Another chapter for you guys! There's gonna be a bit of fighting in this one, because, let's admit it, there's always fights in high school drama. Enjoy.
Chapter 3: Crushed"Hey, you guys, let's go eat dinner now. I'm starved!" Maria walked down the staircase of Woltar's mansion, and was surprised to see that Cliff was sober. "Hey, I thought you were wasted, what with you singing happy birthday and all…"
"Oh, that. Fayt and I here were having a contest to see who could sing the more familiar song. I won, obviously," bragged Cliff. "He sang all of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star', but unfortunately, Sophia somehow never heard that one before."
Maria looked over at Sophia, who shook her head vigorously. "Well, congratulations, Cliff, but can we please get going? I haven't had a bite to eat in hours!"
"Alright, alright, hold your horses. What do you guys wanna do tonight?"
Fayt had no preferences. Sophia and Maria wanted to eat, and then go skiing on the Traum Mountains. Mirage said she was fine with anything Cliff chose to do. Unfortunately, Cliff suggested they all go to a strip club, resulting in a slap from Mirage.
"Well, Fayt, how about some input from you?" asked Cliff, his face still stinging from Mirage's slap. "You must have done some crazy things back in Greeton, so what will it be?"
"Uh, well, to tell you the truth…" Fayt spent all his free time back in Greeton at home, playing video games. "How about bowling?" he asked.
"Hey, that's a great idea!" Maria exclaimed. "When's the last time we've gone bowling? It's been forever!"
"That's because Cliff got drunk the last time, and mistook me for the bowling ball!" whined Sophia. "I'll never be the same after that experience…"
"Cliff! You're up, idiot!" said Albel, who was pretty smashed himself. Cliff staggered his way over to the bowling ball stand, and, instead of grabbing a ball, grabbed Sophia's chest.
"Hey! Perv!" she yelled. But before she knew what was going on, Cliff had her off the ground, and slid her across the bowling alley. "AHHHHHHHH!" To everyone's surprise, Sophia slid perfectly down the middle, and knocked down all the pins with her outstretched arms.
"Hey, look at that, Cliff got his first strike," said Nel, clearly amused by the way things were turning out.
"I… hate… you…" Sophia whimpered at
Cliff, from the other end of the bowling alley. Everyone burst out
into laughter, even Albel. And as humiliated as Sophia was, she
joined in…
"Ha ha ha, good times," chuckled Cliff.
"Oh, shut up!" whined Sophia. "Don't you remember how embarrassed I was?"
"Alright then, no alcohol this time, got it?" commanded Maria.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever. No alcohol, I promise." Cliff put his hand over his chest, to show that he wasn't joking around.
"Then let's go! Hey, wait…" Fayt looked around. "Where's Albel? And… Nel?"
Maria frowned. "Albel's not feeling too well. He won't be coming out with us today. As for Nel, I guarantee you that she's out running. No need to worry, I'll call her up later."
"Alright…" Fayt said, worried that he wouldn't be able to see Nel tonight.
"To Mackwell's Alley!" shouted Cliff, with his fist in the air.
Mackwell's Alley was a hangout for many teens, and it was located in the red light district of Peterny. There was always something rough going on there, and it wasn't exactly located near anywhere else, so when trouble arose, one would usually have to fend for them self. Fortunately, Cliff and co. had never had any problems here previously.
"Hi! Welcome to Mackwell's Alley. How many pairs of bowling shoes will you need today?" asked a ditzy girl at the counter. Her nametag read 'Eliza'. Cliff did a short head count.
"Uh, we've got… four people here, as well as me, and Nel later on, so… that makes…"
"Six, Cliff. Six pairs of shoes, please. Size seven for me." Maria grinned. Cliff wasn't exactly the brightest guy in the world. In fact, she could probably conclude that Cliff was as dumb as a brick, until he got drunk. When that happens, he becomes a rocket scientist.
"Man, it's been forever since I've been here," Mirage reminisced. "I'm still gonna beat you this time, Cliff!" she teased in a playful tone.
"Not a chance, sis. I'm stayin' sober this time."
Fayt wondered how things would unfold. He had truthfully never been bowling before in his life, and had just heard about it from people he used to go to school with. In fact, he had never even seen a bowling alley until now.
"Fayt must be a champ at stuff like this," Cliff assumed. "It's common knowledge that all Greeton engineers are bowling fiends. Come on buddy, let's see a perfect 300!"
Fayt gulped and nodded with a smile. "Which mentally deficient anal discharge told you that?"
Cliff laughed out loud. "Learnin' how to talk like us now, are you? Attaboy!" He messed up Fayt's hair with his hand.
Outside the parking lot, a silver Porsche, bearing the license plate SCHWEIMD, and a Ferrari with the plate SPHERE JR parked on both sides of Sophia's car. The doors opened, releasing a heavy smell of smoke and alcohol. Seven boys got out of the cars, each with a metal baseball bat in their hands. The drawling voice of Demetrio commanded them to get ready.
"Alright, boys. It's the moment we've been waiting for. Let's do this."
In less than ten minutes, Sophia's Nissan Maxima was decimated.
"It ain't over yet," said Schweimer, through a mouthful of cigarette smoke. "They're in there. It's show time, boys."
"Fuck around with the best, eat shit like the rest." Demetrio announced their little 'group's' motto. The seven boys raised their half empty whiskey bottles into the air, gave a toast, and headed towards the entrance of Mackwell's Alley.
Enter your name please.
"Man, I never understood what they expect us to achieve by giving us three-letter slots for our names. How many names in the world have three letters?" complained Cliff. "Here, move over, Sophia. I'm gonna name myself ASS."
As Cliff typed the name out onto the computer, the word 'ASS' took the top name slot on the screen. Fayt named himself FAT, Sophia was YOU, Maria named herself SEX, and Mirage typed in a simple 'MIR'. "Alright, let the games begin!" said Sophia, excitedly.
Fayt seemed to be doing better than he ever could have imagined. It was the end of the first round, and Fayt beat everyone, with a fantastic score of 243. Sophia, unfortunately, came in last place with a measly 7.
"Heh, like I said, engineers from Greeton," said Cliff, as he clapped Fayt on the shoulder. "It's no perfect game, but you sure as hell beat me."
Cliff personally scored 141. Mirage had 178, coming in second. Maria scored 69, which suited her bowling name perfectly.
"Might as well call Nel now." Maria scrambled for her cell phone, but couldn't find it. "Shit! I can't find my cell…"
"Maybe you left it in the car?"
"Did you check the bathroom?"
"I bet you forgot it at Albel's!"
"You tossed it into the bowling alley on that last round! Ahh!"
"Looking for something, dearie?"
Maria spun around at the last comment. She came face-to-face with Demetrio and his cronies. Demetrio had Maria's cell phone in his hand. "What the hell do you guys want?" she sighed. "And who is that?" Maria gestured towards an unfamiliar face.
"This here is Solon. Mr. Solute, if you're nasty. He's the cousin of Azazer, and that means he automatically has a score to settle with you assclowns. Let me tell you, he's not happy after seeing what you guys did to his cousin's house. You'd better watch yourself, because this guy is deadlier than all six of us put together."
"Well, that's quite an achievement," Cliff said sarcastically. "Tell me, are you guys ever going to leave us alone? I mean, no offense or anything, but in the past 24 hours, you've had your ass handed to you on a silver platter twice by…" Cliff didn't even get to finish his sentence. Solon had rushed right in front of him and sent him flying with an uppercut. Ten meters away, Cliff couldn't even get up. Solon grinned triumphantly.
"Cliff! Are you all right?" Mirage sprinted to Cliff's side, and found that he was unconscious.
"What gives you the right!" screeched Sophia. "What the hell is your problem! You guys never think of anyone but yourselves, and on top of that, you think violence is the answer to everything!" She began to cast a healing spell on Cliff, but Demetrio simply shoved her into a nearby trashcan. Since she was there already, Schweimer went all the way and stuffed her inside it.
"Maria! Call the police! These guys mean business!" yelled Fayt. He had left his sword at Albel's house, and knew that he'd have to fight with his bare hands if the need came up.
Back at the counter, Eliza thought they were playing some sort of a game. "Oh wow! A tournament! I'm rooting for the hot guy! GOOOO HOT GUY!" Since the employees at the alley had no problem with it, neither did the rest of the people there. They continued bowling as if this fight was merely a squabble over whose name would go first on the bowling screen. Fights at Mackwell's were a common occurrence anyway. Fayt shook his head.
"Okay, so I can see that everyone else won't
be of any help… I hope Maria can get to the phone on the counter
ASAP…"
"Albel? Where did everyone go?" asked Nel. She was sweating all over again, and had run all the way from Kirlsa High to Aquios, all the way back to Woltar's mansion in Kirlsa.
"Hmph. How the hell should I know?" Albel continued drinking his vodka. He had almost consumed the whole 1.5 L bottle now.
"Well, if you find out where they went, let me know, 'kay?" And as she said those words, she left Albel's room and entered his swimming pool.
All of a sudden, the phone rang. Albel lazily waited for it to ring for the fourth time before picking it up. "What?" he simply asked.
"Albel! Thank God you're there! We need you over here at Mackwell's Alley! We've called the police already, but we don't know how long they'll take to get here!" So, it was Maria. Funny. Hadn't she told him to grow up a few hours ago?
"What's the problem?" Albel was taking his sweet time, thinking that Cliff probably got piss drunk, and they needed his help to manage him.
"Albel! This is serious! Please! Hurry! We can't hold them off for… AHH!"
"Maria? Maria! MARIA! Speak to me! Shit!"
Albel jumped on his motorcycle and sped out of Kirlsa immediately, before Nel even had the chance to follow him. Did she say Mackwell's? "It's been too long," he muttered.
Fayt fell to the ground. His face was cut all over from the punches and kicks that he was taking. Berial had violently grabbed Maria while she was talking on the phone, and locked her in the storage room, but not before taking her guns. By the time Eliza realized that this was serious, it was too late. Schweimer had tackled her into a wall, bound her to a chair, and stuffed her in a closet. Everyone else was fleeing for their lives.
Fayt was taking the worst beating of his life. His mind wasn't working properly, and he could barely defend himself anymore. He had taken down Vox by punching him as hard as he could in the Adam's apple, but then, when Demetrio started fighting him, Fayt was overpowered. "Nel, I've gotta tell you something…" whispered Fayt, as Demetrio whipped a bowling ball towards him. It hit him square in the chest before he could muster the energy to evade it, winding him completely. He didn't know how much more of this he could take, and his mind was hazing over. The last thing he saw was a vision of a red haired girl, beckoning towards him. Whether Nel was really there or not, Fayt never did know. He passed out a few seconds later.
Mirage had her hands (and feet) full, taking on Belzeber and Azazer at the same time. Solon was lazily sitting on the side, watching his cousin and his queer friend try and take down this girl.
"You guys… please… stop… fighting's not the answer…" panted Mirage. She was quickly being depleted of her strength, and knew that she wouldn't be able to last much longer.
"Oh, what's wrong? You don't want to play anymore? Hmmmhhhmhmmhmh?" giggled Belzeber.
"Shit, this guy is SO gay," Mirage thought to herself. With a final ounce of strength, she jumped high in the air, screamed out, "AERIAL ASSAULT!" and her foot landed right on Belzeber's head. He collapsed with an odd sort of cry, but it didn't matter. Azazer had hit her across the legs with a baseball bat. Mirage screamed and tripped, only to see Azazer jump on top of her and start punching her left and right. "He…lp… anyone… Albel… Nel… Cliff…" Mirage's last words faded away before she went unconscious.
"Okay son, walk in a straight line towards me while counting to one hundred, by 5s," officer Dejison demanded of Albel.
"GODDAMMIT! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!"
"Ho ho ho! Well, you should have thought about that before you went drinking and driving, hotshot. Now, do as I say, and we'll get this done faster."
"Shouldn't you dumbshit police officers be at Mackwell's by now? There's a huge fight going on there, and my friends are getting killed!"
"We've got more important things to do than investigating petty fights such as those. As for the case at Mackwell's, we've regarded it as a prank call. In fact, an employee was in the background, telling the caller to get off the phone so that she could talk to her boyfriend. Also, it's more important that we get drivers like you off the road. Now, do what I say."
"Argh! What the hell do you want!"
"The alphabet, backwards. Now!"
"Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, P… piece of shit!"
Dejison was enjoying this. "Sir, breathe into this breathalyzer, please."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I haul your ass in."
Albel roared in frustration, and took a breath.
"Hmm, just as I thought," Dejison said, as he started writing up a ticket. "Albel… Nox… drunk driving… license plate number, yep… extra notes? Terrible manners…"
Albel didn't have the patience to wait any longer. He jumped on his motorcycle and sped off towards Mackwell's, with officer Dejison shaking his head and copying down his license plate number.
"This water's really nice. Yup. Soooo nice. Don't you think it's nice? Yeah, it's really nice." Nel was talking to herself. No one else was around, so Nel had taken the liberty of jumping into the pool naked. It felt so much more refreshing than having a tight bathing suit wrapped around her body.
While she leaned against the side of the pool, she thought about the first thing that came to her mind. Fayt.
"How is this possible? Hundreds of guys try to get in my pants every year, and I brush them off as if they were nothing. Then, I meet a guy who has no friends, and no signs of sexual attraction to me whatsoever, and I begin to like him! Minds sure work in weird ways…"
Deep in thought, Nel hadn't noticed that Roger was spying on her through the bushes.
"Score!" yelled Roger, as he took a picture, startling Nel out of her thoughts. "Wait 'til this gets on the net!"
"Roger! You little bastard, come back here! Wait 'til I get my hands on you!" she screamed, as she rushed out of the pool to chase him. She quickly retreated, as soon as she noticed that she was still naked. Realizing that Roger had taken her clothes, she shook her fist at the Menodix, who was sprinting out of Kirlsa at the speed of light.
Albel skidded to a stop right in front of the door to Mackwell's. There wasn't a single car in the parking lot, other than Sophia's, which was brutally vandalized to nothing more than a junk heap, and… Schweimer's and Belzeber's. "Those bastards! This is serious after all…"
As soon as Albel walked into the main bowling alley, gunshots were fired at him from Berial. He dodged them all with ease, but was caught off guard by Demetrio tackling him from the side. Albel took out his katana in less than a second, and sliced upwards, not caring whether his sword came into contact with air or human flesh. It turned out that he had sliced Demetrio across the abdomen; he gave a gasp of pain and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Kicking him to the side, Albel began to observe the scene around him…
Cliff was unconscious! Who could have brought him down? He looked to the left, and saw Fayt lying there, bleeding from at least ten cuts on his face. Maria and Sophia were nowhere to be found.
Looking straight ahead, he saw that Mirage was being stripped by Azazer. He was going to rape her!
A hatred so powerful rose inside of Albel. He furiously sprinted over to them and lifted Azazer off the ground with an upward slash using all his might. "DOUBLE SLASH!" he screamed, as he brought Azazer back to the ground with a painful downward swipe. "Screw this! You're dead meat, maggot!" Albel tossed his katana aside, grabbed Azazer by the head, and sunk his fist straight into Azazer's gut. He let out a cry of anguish, as Albel pounded his face in repeatedly with his punches. With a final howl of fury, Albel slammed his fist into Azazer's stomach, releasing three years of hatred he had for him, yelling "PALM OF DESTRUCTION!" Azazer was sent flying to the other end of the bowling alley, immediately knocked unconscious. Albel stepped on Azazer's fallen glasses, breaking them into tiny pieces.
"Hmm. A worthy opponent," Solon thought. He was impressed with Albel's abilities, so he stood up and made his way towards him.
"I don't care who you are, and I'm warning you, maggot, if you get in my way, I WILL cut you down!"
"Hm. I'd like to see you try," taunted Solon. That lit Albel's fuse. He charged straight at Solon, brandishing his katana.
It happened in a flash; Solon had parried Albel's slash, grabbed him by the shoulder, which stunned him, locked both of his fists together, and slammed them against Albel's back. Albel let out a hoarse cry of agony as he was fell to the ground. It felt as if his back had been broken. Jeers and yells of delight could be heard from Schweimer and Berial.
"How could anyone react so quickly? Damn it!" Albel could hardly believe what was happening. He had charged at this stranger with all his might, yet he had been dodged, AND countered in less than a second. Well, the police wouldn't be coming anytime soon. It looked as if Albel would have to tough this one out himself…
Roger walked up to the circus trailer park, stationed in the central square of Peterny at the moment. "Hey, Ursus, where's Peppita?" he asked the giant innocently. While Ursus went in to find Peppita, Roger checked out the newest picture on his camera. He burst into tears of laughter, while hissing, "Perfect! 10/10!" The expression on Nel's face was priceless, and the fact that she was naked added to the score as well.
"Hey Roger, what is it?" Peppita walked out of the trailer. It seemed as if she had just taken a shower, since her hair was let straight down, rather than tied upwards like it usually was.
"Hey! Let's do something tonight!"
"Wow, you're… Hey! You know what, I've never been to the red light district of this town, even though I've been to Peterny so many times now," Peppita said. "Care to take a walk down there?"
"Hah! No problem! Those druggie types that hang out there don't scare me! Let's go…"
And with that, Peppita linked arms with Roger, as they headed to the east side of Peterny.
"I'm going to kill that kid!" Nel got dressed as quickly as she could into Albel's clothes, since Roger ran off with hers. They were a bit baggy on her, and she could smell weed on them, but it wasn't like she was going to be wearing these clothes forever. She walked into Woltar's office.
"Hi, Mr. Woltar!"
"Nel, child, what is it?"
"Um, you wouldn't have seen Albel and the group anywhere, would you?"
"Hmph. I saw Albel speeding off on that motorbike of his, out the east side of Kirlsa. I'll assume he's headed for Peterny, since that's where all you young whippersnappers like to 'hang out' these days…"
"Oh, okay. Thanks!" Nel winked as she ran out of the mansion.
She had done enough running for today, so she waited at the Kirlsa Bus stop. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was 8:13 PM. It'd be another fifteen minutes before the bus arrived, so she sat down and took out her notebook. Instead of studying, like she usually did, she drew an amazingly realistic picture of Fayt holding a watermelon. Why? The world will never know.
"All right! The bus is here!" Nel casually strode onto the bus, took one look around, and nervously sat down near the front. It wouldn't be the first time a guy on the bus tried to hit on her…
"Is this the height of your abilities? Pathetic!" Solon was parrying Albel's punches as quickly as they came, since he had thrown his katana aside in rage. Without warning, he grabbed the young Glyphian's neck, and raised him off the floor. Albel couldn't breathe…
"I won't lose… NOT TO THE LIKES OF YOU!" Albel let out a wild cry, but unfortunately, his windpipe was being crushed with brutal strength. He saw the world fade around him, and knew no more.
"WOW! A Ferrari! A real life Ferrari! Like, Roger, take a picture of me next to it!" Peppita stood and posed next to the Ferrari, like some The Price Is Right showgirl. Neither one paid any attention to Sophia's wreck. They didn't recognize it. As Roger snapped a picture, he read the license plate.
"Sphere Jr.? Hmm… that's… Belzeber's? That flaming homosexual guy at our school?"
"Roger, what's up?"
Roger grinned. "Peppita, darling, it's time for revenge!" Roger withdrew his axe, and strutted towards the expensive car. With Peppita sitting on the hood of the car, watching in amusement, Roger swiftly slashed all four tires.
"Hey, Solon, our work here is done," said Schweimer proudly. "Thanks man, we couldn't have done it without you."
"No problem. Anytime these clowns give you trouble, give me a call," he gruffly said. Taking one last look at the chaos they had caused that night, Solon, Schweimer, and Berial went around, retrieving their friends' unconscious bodies. "They'll be okay," Berial told them. "They've gone through worse than this. This is nothing compared to the massacre of 715E. Let me tell you guys all about it..."
And with that, the three boys walked out of the bowling alley, their unconscious friends on their backs, with Berial talking about the flashing blades and heavy axes of the said battle.
Roger and Peppita duked it out at the arcade in Mackwell's Alley. They were playing air hockey, and Roger was purposely letting Peppita win. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Berial and Schweimer walking out of the building, with some other guy.
"Hey, Peppy, I'm gonna go check out the vending machines. Be right back!" Roger stepped out of the arcade, planning to follow them, but realized that it was… too quiet. A bowling alley would never be this quiet. He also saw Maria's cell phone on the ground. Something was up. "Peppita, come with me!" he yelled.
As they approached the alley, they passed the storage room. All of a sudden, they heard a familiar voice yell "HELP!"
"Roger, are you okay?" Roger had overreacted to the startling plea for help, and fallen down. Together, Roger and Peppita smashed open the door, to find Maria, with her arms badly bruised.
"Maria! What happened?" Peppita asked frantically. "Your arms are all bruised! Are you okay? Oh, and by the way, we found your cell phone on the ground."
"I'm fine, Peppita, thanks," Maria replied, taking her cell phone. "But I'm not so sure our friends are… check out the bowling alley!" The three of them entered, and were shocked and appalled at what they saw.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THE MEANING OF THIS!" shrieked Schweimer. His Porsche and Belzeber's Ferrari were both reduced to nothing more than a pile of scrap metal. The culprit did a clean job; even the engines were completely beaten to a pulp. "Someone's gonna pay!"
Talk about bad timing! Nel heard someone shouting, and came over to see what was going on. As soon as Schweimer spotted her, he chased after her in rage. Nel, having no idea what was going on, was tackled to the ground. Solon and Berial held her still as Schweimer bound and gagged her with duct tape. Putting his face right up to Nel's, he threatened her. When he spoke, his voice was menacing and devoid of sanity. "You'd better hope your pansy friends come and fess up soon. Or else you'll pay the price."
"Albel!" cried Maria, as she ran straight to his unconscious, and maybe… dead body? All that was going through her mind was that, if he was dead, then the last thing she said to him would haunt her for the rest of her life. "No… he's not dead… he can't be…" Maria started sobbing, and took Albel's hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Albel," she whispered. "I never meant any of those harsh words I said to you earlier today… sorry…" What was this feeling? Was it guilt for being harsh on Albel before? Or was it something more?
"Maria, this is no time to emote! Let's get them all to a hospital, and quick!" Roger went to the phone and dialed for an ambulance. If only the police had helped out, he thought. He held Peppita close to him, and for once, his voice was serious. And when Roger thinks it's serious, then oh boy, it is SERIOUS.
Nel walked up to Fayt. He noticed that there were tears in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice seemed so far away… "Fayt! Are you alright? Can you hear me?"
Fayt nodded. "Nel, I have something to tell you…" Fayt looked around nervously. He wasn't sure of this, but if he was going to die soon, he might as well spill it. "Nel…"
"Hm?" Nel leaned in closer, her face almost touching Fayt's now. Her tears trickled down her cheeks, onto his.
"Nel… I think I… I KNOW I…" Fayt stopped and winced in extreme pain. His injuries made every word cost a gigantic amount of effort to say.
"Save your strength, Fayt…" Nel put a hand on Fayt's face. She slowly leaned in until their lips were barely an inch apart. As if some outer force was controlling Fayt, he pulled Nel into a passionate kiss. There was no hesitation; Nel put her arms around Fayt and deepened the kiss.
"YO!"
"YO!"
Fayt woke suddenly, and found himself lying in a bed. It wasn't a hospital, no. It was more like a luxurious room in a mansion…
"You alright, kid?" asked Cliff, from the bed next to him. Fayt looked around. That dream… it seemed so real. If only Cliff could have kept his mouth shut for a few more seconds…
"Where's Nel?" he automatically asked.
"Uh, Elicoor to Fayt!" Cliff snapped his fingers. "Nel wasn't with us when we were bowling. We got pounded bad by those assholes…" Cliff slammed his fist into his other palm. "Man, I wanna get them back…"
"Yeah… those… assholes! What did they attack us for!"
"Hell if I know. Probably for revenge from what you and Roger did to them yesterday morning. And for the house incident with Assasser."
"Yeah, I guess… wait, yesterday morning? You mean I was out for the whole night?"
"Pretty much, buddy. No point worrying about it, though." Cliff put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his bed. "We get to miss school, so it's all good. We're in the Arias mansion, in case you were wondering."
"Who else is here?"
"Well, Mirage is in the other room, sleeping. Sophia was alright, so she went to school today. Maria decided to take the day off. Roger and Peppita are here too… they probably skipped so that they could be with us. Nox, on the other hand…" Cliff scratched his head, and trailed off before finishing his sentence.
"What? What happened to Albel?"
"Well, I hate to be the one to tell you the bad news, but… the doctors think he slipped into a coma…" Cliff looked darkly at the ceiling. "They don't know if he'll make it out."
Fayt felt bile rising up in his throat. One of his best friends might die! He frantically tried to get out of bed, but was too tired to.
"Easy there, buddy. Nothing we can do about it now."
"But!" He couldn't help it. He started trembling and tried to climb out of bed, but to no avail.
Cliff simply buried his face in his hands. He hadn't felt so helpless in Apris knows how long. "Fayt, comas are iffy things… He could slip out of it any minute…"
Maria walked in suddenly. "Hey Fayt," she said quietly. "Feeling better?." There was something in Maria's eyes that told him she was suffering greatly. For some reason, seeing her standing there calmed him down.
"Yeah, I'm feeling better now, I guess," he said, in a shaky voice, recovering from his recent panic attack. "How are your arms?"
"Oh, I'm okay. No need to worry about me…" Maria stopped mid-sentence. Her cell phone was ringing. Picking it up curiously, she answered, "Hello?"
"Why, hello there, dearie," snarled a voice.
Maria's face automatically curved into a scowl. "Demetrio! You assholes! What do you guys want?"
"Tch, tch, tch… you'll need better manners than that if you want to see your red-headed friend again…" Demetrio stopped talking for a second, thinking. "Tell you what. Let's make a deal."
Fayt and Cliff were staring at Maria, whose face had blanched. "What's up?" they both said at the same time.
Maria held up a hand to silence them. "Okay, how do we know you're not just screwing around with us?" she asked as calmly as she could.
"Well, if that's how you feel about the situation, I guess we'll call it off then. Bye…"
"No! Wait!"
"I knew you'd see it our way. Now, we want ALL of you at Duggus Forest tonight at 7:00. We'd like to give you a little… 'thank you' for the gift you left us in the parking lot last night. Bring Clair Lasbard. If you come and meet our requirements, then, we can give you your precious Nel back. Oh, and you can exclude your comatose friend. We don't think he'll be feeling better by tonight." Demetrio cackled with laughter, and hung up. Maria couldn't take it anymore! She took her phone and whipped it across the room. "SHIT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Maria, calm down! What happened?" asked Fayt.
Maria turned around and looked at both her friends. "They have Nel," she said dryly.
Fayt blinked. His insides were melting. "Nel…"
And thus ends chapter 3. Will Nel be all right? Will Albel slip out of his coma? And what of Azazer's powerful cousin, Solon? Yeah, so this chapter doesn't really have much to do with school, but I'll get back on topic soon. Rate and review!
