
"Now where is my first clone?" Cudgeon said to himself. Looking through the iris cam his clone was wearing, he saw that it was speaking to Holly Short. Listening, he heard the clone say, "What happened in the past few years while I was…gone?"
Holly Short lay in bed puzzled. How, she thought, how can Julius be back? Ghost? No. Couldn't be. With that thought, she fell asleep.
Holly awoke to the sound of footsteps. Mistakenly letting her curiosity overcome her conscience, she got up pulling her robe around her.
She crept silent as a mouse down the stairs and into the living room. She ducked behind an armchair just in time to see a feminine figure come quietly into the room. The figure looked around as if searching for something not on the ground or under or on a table but head-height like a person.
The female intruder stopped and opened the door to her left, peering inside. Holly could tell from the way she looked around and stepped inside that she had found what she was looking for. That door happened to lead to the room Holly had offered to Root and the one he had accepted.