Chapter 14.

We started back towards the house. Just then, I heard a loud noise. "What was that?" I said, turning to Jesse. The sound started to get louder and seemed to be getting closer. It almost sounded like a gun, but I couldn't tell for sure. "Hurry up, let's get inside" said Jesse, quickening his pace. Jesse put his hand on the holster on his side. He whipped the gun out and aimed it at the front driveway. Just then, two men wearing masks pulled up to the driveway, got out of their car, and started running towards us. "Stay behind me Jenny" said Jesse, starting to sprint. Jesse and I were running side by side, I was on the side away from the men. Jesse cocked back his gun and pulled the trigger.

"What's going on?" Andi shouted as we made it to the door. "We're under attack," said Jesse. Jesse made his way across the room, screaming to find Conner. Conner spirited upstairs, "Already on it Jesse" said Conner as he typed away in his computer. Just then, metal panels covered the windows, doors, and rooftop. Elena and Lacy came upstairs, Elena had a remote in her hand. After pressing a red button, the television disappeared into the wall, revealing a giant case full of guns. "Alright party people pick your poison" said Elena, grabbing the biggest gun from the case and cocking it back, "Show time".

Luka came running in the room, "What do we have, Conner". "Five on the ground, two in the sky, and looks like four in the car. They have masks on, I've never seen these people before" said Conner, eyeing a screen. "Elena can you get on the roof?" said Jesse, taking a look at the camera. "Yes, Conner put the reflection pad up" said Elena, putting more bullets in her pocket. Conner pressed a button on his computer, allowing a ladder to fall from the ceiling. Elena started climbing up the ladder when I began to hear even more gunshots.

I then heard Jesse and Andi bickering in the other room. "Elena can take out the ones in the car, I'm worried about the flyers" said Jesse, looking at the computer. "You and I can get the ones on the ground, Lacy can gas em', Elena will be fine as long as Conner can keep that shield up" said Andi. "Jesse, I agree with Andi, I can help you guys on the ground" started Luka. "What can I do?" Becca said. "You and Jenny go with Claire," said Jesse. Claire glared at Jesse, "Fine, c'mon".

Claire ushered us downstairs, "You guys need to stay down here" she said, looking somewhat concerned. "Wait what?" yelled Becca as Claire started to walk back up the stairs. "You can't expect us to stay down here and not do anything". "What is even happening" I shouted up the stairs. "You two are going to need to stop being sissies, this place will kill you two if you don't grow up" shouted Claire back at me. Then there was a loud boom. Becca and I looked upstairs, looked at each other, then ran up the stairs.

"Jesse you take my right, Luka you take my left" shouted Andi, wrapping her knuckles. Jesse cracked his neck, then nodded at Andi. "I can give you guys some cover, but it won't last for long" said Lacy, pouring a strange looking liquid in a vile. "Lacy, have Elena cover you, drop it in front of us" said Jesse. Conner pressed a button, allowing the ladder to come down again. Lacy ran up the stairs and started shouting at Elena.

I noticed everyone had earpieces in. Jesse pressed on his, "Lacy, drop it now". Andi swung the door open, Jesse and Luka following behind. A giant wave of a greenish smoke arose from the ground, covering Andi, Jesse, and Luka. I ran over to Conner, eyeing the cameras outside. "What's going on?" I said, "what are they doing?". "Just calm down Jenny, they are pros at this. This is a typical Tuesday night" Conner laughed.

Two men jumped out of their car, cocking back their guns. All of a sudden, I heard a gunshot, and one of the men fell to the ground. I looked at the rooftop camera, to see Elena aiming towards the men with her gun. Jesse whipped out his gun and shot the other man. Just then, a girl with jet black hair, incredibly pale, and green eyes jumped out of the car, running towards Andi. "Bad move kid" yelled Andi. The girl threw a punch at Andi, only for her fist to be caught, and her arm rotated backwards, releasing her from Andi's grip. Another man came running towards Andi, he looked almost identical to the girl. He grabbed the girl, and they disappeared.

Luka pushed on his earpiece, yelling "Conner, how many left?". "Two are running back to their car, but the rest are dead" he said. The car sped out of the driveway. "Jesse, what now" said Andi, staring at the car. "I got the plate number" shouted Luka. "How's it looking in the sky, Elena?" said Andi. "They're heading west, they're clearly trying to blend in. Should I take the shot?" said Elena, her voice muffled by the wind. "No, don't waste your bullets" overrode Jesse. "We have the plate, their car details, and their bullet shells".

Everyone gathered in the living room. "What do we know?" said Luka. "Conner can view their plates". Conner zoomed into the recorded camera footage. "They have a black SUV, plate number MV095RB…". Then I noticed something in particular. What looked like a logo on the side of the car. "Wait, Conner zoom in on the side of the car" I started. "Do you see that?" I said, looking at Jesse. A black, barely noticeable circle with a triangle in the middle was engraved on the side of the car.

"Oh my God" said Andi, "That's the Santoro mark. Those assholes tried to ambush us, AGAIN!" she shouted. "J, no one would have noticed that. I think I found out what your specialty is" said Jesse. "Attention to detail". "I was able to see the two that got away, plus the driver. Two girls and a guy. There was a different girl driving, the other two jumped in the back" said Elena.

"The one girl had black hair, and was grossly pale, and had green eyes" I spoke up "the guy looked the same, they looked like twins". "The Santoro twins… I should've known they would have sent their best" said Jesse, getting angry at himself. "Becca, can you try to find any information about them?" said Luka, turning around. "Yeah, I can try" said Becca, pulling out her phone. Becca and I were sitting on the couch, trying to find information about the twins.

Becca and I had been pulling up information for a while, not finding anything. Until I heard Becca say, "Hey Jesse, come look at this". "Did you find anything?" said Jesse. "It says here the Santoro family is the second richest family in the United States" said Becca. "Well then who's the first?". "That would be me," said Jesse. Becca just put her head down, embarrassed by her previous statement.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Elena quickly cocked her gun, Conner ran behind his computer, Andi shot her head up, and Jesse shot his arm across Becca and I. "Guys, we're about to look like the biggest group of idiots," said Conner, looking up from his computer and walking to the door. Conner opened the door, revealing a mail carrier. "I have a letter here for Jesse Marinos," said the man. "Thanks, I'll take it," said Jesse, walking towards the door.

As Conner shut the door, everyone started laughing at each other. "Okay guys, we seriously need to calm down" said Lacy, putting down her viles. "Who's it from Jesse?" said Andi. "There isn't a return address on it, just our address and my name…" said Jesse, trying to open it. I got up from the chair and looked over Jesse's shoulder. Jesse pulled out a giant piece of clearly expensive paper.

Jesse Marinos et al.,

You are cordially invited to this year's grand charity ball at the Russo estate. Please arrive at the west entrance at approximately six o'clock on July twelfth. We hope you will be joining us.

Shane Russo

Jesse made an annoyed face after reading the letter. "Who was that from?" I asked. "My brother," said Jesse angrily. He ripped the letter and stormed off. "What the hell?" said Andi. She rushed over and attempted to put the letter back together in order to read it. "I didn't know Jesse had a brother," I said to Andi. "Jesse hates his guts. Shane is his step brother, after his mom died, Jesse stayed with his dad, who then remarried and had Shane".

"That's enough Andi" whispered Luka, assuming Jesse was standing right behind the door. "Jesse, c'mon man" said Luka trying to get him back inside. "I think I'll try to talk to him," I said, walking towards the door. "That may not be the best idea J," said Andi. I opened the door, not seeing Jesse. I had a pretty good assumption to where he would be. The pier. I started down the beach when I saw him. He was sitting on the wooden dock, just like I had suspected.

"Hey Jesse," I said from behind him. "I know you're upset; do you want to talk about it?". "My brother is an asshole," said Jesse, staring at the water. "I'm not going". "Jesse be reasonable. He's your brother, I'm sure whatever he did wasn't that bad…" I said. "So, stealing all of your fathers money, then killing him isn't that bad, Jenny?" said Jesse, finally turning around. "I'm not going". "I'm sorry Jesse," I said.

I decided to give him some space. So I started to walk back to the house. Once I got to the door, I could hear Luka and Andi fighting. "What's going…" I started. "Don't ask" yelled Andi, throwing a punch at Luka. Lacy came over to me, grabbed my arm, and walked me into the other room. "Take it downstairs you two" shouted Lacy. "Luka and Andi get into fights like this all the time. Andi thinks she knows what's best for Jesse, I agree with Andi, but Luka thinks he does, so instead of agreeing on something, they both duke it out" said Lacy.

"Are you serious?" I said, peering my head through the doorway. "I think Jesse needs to clear things up with his brother," said Lacy. "The letter did say Jesse Marinos et al.… so do you think that he would do it if we all went?" I asked. "Maybe if you asked him…" said Lacy implying that he would answer to me. "I doubt it, I went to talk to him, and he got really defensive," I said.

Just then, Jesse came in the house. "I'm going to pick up a pizza," said Jesse. "Jenny, do you want to come with me?". "Uh, sure," I said. I looked at Lacy, who winked at me. I rolled my eyes and turned around. Jesse and I walked out the door and headed towards the garage.