Fan fiction based on DuckTales 2017
Rated M
Book 1
"The Life and Times of Louie Duck"
Written by Athena from ChibiGirls
Chapter 3
"Okay, Sparky. What do you suggest we do?"
"Please," Louie said once Luca and Hope left the room. Soran craned her neck at him. "Please, let me take the kids home. I, I promise I'll come back and -." He tried.
'You think I'm that stupid?" Soran snarled, interrupting him.
She hadn't let up on the knife at his throat and Louie was afraid if he said anything else, she'd cut out his vocal cords next.
"I'm keeping them here for insurance purposes." She said. She leaned up on him and nibbled at his earlobe. Louie winced as the blade of the knife scratched across his skin. "It'll make it lot easier not to struggle against anything I'm about to do to you..."
"A, At least put Garret in a different cell." Louie pleaded. Soran removed the dagger from his throat and he cringed when Soran started licking up his blood. "He doesn't need to be here, listening to this -."
Louie suddenly inhaled sharply when Soran used her sharp teeth and bit him on the neck. He gasped and moaned as she drank his blood, it felt just like it had last time.
Good.
This was why Soran was so dangerous. She's a vampire. Able to drink the blood of her victims (usually male victims) and make them into her slave.
In this universe, when a vampire bites its mate, that vampire must keep drinking that same mate's blood to be able to survive. Louie was just one of the unlucky ones Soran had set her eyes on. Just for the simple fact that he was with Webby.
He barely escaped her last time and was only able to snap out of it after Webby kissed him for the first time. He was able to go back to his normal self just before he passed out cold and fell into a coma.
He could feel himself slipping away again as Soran drank his blood more urgently. He felt lightheaded, dizzy, and every cell in his body had turned ice cold.
"D, Dad?!" Garret called nervously up to him.
Louie tried say something to him, but his voice cracked as they slowly slid down to the floor together. Soran dropping the knife making a clanking sound as it hit the floor. When Soran was satisfied she had gotten the job done that she had been craving to do for over a year she finally pulled away.
"That's it." Soran cooed. She brushed back his bangs again and gazed into his eyes. She watched has his pupils dilate then said, "That's my pretty boy."
"DAD!" Garret called out, again.
Soran laughed at the panic in the boy's voice. She took Louie's hand and pulled him alongside her. Louie could hear what they were saying but it was fuzzy, like static you get from a broken antenna.
"Daddy's no longer here." She told him. She pulled Louie close to the edge of the cave in. He saw his son. He was sitting on a pile of rubble, clinching his left ankle, and looking up at him with frightened eyes. "He's mine," She explained. She let go of his hand and pressed the side of his head to her chest. Louie didn't even flinch. "Again."
"Again?" Garret asked, confused. "What do you mean, again?"
"Aw. Louie," Soran said, she made a tsk sound with her lips. "You didn't tell your children about me?" She asked in a fake hurt voice and pushed him firmly away from him. Louie twirled around dizzyingly, stumbled then fell backwards hard on the ground.
He groaned.
He felt like he was about to throw up.
"Leave my Dad alone, turn him back to normal, and let us go!" Garret demanded.
Soran peered down at him. Garret's heart pounded hard against his chest and wondered if he had gone too far. Soran's threat still lingered in the back of his mind as the silent continued to weigh down on him.
"Any more sass from you boy," she had said as she clinched her fist and lifted it up to his face, "and I won't hesitate to make you one of my devoted slaves too."
"T.. too?" Garret had asked. "Who else, where you -?"
But before he could finish what he was going to ask she had punched him in his eye, gave him a bloody lip, and made his sister cry. That got a loud smack out of Soran at Hope. He still felt guilty that he couldn't have just kept his big mouth shut. Especially now since his question was answered for him a few hours later.
"I really do not like your manners young man." Soran said finally, breaking Garret out of his thoughts. "I'd have thought Louie of all people would have taught you better." She glanced over at Louie who was struggling to get to his feet. But it was rather hard for him considering all he could see through his eyes were tiny, exploding dots.
"Guess I'll have to teach you then..." Soran disappeared from view. She reappeared with the knife she had dropped earlier, minutes later, with a sly grin on her face.
Garret quickly looked around for something to defend himself as she slid down the slope towards him, her eyes shining brightly, when he saw there was none he glanced over at his Dad. Hoping he'd save him. But it was like he was in some kind of trance because he hadn't made a sound or moved since Hope had left with that boy Luca.
Soran made it down to him and slowly strolled up to him. Twirling her knife Garret tried backing away the pain in his ankle made it difficult. Soran chuckled softly as she lifted Garret up by his shirt. She moved the knife slowly back and forth in front of Garret's face tauntingly. Garret swallowed hard.
Hope was having another one of her panic attacks as the boy Luca pulled her along the long, narrow hallway towards his bedroom.
If only she can stop thinking about her Dad, Garret, and what Luca had in store for her then she could have it under control. But the very thought of her Dad and brother in danger, she just couldn't stay focused.
She tried closing her eyes and to help her focus and count to ten like her mother had taught her, but that did no good either. She kept her eyes close and started counting to twenty this time until she and Luca stopped walking.
"You know," Luca said, "Studies show that counting doesn't really help panic attacks."
Hope opened her eyes.
"I, I know that." Hope replied. "but it helps me calm down."
Luca stood in front of her, studying her while she took in her surroundings.
They were in a rather small bedroom littered with books, maps, and odd little trinkets. She noticed his bed wasn't at all a bed, but more of a cot, the only valuable thing it looked like he owned was a top of the line standard computer on the far corner of the room.
Hope's heart lifted.
If she could just get to the computer, she could send a message to her Mom.
"You seem smart for your age," Luca said, "How old are you?"
Hope stared at him even more confused by the small talk. She had thought by now that Luca would be shooting her with lasers or something.
"Six." She whispered, her heart racing a mile a minute.
Hope was surprised she could speak. Usually it took over an hour and a half for her to be able to speak again after an episode.
"Six, eh?" Luca said.
"I, I don't understand." Hope said, nervously. "I thought, you were going to, you know, laser me or something?" He tried to chuckle, but sparks shot out from what Hope could see of his robot parts. Then he started coughing.
Hope looked back at her at the opened door, then back at Luca. Hope could have taken that moment to run, but something inside her made her stay. She felt concern for Luca. Her kind nature wouldn't allow herself to just abandon him.
She closed her eyes, counted to ten mentally, again, then slowly breathed out.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Luca told her after he finally stopped coughing. Hope opened her eyes. "I just wanted to get you away from my witch of a mother before things got ugly..." His voice trailed off as he slowly lifted his hand to her red streaked cheek and stroked it gently.
His hand felt cold against her cheek, but Hope didn't flinch, didn't even jerk away. She saw the guilty look on his face. She realized he was nothing like his mother, and just like that she started to feel better.
They stared at each other for a long moment before he started coughing again. He removed his hand from her cheek and covered his mouth as sparks shot out from his neck where part of his machinery showed. Hope realized that Luca must not have had it easy living with a mother like Soran. She wondered if his own mother caused it.
"You seem to have a circuit problem." Hope said finally once he was done coughing. Luca stared at her. "If you want, I could fix it." She said, looking around for some sort of toolbox and spotted one near the computer. She quickly went over to it and got out a wrench, and a screwdriver. She slowly walked back towards him.
"You -." Luca began, then coughed again, "know about robots?"
Hope smiled at him.
"I sort of picked it up from my Aunt Gosi." She told him. "Taught me everything I know. Dad isn't too happy though. About me tinkering with um..." Her voice trailed off not sure what to say. They may be having a light conversation now, but she didn't want to say the wrong thing and set him off. She still hadn't forgotten who was in charge.
"Machines." Luca indicated. Hope nodded slowly. "It's fine, you can say it. That's what I am. A damn machine." He said gloomily. He went over to sit on his cot bed and sighed deeply. Hope slowly followed peered at his neck, studying it, calculating on how she could fix it.
She saw where the bolt was knocked out of socket and quickly fixed it for him.
"There." She said, "that should do it."
"Dad -, I mean, Louie." Luca began, as Hope went to put the tools back in the box. "What's he really like?" Hope slammed the toolbox lid down hard. She whirled around suddenly her eyes bright with anger. Luca opened his mouth to apologize but then Hope said something that made what was left of his human heart spiral into adoration.
"I don't care what he and Garret say." She began. She marched over to Luca and took his hand. "You are my brother, rather they want it that way or not." She squeezed his hand tightly and her face softened when she saw tears swell up in Luca's marbled eyes.
"Careful," She remarked, "you'll make yourself short circuit again." She told him.
Luca pulled her into a tight hug. Hope hugged him back.
Just like that, a bond so great was created between the two out casts.
"So," She began slowly, as they pulled away from each other, "care to help a sister get out of here and save her family?" She asked.
"Easier said than done." Luca replied, he stood up and went to the computer. Hope followed and peered behind him as Luca typed on his computer. "Saving them would mean you'd have to get pass the many armed robots that guard our facility, and there are hundreds, of thousands of them that can regenerate even after being dismantled." He explained.
He showed her a 3D map of the island.
Hope had gotten her looks and charm from her mother, and her sharpness from her father. She studied the map and within seconds
"What's that?" She asked, pointing to a small blob at the edge of the island.
Luca zoomed in as he squinted his eyes.
"It, It's a tunnel." He breathed. He zoomed in vigorously. "It looks like it leads to another part of the island. That's weird. I've been all over this island, and I've never even seen that tunnel." He turned to stare at Hope. "How'd you even see that?"
"I, I kind of inherited my sharpness from Dad." She explained.
"Must be nice," Luca grumbled, "having something in common with him." He stared at the ground, not able to look at her. He couldn't help but feel jealous. He wished he'd had what Hope had. A perfectly, nice, normal family...
"Luca," Hope began, hearing the irritation in his voice. "You don't have to stay here. Why don't you come with us?" She asked. Luca looked up and frowned.
"Yeah, like he's just going to welcome me with open arms?" Luca grumbled. He referring to her Dad. He turned back to the computer and studied the tunnel, avoiding her pity stare, but that didn't help because he could see the reflection through the computer screen.
"Luca..." Hope whispered. She put a hand on his shoulder.
"Just, forget it, alright?" Luca muttered. She watched Luca scrolled through the map to see where the tunnel led, trying to figure out what to say to that. "Looks like it leads to our F.O.W.L communication headquarters." Luca told her after a while.
"What's Fowl?" Hope asked.
"The people Mom works for." Luca explained. She waited for him to explain more but when he went silent, she asked, "Is there anyway of this island?"
"Only way off is by air or sea." Luca told her. "We have our robots travel to and from the city to get any supplies we need. So, there's really no need for us to leave." He explained.
"S, so you've never been off this island?" Hope asked. She looked around the room at the maps that laid flat out all over the room, the globe by his computer desk, and the millions of books that had one thing in common, faraway places.
"It's not so bad." Luca told her. "I'm not completely isolated. I got my computer, my books, and other robots I can aggravate whenever I want and not get into trouble. The only thing I wished I had was -."
"A friend." Hope finished.
Luca slowly turned to face her.
Hope knew how he felt. Hope wished she had just one friend. Sure, she was surrounded by her family that loved her and would do anything to make her happy, but it wasn't the same. She's been home schooled all her life, so she didn't even have a chance to make any friends.
"Well," Hope said, finally. "You have one now."
A grateful smile slowly formed on his face, then it changed to sheer determination as he quickly stood up, making Hope blink.
"Right. Well, we aren't going to get you and your family out of here by just sitting around." He said, his eyes shining bright. "Know anyone who can fly a plane? Or sail a boat?"
Hope smiled back at him.
"I think I know a few." She told him. "But I'm gonna need your computer first."
Luca nodded and moved out of his chair to make room for her to sit. She did and the first thing she did was email her Mom.
Mom. It's Hope. I'm okay, for now. Everyone else is, well... I don't know, we got separated. I'm quite sure you guys are already on your way to save us. You could use this email as a way of finding out where we are... Be careful.
"Now that," Luca said, once she sent the message. "Was pretty smart using the email to help find you."
"Yeah, well, my family isn't exactly normal. Believe it or not we deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis." She explained.
"Kind of hard to believe it, considering my situation." He pointed out. Hope turned to look at him and grabbed his hand again.
"You're getting of this island with me," She told him. Luca opened his mouth. "No buts." She said, firmly. He closed it again. "First, we gotta find Garret and Dad." She said, as a plan started forming in her mind, yet, another thing she inherited form her Dad.
Being able to see the angles, come up with a plan, and execute it.
"Your Mom said something about a plan she was working on while we were locked up," Hope continued. "You have any idea what it is?" She asked.
"Knowing my mother," Luca began, still holding onto Hope's hand, "it's nothing good. Probably something F.O.W.L cooped up. She never tells me anything." He added when Hope arched an eyebrow at him. "And before you ask, I can't tell you anything about F.O.W.L"
"Fair enough." Hope said. "I guess the next thing we have to do is figure out for ourselves what she's up to. Defeat her and get everyone off the island safely."
She secretly had a plan B but hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
"Okay, let's start with finding the easiest one first." Luca agreed. "Garret, was it? I'm betting he still hadn't left the cell in Mom's study. But first..." His voice trailed off, and slowly let go of Hope's hand.
Hope looked at him confused.
"We got to make it look like I beat you up." He said. Hope's eyes widen. "Or Mom will know something is up." He explained, quickly.
"O,Okay."
It took a couple of minutes, but after a while Luca had made Hope look like she had been through Hell and back. He put fake laser cuts all over her skin using his 3D laser pointer. Then used some paint he had to make the bruises and the blisters.
For the finishing touch he made it look like he had punched her in the face by making a shiner under her left eye.
Once he was done, he put down his paint and took a step back.
"How do I look?" She asked.
"Like I really roughed you up." Luca replied. She beamed at him which made it that much worse for him knowing that this was what had to happen.
"You're actually really sensitive, aren't you?" Hope asked. "I can't believe you paint. I sketch, but I'm nowhere as good as you." She told him, glancing over at his canvases of the beach outside, a light house on a rocky cliff, and a sailboat that was painted on the ocean that reminded her of her Great-Uncle Donald's boat.
"I, I'm sorry." He said suddenly. Hope looked at him confused. "F, for what I said back there. I, I didn't mean any of it..."
He watched in alarm as tears swelled up in her sea-green eyes as she rushed in to hug him. Luca taken aback just stood there, enjoying the warmth of her body around his half-human, half-robot one.
"It's okay." She whispered. Luca rested his chin on her head and sighed deeply with relief. "Make it up to me by getting us all out of here." She whispered. She looked up at him at him and smiled. Luca stared out of his window, and wondered if he was even able to get them all out...
"Okay," He agreed. "Let's start with -."
Suddenly, Garret started screaming. Hope pulled away from him roughly. Luca's heart sank when he saw the look of pure terror on her face.
"GARRET!" She bellowed. She went to rush out the door, but Luca quickly grabbed her arm. Hope looked back at him sharply. "Let me go," She snapped. She tried pulling away, but Luca held onto her more tightly. "S, she's doing something to Garret. I, I have to -."
"You can't rush in there blindly." He interrupted her. She looked at him, and saw fear in his eyes, and stopped struggling. "She'll kill you." He told her.
"Okay, Sparky." Hope replied, coolly. Luca made a face at the nickname. "What do you suggest we do?"
Louie couldn't do a thing as Soran cut as she slashed Garret right in front of him. The bite from Soran made it difficult to even stay focus on what was going on. It burned into his skin as if he were being branded like cattle.
He heard Garrets scream's and closed his eyes tightly. He wished with all his might that this was just another one of his many nightmares he had been having lately before opening them again.
Soran had finally stopped cutting up his son and was licking the rest of his blood off her blade as she climbed back up the slope to stand next to him.
"Umph." She said, as she stared down at Garret. "I gotta say, his blood doesn't taste nearly as good as yours." She told him, glancing at him. "Has a bit of a sour taste to it."
Louie stared down at Garret helplessly. Garret's breathing had become decreasingly slow, he hadn't moved. He head was turned towards them though, and Louie could see his eyes brimming with tears.
"Guessing it has something to do with his mother." Soran remarked. "Come along, darling." She said, smirking at Garret's cut and bruised, blank stare.
"We've some catching up to do."
Garret watched his Dad walk unwillingly away with Soran. Garret heard the door open and slam behind them, then all was quiet, except for the sound of a couple of rats in a nearby corner. They squeaked at each other in between watching and waiting for the lump of meat in the middle of the cell to die a slow and painful death so that they could feast on it.
Garret groaned. His entire insides were on fire, and he could barely move. He could taste blood in his mouth and felt extremely lightheaded, from lack of blood. All he could do was lay there and wait for death.
His heart was having trouble pumping fresh blood into his lungs, and he could feel his breathing slowly slipping away from him, and as his eyes began to drupe he wished that he was back home, with his Mom, his Aunt's, Uncle's, and Grandma. They must be so worried about them. He hoped they weren't stressing out too much over this.
A few more minutes went by and he winced as sharp pains started stabbing him in his rib cage. He wondered what it was like to die. How easy it would be to just die right then and there? At least it would be better than where he was now. But...
No.
His sister needed him. There was no telling what that punk Luca was doing to her. He could kick himself for not trying to protect her better. The look on her face as she was being dragged away from, hearing her crying...
Wait.
He could still hear her crying. He opened his eyes and saw a blurry vision of his sister, kneeling beside him, crying.
"H,Hope?" He managed to choke out. He blinked hard and as his image became mildly sharper. Hope gasped and looked up.
"Garret!" She sobbed and hugged him.
"Ow. Ow. Ow." Garret groaned. "Not so tight." But he gave in through the pain and hugged her back. He saw Luca standing a few feet away and narrowed his eyes at him. "What's he doing here?" He asked as they pulled apart.
"It's okay," Hope insisted. He turned his attention back to her and his face darkened when he saw her face. "It's not what you think." Hope told him quickly. She helped him to his feet and wiped part of her seemingly bruised face but stared in disbelief when she smeared it onto her sleeve.
"See? It's fake." She insisted. "He's on our side." She added.
"I, I don't understand." Garret said, he looked over at Luca who smiled nervously at him.
"Had to make it look real, or she'll know something was up." Luca told him. "I didn't lay a finger on her, dude." He added.
"Yet." Garret replied coolly. He looked at Hope. "You sure we can trust him?" He whispered to her, not taking his eyes off Luca. Luca leaned up against some rubble impatiently.
"Yes." Hope answered, without a beat.
Hope may have gotten her sharpness from their Dad, but Garret got his 'assume the worst' laid back attitude from him. She hated it, and often called him out on it but as Garret looked back and forth from her to Luca then back again before sighing heavily in defeat. What choice did he have, really?
"Okay, now that we got that settled," Hope said. Luca slowly walked up to them but stood on the other side of Garret as Garret was still giving him a killer stare. "Where's Dad?' She asked.
"H, He left with S, Soran." Garret stammered.
He was having a hard time breathing now, he tried taking a deep breath but that only made him cough up blood.
"G, Garret?" Hope said, as she held onto him tighter.
"She really did a number on you, huh?" Luca said, Garret looked up at him sharply. Hope looked at Garret with concern and worried eyes.
"Yeah," Garret choked out, "she's a real witch, your Mom." He said.
"We can get through this," Hope said, "we've dealt with much worse than this. Don't forget Aunt Lena." She told him.
Garret nodded in agreement. She was right, they had been through a lot worse. The most recent one was when Aunt Lena's own Aunt came back to claim her. It was rough for a while but in the end, it sorted itself out with Aunt Lena defeated her once and for all.
"Who?" Luca asked.
"Aunt Lena, her own Aunt was Magica De Spell," Hope explained. "She tried to kill her and us, a bunch of times until Aunt Lena banished her into the Shadow Realm. Ironically." She added.
"Magica De Spell?" Luca repeated his eyes widen. "Y, you know her personally?" Garret and Hope glanced at each other, then back at him. Hope arched an eyebrow at him.
"It's just," Luca continued, "She's legendary even to the members of F.O.W.L -."
"Look," Garret said, through grinding teeth, "I hate to break up this lively conversation, but don't you think we ought to. I don't know. Find Dad, and get out of here?" He asked.
"Right." Luca agreed. He kicked one side of his shoe with the other and suddenly they turned into rocket shoes.
Hope stared at them.
"Y, you can fly?" She asked.
"I can't go very far or high for that matter. Mom didn't want to give me too much freedom." He explained, making a face.
"I hear that." Garret muttered. Hope glared at him sharply. He only shrugged then winced as the sharp pain stabbed him in his ribs again.
"You think you can hold out long enough for me to get you both out of this rubble?" Luca asked. He took Hope's hand and squeezed it tightly and held out his other one to Garret. Garret stared at it, then at Hope and Luca's locked fingers.
"Fine." He grumbled. "But I don't like it." Hope gave Garret a small hopeful smile. Then Garret ruined it when he added, "or you."
Hope frowned at Garret, and squeezed Luca's hand reassuringly as Garret grudgingly and Luca didn't waste any time in getting them up and out of the slope
It had been only a few short hours when Webby got an unknown email pop up on her phone. She glanced over at Huey and Dewey who had fallen asleep beside each other just minutes before.
She got up as quietly as he could from the cargo pit and went to the far side of the plane and pressed the button. Her heart leaped when she read the email her daughter had somehow managed to send. She quickly went back over to Huey and Dewey and shook them roughly awake. They shifted and slapped each other before they both opened their eyes.
"W, Webby?" Dewey asked, "What's going on? Are we there yet?"
He yawned loudly, stretched, then rubbed his eyes.
"No." Webby snapped, irritably. Dewey blinked as Huey mirrored Dewey's wake up movements. "But look," She said, she put the phone up to Dewey's face who stared blankly at it for a minute as he read what was on the screen.
No sooner as he finished reading his eyes grew wide, jumped up quickly and snatched her phone out of her hands.
"T, this is from Hope?" He asked.
"Looks like it." Webby said.
"It could be a trap." Huey remarked, taking the phone from Dewey, and studying the by lines of the email. "We need someone to decrypt it and figure out where it came from." He glanced over at Fenton who was reading a new version of his Gizmo suit manuscript. His wife, Grandra, was asleep on his shoulder and snoring loudly. Fenton looked up from the manuscript as Huey, Webby, and Dewey came up to him in an urgent manner.
"What's with the urgent looks on your faces, Huey?" Fenton asked. Huey held out Webby's phone to him. He took it gingerly and read what was on the screen.
His eyes widen.
"Well, I gotta say," Fenton said, "She's smart, that Hope." He looked over at Webby and beamed at her, "Just like you."
Webby blushed a deep shade of red but smiled proudly all the same. Grandra's eyes fluttered open. She sat up and stretched.
"Can you figure out where this was sent from?" She asked.
Gandra peered over her husband's shoulder then snatched the phone out from under him.
"I can do it in ten seconds flat." She told them. Fenton opened his mouth to retort but Ganrda arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to argue. He clamped his mouth shut and looked apologetically at them. "Hmph." Grandra and she turned away from Fenton and started pressing buttons on Webby's phone with lighting speed. "Found them." She said, in exactly ten seconds.
She handed the phone back to Webby.
"They're somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. On a tiny island." She told her. "Now, all you need to do is punch in the coordinates." She glanced over at Della as Webby walked over to her.
Della glanced at her phone then punched them in, with determination on her face.
"Hold on, kids. Your Momma's are coming'." Della growled.
"Okay, I think my sister and I got it from here." Garret told Luca once they were able to make it out of Soran's study. "You go and do whatever you robots do -."
"Luca isn't a robot." Hope interrupted, glaring at Garret. Garret stared at her. "He's a Humanoid Clone and our brother." She said firmly.
"He's not -." Garret began.
"A robot." Hope finished.
"But -." Garret tried again.
"Stop bickering, both of you." Luca demanded. Hope and Garret stop and stared at him. "Look, I get you don't like me," He told Garret. "The feeling is mutual, I assure you, but you are important to your sister, which makes you important to me. We have this bond rather you like it or not, so deal with it." He snapped.
Garret blinked angerly, as the tiny dots in front of his eyes began to form again. But Hope beamed at him, like it was the most heroic thing he's ever said.
Garret frowned.
He didn't know if he liked this new relationship Hope had formed. It meant that she wouldn't really need him anymore to take care of her all the time, (which should have been a relief to him), but he really liked the fact that someone needed him.
Now, Luca may have taken that away from him.
"We better go find Da -. I mean, Lou -." Luca struggled to choose the right word, with difficultly. Hope slowly took his hand again and squeezed it encouragingly.
"Let's go find, Dad." She finished for him.
Luca nodded, and smiled at her while Garret rolled his eyes. He really didn't like any of this, but it beat dying alone by himself in a hole. He let his sister pull him gently along down the narrow hallway.
They walked for what seemed like forever until they froze when they heard Soran's evil cackling filled the air around them.
"Aww, Louie. Don't be so shy," She was saying.
Hope was the first to move so she could hand Garret over to Luca to keep him from falling over. She knelt and peeked through the crack from the slightly opened door. Her heart pounded hard against her chest.
Soran and her Dad were near a couch by another fireplace. Her Dad was in shackles from his wrists to his ankles and was kneeling as if bowing to her, not taking his eyes off the ground. Soran had what looked like large glass vials that sat on the coffee table about a dozen or so and Hope wondered what they were for.
"I've took the liberty of leaving your kid so he wouldn't have to see this, now come here and give yourself to me. NOW." She ordered.
"Or," She added, "I might just go back and finish the job -."
Hope heard Louie whimper hysterically as heard him move towards her. Hope's eyes widen as Soran brushed his bangs and nuzzled his neck, Louie looking very much like he wanted to crawl up in a hole and die.
"That's it." She cooed. "You know what to do, right?" She asked.
Hope's eyes widen as he slowly held out his wrists. She had no idea what was going on. She watched as Soran took one gently in her hand and stroked it with her thumb fondly before she grabbed her knife so fast that Hope barely had time to make a move before she started cutting them. Over and Over and Over again. Repeatedly like a mad woman on acid. Hope watched in horror as her Dad's blood splashed all over Soran's dress, face, and skin.
"Wonder what she's doing right now," Soran said, as she continued. Louie was on the verge of fainting, he felt numb and could barely stand, and he stumbled as he saw dots exploding in front of his eyes. Louie yelped as Soran gripped his wrists more tightly to keep him from falling over.
"Webbigail would be on her way, obviously, coming to save you, Again." She continued, answering her own question.
Hope tried to stay focused as she studied her Dad more closely, trying to come up with some sort of plan for getting him out of there. Usually she can think of a plan in three seconds flat, but with all that was going it, it was rather difficult.
"Again?" Hope thought.
So, this has happened before? Why didn't her parents tell her about it? Warn her and Garret about Soran?
"When she does," Soran continued, Louie yelped as Soran yanked on his chain making him come closer to her. "Here's what I'm going to do..." She whispered in his ear.
Louie fell to his knees and stared at Soran. He started trembling violently and Hope saw fear in her Dad's eyes like she never seen before.
"Oh, darling. Don't look at me like that." Soran told him. Louie continued to stare at her as Soran took one of the glass vials and used it to capture what little of Louie's blood wasn't splattered all over her and the couch.
"I'm sure Luca will be thankful to have a full time Father around to supply him of blood." Soran was saying as she sat the vial back down and walked back to Louie who hadn't moved not even when Soran leaned in close to him saying, "and I wouldn't mine keeping you as a pet." She added.
Louie winced when she grabbed his wrists and started licking up the extra blood from his wrists, as she slowly looked up and gazed into his frightened eyes.
Hope looked away; she couldn't take this anymore. Luca was right, she couldn't run in there blindly. She hated to admit it but the only thing she could do was wait for her Mom. She backed away from the door and motioned for Luca to follow her quickly down the hall.
Garret groaning softly the entire time.
"S, She's totally mad." Hope said, once out of ear shot. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "How is it that you turned out so sweet when she's so evil?" She asked.
"I wouldn't say sweet." Garret muttered.
"Garret." Hope growled. "Not now."
Garret rolled his eyes. Yes. He really hated this newly found relationship.
"What's in there?" She asked, quickly changing the subject. Luca had to shift Garret to one side to be able to see what she was pointing at. Garret groaned irritably making Luca roll his eyes before answering,
"That's where we keep the most wanted of F.O.W.L." He said, once he saw the iron steel door. He watched as Hope began walking towards it.
She paused at the door and Luca saw her muscle's tense up as Louie started screaming out in pain. She looked from the door, to Luca and Garret, then back at the steel door. She was having a hard time debating on what to do and Luca saw she was about to panic as Louie screamed for their Mom.
He quickly sat Garret gently on the floor and rushed up to her just as she started breathing hard. Her face had gone completely white and Garret watched helplessly and jealously as Luca pulled her in for a tight hug (just like he would have) until she calmed down.
"T, Thanks." She stammered. "I, I'm okay now." She insisted when they pulled apart. Luca studied her more closely. "Really, I'm -." She winced when she heard her Dad scream again. Luca's anger started boiling. Hope shouldn't be seeing or hearing any of this. He gently opened the door in front of pushed her inside, Hope whirled around and stared at him.
"We'll keep watch out here, we'll come get you when it," He paused, as Louie started to whimper hysterically, "calms down a bit." He said finally.
Hope nodded thankfully as he slowly shut the door in front of her.
"It's not going to work, you know." Garret said, Luca slowly turned around and face him. Garret was glaring daggers at him. "I'm her actual brother. Not you." He added.
"She doesn't seem to think so." Luca shot back.
"She's my -." He began but suddenly started coughing up blood again. Luca sighed deeply and went to sit next to him. He waited for him to stop then said softly,
"Look, I know she's your sister. I'm not trying to replace you, really. I just -." He stopped as Louie's screams floated around them again, "want a friend." He finished. Garret stared at him as the sound of Louie's screams died down just enough to hear him start to cry.
"Well," Garret said, as he inhaled deeply, "at least now I know why Hope is so fond of you." He said. Luca blinked and stared at him. "You are a lot like Dad."
He and Luca slowly shared a small smile.
"Sorry," He said finally, "for giving you a hard time. I, I just -." Garret said.
"It's fine, I get it. I, I wish I had what you have," Luca said, with a sigh, "and not -." He stared in the direction where Hope had just ran wishing she'd come back. Wishing she hadn't seen what she saw, or him seeing that hurt look on her face.
Louie screamed again, this time Soran's voice sounded over the screaming.
"Come now, Darling. Just a little more..."
Luca winced. Garret slowly came to realize that Luca must not have had it easy, living with a mother like Soran, being literally a hybrid vampire clone of the man, she was now tormenting. As that thought settled with him Garret started to relax a bit around him.
"Look," Garret began. "Hope has her heart set on you coming with us."
Luca looked over at him.
"You've got my blessing, even if she didn't feel like you had to have it." Garret said, finally.
"Don't tell Hope," Luca replied. "But I'm not leaving. Mom, she, she, ordered me never to leave the island. I, I can't go against her."
"Come on, dude." Garret replied with a groan, "take control over your own life. You don't always have to do what your parents tell you. Take it from someone who's smothered by his parent's and can't step foot on the front lawn without a tracking device of some sort on him."
Luca gaped at him.
"Dude, my middle name is literally Rebel." Garret added with a shrug. "I've been grounded, shouted at, even spanked, when I disobey and trust me, I've done that almost every day, but at least it's my life. I don't let anyone, not even Hope, telling me how I should run it."
"I, I don't know..." Luca replied.
His voice trailed off as Louie's screams turned into low groans, and gagging.
"Looks like she finally has enough." Luca said, gloomily.
"Of my Dad's blood." Garret finished. "Why does she want it so badly? Trust me, Dad's nothing special, at least, not in the category of the supernatural, so why..."
Slowly the door in front of them opened and Hope stepped out. Luca jumped up and rushed to her as she held out a shaky arm to him. She was holding a file and as he looked at it, Luca's heart sank. It showed a picture of her Mom, with the words Terminated written across her picture, along with Dewey's, and most of her family.
"Mom is a spy?" She asked, her eyes wide with dismay.
"What?" Garret asked. Not sure he heard her right. Hope walked by Luca, not looking at him, and handed the file to Garret. Garret took it and read the files. He looked over at Luca angerly after he was done.
"You knew about this, and didn't say anything?" He asked.
"Guys, I really didn't know!" Luca began. He kept looking at Hope, hoping she'd hear the urgency of not knowing in his voice. But her eyes shone brightly with hurt and anger making his heart speed up faster. "I, I mean, I couldn't -."
"Told you we shouldn't have trusted him." Garret told Hope.
"I, I'm going to get Dad, and we're getting out of here." Hope told Garret.
"Hope..." Luca took a step towards her and reached out for her hand. She slowly took a step back, glaring at him.
"Alone." She added, before she whirled around and rushed off towards back to the room where Soran was keeping Louie.
Luca watched her go, as his heart breaking. He's done it now. He's lost the only friend he's ever had. He blinked hard to keep from crying and his circuits shortening out.
No.
He wasn't going to lose her like this. He had to make it right.
Somehow...
Hope made back to the door just as Soran was finishing putting her Dad's blood in the last of the glass vials. She watched the blood slowly drip slowly into the glass vial. Her stomach tightened and covered her mouth as small chunks slowly started to come up.
"That should do it, for now." Soran replied, "All we have to is wait," Her Dad was graveling at the ground, as she strolled over to the fire.
She gazed into the flames and it wasn't the fire that made her eyes gleam brightly, it was the thought of her mother coming to rescue Louie, and what she'd do to her once she got there made them shine so brightly with hatred.
"Oh, and don't worry about the children," Soran told Louie, licking her lips as she turned back around. "I'll take over being the mother."
"Like Hell you will!"
Both Louie and Soran looked towards the door.
"Well, if it isn't one of them now." She snarled. "Did you give my sweet little Luca the slip?" She asked.
"H, Hope. Sweetie, g, get out of here. Run." Louie choked out. He tried getting up but Soran kicked him, making him fall back to the ground. He groaned loudly.
"She shouldn't have to leave so soon, now." Soran cooed at Louie. "Now that she's here, she can also help supply us with blood, and this one, I don't have to keep alive." She added.
Hope saw her father's face get even paler than it already was, her own heart pounded hard against her chest, but she couldn't back out now. She had to find out for herself why all this was happening to her, to her family. She took a deep breath and asked in a shaky voice,
"What did you mean," Hope began as she got up and twirled her knife with Louie's blood still on it and casually strolled over to her. Hope quickly shut the door behind her so she wouldn't notice Luca or Garret. "When you said 'save you' again?" She asked.
Soran considered the question for a minute.
"Well," Soran replied, sighing deeply, "I say we have some time to kill before your mother gets here." Soran replied. "I could do the job right in front of her then." She decided. She studied Hope for a minute before saying, "Alright, come, sit. I'll tell you everything."