Terribly sorry about the lack of updates on Friday, but it was 60 freaking degrees out. That was the sort of day that hauls your lazy but out of bed, and punts you out the door, with Nature screaming "GO PLAY OUTSIDE!" in your eardrums. So I played cops and robbers with the neighborhood kids, rigged a pulley system on our tree to carry messages, biked to my sister's school, which is two miles there and back. Then when I got back in I had an epiphany for my book, and spent most of the night writing on that. Yeah, two days ago we had a three inch snow cover, now; we got a scorching summer heat wave. Seriously, I'm not kidding. Snow Thursday, warm-up Friday and now it's so warm we got all the windows open. Summer has come with a vengeance. No before chapter info, but plenty of after. Go read.
Pisica's POV:
After my check up, Integra appointed Alucard to show me and Soarece our rooms, and give us a tour. "And this is where the mercenaries target practice." Call me paranoid, but he didn't sound too thrilled about showing us around. A boy was shooting at a target, and Alucard pointed at him. "That boy is leader of our younger mercenary group, the Halloween Division. His name's Techno and he lives to prank people. Don't trust a word he says." Techno turned, seeing Alucard standing in front of us. "Hey, Alucard, you want something?" He shook his head. "Just showing these two around." Techno looked around Alucard at the pair of us.
"Hey, wait, is that…" he tackled me to the floor, hugging me around my waist. "CAPTAIN, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" I shrieked, and Soarece pried him off me. I dusted myself off, throwing him a glare. "What the hell was that for?" I growled, putting my hands on my hips. He looked bewildered. "Umm, is she ok sir?" he asked Alucard, who was rolling his eyes. "She doesn't remember anything before she died. And no, you don't get a clean slate. I remember every single prank you've ever done." Techno stared at me. "Well, I was your second in command, and you were my best friend and always let me-" He was cut off by Alucard. "He's just your second in command."
Techno turned to see Soarece, who was glaring at him as well. "Umm, who is this?" he asked, looking startled. "Soarece, and you better not prank me or I will drain you dry." She said, folding her arms. He looked hurt. "Is that all you think of me? I'm hurt." He pretended to look sad, then marched away with a wounded air. I looked at Alucard "I hung out with people like him?" Alucard was hiding a smirk. "He's just the beginning. You should wait until you've seen everyone here."
***Time Skip***
Three months in, and I finally understood what Alucard was talking about. There was not one person here who did not deserve at least weekly visits to the loony bin. Techno, who apparently had an endless supply of pranks, including water temperature changes, oil slicks on the floor, replacement of items like blood packs with colored paint or some other noxious substance, locked doors, favorite snack depletion, and other such things. You name it, he's done it to someone here at some point or another. Sadly, we could never prove who did it, even when everyone knew it was him.
Maniac, who had already blown the kitchen up twice in her experiments with different bomb materials, was okay. She was not too bad as a friend, but you could never talk to her without her grabbing your hand and dragging you off to her latest demonstration. Auger, who was mainly just a bookworm, was okay too. She just was so dang smart, she would fire off facts when you asked her something, then when you asked her how she knew that, she would quote some old website or book page, giving minute details like page number or stains on the paper.
Then there was Adit and the H.D. They were a mixed bunch, and their idea of a good time was to grab guns and blow a random target to pieces. They also engaged in mock wars with the other mercenary team. Did I mention that they were all way too young to even own a gun? Pip, the leader of the "Wild Geese" had an eye patch, a braid and a French accent. His level of crazy was mostly aimed towards, well, his job. His idea of a good time was to get drunk and then blowing a target to pieces. His men were mostly of the same temperament.
Sir Integra, the chain-smoking knight, was strict and rigid. She wore suits all the time, and was pretty crabby. I couldn't blame her, I mean, she had grown up, apparently, with Alucard. I was surprised she was still even mildly sane. Roger, her butler, was nice enough, but heaven help you if he got his hands on your laundry. I had to look for days to even find it, because apparently he just left it stacked in the laundry room. And don't even get me started about how he folded stuff. I had to actually ask for help to get it unfolded, and he kept giving me these disbelieving looks, like he couldn't believe I didn't know how to unfold laundry when it was done in "the proper English fashion".
Seras, Alucard's fledgling, was okay, but she was way too paranoid. And wimpy. And girlish. "Well if you had Alucard in your head all day, you would be paranoid too!" she yelled once, when I accidentally commented upon this. "If you drank blood, you would be able to keep him out!" I screamed back, a bit exasperated with her. Speaking of Alucard, he was the looniest one of all. I kept seeing him melt into a wall behind me, and I constantly had this watching sensation. "He's like, stalking me!" I complained to Soarece once, in a flashlight-lit conference.
"People stalking, or prey stalking?" she asked, pushing a broom away from her face. I shrugged, coughing a little in the dusty confines of the closet. "I don't know. For him, it could be both." She nodded sympathetically. "Well, what will you do about it?" she asked, waving the flashlight back and forth. I hunched my shoulders miserably, fingering that necklace I found in my pocket. It was pretty, but I always had this feeling of emptiness when I thought about it, so I wore it often, trying to figure it out. "I don't know. I could confront him, but what would I say? What would that accomplish?"
She rubbed her chin. "Maybe you could ask Sir Integra about it. She might know." I brightened. "Good idea!" I burst out of the closet, leaving her behind to wonder at my sudden excitement. I skidded to a stop outside Sir Integra's office, panting. I heard a familiar voice coming from behind a closed door. "Please I'll do anything you say! I'll wash dishes, I'll clean the windows, I'll not prank anyone, just let us do this!" I opened the door, seeing Techno kneeling in front of Sir Integra's desk. She looked at him in annoyance, then sighed. "Fine. On the condition you do not prank anyone for a month, you may go. Bring Zara." I blinked, feeling the familiar rush of dizziness accompanying that name.
"Umm, Sir Integra, where are we going?" I asked, momentarily averted from my other question. She sighed again, putting her head in her hands. "Techno is taking you, Soarece, and the H.D. to a day at the beach. You are going to have a break." She said, cutting off my protest. I sighed. "Yes Sir Integra." I said sullenly, scraping the floor with my shoes. Techno led the way out of her office, grinning cheerfully. He smirked at me. "You do realize-" I cut him off. "-that she never specified when the month of no pranking was? Yes. She should be used to that kind of ambiguity dealing with you."
Okay, here's how it stands. I wanted to develop some of Zara's new powers, so I'm sticking her at a beach! In case you really wanted to know my genius plan with Techno and Soarece, you'll have to wait until next chapter. This was mostly filler, because I won't be able to post anything better today, possibly this weekend, because my sister has her First Communion. That means dressing up, going out to church on a Saturday, and sitting there looking smiley while secretly trying not to shriek and run away screaming "BORED!" *sigh* So, I'm cutting this a bit short. Sorry. R, R, Rcomment, excreta. Auf Wedersien!