LTSV - Harbingers of Change - 31 (Patreon)

Mira answered the phone because putting off unpleasant tasks inevitably made them worse and she'd been expecting him to rear his ugly head at some point. She took a deep breath, pulled out her memories of the best interactions that Samira had ever had with her father and channeled them all into her voice when she said, "Hi, Daddy!"

He didn't acknowledge what she'd called him, but Mira had plenty of second-hand experience that told her he'd notice if she didn't use the endearment. He must have been in a good mood because he didn't sound too annoyed when he replied, "Sammy, your mother is having a small get together tonight. Your sister got home last night. You're to bring the other hunters from LivingShadow."

Mira made a face, but understood this was not a request. "I'll see what I can do," she told him.

"I'm not interested in effort or excuses, Samira," Virgil said in his more usual tone, which felt more familiar than his abnormal congeniality from earlier. "I only care about results."

"I understand, Daddy," she said, putting on an air of false contrition while she flipped off the phone with her free hand. "Is it Violani or Vestea who just got in?"

"Violani. Vestea is still in York. Be here at six, sharp." The line went dead as he hung up.

"What was that?" Allen asked her.

"Just my father commanding us to attend another one of my mothers parties," Mira sighed.

He shook his head. "No, your voice just now. It sounded like you dropped forty IQ points."

Mira shrugged. "It's what works with him. You don't have to go, by the way, but they will feed you if you do. I'm not sure what he's hoping to get out of this evening, but there's a not-zero chance that Blake Heron is going to show up. He made such a big deal out of letting me know he's familiar with my parents even though I've never met him before. I'd be almost disappointed if he didn't try to approach me away from everyone else."

"No, I think I'll go." Allen scrunched his face up. "I think it's a good idea for us to stick together for the foreseeable future. Everything's starting to calm down outside, which means people are starting to think of ways they can profit from the Gates. Anyway, I kind of want to see these people. I come from the unbearable new money freaks. I want to see how the other side lives."

"It's probably not that different." Mira sent a quick note to the group chat and got back all positive replies, except for Cece who let herself into the penthouse a few minutes later and she looked concerned.

"Are you sure you want to go there?" she asked, holding her phone in one hand. "She's going to try to get you wasted in public again."

Allen held up a hand. "Excuse me? What?"

Mira sighed. "It's a little game my mother likes to play. She prevent me from eating and load me down with alcohol. It's fine, I'll eat before we leave and I'm good at making drinks disappear without actually drinking them."

Cece frowned. "I still don't like it. You're getting a lot of attention and Violani will be there. Mrs. Bellamy is going to be even worse than usual."

Why would Violani's make a difference? Samira didn't really have many bad memories of her younger sister. They weren't close, but they weren't enemies either. The age gap between them wasn't too big, but Helena had bonded with her youngest in a way she never had with her middle child.

Actually, Mira squinted up at the ceiling as she interrogated her own memories. There was something about Violani's status in the family, but Samira had never actually known what it was. Violani was Helena's favorite, but she also got preferential treatment from Virgil too. Otherwise, how else could she fund her extensive travels and expensive overseas education when Samira had barely been allowed to finish high school?

Now that Mira was really thinking about it, Cece was right. Violani's presence was frequently a catalyst for the worst of Helena's bad behavior. usually, Helena was content with making Samira look like a strung-out fuck up, like at her last party. If Violani was around, then actual drugs started popping up around the house; mysterious little baggies of unidentifiable pills or other powders that would turn up in Samira's room or in her car. That always ended with Samira losing another 'privilege.' Come to think of it, that incident where they'd kicked Samira out of the house and then reported her as a runaway had started with Violani's winter break visit home.

The only question was whether Violani was complicit in her parents' abuse or if her visits were just an instigating factor. Abusive people sometimes reacted to disruptions in their routine that way. Samira honestly had not known Violani well enough for Mira to be able to tell one way or the other. Violani was dangerous to Cece in the book, but she hadn't seemed to care about her older sister one way or the other.

Mira looked back at Cece. "Alright, you may be onto something."

Given the Bellamy's past behavior, there was no way they'd let Samira have a milestone like getting a prestigious job pass without pulling some kind of bullshit.

Despite Allen's objections (and Randall's and Will's and Bryn's, once he'd gone and snitched to them), they did end up piling into the van to attend the Bellamy's party. For one, Mira wanted to lay eyes on this new sister of hers. For another, she'd realized that Violani's school was one of many residential schools that decided to not delay classes. In fact, they were welcoming students to move in early despite the fact that it was still summer break.

They were located far away from any of the known gates and their private security force had scoured the surrounding grounds to make sure that the government's satellite scans hadn't missed one. Arguably, Violani would have been far safer at school than she would have been at home. Plus, she was in her final year and taking a year off would delay her graduation. She'd even been closer to school than she had been to home, if Samira's text history was to be believed.

Yet, somehow, she snagged a spot on one of the very first overseas flights available once the airports reopened. Meanwhile, there were still people sleeping in terminals all over the world waiting on replacement flights after theirs were cancelled during the initial Gate crisis.

Something stank and Mira wanted to find out what it was.

So, she got out a fancy dress from her closet—a dress that turned out to be almost too tight on her when she put it on. A look in the mirror revealed that those 'bulking' shakes Bryn had been giving her since he moved in had finally had an effect on her.

Her frame had filled out into more of an hourglass shape and she had to spent a little while just turning back and forth in front of her mirror before she started to feel normal again. She'd been dressing entirely in leisure sets since she'd gotten back from the Ruined Borough and so hadn't noticed when her body started to change.

No wonder Adra had been so handsy lately. Her initial thought that Samira had had a sort of bombshell pinup look had been right on the money and now she had the silhouette to go with it!

Cece didn't have a suitable dress, but she fit into Samira's old wardrobe so they were both dressed for the occasion. Mira had a slinky navy blue sheath grown with a subtle shimmer in the fabric and a hemline that reached the ground, chosen for the reason that the fabric had a little bit of stretch to it. Cece had borrowed an ivory a-line cocktail dress with a built in crinoline and off-shoulder neckline.

Mira just hoped that they wouldn't have to deal with one of the Magnates showing up or, if it had to happen, then there'd just be one. The Magnates were kind of like betta fish and were more or less fine so long as they couldn't see each other. Mira knew she was playing with fire by dressing Cece up, but she didn't believe for a second that they were actually going to a 'small get-together.'

The boys all had something vaguely suitable to wear and didn't need her intervention. Allen pulled out a fitted green suit with a two-button blazer over a black shirt that he'd left unbuttoned at the collar. Will clearly had to buy off the rack, but knew how to get the maximum mileage out of his red and black suit-vest-and-slacks combination. She hadn't been able to tell right away if Randall came from money, but the tailored slim-fit gray silk-blend suit he pulled out for the occasion confirmed her suspicions. Bryn was the only one she'd really worried about because he had been wearing nothing but track suits this entire time, but even he had a boxy black dress shirt that passed muster when he left a few buttons undone and rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.

Adra broke out his Mason body for the occasion and consented to drive. He didn't talk to anybody, maintaining his terse Mason persona, but no one in the party actually tried to involve him in the conversation. His 'asshole' act was working and it was clear that they did not like him.

When they arrived, Mira noted in resignation that Virgil had once again understated the scale of the event. There was a valet at the lobby entrance and, when they entered the building, a set of standing signs directed them to the building's event space next to the pool.

She stared at the pool as they stepped out onto the large deck next to it, which had been lit with soft ambient globe lights.

"If anyone tries to push me into that pool," she muttered as an aside to Adra, "I will be dragging them in with me."

This story might have turned into an action-adventure, but its foundation had been laid in melodrama. Standing next to that pool in this world would be about as smart as taking a walk next to a cliff at night in a gothic horror.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a feminine voice called out to her.

"Sammy!"

Mira turned with a polite smile already in place, only to be struck dead as a deep chord of familiarity sounded in her chest.

The young woman approaching her didn't have pink hair or teal eyes. She had Samira's same natural dark brown hair, which she wore loose in beach waves down her back. She'd inherited Helena's eyes and had a sun-kissed tan to show from her extended beach holiday between semesters.

Still, there was no mistaking it and Mira could have kicked herself for not suspecting that this would happen.

Violani was Viola.

 Note: Things are real different!