Dreamwatcher | KOTLC

Chapter Seventeen: L-O-L

"Tam and Linh?" Dex wondered aloud, walking to the door. 

"Oh, um, hey there, Sophie, hi, I, uh, didn't, uh, think you would be, um, here! But you are! How - how are you? Oh! Dex, you're here, too! How nice!" Linh was probably the most shocked out of the four of them. She fumbled for words and could barely keep herself together. 

Tam, on the other hand, handled it much more sufficiently. It was obvious he was still nervous, but he tried not to let his emotions show as much. 

But Sophie was more angry than shocked or surprised. Why were they here? Why did they associate with the Boss? How?

"What are you doing here?" Sophie asked the twins harshly. 

It looked like Tam almost asked, "What about you?" But he already knew that. But . . . did that mean he was part of the evil scheme? 

Instead, Tam said, "Let us explain."

一一一一一

Boss instructed some guards to bring in two more chairs for Tam and Linh. The entire time Tam tried very hard to keep a straight face and hide his emotions, but Linh was just a nervous wreck. As usual. Linh kept fidgeting with her hands and wriggling around in her seat. Anyone who didn't know her would be genuinely concerned for her sanity. 

They decided to set it up like you would when the person in charge asked the other guys questions.

Except it was the other way around.

Some guards tiptoed in as Sophie and Dex were setting up the interview. She thought it was a little funny how they were interviewing two of their friends when they should be being interviewed by Boss, who they still had plenty of questions that need answers. But that can wait. What if two of their best friends were involved with their kidnapping?

Tam and Linh were already seated, with Sir Alan and Sir Atlas each standing behind their chairs. It looked like the guards from before had placed a kettle filled with water and four very delicate white porcelain mugs. 

They sat there for a bit, unsure of what to say. Dex cleared his throat, ready to ask the first question. 

"Why?"

"Huh?" Linh questioned. 

"Why are you here?"

"Pfft, I thought you'd start off easy," Tam mumbled. "Guess not."

"You're right, Tam," Sophie said, ready to engross herself into the conversation. "But you know what they say. 'Go big or go home.'"

"Do you want to explain?" Linh said, turning to her twin. Sophie didn't think Linh would, though. One measly insult would send her sobbing. 

"I guess I will," Tam said, turning back to face Sophie and Dex. 

"Let's start here," Dex suggested, bringing his hands up to entwine them on the table. "How do you know Boss?"

Tam unexpectedly started laughing, which irritated Dex even more. Even Linh let out a few giggles. "What's so funny?" 

"Do you seriously call him 'Boss?'" 

"You don't?" Sophie asked. 

"Why would we?" He said. 

"Well, what is he to you?" Dex said.

"You better watch your words, dude," Boss said, walking over to the table with a fifth chair, setting it beside Dex. Sophie totally forgot that he never left. "I'm watching you." What did that mean?

"Anyway," Tam carried on, refusing to take his keen eyes off of Boss. "To us, your 'boss' is a friend."

"How so?" Dex pressed. Sophie could see the excitement in his eyes. But it was a normal emotion; it's not every day you get to interview your best friends about being involved with your kidnapping. 

"Well, he just is—"

"Valid answers!" Sophie said, tapping a pen she found on the table. This is too much fun, but too proper at the same time. It looked like Dex thought the same thing, because he looked at Sophie with a look that said, "Let's finish quickly."

"Fine. He was friends with our parents."

"Can you be more specific?" Dex asked. 

"How can you be more specific than that!"

"You can always be 'more specific.'"

"Oh my goodness, aren't you nosy today?" Tam literally exploded. Sophie could see Linh from the corner of her eye, who flinched a little. "He . . . he's our Godfather."

"What?!" Sophie and Dex chorused. 

Linh's eyes widened at first but quickly closed them before anyone could notice. Too bad Sophie did. Linh reluctantly agreed with her brother. "Yeah."

"So . . . you call him Godfather?" Sophie asked. Then it hit her. "Wait 一 Godfather? Are your parents dead?!"

Tam whispered something into Linh's ear, which neither Dex or Sophie could comprehend. Linh nodded and cleared her throat. 

"You know them," Linh explained. "They don't care about us. But a couple of months ago, they. . . they . . ." Linh trailed off, tears forming into her eyes. Alan offered her a box of tissues, but she still shook her head, refusing. 

Tam patted her on the back, trying to reassure her. She nodded again, wiping tears from her eyes. "They told us that they were going on some . . . excursion. For two years."

Ouch. 

"And apparently, about thirteen years ago—we were three 一 one of Dad's friends from his school came by to visit. They used it as a perfect opportunity 一 for freedom. I'm pretty sure his name was, like, Zach, or something, but anyway, he asked Zach to be our Godfather. He asked why and got scared.

"My parents told him about the embarrassment and shame of having twins, so they planned on taking a break from us. For that long. Thirteen years, Sophie. What parents plan a vacation for that long?"

She paused, refusing to let herself break out into tears again. Sophie turned to Boss, reminding herself that they were talking about him. Surprisingly though, he showed no emotions to any of that. Throughout the silence was when Tam decided to explain the rest. 

"Zach loved us like we were his kids. I always liked him more; he seemed like he really cared for us. Of course, he was sad that our parents disliked us but were happy whenever we were happy. Anyway, I think that was specific enough, Sophie."

"Can you be more specific?" Sophie joked.

"L-O-L," Tam said with a laugh.

"Tam, that's not how you say it. You say it like 'lull'"

"Lool?" 

"Oh my gosh . . ." Linh sighed.

"No, like, 'lawl'" Sophie continued. 

"Oh! Lal!" 

"Linh," Sophie said tensely, turning to Linh. "We'll talk later, but in the meantime, please teach your brother how to say 'Lol?'"

"Yes, ma'am."