Juniper Halls

Fern-

I kicked my shoes off, purple high heels weren't practical for cleaning and began to hoover the floor.

"Anyway," I said, over the hum of the vacuum. "There's a letter from Briar. She says that she wants to meet in town on Sunday, like we agreed."

"I thought as much. How's Aunt Rosemary?"

"Ghastly, apparently," I said. "Evil stepmother type I guess."

Violet sighed as she cleaned under the bedside lamp. "She always was. I feel sorry for those two. I mean, true, we've got to work practically twenty four seven, but at least Desmonda's decent, and there's good company."

"Yeah," I paused. "She says they'll try to get into town on Sunday but they can't guarantee it. For noon."

"Well, we'll just go in and hope they turn up," Violet said. I turned the vaccuum off.

"Come on, let's do this bed," she said, taking the pile of clean sheets off our trolley.

We spread the first sheet out over the bed. "I told that guy Max that we'd have a game of cards during lunch with him."

I raised my eyebrows. "Cards? With us?"

She nodded.

"He strikes me as a bit of a lost soul," I said. "I don't know, gambling to get closure, something like that?"

Violet rolled her eyes. "Why do you alway jump to the fairytale conclusion?"

I shrugged, tucking the bottom corner under the mattress. "It's more fun that way," I said.

James-

He wasn't sure about playing with the girls. He didn't know how much longer he could stay at Desmonda's. He had talked to her about a job, but since he still didn't have an id she was skeptical. He paced his room, ignoring his buzzing cell phone. One day he would answer it, one day.

He went down stairs around noon and waited for the girls to come. He heard the front door open and a familiar chill swept the room.

"How can I help you boys?" Desmonda asked somewhat alert, she too could feel the chill.

"We're uh looking for a James Hill." James froze, how had they found him so fast this time. Usually he could move between cities in the same area before they got close. They being the "collectors," or so they called themselves.

"i'm sorry, we don't have a James Hill staying here." she answered.

"Maybe you have a Colin Shrew, David Daniels, Luke Anderson, or maybe a Gail Debbs?" All of the fake identities he had used so far, how could they know all of this?

"Sorry boys, the last check in we had was Max Renolds." She opened the front door.

"Could we meet him, he might be our guy?" there was a hesitant silence.

"Who are you?" She asked, a hint of worry in her tone.

"Brooklyn P.D." There was a shuffle of clothing which probably meant they were showing badges, fake badges.

"Oh, yes I'll get Max for you."

James quickly stood and flew up the stairs to his room, briefly noticing as he passed Violet and Fern.

"Max!" They called after him, soon chorused with Desmonda. He was in his room, throwing everything in his bag, the cell phone stil ringing.

*sorry thought I would move the story along.*

Fern-

He had locked the door from the inside. I grabbed my master key from my belt and unlocked it.

He looked round at me. "Lock the door. Please. I have to get out of here."

"Max, what's going on?" I asked, looking at his bag.

"I have to go," he said.

"Your name's not really Max is it?"

"And they're not really police," he said, moving over to the window.

"It's restrained, you can't get out that way," I said.

He ran a hand through his hair, wildly.

"Vi will hold them off. But not until you tell me what on earth is going on," I said.

James-

"Look," he said, dropping the fake american accent, "It is really really complicated, and if I involved you there is a very high chance that you could get hurt. And I, I couldn't forgive myself if you got hurt." At first she looked at him, a little suprised over the sudden voice change, then she brushed it off and snapped back to her argument.

"Max-"

"James."

"James, right. I am old enough to take care of myself. Let me help you."

"You don't understand, nobody understands. i just have to get out of here, now." There was a knock at the door.

"James, we know you are in there." It was a familiar voice, it was Glenn. His expression must have a priceless one of shock because that was one twist in the story he never expected. "Come out now! We're here to help you."

"Who is that?" Fern asked.,

"My brother." James began to pace and bite his nails. He needed a cigarette.

He heard from the other side of the door, "Break it down boys."

Violet

As soon as Fern entered Max's room and shut the door behind her, I knew my choice was made. It wasn't just him I was protecting; it was my sister. I stood in the corridor, arms braced against the walls, blocking the way. Desmonda looked up at me, her expression etched with worry.

The first man pushed past Desmonda and flashed his badge in my face, clearly expecting me to step aside. I did not.

"I believe an official search warrant is required," I said as calmly as I could manage.

"She's right actually," Desmonda agreed. "If you just show me the proper documents..." her voice trailed off as three more men passed her and a fifth took hold of her arm and clamped his hand over her mouth. I opened my own to shout a warning but suddenly one of the men had bounded up the stairs and he covered my mouth and wrapped a strong, crushing hand around me, dragging me out of the way.

One of the men knocked on the door.

"James, we know you are in there." He spoke with a familiar tone and he twisted the handle, scowling when he found the door to be locked.

Fern-

I stared at him. "Okay, Max, James, whatever the hell your name is, I hope you're not afraid of heights."

I pulled his arm and took him into the bathroom.

"There's a skylight," I said, pointing up. "Do you reckon you can get through there?"

He looked up. "It'll be a squeeze, but I should make it."

"You haven't seen the end of us though. We're caught up in this now." I took his phone out of his hand. "When you're safe, ring me on this," I told him. He looked a little shocked that I had taken it. "And then I want a full explanation."

He looked at his bags.

"There's no time to get those, go on!" I said, as there was a heavy banging on the door.

James-

James nodded and turned then stopped himself. He turned back to Fern and pulled her into a kiss, he was not exactly sure what he was doing, but he pretended all the same. He smiled and said, "just in case." Then climbed up into the skylight and onto the roof. He was on a lower portion of the roof since his room had been on a lower level, so it was a short drop to the ground. He ran around the side of the house, spotting another one of his brothers. He pulled his hat low over his face, then he spotted Hogarth. Perfect. He walked as calmly as he could to where Hogarth's taxi cab was parked.
"Max!" He said a little too loudly. His brother, John, looked up and began striding over to the two.
"Get in the car Hogarth, hurry!" Hogarth understood and got in the car as quickly as his bad legs would allow. They were off before John made it half way there.
"What's going on?" Hogarth asked looking in the review mirror.
"It's complicated, would you know anywhere else I could stay?"

(Since JFW's call was rather left hanging, I'll give it somewhere to go.)

[Aidan]

Dad was acting rather odd, and I was sick of it. Everything seemed to be odd right now, and I just wanted it to be normal. It's like, you leave for a few days, come back, and everything's gone to hell in a hand basket. It appeared that Dad was about to spill the beans on why everything was so messed up, though, so at least that was good. No more Aidan floundering around in the dark.

Instead of speaking, Dad simply handed me a letter. It was from Briar and Willow, which made no sense because they lived next door, but I didn't question. After finishing, I felt instantly horrible. Horrible, because I had been eager to know, and now…

"Dead?" I repeated, voice hollow.

Dad nodded.

"Damn…"

I thought about Holly. Her actions and words made sense now, but… well, she had lied to me. Straight out. And surely she knew I would figure it out eventually, and what then? I felt terrible, and I wanted to help. First, however, I wanted Holly to get a grip. What did she think she could gain by driving me away? Later, than, I would try and meet up with the others… but that would have to wait.

Seizing the nearest phone, I dialed the number to the Donovan house. Holly picked up.

"Hello?"

"This is Aidan, Holly."

"Oh…"

"Look, I just found out what happened to your mom. I'm a little sad that you couldn't… well, you lied, and I'm a little upset about it, because you know all I want to do is help you and your sisters through this, and pushing me away won't help. Well, I don't think it will. And I know this isn't like me, and I'm sorry, but I really do just want to help, and in some way other than just shallow "I'm sorry"s and all that. Now you can hang up, or tell me to shut up, or whatever, but that's just how I feel."

(All yours to continue, JFW.)

Thanks Phindin! It's going to be kind of short, but you can finish...it's late here.

[Holly]

"You don't need to do anything, Aiden," Holly said. She sunk back onto her bed, letting the puffy comforter surround her. "Every thing's fine."

"Obviously it isn't fine. Why'd you lie to me?"

"I just did."

"But why?" Aiden persisted. Holly bit her lip, forcing herself not to yell at him. There was a pause before he spoke again. "Holly?"

"Why's it matter?" Holly shouted, snapping. She stood up, bringing her comforter falling to the ground by her feet. "My mom's dead; so what? Why should you care? The only reason you called is so you can talk to my sister. Well guess what; she's not here. None of them are. Just me and my amazing little dad." Sarcasm dripped from her voice, and she let out a small laugh.

Sorry it's not too good; I keep writing in here when it's late. Looks like you and I will have to keep each others' characters alive, huh, Phindin? Until the other sisters come home on Sunday? This will be interesting...

Violet

"Break it down," the man who had spoken before commanded, stepping out of the way to let two others through. They were carrying crow-bars. I struggled to get free and launched a kick at one of the men and he paused but only to consider me with a deep frown.

"What are we going to do with the women?" he demanded.

"The usual," the 'leader' replied in a tone that chilled me. The usual? And what could that be?

"Glenn. Hey, Glenn, he's getting away. He must have climbed out a window or something!" A voice hollered from downstairs.

"Let's go," Glenn snarled.

"But the women, they might know something..."

"Kill them or bring them, I don't care. Whichever's quickest."

Briar

"Sit down." She said. I sat, and she took a seat opposite me. "Briar,"she began, "I will not tolerate disobidience in my household."

I looked at her levelly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She acted as if she hadn't heard me. "Now, your poor mother, God rest her soul, may have tolerated these kinds of high-jinxs, but I'm not going to stand for it, do you hear me?"

"Don't you talk about my mother like that." I snapped, getting to my feet.

"Now, you watch your tone, young lady! Like it or not, you're a guest in my house..."

I laughed mirthlessly. "A guest? A maid, morelike."

Her face was flushing. She got to her feet. "Don't give me that cheek! As long as you're under my roof..."

"Well maybe I won't be under your roof much longer! I never asked to come here." I made for the door.

"Come back here, you pup! We need to set down some ground rules."

"No need." I replied coolly, heading up the stairs without looking back.

Once in the bedroom, I leaned up against the door and shut my eyes, trying to regain my composure, to stop my heart from pounding so frantically, to keep my fingers from trembling, to ease my thoughts away from how undetterably angry I was.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"Just a little argument with our charming host." I sighed.

Downstairs in the hall, I could hear Aunt Rosemary talking on the phone;
" just don't know what to do, Robert...I know, I know, you didn't see her...but I can't...now, be reasonable, don't you think...well I see where she gets her temper from!"

"Does she have another phoneline?" I asked Willow in a whisper. I wasn't quite sure why I was whispering.

"No!" I said. "I'll tell you everything," I said, quickly inventing in my head. I had never been good at telling stories, the truth, or, most of the truth would have to do.

"He told us his name was Max. I have it written down in the log and everything. He said he lost his ID, we made him pay up front, you can look, it's all in there."

"We don't care, where's he gone?" One of the men growled.

"He, I tried to stop him-" At this, I did the most dishonourable thing to do at that moment and forced myself to cry. "But he was too strong. He pushed me down and... he must have been looking for an escape route before, because he went out of the skylight, his bags are still here, I don't know where he's gone."

I crossed my fingers that none of that would get him into more trouble than he already was. But we were no good to him dead or being held by his pursuers. The men began to debate amongst themselves whether I was telling the truth or not. I shot Violet a terrified look, a matching one was on her face.

But I couldn't help hiding a smile as I brushed the place his lips had met mine before he left.

You better come back James...

[Aidan]

I closed my eyes, a soft sigh escaping my lips. I was sad again. True to my earlier word, I didn't know Holly very well--even so, I doubted she acted this way normally. Duh, Aidan. She's upset. Her mom's dead. You know nothing about how that feels.

Yet I wasn't going to back down.

"I knew it was just you," I replied softly. "I got a letter from Willow and Briar. It explained everything, about your... mom and how you guys were separated. So I wanted to talk to you, yeah?"

(I typically dislike writing for other people's characters, so I'll just stop there. >>)

[Holly]

"Oh, you wanted to talk to a poor little girl with a dead mother? How sweet; you're a saint," Holly shot back, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Holly, that's not what I meant-"

"I don't care what you meant. Just leave me alone!" Holly slammed the phone back on the reciever, the plastic clanging together. Her jaw ached from being clenched so tightly, and her breathing was ragged.

"Oh my god; he just won't quit!" she said to herself, running her hand through her hair. She dropped down to the floor, her body shaking. It was just too much.

Down the hall she heard her father's loud cries, but she refused to be so public about her emotions. She pressed her face against the pillow that lay by her feet and muffled her sobs in the fabric.

She just wanted to forget her mother, but everywhere she turned, someone was there to remind her.

Eh, short again. Sorry I'm being so mean to your guy, Phindin! *Cowers behind emotional Holly*

Violet

"Don't you worry miss, we'll catch him," Glenn said, striding down the stairs and gesturing for his men to follow. They hesitated a moment and then released each of us and left. Afterall, what could we do? Call the police? Tell them some boy who may or may not be called James is being chased by someone who might be called Glenn?

"Those guests will be coming soon," Desmonda said quietly. "I'll see to this room. Fern, go sit at the desk and Violet, could you go around and assure the guests that everything's okay?" I stared at her. She appeared to be calm though her body shook a little. How could she just brush this aside? And with such ease!

"Please?"

"Okay. I'll talk to the guests."