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[hider=OOC]All of the dialogue in italics is spoken in Italian.[/hider]

There was no other more inconvenient time for rain to fall than now. It pattered onto the window in an endless cacophony of tap-tap-tap before rolling down the glass and merging with countless other drops. The raindrops that fell onto the roof weren’t exempt from creating a racket either as they noisily dripped down onto the marble-tiled balcony floor. Unfortunately, the window was far too big; as it encompassed the entire wall, the noise was amplified.

While some people might have said that the sound of pattering raindrops was soothing and that even meditating to it was pleasant, the girl huddled under a grand total of four blankets begged to differ. It was irritating on a normal day; having stayed up all night perfecting a track made her crankier than usual. To top it off, she hadn’t even been able to finish the track. Why, you ask? The sole reason was Eugene Bellaire. The boy could not shut up, nor keep his hands off of Evanna’s things for that matter. Two broken headsets later, the heavy wooden door was promptly slammed in Eugene’s face and an exasperated Evanna headed to bed at two-thirty a.m.

And now the rain was determined not to let her sleep. Curled up underneath the blankets, Evanna stuck a hand out and after a brief struggle, breached the last of the barriers and snatched at the alarm clock on her bedside table. It was even harder to drag the small box-like clock through the tangle but after half a minute of wrestling with the thing, she brought it up to her face and squinted at the neon yellow hands and numbers. The hour hand was pointing just a little bit past five and the minute hand stood at one.

4:10.

Letting out a sigh of discontent, Evanna tossed the clock aside and contemplated on her situation. She had no clue about what to do at this point yet the options were clear – sit here in her cocoon listening to the blasted rain or get up and do something productive. On a good day, the preferable option was hibernating in said cocoon but as Evanna had no inclination to listen to the rain any further, getting up seemed like a better choice.

It took her a while to kick her way out of the tangle of blankets but all too soon, she headed for the bathroom. Squinting at the bright light, she turned the shower on and waited at the side, eyes closed and yawning every so often. Even in here she could hear the rain, pounding relentlessly against the glass. She didn’t appreciate the freakstorm, not in the least. Rain was irritating, made a mess and made a hell of a lot of noise to top it off. It brought in cold weather, soaked you to the bone and ruined things that were better off dry. Those thoughts persisted as Evanna got into the shower and throughout, mutters of why rain shouldn’t exist rang out through the bathroom. Those continued even as she got out, toweled her hair and put a fresh set of pyjamas on. Not even the sweet scent of whatever-was-in-the-shower gel (vanilla?) managed to shut her up, though it did calm her somewhat. 

Now standing in front of the four-foot wide mirror, Evanna grabbed her toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto it. It seemed rather pointless seeing how she’d brushed her teeth an hour and a half prior but it wouldn’t hurt to do so again, would it? Speaking of hurt, the bright light really was a pain. Evanna stuck the toothbrush in her mouth and headed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. If she had get up at this ungodly hour, then everyone else should too. She could practically hear her brothers’ grumbles through the walls. 

As she bypassed the window, she couldn’t help but part the curtains a little bit and try looking past the rivulets of water running down the glass. Everything beyond was a dark blur, with the odd speck of light from the streetlights and car headlights here and there. The glass felt cold beneath her fingers; the coldness persisted even as she dropped her hand from the glass and moved over to hold the curtain open instead. She had to admit, it did feel a little bit refreshing seeing as how it woke her up a little bit more. She was even glad for the fact that she couldn’t make out anything more than a silhouette in the dark glass, for she knew her reflection would give away her sleeplessness. 

In the silence of her room, her phone buzzed from its position on her dresser. Frowning, Evanna crossed her room and picked up her phone, wondering who could be IMing her at this time. It was 6 am, for god’s sake. No-one should be up that early and be sane. And even if they did, they shouldn’t attempt conversation with other (normal) human beings. It wasn’t an IM, however, and the notification only displayed a new email. Curiosity was the only thing that led her to tap the tiny email icon, opening up her email with 2874 unread emails. Precisely, 2874 promotion and spam emails. Signing up for all those games had its disadvantages. 

The latest one that had triggered the alarm was a rather enigmatic one. It didn’t seem like one of those forwarded spam emails, as Evanna didn’t have anyone on her contact list. No, this was her gaming/online-persona email. So why was she receiving seemingly random offers for a free Key and a game?

Hold that thought.

A game? Evanna tapped the email open as she brushed her teeth, reading over the email with mild interest. The first thing that came to her mind was opportunity. Conveniently, the second thing was exploitation. It didn’t sound too bad, not at all, she decided as she tapped the Key Shop app open. It led her onto a page where an uncountable number of keys and their corresponding key chains were displayed. Why did she even have to pick a key? Did it offer benefits? Evanna highly doubted that. A key couldn’t do anything except open doors. If its task was to open a door, any of these keys could open a door. Granted, there were probably a bunch of different doors but since Evanna knew nothing about said doors or what lay beyond, it was all a game of chance. 

As she scrolled down, a key seemingly made of copper and innumerable loops caught her attention. It was attached to a feather; rather simplistic, but it wasn’t too bad compared to some of the other outdated, rusting or just plain weird keys. Shrugging, she tapped the key for selection and hit ‘Buy’. It would be a while before it would arrive so Evanna had plenty of time to herself. 

Or not.

[i]“Evan? Hey Evan. Evaaaaaaaan.”[/i]

The peace and quiet was ruined. Her peace of mind interrupted, Evanna put her phone onto the desk and placed her hand on top of it. She closed her eyes, mentally consoling herself in an effort not to lunge at the offending intruder and launch them out the door with her foot. Eventually, she ground out an irritated “What?” only to receive a thump in response. The sole light source in her room, the computer, was suddenly blotted out by a human torso and head. The sound of clicks, keyboard taps and the ding of incoming mail brought her back to her senses. 

[i]“Eugene…”[/i] She growled, yanking the toothbrush out of her mouth. [i]”Get out! I told you not to come back here –”[/i]

Eugene ignored her, still clicking at something on the screen. [i]“Hey, I need to borrow your laptop for a while, okay? Alex took mine and he’s still in Paris for some reason.” [/i]

Evanna could practically her irritation starting to build. It was bad enough that she was bothered 24/7 by these creatures; now Eugene took the liberty of trespassing into her private haven – and a messy one – without even bothering to put on a shirt. One of the perks of being considered a ‘dude’ was being ‘one of the guys’, and her brothers never bothered dressing properly unless there was an actual non-related female within twenty meters. It only served to mildly irritate Evanna, however, as she’d grown used to it after seventeen long years with five brothers. 

[i]“Take one of the other two then; this is my most important one. And for god’s sake, tell him to give your shirt back too.”[/i] Evanna’s reply was coupled with a vicious shove that launched Eugene out of the chair and onto the floor. She was only able to see the faint frown on the teenager’s face before her laptop was snatched off of the desk, the mouse trailing on the smooth, tiled floor by a thin cable. [i]”What are you doing? Give it back! I have all my tracks on there.”[/i] Her hands shot out to grip the end of the laptop and pulled. Eugene pulled back and the two of them fell into a tug-of-war contest that Evanna was winning – 

Scratch that. Eugene let go of the laptop, sending it flying. It collided with the curtained window and shattered the glass, landing on the nearly-flooded balcony and flipping over as it came to an ominous rest. The water ran off of the dented laptop, running into gaps and holes, probably in the process of utterly destroying Evanna’s most precious possession. The cracks of the plastic still ringing in her ears, Evanna slowly approached the boy, eyes burning. 

Damn fifteen-year-old teenage boys and their incessant need to break everything.

[i]"You - you idiot."[/i] Evanna hissed, slowly coming closer. It was even scarier than an explosion, as her quiet words carried threats and promises of remorse on Eugene's part. [i]"Don't tell me you're as stupid as I think you are. Could you not understand simple words? You're going to pay, you hear? You'll pay for every single thing I lost."[/i] The last few words were enunciated enough to make the boy tremble.

Eugene bolted out the door, leaving Evanna stand alone in the middle of the room and deal with the damage he'd caused. Eugene was dead. Every secret of his – she had her ways of finding out things – would no longer be a secret. His shenanigans would be plastered on the Times Square’s billboard if she had anything to say about it. This was way past blackmail – there was no point, he couldn’t bring her laptop or her tracks back. It was for revenge, and only revenge. She’d make him her personal servant for the next twenty years as a down payment, then figure out the rest of the details. Like how she was going to make him buy her a new laptop. And new musical equipment. And a new tablet –

[i]”What’s the matter, honey? Why is Eugene about to cry – oh.”[/i] Lucia’s voice died down as soon as her soft blue eyes fell onto the jagged hole in the window. The curtains were being blown into the room by the strong breeze that came through the hole, making Lucia shudder as she observed the situation. An upset Evanna was never something pleasant to deal with but Evanna eerily calm. [i]”We’ll buy you a new one, don’t you worry. It’ll be alright.”[/i]

[i]”Mamma, I had everything on my laptop. All my tracks, remixes, games, everything!”[/i] There was little that Evanna could do at this point but it didn’t stop her from blaming Eugene. [i]”He wanted my laptop because Alex took his.”[/i]

If only Alex hadn’t taken Eugene’s laptop. If only Eugene hadn’t decided to bother her. If only it wasn’t raining. 

The doorbell chimed in the distance, on the other side of the house and a floor down. Lucia came closer and squeezed Evanna’s shoulder. [i]“It’ll be alright, darling. Why don’t you go see who’s at the door and then we’ll talk about this.”[/i] Evanna didn’t even bother arguing and nodded in response. 

She quietly went down the stairs, still disturbingly calm. How on earth was she supposed to replace everything she’d lost? More than two-hundred tracks down the drain. At least her progress in most of her MMO's would be saved with her accounts. By the time she reached the front door, the doorbell had chimed at least fifteen times. Without bothering to check who it was, Evanna pulled open the door, ready to get their early visitor out of here. What awaited her, however, was something far more interesting than a visitor. 

She didn’t entirely recognize the box right away; its packaging was unaware and the guy who was supposed to hand her a clipboard to sign was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, Evanna didn’t feel like inquiring too much into it – it was probably something one of her brothers had ordered. Unless it was Eugene’s the box would safely make its way onto the kitchen counter to await its owner. However, the Key Shop’s logo on the small box made her stop and pick it up again. 

It was for her. 

[i]’Wow, they’re fast.’[/i] 

As she made her way upstairs again, Evanna pulled the box open after a big of struggle with the tape holding it closed. Inside were a key and a keychain, just as she’d expected. The key was crafted of beautiful copper that gleamed brightly underneath the yellow-tinged light. Its intricate design was especially intriguing; it held her attention for several long seconds as the traced the loops with a finger. It was enough to make her stumble on the top step but she continued down the hallway and into her empty room, slamming the door shut. The keychain was remarkably much simpler than its counterpart; a simple feather made of a rather dull-looking metal.

As soon as she was done inspecting the key and keychain, they were unceremoniously tossed onto her bed and she headed for the window. As she pulled the window open and took the ruined laptop back in, Evanna sat down on the opposite side of the room and opened it, pressing the power button and hoping for a miracle. 

Nothing. 

Several more pushes of the button yielded the same result and she slid the dead laptop off her lap, burying her head in her hands. Perhaps the hard drive could be salvaged? The chance was extremely slim with it was possible. The house was eerily quiet after her outburst; it seemed that even at 6:15 am, no-one wanted to bother with aggravating her any further. 

A buzz broke the silence, making Evanna look up towards the source of the noise. In the dimness of her room, she could see her phone’s bright screen flashing repeatedly. Perhaps her phone was about to get destroyed too? It certainly seemed that every electronic she was coming in contact with today was either getting drenched or just outright dying. Nevertheless, Evanna pulled herself to her feet and walked over to her desk, sitting down onto the soft padded chair that she had spent so many hours in. 

The Key Shop’s app had somehow opened by itself and had loaded onto the screen of her phone, displaying a single message. 

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