7
Raven's pov
I was working on the base of the painting when I heard a knock on the door. Looking over I saw Will leaning against the doorframe smirking as he did.
He took in the room walking to my side, "do you really plan on making them pose for the howl time you paint?" he asked grinning.
"They wanted the full experience" I shrugged and added the last details to the chair, finishing for today.
Will handed me a photo "this is the one mom decided on, but you will probably have to make another one after we get the everyone together now that Atossa has joined the family" there was a grin on his face as he said that.
"I don't mind, after all painting is sort of my occupation and I think that I would die if I had to work in an office, so keep the orders coming" I took off the apron Meg insisted I wear while painting after she had failed to get blue spots off my pink sundress.
"Did you get settled in" I asked putting away my art supplies.
"Yeah, thanks again for letting us stay here" Will smiled and took the water bucket from me.
"It's really nothing, we have the room and that way I can work with them after their performances. And sleeping in a real bed is bound to be better that a trailer" I shrugged walking out the room gesturing for him to follow.
"So did Margot kick you out or is there something more to you being here?" I asked gesturing to the bucket which I was completely capable of carrying myself.
He switched hands so the water container was out of my reach, as if taunting me. So I let out an over-exaggerated sigh, making him grin.
"Well there was the picture" he started "but I also kind of promised Xav and Victor I'd make sure you were ok" at least he had the decency to act embarrassed.
"Of course they did" sighing was becoming tonight's theme. He ruffled my hair, getting my messy-bun even messier in the progress.
We made it to the room which Terrance had used for supplying and maintaining his art related things. It had been customized for that specific purpose, so I had taken to using it even though it was kind of hard to be here without my big brother.
Megan had preserved everything, even the projects Terrance had used to teach me the basics of oil paints. All of my brother's works were organized by date. I have a feeling Megan got really bored at one point in the past ten years, because Ter's collection was quite large, after all he had discovered his talent for art in his early years and had started art school while still resaving his primary education.
As I washed my things I asked "What do you think? Do I seem alright, because I can't tell anymore. I keep insisting that it's fine, that I think I'm doing great, but every time I see someone after a while it always seem like they think I am a puppy that got run over by a truck or something." I took up a brush I had dropped in the snick feeling it out for any leftover paint as I looked up at him "so you tell me. Give me your opinion, am I in any danger of losing my mind or dying in the near future?" my voice sounded tired but I really couldn't help that. I don't like worrying people but it seems that lately that's all I'm doing, and that's what frustrates me the most. Not the nightmares, not my inability to control my gift but the fact that my shortcomings are worrying the people I care about.
As I had my inner monolog I felt Will's gaze on me, as he concentrated on his gift. After a moment he said "no, I don't think that you are in any danger, you are safe here, I can feel a strong protective presents looking after you, and there aren't any health issues that I can detect eider, though you might want to take a sweater with you when you go out, it is getting could here"
"Are you sure that the protective present isn't you?" I asked, making him laugh.
"You got me there, though I'm pretty sure that every Benedict feels the same way about you" he shrugged at my glare "you're our little sister, even if the memories we have of you are a little hazy it's coming back, all you are for all of us" he assured me.
"And you know what that means" he did a dramatic spin like a cliché talk show host "you my dear get seven overly protective brothers and a pair of loving parents and maybe even seven sisters as well" he winked like the last part had been an extra bonus, only for me.
"At least you are aware of your more annoying traits" I said finishing with the washing.
"I'm hurt" he faked a heart attack.
"Oh shush it you" I waved off his attempt to guilt trip me "come on dinner should be ready soon"
Kurt's pov
"So when were you and Margot going to tell us, that we don't really need to sit still for an overly long time in order for you to paint us?" I asked the sneaky artist walking between me and Sony.
She smirked, "Margot thought that sitting still for a few hours would be good for training your patients, so I obligated" Raven shrugged.
"But you didn't even let us slouch" Brian wined "do you know how hard it is to sit with a straight back for several hour straight?" my drummer turned an accusing finger at the petite raven-head.
She gave him a silencing look "I had to do it every year when I was a kid, and we did sit for the entire process" she lifted two fingers to her brow and shook her head dismissively "you guys got off easy because Will took pity on you, but my parents had a fascination with paintings so, every year I would have to sit for one family portrait and two individual ones, and it didn't matter that I was six my posture had to be perfect for the entirety of the hellish six to twenty hours"
After that the guys looked at her with new-found admiration. But I suspected that she might just have a flair for the dramatist's. I need to remember to ask Megan once we get back to the mansion, which we were walking towards at the moment.
Raven had offered to give us a local's tour, so we had spent the day exploring the urban aria and its surroundings.
The conversation had turned to our next show, we were discussing how to better deal with the language barrier when Raven abruptly stopped. When we turned to look at her, she had the goofiest grin on her face.
"I sort of forgot to get Stel the chocolate mint biscuit's. He sort of asked me to get him a box since we were going to town" she said sounding sheepish and almost apologetic.
Before anyone could say anything she went on "you guys don't have to come with me, it's the store that we went to before and you said something about wanting to go over some plans, and since the house is just over there, you can go on ahead" she said gesturing to the gate that lead to the estate lands which we could indeed see in the distance, that wasn't far enough for us to get lost without a guide.
"I guess we can" Channing said "will you be alright though?" he thought better of his first thought. She had somehow curved her way into the hearts of our band. There just was something about the fact that she was smiling so brightly even though she's been through so much. Not that I or the other band members know much about her story.
When I asked Will about the two of them after Xav's and Crystals wedding, he only said that there had been a horrendous fire eleven years ago in which the entire family perished, leaving the siblings to fend for themselves and to make it worse they had been separated as well. It also looks like they took down the evil savant family responsible for the fire, about half a year ago. So I guess I can see why they stick to each other like glue whenever the other is around. And the death jokes.
"How about I come with you?" I asked "I think we don't want to reenact the scene at lunch" I added when Sony and the others started to protest. Having one famous person around was safer than a group full of them.
"Are you suggesting that I can't go to the sweet's shop alone?" Raven raised a brow "even though you have seen me go up against Stel twice now" her voice was dripping with sarcasm but I could see a genuine question in her eyes.
"Of course you are capable of defending yourself, hell I think you could probably hold your own against Bruce Lee" I was cut off by her laugh.
"Do you think I have a death wish or something?" she asked between chuckles "anyway lets go then, I pretty sure Megan will have tea ready for you when you get back" she turned to the other members of our little group.
"So how come you didn't remember the biscuits when we were in the shop earlier?" I asked once we started walking in its direction.
"Because I didn't know I had to get them before a few minutes ago" she said like it was normal, but she hadn't been on her phone the entire time we were out and I didn't pick up any sing's of her talking telepathically eider. When I voiced my thoughts she smiled gently.
"That's because me and Stellan have an abnormally long natural telepathic link. I could be in Tokyo and I'm pretty sure that I could still reach him with minor difficulty, even though we haven't tried it on such a big scale yet" she shrugged at my hanging mouth.
"Just how strong are you two?" I asked without thinking.
She seemed to consider it "well both our parents were seventh bourns and historically speaking our family has always produced powerful savants, so I guess we are above average, but you should ask Stel, his been doing research on our family heritage for a while so he can tell you more than I can" she glossed over the fact that she may hold enormous power like it was an old toy.
"What about you though?" she asked "how's your savant training going, I heard Will's been working with you and Margot"
"It's getting there" I shrugged "though I seem to forget to put my shields up at some times" I answered as she nodded.
"I can see how it can be difficult to get used to. I mean for me it was easy to remember, if I didn't want Darren in my head I had to keep my shields up so it became second nature quite fast. You'll get the hang of it soon" she reassured me as we turned a corner.
Megan's pov
"What are you doing in here?" I asked Hiroshi as I finished preparing the evening tea. The late mistress had liked having tea at five a clock with her family and out of habit or tradition Stellan and Raven have taken to having it as well.
The private detective just shrugged, "Stellan ate all the peppermint biscuits so I came to get more, if there are any"
Usually we had them on stock because both Stellan and Raven liked them but I had forgotten to get them when I went to get supplies yesterday.
Hiroshi nodded and for once there wasn't a smart remark to accompany the statement.
"Are you sick or something?" I asked, because I couldn't get a read on his mood. He has always been good at disguising his mood, it's like he has some sort of barrier around him that doesn't allow access to my power. That is part of the fact why he gets on my nerves so much.
"Why would you think that? Are you actually worried about my Meggy?" he said but his voice didn't have the same mocking tone it usually held while Hiroshi used the nickname. I sensed worry and thread from him.
"Did the serial killer get another one?" I asked because that was the only conclusion I could come too.
"Yeah" his usually grinning face turned serious, the way he looks while investigating. The only other time I have seen him look like this was eleven years ago, when he filled me in on everything that was going on.
I was about to leave the kitchen when he said "they were all savants."
Surprised I turned back as he continued "Stellan figured it out just this afternoon. All the people this guy has killed, even though none of them were part of the Savant net, all eight of them were savants. This guy is only targeting us and we can't do anything about it, because that would expose our existence." His temper was rising, but I was too shocked to calm him.
Because what he had said stirred up memories I wasn't fond of. I knew full well how people acted when they were faced with something different which they couldn't comprehend. I also knew what it was like to think that you are alone in this world. What it felt like thinking you were going to die on your own.
"Sorry" there was a hand on my shoulder.
"I didn't mean to call up bad memories" Hiroshi said taking hold of the cart and steering it out of the kitchen and into the corridor.
Hiroshi knew my story and sometimes he would give me these looks of pity without realizing it. That was another reason why he got on my nerves.
But right now was not the time to think about that. I composed my face and took over pushing the cart.
"Do you know if our guest have made it back yet?" I asked rounding the corner that lead to Stellan's study. Even though he was currently investigating the serial murders he still had to manage the Astery Cop. So he would usually reserve two hours per day for that, and while he was dealing with anything concerning the company he would reside in the master study.
"Will and Margot got back about an hour ago and have been going over the security measures for the concert, and I saw Sony, Brian and Channing walking up the path, when I walked past one of the windows"
"Weren't Raven and mr. Voss with them as well?" I asked confused as to why they would return without them.
"My guess is that Stellan figured out that we were out of cookies and asked if Ray could pick some up on her way back" Hiroshi mused.
I knocked on the master study's door once before opening it. Knowing Stellan he would know who was there even without me saying it or he would be too engrossed in his work to eve notice.
He looked up when we entered. His eyes went over us and he let out a sigh "for once I wish I wasn't right, because I really wanted one of those biscuits, though Raven should be back soon"
He seemed calm even when I used my power. That's something I have always admired about him. He's only three years older than me but he had always been so grown up even though he hid it behind the goof pall act when he was younger, there was always this unfeasible calm he had about him. The only moments that, that calm was broken was when someone hurt people close to him, but even then he could regain his self-control in an incredibly short time. And even then there was always a part of him that was calm and calculating. The part bourn from he's gift; the observer.
He made some room for me to put the teacup on his table. Taking it off its saucer without looking away from the papers he was working with.
I went on setting up Raven's cup because if Stellan said soon it meant that the tea wouldn't grow cold before her return.
As I stood to put the tray back on the cart, the doors of the study flew open.
"The danger rating around Raven and Kurt just skyrocketed" Will said even before he had entered the room.