II.

Before her wedding at the end of the month Ennis, along with Chane and Rachel, had visited Nice and Jacuzzi in Chicago for a couple of days. In retrospective, it had been immense fun, but she had her doubts at first when Firo had suggested it. Leaving New York meant leaving the remnants of wedding preparations to Firo and that hadn't felt right – not because she thought he couldn't handle it. A wedding, even though they had agreed to keep it simple, was no small matter. Of course she knew he could count on their family, but she still had felt guilty. It had taken a lot to convince her to go and even more to banish the guilt. Now the five of them headed towards New York and had a long way ahead of them because they had agreed that taking the car was more fun than returning by plane.

"Listen guys, Rachel and I were thinking about taking a little detour," Nice started cautiously.

"Nice," Jacuzzi grinned. "You make it sound as if it's a surprise. I believe I'm not the only one who has expected a few detours, otherwise we could've booked a flight." Besides, Nice was the spontaneous and adventurous type, so he had prepared himself for something extraordinary. But then he froze. "Please tell me that it doesn't involve explosions."

"Aw, Jacuzzi, you know me so well! I'm going to blush."

"No, just no."

"Don't worry, nothing's going to explode."

"Oh good."

"Look, Jacuzzi, it'll be fun. You don't have to do a thing. You'll just sit back and enjoy the ride."

"Huh? I wonder about that. If you think it's fun, then it can't involve me relaxing in my seat. Wait, if explosions aren't planned...Don't tell me..."

Rachel interrupted them. "There's this car...We always dreamed about driving it and Nice won't do anything dangerous, I promise. She's the driver."

Jacuzzi crossed his arms. "So you're literally risking your neck, great, makes everything better."

"Trying something new?" Nice replied and sounded a bit surprised. "Sarcasm isn't for you, I tell you."

He shrugged.

"Don't be scared. Rachel's a pro," Nice smiled at said woman and cleared her throat audibly.

"What kind of car are we talking about?" Ennis tilted her head curiously when Rachel got a news paper out of her bag.

"Thanks for asking!" Rachel smiled, pointing at a picture. "It's a white 1970 Dodge Challenger. A guy in this area intends to sell it."

"Rachel and I spoke about it this morning and we agreed that it's a wonderful opportunity. We might never get another chance."

"That's expensive!" Ennis proclaimed when she spotted the price.

That was the signal for Jacuzzi to become active once more. "No, Nice. We can't afford another car and we've got a perfect one right underneath our...us."

"Oh, you silly boy. Nobody said we're going to buy it. We'll simply ask him if we can go for a test drive, then return it after we're done."

Jacuzzi heaved a sigh and looked over to Chane and Ennis. "Are you okay with this?"

"Come on, what could possibly go wrong? It's not even a hard stunt to pull off – as I was saying, Rachel's pretty much professional."

"Sure, as professional as an information gatherer can get before being able to do stunts. There's a whole lot that could go wrong."

"Again with the sarcasm...Seriously, where did you pick that up? Don't underestimate Rachel's skills – stuntmen have nothing on her."

"Nice praises me too much, however, believe me that what we've got in mind is nothing big, but fun enough for us to try it once," Rachel said, then looking into each of her friend's faces. "But it's okay to say no."

"Well, I give up – not that I could stop you anyway. Guess it could be worse. For example, explosives."

"That's the spirit. Optimism is what suits you, Jacuzzi." Nice was practically brimming with happiness and Jacuzzi felt his last doubts crumbling. Ennis and Chane were also fine with the plan.

Soon after they reached a rundown farm house.

"So, wow, this place's awfully far away from any kind of civilization," Jacuzzi mused. He was a little frightened by the eerie atmosphere that even the sun couldn't expel. It was hard to believe that somebody actually lived here and even harder to believe that whoever had decided to live here was a friendly, social person. Although the ladies were braver than him, even they remained in their seats, opting to inspect the area for now. None of them was eager to run straight into a trap. It wouldn't be surprising for a crazy maniac to lure people in to kill them in a gruesome manner. All of them recognized a typical horror movie setting when they had it right under their noses.

Nice was the one to break the silence. "Let's go inside and let them know we're here."

She, Jacuzzi noted, sounded nervous. "Are you sure about that?"

"Please, let's not start another discussion," Ennis said. "Somebody should stay inside the car, though, and the rest can check it out."

"Well, it's important that nobody is left on their own. How about Rachel and you stay here, Ennis?" after saying this, he turned to Chane. "Do you mind coming with us?"

She shook her head.

Great, all of them could take care of themselves – some to a higher degree than others – but nothing beat teamwork.

They left the car and walked over to what they assumed to be the main entrance. After ringing the bell, it took a minute or two before someone answered the door. To their surprise, it was a young man who didn't look the least bit hideous. He seemed surprised himself as if he hadn't expected anyone to show up. That expression didn't last long on his face and it brightened up.

"Hi. You're here for the car, aren't you?" He closed the door behind them. "Ah, of course you are. I doubt people even manage to get lost around here. Follow me."

Even the house's interior didn't look like somebody used it on a daily basis.

"Where are you guys from?"

"Ah, Chicago, partly," Nice replied. "My boyfriend and I are, our other friends are from New York."

Jacuzzi wasn't sure if it was a good decision to tell. But if he wanted to kill them, he probably wouldn't let them get away anyway, so there was no way he would chase them down in their respective homes.

"Do you live here? It's pretty, uh, old." When he heard Nice ask that, Jacuzzi couldn't refrain from face-palming.

"Haha, yeah, sorry about the house's condition. No, I don't. It used to belong to a colleague and now, after his death..." He stopped and nobody inquired further.

They reached the car anyway, so continuing with the small talk was out of question.

"Here it is," he said needlessly.

To everyone's surprise the car actually appeared to be in perfect shape. Nice didn't even hide her delight and circled the car happily. After doing so for a few rounds, Nice stepped in front of the guy and tried her hands on puppy dog eyes: "I was wondering if we could go for a test drive."

"Sure, no problem. But I hope you don't mind that I require some sort of pledge in exchange," the redhead said. "Please don't hold it against me, but I gotta be careful."

"Understandable. How about leaving some belongings with you, like our Ids," Jacuzzi rummaged through his pants in search of his Id.

"Uh, nope, everyone can fake an Id."

"Really," Jacuzzi, arching a brow, replied. Everyone, huh? He had his doubts about that. "So what do you suggest?"

"Yeah," Nice crossed her arms over her chest. "We sure aren't going to leave money with you, we also gotta be careful."

Chane thought to herself that Nice sure had guts to mock the redhead, even though she most definitely was the one with ulterior motive here.

But the man simply seemed amused. "Just let one of your friends stay behind."

Nice and Jacuzzi both looked at him as if he was out his mind.

"Wow, guys. Calm down," the redhead said with a grin. "I'm not some hillbilly axe murderer crazy about human flesh – pinky promise."

"You're right," Nice deadpanned, but the small lift of her lips told Jacuzzi that his charm wasn't lost on her. "A pinky promise can be trusted."

Redhead shrugged with his shoulders, while is grin was unwavering. "No pledge, no car."

Nice looked at Jacuzzi and Chane. There was no way she would give up now and if she could, she would offer herself, but – what a cruel universe – she was destined to place her ass down on that beautiful leather seat. Rachel was obviously out of question and while Ennis was just as capable of defending herself as Chane, it was her damn wedding they're headed to and it was an absolute no-go to leave the bride behind. Besides, if Nice wasn't mistaken, then redhead was interested in Chane. At least the quick glances and the glint in his eyes indicated it. Redhead surely would be pleased to have her here, although she doubted the feeling was mutual.

On the other hand, Jacuzzi sighed. He wasn't even eager to be part of the stunt to begin with, so he might as well stay behind. Hopefully he wouldn't regret that. But whether for good or bad, Nice suggested Chane before he could even open his mouth. Jacuzzi wasn't certain if his girlfriend wanted to torment him that badly or if she trusted Chane to be a better match should the redhead indeed turn out to be a maniac.

"Well, since I want to drive the car, I'll obviously have to decline. My boyfriend isn't the most interesting company, so maybe you'd like to get to know my friend Chane here better."

Nice ignored the little indignant noise Jacuzzi made at that comment and looked over to Chane (with puppy dog eyes yet again) to see if she would agree.

Chane actually looked right into the redhead's eyes with determination.

Okay, that's a bit weird, Nice mused. Did that mean that she was determined to flirt with him or kill him on the spot if need be? It was hard to tell. However, the redhead was either blissfully ignorant or didn't mind because his grin turned into a smile. That was a good sign, right? Right? Wrong. Did Chane recognize him from somewhere? Nice was about to call this entire thing off, when Chane grabbed her hand. Her hand was slightly squeezed and Nice nodded in understanding.

"So, yeah, my friend Chane here intends to keep an eye – urgh, I mean, keep you company." Nice laughed and hopefully Jacuzzi was the only one who noticed the nervous edge. "Alright?"

"I don't really care who of you guys stays here," the redhead stated airily, but the reddish glow on his cheeks said otherwise.

He has freckles, the couple unbeknownst to each other thought at the exact same time. Shit, that's endearing.

Redhead cleared his throat. "Anyway, here are the keys."

Nice caught them as if he had thrown eggs her way and Jacuzzi spotted the gleam in Nice's eyes. She was love-struck, great.

"Have fun with it."

And fun she would have. In fact, Nice practically pushed herself and Jacuzzi into the car.

"Behave yourselves. We'll be back in an hour," she said, waving and winking while driving off. Chane didn't react in any manner, but she didn't have to.

"Ah, so, you're Chane, am I saying that correctly?" While Nice did say it a few times, it still was challenging for a lot of people, even though they've heard it a number of times. "My name's Felix."

She simply nodded and he was somehow observant enough to gather that she was mute. Together they approached the garage driveway and watched Rachel and Ennis join the couple in the car. Soon enough they were gone and a minute later or so a black car followed them. Chane jogged a few steps forward to see as much as possible. It headed in the same direction as her friends. Normally that wouldn't be even noteworthy. But for one, Felix just told them that nobody ever even got lost in this area (well, his word wasn't entirely trustworthy) and, far more importantly, she didn't spot that car for the first time today. If she remembered correctly, she had seen it at the gas station in the morning where they had met this odd duo named Isaac and Miria who were joking around that they intended to steal from Earth herself or whatever.

Focus, Chane told herself. It doesn't matter right now what they've said, even though they were funny.

Anyway, that car gave off bad vibes – just like that Felix guy. She turned around and glared at him, interrogating him. Perhaps he was really some nut job who lured people here to terrorize first, kill later.

He held up his arms in defense and attempted to imitate the indignant sound Jacuzzi had made earlier. "I don't remember how I earned myself that mean glare."

Chane relaxed, for now. It wasn't the best idea to wake up a sleeping beast. She wasn't certain what exactly it was, but there was definitely something off about the man in front of her. His movements and presence gave him away, somehow. Although they clearly didn't look similar, Chane felt as if she had her reflection in front of her very eyes. Hopefully that version wasn't more skilled than she was.

"Anyway, will we stand here for the next hour and let the sun burn us to ashes, or would you perhaps prefer to drink soda in the house?"

Well, it didn't matter where she waited, so Chane accepted the invitation.