The Conundrum of Relations: Part Four

     At that revelation, he decided to work out a marking system to avoid making the same mistakes. The marks had to be decipherable by himself only so that Von Roo could not track him down. As he tried to make a system he slowly realized that he was wasting time making a conundrum when he should be locating an exit.

     He figured out a new solution to his problem. Exits were generally on the outer wall of a building. He just had to find the quickest route to the exterior and he should be able to find an escape if he stayed along that wall.

     "Oh, little Lenny..." came the indistinct voice of Von Roo at the end of the hall. "You can't escape... Just return to me and you won't be harmed."

     Con knew better than to trust that. But he could see the shadow of the vampire in the distance. He needed to hide... Table covered by a cloth? Perfect. He dove under the table as unnoticeably as possible. He stayed silent and even held his breath when he heard Von Roo pass. He waited a few extra minutes for good measure and peeked out from under the table cloth as subtly as he could. When he saw no one (his eyes were finally adjusted to the darkness again), he hurried out in the direction opposite from where Von Roo had come.

     He wandered quickly through the mansion. Finally, he was able to see the light of the moon through a window. He found an outer wall. Now, just to find a door. Con let loose a sigh and stared out the window for a moment. It had stopped raining, at last, but even if he found a door and escaped, he still had to go through the dark woods at night. Maybe he could hide somewhere safe until morning... He walked through the corridor, eyes peeled for an exit. He froze as soon as he heard the laughter of the vampire he was running from.

     Von Roo leaned against the doorway and smirked at Con. "The moonlight is lovely, isn't it? I think so. Then again, I thrive under it." The Blumaroo walked forward and made Con back into a wall. "You can't escape me, young one. This is MY home... You were close, but not close enough... Don't fight and it will be painless."

     "Pl-Please..." Con muttered. "I just... I just want..."

     The vampire shook his head. "Tsk, tsk. You should know by now that we don't all get what we want in our lives. I didn't get to play my game, for instance. You don't get to escape... But, if you want, this doesn't have to end how you probably think it will right now..."

     The Lenny was curious but stayed silent. Von Roo frowned and took a few steps back, sweeping out his arm and cape to motion to the mansion. "Look, boy. Have you seen a single soul here? No. It's lonely. All my servants have left. You don't have to die. You COULD just become my servant for the rest of eternity..." He chuckled and then mumbled something to himself. "And that would be suitable revenge against Thade for ruining my game the last time..."

     Con frowned and shook his head. "No. I can't do that. I have to get back... I'm not going to give up my life to you!"

     Von Roo hissed, baring his fangs. "Too bad for you then! Your life ends now!"

     The Blumaroo dived towards Con. The Lenny panicked and grabbed the closest thing to use in defense. He head out a silver platter in front of him. Von Roo accidentally slammed his face into it and then pulled away in pain.

     "Sorry!" Con shouted. He didn't waste any more time and quickly ran away from the vampire. Von Roo soon recovered and began to chase him once more. Con sped up as much as he could. Oh, if only he had his brother's speed! Instead he was gifted with an intelligence that he wasn't even applying!

     Con had to mentally call himself a moron just then. He skidded to a stop and pulled off a curtain from a nearby window as well as a candle from the wall. Von Roo stopped and stalked forward slowly, watching the Lenny closely.

     "Child, what are you doing...?"

     The Lenny smiled sadly. "I apologize." He set fire to the curtain and struggled with it as the majority of it caught fire at a much quicker rate than he anticipated. He jumped forward and covered Von Roo with the curtain and quickly ran away from the vampire as he was temporarily distracted.

     He estimated the amount of time it would take for Von Roo to disentangle himself (it was short), the extent of his burns considering the vampire's health and power (not too badly), and how much angrier the Blumaroo would be after that (extremely and totally full of rage). Taking these factors into account, Con determined how much time he had to locate a way out. That was when he remembered what Thade had told him. Back doors could be windows too. Placing his face in his palm at his own stupidity, he opened the nearest window and jumped back into the night of the forest.

     Con walk through the forest again. He was unsure whether Von Roo would continue to follow him after what just happened. But he was tired and didn't want to worry himself with fear. He trudged along, eyelids lowering every now and then before he slapped himself awake. It was probably early in the morning now and he was no closer to finding his way than he was when he first started his trek.

     The Lenny stopped and leaned his back against a tree. He slid down and closed his eyes. He needed to sleep. He didn't care if he was still in a dangerous situation anymore. Con counted his breaths and tried to lull himself to sleep.

     "Con..."

     He stirred at the voice. Who was calling him? He hoped not Von Roo.

     "Con...!"

     That was a different voice than the first. Two people were searching for him?

     "Con!"

     That time, the call was followed by a wooshing of air and then a tackle. Con blinked his eyes open in surprise and focused on the sobbing Neopet hugging him tightly. "L-Lit?"

     "Oh, Con! Thank Fyora! I was worried! Don't do that to me again! You're so cold! Were you out in the rain? Did you get attacked? Did something hurt you? Are you DEAD?!"

     "Lit..." Con smiled and hugged his younger brother back. "I'm sorry for... You know... I didn't... I'm fine, just tired. And on the ground. Can we...?"

     Lit wiped his tears away and peeked up at Con. "O-Oh... Right. Here, let me help." The dark-colored Lenny helped his older brother to his feet. "I'm sorry too, for assuming that Mr. Thade was evil..."

     Con raised his brow. "What do you mean by that...?"

     "W-Well..."

     "Lit babbles more than you do," Thade answered, approaching the two Lennies. "And faster too. If I wasn't a ghost, I'd get such a headache." He sighed and motioned for the brothers to follow him. "Come now, let's get back to my castle. I'm not sure about you, but this has been an eventful night and I'm sure we should talk about it."

     Lit nodded and picked up his older brother, much to Con's protests. The younger Lenny carried Con, following after the ghostly Kacheek. Thade hid his smirk at Con's embarrassment. Sometime later, the three of them were sitting around Thade's dining table, drinking tea. Lit was retelling his story of what happened after Con left.

     "I knew you were going the wrong way, but I was hoping that you'd figure that out and correct yourself. So I went around, buying time to let you go home first, but when I went home you still weren't there. So I figured that you went back to Mr. Thade's home and immediately came here. But Mr. Thade said that he hadn't seen you either after I... uh... kidnapped you."

     "He broke into my home and accused me of hiding you," Thade interrupted with a flat brow. "It took hours of talking to convince him that I am not as evil as I appear."

     Lit nearly blushed. "B-But after that we went looking for you! And then we found you and everything is okay now! But... What happened to you?"

     Con chuckled nervously and tried to avoid eye contact with Thade and Lit. "I... I accidentally went into Count Von Roo's mansion."

     Lit gasped and Thade took on a look of annoyance. "What did I tell you about that, Con?" Thade chided. "Be more careful. You're lucky you didn't get hurt. Or did you?"

     "Well... No, I made it out alright." Con frowned and looked up at Thade. "Though he said you're just using me or something."

     "Von Roo is a sore loser," Thade replied. "I bet him at various games few times in the past, so he must still bear some animosity against me. He lies to get his way. The only time you know he is truthful is when stating the conditions of his betting."

     "I'm honestly a little worried about him," Con admitted. "I threw a burning curtain on him... Then I escaped through a window."

     Thade smiled at that, catching the reference to their conversation from earlier. Lit laughed and pulled his brother into a hug. "Good job, Con!"

     The ghost nodded. "Yes, good job. I wouldn't worry about Von Roo. He probably wasn't hurt badly and even so, he heals quickly."

     "Oh, wait! That reminds me!" Con dug around his pocket and pulled out a die. "I accidentally stole this from him..."

     "Nice," Lit commented. "Now we have a trophy!"

     The Kacheek plucked the die from Con's hand and placed it in his own pocket. "I think not. Von Roo may go after you both if you keep this. I will return it to him later, so that he has no reason to seek you out."

     Lit looked disappointed but then yawned. "Well, okay. It's almost morning, so as soon as dawn hits Con and I better go home."

     "Which happens in a few minutes by my estimation," Con added.

     Thade nodded and then looked to Lit. "Why don't you wait by the door? Con and I will clean up and then meet you there."

     Lit nodded and rushed out of the room, eager to get out of doing chores. Con set the empty tea cups on the tray. Thade placed a hand on Con's wrist to stop him.

     "I only wanted him out of the room so that I may give you something," Thade confessed. "I started working on it after the Brain Tree suggested it..." He pulled out a box from under the table and set it in front of the red Lenny. "Go ahead and open it."

     Con nodded and opened the box. He smiled at the contents and pulled out the gift. It was a dark blue hat, covered with small yellow stars and with a similar star dangling from the end of each of the two points of the hat. The Lenny laughed and put it on. "Thank you. I like it."

     Thade adjusted the hat to increase aesthetic value and then nodded. "It fits you. You still have some time to become a 'conundrum wizard' as the Brain Tree suggested. Work on your puzzles, learn everything you can. It'll benefit you in the future, I'm sure."

     "Thank you." Con nodded. "For everything."

     "You're welcome." Thade frowned and then pointed towards the exit. "Now leave. I was not planning on having such company all through the night."

     Con laughed and nodded. "Shall I see you next week?"

     "Yes. Invite your brother if he wishes to come too. But don't let him tell anyone else about this relation."

     "A friendship," Con grinned. "A point that could drive the relationship between others, such as brothers, apart. We have it settled this time."

     "And keep it that way. Calmness is much easier to deal with."

     "Con!" Lit called from the other room. "Where are you? The sun is rising!"

     The red Lenny laughed again and waved good-bye. "I'll see you. Thank you for the hat!" Con left for the foyer and then left with Lit.

     Lit grinned and poked at Con's new headpiece. "Nice hat! A gift?"

     The older Lenny matched a similar grin in return. "Tell me... What do you think of me being a Conundrum Wizard?"

     "It'll happen. I know it."

     And with that, Con now had a new goal for the future.

The End