The Trial Run

Orville and Rose Voltaire gave Zariah a series of polite goodbyes when she eventually left to go back home.

After a night of grinning, gazing up at the ceiling, pondering on the incredible home and family of the Voltaires, and playing old Villy V classics on her phone, Zariah finally fell asleep—and she awoke early and eagerly the next day. It was an overcast day, the scent of rain still prominent on the air, even more so than the previous night; Zariah texted Michael, drove over to his place, and parked outside of the gate of Voltaire Manor, waiting patiently for her tour guests.

Inside the manor—the three grown children of the household spent plenty of time arguing at the bottom of the stairway about how they would conduct themselves outside, Michael standing at the doors with his arms folded, glaring at his siblings in a paternal sort of way the whole time. Zander and Verity quipped back and forth about where they would go, Verity protesting the idea of the club, since she wasn’t even old enough to enter it—though Zander insisted that the place wouldn’t card her, and Michael repeatedly reminded both of them that he alone was in charge of all their destinations.

While the three bickered, William quietly walked over to the nearest window in the front of the main room, peeking out the drapes and perking his brow. Then, he turned and walked over to Michael, tapping him on the arm and giving him a look.

“I do believe your friend is here… and waiting,” William informed him, ignoring Verity and Zander’s continuous shouting nearby. “I would advise we escort her in and let her park, because we’ll have to take the Lincoln into town. We won’t all fit into her little… whatever that is…”

Michael nodded, he and William stepping out of the manor and marching down the gravel stretch. Michael approached the gate and motioned at it—making it creak open—and William gestured for Zariah to drive inside.

As she brought the car onto the property, slowly parking it beside the Lincoln, Zander and Verity both stepped out of the house as well. Zariah emerged from her car and strolled over to Michael, and William snapped his fingers, gathering everyone’s attention.

“We’re taking the Lincoln,” the butler announced. “Come along, now… and don’t muck about, because Mrs. Voltaire did give me a list of things to see to today.”

Verity and Zander gave him strange looks before striding over to the sleek black car. Zariah and Michael glimpsed at each other before they did the same.

The trip was not quite what anyone had expected; William drove everyone into town, the Voltaire three in the back and Zariah in the passenger seat, and he drove them straight to a lone and isolated little tan building on the outskirts of town, Hailview’s DMV.

Michael, Verity, and Zander were waiting around in the lobby while William did all of the talking, pulling out a folder of papers that Rose Voltaire had given him. They spent the first two hours of their day in this waiting room, and Zariah sat in the corner scrolling on her phone, all while William worked to get the Voltaire children their very first IDs made.

When they finally got their cards made and began to walk out, Verity uttered an exasperated “Thank God,” and Zander marched out quicker than everyone else, eager to leave the place where he’d started a slow death by boredom.

By the time they were all in the car, and finally cruising toward town, Verity rolled her neck and leaned in between the two front seats, looking to the butler.

“Can we please go somewhere that isn’t dull now?” she asked. “I thought we were going to restaurants, or beaches, or parties, or something… but that was just a room full of chairs, and some smelly old man taking my picture.”

“I would think the experience would be a bit more intriguing to you, seeing as how you’ve never seen any other human being outside of your own family home before,” William remarked, glancing at her through the rearview mirror.

“Well… but I know they exist ,” Verity laughed. “I’ve been reading about them in magazines and watching them in movies all my life. It’s not exactly shocking , Will.”

“Hm. My apologies… although your mother did insist,” William informed. “You’ll all need IDs to begin your lives out here, you know. It’s part of what you wanted.”

Verity stared, then sank back against the seat and fell silent.

“She also wanted to ensure that you had documentation to show you’d been homeschooled until now… which I happened to have already taken care of a while ago,” William remarked. “So… I suppose… everything is in place. All we must do now is… have a nice day out.”

Michael scooted to the edge of the back seat, pressing his face in between the passenger seat and the wall of the car. He slid his hand through, gently tapping Zariah on the shoulder.

“Hey,” he whispered to her. “Where did you wanna take everyone today…?”

“Hm? Oh… I don’t know. I think the beach is a cool idea,” Zariah shrugged. “Especially today. The sun isn’t gonna bother any of you guys right now…”

“Ooo… good point,” Michael mumbled.

“To the beach!” Verity exclaimed.

Zander flumped back against the seat, folding his arms and rolling his eyes. William, however, merely smirked and nodded—driving off toward the farthest east side of town, past the many shops on either side of the main road.

“We do have a few tourist attractions here in Hailview,” William told everyone, motioning over to a seafood restaurant and a tourist center off to the right. “Pamphlets to show where all the best places are… boat rides, fishing trips, cruises, deep-sea diving, and even a ferris wheel and other such attractions at the end of the pier just south of town.”

“Oh yeah… and that’s where the best carnival games are,” Zariah added, turning around and smiling at everyone in the back. “Don’t go to pop-up carnivals. Always go to the pier.”

“There’s a bar out there, too,” Zander mumbled.

William took all of this as a sign to drive southward; the Lincoln cruised the long, narrow back road alongside the shore, Michael and Verity gazing outside at the endlessness of the ocean as they ventured south. Before long—the pier came into view in the distance, reaching out atop the ocean with the dancing lights of the ferris wheel shining like a beacon calling them to their next stop.

Michael beamed at the sight of it, trading looks of delight with Verity. Zariah glimpsed back at them and snickered.

William stopped the Lincoln in the corner of the long parking lot beside the pier, and everyone climbed out of it, Zariah leading them over to the wooden stairs that led upward. Michael raced along with her gleefully, Verity just behind them, while William and Zander trailed along at the back.

When they staggered to a stop on the pier—Michael paused to soak it all in, the long, expansive stretch of wood with endless colors at the end, stands, and games, and toys, and fun—and the great, massive ferris wheel stood high above it all, towering over the pier and everyone down below.

“Race ya’ VV!” Michael cackled, breaking into a run.

“Aaah! No fair! Your legs are way longer than mine!” Verity shouted, chasing after him at once.

“Uh, hellooo?!” Zander screamed at them both, springing into a brisk stride after them. “What’re you gonna do if you run off from everybody who actually has money?!”

All the Voltaires headed off toward the games and the ferris wheel. Zariah watched them go, laughing and glancing over at William, who stood beside her with his hands cupped.

“They’re all just gigantic children, huh,” Zariah said.

William perched his brow at her, his mouth curling into a half-smile. “Quite so. You can really tell they’ve not been let out before. Well… aside from the escape artist… but even he’s never had a family outing before now.”

Zariah nodded and faced forward again, watching as Michael, Zander, and Verity got steadily farther away. She and William resumed their pace, following in the footsteps of the Voltaires, and they eventually entered the aisles between the game and shop stands, passing by scarce few guests and families, as not many people visited the pier during an overcast day.

Michael and Verity excitedly approached every single stand, marveling at the games and prizes while Zander leisurely strolled along behind them with his hands in his pockets. Zariah and William trailed along behind the three at a distance, occasionally sniggering at the childlike reactions that Michael and Verity displayed at everything around them.

William stole a glimpse of Zariah as they walked, then looked down for a second, wearing a thoughtful visage.

“I do hope you realize how special you already are to this family, Ms. Knightingale,” the butler muttered to her as they walked. “It’s not often that Mrs. Voltaire allows an outsider into this family. The last one they let in came about in 1973.”

Zariah turned to him with raised brows. “Yeah?”

“Oh yes.” William made a nod. “And that was me.”

Zariah nodded mildly, remembering when Michael had told her the story of how William came to be a part of the family.

“I know that Mr. and Mrs. Voltaire have a quaint little idea of having a united family among the classes… not that the classes necessarily do a great deal of fighting anymore,” William added on. “Most classes of the paradigm are scattered and disorganized now… not how they once were. Still… they never cared for the hatred between vampires and werewolves. They never cared about mixing with psychics, or the Holy Class, or anything of the like. I think they quite enjoy the idea of their family being made of… a little bit of everything.”

“Minus demons,” Zariah shrugged.

“Well… yes,” William agreed, nodding sideways. “Minus the Demon Class, naturally…”

They both walked on in silence for a moment, watching as Michael grabbed Verity’s hand and dragged her over to an ocean-themed ring-tossing game over to the far right.

“And… Mrs. Voltaire actually took a shine to you. Quite quickly , I might add,” William said, giving Zariah an intrigued little squint. “I suppose your act of heroism must have had a lot to do with it. Rescuing Michael… before you even knew he was a Voltaire. Truly admirable, that was.”

“Oh… no… I just saw someone laying on the bridge, and I wanted to make sure he was okay,” Zariah shrugged. “I didn’t really think about it, I just…”

“You just acted… the same way the Voltaires always have,” William understood. “You know… they are a pair of the most rebellious souls you’ll ever meet… but they hold a great deal of respect for people who take action in that way. So many people out there just don’t get involved in things when they should. Most others hesitate, or shy away, or fear getting involved… but Mr. and Mrs. Voltaire have always stood entirely outside of that societal norm… and they certainly respect others who do the same.”

Zariah nodded again, gazing down at her feet and pondering deeply on something.

“So… they wouldn’t think I was stupid for going out and investigating a possible gang of demon-possessed people here in town?” she uttered, giving the butler a curious look.

William turned his head and eyed her quizzically.

“I… um… I’m an influencer, and paranormal investigation is kind of my whole thing,” Zariah tried to explain. “I guess you could call it journalism, because that’s basically what I do… just… online, with a live audience a lot of the time…”

“You don’t need to dumb it down for me too much, Ms. Knightingale,” William smirked coyly. “I am the one who actually has left the house several times over the past thirty-seven years. I do know what an influencer is.”

“Okay… well… basically, I’ve been looking into all the things attached to the Supernatural Paradigm all my life,” Zariah told him. “My mom got me into it pretty young… and it really became my passion. I kinda wanted to go and… try to actually do something, not just… write about it, or talk about it. I figured out that some of the people in town might be Demon Class, so I was wondering if…”

“If you should go and poke that potential problem with a stick,” William mumbled. “Hm. Well, that certainly complicates things a bit…”

“Why?” Zariah asked.

William sighed, slowed to a stop, and faced her properly.

“I do know full well the people you’re referring to, Ms. Knightingale,” he told her, lowering his voice. “And I think it’s admirable that you want to go and do some good, just for the sake of doing it… but they are not the types of people who will take kindly or mercifully to anyone peeking into their business. And more to the point…”

The butler turned slightly, motioning down the walkway at Michael, who was arguing playfully with Verity about how to play a ring-toss game.

“That one, there… is already quite attached to you,” William told her pointedly, raising his eyebrows and giving her a serious sort of look. “And he would be fairly upset if you ended up in any kind of danger.”

Zariah opened her mouth slightly, searching her mind for a response and falling speechless for a second. Then, she made a slight shake of the head, giving him a questioning look.

“I haven’t even known him for very long…”

“Doesn’t matter,” William said. “He knows you very well, and he cares about you. It doesn’t take a psychic very long to know a person though and through. And even beyond that… if I could offer my personal perspective on the matter…”

He glanced down the way, staring at Michael.

“I have the feeling that you may offer him some form of contentment that he isn’t able to get at home,” William speculated. “Because… he seems very insistent on keeping you in his life all of a sudden.”

Zariah looked down, mulling over this and rethinking everything that Michael had expressed about his own family before she’d ever met them. He seemed delighted to have a friend who felt the need to look after him in the same way he always had to look after his family.

“Well…” Zariah muttered, scratching her face and sighing. “I kinda got the feeling that he… likes having someone sort of… look after him… instead of it being the other way around all the time. That’s just what he said, I don’t mean any disrespect to you guys or anything…”

William chuckled. “Oh, no disrespect taken, believe me. You’re right. I do try to look after him in my own way… as I do understand the pressure of being in charge of people and their wellbeing… but… I think he could greatly benefit from being around a person who considers his thoughts and feelings in general… just a bit more often than his siblings tend to do.”

Zariah breathed out a laugh.

“No, you flick your wrist,” Michael was explaining to Verity, holding up his hand and miming the movement of tossing a ring. “Real quick, simple flick, not too hard.”

“No, but—why can’t you just throw it with both hands?!” Verity asked, raising her hands as if holding one of the rings between her two palms. “Hold it out and completely control where it’s going! See? Why would that not work?”

“It’s too far away!” Michael snickered, pointing over to the plastic standing jellyfish on the other side of the counter, the apparent targets of the ring-toss game. “You can’t just steer the rings over there—you have to toss them!”

“Um.” Zander scratched his eyebrow, giving each of them a look. “You do know we can literally just move that shit with our minds , right?”

“That’s cheating ,” Michael snarked at him. “If you can’t do it right, then that’s a skill issue.”

“I wanna try,” Verity mumbled, gazing over the counter at the plastic pink jellyfish.

She turned to Zander, and Michael stared over at him, both of them gazing at him expectantly.

Zander glimpsed between them, then sighed and rolled his eyes dramatically, digging into his black jacket and pulling out a messy wad of cash, plucking a single ten dollar bill from it. He smacked the bill into Michael’s palm, who happily turned and paid the man behind the counter, allowing he and Verity to try tossing rings at the jellyfish.

Zariah and William watched as Michael and Verity attempted their own methods of ring-tossing, Michael whipping them out with the flourish of his wrist, while Verity grabbed the ring with both hands and tried to launch the ring onto its target. Michael was able to land the rings onto the jellyfish nearly every time, though Verity’s way didn’t seem to work at all. She pouted and tossed her head back, Michael handing her another ring and instructing her to try it his way.

Eventually, Zander sauntered in between them and began flicking rings onto the jellyfish effortlessly.

“Ooo, that is sooo impressive,” Verity mocked him, raising her hands and making a sarcastic expression. “Ooo, I can throw rings, I am sooo amazing…”

Zander stopped and snapped his head around to glare at her, making Michael bust with laughter.

The group wandered away from the ring-toss game soon after, visiting several other stands and eyeballing all of their prizes. Michael stopped and stared rather fixedly at the cups game, asking William to pay for a round, and he did. Then, Michael grabbed the plastic balls, locked his focus onto the stack of plastic cups, and pitched the ball with all his might—his eyes flashing brightly for a split second as the ball hit the stack of cups squarely in the center, knocking all of them over on his very first try.

The man behind the counter looked up from scrolling on his phone, cocking his brow and glimpsing between Michael and the fallen cups, seeming surprised.

Michael smirked, giving the man a wave and turning to Zariah. “Okay… pick one.”

Zariah blinked. “What…?”

“Pick one!” Michael breathed, pointing up at all of the prizes dangling from the ceiling of the stand, many of which were large and colorful stuffed animals. “I just won one! Which one do you want?”

Zariah opened her mouth, but Verity stepped forward and responded before her.

“Oh, that is so not fair!” the teenager exclaimed. “You’re gonna win one for your girlfriend before you get one for your little sister? Oh, I am so telling on you.”

Michael took slightly back, then choked out a laugh. “Um… first of all, she’s not my—”

“She’s a girl , and she’s your friend ,” Verity stated. “I don’t care what you wanna call her, because that is really not the point! I mean—no offense, Zariah—but Michael is so playing favorites right now.”

“I am not!” Michael proclaimed, jutting his hand out at the cups game. “Look—I still have two rounds to play! I can win you one too! I’m not playing favorites!”

“Oh yeah? Then why did you offer her a prize before you offered me one?” Verity challenged, folding her arms and tilting her head at him.

Michael groaned and swatted at the hanging prizes. “Fine, you pick one first! It doesn’t matter! Sheesh…”

Verity smirked and meandered closer to survey the prizes, William and Zariah exchanging glimpses and snickering at the entire ordeal. After Verity selected a large pink bunny rabbit, Michael lifted his second ball and reeled his arm back, focusing on the second stack of cups—his eyes flashing a brief silver just before he threw the tiny ball.

The ball struck the second stack of cups in the middle yet again, and the cups all fell over.

The man behind the counter was ogling Michael very strangely now, and Zander was staring over at him rather fixedly, leaning slightly closer and muttering to him.

“Now you’re cheating,” Zander whispered. “Hypocrite.”

Michael glanced at him, then sputtered out a laugh and made a shrug, gesturing subtly over to Verity and Zariah. “So what? It’s for the greater good.”

Zander rolled his eyes again and faced forward, shaking his head and flashing a smirk.

“Okay… now you pick one,” Michael told Zariah with a laugh. “Which one do you want?”

Zariah gazed up at all of the prizes, and her eyes landed on her favorite one in the mix—a stuffed black bat with purple glitter on its fur and shiny crimson eyes.

“I like that one,” she said, pointing up at the bat. “That’s just big enough to toss on my bed and use as a pillow.”

The man behind the counter collected the large stuffed bat and handed it over to her.

“Thank you,” Zariah smiled, nudging her arm into Michael’s.

“You’re welcome,” Michael smirked, turning and glancing between William and Zander. “Okay… who wants the last one? I have one more prize to win.”

William and Zander exchanged glimpses.

“You’re kidding, right?” Zander chided.

“This may come as a surprise to you, Master Michael… but I have very little need for stuffed toys,” William said curtly.

“Well… fine, be that way,” Michael grumped, lifting the last ball. “I’ll get one for me.”

His eyes shone for a millisecond—and he threw the ball with pinpointed accuracy—knocking over the final stack of cups.

Michael punched the air with delight, then scanned over all of the prizes, pointing up at the only other stuffed bat among them, a fluffy white one with pink eyes.

“Shikaka!” he beamed.

“Shi-ka-kaaaa?!” Verity grinned.

“Shikasha!” Michael said playfully, wagging a finger at her. “Aaah! Shhhish-ka-bob! Shawshank Redemption!”

Then, both of them yelled in unison.

“ Chi-ca-go! ”

Michael and Verity erupted with laughter, Zander giving them a caustic look, though he and William both maintained a flattened sort of smile.

Zariah giggled as she watched the man behind the counter hand off the big white bat to Michael. It felt somewhat strange to watch all of this, albeit quite wholesome and nice; it was slightly odd to see these people, people who were psychic half-vampires, who had never experienced car rides, carnival games, or a trip to the beach together, making movie references with each other and sniggering about it in just the way that any other ordinary people would.

“The great white bat has great white guano!” Michael exclaimed, raising the stuffed white bat over his head and making Verity nearly collapse with laughter.

The group spent a bit more time exploring the game stands until they reached the threshold of the main attraction.

Michael looked positively thrilled to ride the ferris wheel, but Zander seemed entirely disengaged, and Verity looked like she didn’t know how to feel about it, switching from excitement to anxious anticipation, repeatedly twirling her hairs while they all stood in line. William decided to stand off to the side—as the ferris wheel only allowed four people to ride one cart at a time—and before long, the short line whittled down, and the wheel turned, the small white side door of the nearest cart pulled open by the attendant, who waved for them to enter.

Michael and Zariah stepped onto the wobbling cart without hesitation, Verity sheepishly following them, and Zander coming in last. The girls sat on one bench, and the boys sat on the one across, the attendant swinging the door shut before pulling the lever and allowing the wheel to turn more.

As the ferris wheel slowly turned, and as their cart was brought steadily higher and higher, Michael and Zariah grinned as they gazed over the town and the open sea from such a fantastic view, Verity sparing it a few glimpses, as she was equally as intrigued as she was nervous. By the time their cart was brought nearly to the top—to the highest peak of the ride—Michael glanced over, only just noticing that Zander was sunken down on their bench, his arms folded tightly, and his eye level almost hidden beneath the cart’s wall.

Michael sputtered out a laugh, smacking him on the arm.

“What’re you doing? Look,” he urged his brother, pointing over the white wall. “Look at this view.”

Zander’s eyes flickered over to him, and he did not move an inch, scowling and saying nothing.

Verity swallowed and slowly turned around to peer over the back, then quickly looked away again, laughing and fidgeting with her sleeve ends. “Oh my gosh… I can’t! I seriously can’t! This is so cool, but it’s way too high…!”

“Hey, look… it’s okay,” Zariah assured her, grabbing the side wall and gently rocking their cart to and fro. “These things are super weighted. They can’t flip over. We’re good.”

“Oh, they are?” Verity uttered, glancing around the cart, then turning around in her seat again. “Okay…”

She gazed over the back, marveling at the enormity of the world seen from up high, the endlessness of the far-distant trees surrounding the town of Hailview that now looked microscopic, and the seemingly infinite stretch of the shoreline traveling far beyond eyeshot, and the ocean spanning on and dominating the view for what looked like forever.

“Whoa,” Verity breathed with fascination.

“It’s wild , isn’t it?” Michael grinned at her. “We’re literally on the very edge of the continent… and we can see it. The entire country just ends and drops off… right here.”

“It’s amazing,” Verity murmured, staring down at the world in awe. “Wow. Suddenly, I’m kinda mad at Mom and Dad for never letting us out here before…”

“Nooo… that makes it better ,” Michael knew. “It means we’re gonna enjoy this kind of stuff way more than everyone else does. It’s kind of genius, if you think about it. We’re always gonna have something new to see… and something to be happy about… for no reason at all.”

Verity continued to ogle the world below. “Yeah… yeah, I guess. I didn’t… think of it like that…”

Michael and Zariah traded smiles, then looked to Zander, Zariah almost laughing out loud and quickly covering her mouth at the sight of him sunken down on his bench.

“What’s wrong with you?” Michael chuckled, swatting his brother on the arm again. “You’re not even gonna look?”

Verity stared at Zander as a wide, devilish smile crawled across her face. “Ohmigod. You’re actually scared! You’re more scared than I was! Ha!”

“I’m not scared ,” Zander snapped. “I just don’t like heights.”

“ What? ” Michael barked in disbelief. “You were always the one trying to climb on the roof of the house!”

“Yeah… and falling off of it made me not wanna be there anymore,” Zander griped in response. “Breaking my arm from falling kinda made me not like heights. Because fucking duh .”

Michael tilted his head, wearing a mischievous smirk. Then, he stood, pushed his stuffed white bat under the bench, grabbed the pole in the center of the cart, and slowly began to rock the entire thing back and forth.

Zander took in a long, deep breath, sinking even deeper into the bench and glaring daggers at his brother. “Michael. I swear to God. I am gonna rip your fucking head off.”

“Ah yeah? Are you? And… how’re you gonna do that from way down there?” Michael smiled, swaying to and fro and rocking the cart a little harder.

Zander’s jaw twitched.

Zariah and Verity traded glances, both of them covering their smiles and swallowing their laughter.

“Stop it,” Zander growled through gritted teeth. “Michael. Stop it. Fucking…”

Michael grinned wider, jerking side to side and rocking the cart even more.

Suddenly—Zander launched up from the bench and tackled Michael. Verity screamed and ducked down, rescuing her stuffed pink rabbit and shoving it under the bench while her brothers wrestled in the middle of the cart, Zariah watching in shock and snickering breathlessly.

Their cart, more than anyone else’s, was swinging quite visibly on the ferris wheel, and everyone was able to hear the echoes of their yelling from down below. William stood beside the ride with his hands clasped before him, gazing up at their cart and sighing with apprehension.

Zander shoved his brother and smacked him hard across the face. Michael responded by pushing him and jutting out his hand—his eyes brightening—sending Zander back with his power and making him slam into the side wall, tottering over it and beginning to fall—

“Oh— shit! ” Michael hissed—lunging forward and quickly grabbing Zander by the undershirt, yanking him back inside.

Zander staggered and caught his balance, he and Michael staring over the white wall and panting, both of them suddenly falling very still and silent.

Then, they looked to each other.

“Okay… we’re not gonna mention any of that to Mom,” Michael said exasperatedly.

“No… we are damn sure not,” Zander agreed, plopping back down onto his bench.

“Yeah… um… by the way,” Zariah said, scooting forward and raising her finger. “Wrestling on a ride is a good way to get banned from that ride. I’m just saying.”

“H’oh my God,” Verity exhaled, clutching her chest and shooting her brothers a searing look. “That was so scary. You are both just so stupid! ”

Michael sat back down and sighed. “VV… I could throw him over the edge and then just pull him back up here with my mind if I wanted to. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“Yeah… y’know, we could do that to you too,” Zander nodded, leaning back against the bench and motioning over to his sister. “You wanna go on a real ride?”

“Fuck off,” Verity chided.

Seconds later, as the ferris wheel continued to take them steadily in a circle, the sunlight suddenly seemed brighter, peeking out from behind the overcast clouds and shining brightly over them all.

Michael blinked and winced, blocking the bright light with his hand best he could. Zander shrunk back and turned away from it with closed eyes, and Verity moaned and sank deeper into her seat, trying to escape the light and failing.

Zariah calmly slipped off the small jean backpack that she’d been carrying all day, setting her stuffed bat aside and unzipping the bag in her lap.

“Awww… c’mon,” Verity whined, smacking her lips as the sunlight blasted over her. “This was such a good day. Now I’m gonna feel like puking all day…”

“Don’t worry,” Zariah muttered, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small, retractable umbrella. “It’s supposed to be overcast and a little bit rainy all day… but I brought this more for the sun than the rain, just in case. Here.”

She extended the small umbrella, lengthening its stand and spreading it open—and she held it near the center, creating a canopy of shade for them all.

The Voltaires all scooted to the edges of their seats, huddling under the umbrella and breathing out sighs of relief.

“M’kay,” Zander muttered. “I am pretty damn ready to get the hell off this ride now…”

Verity giggled, then turned to Zariah. “Thank you for thinking ahead. I should’ve brought an umbrella…”

“Yeah… thank you,” Michael nodded in agreement.

Then, Michael and Verity both looked to Zander expectantly.

Zander huffed out a breath, making a halfhearted shrug and nod. “M’yeah. Thank you.”

Zariah smirked. “Don’t worry about it.”

There was a moment of silence, the ferris wheel coasting along in its circle, all of them hiding beneath the umbrella’s shade in their cart.

“Okay… I planned for us to go eat something today, too,” Michael spoke up. “And… this is the part you guys are gonna hate, but… I think we should go home after that.”

“What?!” Zander and Verity yelled simultaneously.

“Listen,” Michael started, holding out a hand. “We wanna prove to Mom and Dad that we’re being responsible and not going crazy out here. We don’t wanna give them the impression that we’re running off to wild parties and doing a bunch of drugs or something. We need to make this look as respectable and normal as possible… and that means not staying out all afternoon and half the night.”

“I’m supposed to go see Crys today,” Zander complained.

Michael turned and stared at him. “Who…?”

“Crystal… my girlfriend,” Zander griped.

Michael sighed, giving him a pleading look. “Well, come on… can’t you just wait one more day to see her? Just… just stay with us, come home with us, and don’t stay out late. That’s gonna put Mom’s mind way more at ease… and then… you can probably just go out tomorrow and spend as much time with your girlfriend as you want.”

“Oh… yeah… I kinda see what he’s saying,” Verity mumbled, turning to Zander. “Mom wouldn’t sign me into school tomorrow if we all stayed out late today. She probably wouldn’t feel like she could trust me enough… or any of us.”

“Yeah… see, this is for all of us,” Michael told his brother. “We don’t need Mom or Dad being paranoid about us leaving the house. We need their minds at ease so we can just come and go whenever we want without it being a problem.”

Zander glimpsed between them and sighed, tossing up a hand and reluctantly nodding in agreement. “Fine…”

“Awesome,” Michael smiled, facing Zariah. “So can we go back to the steakhouse?”

Zariah took back, choking out a laugh. “Oh… absolutely.”

The rest of the day unfolded rather peacefully; when the ride ended, the four of them stepped off, rejoining William and traveling the pier for a while longer. Zariah eventually stuffed the umbrella away again when the thick clouds above resumed their cover over the sun.

Later on, when they all drove away from the beach, Zariah directed William to her favorite restaurant—the first place she took Michael—and all of them went inside to enjoy an early dinner. This time—Michael was not the only person in the booth salivating over the rare-cooked steaks. Now, all three of the Voltaire children and their butler were gazing down at their steaks with ravenous hunger, and the four of them grabbed their steaks with no utensils, devouring them almost savagely as if none of them had eaten in years.

And—just as Michael had planned and suggested—they all returned home early, before five in the afternoon, Michael and William gladly reporting the events of their day to Rose and Orville Voltaire while Zariah drove back home for the day, texting Michael and wishing him luck.

She hoped that the parents of the Voltaire home would be satisfied with their simple and enjoyable day, knowing that nothing bad had happened—and she hoped that Michael and his siblings would be able to live a little freer from here on.