Author's note: Hello! Well, this is what I've got for chapter 2! And it's longer so yay! Enjoy! (:
*****
Natalie smiled to herself as she shampooed her hair for the third time in Ivy's shower. She was still managing to find streaks of red and green even as she vigorously lathered her head, trying her best to scrub all the paint out.
Ivy's genius idea of throwing paint filled balloons from the third floor balcony had been incredibly successful. The abstract art that now coated a significant portion of the pavement below was bound to stay there for at least a day or two before mildly irritated gardeners would be made to hose it away.
But after the driveway was fully coated, Ivy decided Natalie would make a beautiful canvas, and before Natalie even knew what was happening, Ivy had pinned her to the stone balcony floor and was slathering her in red and green paint straight from the bottle. But Natalie wasn't about to be outdone, and managing to grab some blue and yellow, went to town on Ivy's face. Both girls had ended up looking like Pollock paintings.
This was what she missed, Natalie thought to herself as she twisted her hair up in a fluffy white towel and stepped out of the shower. Being completely and utterly childish with Ivy was being home. At culinary school, Natalie was required to maintain a professional demeanor, but that was difficult to maintain around Ivy who insisted that people who behaved all the time were all secretly miserable. And Ivy also insisted that she and Natalie, who were 22 and 23 respectively, had many years ahead of them in which they could have sticks up their own asses, but now was not that time.
Slipping on underwear and a bra, some silk pink pajama bottoms and matching camisole, Natalie opened the bathroom door to find Ivy in her robe, already under the covers and in bed, grinning and holding a glass of champagne while simultaneously eating from an enormous bowl of popcorn.
Natalie raised an eyebrow, "And do Sam and Elana know you're drinking?"
Ivy opened up the covers, "They're not even here, so we won't worry about that right now," she said, and seeing Natalie hesitate, patted the spot next to her, "Come on in, the water's fine." She said with a quick raise of her eyebrows and a cheeky smile.
Natalie rolled her eyes but laughed. Ivy was lucky her parents were out of town attending a diplomatic dinner, accompanied by James, or else there was no question that Ivy would never be getting away with this, Natalie thought, recalling the first time Ivy drank.
She remembered getting a phone call in the middle of the night from a flustered, wine-drunk Ivy, who hysterically claimed that monkeys were coming in through the windows and that she couldn't feel her legs.
At the time Natalie was truly frightened, and had immediately called the family doctor who rushed over to the mansion, a confused Sam and Elana greeting her at the door. Explaining the situation, the three hurried to Ivy's room and found her on the floor holding a half empty bottle of red wine, hiding from the monkeys under a make-shift blanket fort, unable to move.
Dr. Petersen, who assured Sam and Elana that Ivy would be completely fine, explained that Ivy's extreme reaction to the alcohol was due to a poor reaction with one of her medications, causing her to lose her bearings and make her think she can't move. Really there was nothing wrong, just some miscommunication between brain and body.
Overall, she would be entirely alright in a couple hours time, and she could drink, just in extreme moderation, otherwise her symptoms would return. The good news did nothing to save Ivy from the tongue-lashing of a lifetime from Sam and Elana, but now that Ivy was assuredly still healthy, Natalie found the whole situation to be absolutely hilarious, and constantly teased an embarrassed Ivy about it.
Climbing into bed carefully so as to not spill the bowl of popcorn, Natalie accepted the glass of champagne from Ivy's offered hand. Since Natalie rarely drank and Ivy's condition heightened the effect of alcohol, even the light champagne they were drinking made them incredibly giggly while they watched Ivy's favorite movie, The Terminator. And because it was Ivy's favorite movie, of course Natalie had seen it just as many times as she had.
When the police station scene came on, both Natalie and Ivy shouted, "I'LL BE BACK" in their best Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, and cheered when he crashed through the wall, bad ass as always.
Natalie had cut herself off at two glasses of champagne since she was already feeling the room spin slightly, but Ivy had gone for a third and then a little bit more, under the watchful eye of Natalie, and had fallen asleep before she could hallucinate any monkeys.
Natalie thought about telling Ivy to stop, but considering it was her one chance to drink without repercussions, she had let Ivy have her fun. Plus, she would be there the whole night, and Dr. Petersen was only a phone call away, so there was nothing to worry about.
The movie had now ended with Sarah driving off into the desert towards an unknown future, and it was nearing 2 am. Getting up and out of bed with a yawn, Natalie removed the champagne bottle and popcorn bowl from the bed and tucked Ivy in, picking out stray pieces of popcorn that had fallen around her and in her hair. Hesitantly Natalie moved Ivy's body into a more comfortable sleeping position, but Ivy stayed fast asleep and continued to softly snore.
Letting the towel fall from her hair and using it to dry her scalp, Natalie went about turning off all the bedroom lights, then went over to the windows to close the tall floor-to-ceiling curtains.
Glancing out of the window, by chance, Natalie noticed no one was in the gatehouse, which struck her as odd. Her dad had required 24 hour surveillance for the mansion, and she knew a guard should be in there, so why couldn't she see anyone?
Not thinking much of it but still curious, Natalie scanned the area nearby and caught sight of what appeared to be a hand coming out of a shrub right next to the gatehouse. Natalie rubbed her eyes in shock, obviously her eyes must be playing tricks on her. It was dark, she must be imagining it, Natalie thought to herself.
There was no way that she was seeing a hand, an actual HAND, coming out of a bush? But already, though her mind denied it, Natalie could feel a pit in her stomach and knew it was possible something was very, very wrong. She knew better than to ignore her feeling, her father had taught her at least that much.
Closing the curtains quickly, Natalie ran over to Ivy's desk and whipped open her laptop. Hastily she opened the program she knew her father used to monitor the security cameras.
It's fine
, Natalie thought to herself, knowing she shouldn't be doing this, but also not worrying about getting in trouble with her dad at the moment,
I'll just do a quick scan of the cameras and make sure everything is how it should be
. Typing in the server name and password was no problem; she had done it 100 times before after Ivy's insistent begging that she wanted to spy on people.
Scanning each of the different cameras quickly but thoroughly, Natalie mentally worked her way through the whole house, naming each part of the mansion to herself and marking it as clear,
driveway, kitchen, hallway, dinning room, living room, sitting room, fo-
.
Natalie's thoughts abruptly stopped as she stared at the monitor, shocked. She counted five men, dressed in all black with masks and carrying guns, moving fluidly through the foyer and who were now making their way up the main staircase. They were clearly headed for the west wing, towards them, and Natalie could feel ice in her veins, the confusion warring with fear.
Who were these men and what could they possibly be doing here? Why hadn't the guards been able to keep them out? What were they planning to do? These questions and a million others ran through Natalie's head at lightning speed, and she could feel the panic begin to rise up in her chest.
Purposefully, Natalie shook her head and cleared her mind, knowing there was no time to let anxiety overtake her. With a deep breath, Natalie thought through the situation she now found herself in, shooting a concerned glance at Ivy. It was obvious that if these men had made it into the mansion that the Elvier's were the target. Luckily Sam and Elana were gone, so that only left Ivy to worry about.
Or
, Natalie thought grimly,
had this whole thing been planned specifically with Ivy in mind?
With Sam and Elana out of the picture, that left far less barriers in getting to Ivy. With that nauseating thought, Natalie sprung into action, the only thing on her mind being Ivy's safety.
Running over to the bed, Natalie ripped the covers off a still slumbering Ivy, shaking her by the arms, "Ivy! Wake up right now! Ivy!" Natalie sharply whispered.
Ivy rolled her head and moaned, but didn't wake up.
"Ivy! You have to wake up! Please wake up!" Natalie hissed, afraid to speak louder and give away their location. Natalie gently slapped Ivy's cheek with her hand, trying to get her to open her eyes, but Natalie realized it was a useless endeavor.
Oh shit,
Natalie thought to herself, not even seeing Ivy's eyelids flicker at anything she was doing.
Checking Ivy's pulse at her wrist and finding a normal and steady rhythm, Natalie sighed out of relief but also desperation, unsure of what to do next. What the hell was she going to do. Her idea was to wake Ivy up and run, but seeing that Ivy was definitely not rising anytime soon, it seemed that hiding was their only option.
Lifting Ivy out of the bed was easy. Natalie hooked one arm behind Ivy's back and under her armpit, and grabbed Ivy's hand and threw it around her own shoulders. Like that, Natalie managed to bring Ivy to the walk in closet, and looking around spotted a laundry hamper large enough for Ivy to fit behind and decided that it would have to do for now.
Adjusting Ivy on the floor of the closet so that she was properly hidden, Natalie prayed that nobody came looking. With Ivy's back supported by the wall, and her legs criss crossed, Natalie positioned the laundry hamper to completely block Ivy from view. It wasn't a superb location to hide, but at a quick glance nobody would be able to tell Ivy was there. Natalie crouched down next to the still sleeping Ivy and took Ivy's hands in hers. With a kiss to the forehead, Natalie promised Ivy, "I'll be back. Terminator style. You sit tight ok? I've got this."
Turning off the lights in the closet, Natalie closed the door, feeling some source of relief that Ivy was hidden.
Natalie knew she didn't have a lot of time for her next move. The men weren't very far from Ivy's room when she had last checked the cameras, and Natalie assumed that she had a minute or two at the most to formulate a plan.
She prayed that the guard stationed right at the west wing door had sounded the alarm, but knew that if these men had made it this far, it was doubtful that one more guard would stop them. While puzzling over what to do next, Natalie hurried as quietly as she could to the bedroom door and locked it, cringing at the loud click it made, but glad to have at least a locked door as a minor defense.
With the door now locked, Natalie decided her best move would be to arm herself. She hurried over to Ivy's nightstand, and grabbed the little folding blade she knew Ivy kept there to cut up pills that were too big to swallow. Folding the blade, Natalie shoved it into her bra. It wasn't the sharpest, but it would do if she were caught and tied up or handcuffed. She had spent hours with her dad learning how to get out of various situations if she were restrained, and intended to be ready if it came to that.
