Chapter 5
Dakota woke up the next morning with a slight chill on her face. She sat up in the crushed linen sheets, stretching, her fingers trailing the golden bed posts. Yawning, she heaved herself out of bed and showered quickly, then dressed into her tennis clothes. She was due to meet Seraphim and her mother and father for tennis and croquet matches, and she frowned as the thought etched across her mind.
"Dakota, darling. Hurry up, the hamper is getting warm!" her mother peered into her room, seeing the white polo shirted girl pulling on her white knee socks. "Come along, dear. Your father is already in the estate car." With that, she left the girls room, striding downstairs. Dakota decided to obey her. Her parents didn't know the fact that she had come home at 1am last night. She ran downstairs, picking up her mobile and pager as she left.
..
Seraphim sat in the back of the Rolls Royce, arms crossed, lips pouted. Her white shorts, white polo shirt and white socks clashed with the smoldering anger in her face. She huffed loudly and stared out of the window.
"For heavens sake, Seraphim, grow up." Her father snapped, signaling for Henry to turn left at the clearing, towards the 30 acre golf, tennis, horseback riding, fishing, croquet and swimming facility located two miles from their home. The wheels crunched on the gravel as they smoothly turned. "Another mile of your grumping is going to be hard enough to endure without having to see ruined clothes. Stop that." He said, seeing her picking at the sports uniform.
"I don't care for sports, father, you know that." She grumbled back. Her mother sighed, shooting a pained glance at her husband, who returned it.
"Honey, please. It is only once every two months!" Her father twisted around, looking at her.
"No. I've made up my mind. Henry, stop the car. I shall NOT waste my time like this..." she tossed her head again, popping the lock on the door.
"Seraphim...sweetie. If you will do this for us I am sure we can do something nice for you later on." Her mother pleaded. Seraphim stopped fumbling with the latch and considered the idea.
"FINE." She slammed back onto the seat and continued to glower at the trees as they neared the course.
..
George pulled smoothly to a halt as they reached the huge expanse of the Volta's sports ground. Her father's golf shoes hit the turf, making a dull thud as the clefts dug into the ground. He held the door for his wife and George opened Dakota's side. She nodded at him, and stepped out onto the sunny fields. The dark lake glimmered in the morning brightness, and she could vaguely see the trout that nested there splashing around. She trod easily over the gravel path leading to the huge ranch house, smiling as two greyhounds cantered up to meet her. Dakota's mother shied away, worried of her designer sports wear.
"I wonder where the Volta's are. It is not like them to be late." Her father said, looking at his Rolex. As if on queue, the Rolls Royce steered in and Henry nodded at George, who did the same. Seraphim threw herself out of the car even before it stopped, racket in hand, and stormed past the surprised Gilgalad family, walking toward the ranch house.
"Seraphim! come back here!" Her father called, angrily.
"NO!" she yelled back, slamming the door. Her mother sighed and apologized to the family, extending a glittering hand.
"I shall go and get her...excuse me, m'am." Henry bowed and walked towards the log building.
"Shall we?" Mr. Gilgalad motioned to his golf bag. Mr. Volta nodded and called for a golf buggy to come straight away. "Girls, are you going to go ahead and play tennis?" he asked.
"No...me and Patricia will go for a swim. We'll leave the girls to get acquainted over some tennis." Ms. Gilgalad smiled. "That is, if Seraphim intends to join us..." she laughed. Patricia Volta rolled her eyes.
"Believe me, she is like this all the time. She's almost always okay afterwards." She turned at the sound of a door opening, and saw a huffy Seraphim walking towards them, fists clenched.
"Come on, Dakota." She snapped, walking straight past and into the RR.
"Goodbye, mother!" Dakota tried to sound cheerful, but she was nervous as Henry opened a door for her.
..
Artemis tapped blandly on a laptop's keyboard, staring into space. He was sat at the large kitchen table, a cup of caffeine enhanced tea swirling next to him, its contents stone cold. Butler watched from the huge lounge, one ear fixed on the CNN broadcast, the other on the constant tapping of the L key. The manservant stood up, switched off the 100 inch plasma screen, and walked over.
"Artemis. Are you okay? What is troubling you?" he asked, laying a hand on the boys shoulder. He felt him jump with shock, and slam the lid closed.
"I am fine, Butler." He said, unconvincingly. "I do not wish to talk of it." Artemis picked up the laptop, his keys, and a small laser button. "I shall be gone three hours." And with that, he walked from the house. Butler picked up his mobile phone, fumbling to open it. He called Juliet, who was sent to look out for him as he traveled.
"It is a nice day." Artemis noted into the small receiver. "Wind direction north east. 21 degrees at least. Wind speed to be reported in 0-200 seconds." He clicked a button and figures flashed onto the screen. " knots." He walked across the gravel path and down the road, where a figure dressed in what looked like a sack was waving madly at the slim boy. Juliet started, shifting in the tree, and readjusted her binoculars. Who was that? It looked like a potato, she thought, giggling. Then, a beep sounded, and a blast of blue light shot from a tiny box the potato was holding. Juliet screamed and fall from the yucca branches, hitting the ground hard as the waves pulsed through the air. A split second later, she sat up, rubbing her sore behind. There was no trace of whatever experiment young Artemis had been doing, she thought. She stood and walked right into Butler, who grabbed her arm, holding a huge gun. Melodramatic as usual.
"What the hell was that, Juliet?" he hissed. His eyes turned to the gate, which was opening. He threw her aside and she landed on her bottom for the second time that day. Cocking the gun, he paused three feet from the gate.
"Butler. Put the damned gun down, it is only me. I have a guest here." He motioned to the moving burlap sack. Butler raised an eyebrow and let them past, his eyes following the lumpy bag carefully as he walked behind them.
Reaching the house, he pulled Artemis to one side. Artemis motioned to the library, and ordered the brown...thing...to wait in there. He looked questioningly at the glowering butler.
"What was that?" He repeated. Artemis ran a hand through his raven black hair.
"Butler, can it not wait?" he sighed, looking weary. "I must settle it all with Mu-with my client before I can tell anyone." He looked straight into the dark brown eyes and the olive colored skin. Slightly unnerved by the icy blue glare, he nodded.
"Go ahead. But I expect to know what is going on straight after." Butler snapped, striding towards the laundry room.
..
Sirius looked up from the 6000 page book he was poring over, wondering if the loud knocking was real or not. He pushed his thick lenses back up his nose as he shrugged and continued to read. The noise sounded again and he sighed, flipping it closed and pushing tones of books from the doorway, tripping over his telescope as he went for the door. The knocking got more persistent, and Sirius fumbled with the peephole before a harassed voice yelled,
"Sirius, you oaf! Open the door!" Relieved, the physicist opened the door and let Blaize inside. "About time. Do you know how long I was out there for?" he grumbled, slamming a brown parcel on the table.
"Is that the book?" Sirius asked, shoving his spectacles up on his nose again.
"No. I just felt like bringing a brown box with me. Of course it is the book." He muttered. "Have you anything to say on the content?" Blaize pushed aside some sketches and sat on a leather sofa. The brown haired man ran a hand over his weary face.
"I just can't fathom it, Blaize. I've looked through everything, asked my colleagues...no-one can give me an answer. It's an unnatural phenomenon." He sighed. Blaize frowned. "Can I look at the book?"
"It's all yours." Blaize mumbled, his mind elsewhere. Suddenly his mobile phone rang and he picked it up, opening it quickly. All he heard was a crackle of static and a scream, then a door opening and someone's footsteps running out. Then the line went dead. His phone cut off, and suddenly all the lights flickered off. Blaize bolted up and slammed the light switch. He breathed a sigh of relief when they turned back on, although they were considerably dimmer than usual. Sirius looked up.
"What just happened?" he asked, a finger on the line he was reading. Blaize shook his phone and turned it back on.
"No idea. I'll get back to you, okay? Just keep that book safe." He strode from the room and left quickly, jumping into his porsche and speeding down the gravel path. Towards Fowl Manor.
..
Dakota stood helplessly in the middle of the tennis pitch, trying not to look at Seraphim, who was glaring defiantly in the other direction. She cleared her throat.
"Um...Seraphim? Maybe we should start?" she called tentatively, motioning to the racket in her hand. The black haired girl ignored her, the crease on her furrowed brow becoming larger still. "Seraphim..." she mumbled. They had been standing like this for an hour now, in stony silence.
"If you want to play so damn much there's a machine over there." She tossed her head in the direction of the ball machine and went back to staring at her feet. She felt her sports bag shuffle next to her and she reached for her phone. She flipped it open but realized it was too late, and it had stopped ringing. She looked at Dakota, who was shaking her phone. Then, one by one, the lights flickered off, leaving them in a dim darkness. Seraphim stood up quickly and ran over to the lights, deftly flicking them back on.
"What the..." Dakota muttered, looking around her. Seraphim suddenly jumped up and turned towards the lake. A scream resounded through the air and a flock of Canadian geese swarmed up and into the air. Dakota started for the door, and pushed Seraphim through. The two girls ran towards the noise in fright and stopped when they saw the odd sight before them. Their mothers walked towards them, drenched in their sun bathing things. Seraphim's mother gasped and wiped her Gucci sunglasses on her robe as she ran for the ranch house.
"What on EARTH..." Seraphim grabbed Dakota's arm and they walked towards the lake. A large metal object was protruding from the lake, and the ducks swam away from it. The green blue water had sloshed up the sides of the pier, and was practically drowning the shrubs nearby. Dakota tried to go and get a closer look but Seraphim yanked back her hand.
"Are you stupid? If another thing like this happens again you'll be crushed!" she scolded. Dakota frowned.
"What IS it, though?" Dakota looked up into the sky and suddenly saw a black thing flying towards them. She panicked and ran back. Seraphim looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Dakota grabbed her stomach and flung her back onto a tree. A split second later, a huge burning lump crashed and sunk seven feet into the earth. Seraphim brushed herself off and ran to look at it. The remains of a smoking frying pan were slowly crumbling away into the soil. Dakota blinked. A crash resounded nearby and they saw a smoking hole. A car horn beeped and Henry called for the girls. Seraphim saw her father sitting on the seat in pain, holding a blood soaked rag to his arm and leg. She gasped and threw Dakota into the car, pulling herself in just as a whisk slammed ten yards from them.
"Daddy?! What happened?" she cried, as Henry sped away. Dakota twisted in her seat, and sighed in relief to see their mothers and her father in the RR with George.
"I'm okay, Honey. I just...ughh..." he groaned in agony as a sharp pain seared through his leg. They flew over the golf course, not caring about the manicured flower patches. She screamed quietly as she saw a blood soaked patch on the ground and all the golf clubs sticking up at dangerous angles. Her father's shoes were upturned on top of each other, still quivering with an odd static charge. "Yes, sweetie. Calm down, okay?"
"We just need to get him home. The nurse will tend to him there, Seraphim" the concentrating chauffeur soothed. She nodded blankly, and gripped the closest thing to her trembling fingers, which was Dakota's hand. The younger girl squeezed it back comfortingly and they rode home.
Dakota woke up the next morning with a slight chill on her face. She sat up in the crushed linen sheets, stretching, her fingers trailing the golden bed posts. Yawning, she heaved herself out of bed and showered quickly, then dressed into her tennis clothes. She was due to meet Seraphim and her mother and father for tennis and croquet matches, and she frowned as the thought etched across her mind.
"Dakota, darling. Hurry up, the hamper is getting warm!" her mother peered into her room, seeing the white polo shirted girl pulling on her white knee socks. "Come along, dear. Your father is already in the estate car." With that, she left the girls room, striding downstairs. Dakota decided to obey her. Her parents didn't know the fact that she had come home at 1am last night. She ran downstairs, picking up her mobile and pager as she left.
..
Seraphim sat in the back of the Rolls Royce, arms crossed, lips pouted. Her white shorts, white polo shirt and white socks clashed with the smoldering anger in her face. She huffed loudly and stared out of the window.
"For heavens sake, Seraphim, grow up." Her father snapped, signaling for Henry to turn left at the clearing, towards the 30 acre golf, tennis, horseback riding, fishing, croquet and swimming facility located two miles from their home. The wheels crunched on the gravel as they smoothly turned. "Another mile of your grumping is going to be hard enough to endure without having to see ruined clothes. Stop that." He said, seeing her picking at the sports uniform.
"I don't care for sports, father, you know that." She grumbled back. Her mother sighed, shooting a pained glance at her husband, who returned it.
"Honey, please. It is only once every two months!" Her father twisted around, looking at her.
"No. I've made up my mind. Henry, stop the car. I shall NOT waste my time like this..." she tossed her head again, popping the lock on the door.
"Seraphim...sweetie. If you will do this for us I am sure we can do something nice for you later on." Her mother pleaded. Seraphim stopped fumbling with the latch and considered the idea.
"FINE." She slammed back onto the seat and continued to glower at the trees as they neared the course.
..
George pulled smoothly to a halt as they reached the huge expanse of the Volta's sports ground. Her father's golf shoes hit the turf, making a dull thud as the clefts dug into the ground. He held the door for his wife and George opened Dakota's side. She nodded at him, and stepped out onto the sunny fields. The dark lake glimmered in the morning brightness, and she could vaguely see the trout that nested there splashing around. She trod easily over the gravel path leading to the huge ranch house, smiling as two greyhounds cantered up to meet her. Dakota's mother shied away, worried of her designer sports wear.
"I wonder where the Volta's are. It is not like them to be late." Her father said, looking at his Rolex. As if on queue, the Rolls Royce steered in and Henry nodded at George, who did the same. Seraphim threw herself out of the car even before it stopped, racket in hand, and stormed past the surprised Gilgalad family, walking toward the ranch house.
"Seraphim! come back here!" Her father called, angrily.
"NO!" she yelled back, slamming the door. Her mother sighed and apologized to the family, extending a glittering hand.
"I shall go and get her...excuse me, m'am." Henry bowed and walked towards the log building.
"Shall we?" Mr. Gilgalad motioned to his golf bag. Mr. Volta nodded and called for a golf buggy to come straight away. "Girls, are you going to go ahead and play tennis?" he asked.
"No...me and Patricia will go for a swim. We'll leave the girls to get acquainted over some tennis." Ms. Gilgalad smiled. "That is, if Seraphim intends to join us..." she laughed. Patricia Volta rolled her eyes.
"Believe me, she is like this all the time. She's almost always okay afterwards." She turned at the sound of a door opening, and saw a huffy Seraphim walking towards them, fists clenched.
"Come on, Dakota." She snapped, walking straight past and into the RR.
"Goodbye, mother!" Dakota tried to sound cheerful, but she was nervous as Henry opened a door for her.
..
Artemis tapped blandly on a laptop's keyboard, staring into space. He was sat at the large kitchen table, a cup of caffeine enhanced tea swirling next to him, its contents stone cold. Butler watched from the huge lounge, one ear fixed on the CNN broadcast, the other on the constant tapping of the L key. The manservant stood up, switched off the 100 inch plasma screen, and walked over.
"Artemis. Are you okay? What is troubling you?" he asked, laying a hand on the boys shoulder. He felt him jump with shock, and slam the lid closed.
"I am fine, Butler." He said, unconvincingly. "I do not wish to talk of it." Artemis picked up the laptop, his keys, and a small laser button. "I shall be gone three hours." And with that, he walked from the house. Butler picked up his mobile phone, fumbling to open it. He called Juliet, who was sent to look out for him as he traveled.
"It is a nice day." Artemis noted into the small receiver. "Wind direction north east. 21 degrees at least. Wind speed to be reported in 0-200 seconds." He clicked a button and figures flashed onto the screen. " knots." He walked across the gravel path and down the road, where a figure dressed in what looked like a sack was waving madly at the slim boy. Juliet started, shifting in the tree, and readjusted her binoculars. Who was that? It looked like a potato, she thought, giggling. Then, a beep sounded, and a blast of blue light shot from a tiny box the potato was holding. Juliet screamed and fall from the yucca branches, hitting the ground hard as the waves pulsed through the air. A split second later, she sat up, rubbing her sore behind. There was no trace of whatever experiment young Artemis had been doing, she thought. She stood and walked right into Butler, who grabbed her arm, holding a huge gun. Melodramatic as usual.
"What the hell was that, Juliet?" he hissed. His eyes turned to the gate, which was opening. He threw her aside and she landed on her bottom for the second time that day. Cocking the gun, he paused three feet from the gate.
"Butler. Put the damned gun down, it is only me. I have a guest here." He motioned to the moving burlap sack. Butler raised an eyebrow and let them past, his eyes following the lumpy bag carefully as he walked behind them.
Reaching the house, he pulled Artemis to one side. Artemis motioned to the library, and ordered the brown...thing...to wait in there. He looked questioningly at the glowering butler.
"What was that?" He repeated. Artemis ran a hand through his raven black hair.
"Butler, can it not wait?" he sighed, looking weary. "I must settle it all with Mu-with my client before I can tell anyone." He looked straight into the dark brown eyes and the olive colored skin. Slightly unnerved by the icy blue glare, he nodded.
"Go ahead. But I expect to know what is going on straight after." Butler snapped, striding towards the laundry room.
..
Sirius looked up from the 6000 page book he was poring over, wondering if the loud knocking was real or not. He pushed his thick lenses back up his nose as he shrugged and continued to read. The noise sounded again and he sighed, flipping it closed and pushing tones of books from the doorway, tripping over his telescope as he went for the door. The knocking got more persistent, and Sirius fumbled with the peephole before a harassed voice yelled,
"Sirius, you oaf! Open the door!" Relieved, the physicist opened the door and let Blaize inside. "About time. Do you know how long I was out there for?" he grumbled, slamming a brown parcel on the table.
"Is that the book?" Sirius asked, shoving his spectacles up on his nose again.
"No. I just felt like bringing a brown box with me. Of course it is the book." He muttered. "Have you anything to say on the content?" Blaize pushed aside some sketches and sat on a leather sofa. The brown haired man ran a hand over his weary face.
"I just can't fathom it, Blaize. I've looked through everything, asked my colleagues...no-one can give me an answer. It's an unnatural phenomenon." He sighed. Blaize frowned. "Can I look at the book?"
"It's all yours." Blaize mumbled, his mind elsewhere. Suddenly his mobile phone rang and he picked it up, opening it quickly. All he heard was a crackle of static and a scream, then a door opening and someone's footsteps running out. Then the line went dead. His phone cut off, and suddenly all the lights flickered off. Blaize bolted up and slammed the light switch. He breathed a sigh of relief when they turned back on, although they were considerably dimmer than usual. Sirius looked up.
"What just happened?" he asked, a finger on the line he was reading. Blaize shook his phone and turned it back on.
"No idea. I'll get back to you, okay? Just keep that book safe." He strode from the room and left quickly, jumping into his porsche and speeding down the gravel path. Towards Fowl Manor.
..
Dakota stood helplessly in the middle of the tennis pitch, trying not to look at Seraphim, who was glaring defiantly in the other direction. She cleared her throat.
"Um...Seraphim? Maybe we should start?" she called tentatively, motioning to the racket in her hand. The black haired girl ignored her, the crease on her furrowed brow becoming larger still. "Seraphim..." she mumbled. They had been standing like this for an hour now, in stony silence.
"If you want to play so damn much there's a machine over there." She tossed her head in the direction of the ball machine and went back to staring at her feet. She felt her sports bag shuffle next to her and she reached for her phone. She flipped it open but realized it was too late, and it had stopped ringing. She looked at Dakota, who was shaking her phone. Then, one by one, the lights flickered off, leaving them in a dim darkness. Seraphim stood up quickly and ran over to the lights, deftly flicking them back on.
"What the..." Dakota muttered, looking around her. Seraphim suddenly jumped up and turned towards the lake. A scream resounded through the air and a flock of Canadian geese swarmed up and into the air. Dakota started for the door, and pushed Seraphim through. The two girls ran towards the noise in fright and stopped when they saw the odd sight before them. Their mothers walked towards them, drenched in their sun bathing things. Seraphim's mother gasped and wiped her Gucci sunglasses on her robe as she ran for the ranch house.
"What on EARTH..." Seraphim grabbed Dakota's arm and they walked towards the lake. A large metal object was protruding from the lake, and the ducks swam away from it. The green blue water had sloshed up the sides of the pier, and was practically drowning the shrubs nearby. Dakota tried to go and get a closer look but Seraphim yanked back her hand.
"Are you stupid? If another thing like this happens again you'll be crushed!" she scolded. Dakota frowned.
"What IS it, though?" Dakota looked up into the sky and suddenly saw a black thing flying towards them. She panicked and ran back. Seraphim looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Dakota grabbed her stomach and flung her back onto a tree. A split second later, a huge burning lump crashed and sunk seven feet into the earth. Seraphim brushed herself off and ran to look at it. The remains of a smoking frying pan were slowly crumbling away into the soil. Dakota blinked. A crash resounded nearby and they saw a smoking hole. A car horn beeped and Henry called for the girls. Seraphim saw her father sitting on the seat in pain, holding a blood soaked rag to his arm and leg. She gasped and threw Dakota into the car, pulling herself in just as a whisk slammed ten yards from them.
"Daddy?! What happened?" she cried, as Henry sped away. Dakota twisted in her seat, and sighed in relief to see their mothers and her father in the RR with George.
"I'm okay, Honey. I just...ughh..." he groaned in agony as a sharp pain seared through his leg. They flew over the golf course, not caring about the manicured flower patches. She screamed quietly as she saw a blood soaked patch on the ground and all the golf clubs sticking up at dangerous angles. Her father's shoes were upturned on top of each other, still quivering with an odd static charge. "Yes, sweetie. Calm down, okay?"
"We just need to get him home. The nurse will tend to him there, Seraphim" the concentrating chauffeur soothed. She nodded blankly, and gripped the closest thing to her trembling fingers, which was Dakota's hand. The younger girl squeezed it back comfortingly and they rode home.