Chapter 39: The Cousin Conundrum
It was a gloomy afternoon, and we were holed up in our usual spot at the Academy's library, going over the latest batch of dead ends in our search for the Lunar Stone. The rain outside matched our mood, pattering softly against the old, creaky windows.
Quinn was doodling in the margins of her notebook, clearly bored, while I was absentmindedly flipping through some old texts, trying to keep my eyes from glazing over. Sam, as usual, was the only one who seemed even remotely engaged with the task at hand, his eyes scanning the pages like a bloodhound on a scent.
Suddenly, without any warning or preamble, Sam looked up from his notes, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Oh, by the way," he said casually, "Jenkins and I are cousins."
The room fell dead silent.
Quinn and I just stared at him, unsure whether he was joking or had finally lost his mind from all the paranormal nonsense we'd been dealing with. Sam, sensing our confusion, leaned back in his chair and folded his arms, his grin widening.
"Seriously?" I finally managed to ask, still processing the information. "You and Jenkins are cousins? How come you never mentioned that before?"
Sam chuckled, clearly enjoying the reaction he was getting. "Mention it? I thought it was obvious! I mean, how could you not know? Didn't it ever strike you as odd that I was always casually talking about Jenkins with you guys, even though you hadn't met him at the time?"
Quinn blinked, her doodling forgotten. "Wait a second—are you serious? You thought we already knew?"
"Of course!" Sam replied, throwing his hands up in mock exasperation. "You guys are supposed to be investigators, right? And you didn't even put two and two together? I mean, come on, how dense can you be?"
I exchanged a look with Quinn, trying to figure out if Sam was pulling our leg. "But you never said anything outright about being related," I pointed out. "We just thought you and Jenkins were friends or something."
Sam shook his head, laughing. "You two are unbelievable. I thought I'd been dropping hints this whole time! Every time I mentioned Jenkins, I was sure one of you would ask how we knew each other. But nope, nothing. Not even a raised eyebrow."
Quinn rolled her eyes, finally catching on to Sam's joke. "Maybe we're just too focused on saving the world from supernatural horrors to notice your family tree, Sam."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sam said with a mock sigh. "And here I thought you two were observant. But seriously, Jenkins and I are cousins. Our moms are sisters, so we've known each other our whole lives."
"Okay, okay," I said, holding up a hand. "We get it. You're both related. But you've got to admit, it's a bit of a shock to drop that on us out of nowhere."
Sam's grin didn't waver. "Maybe, but I figured it was time to spill the beans. Besides, it's not like it changes anything, right? Jenkins is still Jenkins, whether he's my cousin or not."
Quinn smirked, shaking her head. "You really had us going for a minute there. I guess we should've seen it coming—Jenkins does have the same terrible sense of humor as you."
"Hey!" Sam protested, feigning offense. "My sense of humor is top-notch, thank you very much."
"Sure, sure," I said, chuckling. "But next time, maybe give us a little more warning before dropping a bombshell like that. I nearly had a heart attack."
Sam just laughed, clearly pleased with himself. "Consider it payback for all the times you two dragged me into the weirdest situations. A little surprise now and then keeps things interesting, don't you think?"
Quinn and I couldn't help but laugh along with him, the tension in the room dissolving as quickly as it had appeared. Sam's unexpected revelation, though surprising, had injected some much-needed humor into our otherwise dreary day.
As we settled back into our seats, the mood considerably lighter, I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Sam had the right idea. In the midst of all the supernatural craziness, a good laugh was exactly what we needed to keep ourselves grounded.
And as for Jenkins being Sam's cousin? Well, that just added another layer of unpredictability to our already bizarre lives.