Chapter Four -
The Initiation Task
The sounds of different indecipherable conversations rang around the AVL main hall, making the noise almost unbearable. Word about Nigel's kidnapping had spread quickly, and the main topic being discussed within the headquarters was questions on how Gru was going to handle this.
Lucy moved down the steps, passing the many different agents who were lost in discussion, until she reached her usual position in the main hall. When Valerie was in charge, Lucy used to dread these agent gatherings, as each occasion posed a massive threat to every agent's job. But now that Gru had taken over as director, she had nothing to fear. Obviously, he would never fire her, even if head-office demanded it.
After another minute of booming voices, the sounds of aggressive footsteps pounding along the hard floor pulled the room into complete silence. Everyone knew immediately who they belonged to, and everyone quickly closed their mouths before they found themselves involved in an unnecessary rift which would most likely cost them their jobs.
Gru strolled up to the middle of the light-blue podium without a single word, wearing a darkened frown and passing random agents glances of ire. After making his way into the center of the room, he lifted his head valiantly and began addressing in a professional manner.
"So...I'm sure we have all heard de news." He began, spinning his fierce gaze. A few agents nodded their heads, while others conserved their agreement behind their fearful glare. "Nigel's untimely keednappeeng has shocked us all, no doubt. But we must remain focused! De life of an agent ees at stake here, and we cannot waste any time een locateeng heem before eet ees too late!"
But then, for the first time ever in the history of AVL gatherings, a senior agent flung the entrance door open and bounded his voice across the whole room.
"Director!" He yelped, immediately snatching the attention of every person within the room. Gru darted his head towards the source of the shout, shooting it a fiery glare. "Could we...uh...have a little chat!"
A chorus of stunned gasps arose around the room, every agent turning to each other and muttering in their dozens. Interrupting the director required nerves of steel. Gru's eyes widened in slight disbelief, before he clenched his fists and promptly made his way towards the aforementioned agent.
"What do yoo want!?" He bellowed angrily. "Can't yoo see dat I'm busy!?"
"Uh...I have some grave news on Nigel." He began, shaking a little in anxiety. "A civilian found him shot in the head along the road beside Crestfall forest. Unsurprisingly, he's been pronounced dead."
Gru gave the agent a look of pure shock, taking a small step backward. This would be the first employee death since he took charge, meaning this was a situation that he had very little experience in dealing with. He racked his mind in search of a plan, but found himself completely out of ideas.
"Why...how...what do we do next?" He replied.
"It's up to you, director." The agent replied, seeming both solemn and intimidated. "The civilian went to the police to report the murder, but since this is an AVL death, we've instructed them to stay out of it. That means we have full control over the case. If I was you, I would send a team of agents to the murder location to search around, but again, you're the director."
"Good idea!" Gru proclaimed loudly, startling the agent slightly. "I can sort dat out! I need yoo to...uh...let's see...eenform de eenvestigation team. Tell dem to deeg up whatever eenformation dey can on de events of last night. I'm sure dey'll know what to do. Understand!?"
"Uh...yes, director." He replied fearfully before scurrying off to complete his task. Gru marched his way back to the center of the room, every agent looking back in bewilderment, before lifting his head and addressing the situation.
"Everyone, eet looks like we were too late." He spoke dejectedly, still wearing a frown to hold onto his intimidation factor. "Nigel has been found dead."
Another chorus of gasps surrounded the room, the state of shock becoming increasingly evident. As the amount of chatter rose to irritating levels, Gru slammed his foot down hard and aggressively, snapping everyone back into complete silence.
"What deed I say earlier!?" He boomed. "We must remain focused! I want everyone to go down to Crestfall forest and gather as much eenformation on dis murder as possible! Dat ees not up for deescussion! Does everyone understand!?"
"Yes, director." The agents spoke in unison.
"Good!" Gru exclaimed. "Dismissed!"
The agents all quickly hurried to the steps and scampered out of the room, filled with relief that their job survived yet another gathering. The moment that Gru finished his announcement, Lucy ran over the brightly lit floor to stand in front of her husband, shooting him a determined glare.
"So, what should we do?" She inquired. Obviously, being the wife of the director meant that she didn't have to do the same tedious tasks as the other common rabble. Gru turned away and narrowed his eyes, adding a sense of drama to his tone.
"A mission dat weel be just as arduous." He spoke, glancing at his spouse. "A mission dat weel most likely take up de whole of tomorrow morneeng."
"Ooo! What mission is that?" She asked excitedly, leaning in slightly in anticipation.
"Geeteeng a certain teenager to find a job!"
Night had fallen upon the piazza of Sant'Agostino in Rome. A security guard, who was currently standing outside the main doorway to the chapel, reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out a stick of gum. He chewed happily, whistling the tune of a song he had heard on the radio earlier.
He stared out over the small parking lot that was situated in front of the chapel's steps. The only vehicle currently parked there, was his own personal dark green mini. There were no other people anywhere, and the only sound, excluding his whistling, was the occasional chirp of a cricket. Everything around him was encased in the common atmosphere that accompanied the night, a sense of pure tranquility.
Suddenly, without prior warning, a brown-haired woman in a dark red turtleneck descended from the rooftop using a harness and landed to the right of him. He quickly turned to face her, but didn't have any time to clock what was going on before he was knocked unconscious by a sharp chop to the neck. He hit the ground with a large thump, one of which was likely to leave a bruise the next morning.
Following on a second later, was a blonde dressed in all white and a masked man sporting a green jumper, the former stumbling a little as he just about landed on his feet. They spun their gazes around the whole vicinity, comfortable enough to converse after confirming that the coast was clear.
"Good technique, Fiona." Venin spoke, giving her a nod. The former IVB receptionist didn't acknowledge his comment, her expression remaining completely indifferent as she watched her victim's unconscious body with a smirk. Venin looked to the dark blue door of the chapel, inspecting it for a second, before reaching down and fishing a key out of the guard's back pocket. "Now, we locate the painting."
He walked up to the door and promptly placed the key into the keyhole. After unlocking and opening it fully, the trio emerged into a massive room, each one of them forced to squint in order to see through the blinding darkness. There were multiple benches spanning the length of the room, and at the very end, was an alter littered with candles.
"It's dark." Fiona stated, spinning her head in multiple directions.
"I'm not certain of this theory, but I think that's because it's night." Venin retorted sarcastically. Fiona simply rolled her eyes with a sharp scowl, not meeting his gaze.
"Ooo! Wait!" Dru blurted suddenly, startling his two partners slightly. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black torch. "Look what I brought!"
"Nice one, Dru!" Venin spoke. "I knew you were the right man for the job!"
The blonde villain beamed proudly before switching it on and illuminating the room. The three walked forward precariously, Dru scanning the walls with the torch, before finally, the Madonna di Loreto came into sight.
"Dere!" He proclaimed, pointing the torch towards it and bouncing giddily. Venin turned and followed the torch's direction, grinning menacingly as his gaze landed upon the painting. He wasted no time in darting forward, grabbing it off the wall and looking down upon the oil colours on the canvas.
"Very impressive." He stated, nodding his head. "Judging on how the paint has faded slightly, I do believe this dates back to the early-seventeenth century, possibly late-sixteenth. Taking that into account, it must be worth its fair share of coinage, possibly a six-figure number."
"Mm-hmm. Great. If you're done, can we go?" Fiona asked sharply. Venin gave her a harsh glare, one of which she returned, before he snickered venomously.
"You know, Fiona. You certainly are an interesting character." He spoke. He eyed her up with a smile that actually seemed quite genuine. Fiona only offered him half of her attention, giving the other half to the floor. "One can hardly believe that you were abandoned to stack shelves at a supermarket."
"Yes, well, it's an interesting line of work." She replied sardonically. She glared at him with fiery bewilderment, narrowing her eyes before interrogating him. "Can I ask you something? Why did you pick me for this whole becoming president thing? Are you, like, in love with me or something?"
"Well, when it comes to falling in love, I usually go for humans, not cows." He spoke dangerously. All remnants of his previous smile faded, being replaced by a frown that burrowed deep within her skull. Fiona widened her eyes at the insult, looking like she was about to explode in rage, before the unexpected sounds of blaring sirens broke the tense atmosphere and replaced it with an air of panic.
"Oh, god! Eet's de peegs!" Dru exclaimed, jumping up and hiding behind one of the benches. "How deed dey know we were here?"
"We must've triggered a silent alarm." Venin deduced, clenching his fists. "Ugh...Italians. Always the crafty bunch."
"What are we gonna dooooooo!?" Dru screeched. By the way in which he was shaking anxiously, you'd think he was close to wetting himself.
"Well, it's a simple plan, but it should be effective!" Venin exclaimed, before unexpectedly darting forward towards the exit, the Madonna di Loreto firmly in his grasp. "RUN!"
Dru, who was still shaking, jumped up and followed on, while Fiona gave another exasperated scoff as she did the same. The trio made their way back to the entrance door, the blinking of red and blue lights making themselves apparent as they sped into the parking lot. The cops had arrived.
"Hmm...I must admit, this is not how I envisioned my first trip to Rome." Venin announced, frowning as the cruiser pulled up at the foot of the steps. The car door opened swiftly, allowing a man in police uniform to emerge and point an authoritative finger at the three villains.
"Fermati lá!" He screeched with acrimony. Another policeman flung the passenger-side door open and ran over to stand beside his colleague.
"Sei in arresto!" He bellowed.
"Sera, signori," Venin replied, moving a step closer to the two policemen. Dru and Fiona eyed him up with confusion, watching as he conversed in fluent Italian. "Mi piacerebbe chattare, ma io ei miei colleghi hanno posti per essere."
"Fai cadere la pittura!" The cop spoke, raising the volume of his voice tenfold. He pulled out a handgun from his trouser pocket, immediately pointing it in the trio's direction. Dru squealed in fear as he covered his face with his hands, hoping somehow they would deter the bullet.
"Please! Don't shoot!" He yelped. This was not the way in which he wanted to die. He didn't exactly know how he wanted to die, but he did know that he didn't want it happening today. Venin gave a deep sigh, rubbing his temple in exasperation, before facing the policemen and shrugging.
"Se é cosí che vuoi giocare." He stated dryly. Without warning, he used his free hand to fish out a tiny bomb from his back pocket and threw it forward. As it hit the ground, a large yellow gas cloud fizzed out and enveloped the two policemen, making them cough and splutter before collapsing to the ground.
"Whatever you do, don't breathe in the gas!" Venin exclaimed, darting his head to both partners. "Now, come! This way!"
He thundered unexpectedly to the left, vaulting over a small wall and bounding along the border of the parking lot, trying desperately not to lose his grip on the valuable painting. Dru and Fiona stared in bewilderment, quickly following on after the cloud of yellow gas got too close for comfort.
After a few minutes of sprinting, the trio regathered at a nearby alleyway, obscuring themselves within the darkness. Venin, who lightly placed the painting against the side of the wall, reached into his pocket and pulled out a small mobile phone. He punched a few numbers in and held it to his ear as a rough voice answered.
"One of you...come pick us up." He spoke, speaking through the rapid gasps for air. "We're somewhere near...Sant'Agostino."
He hung up and shoved the phone back into his pocket, before looking over to Dru and Fiona, who were also gasping for air desperately, and giving them a proud nod.
"And there...ends our initiation task."
Gru was sitting at the kitchen table, sporting a frustrated frown and giving occasional sighs of boredom. Because of all the commotion recently, he hadn't had much of a chance to complete the folder of paperwork, and so decided to use the free time in the morning to get it done. To his annoyance, it was taking much longer than twenty minutes. He had been sitting there for half-an-hour already, and there were still around fifteen forms left to finish up.
"Stupeed villains." He muttered under his breath. "Eef yoo'd just stop weeth de whole evil theeng, I wouldn't have to do all dis damn paperwork."
"Dad?" A young voice suddenly asked, starling Gru slightly. "Are you talking to yourself?"
Gru looked up and spied Margo, Edith and Agnes directly in front of the table, peering back at him questioningly. By the way in which her face was scrunched up in confusion, Margo must've been the one who inquired.
"Oh." He replied sheepishly, giving them an awkward smile. "Uh...no. I was...talkeeng to de paperwork."
"Ooooook." Margo responded, grinning humorously a little. He could've at least used a convincing lie. As he returned the small smile and got back to the paperwork, Agnes jumped up and scooted across the booth seat, peering over his shoulder at the report in his hand.
"What'cha doing?" She asked.
"Very eemportant paperwork, Agnes." He replied softly, rubbing his irritated forehead. "Paperwork dat requires a lot of concentration. So eef yoo don't mind, I need to-"
"Woahhhh!" Edith exclaimed suddenly, widening her eyes with a huge smile as she glared down at the form in her hands. "This guy has a gash on his arm! Look, you can see the bone!"
"Give me dat!" Gru yelled, snatching the form from her gently. "Look, I have a lot of work to do, so tell me what yoo want and den go play somewhere or sometheeng!"
"Well, first, we're kinda hungry." Margo replied, taking up Agnes's old spot, who had now shuffled over to sit on her father's lap. "But also, have you seen Jack? He was gonna take us to Super Silly Fun Land again but we can't find him anywhere."
Gru frowned when he heard that statement. Jack must be trying to hide again. This time, Gru pondered to himself, he was not going to let him get away. He rolled down his sleeve so he could peer down at his digital watch, where he clarified the time.
"Eet's 8:30." He stated, looking back at Margo with a smirk. "So, yoo might wanna check his bed."
"We did." Edith replied, frowning as she rested her head in her hands. "He's not there."
"He's not!?" Gru exclaimed, turning his gaze over all three daughters. The girls gave a quick shake of their heads, providing him with confirmation. Gru sighed heavily as he reached down and fished out his mobile phone from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons before holding it up to his ear, tapping the table impatiently with his finger.
After a few seconds, the ringing came to a stop as Jack picked up, but he still didn't speak a single word. The only way Gru knew that he'd actually answered, was by the sound of a car engine and rushing wind in the background.
"Jack!" He yelled down the phone. "'I know yoo're dere! Where are yoo!?"
"Oh...hi, Gru." He said softly. He was attempting to sound innocent, but in the end, it just made him sound more guilty. "I'm just...going...for a walk."
"Den how come I can hear a car een de background?"
"I'm...uh...walking by the highway." Jack responded, followed by the sounds of snickers in the background. By the pitch, Gru could tell it was a female who was snickering. Jack immediately shushed the person up, attempting to stifle his own laugh, before continuing. "So, what do you want?"
"Yoo know what I want, Jack!" Gru snapped. "We need to discuss dis job theeng. Yoo can't expect to hide from me forever! Plus, de gurls said yoo were takeeng dem to Super Silly Fun Land!"
"What was that Gru?" Jack bellowed loudly, making Gru wince. "I didn't get that. You're breaking up!"
"Jack! I swear, eef yoo don't come home dis eenstant, I weel-"
"I still can't hear you Gru! I think the signal is bad or something! I'll ring you back later."
"JACK! Don't yoo dare-" He boomed angrily, stopping after Jack's voice replaced itself with a long irritating tone, indicating that he'd hung up. Gru scowled as he roughly placed the phone back into his pocket, grabbing onto the bridge of his nose and speaking dryly. "Sorry gurls, but I don't theenk he's comeeng back."
Agnes gasped in shock, while Margo and Edith exchanged an upset glance. Jack had broken a pinky promise. That was not something you did lightly. Edith looked down to the table and pulled a saddened expression.
This was very uncharacteristic of her brother. Normally, he would push anything and everything out of the way to spend time with her, but on this occasion, he'd actually left to do something else. Before anyone could say another word, Lucy came trudging into the kitchen slowly. She was still dressed in her pajamas, and her eyes looked dull and tired.
"What's with the shouting?" She questioned quietly, giving her forehead a quick rub.
"Jack's gone off galavanting somewhere!" Gru exclaimed. He crossed his arms and frowned deeply. For some reason, he felt like he was losing a battle he didn't even know he was involved in. "Dat boy ees really begineeng to grind my gears!"
"He broke a pinky promise!" Agnes yelped suddenly. By the way in which her upper lip was quivering, it looked like she was about to break into tears at any moment. Lucy looked at the small girl with confusion for a second, before turning to her eldest daughter, using her expression to relay the question in her mind. It didn't take a genius to deduce that question.
"He promised he'd take us to Super Silly Fun Land." Margo explained.
"Again?" Lucy questioned, twisting her face. Margo shrugged.
"He seemed more excited than us to go back." She said, looking down to the table sadly. "I guess...maybe he wasn't."
"Who's gonna watch de gurls now!?" Gru boomed. "I can't skeep work today, not weeth de whole Nigel situation."
"Well, how about I take the day off to look after them?" Lucy offered. It wouldn't be an issue to not turn up, considering her husband was the director. "Then, how about I fulfill Jack's promise? I can't remember the last time I went to Super Silly Fun Land."
"Really?" Agnes perked up, leaping up to stand on her booth seat.
"Yeah, why not?" Lucy said with a shrug. "My treat."
Margo and Agnes cheered joyfully, the youngest sibling seeming to forget all about the broken promise, while Edith remained unusually silent, as if she were lost in thought. To her, this was never about spending time at Super Silly Fun Land.
It was about spending time with her brother...
Just after pretending to lose signal and hanging up, Jack turned to face Violet, who was currently sitting in front of the steering wheel, and sent her a playful frown.
"Instead of giggling, maybe you could try concentrating on the road." He spoke mockingly, pointing in front. Violet chuckled, not turning to face him, before replying.
"That your dad?" She questioned.
"Yeah." He confirmed, turning to look out the passenger side window. "He's been harping on at me about getting a job, so I've been trying to avoid him."
"Oh god, I know the feeling." Violet replied, nodding and giving Jack a momentary glance, who turned back and gave her his full attention. "Dad's can be a real pain in the arse sometimes."
"Hmm..." Jack responded quietly, turning away in thought. She was right. Dad's can be a real pain. But compared to his old one, Gru was practically a saint. After remaining silent for a few seconds, Jack shook away his thoughts and turned to face the teenage girl, who had just come to a stop at a red light. "So, where are we going?"
"Hunchback mountain." She informed. "Probably one of my favorite places to hike. Actually, probably one of my favorite places ever! It's like it was literally made for me."
"Nice." Jack said, chuckling. "How much farther is it? Feels like we've been driving for ages."
"Well, lucky for you, it's just down that dirt road." Violet stated, pointing to the road in question. It must've only been a few hundred meters away, and it looked very dirty in comparison to the clean road they were currently driving on. After a moment, the traffic light turned to green and Violet continued, pulling off down the dirt road once they'd reached it.
The mountain immediately came into view, the morning sun shining behind it brightly. It could barely be called a mountain. It was more like a very tall hill. But still, hiking up it did look fun.
"So, your friends are gonna meet us here?" Jack questioned, peering up to get a view of the top. A small building, presumably a café, was situated on the summit.
"Mm-hmm." Violet replied, nodding her head promptly. "I think you'll like 'em. One of 'em likes weight-lifting and stuff, although he hasn't got biceps anywhere near as big as yours. How did you get them so big?"
She motioned to his huge arms, which were more than visible in his short-sleeved shirt, and grinned impressively. Jack immediately became skittish, looking down at his muscles for a moment before turning away awkwardly.
"Um...well...I kinda needed the strength so I could...protect myself." He explained solemnly. "Things were a little...rough...for a while. But, if you don't mind, I'd rather not get into it."
"Oh...uh...yeah, sure." Violet responded softly. She wasn't expecting that kind of response, and obviously, she wasn't going to probe further. Jack turned to look out of the window again, feeling that same feeling of sadness return. It was bad enough reliving those moments in dreams, he didn't need it happening when he was awake...
After another minute of driving, the two pulled up beside a bench near the start of the hiking trail. Two teenage boys were sat upon it, glancing over at Violet's car as it stopped near them and giving the teenager in the driver's seat a nod. She returned it as her and Jack got out.
"Hey, guys." She greeted cheerily, strolling up to them with a wave. Jack approached the two confidently, eyeing them up. She was right. One clearly did like weight-lifting, as his biceps were of a decent size, but they were twigs compared to Jack's arms.
"What's 'appening, Violet." The larger one spoke. He turned to face Jack, frowning a little after spying his built-up figure, before motioning in his direction. "Who's this guy?"
"Uh...Joe, Sam, I'd like you to meet Jack." She said. "He lives near me in my new neighborhood."
"Very nice to meet you." The smaller one spoke politely, getting up from the bench and offering his hand in a handshake. Jack smiled and returned it. If this was two months ago, the likelihood of Jack shooting his head off was probably higher than him shaking his hand. "As she said, I'm Sam. How did you meet Violet?"
"In a theme park." Jack replied, glancing at the girl and appreciating her beautiful appearance for a second. "She...uh...found me puking in a trashcan."
Violet giggled, returning Jack's gaze with a warm smile. Jack felt a small tingle in his stomach as she laughed. He wasn't exactly sure why, but since it actually felt quite nice, he didn't argue against it. Sam turned to her in confusion, using his expression as an interrogation technique, before looking back to Jack and grinning awkwardly.
"Oh, well...interesting." He spoke. "Do you...uh...like hiking?"
"Never tried it," Jack replied with a shrug. "But there's always a first time for everything."
"You're scaling Hunchback on your first time?" The muscley boy questioned. By the power of deduction, his name must've been Joe. "In that case, you might wanna sit this one out. You're not gonna last a second otherwise."
Joe was glaring at him aggressively, his voice not containing a single shred of playfulness. Jack couldn't help but feel lucky for him, because if he hadn't found Edith and her family two months prior, he probably would've shot Joe without a second thought. In fact, the only thing keeping him from sparking his lights out with a swift punch, was Violet. He frowned, glanced at the mountain and then gave the boy a mocking glare.
"What...on that tiny thing?" He inquired, smirking. "I could hike this three times and still have enough energy to play a whole soccer match."
Violet grinned. Jack was obviously the strange type, what with the whole discreet muscle thing and the love for children's theme parks, but there was something about him she really liked. As she looked into his eyes, which were locked onto Joe ominously, she noticed a sense of internal softness and generosity behind that intimidating, sarcastic exterior.
"Pfft...I highly doubt that." Joe replied, narrowing his eyes slightly. It was taking all of Jack's willpower not to put this kid in the hospital. "Anyway! Enough talk, more demonstration."
Joe quickly began down the trail leading up the mountain, Sam following on a moment later. Just before they joined them, Jack turned to Violet and frowned ferociously, motioning his head in Joe's direction.
"I don't know how much longer I can hold my punch." He said, without a hint of sarcasm. Violet giggled. "What's up with him?"
"He's not usually like that." She replied with a small shrug. "I think he's a little jealous of your build. He's always been the competitive type."
"Well, if it's competition he wants..." Jack started, as he turned to begin the hike. "It's competition he'll get."
Gru pulled his tank up on the barren road alongside Crestfall forest. Just like he had requested, thirty or forty agents were spread around the vicinity, investigating different locations and chatting in their dozens. It didn't take a genius to realize that some of the conversations were not work-related, which was angering the director somewhat.
As he stepped out of his large vehicle, a few agents began eyeing him up strangely, sharing their attention between the former villain and his odd choice of transport. Gru shot his gaze at them, handing them a threatening glare, until they turned back and got on with their work.
Gru scanned the crime-scene in front of him, taking in as many details as possible. Yellow tape surrounded the exact location of the murder, and within the middle of the zoned-out area, was a chalk outline representing where Nigel was found dead.
"Yoo!" Gru exclaimed, pointing at a random agent and calling him forward. "Have yoo found out who deed dis yet?"
"Uh...not yet, director." The agent replied sheepishly. Gru narrowed his eyes intensely, making the agent tense up anxiously. "We're...having a bit of trouble."
"Why's dat den!?" Gru questioned darkly.
"Well...we tried looking over the security footage," The agent answered, pointing up at a security camera placed on one of the street lights. "But whoever did this must've been smart, as they used some sort of blocking device to replace the video with static."
"Dose crafty..." Gru muttered aggressively. "At what time-stamp?"
"It cuts out at 10:50pm, and it doesn't return until around twenty minutes later." He responded. "When it comes back, Nigel's corpse is then viewable in shot, indicating that this is no coincidence."
"Ah, well, dat's just fantastic!" Gru stated sarcastically. "What ees our next move?"
"Well, I've recommended that we send someone to review the security footage of Nigel's apartment complex." He responded, nodding promptly. "But at the minute, we haven't received any volunteers."
"Eef eet ees your idea, den yoo can sort eet out." Gru stated, turning away. "Am I correct een assumeeng dat dat ees not a problem?"
"Uh...of course, director." The agent replied promptly before scampering off to join another gang of agents. After a moment of discussion, they jumped into the nearest AVL van and drove off. Gru continued to stand there for a minute, spinning his gaze around the area, before finally moving to peer over the yellow tape.
The chalk outline of Nigel's body was oddly shaped, as if he had crawled up into a ball after he was shot. Obviously, that wasn't possible. Unless of course, your hands and legs had been tied up. Considering that detail, and the fact that the security footage had been tampered with, it was clear that they were dealing with professionals. Chances are, they were dealing with villains.
But, whoever these professional villains were, they definitely wouldn't have taken into account that the person who would go on to control the investigation case was a former professional villain himself, and he knew all the tricks of the trade.
"Yoo won't get away weeth dis..." Gru muttered under his breath, looking down to the ground. "Not while I'm een charge."
Lucy and the girls were currently driving back to the house after spending the whole morning at Super Silly Fun Land. On this occasion, however, it wasn't as much fun. After spending around four hours there the previous day, the girls had been on every ride three times, and it was becoming repetitive fast. It seemed like you needed to space out Super Silly Fun Land trips, in order to make them more exciting.
"Mom?" Agnes questioned suddenly from the back seat. Lucy was startled slightly by her chirpy voice, because before she spoke, there had been a very long silence within the car.
"Um...yes, sweetie?" Lucy responded.
"Why does Jack hate us?"
"What!?" Lucy blurted, resisting the urge to look away from the road in surprised shock. "He doesn't hate you! Why would you think that?"
"He broke a pinky promise." Agnes stated sadly, dropping her head a little. If Agnes was president, breaking a pinky promise would probably be considered an act of war.
"That doesn't mean he hates us, Agnes." Margo spoke gently, attempting to reassure herself as well as her little sister. Another short silence filled the car, as if everyone had developed the same question in their minds, up until Margo broke it by asking it out loud. "But...why did he break the pinky promise?"
"Well, girls, when you get older," Lucy explained. "You start to find other things more interesting. After a while, theme parks and birthday parties get boring. It doesn't mean that he hates you, it just means he wants to go out and do other stuff."
"Like what?" Edith asked. Out of all the three girls, she was finding this conversation the most upsetting. Her brother considered Edith as the best person in the world, so why would he break the promise and leave her? It didn't make any sense.
"Well, in Jack's case, probably talking to girls." She stated. At this point, Margo understood what she meant. He began to act a little weird when that girl at the theme park was around, so chances are, he ditched them to spend time with her. Margo didn't curse Jack for that, since she knew the feeling. Between spending the whole day with Chester or going to a theme park with her little sisters, the latter would not be her preferred choice.
"But we're girls!" Agnes yelped. Lucy couldn't hold back her chuckle. Being a mom was awesome, partly because you got to hear the funny things your kids could come up with.
"I know you are, sweetie." She replied. "But I meant girls his own age."
"What's so different about girls his own age?" Edith exclaimed. At this point, Lucy knew the conversation was steering down a bad route. Margo had already 'the chat', but obviously, Edith and Agnes we're too young. Continuing this conversation would almost definitely rid her of any choice. She had to divert it before it was too late.
"Uh...I'm sure you'll find out when you're older." She replied. Before Edith could say another word, their house came into view, and Lucy pointed at it in order to halt the conversation. "Look, we're home!"
Lucy drove her car into the driveway and came to a stop, before she and the girls jumped out. They immediately moved to the boot to retrieve their massive amounts of prizes and leftover candy, which required a lot of extra space for storage. After a minute of collecting a few of her prizes, Edith was interrupted by that same voice, making her clench her fists and turn around aggressively.
"H-Hey, E-Ed-"
"How!?" She blurted, almost giving Charlie a heart-attack. "How do you keep appearing behind me!?"
"Oh...w-well...I was j-just gonna a-ask if you w-wanted to h-hang out." He spoke. Edith huffed as she turned back around to the boot, trying to pretend like she didn't hear him. Why would she hang around with him? It would be really awkward, and most likely, extremely boring. But as her thought process continued, and as she remembered that Jack wasn't home, she realized that she had nothing else to do.
After a minute of him standing there awkwardly, giving her occasional glances as he kept his gaze on the pavement, Edith scowled and turned to face him again, sending him a deadly expression.
"What would we even do?" She asked. By the way in which she questioned him, she made the question sound rhetorical.
"Well, my s-sister isn't h-home," Charlie began, motioning down the street, presumably to his house. "So we c-could use h-her GameDrive X."
"You have a GameDrive X!?" Edith blurted, widening her eyes as her mouth fell agape. She had been asking Gru for that game console since he'd readopted her, but every time she would bring it up, he would refuse and say that it costed too much. Secretly, she felt like there was another reason, but she couldn't exactly work out what. Charlie couldn't help but smirk slightly. It looked like he'd finally persuaded her.
"Uh...yeah." He replied. Edith remained silent for a moment, just simply staring with a mix of dread and excitement, until she sighed heavily and walked up to stand directly in front of him.
"Fine! I'll hang out with you!" She spoke. Before he could respond, she gritted her teeth and pointed a demanding finger at him. Jack had been teaching her a few things about intimidation since he'd been living there, something he claimed she'd be good at, so she knew exactly how to scare him. "But if you tell anyone that I'm with you, then I swear, I'll make you regret the day you were born!"
Charlie took a step backward and shrunk down within himself, glaring at the tomboy fearfully. After a moments silence, he managed to get his frightened voicebox to operate.
"Um...o-okay." He whimpered. Edith nodded before turning away from him and beginning her walk down the street. Charlie continued to stand there, freaked out of his mind from her aggressive threat, until she turned back to face him and held her arms out demandingly.
"Well come on!" She yelled. Charlie shook himself back into reality and followed on, ensuring to keep a watchful eye on her fist, just in case it came flying towards his face. A second later, Lucy turned around from unpacking the car and spied the two as they walked away. She watched in disbelief for a moment before turning to face her eldest daughter, who was also watching them.
"Is...Edith talking to a boy?" She questioned. Margo nodded before smirking slightly.
"Looks like." She spoke.
"Why?" Lucy inquired. "I thought boys stayed away from her, in fear of getting hurt."
"Well, I don't know why she's talking to him..." Margo said, shrugging. "But I'm pretty sure he has a crush on her."
Jack sat on a bench at the top of Hunchback mountain, sipping on a bottle of lemonade that he had purchased from the café and staring out over the edge. The mountain may not have been that tall, but from the top, you could practically see over the entire city. In fact, you could just about catch a glimpse of Super Silly Fun Land on the horizon. He wished you couldn't, as it was bringing back uncomfortable reminders.
The girls were going to kill him.
A minute later, Violet, Sam and Joe appeared from the end of the trail, all three of them covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Jack had easily beaten them to the top. Before they arrived, he had been waiting for ten minutes on the bench, smiling proudly to himself. When the three approached him, Joe shot him a wide-eyed stare, eyeing him up with shock.
"How did you do that?" He questioned.
"Do what?" Jack replied, grinning. He understood the question perfectly fine, but he just wanted to annoy Joe further.
"Beat me!" He exclaimed. "I mean...how...who...why...what kind of person scales Hunchback that quickly on their first time!?"
"You really don't want to know." Jack stated darkly, leaning forward and feeding Joe a deep intimidating glare. The teen took an apprehensive step back, obviously a little frightened by the life-threatening look he was giving him, before turning his head away with a scowl.
"Come on you two!" Joe snapped aggressively, trying not to show his fear in front of Jack. He motioned his head to the café. "Let's go get a drink of something."
"You two go." Violet replied, taking up the seat next to Jack on the bench. The smell of her perfume immediately caught in Jack's senses, making him grin slightly. "I'm gonna stay here."
"Ugh...fine." Joe stated, turning away. "Come on, Sam."
Sam and Joe walked off, leaving just Jack and Violet on their own. A short, and slightly awkward, silence built up between them, until the teenage girl broke it.
"Nice view, huh?"
"Yeah, you can see so far." Jack said, nodding his head. Another uncomfortable silence built up between them, indicating that the current conversation was going nowhere. Jack shifted a little in his seat before changing the subject. "Thanks...for inviting me today."
"Don't worry about it." Violet replied with a shrug. "Are you sure that's your first time hiking? Because you seemed really good at it."
"Yeah, this is my first time hiking," He said. "But it's not my first time scaling a mountain. I've been forced to climb some that were five times the size of this one."
"Woah," Violet responded, her mouth dropping slightly. "That's pretty awesome. Wait...forced?"
"Uh...yeah..." Jack spoke, looking to the floor wearily. "I think I've...probably told you enough."
Violet eyed him up with confusion for a second, before turning away and getting herself lost in thought. There was so much about him she didn't know, but for some strange reason, that only seemed to add to his allure. After a minute, she changed the subject again.
"My brother definitely has some sort of crush on your little sister." She proclaimed. "The one with the pink hat. Every single time he's near her, or even talking about her, he starts stuttering."
"Oh, Edith? Yeah, we figured." Jack replied, chuckling. He still found it funny. He didn't know why he found it funny, but every time he thought about the fact that someone had a crush on his little sister, he couldn't help but giggle. "You should tell him to stop trying. She hates boys. I'm pretty sure that me, my dad and my uncle or the only boys she actually gives the time of day."
"There's no point in me telling him." She said. "Once he wants something, he won't let it go."
"Well, don't be surprised when she breaks his nose." Jack warned, chuckling. Violet giggled as well, but inside, she wasn't sure whether or not he was actually joking. Surely, a girl that young wouldn't break her little brother's nose, right?
"Uh...could I ask you something?" Violet inquired carefully.
"Sure." He replied. Violet took a moment before questioning him, attempting to find a safe way to do so. For some reason, probably because he was already defensive and secretive enough about different aspects of his life, she felt like she was stepping into dangerous territory.
"The one with the pink hat...Edith, was it?" She began. Jack nodded, narrowing his eyes a little suspiciously.
"Yeah..."
"Well, she...looks a lot like you," Violet stated. "But your other two sisters, they don't look anything like you. Is that just some weird coincidence, or..."
"Oh...well...um." Jack stuttered, turning his head away from her. Like she predicted, he became skittish and immediately nervous, looking like he was losing himself in thought. After a moment, he sighed and turned to face her fully, seeming to relax slightly. "If we're gonna be friends, I had miles well just tell you. My current parents aren't technically my parents, and those two sisters aren't technically my sisters. I'm only related to Edith."
"Really?" Violet asked. "How's that then?"
"It's a very, very long story." Jack said, turning away uncomfortably again. Violet looked down at her digital watch, checked the time, and then turned back to her new friend.
"We have a lot of time." She stated. "It's only 1pm and we haven't got much else to do."
Jack turned away again, getting lost deep in contemplation. Obviously, if he was going to tell her his life-story, then he would have to sugarcoat it a little. Or, actually, sugarcoat it a lot. He couldn't say anything about the prison time, the IVB, all of the murdering, all of the kidnapping, the time when he almost committed suicide or...the abuse. So, was there any point in saying anything at all?
He turned to face her again, still deep in contemplation, but again, his attention was caught by her appearance. The clothes she wore suited her pretty well, even though they were a little sweaty. The purple highlights and eyebrow extensions made her look a little like a punk, something he seemed really attracted to. The makeup she wore made her perfect features look even better, a feat he didn't even realize was possible. It was like her entire figure was a manipulation technique.
'Oh, to hell with it...' He thought to himself.
"Okay, it all started seven years ago..."
Wow, 30k words and we're still nowhere near the climax. I really have no clue how long this could get. It may end up joining the 100k club, but we'll have to see.
Hope you enjoyed. Again, if you did, please consider reviewing. Will update asap.
