p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"Apologizing in advance for all the breaks in this scene. Without them, this chapter would have been almost 20 pages, which isn't what we're going for in this series/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe silver-studded building loomed far above my head, threatening to push me over if I craned my neck back enough to look at the very top. Warm yellow lights spilled out from some of the spotless, shimmering windows—the eyes of the monster, staring down its prey before it devoured it whole. My gaze fluttered down to the invitation in my hand, the center crease ready to tear itself apart from all the times I opened, closed, and pressed my fingers against the paper. The address neatly printed near the bottom perfectly matched the silver letters against the post in front of me shooting their glare right into my eyes. Deep blue words lined the awning neatly, expecting all those who passed by to bask in the grandeur of their presence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI turned over my shoulder and glanced toward Luther, Diego, and Vanya, pleading for them to hurry up and come with me. They were having a quiet conversation near the car, the contents of which didn't interest me. Now, I just wanted someone by my side before I opened the completely transparent glass doors, devoid of any scratch or even a single fingerprint, and sealed our fates. I could see into the blindingly white lobby, taking note of the strange sort of paintings lining the walls that led to a group of elevators. Just looking at it caused prickly sensations to poke across my skin, like a brand-new wool sweater, not yet softened by multitudes of washes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEventually, Vanya turned her attention back to me, noticing that her sister was begging for help, and she nudged our brothers, who promptly turned around and made their way over to join me. I felt someone squeeze my hand once—I think it may have been Vanya, given how small the other hand was—and with that, the four of us headed into the building. Immediately, we were hit with a blast of arctic air, causing a foreboding shudder to run through all of us at the same time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRight as I got up the stairs, one of the elevators started to close. Though the socially anxious part of me screamed to just wait, I wasn't willing to waste time. We were meeting with Dad, of all people, and I didn't want to take the risk of running even a second late. No doubt he'd chew us out if that was the case, even if he didn't know who we were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hold that elevator!" I called, picking up my pace and managing to squeeze my hand through the narrowing gap in the elevator door. Right before it slammed shut on me, I pushed it open and stepped inside. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized the other person inside was a certain kid in that same old uniform. "Oh, thank God, you're alive."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI slid off to the side, standing tall behind Five as I waited for the others to arrive. Diego caught up next, followed by Allison, then Klaus, Vanya, and finally, Luther, who stood dead in the center of all of us. Though it was quite a tight fit, and I was pressed directly against the wall thanks to the mass that was Luther's upper body, I felt a strange sense of comfort wrap around me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Good," Five muttered. "We're all here."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe doors completely shut us in, and I felt the sudden shake of the elevator moving from where it had been resting. Instinctually, my hands moved to gently rest on my brother's shoulders, offering perhaps the tiniest bit of assurance that this couldn't be all bad./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFollowing our little talk, Luther and I had gone back to my place, where I let him make some food while I got clean and changed. I even let him use my shower, since it was a thousand times better than Elliott's. However, none of it felt like it was enough. I still didn't feel presentable enough to stand up to Dad's scrutiny./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanNo one said a word to each other the entire ride up, though occasionally, some eyes would wander to another sibling. It wasn't until we were about halfway there, when a pungent, foul odor suddenly began to fill the tiny confines of the elevator car that anyone made any sort of noise. For a moment, my brows furrowed, unsure of whether or not my mind was playing tricks on me, but not a second later, the stench became overwhelming, forcing me to shove my nose deep into one of my elbows. My other siblings began to gag and hide their faces as well, groaning in disgust./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Luther," Klaus whined. With the culprit identified, I glared at him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sorry," he murmured, clearly embarrassed. "I'm nervous."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanIt felt like six eternities up to the right floor, but right as it felt like I was about to pass out from holding my breath, the car stopped and the doors slid open. Immediately, all of our siblings came spilling out, desperate to flee the situation and just get this shit over with./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nasty," I heard Five gag. "I'm choking!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"None of that," Klaus groaned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe doors to the lounge remained sealed shut, despite the fact the seven of us were standing right there. No one had the bravery to be the one to step inside and confirm all of this was real. We remained frozen, like figures in a tableau, until Five finally pushed through all of us and swung the barriers open, starting the timer down from when we'd be leaving right back through them. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI gave it five minutes from Dad's arrival./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThankfully, we had a bit of time to talk before the old man arrived. We definitely needed to get ourselves in order, considering some people's priorities might completely screw us over if they brought them up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"All right, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?" Five's words were less of a question, and more of a statement-of-fact./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Got a few questions for him myself," Diego grumbled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"I made my way over to a chair and rested my hands against it, trying my best to keep the fidgeting and little foot movements to a minimum. Still, I found myself dancing a bit beneath myself, which caused a bit of a charge to start slowly building up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, we don't want to scare him off," Five warned as he made his way toward the chair next to mine. "He might be able to help us stop doomsday and get us home."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president." I sighed, shaking my head as I eyed Diego./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Diego, that's so not important right now," I snapped, growing frustrated. He was emnot /emabout to be the reason we blew this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"This is a matter of life and death, you imbecile," Five growled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay, yeah, maybe we should take turns talking. Yeah?" Vanya interjected. It did nothing to diffuse the situation, but at least it momentarily distracted my warring brothers. Vanya's eyes drifted over to the table beside her, and upon spotting a decorative conch shell, she reached over and held it up for the rest of us to see. "Here, whoever has this conch shell gets to talk."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI snickered as I stared at the object, both horrified and amused. I suppose all those books Dad made us read as kids were still buried in Vanya's mind somewhere. It could be a good instrument to get our siblings to finally fall in line. On the other hand, if the conch was really going to be our instrument for who gets to speak, the anarchy its origins promised was anything but reassuring. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" I elbowed Five, diffusing his anger slightly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maybe I should lead," Allison asserted as she snatched the shell from her sister's hand. "We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest of you." I rolled my eyes. Allison's true self was starting to peek back through—the side of her I'd loathed as children./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay, Daddy's girl," Diego taunted. This was already falling into chaos. Then again, what did I expect would happen?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, jealous, Number Two." Allison used that like it was a device to mock Diego, but two came embefore /emthree, last I checked. Was she drunk again?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, no more numbers." Diego's childish demeanor fell away the moment the subject switched. "No more bullshit. We're Team Zero. We're all Team Zero." I couldn't help but snicker at the name again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Uh, Diego?" He turned to look back at me, eyebrows raised with curiosity. "You don't have the conch," I observed, pointing to the object in Allison's hands with a smirk./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanDiego nodded, almost appearing like he was going to shoot some joke back at me, when all of a sudden, he ripped the object from Allison's hand and chucked it right in my direction. Thinking fast, I managed to duck down right before it would have made impact with my chest. Instead, the fragile object struck the wall behind me and shattered into a million pieces. A few members of the wait staff jumped, but barely paid the sharp shards strewn about on the ground any mind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Classic," Allison sighed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSuddenly, the doors flew open, and we all stiffened. It was time…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - /span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"I don't actually know if the conch shell thing is a /span/em/strongstrongspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Lord of the Flies emreference, but the English Major in me really wants it to be/em/span/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -/span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe silver-studded building loomed far above my head, threatening to push me over if I craned my neck back enough to look at the very top. Warm yellow lights spilled out from some of the spotless, shimmering windows—the eyes of the monster, staring down its prey before it devoured it whole. My gaze fluttered down to the invitation in my hand, the center crease ready to tear itself apart from all the times I opened, closed, and pressed my fingers against the paper. The address neatly printed near the bottom perfectly matched the silver letters against the post in front of me shooting their glare right into my eyes. Deep blue words lined the awning neatly, expecting all those who passed by to bask in the grandeur of their presence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI turned over my shoulder and glanced toward Luther, Diego, and Vanya, pleading for them to hurry up and come with me. They were having a quiet conversation near the car, the contents of which didn't interest me. Now, I just wanted someone by my side before I opened the completely transparent glass doors, devoid of any scratch or even a single fingerprint, and sealed our fates. I could see into the blindingly white lobby, taking note of the strange sort of paintings lining the walls that led to a group of elevators. Just looking at it caused prickly sensations to poke across my skin, like a brand-new wool sweater, not yet softened by multitudes of washes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanEventually, Vanya turned her attention back to me, noticing that her sister was begging for help, and she nudged our brothers, who promptly turned around and made their way over to join me. I felt someone squeeze my hand once—I think it may have been Vanya, given how small the other hand was—and with that, the four of us headed into the building. Immediately, we were hit with a blast of arctic air, causing a foreboding shudder to run through all of us at the same time./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanRight as I got up the stairs, one of the elevators started to close. Though the socially anxious part of me screamed to just wait, I wasn't willing to waste time. We were meeting with Dad, of all people, and I didn't want to take the risk of running even a second late. No doubt he'd chew us out if that was the case, even if he didn't know who we were./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hold that elevator!" I called, picking up my pace and managing to squeeze my hand through the narrowing gap in the elevator door. Right before it slammed shut on me, I pushed it open and stepped inside. I let out a sigh of relief when I realized the other person inside was a certain kid in that same old uniform. "Oh, thank God, you're alive."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI slid off to the side, standing tall behind Five as I waited for the others to arrive. Diego caught up next, followed by Allison, then Klaus, Vanya, and finally, Luther, who stood dead in the center of all of us. Though it was quite a tight fit, and I was pressed directly against the wall thanks to the mass that was Luther's upper body, I felt a strange sense of comfort wrap around me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Good," Five muttered. "We're all here."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe doors completely shut us in, and I felt the sudden shake of the elevator moving from where it had been resting. Instinctually, my hands moved to gently rest on my brother's shoulders, offering perhaps the tiniest bit of assurance that this couldn't be all bad./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanFollowing our little talk, Luther and I had gone back to my place, where I let him make some food while I got clean and changed. I even let him use my shower, since it was a thousand times better than Elliott's. However, none of it felt like it was enough. I still didn't feel presentable enough to stand up to Dad's scrutiny./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanNo one said a word to each other the entire ride up, though occasionally, some eyes would wander to another sibling. It wasn't until we were about halfway there, when a pungent, foul odor suddenly began to fill the tiny confines of the elevator car that anyone made any sort of noise. For a moment, my brows furrowed, unsure of whether or not my mind was playing tricks on me, but not a second later, the stench became overwhelming, forcing me to shove my nose deep into one of my elbows. My other siblings began to gag and hide their faces as well, groaning in disgust./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Luther," Klaus whined. With the culprit identified, I glared at him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Sorry," he murmured, clearly embarrassed. "I'm nervous."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanIt felt like six eternities up to the right floor, but right as it felt like I was about to pass out from holding my breath, the car stopped and the doors slid open. Immediately, all of our siblings came spilling out, desperate to flee the situation and just get this shit over with./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nasty," I heard Five gag. "I'm choking!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"None of that," Klaus groaned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe doors to the lounge remained sealed shut, despite the fact the seven of us were standing right there. No one had the bravery to be the one to step inside and confirm all of this was real. We remained frozen, like figures in a tableau, until Five finally pushed through all of us and swung the barriers open, starting the timer down from when we'd be leaving right back through them. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI gave it five minutes from Dad's arrival./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThankfully, we had a bit of time to talk before the old man arrived. We definitely needed to get ourselves in order, considering some people's priorities might completely screw us over if they brought them up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"All right, when Dad gets here, I'll do the talking, okay?" Five's words were less of a question, and more of a statement-of-fact./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Got a few questions for him myself," Diego grumbled. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"I made my way over to a chair and rested my hands against it, trying my best to keep the fidgeting and little foot movements to a minimum. Still, I found myself dancing a bit beneath myself, which caused a bit of a charge to start slowly building up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, we don't want to scare him off," Five warned as he made his way toward the chair next to mine. "He might be able to help us stop doomsday and get us home."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"No, we need to figure out why he's planning to kill the president." I sighed, shaking my head as I eyed Diego./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Diego, that's so not important right now," I snapped, growing frustrated. He was emnot /emabout to be the reason we blew this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"This is a matter of life and death, you imbecile," Five growled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay, yeah, maybe we should take turns talking. Yeah?" Vanya interjected. It did nothing to diffuse the situation, but at least it momentarily distracted my warring brothers. Vanya's eyes drifted over to the table beside her, and upon spotting a decorative conch shell, she reached over and held it up for the rest of us to see. "Here, whoever has this conch shell gets to talk."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanI snickered as I stared at the object, both horrified and amused. I suppose all those books Dad made us read as kids were still buried in Vanya's mind somewhere. It could be a good instrument to get our siblings to finally fall in line. On the other hand, if the conch was really going to be our instrument for who gets to speak, the anarchy its origins promised was anything but reassuring. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Vanya, we don't have time for a debate, okay?" I elbowed Five, diffusing his anger slightly./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maybe I should lead," Allison asserted as she snatched the shell from her sister's hand. "We all know I'm a better public speaker than the rest of you." I rolled my eyes. Allison's true self was starting to peek back through—the side of her I'd loathed as children./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay, Daddy's girl," Diego taunted. This was already falling into chaos. Then again, what did I expect would happen?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh, jealous, Number Two." Allison used that like it was a device to mock Diego, but two came embefore /emthree, last I checked. Was she drunk again?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Hey, no more numbers." Diego's childish demeanor fell away the moment the subject switched. "No more bullshit. We're Team Zero. We're all Team Zero." I couldn't help but snicker at the name again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Uh, Diego?" He turned to look back at me, eyebrows raised with curiosity. "You don't have the conch," I observed, pointing to the object in Allison's hands with a smirk./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanDiego nodded, almost appearing like he was going to shoot some joke back at me, when all of a sudden, he ripped the object from Allison's hand and chucked it right in my direction. Thinking fast, I managed to duck down right before it would have made impact with my chest. Instead, the fragile object struck the wall behind me and shattered into a million pieces. A few members of the wait staff jumped, but barely paid the sharp shards strewn about on the ground any mind./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Classic," Allison sighed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanSuddenly, the doors flew open, and we all stiffened. It was time…/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - /span/em/strong/p
p class="MsoNormal"strongemspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;"I don't actually know if the conch shell thing is a /span/em/strongstrongspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"Lord of the Flies emreference, but the English Major in me really wants it to be/em/span/strong/p