I just want to start off this chapter by giving those who reviewed a really large thank you. All of the nice words you've given me has really been pushing me into writing, and even though it still took me so, SO, long, I really do appreciate it. It honestly means a lot.
Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint.
Chapter Five:
What if's
Ignoring all of the speed limits and traffic lights, Vector raced down every single highway with his foot down very hard on the accelerator, in order to get to Hunchback Mountain as quick as he possibly could. He needed to get there soon, as to avoid Gru and his daughters jumping in their mini-van and escaping again before he could reach them.
Finally, after an hour's drive, Vector sped into the parking lot of Hunchback Mountain and slammed carelessly into one of the parked cars, flipping it over and smashing the passenger door off its hinges. Not seeming to care about the damage he'd caused, the young villain leaped from the driver's seat and onto the dry, coarse hiking trail, spinning his gaze around his entire surroundings.
Just stupid trees and flowers. No signs of Gru, his daughters, or their mini-van.
Maybe that Fullbyte guy didn't actually know what he was doing. Maybe Gru isn't actually here. That elderly 'hero of villainy', as his father had put it, honestly looked so much older than his age suggested. Maybe that old age was having an effect on his skill.
Sure, it sounded like he knew what he was talking about, but who knows, he could've just been chatting pure gibberish and hoping that would suffice. His father wouldn't be able to tell the difference. That guy knows as much about computers as a toddler does about quantum physics.
Vector let out a large sigh and massaged his fatigued forehead. Was this entire trip even worth it? If he couldn't kill Gru, then what's the point in seeing this mission through? That was his only desire from the beginning, to get revenge on the one who sent him to the moon. To get revenge on the one who fried his brain almost beyond repair.
To get revenge on the one who permanently changed his entire personality…
As he dwelled for a moment on that thought, two figures appeared in the corner of his eye, and he lifted his head immediately to spy who it was. To his dismay, it wasn't Gru or any of his daughters, rather, it was some stocky woman and her equally large boyfriend.
Sighing yet again, Vector shrugged and moseyed over to them, figuring that questioning them on Gru's location was worth a shot.
"Hey…uh…this is kind of a strange question," He started, wanting to get the conversation over with quickly, in order to avoid wasting precious searching time. "Have you seen a tall, bald guy around here?"
Rather than a response, Vector received a rather snobbish look from the two of them, a type of which that served to annoy the young villain further. They either didn't understand the question, or thought of themselves too highly to be spoken to by some scrawny little punk.
"He…uh…has a pretty long nose," Vector elaborated, attempting to ignore the stuck-up look on their faces. "Three daughters. One of 'em has glasses and one of 'em wears a pink hat, I think."
"Hmm…not around here," The woman replied, her voice not really that sophisticated, which made Vector question why she seemed so snobby. "But I did used to know a tall, big-nosed man who adopted three girls. I'm pretty sure one of them wore glass-"
"I don't care who you used to know," Vector interrupted fairly aggressively, already sick and tired of conversing. "I wanna know if you've seen 'em around here."
"No, we haven't, buddy," The man cut in, his accent suggesting that he was born in some rough, British estate. Again, no reason to act snobbish. "And if you keep talking to her like that then the two of us are gonna have a little problem! Understand?"
Vector promptly tensed up. Even though they didn't sound the same, Vector couldn't help but be reminded of his father by the man's large and intimidating physique. That simple comparison was all it took to send a bolt of fear down Vector's spine, serving to make him go dead silent. He simply dropped his head a little and nodded in response, quickly ceasing eye-contact.
"Good." The man replied. A frustrating victorious smile transitioned onto both his and his girlfriend's face, one of which Vector was yet again forced to ignore in order to preserve his safety, right before they turned around and continued on their way.
Tired of that defeated feeling that he was so well accompanied with, Vector let out a long huff of embarrassment and reached into his pocket to fish out the strange device that Fullbyte had given him. Much to his dismay, Gru's co-ordinates had now completely changed, seemingly referring to a totally different location. Growling, Vector had to resist the urge to lob the device into the forest.
As he tried to figure out what location these co-ordinates were indicating, the large couple strutted back over to him and snatched his attention, doing so with a fiery glare of pure rage.
"Is that your car!?" The man yelled, pointing over to the parking lot, his whole body quivering with ire.
Vector gave the two of them an odd look as he followed the man's long finger, and upon realizing that the car that he'd crashed into earlier was the couple's vehicle, he felt his heart skip multiple beats.
He gave the large man a guilt-ridden, sheepish look, hoping sincerely that that would be enough to extinguish his rage. Obviously, that failed to work, but before Vector could offer up some sort of excuse that would clear his name, the man proceeded to punch him square in the nose, making everything go black...
After having what ended up being a pretty late lunch at a nearby pizzeria, since it took a long while for them to get back down the mountain, the entire family were now back in the mini-van and making their way towards the nearest town. This time, in order to avoid what happened at the beach, Gru jumped on the laptop and booked a room at a nearby hotel as early as he possibly could.
Thankfully, he managed to reserve one before they ran out of space, since it seemed this one was a little less busy. Therefore, much to their relief, they would be sleeping in actual beds in an actual room tonight, instead of sleeping in sleeping bags on the cold floor of the mini-van.
With their faces pressed firmly against the window's glass, Edith and Agnes watched the exterior of the outside neighborhood fly past their eyes at speed, as they drove through a large, yet fairly cozy, neighborhood. The area only consisted of posh town-houses and little corner-shops, which explained why this hotel wasn't too busy.
Eventually, Gru pulled into the parking lot of a large hotel, the size of which didn't suit its quiet surroundings in the slightest. It must've been around six stories tall, and it looked like it belonged more in a bustling tourist destination rather than some random little town in a fairly unknown location.
Gru got up from the driver's seat and opened the door to let his family out, before tiredly joining them and trudging towards the hotel's front entrance. That hike had really eaten up his energy, and out of all the activities in the world they could partake in right now, lying down on a bed sounded like the most enjoyable one.
The family walked through the doors of the hotel and up to the main reception desk, where a teenager with black hair and red highlights gave them a spiritless look. He was very clearly tired and frustrated, and considering his age, his parents must've forced him into getting a part-time job.
"De Gru family..." Gru muttered as he got to the desk, electing to skip pleasantries. The teenager gave him a blank look, one of which that better suited a lifeless corpse. He turned around and listlessly pressed a few buttons on a nearby computer keyboard, seemingly not even paying attention to the monitor he was controlling.
"Hmm...yeah." He replied, reaching into a drawer below to unveil a set of keys. "One of the rooms on floor six...I think..."
Gru took the keys and said nothing else. Yes, he could've argued and stated that 'one of the rooms on floor six' wasn't very helpful, but why bother when he probably wouldn't receive a clarifying answer. Instead, he lifted the keys into his line of sight, and spied the number '627' on the side.
That obviously must've been the room number.
"Thank you." Lucy expressed politely, getting a lifeless shrug as a response. The teenager didn't even make eye-contact with her, instead choosing to look up at a nearby wall clock, obviously checking how long he had left until quitting time.
Just wanting to see their room, the whole family turned around with their suitcases in tow and made their way towards the nearest elevator, right before Agnes spoke quietly into Edith's ear, in order to avoid the grumpy teen from hearing her.
"Why does he look so tired?"
"Teenagers are always tired." Edith answered, not bothering to speak quietly, since she didn't care if he could hear her or not.
"Yeah, and always annoyeeng." Gru added, rubbing his stressed forehead.
"Yeah, you're right." Jack replied sarcastically, grinning. "Thank god there are no teenagers in this family."
The rest of the family giggled a little, while Gru simply rolled his eyes jokingly and concentrated on the elevator. But, to his dismay, he caught sight of a small sign that read 'Out of Order', and he had to resist the urge to headbutt a nearby wall.
"Oh, no…" He mumbled angrily, looking up to the heavens in annoyance. "Pleasssseeeee tell me dere's another elevator."
The rest of them spun their gazes around the whole reception in unison, searching for a second elevator that would appease Gru. However, luck wasn't on his side.
"I can't see one." Dru replied, turning back to him and shrugging. The huff of frustration that Gru emitted was unexpectedly loud and rough.
"The stairs it is then." Lucy said, pointing over to the staircase across the room.
"Yoo gotta be kiddeeng me." Gru exclaimed, rubbing his hand down his face. "We can't use de stairs, we have suitcases! D'you know how heavy dese theengs are!?"
"Oh, come on, it's only a few flights." Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "It's hardly the end of the world."
"Yeah, but eet might bede end of my legs." Gru responded, feeling the weight of fatigue in his leg muscles soar. Realizing that arguing was eating up precious resting time, Gru sighed and gave in, reluctantly approaching the first flight of stairs. "Ugh…come on…I just wanna get to de room."
Fifteen minutes later, Gru almost collapsed to the floor in fatigue, as he lifted his foot over the final step. As he stopped and took a momentary break, his family stood in front of him with their arms crossed, clearly bored and angered.
"I thought yoo had to be fit to get eento de AVL." Dru mocked, giving his twin brother a playful smirk. Even though Gru wanted to shoot back with a response and mock him for his earlier terrible hiking efforts, he just couldn't. All he could do was gasp and splutter, only just managing to motion his arms down the hallway, instructing them to head for the room.
After unlocking the door and stumbling into their hotel room, the family were surprised to see just how unexpectedly big it was. It had a large double bed, five single beds, a couch, a TV, three tables, and a mini-fridge. It could almost pass for a penthouse, rather than just a standard hotel room in some little quiet town.
"Woah!" Edith exclaimed, her mouth wide-open with shock as she walked into the room. "This room is awesome!"
"It's so big!" Agnes screeched, sprinting towards one of her desired single beds in order to claim it as her own. "I call this one!"
"Uhhh, Gru…how much did this cost?" Lucy questioned quietly, as she marveled at the unexpected size.
"I…uh…I can't remember." Gru replied, giving Lucy a sheepish expression. "I booked eet quickly so…I deedn't check."
Lucy gave him a quick stern look, since the prospect of this room costing hundreds of dollars was very much in the realm of possibility, but within a second, her bright and energetic side kicked back in as she ran over and leaped onto the double-bed in glee.
Gru watched her do so with a smile, before dragging his suitcase over and slumping onto the bed in a much less animated fashion. The duvet acted as a sponge, absorbing the strain from hours' worth of walking, running, and stair climbing. He had to resist the urge to fall stone cold asleep.
As the rest of the family unpacked and explored the room, Edith came to a stop in front of the glass double-door at the back, which she proceeded to point and yell at.
"Cool, we have a balcony!" She cheered, running over and opening the door to examine it further. She didn't actually know that pretty much all hotel rooms come with balconies, since this was one of the first times she'd ever been in one, but no-one decided to ruin her excitement.
Noticing her cheer and leave, Jack soon followed her out to examine it himself, while his little sister was observing the view on her tip-toes. Now that he was much higher and could see a lot more, Jack was starting to recognize the fairly large town that surrounded the hotel.
For the most part, it was made up of quaint little streets that were quiet and wholesome, the kind of which was perfect to raise a family on. However, a few streets stood out for being the exact opposite, consisting of graffitied walls and trashed alleyways. Eventually, Jack's eyes fell upon a certain row of houses, and he couldn't help but strut up to the balcony's edge to get a better view.
"Oh my god…" He muttered under his breath, barely believing his own eyes. Out of all the towns in the state they could've chose, this one was the one they decided to stay in? It almost sounded farfetched. "I don't believe it…"
"What?" Edith asked, looking up at her older brother questioningly. For a few seconds, Jack didn't respond, instead electing to scan the street further. But eventually, after shaking his head out of slight shock, he finally replied.
"Oh…um…nothing."
"What is it!? Tell me!" Edith stated demandingly, spinning around to face him fully. She wasn't going to take an unconvincing 'nothing' as an answer.
Jack shared his uneasy look between his little sister and the aforementioned street, as if he was debating whether or not to tell her. But, seeing that their father was gone and no longer a threat to them, he could see no reason as to why he shouldn't.
"Uh…alright…" He started uneasily, pointing far over the balcony. "See that street over there?"
Edith turned back around and got on her tip-toes again, however, no matter how much she lifted herself up, she just wasn't tall enough to spy all the way over the edge. Letting out a small joking huff, Jack reached down and picked her up onto his shoulders, so she easily could see right over the whole town.
"Woah! This is awesome!" Edith exclaimed happily, turning her head in many directions to look around all the different streets. "We're so high up!"
"Yeah, so be careful!" Gru stated suddenly, as the rest of the family walked through the glass doors to join them on the balcony. "Don't go too near de edge, Jack! Especially weeth her on your shoulders!"
"Yeah, yeah, I won't." Jack replied, rolling his eyes. He didn't need to be told that. Even though he was confident he would never let her fall from his shoulders, he'd still ensured a safe distance between them and the edge without his instruction. Plus, there was a metal bar between them and falling over the edge anyway, so he didn't even need to worry in the first place.
"Daddy!?" Agnes shouted, pulling on Gru's pantleg. "Could you lift me up as well? I wanna see if I can see our house!"
Gru couldn't help but chuckle a little. They were hours and hours away from the mansion now, so there wasn't a chance she could see it from here. But still, why stop her from trying?
"Sure theeng, pumpkeen." He replied, as he bent down to let her climb on his shoulders. As she did so, Gru could feel his back muscles sting a little, and even more when he stood back up again. But he elected to completely ignore it, just like he always did. What Agnes wanted was much more important than his stupid aches and pains.
"So, what street were you pointing at?" Edith asked, seeming eager to return to the original conversation, something Jack was secretly hoping she'd forgotten about. The fact that she seemed to remember everything he ever says or does was one trait he sincerely wished she didn't possess.
"Uhhh…that one." He muttered awkwardly. Edith immediately scanned the area her brother was pointing at, and once she'd pinpointed exactly which street he was referring to, she was met with a grimy looking neighborhood that was littered from top to bottom in garbage. It really stuck out when compared to the pristine streets that surrounded it.
"Looks dirty." She commented, finding that whole reveal to be pretty anticlimactic. "So, what's so special about it?"
"Umm…well…" Jack began slowly. He was really beginning to regret coming out onto the balcony. "That's…uh…that's where we used to live."
"What do you mean?" Edith questioned, seeming confused.
"I mean, like, when you were a baby. That's where the two of us used to live."
"Really?" Lucy chimed in. Jack simply nodded.
"How'd you know?" Margo asked.
"Cuz I used to live there." Jack replied as-matter-of-factly, finding the question to be pretty stupid. "I'll never forget how god-awful that place looked."
While the rest of them questioned Jack about life at the residence, Edith was inspecting every nook and cranny of the street. It honestly looked like one of the roughest places she'd ever seen. With all of the garbage, graffiti, and unexplained piles of rubble, it looked like a war zone. But, even though it was obviously a stain plaguing the rest of the pristine town, Edith couldn't help but think the place looked kinda cool.
Disgusting and hazardous…but still pretty cool.
"So, did you like living there?" Lucy asked, seeming genuinely interested. However, instead of receiving a response right away, Jack stared at her with an odd look, his mouth bending into a faint frown.
"Oh, it was fantastic." He replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "It was full of garbage, my parents were crazy, and I'd spend all day pretending I was somewhere else. Definitely the best time of my life."
"Right, so…not too great then." Lucy replied, not knowing how else to respond to something like that.
"Can we go and see it?" Edith asked suddenly and abruptly, catching her brother completely off-guard.
As the question hit the air, Jack's faint frown immediately replaced itself with an almost petrified look, seeming incredibly uncomfortable with the very prospect of getting closer to it. However, before the teenager could respond, Gru cut in and answered for him.
"No, Edith!" He stated sternly. "We're not walkeeng around some horrible dump just so yoo can see your old house! Eet's very dangerous!"
"Oh, come on!" Edith sulked, slumping her shoulders. "It'll be fine. It's only a street!"
"De decision ees final, Edith! Dere's no way!" Gru replied. "Plus, my legs wouldn't be able to handle walkeeng all dat way. Not to mention dat Jack probably wouldn't want to go back dere."
Edith immediately looked right in her brother's eyes, almost pleading for him to join her side of the argument and tell Gru that it would be fine. However, Jack was torn.
Obviously, he didn't want to go back to his old house, since it was full of old memories that he'd rather forget forever. But, at the same time, going back there when everything is great might help him put the bad times behind him. There were two conflicting arguments in Jack's head, and he couldn't decide which one to side with.
However, when he spied the beseeching look on his little sister's face, his mind was made up for him.
"It's fine, Gru." He said. "If she wants to go see it, then…she can see it."
"What!?" Gru replied, that response catching him completely off guard. Jack had always been so sensitive to the events of the past, with just a simple nightmare about the things that had happened being enough to give him a complete meltdown. Going back to his childhood home would certainly be a lot worse than a nightmare. "Are…are yoo sure?"
"Yeah." Jack replied, shrugging. "Why not?"
"Why not!? Are yoo being serious!? Dat place ees really dangerous! What eef some…creep comes and attacks us!?"
"Gru, come on, you deal with creeps every day. It's literally your job! This is nowhere near as dangerous as, oh I don't know, fighting some crazy guy who has control of thousands of nukes." Jack argued, Gru's face still curled into a worried look. "Plus, if anyone even looks at us weirdly, I'll punch their nose right off their faces."
He smiled evilly and clenched his fists, secretly hoping that someone would actually try something on them, just so he could punch them out of oblivion.
"Yeah! Me too!" Edith cheered, clenching her fists just like her brother was. Jack turned and gave her a large smile, excited for when she got older, so the two of them could go out beating people up together.
Gru, who still seemed unconvinced about the idea, turned to Lucy in the hopes that she would back him up. However, instead of arguing on his side like he hoped she would, she simply shrugged, not seeming to have a problem with the idea. Just like Jack, she also secretly hoped to get into a fight with someone, since she didn't get to punch anybody at the mugging earlier.
Frustrated, but also in no mood to continue arguing, Gru sighed deeply and dropped his head in defeat.
"Fine…I guess we have notheeng better to do." He muttered angrily, as the pain in his leg muscles decided to remind him of its existence. "Let's just hope my legs don't fall off…"
Gru felt like his legs were literally about to fall off. They were just entering the beaten-up residence where Jack and Edith's old house is situated, and Gru didn't know if he was ever going to make it back to the hotel with his legs intact. He couldn't remember how or when he'd suddenly became so unfit, but whether it was old age or stress that was the cause, he really just needed to stop and take a large break.
Thankfully, the opportunity to do so presented itself, as Agnes frantically pulled on Gru's pant leg in order to grasp his attention.
"I need the toilet!" She exclaimed, doing a little pee dance. Gru looked up and inspected his surroundings, looking for a place with a toilet, where he noticed a small corner shop across the street. Whether the place had a toilet or not, Gru knew this was the perfect chance to temporarily deter the crushing pain in his legs.
"Alright, alright." He responded, not sure if his leg muscles could handle Agnes's insistent pulls. Judging by the fact that they were starting to wobble, he was almost certain they couldn't. "I'm sure dere's one een here."
The whole family diverted course and headed for the corner shop, all except for Jack, who seemed so consumed by his surroundings, that he didn't even notice them walk away. He just kept on moving forward, his eyes transfixed by the house that he could see in the distance…
Slowly, he traversed the street's pavement and made his way towards it. He decided to focus his gaze solely on the front door, since the prospect of looking up at his old bedroom window sounded a little too much right now. I mean, why run before you can even walk?
Finally, after a minute of reluctant and regretful trudging, Jack was standing right in front of his old house's front lawn. The garden seemed a lot more taken care of now, with actual healthy shards of green grass sticking out instead of the quenched, dying brown shards that he was so accompanied with.
The car in the driveway was obviously completely different. He never actually thought about what had happened to his father's old vehicle, but now that he was standing right where it used to be, he couldn't help but wonder where it was right now. He wouldn't be surprised if it was stolen and scrapped for parts, knowing this neighborhood.
The old streetlight that used to stand just beside the driveway was no longer there. Questions about what could've happened to it spun around Jack's mind. Did someone just randomly decide to remove it? Did it get crashed into by some drunk's car? Whatever happened, Jack wasn't necessarily going to miss it. The light it used to shine on the driveway always scared him anyway…
And then, ignoring the siren-like warning blaring through his mind, Jack looked up at the bedroom window. The second he looked into the glass, the memories came back.
The sound of the rain…
The moon's timid light…
The pounding footsteps…
It seemed so vivid. Jack felt like it was all happening again. That fateful night seemed so clear in his mind that it didn't feel like just a simple memory anymore. Unable to handle it for a second longer, Jack felt the urge to scream at the top of his lungs, as an immense amount of unease clouded his min-
"Can I help you?"
Breaking him out of his trance-like state, Jack jumped out of his skin and immediately turned to face the elderly man that stood right in front of him, giving him a questioning look. For a few seconds, Jack didn't have a clue why this old guy was looking at him so strangely, but upon remembering that this house was no longer his, he realized what was happening.
"Why are you looking through my windows?" The man questioned, his tired voice hinting that he was sick of confrontations. Considering this rough neighborhood, that wasn't a surprise.
"Oh…uh…sorry." Jack replied, attempting to regain control of his frazzled mind. "It's just that…uh…I used to live here, so…"
"You did?" The elderly man questioned, looking him up and down for a moment, as if he was inspecting him very closely. After a few seconds of confused silence, the man's eyes widened in surprise, as if he'd suddenly remembered something. "Wait…you must be Jack, right?"
Electing against responding for a second, Jack gave him an apprehensive look. The IVB had taught him to be cautious of any stranger that knew information about him, and those instincts that he was trained to follow were still active in his brain. Considering that the IVB had brainwashed and controlled him for five years, he was certain that those instincts would never go away.
"Yeah…" He replied carefully.
"Well, you must be very forgetful, young man." The man spoke, chuckling as he did so. He seemed like a very friendly elderly man, which made Jack wonder why he decided to set up home in one of the worst neighborhoods in the whole country. "You forgot to take all your belongings with you when you moved. They had your name plastered all over 'em!"
"Ohhhh, I did." Jack laughed, playing along. Of course, the man could never know that he actually didn't have the chance to collect his belongings, considering his next home after this one was a young offenders prison. But, obviously, he didn't necessarily need to know that. "Uh…you didn't happen to keep them, did you?"
"Well…I was originally going to throw them in the garbage," The man replied. "But I saw that they were full of old photo albums and…I just didn't have the heart to throw away someone's memories like that. They're all in the attic if you want me to go fetch them."
Jack could suddenly feel his heart-rate rise substantially. If looking at his bedroom window almost gave him a panic attack, then looking through his old box of possessions was sure to make him pass out. God, how much he wished this guy could've just thrown them away. He didn't realize that, instead of doing good, he was doing Jack a massive disservice by keeping them.
Realizing that he'd been silent for way longer than normal, Jack sighed under his breath and nodded his head quickly, not exactly sure as to why he was agreeing to this.
"Uh…yeah…that would be great."
The man gave a quick nod before turning and running off into his house, seeming more excited than Jack to retrieve the box from the attic. Once he'd disappeared, Jack let out the deepest and most uneasy sigh he'd done in a long while. He was really beginning to regret coming back here. It was like this whole street was cursed, and Jack was the only one who had been plagued by it.
"There you are!" A chirpy voice boomed beside him, startling the teen a little. He spun around and calmed down a little when he saw Edith standing beside him, but then immediately became more apprehensive when he remembered the situation and what was happening. "So…is this our house?"
"Uh…well, not anymore it isn't," Jack replied. "But…yeah, it used to be."
"Woah." Edith cooed, inspecting every inch of the house's ground in slight awe. The walls seemed bright and freshly painted, and the grass was alive with healthy colors. Compared to the filthy houses that surrounded it, it honestly looked really nice. "It's not that bad. It's better than some of the other houses around here."
"Yeah…it's not that bad now," Jack responded, still seeing the prior littered floors and fading lawns in his mind. "But it used to suck."
"Edith!" Gru exclaimed suddenly as the two siblings jumped in surprise, him and the rest of the family seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "What deed I say about runneeng off!?"
"I didn't run off." Edith replied, crossing her arms as if to invite an argument. "I walked off."
Before Gru could accept the aforementioned invite, the elderly man came dashing back out of his house, a brown box with Jack's name written on it in his grasp. Considering how quick the man was running, the box couldn't have been that heavy, which wasn't surprising to Jack, judging by the fact that he had barely any possessions when he was a kid.
Most of the ones he did have he'd saved up for himself, or he'd stolen from classmates in his school.
"Here we are." The man spoke happily, putting the box down in front of Jack's feet. "Now, don't forget these if you move again!"
"Haha, yeah…I won't." Jack responded, ignoring the confused look Gru and Lucy were giving him. The elderly man gave him one last smile before quickly rushing back into his house, not sticking around for a second. It was obvious he was uncomfortable being outside on a street like this.
"What's that?" Margo asked, pointing at the box perplexingly. Before Jack had the chance to respond, Edith decided to figure out the answer herself, by moving forward and ripping the sellotaped top open. Inside, multiple random toys, thick and thin books, notepads, and a beaten-up instant camera were placed around disorderly.
"Woah, cool." Edith gawked, immediately proceeding to rummage through the items, even though she hadn't been given permission. That was a little annoying habit she had.
"What ees all dis?" Gru asked, peering at Jack while also investigating the boxed items himself.
"Just some…old stuff." Jack replied, not really knowing how else to put it, especially since his mind was still a million miles away. "I never got the chance to take them with me when I…y'know, left for my new home."
He spoke that last word with an extremely venomous tone, as if it angered him beyond belief.
"What are these?" Agnes asked, lifting up a few small tattered notepads, that had many, many messy scribblings on the front. By just looking at the handwriting, it was pretty clear that a young child was the writer behind them.
Forgetting exactly the things he'd wrote down when he was younger, Jack kneeled and took one off of the small girl, immediately scanning the covers.
"My old notepads." He explained briefly. "I used to write all my ideas down in these."
"What kind of ideas?" Agnes asked. Jack couldn't help but chuckle a little before responding.
"Song lyrics mostly. I always dreamt of being a world-famous singer when I was younger."
That sounded pretty crazy to him now, ever since he'd grown up and realized that he was missing the most crucial part about becoming a world-famous singer.
He couldn't sing.
"A singer?" Edith questioned mockingly, taking a momentary break from carelessly digging through the box. "But you can't sing."
"Yessss, thanks for the newsflash, Edith…" Jack responded, giving her an angry look. "But I don't need you to figure that out."
Edith simply replied by sticking out her tongue, since she'd rather get back to exploring through the box than converse any further. Looking back down at the covers, Jack was a little intrigued to find out exactly what he'd written down. However, at the same time, he was a little reluctant to.
Considering how upset he used to be at that age, looking through his writings when he was ten-years-old may not be the best of ideas.
But still, unable to suppress his interest, Jack flipped the pad open and scanned the pages inside.
However, the elderly man's attic must've been pretty damp, since a lot of the ink on the pages had started to run, making most of his words incomprehensible. The words he could understand though were still pretty unintelligible, since without the context of the other writings before and after it, it didn't really make much sense.
"Cool! Ees dis a photo album!?" Dru yelled, kneeling down and revealing a large book with a thick brown cover, that had the words 'Photo Album' plastered on the front in bold letters.
"Not a bad guess." Gru replied sarcastically, unable to prevent the urge to roll his eyes.
Dru ignored the comment and happily started turning through the pages at an incredibly fast and energetic speed. Considering how fast he was flipping through, he surely couldn't see any of the photos inside, since they must've been a blur. But, somehow, he was seeming to take in each one.
"Woahhh!" Dru gaped, stopping and turning the photo album around. "Look, Edith! Eet's yoo when yoo were a baby!"
Unsurprisingly, considering how loud Dru had announced it, the page was littered with dozens of photos of a little baby. It must've been Edith, since one of the photos had her laying asleep beside a much-younger looking and less-muscular version of Jack.
It was like a never-ending wave of cuteness.
"Awwwww." Lucy cooed, cocking her head to the side and smiling. "You looked so cute."
"Yeah, what happened?" Gru joked, making the rest of his family laugh. All apart for Edith, who crossed her arms and frowned at him, clearly not finding it that funny. Jack, who was standing at a distance and looking incredibly uncomfortable, also didn't laugh, but that's only because he hadn't heard him. His mind was way too far away for him to hear a single thing around him.
"Jack, don't you wanna look at these?" Lucy asked. Even though her question wasn't loud, Jack was startled by her voice, since his mind was in a totally different world when she spoke.
"Oh…uh…nah, there's no need to." He mumbled, still at total unease, evident by the fact that he wasn't making eye-contact with her. "I know what she used to look like…"
With his head locked down, Jack slowly moved over to the box and inspected the rest of the contents, while the rest of his family searched curiously through the album. The more items he picked up and recognized, the more memories came back. Some of them were actually pretty good memories, while others were ones he wished he could forget.
That's when he uncovered a small set of trains at the bottom of the box.
Picking them up carefully in order to avoid damaging them, the teen held the small wooden carriages in his hand and studied them closely. These were the exact set of trains that Edith was playing with when he was being escorted to prison.
Or, in other words, the last time he'd seen her before they were separated for seven years…
Shoving them back into the box and quickly closing the lid, Jack picked up his possessions at speed and cleared his throat loudly, gathering his family's attention.
"Uh…we should probably start heading back." He mumbled quietly, rubbing the back of his neck in order to subdue the discomfort he was feeling. "It's…getting pretty late."
They all gave him an odd look in return, but since Gru could still hear the call of the hotel bed in his mind, he couldn't help but completely agree with him.
"Yeah, good idea." He replied, looking over at his daughters. "Come on, gurls, eet's way past dinner time. Yoo must be hungry."
The three girls smiled at the very mention of food, and followed on as the family started making their way back down the street. All apart for Jack, who hung back for a few seconds to take one last look at the house.
This would definitely be the last time he'd ever be here. That, he thought to himself, was a good thing. He was hoping that coming back here while everything was great would help him put those old memories behind him once and for all…
He was wrong.
Margo laid silently in her hotel bed, her eyes wide-open as she stared into the almost blinding darkness in front of her. She could hear the faint sounds of her little sister's soft snores to her left, and the much deeper and rougher versions coming from her father to her right. Even though she was as tired as they were when they returned to the room, Margo just couldn't fall asleep.
There was just too much on her mind. Frustratingly so, bumping into Miss Hattie at Hunchback Mountain a few hours ago had shaken her up a little. She thought she'd finally outgrown this phase of the littlest things triggering flashbacks, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
Since she'd seen her, it seemed almost everything she laid eyes upon was bringing back old memories. When they completed the large trek back down the mountain, it brought back memories of walking long distances to sell cookies. When they went to the pizza place to have lunch, it brought back memories of staring into restaurant windows, wishing she had parents to take her and her sisters inside to eat.
Even the darkness around her right now was bringing back memories of waking up in the middle of the night at the orphanage, either after her or one of her sisters had experienced a nightmare.
Those memories would make her feel upset, and then after they did, she'd get annoyed at herself for feeling upset since she now had a family and should be happy. She just couldn't wrap her head around exactly why they would make her so upset. It just didn't make sense.
Everything is good now, why can't she just forget the past and be happy!
As she got more and more angry at herself, the sound of movement from across the room caught her attention. Looking over, Margo could see the figure of her teenage brother tip-toeing over to one of the large tables in the room, where he'd placed his box of possessions. She watched as he quietly turned the small lamp on, before carefully rummaging his way through the box.
Jack knew he'd have to wait until everyone was asleep before he could start flicking through the photo album. He didn't want to start getting upset in front of his family, who were surely sick and tired of seeing him in that state. The amount of times he'd cried over events in the past in front of them must've been hitting double-digits, and it must be as annoying for them as it is embarrassing for him.
Pushing his old notepads and novels out of the way, he unveiled the photo album and didn't waste any time in opening it up. The first few pages were all random pictures of his street and the nearby forest, obviously just practice images for Jack to learn exactly how to use the camera.
But on the fourth page, the first picture of baby Edith was sitting there, instantly snatching his attention. He couldn't deny it, the picture warmed his heart. He could pretend that he's way too cool for babies and that he finds adorableness really stupid, but why bother when no-one was around to judge him about it?
He found it insanely adorable. In fact, he still found Edith adorable now. He'd probably still find her adorable when she's forty-years-old. Whenever he looked at his little sister, he still always saw that little newborn baby in the hospital, and it always triggered old happy feelings. It's why he loved being around her so much.
But, of course, his stupid decisions had to ruin everything, and that little newborn baby had been through so many bad times and scary moments, all because of that stupid choice he'd made in the living room seven years ago.
He had to resist the urge to throw the photo album across the room in ange-
"What are you doing?" Margo questioned quietly, once she'd tip-toed over to him and tapped her brother's shoulder. Startled, Jack jumped up from the seat in surprise and sent Margo a slightly terrified look, but once he'd realized that it was just his twelve-year-old sister, he took a breath and calmed down.
"Don't scare me like that."
"You're looking through the photo album?" Margo inquired, glancing at the large brown book momentarily.
"Yeah…" Jack replied quietly, as if that very confession was shameful. "I was just…remembering stuff. What are you doing up anyway? It's past midnight."
"I couldn't sleep." Margo replied, sitting down on the foot of her bed, where she stared down at the floor. Jack gave her a suspicious look, now being a lot better in deducing when his sisters were upset, before sitting down beside her.
"Any reason why?" He asked.
"Uh…" Margo mumbled, unsure as to whether or not she actually wanted to talk about this. It was a very touchy subject, one of which she struggled to talk to even Gru or Lucy about. But, considering that Jack himself had also been an orphan when he was younger, maybe talking it out with him would get her more answers. "Well, I guess I'm still a little shook up from earlier."
"You mean when you saw that Miss H…Hat…Hit…Hil-?"
"Hattie." Margo corrected, unable to prevent herself from interrupting. "And yeah…"
An awkward silence followed. Jack didn't exactly know what to say to help her out in this regard. How would he ever be able to help Margo out with dealing with the past, if he couldn't even deal with it himself?
"So, why are you looking through the photo album?" Margo asked, sensing that Jack was having trouble responding. "Is it because your old house earlier had brought back sad memories, and looking at pictures of Edith when she was a baby makes you remember the happy ones?"
Surprised that she'd guessed right in such detail so quickly, Jack sent her a totally shocked look, proceeded with a sigh of frustration. Keeping secrets around Margo proved to be a difficult task, since the twelve-year-old could read people's expressions like a book.
"You're too smart, y'know that?" He muttered, shaking his head with a mix of admiration and annoyance. "But yeah, pretty much."
He stood up and moved back over to the photo album again, where he proceeded to flick on to the next page. The fifth one was full up with tons of pictures of baby Edith. Back then, his ten-year-old self was keen to document every minute he spent with her, since he'd rarely got to spend lots of time with her when his parents were around.
However, comparing that to the fact that he got to spend absolutely no time with her for seven whole years, it didn't seem so upsetting to him now.
After a few seconds of silence between the two, Margo got up from the bed and moved over to stand beside her brother, while he continued to flick through the pages, all of them littered with baby pictures.
"Wow, you took a lot of photos." She commented, marveling at the sheer number of images.
"Mm-hmm." Jack replied. "I spent a lot of time saving up for that camera, so I wanted to make sure that I got my money's worth."
His mind wandering off for a moment, Jack glanced into the box beside the photo album, and his eyes were instantly caught by the small set of trains again. Edith loved those things. He'd play with them for hours with her every day. Of course, playing with trains can only be fun for a limited amount of time before it gets boring, but since it made Edith smile so much, he would still always do it.
Mainly, because he hated seeing her upset…
Turning back to Margo, who was still curiously looking through the photos, Jack sighed under his breath before asking her a question.
"Margo? I need you to be honest with me…" He started, making the bespectacled young-girl turn to face him. "Did Edith get upset a lot at the orphanage?"
"Uh…sometimes, yeah." Margo answered. "She always used to pretend that she'd never get upset, but there were a lot of times when she would cry about things. Mostly after she'd had a nightmare, or when Miss Hattie had said something really mean."
"Oh, I knew it, I'm such an idiot." Jack replied quickly, anger seeping deep into his voice. Margo gave him an odd look before responding, since it took her a while to clock exactly what he'd just said.
"What?"
"That orphanage lady made Edith feel so upset, and where was I?" He started, his cheeks glowing with a dark shade of red, displaying how angry he was feeling. "In a prison. All because I was so stupid and killed that social worker. What if I hadn't done that, Margo? What if I'd been smart for once and hadn't done something so ridiculously stupid? What if me and Edith hadn't got separated and I was actually there for her when she got upset? What if I could've been there to defend her from that Miss Hattie woman? Would she be happier now?"
"Jack, you're being stupid." Margo replied bluntly. "If we're talking about 'what if's', then what if Gru hadn't decided to adopt us? What if Gru hadn't saved us from Vector after he kidnapped us? What if you hadn't stumbled upon Edith when you were working with the IVB? We wouldn't have parents. We wouldn't be talking right now. You wouldn't be with Edith. Life is full of 'what if's', but not all of them are bad. You've just gotta accept what's happened and move on."
Margo didn't have a clue where that had just come from, but after she'd finished saying it, she realized that she was totally right. Life could be so much worse right now if things had gone differently. Those bad things that had happened were still pretty horrible and she would never be able to truly forget about them…
…but when comparing them to the things that could've happened, like the evil purple minions managing to maul her and her sisters in the lab, like Balthazar Bratt managing to send the whole city of Hollywood into space, like the IVB managing to destroy the AVL and assassinate her parents, and like Venin managing to blow up the whole of the US with nukes…
…then I guess those memories aren't that bad, after all.
That previous look of shock returned to Jack's face, but instead of being followed by a frustrated sigh this time, he smirked warmly at his little sister and replied to her softly.
"You're too smart, y'know that?"
The two siblings shared a hug, something they both hadn't realized they really, really needed. It had been a pretty mixed day, some parts very enjoyable, and other parts not so much, but whatever happens, it shouldn't be something to stress over…
Things could be worse.
"Anyway, you need to get back to bed." Jack said, parting the hug after a few seconds. "You need your energy for the pool tomorrow."
Margo smiled and quietly tip-toed over to her bed, where she laid back down and practically passed out asleep. Jack turned the lamp off and went to do the same, but when he heard the sound of Edith's snores across the room, he diverted course and moved over to her bed instead.
Stone-cold asleep and completely peaceful, Edith didn't seem to be too shook up by bumping into Miss Hattie earlier. In fact, the second pizza was mentioned, she seemed to immediately get over it. Because of that, there wasn't any need for Jack to cheer her up with a kiss, since she'd been cheerful ever since then…
He kneeled down and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.
"I love you, Edith." He whispered.
…but there wasn't any harm in making sure.
Again, just want to express my gratitude to anyone that is reading along and is actually enjoying the story. I say it almost every chapter, but I am extremely appreciative of the support.
Sorry that I seem to take so long with these chapters. If I'm being honest, writing hasn't been as much fun the past few months as it did last year. Don't really know why, it just hasn't. But I decided today to rewatch the first movie, and after I did, all I wanted to do was write. I ended up finishing half of this chapter in around three hours, so I think I know where the problem has been.
I hadn't actually watched any of the movies in a long while before I did today, and after I had, I was just full of inspiration. I'll rewatch the second one tomorrow, so hopefully, that'll mean that Chapter Six should be out soon.
But saying that, since I seem to be so inconsistent with updating this, I'll put a little section on my profile about my progress on the next chapter. That way, you'll know when the next one will be out if you're curious. Don't be afraid to DM me about it as well if I seem to be taking some time. I will 100% respond.
Right, enough of me rambling. I will return as soon as I possibly can, which hopefully, shouldn't be any longer than two weeks.