Chapter 2
"Dear," Freda began, cocking her head to the side, "What's 'jet lag'?"
"I've read that it's a physiological condition which results from rapid, trans-meridian travel," Misty explained, "I suffered through it when we got to American, it'll only last a day or so. This is good, because we're going back to school on Monday."
"Why are you going back to school so early?" Dottie asked, "Wouldn't it be easier to take a few days to rest and relax besides the weekend?"
""We decided early on that we wouldn't wait to go back," Misty explained, "We'd head on into our Junior year, even if we have to deal with a lot of homework or falling behind."
Dottie shrugged before glancing up at her husband and Lynx who were walking back outside with two or three huge bags of gifts. The two set the bags in front of Misty before Lynx sat down next to her and Bob walked back over to sit with Dottie.
"Okay," Lynx panted, "Who's first?"
"Well, ladies first, of course," Misty smirked, grabbing a large, flat, rectangular gift from the first bag, "And this one's for Freda first."
Freda smiled, flattered, before standing and walking over to her. With a polite 'thank you' under her breath and a nod, she took the gift and walked back to her seat to sit back down. With careful fingers, she gently began to peel back the wrapping paper.
"Come on, Freda!" Lynx laughed, "We're not gonna save the paper-Rip it open! Tear into it!"
Freda laughed at the fake mock and tore away at the paper. Her breath hitched in her throat as she gazed at the portrait revealed and her jaw dropped when she spied the faces of her family. It was so beautifully preserved from obvious centuries ago…like it'd been painted yesterday…
"Where did you…?" she gasped.
"I found it a couple of years before we met," Misty explained, "I decided, before the trip, to have it re-varnished and reframed. I know what I've read about you being a 'self-centered individual with no regard for her children's needs' was a complete fallacy and I'd hoped you'd enjoy the family portrait."
"Oh Misty, Lynx-!" Freda sniffled, "I just adore it!! Thank you so much!! We'll hang it up over the fireplace, won't we dear?"
"We certainly will," Frederick nodded.
"You're welcome…" Misty smiled back as Lynx grabbed the next gift.
"Well, 'ladies first' is right," he laughed, "This one goes to Dottie."
Dottie grinned and stood, walking over to them and taking the gift from his hands. She took a deep breath of anticipation as she sat back down and opened the large, wide rectangular box. It felt heavy and clinked with movement. With excitement in her eyes, she tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a big box that was shown to contain a 'Da Vinci' style tea set.
"We weren't sure what you'd like, necessarily," Lynx explained, "But, you once said, last year, that you enjoyed the idea of 'afternoon tea'. So I figured you'd like that."
"This is cool, guys," Dottie exhaled, "I love it, Thanks."
"Don't worry about it," Lynx sniffed, acting more high-and-mighty than normal, "That's just what we do."
Misty rolled her eyes as she began to pull a tall and wide rectangular box from the first bag.
"Bob," she grunted as she sat it back down, "This one's yours."
Bob smiled as he walked over and tore away the wrapping paper where she sat the box. He awed at its contents; a brand new set of golf clubs.
"Wow, guys!" he laughed in excitement, "This is awesome."
"Take a closer look," Misty smiled, "We did some research to find a course Tiger Woods would be playing, hound 'im, and had 'im autograph those for you.
"That's so awesome!" Bob exclaimed when he caught sight of the signature, "Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, you better be grateful!" Lynx fake-mocked, "He is not an easy man to meet-we got wicked lucky."
"Oh, believe me," Bob exulted, "I love them. Thank you."
"You're very welcome," Misty smiled, "I suppose you two can also think of this as another 'thank you' for putting up with us and letting us live in your home. Same with you; Freda, Frederick."
"Well then, you're welcome," Dottie grinned, the tea set clutched close to her body.
"Up next is Froderick," Lynx grinned.
"Would you stop with the names?" Frederick scoffed as he stood to take the heavy, medium-sized box from Misty.
"It's from a movie," Misty laughed, "He didn't mean nothin' by it, Frederick."
"I suppose that's alright then," Frederick smiled a little as he tore away the wrapping paper.
He stared down, confused, at the leather-bound book before him.
"We really didn't know what to get for you, Frederick," Misty shrugged, "You're truly not an open book. So when we saw that, we got it for you. It's Bram Stoker's famous, Dracula. We figured, if nothing else, we'd give you a good read."
"You know," Frederick began thoughtfully, "I believe I have read this--it was rather entertaining. And interesting to read how accurate it was to the true story."
"There was a real 'Dracula'?!" Lynx asked, wide-eyed.
"Of course," Frederick nodded.
"Grandpa Wilhelm even once owned a silver cufflink of the Count's," Rudolph nodded.
"Would we be able to see it?" Lynx inquired.
Rudolph shook his head sadly.
"It was lost a long time ago in the ruins of the Valley of Doom," he sighed, "Poor Gramps was heartbroken--it was him most treasured momentos..."
"This family has a knack for losing things doesn't it?" Misty asked wistfully
Frederick shot her a playful, yet also serious look before nodding.
"Thank you for the book," he smiled, "It really is beautiful."
"You're welcome, Frederick," Misty grinned back, "I'm really very glad you like it."
"Okay, let's move on," Lynx smirked, pulling a long box out of the bag next, "This one goes to little Tony."
Tony jumped up excitedly and took the gift from Lynx's hands, overjoyed. He tore away the paper and gaped a the contents of t; a new baseball and bat.
"What do you think?" Misty asked with a smile, "A little bit of America for ya?"
"This is awesome!" Tony cried as he took the ball out and looked over it.
"Signed by Mark McGuire himself, might I add," Lynx smirked, "How d'you like that?"
That's so cool!!" Tony exclaimed happily, "Thanks so much, you guys!!"
"Don't worry 'bout it, Tony," Lynx winked.
"Let's see..." Misty sighed, digging though what was left, "Ah! Here's one for you, Rudolph."
Rudolph sat up and took the present from her, opening it quickly. Upon finding a book, leather-bound like his father's, he stared up at Misty, confused.
"I read somewhere that you like to read," she explained, "I've also read that you like Frankenstein, which is what that is."
"Oh wow," Rudolph sighed in a thoughtful tone, "I'd seen the movies and heard mortals talk about it way back, but I've never read it before. Thanks."
"You're welcome," Misty smiled back.
"Anna," Lynx continued, holding out a slim box to her, "This one's all you."
Anna smiled as she sat up on her knees and grasped the thin box in her dainty hands. She then sat back on her heels and tore away at the wrapping paper. She gasped inaudibly at the DVD and CD in her hands.
"That is the movie version of a most romantic play," Misty explained, "The Phantom of the Opera. It's a beautiful musical. I was sure you'd love it. There's also a CD by Lacrimosa—they sing a song from the play and are a German duet; a man and a woman—many people consider the two 'lovers', but I couldn't tell you the real facts.
"Oh thank you so much!!" Anna cried, jumping up and hugging the two.
"You're very welcome, Anna," Misty grinned, hugging her before setting her back down.
"Well," Lynx smiled, "That's all of 'em."
Misty and Gregory rolled their eyes.
"Very funny," she laughed lightly, reaching into the bag and pulling out a rather heavy, wide and big gift, "Hear you are, Gregory."
Gregory smiled and took the present in his hands.
"And here I thought you 'disliked' me, love," he chuckled.
"I never said that," Misty shrugged, leaning back in her chair, "I like you a lot. It's what you did last year that I dislike."
"I see..." Gregory nodded sadly, "So I suppose you'll either use that or come up with an even lamer excuse to not go to the movies with me tomorrow?"
She stared at him with sorrowful eyes.
"Gregory, I'll be far too tired..." she shook her head, "I'm sorry that I couldn't give you a better 'excuse'."
"It's not the worst I've heard," he shrugged as he opened the big box and glanced inside.
his eyes widened at the pile of CDs in it. Misty saw his confused look and furrowed her brow as she glanced into it as well.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Gregory," she sighed, "They must've fallen on each other during the flight--rather good thing none of them were open, eh?"
What a selection..." Gregory awed as he picked up the CDs one by one and turned them over when needed to see the band and album name.
"Yep," Misty smiled leaning back with a grin, "You've got there, 'Seether®', 'Puddle Of Mudd®', '10 Years®', 'Breaking Benjamin®', 'Shinedown®', 'Bush®', 'Evanescence®', a little 'Simple Plan®', 'Goldfinger®', '30 Seconds to Mars®', 'Hinder®', 'Daughtry®', 'Three Days Grace®', 'Theory of a Deadman®', 'Saving Able®'—the list goes on. See, I knew you'd get into these kinds of bands, so that's what I looked for. What do ya think?"
"I love it," Gregory smiled at her, "It's great, really."
Misty smiled back and nodded, trying to avoid just how handsome he'd gotten over the apparently long year. She stood after a minute and turned to the family.
"Well, since that's everything," she stretched a little, "I'm going to go off and take a nap. Oh! Where are we staying?"
"Well," Freda began, "we only have one spare bedroom, really and that's where Dottie and Bob are staying. Tony is rooming with Rudolph, and I thought Lynx could stay with Gregory."
"However," Frederick added, "we only have one extra cot that will go in Gregory's room."
"That's fine," Misty shrugged, "I can sleep on the couch downstairs if you've no problem with that."
"Oh, I don't want you sleeping on a couch," Freda pouted.
"It's no trouble, really," Misty shrugged, "I prefer sleeping on couches, just ask Lynx."
Said telepath nodded.
"Yeah, she used to just crash on the couch in her room when we'd do research all night," he confirmed.
"Now that that's cleared up," Misty smiled; walking to the house, "I'm off to get some rest. Wake me for dinner, please?"
"I will," Freda smiled back, "Sleep well! We'll try to keep things quiet for you."
"Thanks," Misty grinned as she walked inside.
She reached into her bag in the living room and grabbed a rolled up blanket and a book. It was one of her personal favorite vampire books by one of her favorite authors, Vampire Mountain—the fourth volume in a twelve book series called Cirque du Freak. She smiled as she made herself comfortable on the long couch and began reading from her place in chapter eleven. Within moments, she found herself reading the same line over and over again. Under the warm blanked and with her head resting on the warm pillow, her mind finally shut down for a nap and let her drift off to sleep.
A/N: For those who don't know, Cirque du Freak is an EXCELLENT series of books by author Darren Shan. And for those who enjoy vampries and absolutely hate how Twilight besmerched the name of vampires, this is definitely a book for you.
Well, that's all for me for today, hope you liked chapter 2! I'll try to update more A.S.A.P!