Alright, we go for chapter two already! I realised that this one is very short as well - honestly, I didn't remember it was that short - so I decided to post this one out of the usual slot (which is once a week, usually Thursday or Friday).

Thanks to weeinterpreter for adding this story to her favs! :)

I hope you have fun with this very shortie and we'll hopefully read us later in this week for a longer one. Unless you'd like to tell me your opinion on my piece of fiction so far ... *smile* Have fun!

"Fifteen minutes to go, Ara," Francis said with a smile. "No need to hurry but you know, we're not able to control the cameras afterwards, let alone that we won't be able to delete whatever they record. But you look very nice today, Kiara. Don't worry about that." Huffing his little sister was one of the things he lived for since they started to work for Fitch. He knew, it kept her from going nuts while messing up with all kind of people, which was why, whenever her situation started to become critical in any ways, it was time to shower her with sarcasm and strange comments. They always remembered her on somebody commenting a movie while watching it.

Well, in some way, this was exactly what he did, wasn't it? Sitting in his highly comfortable armchair, perfectly fine in the air-conditioned command centre, putting his oar on whatever she did.

"Thank you so much, Francis," Ara growled thgrough clenched teeth. "Do you want to open that fucking door?"

"You are the one supposed to be the master thief, am I right?"

"And you are the one sitting on his butt an talking perpetually, am I right?"

"Oh, pissed off, are we?"

Yes, she was, since she tried to open this damn door for the last four minutes. It was just a study, for God's sake! Honestly, what was that boy horting in there? Fifteen minutes were still enough time to get out of Fowl Manor, if she wouldn't get lost somewhere between the countless rooms and spooky halls. Fortunately, Fitch had found a way to hack the security system which made them able to control the gates so she got in and out without having to climb the walls. The cameras were different, as far as she got it. They rebooted automatically every half an hour and for some reason, Fitch's technicians weren't able to enter the system again. Opening the gates would work but she preferred not to get filmed while wandering the Manor. Fowl would be easily able to find out who stole his device if that happened.

"I hate this door," Ara muttered and ignored the laugh of her brother. "I really -" Finally, the lock clicked.

"Oh! In less than one day! Well done!"

"Shut up, Francis."

Nicholas raised an eyebrow as his accomplice flinched on the sound of a ringing mobile phone.

"It's just a phone, Harry. Don't worry, it won't eat you alive."

Harry turned red in less than a second and muttered something about his nerves being raw. Shaking his head, Nicholas closed the door of the loaned car shut and reached into his pocket. "It's not mine," he noticed and Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Amateurs, Nicholas thought and realized, that the sound did not come from the front of the car but the back of it. He felt a grin widen on his face.

Seemed like somebody tried to contact their young guest.

"The number you have dialled, has not been recognized," he grinned and started the engine.

Francis made a surprised noise.

"What's wrong?," Ara asked immediately, feeling the ballpoint in her pocket. Fowl was clever enough to not let the chip lie openly at his desk, but thanks to Micahs abilities in snooping around, she had known what she was looking for.

"Er . . . I don't know, actually. I just tried to contact Micah and tell him that you're leaving but . . ."

Ara froze. "But what?"

"Well, he . . . the line went dead. Or, not really dead but . . . silent. He's not answering and I cannot hear anything."

"Well . . . fuck."

"Ara, the cameras will resume work in less than ten minutes. Get your ass out there."

Kiara gritted her teeth. No jokes, no sarcasm. Meaning, her situation was worse.

Still . . .

"If he won't answer, we have no idea of what happened. I have to make sure he's fine."

"No, you don't!"

"Francis!"

"Micah is old enough to take care of himself, Ara. Other than you, he has a reason to be here. Remember that he is supposed to be Juliet's boyfriend for about what? The last six months?"

"But -"

"I bet he's fine. There has been nobody else but you three, right?"

"Since I have been able to intrude the house, how do we know? There might be someone else."

Francis laughed, almost sounding hysterically. "Nonsense! The line went dead, that's all. And now piss off. I open up the gates."

Ara whimpered. She only had about seven minutes left before the cameras would videotape her. She really had to leave. Like, five minutes ago.

With a deep growl, she crossed the hallway and ran down the stairs.

Butler was on full alert, as he saw the wide-open gate. That was definitely not the way it was supposed to be.

Something was about to go terribly wrong. On the way back to Fowl Manor, he tried several times to contact Artemis by phone - without succes. Which was most unusual. After all, the voice of his panicked sister still echoing in the car made him continue his way back to the Manor. He knew he actually wasn't allowed to do so but Juliet was family. On top of that, one of the last remaining.

And now the gate was already open. A open door was hardly a good sign and much less was a open gate. This was not like a little garden gate which could be blown open by the wind - this one was high, heavy, and charged up.

Drawing his weapon, he got out of the Bentley. Time to face whoever had dared to lay a finger on his little sister.

See? I told you it's short. Promise, next one's longer :) With a bit of Ara, a bit of Butler and a bit of new characters - so stay tuned! And of course: take care of yourselves and others. See you!