The Hawthorne Sister

Chapter 33

I stared down at the letter in my hands. It seemed so simple. So... 

Basic.

I'd been staring at it for a while now. We'd gotten back from the football game at around 12:30 am.

...

In my defense, there had been a ceviche place open.

I grasped the small spray bottle in my hand. I had developed my own form of ink, along with a solution to develop it. It had just been Grayson and I's secret at first, but Grandfather soon found out.

There was a pretty high chance it would work.

I continued staring at it.

Eh, fuck it. I have nothing better to do anyway.

I squeezed the handle, spraying it a few times, turning before I could see the results.

Grayson squeezed my hand beside me.

I looked at him, taking a deep breath. His eyes were already scanning the now visible letters. 

He seemed surprised.

I finally turned my gaze to the paper.

My dear Lilith, I presume that you've succeeded in your task.

Well done. The applesauce is in the climbing wall.

Remember. All four brothers have had a chance at a puzzle.

Well done is better than well said. Now it's yours.

Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead. Fortune can come at a hefty cost. 

No gains without pains. Above all, family comes first. Do not help Xander

Find Tobias Hawthorne

Tobias Tattersall Hawthorne

I stared down at the paper.

That was... honestly more than I expected. 

O C E I F F

I wasn't surprised that he'd left a puzzle. I just thought he was going to write nearly nothing. 

OFF ICE

What did he mean, though, by fortune can come at a hefty cost?

Sounds ominous.

OFFICE

I said the word out loud, right at the same time as Gray. We turned to face each other, our eyes locking.

"The quotes are all from Benjamin Franklin." I rushed to get my words out. "There's a whole lot of books in Grandfather's office. I bet you Poor Richard's Almanack is there."

Grayson nodded. "I believe you're correct." His chair lightly scraped across the floor as he stood up. "I also believe we have an office to search."

I yawned as we climbed the stairs. What time was it?

Oh, whoops. 1:17 AM. 

Guess it took me a while to do that.

I looked over at Grayson. 

He arched his eyebrow. (At this point, there should be a counter of how many times a Hawthorne has arched their eyebrow.)

"Race you there!" I took off running, bursting out of my room and into the hallway. I turned the corner just as Theo came out of his room, rubbing his eyes.