Just Starting Out
1.25 - The Mist Rolls In
The moment everyone got back to the hotel, questions started flying wildly around the lobby.
“So, um, what the fuck just happened back there?”
“Guys… what if Bella and Mortimer come after us?"
“What the fuck are you guys going to do now?”
It took a loud and commanding voice to shut everyone up, and the only one with the presence to do that was Cassandra.
“Everyone, shut up!” she yelled.
Everyone else fell into silence, looking at her in shock.
“Listen. I don’t know what we’re going to do in the future. I don’t know how Bella and Mortimer are going to react to all of this. Well, it isn’t hard to guess, but I don’t know for certain. Regardless, I think the best course of action for us here is for each and every one of us to get our of Willow Creek as quickly as possible.”
“That’s right,” Alexander said, stepping up behind her. “I’m, uh, honestly still at a loss here. And I don’t know most of you well at all. But hi, I’m Alexander, Cassandra’s brother. But, yeah, what Cassandra said. Our parents own this town, they have eyes and ears everywhere. If we want to get away from whatever their next move is, we need to get out now.”
“Well, what are we waiting for then?” Kayla asked.
“Public transport isn’t going to do it,” Cassandra shrugged. “Bella and Mortimer have the power to shut that down. And trust me, they will. They’re not going to want their precious children fleeing their grasp.”
“Come on! There’s no way they can shut down all transportation! Stuff like trains aren’t based entirely here in Willow Creek,” John exclaimed
“They’ll say there’s something wrong with the tracks ahead, and stop that train dead in its tracks before it even gets to town,” Cassandra said. “Trust me. Regardless of what solution we come up parents will find a way to shut it down. You guys have no idea what my parents are capable of. We need something else…”
Malcolm cleared his throat. “Um. If I may.”
Everyone turned to him in surprise. Nobody was expecting Malcolm, of all people, to have a solution to this problem.
“You all also have no idea of what my parents are capable of. Back when I was still on… well, terms with my parents, they set it up so I’d have a backup car ready to use in each of the cities I regularly visited, just in case I got in a crash and… wrecked… it. You know, I’m still realizing just how little faith they had in me the entirety of my life, but that’d besides the point. If we can all cram in…”
“You know what, Malcolm? You might have just saved us all. Well done,” Cassandra said, giving him a pat on the back. “Lead us to your car, and quickly. I’m sure Bella and Mortimer are already on the move.”
Bella and Mortimer were, in fact, not on the move. Bella was absolutely distraught, and Mortimer was doing his best to comfort her.
“I thought changing out of the clothes we’d ruined our relationship with our children in would make me feel better…I… I just can’t believe it! Those brats! Those angels… I did so much for them, and now they’re leaving me?”
“Can I get you anything else, Bella?” Mortimer asked. “Another glass of wine? Fresh plasma fruit?”
“No, no!” Bella screamed, throwing out a wild hand that knocked all the refreshments Mortimer had already brought out for them onto the ground.
Mortimer looked on sadly as a broken china cup seeped freshly brewed tea into the carpet.
“I know what we need to do,” Bella said, sitting up. “We have to bring them back to us. They’re our babies, Mortimer! They’ve never been out on their own before, they still need us!”
“That sounds more like you, dear,” Mortimer said, nodding once, firmly. “Let’s get our children back.”
“That John and his sister Kayla have been such a corrupting influence on poor Cassandra… it looks like we have no other choice other than to set her, and then Alexander straight.”
Meanwhile, John, Kayla, Cassandra, Alexander, and Malcolm were just coming up to a shed that was painted forest green and tucked away at the end of a long forest road. It was surrounded in thick shrubbery that concealed much of the sign that it was actually there.
Malcolm had already driven the car out of the shed, and now, they were just waiting for everyone to get situated. It was a cramped fit, but it would definitely be doable. Just as Alexander was buckling his seat belt, Bella and Mortimer raced through the woods at a super human speed that was clearly only possible because they were now something more than human.
“Step on it, Malcolm!” Cassandra screamed.
Just as Alexander clicked his seat belt into place, Malcolm pressed the gas pedal all the way to the ground, and the car roared forward. Bella and Mortimer tried their best to race after it, but the car was moving too fast even for them.
“Come back to me!” Bella shrieked as the car got more and more distant.
She started to cry as the car vanished from sight. Mortimer put an arm around her.
At dawn, just as the early morning mist was beginning to roll in, they finally arrived at John and Kayla’s house. Malcolm got out of the car immediately. He’d been driving all night and was completely exhausted, and headed inside, not having the energy to say much of a word to anyone. Everyone slowly trailed after him, completely exhausted from the night of excitement they’d all just had. By the time they got inside, Malcolm had already shut his door, presumably to go to bed.
“Uh…” Kayla muttered, noticing that they only had three beds but had five people in the house now. “I’ll try and make up the couches in the living room.”
She drifted off to her room to search her wardrobe for some extra sheets.
“I should probably-“ John muttered.
Before John could say anything else, there was a sudden sharp knocking on the door. Then, a cloyingly sweet voice.
“Cassandra? Alexander, sweetie? It’s your mother. Please open the door.”
The three of them froze.
“Cassandra. Alexander. You two need to step outside and speak to your mother. Now,” Mortimer said in a commanding voice through the door.
“You don’t have to do this,” John whispered urgently.
Cassandra shook her head. “No. I do. I need to tell them that I’m done with them, for good and all.”
Alexander nodded. “Sure, they wanted to make us a member of the living dead and keep us with them for eternity, and they spent most of our lives lying to and gaslighting us, but… they’re still our parents, right?”
“Don’t make me want to do this any less, Alexander,” Cassandra sighed.
Regardless, she walked towards the door, and flung it open. She was immediately face to face with Bella and Mortimer.
“Cassandra, sweetie, could we come in?” Bella asked.
“Shit,” Alexander snorted. “That vampire myth about them not being able to come in unless invited is totally true, isn’t it?”
Mortimer shook his head. “No, Alexander. We’re just polite, and have proper manners.”
“Regardless of your reasoning, I’m not letting you in,” Cassandra said. “I only answered this door to let you know that Alexander and I are never moving back in with you. You’ll be lucky if you even see us again. When I become president, I can assure you that I will dedicate myself to bringing down the reign of tyranny families like ours and the Landgraabs have over the cities they live in. It isn’t right, especially when those in charge are as messed up as the two of you are.”
“Cassandra, both Mortimer and I feel terrible about keeping so many secrets from the both of you, but come on! Is this really nessacary?”
“Yes it is, mom. Now get out of here before I call the police and report you two for trespassing on private property.”
“Well, I never-!“
“Bella. Let’s go. Now isn’t the time to make amends,” Mortimer said, grabbing her hand.
Bella frowned, but nodded sadly. “Cassandra, Alexander. Before I go, I want you to know that no matter what, you two are still my children and I love you both very much. I’m- I’m going to devote myself to trying to make things right.”
Cassandra pulled out her phone threateningly.
“Come on, dear,” Mortimer said again.
Bella gave Cassandra one last sad smile, then the two walked off, disappearing from sight just before the sun cleared the horizon, like a bad nightmare being banished by daylight.
The next week passed by in a blur. Kayla and John reached out to an architect, and he started working on a plan for a second floor of the house that would have rooms for both Cassandra and Alexander. For now, the both were still confined to the couches in the living room for beds, so everyone hoped construction wouldn’t take too long.
One of the first things John had done when he got back home with invite over Lillian again. He missed her, and he was sure that she missed him too. Sure, they’d all only been gone for about a week, but in that short period of time, they’d all been through so much that John felt like he’d been gone for way longer. He set up a day long date, that would start for lunch at Baker and Barkley’s Diner, the restaurant the two had agreed to start dating at. Then, the two would have spend some time relaxing at Lillian’s place before going out for a river walk late evening. Then, they’d go back to John’s place, and he’d cook her dinner.
“John!” Lillian squealed as he walked into the diner, just on time. “I thought you were never going to show! I missed you so much!”
“I missed you too, Lillian,” John smiling, kissing her gently before sitting down. “I have so much to tell you about-“
“Totally! Though, first, let me tell you about the week I just had! It was exhausting, and I wished you were there to comfort me all the way through it! Okay, so, first, when I was getting my nails done on Tuesday…”
While this was going on, Alexander was sitting in a small public park that sat not too far away from the Brooks house, thumbing through a new novel Cassandra had gotten for him not long after they arrived. It was clear that she felt guilty, as if she thought it was her fault that he was now separated from their parents. She still definitely saw him as the little boy he’d once been, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Alexander made that choice of his own free will, and would have left even if Cassandra hadn’t.
He sighed. He was way too lost in his own thoughts to dedicate his full attention to a book.
As he sat there, ruminating, he heard the sound of a man talking urgently into the phone, and turned to observe. Wasn’t like he had anything better to do.
“Yes, I know mom! I’m trying my best, but every restaurant around these parts is only hiring servers, not new head chefs!”
Alexander had to admit. He found the man very intriguing.
“Yeah, okay, maybe the fact that I’m still young has something to do with it. But so what? I’m probably a better chef than they could ever dream of.”
He paused again as his mother responded.
“I’m not vain, mom! It’s true, sorry! You should know better than anyone else.”
“Fine. I’ll lower myself and work as some server. I’m way more skilled than this, but hey, nothing you can do, right? Talk to you later, mom.”
The man hung up, and shook his head.
Feeling bold, Alexander walked over. “Hey. I heard you talking on the phone, and I, uh… my family could use a personal chef, if you’re looking to do more than work as a server.”
“Really?” the man said, curious. “How much you offering?”
“I come from a pretty wealthy family, so that’s definitely something we can talk about.”
“Alright,” the man said, nodding slowly and looking Alexander up and down. “In that case, names Elias Broussard. I’ve spent most of my life in my family’s kitchen, and I want the whole world to be able to see what I can do with food.”
“I’m Alexander,” Alexander said, holding out his hand.
“Good to meet you, Alexander.”
“You wouldn’t believe the stupid assignments I had to do in your absence,” Lillian was saying, still going on about her week even though they’d finished up lunch and moved onto the next phase of date day. “I swear, they think that just because we’re dating, I’m able to do everything you can do. And I just can’t!”
“I’m high ranking, but I didn’t think our work was that different,” John frowned.
“Seriously? I just had to spend all this time encrypting some high security documents to pass on to some other encrypted so they could make it even more secure, and like, lock me out in case I decided to decrypt my own work. And, I wasn’t supposed to… but I took a peek and it kind of looked like bank documents! Weird, right?”
John nodded. “Yeah, no kidding.”
What was Nancy up to?
“Well? Is your work anything like that? I know it isn’t, but that totally felt like I was doing something illegal. So thrilling!”
“Nothing like that,” John said, shaking his head. “And honestly, knowing Nancy, that probably was something illegal.”
“Nancy? Who the fuck is Nancy?” Lillian demanded.
John froze. He’d slipped up. He was so used to talking freely about the Landgraabs with everyone at home that he’d forgotten that their identity was supposed to be a secret to everyone working at their programming branch.”
“Uh…”
“I swear John, if you were cheating on me with some girl with a name as terrible as Nancy, I-“
“No, Lillian. It’s nothing like that. Nancy… look, you’re not supposed to know this, but she’s our boss. Nancy… Landgraab.”
“Landgraab?” Lillian spat. “Are you seriously telling me that we’ve both been working for the despicable Landgraab family this entire time? Holy shit what I did probably was illegal! I need to quit, I- wait. How long have you known about this John?”
John took a deep breath. “Honestly, Lillian? A while. But I knew you’d react like this, and I didn’t want you to miss out on what’s a pretty substantial amount of income just because of who you’re working for.”
“You materialistic prick!” Lillian screamed. She slapped John. “Is that why you’re dating me? Just because I make good money?”
“Uh, no Lillian. Kayla’s books are bringing in tons, way more than I make. I’m dating you because I like you, not because you make good money.”
“Hmph!”
“Who’s this, Alexander?” Cassandra asked, rounding the corner with Kayla.
Alexander was in the kitchen with Elias, who was cooking and showing off his skills.
“Oh! This is Elias. I thought we could use a personal chef. Neither you or I are good cooks, Cassandra, because mom rarely ever let us cook without her significant aid, Malcolm can’t cook, and John and Kayla have already done enough for us, they don’t need to be cooking too.”
“Seriously Alexander, cooking for you guys is no big deal for me. You don’t need to worry about it,” Kayla said.
Elias turned away from the stove to face Kayla. “Well, let me finish cooking up this beef bourguignon. Then, you all can see if you really want to lose me.”
Cassandra pulled Alexander aside.
“Alexander, please don’t tell me you’re going to force John or Kayla to pay for this. I know you’ve never worked a day in your life, so I’m concerned.”
Alexander rolled his eyes. “Cassandra, please. Mom and dad gave me a substantial allowance weekly, and I rarely ever spent any of it. I’ve got this.”
“If you say so,” Cassandra sighed.
“Even despite that bombshell you dropped earlier, this really had been a good day, John,” Lillian said happily as they walked alongside the river.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.”
“I think I might stay after all, honestly. You did make a point, they do pay well. And plus, just before I’m about to quit I could totally sabotage Nancy somehow. Oooo this is so exciting!”
“If you’re excited now, just wait until you see the dish I’ve got planned for you for dinner.”
Lillian smiled as the two walked away from the river and towards the house. As they neared the door, they could smell the scent of something delicious wafting out of a cracked window.
“John!” Lillian squealed. “Did you somehow slip away and start early? That smells like it might just be the best damn thing I’ll ever taste!”
She rushed ahead of him before John could answer, throwing open the door and walking straight into a room filled with Cassandra, Alexander, Malcolm, Kayla, and Elias.
“John!” Lillian screamed. “What the fuck is Cassandra doing inside your house?”
“She’s, uh, moving in!” John said lightly.
“Cassandra. Is. Moving. In? I was so right about her! You are so totally cheating on me with her, aren’t you? That’s why you flew off to Willow Creek in such a hurry, isn’t it, John?”
Everyone in the room stood frozen as they watched the scene unfold in front of them.
“That isn’t true at all, Lillian, I swear-“
“Oh, that isn’t true at all Lillian!” Lillian said mockingly. “No. You know what? I’ve had it with all the lies. First you lie to me about the Landgraabs and let one move into your house, something that is just beyond me- you know how terrible they are- and now you fly off to Willow Creek because some poor innocent girl needed your help and now she and her brother are living with you? I’m done!”
“You know what, Lillian? I’m done too. If you’d just shut up about your week for one second today, you could have listened to me talk about mine, about how Cassandra and Alexander had nowhere else to go because of issues at home, but every conversation has to be all about you! Me, me, me, me! That’s all I ever hear!”
Lillian gasped, outraged. She stormed out of the house and slammed the door shut behind her before anyone in the room even had a chance to react.
“Well,” Malcolm snorted, bewildered. “That just happened.”
Far away from the Brooks house, even far away from Newcrest itself, Bella and Maia were outside a lavishly decorated mansion, dressed in all black as they crept around the back wall.
“I still cannot get over the fact that Mitch had the nerve to send me out on a mission just days after I lost both of my children,” Bella grumbled.
“I know, Bella, I know,” Maia said, shaking her head. “You said that enough on the flight here. And I’ms sorry about that, but right now, we need to focus. Mitch said he’d gained some intelligence about something crucial to the state of the entire world itself being locked in the basement of this mansion.”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Sounds totally plausible to me. I mean, some on. Assuming something like that could even exist, it’s here? In the hands of all the families in the world, he thinks something like that could exist in their basement?”
“We’re here to carry out the mission, Bella. Not question it. Come on.”
Maia jumped over the short wall that separated the back patio from the rest of the property the mansion sat on. The patio was surrounded by a three tiered veranda that looked out on a pool where the water sat there in an eerie stillness. Bella sighed, but jumped over after her.
“There has to be an open window or door around here somewhere,” Maia muttered, wandering away.
Bella wasn’t listening. She was thinking about Cassandra’s harsh words as she said goodbye, the fact that even her precious Alexander had betrayed her…
“Bella!” Maia gasped.
Maia stood in sight of a red laser that hadn’t been visible until she’d stepped into it.
Bella watched in horror as an alarm started to blare. Leaping into action, Bella swung herself back over the wall. Just in time too, as, suddenly, the entire backside of the house was lit up with a complex web of lasers, illuminating the entire veranda in a harsh red light. Maia screamed as the lasers started to burn, and she ran, jumping into the pool to avoid their harsh red glare.
Bella waited until long after all the lasers had shut off, but Maia never emerged from that pool again.