Trapped In The Rabbit Hole

Chapter 3: The "Good" News

As soon Ms. Porter blurted out the news, Cole's face turn pale as the moon.

Unlike her daughter, she is a blond woman with baby blue eyes, a heart shaped face, and buttery yellow skin.

Her mother wore a white frilled shirt with a black shirt. Her fingernails are painted a dark red color.

"What?" Cole shrieked.

"Are you serious?"

She didn't sounded happy, she sound extremely pissed.

"Why would you do this?" she moaned. "You know how I feel about you doing things behind my back."

"Nicole, please." Ms. Porter said. "You sound like your father."

Cole's father, Lewis Porter, used to be a highly respected police officer in Michigan. He would teach Cole everything he knows, from pulling a trigger to observing a crime scene.

She use to love her father, until he had an affair with a woman named Stacy. Even before the Porters move to San Francisco, Cole ignored his calls, texts, and avoid them until the wedding.

In the Treasured case, I attended the stupid wedding to support Cole. However, the wedding stopped when we discovered Stacy's half sister, Ellen Lee, lying dead in the gazebo.

When Cole and I got deeper into the case, we found more dirt on Mr. Porter: he had a fling with Ellen, has an addictive poker habit, and also drained his ex-wife's bank accounts to pay off the massive debt from Dennis, a blind gangster.

As it turns out, Dennis is the monster who killed Ellen, not out of anger, but out of jealousy for her illustrious affair.

Right now, Lewis is sharing a jail cell with Dennis so they can giggle about their latest poker bets.

As soon as Ms. Porter said it, Cole became very annoyed.

"Seriously, Mom?" she moaned. "Do not compare me to him."

"I'm sorry," she sighs. "But honey, you need to have a slumber party!"

"You have solved at least a dozen cases this week! How about a nice day where you get to spend time with some girlfriends?"

Cole shuddered at this.

"Mom, I don't have any friends." she insisted.

Ms. Porter scrunches her nose in confusion.

"But Julie, Amy, and Madison said that they are your friends." she remarked.

"Their mothers said so."

Julie, Amy, and Madison, huh? I thought.

These girls go to same school as me and Cole, and they aren't nicer than Ms. Porter thinks.

Other than harassing us, they are manipulative, horrible wenches who would make evil Disney princesses.

Before Cole move here, Madison and I dated for almost a month. The first week was fine, but the next was horrible.

Madison hated my black outfits, she doesn't want me to talk ANY girl, especially a female teacher, and plus, she would get into a pitch fit all because I didn't want to have sex with her.

In response, the kids at school spread the rumors that I was gay. And guess who started them?

"Ms. Porter," I began. "Well, Cole is right. I mean, they did made our lives into a living nightmare."

Ms. Porter sighed in annoyance, while Cole nodded in response.

"See? Ben gets it!" she exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Seth sat in the living room chair, enjoying the spectacle.

"Cole, don't get your boyfriend involved." she scolded.

"And speaking of your boyfriend, there will be no boys in this house tonight; it will be only girls and me, of course."

Cole's dark brown eyes widen at this.

"What?" she shrilled. "Mom, that is so not fair!"

"Gorgeous, it's fine." I insisted.

"Go have your girl's night, we'll take it from here."

As soon as Ms. Porter gets herself ready for work, Cole gives me a sad look.

"Call me if you need anything," she instructed.

I nodded.

"Don't do anything stupid," Cole said.

I nodded again.

"And-" she began.

"Cole, we are just going to a crime scene." Seth said annoyed.

"I promise not to let Ben get hurt."

Cole later kissed my cheek and stroke my hair for a while.

"Just remember," she added. "If you see a bad guy-"

"Give him hell," I respond with a kiss on the lips.

"Have fun at your sleepover." Seth waved as he walks after me.

"I will," Cole replied sarcastically.

It wasn't unusual seeing my younger brother getting along with Cole: they are both sarcastic and witty in their own way, they love Marvel movies, and they enjoy solving mysteries.

They are like Shaggy and Scooby, except Cole is a hardworking student, eager to solve problems, and enjoys being where the action is.

Meanwhile, Seth despises the color green, sleeps alot, and prefers typing on his computer.

As we walk to my house, the sound of Seth's blue flip flops annoy me.

Like Cole's, the house has a brown roof, white surface, a blue porch, and a small patch of green lawn surrounding it.

However, I could see the windows coated in dirt and insect remains.

"Man," Seth grumbles. "I feel really bad for you, bro."

"Ugh, why does Cole have to participate in that stupid slumber party?" 

"Because she's a girl," I answered. "And we're boys."

That's when Seth stops in his tracks.

"We're not boys," he states. "From now on, we are officially men."

I shot him a strange look.

"We're men?" I scoff.

Seth nodded.

"Oh, come on!" he said. "Cole is hanging out with some girls, Ben. Let's have our own night."

As soon as we arrive to the house, I fumbled into my pocket for the keys and unbolted the door.

Suddenly, smoke greeted our noses as Jill stormed out of the small kitchen.

She has brown hair, green eyes, and wore a dirty pink bathrobe. In her hand is a glass goblet, almost full of red wine.

Although dark purple sores formed around her lips, Jill sips her beverage absentmindedly.

As soon as she looks me into her eyes, she lets out a low grunt.

"Great, Mr. Smarty Pants and Dexter's Laboratory is here." Jill chuckled.

"Where the hell have you been, Luke?"

The only two people who knew my real name are Seth and Cole, the others seem a bit too focused on their business instead of mine.