Okay, so it has probably been more than a year since I last updated, and that probably earns me a few vicious insults and glares. To be honest, I just haven't felt like a writer for a while, but I was sitting down, taking to some friends a few weeks ago and they made me realize that writing is what I really enjoy doing. So, I set up my old writing desk (which is really just a collapsible table that is older than I am), and I started typing away. I'm still a little rusty, but I'm geeting my groove back. I have so many stories that I have yet to finish, and I came to this one. I have to say, this fiction is probably my favorite out of the others I have written. And, I hope you guys still enjoy it.
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"Are you sure I don't turn off at any of these exits?" Ben asked as he tried to bear with the terrible traffic keeping his speed down to twenty miles per hour.
"Yes," Abigail said with a yawn, "Just keep going straight until you veer left-"
"No," Mary said from the back seat of the Cadillac moving slowly along the busy interstate, "We want to get off on Exit 31C so we can avoid the toll booths."
"Sounds good to me," Ben muttered, having no patience with the heavy traffic, "Gosh, it is two in the morning! Why are people still driving?"
"Maybe they're on the run from the F.B.I., too," Riley drawled from the back seat, as well. Mary cleared her throat and once she got Riley's attention she shook her head, shutting him up. Ben plus bad traffic equaled Hades. Silence resumed in the vehicle, but no one minded. It was a comfortable, peaceful silence that the four had yet to experience.
The slow, steady movement of the car and the lack of light drew Mary into a dazed state. She had no care in the world as her eyes slowly fluttered shut, and from there, the tired woman easily fell asleep.
Ben, who had finally gotten his impatience under control, looked in his rear view mirror and chuckled at the sight his sister brought. The sound caught Abigail's attention and looked at the driver questioningly. She saw his eyes flicker back to the rear view mirror repeatedly, so she turned around in her seat to see Mary Gates sprawled all over the backseat (despite in a dress) with her mouth unceremoniously hanging open. The woman was knocked out. And Riley, poor Riley, was scrunched up against the window because of all the space Mary had taken up.
Abigail covered her mouth to keep her guffaws from exploding.
Ben saw the violently quivering shoulders of Dr. Chase and grinned. "Yup, that's my sister. How are you holding up Riley? Got enough room?"
Said person laughed sarcastically, and continued to stare out the window while fidgeting to keep his whole body from going numb. Abigail noticed, however, that the man could sit a little more comfortably if he scooted closer to the sleeping brunette, but he kept his distance. Ben noticed it as well, but he continued to keep his thoughts and assumptions to himself (when it involved Riley and Mary at least). They will eventually figure it out on their own.
Both front seat occupants were so distracted by the scene behind them, Exit 31C almost slipped past their eyes. Luckily, Riley noticed it…right at the last minute.
"Turn!" he suddenly shouted, catching the attention of Abigail and Ben. The driver automatically turned the wheel sharply to right throwing everyone sharply to the left. Abigail would have fallen out of her seat if she hadn't buckled her seatbelt. Ben was strapped in securely as well, but he still slammed into the door next to him. Luckily he pulled his head back before it hit the window. The backseat passengers, however, did not have the same luck as those in the front seat. Riley, who had tried so hard to keep his distance from the snoozing brunette, found his body forcibly pushed against her, and the upper half of Mary's body now lay comfortably on the man's lap. Mary, known to sleep through anything, still slept soundly, unperturbed by her current location.
Ben straightened the wheel and finally calmed down his panicked breathing. "Is everyone okay?" he called out in a cracked voice, not even daring to take his eyes off of the road. The constant German obscenities coming from Dr. Chase told the driver she was alright. The snoring coming from the seemingly comatose Mary told him that she was alright as well. But, for some reason, Riley did not answer Ben's question, making him take a glance in the rear view mirror just to make sure.
And then there came the dramatic widening of his eyes.
"Riley, why is your face so red?" Ben asked in complete surprise over what he saw.
Abigail turned around to check out the scene behind her that made Ben have an outburst. When she saw Mary sleeping soundly in Riley's lap, Abigail almost laughed because the young woman resembled a little girl with the serene expression on her face as she breathed evenly. Dr. Chase grinned and looked up to see how Riley fared.
The subject knew all eyes were on him even if he had to cover his face with one of his hands to hide the new crimson color of his skin. He knew his heart beat so hard, his ribcage could break any second from the constant pounding force. And, Riley knew if he didn't keep his other hand away from Mary's long hair, he would end up running his fingers through the chocolate-colored strands. Get yourself under control, Riley, the man told himself. He heard Ben's question, but he had no voice to answer back, so he simply shook his head like he always did when he was left speechless.
The worst part happened when the young man saw the serene look on her face. Even if he looked away, Riley would still remember the image…and then think about it on and off again for a very long time.
So, what does Riley do in a situation like this?
He changes the subject.
"Your dad's got a sweet ride," he spoke up towards the passengers in the front. Unfortunately, Ben and Abigail were too absorbed in their own conversation to hear the man in the back seat try and forget about the woman lying in his lap.
"I think we should change clothes," Riley heard Ben utter to Abigail. He knit his eyebrows together. What exactly are they talking about…?
"We look kind of inconspicuous, don't you think?" Ben continued. Realization dawned on Riley and he gave a sigh of relief. The situation he was already in made him feel awkward. But, the man did have a point. Besides him, everyone else had the appearance of people that partied too hard.
However…
"I would love to go shopping too, but we have no money," the man pointed out. Or, at least, he didn't. Having the occupation of co-treasure hunter tended not to pay much.
Abigail heard the observation and frowned. No way did she want to stay in her current outfit, but if they had no money…
The scholar blinked her eyes back to the present when a small book appeared in her lap. She stared at the book in confusion until she recognized the italic script of the title.
"Here, I took this from his house," Ben said, taking delight in how Abigail gazed appreciatively at the small book. "He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages." A little detail he forgot to mention to his dad. A little revenge for the Silence Dogood letters.
"Common Sense," Dr. Chase smirked. "How appropriate."
Riley rolled his eyes at the two exchanging secretive glances and grins. How adorable…
Unfortunately, his bespectacled eyes drifted downwards towards the sleeping brunette. The urge to run his fingers through her hair returned tenfold, so Riley ended up biting his lip to remain still.
"When are we going to get there?" he asked, clearing his throat. Alas, Ben and Abigail were too busy giving each other flirtatious glances to answer him.
Riley narrowed his eyes and decided to continue saying random statements until someone would answer him.
"I'm hungry."
"This car smells funny."
"My legs are cramping up."
"It's cold in here."
"Are we there yet?"
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Mary slowly became aware of her surroundings as her eyes fluttered open. How long have I been asleep? She really did not mean to doze off (especially since she has a reputation as a loud snorer), but the equation including stress, physical activity, lack of food, and drugs added up to a well-deserved nap.
The brunette stretched her arms out and yawned in content…only to freeze her actions when she felt what she thought was a very comfortable pillow shift around. Mary snapped her head up and bit back a shriek when a familiar face looked back at her.
"Morning," Riley cocked his head to the side with a smirk.
Mary shot her body up, flustered. "You could have woken me up if I was laying all over you!"
An uncharismatic snort escaped from Riley, which caused Mary's eyes to naturally flash dangerously.
"What's so funny," she asked with a tight smile, which for all purposes was meant to appear fake.
The mysteriously amused man ignored the non-verbal warnings he had received, and instead gave Mary the most skeptical expression in the world.
"Me? Wake you up? Not while I still value my life," Riley stated obviously.
"What are you talking about?" the brunette questioned slowly, confused by the turn of the conversation.
"Do you not remember the last time I woke you up?" he asked with a pointed look.
Riley and Mary's Simultaneous Flashback:
"Ben!"
Said individual recognized that tone from Riley, and felt his shoulders already sag from the sigh he automatically emitted. Ben had been in the process of making coffee for the all-nighter in progress. The three roommates had been pouring over countless sources, secondary and primary, since five in the afternoon…and now it was a quarter past three in the morning.
"What is it, Riley?" the wearied man asked, already guessing the topic of the future complaint.
"She's in my spot," Riley huffed and gestured towards the occupied end of the couch where he usually sat, but instead a snoozing Mary Gates was curled up with her head resting on the arm rest. A book lay open in the cushion next to her, indicating to Ben she had tried to survive through the all-nighter, but failed miserably.
Such an endearing image…at least to the woman's older brother. Riley, however, had different thoughts.
Ben sighed again, and brought the steaming mug of caffeine to his lips. "Yes, Mary is in your spot. Care to elaborate?"
The young man gave a noise of frustration. "She knows that's my spot. I left it for one second, and then I come back to see she stole it!"
Ben nodded in understanding, blowing the steam away from his mug. "I see…would you like me to have her skip recess like the rest of the bad children?"
Riley did not appreciate his friend's sarcasm. "Seriously Ben. That woman deliberately took my spot-"
"I get it, Riley," Ben cut in with an annoyed expression. This wasn't the first occurrence of Mary-the-spot-stealing-thief, nor Riley's outspoken complaints on the subject. "You know the solution right?"
"Kick her out of the apartment?"
Ben ignored the snide comment and continued. "Ask her to move to another spot."
Riley moved his gaze down to the floor and muttered a few comments not meant for innocent ears. He had hoped Ben would just ask Mary to move instead of him, but seeing as his friend silently slipped out of the living room, he would have to do it himself.
Little did he know that Ben had evacuated the premises for a reason...
Riley slowly approached his familiar side of the couch where an unwelcome brunette snored away. For a moment, he had a ludicrous thought over how much better Mary looked when she slept, but luckily the young man snapped himself out of such a ridiculous suggestion, and brought his frown back into place.
Riley cleared his throat dramatically loud, and waited for the woman to stir.
Nothing.
"Mary," he gritted out.
The snoring brunette stirred for a split second, but instead of waking up entirely, she just took up the rest of the couch space.
This did not help Riley.
His eyes narrowed, and for a moment the young man had to remove his glasses so he could hold the bridge of his nose for calming purposes.
"Mary!"he tried again, albeit louder this time around.
"It's not time for school," the brunette mumbled into the cushion.
For a split second, Riley held back an amused snort. He used to do the same thing when he was younger. Who knew him and Mary would have something so trivial in common? And yet…it gave Mr. Poole a bright idea.
"It looks like I'll have to resort to the old-fashioned way," he sighed, and let a mischievous grin take place of his exasperation. Riley crept into the kitchen and retrieved a small, paper cup from the pantry. Whistling a happy tune, he filled the cup up to the brim with ice-cold water.
The man retraced his steps to the couch where the spot-stealer slept soundly. Unsympathetically, Riley emptied the contents of the cup onto Mary's unsuspecting face.
As expected, an ear-piercing shriek resounded throughout the apartment, followed by a masculine grunt of pain when the victim punched the offender in the face.
End of Riley and Mary's Simultaneous Flashback:
"No, you deserved that one," Mary retorted unsympathetically, sitting up straight, finally overcoming her embarrassment.
Riley nodded, albeit wincing at the memory. "Granted, but you did steal my spot intentionally." This made the brunette give a begrudging nod, though she kept her eyes down. She took his spot only because she knew how ticked it would make him. Mary had a passion for riling her brother's friend up. Did then and did now.
"So, where are Ben and Abigail?" Mary asked, suddenly noticing the lack of the two other occupants of the car. "In fact, where are we?"
"They're out shopping for less inconspicuous clothes," Riley mocked Ben's voice (quite well in Mary's opinion) as he reached forward from the back seat and retrieved the keys from the ignition. "And, we're in Philadelphia."
Mary nodded, but then took a quick glance at her own outfit…it definitely did not resemble something a woman would wear every day. "Why did Ben decide to leave without me?" she asked, frowning at the statement. She figured her own brother would get her some decent clothes to wear, unless he wanted her to parade the streets in a torn dress.
Without a moment's notice a large sack was tossed in her lap, making her jump. Riley grinned in amusement as the brunette shot him a glare for throwing the bag at her.
"Don't worry," he said, gesturing at the sack. "Ben didn't forget about you. He stopped by a nearby store and bought you some clothes."
"Why didn't he just wake me up, and take me with him?" Mary asked in confusion. Considering the current circumstances, wouldn't it be better if they all just stick together?
Riley turned his head away and gave a simple shrug. "We all figured you needed the sleep." The young man might have just added the 'we' instead using the truthful 'I.' Ben did want to wake Mary up, but Riley insisted on letting her sleep…not that he was going to tell her.
The brunette laughed in disbelief. "Well, that's great and all, but we can't sit in a stolen car and wait for them to come back."
"Believe it or not, we do have something to do," Riley muttered, opening the car door. "Come on."
"Wait…what?" the young woman asked, not moving. "What are we going to do?"
Riley sighed in impatience, "You didn't think we were just going to walk around and sight see did you? We're going to solve that Ottendorf cipher while Ben and Abigail go shopping."
A rush of excitement ran through Mary. Finally, a chance to prove herself in the hunt. Ben had given her the golden opportunity to use her brain, and she definitely was not going to waste it. Without a second thought, Mary scrambled out of the car with an air of determination. Riley noticed the change, and for the first time in a long while, he gave a genuine smile.
"Come on, Indiana Jones. Let's go treasure hunting," he chuckled in amusement, all the while thinking that maybe this whole adventure wouldn't be so bad after all…as long as Mary Gates is there.
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Riley and Mary decided that walking wasn't the best option, especially after they saw their pictures on CNN through the windows of every store that had a television. Unfortunately…neither was driving around in a vehicle that the FBI probably knew by heart at that point in time.
After passing another one of these stores, Riley sighed in irritation. "Seriously, is nothing else on?" He stuffed his hands into his sweater's pockets, and lowered his eyes to the ground, feeling exposed to every person who passed by him.
The brunette walking beside him felt the same way. "Well, I guess when a national historical document disappears because of you, this kind of stuff happens."
The pair had been walking for at least an hour, weaving throughout the close knit streets of Philadelphia, all the while feeling on edge.
"I hate this," Riley finally muttered. "Once we get to the museum, how are we going to get in there without being spotted?" Not that he was trying to rain on everyone's parade, but with all of the news coverage him, Mary, Ben, and Abigail were receiving, the idea of waltzing into a nationally famous education center seemed ludicrous.
"Well, Ben and Abigail haven't been caught yet," Mary offered, trying to sound upbeat. "I'm sure once we get there, there will be something we can do." I hope…
The young man nodded, and actually managed a small grin. It felt nice to hear Mary say those encouraging words since she barely ever said them to him in the first place. Riley then took the time to notice how well her jeans and plain-white tee fit to her curves, and how her skin held a natural glow to it without all that make up on. Not that he didn't think she looked beautiful the other night, but he much preferred to see Mary this way.
The previously mentioned noticed that Riley stole glances her way, and couldn't prevent the heat creeping up to her neck. She kind of liked the attention; especially from him.
For the next few moments, and for the first time in a long while, the two adults enjoyed each other's company. Or, as much as they could, considering the circumstances.
They turned a corner on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and caught sight of the impressive institute, standing tall with visitors trickling in and out of the four Roman columns hanging in front of the entrance. It was a beautiful piece of architecture that enticed Mary's desire to go explore inside of the museum, but Riley halted her with a hand on her arm.
"Remember, our faces are everywhere on the news," Riley said under his breath as many pedestrians walked by them, occasionally throwing them a rude stare for blocking their way. So much for the city named after friendship.
Mary stopped her fantasizing over the museum, and hesitantly turned away from the Franklin Institute to face her companion. He was right. Everyone in that building probably knew his and her faces by heart now.
"So what do we do?" she asked with a frown.
A blank expression formed on the young man's bespectacled face. "That's a good question." He ignored the sigh of exasperation from Mary, and just focused on his surroundings. They definitely could not enter the building without getting caught, and they definitely could not wait in their current position forever.
Riley almost gave up until someone caught his eye. A small kid, waiting outside the entrance talking to the worker at the ticket booth.
"I'm only a dollar short," the kid still dressed in his school uniform complained to the old woman behind the slab of glass.
The woman shrugged impatiently. "Fifteen dollars for children. Sorry kid. Next!"
The boy turned around in a huff, stomping away to one of the stone benches, all the while muttering a few words that someone so young should not even know.
Bingo, Riley thought. He grabbed Mary's hand without a word and made his way through the crowd towards the depressed boy on the bench, formulating what he thought was the perfect plan.
"What are you doing?" Mary asked, astounded at the determination in Riley.
"Just go along with it," he said with a trademark smirk as he approached the pint-sized individual. "Hey kid," he called out, catching the boy's attention.
"Yeah?" the boy asked warily. After all, his mother told him to watch out for strangers, and these two were no exception.
"You need a dollar?" Riley inquired, digging through his back pocket for his wallet. He retrieved the small, leather object and pulled out a crumpled up dollar bill. Mary was still confused over why Riley had dragged her over there and was now offering a little boy money.
"Y-yeah," the boy said with his eyes locked on the money. "I need to go in there and research for a project in school." He blinked a few times and then glanced at the provider with suspicion.
Realization dawned on Mary, and she had to give points to Riley for thinking this up. She stood behind him with a grin on her face as he explained a proposition to the boy.
"I just need you to solve this puzzle for me," Riley continued, pulling his notepad out and showing the cipher to the boy.
"Oh! That's an Ottendorf cipher," the kid exclaimed with excitement. Riley stared at the boy, confused and kind of jealous that an eight year old knew more about the puzzle than he did. What exactly are kids learning in school these days?
"Yes, it is," Riley continued, trying to sound like he knew the first moment he saw the magic numbers as well, and ignoring the small scoff from a certain woman standing behind him. "Every time you find out the letter that corresponds to the code, write it down and bring it out to me and my friend."
"Why don't you go in there yourself?" the kid asked, suddenly wary again.
"Because I don't feel like paying twenty dollars for a museum ticket," Riley smoothly added, digging through his wallet again. "And you know what? Every time you bring out new letters, I'll give you another dollar." He mentally winced at how he only spotted five ones and a quarter, but it should only take a few trips to decipher the entire code.
The boy didn't need to be told twice when it concerned an upgrade to his allowance, so he snatched the dollar bill and scampered back to the ticket booth.
Mary smiled as the kid bought the ticket, and turned to Riley with a look of admiration. "Wow," she said, sitting down on the bench. "I'm impressed, Riley."
Said person took a seat by the impressed woman, and sighed in relief. "I am so glad that worked, otherwise we would have had to go to Ben empty handed."
Mary gazed at the man in surprise. "Does Ben intimidate you?" If so, that would be completely ridiculous on Riley's part. Ben wouldn't hurt a fly, and he is quite easy to tease, or so Mary has experienced.
The exhausted man scoffed, and gave Mary a skeptical look. "Ben? No." His raised eyebrow lowered as he creased his forehead in thought. "I'd just hate to disappoint him, especially after all the hard work he has done." Though Riley had no guts to say it aloud at that moment, he meant to include Mary in that statement, too.
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Well, there you go. A decent chapter that will hopefully have another one following it soon. Anyways, for those who read this, I do appreciate you taking your time to read this story and sticking with it for this long.
Tell me what you think! If you liks it, tell me what you liked most about it, if you hated it, try to tell me where I can improve in a very polite way that doesn't involve colorful metaphors.