by J. Hickey
Chapter 9
Dog Messes
Trayer was delighted when the children made their way back to their quarters. He had grown restless alone in the room. He heard the children's footsteps and chatter as they made their way toward the bedroom door. The pup couldn't contain his excitement and his large thick tail began wagging uncontrollably, knocking everything over in its path.
Unfortunately, the children were not quite as happy to see the behemoth puppy who eagerly awaited them. Trayer pranced playfully around the room as they finally entered. The children were in awe at the sight, mouths gaped at the mess that sat before them. Their room was a whirlwind of disaster. The floor was covered in pieces of what was once their bed sheets, their pillows tattered and tossed everywhere, completely ripped to shreds. To Elly's greater misfortune, even her mattress had been chewed on and wrecked by Trayer's puppyish assault.
"Trayer!" Hunter yelled as the young pup jumped onto him. Using Hunter's shoulders for leverage, the dog stood on his hind legs and licked his face. "Get off me you stupid dog!" Hunter pushed the pup off him in a fit of anger. Trayer whimpered sadly, head down in dismay.
"Oh man… Why would he do this?" Elly moaned as she investigated what was left of her once comfortable bed. It was chewed all the way through to the spring coils.
"I think he got lonely," said Alistair, softly chuckling. Hunter and Elly, however, didn't see the humor in the situation. "Well, he is a puppy, and he was left alone for hours up here. Poor dog," he continued. "At least he didn't-oh, never mind, he did." Alistair had a disgusted look on his face and plugged his nose with his thumb and index finger.
"Grrrooosss!" Elly frowned at the sight of a giant mess of dog waste in the corner of the room. Suddenly the smell hit her nose, and she felt like she may gag.
"Don't worry, I'll pick it up," said Alistair. "I have a dog at home named Cerberus, and I had to pick up his mess until he was housebroken. It took months."
Elly thanked him and helped, despite the foul smell. It's no fun task cleaning up a pile of dog mess, especially the one from a giant dog.
"Yuck… I guess we throw the rest of this stuff away." Hunter pointed to the clutter.
Hunter hadn't been able to get Liv out of his head since she left the brunch after the incident involving her father. Even his initial anger at the destroyed room quickly faded once he thought of Liv's pretty smile. He was worried about her. She had been very upset when she left the group earlier that day. Although Hunter would never admit it, he silently hoped she would show up at their room looking for Alistair. Then again, he wouldn't know what to say, or how to act, and he worried he would come off looking like an idiot.
"Sebastian is so nice; Margot is lucky. He's like Prince Charming," Elly said, breaking Hunter's deep thought. She had thoroughly enjoyed dancing with Sebastian and listening to him talking about how much he adored Margot.
"He's okay I guess," said Hunter, unimpressed with what he had seen of Sebastian.
"Yeah, he seemed to be laying it on pretty thick in front of Margot," Alistair added.
"You're just jealous," argued Elly, tossing the remnants of her pillow into a trash bag.
"Of what?" Alistair frowned. The simple idea of being jealous of Sebastian was a ridiculous thought.
"Because he's so perfect," said Elly, who started to dance around the room as if Sebastian was there leading her. "He's smart too. He travels around the world for the mansion researching things-he's been everywhere!"
"Awesome!" said Hunter sarcastically, unimpressed with the man's feats. "I say he's hiding something-no one is that perfect."
"Yeah, I agree," said Alistair. "Anyway, let's just focus on cleaning your room so we don't miss the Orientation tonight."
"I don't see why you guys hate him," Elly argued, but the boys didn't respond. They ignored the comment and went on cleaning.
It had already been a long day for the children, who now found themselves working hard on trying to fix up their room before one of the adults came to check on them. Trayer stayed hidden in the corner with his head hung low. He wasn't a dumb dog; he knew the children were angry with him. He let out only the occasional whimper, waiting for one of the children to call him over to play. They didn't.
"Children," Ms. Ellingbee's voiced chimed in over the rooms P.A. system. "Your party will pick you up for the Orientation dinner in two hours. If you need anything, please chime us and let us know."
"Okay, we will," Hunter replied.
"Well then, I will see you tonight. I hope you are all excited!" Ms. Ellingbee clicked off the loudspeaker system.
"Yikes! Only two hours to pick this place up," said Elly, worried.
"C'mon, it won't take too long. We just have to work together," Alistair held open a large trash bag as Hunter shoveled shreds of bed sheets into it.
"So, I've been meaning to tell you guys," said Hunter quietly. "When we snuck into the hidden room under the library… well, I read a message on one of the computer terminals. It said that someone in the mansion must have broken through the security system."
"Really?" Elly asked.
"Yeah. Alistair, your dad was sending that robot Plato a message, and he said he thought it must have been an inside job."
"But who would do that? Everyone seems so happy here," Elly stated.
"Dominick seemed pretty angry," said Hunter. "He's your uncle, right, Alistair?"
"Not really," Alistair answered. "Liv is my cousin, and her dad is obviously my Uncle Abram, but their relationship to Dominick is from my aunt's side, and not from my family."
"So like a second cousin or something?" asked Hunter.
"Yeah, I supposed that's what it would be called. I only met him a few times. He never seemed angry or mean though."
"Well, he seemed pretty angry with your uncle and the mansion,"
"But he wouldn't have had access. I'm pretty sure my dad told me they called him in after that monster had already escaped to try and get it captured before today's festivities."
"Hmmm…" Hunter wondered. Alistair was right, the only reason Dominick and Agent Roberts were even at the mansion was to try and capture the beast before the party.
"Who else is there that could have done it?" Elly asked.
"Well, the mansion seems really big. There were so many people at the brunch, it could have been anybody," Alistair explained.
A loud knock caught the children by surprise, and Uncle Joe and Ben entered their room. Joe's mouth dropped as the kids frantically tried to hide the enormous mess.
"What on earth did you kids do?" Joe gasped.
"Guys, seriously, it smells terrible in here," said Ben.
"Trayer made a mess," answered Elly. "We tried to clean up as best we could…"
Trayer poked his head up at the sound of his name, only to let out another whine after seeing the obvious angry faces of Ben and Joe. Trayer could easily pick up on the tension in the room and wanted nothing to do with it.
"Well, we were checking up on you kids to make sure you're going to be ready for the Orientation," said Joe.
"We will be-promise," Hunter answered.
"Yeah, we're almost done picking up anyway," added Elly.
"Well… I suppose we can help…" said Ben, feeling defeated, "You kids will never finish cleaning this mess in time."
"Are you happy now, Trayer?" Joe shot a disgruntled look at the pup, who wagged his tail in response. He quickly ran over to Joe, forcing his long wet snout into his palm, begging for his attention.
"Don't pet him, Uncle Joe. He's a bad dog," said Hunter.
"Well, he was all alone up here while we were all downstairs at the brunch," replied Joe. "Can't blame the pup for getting bored. He'll learn, won't you, big boy?" Joe scratched the mighty dog's ear.
"You seem happier, Uncle Joey," said Elly.
"What do you mean, of course I'm happy."
"Well, you seemed sad when Margot ran over to Sebastian," Elly clarified.
"Well…" Joe was
at a loss for words and didn't care to elaborate on the situation to his niece.
"Just a little misunderstanding is all. Grown-up stuff-everything is fine now," answered Ben as he swept up the kids' room.
"Yeah, it's fine," Joe added. "Let's just focus on getting this room of yours picked up."
"Dad," Alistair asked, "what was wrong with Uncle Abram and Dominick? We were just wondering why they got so upset."
"Oh boy… not ever sure where to start." Ben took a seat on Hunter's bed and let out a sigh.
"They got pretty angry with each other," added Hunter.
"Well, Dominick always wanted to be a part of the mansion. He grew up knowing his uncle, Abram's father-your late grandfather-was a fearless adventurer who went on countless expeditions. So he waited and waited for the chance to follow in his uncle's footsteps. Until finally both he and your Uncle Abram were asked to visit the Belmonte Estate, just like you kids have been now. He figured that this was his opportunity" Ben went on to explain, "Unfortunately, the mansion only allows certain individuals that meet specific requirements to become what Dominick dreamed of. All he was allowed to do was join his older cousin's team and follow under his orders, and that didn't last long. One day, Dominick got into a huge fight with Abram and stormed out of the mansion. He found a financial backer through some mysterious deep-pocketed corporation that funded his own team-the MFPA group."
"What's that stand for anyway?" asked Elly.
"Er…"Ben hesitated to answer the seemingly innocent question.
"Tell them. Hunter and Elly already know about the Beast of Bladenboro, so it's not like these animals are secrets to them," said Joe.
"I suppose," replied Ben. "It stands for: ‘Monsters and Fiends Protection Agency.' They basically follow leads on creatures like the Beast of Bladenboro, capture the creature and sell it for money to the corporation."
"What corporation? Why would they want a monster like that?" asked Hunter.
"Aten Corporation, and we don't know much about them other than when Professor Calenstine heard about the partnership, he was very upset. He even offered Dominick a place within the estate, but Dominick was too hardheaded and unwilling to look past his hatred for Abram."
"So there you have it," said Joe. "The mansion is not without its drama."
"Needless to say, Uncle Abram and Dominick don't care for one another."
Uncle Joe checked his watch, and the time was drawing near for the Orientation. Soon the entire mansion would once again gather to finish up with the last of the day's festivities. They would leave the children's room, take the elevator up to the fourth floor and enter into the large ceremonial lobby.
Joe thought of his day of Orientation when he was Hunter's age. His parents had brought him and his sister to the mysterious mansion under the notion that they were going to visit their parents at work. He remembered feeling confused and lost during the strange Orientation. He hadn't a clue what his parents had dedicated their lives to. Joe couldn't help but be excited and a bit nervous for his niece and nephew. Though he hadn't a clue how they would react when the truth about their parents was revealed to them. Most kids are excited and curious when they found out about the mansion and all its secrets, but then again, most kids were not there only two weeks after their parents' untimely death.
Joe also knew they had been eager to unravel the secrets of the mansion and knew quite a bit more than they should heading into the Orientation. Whatever the outcome, he knew it was out of his hands. He decided it was best not to over-think it and instead found his mind wandering onto the image of Margot kissing her fiancé. Suddenly, he had the urge for a drink.
"Everybody ready?" asked Patricia Ellingbee. Her and Liv burst open the kids' door with excitement. Hunter's heart sank deep into his chest as he saw the stunning Liv.
"Sorry about earlier, guys," said Liv, a bit embarrassed by her actions. She looked down towards the floor, avoiding eye contact with the kids.
"It's okay," Alistair noted. "Hunter was worried about you, though."
"Really?" Liv smiled.
"Err…"Hunter froze.
"Of course he was-we all were." His uncle saved him.
Hunter wasn't sure if his uncle had done it on purpose or not. He hoped his shyness wasn't that noticeable, but he was thankful.
With that painful moment of adolescence gone, the group hurried their way to the ceremonial hall.