Story inspired by the song 'Human' by Rag'n'Bone Man & Tokio Myers version of the same song.
Chapter inspired by the song 'Empire' by Of Monsters and Men
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Thank you so much to Adhara Sophie, pinksakura271 and Twilightandpercyjacksonlover30 for their amazing reviews! You guys rock! This chapter is for you!
CHAPTER 4: I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
The Eye of the Storm PT2
The president's son smiled widely at the witty purplette, who almost succumbed to the sudden need of mirroring him, but suppressed it before it could see the light. "I don't know about that, but rain sure got your clothes by the looks of it." The boy with the hazel green eyes was something else, Mal was not expecting that answer. Was he taking up the habit of startling her?
"Oh, this?" the pixie motioned at her friends drenched attires and her own. "This is our style, muddy boots and all. Dripping hair is definitely a plus. What? You digging it?"
"Totally." He answered as amused as the petite girl speaking to him. "I heard the soaking wet trend is taking over European fashion these days." Ben chuckled, and was rewarded by the emerald eyed girl echoing his laughter. "But hey, if you guys are in the mood for… a drier look, I have some empty rooms where you can change into something warmer." Three heads quickly nodded at the boy's words, while a fourth one rolled her eyes with a smirk.
"Would it be rude for us to decline your offer?" the tone coloring Mal's voice was playful, and the smile that had been previously hidden now surfaced with a newfound ease, her dimpled cheeks showing clearly.
"I would be crushed." He did a silly little wink attempting to be funny, the purplette's heart immediately skipped a beat. Was she blushing? She was quick to correct herself, gaining her 'coolness' back in a matter of seconds. Hopefully the boy hadn't noticed it… but then again, she was all he was seeing at the moment.
"Then I guess we are forced to accept it. Oh well…" the purple haired girl sighed, feigning defeat.
"I guess so. Lumiere will show you around, and provide you with something to wear while we tend to your current clothes' situation." It was odd, witnessing someone as nice as he was.
Just as he mentioned the name, the white haired man walked into the picture. He had been hearing the curious exchange between his young master and the mysterious girl, and he was glad to see a side of Ben he hadn't witnessed since a couple of years back. "As you command, sir." The Dragon's Lair's kids were happy to see it was no other than the man who had kept them from being dragged out of the sumptuous mansion at their arrival. They kind of already liked the old dude.
"There will be time for a proper introduction later." The president's son stated, while the four newcomers followed the white haired gentleman up the main hall stairs.
"Perhaps! Who knows…" replied Mal right before turning around the corner and disappearing behind a golden embroidered column. That girl had a strange and strong effect on the young boy's core, but his mind tried to explain it with gratitude. If only he knew… he was caught in the middle of the storm's eye.
Labyrinths and Minotaurs
After the boys walked through one of the magnificent carved doors, and chanted in victory at the sight of what awaited them inside, only Mal and Evie were left following the steps of Lumiere. The blue haired girl waited for the man dressed as a penguin to be at a certain distance, and eyed her gang mate with a questioning glare.
"What?" asked the purplette, awkward at the feeling of being discovered, but… exactly at what was she being discovered?
"You two were totally flirting back there." the pixie girl's eyes widened at the bluette's sudden whisper.
"What!?" Mal was quietly screaming now. "Did not." She puffed in a childlike way.
"Did too." Evie replied, clearly entertained.
"Well E, you should learn the difference between playing the game and actually flirting." The petite leader raised a daring eyebrow at the bluette's accusation. "In case you have forgotten, we need to get close to these people." And they truly needed to do so, though Mal knew she was lying. She hadn't been acting earlier that day, same thing that night with the limo incident; her unconscious actions made her feel weak, she despised that feeling.
The blue haired girl was about to keep up with the friendly pestering, but stopped death on her tracks at the murderous stare Mal was directing her way. "Got it. No flirting." Evie raised her hands, surrendering at her attempts of getting an honest confession from the pixie's lips. "Good move." She added, trying to appease the purplette.
"Ladies?" a voice echoed from the far end of the insanely long corridor. "I do not mean to disturb your conversation, but staying behind is not recommended. It's easy to get lost in this place, if you are not familiar with it." Both girls felt a cold sensation run down their spines. They had completely forgotten about their surroundings. If the butler had heard them, that meant they could be under suspicion. But when both girls reached the man in question, there were no signs of him acting differently. So they assumed they were off the hook, for now.
While Evie and Mal arrived to their assigned dorm, the boys had been completely trashing their own out of excitement. There were mud prints on the floor, their boots were on the small white sofas causing them to turn brown, the huge flat screen was on a music channel with the volume at max, Carlos was jumping up and down on one of the two king sized beds, the covers and bed sheets were splattered all over the room, and a towel wrapped Jay came out from the bathroom; dampening the luxurious floor as he walked barefooted.
"Man, that shower is awesome!" commented the muscled hoy as he shook his head, sending water projectiles in all directions.
The freckled boy nodded as he bounced over and over and over again. "And" jump "you should" higher jump "try this" jump with a twirl "bed" final jump "it is super soft!" perfect landing. Carlos was now laying on his back trying to catch his breath. He had never felt so alive or so comfortable in his entire life. The red fil a fil shirt and vetreli black pants they had borrowed him felt like clouds around his skin.
"I'll definitely do." Commented the boy with the slanted eyes as he opened the huge door.
"Wait." the white haired kid rolled to a side in a rush and stood up. "What are you doing?" he asked, noticing that half naked Jay was about to walk outside the room and wonder the mansion's corridors.
"Clothes don't fit me. I need to get some new ones." The clothes that were given to the boys belonged to Ben, and though Carlos' ones didn't fit him all that well either; they were more on the loose side, the ones Jay got were a bit too tight to even look remotely presentable.
"Ok, but don't take too long. Mal will surely come looking for us soon, you know, for instructions." Jay nodded, knowing that the purplette was probably already on her way. After all, they were on a mission. When the door clicked shut, the freckled teen turned his attention to the TV.
Most doors were locked, and Jay could have sworn that for the past fifteen minutes he had been walking in circles. The other thing he didn't take long to notice, was that during this entire time, he had not crossed paths with a single soul. This was a tricky house to explore, even trickier than Maleficent's fortress, that's how she called her hideaway-slash-house; a big abandoned factory with many secret passages, and cellars that looked like dungeons. At least this place was not as deathly as the other one. And then he bumped into the first living creature of the unwanted tour.
"Oh my god!" the girl tried to strike him on the jaw with her elbow, but the bulky teen was quick to dodge. "Who the heck are you, creep?!" she asked, taking a defensive position, which slightly relaxed once she took on the face of the stranger. Yes… he was one of the guys that saved Ben that day, one of the four spoken portraits the press was so eagerly showing.
"The name is Jay" the muscled guy took on a 'sexy pose' and displayed his smolder. At this the silky haired girl gave him an unimpressed look. Jay went back to acting normal, a bit alarmed, as his charms were not working.
"I'm Lonnie." The teen standing in front of him shrugged lightly. "You saved Ben that night, didn't you? I mean, alongside other three. Am I right?" her face lit up with a grateful smile.
"Pretty boy? Yeah we did." Lonnie chuckled at the nickname he had given to one of her best friends.
"Thank you! So, so much." The girl extended her hand towards the muscled boy. He also reached out in order to shake it. What he didn't realize, was that he had left the piece of cloth wrapping his body unattended, it slid down his knees and landed next to his feet with a soft thud.
"Wow!" the girl quickly retracted her hand and placed it over her eyes. "I did not need to see that." Her cheeks flushed deeply under the shadow the hand on her face casted.
"I- that was not- I mean…" Jay was beyond embarrassed. He picked up the towel in a swift movement and fidgeted nervously with it around his hips, in order to secure it once again.
"It's, hmm, It's ok." Lonnie gulped trying to find the right words, still keeping her hand tightly pressed against her eyes. "Why were you walking like that, anyway?"
"Storm caught us on our way here." The boy explained while keeping his head down. His eyes locked on the towel he was attempting to secure. "Pretty boy… I mean Ben, offered us some clothes while ours got a chance to dry off. But they were not exactly my size." Once he secured the towel, he dared to glance up, only to see that Lonnie was still covering her eyes. "You can look now."
The teen with the silky black hair slowly uncovered her eyes, an uncomfortable laugh erupted from their lips; both actively avoiding to stare directly at each other. "I can get you something to wear from Ben's dad." Their orbs met for the briefest of moments, but Jay broke the contact, followed by Lonnie soon after.
"You mean the president's clothes?" he raised a disbelieving eyebrow at the situation.
"Yes." She replied in a casual way, finally getting over the previous shock. "I don't think he will mind at all. He is a cool guy. And besides, you saved his son's live. That's a biiiig plus." She said this amused, as if stating the obvious. Strangely enough, at least for the girl, Jay's face turned into a confused expression. What does saving his son's life had anything to do with the man not minding him taking his stuff? In his world those two things were definitely not connected.
"Trust me, it's okay." Lonnie reassured the boy, assuming his reaction was due to modesty. But the real reason couldn't have been further from that.
"If you say so." The bulky teen was not fully convinced yet. But, why say no? "Lead the way." Jay made a hand gesture, signaling her to start walking in front of him.
"So how long have you been lost?" she knew that the White House was not an easy place to mosey around, at least no without a map, hypothetically speaking of course.
"I wasn't lost." Jay denied, making an attempt to keep his dignity; or at least what was left of it. That day had been rough!
"Oh please!" commented Lonnie, both burst out laughing after a silent stare discussion. As Jay told her about the parts of the day that wouldn't compromise the plan, the pair disappeared down the complicated maze of halls.
Not so far away from Jay and Lonnie, inside of one of the many rooms, Mal was getting her hair brushed by a very excited bluette. "Ouch!" the pixie complained and tried to pull herself away from her friend's fingers, but Evie was having none of that, and moved the green eyed girl's head back to her.
"I am sorry M. I am almost done, promise." the girl with the mesmerizing brown orbs stated firmly, she passed the comb through some stubborn knots that refused to leave the purplette. "We need to look amazing! We are going to meet the president!" the fact that Evie was not hyperventilating out of pure thrill was a miracle. Before leaving, Lumiere had informed them about a dinner invitation as soon as the president and his wife got back from a meeting. However, Mal wasn't feeling as elated as the one treating her locks like a national emergency.
"I know." her brows furrowed in concentration. "That's why we need to go find the guys, and set a strategy, if we want this to work." The pixie started biting her little finger nail as her mind traced the many paths they could follow from there. Being a failure to her mother's eyes once more was not an option. "This can't be the last invitation, it is a lame thank you, if you ask me. We've got to find a way to keep in… OOUCH! Evie!" Mal managed to escape the blue haired girl's grasp this time, and crawled to the other side of the bed. "Ok, you are officially trying to rip my head off!"
"You always act like that each time someone tries to put that mane of yours in order." The bluette reprimanded Mal with her older sister tone of voice.
The purplette snickered at the irony. "One would say that after almost getting scalped by my mother on a daily basis, I would have eventually toughened up, uh?"
"You've been like this ever since you were eight and I nine. Old habits die hard." Both girls smiled at each other fondly. "Remember when the dolls from my mother's house babysat the two of us?" Mal nodded. "You definitely bit the hands of at least two of them. Poor things, they just wanted to put your hair up in a ponytail!"
"Did I?" asked Mal with a raised eyebrow and a crocked smile. "I guess you should be more careful then, or you could be next." The empty threat caused Evie to laugh. "Hey, I am being serious here."
"Yeah, yeah. Now, stand up. I want to stare at the full look." Though with a tired expression on her face, the petite girl obliged. "That dress is just… the first lady truly has a taste! Yellow really suites you, M." Evie stood up next to Mal and gently leaded her towards the mirror by the shoulders. "You should give props to the amazing hairstylist as well." A smug smile playing at the corner of her lips.
Who were those people in the mirror? Who was that girl with the soft yellow dress that landed right above her knees, with a tamed and shiny long purple bob cut and a yellow rose tucked behind her ear? And then, there was Evie… she had always been stunning, but the baby blue attire, her trademark delicate braid, and her hair dangling freely in beautiful blue waves down her back made her look like a supermodel. At least the bluette could play the part, thought Mal. She felt out of place. She couldn't wait for this mission to end already, or so she thought.
"Let's go, E." the petite girl smiled slightly and turned away. "We need to speak with the boys." Both gals then ventured towards the maze of halls, trusting only their memory to find the other two.
Though the corridors seemed endless and the intersections were constant, the girls were confident in the direction of their steps. Lucky for them, the surroundings started to grew more familiar by the minute.
"I think we are near to where we left them earlier…" emerald green orbs scanned the different doors and decorations, her senses heightening due to the silence and the extra focus she was now paying to every single detail. But Mal's eyes were not the ones to make the important discovery, her keen ears caught snippets of a conversation, someone was on the phone; Ben, she recognized.
"Mal, where are you going?" Evie was confused; the purplette had shifted directions suddenly, and her body language had changed. She was tiptoeing like a hunter that had just discovered game. "M, it's the other way arou-" the pixie had placed a hand against her friend's mouth and shushed her with a whisper. She pointed at a door behind them, and took her hand away from Evie's face. The bluette nodded once in understanding, and both teens pressed their ears against the door.
"Hey, don't worry." Ben's calmed voice made its way to the uninvited listeners. "I'll wear the grey suit tomorrow." Tomorrow… what exactly was happening tomorrow? There was a pause, probably time for the person on the other end to talk. "Audrey, I promise I won't wear the blue one." Ok, something regarding the scream queen of the limo. "Everybody will be there. It's your grandma's birthday party after all. Ok, bye." So, a party where everyone that's everyone was going to be present. They could work with that.
Snooping had its perks. Mal smirked at Evie, both girls had a wicked glint in their eyes. They were in sync. The next step was obvious; they had to get an invitation to that party.
*It took me a bit to write this because of two things; one, I've been working on a one shot that I will probably post on Sunday, and two, I am moving so it's been a couple of hectic weeks. Hugs!
*I hope you are enjoying the story so far! If you have the time, please write a review. It totally makes my day and inspires me to keep writing this story.