Rules for Enduring the Sweenys

Rule #3: Silence is Never Golden

“Seriously, Owen, what if something bad happens? What if she gets hurt?” Tommy Bayer asked, a worried frown creasing his forehead.  Owen rolled his eyes. He knew Tommy had some kind of weird crush on his Nanny (he despised calling her that), but it didn’t mean he had to ruin their fun. Bella could do that just fine all on her own.

“Yeah, come on man,” Mason Cooper chimed in. Which was odd, Owen always thought Mason disliked Bella Harken as much as they did. Danny rolled his eyes and punched Mason in the arm. “Ow! Hey!”

“Oh, just shut up!” Danny groaned. “If you don’t wanna help us, leave.” Eli and Owen smirked at their kid brother. They couldn’t have said it better themselves.

“We can do this ourselves.” Eli shrugged, folding his arms.

The Sweeny brothers had been working on their newest plan for weeks, and now they finally had the perfect time to implement it. Bella was gonna be so caught up taking care of Lucy, she would hardly notice them.

“I dunno guys… I’m just sayin’ we should think this through some more… Or at least tone it down. This is a lot to do for one weekend.”

“If you don’t wanna do it, don’t,” Rodney Harrison snapped. He’d been looking forward to this weekend ever since Eli had told him the plan.

Bella was a stuck up little bitch. He’d been trapped in the same classes with her since middle school. She thought she could do whatever she wanted just because her brothers wouldn’t let anyone fuck with her. But now, she was fair game. Alone in the Sweeny house. It was perfect. And nothing was going to get in his way of making Bella Harken pay for what she did to him.

“We should also put Fearless in her bed tonight,” Danny suggested, grinning. Tommy’s face went sheet white.

“Really Danny? Isn’t he poisonous?” Tommy’s jumpy little reactions were about to piss off everyone. But Owen couldn’t help agreeing. Fearless wasn’t exactly the kind of pet you let loose in someone’s bed.

“Fearless is a girl, you idiot. And if she does bite Bella… who cares?” Rodney laughed cruelly, slapping Danny an unexpected high five.

“Scooter!” Eli shouted suddenly, pouncing on his best friend. “Wake the fuck up and help us out!”

“Shut up Eli. Been awake since four. M’tired,” Scooter Seadle mumbled. Eli chuckled as a light knock sounded on Owen’s door.

“Go see what she wants Danny,” Owen grumbled.

***

“Danny,” Owen whispered later that night, after the fire.

“Hm?”

“Let’s put Fearless in her bed.” Danny grinned through his exhaustion.

“She’s in her cage, you do it.” Owen smirked wickedly as he let Fearless loose in Bella’s tangled sheets. ‘Let’s see who lacks bravery now,’ he thought with a laugh, closing her door and tip-toing back to his room as a loud clap of thunder sounded from outside. He couldn’t wait to hear that girlish scream.

Bella tip-toed downstairs and raced through the heavy rainstorm, that was just beginning, to her car. Thunder rumbled viciously followed by a dangerously close bolt of lightning. She jumped at the sound, grabbing her duffel bag and running back into the house. Rainstorms scared the shit out of her; they had ever since she was little. She breathed a sigh of short-lived relief when she entered the house.

Silence, even at night, was never a good sign. She knew one of the kids was awake, and most likely up to no good. When she reached her bedroom, (yeah, Mrs. Sweeny insisted that she have her own room) all she wanted to do was collapse into her bed and wait out the thunderstorm… but first she had to do the room search that had become an unfortunate necessity.

Satisfied that nothing was out of place, or added, she dropped into bed, and almost laughed. ‘Seriously guys,’ she thought, ‘Fearless?’ After a second she did laugh, stroking Fearless’ scaly body. The snake was curled in her sheets, barely taking any notice of her. Bella gently picked Fearless up, holding her by the back of her neck and carefully pushed Owen’s door open. ‘Let’s see how he likes the idea of a snake in his bed.’

Bella’s phone rang loudly in her pocket as she passed Lucy’s room. The baby was whimpering, even in her sleep. “Hello?” she answered in a whisper, leaving Lucy’s room through their adjoining bathroom.

“Bells?” Jake sounded out of breath as he spoke.

“Jake, where are you?” she asked. Soft music was playing in the background. It was the kind of music that wild and crazy Jake would never be caught dead listening to.

“Bella, are you okay? I know you’re at the Sweeny’s, and you know how much I hate Owen. They haven’t done anything too bad, have they?” Bella laughed. She could always count on Jake to call her in the middle of the night, worried sick.

“I’m fine Jake. They turned their kitchen into Candy land and put a snake in my bed… oh, and they caught the oven on fire.” Bella paused, rubbing her temples. “All in all, a pretty mild day.” Jake laughed.

“A snake, really? Obviously they’ve never met Becca.” Bella laughed, as another clap of thunder made her jump and cower into her pillows, silent tears falling down her rosy cheeks.

“Jakey, come back to bed,” Bella heard a female voice whine on Jake’s end of the line.

“Shut the fuck up woman! I’m talkin’ to my sister!”

“That’s why you’ll never get married.”

“I don’t give a fuck, Bells. She means nothin’ to me anyway.” His voice was suddenly softer. “You gonna be alright tonight… the storm is pretty bad…”

“I’ll be alright,” Bella promised her voice slightly shaky. “It’s not so bad anymore.” That was a lie. She wouldn’t be able to sleep until it was over.

“Bella,” Jake warned. “You know how I worry… Especially with that crazy ass Barbie Doll Killer out there. You know… he’s killin’ blond haired girls…”

“I know,” Bella sighed.

“Just be careful Bells. Listen, if those Sweeny kids pull anything, or you need any help, call me.” Bella said she would and hung up the phone while Jake was telling that girl to shut up again. She chuckled wryly, pulling her knees to her chest.

The only screaming that night was courtesy of Owen. He’d found the snake. Bella grinned warily into her pillow. What with Owen’s discovery, the rainstorm, and Lucy’s begging to sleep in her bed (where she promptly puked), Bella had given up all hope of sleep. But those weren’t necessarily the only reasons.

When silence finally descended upon the house, the feeling of being watched returned, causing Bella’s stomach to churn violently. She couldn’t get rid of the suspicion that someone was always watching her. Maybe it was finally time to tell somebody…

With the silence, came the feeling of impending doom (or was it just the flu?). Rule number three is something to never forget: silence is never golden.