Everyone was speechless. They never thought that Simon Becher was going as far as orchestrating a little show for them.
They knew that he had quite the wide connection, so seeing that the address in the invite was that of an historical mansion they weren’t all that surprised. Yes, both the location and the quality of the food was within their expetation.
However the appearance of a twilight angel in a starry background was something that they thought it could only belong into an artist’s canvas.
And so it was just a matter of fact that a second round of applause began again.
Simon was all over the moon by the cheer of the crowd, as shown by his enormous grin. And well, no one spoiled his mood. Instead they gave him even more compliments and asked him about his inspirations for tonight.
He, of course, was delighted at the genuine curiosity of the members, and was more than happy to explain everything to them.
Time flied between one explanation and another, and it was soon time to start with the main events of the gathering.
First on the list was the gift exchange. At those magic words, the members all puffed up their chests in pride. In a way, this part of the gathering was a way for the members to showcase their abilities, interests and a way to put their honor on the line.
A gift that did not have those things did not deserve to make an appearance here.
With everyone going back to where they left their gifts, Ariel confidently went back to the hallway to pick up her mystery surprise packets. She had prepared seven of them, just in case everyone decided to come.
And surprise, surprise! Everyone was here. It was a pity that no one could get seconds though.
When she went back to the main hall, everyone excluding Simon had something in hand. Seeing Ariel walking back inside, Simon nodded “Alright, let’s begin the gift exchange”
Grandma Ariel wanted to go first, so she raised her free hand with a smile. However Diego intercepted her first “Then I’ll go first!” with a boisterous laugh he distribuited a golden tag to each member.
After turning it over, Ariel noticed that the tag had a plumeria flower with a snake coiled around it engraved on the back.
Diego Maverick raised his chin up in pride before explaining “You can exchange that with a favor with me or my Wu Xing gang. Just show the boys the token and they’ll treat you like one of the bosses”
Among all of those present, the most excited one was Isla. Unknowingly, Diego had just given his underlings the punishment that was going to be known in the future as the worst torture ever thought by man.
Still full of excitement, Isla quickly distribuited a pair of devilish looking mittens crochetted for each member. Luckily for them, she did not start preaching about her sacrilegious views, for she looked to be thinking about something else entirely. Giggling even between herself from time to time.
Seeing that Lady Margot had no intention no move, Old Tom decided to go next.
“Ahem. Presenting to everyone: my latest invention” picking up one to show everybody, he placed it on his hand “The Dusting Silverfish 300”
It was a fist-sized blue hairy silverfish. Turning the key on its side, Old Tom put it on the ground and it started scurring around “Thanks to the bristles all around it, the Dusting Silverfish 300 can clean even the bottom of difficult to clean surfaces like under the couch or that akwards space in-between your cabinets”
Ariel thought that it would indeed be useful. She would not need to risk her back anymore to clean those places. That is, if the thing could get out by itself.
With the lackuster entusiasm shown by his audience, Old Tom sat down disappointedly. Ignoring the mood, the deaf Kobe Hawkins distribuited a thin book to each member.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Looking at the title, ‘War of the 17 Roses’, it was evident that it was from some niche historical collection. As expected of the history fanatic of the group.
Knowing that Kobe took good care of his collection, Ariel put it away with much care.
Next, the one that was quietly aknowledged as the oldest on of the group, got up and showed her gift.
Lady Margot opened an old wooden box. Inside were seven silvery coins, the image of a young woman with a crown facing up.
Everyone took one. Turning it around one could see the number 5 and a small engraving on the edges that read: ‘Votis MCCLIV. Beati in Aeternum’
Recognizing that it was likely an ancient coin, everyone thanked the Lady for the precious gift. At their thanks, Lady Margot gave them one of her rare smiles.
Some of them, like Simon started examining the coin to trace back its period. Meanwhile others simply put it away, their eyesight not good enough to examine it.
Glaring at Ariel, Claire Wattson was next. Grabbing everyone attention by coughing, she showed seven yellow envelopes “This is premium info specially tailored for each and everyone of you” with a smirk she continued “Be sure to read it at home, we don’t want for some of us to ruin the rest of the night”
The rest nodded. This was such a good gathering that none of them really wanted to ruin it with their personal problems. When it was Ariel’s turn to pick it up, Claire clenched the envelope tight. Grandma Ariel looked at her neighbor, whom had a forced smile plastered on her face.
“With this I’m paying for a safe return back home” at that Ariel simply smiled and yanked the enveloped from her hands.
“I’ll come knocking if it’s not good enough” Claire’s eyes first widened in horror, before glaring at her.
“My info is always top tier”
Granny Ariel nodded “Usually it is” before her neighbor could retort further, she showed off her gift. Seven red packets with each a different ribbon were presented in front of everyone.
“I’ve personally cooked it. Each of the filling is different and not even I know which is which anymore”
All of them picked their packet with a gaze filled with suspicion. They knew that she liked to pull pranks on them. When they opened it and found a fried rice ball inside, only Claire her neighbor and the deaf Kobe kept being skeptical.
The rest of the members visibly relaxed at the sight of the familiar food. They knew that it usually was filled with either fish or meat.
To not let down the old Ariel whom was looking at them with an expectant gaze, they bit into them. Claire and Kobe too ate the fried ball with evident esitation after seeing that there was no negative response from their fellow victims.
Then, just after a couple of bites they saw Old Tom falling over with his face frozen in a smile. Everyone stared at poor Tom on the ground, their expression turning grim.
As if Old Tom was just the first domino piece to fall, Simon and Claire both coughed out the spicy bite of food they had just swallowed. They both felt as if their throat was on fire.
With tears running down their faces they rushed towards the bottles of water in the alcol-free corner of the hall. Like people that had been lost in the desert and finally found an oasis, they drank as much and as fast as they could.
Seeing that, Kobe’s hands that were holding the half-eaten fried ball trembled. With great courage, he swallowed down the piece he had just bitten off.
“Hahaha” they’d recognize that laugh from everywhere. It was Ariel Willford, their attempted murderer that was busy slapping the poor Tom awake. Seeing that there was no reaction, she grabbed a small vial that had been hidden beneath her dress.
She uncorked it and put it under Old Tom’s nose. In a matter of seconds, the old man sprinted up on his legs, looking as if he had just been revived from the grave “Damn, I just saw my mother waving at me from the other side of the river” then, he looked at the crouching Ariel as if she were a devil “What did you put in there? It almost made me cross to the other side!”
Ariel calmly got up “Judging by your reaction you must’ve got the wasabi one. I had prepared two chili mix and two wasabi ones” she shot him a glance “The rest have normal filling. Some salmon, carrots, onions and pepper”
It was a four out of seven chance. He felt kind of relieved that he wasn’t that unlucky to get the only spicy one “And how much wasabi did you put inside?”
Granny Ariel looked away before answering “...A spoonful”
“You crazy b…!” Old Tom was ready to pounce onto her, but he was grabbed in time by the bald Diego.
“Old man, you know you’re no match for her” in response Old Tom just glared at him. When he stopped struggling, Diego let him go.
Looking more alive, Simon and Claire made their way back to the group. After knowing what happened with Old Tom, they felt quite lucky. They were ‘lucky’ enough to eat the chili ones!
It was then, with a dubious voice, that Isla Mishra asked the question that everyone had unconciously avoided “If Simon and Claire ate the chili ones, and Tom ate a wasabi one” she looked at the rest of the members with a grave expression “then who ate the last wasabi one?”
Everyone looked at the others in panic, but seeing that no one was on the verge of dying, the panic soon turned into confusion.
Only the sound of Lady Margot licking her fingers clean broke the weird silence. The other members looked at her. She had the face of someone that had just finished a delicious meal.
They looked back at each other and Isla, Kobe, Diego each shook their head. Their meaning was clear: they all had eaten the normal ones.
All of the gazes turned back to Lady Margot. In front of their shocked expressions, she gave the chef a thumbs up. Even Ariel herself was flabberstagged.