Chapter 31: A little R and R

  "This place looks boring."  Rhys said as they approached the Toadstool.

  Reilly was right behind him.  "It does." he agreed.  "But my Dad thinks we need something to occupy ourselves with, so that we don't get into trouble.  Somehow helping Aunt Layla and Uncle Bryce out at the Toadstool was his solution."

 
  "Us?  Get into trouble?"  Rhys snickered.  He went inside, and sure enough,there were only three people inside.  "It's Aunt Layla, Uncle Bryce, and some creepy guy with a gun, how does that keep us out of trouble?"

 
  Reilly glanced at the man who was holding a gun.  Had they just walked into a robbery in progress?

  The man waved the gun at them.  "Go stand over there, with them!  And no funny business!  I won't hesitate to shoot, and I shoot to kill."  Confident that Rhys and Reilly would easily comply, the man turned his attention back to Bryce.  "Now, then, we have some unfinished business..."

  "Frank, I'm not the one in charge of the hiring or the firing."  Bryce was trying to talk sensibly to Frank Weatherby.

 Both boys slowly headed towards their Aunt.   "We can totally take him."  Rhys whispered.

  Your father owns it!"  Frank sneered.  "I was unfairly fired!"

  Reilly spared a quick glance at Frank.  "You think so?"

  "Frank, you kept showing up drunk.  My dad gave you several chances, we tried to help you..." Bryce explained patiently.  "You don't want to do this Frank, just put the gun down and we'll get you some help..."

  "Definitely.  His mind is so easy to read, a toddler could do it.  The guy is a whack job."  Rhys said.  "He doesn't plan on leaving any witnesses though."  The boys had reached Layla.  They turned around to face the gunman, whose attention was momentarily on Bryce.

  "What's our plan Rhys?"

  "Help!?" Frank shouted angrily.  "You think I need help?  You think this is some big joke?  That you didn't just ruin my life and my marriage?  I'll show you what a joke this is!"

  "Frank!  No!" Bryce yelled.

  Frank Weatherby pointed his gun at Rhys and pulled the trigger.  Reilly watched in amazement as time slowed way down.  He could think and partially move, but everyone else seemed to be held in some kind of animated suspension. Reilly could feel an energy building up within him.  With the barest of thoughts, he shifted the bullet's trajectory to pass by Rhys without hitting him, and time quickly sped back to normal.  The bullet hit the wall behind Rhys, and before the next blink, Rhys had shot off and kicked the gun out of Frank's hand.

  Reilly and Bryce ran over to help Rhys tackle Frank to the ground, while Layla called the Police.  Reilly could still feel the magic pulsing in him, he concentrated his energy on Frank.  Frank immediately stopped struggling, and passed out, unconscious.

  Bryce waved them back, he picked up the gun and pointed it at Frank.  "I'll feel better with you boys far away from this man."

  They shrugged, and moved closer to the front door.  Adrenaline still pumping, they grinned at each other.  "That was awesome!"  Rhys whipered excitedly.  "What did you do?  I saw a flash of light, that's it, but that bullet should have hit me!"

  "I don't know exactly.  There was this time warp, I was able to change where the bullet was headed, but it was all unconscious like. It didn't last very long, and then poof!  Everything was back to normal and you!  You were like lightning!"

  Rhys frowned slightly.  "A pity I am not faster than a bullet though.  He would have shot me."

  "You should have kept track of his thoughts."

  "I did.  But humans can be unpredictable in their thinking, spur of the moment thoughts don't give me as much time to react to as the more planned out ones."

  Reilly lightly punched Rhys on the shoulder.  "You act like you don't have any human in you, but you do."

  Rhys nodded.  "Not much, but I do have a little.  That is why I am capable of spur of the moment thoughts."  Rhys grinned.  "That is a vampire's downfall, most of us are so logical we plan our thoughts for the next decade!  How exceedingly boring! Spontaneity is not encouraged, or so Grandfather Van Gould keeps telling me!  I think I vex him."

  "He has been alive for forever."  Reilly commented.  "I think everything vexes him!"

  Rhys grinned at Reilly.  "That's true!  Wow!  What a day!  This place turned out to be more fun than I thought it would be.  We should help out more often.  Did you see those shoes that guy was wearing?  Pink loafers!  What a doof!"

  Reilly laughed.  "They were really ugly shoes!" he agreed.

 
  Much later that night, Rhys flopped onto the bottom bunk bed and groaned. "I didn't think they would ever shut up!"

  Reilly climbed up onto the top bunk.  "Me neither.  All that carrying on, you'd think we caused all that trouble."

  "Exactly!  Trouble magnets indeed!  Like it's our fault that some crazy guy decided to show up to shoot Uncle Bryce.  Sheesh."  Rhys complained.

  The next morning, Kit tracked down Chaine.  He found him outside, working on one of his projects.

 
  "I'm leaving for Sunlit Tides."  Kit said quietly.

  Chaine slowly turned around to look at Kit.  "I'm coming with you then."

  Kit shook his head.  "I need you to stay here Chaine."

  "I have heard those words before."

  "I have some questions, which can only be answered by my Uncle."  Chaine started to protest, but Kit cut him off.  "I know he's dangerous, but he has answers.  I'll be fine, I am not a helpless child anymore.  But I don't want to leave the family unprotected, which is why you must stay.  If anything does go wrong..."  Kit hesitated. "Well, "

  Chaine sighed.  "I understand."

  "I already said my goodbyes to Reilly.  He and Rhys are going on some two week camp out with the Scouts, so they will be occupied for at least two weeks.  How those two manage to attract trouble, I'll never understand.  But at least they will be surrounded by several Eagle Scout Leaders, so I will worry less about them."  Kit sighed.

  Chaine nodded.  "That is a relief.  I will find things for them to do here, when they return.  They are leaving today, as well?"

  Kit nodded.  "Yes, they are getting picked up from school, that is what Reilly said anyway.  I don't know how long I'll be, but I just want to thank you Chaine, for everything."

  "It is my pleasure.  Stay safe Kit, and return to your family."

  "I plan on it."

  Rhys finally heard the sound he had been waiting on all day.  "I thought that bell would never ring.  Is it just me, or is school tediously long?"  Rhys asked Reilly, as he gathered up his books.

  "It's just you."  Reilly told him cheerfully.

  "You're so full of it. You find it boring too."

  "Maybe."  Reilly shrugged.  "Not quite as tedious as you find it.  It would be better if the stuff they taught was more challenging.  It's like they're feeding us baby food."

  "Totally too easy."  Rhys agreed.

  "While in computer lab, I was able to do some more research.  I found my Mom's business address."  Reilly handed Rhys a piece of paper.

  "Dude, you are so good at this research thing.  You should do it for a living."

  "She wasn't exactly hiding."

  "Wrong answer.  You're supposed to say, "  Rhys changed to a falsetto voice, "Thank you Rhys for the lovely compliment."  Reilly slugged Rhys on the arm.  "Ouch!  Careful man, I almost dropped my books."

  Reilly rolled his eyes.  "As if you care about those books.  Come on, we're wasting time, we need to get you into the Computer Lab before it closes.  I'll keep Mr. Westerly busy."

  They walked into the Computer Lab, and Rhys set his books down on a desk, and sat behind the computer.  He started typing, while Rhys walked up to Mr. Westerly, a portly middle aged fellow.  "Mr. Westerly!  Am I glad that you are still here.  I need your opinion on this Research paper I am going to write for my Political class.  Being that you are the foremost expert in Green technology, I thought you would be the perfect person to interview.  Can I bother you for a few minutes?"

   If there was anything Mr. Westerly liked more than Green Technology, it was being asked his opinion on Green Technology.  "Of course!  Ask away!"  he beamed.

  Thirty minutes later and they were headed out of the Computer Lab.  They stopped by their locker to drop off their books, and pick up their packs.  "Did you send those phony Scout letters to the Principal and our teachers?"

  "I did."  Rhys confirmed.  "They won't be looking for us for two weeks.  I also made sure that everyone passed that last math test with flying colors!"

  Reilly groaned.  "Rhys!  You're not supposed to be messing with the grades."

  "What?  I'll be everyone's hero!"

  "No one is supposed to know you were hacking into the school computer system."

  "I'm aware of that, but I will be the unsung hero of Moonlit High.  And every time someone mentions the awesome grade they received on their last math test, I will smile, because I will know."

  "I know you're a fruit cake."  Reilly retorted.  "Come on, let's go to the abandoned warehouse, I want to show you something I figured out how to do before we leave for Bridgeport."

  Once at the abandoned warehouse, Reilly started to move his hands, and a greenish glow appeared.  "It takes a bit of concentration, and a lot of focus, someday I hope to be able to do this a lot more efficiently."

    
  "Pretty lights."  Rhys teased him.

  "Stop making me laugh!  You're ruining my concentration."

  
  Rhys looked around.  "What exactly are you trying to do again?"

  "Well, I've been thinking a lot about it, and I think I've figured out exactly what it was I did that summoned a..."

  Rhys interrupted.  "A meteor?"  He looked warily up at the sky.

 
  "Exactly!"  Reilly closed his eyes, "This is the tricky part." he murmured.

  "Uh, Reilly?"  Rhys said urgently.  "Reilly!"

  Reilly wasn't paying attention, so Rhys grabbed his cousin and half dragged him across the grass, running as quickly as he could without hurting Reilly.  "Hey!"  Reilly complained.  "Rhys!  What are you doing?"

  When Rhys figured they were far enough away, he stopped.  "Getting us away from THAT."  They both watched as a fireball fell from the sky and hit the spot where they had been standing a few minutes before.  They cheered at the impressive explosion that happened immediately on impact.

 
  "It's a good thing you moved us when you did."  Reilly commented.

  "You think?"  Rhys stared at the flames that were now engulfing the old warehouse.  "That was super awesome!" he whispered.  "Now if you could just do that without almost killing us!"

  Reilly nodded thoughtfully.  "My aim is still a little off."

  "A little?  I also think we'd better get out of here, before the Firemen show up.  With any luck, everyone will think we are already gone, camping with the Scouts, and thus could have had nothing to do with this."

  "Yeah, let's go.  Surely Bridgeport has some wooded areas around, so we could practice there."  They  heard the distant wail of fire engines.  They looked at each other, and then ran.

****

  "My Liege."   Kadar knelt before the High King, his head bowed low.

  "Why do you bother me in my personal quarters?  Speak." the King commanded.

  "We are reading a faint trace of Old Camulodean magic in the Backwoods When."

  "Impossible!" the King hissed.  "Only one knows that Power, and he has been here with me."  Kadar remained kneeling, and spoke not a word, but waited for further instructions.  "Check out this faint trace, and snuff it out."

  "I understand and I obey."  Kadar rose to leave, but paused at the High King's voice.

  "Take two of the Nephilium with you, and Raven."

  Kadar bowed low.  "Yes Sire."

  After Kadar left, the King dismissed his servants, until only he remained in his room.  Then he snarled and hurled anything he could get his hands on against the walls. 

 



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  Notes:  I am pleased with how Constantine turned out.  :)

  I am having so much fun with Rhys and Reilly.  They crack me up, they are always joking around and getting into trouble.  Rhys really did alter the test scores, and he got away with it!  Reilly was a scout as a child.

  It will probably be a little while before I update next.  My next few chapters are going to take a lot of set up, and I keep getting distracted by fixing up Townie sims.  lol  That and my hubby will be home Monday nite, he drives truck and is gone a lot, but when he is home, I am spending time with him and not my sims.  :)  He was last home the end of August, which was a LONG time ago---I am so excited for Monday to get here.  Is it Monday yet?  lol

  So I'll see, it depends on how my scenes are coming along.  Some of them I am going to use poses for, it'll be a mix.  The nice thing with the poses is that the sims stay put, so annoying when they wander off or into a shot I am trying to take!

  I am looking forward to the next several chapters, as I attempt to weave multiple stories together, that take place in several different worlds---
 

Next: Chapter 32: It Begins