A/N: I'm so very excited about this chapter. Cookie if you can guess what's going on with Artemis.
Chapter 2
Timmy Fowl's eyes were wide, but he said nothing.
Artemis stared intently at his son's face. He expected his son to react the exact way he had thought he would. Artemis thought he would gasp, and accept it. He thought his son's intelligent mind would have suspected there was something off a long time ago.
But his son just looked confused. And... afraid.
Holly turned to him. "He's... My son? How did this happen?"
Deep down, Artemis smirked, predictable. Holly was always predictable to him. She was like an open book.
In fact, now that Artemis thought about it, all the fairies were easy to read. They always reacted just as he thought they would. There were a few exceptions, sure. Opal and Cudgeon, they had never acted as he had predicted. Strange really.
Actually, Artemis could easily predict what most humans close to him were going to do, also. Butler and Juliet in particular, they had always been hugely predictable. Odd, except for a few small exceptions, it seemed nearly everyone around him was an open book.
His son had never before been one of those exceptions, until now.
"Holly, this is our son, Timothy Fowl."
Timmy's face contorted into a completely unreadable expression. Artemis thought he saw complete fear. But that couldn't be it, why would his son fear Holly?
"Dad..." Timmy began hesitantly.
Artemis turned to his son with concern. He must be feeling ill, there was something wrong, for sure. "Yes Timmy. What is it?"
His son looked up at him with a face twisted with dread, confusion, sadness and fear. Such a horrible mix of emotions that tainted his handsome face. Artemis jumped back involuntarily.
Timmy opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He stared at his father for a moment, before turning and rushing down the hallway and around a corner out of sight.
Artemis' gaze bore a hole in the wall where he had gone. What could possibly have caused his son to react so strongly, so unreasonably?
He turned to apologize to Holly, but found that she had disappeared. Artemis ran to the window, suddenly utterly exhausted, but Holly Short was nowhere to be found.
Had she ever been here, or had it been a dream?
It was stupid to think she would ever return. Yet it couldn't have been a dream.
Artemis pinched himself. Very predictable.
He didn't wake up.
Artemis cautiously entered his office. His laptop lay open, the screen tilted further back then he would have liked. He carefully tipped it upright. There. Perfect.
Artemis was struck by the words on the screen. Or rather the lack of them.
Timmy Fowl had deleted his memoirs. All but a small section at the beginning.
Artemis scrolled back up to the top. Ctrl+Z. There, they were back. Every word.
Artemis' eyes were drawn to the word that first appeared again. The word that had caused Timmy to begin to erase the file.
Fairies.
His son didn't believe him. Not only that, but his own son was upset so much by the file, that he deleted it. His own son didn't believe his father.
He didn't believe in the fairies.
Thoughts of them even caused him to become confused and frightened. Why?
His own son thought he was crazy.
Timmy wasn't like him. He was smart, sure. But he didn't open his mind to possibilities.
His son wasn't a genius.
He was smart, but not a genius.
Artemis sunk into his chair, dwelling on that thought.
All these years, Artemis had dreamed that his son was as smart as him. Inheriting his genius, and his empire.
He should've known it would never happen.
His own son resented him. His wife too.
She hadn't even come upstairs yet from breakfast.
Artemis glanced at his watch. 11:00. They had finished breakfast over half an hour ago.
He had not only felt alone all these years, he had been alone.
She must have married him for his money. She must be staying with him for his money.
No one would want Artemis Fowl for anything else.
Richest man in Europe, he was now.
When he was given that title, hundreds of girls had flocked to his doorstep. Why had he thought she was any different?
Sure, she had a fortune of her own, but that didn't matter. Being the richest woman in Europe was far more important.
She had deluded and deceived him, and he wouldn't let her do it anymore.
Artemis glared at the computer screen. This is over, he thought. I won't deal with it anymore. The fairies. The only way to get back into contact with them is to kidnap one.
There will be no mercy this time, he thought. No, this time fairies will die. Many of them. As many as he could get his hands on. Until Holly came back.
Yes, he mused, a slow smile spreading across his face.
Until Holly came back.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review, particularly on this story. :) I'm really enjoying this one!