'Sorry guys.' Arthur apologised for the fifth time, Junior spun on his spot and pointed a dirty mop at him.
'Shut it will you, we are getting paid for this so I don't care.' Junior said, the end of the mop putting another smug on Arthur's already stained shirt.
'Yea it's not really that bad.' Jet said, the two of them turned to look at him. Jet sitting on a bucket with his hands on the back of his head and leaning on the wall, his eyes was closed and was settling in to a nap. Arthur glanced at Junior, who was shaking in anger, put two hands on his mop. Arthur could only watch as Junior took a single large step and swung at the bucket under Jet, Jet must have heard Junior approaching as he cracked his eye a little. Both of his eyes widened as the bucket disappeared from under him, he fell to the wet ground and his entire backside was soaked.
'Don't piss me off Jet.' Junior said before turning back to Arthur. 'Do you know where your uncle sent my father and Hank to go do?' He asked Arthur, Arthur only shook his head as he strained the water from his mop. Jet stood up and grumbled something before he grabbed his mop, he started to clean up the water without another word. The room was practically done, though there wasn't anything else to do except clean the floor, the room was empty to begin with.
'Hello? Guys? Is there anyone here?' Came a voice that echoed around the garage. The three boys were lucky to have heard it, they had left the door open which allowed the sound to reach. Jet's mood light up instantly and he was about to run out into the garage, but Junior's glare at him which held him in place. Arthur lend his mop against a wall and he left the room, standing against the office's door was the Kingsmen's artist, as she liked to call herself.
'Nina.' Arthur yelled out and the women turned to his voice. Nina was a women that was most likely at her best, she has never said what her age was, but there was the guess of her being around twenty five. She had wavy orange hair that was always up in a bun when she was working, at the moment is was free and wild.
'Arthur.' She squealed before running at him with a smile, she grabbed his shoulders. Arthur was already tense, she then started to shake him in excitement. 'I haven't seen you in ages.' When she stopped shaking him, Arthur brought his right hand to his head and ran his fingers thought his hair.
'But you saw me last week.' Arthur said confused, she laughed before hitting his left shoulder.
'No you silly. I mean I haven't seen you whole in a while.' She said looking at his left hand.
'Yea, sure. Whole.' Arthur said looking to the floor.
'Nina, leave Arthur alone. Stop bugging him.' Junior called from the room doorway. Nina pouted.
'I wasn't bugging him.' She said crossing her arms.
'Why are you here? You don't have any work today.' Arthur asked, Nina turned to him with a smile. She had a backpack over one shoulder and she tossed it to the floor, and she ripped it open as she dug her hand in.
'Your uncle gave me a call, asked me to paint the new room in some way. He did say white or something like that, but…' She pulled out a spray can. 'What do you think about a something bright, like yellow? It is your colour after all.' She looked at her bag.
'Of course, if you don't want a mult-coloured room. I will have to go next door for a single colour.' She said looking at the can in her hand.
'Its fine Nina, the room is fine as is and I don't think that I would be looking at the walls much anyway.' Nina frowned before stuffing the spray can back into her bag.
'Alright, then.' She said sadly, before smiling again. 'Well what are the two of you doing?' She asked. Jet's cry could be heard from inside the room.
'There is three of us, Junior won't let me out.' Jet whined. Nina looked shocked and she frowned at Junior, who quickly looked away. With nothing said Junior stepped out of the doorway and Jet's head could be seen poking out, before he exited. Nina started to laugh when she spotted the stain on his backside, Jet frowned as he remembered.
'Oh, Jet. What happened?' Nina asked once she stopped laughing, the only response was Jet glaring at Junior. They heard the old truck that Hank own drive into the Garage, once they stopped, Greg jumped out and walked to the back of it. There were several metal pieces that looked like parts of a table, work benches, Arthur found out once they moved the parts into the room. Lance entered the garage just as they finished.
'Good, I think that is all for today. Arthur can take it from here, it is his workshop now.' Lance said looking at some papers in his hands, he looked up and smiled at Arthur. Arthur walked back to the doorway of his workshop and looked in.
'Does that mean I can finally go home? I was meant to leave an hour ago.' Jet complained. Arthur could hear his uncle grumble something before Jet yelled a goodbye, he heard the others also say their goodbyes before leaving. Lance walked up to the doorway as Arthur disappeared into the middle of the room.
'What's up, I would think you would be a little more…' Lance paused as he chose his word. 'Happy with how things are going.' Arthur turned to look at his uncle, he couldn't tell his uncle exactly what was happening but he could give him some sort of an excuse.
'Well.' Arthur started. 'Things seem to be going to well, within a month I have been able to replace my arm and I got a job out of it.'
'You make it sound like that's a bad thing.' Lance said walking to Arthur's side. When Arthur didn't say anything to that, Lance sighed, he wanted some answers.
'Something happened that night that has been kept back, actually the whole story from that night had been sketchy at best.' Lance said, Arthur had turned away. 'Arthur, you use to be so much happier, in till that night that is. I know some pretty bad stuff happened, but lately it seems to me that you are not allowing yourself to be happy at all.' Arthur turned his head slightly to look at Lance, tears were already falling.
'If you knew what happened, I would be hated.' Arthur said quietly. Lance frowned, he loved the boy like his own son. There was nothing that could make him hate him, nothing.
'Arthur there is nothing that would make me hate you, not even murder.' The moment those words left his lips Arthur was on the ground hugging himself and he started to sob. Lance was hugging him on instinct and trying to calm him down by rubbing his back.
'I am so sorry. Lewis. I am sorry.' Arthur started to break down and he kept repeating those words.
'Arthur.' Lance snapped, causing Arthur to jump and look at him. 'Arthur. I already know that you didn't do it. Right?' The last word came out shaking.
'There was this spirt or demon in that cave.' Arthur struggled to breathe, but kept going. 'We split up and was left alone with Lewis.' Arthur pulled away from Lance and he hugged his knees, looking at the floor as he continued. 'I was felling odd since we had entered but I ignored it and didn't say a thing.' Arthur yelled out the bit. 'We got to an overhang and Lewis went to look over the edge, and…and' Arthur sobbed into his hands. 'My hand, my left hand, was no long in my control.' He held out his left arm and looked at it. 'I pushed him, me, my hand pushed Lewis of that ledge and he fell to his death.' Arthur went quiet and let his hand fall, Lance knelled down next to his nephew as he struggled to breath.
'You would never kill him, not by your own free will.' Lance whispered as he pulled Arthur into another hug. 'He meant too much for you. Whatever was in that cave, did this. It killed Lewis, not you.'
'But it was my hand.' Arthur could barely say. Lance shook his head.
'It may have been, you were in no control of it.'
'But…'
'You have got to stop blaming yourself, you are making Vivi worry.' Arthur pulled away, sitting on the floor. He didn't care that it was still wet, he looked at his left arm.
'So how did you lose it then? You don't have to tell me but…'
'Mystery. I suppose that I should tell you he is no ordinary dog.' Arthur said not going to explain it further. Lance just nodded his head, accepting any information that he was given. He gave Arthur one last squeeze before standing up, had grabbed Arthur's right hand on his way and he gave it a light tug.
'Come on, Vivi still wants to celebrate and you probably shouldn't look like this if you don't want to tell Vivi about it.' Arthur nodded as he let himself be pulled up by Lance, once standing Arthur wiped away the evidence of tears. Lance left the room with Arthur following right behind him, Lance went to the office and shuffled around some papers into a filling cabinet. Arthur just sat down in till Lance finished up, Lance drove Arthur home in his old pickup truck. As it turned out Vivi was already there and she had pizza and drinks, Mystery followed Arthur to his bedroom.
'Something happened.' Mystery stated. 'What happened?' Arthur pulled his shirt from him and dropped it to the floor before turning to Mystery.
'Lance knows about that night.' Arthur answered, pulling a clean shirt out of his closet.
'He told you that it wasn't your fault, didn't he.' Arthur dropped his overall on the ground as he changed his pants.
'Yea. So?'
'And are you still blaming yourself?' Mystery asked. Arthur just finished pulling up his pants and looked at the dog.
'Yes.' He said simply, no doubt in his eyes. Mystery gave a soft growl.
'And whys that?' He asked annoyed at Arthur.
'Because in till I hear it from Lewis, it won't stop me from feeling that it was my fault and since he isn't about to appear anytime soon, I won't be forgiving myself any time soon.' Arthur said glaring at Mystery before exiting his room. Mystery sighed sadly before following him out.
*Note
I felt like the Kingsmen boys need a girl around, I quite like Nina and she will be back. I also needed a Lance-Arthur moment, so I put one in. Well Ben just gave a little information on Uncle Lance... oh well I knew some thing like this would happen. I still love my Lance and I will keep him like this in till I make a new storyline, I even have started on a after the mansion story. I won't be changing Lance for that one ether. Till next time.
