The gang gathered round and sat on the sofas. They were all at Zeke and Rachel's house because they'd arranged to have some kind of sleep over and Karl hung around. Susan and Libby weren't there as they were at the movies but Karl was cleaning up as a favour to Susan. Rachel sat on the end next to Ringo, who had one of his feet up, and opposite Bridget who was sat next to Taylah. Taylah half sat on Zeke's lap and half not, as Zeke was sitting behind her but there was a gap for him to sit within the group. Zeke was sat next to Declan who leant on the seat next to him on the sofa propped on his arm. There was a gap between Ringo and Declan. Karl had allowed them to have a little alcohol, keeping an eye on Rachel. Knowing her, after one glass and she'd jump out a window if you told her to.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Rachel asked.
"How about 'Spin the Bottle'?" Ringo suggested.
"No, that's a kiddies game" Declan said. "What about telling, like, scary stories or something?"
"Lame" Zeke commented, giving Declan an 'I can't believe you said that' look.
"How about 'Truth or Dare?'" Taylah asked. The group didn't object to her idea but Bridget had a better idea.
"I know a better game." She said. "It's like truth or dare but its more added to it. It's called, 'Truth, Dare, Double-Dare, Love, Kiss, Promise" Bridget said. The name had a memorable and catchy tune to it and they liked the idea so they played the game. They played 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' so they could choose who went first. It was Rachel. She scanned the group wondering who to choose.
"Declan" Rachel said. Declan gave a sigh. "Truth, dare, double-dare, love, kiss or promise"
"I'm gunna be brave. Double-dare" he said.
"Are you sure?" Rachel asked. "It's a double-dare. You HAVE to do it"
"Yep" Declan said.
"Ok" Rachel said, an evil smile appearing on her face. "Kiss Zeke"
Both Declan's and Zeke's smiles disappeared. Declan whipped his head round to look at Zeke and turned back to Rachel, a look of horror on both of their faces.
"What?!" Declan said.
"With tongues" Rachel said.
"Hey!" Zeke said. "This doesn't include audience participation!"
"Ok, truth" Declan said.
"Alright then" Rachel said, as she thought up a question. "Do you ever pick your nose?"
"Ew, no" Declan said.
"Liar!" Zeke said.
"What?" Declan said.
"I saw you!" Zeke shouted.
"Do you want to die?" Declan asked.
"Ok, ok!" Bridget said. "Declan, it's your turn"
"Ok" Declan said. "Taylah. Pick one"
"Umm…promise" Taylah said.
"Ok, promise me you'll tell me when you finally find out Zeke's not a boy" Declan said.
"Hear, hear!" Ringo said.
"Hey!" Zeke said, hitting Declan with a pillow. "Why do you always pick on me?"
"Coz you're an easy target, that's why" Ringo replied. "Anyway it's your turn." He said, looking at Taylah.
"Zeke" she said. "Which one?"
"I think I'll have a kiss" Zeke said.
"My pleasure" Taylah said, both leaning in to kiss each other. The others watched in disgust.
"Ew. So cheesy" Rachel said.
"Somebody yet me a barf bag" Declan said. Bridget picked up a pillow and hit them both with it.
"What?" Zeke and Taylah chorused.
"Get a room" Bridget said.
"This is getting boring. Can we please play spin the bottle?" Ringo complained to Rachel.
"Hmm. Then I really will see Declan and Zeke kiss," she said.
"What is it with you and that game?" Zeke asked.
"What do you mean?" Ringo asked, frowning.
"Yeh, you and spin the bottle." Rachel said. "Do you remember when we got locked in school? You forced us to play that stupid game"
"We got locked in school?" Ringo said. "When was that?"
"It was with Tom. And when Bree was here." Rachel said. "We were all in detention"
"Oh, yeah and Zeke had that essay to write!" Ringo yelled, laughing. "It was like 1,000 words or something"
"Yeh!" Rachel yelled along with Ringo. "Beat me up Scotty!"
"Yeh, I remember too." Zeke said, smiling. "I can't believe he gave me that detention"
"Well, maybe if you didn't throw that egg at him, you wouldn't have had to do it" Rachel said.
"Yeh, or write a load of crap in Latin" Ringo said.
"Whoa, when was this" Declan said.
"It was when you three weren't here" Zeke said, referring to Declan, Bridget and Taylah.
"Yeh, quite a lot happened when you weren't here" Rachel said, following it with a laugh.
"Such as?" Taylah asked, wanting to know more.
"Oh, I don't know." Rachel said. "All of us nearly died at least once"
"I got a question" Declan said. "How old were you all when you first got drunk? I mean proper drunk"
"I was about 14" Ringo said. "I was with a few mates, back when I lived with my mum"
"I was 13" Taylah said. "What about you Rach?"
"I actually don't remember how old I was" Rachel admitted, laughing.
"That drunk, huh?" Ringo said. Rachel nodded, still laughing.
"I've not actually been drunk" Bridget said. "My dad's been so protective I can't"
"What about you, Zeke?" Declan said.
"Yeh, you've gone quiet all of a sudden" Ringo added.
"That's because the first time I got drunk, I ended up in hospital" Zeke said.
"Oh my god, yeh" Rachel said. "I remember that"
"Dude, what happened?" Declan asked.
"We were living with our sister, Katya at that time and there was a party" Zeke explained. "And I drank a drink that I didn't realise was alcohol"
"It was so sweet you didn't know" Rachel said. "Me and Susan found him on the sofa, knocked out from it. We just left him there"
"Oh thanks." Zeke said. "Now I know how much you guys love me"
"Well, we thought you were sleeping until Susan wondered how you could sleep above all that noise." Rachel said. "Then I noticed the bottle on the floor and thought 'argh!'"
"What happened after?" Bridget said.
"He was asleep for about a day" Rachel said.
"And I've got the scar from when I was put on the drip." Zeke said. "I hate those things"
"So, you were alright in the end?" Declan asked.
"Well obviously, seeing as he's here now" Rachel said.
"I could've died you know" Zeke said.
"So, other than the roof collapse, that was the one time you nearly died?" Taylah asked.
"Oh no" Rachel said. "You almost died quite a few times"
"Rach" Zeke warned.
"Well, sort of. You were in danger anyway. How many times did he try to kill you?" Rachel asked, moving onto her tummy, facing Ringo on the sofa, her legs swinging in the air.
"What?" The gang asked in disbelief.
"Some dude tried to kill you?" Declan asked.
"Thanks, Rach" Zeke said.
"I'm sorry. I've had a bit to drink" Rachel said, about to drink more of her bottle of beer. She'd had about a quarter left but Ringo took it away from her.
"No more for you" Ringo said.
"Hey" Rachel protested.
"Rach, you're such a lightweight," Bridget teased.
"Anyway" Ringo said, "how come I didn't know about this?"
"Because you came here, like, a while after it happened" Zeke said.
"Wait, how long ago?" Declan asked.
"Christmas before last" Zeke said.
"Wait a minute, what about when Katya was in hospital?" Rachel said. "Didn't he try to kill you then, too?"
"Rachel!" Zeke said. "Just don't talk!"
"Ok" Rachel said. Ringo looked at her and laughed. She was really funny when she was hyper.
"Oh my god, Zeke, how many times did he threaten to kill you?" Bridget asked.
Zeke sighed. "About three"
"Three?" Taylah blurted out.
"Well sort of" Zeke said. "One time I'd locked the door and he opened it somehow but he was saying it wasn't locked and stuff. He could've killed me or hurt me then but Frazer and Rosie walked in."
"Wow" Bridget said.
"Whatever" Declan said. "That's nothing compared to what I've been through"
"And how would you know?" Rachel said.
"Remember when Didge was in hospital?" Declan asked. They all nodded. "And I went missing?" Again they all nodded. "I was actually kidnapped"
"What?" Taylah said.
"You're kidding" Zeke said.
"Again, how come we didn't know about this?" Ringo asked.
Declan shrugged. "I don't know. I just didn't really tell you guys"
"Why'd they kidnap you?" Bridget asked.
"Because they wanted money" Declan said. "From Oliver"
"Wow" Taylah said. "And they wanted to kill you?"
"Well, no. They kind of needed me alive so they could get the money" Declan said. "But I did nearly die I suppose."
"Hang on" Ringo said. "What got us onto this? We're talking about our bad times. How'd we get onto that?"
"When you asked to play 'Spin the Bottle' and that reminded Zeke of back in school." Rachel said.
"Yeh" Declan said. "That's kinda weird."
"Well, I like talking about our pasts." Taylah said. "It's kinda fun. And we can get things off of our chests"
"And Zeke still hasn't told us about this guy trying to kill him" Bridget said. Zeke rolled his eyes.
"Yeh come one. Spill" Declan demanded. "What was his name?"
"Guy Sykes" Zeke said.
"Why'd he try to kill you?" Ringo said.
"Yeh what was his beef?" Bridget asked.
"Well, it wasn't really with me. It was more with my sister" Zeke said.
"Rachel?" Ringo asked.
"Me?" Rachel said, confused.
"No" Zeke said. "We both have a sister called Katya"
"Oh yeah, you said earlier" Taylah added
"Well, if he didn't really have a problem with you then why'd he try to kill you?" Ringo asked.
"Well-" Zeke stopped and thought. "I-I don't actually know"
"It's coz you were special to Katya and the only one who didn't trust him," Rachel said.
"And it wasn't like he was out to get me or anything" Zeke said. "It's just that a lot of the time I was there and I was special to Katya and if anything happened to me then Katya would have to pay up or whatever. It's a way of getting to Katya"
"What was this about the hospital?" Ringo asked.
"Katya had got shot and she was in a coma," Zeke said. "I saw Guy in her room and he was up to no good. He was going to electrocute her with those things they use to revive people. I didn't realise at the time but I knew he was up to something. He tried to convince me to get closer to him because he said Katya was waking up. But I didn't move. Katya was in fact waking up, which he didn't realise and Katya electrocuted him with it."
"So, if you were dumb enough to walk over next to him, then you could have died?" Declan asked. Zeke nodded. "Since when were you not dumb?"
"Since you stopped being smart" Zeke said. "So that was when you were about two?"
"So, was that the Christmas one?" Taylah asked.
"Uhh, no" Zeke said.
"So, what happened this time?" Declan asked. Zeke was about to answer but Karl walked in the room and cut them off.
"Hey guys. What are you all talking about?" Karl asked.
"About when Zeke was nearly brutally murdered" Declan said with enthusiasm.
"What?" Karl asked.
"He's over exaggerating, Karl" Zeke said.
"We're talking about our pasts" Rachel said in a hyper way.
"Oh right." Karl said. "Who's past are we talking about?"
"Zeke's" the gang said, as Zeke put up his hand.
"Mine" he said. "They're actually forcing me to tell them about what happened with Guy"
"Really?" Karl said.
"Yeh, did you know he nearly got killed three times by this dude?" Declan asked Karl.
"Well, it was and it wasn't" Zeke said.
"He was about to tell us about Christmas" Ringo said.
"Oh the big one" Karl said.
"What?" Taylah asked.
"You're still known as a hero for that one," Karl said, smiling and walking off. Now because of what he said they wanted to know more.
"What did he do?" Bridget said. Zeke looked away and they turned to Rachel. She sighed and said, "Zeke was taken hostage by Guy"
"What?" the gang said.
"Like how bad was it?" Declan asked. "Did he like lock you in a cupboard or tie you up?"
"No nothing like that" Zeke said.
"Well, how bad?"
"He had a gun," Zeke said. "Is that bad enough?"
"Did he shoot anyone?" Taylah asked.
"Yeh" Zeke replied.
"You have to tell us," Ringo said.
"Yeh, everything that happened." Declan said. "Don't skip anything"
"Alright well, it was around Christmas and me and Katya were over and Toadie's and Steph's, number 32, and I wasn't in the room when he walked in. But I came running out and I sort of ran into him and he grabbed me in a headlock and then pushed me towards my sister. I can't believe I'm telling you this"
"Go on" they all urged.
"He forced us to sit on the sofa and the doorbell rang. He got Steph to answer it and it was Karl. We had to stay quiet when she spoke to him and when he left, Toadie crept behind the wall and attempted to him in the head. Didn't work. He-"
The doorbell cut off Zeke. Ringo stood up to answer it and saw it was Steph. He let her in. "Hey, guys" she smiled. "Is Libby in?" They all told her she wasn't.
"No, in fact we were just talking about you" Ringo said.
"Me? What about me?" Steph asked.
"Well, not you exactly" Declan said. "It's just you're involved with the story Zeke was telling"
"They're forcing it outta me" Zeke said, in his own defence.
"What are you talking about?" Steph said, joining them all.
"Where you were all taken hostage" Rachel said. "A while back"
"Oh" Steph said. "Yeh. Well, where exactly are you up to?"
"When Toadie tried to hit him" Declan said.
"Oh right" Steph said. "Well why don't you carry on, Zeke?"
"Ok." Zeke said, as Steph sat on the coffee table. "Umm, yeh. He got you and Toadie to sit on the floor didn't he?"
"Yeh" Steph said. "Then the phone rang or something"
"Yeh and he went out to answer it and Steph told Katya to do something but there was no money," Zeke said. "Then he came back in."
"He sat on the sofa," Steph said, cutting in so Zeke wouldn't have to continue. "And he basically was asking what it would take for Katya to tell him where his money was. And he grabbed Zeke's neck and pulled him away from Katya"
"Really?" Ringo asked.
"Did he shoot you?" Declan asked.
"No" Zeke said.
"Carry on" Bridget said.
"And Katya had to do something coz her little brother was now in greater danger, so she lied. She said she had to show him where it was even though it was really there. Then I think somebody walked in"
"Yeh. Umm…who was it?" Zeke wondered aloud. "Rosie"
"Yeh, coz she was talking to Toadie and Katya about her case. And Guy said he was my cousin and we had to act natural. We got her to leave though."
"What's all this about you being a hero?" Taylah said. "What did you do?"
"Oh" Steph said. "Do you wanna carry on or shall I?"
"You can" Zeke said.
"Well, he asked Katya which one of us to kill." Steph said. "Zeke or me. And he did this 'Eenie, Meanie, Miney, Moe' thing and I can't remember who he pick but I got up because I heard Charlie crying. He walked towards me, and Zeke, here, grabs something and hits him with it. It didn't knock him out but it turned his attention. He pushed Zeke over but Toadie knocked him to the ground. Katya and Zeke ran out. I got Charlie and ran out and Karl was outside. Toadie was still inside but he ran out."
"So you all got out unharmed?" Declan said. "I thought you said he shot someone?"
"Yeh who was it?" Ringo asked.
"Toadie" Zeke answered.
"Wow" Bridget said.
"Hey, local hero" Declan said, hitting Zeke lightly on the shoulder.
"Yeh, well that was a while ago" Zeke said.
"Well you sure kept that quiet" Ringo said.
"Yeh. And after that I met you" Zeke said.
"It wasn't exactly a warm welcome to the street though," Ringo said.
"What do you mean?" Declan asked.
"Well, when I first met him, he chased me, brought me to the ground and started a fight" Ringo laughed.
"Zeke, that's so unlike you" Taylah said.
"I thought he was a stalker. I had good reason!" Zeke exclaimed.
"Why'd you think he was a stalker?" Bridget asked.
"Because when I was cleaning number 30 and I saw him looking in the window." Zeke said. "He looked sneaky and I thought he was some kind of stalker."
"The first time you ever met Rick" Rachel said.
"Oh yeh, that was my name" Ringo said.
"So what other crazy stuff happened that we missed out on?" Taylah asked.