The Kitten Has Claws

The Kitten Has Claws [Chapter 41]

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Chapter Forty-One

For the next couple of weeks, the attitude of everyone in the estate was relatively happy. There was no real reason to be upset about anything, not after a wedding like Raine and Noelle's. They had started a Friday Night Game Night in which someone—whoever's turn it was—picked out a game to play. Tonight was Jed's night to pick the game. He had originally suggested 'Spin the Bottle' but when no one went for that, he quickly amended. "Okay, okay," Jed laughed, holding up raised hands, "In a seriousness, since my awesome idea was shut down, I suggest...drum roll please...Ultimate Spoons!"

"Yes!" Noelle yelled. "I rock at this game!"

A couple people looked a little confused so Jed quickly explained the gist of the game. "So Ultimate Spoons is similar to regular Spoons, where you have to get four of a kind in order to grab a spoon, but, instead of the spoons being within reach, they're spread out all over the place. So you have to run to get them. Oh, we're also playing Cutthroat style, so make sure you have a firm grip on the spoon." He gave an evil chuckle and high-fived Noelle.

"Are you kidding me?" Tamsin asked excitedly. She looked at Ingrid and smiled. They both were extremely competitive; in fact, almost everyone in their group was competitive. It was going to be an interesting night.

Ingrid raised her hand, "Quick question: if you are the unfortunate one to be spoonless are you immediately eliminated or do you just get a letter?"

"Good question," Jed chuckled, "unfortunately since there are so many of us, you're immediately eliminated. However, once eliminated you get to help hide the spoons." He pulled out the spoons and clanked them menacingly together. "For now, whoever the dealer is hides all the spoons...good thing this place is so damn big." Jed grabbed a couple decks of cards and started shuffling quickly, instructing everyone to get into a circle. After passing out the cards he stood to his feet and winked, "I'll be right back."

A couple minutes later he returned with a wicked grin on his face and sat down in his designated spot. "Everybody ready? Ready, Set, Go!" The cards flew from his fingers as he glanced and discarded them, keeping an eye on everyone else. He had the advantage of knowing where the spoons were, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

Noelle laughed when Ingrid got mad at Paxton for moving too slow. "Pass the cards faster, Paxton!"

Further down the line Tamsin was scolding Fletcher for not passing the cards far enough. "Fletch you're just setting them back down, how am I supposed to reach them?"

"Sorry, pumpkin," he mumbled, "too busy trying to find my card."

"Ugh," she scowled, shifting through the cards and passing them on without a second glance. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Delilah shift, laying her cards face up before leaping to her feet with a cackle. Seconds later, everyone was up and running.

Jed ran for the closest spoon, grabbing it with a cocky smile and heading back to the room. Raine, Fletcher, Violet and Noelle ran up all three flights of stairs while Finn and a couple others explored the second. Everyone else scavenged the first floor, wrestling for the spoons.

Soon everyone made their way back to room, clutching a spoon with wild eyes. Everyone but Violet had a spoon. She scowled bitterly, smacking Finn on the arm when he laughed at her.

"Everyone back to their positions," Jed announced. Delilah was the next dealer, so she shuffled and then hid the spoons with Violet. After a couple of rounds only Raine, Noelle, Clover, Ingrid, Jed and Ryder were left in the game. They had changed the rules so that the spoons were only hidden on the first floor and the dealer no longer hid them, just the people who were no longer playing.