"I take my eyes off her for two seconds… that girl is gonna be the death of me one day."
Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio looked at each other after hearing that and knew who it was and who he was looking for. They walked into the hotel hallway, John turning to them.
"Either one of you know where Mandy slipped off to?" John asked.
"No. What happened? She seemed rather pissed after your match against Carlito." Eddie responded.
"Yeah, she-" John started to say, cut off by an angry yell from one of the OVW divas and going to find her. "What happened?" He asked, Melina narrowing her eyes at him.
"Your sister swiped my damn dress, where is she?!" Melina demanded.
"First off, don't call Mandy a thief. She's the furthest thing from one. Second, you're just pissed because you misinterpreted an innocent conversation between her and your boyfriend." John said, Melina slapping him across the face. "You're gonna have to hit me a lot harder than that, lady!" He responded, him, Eddie and Rey grabbing their room keys and John looking for his car keys… only to growl when he couldn't find them.
"She nicked your key?" Rey asked as Eddie looked in his wallet… only to find most of his cash missing.
"She stole over $200!" Eddie responded as John walked towards Immy.
"I stole more once… I did pay it back." Immy said, John remembering from a couple months before.
"What on earth does a 14 year old buy with nearly one and a half thousand anyway?" John questioned.
"Six monitors, a whole crate of computer hard drives wiped clean and enough cable to send power to a whole stadium, or thereabouts." Immy answered.
"Did Mandy say where she was going?" Eddie asked.
"I think Venu Nightclub is the closest from here… oh damn." Immy answered, John seeing a worried look on her face.
"Was someone following her?!" John asked.
"Two guys, one with wild looking hair and the other dressed like he was out of the 50s… they stopped after a few minutes though." Immy answered, the three following her.
At Venu, Amanda downed a few more shots of tequila when Carlito and Jesús saw her and recognised her immediately despite the outfit and makeup.
"What the hell is Cena's kid sister doing here?" Jesús asked before Carlito saw Amanda climb up on a table and dancing on it to Shock Me by Kiss.
"Relieving stress it seems… finding out what an adult night out is like. I don't think I remember even knowing fully what a nightclub was at that age!" Carlito responded.
"Me either… wait, Carlito-" Jesús said, trying to follow Carlito through the packed crowd as Carlito reached Amanda and tried to grab at her dress, Amanda slamming her left foot into his face and him screaming and reeling back in pain.
"I ain't drunk enough, now shove off!" Amanda slurred as Carlito tried grabbing at her again in rage and managing to pull her off the table, only to get a drink thrown in his face. "Go ruin someone else's fun, dickhead!" She yelled before Jesús reached them and pulled them apart.
"Just leave her alone, man." Jesús said, trying to diffuse things but it wasn't working as Carlito pulled Amanda off of another table by her ankles and caused her to stand up and punch him in the face before kicking her right foot up between his legs.
She was about to go for a third hit but was grabbed and thrown over John's shoulder, him taking her outside to the car and putting her on the ground.
"You were asleep when I left! And I had it handled!" Amanda responded, catching her breath and leaning against the car as John steadied her and saw it was more than alcohol.
"Damn it Mandy, someone young like you in the club? It was almost inevitable that someone was gonna spike you!" John said, feeling Amanda's muscles tense up as he knew whatever she last ate was about to rebel against staying in her stomach.
Amanda leaned against the guardrail, John holding her hair back as she threw up. When she stopped, he was holding her again as she was shaking and breathing heavily as Eddie, Rey and Immy ran over to her.
"Get her to sit down." Immy said, John opening the passenger door of the Charger and getting Amanda to sit down as Eddie grabbed a bottle of water and opened it, putting it in Amanda's hands and getting her to drink it.
Amanda rummaged through the pocket on her dress, handing the money back to Eddie.
"Feeling better, kiddo?" Eddie asked.
"A bit… sorry, guys, I was… I felt like I couldn't think in the hotel…" Amanda replied. "The nerve of that jackass, walking into the ring earlier and spitting that apple in your face! What is his problem?!" She said, John knowing that some of the parts of the events ticked her off.
"Things get out of hand sometimes, like they did with you here… sometimes it's a domino effect, but there's always a last domino in the line somewhere." John replied.
"I tried to… get that chain back." Amanda said before Eddie saw Carlito stumble out and smirked.
"Leave that to me." Eddie replied, walking over to Carlito and snatching the chain. "You can keep the championship til your title reign is up but this isn't yours and don't ever put your hands on Mandy again, Vato!" He growled, shoving Carlito back and returning the chain to John.
Carlito was muttering under his breath… but John heard it and walked over, grabbing Carlito by his shirt.
"Don't ever trash talk my little sister again, she was being a normal teenager!" John responded.
"Anyone in there wouldn't have known the difference with how she's-" Carlito said, cut off by another punch, this one to his ribcage.
"She was coping after a tough day, no one would have done any differently! I know it may be startling but… she's growing up, and we can't prevent it from happening!" John responded after Carlito stood back upright following the punch.
John headed back to the car and buckled Amanda in before they all headed back to the hotel. When they reached their room, Amanda slipped her black stiletto heels off and tried to refocus her mind as John helped her sit down.
"All the times you used to talk about going out and having fun, sneaking into places… I guess I just wanted to try it out." Amanda said as John wrapped a blanket around her.
"Now you know it's really a case of 'when you're older'. But no one knows until they try." John replied, pulling the blanket ends together on her front and Amanda holding them in place with her left arm.
"Yeah… well, I guess I should go clean this stuff off my face." Amanda said as she stood up and headed to the bathroom. It wasn't long before she returned cleaned off, in pajamas and her face makeup-free and John helped her lie down before tucking her into bed… she was out like a light and John lightly brushed her hair back.
"I really am gonna have to keep a better eye on you… just seems like yesterday you were a kid eating cereal out of the box." John whispered, kissing Amanda on her forehead before getting ready for sleep himself.
The sunlight fluttered through the curtains and John opened his eyes, seeing that Immy had gotten into the room.
"Sorry I sorta broke in… my lab is just a bit cold. Doesn't have heating so at night it's chilly to say the least." Immy quietly explained.
"You… have a lab? Your own lab… midway through high school?" John questioned, Immy nodding.
"My dad had it first, but then… well, you know the story. Part of what I inherited was a storage unit on the edge of Alabama, and in there… tons of equipment. All I needed was a room to set it out in." Immy explained.
John nodded and saw Amanda's eyes open and her rubbing them, John standing up and walking over before sitting down on the edge of her bed and lightly rubbing his left hand up and down her back.
"He's down in the lobby…" Immy said.
"What's he saying down there?" John asked.
"No end of things… one minute he's regretting it, the next he's encouraging others that they should look out and be prepared to do the same." Immy answered, looking at the table by the wall and fidgeting around with the small sectioned up bowl which contained hot drinks things like small UHT milk containers, coffee sachets and tea bags.
Downstairs, Carlito was midway through explaining things when he was grabbed by Kurt Angle.
"You better shut your damn mouth about Mandy!" Kurt threatened.
"What's she to you besides a co-worker's slutty sister?" Carlito asked, Kurt holding him down on a table and bending Carlito's right arm back, evoking painful screams.
"Was it you who drugged her?!" Kurt demanded.
"It damn well wasn't! I wasn't even there until she was dancing on the table, the drugs were well in her system by then!" Carlito responded.
Kurt bashed Carlito's head against the table and left him there after a kick to the ribs. He reached the fifth floor and knocked on the door, John opening it and Kurt seeing Amanda towel drying her hair and in another pair of pajamas.
Kurt said no words and just pulled her into his arms, the two embracing each other… he was just glad that she was okay.
