*panting* Whew! Ha... Ha... Ha... Gosh! Never, ever, ever volunteer to babysit a two-year-old. Like, seriously, if you value your life, JUST. DON'T.
Hi, guys! I'm back with not one, but TWO CHAPTERS of The Start of Pain!
*cue screaming excited audience*
...
He had one job.
*walks over to the button myself*
*screaming excited audience*
Yep. I am back. Me and my dry humour. Excuse that. If you were wondering what on earth is AngelicSpring doing with the entire weird intro, well... I like children, I really do. But when they start screaming their little lungs off for no good reason whatsoever...
*shudders*
And oh my good jelly doughnuts!
You are absolutely right.
I didn't put any sneak FREAKING peek! What is wrong with me?! I hope two chapters for this day would compensate for my actions. And my super late update. :( I am so disappointed with myself, it's unbelievable. I am so, so, so ,so, sorry.
Moving on, thank you all so much to those people who had said they would read my story. I have sent all of you a DocX connection approval link (something like that). Thank you so much to those people who have left a review. Arigatou-gozaimasu, beachbum999 (thanks for the suggestion XD), Guest (thank you so much for saying you'd read it. I hope there was a way I could send you the chapters, though :( Thank you. Really XD), NatalieKFan (Thank you so much! Do you have an FF account? I'm pretty sure you do, but that might be the sugar talking. Haha. I think I sent you a PM before. Thank you, though XD), JesseCPK (REALLY?! Oh no. What happened? Did you know that there is no BOOK 4, but there is a book 5 and a pre-order of book 6? I mean... wha?! Sadly, yes. When I was writing TST, the books and my story slowly became distant. I was reduced to having my story in AU. Oh well. Thanks for saying you'd read my story XD), TheUltimateArtist (well... not yet. XD), addicted2reading9 (yay! I love those kinds of stories, too. There aren't that much books about teenage detective, though. Unless I'm being a lazy person again and I'm just procrastinating to look for one. Have you read H.I.V.E? XD Thank you), magicdemi-god223 (I know! I completely forgot. I am getting old *shudder* D'aww! Thanks for the nice review XD), emmelinekat (Thank you so much! Number the Stars? Is that the one by Lois Lowry? I know! Have the books been leading our Amian ship astray? I know. I'm so sorry. I completely forgot. Hehe. Aww... Thanks. XD), Regina2111 (no worries. I am just really grateful that you guys told me you'd read my story XD), Dude (duuuuddddeee! That was a Finding Nemo reference. Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far XD), Guest (no chocolate? I breathe chocolate. No seriously. People always say that they have no idea where I put all the chocolate I eat. Haha. Thanks. Glad you're liking it.), (another Wattpad friend! *confetti* Haha. Yeah. I guess it is now some kind of diamond. But I remain faithful to my AmIan family. XD) and Guest (I know. Like MIA at its worst from a writer. :( I disappoint myself.) Thank you all so much.
On with the story. Enjoy 'cause that's what matters most.
Oh and yeah. In case, you're wondering, I own nothing of The 39 Clues.
oooooOooooo
Chapter 18
The Boss looked at his 'trusted' employer. Casper Wyoming glared back at this pudgy, little nuisance.
"What do you want now?" Casper demanded roughly. Thinking better on it, he added with a hint of sarcasm, "Sir?"
The Boss nodded appreciatively. "I'm sure you know about our latest... Hm, how to put it?" He thought for a moment, obviously choosing a less violent term for the backstabbing Victoria has done. "Predicament." He looked at Wyoming straight in the eye.
Casper chuckled at the boiling hatred in The Boss' eyes. As much as he would like to shove the fact that a little girl – a mere maggot, actually – even had the nerve to think about betraying the Vespers, Casper had no heart at this moment. Maybe next time. "I am aware," was all he said, ignoring a throbbing pain on his shoulder blades.
The Boss ran his tongue over his thin lips, like a feral animal waiting to pounce on its prey. "I want her executed."
Four words.
Just four words to decide on the fate of a sixteen-year-old. Or, how was she supposed to be now again? Twenty? Twenty-two? He lost track. To be precise, he just never cared.
Casper looked uninterested. In fact, he looked so bored, one could guess that he expected The Boss to say those exact same words. Casper placed his weight on his right foot and leaned sideways. "What exactly do you want me to do?" he asked, all business now.
"Ring up your twin and come up with whatever plan to obliterate young Victoria from the world," The Boss replied simply, spinning his chair so that he was facing the huge window that serves as his office's wall. Casper frowned at The Boss' chubby, fold-filled neck.
"I don't need Cheyenne," Casper muttered. He shoved his hands in his trouser pockets. "If that is all..."
"Make sure you do it nice and easy," The Boss considered, looking out the busy street thoughtfully. "With a hint of sharp, gut-wrenching pain for –"
"For the both of them," Casper interrupted, his dark eyes glinting at the many, happy possibilities. He sure wouldn't like it. Make that little maggot go back to the dirt where he belongs. Make him realise that he's not all that after all. "I gladly accept this job... Sir." He left the room with a lighter step.
The Boss sighed. If only they had gone according to plan, none of this would have happened.
Not this soon, anyway.
xxxOOOxxx
Sinead rang the hidden doorbell. She didn't hear any rushing footsteps hurrying to hide the final traces of whatever mess the others have left. No panicked hissing, either. Huh. That was unexpected, indeed. After all, she purposefully texted her brothers a couple hours earlier just to make sure they have enough time to build the mansion back from the splinters they left it in. She positioned her finger to press the doorbell again when Ned opened the door, his auburn hair looking dishevelled as if he'd just come out of bed.
He yawned hugely, appraising her. "Oh. Just you," he said, sounding disappointed.
Sinead raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I'm fine, dear brother. No need to thank God that I'm alive," she said sarcastically. Ned shrugged as he opened the door wider and gestured for her to come in.
"Who's at the door?" Ted shouted from inside the house.
"Some red-headed freak," Ned called back.
"Is it the pizza guy?" Ted asked.
"No. It's our sister!"
"Oh." Ted sounded as disappointed as his brother.
Sinead rolled her eyes. "Of course," she muttered to herself. "Better the pizza guy than their sister."
Hamilton walked inside next, almost walking over Sinead. "Home sweet home!" he shouted, pumping his fist in the air. Ned shot his sister the look. The one that says, see what you did? "And that's the guy you chose to date," he said before leaving the room. "Could've dated the debate president in Dartmouth but, nooo..."
Sinead glared at Hamilton before stalking out the room as well and into the confines of the girls' dormitory.
Amy came in next, followed by Dan and Natalie. "What? No heroes' welcome?" Dan demanded, seeing as nobody came to greet them. Natalie looked around her in awe, her cheeks flushed as she felt something warm flood her chest. This is home. She can feel it. Amy plopped down the couch, hearing something crunch beneath her.
"What was that?" Amy asked, shocked and bewildered. She was about to reach under the cushions when Reagan and Madison came in tackling her down. Amy screamed, her karate training going completely to waste. With twins on top of you, it's really hard to process any sort of information.
Hamilton laughed as he pried his sisters away from the poor girl. "What was that for?" he asked them.
Reagan looked at Madison. "Uh... we were... going to ask for presents," Madison replied, hoping that she sounded sure.
Hamilton raised an eyebrow. "By tackling her as if you were in the finals and she had the football?" he cleared. Amy shot him a nasty look. Dan shrugged it off as he led Natalie to the most important part of the house: the kitchen.
Ian came inside with two bleary-eyed boys behind him. He looked at Amy, checking to see if there was a mountain lion on top of her. "I heard blood-curdling screaming," he said. "What happened?"
Amy sighed, burying her face in her hands. "Nothing," she replied gloomily. Ian raised an eyebrow at Hamilton instead who like Dan, merely shrugged and carried his sisters out of the living room by their collars.
Jake yawned hugely. "If you don't mind," he told them, eyeing the staircase that led to the boys' dorm like it was a stairway to heaven. "I'll be going back to my sleep which was rudely interrupted." He shot Ian a pointed look. Evan mumbled something that sounded like he was agreeing with Jake and the two of them stumbled up the stairs.
Amy watched them leave before turning to Ian. "What did you do?" she asked him with a sigh.
Ian made a face. "Apparently, I had rudely interrupted their sleep," he replied with a flippant roll of his amber eyes.
"They're not used to all this, you know," Amy reminded him as she watched him sit on the couch to her right.
Ian chuckled without any humour. "Ah yes. I keep forgetting since I've been immune to all this craziness ever since I was born," he told her. He turned to glare at the door which is still open and is expecting more visitors. As if on cue, Vikram came inside with Adhiraj. Alistair followed soon after and was motioning for Victoria to follow him.
"What a lovely home you have," Vikram told Amy sincerely after scanning his eyes around the elegant living room.
Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Not like the one you burned down, but thank you," she said.
Vikram waved a dismissive hand. "Oh come now, dear girl!" he exclaimed, sounding almost tired of that topic. "Will you really hold that grudge forever? How about we forgive and forget, eh?" Amy just looked at him like he just fell out of the sky with green skin and scales, her jaw dropping down to the floor. Even Ian looked at his father incredulously.
"How about I shove your face down the toilet?" Dan answered offhandedly, his lips covered with crystal sugar. Natalie followed after him with a cinnamon bun on her hands. "Saladin's toilet."
"Who's Saladin?" Natalie asked him, nibbling on the side of the cinnamon bun.
Dan looked at her as if he just realized that she was still following him. "Oh, just the awesomest cat in the universe," he told her. Natalie nodded as if that made sense.
"Natalie, I see you've made a new friend," Vikram told his daughter, ignoring Dan's jabs. He has also noticed that Natalie's accent is so much different than his and Ian's.
Natalie pursed her lips and nodded.
Vikram looked at Ian, giving him what seemed to be a mildly accusing look. "Look at what you have done to your sister," he said, clucking his tongue as if Ian was the biggest disappointment the world has to offer. "Making friends with peasants and eating..." he waved his hand at the cinnamon bun Natalie is nibbling on. "Eating peasant food."
"No," Ian replied, returning his father's accusing stare with one of his staggering ones. "Look at what your wife has done to my sister."
Father and son stared at each for a very long time, a mixture of hatred, anger and betrayal passing through them. Amy locked eyes with Dan. Get Natalie away from here, she told him. Dan briefly nodded as he gently towed Natalie away. Amy thought she heard him say 'a tour of the house', but she can't be sure. With Dan it could mean anything even 'look at my pet mouse' or something. She's pretty sure she made him throw that dead rat away, though.
"Okay who turned on the Drama Channel," Ned asked, walking inside the living room as if he owned the place. "If that's you Sinead I – Whoa!" He stopped in his tracks, looking back and forth at Ian and Vikram. Ted walked in, looked at his brother's flabbergasted expression and looked at the direction he's currently ogling at. "Whoa! You found a way to clone Kabra and make the clone look older?" Ted exclaimed excitedly. "AWESOME!"
"That's his father, Einstein," Ned said sarcastically.
Ted's eyes widened. "The Lucian leader?"
"Not anymore," Ian told them, looking at them and shooting eye daggers. Ned and Ted backed away and left the room, muttering hurriedly.
Adhiraj made a disgusted face at his brother. "I told you all of these people hate you –" he started distastefully.
Ian cut him off. "Nobody likes you either," he assured his uncle frankly.
Adhiraj gave Ian one of his darkest glares. "Don't worry, lad. I hate all of you, too."
"Now that's all cleared up," Amy cut their sweet family bickering. "I hope we can now move on and deal with the matter at hand...?" She looked at Ian pointedly at this which he returned with one of his exasperated sighs. Ian just shrugged, indicating that he would behave as long as his father and/or uncle stop being such idiots.
"A very logical young woman," Vikram nodded in agreement. He shot Ian a meaningful look. "You might want to learn a few things from –"
Ian groaned, leaning his head back on the couch and pressing his hands tightly on his face. "One... Two... Three..." he counted loudly, knowing that doing it in his head would not work.
Amy swatted his arm, warning him not to take it any further than that. "So," she interceded, hoping she sounded as important she wanted to be to get these Lucians' attention. "What are our thoughts on how to approach this problem?"
"Which problem, exactly?" Alistair asked, seating himself down and offering Victoria the mini sofa beside him. Victoria sat down begrudgingly.
"Well," Amy cleared her throat, piecing out the things they need to figure out. "For Angelle's situation, we would only have to take a few samples of Natalie's blood and have Ted, Ned and Sinead check it out –"
"I'm sorry," Vikram interrupted, a bit rudely. He frowned at Amy's suggestion as if it disgusted him. "I will not have my daughter examined by a bunch of Ekats."
"Better them than you," Ian said, raising his eyebrows. Vikram opened his mouth to retort when Ian waved a dismissive hand. "Never mind. I would do the examination myself. I hope I'm competent enough." He growled the last sentence expressively, glaring at his father.
Vikram said nothing.
Amy sighed. "Okay. So Ian will do it. How about Natalie's case? What do we do?" she asked, looking around the room for ideas.
"Talking to her about past memories should work just fine," Victoria answered. She cradled her arm protectively against her chest. "The poison will wear off as long as she isn't put under distress. Keep her in a positive environment which I'm sure," she scoffed, smirking at them, "is what Cahills do best."
"Will she remember?" Ian asked, narrowing his eyes as angrily as he could because that's as far as an assault as he could get.
Victoria shrugged, immediately regretting it when a lance of pain shot through her arm. "Sure. Eighty-five per cent chance," she said.
"What's the other fifteen per cent?" Ian growled under his breath. Amy placed a restraining hand on his arm.
"She won't, but she'll still be good as new," Victoria replied. Her eyes steeled as if she doesn't mind if Ian lunged forward and punched her right now. She is prepared for any attacks.
Ian stared at her incredulously. Then he started muttering unintelligibly about 'boiling hatred' and 'accident possibilities'.
Amy breathed in through her mouth. She looked at Vikram. "You wanted to explain?" she asked him, surprised that she didn't feel as intimidated as she thought she was.
Ian shifted his incredulous expression at her. "You won't actually believe him, would you?" he asked her. Amy ignored him and waited for Vikram to speak.
Vikram returned her look with an appreciating one. "I admire your just ways, Amy," he said sincerely, her name rolling off his tongue as if he was a close relative rather than a distant murderer.
Amy is unimpressed. "My parents taught me manners," she said, hoping the jab was low enough to hit him where it could hurt.
"At such young age?" Vikram said with a smile.
Amy felt a punch in her gut. There was meaning behind those words. At such young age. How could Hope and Arthur have taught her manners when she was just seven when they died? That's what he meant. "Yes," Amy said, lifting her chin a little bit higher. "They taught me everything that you're not at such a young age because they don't want me to be as corrupted as the likes of you."
Ian glared at Vikram. "Will you explain or not?" he asked him irritably.
Vikram shrugged. "Of course," he said dramatically, as if he was performing in a play and he is actually distressed about having to explain himself.
oooooOooooo
Casper is in town and he is about to make people's lives miserable. I wonder who he was talking about, though?
I hope you guys enjoyed that chapter.
Brace yourselves for the next one.