A/N: I'm going to say it once and only once. *long pause to get
everyone's attention) I don't own nor claim to own anything or anyone but
Blythe. There, said it. Are you people happy? No? Well get happy. On with
the story.
Chapter 1
Blythe trudged through the three inches of fresh, powdery snow. With each step a soft crunch sounded and a cool wind nipped at her bare, num legs.
'Here I am,' she thought, 'fifteen years old and still selling Girl Scout cookies. You would think I would get some sort of seniority benefit or something.' More sentences of complaint ran through her head, of which we shall not repeat, but the flow of thoughts stopped when she approached the last house on her map. House? Ha! More like a mansion. Pulling out a worn piece of paper from her pocket she rechecked the high lighted route. It was the right place alright. 'Are they kidding me? This place is like a fortress!" Hesitantly she made her way up to the huge iron gated entrance where she found there to be an intercom. Shrugging she pressed a small red button on the black box.
"Fowl Manner. Who is it?" a booming male voice crackled over the receiver.
Placing a cheerful smile on her face she began with the same spill she had been using since she was five years old,
"Hi, I'm Blythe and I was wondering if you would be interested in purchasing some Girl Scout cookies. We have a wide selection ranging from."
"Sorry," the same voice interrupted, "we're not interested." She heard the crackle of the intercom stop as it turned off.
"Humph. We'll they're not going to get rid of me that easily." She said determination clear in her voice. Pressing the button again she replaced the same smile on her face. This time though it was framed with a slight annoyance.
"Yes?" came a voice.
"Umm.it's me again." She began. 'Way to go with the great entrances.' She scolded herself then hurriedly continued,
"Are you positive you aren't interested in purchasing some cookies? We have a wide variety ranging from chocolate chunk, almond and peanut butter cluster, m and m, thin mints."
"Look," interrupted a young, calm, confident, and rather irritated sounding voice, "We are not interested. Now would you please go home and cease with your insistent pestering."
"But."
"No."
"But."
"No." She wasn't given a chance to argue farther because the connection was cut off.
"Drat! Well there has to be some other way for me to get into this place. I'll sell a box of cookies to these people if it kills me! After all they are bound to have enough money to buy the freaken company it wont break them to buy one box." With that short confidence booster speech she began executing her break-in by tapping each individual brick at the base of the wall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Artemis." Butler looked over at his young master. He had spent the last fifteen years with the boy and had no intentions of leaving any time soon.
"Yes Butler?" Artemis looked up from his computer screen to see his only friend wearing a dazed look across his face. "Butler? Are you ok?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I was just remembering."
"Is that what you called my attention for?"
"Oh. No. That cookie girl is walking around the wall tapping the bricks. Should I show her the way home?"
Artemis glanced over to the wall of monitors and found the one Butler was referring to. On it he saw the form of a girl crouching and lightly tapping the bricks of the outer wall. She looked to be about five foot two. Her clothing consisted of a short black skirt, a sleeveless, lavender, turtleneck sweater, and a pair of calf-length, white boots. Her waist length auburn hair was pulled back in to a braid that was tied off with a floppy, light pink bow at the end.
"I highly doubt that anyone dressed like that in the dead of winter has the brain capacity to break into Fowl Manner. Ignore her. Is the transaction from the Bulmore account complete?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After two hours of monotonous tapping Blythe's little peep talk to herself had warn off. Frustration built up inside and she stood up and gave the detestable wall a swift kick. Immediately pain surged through her whole body. Plopping down in the snow she grabbed her afflicted foot and began to cradle it. Shooting an angry glare at the wall she noted something. Where she had kicked it some bricks lay crumbled. Excitement building up in her she used her other foot and sent another swift kick to the wall. Ten minutes latter she had a hole big enough for her to crawl through and two extremely sore feet. Getting down on her stomach she wriggled through her newly made entrance. Standing up on the other side she brushed off some snow and began to make her way to the back door.
When she reached the back door she pressed a doorbell. A soft ring droned out in various octaves and a frail, thin face appeared in the window of the door. This face was framed with lush, chocolate brown hair and set off by a stunning pair of soft blue eyes. The lady smiled warmly at Blythe as she opened the door and asked in a sweet honey, like voice,
"Are you lost dear?"
The voice was welcoming to her chilled ears as she answered,
"No mam. I'm selling cookies. Would you be interested in buying some? Please. I've been selling since five this morning and no one has bought anything." True it wasn't her normal sells pitch but she was tiered and didn't really care what anyone thought.
"Why of course dear. Come inside and I'll make a nice cup of hot coco for you to drink and then we'll discuss buying cookies."
She stepped into the warm kitchen and sat down at a nearby table.
"What is your name dear?"
"Blythe. What's yours?" she answered as she looked around the massive kitchen in awe.
"Angelina Fowl. What are you selling cookies for?"
"Girl Scouts." "My, aren't you a little old to be in girl scouts?" "No. It's just that most girls drop out by the time they're my age."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis was in the middle of another 'bank transaction' as he called them when he looked up at a nearby monitor. What he saw before him was his mother in the kitchen talking to that cookie girl.
"Butler," he began in the same calm voice of his, "how did that girl get in?"
After a quick review of the tape on all the outside cameras they found footage of her kicking some brick through and crawling in.
"I told father that he needed to replace that old brick last summer. I think I shall go down and introduce her to the door."
"Do you want me to go too?" asked Butler.
"No. I need you to stay up here and watch for anymore Girl Scouts who may find their way to our gate." Really Artemis knew that the strain to go down stairs and back up would be great on Butler and he didn't wish to cause that pain on his old friend.
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"A major snowstorm will hit today folks. I would advise all those who are listening to stay indoors until further notification is issued." Mrs. Fowl turned off the radio.
"Well.," she began, "Sounds like you're going to be spending the night."
"But my grandparents." She began.
"Call them." She answered pointing to a nearby telephone.
Blythe stood up from the table and steeped over to the counter. She picked up the phone and began to dial but as the receiver was ringing a pale hand slapped down onto the button causing the line to disconnect. Startled she looked up to see a pair of icy blue orbs glaring at her with a fire of pure hatred flaming inside them. A wave of fear rushed over her and she took an involuntary step back. Mrs. Fowl coolly got up from her seat and rested a frail hand on the shoulder of the boy.
"Artemis, tell her you're sorry."
"No. She doesn't belong here. She broke in. She's a criminal!" answered the boy sharply.
"I am not." Blythe did her best to bite back her anger.
"She's right Artemis. She isn't a criminal. She's just a poor little girl trying to sell Girl Scout cookies. Now leave her alone."
"She's not spending the night." He growled.
"Yes she is. Now either get a better attitude or go back to your room."
To this Artemis stormed out of the kitchen. Oh he had plenty of things he could have said in return but he also had plenty of plans to make this girl wish she had never set eye on the Fowl Estates.
"Please forgive Artemis. He's not the most social boy in the world." Mrs. Fowl apologized. "He really needs to get some friends his own age." Blythe saw a glimmer of regret flash over the woman's face but it was hastily replaced with a warm smile.
After calling her grandparents Mrs. Fowl lead her down a series of hallways to a guestroom. She slowly opened the door to the room. Upon seeing it she took in a sharp gasp. The room itself was huge. It was the size of an entire two bed room apartment. Its theme was medieval. The bed was a king sized bed with light pink satin sheets and comforter, lots of pillows, and mosquito netting that gave it just the right touch. Across from the bed was a beautifully carved cabinet with four doors on it. Behind two of the doors was a fifty-one inch wide screen HDTV with a DVD/VHS player. Right under those two doors was two more of the same size. Behind those doors was a surround sound cd player. From the cabinets her eyes trailed to the walls. One wall had a huge tapestry on it depicting a battle seen with a beautiful maiden as leader of an army and a legion of knights in shinning armor and behind her on the other three walls hung weapons from the era of theme. Then her eyes fell on a full suit of armor. She was going to have to try that on before she left. The remainder of space was filled with an area rug, a dresser against one of the walls, and a walk-in closet in the other wall.
Adjoining the bedroom was a luxurious bathroom which consisted of a huge round tub with whirl pool, jet, and bubble options. There was also a standing shower in the corner with pink tented glass. The walls in this room were made up of mirrors. Something Blythe didn't particularly care for. Mrs. Fowl left her to examine her room and after a few minutes she returned with a bundle in her arms.
"Here," She handed her the bundle, "take a warm bath and dress in these. They're old but they should fit." She turned around to leave then paused at the doorway.
"Did you forget something?" Blythe asked.
"There was something else I was...," she heard Mrs. Fowl mumble, "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Dinner will be served at six thirty. I'll see you then. Is there anything else you need?"
Looking down at the bundle, Blythe saw there to be a new tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, and clothing.
"Well.you wouldn't happen to have hair soap, soap, towels, and a hair blow dryer would you?" she asked.
"They should all be in the bathroom. Is that all?"
"I believe so. Thank you so much for taking me in."
"You're welcome." Answered the older woman cheerfully and she left, shutting the door behind her.
Taking a long warm bath in the huge tube, Blythe took this time to reflect on this day and the curious boy she had meet. She couldn't remove the terrible look of his hard eyes upon her. If she didn't know any better she would have sworn he was plotting murder. Dunking her head under the surface, she allowed the warm water to wash away all her worries.
After she finished her bath she fixed her hair in her normal braid tied off with a her floppy pink bow and dressed in the clothing that was loaned to her. The jeans were a little big but she had been wearing a belt around her waist earlier so taking this she looped the belt through the belt loops. Examining her reflection in the bathroom she saw a girl with brunet hair pulled in a braid adorned in an expensive nit, white, turtle neck sweater with a pair of faded flare jeans resting on her hips. Satisfied with what she saw she glanced at a nearby clock. It read six fifteen. If she left now she might be able to make it down to the dining area by six thirty. Depending on how many times she got lost. Bounding out the door of her room she began making her way down the hallway.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Glancing at the clock, Artemis noted that it was time to depart for dinner. Leaving his computers to finish the remaining transactions, he exited his "office" with Butler at his side and made his way down stairs.
"We now have 200 of our original 500 targets. If we continue at this rate we can have all 500 by tomorrow afternoon." Artemis said to no one in particular.
"Are you positive the computers are secure?"
"Yes. You see not only have I disabled all the security systems but I have also created this wonderful block that erases."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Blythe wandered aimlessly through dimly lit halls.
"I think I took a wrong turn." She said aloud to herself.
"I believe you did too." Answered a deep voice as she felt a heavy hand rest on her shoulder. Swiftly turning she faced a dark figure towering over her. In a moment of panic she broke free from the huge hand and began to blindly run down the hallway. Finally seeing a corner she turned.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A giant thud sounded as Artemis hit the floor. The breath was knocked out of him and he could feel pain running up and down his back. Easing his eyes open he looked over in time to see the body of a girl rolling into an end table knocking over an expensive vase. The girl squealed and curled into a tight ball with her arms over her head as tiny, crystal shards flew from the crashing vase. She stayed like that for a minute. Then realizing that she was not hurt, she slowly began to uncoil from her position. Sitting up she looked at Artemis. Smiling nervously she asked,
"Are you ok?"
Glaring over at her he replied with,
"Generally when one is knocked off their feet unexpectedly and their respiratory system is interrupted they are not ok."
"I'll take that as a 'no' then. Here let me help you up." She said as she popped up from her sitting position on the floor and offered him a hand.
"That will be quite all right." He said waving her away.
"I suppose I should clean this up then." She commented motioning to the crashed remains of the vase.
"You should but I believe Butler has already left to see to the clean up. Now if you don't mind you have already delayed me and I wish not to be late." With that he spun on his heel and continued walking down the hall. Blythe stuck her tongue out at his back and was surprised when he turned around and shoot her a death glare. Standing by herself the thought occurred to her that she had not the faintest idea on how to get to the dinning hall.
"Hey! Wait up!" she shouted as she ran in the direction that Artemis had gone.
When she finally got him in her line of vision she saw him descending an extravagant stair case. Seeing that he ignored her persistent shouts, she flung one leg over the banister and slid down the railing. She arrived at the bottom the same time he did only she arrived on the bottom floor on her butt while 'Mr. Perfect' gracefully stepped off the last step.
"If you continue your reckless and careless antics you will end up causing another accident like you did only moments ago. I advise that for the remainder of your stay you refrain yourself and hold yourself in an orderly indoor manner." He addressed her with a lofty air and continued in his forward direction.
Getting up, Blythe rubbed her bottom then hurried to catch up with the strange boy. When she got in step with him they had arrived at the dinning hall. Mrs. Fowl motioned to a chair next to her and she gratefully accepted it.
She rocked back and forth lightly in her chair as she waited for the food to be served.
Artemis looked at her and commented, "You're going to fall backwards if you continue to rock on the legs of your chair."
She just shrugged to his comment and continued to rock. Suddenly the dark figure she had encountered in the hallway earlier appeared in the doorway. The next thing she knew she was clawing on the table trying to keep her chair from tipping over. Unfortunately the inevitable happened and she fell backwards. Looking up she saw three faces staring down at her. One with warm blue eyes, one with cold mocking blue eyes, and one with soft brown eyes. The man with soft brown eyes held out a huge, callused hand to her. She accepted it and he pulled her up from her uncomfortable position on the floor.
"I'm afraid our first introduction wasn't one that I would like to remember you by." He said.
"Blythe, this is my husband Mr. Fowl." Mrs. Angelina said, "Have you two already had the pleasure of meeting?"
"Well, we meet but I wouldn't say that it was too pleasurable." He said winking at the rather embarrassed girl. "Honey, you didn't tell me that we were having company."
"It was rather unexpected. She was selling cookies when a snow storm hit."
"Ahh.I see. Well it is nice to meet you. I'm glad that we had a chance to be properly introduced."
Blythe smiled and picked up her chair scanning it over for any afflictions. Mrs. Angelina seemed to notice this and assured her not to worry that any damage could easily be fixed. Cautiously she sat back down only to meet the gaze of Artemis sitting across from her. His eyes wore a mocking I-told-you-so-look emitting from them. He may be above saying such a childish remark but he certainly wasn't above thinking it.
Just as she was about to comment on his I-told-you-so-look a tall girl with brunet hair stepped into the room carrying a platter with food on it. She was about to place the food on the table when the lights flickered and went out. Then they came back on and went out again. A groan sounded from below the floor. It sounded like machinery shutting down.
"Umm.don't you have a generator?" Blythe asked.
"We do." Answered Artemis, "We have several in fact."
Another groan sounded below the floor and Butler's voice was heard in the room.
"The generators shut down."
"Shut down?" asked Mrs. Angelina
"Yes mam. It seems the storms have frozen some of the main wiring."
"Oh. Well I suppose we can all have dinner in our rooms." She replied
"May I please be excused?" asked Artemis remaining as cool as normal.
"Yes you may." Answered Mrs. Angelina
The girl who served the food reentered the room with six candles and handed one to every one. Artemis got up and strolled off to who knows where with Butler behind him leaving Mr. and Mrs. Fowl, Blythe, and the serving girl. The two Fowls got up and left just as Artemis was returning. They didn't pause to talk to their son but instead continued on their way to their room. Artemis took his seat at the table across from Blythe with a stunned look on his face.
"My *blink, blink* computers *blink, blink* shut down."
"Yeah, that generally happens when the electricity go out." She said as if her were a little child.
"No you don't understand. I have a separate set of generators for my computers as well as back up generators for those."
"And.?"
Artemis stood up and leaned over the long table as he glared at her,
"Do you realize how far behind this puts me on my work?"
"No but I have a feeling I'm going to hear about it."
Sighing the youth sat back down.
"Let's play a game!" She suggested trying to use this one on one opportunity to get to know this mysterious boy.
"What?" he asked with not even a twinge of interest or enthusiasm in his voice.
"'I Spy' is always fun! Come on...I spy something."
Thunk.
"What was that?"
Thunk.
"Are you hitting your head on the table?"
Thunk.
You know people usually do that when they're annoyed."
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
"Hey! Are you saying I'm annoying?"
Thunk.
"You're a very rude person."
Thunk.
Following that last 'thunk' Blythe decided it was time to go find her room. After an hour of searching, wrong turns, and opening hundreds of wrong doors, she finally reached the last door down what she thought had to be the last hallway that she had yet to check. Easing the door open she didn't hear anyone say anything so she pushed it open farther, seeing it to be her room she drug her tiered body through the entrance not even bothering to close the door behind her. Plopping down on her bed she saw a previously unnoticed fireplace ablaze with a toasty flame and a cold tray of food sitting on the night stand beside her bed. Ignoring the food she tunneled her way under her covers and drifted off into a deep and restful sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hazel eyes fluttered open as the sun peaked through the curtins of her room. Blythe's brain began running off a list of things that she needed to get done before she left for school. 'Make breakfast, feed the cat, get dressed, do Geometry homework,.' suddenly she took note of her surroundings. She was no longer in her small, dark room encircled with her few precious belongings. Instead she was in a massive room. 'Where am I?' she asked herself. Then a thought crossed her mind and she began to yell,
'KIDNAP! I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!!"
Hearing the terrified screams of the girl Butler made his way down the hall to her room. Stepping inside he was greeted with the horrified expression of a scared girl as he felt the impact of a heavy white boot hit his arm.
"Don't think you're going to rape me that easily!" she yelled.
"Ow! Don't you remember where you are?" he asked her.
Then everything came rushing back to her like a wave.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" She scrambled out of bed to see if he needed medical attention but he just took a step back, bowed, and left the room.
Brushing her teeth and fixing her hair, she left the room to go down stairs. In the dinning hall she found everyone gathered neatly around the table enjoying a huge breakfast. It was then she realized how hungry she was after skipping her meal from the night before and as if a trumpeter had announced her arrival with a giant blast, her stomach let out a loud growl. Everyone turned and looked at her as she edged her way to her seat trying her best not to cause any further of a distraction. As soon as breakfast was over with Mrs. Fowl arranged for Blythe to go home. On her way out the door she passed by Artemis, who looked quite satisfied with her departure. Noting this pleasure she turned to him with a wide, chesher cat grin and said,
"I'll be back."
With that said she scooted into the back of the limo and was sent off on her way home.
A/N: Well I got a lot covered in that chapter! O don't worry. Our little annoyance will be back in the next chapter. Mwahahahahaha! Hopefully it wont be as long as this one. Till next time. Please r&r! ^ ~
Chapter 1
Blythe trudged through the three inches of fresh, powdery snow. With each step a soft crunch sounded and a cool wind nipped at her bare, num legs.
'Here I am,' she thought, 'fifteen years old and still selling Girl Scout cookies. You would think I would get some sort of seniority benefit or something.' More sentences of complaint ran through her head, of which we shall not repeat, but the flow of thoughts stopped when she approached the last house on her map. House? Ha! More like a mansion. Pulling out a worn piece of paper from her pocket she rechecked the high lighted route. It was the right place alright. 'Are they kidding me? This place is like a fortress!" Hesitantly she made her way up to the huge iron gated entrance where she found there to be an intercom. Shrugging she pressed a small red button on the black box.
"Fowl Manner. Who is it?" a booming male voice crackled over the receiver.
Placing a cheerful smile on her face she began with the same spill she had been using since she was five years old,
"Hi, I'm Blythe and I was wondering if you would be interested in purchasing some Girl Scout cookies. We have a wide selection ranging from."
"Sorry," the same voice interrupted, "we're not interested." She heard the crackle of the intercom stop as it turned off.
"Humph. We'll they're not going to get rid of me that easily." She said determination clear in her voice. Pressing the button again she replaced the same smile on her face. This time though it was framed with a slight annoyance.
"Yes?" came a voice.
"Umm.it's me again." She began. 'Way to go with the great entrances.' She scolded herself then hurriedly continued,
"Are you positive you aren't interested in purchasing some cookies? We have a wide variety ranging from chocolate chunk, almond and peanut butter cluster, m and m, thin mints."
"Look," interrupted a young, calm, confident, and rather irritated sounding voice, "We are not interested. Now would you please go home and cease with your insistent pestering."
"But."
"No."
"But."
"No." She wasn't given a chance to argue farther because the connection was cut off.
"Drat! Well there has to be some other way for me to get into this place. I'll sell a box of cookies to these people if it kills me! After all they are bound to have enough money to buy the freaken company it wont break them to buy one box." With that short confidence booster speech she began executing her break-in by tapping each individual brick at the base of the wall.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Artemis." Butler looked over at his young master. He had spent the last fifteen years with the boy and had no intentions of leaving any time soon.
"Yes Butler?" Artemis looked up from his computer screen to see his only friend wearing a dazed look across his face. "Butler? Are you ok?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine. I was just remembering."
"Is that what you called my attention for?"
"Oh. No. That cookie girl is walking around the wall tapping the bricks. Should I show her the way home?"
Artemis glanced over to the wall of monitors and found the one Butler was referring to. On it he saw the form of a girl crouching and lightly tapping the bricks of the outer wall. She looked to be about five foot two. Her clothing consisted of a short black skirt, a sleeveless, lavender, turtleneck sweater, and a pair of calf-length, white boots. Her waist length auburn hair was pulled back in to a braid that was tied off with a floppy, light pink bow at the end.
"I highly doubt that anyone dressed like that in the dead of winter has the brain capacity to break into Fowl Manner. Ignore her. Is the transaction from the Bulmore account complete?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After two hours of monotonous tapping Blythe's little peep talk to herself had warn off. Frustration built up inside and she stood up and gave the detestable wall a swift kick. Immediately pain surged through her whole body. Plopping down in the snow she grabbed her afflicted foot and began to cradle it. Shooting an angry glare at the wall she noted something. Where she had kicked it some bricks lay crumbled. Excitement building up in her she used her other foot and sent another swift kick to the wall. Ten minutes latter she had a hole big enough for her to crawl through and two extremely sore feet. Getting down on her stomach she wriggled through her newly made entrance. Standing up on the other side she brushed off some snow and began to make her way to the back door.
When she reached the back door she pressed a doorbell. A soft ring droned out in various octaves and a frail, thin face appeared in the window of the door. This face was framed with lush, chocolate brown hair and set off by a stunning pair of soft blue eyes. The lady smiled warmly at Blythe as she opened the door and asked in a sweet honey, like voice,
"Are you lost dear?"
The voice was welcoming to her chilled ears as she answered,
"No mam. I'm selling cookies. Would you be interested in buying some? Please. I've been selling since five this morning and no one has bought anything." True it wasn't her normal sells pitch but she was tiered and didn't really care what anyone thought.
"Why of course dear. Come inside and I'll make a nice cup of hot coco for you to drink and then we'll discuss buying cookies."
She stepped into the warm kitchen and sat down at a nearby table.
"What is your name dear?"
"Blythe. What's yours?" she answered as she looked around the massive kitchen in awe.
"Angelina Fowl. What are you selling cookies for?"
"Girl Scouts." "My, aren't you a little old to be in girl scouts?" "No. It's just that most girls drop out by the time they're my age."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Artemis was in the middle of another 'bank transaction' as he called them when he looked up at a nearby monitor. What he saw before him was his mother in the kitchen talking to that cookie girl.
"Butler," he began in the same calm voice of his, "how did that girl get in?"
After a quick review of the tape on all the outside cameras they found footage of her kicking some brick through and crawling in.
"I told father that he needed to replace that old brick last summer. I think I shall go down and introduce her to the door."
"Do you want me to go too?" asked Butler.
"No. I need you to stay up here and watch for anymore Girl Scouts who may find their way to our gate." Really Artemis knew that the strain to go down stairs and back up would be great on Butler and he didn't wish to cause that pain on his old friend.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"A major snowstorm will hit today folks. I would advise all those who are listening to stay indoors until further notification is issued." Mrs. Fowl turned off the radio.
"Well.," she began, "Sounds like you're going to be spending the night."
"But my grandparents." She began.
"Call them." She answered pointing to a nearby telephone.
Blythe stood up from the table and steeped over to the counter. She picked up the phone and began to dial but as the receiver was ringing a pale hand slapped down onto the button causing the line to disconnect. Startled she looked up to see a pair of icy blue orbs glaring at her with a fire of pure hatred flaming inside them. A wave of fear rushed over her and she took an involuntary step back. Mrs. Fowl coolly got up from her seat and rested a frail hand on the shoulder of the boy.
"Artemis, tell her you're sorry."
"No. She doesn't belong here. She broke in. She's a criminal!" answered the boy sharply.
"I am not." Blythe did her best to bite back her anger.
"She's right Artemis. She isn't a criminal. She's just a poor little girl trying to sell Girl Scout cookies. Now leave her alone."
"She's not spending the night." He growled.
"Yes she is. Now either get a better attitude or go back to your room."
To this Artemis stormed out of the kitchen. Oh he had plenty of things he could have said in return but he also had plenty of plans to make this girl wish she had never set eye on the Fowl Estates.
"Please forgive Artemis. He's not the most social boy in the world." Mrs. Fowl apologized. "He really needs to get some friends his own age." Blythe saw a glimmer of regret flash over the woman's face but it was hastily replaced with a warm smile.
After calling her grandparents Mrs. Fowl lead her down a series of hallways to a guestroom. She slowly opened the door to the room. Upon seeing it she took in a sharp gasp. The room itself was huge. It was the size of an entire two bed room apartment. Its theme was medieval. The bed was a king sized bed with light pink satin sheets and comforter, lots of pillows, and mosquito netting that gave it just the right touch. Across from the bed was a beautifully carved cabinet with four doors on it. Behind two of the doors was a fifty-one inch wide screen HDTV with a DVD/VHS player. Right under those two doors was two more of the same size. Behind those doors was a surround sound cd player. From the cabinets her eyes trailed to the walls. One wall had a huge tapestry on it depicting a battle seen with a beautiful maiden as leader of an army and a legion of knights in shinning armor and behind her on the other three walls hung weapons from the era of theme. Then her eyes fell on a full suit of armor. She was going to have to try that on before she left. The remainder of space was filled with an area rug, a dresser against one of the walls, and a walk-in closet in the other wall.
Adjoining the bedroom was a luxurious bathroom which consisted of a huge round tub with whirl pool, jet, and bubble options. There was also a standing shower in the corner with pink tented glass. The walls in this room were made up of mirrors. Something Blythe didn't particularly care for. Mrs. Fowl left her to examine her room and after a few minutes she returned with a bundle in her arms.
"Here," She handed her the bundle, "take a warm bath and dress in these. They're old but they should fit." She turned around to leave then paused at the doorway.
"Did you forget something?" Blythe asked.
"There was something else I was...," she heard Mrs. Fowl mumble, "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Dinner will be served at six thirty. I'll see you then. Is there anything else you need?"
Looking down at the bundle, Blythe saw there to be a new tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, and clothing.
"Well.you wouldn't happen to have hair soap, soap, towels, and a hair blow dryer would you?" she asked.
"They should all be in the bathroom. Is that all?"
"I believe so. Thank you so much for taking me in."
"You're welcome." Answered the older woman cheerfully and she left, shutting the door behind her.
Taking a long warm bath in the huge tube, Blythe took this time to reflect on this day and the curious boy she had meet. She couldn't remove the terrible look of his hard eyes upon her. If she didn't know any better she would have sworn he was plotting murder. Dunking her head under the surface, she allowed the warm water to wash away all her worries.
After she finished her bath she fixed her hair in her normal braid tied off with a her floppy pink bow and dressed in the clothing that was loaned to her. The jeans were a little big but she had been wearing a belt around her waist earlier so taking this she looped the belt through the belt loops. Examining her reflection in the bathroom she saw a girl with brunet hair pulled in a braid adorned in an expensive nit, white, turtle neck sweater with a pair of faded flare jeans resting on her hips. Satisfied with what she saw she glanced at a nearby clock. It read six fifteen. If she left now she might be able to make it down to the dining area by six thirty. Depending on how many times she got lost. Bounding out the door of her room she began making her way down the hallway.
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Glancing at the clock, Artemis noted that it was time to depart for dinner. Leaving his computers to finish the remaining transactions, he exited his "office" with Butler at his side and made his way down stairs.
"We now have 200 of our original 500 targets. If we continue at this rate we can have all 500 by tomorrow afternoon." Artemis said to no one in particular.
"Are you positive the computers are secure?"
"Yes. You see not only have I disabled all the security systems but I have also created this wonderful block that erases."
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Blythe wandered aimlessly through dimly lit halls.
"I think I took a wrong turn." She said aloud to herself.
"I believe you did too." Answered a deep voice as she felt a heavy hand rest on her shoulder. Swiftly turning she faced a dark figure towering over her. In a moment of panic she broke free from the huge hand and began to blindly run down the hallway. Finally seeing a corner she turned.
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A giant thud sounded as Artemis hit the floor. The breath was knocked out of him and he could feel pain running up and down his back. Easing his eyes open he looked over in time to see the body of a girl rolling into an end table knocking over an expensive vase. The girl squealed and curled into a tight ball with her arms over her head as tiny, crystal shards flew from the crashing vase. She stayed like that for a minute. Then realizing that she was not hurt, she slowly began to uncoil from her position. Sitting up she looked at Artemis. Smiling nervously she asked,
"Are you ok?"
Glaring over at her he replied with,
"Generally when one is knocked off their feet unexpectedly and their respiratory system is interrupted they are not ok."
"I'll take that as a 'no' then. Here let me help you up." She said as she popped up from her sitting position on the floor and offered him a hand.
"That will be quite all right." He said waving her away.
"I suppose I should clean this up then." She commented motioning to the crashed remains of the vase.
"You should but I believe Butler has already left to see to the clean up. Now if you don't mind you have already delayed me and I wish not to be late." With that he spun on his heel and continued walking down the hall. Blythe stuck her tongue out at his back and was surprised when he turned around and shoot her a death glare. Standing by herself the thought occurred to her that she had not the faintest idea on how to get to the dinning hall.
"Hey! Wait up!" she shouted as she ran in the direction that Artemis had gone.
When she finally got him in her line of vision she saw him descending an extravagant stair case. Seeing that he ignored her persistent shouts, she flung one leg over the banister and slid down the railing. She arrived at the bottom the same time he did only she arrived on the bottom floor on her butt while 'Mr. Perfect' gracefully stepped off the last step.
"If you continue your reckless and careless antics you will end up causing another accident like you did only moments ago. I advise that for the remainder of your stay you refrain yourself and hold yourself in an orderly indoor manner." He addressed her with a lofty air and continued in his forward direction.
Getting up, Blythe rubbed her bottom then hurried to catch up with the strange boy. When she got in step with him they had arrived at the dinning hall. Mrs. Fowl motioned to a chair next to her and she gratefully accepted it.
She rocked back and forth lightly in her chair as she waited for the food to be served.
Artemis looked at her and commented, "You're going to fall backwards if you continue to rock on the legs of your chair."
She just shrugged to his comment and continued to rock. Suddenly the dark figure she had encountered in the hallway earlier appeared in the doorway. The next thing she knew she was clawing on the table trying to keep her chair from tipping over. Unfortunately the inevitable happened and she fell backwards. Looking up she saw three faces staring down at her. One with warm blue eyes, one with cold mocking blue eyes, and one with soft brown eyes. The man with soft brown eyes held out a huge, callused hand to her. She accepted it and he pulled her up from her uncomfortable position on the floor.
"I'm afraid our first introduction wasn't one that I would like to remember you by." He said.
"Blythe, this is my husband Mr. Fowl." Mrs. Angelina said, "Have you two already had the pleasure of meeting?"
"Well, we meet but I wouldn't say that it was too pleasurable." He said winking at the rather embarrassed girl. "Honey, you didn't tell me that we were having company."
"It was rather unexpected. She was selling cookies when a snow storm hit."
"Ahh.I see. Well it is nice to meet you. I'm glad that we had a chance to be properly introduced."
Blythe smiled and picked up her chair scanning it over for any afflictions. Mrs. Angelina seemed to notice this and assured her not to worry that any damage could easily be fixed. Cautiously she sat back down only to meet the gaze of Artemis sitting across from her. His eyes wore a mocking I-told-you-so-look emitting from them. He may be above saying such a childish remark but he certainly wasn't above thinking it.
Just as she was about to comment on his I-told-you-so-look a tall girl with brunet hair stepped into the room carrying a platter with food on it. She was about to place the food on the table when the lights flickered and went out. Then they came back on and went out again. A groan sounded from below the floor. It sounded like machinery shutting down.
"Umm.don't you have a generator?" Blythe asked.
"We do." Answered Artemis, "We have several in fact."
Another groan sounded below the floor and Butler's voice was heard in the room.
"The generators shut down."
"Shut down?" asked Mrs. Angelina
"Yes mam. It seems the storms have frozen some of the main wiring."
"Oh. Well I suppose we can all have dinner in our rooms." She replied
"May I please be excused?" asked Artemis remaining as cool as normal.
"Yes you may." Answered Mrs. Angelina
The girl who served the food reentered the room with six candles and handed one to every one. Artemis got up and strolled off to who knows where with Butler behind him leaving Mr. and Mrs. Fowl, Blythe, and the serving girl. The two Fowls got up and left just as Artemis was returning. They didn't pause to talk to their son but instead continued on their way to their room. Artemis took his seat at the table across from Blythe with a stunned look on his face.
"My *blink, blink* computers *blink, blink* shut down."
"Yeah, that generally happens when the electricity go out." She said as if her were a little child.
"No you don't understand. I have a separate set of generators for my computers as well as back up generators for those."
"And.?"
Artemis stood up and leaned over the long table as he glared at her,
"Do you realize how far behind this puts me on my work?"
"No but I have a feeling I'm going to hear about it."
Sighing the youth sat back down.
"Let's play a game!" She suggested trying to use this one on one opportunity to get to know this mysterious boy.
"What?" he asked with not even a twinge of interest or enthusiasm in his voice.
"'I Spy' is always fun! Come on...I spy something."
Thunk.
"What was that?"
Thunk.
"Are you hitting your head on the table?"
Thunk.
You know people usually do that when they're annoyed."
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
"Hey! Are you saying I'm annoying?"
Thunk.
"You're a very rude person."
Thunk.
Following that last 'thunk' Blythe decided it was time to go find her room. After an hour of searching, wrong turns, and opening hundreds of wrong doors, she finally reached the last door down what she thought had to be the last hallway that she had yet to check. Easing the door open she didn't hear anyone say anything so she pushed it open farther, seeing it to be her room she drug her tiered body through the entrance not even bothering to close the door behind her. Plopping down on her bed she saw a previously unnoticed fireplace ablaze with a toasty flame and a cold tray of food sitting on the night stand beside her bed. Ignoring the food she tunneled her way under her covers and drifted off into a deep and restful sleep.
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Hazel eyes fluttered open as the sun peaked through the curtins of her room. Blythe's brain began running off a list of things that she needed to get done before she left for school. 'Make breakfast, feed the cat, get dressed, do Geometry homework,.' suddenly she took note of her surroundings. She was no longer in her small, dark room encircled with her few precious belongings. Instead she was in a massive room. 'Where am I?' she asked herself. Then a thought crossed her mind and she began to yell,
'KIDNAP! I'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED!!"
Hearing the terrified screams of the girl Butler made his way down the hall to her room. Stepping inside he was greeted with the horrified expression of a scared girl as he felt the impact of a heavy white boot hit his arm.
"Don't think you're going to rape me that easily!" she yelled.
"Ow! Don't you remember where you are?" he asked her.
Then everything came rushing back to her like a wave.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" She scrambled out of bed to see if he needed medical attention but he just took a step back, bowed, and left the room.
Brushing her teeth and fixing her hair, she left the room to go down stairs. In the dinning hall she found everyone gathered neatly around the table enjoying a huge breakfast. It was then she realized how hungry she was after skipping her meal from the night before and as if a trumpeter had announced her arrival with a giant blast, her stomach let out a loud growl. Everyone turned and looked at her as she edged her way to her seat trying her best not to cause any further of a distraction. As soon as breakfast was over with Mrs. Fowl arranged for Blythe to go home. On her way out the door she passed by Artemis, who looked quite satisfied with her departure. Noting this pleasure she turned to him with a wide, chesher cat grin and said,
"I'll be back."
With that said she scooted into the back of the limo and was sent off on her way home.
A/N: Well I got a lot covered in that chapter! O don't worry. Our little annoyance will be back in the next chapter. Mwahahahahaha! Hopefully it wont be as long as this one. Till next time. Please r&r! ^ ~