I'm making up for my "not-updating-in-a-long-time-ness" by trying to get more chapters out. Excuse me if some stuff sounds really corny but I'm really hungry right now. Having only an apple for lunch is not good for someone with a high metabolism. (laughs) Anyway, I justify my SarahxPeyton-ness! So ha! Peyton totally took Sarah on a date! Eat that SarahxTom fans!
4: Problems in Paradise
"I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library." –Jorge Luis Borges
Sarah yawned, running her fingers through her disheveled blonde hair with a grunt of dissatisfaction. She'd been outside in the cold with the marching band, dancing around like the color guard she was. And she was not in a good mood.
"What a stupid night," The girl grumbled, pulling her sweater over head and threw on her floor, "I just want to hit half the people in that band!"
Ding-ding!
Sarah stopped in the act of pulling her socks off and looked around at her computer. There was a little icon flashing at the bottom of her screen; an envelope with wings. Someone was messaging her.
Ding-ding!
"Okay, fine!" Sarah fell into her computer chair with a huff and clicked on the icon, "What the—Peyton! You dolt!"
Message after message scrolled its way down her screen…every single one from Peyton.
PeytonicMaster: Hey! Sarah, you there?
PeytonicMaster: Hello? Sarah?
PeytonicMaster: Heeeeellllloooooooo!?
PeytonicMaster: Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah! Sarah!
PeytonicMaster: Are you ignoring me? Dude, totally not cool!
PeytonicMaster: You're not really ignoring me, are you?
PeytonicMaster: Sarah…?
PeytonicMaster: T.T
PeytonicMaster: Okay, I've waited an hour!
PeytonicMaster: Saaarrrraaaaahhhhh! I'm waaaaiiiiitttiiinnnnnnggggg!
PeytonicMaster: Aw, come on!
Sarah rolled her eyes and tapped her fingers across her keyboard, stifling another yawn.
ChaotiKween: Peyton! Enough! I had color guard practice with the band!
PeytonicMaster: Oh…
ChaotiKween: What do you need?
PeytonicMaster: Does your Code Scanner work? 'Cause mine doesn't and I got this lame letter in the mail saying Chaotic's shut down for some kinda construction or something.
Mine's not working either. As Sarah typed in the words, she felt her stomach twisting into a knot. She missed the Drome matches, she missed Perim, she missed Kaz's silly antics, she missed Tom's inflated ego, and she missed Peyton's warm company, Have you heard from Tom or Kaz?
PeytonicMaster: That's a negative. I got nothing from either of them…Dude, it's been…lonely without Chaotic. You know what I mean?
ChaotiKween: Yeah, I do…Hey Peyton…
PeytonicMaster: Yeah?
ChaotiKween: I…miss you.
Crickets chirped in the night air. Peace reigned. The silence and serenity of the night was a warm blanket against the cold worries of the day. Sleep permeated the star-speckled darkness. Dreams drifted onward.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Izaak Khaos murmured, leaning onto the balcony railing next to his youngest and adopted brother Leon, "You know, I never get tired of this. Never."
Leon didn't respond; he just kept staring up at the stars, his green eyes glittering in their light. His usually sleek, black hair was ruffled and stuck out every which way. He was dressed in a loose fitting black sweater and black sweatpants. He'd been wearing them all day.
"I don't get it, Izaak," The youngest Khaos said softly in his musical voice, "Why is Tobias willing to risk this whole company just to give a couple of kids a good summer? What's it matter to him if they're happy."
Izaak burst out laughing and Leon scowled at him. Leon had been born in a backwater town that no one remembered the name of. His parents had been unable to afford the challenge of raising a child and so, with much heartbreak, they were forced to give him up to the orphanage.
They never came back for him.
Still, Leon prevailed. He was genius, by anyone's standards, and he knew he deserved better. When he turned fourteen, he ran away. It was hard. He got odd jobs where he could and made his way further and further across the States. He ended up outside the Khaos Computer Company. Tobias, Joseph, Izaak, Scotty, and Conner had started the online game of Chaotic by then and were slowly working their way into Perim. Tobias had hacked a crude wormhole between worlds for a brief period of time and the brothers were trying to refine it. They accepted Leon into the fold without question.
He'd found a home.
"What's so funny?" Leon grumbled as Izaak's laughter died away.
"You still don't get Tobias, do you?" Izaak's frizzy dirty-blonde hair tossed itself into his face with the help of a breeze and he brushed it aside, getting it out of his navy blue eyes, "The company's never meant anything to that guy! He doesn't care about money or fame or any of that!" Izaak flicked his gaze up to the tops of the mountains, watching their tips sparkle in the moonlight, "He believes in fun; absolute, unconditioned, fun!" He looked back at his younger brother, "Get it?"
"No," Leon muttered but couldn't stop the tired smile from turning up the corners of his lips, "Want to hit the sack?"
"Sure, Little Brother…"
Kaz awoke the next morning to a sliver of sunlight peeking through the small opening in the curtains he hadn't quite closed the night before. With a yawn, he swung himself out of the bed, kicking away the blankets as he went, shoved his glasses haphazardly onto his face, and stumbled his way towards the dresser.
He found his way down the stairs easier.
"Geez, Kaz, walk much?" Tom half laughed, half yawned as he trotted through the front door of his best friend's cabin.
"How come you always catch me doing something embarrassing?" Kaz muttered, pushing himself to his feet and making sure nothing was broken from his fall, "Why can't, just for once, I catch you with your hand in the cookie jar?"
"Because I'm too sneaky to be caught!" Tom laughed, faking a punch and making Kaz flinch, "Ah! Two for flinching!" He tapped his knuckles into Kaz's spiky hair twice, still laughing.
"Glad to know somebody's a morning person…" Kaz grumbled, "Why're you over here anyway?"
"Uh, breakfast." Tom said, "We're going to the company cafeteria for breakfast, remember?"
"Okay, okay," Kaz dug into the pockets of his jeans and pulled out his keys after making sure his Code Scanner was safe and secure, "Let's go, I'm starving."
"How's it coming?" Tobias Khaos slammed the door open and let it slam shut behind him, "What's the update?"
"Nothing, sir," Replied a woman stationed at one of the many computer terminals scattered throughout the room, never taking her eyes off the screen, "A few moments after it stabilized it collapsed in on itself and hasn't opened up since. There have been a few strange anomalies in the equations but nothing threatening."
"Thanks." Tobias muttered, turning to face the great, cylindrical devices the stretched from floor to ceiling. There were ten of them and each had eight, giant screens attached to them, their faces flooded with information from the entire building.
Tobias tucked one hand into his pocket and walked up to one of the screens. He traced a finger down a list of ever changing numbers, muttering to himself. Then he froze, pushed his thick, square, black-framed glasses up his nose, and whirled to face the employees at the computers.
"There's been a miscalculation." He said in a cold voice that drew everyone's attention, "I want all unneeded personal evacuated from the grounds immediately. Keep our guests under constant surveillance and keep an eye on those numbers." He jabbed a finger at the screen, "This could get dicey." And he strode from the room with a flourish of his trench coat.
The techies stared after him. Tobias Khaos was the most self controlled of the brothers, even if he didn't act like it most of the time, and he never lost his cool. It was obvious something was stressing him out. They could tell by the way he was tugging at his goatee.
After a very hearty and very filling breakfast, the group of teenagers was led from the Cafeteria on the tenth floor to a comfortable waiting room on the eighth that was filled with soft tones, squishy chairs, and the cliché outdated magazines.
It was a good thing they didn't have to wait long because Kaz looked like he was about to explode.
The door opened and Scotty and Conner walked in, both dressed like they were yesterday and Conner with a velvet black bag under his arm about the size of one of those shopping bags you could get from Meijer.
"Morning, guys!" Scotty grinned, waving at the group, "Sleep good? Nice breakfast? Excellent! Are you ready for a tour?"
There were several screamed replies of "yes" and "oh my gosh, let's go now."
"Fear not!" Conner stated dramatically, "A tour you shall have! But first," He held out a dark violet bag, "Your Code Scanners, please."
No one moved.
"Oh, come on!" Scotty huffed, crossing his arms, "You want free scans, don't you? They're rare, you know. Can't get them anywhere else."
Every Scanner was in the bag within seconds.
"Right then. Conner's going to take care of the scans and I'm going to show you around." Scotty started towards one of the revolving doors, motioning for the group to follow him, "Ladies and gentle-teens, I present to you…Khaos Corporation!"
You'll have to wait until the next chapter. (evil grin) I'm such a brat. Hah, hah…! How do you like them snickerdoodles? Okay, anyway, I know that one was kind of filler but, hey, you know, I'm building up the tension. Mwahahahahaha!
Totally not the place for an evil laugh…
So thanks for reading, please leave me a review, and byes!