I really am sorry to all of my readers. Whether it's because of my late updatingness or my cliffhangers, I'm not quite sure. xD Sorry.
I have to say, I have a bit of a problem with police waving loaded guns in my boyfriend's face, but what happened next made up for it.
"What do you want?" Nathaniel asked boredly, frowning. Two of the police men glanced at each other, and the one in the front scowled.
"Step aside, kid! We've got complaints from the neighbors about gun shots and screaming and…" He glanced over Nathaniel's shoulder and blinked. "…What's that woman doing with that poker?"
Nathaniel stepped to the side and watched amusedly as Mrs. Flamel yelled something at Ed and whacked him on the head with her poker. Nathaniel sighed. I didn't know he was such a good actor.
"Family disputes. They're all crazy. You know how it is, right?" he asked casually. The police men looked confused, lowering their guns. "Never had one, huh? Well, you're all lucky. My cousin, Kitty, has a new boyfriend, the one Uncle Ed is strangling. That's Jakob. Grandma and Gramps don't like Ed trying to control his daughter's life, especially after my dad died in that fire…" He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "They're a bunch of nutcases," he said simply, then came to stand by me and cuddle into my side. I could tell that even though everyone else was trying to scratch each other's eyes out, they were listening to Nathaniel's story with growing irritation. Flamel didn't like being called Gramps.
I played my part and cuddled Nathaniel, who appeared to be posing as the gay emo kid. I, of course, had no problem with this. Besides, everyone else was beginning to get into their roles, too. Ed's cries of 'gimme that stone, punk' became 'get away from my daughter, punk.' To think, this was all just so we wouldn't get arrested. I just kissed Nathaniel on the cheek and watched the fight in amusement. My shoulder stung slightly, and I made a jacket appear on me to hide my wound. It wouldn't go down well if the Prague police came up with a story of the guy that bleeds silver.
Two of the police men rushed over to stop the fight before someone got hurt, but the third one stared at Nathaniel and me blankly. Nathaniel didn't notice, so I took it upon myself to question him.
"What do you want?" I asked, staring back at him, trying to make it clear that I'm irritated. I think it worked, because he jumped, blushed, and shoved his glasses higher up on his nose, then went to go stand beside one of the other men and look like he's doing something helpful. I scowled and nuzzled Nathaniel contentedly.
"Dad! Let go of Jakob!" Kitty squealed, pouting. She ran over and began pounding on Ed's arm, trying to get him off. Jakob just grunted and yanked at one of Ed's hands.
"Kitty, go to your room!" Ed snapped, shoving her away. "You're going to be grounded, Missy!" Mrs. Flamel whacked Ed with her poker. "Ouch," he mumbled.
"Let go of the poor boy, Eddie," Mrs. Flamel snapped forcefully. "It isn't his fault!"
"Listen to your mother," Flamel said gravely, giving up on yanking all of Ed's hair out, much to the mercenary's relief.
"Now, hold on, people," said one of the police men, his Southern accent shining through and making all of this seem even more like a movie. "Just calm down a moment. Ma'am, I'd have ta ask you ta stop hittin' people with that there poker. Sir, let go of the kid. Whatever he did to yer daughter, he was just being a teenager. We've all dunnit at one point in time."
…That accent got really annoying really quick. It seemed the other two men were thinking the same thing.
Jakob wiggled his way out of Ed's grasp while he was distracted, and he and Kitty bolted towards the Flamels' bedroom. Ed yelped and flung out an arm to grab at Jakob's hand which was wrapped tightly around a small, red stone. Mrs. Flamel stopped him by stepping into his path, poking him in the chest with her poker.
"Edward Nicholas Framer, you get your backside in that kitchen and sit down!" she shrieked. Everyone was silent, staring at the motherly woman that looked like she wouldn't have the heart to scold a five year old. When Ed didn't comply, she huffed and whacked him again.
"Ouch," he mumbled, rubbing his head. He looked rather cross-eyed now.
While the police men and Mrs. Flamel were working out their problems, I was listening to something else. Once again, I have far superior hearing, so I listened as Kitty tried to open a window in the bedroom, cursing when she found it to be stuck. Please don't try this at home, kids, because you might strain your poor, delicate, human ears by trying to be as awesome as I am.
"What do we do? We can't leave out the front," Kitty whispered, scrabbling around the room desperately.
"The closet!" Jakob whispered. "You take the stone and hide in the closet. I'll go out and try to egg Ed on until he does something the police won't like, and he gets arrested, alright?"
"No," Kitty said slowly, "I'll do it. You can hide with the stone."
"But, Kitty—"
"No. I want to do something useful, too, for once."
"No! What if you get hurt? What will—?"
"Jakob?"
He sighed. "Yes, Kitty?"
"Shut up and get in that damn closet."
"Yes, ma'am," he muttered, defeated. There was a slight scraping, as if Jakob was slouching unwillingly over to said closet.
"Oh, and Jakob?" There was a bit of shuffling, and then a slight thump and a quiet hum of confusion. It seemed Kitty had tackled Jakob and began kissing his brains out before the poor boy knew what was happening.
"Finally," I muttered under my breath, grinning stupidly.
"What?" Nathaniel asked absentmindedly, watching the man with the Southern accent try and wrestle the poker away from Mrs. Flamel as her husband towed Ed to the kitchen by his ear. It was clear the only thing keeping him from killing us all right now was the presence of the fuzz.
"Oh, nothing," I answered breezily, listening to the other room. There was a quiet moan, some panting, and then someone stood up. Kitty cleared her throat.
"Um… right. Sorry to distract you and everything…" she said awkwardly.
"Oh, I don't mind. I'm always free to be distracted, if you ever have a spare moment." Did I ever mention how much I really like Jakob now? I mean, the kid is stealing my lines already! I'm a great role model, am I not?
Kitty sighed. "Jakob, get in the closet," she said wearily. Jakob snorted and did so, closing the door a bit harder than necessary. Kitty giggled quietly, but quickly composed herself and got back into the fight just as Ed stomped past and grabbed her by the arm. I wasn't paying much attention to Ed anymore. I was concentrating on Jakob.
He was muttering something, so low that I couldn't make out what it was he was saying. As soon as he stopped speaking, a low hum started up, and I couldn't quite place where I had heard it before. It lasted for a good half a minute, and just after the hum faded into the background, Jakob gasped. I didn't have time to think about this, for Ed had suddenly decided to stomp into the bedroom and drag Jakob out.
He did so with much yelling and kicking. The police men were busy trying to calm down Kitty and Mrs. Flamel, the former having a bruise on her cheek. I should really pay more attention to these things.
And then I realized that Nathaniel was stiff (not like that, perverts), leaning forward in my grasp, and I could tell he wanted to pop Ed one in the nose. I frowned and snuggled him closer to my chest protectively.
I listened intently to the scrabbling from the bedroom. I couldn't tell what was happening, but soon, Kitty ran out with the Stone, Ed two steps behind her, and Jakob a half a step behind him. Ed grabbed Kitty's arm and began towing her towards the door, but Jakob jumped on him and put on the brakes, desperately trying to free Kitty.
Ed growled and slapped Jakob across the face. Kitty and Nathaniel yelled and jerked forward, but I held Nathaniel back and Ed latched on to Kitty's hand, prying her fingers open. With a cry of triumph, he plucked out the small red stone as Kitty yanked away to cling to Jakob. Six pairs of angry eyes turned on Ed. The police man with the glasses stepped forward hesitantly, sensing the sudden hostility.
"Hey, everyone, just calm down, okay? We can talk about this and—"
The first man shoved him out of the way, raising his gun. "I'm tired of this," he grunted. "Sir, I must ask you to put your hands behind your head and lay down on the floor. Anything you say can and will be used against you. You have the right to remain silent in the court of law—"
Ed cut of his well-practiced speech with a harsh laugh. "No, I don't think I will," he said casually, rolling the Stone between his fingers, smirking.
"Sir, I will be forced to shoot if you don't—"
"You really think I care, don't you?" Ed asked, grinning stupidly. I wanted to puke. This was all just a game to him. He was probably going to get away with the Stone, leaving us to pick up the mess. Jakob crouched a bit, getting ready to spring. Ed stepped towards the door, and Kitty began inching around to his other side. The man with the Southern accent opened his mouth to either warn Kitty and Jakob, or tell his friend to stop, but I guess we'll never know which one.
The man's finger curled around the trigger. Ed grabbed Kitty and yanked her in front of him. Jakob yelled and lunged forward.
There was a bang. Kitty screamed. A body hit the floor.
That was when it clicked for me, and a grin slowly spread across my face.