Part III

Detention. Thrills. As I made my way down the halls I noticed several posters lining the walls about getting involved and being a better person. Some recommended Family Fun Nights; chances to get together with the whole family and just do fun things.

Right.

Let's see, I wonder would constitute as 'family fun' for my family?

Images of music playing down in a torture chamber flashed through my mind. Dad would probably be cross-dressed as my mother complete with makeup and wig while singing and dancing to the tune of said music, Mom would be performing painful experiments on some unfortunate individual, and Ash would be sniping people just for the fun of it. Not anywhere I'd want to be, mind you.

It occurred to me, and not for the first time, just how badly messed up my family was. A bunch of homicidal psychos. Sucks to be me.

Alrighty here, let's see….B-9, B-9.…where the heck was B-9? Someone was lazy with the labeling around here. Obviously they figured you could guess. Either that or they didn't want you to find your way around the building.

I rounded a corner and nearly collided with a guy going the opposite direction.

" Oops! I'm sorry, I…."

But he wasn't listening. Instead, the red-haired kid wearing a football uniform peered at my slip and grinned. " Detention huh? It's about time some of you rich snobs got what you deserve."

I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy! " Excuse me? We've just barely met! Normally I'd say pleased to make your acquaintance, but I'm really not so if you happen to know where the detention room is I'll just be on my way."

Football Guy jabbed a finger down the hall. " Second door to the right. Can't miss it."

I nodded. So the guy did have a shred of decency. " Thank you."

I hadn't made it halfway there before I heard another boy ask, " Who was that? " To which Football Guy responded, " Little Miss Snob."

That did it. Mrs. Phelps had always raised me to be proper and act well-bred, but sometimes when dealing with people like this I found it worked best to speak their language. I stopped and turned around, not caring who was watching.

" You want to see a snob? Just look in the mirror you jerk! " Quickly, before they had time to respond, I spun around on my heel and hurried off to B-9 catching only, " Dude, why'd you do that? She's pretty." From one of Football Jerk's friends. Or maybe lackey would be a more appropriate term in this case. I couldn't see how anyone like that could have any real friends.

First Jim and now this ponce….was the whole football team like that? 'Cause if that was the case they should rename themselves 'The Bayview Jerks.'

I entered the detention, which looked exactly like a normal classroom with desks, a blackboard, and the teachers' fortress of solitude. A few math equations were written on the board. Algebra from the looks of it. Apparently this room doubled as a math class at some point during the day. Looked like this was not a fun room to be in no matter what.

Four other kids were also here, three boys and a girl, all of varying ages.

An older woman was sitting at the command desk, her face fixed into same the permanent frown I was getting used to seeing on nearly all of the staff in this school. They didn't look any happier to be here than most of the students.

I was getting the impression this wasn't a very friendly school.

She looked up when I came in, then down at a sheet of paper on her desk. " Alexia Ashford huh? Welcome to detention."

One kid snickered.

I made my way over to the desk. " Actually, it's Alexis. Alexia is my middle name." And my mother's name. I added silently. Of course, she didn't need to know that. I handed her my slip. " How'd you know I was coming? "

The woman's frown deepened to the extent of the Marinas Trench. She produced a cordless phone and held it up in proud display like a prize. " Phone-in. Seems you picked a fight down in the cafeteria."

What?!

" I so did not! " I protested, shocked that that old hag down in the lunchroom would make up such a ridiculous story, " Jim was teasing my friend and…"

" That's enough! " The old witch barked, holding her withered hand up like a traffic cop, " You all say you're innocent, but you're not! This is not a courtroom. It is a classroom."

Yeah, where they teach detention. I thought, biting my tongue.

Madam Hag continued on, " And as such you are expected follow the rules, not debate your case. Find a seat. And be quiet. You can work on homework, but there is absolutely no talking! "

I knew better than to argue.

Defeated, I went over and plopped down in one of the back seats farthest away from everyone else.

One boy--a cute Latino around my age--gave me a sympathetic look before returning his attention back to his work.

No one else even looked back.

Madam Hag turned her attention back to the book she was reading, probably some cheap romance novel featuring a crabby old woman as the heroine.

I sighed and began to twist a lock of my straw-colored hair around my finger, wishing I was anywhere but here.

I hated this school.

Everyone acted like they were eating their daily bowl of Grouchios for breakfast each morning.

Well, maybe it wasn't fair to lump everyone in the same category. There were my new friends Tshondra and Josh. And Miss Honey, my Science teacher, who was as sweet as her name implied. She made teaching about having fun rather than just getting a bunch of boring facts rammed through your skull.

As a result, I'm much happier to do things for her, including homework. Which reminded me--I still had that French homework and a math assignment to do, complete with a family tree project due last period.

Drats. I was going to have to fudge a bit on that one. I could just imagine the teasing if everyone found out my parents were brother and sister. Not only that, I didn't even know who my grandmother was, which was sad since I only had one to start with. What do to in this case? Simple, when you're the inbred offspring of evil company owners you have to improvise.

In this case improvising meant making up some family members. Which would be pretty believable…I mean, there had to be other Ashfords out there somewhere, I would just claim kinship with them rather than my true roots. And even if there wasn't, who cared? As long as I made it look good, I could claim to be the descendant of George Washington and nobody would be any the wiser. Who was going to check up on this stuff and make sure it was all true anyway?

Of course, this started me thinking about my grandfather for some reason and I felt even more depressed. Thanks to my parents pushing me off into a foster family before I was even two days old, I didn't know much about him other than the facts that he was paranoid, slightly mental, viewed by most as a failure, strangely obsessed with our ancestor Veronica, and, eventually, turned into the monster Nosferatu where he sat for nearly fifteen years before getting free in which Claire and Steve were forced to kill him when he attacked them.

That had to suck.

But actually, I came very close to meeting my grandfather once when I was just eight years old. That was the same night I discovered some of the twisted and insane secrets about my own heritage.

The memory resurfaced, and I shut my eyes, recalling times past.

Of course, I didn't know it back then, but I came very close to cracking the secrets of Nosferatu and the inhumane experiments conducted at the Antarctic base long before anyone else…………..

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Ashford Base, Antarctica, July 20th, 1992

I punched the buttons on the Sega Genesis Controls wildly, my on screen character trying desperately to keep up with Sonic the hedgehog. It was no use. The blue speed demon couldn't care less if his buddy Tails got left behind. Even worse, thanks to some stupid designer of the game, the game focused on Sonic so it was it was very possible to leave the little fox in the dust, but not the other way around. It just wasn't fair.

" Ash will you wait up? " I hollered once my fox finally hovered out of the sky to land near Sonic after like, eighty bajillion minutes of being offscreen.

Ash just laughed and put Sonic into a spinroll, shooting off just as Tails touched the ground.

" Ash! " I groused.

" Haha, eat my dust Fluff Face! Foxes suck! Hedgehogs rule! Muhahahaha! I love being evil! " He looked positively ecstatic.

" But Sonic's a good guy," I pointed out, " and he would wait for his buddy."

Ash never took his eyes offs the screen. " So? Maybe Sonic finally got smart and decided he didn't need no button-nosed flying fox gumming op the works. He declares war! My Sonic declares war on Tails! "

" You can't do that! "

" Watch me." Onscreen, Sonic broke a box containing fifty rings.

I just scooted back further into my beanbag chair and watched. If only he would get to one of those tricky areas….yes! It happened! A steep cliff.

No way Sonic could get up there all by himself.

I waited for the inevitable.

Ash noticed the problem and stopped Sonic at the foot of the incline.

After a moment, Tails drifted down, looking cute as ever. I loved that little fox. Sonic, like my brother, could be such a jerk.

" I command thee! Fly me up there! There's an extra life I think."

I froze my fox. " Under one condition."

For a second, my nine year old brother turned and looked me in the eye. " What? " He sounded agitated.

" Promise you'll wait for me from now on okay? I don't get to play much when you just run off like that. "

" Well then maybe you should move faster." Ash grumped.

Brothers. They can be such pains in the neck.

" But you never give me the chance to! " I brought up, " The second my fox hits the ground off you go like he has a disease."

" He does. Cuteness. Yech! "

" Ash," I said with controlled anger, " if you don't play right….."

" Fine, fine." He cut me off, " Have it your way then. I'll wait for you Grandma."

" Promise? " I asked, ignoring being called a grandma. I had to be sure. My brother was very sneaky about things like that.

Ash rolled his eyes. " I promise. Oy, sisters."

" Alright then." I locked the 'B' button in turbo and proceeded to fly. When my character flew over Sonic, the hedgehog automatically grabbed his paws and then I was flying both of us. Higher and higher we went, up the side of the cliff….

" Okay see you! " Without warning, Sonic jumped out of Tails's paws and sped off before the little fox had a chance to land. So much for that.

" Hey! " I growled, reasonably upset, " What happened to your promise? "

" Promises, like many things in life, can be broken." Ash replied smugly.

I was furious. " You did that out of pure meanness! " I accused, ready to throw my controller at him.

He didn't even look at me this time. " Uh-huh. What are you going to do about it? "

What a jerk! I grabbed his controller and started pressing weird buttons like a madwoman, hoping to get his Sonic killed.

" Stop that! " He complained, yanking back roughly.

He scratched my hands and I howled in pain. So that was how he wanted it? Well, two could play at that game. I dug my longer, sharper nails into the flesh of his hands.

There are times when it really pays to be a girl. We generally let our fingernails grow longer than boys do.

" Yeaaaaaaaahhh! " Ash screamed in pain, " That's it, I'm going to knock your lights out! " He jabbed his elbow for my face.

I sunk down deeper into the beanbag and avoided it easily. Then….

" Yeow! " My hair! He was pulling my hair!

I grabbed a fistful of his and yanked as hard as I could, causing him to scream.

Then he yanked mine really hard and I screamed. Having your hair ripped from your head is not a good feeling. I felt like I was having my brains yanked out by the roots. I didn't have time to think about much else just then, just trying to get away.

We struggled in the beanbag chairs and I caught a brief glimpse of Sonic jumping into the water and drowning when Ash hit his own control wrong.

About that time the door flew open.

" What's going on in here? Stop it! Stop it at once! " Dad rushed over and smacked Ash on the face. It didn't look particularly hard, but Ash reeled back liked he'd been slugged.

Overactor.

" Now, what started you two fighting like Middle East countries? " He started to sit down in the comfy easychair of our gameroom.

Uh-oh.

" Dad, watch out for the…"

Sploot! Too late! Our father sat right upon Ash's abandoned tray of chili cheese fries.

Ash snorted with laughter.

I couldn't help myself either. It was rather funny. " …cheese fries." I finished.

Dad made a face. " Thank you for the timely warning Alexis," He beamed with phony enthusiasm, " but I'm just keeping them warm."

" Sure you are." Ash chuckled, rolling right onto his Sega controller. The newly resurrected Sonic ran into a pit of lava.

That reminded me. " Dad, Ash wasn't waiting for my fox and I hardly got a chance to play."

" She's lying! " Ash interjected, " I wait for her all the time! "

" You do not you big fibber! "

" Do too! "

" Do not! "

" Enough! " Dad snapped, silencing us. When our father gets testy, it's usually a good idea to listen to what he says. He can get awfully mean when he wants to.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in the beanbag. Great. Thanks to my stupid brother we were both probably going to be grounded.

Fortunately, Dad turned his venomous glare to Ash. " A brother and sister shouldn't fight like this! Ash, you oughta be ashamed of yourself. You only have one sister, how would you feel if something were to happen to her? How would you feel if she died tomorrow? Then you would remember forever that the last thing you ever did with her was fight. A sister is a wonderful gift that you should respect. And serve." He started getting a weird dreamy look on his face, like he was zoned out or something. " Yes, sisters are wonderful. So warm. So soft. So beautiful, smart, and voluptuous." He licked his upper lip a bit, " Mmm, Alexia."

" Um…Dad? You're starting to creep me out." Ash said, and for once I agreed with him.

Dad blinked. " Huh? Oh yeah, where was I? "

" Talking about how dumb sisters are." Ash tried.

Naturally, Dad didn't fall for it. " No! You should appreciate your sister."

" Yeah! " I added triumphantly, glad he was taking my side.

Ash scowled. " What would you know about sisters? You sound like you have one."

" I do! " Dad huffed, " A twin sister named Alexia! "

I was skeptical. " Really? Then why haven't we ever seen her before? "

Dad scratched his head quickly and got a really strange look on his face, like he'd just wandered outside with only his underwear on. " Ah well…you see…she's busy. Yeah, very busy with all kinds of important stuff. I'll tell you when you get older."

" But you said that about our mom too! " I complained. I really wanted a chance to meet my real mother. She sounded like such a cool person from the bedtime stories Mrs. Phelps told. Then something clicked…" Hey, her name was Alexia too! "

Ash grinned. " Yeah Dad, how many Alexias do you know? "

Now our father was really starting to look uncomfortable. I didn't see what such the big deal was. It was just a question.

" Erm…I'll tell you both when you're older."

" Why can't you tell us now? " I asked.

" You wouldn't understand."

" Hmphf! " Ash snorted, " Everyone thinks us kids are so dumb! Like there's soooo much we don't understand."

" There is! " Dad hissed, " And if you keep that attitude up with me, Ash Ashford, I'm going to turn you over my knee and tan your hide! Your mother would be simply appalled by your behavior! " He stood up, chili cheese fries stuck to the seat of his royal blue pants in a disgusting mess.

Gross!

I looked away, tried instead to focus on the TV, but I just couldn't stop laughing.

Thankfully Father did not seem to care about his new fashion statement. He was too busy ragging Ash. " Apologize to Alexis. This instant."

Ash sighed, eyes downcast to the floor.

Justice at last! I waited for his apology.

" S…sssorry." He grumbled.

Dad nodded his approval. " Very good. Now…"

It was then that I noticed something strange. " Dad, you've got something red on your lip." How did I not notice it before? The red smudge was almost as big as a dime.

" Wha…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Covergirl compact mirror. I found this strange. What would my father be doing with a Covergirl compact in his pocket? Wasn't that a strictly girl thing? Hmm. I guess Dad was right. There was still lots I didn't understand.

" What is that? " Ash worded what I'd been thinking in regard to the smudge.

With the aid of the mirror, Dad used a finger to rub the smear away. " Blood! " He laughed maniacally, causing both Ash and I to jump twenty feet.

My father has this really weird laugh…it's very high-pitched and sounds girlish. Very creepy. I didn't know anyone else who could laugh like that.

" No, I mean really." I pressed, refusing to believe even for a second that that was in fact blood. Strange as my father may have been, I didn't think he was a complete lunatic.

At least, I hoped not.

Dad refolded the compact and frowned. " Actually, I have no idea how that got th…"

The door opened and one of our father's servant hustled in, wearing a worried expression. " Sir Alfred! There's a disgruntled employee on the loose! "

Alfred, which was our dad, sighed. " Must be Tuesday. Aren't those ungrateful whelps ever happy? " He put a hand over his eyes, shaking his head. " What is it this time? They don't think I pay enough? "

The servant nodded. " Actually, yes! He's threatened to kill you! And about ten of your other employees with the secret projects division are on strike…"

Dad was furious. " What?! I can't believe the stupidity! What do those fools suppose happened to their other protesting buddies that had a problem with the way I run things? How many deadweights do I have to bump off before they get the point? Ugh, what a bunch of retarded chimps."

" I recommend immediate action, Sir Alfred."

Dad nodded. " Agreed. Randy, get me a chainsaw and have security herd those sorry sods into you-know-where. I'm going to have fun tonight! " He did that weird laugh again and I had to cover my ears.

" Of course Sir." Randy agreed, " I will execute your orders at once."

Dad rubbed his hands together, " Oh believe me, there's going to be some executing alright. A whole lot of executing."

Randy turned on his heel and started off down the hall obediently. Was it just me, or did he look a little sick for some reason?

I frowned. And here I'd been hoping maybe Dad could play Sonic and Tails 3 with me. At least he was in the habit of waiting. Who cared if he sucked royally worse than Ash at the game, at least I got a chance to play. " I guess that means you wont be staying to play with us then? "

Dad patted me gently on the head. " Sorry Fruitcup. Daddy's got a few morons to k…I mean, matters to address." He smiled wickedly like a villain in a TV show right before they were about to do something bad.

Ash's eyes lit up. " Are you going to murder people with a chainsaw? That'd be so cool! "

" Of course not. It's just…..these sodding ponces need scared every once in awhile, you know? Keep them in working order. I figure a chainsaw will do the trick."

I don't know why, but I had a strange feeling he was lying. I didn't know exactly what he planned on doing with the chainsaw, but it felt…wrong. Like maybe he really was going to go off the deep end and cut people to bits. Then again, I couldn't imagine my father murdering anyone….

I shook the ideas from my head. I didn't like to think of such things.

" Aw, that's lame." Ash complained, put out.

" Erm…we'll make up for the lost time later on okay? See you around kids! " He turned and ran out of the room, making weird noises that could almost be interpreted as laughter.

Once we were alone again, I turned to Ash, " Wanna play something else? " I asked, pointing to the 'Game Over' flashing on the screen.

Ash shook his head. " Nah. I've got a better idea, I'm going to explore this place! I'll bet it's got lotsa hidden rooms and really awesome stuff like that."

" Only if I get to come with! "

Ash laughed, " Sure! Long as you don't chicken out if we see something scary."

I do not scare easily. I crossed my heart. " No problem. I'm brave."

" Good! Because I'm going to do something that nobody has ever done before…I'm going to sneak into Dad's room! "

My heart skipped. Dad had said his room was strictly off limits. Nevertheless, I liked the idea of a thrill. Going into the Forbidden. Chancing a spanking. " What if we get caught? "

" Nah, Dad's too busy having fun with a chainsaw. He'll never notice." He waved a hand dismissively, as if the very idea of getting caught were absurd.

" Okay then." I wasn't about to wimp out.

After all, it was just Dad's room, how scary could it be?

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Continued in Part IV………….