Alex woke groggily. He hadn't dreamt, but he'd slept fitfully all night. His stomach growled and he sleepily made his way down to the kitchen. Occasionally, the Fowl family would gather for a huge breakfast, but today a grumpy Holly was the only other occupant of the huge room. She was holding a hand held cell phone and appeared to be talking through gritted teeth.
She waved Alex into the room and hung up the phone. "The Fowls — Artemis excluded obviously — are going to France to visit the Paradizo's. Unfortunately, the Paradizo's young teenage daughter, who is a magnet for trouble, wanted to "come help solve this mystery!" When I told her no, she threw a fit, as usual, and then threatened to "talk to Arty about this!" and then hung up on me." Holly groaned, frustrated. "Teenage human girls."
Alex's jaw clenched. He didn't like this bratty girl calling Artemis "Arty."
"Anyway," Holly continued. "N°1 is on his way to the surface and, hopefully, he should have some answers. However I have no time frame until he shows, so I'm stuck in the kitchen, waiting since this is the most likely place he'll arrive. Oh, and Artemis wanted to talk to you this morning one-on-one." She looked over at him. "Since you're headed that way, would you mind telling him about the French girl, Minerva? Trust me when I say she could severely ruin our plans if she gets in the wrong mood."
Alex agreed. He grabbed a few pieces of soft, juicy fruit (he had no idea what it was) and walked off to meet Artemis. He passed Butler, who gave him a strained, "Good morning." Artemis walked out of his bedroom, almost running into his patient. He was dressed in jeans and sneakers, something Alex had never seen the other teen ware before, and looked madder than ever.
Artemis scowled at his grin. "Butler has apparently been too busy to do any laundry, so these are the only clothes I have clean." He groaned. "I don't even have any dress slacks!"
Alex choked back a laugh, causing the pale teens scowl to deepen. "So, why don't you clean some?"
Artemis stared at him blankly, then shook his head in wonder. "Come. I need to talk to you." He ushered him into his study and Alex instantly took a seat. Artemis sat down opposite him and stared at him levelly."MI6 called last night." Alex's eyes widened. "I think they did it to annoy me — they called at about one in the morning." He scowled again. "They said they want to check up on you. They'll be here tomorrow at about noon." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "You can tell them what you want. I can't stop you."
Alex looked at him suspiciously. "But?"
"But what?"
"But . . . What's the catch?"
Artemis shook his head. "There is no catch. I don't want to control or blackmail you, Alex. I believe you've had more than enough of that. I want you to feel safe. However, if you tell them I can guarantee they'll take you away."
Alex stared at the other teen for a long time. It seemed like Artemis wanted him gone. "Do you want me to go?"
Artemis hesitated. "No. I'm the only one who can help you. I'm not just being overly confident." He paused. "To be honest, Alex, I've also come to enjoy your company. It is enjoyable to have another male my age around whom I do not have to lie to constantly."
Alex knew how he felt. He smiled. "I haven't found anything to tell."
Artemis gave him a rare, true smile. "Now that that's settled, I may have a friend coming in a few days. I'd like to know what you want me to tell her about why you're here. I do not have to tell her about your spy work, and she won't find out about that. Not easily anyway." He frowned and went silent, lost in thought. "However she will find out about the dreams."
"Your friend." Alex asked sharply. "Is it Minerva?"
Artemis looked surprised. "Yes. How do you know about Minerva?"
"I forgot — Holly wanted me to tell you that she called this morning and said she'll talk to you later."
"I figured she might." Artemis said dryly. "I haven't decided on whether I want her help, but she'll probably come anyway. I can't stop her."
"Who is she?"
"A genius, like myself. Minerva Paradizo. Her father is the famous environmentalist, Gaspard Paradizo. She also happens to be a friend of mine and because of that, my parents and her father became very close."
"Holly doesn't seem to like her."
Artemis smiled ruefully. "No. She doesn't."
Alex didn't say anything for a moment. He already didn't like the French girl and hearing that Holly disliked her as well just added to the frustration. "I don't care what you tell her. I'd prefer she didn't know about my work or my dreams, but the latter seems inevitable. Just don't tell her about MI6."
Artemis nodded and fell silent. Alex was used to this: Artemis always went quiet when thinking deeply. "I have another idea as to what's wrong with you. About what's causing these dreams of yours. I think maybe it's ghosts."
Alex shrugged. "I suppose so. I've never really killed anyone, but people have died. I guess their spirits or whatever could blame me for that. They blamed me for most of their problems when they were alive. " He paused, curious. "Why would they warn me?"
"It may not be ghosts warning you. It could still be your subconscious warning you. If it is ghosts, it could have been people who liked you."
The door banged open and Alex jumped. Artemis' eyes snapped up, right into the fiery glare of Holly.
"Your girlfriend," she spat, "has called fifteen times, trying to get a hold of you. This last time she "informed me" that she was "getting on a plane and heading here, whether you want her here or not."
Artemis sighed.
"Minerva's your girlfriend?" Alex asked, surprised. Artemis didn't seem like the type of guy who dated.
"No. Holly meant it in a derogatory way." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I figured she'd do this." He looked up at Holly. "What did you tell her?"
"I said that a friend of yours was in danger and that danger may spill over to your family. Since she's just as smart as you, and far away, we thought they'd be safe there."
"Don't tell her anything more about Alex. The story — for now, since she will inevitably find out about the dreams — is that Alex is a friend I made at school. He was attacked by Opal, which is why he's staying here. I feared for my parents safety and since they don't know about the fairies, I sent them away. I'll come up with a more in depth story later, but that's all you'll all need to know. She most likely won't talk to either of you, or Butler."
Holly nodded and stormed back to the kitchen. Alex went for a walk, trying to decipher his thoughts and feelings. He'd shown so much emotion while he was here — he'd even lost his temper! It was strange: it was the most emotion he'd shown since becoming involved with MI6 and he was already thinking of Artemis as his friend, not his doctor.
The ground shook suddenly and Alex lost his footing. The earth collapsed inward, creating a hole. There was a grumbling sound, a sucking sound, and something small and dark shot straight upward and landed a few feet away. It scuttled into the shadows of the trees, leaving behind a noxious smell and studied Alex with small, red eyes.
The thing was humanoid shaped, albeit a very tiny one. Its face — almost all of its head, really — was covered in course, dark hair so think Alex could only make out those strange colored eyes. The eyes squinted, and the creature stepped out into the light. Slightly.
"You must be Alex." The creature said in perfect English. Alex at first thought it was a fairy, but, besides it's shape, it looked nothing like Holly. Maybe it was the demon everyone was so anxious about? "I'm Mulch. Mulch Diggums. I'm a friend of Artemis and Holly." Alex took the small, dirty hand that was extended towards him. He caught another whiff of the smell and involuntarily gagged.
"Sorry about the smell." Mulch said apologetically. "It's sunscreen. Trust me when I say I'd smell a lot worse without it."
Alex nodded, like it all made perfect sense. "Well, Artemis and Holly are inside." Mulch smiled, revealing a huge mouth filled with large, square teeth. Alex swallowed and led the strange little man inside.
Artemis looked up from his notes when the pair walked in. He smiled affectionately.
"I should have guessed. What Opal dilemma would be complete without a kleptomaniac dwarf on the loose?"
"Should have guessed?" Holly said teasingly to her friend. "Geez, Artemis. You should have smelled him!"
"Ha ha!" Mulch said, rolling his eyes. "And don't laugh mud-boy: I've saved your scrawny hide more times than I can count. You know you're glad to see me."
"Of course." Holly said, still grinning. "You're here, that means our cavalry can't be far behind."
"Again, ha ha. I was up here anyway, when Foaly called and told me they were having trouble with the flares. He said he was aiming for tomorrow night at the latest. He gave me strict order to watch out for you guys. To put my life on the line, if need be. I, of course, dutifully and bravely . . ."
Holly and Artemis rolled their eyes. "Yes," Artemis said in amusement. "What about the fact that I have an exceedingly large fridge that it always plentifully stocked . . .?"
"That's just a bonus."
Butler entered the room. He didn't appear to notice Mulch. "Artemis, that was your mother. She said they've safely arrived in France and are headed to the Paradizo's now. She also said that Minerva has safely boarded her plane as well."
Mulch laughed loudly and Butler looked over. He grinned. "I thought I smelled something."
Mulch winked at Artemis. "You should have anticipated me."
"I should have." He grinned wider, this time at his charge. His voice grew innocent. Well, as innocent as the voice of a 7-foot-tall, body guard could be. "Oh and, Artemis. Your mother also said to expect a long talk when she gets back. She said the word "grounded" would come up. A lot."
Everyone, even Alex, laughed. Artemis had never been grounded a day in his shot everyone his patent glare.
"Well, if everyone can hear me over the laughter, you all need to hide tomorrow. MI6 will be here to check up on Alex." No one laughed.
"Figures." Mulch muttered. "I would show up just before we anger some intelligence agency."
Butler went back to the monitors (Artemis had ordered him to check them every half an hour). Alex, despite his exhaustion, stayed in the kitchen and watched Artemis interact with his friends. He enjoyed the company, even if he couldn't keep up with the conversation as the trio mostly talked about past adventures and people Alex had never even heard of.
He felt a pang in his chest. Before the nightmares, Alex had begun mending all his old friendships. Things weren't the way they used to be — Alex could only tell lies and his friends had easily picked up on that — but after all this, he knew they wouldn't want him back. For a split second, he thought about calling one of them, or even Jack. But he knew better. He couldn't tell his friends the truth, and they probably were at the point where they didn't even care anymore. Jack would only make him feel home sick and guilty.
"N°1 has basically become unbearable." Mulch was saying. "Trust me Holly, be glad you've been up here this long."
"Why?" Artemis asked with a frown.
Mulch sighed. "He's surpassed Quinn and he loves to show it off. The real reason I was up here was because the little warlock wanted to use me as a guinea pig for a spell he found that was supposed to turn me inside out and turn my blood to lava." The dwarf shoved his head back into the fridge and, for a full minute, all anyone could hear were munching sounds.
Alex sighed sadly and left. He missed his friends dearly. Although it wasn't official, he knew he could no longer really call them his friends. There were only so many lies and absences a friendship could hold. He stopped outside his bedroom, his thoughts turning to Holly and Artemis. Could he really call them his friends, either? Sure, they were kind and friendly now, but how much of that was just to help Alex? What would happen when Alex was cured and went home to Britain?
A few hours passed. Alex skipped dinner, his dark mood pushing him away from social interaction. Butler and Holly both tried a few times to get him to come down and eat, but each time, Alex declined.
He had just gotten out of a long, hot shower when someone knocked on the door again.
"Artemis wants to see you in his study." Butler's deep, gravelly tones floated to him through the door. Alex didn't reply, just got dressed and left.
Artemis was poring over his notes again when Alex walked in. Alex didn't know what was so interesting about them that he needed to analyze them several times a day. He looked up briefly, then shut the folder.
"There's nothing really to tell." Alex stated, voice cold. He wasn't in the mood to be nice. "The dreams, except for one, only come when I'm asleep. I haven't slept all day."
"I want to concentrate more on past dreams right now." Artemis said slowly. "The voices from the other night, did you recognize them?"
Alex shook his head. "The one Butler used was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't tell you where I heard it. The one Holly used wasn't familiar at all."
Artemis nodded and wrote something on a new piece of paper. "The people who warned you, the ones you knew, were they people who you'd been particularly close to?"
"No. I mean, Ash was my godfather, but he'd been working for the other side the whole time we worked together. I hadn't known him very long or gotten close to him. I'd known Yassen, but I hadn't really known him. We spoke maybe a few words a few times. I tried to kill him once. He stopped me, then left me in a bullring in France. When his boss ordered him to kill me, he refused and then his boss shot and killed him."
Artemis appeared extremely interested in this. He wrote for about five minutes before looking up again. "Can you think of any reason these men would want to protect you?"
Alex shrugged. "Not really. I mean Ash was my godfather, but like I said, we weren't close. I only saw him a few times. Yassen was close to my father, but I hadn't known him very well either."
"What about the ones who threatened you. Did you know them?"
"Besides the ones from the other night, yes. They were men MI6 set me up against. They died, obviously."
Artemis smiled his best vampire smile. "I do believe, Alex, that I know what this is. What's more I know how to fix it."
