A/N: IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
Hi you guys. I am so sorry about how long it took to post this chapter.
So many things were going on in my life but I finally managed to finish it!
I also have a surprise for you all... I have rewritten all of the chapters before this one! Please go back and read the new, edited chapters before reading this one and enjoy!
Chapter Five
Trixie crossed her legs, balancing the book she was reading on her knee as the bus came to a stop, letting a group of passengers off.
"I still can't believe we're gonna go meet up with this guy," she looked over toward her two best friends as she spoke. "As twisted as this book is, and as much as he probably still hates us, Sigmund Brock is not a guy we want to mess with."
Jake snorted and turned in his seat, facing her.
"Yea, I had to give up reading after a couple of pages. You were right, Spud, something about the way each story begins with 'once upon a time' followed by horrifically graphic accounts is all kinds of creepy."
"Well to be fair, any guy who would lock three kids in a cage has to have some kind of screws loose," Spud said.
"Exactly, and the story I just read is awful," Trixie continued, closing the book and slipping it into the small backpack she brought. "So this guy cheats on his wife for 2 years, runs into a banshee, and decides to break off the affair and even quit his job so he can stay home and keep an eye on his kids. Because obviously they were his first concern, but while he was busy looking out for them, his mistress gets angry that he ended things, and then she stalks and kills his wife."
"Yea," Spud said. "That story was crazy but it kinda did have a valid point at the end. 'With cases like these, you should always expect the unexpected.' It's like he was so focused thinking something would happen to his kids that he forgot to watch out for his wife."
"And homegirl deserved so much better," Trixie stated. "But I gotta ask, do you guys think these all these stories are from other people, or do you think one of these encounters happened to Brock? I mean there has to be a reason he decided to make an entire book about banshees, right?"
She looked up at Jake, noticing how pale his face had gone.
"Jake, are you okay?" She reached up and touched his arm, causing him to jump slightly.
Jake shook his head. "My bad, Trix."
"We're gonna be there at the next stop," Spud said, looking down at his phone. "You sure you're ready for this?"
He watched as Jake's face quickly transformed from his own to that of a much older man.
His jet black hair instantly faded to a light gray color and his youthful, olive skin tone took on a paler, wrinkled look. He reached the pocket of the lab coat he wore that was identical to the ones worn by both of his friends and pulled out a pair of glasses, sliding them on.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied, trying to make his voice raspy and tired sounding. Trixie couldn't help but laugh as he spoke.
"I can't take you seriously with that voice. You sound just like one of Gigi's 'gentleman friends'."
Spud laughed and bumped his knuckles against hers.
"Seriously, dude. You can shapeshift into anyone you want and you chose some random old guy that got off two stops ago."
Jake rolled his eyes and looked back at his friends. "Look, he's an old dude. And an old dude will trust another old dude more than some teenager. Besides, we don't want Brock to know it's us. Ain't that why y'all put those whack disguises on?"
"Excuse me? I look fantastic with this mustache." Spud lifted his phone, switching on the camera app to look at himself, and stroked the caterpillar that sat on his upper lip. "Just a few more months and this will be a reality."
Trixie leaned over and looked into the phone with him. "I actually might have to give you that one, Spudinski. You really don't look bad with a mustache."
"Why, thank you, m'lady. And I must say, blonde hair does suit you quite well."
Trixie smiled at him and reached forward to touch the capture button.
"Anyway, Jakey, if you think our fits are so whack, how come you didn't hook us up with some 'presto change-o magic juice' so we could do like you do?"
"I mean, I was going to but G wasn't at the shop remember? Haley must have talked him into taking her to get ice cream and I still haven't earned my keys back since the last incident."
Spud chuckled. "I still don't understand how you started a fire while the place flooded."
Trixie shook her head and picked up her backpack, sliding her arms into the straps. "I just hope these disguises work on Brock. Because even though he obviously won't recognize Jake, he could definitely recognize us. I think it might be a little hard to forget kids that kinda got you fired."
"Well, I guess we'll find out right now," Spud said as a chiming sound filled the bus, indicating that they arrived at their stop.
The three stepped off the bus and made their way toward the apartment complex, a very large, old, brownstone building in desperate need of a paint job.
Jake looked to his friends, silently asking if they were ready. Spud nodded and reached back into his pocket, trading his phone for a monocle while Trixie gave her blonde wig one more gentle tug to make sure it stayed in place and slipped on a pair of glasses.
"Let's do this then," Jake said as he turned to press the buzzer.
"Who's there?" The unfamiliar voice came through the box on the wall.
"Uh, is this Professor Sigmund Brock?" Jake asked, changing his voice once again.
There was a silence before the other person spoke again.
"Who's asking?"
Jake mentally kicked himself for forgetting, of all things, to come up with a name.
"Well, sir, my name is Dr. Thad... Jasma." He ignored Trixie's eye roll and continued. "My associates and I have read your blog and we have a very unique situation that we would like to get your opinion on."
Once again there was a silence. Jake turned to look at his friends, who shook their heads in confusion. He started to speak again but was interrupted by a loud buzzing sound and the door lock clicking.
"Come up."
After a moment of hesitation, the trio walked into the building.
"Thad Jasma?" Trixie laughingly said, causing Spud to chuckle with her. "That's the best you could come up with?"
"You know what, forget y'all," Jake said, smiling. "I'd like to see one of you come up with a good name on the spot like that."
Downstairs they could hear many sounds through the thin walls of the apartment building as they made their way to the stairs. People arguing, laughing, and their TV playing familiar shows. But once they got upstairs, it was unnaturally quiet.
The teens froze in place once the lights began to flicker.
"Y'all know this is a scene straight out of a horror movie, right?" Trixie said, grabbing onto Spud's arm as they walked behind Jake toward the open door at the end of the hall.
Jake stood at the doorway and looked around for a moment before stepping inside. It was a very small railroad apartment, the room they entered being the living room. The curtains were drawn and the only light available came from a small kerosene lamp that sat on the coffee table. The entire room was dark and empty, containing nothing but about a half dozen boxes filled with miscellaneous items.
"Back here!" Came the voice they recognized from the intercom.
As the teens stepped inside, the door behind them slammed shut.
"Uh, Trix," Spud grunted in pain. "Your nails are digging into my skin."
"Oh," she chuckled nervously and slightly loosened her grip. "My bad."
"Don't worry okay?" Jake walked up to the doorway leading to the next room. "Just stay behind me."
The next room they walked through was the kitchen, which was also bare aside from a microwave and a couple of bottles of wine. The room after that was the bedroom, a similar theme seemed to continue here as there was nothing to see besides a bedframe sans mattress. Jake took a deep breath before turning the handle to the final room.
The last room appeared to be a bit smaller than the others but had twice as much stuff as the other rooms combined. It managed to contain two couches and a small coffee table sat in the corner of the room, surrounded by a few very tall bookshelves that were overflowing with books. And the walls were covered with newspaper articles. As he looked around the room, Jake was able to see that every one of the articles was about different magical creature sightings.
A man sat at a desk on the left side of the room, his face covered by a large computer monitor.
"Professor Brock?" Jake stepped into the room cautiously as he spoke.
The man behind the desk typed at a rapid pace for a few more seconds before lifting his eyes to the group in front of him.
Jake's blood ran cold as the familiar icy blue eyes met his but the face he saw, was much younger than that of his old principal.
A wide smile spread across the man's face as he stepped out from behind his desk, extending his hand to Jake.
"I'm so sorry about that, once I get to writing, it's nearly impossible for me to stop. It's nice to meet you, Doctor... Jasma was it?"
Jake quickly replaced his confused expression with a smile to match the one worn by the man in front of him.
"Yes sir," Jake said, accepting his handshake. "And you must be Professor Brock? I must say, I was expecting someone a bit closer to my age. You don't quite look the way I expected."
"I'll say," Trixie said under her breath as she took in his features.
He looked to be in his early 20s. He had a head full of curly brown hair, smooth skin with a tanned complexion, and a dimple on his right cheek. She was snapped out of her trance as she felt Spud's elbow connect with her arm.
"Hey, why did you do that?" she angrily whispered.
"Sorry," Spud whispered back with a smirk. "But, you were drooling."
The other man chuckled and crossed his arms in front of himself.
"I apologize for the confusion. I'm Professor Brock's son. My name is Benjamin." He turned his attention to Spud and Trixie. "And, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your names."
"That's probably because we didn't throw 'em your way," Spud said in a voice that sounded a lot like his own father before letting out a hearty laugh and giving the other a firm handshake. "Nice to meet you, I'm Professor Ezekiel Ian Malcolm. Dr. Jasma's head research specialist. My pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Benjamin nodded and then turned to Trixie, nearly causing her to melt on the spot.
"And who might this lovely lady be?" he asked, making her burst into a fit of giggles.
"I'm Trix-" she was cut off by another nudge, delivered by Spud. "Uh... Trix...shell. Sorry, Trishale... Chulavista. Doctor. Sorry, that bus ride was pretty bumpy, it must have jumbled my brain up."
She felt a blush creep up her cheeks as he raised his eyebrow at her giving a questioning look, but nodded.
"Well, okay. Very nice to meet you Doctor Chulavista," He smiled, once again displaying his dimple. "Nice meeting you all. Sorry that I've been rude, please have a seat and I'll bring you all some refreshments." He gestured to the sitting area, before stepping out the door and heading toward the kitchen.
The three waited for him to be out of view before heading over to the couches. Jake plopped down on one next to Trixie while Spud looked around the room.
"Well, he's not who we were expecting," Trixie said, slipping her backpack off.
Jake shook his head at her, grabbed a book off the table, and began paging through it.
"I guess it was a nice surprise for you huh?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You're being so obvious Trix," he said, replacing the book and leaning back against the couch. "Just don't blow our cover, okay?"
"Well, I'm sorry. But I was expecting to see our crazy old principal, not a freaking GQ model, okay?"
"Well he's way too old for you anyway, so you're wasting your time simping over him."
"Simping over him? Did you really just..." Trixie looked at her friend confused, but a sly smile spread across her face. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."
"Jealous?" he gave a disbelieving laugh. "Why would I be jealous of 'To Catch A Predator' over there?"
"Oh, you're jealous alright. You're jealous that you ain't the cutest guy in the room anymore."
"Any more?" Jake tilted his head, his real face appearing for a moment as he smirked. "So, you're saying that previously I was the cutest guy in the room?"
Trixie's smile instantly disappeared. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to think of what to say.
"Guys, guys, there's no need to argue," Spud said, leaning against one of the bookshelves. "Trixie thinks Ben is the cutest one and Jake thinks Jake is. So by simple mathematics, they cancel each other out and the title of cutest guy in the room goes to yours truly. Of course, I'll gladly accept, just to keep the peace."
Suddenly, a low beeping sound was made as Spud's arm connected with one of the books on the shelf. He jolted back as the bookshelf opened up, revealing a hidden cupboard.
Jake and Trixie were on their feet, standing next to Spud in a second. What they saw in the cupboard, filled them with even more questions. Dozens of vials of various sizes filled the shelves of the cupboard, each containing a different color liquid in it.
"What the hell are these?" Jake questioned, reaching out toward a vial that contained a bright green, glowing liquid. Before he had the chance to grab it, the sound of someone clearing their throat stopped him.
The three of them turned around and saw Benjamin standing behind them, a bottle of wine in one hand and four glasses in his other.
He shook his head before stepping in front of the cupboard and closing it back. "Shall we?" He gestured to the couches and took a couple of steps over toward them.
"Sorry about that, sir," Jake began, quickly transforming back before their host had a chance to notice. "We weren't snooping or anything, it kinda just popped open."
Benjamin nodded and took a seat on the couch opposite Jake and his friends.
"I'm not upset that you found that, it's the fact that I was here for two days before I discovered it and you guys managed to find it in... a minute and a half." He handed each of them a glass before pouring a dark red liquid into each one. "I shouldn't be surprised, though. Especially since you managed to find out Sigmund Brock was the man behind the blog. If I'm not mistaken, he used a pretty tight alias."
"Well, it was pretty simple to crack, honestly," Spud stated proudly, gesturing with the glass of wine as he spoke. "The real trouble was trying to track the IP address to your router."
"Well, Dr. Malcolm, you must be quite the genius," he said with a smirk before taking a sip. "Please, give the wine a taste, it's reminiscent of a Pinot Noir. My brother and I inherited a vineyard from my mother when she... when she passed, so we make our own wine."
Spud's demeanor wavered a bit as he gave his friend a sideways glance. Jake confidently took a long sip from his glass, followed by Trixie, and gave his friend a look encouraging him to do the same.
Spud managed to take a sip and reacted pretty much as Jake expected him to.
"It's delicious, thank you," Jake said, fighting back a laugh as Spud continued his coughing fit. "Dr. Malcolm isn't much of a wine person so please don't take offense. He's more of a scotch man."
"Oh, would you like some scotch?" Benjamin said, starting to stand up. "There's some in the cupboard I can-"
"No!" Spud quickly interjected. "No thank you, I mean. I just should probably keep my wits about me. Not good to drink and drive, you know."
"I thought you all took the bus..." Benjamin questioned.
"I... drove the bus." Spud averted his eyes and set the glass back on the table.
Trixie shook her head in embarrassment and Benjamin just slowly nodded, leaning back against the couch and crossing one leg on top of the other.
"Alrighty, well we should get to business then. So you say you're here because you've got a 'unique situation' that you need an opinion on?"
Jake leaned forward a bit as he spoke.
"Well, honestly, we were hoping we could speak with your father about it. No offense."
"None taken. Although, if you came strictly to speak with my father, I'm sorry to say, that's rather impossible at the moment." A look of pain crossed his face as he lowered his gaze. "He had a stroke last week and he's been staying in the hospital."
Jake felt as if a weight had dropped on him. Every time he took a step toward figuring this thing out, he was seemingly yanked two more steps back.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Brock. I had no idea."
"Thank you. And, please, call me Ben."
"Well, Ben, I guess we shouldn't take up any more of your time," Jake said, setting his glass down. "Sorry for the intrusion."
"Please, it's no intrusion at all. It's nice to have something to take my mind off of... Anyhow, I would hate for you all to have come here for nothing, if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know."
Jake looked to his friends who both shrugged.
"You could at least tell him the situation," Trixie whispered. "Maybe he'll know something."
He looked back to the man who had a hopeful look in his eye. "Only if you're up to it. We don't want to overstay our welcome."
"I'm more than happy to help if I can. Besides, my dad will never let me hear the end of it if I didn't help out some fellow researchers." A smile spread across his face as he slapped his hands together. "Let's have it."
Trixie unzipped her bag and pulled the book out, holding it out to Benjamin.
"Okay, well, it has to do with this book that your father wrote. It has a bunch of stories from people who have had run-ins with a banshee."
"Mistress of the Mourning," Benjamin said, taking the book in his hands and nodding slowly. "Yes, I know it well."
"Right," Jake continued. "The thing is, I have a feeling that I also had a run-in with a banshee but there was something different between my encounter and the others."
"And what difference was that?"
"After the scream, I guess I kinda passed out and I saw something. Like, I saw who it was that was gonna die. Or at least I think I did. But all of the other stories, they all said that they had no idea who it was going to be. I just wanted to know, is it possible that I could have... I don't know how to put it."
"You want to know if that banshee gave you a vision of who will die."
"I know it's kind of a weird
Benjamin sighed and reached a hand up to scratch his head. "Okay, that is sort of a tricky question. I don't know a whole lot about banshees, but I might have something that can help."
He stood up and walked over to the bookshelf. It took him just a couple of seconds before he found the book he was looking for and came back to the couch.
"After he went into the hospital, I came here to get all of his things together so he can move in with my family and me once he's released. And in doing so, I made a few interesting discoveries. The vials behind the bookcase, being one and another are these journals that he kept." He looked up at the group in front of him. "My father searched for years trying to find any information he could on magical creatures and he filled all of those journals with everything he learned." He gestured to the shelf where they noticed that all the books on it had the same cover as the one in his hands.
"This one, in particular, is on banshees. He had a bit of an obsession with them. He wanted to know if there was a way to prevent the death, so he got funding from his sponsors for a research project, where he interviewed over 2,000 people and got their stories of all the different magical creatures they've run into.
"He was able to use their information to find some of them on his own. He's located a herd of unicorns, a couple of fairies here and there, and some weird kind of giant roach-looking thing.
"But when it came to the banshee, there were only about 25 accounts and no one was able to tell him much about their encounters. Mostly just that they remembered an awful scream. One person did see it, but they said it was such a horrifying sight that they couldn't describe it. I'm sure you know what happened to him..." He made a motion sliding his index finger across his throat. "I never finished the entire journal, since each story was rather repetitive, I didn't see the need to. And from what I read so far, none reported anything about having a vision."
"That's the thing," Jake said. "I don't know if it had to do with the banshee or if it was completely unrelated."
Benjamin nodded slowly as he turned to one of the last pages in the journal. He was silent for a while as he read the page.
"Huh, this is interesting. He wrote down one interview that's labeled off the record," he turned the book toward them. "A woman named Iris Vea. He said her interview was much different than everyone else's. She exhibited extreme signs of trauma that weren't seen in the others."
"Shoot, the page after it is ripped out," Spud said, running a finger along the torn edge.
Benjamin turned the book back to himself and skimmed through the last few pages.
"That's strange. I wonder what was so different about her interview that..." He went quiet as he made it to the last page in the journal and read it over. His eyes shifted to meet Jake's as he handed the journal to him.
Jake took it, giving him a questioning look, and read the page aloud.
"This subject seemed to be the only one to have a different experience than all the others when encountering banshees. It could be due to the fact that these types of creatures have a stronger connection to banshees than humans. Place of residence... Magus Bazaar?"
Trixie looked up at Ben after silently re-reading the words. "So, what? He's saying that this girl wasn't human?"
"I assume so," Benjamin said, looking at them curiously. "And living in Magus Bazaar, I'm sure you all know that implies she was a magical creature."
"So the only one that had anything different happen during her encounter," Jake started. "Was a magical creature..."
"With an exception of you of course," Benjamin added as he focused his gaze on Jake who sat motionlessly.
"So, I'm guessing your dad never told you what it was that was different about their encounter, huh?" Spud asked.
Benjamin shook his head. "No, honestly I didn't even know about that interview. As I said, I never actually bothered to finish that journal. Til right now..."
Jake nodded and handed it back over, trying to put the missing pieces together in his head.
"Okay... so I just need to find out what it was." He noticed Benjamin giving him a strange look when he looked up again. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm just very curious." He had an odd look on his face as he stood up and slowly paced the floor in front of them. "So, over 20 interviews with people who had run-ins with banshees. Each report is identical to the last, except for one, seemingly magical creature, and you. Why do you think that is?"
Jake felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his left ear began to twitch. "I'm not sure. Why do you think that is, Ben?"
"Well, it could mean," his voice somewhat accusatory as he spoke. "You also are a magical creature."
Jake tensed up as he felt his dragon form preparing to make an appearance. Trixie looked over at her friend and quickly put her hand on his arm, giving a boisterous laugh.
"Oh, Benjamin that is so funny. Yea, my coworker, whom I've known for over 10 years, is a magical creature! Can you imagine if he was able to go that long without being detected?" She gave another laugh and tugged his sleeve a bit, signaling him to do the same.
Jake let out a chuckle, followed by Spud, and slowly, Benjamin's stern expression turned into a smile and he joined in as well.
"Right, I-I'm sorry. Being around this stuff your whole life kind of makes you a little..." He let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, anyway, it seems the best bet would be to locate this woman and ask her about her encounter yourself. The problem is finding out where the hell Magus Bazar is. We could look through some more of these journals and see if my father mentioned anything else about-"
"Thanks but we should probably head out," Jake said as he hopped up off the couch, Trixie and Spud following his lead. "We've taken up enough of your time."
A guilty expression covered Ben's face as he placed his hands into his pockets. "I do apologize if I've offended you, any of you."
Trixie shook her head, extending her hand out to him. "Not at all, thank you so much for helping with what you could."
He took her smaller hand into his and gently squeezed it before turning to the boys and offering them a handshake as well.
"Well, if there is anything else you need, please let me know."
Jake nodded and waited for Spud and Trixie to step out of the room before following them to the front door.
"Dr. Jasma?"
Jake tensed up as he heard Benjamin address him. He turned to face him, expecting to see a menacing look or maybe a knowing smirk from the older man subtly letting him know that he had been caught. But he was surprised when he was instead met by a face of worry.
"Again, I apologize again for my assumption. I hope you find all the answers you are looking for, just... please be careful."
Jake raised an eyebrow at him. "Why do you say that?"
"I recognized that look in your eye. It's the same look my father had every time he took on another research project. You want to find all the answers no matter the cost." A pained expression crossed his face as he placed a hand on Jake's shoulder. "Please, make sure you don't bet with more than you're willing to lose."
Jake slowly nodded, a bit curious as to where his concern came from.
"Thank you, I'll make sure to keep that in mind."
Benjamin nodded and pat his back before letting him step out the door, joining his friends in the hallway.
"Oh, and one more thing. You and your 'associates' may want to look into getting a bit more convincing disguises." He looked at the trio with a grin. "How old are you guys anyway? Like 16, 17?"
Jake couldn't help but laugh then. "How did you guess?"
"I've met a hundred of my dad's colleagues and none of them, especially the old ones, have been able to resist calling me 'son' or 'my boy' so absolutely none of them would ever call me 'sir'. Also, come on, Thad Jasma? I know my soap operas way too well not to see past that." He chuckled and leaned against the door frame and pointed to Spud. "This one, though, I'll admit you had me second-guessing myself. Something about the mustache really had me convinced."
Spud smirked as he brought a hand up to twirl the end of his mustache, super villain style. "I told them to get one, nobody would listen."
Jake shook his head in disbelief. "Wow, whatever. You have a good night Mr. Brock."
Benjamin watched as the group made their way to the stairwell and disappeared.
After a moment, the sound of Beethoven's Symphony 5 filled the room. Benjamin reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, answering the call.
"Hey, dad. We just had some very interesting visitors..."
oOoOoOo
Once the trio made it to the subway they dropped their disguises and focused on taking the quickest route to their next destination. Once they got there, Trixie and Spud were overwhelmed by a feeling of nostalgia.
"Ah, Magus Bazaar. It's been way too long." Trixie smiled as she walked ahead of her friends into the marketplace. She waved to several vendors she recognized and looked with interest at the ones she didn't.
"I never thought I'd see this place again." Spud squealed in excitement, bouncing up and down. "Ooh, we have to get some of Wanda's schnitzel before we go!"
Jake smiled at his friend's excitement. Since there hadn't been any trouble reported in the bazaar for a while, the teens hadn't been here in a little over a year. Although he was also happy to see the familiar faces, his excitement was watered down by the reason they were here.
"For sure, man, we can do whatever you guys want. We need to start getting some info on where to find this Iris person anyway."
"You're right. And you know what? I bet Wanda knows just where to find her. Be right back." Before Jake could say anything about it, Spud took off to the schnitzel truck.
Trixie chuckled and tilted her head in the other direction.
"You know what? Now that I think about it, the guy working that jewelry stall looks like he might definitely know an Iris. So I'm just gonna..."
Jake snorted and fell into step with her.
The two approached the stall and browsed as the man behind it helped another customer.
They looked around at all the different bracelets, necklaces, cuff links, and chains. All looked to be the best material, Jake figured most of them were made from leprechaun gold.
Trixie's breath caught as she reached down and gently picked up a necklace that caught her eye. She held the golden chain in the air as she examined the pendant that hung at its bottom. It was a large, golden moon pendant, and hanging from the top of the crescent was a round, nearly transparent stone with an adularescent blue effect.
"Jakey look at this. It's gorgeous."
Jake leaned over to look at the jewelry piece she held in her hands.
"Damn, that is gorgeous. Check the way the blue part glows. That's pretty dope."
"Ah, yes. The hecatolite, or more commonly known, moonstone," Trixie and Jake looked up as a man whose lower half instead of 2 human legs were 8 spider legs made his way over to them. "Hello, my name is Matthew Greene. How are you doing this evening?"
Jake shrugged. "Not bad, thank you. We're actually here looking for someone. Do you know a woman named Iris Vea?"
A sad look crossed the man's face as he nodded. "Ah, yes. Iris used to work a cart selling her homemade remedies before her daughter got sick. You're customers yes?"
Jake nodded. "We were hoping to find her here, we didn't know about her daughter."
The man sighed. "Yes. It's such a shame but, they're hanging in there."
Jake nodded. "Well, is there any way you could give us her address? I know this may not be the best time, but it's kind of an emergency."
"Not a problem. Iris will be happy to have the business. Let me go write it down for you, yes?" A moment later, the man had disappeared into the building behind his cart.
Trixie looked over at her friend who had his hands in his pockets and his eyes focused on the ground. She reached out a hand and touched his shoulder.
"Hang in there Jakey. We're almost there, it'll be over soon."
"Trixie, nothing is gonna be over," Jake sighed as he raised his head. "One of two things is gonna happen today, either we meet Iris and she tells me, 'yea I had a vision too and it came true', and then I spend the rest of my life worrying about when mine is gonna happen. Or she tells me, 'no, I didn't have a vision' and then I spend the rest of my life wondering what my vision meant and if I even heard a banshee at all, and I- I'm just starting to wonder if all this effort is worth it."
"Jakey, we already discussed this, we're gonna take it one step at a time remember? Let's get through this meeting and then we'll figure out what to do from there. Just try to stay calm, okay? We're here for you."
He gave her a half-smile as Matthew returned, a piece of paper in his hand.
"Here you go, sir," he said, holding the page out to Jake.
Jake accepted the paper, thanking him and studying the address.
"Cool so it's not too far from here," Trixie said as she peeked over his shoulder. "I'll go grab Spud, I know that boy probably ate so much schnitzel I'm gonna have to roll him away from the cart."
Jake chuckled and said a quick thank you to the man as he turned to leave.
"Pardon me," Matthew said, causing Jake to turn back around. "I'm sorry, but, I just can't shake the feeling that I know you from somewhere. What's your name? If I may ask."
"Jake Long," Jake said as he extended his hand.
The man's face instantly lit up as he took the teen's hand in both of his and shook it vigorously.
"Oh yes! The American Dragon! It is such an honor to meet you. You once helped my sister Veronica when a gang of biker trolls was destroying her shop."
Jake raised his eyebrows at the man. "Oh, you're Veronica's brother? Yea I know her she's a family friend."
Matthew smiled and nodded. "Yes, after that day I moved out here so I could watch after her, but those trolls never came back. You really must have given it to them." He leaned back as he laughed.
Jake gave him a bit of a confused look but nodded. "Right. Well, I'm glad I was able to help her out. She's done a lot for my family."
"And you sure did a lot for her." The older man gestured to the cart. "To show my appreciation, I would like for you to have an item from my shop. Anything you would like."
Jake smiled and looked down at the merchandise. "That's kind of you, I really couldn't, though. Protecting the people is my duty, I don't expect anything in return."
"How about this," Matthew reached down and picked up the necklace Trixie was looking at, quickly wrapping it up and placing it into a small gift box. "How about you at least take this for your lady friend? I would really like to do something for you for helping my sister."
Jake nodded and after hesitating for only a moment, accepted the box, tucking it into his pocket.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Greene. She'll love it."
The Arachne man smiled from ear to ear and wished Jake luck. The teen walked away from the cart and met with his friends.
"You guys ready to go?"
"For sure," Spud said as he reached into the paper bag he was holding and pulled out a skewered piece of breaded chicken, offering it to his friend. "Schnitzel?"
"Nah I'm good bro," Jake said.
"Your loss," he replied with a shrug, digging into his bag again. "Hold on a second... I asked for extra mustard cream sauce and I get one extra sauce? Gimme a second."
Jake shook his head and leaned against the wall as Spud dashed off to the cart again.
"To be fair, the mustard sauce is really good" Trixie noted.
"Yea no kidding. Oh, right, before I forget..." Jake reached into his pocket and took the box out of his pocket. "Matthew gave me this, he said I helped Veronica out with something a while back, and she's his sister so he gave me this as like a thank you."
"Oh, Jake, no. You should give this to someone else, not me."
"No way, you saw it first. Besides, you've been a trooper hanging in there with us all day today. Spud is always down for the cause but I know you didn't want to do this and you still stuck it out for me anyway."
She looked up at him and smiled and allowed him to place the box in her hands.
"Thank you, Jakey. That's sweet of you."
He smirked and brought a hand up to touch her chin.
"Anytime baby girl."
"Alright y'all," Spud said as he joined his friends again. "Let's go find us a traumatized lady."
A/N: Alright you guys it's finally here! Again, I am so sorry for the long wait! I will be working on chapter 6 immediately so expect it to be out in a month or so!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and the rewrites. Please let me know what you think!