Chapter thirteen is here at last!
The story is nearing its conclusion. I can hardly believe it! But now it is time, so enjoy. c:
-Chapter Thirteen: Mother of a Mystery, Part One-
"Not you again!" Alfendi shouted, as his father shielded him and myself.
"Oh, yes." Stewart the butler said. "Me again. I've been sent by the madame to come fetch you."
At those words, Melanie, who had been standing behind me, started breathing short shallow breaths. A weak whimper from her prompted me to turn and see her grasping one side of her hair with her right hand, while her left hand stayed firmly nestled in Bonnie's hand. Her eyes were once again wide and unblinking. I couldn't fault her in the slightest, knowing what I did about the woman who made her feel this frightened to even think about, much less see.
"Don't worry, a bhobain." Bonnie said to her, slowly and gently. "I am here."
Melanie gradually came back to her senses at those words, and blinked at the maid, as if she recognized something that was said. Nevertheless, it seemed to help.
"Right this way." Said Stewart, and, with nothing short of reluctance, we followed him downstairs. Past the kitchen, and down an adjacent hall, to the parlor at the front of the house.
The room itself was -I will admit - quaint, with its light green armchairs facing each other in an x-shape, the tea table and rug placed diagonally to match. In the furthest left chair, sat a rather attractive woman, who I guessed to be about the same age as Maisie or the Professor, with long chestnut-colored hair, and teal eyes. Her complexion was clear, and her lips a light shade of pink. Upon first glance, it would obvious to anyone that, with the exception of her mahogany hair, freckled skin, and dark circles, that Melanie bore a striking resemblance to this woman. I questioned briefly at that point, if Melanie envied her brother for getting most of their father's looks, though I never dared to ask.
"So you're Hershel Layton, are you?" The woman said, her voice carrying only the slightest hint of a Cumbrian accent. She remained seated with her denim-clad legs crossed, and her left arm over her middle, while her right hand held appeared to be a cigarette holder, though the lack of any smoke told me there was no cigarette inside it. "I never thought you of all people would resort to petty breaking and entering."
She seemed somewhat annoyed at our being there, rather than furious or frightened like anyone else would have in this situation.
"Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't." The Professor stated to her. "However, it would be in the twins best interest to return to their father."
"Oh?" The former Mrs. Hopkins stood upon hearing this, taking a draw from her seemingly empty cigarette holder. "Are they your children? Do you really know what's best for them?" She asked him, almost in a rhetorical tone.
It was during this encounter that I noticed Melanie beginning to panic again. I took her hands before they could grasp her hair, and in the process, turned her to face me.
Meanwhile, the Professor crossed his arms as he squared his shoulders, before daring to give a rebuttal to the woman before him.
"No, I don't suppose it would be my business…" he stoically said to her. "Normally."
"Normally?" The former wife of Gerard repeated as a thick white cloud of smoke blew from her mouth as if she were a dragon.
No doubt this caught the Professor off guard, as the smoke was blown right in his face. I heard him cough in response at the same time I heard Melanie whimpering again, which made me hold her close. I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain she felt hearing her least favorite person's voice again. A quick glance up showed me Zeke being comforted by Bonnie for the same reasons; though in his case, his sickness may have also contributed. Either way, his eyes were squeezed shut as he tried to hide his face, while Bonnie gently rubbed his back.
It was while she was doing this that I took another glance at her. The more I looked at her, the more I realized something was definitely off. I wanted to tell the Professor right away, but just as I turned to face him, something began banging loudly on the front door.
"Police! Open up!" A familiar voice shouted from outside.
The twins' mother sighed.
"Stewart, if you would?" She requested.
The butler only nodded and promptly stride to the door, where Chelmey, Barton, Colby, Brent, and Forrester immediately barged in nearly all at once. The one thing I recall most distinctly, however, are Rocco and Buster barking their heads off.
"Agh!" The twins' mother scoffed in disgust. "Get those filthy beasts out of my house!"
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, m'am!" Forrester stated. "Rocco, heel!"
"Down, Buster!" Brent commanded.
And in an instant, the German Shepherds stopped barking, and took to the occasional growl instead.
Just seconds after that, two more familiar figures appeared at the now opened door. Right away, Zeke became upright, giving a weak shout to one of the figures, who quickly revealed his identity.
"Are you kids alright?" Jude asked his grandchildren.
"Granddad!" Melanie shouted, ready to leap into his arms, when suddenly we all heard fingers snapping, prompting her to look at her mother.
"Don't you dare move!" Ms. Hopkins commanded, as she pointed to the space behind Melanie.
To my surprise, Melanie obeyed. With the most dead-inside demeanor I had ever seen on a person, she stood absolutely still, her gaze to the wall across from us; not even her fingers twitched, or drummed at her legs. If I may be completely honest, it was actually somewhat frightening to see.
Bonnie, meanwhile, looked on disgusted and shocked.
"What have you done to her?!" She demanded to know from the other woman.
"All I did was make a disobedient demon child into a brat I can control." The other woman stated.
"So you're confessing to your crimes, then?" Chelmey asked her, while Barton reached for his handcuffs.
"I never said that." She retorted. "And pray tell, what are these crimes may you be referring to?"
"Three counts of kidnapping, for one." Chelmey stated. "Twice with the boy, and once with the girl."
"I wasn't kidnapping them, I was rescuing them from their wretched father. You have no idea just how negligent he truly was." The twins' mother -and I now use the term loosely- spat.
"Gerard was never negligent!" Jude snapped. "He worked the extra hours to provide for the twins."
"I concur." The Professor said. "In the short time I have known Gerard, it has been clear to me that his children have always been his top priority."
"All you've ever wanted them for was attention." Jude said to her. "You never gave a damn about either of them!
"Honestly, what kind of mother are you?" Forrester asked her.
"I have been wondering that myself for some time now." The Professor spoke while he paced with a hand to his chin and his eyes closed in thought.
"How do you mean, Professor?" I asked him.
"After all I have observed over the last few days…" he started off as he stopped pacing, then faced the former Mrs. Hopkins. "I have reached a rather curious conclusion. You, Deborah Briarwood, were never married -legal or otherwise- to Gerard Hopkins, nor are you the mother to his children."
The resounding shock that came from nearly everyone else still sometimes rings in my ears. Only Jude, Roderick, and Bonnie stood unfazed.
"He's right." Zeke signed, while his grandfather translated.
"…He is?" Melanie asked her brother, having snapped out of her obedience trance.
"Helen." Zeke spelled out with his hands. "That's our mother's name. Helen, not Deborah."
"Precisely, Zeke." Said the Professor. "Your real mother is Helen Kinnaird. In other words, the woman currently holding you."
Melanie stood stunned upon hearing those words.
"You're our mom?" She asked Bonnie -or Helen, rather-. She didn't seem frightened at the woman before her, unlike with Deborah, actually willingly approaching the would-be maid.
"Yes." Said Helen, crouching down before the red-haired girl.
"Could you prove it?" Melanie asked.
With her left hand, which she had to switch Zeke to her right side for, she untied the knot on the back of her head-kerchief, and unpinned her bun, which revealed only the ends of her hair to be violet black. The rest was a rich shade of brown. What she did next, I…had to look away for.
Jude offered to take his grandson, since Helen muttered something about needing both of her hands.
"Here we go…" she whispered to herself, as she held her eye open with one hand, and poking at her eye with the other.
Everyone else's reactions ranged from indifference to shock and disgust. From the corner of my eye, I could see the Professor lowering the brim of his hat over his eyes while barring his teeth in distaste.
"Alright, it's safe to look again." Helen announced.
What we all saw when we looked at her again was nothing short of stunning. In her left hand, she held two plastic contact lenses, with teal colored irises. Looking up at her, she now possessed the same distinct green eyes as the twins.
"…It is you." Melanie spoke just above a whisper. Her dull eyes brightened for the briefest of moments.
"Melanie!" Deborah commanded, snapping her fingers and pointing to the floor in front of her. "Come!"
The eleven year old didn't budge, aside from clenching her fists. Her only response was a blunt "…No."
"Come here, now." Deborah commanded again, repeating her finger snap.
"No." Melanie also repeated. "I'm not your daughter."
She took Helen's hand.
"Excuse me?" Deborah asked with a scoff.
"She's right." Helen said to her doppelgänger. "Melanie is your daughter."
"But she just said-" Alfendi tried to speak, but was cut off by Helen.
"And I'm guessing that's what you've been calling my Cassandra all this time."
There immediately came a collective "Say what?!" from almost everyone.
"But even her grandfather…" I tried to argue.
"Because I didn't remember until Zeke literally spelled it out." Melanie -no, Cassandra- explained, with a small smile.
"Until then, 'it was far easier than trying to correct her', I believe were your exact words, Mr. Hopkins?" The Professor asked Jude.
While Jude nodded, confirming the Professor was correct, Zeke looked on at everyone in bewilderment.
"I never did that." He signed. "I was the only one who wouldn't." He looked down, frowning. "Nobody would ever listen to me, though." He then glared at Cassandra. "Not even my own sister."
Cassandra looked away from her brother. Evidently, there was some truth to what he said.
"You both got your father's red hair and his stubbornness!" Helen remarked with a short laugh.
Her laugh was cut short by a second cloud of white smoke exhaled by Deborah. In response, Cassandra covered her mouth and nose with the collar of her t-shirt.
The Briarwood heiress had more than enough time to become enraged by her lack of control over a child that wasn't hers. It was actually rather concerning, that. She stamped towards Cassandra, shoving the Professor out of the way in the process. Perhaps fully aware of her intentions, Helen sidestepped so that she now stood in front of her daughter, spreading her arms in an attempt to shield Cassandra from the doppelgänger who clearly traumatized her. Cassandra, meanwhile, clung to her mother's skirt, once again with eyes wide and breath shallow.
"You're not laying one finger on my little girl!" Helen proclaimed.
"…Fine." Deborah said, blankly. "Stewart!"
At her command, Stewart the butler -from somewhere inside his suit- released a smoke screen before us, succeeding in obscuring everyone's vision. I still vividly recall Alfendi trying to bury his face into my jacket, some fighting, and the twins -Cassandra, in particular- screaming in terror.
Once the smoke cleared, after what felt like forever, there was Jude holding Stewart in a headlock with Zeke now clinging to his grandfather's back, long enough for the butler to be handcuffed. In the short distance, the front door was left wide open in a hurry, there was Deborah holding both Helen and her daughter hostage, as she led them to her car.
"Cassandra!" Alfendi exclaimed when he saw the spectacle for himself, sprinting towards the open door, with the intention of saving his friend.
"Alfendi, no!" Barton shouted, grabbing the boy just before he would have been out of reach.
My little brother was forced to watch on, powerless in that moment to be of any help. Meanwhile, the other policemen gave chase immediately, with the rest of us following shortly behind, with the collective hope that we wouldn't be too late to save Helen and Cassandra.
And there's chapter 13! Will mother and daughter be saved in time? Find out in chapter 14!
Hopefully, I can get the next chapter up in the next week or two. But until then, reviews are always welcome! c: