One: Instant Message
5:48:33 PM): QueenofSerpents has logged on
5:48:56 PM): MidnightStar16: hey.
5:49:29 PM): QueenofSerpents: Hey, brb going to cuss someone out really quick
5:49:42 PM): QueenofSerpents is now on Idle
5:49:54 PM): MidnightStar16: Message me when you get back on.
5:51:29 PM): QueenofSerpents is now available
5:51:21 PM): QueenOfSerpents: Damned, hypocritical, two-faced, skank!
5:51:40 PM): MidnightStar16: Sister?
5:52:23 PM): QueenofSerpents: Sister? No, my damnable Step-father!
5:52:43 PM): MidnightStar16: I'm at home if you need to slip out.
5:53:10 PM): QueenofSerpents: That sounds very tempting
5:53:24 PM): QueenofSerpents: Sadly, the Idiot is home and won't let me out
5:53:34 PM): MidnightStar16: You have a window.
5:53:53 PM): QueenofSerpents: He nailed that shut and put bars over the windows.
5:54:12 PM): MidnightStar16: Oh...sorry.
5:54:33 PM): MidnightStar16: BRB
5:54:44 PM): QueenofSerpents: K
5:55:13 PM): QueenofSerpents: And don't worry about it Insert insane look I have a blow torch!
5:57:53 PM): MidnightStar16: Sorry, little brother being a moron again
5:58:23 PM): QueenofSerpents: shrugs don't really care, brb going to try and blow torch my way out of this place
5:58:45 PM): MidnightStar16: A hammer would work better.
5:59:43 PM): QueenofSerpents: That would help, if there weren't METAL BARS on my window and a dog flap at the bottom of my door it's locked right now
MidnightStar16: Hang on...I'm going to my window, can you see through to my window?
QueenofSerpents: The damned bars are in the way, wait, yeah I see your head.
MidnightStar16: Good. I'm coming over, don't worry about the bars. Grab your jacket, we'll head to the lake for the night.
QueenofSerpents: If you can get past the fat ass.
Kantana (QueenofSerpents) heard a scratching at her window and looked out. Hanging from the ivy was Starr (MidnightStar16), who was holding a hammer in one hand, a rope in the other and a jacket tied around her waist. Kantana smiled and dug under her bed until she retrieved her lock pick tools, and began to dig around under the nails, prying until she had them out. Thankfully her stepfather had only nailed the bottom part of the window shut. By the time she was able to get the window open, Starr was lowering the bars into the neighbor's junk pile as she hung onto the gutter. The coiled rope slid off the end of one bar neatly, and then Starr was climbing into Kantana's window. "How's that for a nice piece of work?" She asked. Kantana grinned.
Pounding footsteps told them that their work had been discovered. "Quick! Help me move the bookcase!" Kantana said as she ran over to her bookcase (12 feet by 18 feet and packed to the point where you can't get a book out) and tried to move it. Starr, knowing how dangerous her step-father could be, jumped into the room and started to help move the bookcase.
Starr and Kantana slid down the ivy as quickly as they could. eventually they managed to slip down the ivy and took off down the back alleys as they ran. Twice they dove through hedges (Kantana's stepfather is rich, and the neighborhood is really rich as well) and then jumped fences as they raced through the streets that the alleys made on the way to an abandoned house that they and some friends had made into a 'safe house' for when any of them needed to escape.
Kantana leaned against the inside of the door to the safehouse to try and cath her breath. Barking and the sound of flapping wings, along with the sound of footsteps told both Kantana and Starr who was coming to greet them
A large white dog with two large birds came running and flying towards them. Zach came around the corner and smiled at them.
Starr ushered Kantana in and locked the back door. A Siamese twined around her ankles until she picked him up and followed Kantana past dark rooms where clothes and a few blankets lay on couches and chairs. The windows were boarded up carefully, letting almost no light in. Zach hugged them both as Starr sat at an antique Kitchen table and Kantana sat on the floor. "Stepfather?" Riordain asked as he stepped into the room. "Yep." Kantana said.
Zcar growled at the mention of Kantana's Stepfather. Zcar was the large white dog that originally belonged to Kantana's mother, but had to be put into the safehouse when her stepfather moved in and tried to kill him. The same went for the birds, named Saber and Jewels, both were siblings and both were cockatiels.
Jasper, the Siamese, was Starr's mother's pet, but her mother was dead and her father didn't like the cat. A few other pets resided in the house, both upstairs and down. Spitz, a hamster, Cole and Tilly (short for Tortilla) were the two other cats. Dawn and Kyubbi were two more dogs.
Kantana walked around the pets and quickly jumped into the chair that Riordain and Nikoli were currently sitting on and playing a game of chess. "Kantana! You just ruined our game!" Nikoli snarled out as he glared at Kantana. It didn't take a genius to know that Kantana and Nikoli were fierce rivals at everything. They were also each other's best friend...in a sick and twisted sort of way...
"Cool it mouse boy." Kantana replied as she grabbed one of their soda's and drank it. "Oi! That's mine!" Riordain yelped out as he tried to retrieve his drink.
"Can it you three." Starr spat suddenly. Riordain and Nikoli looked at her. "Alright, have we managed to hook up the last of the power connectors for the Microwave?" She asked, dumping Jasper out of her lap. Everyone shook their heads. "Right then. I'll be back in a few hours. Don't make too much noise, alright?" With that she disappeared down the trapdoor that led to the hollowed out tunnel they had made.
Zach grabbed a flashlight and quickly followed Starr. Where as in other areas Zach didn't know what to do, anything that dealt with electricity was his strong point and the group made sure to exploit that strong point when something in the lighting system went wrong. Kantana got up and stretched. Walking over to the ladder, she started to climb it. When she reached the second floor of the Safe house she started to collect the laundry. It was her turn to do the laundry, just as it was Nikoli's turn to wash the dishes, Riordain's turn to check the plumbing, Zach's turn to check the heating, and Starr's turn to hook up the power connectors.
Every week they would switch clockwise. So next week Kantana would do the dishes, Nikoli would check the plumbing Riordain would check the heating, Zach would check the power connectors, and Starr would do the laundry.
On occasion, there would be other's that needed to stay a while at the safe house, and then the chores that they normally left to be dealt with when any one had free time, were added to the rotation list, and then eventually someone left, and chores dropped off. Sometimes Kantana and Starr would place simple card games, placing stakes on doing the typically left alone chores.
There was a screech and a yelp of shock. Kantana slid down the metal pole they had installed. "What happened?" Starr was sucking on her fingers, and Zach was trying unsuccessfully to hide his laughter.
"The neighbors turned the electricity off while was connecting their electricity to ours!" For various reasons they 'stole' electricity from the neighbor hood houses. It was easy enough to dig out the tunnel when they needed to travel farther down the street. Starr was usually the one who ended up digging out the tunnel because she could hear the sounds of people moving above them. The fact that the tunnel was only about six inches below the houses helped too.
"It was a really cool light show, right up until it hit Starr." Zach supplied. Kantana felt her nose twitch at the thought of Starr being electrocuted.
Kantana made a fist and slammed it into her other hand. "That's what I forgot to do!" Starr and Zach looked at her, waiting for her to explain. "I forgot to tell you that we need more escape tunnels and that we need to block off the old ones. Some kids found it and reported it to the police, they're supposed to be going through the tunnels tomorrow." Kantana explained.
"Shit!" Starr yelled. "Great." Nikoli groaned. A collective sigh of annoyance followed the rest of them.
"We won't be able to block the tunnels off fast enough if that happens!" Zach cried out. Everybody's eye widened as that realization came over them. Riordain suddenly ran out of the tunnel and came back a few minutes later with something in a carfully wrapped bundle. "My dad works on mines, remember? I managed to get my hands on some of the explosives that they use. These are only powerfully enough to send small shock waves a few feet in all directions. Added to the fact that it's untraceable..." Riordain trailed off as everybody grinned.
"How many of them do you have?" Kantana asked, immediately going to leadership mode as everybody else started to become serious. "I currently have ten pounds of this stuff, told the old man that I need to do an experiment that involved these suckers. The old man believed it too." Starr nodded as she started to think up a plan.
"Alright. Nikoli and I will pull out the supports from the old tunnel since we're the smallest. Kantana, you and Rio will have to start packing up some of this junk. See if you can move it to the attic, but not onto the attic floor, there's a weak spot up there. We've got to move fast, we'll have tonight and tonight only. Zach, find the carrying cages and leashes for the pets." Starr looked around. "Any objections?"
Rio raised his hand. "Yes Rio?" Everybody sighed. Whenever Starr made a plan, Rio would have to go in and fix it, or suggest a new one. "Where are the explosives going to go, and shuldn't we contact the others to help us with this? After all, they brought most of this stuff in the tunneles with them.
Starr closed her eyes. "The explosives will be in the back end of the new escape tunnels. The others...the others will have to be informed when we're out of danger, unless you had a way to get everyone to the cabin near the lakes?" Starr raised her eyebrows.
Zcar barked and everyone turned towards him. "Oh yeah, I forgot." Kantana said. Everyone looked at her. "Is there something that you DIDN'T forget?"
Kantana smiled nervously. "I don't know?" They all sighed. "But Zcar can carry a message to some of them while the birds can carry the rest of the messages." Kantana said as Starr started to think it over. "Also, Zcar can help pull some of the things out of the tunnels that are too heavy for us."
Starr snapped her fingers. "Kantana, I think you've just had one of your most brilliant moments ever!" Starr stood up. "Zcar, the birds and Jasper can all carry messages. Siamese can be trained, and I've trained him to carry lightweight things to and from people. If we do it right, we can tell him to deliver a message and then have the message say to bring the pets up to the cabin. We'll do this a couple of times while we're dragging things through out tunnels. Rio, do us all a favor, no correction's for the moment. we'll deal with the crap later." Starr jumped up. "Let's get a move on!"
Everyone nodded as they all went to the Drawing Room to write the messages to their commrades.
Starr wrote to her cousins (Jordan, Georgia and Aspen) as well as a Faith, Lizz, Crystal and Nicole. Kantana wrote to David, Blake, Eva, and Heather. Nikoli covered Ahearn and Sefu. Zach wrote to Borya while Rio sent a message to Chase.
Kantana turned around in her chair with her fingers laced together. "Now we wait a few moments for the animals' return. In the mean time we can start moving stuff out of the tunnels and collapsing them. Remember, make it look like it caved in." Kantana said as they all nodded.
Getting a few sleds, they started to move the heavier things onto them. The sleds were for Zcar to help move. Everything else was mooved by hand.
Finally. the fifteen arrived. Kit was on Vacation, so there had been no need to contact her. Starr stood in the center of the room, Riordain standing next to her. "You've all recieved the messages, so you know what to do. We've got about two and a half hours before sunrise. Let's try to get this finished before then. If the cops catch us here, then we're beyond dead meat and we know it." She looked at them all. "We've got to move. If we don't, we won't survive. Don't leave anyone behind, don't leave prints, and most of all," Starr paused for breath. "Don't get caught. If you do, lie like you never have before."
Chase and Blake smiled at this knowledge. The two, while at the oldest of the 29 people there, were the biggest troublemakers in history. Their specialty lay in breaking and destroying things. To them, this was a dream come true. Ahearn nodded and immediately went down into the tunnel to help move any objects that Zcar would need help pulling. Ahearn was the most muscular of the 29.
Aspen nodded and started to dig weak spots into the tunnels as the others moved down the tunnels towards the cabin. An expert at building things, Aspen knew where to look for weak spots. Jordan and Borya raced up and down the tunnels as they puled the electrical connectors apart, careful of the shocks. Within an hour three charges had been placed into tunnels that could not be undermined, and two had already been removed. Kantana was helping the others haul the appliances to the lake, and to the large cabin that was capable of holding at least thirty comfortably, if no one minded sharing a room or two.
Finally Starr pulled out the last support, dragging it through the debris into the woods. She and Sefu covered the supports with leaves, old rotten blankets and a few fallen branches as they made their way up to the house were the others were setting up. Kantana handed Starr a flash light. The only sounds were a few hurried whispers as everyone hurried around taking rooms and roomates. The tense atmosphere told everyone just how dangerous things had become for them.
The group of twenty-nine rarely used the cabin near the lake simply because it was rather far out of town and a pain to get everything working in. Granted Zach had discovered that he could tap into the nearby power-plant, but the cabin was isolated, unlike the house they had vacated. At the cabin, it was harder to explain things away from those who came looking.
Starr slung her single bag onto a bunk above Georgia while Faith and Lizz took the bunks on the other side of the room. Kantana, Eva and Heather were next door. The animals were realeased from the cages and leashes. It was agreed that Nikoli would take first watch to make sure that no one had followed them. At noon Starr would relieve him.
The sun came up slowly and Kantana rose with sand in her eyes. She found an agitated Starr in the drawing room, listing places that were generally left to be. "What's up?" Kantana asked. Starr turned. "I'm trying to figure out what to do if we have to run again." Kantana put one hand on Starr's pen, the other on Starr's shoulder. "Starr, let it be. We'll figure it out when the time comes."