Keeping Up With The Browns IV
The meal was more than sumptuous; delicate sourness combined with a fresh citrusy aftertaste and that was just the seafood and bass dish at the center of the table. Even the side dishes and orange-hued rice plates were a delicacy in their own right.
If there was anything to be learned from that meal was that Linda was certainly a witch, one that cast spells of delicious food and full belly. In fact, Irwin enjoyed that meal so much that he had forgotten his worries about Suzie Anne and Nima's sister.
It wasn't until Ellen stopped him before he could enter his room that he shook off the magical trance.
"I was calling you, boy." Ellen scolded, eyes narrowing in confusement.
Irwin shook his head before answering, "What? Sorry. Just felt good, is all."
"That's the problem." She muttered under her breath before grabbing him by the shoulder and leading him into his room. "Close the door and lock it."
Irwin tilted his head, confused by her actions before his eyes widened as he remembered his worries. He closed his eyes and tuned out Ellen's worried voice before activating Spell Purge.
His body involuntarily shivered as his once dormant magical power pulsed like erratic rave music and purged his whole body free of active spells or hex. The process took far longer than he feared, arm hair raising up to the sudden influx of warm energy.
Before long, however, the process stopped and so did the inebriated sensation in his body.
"Goddamn." He cursed, checking his status.
■■
[Irwin Bellios]
▪︎ Physical Health: 99%
▪︎ Stamina: -89%
▪︎ Magik Reserves: -62%
---
▪︎ Physical Effects:
▪︎ Mental Effects:
---
▪︎ Resistance/s: Greater Werewolf Curse; Minor Poisoning; Lesser Spell; Lesser Pain
▪︎ Weakness/es:
▪︎ Blessing/s:
▪︎ Curse/s:
▪︎ Mark/s: Claimed Consort
…
[Charlotte Patricia Barbaro-Pamphili]
▪︎ Physical Health: 99%
▪︎ Stamina: 99%
▪︎ Magik Reserves: 99%
▪︎ Dominator's View: Trusted Companion
---
▪︎ Physical Effects: Initial Atrophy
▪︎ Mental Effects: Restoration Cycle
■■
"Oh, fuck me." While he was happy that Charlotte's mind was restoring to full health, it had infuriated him that he was once again unknowingly placed with an unknown Mark.
It didn't sound good either, with Claimed Consort being a particularly rancid combination of words. If he guessed right, a person here could put him in an enchanted state–no matter how low of a level it was–and marking him without his knowing.
"What? What happened to you?" Ellen asked, right hand dropping to the back of her pants.
"Don't shank me. Just removed an enchantment on me." Irwin cracked his knuckles as he twisted his wrist and out came a dozen weapons that softly landed on the king-sized bed.
The room itself was grand, big enough to house two adults or five kids. Although it was a singular room, it had been clearly made with flexible partitions in mind. There was a section for the kitchen, bedroom, and a small living room with a small bathroom next to the balcony.
Ellen stood beside him as anger flared in his eyes. She seized the Angel Sword on the mattress and caressed its hilt. "I'm guessing you found out what we did."
"Yeah. Turns out, I may be a powerful witch, but I don't have the instinct of an old hound like you guys," Irwin said lamentably. "Someone's fucking us and Congressman Brown over. Thank fuck, it's removable. I need him alive for my plans to work. Suspects are Nima, her sister, Suzie Anne, the cook, and Linda Brown. I don't know if there's a conspiracy afoot or if they're all working together."
"Linda's good and so is Mamud." Ellen informed him. "Suzie Anne went with Dean earlier, but I still haven't talked to the guy. Bobby's interested in the blacksmith. Said something about the mark on her wrist being familiar."
"Alright. How many weapons do you have in your person?"
Ellen dropped the sword and raised three fingers. "Two small nose-clips and a silver hunting knife."
"Take any you like, preferably small, because you don't have anything to store it in. I'll meet with Dean, then we'll go to the Congressman. You go to Bobby, head towards the second floor. That's where they're operating the surveillance system. Brown installed a dozen cameras and, if we're lucky, he might have one in the kitchen."
"And we're looking for suspects or monsters?" Ellen grabbed both grenades as she asked.
"Both, maybe. I'm going to check right now." A blue cylindrical contraption appeared in his hands. A glass pane on one end revealed a dozen small gears and cogs rotated slowly inside. There was no seam, button, or switch in the base of blue material, but there was a red button on the other end of the contraption–just waiting to be pushed.
Irwin did push and the smooth blue base pulsed as seams separated the base, protruding out three rusty hook-ends that, if Irwin guessed right, would be planted on the ground and act as the stabilizer of the Intruder's Demarcation.
"What are you doing?" Ellen asked, but Irwin paid her no heed as he stabbed the hook-ends into the carpeted floor and pressed the big red button.
For a moment, nothing happened, but soon they find the sound of cogwheels growing louder and faster. Within ten seconds, the sound had filled the room as the button grew darker and almost illuminated the whole room.
A thunderous boom reverberated across the room, reeling in Irwin's chest and, from the sounds of gasping, Ellen's too. Before long, the glaring red light subsided and revealed that the contraption had transformed into an oscillating device that pounded its glass end into the ground.
■■
Intruder's Demarcation has been activated
System Synergy Detected
All offensive skills are increased by 10%
All defensive skills are increased by 10%
All utility skills are increased by 10%
All special skills are increased by 10%
Stealth Identification Active
Invisibility Identification Active
Mini-map Active
■■
The following Mystical Items have synergized with Ruler's Demarcation:
Pinkerton Cursed Earring- Species Identification
■■
Without so much as a warning, two messages appeared on his retina. The messages aligned with what he had guessed from the description of the mystical time with another ability that he loved.
The mini-map, if activated, appeared on his left-most view. It was semi-transparent and had a range of fifty feet; Ellen, who was right beside him, was a blue circle on the mini-map while he was considered a green circle.
"Hot damn." Excitement coursed through his body as he gazed at Ellen and smirked. "We'll meet at the dining room in thirty minutes. Are you ready?"
Ellen cocked her head and her snub-nosed revolver. "I'm a hunter, boy. I'm always ready."
●●●Linda Brown●●●
She was not a nosey woman by nature, but there was something within her beloved Anthony's erratic emotions that alarmed her senses. It was bizarre to think a man so composed even at the most hysterical events would be this differential to a young man.
From her research–and that of Anthony's campaign office–Richard Greythorne was but one of the world's many rich second-generation sons that treat morality and laws as nothing but boring tradition and worthless guidelines, respectively.
She had hated that kind of men during her stay in her home country, for their despotic attitude had created an epidemic of corruption and incertitude that had caused the death of her father.
Still, she had told herself that she would give Richard a chance to prove his difference to the others and, if she was being perfectly honest, he had passed her test with flying records.
He was nothing but lovely to her during their first meeting, albeit she could still see the playboy nature of the man as his eyes roamed around her face and Suzie Anne's body.
Even during the dinner, Richard had thoroughly enjoyed himself with her home-cooked food whilst regaling her with tales of his past voyage to other states in the country. His questions were nuanced and hit right into her politics. Clearly, Anthony had told Richard of her dissident nature in her past.
Yet as the dinner went on, there was certainly a bizarre vibe coming off Richard's friends; mostly from the older ones, as the handsome one, Dean, was busy eye-flirting with Suzie Anne.
She entered the surveillance room, the largest room on the second floor of the apartment building. It was originally two rooms that faced the street, but Anthony had demolished the wall that separated the room.
Two dozen screens showed off the sight of no less than a hundred cameras, strategically placed to have no natural blind spots. Even if there was one, Anthony, in the last few months, had added extra guards to buff off the weak spots in our security.
"Ma'am." The sole watchman greeted, lingering on her face for a moment before returning to his work.
"Sorry. We just had some visitors, and I wanted to check what they're up to." She said, explaining her reason for being here.
The watchman grinned, chuckling lightly as he took out his partner's stool. "Go ahead, ma'am. You need help with the controls?"
"No, thank you." She sat gracefully and began changing the views of the four screens in front of her. " Why don't you take a break? I'll be here for a while."
The watchman furrowed his brows, clearly contemplating how much he loved his job, before shrugging his shoulders and standing up. "Please knock on the door when you're done."
"Will do." She replied.
She didn't hear him exit the room as her focus was intensely directed towards the camera pointed to the eastern hallway of the fourth floor. In it, Dean was clearly talking to Suzie Anne, their hands feeling each other's body in hot and heavy action.
She would have normally left them alone–God knew how much Suzie Anne loved handsome young men like him–but there was something in her best friend's eyes that left her in shivers.
In place of her usual bright blue eyes lay a deep crimson coloration with hints of violet hue that ravaged her irises like lightning tearing through a storm. Gooseflesh mounted her skin, fear taking in as Suzie Anne looked directly at the camera and past Dean's head before smiling at her.
No, something behind her.
She felt the hot air tickling the back of her skin before a familiar voice rang behind her.
"How's my granddaughter doing?"