Jinxed

Chapter seven: the man downstairs

Chapter seven: the man downstairs

I don't own fablehaven

Kendra rubbed her temples. She was feeling a little out of sorts. Her leg was going to be ok but she would need a few days. It throbbed with pain and Kendra wished she could drift back to sleep. It was nice to be in her own bed and have Seth not bugging her. She rolled onto her side with a groan and peeked around to his side. He was gone. Kendra knew she should be helping but she felt so tired, so drained of energy.

After shifting to her back, Kendra closed her eyes. When they had seen Warren yesterday, they had managed to stuff him in the pantry. It hadn't gone pretty. The kitchen lay in disaster and Warren hadn't gone down with a fight.

An intake of air. A simple sound, but it was enough to jolt Kendra. Her eyes creeped up. It was Warren, cocky grin plastered on his face. "Hey, Kens. You wouldn't mind helping me with a little...project?"

Kendra didn't have time to consider why he was more literate than the others before she scrambled back and grabbed the first object in reach: a frying pan. The pan had come from Seth as he was experimenting with who knows what. He had gotten upset and threw it to her side of the room. That kid was going to be the death of her. He had recently begun to dabble in all sorts of things. One day she hoped he would learn his lesson. But Kendra had also never been more thankful for her brother's antics.

"The man downstairs needs our help," he said. "...lots of it. He likes brewing new concoctions you know. Glop. That's the newest treat. The prisoners sure do like it."

Kendra swung the pan. Warren ducked and he tried to swat it away. His fist came in contact with Kendra's wrist and it became unstable and the pan went skidding along the floor. She lunged after it. Warren had the same idea. He landed on top of her with his arm extended. His fingers wrapped around the handle and he brought it back. Kendra elbowed Warren's nose and his hands instinctively dropped the metal and went to his face. Kendra took the pan and whacked the back of his head. Warren stopped moving.

Kendra rolled out from under him. She gently touched the spot she had clobbered him. It would surely bruise and be quite painful, but no blood. She felt terribly guilty but she had to remind herself that this wasn't the real Warren. Or well it was, just some sort of twisted version living in his body. Maybe he was possessed. What if it was something like lice? That would be disgusting. Or perhaps it's a type of curse that made someone do strange things. It could be like a cloud covering up all better judgements and just leaving animal instincts behind. If these were "animal instincts" then prehistoric people would have been a force to reckon with. But there was another question that creeped up Kendra's mind. Why? What are they trying to do? What do they want? It couldn't be revenge. There wasn't anything to be vengeful for, besides Vanessa, no one had any reason to turn on their family. Unless it was revenge on someone else. Warren had, after all, been recruiting her help. He had sounded almost as if he didn't like "the man downstairs". Every trace led everything back to the house. But not just any part of the house, the...downstairs. It clicked. Vanessa had been lunging for the basement. Downstairs was, well, downstairs. Dale...he had tried to go to the house as well. Kendra was set on finding out what happened. Finally a breakthrough!

Prisoners. Warren and also said something about prisoners. What if one of the prisoners had done this to Kendra's friends and they wanted revenge! If they could find out who did it, then they would be able to find a way to undo it.

Kendra picked up one of Warren's arms and dragged him over to the closet she and Seth shared, before shoving him inside. She found a wooden boat made with excellent craftsmanship. It fit nicely between the handles.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Seth paced. He wasn't the only one. If the Sorenson's thought extra foot movement would generate a solution, they must be crazy. In truth, they might as well be.

Continuing his "brain increasement" workouts, Seth's mind tried to lighten the situation a bit. He almost felt like he was in one of those think tanks he had seen on tv. Trapped while generating ideas? Check. Being stuck with crazy people? Check. Dire situations? Check. He briefly wondered if it would make a good show. Live tonight! Things get heated as yet another person falls. The stakes have never been higher. Will they succeed in saving the day or will the be reduced to blundering idiots? Find out tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel! If only Batman were there now.

Seth rubbed a hand over his face before finally resigning to go back to searching through documents. It was probably one of the most boring things he had ever done. Sure some people had entered in interesting things. Seth liked hearing about a battle with an oversized gecko as much as the next guy, but it was frustrating not finding anything useful.

He shifted a new stack of papers in front of him. He let out a sigh. His eyes wandered over the fancy penmanship and yellowed papers. Maybe he should've been wearing gloves. It was probably fine if his grandpa had let him within sight of these. Honestly Seth didn't know why Grandpa got all wound up. Sure Seth made mistakes. Mistakes that costed in injuries and heavy property damage. But that didn't mean he was purposely trying to do those things. And besides, he always fixed the problem in the end, to some degree. Seth cracked a smile. He wondered how flustered the old man would be if he had learned about operation frying pan. Or worse, if it had actually worked.

Riiiinnnnnnggggg! Silence. Thwack! Followed by a thud. Seth stopped. Those noises were coming from upstairs. Upstairs was Kendra.

"Attic, now!" Seth screamed. He darted up the stairs as fast as he could. He swung the door open. It slammed into the wall, leaving a doorknob-shaped hole in its wake.

Seth was the first one to step inside, the others not far behind. He paused when he saw Kendra holding the frying pan where the greatest discovery of his short life had nearly taken place, drenched in sweat.

Kendra quieted them before the questions could burst forth. "I...I think...I know...to save them." With that she fell to the floor unconscious for the second time that week. At least she hadn't hurt her leg during the fall. Seth was upon her immediately.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

*the cliffhangers are never ending, I'm sorry. It's just not gonna stop. You guys are the best! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Also nice guesses guys, you should find out very, very soon. So...who do we know that chills down in the dungeon? Find out next time. Same bat time, next bat channel (couldn't help myself :D). Until next time dudes*