The Shrink Program

Chapter 97

"Nah." I deadpanned, falling to lay back in my sleeping bag with an unmotivated thud.

".... What do you mean, Nah?!" Artemis exclaimed, shocked by my causal refusal.

"I mean, I'm not telling you anything." I pouted, crossing my arms and glaring at the ceiling.

Artemis face-palmed, slowly dragging his hand down his face to glare at me in frustration.

"I thought that this was kind of obvious from the context... but just in case you didn't notice Love, I wasn't really asking."

His voice was surprisingly... dark.

"Oh yeah?" I tilted my head to smirk at him. "And how exactly are you going to make me talk, Love?"

"Ah...Maddison?" Nigel hesitated, glancing between the two of us nervously.

In the next instant, I was on my feet, standing over Artemis with a sneer. "Don't tell me you're going to beat the information out of me? Wouldn't surprise me, if you're the one Apollo gets his manners from."

"...I don't think picking a fight is a really good idea..." Nigel cautioned, completely ignored by both of us.

"I wish I could say I would never..." Artemis said, voice-controlled but noticeably angry. "But to be completely honest, my dear, I am very eager to hear what your intentions are in regards to my little brother."

Badmouthing Apollo seemed to finally spark his temper, causing Artemis to rise to his feet, standing toe to toe with me.

"I am sorry, but I would very much like to get to the bottom of this situation... Even if that requires I get a little rough in my questioning..."

His words were chilling, but my smile only grew as I happened to notice something for the first time.

Apollo and Artemis had always appeared petite, but it was only as I stood close to Artemis that I finally realised.

I was slightly taller than him.

Finding out that I was probably taller than my giant arch-nemesis cheered me up quite a bit.

To the extent, it pretty much convinced me that I was invincible.

"Okay let's set a couple of things straight here Arty." I poked him in the chest, making him sputter indignantly and take a step back.

"Firstly, just because you're worried about your brother, that doesn't give you the right to be a jerk about it. So pull that god damn dirty look off your face before I start feeling insulted."

He paled, taken aback by my aggression, or perhaps just offended by the cussing, but I wasn't done yet.

"Secondly. Not only does that cute baby brother of yours have an annoying lollipop habit, but he also conspired with my traitorous neighbour in an evil plot to underhandedly defeat the five members of the Hill and destroy the Cards, ending the King of the Hill for good and likely pissing off some seriously nasty people."

"He what?!" Artemis nearly fell over with the bomb I had just dropped on him.

"I know, right?! But that's not even the worst part!"

At this point, I was fuming, pacing the room like a dangerous animal that wanted to maul someone real bad.

"There has to be a limit on how far you can go in the name of justice!"

Right.

" Just because we didn't actively try to destroy the Hill ourselves doesn't mean that any of us cardholders deserved to have this happen to us!"

Exactly.

" No matter what reasons he had, or how he felt about the Hill, what he did to us was just insane! What he did to me. Having me shrunk on purpose by framing me for vandalism. How can you do that to someone who you've known your entire life?!"

The knowledge that I wasn't exactly talking about his brother any more was etched into Artemis' wary expression, but he wisely chose not to interrupt my rant.

"It was all his fault, but that manipulative bastard still pretended to be my friend and took advantage of my vulnerability just to get close enough to stab me in the back! As if what he was doing to me wasn't bad enough without him making it personal!"

I spun on Artemis

"Oh, and did I mention the time your brother personally abducted me and held me hostage inside a Jar? A freaking Jar Artemis! Then to top it off, he threw the jar up into the air and caught it single-handedly, without looking! Trust me, that looked sooo impressive from my view inside the plummeting glass prison."

Nigel raised a hand eagerly. "He attacked me too." He joined in enthusiastically.

I gestured to Nigel in outrage. "Did you hear that? He assaulted poor innocent Nigel! He's damn lucky I didn't call the RSPCA!"

I stomped up to Artemis, about ready to punch someone.

"So I suggest you line the hell up Artemis because you're not the only one here who wants some answers!"

My rant ended with the three of us staring at each other in stunned silence.

Shaking slightly, I took a step back out of Artemis' personal space.

Artemis himself looked to be on the edge of fainting or maybe crying.

His hands clenched, and his pale green eyes looked pained as he stared at the floor. "But he promised me that he wouldn't get involved...We swore on Ice-cream..."

Again with the Ice-cream? What is with this family and their sweets?

Artemis quickly pulled himself together, raising his gaze to meet mine cautiously. He opened his mouth, seeming like he wanted to say something, but couldn't find any words.

Seeing his distress, my anger died down, and when I spoke again, my voice was much calmer.

"Thirdly and most importantly." I gave him a serious look, pointing meaningfully at the ceiling. "I'm pretty sure that they're watching us in here."