Apparently I made people cry! That is so amazingly awesome- if you didn't cry, and want to, I suggest reading the last chapter while listening to 'it's Gonna be hard (when I'm gone)' by the Audition. For the start of this chapter, any Skye Sweetnam works fine, but especially Baby Doll Gone wrong x)

Hopefully this one won't make you cry- it's more lighthearted… well it is 'till the end, but then it gets sad again XD

GRACE POV

I am in an unbelievable amount of trouble right now.

Like, think of the most trouble you've ever been in. Then multiply that by the amount of trouble Kanye West was in with eleven-year-old girls after the VMA's, and you're just starting to see the tip of the iceberg. So yeah, it's pretty serious.

Right now I'm sitting opposite Dan in his office (it's just a room with a computer, but calling it an office makes him feel special). He's staring at me, and I'm staring right back at him- this has been going on for about 10 minutes. He's blinked all of 26 times, and has opened his mouth to say something 4- all 4 times he closed his mouth right away.

I guess you want to know why I'm in so much trouble, and why Dan of all people is the one bringing the hammer down, so I'll tell you.

After Uncle Dan told me that story, not only was I shocked that someone could do that (and this is coming from a 16-year veteran of the 39 clues), I was also terrified that she was free to do as she pleased, out of the mental ward where she belonged. And that got me thinking about Benjamin, and how we could have been siblings. I bet he just loves Grandma Isabel; she can probably do no wrong for him. I mean, come on- they're Lucians. They do anything to hide things that may not be the best for their reputations. It's like 'Oh, the Holocaust? Well it's not OUR fault! Jeez, it's so obviously the Ekats' fault, for inventing all those horrible machines!' Shared blame Lucians, shared blame.

Anyway, I was thinking about how I would want to know if my grandma was a cold-hearted killer, and then I was thinking about how awesome it would be if the Madrigals could manage to unite the Lucians, and maybe Ian Kabra could finally stand up to his mommy and be a man and apologize to my mom. And no, this has nothing to do with that little flutter I had in my gut when I knew that Benjamin and I were in no way related, because I'm choosing to ignore that flutter, as flutters can lead to other things, and I don't want other things with a Kabra.

So basically I hacked the Lucian's database (it's easier than it sounds once you're used to it- knowing the passwords helps too) and found out the Kabra's were in Maine. What could possibly be in Maine that's so important to the Lucian's is beyond me, but I can't help but picture Isabel sitting in some quaint summer home, stitching a sampler. Of course, she'd probably take the needle for the sampler and stick it in a cute little bunny's eye, but the image still remains.

Now I totally know what you're thinking- Grace, you freaking idiot! You're going to go ALONE to the house of one of the world's most feared killers? I have just lost all respect for you.

But HA, because that wasn't my plan at all!

Well yeah, it was my plan. But not for long! I realized how stupid I was pretty darn quickly, and gave up. But it made me upset that I didn't get to stare a killer in the eye today (again, not a normal kid), so I went to Starbucks, to see if it could cheer me up. I know a lot of people hate Starbucks for being so expensive and commercial, but I like it- it makes me happy, in a weird way, that everyone can buy their ten dollar coffee and sit in big plush chairs. Does that make sense? Probably not.

I was sitting in the aforementioned big plush chair, people-watching, when the door opened. I turned around lazily to assess the new customer, and who should happen to walk in but a dead ringer for Benjamin Kabra. I dribbled some of my drink onto my shirt, I'll admit, but it turned out it wasn't Benjamin, it was just some guy that looked like him. However, I turned back around, and was that stupid British ninja, sitting in the chair across from me, drinking- I kid you not- tea. This guy tries way too hard, I swear.

"Hello again." He said with that stupid smirk. Stupid smirk.

"Hey, Stalker."

I crossed my legs and took a sip of my drink.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods?" I asked. "Thought you and your pearl of a family were in Maine."

He smirked (again)

"I see you've done your research- the Lucian passwords are quite easy, aren't they?"

Oops.

"It's ok" he continued. "I won't tell if you won't."

"What won't I tell?" I asked, wanting to kill myself for the fact that I could feel my face getting redder by the minute.

He grinned and held up some car keys.

"I'm not technically allowed to have these," he said, "but driving a car that doesn't come out for a year is extremely enjoyable"

"I'm sure it is" I allowed, smiling tightly.

He looked falsely surprised. "Oh but Grace, you can't tell me you've never done that."

"Piss off," I said, his demeanor finally getting on my nerves.

He got off his chair and perched on the arm of mine.

"Would you like to try it?" he asked, "we could go for a ride- just another thing we can keep just between us."

I snorted. "Yeah, and if I just Happen to tell you all of the Ekat and Janus secrets, that won't be too bad either."

"Well it wouldn't hurt" he said with a smile.

"I bet not." I rolled my eyes.

"Ok, so no joy-ride then." He said, leaning closer to me- something I did not approve of, just for the record. "We can find something else to do, right?"

And do you know what I did?

I talked to the guy. Like, actually talked to him for almost half an hour. This kid is one seriously repressed British ninja. He seemed so happy just to be able to talk to someone that wasn't trying to kill him (though I'll admit, I came up with 4 ways to do it with my coffee stirrer, just in case) that he didn't care who it was. I found that really sad, especially because he didn't seem to notice how starved for conversation he was, like it was normal not to talk to people. I wasn't paying attention to much else (not in a creepy 'I only have eyes for you' thing, thank you very much) and so it came as quite a surprise to me when Dan stormed in, grabbed me by the arm, and pulled me out into his car (which, if you're wondering, is a Volkswagen bug, just because he's that cool). Benjamin seemed pretty freaked out- heck, we both were- but he composed himself, got into his stolen car, and drove away in the other direction.

Dan refused to talk or look at me the entire drive, which was ok with me, because I needed the time to figure out what I was going to say.

And now here we are, back at the start. Dan still hasn't said anything, and he's still staring me down. I opened my mouth to say something, but Dan decided that was a good time to start his tirade.

"Are you really that stupid?" he asked.

Ouch. Well that stung just a touch.

"Going out, telling nobody where, and when I go to Starbucks to see if you're there, I see you with Benjamin Kabra? Grace, even you have to know how idiotic that was." He continued.

"It's not like we were even doing anything!" I argued. "That kid hadn't talked to someone his age in forever, his stupid parents won't let him!"

Dan calmed a bit before he spoke.

"Jonah Wizard." He said reluctantly

"What about Jonah Wizard?"

"Jonah and I were friends for a while, during the hunt, before your mom and I knew about the Madrigals. He was completely limited in everything he did, all because of his mother."

"What is it with mothers in this stupid hunt anyway?" I asked, my voice raising.

"I thought I told you a bit about a certain mother the other day." Dan said. "Did that not make a big enough impression on you? I don't care if Benjamin is any different- Ian was too- but in the end, Isabel will destroy both of them, so don't try."

"Isabel didn't even know I was talking to Benjamin!" I yelled

"We didn't think Isabel knew where we were going 16 years ago, but she did. She did, and that's 3 more people dead because of her." He was silent for a moment, but then he cringed and put his head in his hands.

"What?" I asked warily.

"She never told me." He mumbled, his head still down. "If she had told me, I wouldn't have let her go, not ever."

Benjamin Kabra was in an unbelievable amount of trouble.

He knew what he was supposed to do- grandmother said Grace would be at Starbucks- it would be easy to get to know her and eventually learn some fun facts about the branches she was allied with. He didn't, however, count on finding common ground with Grace. It's not that he liked her 'like that', to use stupid terms, but she was entertaining to talk to- intelligent with just enough of a sense of humor to be enjoyable. There was something else, too, but he couldn't put his finger on it quite yet.

"Benjamin, do you think I can trust you with this branch after death comes to claim me if you can't handle getting information from a 16-year-old girl?" Grandmother asked, that eerie calm in her voice as always.

To be honest, Benjamin couldn't exactly picture death coming to claim Grandmother- if death tried, death would be kicked in a sensitive spot, no doubt.

"I'm sorry Grandmother." Benjamin said with his head hanging down, "I won't do it again."

"I know you won't." Isabel said, "Because you are not to associate with Grace Cahill any longer."

At the mention of Grace's name, Ian Kabra's head perked up. He looked upset at something Benjamin couldn't place.

As Isabel took her leave, Ian moved over to sit in her place- Benjamin knew better than to move.

"Grace Cahill?" Ian asked.

"Yes?" Benjamin said, but it came out more like a question.

"Red hair, stubborn as anything?" Ian asked.

"Yeah…" Benjamin said, surprised.

Ian laughed sadly and nodded.

"Tell me one thing." He said.

"What?" Benjamin asked.

"What color are her eyes?"

Benjamin was confused, but he answered anyway.

"Blue, I think."

Ian nodded and left the room.

"What didn't who tell you?" I asked

Dan looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment, not a face I was used to him making.

"Remember the story I told you the other day?" he asked.

"Of course." I said. No Dan, I totally forgot- why would he even ask that?

"I told you Isabel killed your father," he continued, "but I didn't say what happened after, when the police found the bodies.

"About a week later, I was asked to come to the medical examiner's office. I wasn't sure why, but I did it anyway. The woman who led the team of examiner's sat me down and said that she was sorry I had to come, but nobody else from the family was available. She said how sorry she was for our loss, that this was just a routine follow-up. She had me go through all of the features of all of the people Isabel killed that day, but when we got to Madison, she mentioned something different."

'Something different' with my family could mean many different things, so this was concerning.

"Madison was pregnant when she died." Dan said.

"And it was mine."