Chapter 8 – The Key to Cliché
Previously on Modern Four…
"It has come to my attention that someone… has broken into the attic. Now you know that before you even moved in here, you were already instructed that the attic is off limits." Holmwood glared, "Now I have no choice but to add further preventive measure that no one will have access to the attic again. If I ever found out whoever broke into the attic, I can assure you it'll be the last time you set foot in this house. Dismissed." He warned before going back to his office.
A question stuck to Penny's head. She tapped Wilbur's shoulder to get his attention. When Wilbur turned his head towards her, she asked, "What did he mean by 'further preventive measure'?"
Violet and Hiro heard Penny's question and apparently they had the same thoughts as well.
"Come with me." Wilbur motioned the others to follow and they did.
They walked upstairs to the hallway leading to the attic. The three teenagers gasped and their eyes widened as they stared at the attic door. A metallic pad was placed at the base of the door with a keypad on it. Huge metallic bars secured the door shut. There was no way they could open the door with a hairpin now.
The next day, the four teenagers did their usual morning routine as they prepared for their class. When they walked out of their rooms, they couldn't help but look at the old wooden door that led to the attic that was now enclosed in huge metal bars with only a keypad that no one knew how to unlock except the old man who placed it there in the first place. They looked at each other and nodded with a silent agreement. After breakfast which they barely touched, they headed for Wilbur's car. As Wilbur drove away from Astrum Manor, it was Violet who first broke their melancholic silence.
"So what's our plan this time?"
No one answered for a while. No one knew what to do. They needed the attic. It was their only clue on whatever was going on. Their pendants, the creatures that attacked them, the little girl who used to live in the manor. It was all connected and somehow they knew that they were connected to it as well. It was odd that they were so engrossed in this matter but they knew it was something that they needed to do. Another minute passed until Wilbur sighed and finally said in a low voice, "I don't know yet…"
"We could sneak into Holmwood's office." Penny suggested.
"Why?" Hiro asked. Why would they barge into his office? They weren't even sure if there's actually something to find in there. The place was filled with old books and dust that have been collected for centuries. Plus he's quite sure there's already a family of spiders living there.
Penny shrugged, "Maybe he left the passcode there or something." Even though it was quite an impossible thought, Penny wanted to have a positive outlook in the current situation. She didn't want them to continue feeling down.
Wilbur immediately shook his head at the idea, "I doubt it. I don't think he's the type who do something that naive. He was smart enough add locks to the door the moment he found out someone had snuck in the attic."
That moment Violet seemed to notice something odd about the whole ordeal and pointed it out to the others, "But don't you think it's odd that he would suddenly do that to the door? It's a little extreme isn't it?"
Wilbur immediately nodded and agreed, "I know." This only added their suspicion to Holmwood, but the question is what exactly.
"It's almost as if he's trying to hide something and so desperately." Violet thought out loud.
"Not almost Vi…he's most definitely hiding something he doesn't want others to find out." Wilbur remembered the album Holmwood brought with him. He didn't know why he was so suspicious of it but Wilbur knew that something was up with the man.
"Well, if that's the case then we should definitely try to sneak into Holmwood's office. We might find something that could at least give us some clue on what he's hiding and why." Hiro said no longer wanting to wait anymore. There were a million question running through their heads and they needed answers because they knew that in some way they were involved in everything that was going on and maybe Holmwood had something to do with it.
Penny immediately disapproved of the idea. It was too risky. They could get in trouble for that. Normally Penny would jump an opportunity for some adventure but they were suspecting a man who was sure can be mean but is it really enough for them to accuse him of something drastic. Penny need them to realize that they cannot just go this recklessly. "Wait we need to think this through. How are we going to sneak into his office? Do we just wait for him to leave?" she saw that the other realized the obstacle as well. The four began to think of a way to play it safe for them. Holmwood already suspected them, it won't do any good if he found out they went to his office.
"Hmm… He usually leaves the house then comes back around dinner time right? We might have a chance then." Violet suggested. She noticed that most of the time Holmwood was away during the day and comes back just in time for dinner.
"What about our classes? We can't just all skip classes at the same time!" Hiro asked. They couldn't forget that they were still in a high school and their students who have obligations to attend classes. If they all skipped it would definitely raise people's suspicions.
"We could do it during our breaks." Wilbur answered. He doesn't actually mind skipping classes. He never was one who liked school but it was right for them to not draw too much attention to themselves.
"But how will we know when or if he leaves?" Violet asked. It would definitely be a hassle if they were at school and they wouldn't know what was going on at the manor.
The four thought for a while on what they could do to make sure they could sneak in Holmwood's office without being seen. Hiro then got a brilliant idea and suggested it to the group, "I could leave Baymax here. I've installed a communication device to his system. He could be our surveillance camera and he'll notify us if Holmwood leaves the manor. This way we will know the exact time he leaves and if he's still gone."
Wilbur approved immediately of Hiro's answer. It was a good thing that they got a genius inventor in their group. "Sounds good to me. How about you girls?" the girls just nodded and impressed that Hiro thought about this. "Alright then!" Wilbur stepped on the gas and they arrived at the school building ready for their classes.
"Urgh… I'm beat… I hate math…" Violet slumped her head on the desk, mentally exhausted from their quiz. The teacher was out to check their exams and gave them a few minutes break.
Penny just giggled at Violet. She noticed Wilbur and Hiro approaching their table and greeted them, "Hey! How'd you guys do on the quiz?"
"It was okay…" Hiro said nonchalantly. It was obvious that Hiro just breezed through the quiz. He already went through the subject during his first time in high school.
"Same." Wilbur answered then noticed the gloomy aura surrounding Violet, "What happened to her, Red?" he asked Penny.
Penny stepped a bit closer to the two boys and whispered to them in consideration to Violet, "She had a rough time during the quiz."
Wilbur put on an encouraging face and went to Violet and patted her on the back, "Oh come on Vi, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure it'll be fine!"
"Go away." Violet said with a sad tone in her voice almost hopeless.
"Ouch!" Wilbur said sarcastically as he posed a hurt expression, hoping it would make Violet at least smile but he ended up with nothing. He knew then that Violet was really depressed and needed some cheering up. He then got an idea, "Come on!" he grabbed Violet's arm and pulled her out of the classroom. Hiro and Penny were surprised and confused but ended up following Wilbur as well.
"Hey! Where are you taking me?!" Violet shouted but her capture ignored the question. They went to the parking lot. Wilbur carried her to his car and placed her on the passenger seat. The other two went to the backseat of the car. Wilbur got on the driver seat and started the car then drove them out of the parking lot. He was pressing a couple of buttons in the car. The roof of the car opened up and their seatbelts automatically fastened around them.
Violet asked again, "Wilbur, where are we going exactly?"
"Hold on tight!" Wilbur stepped on the gas, hard. The car was running on the road like a race car. Their screams could barely catch up with the car. The three held on to their seatbelts tightly as if their lives depended on it. In this case, it did. Meanwhile Wilbur was calm about it. He felt like they were riding a roller coaster. It was fast and exciting. It made their hearts race and they were overwhelmed with different emotions. They were riding through a mountain road. Violet noticed they were head straight for the cliff. Violet tugged Wilbur's arm and told him to stop but Wilbur stepped on the gas and headed for it even faster. The three screamed and they braced themselves for the impact but a minute passed. Nothing. They noticed the car wasn't moving. When they opened their eyes, the realized that they were hovering over the sea.
"Wow…" the three said in awe. It was beautiful the sunlight was reflecting on the water and made it looked like sparkling glitters. The scent of the ocean breeze immediately calmed them. Violet was amazed by the amazing view as she felt the adrenaline pass through her body. She turned to face Wilbur who was smiling brightly at her. She realized that she wasn't thinking about the exams anymore and even if she did, it wasn't as bad as before.
Wilbur drove back to the shore. He parked his car there. And they ended up staring at the waves for a while.
"Cheer up, Vi. I'm sure it'll be fine." Penny said as she hugged her in support. Violet was still doubtful but she was glad she had her friends with her for support.
"What questions did you have trouble with?" Hiro asked.
Violet answered in a quiet voice, "All of them."
"Didn't you study? I thought you were up all night." Penny asked confused as to why Violet would have a difficult time in the exam.
"Yeah… but I was making designs for the fashion show. It slipped my mind about the exam. I was too focused on my designs." Violet shyly looked away embarrassed of her current situation.
"Hey, it's gonna be fine. I didn't even bother studying for the test." Wilbur said with not a care in the world.
"Really, Wilbur?" Somehow they weren't surprised at all to which they ended up laughing about.
They weren't gone long and returned immediately to class. Their teacher just got back and had already checked their exams. Thanks to the technology nowadays it was easier and faster for the teachers to grade their exams. The four immediately went to their respective seats and waited for their papers to be brought back to them. The teacher immediately dismissed them and the four went to the cafeteria.
On the way, Violet couldn't wait and opened up the folded test paper. She was immediately filled with sadness as soon as she saw her grade, "Oh no…"
Penny heard Violet's voice and knew it wasn't good news. She saw Violet's paper, "Well… getting a C- isn't the end of the world." They took a seat at one of the tables. The boys decided to get their food while they saved their seats.
"I promised my mom, I would keep my grades up if I go to this school." She saw the boys come back with four trays of cafeteria food and placed them on the table, "What did you get?" Violet asked Penny.
"B+." Penny answered before thanking the two for bringing the food.
Violet turned to face Hiro who was seated in front of Penny, "Hiro?"
"A++" Hiro said. They three weren't surprised at all by his answer. It made sense after all since he was a genius and was already a high school graduate before.
"Wilbur?" She then faced Wilbur who was seated in front of her taking a bite of the apple he took from his tray.
"Dunno… I didn't check. Why bother? It's just a score, it doesn't define who you are as a person and- Hey!" Violet took his backpack and searched through it to find Wilbur's quiz sheet. When Violet felt a crumpled up paper in his bag, she immediately took it and tossed the bag back to Wilbur. She opened up the paper to see Wilbur's score as Hiro and Penny looked over Violet's shoulder to find out as well. What they saw shocked them the most.
"An A+?!" the three teens yelled and it echoed through the whole cafeteria. Suddenly everyone was quiet and they all stopped and stared at the source of the noise. The embarrassed teens slowly retreated back to their seats and watched as the other students went back to their usual routine. Once they've already calmed down and decided to whisper instead.
Violet leaned towards Wilbur and asked, "How on earth is that possible?! I thought you didn't study! You are such a liar." She playfully hit him in the arm.
"I didn't! I swear!" Wilbur raised his right hand as if he was making an oath.
"Then how could you get an A+ on that exam?"
"I don't know! I'm just as surprised as you are."
"Is it possible… no way…" Penny had and initial thought but decided to disregard it.
Violet noticed this and was quite curious as to what Penny wanted to say. She leaned away from Wilbur and went to Penny instead. "What? What is it Penny?"
Penny's face became quite serious for a moment which made the others even more curious about it. They listened to her as she slowly said, "Could it be that Wilbur…. Is actually… smart?"
The serious atmosphere immediately vanished. Both girls immediately laughed at the same time and continued to tease Wilbur. This took Violet's mind off her score for a bit which Wilbur noticed so he decided to let them have this one.
But Hiro didn't understand why the girls were laughing, in his mind Wilbur is the son of a genius inventor and a member of the Robinson clan who are all known to be intellectually talented in different areas. "I don't see why not. Being smart is in his genes after all." Hiro said with a straight face. The girls were immediately confused. "His dad is Cornelius Robinson." Hiro tried to give them a hint but no avail. The girls were still not getting the point. "Cornelius Robinson, one of the greatest inventor? Ring any bell?" Nothing. The girls' expression had not changed at all. "He's the head of Robinson Industries, the leading research and design company." Hiro was growing tired of it and decided to say it in the simplest way he could, "He's a super smart scientist."
"OOOOhhhhhh…"
Hiro sighed in relief that they finally understood. It was even more tiring than travelling through dimensions. He still has trouble communicating with other people. These were the times he wished Tadashi were there to be his translator, but it was impossible for it to happen which means he had to go on his own and face the real world.
"Oh yeah… I remember… I think I've seen him on the news before…" Violet thought out loud. It wasn't really uncommon since the Robinson Industries were practically plastered in almost every newspaper and tv.
"I guess it kinda explains it…" Penny shrugged.
"But why does such intelligence have to be in his brain?" Violet commented sarcastically and acted like she suddenly felt sorry for the world that such a genius mind had to go to a very immature boy.
"Who knows… maybe it's someone's idea of sick twisted joke." The girls burst out laughing
"I heard that." Wilbur was annoyed with the jokes again but he knew they didn't mean it and were just playing around.
"Sorry, Willy. You are just so easy to tease." Penny said as she tried to catch her breath from all the laughing.
Wilbur smiled at their antics, he knew they were just teasing him. It was a lot like a scenario at him home. People in his household would often joke around and have food fights and never took the teasing personally. He suddenly remembered that they were still planning on going to Holmwood's office and asked Hiro for an update. "Hiro, did Holmwood leave the house already?"
"Let me check." Hiro took out his phone and contacted Baymax. Baymax turned on his camera and the four could see the common room of the manor. The healthcare robot went to the hallway where Holmwood's office was located. They saw Holmwood walking out of the kitchen with a cup on his hands and entering his office. It was obvious that Holmwood wasn't leaving any time soon. And they only had a couple of minutes left before the bell rings.
"Looks like we won't be able to proceed with the plan today." Violet disappointingly said.
They had nothing to do now because their plan was ruined. Wilbur remembered their teacher saying that they'd have a second part of the exam tomorrow and this gave Wilbur an idea, "We're gonna have another quiz tomorrow. Why don't the four of us study together? That way you'll be able to study and keep doing that fashion thing you got going on." Violet was ultimately happy about that idea.
"Should we go to the library?" Hiro suggested.
"No, we won't be able to talk much there. We'll just do it at the manor. No one stays there much anyway." Wilbur said. It was true. Between the gloomy atmosphere of the place and the mean old caretaker of the manor, no one would voluntarily want to stay there.
"Okay then." They all nodded and agreed to their new plans.
Suddenly a very enthusiastic girl jumped towards them and greeted them in a very high energetic voice, "HEY GUYS!"
"Woah!" Wilbur held on to his tray as the kid apparently at too much sugar and almost knocked down the whole table.
"Oh hey Madison." The girls greeted Madison. They were quite fond of her energetic side though sometimes it can be a bit much to handle.
"Whatcha doin'?" the bubbly girl asked.
"Nothing much." The four replied. Before they were able to chat with Madison, two other figures popped in.
"Well, looks like we have a little tea party going on here." said one of the two. The teens immediately recognized the two. "Tyler! Pierre!"
"What brings you guys here?" Hiro asked.
"Pierre and I are taking a short break from our club practices. What about you guys? What's with all the secret chatting over here?" Tyler and Pierre sat down with the rest of them.
"Huh? There's no secret. We were just setting up a study group later in the manor because Vi failed her math quiz and needed to make up for it." Penny said.
"Ohh, I see… well we don't want to keep you from doing that." Tyler said with a rather odd tone. They then talked and shared stories of their week back to school. Tyler made jokes about the prank they did when they were first years, though they younger teens weren't convinced that Pierre took a part in it. They had finished their lunch just before the bell rang and they knew it was time for them to return to class. "Pierre and I are need to go back to practice. See ya later guys." The two walked away from the group as Tyler whistled a happy tune.
"I'm gonna go as well." Madison gather her things "I'll see you guys later!" she waved goodbye to the four to which she received a squeezing hug from Penny and Violet. She giggled as they let go and waved once more before leaving.
The second bell rang which meant they were going to be late for their next class. The four immediately gathered their things and ran out of the cafeteria as the cleaning robot cleaned their mess on the table. Luckily their classroom wasn't too far and made it just before their teacher did. The rest of the day they went from classes to classes and were beat as they arrived home.
Later the teens began to form their study group at the living room. Books, papers, calculators, pens, and erasers were scattered over the coffee table which the teens promised Lilian they would clean up afterwards because she was leaving the house for a bit. She had already cooked dinner for all them before leaving the manor. After bidding goodbye to Lilian, Hiro began to tutor Violet, though it didn't seem like Violet was learning anything. Everything was too confusing for her. Hiro then gave her a test sheet to answer to see how much she knows.
"Done!" Violet said holding up a test sheet Hiro made.
"Well… it was better than the last one." Hiro said trying to give a positive reply to Violet.
It wasn't good enough to fool Violet and knew she failed. She gave a hopeless sigh.
"Don't give up Vi. Let's take it one step at a time." Penny cheered her on as she patted her shoulder.
"Let's start with this." Hiro pointed at the equation. "What you did here was you immediately transferred the x to the other side though you could've divided the whole equation by 5 first to get the lowest possible number."
"…" Violet just blankly stared at him.
"How do I explain this…" Hiro was smart but he wasn't very good at communicating with other people which made it difficult for him to explain things to others. It happens a lot with his friends back in San Fransokyo as well. They would often just stare at him bewildered at his word that were obviously not getting through to him. The only one who could understand him was Tadashi.
"Just think of it like fashion, imagine creating the designs you have but some of the fabrics that you ordered didn't arrive so you'll need to use the ones you have and divide them to each of the designs depending on how much fabric of each type each design should have." Wilbur explained to Violet, hoping something that she's familiar with would help her understand the equation.
"Hmm…" Violet thought for a while and processed what Wilbur explained to her, then after a few seconds she started to solve the equations again.
Penny who has grown a bit tired decided to take Bolt out for a walk. "Hey I'm gonna go for a walk with Bolt. Where has that little pup gone to?"
"Probably playing with Baymax again."
Penny pulled out a cylindrical device that looks like the size of a pen with a button on top.
"What's that?"
"Oh this? It's kind of like a dog whistle except you don't blow on it. You press this little button. I use it to call Bolt whenever I can't find him. He knows I'm looking for him whenever I use it and will immediately come towards me." Penny pressed the button and a few seconds later, Bolt came running as fast as a lightning bolt, pun intended, and tackled Penny. The red-head laughed as Bolt gave her a bog lick across the face.
"Why do you have something like that? I mean he's pretty much attached to you."
"As you know, I'm an actress and Bolt has been my partner all those times. He was raised into the show. He never knew that the outside world was like. All he knew that he was this superdog that has all kinds of powers. Then one day the management decided to give the show a twist and made scene where I was kidnapped."
"Oh no. Poor Bolt…" Hiro patted Bolt's in which the pup responded happily.
"And long story short, Bolt thought I was really kidnapped and tried to find me. He left the set and went to the outside world. He eventually managed to come back but I was scared of what could happen if he got lost again. I had them plant this device on Bolt's collar so he'd know where to find me." Bolt rolled over to asked for a belly rub to which Penny happily obliged, "That's my good boy." Penny put on Bolt's leash and headed outside.
Violet resumed answering Hiro's test. While Hiro was waiting for Violet to finish, he listened to some music on his headphones and worked on a little robotics project.
"It's quite messed up that Bolt had to be raised in that environment. Never enjoying a normal puppy life, always have to work hard to meet everyone's expectations." Wilbur said in a soft voice but was still heard by Violet who was sitting next to him.
"Wilbur?" Violet said. What Wilbur said had her worried. She had a feeling there was a deeper meaning to what the buy said.
"Hmm, what is Vi? Something you need help with."
"N-no…" Violet shook her head. Wilbur must've thought that no one heard him. She decided to keep it to herself for now and talked to him about it some other time. Slowly Violet began to realize that there's more to Wilbur than meets the eye.
Half an hour later Penny came back. She saw that Violet was still working on her test. She grabbed four mugs from the kitchen and poured them some hot chocolate. A few more minutes have passed, Wilbur was already passed out on the sofa. Penny was about to fall asleep as well beside Bolt and leaned on Hiro's back who was still working on his mini project. Hiro was barely tired nor feeling sleepy, he was pretty much used to staying up all night. Not to mention, he couldn't possibly fall asleep as he could feel Penny's head leaning against his back. His heart was beating loud he swore it vibrated the whole room. Yet he couldn't understand why, maybe it was the sudden contact. He wasn't used to people being so close to him so that must be it. He could feel his cheeks getting hotter, is getting a flu? Before any more thoughts of having life-threatening diseases run through this mind, Violet slammed her pen on the table. And ended up waking Penny and Wilbur from their nap. "Done!" she announced as she handed the paper to Hiro.
Hiro began to check her answers again and to his great surprise she exclaimed, "They're correct!"
"Yes!" Violet cheered.
Penny hugged Violet and sighed in relief, "Finally… now we can eat!" Bolt barked loudly in agreement.
As if on cue, the door on Holmwood's office suddenly creaked loudly that the teens we suddenly all silent. Holmwood walked out of his office, wearing a coat and carrying a black suitcase. The watched as the man walked towards the front door. He noticed that the teens were in the living room and the mess they've made on the table. He immediately told them, "That table better be spotless when I return. If Lilian comes back from her errand, tell her that I was out. I'll be back before 10." He opened the door grabbed his top hat and went out the manor. The four watched as Holmwood walked towards his car and drove away.
A sudden light bulb flashed above their head. Without a word spoken, they knew it was their chance to put their plan to place. With Lilian and Holmwood both out of the house, the office was theirs. Before they could go through their plan.
Dingdong
The doorbell rang. It was followed by Tyler shouting at the other side of the door. "Guys! Open up!"
"Tyler, did you lose the keys again?" Wilbur sighed, to which the others chuckled, and opened the door for Tyler. As soon as the door opened the house was immediately bombarded with students. The sound system was playing a loud dance music and the students began to dance all over the living room.
The four were confused and surprised and ultimately shocked. They approached Tyler who was setting up the table with snacks and drinks, which he was carrying earlier in his arms which explains why he wasn't able to open the door earlier.
"Ty, what is going on? What are all these people doing here?"
"What do you mean? You guys planned this! It's going to be the best party of the year for sure!"
"Party?! W-when did we set up a party?!"
"Uhh remember earlier at the cafeteria, you guys were talking about a 'study group'. Come on, we've used that word to ya know." Tyler whispered to the group and gave them a thumbs-up before turning around and joining the crowd.
Violet panicked and tried to explain to Tyler, "We weren't planning a party, we meant an actual— and he's gone."
"Wilbur, what are we gonna do?" Hiro asked obviously overwhelmed by the sudden turn of event.
Wilbur thought for a second before turning back to the group, "Okay, Hiro, Penny, I need you two to handle this situation. Violet and I will check Holmwood's office."
"What do you mean handle this situation?!" Penny frantically asked.
"Just make sure things don't go out of hand." Wilbur said before walking away.
Penny and Hiro turned to face the chaotic crowd of teenagers. There was probably around fifty students. Some were going crazy with the dance moves and jumping up and down the couches. The students who were eating and drinking around the snack table were creating a mess and leaving wrappers and trash everywhere on the floor. Some even began to food fight. What snapped them out of the trance was a kid who rode a skateboard down the stairs and out of the house, leaving only the sound of something crashing. "Oh boy."
"Violet, come on!" Wilbur pulled Violet's arm across the room and through the big and loud crowd. Once they were in front of the office they made sure that no one was near or could see them. Wilbur turned the knob and realized that it was locked. He noticed that they were stepping on a mat. It might seem to be a cliché but Wilbur lifted the mat and saw a key underneath it.
"How did you—"
"Cause I'm a genius."
"You saw that from a movie didn't you…"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Wilbur opened the door jokingly bowed and gestured towards the room and said to Violet, "Ladies first."
Violet just rolled her eyes on the boy and entered the room. Wilbur immediately followed and closed the door behind them.
The room just looked like a normal office. It had a bookcase at the side and a desk in the center of the room with a chair in front. It design was quite old fashioned. The only thing that was out of place was that the desk had a built-in holographic computer, which Wilbur admired quite well. This admiration was short when they noticed the stuffed bird on his table.
Wilbur was immediately interested on what was behind the desk
"Wilbur, what on earth are we looking for?"
"Shhh, just keep on the lookout."
"Where is it?!" Wilbur check on the drawers of the desk table. Most of them just contained papers regarding the school. When Wilbur tried to open the last one, it was locked.
"Violet!" He called.
"What is it?"
"I need your pin." Wilbur said as he reached out his hand to Violet.
Violet wondered what the pin was for but didn't bother asking and just handed Wilbur the pin, "Here."
While Wilbur was working on the drawer, Violet noticed something strange. There was supposed to be a party outside and yet the noise had died down. Did something happen? Violet opened the door slightly and took a peek at what was happening.
"What is going on in here?!" a man shouted angrily. The music was immediately shut and the teenagers that were once chatting and laughing were now silent as the dead and were terrified of the man that stood by the doorway.
"Everyone who does not reside in this manor, leave now!" Holmwood commanded. In less than a minute, all of the students left the manor. They all went away quickly as they came. "Who is responsible for this?!" Holmwood demanded. He immediately stared the residents as they all looked at Penny and Hiro. "I see. All of you get to your rooms now!" All of the students headed to their rooms except for Penny and Hiro, "I will see to it that whoever did this will be severely punished."
"You don't understand sir, this was all just a big misunderstanding!" Penny tried to reason with the older man.
"Oh really?"
"We were supposed to be having a study group session and people heard and thought it was a code for a party." Hiro tried to explain but was immediately dismissed by Holmwood.
Holmwood barely listened to Hiro and pointed at him and Penny, "Of all the excuses I've heard, this is by far the most pathetic one. And to top it all, you dare blame others for your mistakes. You two… where are the others, the girl and the boy?"
"Wilbur and Violet… They umm… aren't here?"
The man became even more annoyed, clearly they were hiding something from him. "Yes, I can see that. Never mind, wherever they are, the two of you will tell them that the four of you will have a meeting with the headmistress tomorrow. I should have known the four if you would be trouble."
"But sir-!"
"You really think I'd believe such an excuse? I am calling the headmistress right now." Holmwood turned away from the two and walked towards his office.
"Wilbur, we need to go." Violet said with a panicking tone in her voice.
"Why?" Wilbur asked with a concerned look. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it could be but as soon as Violet replied, his thoughts were right.
"Holmwood's back."
Wilbur's eyes widened with shock with the realization that they might get caught, "What?! I thought we had more time."
"I know, but he's here. And we need to get out before he finds us in here."
Wilbur, though he was panicking quickly composed himself to focus on the current task and think of a way to get them out of this mess later. "Okay just give me a sec."
Penny pulled Hiro's sleeve and whispered to him, "Hiro! He's going to his office, Wilbur and Violet are still inside! We need to stall him!" Hiro nodded and called out for the caretaker once more.
"S-Sir Holmwood!"
"What is it now?!" Holmwood yelled as he was obviously losing his patience.
Hiro admitted that it scared him but he knew he had to find a way to stall him. "You have to listen to us please!"
"I did it!" Wilbur cheered. He opened up the drawer and saw numerous papers. He ignored them because he knew they no longer have much time. He decided to dig through for a specific item.
Violet's heart was racing. She noticed that Holmwood and the others were standing right on the other side of the door. If they ever come close to getting caught, she knew that she would have to use her powers and make them invisible. "Wilbur, hurry up I can hear them on the other side." She tried to rush Wilbur but it seemed that Wilbur was too busy.
"Just a minute." Wilbur kept digging through the drawer until he found it. Finally! It was the album that Holmwood took out of the attic. He knew that it must be important. Why else would Holmwood take it out of the attic when none of it belonged to him. Wilbur took out his phone and began to take photos of the photographs in the album.
Violet who was sick of being the lookout decided to take a look at what Wilbur was doing, "What on earth are you even doing over there?!"
"You clearly are not seeing how severe this situation this is."
Hiro mustered up a lot of courage to be able to speak up and give his friends a bit more time to escape, "I-I do sir. That's why I am asking for a minute for us to explain."
"You can explain yourselves to the headmistress when I set up a meeting tomorrow. Maybe then you could have time to think of a better excuse." Holmwood turned away from the two teen as he grabbed his key from his pockets to open the door to his office.
Penny could see how dejected Hiro looks, the genius boy couldn't think of anything else to stall Holmwood. She knew she had to do something. "Please sir, there is no need to bother the headmistress especially at this hour if you'd just listen to what we have to say." Penny clicked the dog caller she was hiding behind her back. Bolt immediately came running from the kitchen and bumped on Holmwood who accidentally dropped him key which slid under the sofa. "Will you control that pesky mutt?!" just as he turned to his door he noticed the key wasn't in his grasp anymore. "Where is my key? Lilian help me find it. You two move it!" Holmwood and Lilian looked for the key around the living room. As Hiro and Penny pretended to help Holmwood find his key, Hiro had already taken the key and hid it in his pocket.
"I think Hiro's stalling Holmwood but we don't have much time. We still need to get out of here unseen. And they're right outside!" Violet said as she tried to listen through the door. They had to keep the door closed just in case.
"I know. Violet look at this." Wilbur gestured the fragile and old looking paper to Violet.
It was a picture of a little girl and two adults, a man and a woman.
"Could this be Tori? The one from the recorder?" Violet pointed at the little girl who was wearing a frilly dress that made her look like a doll and was holding what seemed to be the phonograph.
"Evans… 1883…" Wilbur read the written label below the picture.
"Nevermind, we'll look for it tomorrow. I still have my spare key."
Hiro realized that Wilbur must've had the spare key with him to get in Holmwood's office. If he found out the key wasn't there, they'd be in serious trouble. "W-wait sir! I found it your key! It was under the carpet this whole time!"
Holmwood glared suspiciously at the boy. "Mr. Hamada, I've had enough pf your silly games. This discussion is over. Tomorrow, you and you're friends are going to have a word with the headmistress about your behaviour. Now… if you would all excuse me." Holmwood opened the door to his office and entered the room before shutting the door close with a loud bang.
Hiro tried to reach out to Holmwood to stop him but there was nothing he could do anymore, "Oh no…"
"Wilbur!" Violet panicked and motioned her head towards door as the knob began to squeak and turn. Someone was opening it. They both knew they were screwed if the ever get caught. At this rate, the only thing that Violet could think of was using her powers to make them both invisible long enough for them to sneak pass through Holmwood, but if that happens, her friends will find out about her powers.
"Tsk… we need to hide now." Wilbur said.
"Where?" Violet was still shaking and scared but something about Wilbur's voice seemed to calm her and make her believe that it'd be alright. It was odd but Violet trusted Wilbur. She didn't know why but she did.
As soon as Holmwood had entered the office, he headed straight to his desk and opened his computer to contact the headmistress. In less than a minute a hologram of the headmistress from head to toe was projected from the back of the computer. "Good evening, Headmistress. I'm sorry to have disturbed you at such an hour. I would like to discuss a certain matter to you about our students..."
"Shhh…" Wilbur covered Violet's mouth who was laying beneath him. They were hiding inside the cabinet under the bookshelf. It was a small space but both of them could fit. Violet nodded and tried not to make a sound. If only she could use her powers to make them invisible, it would've been easier to escape. Wilbur was listening to Holmwood and whoever he was talking to. He heard them talking about the party. It was most likely a discussion about their punishment. Wilbur didn't really care about it but he knew his friends did. Once the two of them got out the room. He knew he would have to speak to Holmwood later. Suddenly he heard a knock and Holmwood stopped talking. He heard footsteps coming closer to them.
"Winston." It was Lilian knocking at the door.
"Excuse me for a moment." Holmwood said to the headmistress. He opened the door and spoke to Lilian. "Yes?"
Wilbur heard Lilian's voice and slid the door slightly open to see what was happening. Holmwood was fortunately facing on the opposite side and towards Lilian that he couldn't be seen by him, but Lilian noticed it. Wilbur raised his index finger towards his mouth and begged with his eyes to help them.
Lilian understood immediately and tried to think of a way to distract Holmwood so the two could escape. "Don't you think you are being too harsh on the children? They are just kids."
"What they did was unacceptable and against the rules!" Holmwood was outraged. But this didn't seemed to have bothered Lilian at all, "You didn't even give them a chance to explain. They probably weren't even the ones who threw the party."
"I agree." A gently yet strong voice of a woman spoke.
"Headmistress!" the distraught man walked towards his desk to speak with the headmistress. Lilian decided that it was the perfect moment to let the two out. She knocked lightly on the cabinet. Wilbur opened it and noticed that Holmwood was busy speaking with the headmistress to notice them.
"It is against the academy's policy to allow such gathering without the acknowledgement of the board."
"I agree to that as well. But seeing as no one was harmed, I will give them a fair warning."
"A warning?!"
"Yes, these students are merely kids. It is our job to guide them not punish them."
"Fine. But I will keep a close eye on them. Those kids are trouble."
The headmistress simple smile and turned off the chat. The hologram was gone. Holmwood sighed in disappointment. He walked outside of his office. He saw that four teenagers were sitting on the sofas. He didn't bother asking them where they were. "Go to your rooms." He commanded. He watched as they walked in line up the stairs. The stern look on Wilbur's eyes didn't go unnoticed by Holmwood as if the kid was somewhat challenging him. He turned away and headed to his own room and laid down to rest for the night.
"So how did go? Did you find anything?" Hiro asked Wilbur.
"Yeah… I did. We're going to get some answers."
A/N
Me: A funny thing happened while I was writing this chapter. I realized that I had no idea what the flow of this story is supposed to be. I remember the major parts, it was the minor parts that got me. And after that I realized that it's been almost three years since I came up with this story and now I haven't got a clue as to what I am doing or what I am supposed to do. So now I have to read my own story from the beginning just to see where I am at now. I don't want any sudden surprises to happen in this story. So this might mean it might take a while before I publish a new chapter.
Wilbur: Okay so enough bad news let's go about some good news now.
Me: I'm working on three more chapters to which I'll hopefully finish by next week.
Hiro, Penny, Violet: sets off party poppers
Me: I'm not cleaning that up.
Penny: Leave a little comment on which part you guys like on this chapter or what you would like to see on the next one.
Hiro: Who knows maybe we'll add a little something of that to the next chapter.
Wilbur: Maybe our author here will get a little inspired to write some more.
Violet: We really do appreciate those who gave ideas and leaving messages to us. It really feels like this whole story were written by all of us including you guys.
All: Thanks you and See you in the next chapter!
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Wilbur: Hey… psst… here's a little sneak peak. Don't tell anyone I showed this to you okay?
"RUN!"
"What the heck?!"
"It's the same thing that chased us before…"
"What is that thing?"
"I don't know, but we have to get away from it."
"Everyone! Jump!" Violet shouted.
"Off the building?! Are you crazy?!"
"Trust me! 1.. 2… 3!"
POST A/N
Hey guys I hope you're all safe. I know it's been tough these past few months. We're currently on lockdown. It's kinda scary but I'm still trying to stay positive. I haven't been to school for weeks now to which I've been really bummed about because I had a lot of things I needed to do at college. I've been least to say stressed these past weeks. I'm currently writing again to keep my mind of those things. I really hope that things will get better soon. Right now I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter and made you guys feel a bit better or at least keep your mind off the worries and stress XD
