Reflections of Shadows

Chapter 8: Convincing Gwen and Bad Flirting

EIGHT

"Seriously, this is all true?" Bella asked, her brown eyes widening. She stretched her legs out on the couch and adjusted her usual milkmaid braid with her fingers. 

"Look at him yourself, he looks just like Erik. They totally have the same dad." I said.

Me, Lydia, Bella, and Dimitri were sitting inside my house the next afternoon talking about what we should do about Luke. 

"That's weird, man." Lyd said, poking a bruise on her arm. "We should get to know him. To investigate and stuff"

"Investigate?" I asked. "There's nothing to investigate." 

"It will help you embark onto a great journey of the search for who Erik really was while trully being able to find your identity and ultimately SAVE THE WORLD!" Dimitri said, overdramatically. "At least that's how it always works in the books."

"I don't think it's a good idea." I said. "He's nice but I don't know him well. Erik always had a pretty warped family life."

"Dude, you're being so paranoid." Lydia said. "He's Erik's brother for gosh sake. He seems cool from what you told us. How bad could he be?"

"Pretty bad since Erik never told me HE EXISTED!!!" My voice was getting louder.

"Gwen, calm down." Bella said, soothingly. "Everything'll be fine if you don't panic. Why don't we just give it a try and we'll figure it out."

I pulled my grey sweatshirt over my hands. "Fine. But you can't make me like it."

"Now, what was it you had been saying about Huxley and the note the other day?" Bella asked.

"WAIT, WHAT HAPPENED TO HUXLEY!? Something bad!?" Dimitri yelled.

"Oh gosh, did you cut all his hair off?" Lydia yelled.

I smiled and nodded.

"HOLY CRAP CAN I HAVE IT-" Dimitri began. Bella flew over and stuck her hand over his mouth. 

"Jeez, Mitri, you have issues." She said. There was a pause as muffled words came from behind Bella's hand. "Licking my hand won't make me stop." She said.

Eventually, Bella let go and Dimitri wiped his mouth. 

"You taste like a flower." He said flirtatiously.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH I DID NOT NEED TO KNOW THAT!" Lydia yelled, slamming her hands over her ears. 

"That didn't even make any sense, dude." Bella said. She was blushing pretty hard.

"When you're here, nothing really makes sense." Dimitri said.

"LA-LA LALALALA LA-LA LALALALA LA- LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!!" Lydia screamed.

Once I finished laughing I said. "Guys seriously do you want to know what happened to Huxley or not?"

"Yes, we do Gwen." Bella said placidly, still sporting a bright shade of pink.

I reccounted the entire story to them, explaining all about what he looked like and the note that we had found.

"Well that's not alarming or anything." Bella said.

"Did you tell the cops?" Dimitri asked.

"You know how that works, Mitri. The cops are pretty much useless on an Army Base." Lydia said. Even she was serious. Maybe this was worse than I thought.

"But you still don't know who did it?" Bella asked.

"No." I said. "My parents and Uncle Chris seem to be trying to ignore the incident altogether."

"That's so stupid. Your cousin almost died, and they're just gonna kick back and forget about it." Dimitri said.

"Maybe we should pay a visit to Senõr Butt-Face." Lydia said. "I think I need to see that head of his anyways. Punch it a few times for extra measure."

"Dude, how much Sherlock have you guys watched? First the whole thing about Luke, now this?" I blurted out. This whole CSI mindset they suddenly developed was really starting to grind my gears. I mean, come on. Weird things happen. Get over it.

"Yeah, exactlly why we should try to figure this out, instead of ignoring it! In my mind, there's no such thing as a coincidence."

I sighed. "I can't believe you guys."

"He's right, Gwen. We don't have to run to his house and take notes but as things happen, we should have it in the back of our heads."

"You know, whatever." I lifted up my hands. "You people want to get out your little magnifying glasses, have fun, but I don't like getting in too deep."

"Why not?" Lydia asked. 

I didn't answer.

There was an awkward silence.

"I'm starving." Lydia said.

"So am I," Bella said. "Gwen?"

I sighed, and smiled. "I'll get out the Skinny Pop."

"YES!" The chorus yelled excitedly.

"Ooh ooh and can we watch Foxy Academy?" Dimitri said.

"AGAIN?" Bella said.

"Yes, we don't know if Yaquishe and Logan are ever going to get back together!" I said.

"Well, I don't know I'm pretty sure Jaz might but an end to that ship." Lydia said.

"BUT THEN MY LIFE WOULD BE OVER!" I said laughing.

"Let's just watch it already, here, I think I know your Netflix code." Bella said taking the laptop.

I grabbed two bags of the bagged popcorn and smiled.

"Sometimes I don't know whether to hate you guys or love you." I said.

"Just love us we're too cute to resist." Lydia said.

I grinned even bigger, taking a handful of popcorn, as the title sequence began.