Project X - Agents & Assassins [COMPLETE]

Chapter 25

The room didn't fall quiet this time. Instead, everybody could hear Scarlett's angry respiration. August swallowed and realised that this was his silent punishment; a method women used when they were angry. You could sense that they were angry, but they never got to the point what made it very hard for him to face Scarlett.

She, on the other hand, was furious. Her father had kept this silent for way too long and suddenly weighed this information on her when it was too late for her to forgive him. His brother was an evil maniac and his dad helped him with his plans. August knew all too well how this made him look even though he'd always been the black sheep in the family.

He decided to handle this in a practical way and calmly explain everything they needed to know. 'My name is August Addams,' he said with a sore voice. 'I changed my name so that my family wouldn't find me again after I'd stolen Scarlett away from them.'

Felix shook his head in disarray. 'I don't understand. Is there something I missed?'

Richard smiled and shook his head. He took Felix away for a couple of minutes and explained the whole story to him. From how Raphael created Scarlett all those years ago as a scientific experiment, to the moment where they were now. Felix quietly listened and only nodded a few times. Kalea wasn't sure whether he understood or just pretended to believe it. In that time, everybody in the room cooled down and went their own paths. Thomas offered Scarlett a cigarette after which the two of them were put in the garden by August because he insisted they didn't smoke indoors. Felix turned around and looked at Kalea.

'So, you're not real either?', he asked perplexed. 'Well, I am real,' she answered, 'I'm just different.'

'And you promise me this isn't some joke?'

Kalea nodded and smiled. 'I would never lie.'

Felix seemed to process everything that was just told him and he blankly stared at his feet. 'Great,' August mumbled from the kitchen. 'How many people do you plan on knowing this secret?', he said to Richard.

Richard shrugged his shoulders and raised an eyebrow. 'As many we need,' he answered.

'Yeah, that's a no. Like I'd need this many people,' August said, 'who I didn't even invite or knew until a couple of hours ago!'

He walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. 'Scarlett can take care of this by herself just fine.'

'By herself?', Richard asked in horror. 'Are you mad, she's just a-'

'A what?', August interrupted. A silence fell between the two and yet no one heard Scarlett shuffle her way back into the house except for Kalea, but she stayed at a distance, wondering what would happen if the conversation continued and Scarlett could hear it all.

'She's just a reckless teenager who doesn't know the difference between being responsible and being destructive or selfish to gain what she wants.'

Scarlett stood next to the wall that separated the door from the living room and lowered her eyes. Her first instinct would be to storm inside and prove him wrong by shouting mere words at him, but doing that would only prove him right.

'She cannot do this alone,' Richard continued.

August sighed and didn't object to anything Richard had just said about his daughter, he didn't defend her and that stung for Scarlett. 'We may not need everybody in this room, four will be enough. We can send Kalea and Felix somewhere else so that when something happens, they can back us up.'

Kalea didn't hesitate or she objected. 'You can't do that! I'll help too!', she shouted desperately but Richard already shook his head. 'You won't be able to help us on this one,' Richard explained, 'you don't even know the difference between a pen and a pencil.'

'But you can't make me sit on the side-line while you go out on this wild adventure! I want to come too!'

'This isn't one of those silly adventures I told you about Lea and I'm not joking! You can't help us because you're inexperienced and a child!

'I'm not a child!', Kalea now shouted, trying to hold back her tears.

'You are not coming!', Richard shouted back louder, angry this time at Kalea for not listening to him. Kalea sat back on the couch with tears rolling over her cheeks.

The room turned quiet. Up until now, August didn't want to intervene. He didn't like it but he agreed with the boy. She looked like a sixteen-year-old, but she was merely new to this world and too naïve. And Felix was just a high school boy. He also noticed that Richard cared deeply for Kalea and didn't like to see her get hurt.

Scarlett felt a hand touching her shoulder and saw Thomas standing behind her. She straightened her back and walked into the living room. Felix, who understood why Richard made these decisions, decided to intervene and break the ice. 'So where will we be staying?', he asked Richard and August who looked at him like he was a corpse that miraculously started talking again. They exchanged hesitating looks but then August suggested they could go to Felix's place. Once Felix heard about the solution, he heavily shook his head. 'No, there's no way my dad would allow that,' he said.

'It's the only option we have,' Richard concluded. Felix sighed, looking around desperately. He couldn't just tell them what kind of person his father, stepfather, was. He'd sound stupid and he promised his mother he'd never speak evil about him.

'Fine,' he said in hushed tones as he looked down and realized there really wasn't any better plan.

'I'll take them there in my car,' Thomas said as he already beckoned Scarlett and Felix to leave their seats. Without saying more words, Thomas took the two teenagers out of the house and closed the front door behind him.