Hey, Butterflies! I'm back with Chapter 14! I hope the last chapter wasn't too dark, but I did mean what I said at the end. Life is a rich and wonderful experience, and I hate to see people cut theirs short. On a different note, here's Chapter 14: Family Meeting
Disclaimer: The Secret Saturdays belongs to Jay Stephens and Cartoon Network.
Trigger Warning: Suicidal thoughts and actions mentioned.
It has been two days since we found Drew, but so far we have heard nothing from Anonymous. I am starting to think that xe wants us to figure out Drew's reason for faking her death on our own. But how? I'm not even sure xe gave us enough information to even get us started. We have Doyle, the firesword, and of course what we saw. But how do those add together to create a reason? Unless of course, Anonymous wants us to meet with Drew, which I can guarantee Dr. Beeman is not going to allow. I suppose that we are on our own to answer the question of why.
Zak has not let me be alone for even a second since yesterday. If he himself isn't watching me, then Komodo is. Since neither can follow me into the bathroom, they have set a time limit for how long I can be in there. If I go over, let's just say they had better hope I'm simply washing my hands. Thankfully that hasn't been an issue yet, and I would like to leave it that way. I'm glad that Zak cares so much about me as to make sure I don't do anything rash, but I hate to impose on him like that. Why did he have to find me? I feel like such a waste of time, energy, and resources. Why couldn't I have just jumped?
Then I realize what I am thinking. What in the world? Where did those thoughts come from? I just thinking about how grateful I was that Zak found me when he did, even though he might be overprotective right now. How did I end up wishing I had jumped from the airship? Maybe I do need Zak and Komodo's supervision for a while. I'm not so sure I can trust myself anymore.
"Lily, we're having a family meeting in the living room," Fisk says as he pokes his head in my bedroom. I thank him and get up to go attend the family meeting. Everyone is there, so I assume we'll be discussing how to get Drew back. Doyle stays silent throughout most of the meeting, only providing his input when it's forced out of him. He seems to no longer care. I can't say that I blame him. All of a sudden, he perks up, as if a plausible theory just popped into his head.
"Guys, Drew's working for Beeman, right?" We all nod. "She's been separated from her preferred weapon and her family for months, so she isn't really in a situation to fight back. If I wanted access to one of the best doctors in the world, one who also happens to have been very influential in my life and best friends with my former employee, that's how I'd do it. I'd make it look like she died so that her family wouldn't try to find her, and I would also take away her preferred weapon and keep her away from weapons in general. Drew is, for lack of a better word, foolish enough to get herself into unpleasant situations if it means protecting those she cares about. I can't say why Beeman has taken such an interest in Drew, but I can say that he's using her to get to someone." The room is silent as Doyle finishes his thoughts. I can't speak for the others, but I hadn't ever thought of it like that. Dr. Beeman is using Drew? That makes a lot of sense now. My stars, Doyle solved it! All those clues make sense now. The firesword was to show that Drew is still alive and without her go-to weapon. Doyle is her brother, so it makes sense that he would know details about Drew that we don't know, and he can also provide new points of view we hadn't seen before. Anonymous was doing more than leading us to Drew; xe was telling us why Drew is working for Dr. Beeman. We all thank Doyle for his revelation, even Doc. Then Zon asks if maybe we can try to meet with Drew. We fall silent. It wouldn't hurt to try.
Doc disappears into the computer room. When he returns a few minutes later, he seems almost happy but very worried. He explains that we can meet with Drew later today, but it'll be difficult to keep Dr. Beeman from noticing.
We try to act as nonchalant as we can as we all sit down at a back table in a small restaurant. We're a good distance away from Dr. Beeman's lab, so we should be safe, and Drew should be arriving any moment now. The door to the restaurant opens, and a woman with long platinum blonde hair walks in. She has on a light shirt and pants. When she reaches our table, we looks around and takes a seat. It's Drew. We all smile, and Fisk goes in for a hug, but Drew stops him.
"I'm sorry, Fiskerton. I wish I could hug you all too, but we need to avoid drawing attention to ourselves." Drew looks at all of us. "As best as we can," she adds. We talk a little bit, but it's only small talk. I wish somebody would just start a deep conversation.
"Drew, can I ask you a question?" I ask. Drew seems taken aback by my using her first name instead of calling her "Mom." I forgot I had called her my mom five months ago. Oops.
"Of course, Iris," she says. I forgot she doesn't know I go by Lily now either. I quickly explain that before asking my question.
"What does Dr. Beeman have you do at his lab?" The others seem both relieved and appalled by my question, but somebody had to ask. Drew takes a deep breath and explains that she doesn't really know what she's doing. Dr. Beeman has her do lots of little things, but he never tells her what his grand scheme is. Then Drew flashes us a sneaky smile before explaining that she has been keeping a secret log of all the tasks Dr. Beeman has her do. She's still not 100 percent certain on his final goal, but Drew is able to tell us that it appears that is looking for something. I think back of Anonymous's letters. Xe had us find Drew first, and we start our search for Mom soon. What if the order wasn't random?
"Lily, are you okay?" Drew asks. I must have quite the expression on my face.
"Guys, Dr. Beeman isn't looking for something. He's looking for someone. He's looking for Mom!"
So that's the end of Chapter 14! I know this one's short too, but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless. Thank you all so much for reading! Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review! I love you all!