“Stop squirming, will you!” Sophia said as she tried to fix the tie around Mitches neck. “It wouldn't be taking as long if you just stood still!”
“It feels awkward” he grumbled, staring at himself in the mirror to the side, dressed in a black suit with a white button up shirt under his suit shirt and some fancy black shoes. He felt like he was preparing for some funeral since that was the only other time he had worn a suit.
“It's a bit big, but I think you look good.” Jasper said with a hearty laugh as he came into the lobby of the manor “It'll be a long drive so make sure to use the bathroom and all before we leave.”
“Yeah, I got it” Mitch replied, stepping away from Sophia once she finished tucking his tie into the suit. “when's this gonna go on until anyway?”
Jasper and Sophia would size him up now that he was fully dressed, Jasper saying “It starts at ten, will go on till around five AM. But we are only expected to stay until midnight for the ceremony.”
“Sounds like they got money to blow.” Mitch said as Sophia leaned in and brushed his hair out of his face, which caused him to step away, trying to fix it back to the way it was.
“Don't be such a grouch.” She said as she handed him a hair brush “Fix that mess of a head.”
He looked at the brush a bit disgruntled, not particularly fond of having a clean head of hair “I like it this way.” He said childishly but he did as he was told and began to straighten out his hair which made it look longer.
“You want to make a good impression though, right?” Jasper added.
“Not especially.” he replied bluntly, handing the hairbrush back “Might as well meet them as I usually look, don't wanna give them some false expectations that I actually look neat and presentable all the time.”
Sophia reluctantly took the brush back from him as Jasper couldn't help but laugh at that “Well, fair point I guess.” was all he said to that, patting his back hard enough to cause him to cough out of shock. “Make sure you shave too, sasquatch.”
Mitch had to take a moment to recover from coughing his lungs up, panting as he caught his breath “God, you better watch your strength, sasquatch.”
“Why would I do that?” he asked, grabbing Sophia into a one armed hug. He swung her around with that arm to wrap the other around her “You should get strong enough to resist it.”
“You suck butt.” Was Mitch's childish response, pulling open the door to go to the bathroom where he used the stock sample of razors they had with the cream. He removed the suit coat first and rolled up his sleeves before he got to shaving.
It felt strange, despite the tension between them beforehand Jasper seemed in a very cheery mood today and was rather jovial. Far more than usual. “I guess he just likes to party?” He thought while applying the cream.
A few nicks here and there but he came out mostly unscathed with a bit of tissue paper to cover the tiny cuts he gave himself. “They should be fine by the time we get there.” he reasoned, as if he needed to explain himself to these people.
Once he was done he quickly put the coat back on and ran out to the car. Jasper had already said his lovey dovey goodbyes to Sophia who stood in the doorway waving to the two.
Jasper climbed into the driver's seat, turning on the car and saying to him “So, how are you feeling about this event?”
“I couldn't care less about the ball.” Mitch shrugged, his mind having been elsewhere since yesterday. “I'm more worried about Lara. Must suck being stuck there until we get back.”
“It must, yes.” Jasper said. “I made sure Devan wouldn't be allowed to talk to her with the family. So we at least don't have to worry about that.”
“Implying that he won’t try to, even then.” Mitch said, the thought of how slimy he was still disturbed him.
“Well he knows what will happen if he tries.”
“I’m still more concerned for Lara even outside of that, we shattered what world she knew. Gotta be something that would destroy anyone.” Mitch added.
The sound of the engine turning on in this old car would almost be cause for concern with how much it struggled for a few minutes “You mean you shattered the world she had.” Jasper replied “But at least you can take solace that no matter what choice she makes, she will find peace with her condition.” His tone shifted from jovial to sullen before a look of relief followed the sound of the car finally starting.
“I guess…” he winced, reminded of his stupid actions. “But erasing her memories, that's basically erasing who she is as a person and replacing her with someone else.”
“It's for the best, Mitch, so she can't spread our secret. It will be her choice to do so.” Taking out of the driveway, Jasper let the silence hang in the air, not exactly sure how to console him on this.
“Well...” Mitch said eventually as they stopped at a red light “Do you think she's gonna say yes?”
Jasper took in an exasperated deep breath, exhaling calmly “I'm not sure, small man. Most in my experience want to know of the world around them. But there are occasions when people just want to live normal lives. In those cases, we need to respect their decision and allow them to leave once we erase their memories.”
“What are the steps for doing that?” he asked, not leaving much time for Jasper to think between questions.
“You needn't worry about that yet.” He chuckled, though it didn’t sound like the usual hearty laugh that accompanied his condescending ‘you are too young for this’. “That's something you'll learn by the end of your time in school. For now, focus on what you are doing.”
“Right.” was all he replied with, leaning on his fist while staring out the window at the passing lights in the night sky “Why do even the family events have to be at night?”
“We are a nocturnal kind.” Jasper said, giving him a slight glance every so often “With how we work, a lot of members who only work with spirits are asleep during the day.”
Mitch nodded, still staring out at the passing lights on the side of the road “Makes sense I guess.”
To alleviate some of the awkward silence that followed for the next few minutes, Jasper turned on the radio to leave some station in the background at a low volume “So how's school going?” he asked, not something he often asked.
“Ah It's fine. My grades are good enough that my parents don't mind the constant late nights.” Mitch passively responded.
“Well that is very good, I'm sure there are others out there in the same situation just failing.”
“Probably, but I still have to work hard to keep up.”
“Hard work pays off.” Jasper smiled earnestly “It's also amazing to see you wanting to be a doctor, that's a tough profession. Especially with this line of work.”
Mitch turned to watch him for a moment, seeing his face only every few seconds with a light passing over the car “Are you okay?” he asked, not used to getting such genuine care in his voice. He was expecting far more hostility after last night.
“Oh, I'm fine.” he nodded “Just have to let you know you're doing a good job sometimes.”
While not what he was expecting to hear, it was something that he felt he had always wanted to hear from the usually stern old man. “Well, thanks” he replied, trying not to get too emotional about the kind words. “But, what will you do when I'm working like that? I could be on call at all hours of the night.”
There was once again a near silence, only drowned out by the droning of whatever half bit presenter they had on at this time of night. “Don't worry about that.” Jasper eventually said, though falling back to silence after, his relaxed expression having changed to his usual more stern look with a furrowed brow.
Mitch was still in a state of deep thought, leaning on his fist against the window he stared into the distance “I'm still not sure of this though. I can't sit easy, It's making me incredibly nervous.”
“It's something youll have to learn to live with.” Jasper replied, sitting in a small queue on the road so he could look over at him now “Your concern would be appreciated I'm sure, but there isn't much we can do until we return to her. Your worry is only preventing you from enjoying yourself.”
“Oh, I have many other reasons to not enjoy myself tonight.” He leaned over to lower the music more.
“What do you have to be worried about?”
“Well, this is really my first time meeting the rest of the family properly.” He replied, a clear sense of dread hanging over his tone “I've been training to work for an organisation I'm related to by blood, yet I've never seen most of them.”
Jasper struggled to respond at first, taking a moment to try to formulate his response before eventually coming back with “I can understand that, but think of it less as going to meet your boss, and going to meet your family for the first time.” The cue began to move again so he returned his attention to the road “I'm sure there's some that are just dying to meet you.”
Mitch rolled his eyes as the joke “Oh hah, hah, and you call me the child.”
“You'll also get to meet the head of the family today. It's not often he comes out to the public.” Jasper said. He seemed somewhat excited about that.
“What's he like?”
“Oh you know, this and that.” Jasper replied, clearly being difficult on purpose as signalled by the smug grin.
“Could you not, for once?” Mitch scolded, flicking a piece of paper from the dashboard into the side of his arm, catching it before it fell.
“He's a very quiet man.” Jasper began “Stern, collected, and can be a bit scary to deal with sometimes. But he cares for the family above everything else, and will do anything to protect it.”
“How far is 'anything'?” He asked, tapping his finger against the door handle he rested his arm on.
“He created the rules for introducing people to the family, and what to do with those who abuse the power we have. He is the judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to breaking the rules.”
That painted a much more scary picture of the man in Mitches eyes, and certainly didn't help him feel any better about coming to the ball. But he decided to not probe too much further and learn what he could at the ball himself.
“Right...” he grumbled “Do you mind if I nap? It's still another hour at least till we get there.”
“The car is not for napping!” he teased but soon continued. “As long as you don't mind loud music.” Jasper said, turning up the volume on the radio.
There was a nod between them, Mitch leaning back in the chair.
“Rest well. I'll wake you when we are close, I don't want you waking up disoriented when we are there.”
When they arrived at the party, in the heart of Dublin city, Mitch saw the sheer amount of cars gathered in the underground parking lot of the hotel. “Is there really this many people?” he asked, knowing from what Jasper told him that the family wouldn't hold any event where it was possible for civilians to enter so they would have rented the entire building for the night.
“The family spans across the globe after all.” Jasper said as he closed his door, locking the car once they were both out. “This would be merely a fraction of its whole size.”
“Sounds more like an organisation than a family...” Mitch mumbled, though an organisation was what they had always called it. “Surely a large world spanning bloodline was more of a liability with how easy it would be to leak secrets.” he thought while fixing up his suit.
Jasper laughed as he watched Mitch's visible confusion, slapping his back again to knock him out of it “Of course, we stand to protect humanity, you thought we were only protecting Ireland?”
“N..no!” Mitch coughed out as he stumbled forward a few steps, embarrassed at the fact he was so close minded about it. “I thought maybe we just had allies or something...” trying to save face at this point.
“Far too dangerous to team up with anyone without this gift.” Jasper continued, walking ahead and motioning to follow him “We decided to fan out in the early stages of travel. Made sense that we had at least one family in each country who was in charge of hunting spirits. Boy did they underestimate the size of the rest of the world, one just wasn't enough, so over generations they had as many kids as possible to have more working hands.”
“Sounds like awful planning.” Though he thought of the time period Jasper eluded to, if travel had just come into place he could argue that there was no real knowledge of the new world, or if anything even existed beyond the sea. But it couldn't have been around the time that Ireland was invaded by England because that was too recent for a family like this to be all over the world without prior knowledge of what they were getting into. “How did they even get over the ocean?”
“Boats of course, you dummy.” Jasper teased with a cocky grin “Family members left the island in large numbers, and honestly they were thought to be dead for the longest time. But eventually word came back of their survival through letters that had been sent from other countries once a way to do so was conceived. The distant members learned to send birds over that had been controlled through a ritual to place a person's mind and soul into one.”
“Isn't that a highly illegal spell though?” Mitch chipped in, having been told of the spell and in school quickly told this was incredibly illegal due to how it worked. It required a living vessel that was still sentient and would involve forcefully removing the spirit from its body and replacing it with your own. Effectively killing the animal and making it so that the person was not able to transfer back into their own body because it was no longer living. It was a permanent switch that in later years of the family became outlawed because of its barbaric nature, along with the effect it had on the person who switched. It was difficult to suddenly live the rest of your life as a bird.
“It is, but at the time it was not. So members would take control of birds and fly back to the island with news of the new land and that they had survived the journey.”
“Some commitment...” Mitch thought, soon leaving the car park into an elevator where it seemed they were the only ones down here. “Are we that late?” he asked, leaning back against a rail.
“Well traffic in the city is always bad.” Jasper replied, pressing the ground floor button. “Nervous?” Jasper asked, looking over at him with a raised brow.
“It would be a lie if I said I wasn't.” Mitch mentioned the feeling of the elevator going up causing his stomach to sink slightly as he realised he was about to meet possibly the biggest organisation on earth, and also his extended family.
“Anything I should know?” Mitch asked nervously, rubbing his hands against each other while tapping his foot.
“Just be polite and you'll be fine.” Jasper said, reaching into his chest pocket and handing him a tissue “Wipe your face, and just be yourself.” No jokes, just advice for once.
Stepping out into the grand lobby of the hotel Mitch was simply taken aback by how fancy it was, trays of food lined up with stations for drinks, and most importantly a large crowd gathered in the lobby alone.
Most were in line to register their rooms, some just chatting, and others enjoying the food, this was when the horrific news came. Jasper placed his hand on Mitch's shoulder and said “Well, you enjoy it. I have some business to attend to.” before he simply walked off into the crowd before Mitch even had a chance to protest.
“H...Hey!” he stammered, his words drowning out in the crowd's overwhelming chatter.
“What a dick!” Mitch thought to himself annoyed, looking nervously at all these unfamiliar faces. The unfamiliarity of the situation was more overwhelming than one would think given his kind of work.
It was a few moments of panic before he thought to take out his phone, Joel would be here of course, this event was for his dad after all.
Noticing they had been posting in the group chat while he was gone, just a few jokes and images from around the web.
Quickly dialling the number he waited anxiously for him to answer, continuing to tap his foot as he moved to stand to the side of the elevator after a portly old man cleared his throat in front of him.
“Yo, yo, what's up?” he heard from the other end of the line.
“Hey!” he almost shouted, having to dial back his desperation. “Uhh where are you?”
“Oh I'm upstairs with my dad. Are you finally here?” Joel asked, he could hear now the rustling of a jacket and steps, most likely he was getting ready to come down.
“Yeah, my gramps just left me in the lobby and walked off.” he sighed, hanging his head in defeat.
He would hear some muffled conversation in the background as Joel got ready, hearing an older man saying something along the lines of “It's still in testing.” though he couldn't make out exactly what he was talking about, only catching a few choice words such as “field test” and “malfunction.”
His eavesdropping was soon ended by Joel saying “On my way dude. See ya in a moment.” before hanging up.
He couldn't help but feel a bit curious about what he was overhearing, something that needed a field test? It sounded like something important if they had to make sure it worked properly.
It was something he just left hanging in the back of his mind for now, not wanting to ruin the night with his persistent chasing of this topic. Joel would soon arrive in a suit in a similar fashion to Mitches. “Hey man!” he called out as he exited the crowd “Saoirse is already at the ballroom.”
“As late as always then.” Mitch joked, having him around was enough to ease his nerves.
Joel punched his arm lightly, turning around and leading “You're late to everything, we expected it. Come on, I know where she is.”
Getting through the crowd was a lot easier than Mitch anticipated, Joel was a lot more willing to simply say to people that they were in his way. “How was the trip here?” Joel asked, looking over his shoulder, it was hard to hear the question but Mitch could just make it out.
“Not sure, I was asleep for most of it.” Mitch chuckled, still feeling slightly groggy despite Jasper's efforts to wake him. Entering the ballroom it was at least a bit quieter here. They were slowed to a near halt as members gathered in a line for the bar.
“And your gramps just walked off when you got here?”
“Yeah, he said he had business...”
“Ah well, more time to chill with us then.” Joel said as they heard a call from the distance, where Mitch would see Saoirse waiting at one of the tables. He was rather surprised to see she had come in a full ball gown, often used to how tomboyish she would dress to anything.
Joel took that as an excuse to push his way between the drunkards that were blocking the way. Mitch took advantage of his brutish gesture and slipped between them with a quiet “Sorry”
“Looking good.” Mitch smiled at Saoirse once they were beside the table. Joel pulled a seat out beside her.
“You look half dead.” Saoirse joked, having a glass of some soft drink in front of her.
He nodded and scratched the side of his head with a finger, a wide grin against his face “Well halfway to the dream.”
There was a sudden silence between the four before Joel said “Dark, dude.” though they knew it was a joke, it took them by surprise.
He took a seat with them and shrugged “Surely in a group of literal ghost hunters, a death joke should be common.”
“Just not something you usually say.” Joel added “but oh well.” shrugging as he sat back, swinging on his chair “when are you all staying till?”
“Probably twelve.” Mitch said “Got class tomorrow, and it's a hefty drive home.”
“We are spending the night, my grandpa is really close to Rin. He said he had to stay and no one was allowed to talk back to him.” Saoirse explained.
The hall would come to a hush soon enough as the lights dimmed, on the far side there was a stage that was closed off behind a pair of curtains. Lights would turn on from the roof, focusing on the curtain that would slowly part to reveal two men standing together. Though they sat so far away it was hard to make out any clear faces, it was easy to tell that one of them was Joel's father, a man they had all met a few times before.
He stood out with his oddly bright red hair, which for once was clean enough to almost glow in the spotlight. He often seemed like a very scruffy man, so to see him as presentable as he was now was a rare sight. He still wore his signature thick rimmed glasses, but from this distance it was hard to tell if they were still cracked on the left lense.
The other man was what Mitch found himself fixated on, it was obvious by the leader that everyone had been talking about, the head of the family that felt so vague and mysterious to him. Once again he couldn't make out much of a face, but he could see he donned a robe instead of a suit, that covered up from his neck to the floor that were coated in several insignias, some of which he could barely make out as symbols he had seen on one of the books in Jasper's home.
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“That's Rin.” Joel whispered to Mitch as he leaned in “Don't feel bad if you don't recognise him... Apparently doesn't come out to meet anyone that often.”
As Mitch was about to reply, a voice would boom through the room over the microphone “Thank you all for coming.” Rin would say in a deep, almost commanding voice. “Today we are here to celebrate a new sect of the family being born, led by a member who has proven his worth not just to me, but to my peers in the head household, Ian Wright.”
“Do they need to say his second name, if we are all related?” Mitch whispered to the table.
“Of course.” Saoirse whispered back, leaning in to explain “Some people decide to take their spouses second name, even if they are still related by blood to the family.”
Mitch nodded in reply and turned back into the speech, “While I know we are all excited for the open bar, we are here to give thanks to the ongoing support and efforts of Ian and his family within the crowd.” Rin continued, the speech being met with cheers and claps for those family members being mentioned. Moving to take the microphone out of its stand he faced Ian. Despite his serious and deep tone, he was rather vibrant in his sluggish movements. “I am proud to see a sect working hard to integrate and keep up with the modern world's progress in both technology and art.” He moved closer and mentioned “Now, some words from the man himself,” before handing Ian the microphone along with a package that he removed from his robe.
Ian seemed quite awkward having been given the microphone to say his thanks, currently fidgeting on stage. “I'm not one for speeches so I'll keep this short.” Once he had collected his words his stance became more confident, and he held the microphone close “I want to thank you all for giving me this chance to lead, we have grown quite a lot over our time together. By now our family is quite large and we have a shared goal that we want to achieve. With Rin's help.” he said, motioning to the man with his free hand “We can now achieve that much faster than we could have alone, and I thank you for that. We will continue to work hard in keeping the family up to snuff.”
Though the ending of his speech just left more questions in Mitch's mind about what he heard over the phone, clearly there was something going on here that the rest of the family didn't know about, or at least Joel had never told him and he never passed up an opportunity to brag about his work. It most likely had something to do with this feeling of keeping the family up to date with modern trends but it was unlike Joel not to brag about something like that.
Joel was enthralled with delight at the sight of his father having been given a certificate and a parcel from Rin. “We look forward to seeing your continued support, and work on keeping this world safe.” Rin said as he took Ian’s hand within both of his and shook it gingerly.
The two bowed together to the crowd, though Rin's movements looked strangely jagged and awkward, seeming like he was struggling to move. Perhaps he was Ill crossed Mitches mind, it would make sense then as to why he would refuse to see the public. There was so much here that set off nothing but red flags. None that he could clear now, but they would all bother him to no end in silence.
“You alright man?” Joel eventually asked “Look like you're about to pop a blood vessel.”
Mitch snapped out of his thoughts, gasping at the sudden question “I'm good!” he blurted out, turning to quickly look at him. He nervously laughed to play it off, rubbing his brow “Oh, Sorry was just lost in thought there.”
“You zone out too often.” He replied, drumming his fingers along the table out of boredom “So now the speech is out of the way, what do you all wanna do?”
While the three idly chattered about their plans for the night, Mitch found his mind wandering once more. In hopes of calming it for now he pushed back his chair and stood up “I think It's a good idea if I go meet some of the family.”
“That's right.” Saoirse said, glancing in his direction “You haven't met anyone outside of the weekend school haven't you?”
He simply nodded at first, taking out the napkin from his pocket to wipe down his face, not feeling any sweat but he certainly wanted to look presentable when he first met new people “Yeah.” Was all he said.
“Right man.” Joel said. “Well you go ahead, call me when you wanna meet back up again.”
“Will do.” was his quick response before leaving the table, heading over to where the food was being served since there was a large crowd gathered seemingly just talking and eating.
He awkwardly stood there for a while, looking around at all the people that he couldn't pin a single name to. It felt like he was failing them as a family member, even though he had never met them or had any reason to know their name prior.
Soon enough he wouldn't be able to hesitate anymore as a hand was placed upon his shoulder “Ah, I haven't seen your face before!” an older man blurted out, sounding like he had had one too many drinks at the bar already. “Who're you?” he slurred.
Mitch turned to face him, taking a quick mental note of the man who seemed to look in his forties, struggling to stand upright with a bottle of beer in one hand and the other now put back into his pocket.
“Oh, I'm Mitch.” He explained calmly “And you are, sir?”
The man stared at him for an uncomfortably long time, leaving Mitch to think that he had heard his name somewhere before and was suddenly disgusted knowing it was him. The silence was soon broken by the man just laughing loudly and slapping his hand down onto his shoulder again “Awh what manners kid, if only the other brats around here had 'em!”
Mitch suddenly let out a sigh of relief, feeling these people were going to cause him to have a heart attack if they kept pulling stunts like this. Was everyone like Jasper?
“I'm Chris, nice to meet ya small man.” the drunkard shouted, soon letting go of his shoulder again “You can't have been born yesterday, why haven't I seen ya here before?”
“Oh, my parents aren't actually... able to be hunters” he explained nervously, not sure if this was something people were looked down on for or not. “So my grandfather trained me, and took me here tonight on invitation of the head of the family.”
Though it seemed to get the reaction he was expecting, the man's face suddenly soured and that carefree drunkard smile twisted to a look of disgust “Oh, so yer the one with Jasper?” he asked.
“Uh yeah?” Mitch stammered at the sudden change of tone, to which the man just walked off. Mitch could only stand in shock as he saw how quickly that conversation turned for the worst. “What in the actual hell?” He thought. He shook his head to brush off what had just happened, concerned he already had a reputation for himself.
“Some people are just like that.” He heard from behind, catching him off guard and causing him to turn on the spot where he saw Nick standing upright with his arms behind his back. “Do follow me, please.” He said before swiftly moving forward through the crowd.
Mitch struggled to follow the tall man through the crowd of drunkards. The room was filled with an odd sense of excitement that Mitch couldn’t put his finger on. It finally clicked by the time they were at the end of the ballroom. Everyone was having the night of their lives because it is the night they get to break away from the horrors of work and just have fun with no consequence.
“So what is it that I am needed for?” Mitch managed to ask when he caught up to Nick at the end of the hall, only because he slowed down to let him.
“Rin would like to meet you. He extended a personal invite so he may do so.” he explained, heading through to the lobby.
“Me though?” was almost instantly out of his mouth “Why?”
“We don't question what Rin asks in this case.” Nick said, stepping inside the elevator with Mitch once it opened. He gave a stern look to those who tried to follow them in, causing them to back up and wait for the next one, leaving it as just the two once the doors closed. Mitch stood in front once the button was pushed, feeling anxious with Nick standing behind him until he heard a loud sigh of relief. Turning to face him he found Nick had relaxed his posture and was currently unwrapping a piece of candy that he pulled from his pocket.
A brief moment of silence was shared before Nick said “Oh, my bad.” Rummaging through his pockets and offering him a wrapped toffee. “Want some?”
Mitch shook his head and politely declined with a “No thank you.” before Nick shrugged and placed the candy back into his pocket.
The sudden switch in posture wasn't as shocking to Mitch as it might have been to others, it's basically how he had felt when he got back to his room after a long day of school, taking off the fake face and letting the real you relax for a while
“So this is why you came all the way out to our house?” Mitch asked.
“Exactly.” He nodded, taking another piece to unwrap. “You don't have to be as formal with Rin as people seem to think.” He explained, the doors opening up to show they had gone to some form of penthouse suite. The first thing he noticed was the air felt thicker in here, sweltering and moist. It was uncomfortable but it wasn’t his place to comment on the living arrangements of the head of the family.
Nick stepped out and then motioned to follow, taking him through the extremely fancy room. It felt like the room was a house in itself, with a kitchen, bathroom, separate room for the bedroom he could only imagine and a staircase along the wall that led up to a balcony area and yet another bedroom and bathroom at the top, along with a full balcony outside the glass doors that overlooked the city.
“Some fancy set up here.” Mitch said, walking over to the glass to take a look down at all the buildings and cars below, the lights seeming so tiny from up here.
“Are you enjoying the view?” he would hear from above, turning to see the same figure he saw at the speech standing at the top of the stairs. This time he could see he had a mask on under the hood that was adorned with some more runes.
“Just up the stairs ” Nick said as he motioned to the left to the stairs that seemed to just be some planks hanging out of the wall with no bannister. Mitch wasn't sure if it was some artistic statement or just laziness on the designers part, though usually those went hand in hand in the art world.
Rin had taken a seat opposite him once he made it to the top and raised a hand to the other seat. It was hard to make out any features about him with the mask on, other than his red hair which was long enough to be hanging out of the bottom of the hood that covered the rest of his head.
When he took a seat there was a harsh silence hanging in the air. Mitch uncomfortably fidgeted and rested his hands atop his lap, arching his back to sit upright.
The silence continued as Rin sat uncomfortably still while staring right through him with that creepy porcelain mask covering the entirety of his face. He couldn’t even tell what kind of expression he hid behind it.
After a minute of waiting, Mitch opened his mouth to say something but was immediately cut off by Rin who said. “It's a pleasure to meet you.” Reaching out and picking up a tea pot “tea?” he offered. There was a hint of smugness behind the question that he couldn’t help but recognise as the same reaction Jasper had to pulling his strings.
“Yes please.” Mitch responded, ignoring the clear attempts to tease him as he was more interested in watching Rin’s hands, the sleeve very baggy as was par for the course with traditional robes but they were sewn to be tight around his wrist with gloves covering his hands.
“Please pardon my appearance.” Rin calmly said, it was obvious someone would be concerned with how hard he tried to hide himself. “But I am not currently in a state I wish to be seen, an illness is all. Causing a leak of mana while my robes are tailored to keep it in.”
“Sounds like it would be fatal without.” Mitch said, holding the cup that was poured for him between his hands to absorb the warmth.
“I am lucky to have such dedicated staff and family nearby.” he assured while pouring a cup for himself. “But I imagine you are more concerned with why you are here.”
“Can't deny that, Nick explained it but I still don’t get it. I am just a kid from out of the way.”
“Far from it.” Rin said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table once he put the pot down. “It means I'm worried.”
“For me?” Mitch asked, a hint of confusion in his tone “Didn't think the highest of the family had time to worry about individuals.”
“Normally I don't.” He replied. “But I used to be on very close terms with your grandfather back in the day. So naturally I will look his way every so often, and there I see a boy stuck between a normal family and our family, living two lives.”
“Can't deny that one either.” Mitch shrugged, blowing on the tea before taking a sip. It had a very subtle taste of raspberry to it, behind the regular taste. It's smell was very plain, it was hard to even notice the raspberry unless you tasted it.
“And so, I also saw you were isolated from the main family. I hope you spent some time getting to know others here.” Nodding to Nick who was standing against the wall to the side “We will be good alone for now, I'm sure Mitch doesn't have any plans on killing me.” he explained in a whimsical tone.
Nick chuckled, though it sounded more like a “I have to laugh at my bosses joke” kind of laugh than a genuine chuckle. “Of course sir.” He bowed, turning and heading down the stairs, not long after they heard the noise of the elevator doors opening and closing behind him.
Once some time of awkward silence had passed Rin said “So as I was saying, it was a shame that you lived such a jagged life.”
“Not much that can be done about it though.” Mitch said, holding the cup up to stare into the darkened water “I love my family, even if I can't be there for them as often as I would like to be.”
“Sadly It's why I sent the letter that you must attend weekend school too.” Rin said, drumming a finger on the table to a beat Mitch couldn't recognise “You are so disjointed from our family and your own, the best I can do is make sure through a proper education you are least come into contact with some of the family on a regular basis.”
“Is that why you brought me up here?”
“No, that's not it.” Rin assured him “I wanted to see how you are coping, it's a hectic schedule with no breaks.”
He needed some time to think about how he would respond to such a question. Rin gave him as much time as he needed and after a minute he responded “Overall I think I am fine. I'm usually exhausted, but we learned how to make our own potions recently so it's a bit easier.”
Rin nodded his head slightly, Mitch wasn't able to tell what sort of nod this was since he couldn't even see his face. “Very good” was all he said, sounding a bit impressed himself. “I also read the letter from your grandfather, have you possibly found someone who shares our gift?
Putting aside the embarrassment of what he had done to get that information he responded, “yes sir. She was in the hospital when we were there to exercise...” He felt his chest tighten at the thought of it, struggling to get out the words as he thought back to the boy he used to casually know from school “To exorcise someone who had recently passed.”
“It's never easy to pass someone you know. Even if it was only casually.” Rin said sympathetically “Along with having no one other than your grandparents to confide in.” He was far more understanding of these issues than Mitch thought the head of a family like this would be.
“It wasn't...” Mitch sighed heavily, shaking his head and wiping his eyes with a free hand, keeping the cup in the other. “But when we exorcised him we then had to go interview a woman that the hospital claimed that she could possibly see spirits.”
“And that is when you decided to walk into her room, through the wall?” He asked, unable to stifle a laugh seeing the immediate shock spread across Mitch’s face. “A childish innocence to the approach.” He studied Mitch’s reaction for some time before he continued his thought “If we planned to punish everyone who made a mistake we would have no family left. I imagine Jasper has given you enough of an earful that I don’t need to.”
Mitch was able to breathe a metaphorical sigh of relief to hear that. Rin continued to chuckle before he sounded more serious. “I am frankly rather impressed how you are dealing with it. I was an absolute mess when I first gave someone the choice.”
Mitch was rather confused by such a statement of course. Why would it be so difficult to give what was an incredibly simple choice? Sure it ate him up inside, but that was mostly down to his own incompetence leading to it being forced on her.
“Oh dear.” Rin replied, once again judging his expression. “It seems I have overstepped my boundaries.” Bringing a hand up to his chin he hummed a bit and drummed his fingers again “I never took Jasper for this kind of man…”
Mitch had to choose his next words carefully. What was said was already indicative enough that he had been lied to. Gathering his thoughts and sorting them for a moment he asked “What choice, exactly, was given to her?”
Rin also took a few moments to compose himself. The silence was unnerving as Rin sat completely still and Mitch felt his heart ready to jump out of his throat. Knowing what was coming, he wanted to hear it confirmed.
They were the exact words he was expecting to hear, but when they hit his ears it felt like the world almost froze. “That is inhumane!” he spat shocked, immediately standing out his seat with enough force to knock the chair back onto the floor.
“Please, be calm. We can have a civilised conversation about this.” Rin said as he placed his arms on his lap “It has been the law since before I became the head of the family.”
The sudden noise of the chair crashing was enough to alert Nick who seemed to be standing just inside the elevator waiting for him. “Is everything okay?” He quickly asked as he rushed to the bottom of the stairs.
Mitch calmed himself enough to regain his composure but he was furious, all manners of anger building up within him. Not only towards the family for such a barbaric practice, but also at Jasper for lying to him. “Please forgive my outburst.” He said, reaching for the chair and setting it upright against the table once again. “I would like to return to the party.” He bowed, clearly not happy. With a wave of Rin’s hand acknowledging his request he turned and went down the stairs.
Nick looked to Rin for orders who called down to him “Do open the elevator for our guest please.”
Nick hesitated for a moment but nodded in return. “Of course sir.” He said, following Mitch and using his keycard to call the elevator.
The two stepped into the elevator and there was a silence weighing Mitch down. Lost in a sea of confusing thoughts he felt like he was drowning. Descending through the building Mitch thought. “He lied to me.” “It's my fault if she dies.” “I thought he trusted me.” “How many people have been murdered by the family like this?” were some of the many racing thoughts. A hand placed on his shoulder helped him surface from his thoughts. Looking back to Nick it was met with an assuring nod, one that screamed he was not alone in his feelings.
He had begun to sweat profusely and Nick offered him a tissue. Silently he took it and wiped himself down, managing to squeak out a quiet “Thank you…”
Hearing that dreaded ‘ding’ of reaching the ground floor he mentally prepared himself as the doors opened. Putting on a fake smile he stepped out and would nod to anyone who acknowledged him.
Looking back at the elevator Nick had returned to his serious demeanour but he kept an eye on him that he could almost see a tinge of regret in that was soon shut away by the doors closing once more.
He had no idea where Jasper was at this time so his plan to leave wasn't going anywhere without him. For now he seemed to just have to wait, and if he didn't want anyone thinking anything was wrong he decided to do his best to just fit in for now, try and forget his worries and bring them up later with his grandfather.
“You doin well? You don't look so good.” A somewhat familiar voice said to catch his attention. Turning his head he found Joel's father, Ian approaching with a beer in one hand and a pack of cigarettes in the other.
“Oh it's just really warm in there.” He stammered, wiping his forehead once more.
“Come on outside then, I was going for a smoke.” the older man said happily, adjusting his cracked glasses with a thumb. The two had known each other for a while now since they met him whenever he came to pick up Joel, and on the odd occasion when he was at the school on business.
“Must feel amazing.” Mitch said, stepping out into the cold air which felt like he had been slapped with a sack of ice cubes.
“It's somethin’ alright.” He said as he held his drink out to Mitch “Could ya hold this for a second?”
Mitch simply nodded, holding the beer for him as he took out his lighter to light the cigarette, closing it over and putting it back into his pocket after “Cheers.” he said, taking the drink back “How have you been tho?” he asked, taking a long drag from the cigarette.
“Oh I'm fine.” he mumbled, rubbing the side of his arm as he looked back to the building entrance. “Haven't been to any of these events before so it's a bit surreal seeing so many people, when usually it's just me and Jasper back home.”
“It's a bit easy to see on your face” he said, after blowing out a puff of smoke that he made sure to aim away from Mitch. “Look like a nervous wreck.”
He was concerned that it was so obvious but by this point there wasn’t much he could do about it. “And here I thought I was good at hiding it.” He joked, enjoying the cold breeze once the initial shock faded. “So many people here, and a few seem.. Well weird.”
“Runs in the family” he said, holding his cigarette between two fingers as he drank some of his beer “It's what happens when you come from a family like ours.” Being sure to watch what he said as he looked around at the casual people walking past them. “It does things to you.”
Mitch nodded along as he talked, leaning back against the building “Yeah, but there was this one guy... The second I said my name and I was here with Jasper he immediately got mad and stormed off.”
“Well, your grandfather has a reputation.” He added, taking another drag and blowing the smoke up into the air. “He's well known in the family.”
He just waited for now, standing here checking his phone from time to time. Photos of the dance floor flooding the group chat from Joel who had taken pictures of Saoirse on the dance floor with her grandfather, which was heart warming in itself as he knew he had been struggling with his health recently and didn't get to spend much time with his family.
“At least everyone else is having a good night...” He said as he placed his phone back into his pocket, letting out a deep sigh while returning to his casual waiting.
After what felt like another eternity he checked his phone once more, more photos flooding the group though this time he ignored them, swiping it away to open the calls, dialling in Jaspers number. He was tired of waiting for whatever business he had to attend to and these questions couldn’t wait much longer, lest they eat him from the inside out.
Holding the phone to his ear he tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the line to be picked up. Buzzing, the line would ring once... twice... up until the last time before the call automatically connected to Jasper's voice mail.
“I’ll see you later, small man, do try to have some fun.” Ian said as he put the butt out into the nearby bin and nodded at him.
“Have a good night.” Mitch responded in kind.
The cold was finally getting to him by the time he felt his phone ringing, having been waiting for almost an hour just staring at the sky, not even sure who out here were from the family and who were just passers by.
Taking his phone out he answered Jasper's call, to be asked “You rang?”
“Yup, where are you?” He asked coldly, “We have a lot to talk about.” He had spent the last hour thinking about what Rin had said to him, those words echoing in his head as he kept getting this upset feeling in the pit of his stomach when he realised what he had actually done.
“Well, we can go home if you really want. I just finished my business.” Jasper replied, he could hear the chatter of a large crowd after a moment so he must have been on the ground floor now.
“I would like to go, yeah. I'll see you by the car.” Hanging up quickly after he just walked inside and straight to the staircase near the elevator, not wasting any time in almost dancing his way down the stairs in a quick fashion.
As a kid he would have found such a creepy place, a quiet atmosphere with lots of places for little monsters to hide. His heart was pounding for an entirely different reason, though it could be traced back to fear all the same. There was a lot he had to clear up with Jasper now, and a lot that he would not settle for any less than a full explanation on.
Jasper would join him eventually, already sensing something was wrong from how Mitch was standing, and how brief he was on the phone. “You alright?” he asked, unlocking the car as he walked closer.
He waited until he got into the car to say “I heard a lot of things today.” grimly, staring ahead as Jasper got into the driver's seat next to him. “Who actually are you, in the eyes of the family?”
Jasper seemed disheartened, but it was something he was expecting with leaving him alone at this event. “What do you mean?” he asked, trying to get specifically what he heard.
“You know what I mean.” He said annoyed, drumming his fingers against the door “Everyone suddenly loses interest, or reels back whenever I mention your name.” He exaggerated it slightly to get his point across and had a lot more in the way of questions, but one at a time.
“Well, I am the family therapist. Most people don't like associating with their therapist in a social setting. I have a lot of personal information on everyone.” Jasper explained, starting up the car.
“Cut the crap.” Mitch snapped “When your name comes up people seem disheartened, and I heard from Ian that you have quite a name for yourself.”
“Perhaps, some things are best left unsaid Mitch.”
“Not when I live in your shadow, and everyone's opinion of me comes from it.”
“It is a topic for another time.”
Mitch was getting visibly frustrated now as he shouted “Then here's a topic for now. I met Rin personally today, and he told me that you lied to me!”
Jasper just grunted annoyed, tightening his grip on the wheel. “Now about what?”
“That you will kill Lara if she says no.” Mitch spat, now turning to face him so he could watch his face twist into a disgusted look.
“I had a clear reason.” He replied bluntly, keeping his gaze fixed ahead as he pulled out of the parking garage.
“What sort of reason could you have to hide that?!” Mitch shouted. “This is someone's life on the line, blood that will be on my hands!”
“It had to be done.” Jasper replied, returning to a somewhat calm tone, though there was a hint of anger. “I would have given her the choice if I noticed, it was only a matter of time before someone did. In lying to you about that, it was to preserve your innocence, so you wouldn't have to know about the darker side of this family yet.”
“How can you willingly be a part of this?” Mitch asked, trying not to yell as they sat in thick traffic by the hotel “This is a murder squad!”
“I didn't make the rules Mitch.” He grunted, occasionally glancing over at him with a stern look “Sometimes there are things we have to do that we don't like, being part of something that we can't control.”
“What, another lecture from the master of secrets?” slamming his hand into the arm rest now “All you do is talk to me like a child, yet you let me risk my life on a daily basis to help you!”
“Mitch, calm down.” Jasper said calmly “you are getting worked up, and this is a conversation we best have when you are calm.”
“No!” Mitch shouted annoyed, a level of aggression that Jasper had never seen him reach “I'm not going back to my house, where I can't even confide in anyone, while you get to go back and be comfy with your wife!”
Jasper sighed once more, shaking his head dismissively “You aren't thinking correctly.”
“I don't care.” He spat “I want answers, now!”
Jasper was beginning to tighten his grip on the wheel now, struggling to keep calm. “Mitch.” He repeated, trying to sound calm but failing now “You are opening a casket you don't want opened.”
There was a silence for a brief moment, the tension in the air thick and heavy over them as the lights turned green and the car began to move again. “Jasper.” Mtich retorted in the same fake calm tone “Why did you lie to me?”
“Because I know you!” Jasper finally snapped, raising his voice against him “You would have backed out on something that had to be done!”
Mitch was momentarily taken aback by the sudden outburst but it is what he wanted, giving him the opportunity to get answers “We could have saved her without the family!”
Jasper shot a piercing glare at him “I told you I know you. Far better than you might think.” he said “That's exactly what I thought you would try to do.”
Mitch grunted, looking at him as he said “What's so wrong with trying to save a life?”
“The lifelong side effects.” Jasper said, returning to his calm demeanour as best he could. “You are young Mitch.”
“That's not an excuse anymore Jasper, you can't use it to deflect any questions I have!”
He gritted his teeth, running a finger along his wedding ring while tapping the wheel with his other hand. “I don't hear an answer!” Mitch shouted at him once he took too long to respond
This was the tipping point, Jasper slammed his hand onto the wheel before shouting “Because they would kill you! You aren't as useful as I am to them!”