ADVENTURES AT THE OTHER BLAKE ESTATE PART THREE

Apparently, Cecelia also received an invitation to Neil's birthday party. She was still in her towel from swimming on the beach with Butterfly and Ray when we all sat down for dinner at the long dining table. There were perhaps twenty of us young people; the adults had gone elsewhere to dine, but the atmosphere of the room was no where near childish. Quite conversation, with classical music coming from the surround sound system, it seemed like a cultured, flawless party.

Until, that is, everyone went to sit at the table and found that instead of name plate, we had been given brain teasers and riddles. I think mine had to be the easiest, for on my white name card, there was the word 'Ethan' written in size ten font, thus "little" Ethan. Neil's name plate read 'bow' and Adam, seated on his right, had '+am' which I didn't understand until half the meal had passed.

I sat between one of Ishtar's friends, a girl named Rebeca, and a boy who introduced himself as Benjamin. His name card had said 'had been playing with the band.' I was amazed he figured it out.

I saw no other people from Lakewood, besides the Blakes, Adam and Edmund, who showed up right before the first course was served. I had to wonder if they would come for the next night, when the real party began, or if they were simply not coming. I really hoped they would show up, just to have a few more familiar faces around. You see, I still hadn't adjusted to the life of a rich boy.

"I like this song." I commented, as one of Beethoven's masterpieces came on in the background. I had been working on a violin rendition to play with the Second Violin all summer, but I wasn't sick of it yet.

"I do too." Ben said. "Though my opinion may be biased. My father was the conductor for this orchestra."

"Amazing." I said.

"I'm glad no one brought their own music." Rebeca said softly. "I just returned from a language immersion program, and, on some days, the other children brought iPods to the table and listened to them the whole meal."

"That's so rude." I exclaimed.

"I know." Rebeca said sweetly. "I just wanted to tell them to learn to make some f*cking conversation already."

I giggled, but, somehow, my laughter seemed out of place. I drank a sip of water (I was avoiding the wine) to smother it.

"Forgive my sister." Ben said. "Her time away has--" But Ben was cut off by a loud gunshot.

I turned around in my high backed seat, and saw a burly man in a black ski mask, holding a pistol. "Don't move." He said in a gravely voice, pointing his gun at the table. He closed in, and even the quite conversation had stopped. The Beethoven, however, remained, making the whole scene surreal and hardly believable.

The man put his gun to Ishtar's--who just happened to be the closest--head. "Don't move or I blow her pretty little brains out."

I glanced at Neil, who seemed to be taking the situation very calmly, considering a strange man who had just broken into his house now held a gun pointed at his sister. When I thought about it, all the rich kids seemed strangely relaxed. Even Ishtar didn't look the slightest bit scared. I wondered if they were all just in shock.

But then the reason clarified itself when several butlers took down the potential kidnapped in a matter of seconds. The limp body--it might have even been a corpse--was removed.

"Have you been to the beach yet, Ethan?" Ben asked, turned to face me and sipping his wine.

"N-no." I stammered, not quite sure what exactly had happened.

"It's very nice." He said.

"Very." Rebeca agreed.

Dinner resumed as if nothing had happened. I guess rich kids were used to armed men waving guns around, trying to threaten them. But I wasn't. It freaked me out so much that, when I was taken to guest bedroom number eight, I couldn't get to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I kept seeing the kidnapper, or whatever he was, and his eyes through the ski mask. Finally, around one in the morning, I texted Cecelia, who had also witnessed the event, to see if she couldn't sleep either.

She ended up coming to my room, and we talked until the fear left us and crashed on my bed. Unfortunately, when Neil came to wake me up in the morning, we were still crashed on my bed.

"I'll come back later." He said as I sat up, wiping my blurry eyes.

"It's not what it seems." I called after him, but he had already left. "Happy Birthday, Neil."