The Oban Alternative or Race Like No Tomorrow
Rick stumbled across the threshold to Silvamane's room; his body hot and slick with sweat, the cold air felt good against his exposed chest and arms. He used the wall to steady himself before he sat on her bed where Silva was sleeping at the moment.
"I can't let him keep doing this to me," he murmured as he lay down next to her.
He nestled his face in the curve of her throat, letting one arm wrap around her exposed waist. Her cold body began to cool his overheated one, exhaustion pulling at his body and mind. Silva shifted uneasily, half awakened at her midnight nuzzler.
"Rick? Leader?" She lifted her head lazily to look at the figure lying beside her. "Not again," she murmured softly, gently rubbing the tears off his face.
She sat up slowly, her body waking up from her light sleep. She reached across Rick for her cell phone, and glanced at its glowing screen, it read: 2:11 A.M. She then put it back. Silva gently pulled him into a sitting position.
"Why do you let him do this to you? Why leader?" She closed her eyes, this was the fifth time Don Wei had forced Rick to have sex with him, and she was getting tired of Rick coming to her like this. His body bruised inside and out, his emotions so scrambled she could feel them as her own. Every time he touched her on the hand or when he wrapped his arms around her waist, his emotions and physical injuries hit her like a semi.
He didn't answer her, in fear of knowing that if he told her, she would go after Don. She wouldn't just stop at yelling and threatening him, no she would attack him or worse, kill him and get sent to prison for it.
He finally did, but picked his words carefully. "Silva, promise me. That you won't go after Don after what I tell you, okay?"
She looked at him, her emerald eyes blazed like fire in the soft light. "Fine…I promise. Desert Rats honor." The fire died down but she was still upset at what was going on.
"He… he threatened me in a way. So that if I do stop, he'll leave and won't ever teach me how to race star-racers. But, if he learns that I told you this, he said he would kill you himself." Averting his gaze from hers.
"Kill me, huh. Interesting, very interesting…As If! He couldn't kill a fly for that matter, and let me tell you Rick Thunderbolt it's really hard to kill me no matter what!" She groaned, waiting to see if he would look her in the eye. "For the moment though, let's just get some rest, I'll deal with Don Wei in a civil manner later…unlike the one your thinking about."
She lay back down; Rick looked at her and thought. Civil? Silvamane dealing with people civilized? That's something I got to see… He shook his head, lying down beside her body, nuzzling against her neck.
Without warning the lights in her room turned on, scaring them both. Silva immediately looked towards the light switch and to her disbelief, Don Wei clad in his gray pajamas stood there. Anger written all over his face as he tapped his foot impatiently on the carpet.
"Rick, what did I tell you about sleeping with women on your crew?" He glared at Silvamane, who returned it with a defiant stare.
Rick sat up, and answered. "If I'm going to be a successful pilot, I can't have any relations with women at all."
"That's right, and I hope you weren't planning on sleeping with a sixteen year old for that fact either." He continued to glower at Silva.
She cleared her throat before saying. "Excuse me? Asshole, I'm not sixteen; I'm the same age as Rick. And to make matters better, I know your little secret…" She slipped out of her bed, wearing a short red tank top that revealed her waist with black pajama bottoms. "And I'm not going to tell you!" Pointing at him, her lips curled in an evil smile.
"What are you talking about?" Don yelled, grinding his teeth to dust. She better not know what I do with Rick! He slid a hand into the back pocket of his pants, fingering the small pistol he carried.
Silva noticed his movement and strode over to her closet, opened it and slid a .22 gauge shotgun out. "I know you probably planned on killing me anyways, but I don't plan on going down without a fight," she cocked it and pointed at him. "Head or heart? Its so hard to choose…" Switching the safety off.
"Silva! You promised!" Rick yelled, but Silva continued to stare at Don defiantly.
Don pulled his pistol out, "Before you can even shoot me, you'll be dead! And I won't have to worry about you telling anybody that little secret you know about!" Pointing at her head.
"Is that so, shall we play a little game then? Hmm? How 'bout… the Quick and the dead!" She quickly pointed at the floor in front of him and pulled the trigger, and just like she thought he stumbled back and dropped the small weapon, stunned from the deafening blast.
It slid right against her foot; she continued to aim at Don a little carelessly. Scooped up the pistol, switched the safety on her shotgun and pulled the cartridge out of the revolver. Placing the case onto her desk.
"You…you little…" Don hissed. "You won't get away with killing me Silva and you know it!" He sneered, "The police will catch you and place you in prison for life!"
"Who said anything about killing you? I know I didn't," she turned to look at Rick, who was overwhelmed at her self-control. "If I would have killed you it would have been the first day we met…but, seeing as to what you have done. I'll only say this…you only have one hour to get out of here, before I break your arms and leave you for dead out in the middle of the desert. Got that?"
He stared at her in fright and gulped, "Yes. But how-how did you know?"
"You wanna know? I'll tell you. Every night you forced Rick, myleader, to have sex with you. He would come to me in the middle of the night, beaten physically and mentally by you. I was the only one he trusted to help him get through, to stop you…and now I see why he couldn't stop you himself…you immoral, self-centered, egotistical, asshole! I'd be pleased if I saw someone force you into having sex, but I'm not going to allow myself to become like you…" She gave him such a fierce look; he thought his soul was being burned.
"Now for the last time, Get Out…" She growled her voice dripping with poison.
He scrambled out of her room, and within the hour he left. The only things he left behind were the star-racer and his gun.
Silva turned to face Rick, who was holding his head in his hands. "I kept my promise, I didn't hurt or kill him…"
He looked up at her, "Silva he may have been the only chance I had to start my star-racing career! Now what am I going to do?"
"What your going to do, is shut up, and let me tell you." Placing the pistol in her closet along with the still smoking shotgun.
He looked at her in surprise at her temper, but he obeyed even though she was the lowest rank in his crew.
"You don't need to learn from him, Rick. All he would have taught you was the basics and that's it, nothing more than the basics… I'm going to teach you," she gave him a soft smile. "I may not look like a pilot, but I've flown my fair share of star-racers, jets, helicopters, and drove every kind of car known to man." Her eyes shone brightly.
"Silva, I just… I don't know what to say…"
She shook her head and placed a hand on her hip, "Your as stubborn as they come. I guess I'll have to start training you in sports cars first…"
"Sports cars?" He arched an eyebrow. "You mean like the dune bug?"
"No, faster than the dune bug and just as dangerous," she stood beside him. "Now come on, its best that we both get some sleep…" She yawned; walking over she flipped the light switch, plunging them both into darkness.
"And I thought you were just a humble kid who enjoyed racing and working on dune bugs and stuff, but I guess you proved me wrong," Rick laid down on the bed.
She smiled at him, even though he couldn't see her do it. Silva climbed over his body to get to her side. He placed his arm over her waist and nuzzled against her neck once more, but this time she placed an arm over his bare torso.
And out of the blue she said, "God! Your stickier than superglue!" She pushed away from him.
She got a laugh from him, "Maybe I should take a shower?" He began to get up, but Silva pulled him back down.
"Probably, but I'll deal with it." Allowing him to cuddle up once more to her. "But I got to ask, why trust me, the underdog of the crew about what happened between you and Don Wei?"
"You just seemed to have this feeling about you, and I felt that I could trust you. Besides hasn't this happened to you before?"
--OXO--Ooh Cliffhanger! Chapter Two
She was silent, his question unsettled her in a way she couldn't comprehend.
"Did I say something wrong," she felt his voice more than she heard it.
"No, nothing like that ever happened to me before, because I lived alone for most of my life." A single tear slid down her face, and dripped onto his.
He lifted his face up to look at her, "Are you crying?"
"No," was all he heard before she shifted and pulled her pillow over her head, her yell muffled by it. Silva's body went limp after she was finished.
He gingerly pulled it off her face, "You are crying… but why? Is it-is it because you lived alone? …I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Silva, please don't cry." Gently pulling her into his embrace, he winced as his lower muscles protested at being in such an awkward position.
"Thank you Rick…" was the last thing he heard before she fell asleep in his arms, her energy spent.
"Your welcome," he placed her back onto the bed, she curled up next to him as he pulled the cool sheets over them.
--OXO--Chapter Three
One month later…
"Rick, increase your speed! Now, use the drift technique I showed you!" Silva spoke into her mike.
"Roger!" He slammed the gas pedal into the floor, pulling the steering wheel to the right sharply.
His sports car drifted on the pavement of the ancient racetrack. Smoke curled away from the tires as he executed a perfect drift. Rick then straightened the vehicle out, avoiding the wall by mere inches.
"All right. Now, give me a reversal twist, and stop right in front of me!" Keying into her mike again, a smile spread across her face as she watched him practice.
The tires squealed as the racecar stopped in front of her. Rick grinned madly at her, switching it off. He popped the window net down, unbuckled himself and slid out of the car's window. Walking towards his mentor, pulling the helmet off his head.
Silva checked her stopwatch: 30 seconds, she then looked back at him. "Pretty good…for a guy." She gave him that smile that seemed to turn his insides to mush.
"Huh!" He stared at her in astonishment, raising an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"
"Means you need to get faster, but that's enough training for one day." Turning her mike off, stuffing it into her jacket's front pocket. "Lets go and head over to the Blue Coyote Café and get some grub." Pointing behind her.
"Sounds good to me," Before helping her load the racecar up onto its trailer, and closing the gates to the track itself.
Several minutes later they arrived at the Blue Coyote Café, ordering only hamburgers and sodas. Silva was drinking her soda when she noticed a young girl driving by on her jet-seat. The girl pulled up next to her truck and studied the monstrous Chevy and the racecar that sat on the trailer.
"Hey, Rick. Check out the pup next to my ride. Wonder who she is," taking a toothpick she gnawed on it thoughtfully.
The girl parked beside it and walked in. The bell jingled merrily, announcing her arrival into the café. She walked up to the counter and asked for a glass of water, the waitress kindly obliged and returned with her water. The girl then walked to the table behind Rick and sat down facing Silva. The toothpick fell out of her mouth as Silva gaped a little.
"Silva, what's the matter? She's just a kid, a pup like you said…why are you so interested in her?" He arched an eyebrow; leaning forward he waved a hand in front of her face.
"She's has Maya Wei's eyes…" She spoke softly, coming out of her trance.
Rick lurched back suddenly taken off guard at her reply, "You mean the most famous Star-pilot on earth? It can't be!" He turned enough to see her out of the corner of his sunglasses.
"Its her all right, its Eva Wei. Maya and Don Wei's only daughter, the one Don left behind…" Closing her eyes in thought…thinking of that cruel man of what he did...
"Don Wei's daughter…didn't know he had a heart…but, how did you know?" Turning back to her and looking over the top of his glasses.
"Don't you remember what I told you the first time we met?"
"Not really, it's been over eight years since you joined the Desert Rats…"
"I'm a shapeshifter, but I'm limited to what I can do. I still have some of my main powers though; the one I'm using on her is kind of like telepathy, but on a higher level. By simply getting eye contact from the person I want to read, I can see their past and thoughts." She opened her eyes and looked at him, they glinted with curiosity. "But, I'm curious as to why his pup, is all the way out here in the desert, without him…"
"Now that you say that I'm starting to wonder myself…"
--OXO-- Chapter Four
The girl stood up and walked up to them. "Excuse me, I hope I'm not bothering you but I thought you said Don Wei," She managed to say; her eyes flashed hope for a second.
"We-" Rick began, that is until Silva broke in.
"Yeah, we were talking about him…Do you know Don Wei?" Silva slid out of the booth and stood up. "Mind me asking, but what's your name kid?"
"It's Eva, and yeah, I knew him…" She averted her eyes away from Silva.
"Okay, so what did you want to know about him?" Silva leaned forward, trying to coax the shy teen to tell.
Eva looked at the two, they were older and the guy was a good two feet taller than her, but the girl was about her height. Should she tell them, or just leave and hope they didn't come after her? "Did he come by here, and train someone named…" She pulled a little scrap piece of paper out of her pant pocket, "Rick Thunderbolt?"
"That would be me…" Rick stood up, extending a hand.
Eva took a step back a little unsure about him, "How can I know your telling me the truth?"
Rick sighed and pulled out his wallet, showing her his ID. "Is this enough to say I'm telling you the truth?"
She looked at it long and hard and then looked at him and back to the ID. "Yeah, that's enough to prove it to me." Handing his wallet back.
"So what did you want to know?" Silva motioned for Eva to sit down.
Rick and Silva sat on the other side of her. "I wanted to know if you knew where my dad went, after he trained you."
Silva leaned forward, motioning for her to do the same, "The last time I saw him was the night he left in fright, my pet Gila monster had crawled up onto him and Don woke up and ran… that's the last that I seen of him ever since…" Leaning back against the old leather booth seat, hoping the simple lie would work.
Rick just gave her a reproachful look through his sunglasses, but not enough for Eva to see.
"Oh," She giggled a little at the thought of her dad running because of a lizard. "Thanks, for the info." She stood up, "I guess I better get going I have a long way to go still."
"Hey, hold on. Eva, I think it would be best if you stay out at our place until then, you could rest up and we could take you to him…" Rick spoke up, giving the teenager a smile. "It's the least we can do for someone who knows my old manager."
"Thanks," she grinned. "I don't know how to thank you!"
"Your welcome, Eva. Now might as well head back, what do you think? Silva?" He looked at Silva, a smile creeping at the edges of his lips.
"Well let's go then!" Silva replied, standing up and heading for the door. "Lilly put the bill on my tab!"
"Okay," was the waitress's reply.
"Wait up!" The others said in unison.
"I need to get my jet-seat!" Eva rushed past Silva, almost causing her to fall.
"Whoa, watch it!" Following her outside, "I can put your jet-seat in the back of my truck, if you want."
"Okay, it won't be too heavy for you when you carry it I hope," she worried about Silva getting hurt.
Silva gripped the bottom of the simple machine and picked it up with ease. Eva just gawked at her in disbelief of her strength, as she watched her jump up onto the truck's bed and tie it down with quick efficiency.
Rick got shotgun, Eva took a backseat and Silva took driver's seat. "Hold on tight Eva, Silva's got a wild ride streak in her!" Rick chuckled heartily, looking in the rear view mirror at her expression.
"Hey, I don't have a wild streak! Don't worry Eva I'm not going to take the route we usually do to get home, so don't worry." Shifting the truck into reverse pulling out onto the highway. She shifted the gears so fast the truck's tires squealed.
Eva gave a squeak of alarm, and Silva chuckled, "Well maybe a small wild streak…"
--OXO—Chapter Five
Two hours later…
"Here we are, home sweet home. Or should I say junkyard sweet junkyard?" Silva joked.
"Its not a junkyard, its…oh, forget it your right. But it's a great place to build stuff because people are always dumping vehicles and metal scrap here." Rick replied casually.
Eva didn't say anything; all she did was stare at some of the older star-racers that were abandoned by their owners. One star-racer caught her eye though; it was the one she saw Rick race in the unofficial minor leagues. It was in perfect condition and looked like it could still run.
She thought on asking about it, but Silva brought her out of her thoughts. "Hey, pup! Time to unload your gear, and show you around."
"Huh? Pup? Why do you keep calling me that?" She arched an eyebrow, reaching over Rick's seat to look at her.
"I keep calling you that because you're younger than me, that's why I call you pup." She turned the truck off, unbuckled and stepped out. "I'll get your jet-seat and bring it out back, okay?"
"Kay," was her only reply after she got out along with Rick.
"Hey Silva, you still got that Gila monster in its tank right?" Rick asked.
Silva paused, holding the jet-seat. "I think I left him out on the couch, you shouldn't really be worry about him anyways. He only eats stuff smaller than him, which means even if you put your hand in front of his mouth he still won't bite." Continuing out back, placing the jet-seat on the shaded concrete porch. Before returning back to the front.
Rick had already led her inside and began showing her around, they were mostly done by the time Silva joined them with her pet Gila monster in hand. Silva slowly crept up behind Eva, placing Kiro on her shoulder. Kiro gave a low hiss as his master placed him on this stranger's shoulder.
"Huh, what's that hissing noise?" Eva asked, turning her head she came nose to nose with Kiro. She gave a startled scream, Kiro turned and jumped back into his master's arms. "What was that!?"
"Its just Kiro, my pet Gila monster. Seems you're just as easy to scare as Don was," she chuckled softly. "Don't worry Kiro wouldn't hurt you anyways…"
Kiro hissed gently as Silva rubbed him thoughtfully behind his unseen ears. She placed him on her shoulder and winked at Rick. He just seemed a bit upset at how she was treating Don Wei's daughter, even if the guy was a prick she still didn't have to treat his daughter that way.
"Silva…" He began, "Stop teasing. Wait, I have a better idea, why don't you cook those steaks you bought a couple of days ago?"
Silva rolled her eyes and started for the kitchen, before saying. "Eva, not to be rude, but my rooms off limits to everyone, but Rick." She then continued to the kitchen.
"Why's her room off limits," Eva asked.
"I'll show you," Rick opened the door to her room.
To Eva's horror her room contained some of the biggest lizards and some gigantic rattlesnakes that she had ever seen, but luckily they were all in tanks. Each creature had a list taped or attached in someway to its tank, she got a glimpse of the closest one, and it read: BIG the ten foot rattler, must feed today and take out for handling and extraction of venom sacks. Eva shivered, that thing could still kill? Rick then closed the door and herded her towards the kitchen.
"It's going to take me just a couple of minutes to finish these steaks. Pup, how do you want your steak?" Silva's head popped out from around the corner, wearing her blue-tinted goggles and holding a blowtorch.
"Um, well done." Eva replied a little unsure, she never understood the meaning about asking for a rare steak or medium, so she would go with the thing she knew most and that was "Well."
"I'll have mine the same way, Silva! But this time I want more kick to it," Rick answered as well and he prepared the table.
"All right one well done steak and another with some extra kick," Silva mimicked a waitress, before returning to torching the steaks.
Eva giggled at her shenanigans, "Is she always that lively?"
"Most of the time, but you should see her when she gets mad! Its as if a tornado replaced her, and whoever gets in her way is going to get hurt." Rick caught Eva gulping in fear. "But don't worry she doesn't get mad easily, there are very few things that can get her mad…" He continued.
Eva sighed relief, and by then Silva was walking in with their steaks. "Careful these buggers are still a little-" Rick's steak started to catch fire. "Hot!" Silva quickly blew the flame out before placing it in front of him.
Rick just stared at her from behind his sunglasses. "Hey, you said extra kick and I gave it to ya." Placing the other steak in front of Eva. "Hope you like yours, pup," she walked back into the kitchen for her steak. She came back with hers and a small black bottle; all the bottle said was Dy-ni-mite!
"What's that," Eva pointed at the black bottle.
"This little thing is my famous sauce that will set your tongue on fire and make your head explode." She put a couple of drops on her steak. "Want some," offering the bottle to her.
She waved her arms in front of her, "No thanks. I think I'll just stick to my plain old-"
Suddenly, Rick grabbed for his glass of soda chugging it down fast and grabbed for Silva's too, finishing it off in one gulp.
"Rick what's wrong," Eva, asked in concern.
Rick grabbed her glass and gulped hers down; he almost appeared to turn red.
"I know what's wrong with him, he wanted that extra kick so I put in a couple drops of my sauce. I think maybe I shouldn't have used that," she scratched her head in embarrassment. "Hold on Rick!" She scrambled off her chair and into the kitchen bringing a gallon of cold milk with her. "Drink this."
Rick pulled it out of her hands and chugged half of it before sighing in relief. "Thanks, but don't use that sauce next time…" Drinking a little more. "That stuff was too hot!"
Eva looked at them thinking, these guys are goofy! I don't know how I'll make it through the night...
Through the rest of dinner they talked about racing and anything related to it. They finished and headed towards the living room, Rick and Eva took the couch while Silva sat between Rick's legs on the floor.
"Hey I think the race for the major leagues is going on right now," Silva reached for the remote, but before she could get it, Eva had snatched it away.
"I don't think so, I want to see if they got something on about building star-racers…" Flipping through the channels.
"Building star-racers? …We could show you that," Rick spoke up, leaning against the back of the couch carelessly.
Eva stopped and faced Rick, "You could?"
"Yep, Silva and I can teach you. Hell, will even help you build your own if you want," Rick, continued. "Not during the day though, that's when I practice with Silva." Leaning forward he ruffled Eva's hair affectionately, "But don't worry, both of us are actually night owls so to speak. We work better at night."
Kiro was still sitting on his master's shoulders when he gave a high-pitched hiss, "What's the matter Kiro?" Silva attempted to calm her pet. There was a knock at the door, "I'll get it." She stood up placing Kiro on the couch and headed for the front door, and she took her shotgun from its resting place and placed it next to the door. She opened it…
--Chapter Six—Ooh another cliffhanger!! I am so evil XD
…And there stood a group of young men who looked like they had been rolling around in a pool of oil.
"Excuse us ma'am, but could we use your phone?" One boy asked and Silva looked at him. His black hair matching the oil, his glasses were partially gunked up, and it looked like he was wearing mechanics' clothes.
"Sure, come on in." Silva stepped aside to let them in. She studied the other two, there was another who was wearing mechanics' clothes. His hair was reddish, and his skin was a deep tan. The other boy appeared to be wearing military clothes made especially for gunners. His hair was two colors, orange and a dark brown, light complexion for a boy his age too. "Phones over here," leading the troop towards the kitchen. "Here." Handing the phone to the black haired mechanic.
"Thank you," he said. "Stan, give me the number." He asked the tan mechanic.
Stan replied with a shrug, "I thought you had it, Koji. What about you Jordan?" Asking the gunner boy.
He checked all of his pockets before saying, "Guys I don't have it either."
They all sighed disappointment, Silva broke in. "Who you trying to call?"
They formed a huddle, "Should we tell her?" One of them whispered, before they all broke the huddle.
Jordan spoke up, "We're trying to get hold of Don Wei, of Wei industries."
"Don wei, why would you…wait your part of his crew, right?" Silva replied.
"Yeah, is that bad?" Stan responded.
"No, no. I was just curious as to why you guys are out in the middle of the desert covered in something that resembles oil…"
That's when Eva and Rick walked in. "Hey Silva is everything all right?" He stood beside her and scanned the young men through his sunglasses.
"Yeah. They say there a part of Don Wei's crew. And they're trying to get a hold of him, but they lost the number... Do you still have his card?"
"I think I do, let me go see." He went to his room, the group heard him rustling around in there.
"You guys hungry?" Silva asked the boys.
"Yeah," Stan and Jordan said.
"Do you think I can help you cook?" Koji asked shyly.
"Can I help too?" Eva asked as well.
"Sure, the more the merrier! Follow me," Leading everyone to the kitchen. Jordan and Stan set the table, while Eva and Koji helped Silva with cooking. One hour passed, the whole group besides Rick, were scrambling around trying to keep the food from burning.
"Wow," the three boys said in unison, their eyes glazed over looking at the feast they helped prepare. They immediately sat down and dug into the food.
Silva and Eva rolled their eyes and muttered, "Boys…"
"OH SHIT!" Rick yelled from his room, Silva and Eva looked at one another.
"SILVAMANE COME HERE!" His tone changed to fright.
She blinked in surprise; this was the first time he ever yelled at her in that kind of tone. The two girls ran to his room, and were stunned to see Rick on his bed. Trying to escape a ten-foot rattlesnake.
"Eva get back, I don't know if this one is mine," Silva pushed Eva behind her.
Eva ran back to the kitchen where the boys were still eating, oblivious to the ten-foot terror.
"Silva that better be one of your rattlers, if not. Kill it!" Rick stared at the rattler with unease.
She took a good look of the back of its head; it wasn't one of hers at all. "It's not mine, but I'll see if I can get it out of here." She slowly stepped closer to the snake; it turned its massive head and coiled in her direction.
The colossal snake lunged and caught its fangs on her baggy pants; she was lucky that it had not pierced her skin. It writhed to and fro trying to release itself from her pants. Silva leaned down and grabbed its head and pulled it off. Half of its body managed to coil itself around her arm; it felt heavier than her pet Kiro.
"Geezus, this guy is a monster compared to my other ten-foot rattler. Pretty temperamental too, its dangerous to let it live." Watching it squirm in her hand, its eyes gleaming with cold hate.
Rick got down from his bed; "You're going to kill it then?"
"Have to, it threatened your life and the others lives as well, so yeah its pretty much considered dead," Walking out of his room and into hers, with her free hand she opened a tackle box and pulled out a blood covered butcher knife. "Sorry mate, but you got to go," Pinning its head down at the base of its skull.
All Rick heard was a THWUMP! And then nothing more, until Silva stepped out of her room with the snake's head in her hand. "What are you going to do with its head," Rick inquired, looking at the blood oozing down her arm.
"Burn it," was all she said before went outside and tossed it into one of the old-fashioned portable gas heaters. She listened to the head, as it sizzled and popped in the fire and headed back inside to deal with the rest of the snake.
Three yells of fright emanated from her room, "Damn it!" She ran to her room, the three young boys had come in and saw the writhing body that was pinned to her desk with a nail.
Poor Koji fainted seeing the headless creature, Stan caught him and lowered him to the floor. Fanning his partner's face, trying to wake him up.
"Who are you," Stan asked in horror, he looked at the tanks and the blood on her arm.
"I'm just your average snake charmer and killer. Why, you afraid for your lives?" Silva joked.
Jordan stood in front of the mechanics protectively, "You better not try and hurt us." He took a fighting stance, "I know karate!"
"Well I know, Judo," taking a stance.
"Judo," Jordan asked.
"Yeah, Judo know if I got a knife, Judo know if I got a gun." Fooling around with them once more. "I'm just kidding, if I would have killed you I wouldn't have fed you."
Stan thought for a moment, "That's right, because the food would have been wasted if you did. Jordan, she's not going to hurt us, calm down."
Koji's eyes fluttered open, "What happened?" He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Stan smiled happy that his friend was all right.
"You fainted from seeing that headless snake," Silva answered him. "I'll get rid of it in a moment, I just need to skin it."
Silva pulled the nail out of the still twitching corpse and took a clean butcher knife with her; within an hour she came back with a perfectly removed snakeskin. Along with the snake's rattle she was going to make into something useful.
"Is it gone," Koji asked, shivering all over.
"Gone, but don't look in my room unless you want to pass out again," Silva tossed the snakeskin and rattle into a bucket.
He shivered, Stan tried to comfort his friends fears, "Don't worry Koji, as long as she's here she won't let you get hurt by one of those things or see them, okay?" Koji looked at him and shook his head in agreement.
Koji took a deep breath to get himself back together, and stood a bit straighter than before. "Silva? You wouldn't mind letting us stay here would you?"
Silva thought for a moment, "Let me take it up with my leader." She headed back to Rick's room. "Hey Rick, those boys want to know if they can here for a while…"
Rick looked down at her, "They'd have to stay in the small guest room, but there's no beds. Only sleeping bags and a couple of pillows."
"I'm guessing that's a yes than…wait then where would the Pu-Eva stay?" Silva continued, barely correcting herself.
"Guess she'll have to stay in your room, better move those tanks into your garage stall…" Giving her a smile.
Silva rolled her eyes, "Fine…" Going back to the boys who were now talking to Eva. "Hey, boys. You'll be taking the guest room, I hope you don't mind sleeping in sleeping bags instead of actual beds…" She then turned to Eva, "You'll be bunking in my room, Eva."
"With the," she shuddered. "Snakes?"
"Na, I'm going to move them to the garage. "Hey, has anybody seen my pet Kiro, the Gila monster? I was sure I left him on the couch…" Scratching her head, something then attracted her attention. It was kind of like the sound of something striking at metal.
The group headed towards the sound, "Is that Kiro?" Koji asked staring at the large reptile with anxiety.
Silva looked at Kiro, "Yeah. Kiro, what do you think your doing?" She watched him strike the hubcap, producing the sound they heard again. She picked him up along with the hubcap, "He must think its another lizard…" Placing it in front of his face, watching him puff up larger than he was.
"Kiro is weird for a lizard," Eva giggled a bit.
Silva tossed the hubcap into a scrap metal bin. "I think I'll just put him in his tank for the moment." Walking over to the living room she placed him in his custom made tank, complete with a special lamp that regulated his temperature using a laser to see when to get warmer or get cooler. Silva then looked out of the nearby window, "Time for hatchlings and pups to go to bed…"
"Hatchlings? Pups?" The boys asked they blinked in confusion, but Eva explained to them about how she uses nicknames for people younger than her.
"I get it, so you're the pup?" Jordan asked her.
"Yeah, and I guess you're the hatchlings," she tried to stifle another giggle fit.
"I still don't get it." Koji scratched his head.
Stan looked at him in astonishment, "Koji how can you not get? Your like smarter than most of us!"
"I don't know, I just don't seem to get the idea of why we're the hatchlings and Eva is the pup," he continued a little confused.
They then noticed Silva watching them, she said. "I'll explain it to you guys later, boys get yourselves setup for the night and I'll get my room ready for Eva." She left, leaving them to their thoughts.
They all looked each other in the eye before running towards their rooms. Eva stood outside Silva's door and watched her tempt Big the rattlesnake out of his tank. Silva let him wrap around her neck like a scarf before pulling his list off his tank and throwing it in the trash.
Eva knocked hesitantly on the doorsill, "Can I come in?"
Silva turned, "Sure, but watch it. It looks like one of the snake's meals have gotten loose!" A small brown mouse scurried across the floor; luckily it didn't get near either of them.
Eva gave a yelp of fright when the mouse disappeared into a snake's great maw. She watched in horror as the rest of the snake came into view, it was pretty for a snake, but then she noticed it was no ordinary snake. It was a king cobra!
The king cobra then raised up to face its master's friend, its hood spread halfway. Then quickly lowered itself to the floor and twined itself around Eva's leg. "Help," was all she could manage.
"Don't worry," Silva began, "He's de-fanged and is very gentle. He wouldn't hurt anybody. But if it makes you feel better I'll get him off you…" Silva closed the short distance between them and unwrapped the small cobra from her leg, placing it into its tank and carrying it outside to her garage stall.
Eva leaned against the wall, glad that all the snakes were gone. Her foot slipped and hit the bucket that held the skins and rattles of snakes Silva killed or found. She stiffened at the sound of all the rattles shaking; she looked down and was relieved to find out that all it was were the leftover rattles.
She came back in; Big was still on her neck. Silva thought to play another little gag again. "Welcome to Silva's suite, I hope you enjoy your stay." Giving a short bow.
Eva looked at her, an eyebrow raised in concern.
"Damn, it looks like a tough crowd tonight…" Big shifted around her neck, he flicked his tongue in her ear causing Silva to shudder. Silva flicked him on the snout, "No."
The snake hissed, a little offended at his master's reproach. He settled back against her neck again, knowing he best be a good snake or get flicked again.
"How come he didn't bite you when you flicked his nose?" Eva was curious now about Silva's ability with snakes.
" 'Cause he knows better than to bite me or he won't get his dinner," rubbing the snakes rough scales. With her free hand she ruffled Eva's hair, "You better get some sleep…" Leaving the girl to her own thoughts.
Silva placed Big in his tank outside in her garage stall and headed back inside. She washed up and dressed in her camouflage pants and black tank top and went to Rick's room, to check on him like she always did after Don left. Rick was taking his boxers off and this caused Silva to immediately turn out of embarrassment barely avoiding seeing him naked.
Rick spotted her in his mirror, laughed quietly, and pulled his clean boxers on with his sleeping pants. "You can look." He stepped over to his bedside.
"Next time, I should ask if you're getting undressed," she sighed wearily.
He noticed how she stood, her stance wasn't as straight as it should have been and there were bags under her eyes. He thought about asking, but knew she would dance around the question. So he had another plan, "Hey, Silva. Where you planning on sleeping?" Leaning a hand on his hip as he studied her.
She straightened, "I was thinking about taking the couch since all the other places are taken…"
"Silva," he cut in, "you can sleep here, I don't mind. Plus, it looks like you really need a goodnight's sleep."
Silva just looked at him tiredly and tried to come up with a reason, but knew no excuse was going to get her out of this one.
He walked over to her, placing his large hands on her shoulders. Silva looked up at him and saw that he had a slight grin on his face. He knew she was working harder than he was, and that the only way she might actually get some rest is to sleep next to him. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Come on Silva, you need the rest. Come lay down next to me…" Leading her to his bed, but she wasn't tired enough to put up a struggle.
"Rick, I'll sleep on the couch, besides the bed looks too small to fit the both of us!" She struggled to get out of his firm grip. In response he turned her to face him, and pushed her backwards onto the bed. "Rick!" She gave a startled plea, but then thought he was right and stayed quiet while he straddled her.
"Silva, listen and listen good. I know your doing a lot and working hard to help me learn all this stuff, but you can't keep doing this without sleep! Either you sleep in this bed willingly or I'll tie your hands and feet together!" He stared hard; she could almost feel the glare he was giving her.
"Fine," she sighed with resignation. Then softly said, "Do you think you could get off me now?"
"If you'll only sleep here…"
"What did you think I agreed to when I said fine?"
"You were lying and you know it," his grin grew a little bigger.
She growled low in her throat, "Fine! I agree! I'll stay! Now just… GET OFF!" Her eyes flashed such bright amber, as if they were on fire.
Finally his grin became a full-blown smile, "I knew you would finally give into my good charms." Pushing himself off Silva and laid next to her, pulling her into his warm, strong embrace.
"Your just lucky I'm too tired to put up a better fight," breathing slowly, trying to calm her heart rate down. She was irritated that he could do that and get his way with her.
He tucked her head underneath his chin, " If that's what you want to think…you just think I'm hot though, don't you?" Rubbing the small of her back hypnotically, trying to cool her nerves and relax her.
"Don't even start it, I've about had it for today and all I want is to sleep!" She tried to hide the fire creeping into her cheeks by burying her face into his neck. She heard him chuckle in satisfaction knowing he was right. "Asshole," she growled against him. But she was enjoying how he rubbed the sore spot on her back, the strain, tension and pain was beginning to disappear with every stroke and every caress.
"Love you too, sweetheart." Kissing the top of her head gently. He felt her arch against him when he stroked the center of her back and trailed a single finger down her spine.
"Ticklish?" He rubbed the same spot again. Loving how she pushed herself against him every time he touched that one spot. "I think I found your weakness…"
All he got from her was a string of words he couldn't hear, but felt as she said them against his throat. Finally she said two words he could clearly hear, "Don't stop…"
He didn't and for a while he just did that, rubbed her back and shoulders where he thought she was hurting or needed the tension drawn out of her.
Quietly they fell asleep, Silva knew that he was right and hated him knowing it too. She liked him more than a brother, more than a leader in fact…in a way; she figured he was the partner she was looking for…
--OXO--Chapter Seven!! Kinda has some fluff; it'll come eventually so be patient! Runs to hide behind Rick. So don't hurt me please!
The sun hit Eva in the eyes and woke her up. She gave a shaken squeak forgetting that she was in someone else's home, and got dressed as quickly as she could, afraid that someone could walk into the room at any moment and see her naked.
Out of the three boys the one that woke was Jordan, he was always ready for a new day. He stretched, his stomach gurgled loudly. "I need some coffee…" He yawned and stumbled into the kitchen in only his sleeping shorts and shirt.
Rick and Silva began to slowly wake up, but neither one wanted to move. She curled closer to his body trying to keep warm as the cold from the sheets finally set in. He wrapped a protective arm around her, coaxing her to mold against his body.
"We-hav-to-ge-up." She said incoherently against his chest.
Even though other people think she wasn't a morning person she was, but there were times when she was just too comfortable to get up and this was one of them. He didn't mind though, as long as she was happy, he was happy and he would do anything to keep it that way.
Rick's head jerked up when the sound of two startled yelps came from the kitchen, "What in the world?" He reluctantly let go of his half asleep partner and walked over to the kitchen's doorway. He peeked around the corner and found that Eva and Jordan had bumped into one another. The two seemed to be fighting and it looked like it was going to get physical. I better stop those two before one of them gets hurt…he strode in.
"What are you two doing up so early," he asked.
The two teenagers just stared at him; he gave them a confused look. "What?" Then he remembered he wasn't wearing a shirt. That probably stunned poor Eva, but he didn't know what Jordan was thinking.
"Those are some major muscles," Jordan's jaw dropped, "I'd never be able to train long enough to get mine that big…"
Eva rolled her eyes at him, "Men…all they think about is who has bigger muscles and who's stronger…" She then whispered to herself, "But those tattoos must have been painful, they're so big and their only one color!"
"Are you guys going to stand there all day ogling at my partner or what," a disgruntled Silva spoke up from behind Rick.
"I'm surprised you're up this early, being Saturday after all." Turning to face her.
"Even on Saturdays I have work to do, remember I am a mechanic and always on call…but I guess I can let the other mechanics from the other garages do my work. I at least deserve some form of a vacation for all the work I've done." She stretched her arms over her head, "Anybody else hungry?" Everyone just stared at her. "I'm just asking, cause I am not cooking today."
The other two boys came in, they were wearing a clean pair of the same mechanics clothes that she had seen them wearing yesterday. Koji yawned and rubbed his eyes; Stan was still half asleep and continued to nod off.
"Looks like the other hatchlings are awake," Silva said. Cracking her knuckles, and rubbing her right shoulder to get the last kinks out that Rick didn't find.
Koji was about to say something when the telephone rang. "I'll get it, you guys fix yourselves something to eat." Rick went to answer the phone.
"Uh, did I hear right? Silva's not cooking for a while?" Koji managed to say, despite an oncoming yawn that threatened to slur his words.
Eva replied, "You heard right, looks like she planned on taking vacation for a while from everything…if I heard right…"
"Well not everything," Silva spoke up.
"Then what are you taking a vacation for?" The group asked, leaning forwards to hear her answer.
"I'm taking a vacation from being a mechanic, a pilot, driver, and a manager…why you got a problem with that?" Eyeing them all in turn.
They shook their heads hard. Eva spoke up, "You a manager, and a pilot?"
"How can you do all those things and not have a-" Stan was cut off by Rick.
"Hey you three boys better come here, Don wants a word with you guys!"
The three boys looked at one another a little worriedly before leaving the girls to answer the phone…
Chapter eight…its gettin' good!