Notes:
Thanks again, girl in the forest :) And sorry for not updating yesterday like I said I would. Hope you're still enjoying the story.
Title: Master of Puppets
Chapters: 4 of approx. 6-9; Part I of a series of 5 stories that are supposed to end Season 3 'our way'.
Master of Puppets – Chapter 4
The sun was shining warm for this time of the year, and so it wasn't really unpleasant to sit on a bench near Fayette's high school, waiting for Sumpter's children to exit through the big main doors. Kat and Meggie had a good view on the entrance area, and as soon as they spotted the teenagers they would leave their seats and just walk towards them, pretending to run into them as if by pure coincidence. They liked their work to appear as inconspicuous as possible.
Now, that unfortunately had been sabotaged this morning.
"You're not still fuming, are you?" Kat heard her sister ask, the blonde sitting next to her in a very relaxed manner, eyes closed against the rays of sun on her face.
"Damn right I am. Those morons almost blew our cover. FBI agents? Please. As if the FBI had nothing better to do than investigating minor accidents. I just knew they were lying. And that Dean guy? He's so full of himself." Kat snorted.
"Well those minor accidents led up to a full blown murder." Meggie sighed contently, still not opening her eyes. "Come on, it's not that bad. We'll just do our thing, as usual, let them give us whatever information they get, and when this is solved we'll be out of here. Where's the problem?"
True, Kat had to admit that other than those guys – especially Dean – annoying the hell out of her there was no real problem. They could benefit from whatever information the guys could get, but somehow she wasn't willing to admit that fact to her sister. "What if they screw the whole thing up? I don't know, get caught or something. It'll ruin the work for us as well, because if people get suspicious of them, they'll get suspicious of us too."
Now her sister finally turned her head to give her a look. "Why should they screw up just now? As far as I know they've done this for some time now, and they're neither dead nor locked up."
"Yeah, well, fortune favors fools. And besides, they've let out a couple of thousand demons last summer. So I think it's not completely beside the point to be a bit worried."
"Oh come on, Kat, let's just work with the situation at hand, alright? I don't like you being all grumpy the whole time we're here just because of those two. Because it's me who's got to put up with you, so just stop right here."
"But this is not about you! I'm not angry with you", Kat replied a bit helpless, voice slightly more high-pitched than usual, she noticed. "Remember that demon in Tulsa that almost got you killed, Meggie? It was bigger than anything we've been up against before and we barely made it. Hadn't it been for those two that thing would've never gotten out of hell. I just don't want everything to get messed up because of two silly boys, is all."
Meggie was silent for a moment, then nudged her sister's side just a little. "Don't be like that," she said softly, "we talked about this before. If you want us to take off, then we'll leave and let them solve this. Then we've got them off our backs, that's what you want, isn't it?"
Kat wanted to say yes, but on the other hand she didn't want to back away, didn't want to be the loser who just gave in and let someone else take over. She was way too stubborn for that. "Well, I… I suppose it can't hurt to at least meet with them tonight and see what they've got. Now we're here already and –"
Suddenly, Kat smacked her forehead and groaned.
"What?"
"Motörhead. I should have known", Kat exclaimed, shaking her head while her sister only gave her a funny look.
"The names they used. Kilmister and Wallis? Those were two of the founding members. Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister and I think Larry Wallis. God, I can't believe they're using names of rock musicians as aliases as well."
Kat's sister only smirked at that, shaking her head in amusement, but didn't add anything.
At that moment,they could hear the school bell announcing the end of class. Kat nodded towards the building.
Her sister straightened immediately, following her gaze, eyes darting around for the Sumpter's kids attentively. "Good then. See them already?"
Squinting against the bright light, Kat looked back and forth but then shook her head. "Let's start walking and see if we can run into them." As both girls got up from the bench they started a slow stroll, pretending to just walk around the small town to enjoy the spring weather while in fact there was a purpose beyond every of their moves. Still a few yards away from the school, Kat stopped, a sudden thought back in her mind. "But I'm right about that guy, aren't I? I mean that Dean. He's a jerk, right?"
Meggie just snorted. "You're saying that about, what, eighty percent of the male population? So he's not that much of an exclusion." Then she paused, a thoughtful grin spreading on her face. "Anyway, he's kinda hot. Both are, actually."
"Duhmpf." It was
the only reply Kat could offer, along with grimacing slightly and
desperately pushing away the thought that, yes, they were kind of
hot. If she had met them under other circumstances, Kat might have
even tried to hit on either of them (probably Dean), let them buy her
a few drinks and then proceed the usual way. She didn't mind much
sleeping with jerks, just working with them was a bitch.
Another
thought crossed her mind: the one that maybe they had just started
off wrong, a result of unlucky circumstances,
and that maybe her judgment had been a bit rash, but then again maybe
she was just right.
She was pulled out of her thoughts by Meggie's muttered "Here they come", and automatically, her gaze was directed towards the entrance where she recognized Susana and Lucas Sumpter. "And already both of them, isn't that nice," the blonde added with a small grin. "Come on."
"Let's hope those siblings are a bit more fun to talk to", Kat replied, also smirking.
They pretended to just take a walk, slowly passing the masses of pupils that were glad school was over for today. When the Sumpter kids were close enough, Kat stopped in her tracks, nudging her sister in the side as if she had just noticed to see them.
"Oh, hello there", she called over, wearing a friendly smile and crossing the remaining distance to them. "Aren't you Mr. Sumpter's children? We were at the show last night."
Susana and Lucas exchanged a quick glance, then the girl offered them a smile. "Oh, hi. That's great… we hope you liked it."
"Yes, very much," Meggie returned the smile.
"Oh yeah, it was wonderful", Katrina added with a little more enthusiasm than necessary, but she put her best effort into making it seem genuine. "And you do the show all alone with your dad?"
Susana nodded. "It's family business, you know? We worked with puppets for as long as we can remember, it was only natural for us to work those shows with dad."
Lucas also nodded, but let his sister talk. He seemed to be a rather quiet one, tall, just a little lanky with ginger hair whereas Susana was blond.
From experience, Kat knew that especially the silent kids were more likely to have a secret one couldn't guess at first glance. She'd keep a closer eye on the boy from now on.
"That's so wonderful", she continued, nevertheless cheerful. "It must be like, I don't know, the dream job for any kid. And still pretty cool for almost adults, right?"
Susana laughed, shrugging a little. "It earns money, even though nothing to get rich with. We like what we do, but it remains to be seen if we'll continue with it or not."
"Oh, right." Kat's brow furrowed, and this time the emotion wasn't purely acted. "It would be really sad if you had to close the theater. We'll keep our fingers crossed."
"Thanks," Susana nodded, and now Meggie spoke up again. "Hey, what about a homepage? Do you have one? That could be some publicity, couldn't it?"
The siblings looked at each other again, and now Lucas was the one answering. "Actually we haven't. And with the situation at hand it maybe wouldn't even pay off, we don't have that much to spare."
"Oh, but don't you know that guy from school?" Kat asked her sister, carefully choosing what to say because she didn't want to get the kids' hopes up too high. Luckily, Meggie did in fact know a guy – her ex boyfriend - who was into web design and who might pull up a website for a lot less than usual. "Hey, don't you guys want to sit down? We can grab a coffee over there. My treat."
Lucas took a look at his watch, but Susana already nodded, nudging her brother softly. "Sounds alright… we don't have more than perhaps half an hour though."
"That'll be enough", Kat replied, and the four of them started their way to the coffee shop on the other side of the road. Having ordered their take-away coffees they sat down at one of the tables in front of the café.
"So, about that website", started Lucas. "You know someone who could do that?"
"Well, he was my boyfriend when I still went to school," Meggie started, and Kat remembered Alex, tall, lean, definitely cute but also somewhat nerdy. "I mean, we only have sporadic contact now, but he's quite into web design and all that, and I know he does it for others as well. I could try to talk to him, ask if he'd set up one for you too."
"That would be so cool, thank you", Susana beamed before taking a sip of her coffee.
Kat did hope her expectations weren't in vain. However touching the family's situation was they needed to get to the point now.
"So, you guys been doing this for all your life, right? Sorry, I don't mean to pry, but what about your mom?"
Kat immediately noticed that Lucas' face became blank, and to no surprise it was Susana who answered. "We haven't seen her in years. She left when I was twelve, Lucas ten."
"Oh. Sorry about that." Meggie gave them both a compassionate smile.
Now that bit of information hit Kat, too, and she wondered how a mother could abandon their children. At least this meant that the possibility of their mother's ghost haunting the theater was off the menu. But then who or what else could it be?
"I'm sorry too. But hey, you still have a cool dad. By the way, please tell him sorry for yesterday. I suppose he got something I said wrong. I never meant to upset him by mentioning what… well, what's been going on here lately."
Both Sumpter children nodded slowly, and it seemed that they both were uncomfortable with that topic – unsurprisingly. "I just wish they'd find out already what really happened," Susana said, looking down into her lap. "It doesn't really help to attract an audience, you know?"
"I can imagine", said Kat, keeping an eye on the boy, who so far showed no sign of guilt or any awkwardness that would make him seem suspect. "But the people know that the police dropped the charges against your dad, right? I mean they have to know it was just an accident. And what else could it have been really?"
Over the years of hunting she and Meggie had learned to study peoples' reactions to certain questions, read their features and sense if they were telling the plain truth or not. So now they just had to wait for any hint that might lead them into the right direction.
"We have no clue, really," Susana said, and Lucas added, a little more insistent, "Dad has nothing to do with it, and neither do we. I don't know what anyone gains from those attacks other than to discredit us."
"Hm, yeah." Kat's eyebrows shot up slightly. That was a possibility she hadn't even thought about yet. "Well, I'm sure everything will solve itself sooner or later", she added, trying to cheer the kids up.
Susana managed a smile, nodding, and to help her cheer up the mood Meggie said, "So I guess you happen to have a pen and a piece of paper with you, then I could write down your number or something."
Wordlessly Lucas reached for his bag, and as he passed Meggie the requested items, he even managed a small smile.
"You know what? We could actually come to watch the show again. It was really fun. Maybe you guys could show us around a bit? We'd love to see how everything works with the puppets and all. Would that be possible?" Kat tried to sound genuinely interested and gave the kids a smile.
The Sumpter siblings exchanged a quick glance, Lucas shrugged and Susana nodded at them. "Yes, why not. If you're already doing the web page thing for us, it's the least we can do."
"Perfect," Meggie smiled, just having finished writing down the number Lucas had dictated her.
"Although we can't promise anything", Kat quickly added just in case. She normally had no qualms with lying if it was necessary to proceed with their investigations, but raising false hopes of two teenagers who were in a pretty bad situation was just plain wrong. "But we'll see."
"Well,
thanks for trying anyway", Lucas said. "We've got to go now
though, I hope you don't mind."
"No, of course not,"
Meggie quickly shook her head, giving both of them a smile as they
got up. "Thanks so much for the talk."
"Thank you too", Susanna replied, and after a few more goodbyes the two teenagers walked away.
Taking a few steps in the opposite direction, away from the café, Kat looked at her sister. "So, no dead mother. What do you think about the kids?"
Meggie slowly shook her head, expression thoughtful. "I don't think they're responsible for it. I mean, of course I could be wrong, but it just doesn't seem like it to me."
"Same here. And I don't even think they've seen something unusual. They were far too open and honest for that."
Her sister nodded, then her face brightened as she looked back at Kat. "So, back to your new favorite subjects to pick on, right?"
Instinctively, Kat rolled her eyes. "Thanks for reminding me. Do you think they're already done? Or are we gonna have to wait until we hear about two idiots being caught impersonating police men at the morgue?" A slight smirk ran over her features although Kat knew that this image probably wouldn't become real. After all they were no absolute beginners, but playing with the possibility in her mind was fun.
"Does it matter?" Meggie shrugged. "We're meeting back in our room, so we can do whatever we want until they get back. I on my part was speculating on enough time for a nice shower."
Kat sighed but a slight grin curled around the corners of her mouth. "Yeah, you'll probably vanish there for an hour or two. I hope I won't have to pee."
Her sister smirked. "No worries, I'll come out when the boys arrive at the latest."
"What? And wearing nothing but a towel?" Kat asked with a mock scandalized look, suppressing a giggle. "You little slut, you."
"Hey! I didn't say anything about coming out half-naked, I planned on being dressed alright."
Kat just laughed, shaking her head while the sisters walked back to their car. She just hoped that when the brothers came by – after Meggie was showered and dressed, of course – they'd bring more results than they had.
xOxOx
TBC
And now I'd really like to read a review by another of the various visitors the reader traffic chart shows me ;)