The (Mis)Adventures of (Re)Becca Smellie

Chapter 15: Eclipsed

Working for Aliva government had many perks; at least two months of vacation (which most Officers never took because they were overworked), educational stipends for their children (which the Smellies only used for Bella since Becca homeschooled herself), and no taxes (Maurice had to use the money for friendly bribes to ensure Becca wasn't reported for her mishaps). However, the biggest perk Maurice enjoyed, and the reason he kept this job as long as he did, was the setup. He worked all alone for most of the day in a well-lit underground office where the only visitors were the occasional colleague or two that asked him to join everyone in the break room for some birthday brownies.

Like his daughters, he couldn't resist a good brownie.

This meant that he also couldn't receive calls from anyone in the outside world unless they dispatched him. After the unfortunate succession of events that took place that morning post-Aliva emergency alarm, he spent the whole day in the government building of his work coordinating with his contacts privately from his office, yearning to make it back home, late as it may be, to enjoy a nice pie with his daughters and bring them some good news.

He had not made headway all day. No one seemed to know anything, no matter how many people he asked. The clock ticked slowly, but he searched through all of the documents in their drives to determine whether there was anything noteworthy. Right as he was about to give up he received a follow-up call from his colleague in the anti-terrorism unit. The bad news was that there was definitely a case filed, the good news was that it appeared to be officially closed as of that evening after a conversation with the Dean of Aliva University. Maurice kissed the heavens and thanked his friend, a happy pep in his step as he put away all of his belongings and skipped to the garage

"Mr. Smellie!" the voice of the night security guard called out as Maurice got into his car. "I'm told you have some business to attend to with the Home Office."

"I'm sure whatever it is can wait until the morning. G'night Jeremy!" he said happily

The excitement over the good news led him to rush out and step on the gas pedal at full speed, not noticing on his dashboard that it was past midnight, that he had 19 missed calls, or that he was driving on the wrong side of the road as he pulled into Villeneuve Street.

Maurice arrived at his home at the same time as the Ryubridges. The cars nearly collided against one another as they cursed in their respective cushioned seats, shaking the fury away when they realized who was in the opposing vehicle. Looks of confusion were exchanged between Maurice and Michel, Valeria's father, as they exited their cars. When Nyzeria exited the vehicle shortly after and took out her freshly sharpened spear from their trunk, Maurice's confusion grew to concern as quickly as that spear could traverse human flesh. 0.03 seconds.

"Well this is an unexpected surprise! I didn't know we were having more company for dinner," he commented, not looking away from the spear. "Um, Nyzeria, I know I've mentioned this to you and Val in the past, but I have a semi-strict rule of no weapons inside the house."

"You can never be too safe, Maurice. Especially not with these kids," Nyzeria replied curtly.

Michel chuckled, prompting an eyeroll from Nyzeria. "What?" she asked.

"N-nothing, dear," Michel replied nervously. "It's just, kind of funny since they don't have swimmers, they don't need to be too safe..."

Nyzeria hit him over his head with the side of her spear. "I knew I should have left you at home."

"Val asked me to come!" he argued grabbing a duffel from the backseat of their car and rubbing his head. "By the time I got her stuff you were honking at me from the car!"