Living in the Shadows

CHAPTER 6 CRESSELIA'S GARDEN

(Jake's POV)

Finally, Caleb and Jaxon were out like lights. Hopefully, they'll stay that way all night. But being seven-year-olds, I'm not gonna hold my breath. They'll probably sleep for an hour or two, then get back to driving everyone crazy. Thank goodness Mrs. Tao came over to teach them light and morse code. She and I were in the reception room having coffee when the head butler came in.

"Excuse me, Mr. Moore," he said. "But there are four adolescents, who claim to be friends of your sister, waiting for you and Mrs. Tao in the parlor."

Mrs. Tao and I shared a look.

"What in the world could they want?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said. Then I turned to the butler. "Please, show them in, Mr. Brixx."

He acknowledged the request and left the room. He came back a few moments later with Ben, Jack, and the twins following him. "Mr. Ben Greyson, Mr. Jack Rixen, and Miss Melody and Crystal O'Reilly, here to see you, Mr. Moore," he announced.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Mrs. Tao asked.

I looked behind them expecting to see Jenna and bracing myself for her new look. I still can't believe she cut her hair! I can believe she dyed it, but cut it! I thought before I turned my attention back to them; getting a bad feeling. "And where's Jenna?" I asked.

"That's what we're here to talk about, Jake," Melody said; she and the others looked nervous.

"You mean what you're here to talk about, Mel. This was your idea remember," Crystal said.

"Where is Jenna?" Mrs. Tao demanded in a stern tone of voice that had the others backing away in fear.

"Well, you see," Melody began in a hesitant voice. "She kind of," she gulped, "took off."

Mrs. Tao and I were silent for a moment.

"What do you mean 'she took off'?!" I practically shouted as I stood.

"Calm down, Jake," Mrs. Tao said. Then she addressed the others. "Start from the beginning."

"Well, we were in the school's theater," Ben began as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was explaining what we were gonna do tomorrow, and then the Kontororu subject came up."

"Jenna was telling us how she ran into him, alone, outside the building," Crystal added. "And when we all began to tell her how we weren't going to leave her alone as long as he's here, she went ballistic and shouted that she can take care of herself."

"She even yelled that she got more than enough smothering from her grandfather and she didn't need it from us," Ben continued.

"I tried to placate her by saying we don't mean to smother her," Melody began. "And then Jack said that she'd been hurt enough by that guy and we just didn't want her to get even more hurt."

"And the genius up and asks her if we were her friends. After a minute or two of silence, she picked up her stuff and left without saying a word," Ben finished.

"And that caused her to run?" Mrs. Tao asked.

"No," Melody answered before giving her twin a sideways glare. "Crystal ran after her and gave her a piece of her mind."

"I started by lecturing her about how she didn't appreciate everyone sticking their necks out for her and when her grandfather came up she asked me what I meant," Crystal said as both she and Melody gave me and Mrs. Tao looks of disappointment.

"Why didn't you tell her her grandfather was coming home?" Melody asked me.

I looked at Mrs. Tao and then back at everyone else.