"You can lower your gun now," Evie told Kasey. They were both sitting elegantly on the grey couches without looking away or blinking. It was frustrating. "I am not going to fight you, fake-sis. You were the closest thing I had to a family until I met Monster Mash. We were close, we were..."
"I'm not your sister, I was never your friend, I'm not related to you, neither by blood nor by anything beyond a mission when we were younger," Kasey lowered her handgun, placing it on the coffee table. "But I'll put down my gun if it makes you think you're in control here. I'll keep this one though," She raised the grapple gun, "In case I have to escape."
"Of course," Evie replied, glancing over at BC-13 as he set a cup and saucer down on the table in front of Kasey, who was the first to pick up her cup while watching Evie, "You're saying we're not sisters then? Because to me, pretending we were was..."
"Stop it with your mind games," Kasey said, "Our fake parents never loved each other, but we have to thank them."
"For making us believe they were our family? Or for encouraging us to discard all traces of childhood?"
"For making us good actresses." Kasey replied as BC-13 put bread and a knife on the table. He stood behind Evie with his hands behind his back, analysing Kasey. She couldn't care less about his presence, she tried to convince herself.
"College was my finest hour," Evie said, "It was when I had my first sister, my first boyfriend, my first parents. But what about you?"
"Why am I here, Evie?" Kasey asked with an eye roll, "Why bring me here and not kill me?"
"Zeth once told me the story of King Imotthew 'The Conciliator' Rahman, son of Queen for a Day Elizekhmet," Evie said, "He was a wise boy, too wise for his age, and when Tidevan Seamons attacked the Gulf of Khreez with his fleet in favour of King Anuber's cause, Imotthew was taken hostage as the Munrahman fleet burned in flames."
"Are we talking about the Clash of the Rahmans?" Kasey asked.
"Then you know what I'm talking about," Evie said, "Imotthew, in captivity, promised to marry Tidevan's niece, and soon the Seamons switched sides. It was this alliance that weakened the Von Strokers as Imotthew said he would only keep his promise if the Seamons attacked Bloodstone, and the entire kingdom fell quickly. Neutrality was declared on their part, and with only the Rubinsteins in favour of King Anuber after the Burning of the Vineyards in Robleston, the war was easier for Elizekhmet to win."
"And it's an analogy for why you employ hunters instead of killing them," Kasey laughed, "But I must remind you that Elizekhmet was queen for only one day."
"A great conqueror is not synonymous with a good queen," Evie said, "It was her mistake to underestimate Anuber."
"And it will be your mistake to underestimate the hunters," Kasey replied, "There is already a shift in the shadows, and when a dragon swoops from the sky... I just hope you guys don't have yours chained in a pyramid, if you know what I'm saying."
Evie raised her eyebrows and grabbed her cup of coffee, took a sip and looked Kasey up and down with a smile.
"I see you and I still have a taste for stilettos, but I prefer boots," Evie said, changing the subject, pointing at Kasey's shoes, "You still wear your Hunter shoes? It's easier to jump knowing they won't break, right? You know something? It seems to me that you still have a switch blade or lock picks hidden in your heels. I remember that we liked the James Bond movies because we thought we were that cool, with those gadgets and..."
"What is going on here, Evie?" Kasey asked.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Evie placed her cup on the table, "Why did you want to scare Jade? Why did the other hunters carry darts at the tour concerts? Who wants to kidnap my friends?"
"None of my business, I don't know anything about other hunters, I work alone," Kasey smirked as she took another sip, "But let's say my client is somewhat obsessive."
"Obsessive how?" Evie was genuinely concerned.
"A Masher," Kasey let out a slight smile, "Say what you want about the hunters, their methods were painful, but at least they had good taste musically speaking."
"Meaning?"
"My client talked about the boys as if they were their exes," Kasey chuckled, "My client has the emotional intelligence of an eight-year-old child."
"And I suppose this person, your client, only paid you to scare Jade with an empty gun, but you saw an opportunity to reactivate the Hunter Academy and now you want to take that chance, right?"
"You know me well," Kasey replied, "And you brought me right where I wanted to be. Thank you so much."
"Too bad you won't be able to leave," BC-13 said and pulled out a gun from his leg holster. He walked around the couch where Evie was sitting, stopping to Kasey's right, next to the desk, taking the grapple gun from the blonde's hand, who had her hands up in mocking surrender.
"Tell your 'Amulet' to lower his gun, Evie," Kasey said without even turning to see him. "You have made a mistake. As soon as I get what I want, you'll have a whole army of Hunters against you, and I'll make sure your precious monsters know it was your fault."
"I won't let you hurt my friends," said Evie.
"How stupid you are," Kasey whispered, shaking her head. "Maybe you didn't learn that friendship is a weakness."
"I guess I can't convince you to join us?" Evie whispered. "Kasey, don't be silly. I can help you. This will get you nowhere."
"If you think so, then this conversation is over," Kasey whispered. And as quick as a flash, she kicked the table, sending the cups, bread, knife, gun and saucer flying through the air towards Evie.
"Shit! Evie!" BC-13 aimed his handgun at Kasey, but the blonde rolled on the floor, then kicked his chest, snatching the handgun, quickly turning to shoot Evie...
But Evie was already there, holding the cannon of the weapon, taking it in motion.
"Give up," Evie ordered, aiming the gun at her fake-sister, who walked around the room with a smile on her face. "I mean it!"
"Or what? Will you kill me like you killed Vanessa?" Kasey disarmed Evie with a kick, sending the weapon flying away, desperately going for Evie's face, but the raven-haired girl was quick to block the punch.
Kasey tried to get her in a chokehold, only to have Evie slip right out of it.
Evie threw a punch, Kasey blocked. A kick, Kasey dodged by simply leaning back as Evie's heel missed her face by mere inches.
"Evie! Go back with the boys!" BC-13 ran toward Kasey.
"And to think you were my first kiss, boy," Kasey dodged his punch and jumped onto his shoulders, swung with his head between her thighs and dropped him to the ground.
Kasey quickly stood up, not one hair out of place.
"Both of you have become weak," Kasey looked down at BC-13, groaning and rubbing his neck on the floor. "Oh, BC-13! Your priority is those guys? What a disgrace," the blue-eyed blonde turned just as Evie approached.
Left punch, Kasey dodged by placing her hands on the floor and cartwheeling, landing in a crouch to pick up the handgun, aiming at Evie as she rose up.
"You're afraid of hurting me, aren't you Evie, " Kasey was about to pull the trigger, but Evie spun and kicked the handgun out of her hand, sending it flying through the air.
"I'm not afraid to admit that I don't want to hurt you," Evie replied, "I'm not..."
"Oh shut up!" Kasey landed a punch to Evie's chest, making her fall on her back, but Evie quickly rolled backwards into a handstand and stood up again.
"Tell me what your plan is! What do you want, Kasey?" Evie asked, bringing her hand down in a chop in hopes of hitting the blonde, but that backfired with a dodge and a punch to the ribs.
The two spun around each other.
"I just want to be the new Vanessa Helsee," Kasey replied and threw a punch. Evie dodged by jumping back, landing on her hands and back to her feet.
The two straightened, looking at each other.
"Kasey, you don't have to do this," Evie said while the two walked in circles. "I can help! Get you out of the dirty business like many Hunters who now work here!"
"And become the bodyguard of some mediocre pop stars?" Kasey mocked, stopping next to the upside-down table. "No thanks."
"I didn't offer you that," Evie replied, quickly glancing at the knife on the floor.
Evie moved her eyes quickly.
The handgun was so close to Kasey's feet.
"You became slow because of them," Kasey cocked her head as if she were looking at something too sweet but dumb to understand anything.
"Not really," Evie quickly rolled on the ground and took the knife for herself. She stood up fast and took up an attack stance, "If I must take you down to protect them, I will."
The blonde shook her head.
"You're going to stab me to death, huh? How elegant," Kasey was completely unfazed and that irked Evie a little.
It was all or nothing now.
Evie edged forward, swinging the blade.
She went for a jab, only to have the blonde swiftly move her body to the side.
Swipe, jab, swing. Nothing was connecting as expected, but at least Kasey was walking backwards, and Evie was getting closer to the handgun. She was now inches away from it, she just had to bend over and take it.
"What's wrong, Evie? You've become slow because of the Ken Doll, haven't you? Oh! Because you love him, right?" Kasey scoffed, "Are you going to kill me? Because as your boyfriends say... I have nine lives just like a cat."
Evie changed the knife from her right hand to her left one, waving it as she spun. Kasey narrowly missed the blade at her throat, not even a hair was cut.
Kasey laughed. Evie had become so sloppy she lost her balance, ducking and placing one hand on the floor. With a quick spin, Kasey finally kicked the knife out of her hand.
"Kasey! Enough!" Evie stopped fighting, taking two steps back, breathing heavily, her hair dishevelled. Kasey didn't have a hair out of place and wasn't agitated at all, in fact, she was still smiling.
"I am faster than you," Kasey said, checking her nails.
"I know that, of course," Evie then held the handgun up. Kasey gasped. Now it made sense why Evie slipped. She hadn't become sloppy, it had just been a plan to keep her eyes away from what she wanted.
"Tricky, like when we trained together," Kasey said. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."
"Oh, and by the way," Evie said, taking a step forward, "Thank you for kicking the knife out of my hand."
"Drop your weapon, Kasey," it was BC-13 behind her, with the knife at her neck. She didn't even flinch.
"Well, well. It seems like teamwork is the strength of this community," Kasey laughed despite being cornered, raising her hands in surrender. "Well done. You two impress me."
"Kasey, you've run out of options," Evie said. "Now tell me. What is your plan?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything."
"What about the attack at the restaurant?" BC-13 asked from behind her. "And all those hunters using tranquilizer darts? I know you know something!"
"If I were involved in that, don't you think I would have kidnapped the boys by now?" the blonde mocked.
Evie narrowed her eyes.
There was an awkward silence afterwards.
Until...
"Evie!" It was Frank's voice, and the apartment door burst open, kicked off the door frame.
Kasey took the opportunity and elbowed BC-13 in the face, rolling on the ground and grabbing the grapple gun, aiming it at the window.
"See you around," but just as she was about to shoot the hook, BC-13 snapped his fingers.
And for the first time in forever, the grapple gun's trigger jammed.
"What?" Kasey inspected the gadget, "But how?!"
"Bad luck, huh?" Evie stood behind Kasey, with her gun at the back of her head. Evie nodded at BC-13, who was rubbing his nose as he took away the grapple gun from Kasey, holding both of her hands behind her back and slamming her against the desk.
"Oooohhh. I like it a little rough," Kasey laughed, looking at the door. Bent over, Kasey felt handcuffs around her wrists. BC-13 had pulled those from a drawer in that same desk. Then he forced her upright, "Handcuffs? God, that's so sexy, don't you think BC-13?"
"You almost cost me my hostage, guys," Evie told the Monster Mash boys, still aiming at the blonde.
"Oh! Sorry," Frank said, standing still, staring at BC-13 restraining the blonde. "Well... I guess you didn't need help."
"I told Zeth to let me handle this, Frank," Evie replied. "But thanks for breaking down my door."
"Everett, I told you to turn the knob first!" Draco shouted.
"But that made entrance more dramatic," Everett said, and Evie shook her head.
"The door was unlocked, Big Guy!" Evie shouted.
"Con una chingada! Why are you so impulsive, Big Guy?!" Alex yelled. "Now you are going to fix this! Let's go get Frank's toolbox!"
"I like using hammers," Everett said. "It reminds me of when I sculpted ice statue for Cousin Bigfoot's wedding."
"Is everything okay then?" Finn asked, poking his head inside, and Evie nodded.
"Everything okay here."
"Are you sure?" Paul was the one to ask now.
"Wow, you have some cute boys watching your back now, Evie," Kasey said in a mocking voice. "And it seems that Robocop here doesn't hold a grudge against you."
"Say what you want," Frank replied, cracking his knuckles. "I've been told worse things."
"Like what? Electric eel? Lightning rod? Sparky? Trojan Horse?"
"Trojan Horse?" Frank cocked his head.
"Hasn't Evie here told you?" Kasey raised an eyebrow. "Don't you know that your accident was... Hey!"
"Shut up!" BC-13 slammed her against the desk once again.
"What's the angry blonde talking about, Evie?" Frank asked, "Are there any secrets I should know about?"
"Two actually," Kasey laughed, "Your ex and your best friend? Oh baby! That's something special!"
"What?" Frank furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"
"It's nothing, Frank!" Evie tried to change the subject, but Frank shook his head and stepped closer to the blonde.
"Kasey? What do you know?"
"Don't you read the lyrics of your own songs, Rubinstein?" Kasey laughed. "Wow! You're even less trustworthy than you seem, Evie!"
"What is she talking about?" Frank asked. "What does she mean by Trojan Horse and what does she mean by our song lyrics, Evie?
"I see you don't know anything about your grandfather's crazy things, Rubinstein," Kasey laughed. "Oh well! I think you and your ex here have a lot to talk about!"
"BC-13, take Kasey, in her underwear, to the dungeons," Evie ordered, "Frank. You and I need to talk."