Yeah yeah, sorry I haven't updated, blah blah blah- here's 2,515 words of chapter to make up for it. XD
Benjamin Kabra was bored.
And not a lazy bored, he thought sourly, more like a 'What-On-God's-Green-Earth-Could-I-Possibly-Do-Right-Now-'sort of bored. Which is not a situation most people his age face often, especially not a Kabra his age. At any moment he could say the word and be flown to any location on the planet, he could meet any person he wanted to meet, he could do anything he could want to do, but for some reason, it didn't seem fulfilling. Normally, he would be delighted that his new crop of polo horses had arrived, or that his father had been dropping hints that a certain very expensive car may be a part of his future, but it wasn't enough. The horses were magnificent, and the car was the best money could buy, but it wasn't enough. He knew he was perpetuating the stereotype that followed him wherever he went, that of being the spoiled rich kid, but he knew; try as he might to deny it, that it was different. He had never asked for anything more than he already had, because A. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find something he didn't have, and B. He never knew there was anything else to have. He never knew before how content you could be just sitting in a crap coffee shop, talking away the background noise. He never knew that you could enjoy the company of someone, instead of simply tolerating it. He never knew that if you ripped off the top of the paper wrapper on a straw, and blew through the other end, the paper would fly through the air, eliciting delighted laughter from the person who instructed him to do it in the first place.
He never knew her.
...
We probably would have been friends.
No, I know we would have been friends. That baby would have only been a few months younger than me. We would have grown up together; we would have been best friends. Isabel Kabra took away my father, and now I found out she killed my cousin and aunt too. And you know, that doesn't quite sit right with me. Call me quirky.
Normally I go by the phrase 'the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree'- a motto that pays off often when you're a Cahill. But I do know that sometimes people are different. A half-hour with Benjamin, and I already knew that about him; he was different, almost naive. Don't get me wrong, he knows that the clue hunt is horrible and bloody and a matter of life and death, but he doesn't know anything about his own family. I tried to shift the subject to his joy of a grandmother when we were talking, but all I gathered was that he knew she was dangerous. I don't think he knows just how dangerous. And this poor, socially awkward kid is going to blindly follow her until he becomes a murderer, just like his grandma. So that's why I'm currently driving a car that you can't really call 'stolen', because it's Dan's and it's not like I hotwired it or anything. I've taken it upon myself to help him realize that respecting your elders isn't always the best idea, and hey, I might even earn some respect of my own if I organize a Lucian treaty. It's a long shot, but even if it doesn't work, he has to take notice of Isabel after. And no, that flutter that I talked about before has nothing to do with this, because even though I know now that he isn't as... Kabra-y as I thought he was flutters equal distractions, and I can't have any distractions. Not now, not ever.
I parked my... 'Acquired' car a distance away from their house, stumbling around in the dark to find my outfit of choice- a black cat suit, complete with feet, black gloves, and to top it all off, a black hood that covered my entire face- if I was doing this, I was doing it right.
I'd love to be able to tell you how easy it was to get through the minefield that is the Kabra family backyard, but that would be lying, and I try to refrain from that unless necessary. It was damn hard, and it got harder when, after I finally made it to the house, I realized that I had no idea which room was Benjamin's. There was one room with a light on, and I figured either it was Isabel, who had already seen me and was waiting for the prime opportunity to attack, but after waiting for a couple minutes, I decided it was worth a try to climb up there, because if someone wasn't using their window to spy on/find me, it was probably Benjamin's window.
Once I managed to climb up to the window (and peek in to make sure it was Benjamin's room), I could set out the plan I came up with before I got here. I quickly tied up his hands and legs, praying he was a heavy sleeper. At the last moment, I tied up his mouth, so that he wouldn't scream when I woke him up. I leaned over him and whispered quietly into his ear.
"Benjamin. Benjamin, wake up."
I heard what was probably nothing but it could have been something, so I raised my voice as loudly as I dared.
"Benjamin-wake-up-wake-up-wake-up-we-need-to-go-right-now!" coupled with a little shake.
He snored a little and rolled over. Really?
I crouched over so that I was leaned right over his face. I put my hand firmly over his mouth, and kneed him in the ribs. His eyes flashed open and he abruptly sat up. I sat in his lap to keep him down (To. Keep. Him. Down. Got it?) and pressed harder on his mouth. With my free hand I took off my hood to show him my face.
"It's just me. Are you going to scream?" I asked calmly.
He shook his head and I let go of his mouth.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, a smidge too loud for my liking.
"Shh!" I whispered fiercely, "I'm doing you a favour here, Kabra!"
"Oh of course, a favour. Now when do I start benefiting from it? Or is waking up with you sitting on my lap all I get?"
I'd forgotten that I was on his lap, so I got up quickly and untied him.
"We are going to have an adventure tonight, Benjamin. We are going to live like normal teenagers who have no idea about the clue hunt. We're going to sneak into a club with a fake I.D., and we are going to have many wacky shenanigans. Clear?"
He look at me like I was insane (I probably was, but that's not the point), but he got up anyway.
"And why," he asked, bemusedly, "do these 'wacky shenanigans' have to occur at 3 in the morning?"
I sighed. "Benjamin, Benjamin." I said, shaking my head, "Don't you know that 84% of wacky shenanigans occur at 3 in the morning?"
"84%, huh?"
"Oh yes. It's a fact."
"Well then I guess we better get going."
I grinned and ran into his closet, pulling out a shirt at random.
"Put this on" I said, my voice muffled by the closet door as I threw the shirt at him. I dug through the shelves of clothes, still not finding what I was looking for.
"Benjamin," I started to say before turning around to face him and realizing that A. He was not wearing a shirt, and B. Whatever training Lucian kids go through, it does the body good.
Well hello there, flutter. It's been too long.
I shook my head to clear it, and finished my sentence, making sure to look in his eyes. (Because that's where one is supposed to look in a conversation. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was shirtless.)
"Benjamin, do you own a pair of jeans?"
He looked confused, then embarrassed.
"Erm... not exactly, no."
My jaw dropped down to the floor.
"We are getting you jeans, Benjamin Kabra, mark my words, but we don't have time to get them now. Go put on your fruity dress pants and let's just go. You disgust me." I said, but I smiled after, softening it. It was disgusting though- what 16 year old guy didn't own jeans, for the love of God? It's just not right.
After we made it down from Benjamin's window, we did what was most natural for a Cahill- we ran like hell. We jumped into the car, and sat there panting for a while.
"Unzip me." I demanded. Benjamin looked fairly shocked, so I clarified. "I have clothes on under this, Benjamin, calm down."
Looking a bit too relieved, Benjamin unzipped the back of the cat suit, and I disentangled myself out of it. I reached in the glove compartment and pulled out a necklace, and I was ready. I started the car and zoomed onto the highway.
We drove in silence for a while, until Benjamin broke it.
"I don't suppose you're planning on telling me where we're going, do you?" he asked.
"Nope!" I replied happily.
"Do you do this often?"
Damn.
"Not... Not that often. Just sort of when I need to get away from the hunt, y'know?"
"Yeah."
The silence returned for a few more minutes, but this time I was the one to break it.
"Truth or Dare?" I asked.
"Beg pardon?" Benjamin looked at me, confused.
"You have got to be frigging kidding me, Kabra- give me something to work with here! Pick one, and you will either have to answer a question, or do something."
"All you needed to say." He said curtly. "Dare."
I knew he would pick dare- Lucians aren't exactly known for honesty.
"Lick the floor." I said with an evil smirk.
Benjamin raised his eyebrows.
"That can't be hygienic."
"Probably not- that's what makes it so entertaining for me!" I cackled.
Benjamin squeezed his eyes shut and lowered his head to the ground. His tongue darted out, licked it, and he abruptly sat back up, wiping his tongue on his shirtsleeve.
"You are vile." He announced.
"That may be. However, I am awesome, and I am giving you teenage experiences, so you should really be thanking me."
"Yes, Thank you, Grace, for forcing me to get dirt on my tongue. I will be forever in your debt."
"Well, at least you have the sarcasm part of being a teenager down."
"Are we there yet?"
"We will get there when we get there!"
"Where is there?"
"Right here." I said with an innocent smile.
"This is a club." He stated.
"Indeed it is, Benjamin.
"We're underage."
"That's why I took the liberty of making us fake I.D.s- it's a hobby, keeps me off the streets."
"So you do do this often"
I ignored him and led the way into the club. The bouncer never gives me any trouble anyway, because he's a Tomas- the first branch the Madrigals united.
Inside the club, music was blaring, and it wasn't very good music. Cheap beer was being spilled everywhere, and it was a generally sweaty, smelly place.
I loved it.
Here, nobody was a Cahill. Nobody was thinking about how to kill me, or if I was trying to kill them. We were all a bunch of random people, here to kill a Friday night.
I went over to the bar and, flashing my fake I.D., got drinks for Benjamin and me.
"Who's going to drive home?" he asked.
"Good point." I said before downing the rest of my drink, and taking Benjamin's untouched one for myself.
"I'll drive." He stated.
...
"Do you know what the problem with the Lucians is, Benny-Boy?" I asked, and then giggled at my new nickname. Ok, I was way too drunk right now.
"What's that?"
"They're the fat kid at the water park." I stated, dead serious.
Benjamin raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
I sighed and explained.
"You know how when you go to a water park, there's a section of it that's basically a jungle gym with water spraying out of it? And there's jets and stuff that spray up and all the little kids flock to it? Well, there's always that one chubby kid that sits on the jets, and just doesn't move. They sit there, all day. Sometimes they roll around a bit, too. Nobody knows why they sit on the jets, and all the little kids have to move around them. The Lucians are like that- slowing things down, because they insist on being the fat kid at the water park. Everyone else joined up with the Madrigals, and we're living in relative peace right now, except for the Lucians- the fat kids at the water park." I nodded intently after I said this.
"Okay, you're quite drunk, aren't you?"
I was a little put-out that he didn't even comment on my awesome fat kid metaphor, but I did have to agree- I was quite drunk.
And that's how I ended up drinking obscene amounts of coffee, sitting in the passenger seat of Dan's car at 5 in the morning.
I was sober enough now, but I was never going to get to sleep after this.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly.
"What for?" Benjamin asked.
"We were going to have an adventure, and I went all Lindsay Lohan on you."
"That was the best adventure I've ever had, I promise you that Grace."
I laughed, and then shivered. Because it was late (or early, I guess), it was freezing in the car. Benjamin wordlessly passed over his jacket.
"Well aren't you a chivalrous little Kabra." I noted with a smile.
"I try." He remarked dryly.
After a semi-comfortable pause, I said "let's play a game."
"Not truth or dare again." Benjamin said.
"No, not truth or dare. More like just truth. For the next 10 minutes, everything we say has to be true. You can say anything, and we'll go right back to normal after. I read it in a book, it seemed fun. Deal?"
He hesitated, but eventually gave in. "Deal."
I smiled. "Ok, ten minutes starting... now!"
"My favourite color is green." He said.
"When I was little I wanted to be a ballerina."
"I hate eggs."
"My father died the day I was born."
He stopped for a second and looked at me for a long time, wasting 2 minutes.
"I want to kiss you." He said quietly.
"I'd probably let you." I said even more quietly.
He leaned in, slowly at first, but then it looked like he made up his mind and closed the distance.
The kiss itself was slow and nervous, the last thing you would expect from a Kabra, but at the same time it made sense. That flutter was now a full-out palpitation, and I'm not even going to deny it.
"How much longer?" Benjamin whispered after.
I checked my watch.
"Time's up."