Catherine's House
May 12
0730 Hours
Ben POV
I was just finishing up a special project I was working on, when I heard a computerized voice, being projected from the different speakers in the house. I got startled because the speakers around this house make the voice sound louder than fireworks.
"Request to enter the house. Results of security being printed."
A piece of paper was spit out of the house printer. I stood up out of the rotating chair and walked cautiously towards the printer. After some of the stuff that Spyder had made me go through, I was afraid that even a piece of paper could be a bomb. Anyways, I picked up the resulting paper.
Security Results (Burn after reading)
Hand Scans: Successful
Retinal Scans: Successful
Secret Knock: Successful
Identities Confirmed: Catherine Hale and Erica Hale
YAY!!! I was going to see Erica again!!! After finishing the letter, I threw it in Catherine's incinerator and sat down at my desk. I reached towards to edge of my desk and took out a button from a hidden compartment. I pressed the button, which gave a person access to the house, and put the finishing touches on my project. I was going to wrap the project and give it as a present to Catherine and Erica, but at that exact moment, the door opened. I looked up. Erica was standing there with her mouth open like I do whenever I had to talk to her. I have an idea, the mischievous part of my brain said to me. I quickly reviewed the plan in my head. I looked up. Perfect. Erica was still gaping at me with her mouth open. I quickly took out my phone and snapped a picture of that.
"What was that for?" Erica asked when she finally recovered from the shock.
"Nice to see you too," I joked. She rolled her eyes, but came up to me and hugged me anyways. I was shocked.
"Since when did the great and beautiful Erica Hale give hugs as a substitute of hello?" I said, but then promptly turning red when I realized was I just said.
"You think I'm beautiful?" she asked, smirking. I turned red. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and I looked at it. I realized there was a video recording going on that had been on for the last 3 minutes.
"Why'd you do that?" was all I could say.
"For the same purpose as you. Blackmail," she said.
"I took that picture so I could add it to my book. It's called For The First Time In Forever. Your part will be titled: For The First Time In Forever... Erica Hale is surprised," I confessed. She snorted.
"Not to break up that reunion, or anything, but there's something I want to talk with you both about," Catherine said.
We both faced Catherine, and she had on one of her faces that expressed, Don't mess with me because something very serious is about to happen. I glanced at Erica, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing that I was.
"I completely approve you to getting together! You know my OTP (One True Pairing) has always been Berica (Ben+Erica)!!!" Catherine exclaimed, suddenly happy.
I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. I fell on the floor laughing, my eyes tearing up. I heard a thump behind me, and when I finally stopped laughing for long enough to see, I saw Erica having the same fit as I was.
"Is something wrong? Have you guys been given a poison that makes you laugh to death?" Catherine asked, concerned.
"No, we thought you were going to say something like, 'Missiles heading for our home' or 'Spyder Agents infiltrating our house'," I said.
"Ben, you did call her beautiful," Catherine said.
"What if it wasn't a compliment? What if it was just a fact? Nothing is going on between us!" I said.
"Yeah, Mom!" Erica added.
"Ok, then prove it. Have you guys kissed yet?" Catherine replied smirking.
I turned into a tomato. She turned into a cherry.
"And there's my answer! When's the wedding?" Catherine asked.
Erica said, "Mom!!!" at the same time I said, "Catherine!"
"Just kidding, but for now let's get back to business," Catherine said, her series face on.
"Ben, do you have a plan?" Catherine asked.
"For once, I have a plan. We have to find a way to get into Mr. E's mansion from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM every day. It's when Mr. E is out of the house and the employers are on break." I said.
"Where is Mr. E's mansion?" Erica and Catherine asked in sync.
"Where we found the fake Mr. E. He must have a secret room somewhere, so I made you guys a few things. One is a silencer for the plasma gun. It now will make absolutely no noise, and not wake up a whole flight and get them panicked." I said, handing a silencer to both of us.
"How did you know that?" Erica asked.
"I can't believe I'm actually about to say this, but I'm a spy. It's my job to know things." I said proudly. Erica giggled a little.
"Congratulations. You should take a picture of yourself for your book. For the first time in Forever... Ben Ripley knows something before Erica Hale expected him to know." Erica said.
"The next invention," I said, "is a heat/air detector. It will tell you if there's something concealed behind it, and the password to get into it. There is a very complex eighteen character daisy chip in there that can decode anything in less than a second. Please don't lose it. If you find a hidden room, don't go in. Just come back to here and report where it was. The password won't matter, because it probably changed every day," I said, finishing out of breath.
"What are we waiting for," I asked when I had recovered my breath.
"Tomorrow at around 1:00 PM because there is a 45-minute drive to Mr. E's house," Erica said.
"That's not what I meant, but yes. And the last invention for Catherine. Speak into the speaker the names of the people you wish to give access to your secret. But don't give me access yet," I said, handing the speaker to Catherine.
Catherine took a deep breath, and then said "I, the owner of this house, give access to Catherine Hale and Erica Hale."
"Why not Cyrus?" I asked for rapidly.
"You guys are the only ones I know I can trust for now," Catherine replied.
"Okay, but nothing happened," Erica said, looking around.
"That's a good sign. Now, let's walk toward to wall," I said.
They following me but were giving me weird looks. I put my hand on the wall and leaned against it.
"It's just a wall," Erica said.
"No, it's the world's first solid illusion. If you have access to the house, something different happens."
Erica tried putting her hand on the wall, but they went right through. Her body disappeared into nothingness. My hands stayed on the wall the whole time.
"Catherine, give me access to the house now, if you want," I said, handing Catherine the speaker.
"I, Catherine Hale, give access to Benjamin Ripley," Catherine said, handing back the speaker.
"Now let's go through," I said to Catherine.
We walked through the wall. On the other side was a long rectangular table for meetings, and a 200-inch plasma tv on the back wall. On the walls, there was a variety of weapons, from knives to grabbling hooks to guns.
"Wow! Thanks, Ben!" Catherine said.
"Your welcome," I said, smiling.
"Now, all we have to do it wait," Erica said.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
- Cookie