//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: A Dazzle of Reformation // by Silver Cables //------------------------------// Chapter 2   Big Bucks walked past Adagio from behind towards what appeared to be the kitchen. She followed him into there. When she looked in, she saw that he was looking through some papers. She thought that while Aria and Sonata were distracted, she would confront him. She walked up to him and slammed her hand on a counter. “What is it that you want from us?” Adagio snapped. He looked up and back down to finish going through some papers. “I just want to help some people in need. It’s just that simple.” he said. Adagio didn’t believe him. There is no way after two years, one random person would come out of nowhere and offer them a place to stay without asking for something in return. It wasn’t simple. “Do you want us to clean? Cook? Do some unspeakable things...” she said nervously. “No! Nothing like that! I just saw that the three of you were in need of a place to stay, so I helped out.” he answered. Suddenly, Ms. Dust Magnet waltzed in and had an envelope in hand. “So sorry it’s late, sir. It’s your daughter’s wi--!” she blurted. She realized Adagio was in the room, and quickly hid the envelope in her back pocket. “I’ll just bring it back later.” As she exited the room, Big Bucks went back to sorting papers. Adagio decided that this conversation was going nowhere, as it was hard to see if he had any ulterior-motives. She would just have to follow him around to see if he was planning something. But first, she would have to talk it over with the other two, so she went back into the living room. Sonata was flipping through channels on the television while Aria was twiddling her thumbs on the recliner. “Girls, I want to speak with you two privately.” Adagio said “Now!” Aria sighed and Sonata got up with a sad expression on her face. “C’mon, Adagio. The commercials were about to come on.” Sonata complained. Aria grabbed her by the shirt collar and dragged her over to Adagio. Adagio made them get in a huddle so she could tell them her plan. “We need to catch him with his hand in a cookie jar.” whispered Adagio. Sonata drooled. “I like cookies.” Adagio slapped her in the back of the head and whispered, “Stop fooling around. This is serious.” “But I actually like it here, Adagio. Why can’t we just accept his charity?” Aria said in a laid-back voice. “Because we need to see what his intentions are.” Aria sighed, acting as if she gave up so Adagio would get this conversation over with. When they were done conversing, Aria and Sonata went back to what they were doing while Adagio decided to snoop around the mansion. She went towards the lobby in front of the house and headed upstairs. There were two directions: left and right. She chose left. There were four doors on each side in the hallway, and they were spaced apart quite a bit. “Whoa! Those rooms must be huge.” Adagio said without realizing she said that out loud. She heard footsteps coming up. She had to choose a room quickly before being spotted. She ran towards the third door on the right side of the hallway. She opened it and shut it as quickly and quietly as possible. The room was dark, so she found a light switch and turned it on. She looked around the room. It appeared to be a nursery of some kind. There were dolls, books, along with other toys spread about the room. There was a baby bed on the opposite side of the room to her. She looked inside and saw a bloody severed head in the cradle. She nearly screamed, but she placed her hands over her mouth before she could let it out. She took a closer look at it to see that it was just a doll head covered in dry, red paint. She let out a sigh of relief. She took a look above the baby bed to see a painting of a little girl. She looked to be about two years old. “I thought Big Bucks was alone here.” Adagio whispered to herself. “Aside from the maid, of course.” She couldn’t find anything else that caught her attention, so she went to the door, turned off the light and tried to sneak out, but the maid caught her on her way out. “What were you doing in there?” Ms. Dust Magnet said with her arms crossed. Adagio was trying to find a way around it, but there was no excuse she would come up with that was believable. Or was there…? “I got lost. I needed to find the bathroom, because I have to go.” she said trying to fake a smile. The maid looked at her closely. Then she smiled. “Okay. Lost, huh? The bathroom is the room across the one you were just in.” “Thanks. I really have to go now.” Adagio went into the bathroom and sat on the floor. That sure was close. The maid seemed like she knew more than what she was letting on. Adagio had to be more careful if she wanted to get any information on this guy. Maybe snooping around during the nighttime was the better decision. She flushed the toilet and turned on the sink to make it appear as if she was really using the restroom, and she walked out after turning the sink faucet off. Adagio headed back downstairs to the living room and tried to enjoy the day as much as possible until nightfall. Once nightfall hit, she left the bedroom Big Bucks let the Dazzlings borrow. Tonight, she was going to get some real evidence as to who this guy really was. Nothing was going to get in her way.