Unwanted Surprises

You glance up as the the lights start flickering, and your virtual relative beckons you back out to the anteroom. "What's going on?" You ask.

"Visitors." Benny said as he opened a live camera feed of an intersection two blocks away from the house, and a rather luxurious car idling at the light.

"And not particularly welcome ones." June hissed as the camera zoomed in on your stepmother in the driver's seat, no doubt the rest of her avaricious brood were packed in as well.

"What do we do?" You ask. "I doubt they'll leave and I don't want them sniffing around the house."

"You can slip on one of the microtrancievers in the office on the bone behind your earlobe for covert communications once the elevator gets you back up there. In the meantime I think you've got enough time to grab a trump card from the vault." Benny replied.

"And the transceiver will give us more precise monitoring than the passive eye we've got on you now. Not that we'd leave you alone but we are somewhat limited if you leave the grounds." June added.

"I'll want something a bit more permanent once things settle a bit." You grumble as you duck quickly through a door. "I was not expecting any of them to make a move this early."

"Greed is a terrible motivator, but a motivator none the less." June said as the elevator began it's ascent. "What's your plan?"

The elevator opened and you step over to an open box on the primary desk. "Play nice, observe discreetly, figure out their plan, and hopefully use my ace to turn the tables and get them out of my life for good." You explain carefully affixing the thin adhesive membrane under your right earlobe. "You've got eyes on me too, right?"

"As if we'd leave you twisting in the wind." Benny's scoffing rejoinder came through the high tech earpiece as loud and clear as if he standing beside you. Below you, the front doorbell rang out. The three of you glared at the monitor showing your smarmy relations gawking greedily at your new home. "Now then, young master... IT'S SHOWTIME!"

You swing the door open, swallowing the grimace that threatens to overtake your face.

"Cassandra." Your stepmother has gone for a full blown streetwalker looker with obscene amounts of makeup, a push up bra under a white top that looks like it's one deep breath from a wardrobe malfunction, and a miniskirt that is barely more a strip of barely there fabric. You guessed she was going for sultry and alluring but it really screamed cheap and raunchy. "I wasn't expecting visitors so soon."

"Well aren't you going to invite us in?" She demanded barging over the threshold and knocking you backwards as she the door wider.

"The nerve of that cretin!" June hissed in your ear.

"I got this." You mutter as pull yourself together, taking in the trespassers storming your home. Cassandra's eldest twins Tamara and Pamela flounced in looking at you like were dirt on their designer shoes. "Tam, Pam, delightful as always." You congratulate yourself on restraining the sarcasm in your voice.

"My name is Tamara!" You grinned at the knee jerk response the diminutive nickname provoked, barely registering her twin's matching rejoinder.

"Of course." You drawl dismissively. "How could I have forgotten. And little Leslie, I see." Leslie was a fresh faced 18 year old with a petite stature that enabled her to trim years off that appearance with the right makeup and mannerisms. The fact that she was employing those tactics now instantly raised your hackles and reminded you that while she was the youngest she was no less vicious than the rest of her family.

"Oh, your house is lovely." She gushed as you tried not to on the saccharine in her supposedly innocent tone.

You're spared from answering by a friendly nudge behind you. "Greetings, my raven." Cassandra's middle daughter Peony was the only one who was genuinely nice to you. Immersed in the gothic lifestyle and renaming herself Lenore, she was the one true friend you had in your corner before. You'd have to make sure to keep out of the line of fire when you made your play.

"Salutations, my dearest Lenore." You smile broadly as you extend your hand and lead her inside closing the door behind you. "Refreshments, anyone?" Unsurprisingly everyone took advantage of your hospitality and you shepherded them into the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly nothing was good enough for them. Refrigerated cans of soda suddenly needed glasses and ice, cheese and crackers desperately required a spread, and everything came to a head when Leslie spilled a glass of soda on her white dress, then demanded a new drink and a towel. In that somewhat peculiar order.

Figuring this was their big play, you slid the cup of ice and can of soda to the disgruntled girl before heading for the bathroom. "So guys, what's cookin' in the kitchen?" You murmur heading to the bathroom.

"These are the most deplorable people I've had the displeasure of knowing." June grumbled. "Tammy has hidden a digital camcorder in the cabinet and aimed it at Leslie, while Cassandra has gleefully added and of some sort to her soda. Pam has added some kind of powder to your soda."

Benny filled in the blanks. "Leslie has rohypnol. You have a unhealthy mix of various , the bulk I'm reading as LSD and viagra."

"And Leslie's pulling her lolita routine. I guess their big plan is 'child' ."

"Trump card?" Benny and June asked in tandem.

"Trump card." You agree, grabbing a towel as you pull out your secret ace.