Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Not going home.

    [Edward POV]

    Next morning, I woke up at 8 am sharp after having a 4 hour sleep. Despite that, my mind was refreshed as I managed to get a full, uninterrupted REM sleep and I felt better than ever.

    After having my morning coffee, I opened my laptop before even having breakfast and started working. However, there were a few distractions that prevented me from putting my 100% focus on the work such as a text message from a certain father figure that said he was coming over to the hotel to hang out.

    "...But why?"

    I was confused when I saw the text, however Phil was already halfway to the hotel when I noticed the text. I sighed and put the phone back down, but at the moment it touched the desk, another text message chimed in. I grabbed it back and read the text from Haley next, "Abby and I are coming too!"

    Haley: Don''t let dad come into your room!

    Haley: Chase him away!

    Haley: If it''s too late, then text me before I go up there!

    Haley: Abby and I want to use the hot tub! We even brought our bikinis!

    "???"

    ...

    [General POV – an hour before]

    "Luke! Do you want to pick up the poster now?" Phil shouted from the dining table after he ended his call.

    "What poster?" Luke asked in confusion, already forgotten about yesterday''s affairs when he woke up the next morning.

    Phil was taken aback and he said carefully, "The...Iron Man poster?"

    "OH!" Luke''s eyes lit up immediately. "That! Yes I want to go there now!"

    "Great. Go change your clothes, and we will go there." Phil said as he ruffled his son''s hair and patted his shoulder before Luke moved away. Claire was in disbelief and she said, "Why are you going there now? And what did Ted say?"

    "Huh?" Phil turned to Claire before remembering his call yesterday. "Oh that. He said he''s fixing the light features at his house today, and wants me too..." His eyes fluttered as he thought of an excuse before saying, "..lend him my jean overall?"

    "Why are you asking me?" Claire became confused by Phil''s reply, but she didn''t make much of it.

    [Phil''s commentary]

    "Okay. Actually, the first part is true. Ted is finishing the work at his house. They are going to have their power back this afternoon ." Phil said squirrelly and continually checked out his behind to make sure no one else was listening to it.

    "Here''s the thing. When Ted and I followed the electrical line last night..."

    -Flashback-

    "God, this place is a dump." Ted said as he walked climbed into the attic, with Phil helping him to hold the flashlight from behind him.

    "How long has it been since you guys came out here?" Phil asked as Ted stepped on the attic floor carefully to avoid harmful hazards.

    "Eer...Like in 2 years?" Ted said before moving a pretty big box out of the way to get to the router.

    Phil scrunched his eyebrow and said, "You guys shouldn''t keep that up here. It''ll be difficult to reset it."

    "I know." Ted agreed and said, "Miranda asked me to put it there before. Now, I will bring it back down." He ripped the router wire out and took off the device from the walls there.

    Phil was looking around to see a bunch of old instrument cases, a few old chairs, and even a creepy looking ceramic girl doll sitting inside a glass case. He shuddered as he locked eyes with the doll and asked, "What''s that?"

    "Oh...That''s Annabell. Believe it or not, Ed used to sleep with it."

    "Ed did?" Phil asked in confusion. "But he''s so manly." He blurted out.

    Ted laughed a bit and said, "Not after he knows what it is. He loved the doll while he was a toddler, but changed his interest in instruments after that." Ted said before looking longingly at the doll.

    "Really?" Phil asked in disbelief.

    With sadness in his tone, Ted said, "More like, Miranda took all of his toys and replaced it with music stuff to ... ''cultivate'' his interest in music. Now that I think about it, she had thrown away most of his toys. I don''t know that she kept ''Annabelle'' here."

    Phil empathized with Ted before he said creepily, "Maybe she did throw it out, and it came crawling back."

    Ted also shuddered and stepped away from the doll quickly. He turned to Phil and said with gritted teeth, "Dude, I sleep in the same house with this. Or, do you want me to give it to your daughters? You have 2 of them, right?"

    Phil shuddered at the thought of the doll living in his house and said, "N-No. My girls don''t play with dolls anymore. You can keep it...as a memoir. But promise me something."

    Phil suddenly turned solemn, making Ted swallow his saliva. "What is it?" Ted asked.

    "Don''t...EVER...let Claire know that you have a creepy girl doll in your attic."

    "W-Why? Will she have a heart attack?" Ted asked in concern.

    "No. She will love it." Phil said and was checking around the boxes, when suddenly a paper bag fell down from the gaps of the boxes. Unlike the other stuff there that was old and dusty, the paper bag looked relatively new.

    Ted and Phil were both curious, and they stood around the fallen paper bag. Phil picked it up and his eyes widened as he saw what''s inside it.

    "This!?"

    -Flashback ends-

    "So. to make sure Ed didn''t suspect anything, Ted asked me to go bring him back...so that...we could ask him if he knew anything about what''s inside the paper bag." Phil said solemnly before pausing for a bit and smiled. "And maybe jump in the hotel pool for a little bit."

    [commentary ends]

    "Luke. Make sure to pack your swimwear!" Phil shouted to Luke before turning to his daughter and asked, "Alex, you want to come?"

    She listened for a while and asked, "Are you sure?"

    "Positive."

    "I will contact your father. After all, only after he gives his consent will I be able to move forward with the test."

    "Give me some time. I will talk to my dad about it first."

    "Okay. Skipping grades is not necessarily a good thing. But, to be honest, I don''t think there''s much for you to learn in high school next year. After you talk to your dad, I need to get the principal''s authorization to do this. It''ll take a few days."

    I finally ended the call after talking for a while. Although I have my concerns that Dad wouldn''t let me skip grades, I feel that I could do a lot more if I focus all of my time with work and creating instead.

    "I''m sure he will understand if I explain it to him properly."

    ...

    [General POV]

    As Phil drove to the main entrance, he and Luke walked to the reception desk and said, "Hi. We''re looking for Edward Newgate''s room."

    The receptionist was a bit irritated and said, "Paparazis couldn''t enter the hotel, and there''s no one registered using that name here. Please leave the premises before we call security."

    Phil was alarmed and he said hurriedly, "Wait. I''m not a reporter. I''m his neighbor."

    "Yes. Neighbor. Adapted Father. Friend from school, which was clearly a blatant lie as she was almost 30 years old, his dog walker, milk delivery man, and a lot more ''acquaintances'' have come by and asked to meet him today." She said using a mean tone. "However, I''ll say it again. There''s no one with the name Edward Newgate registered at our hotel today." The receptionist said sternly. Two bodyguards approached the reception desk, making Phil feel threatened.

    Suddenly, the desk phone rang. The receptionist picked it up and listened to the voice on the other side for a while. She stopped the security by putting her index finger to them, making the two burly men confused.

    Suddenly, the receptionist smiled and said, "You must be the Dunphy''s. Mr Luthor is expecting you. Please follow the concierge, and she will lead you to his suite."

    Phil and Luke breathed in relief before following the staff member from behind.

    A few minutes later, 2 young girls came to the reception desk and said, "Hi. We''re looking at Edward Newgate''s room. I''m Haley Dunphy and this is Abby M-"

    The receptionist was irritated at first, but as she heard Dunphy''s name, her face changed to radiate kindness. She stopped Haley before she could finish her words as Edward had notified the hotel before about the girls and said, "I will arrange someone to escort you. Your father had already gone to the room-"

    "Wait. We''re not going there yet if my dad is there. C-Can you bring us there when he''s gone?" Haley asked meekly.

    The receptionist was confused, and she looked at the two girls properly before finding out that both girls were incredibly gorgeous. She nodded in understanding and said, "Okay. I''ll notify you when he''s gone."

    "Wonderful!" Abby said while clasping her hand in excitement.

    Haley and Abby brightened up before the staff member arranged for them to wait at the lounge. They were given the best treatment by the hotel''s staff and couldn''t wait to enjoy their evening at the hotel.

    However, as Haley and Abby were escorted to the lounge, the staff member stopped an irate looking white woman who was following the girls suspiciously from behind.

    "Maam, do you have an appointment to enter the hotel?"

    "No. But that''s my daughter. I need to talk to her-"

    The staff looked at the hotel receptionist, but she shook her head at them as Edward had specified that only 4 people were coming in to see him today. They grabbed Claire and dragged her out from the hotel room without giving her a chance to explain herself to the hotel staff.

    "HALEY!!" Claire yelled as she tried to stop the staff member from throwing her out.

    Inside the lounge, Haley sipped her iced tea without any care in the world, and didn''t even pay attention to her surroundings. Abby heard someone calling her friend, but as she looked around, she didn''t see any familiar faces therefore she thought it was just someone with the same name.

    ...

    [Edward POV]

    While I was working, Phil and Luke knocked on the suite door, distracting me from my work. I walked to the door and opened it, only for Luke to immediately hug me as he saw me.

    "Wait. Why? What happened?" I asked in confusion.

    "Thank you for the poster!" Luke released me and ran to the room to search for the poster himself before I could invite him in. I laughed and I turned to Phil who was trying to search for something inside the room.

    "Come on in." I invited him inside without paying attention to what he was doing.

    Phil walked to the pantry while I sat down on the chair, trying to search for something. "Ed. Do you want to come play with us?" He asked.

    "No thanks." I said as I kept an eye on him to find out what he was doing. After he checked the bar and found out there wasn''t any alcohol there, his face was a bit relieved.

    ''Oh. He thought I was drinking? Wait. Phil isn''t a suspicious guy. It must be Claire who thought I was trying to get away with something as I stayed here alone.'' I thought.

    ''Luckily I am not an amateur and had the staff member clean up the bar before he came.''

    "You know, we can have some brownies... or some ''special brownies''..." Phil said suddenly before turning to study my face, but there wasn''t any change in my expression. No guilt, no fear, not even confusion.

    "There''s brownies?" I asked with an innocent face. Phil breathed in relief again and wanted to ask me something, but Luke suddenly walked into the room wearing an Iron Man helmet, and a black rubber baton on his other hand.

    "This is so cooOOOOOL!" Luke exclaimed. "Did you get this for me too?!"

    " I wonder if it can withstand being hit like the true Iron Man. Jarvis, initiate the...The batting? Test! Ziuu Ziu Ziuu Swishhh" He said before moving his limbs as he made robot sound with his mouth. He brought the baton perpendicular to his head, wanting to hit his own head with the bat to test the helmet.

    I was horrified as I saw the helmet and stood up immediately. I tried to calm him down like Chris Pratt calming down the velociraptor and said, "Luke. Don''t...Move."

    "Why?" Luke said before putting one hand on the helmet, but still not releasing the bat. "Aren''t you curious?"

    I gulped my saliva in fear and said, "Luke. No. Don''t... That''s the original prop from the set of Iron Man 2, signed by RDJ himself. It is...priceless."

    "Oh. Then...that means it''s free right?" Luke said, increasing my fear.

    "LUKE NO!" Phil shouted as Luke tried to hit his own head. I swooped in hurriedly to save the helmet, but-