"Why did I let you people drag me out here?" Francine Fournier complained. She smacked some of the mosquitoes away. "It's hot, it's dirty and I don't want to be here. Let's just go home."
Cody Rhodes rolled his eyes at his bitchy cousin. She had not stopped complaining ever since they had set foot in this swamp. "Would you shut up?" he asked. "It's not that bad out here."
"It's not that bad? Look at where we are! We can barely see even with these flashlights and it smells like something died out here."
Her friend Dawn Marie nodded. "I have to agree with her on this Cody. The smell is pretty bad."
Cody's friend Ted DiBiase rolled his eyes. "This swamp belongs to the Voodoo Queen. It probably smells like this because she buries the bodies out here."
"Oh God!" Francine groaned. "That is a stupid urban legend and you know it!"
"It is not an urban legend!" Ted said defensively. "Roxxi Laveux does her rituals out here and she dances around all naked and stuff."
Dawn slapped him on the arm. "That's why you really dragged us out here, isn't it? You just wanted to see a woman dancing around naked while doing spells!"
Ted looked confused. "What, you're saying you don't?"
Cody laughed as both girls smacked him. "Dude, you are so stupid."
Francine looked around and shook her head. "Come on, there's no Voodoo Queen here. Let's get out of here. I feel like something is watching us."
"Something or someone?" Ted asked in amusement.
"Does it fucking matter?" she snapped. "I want to leave and I want to leave now!"
"Then go!" Cody yelled. He was tired of her whining. "Go wait in the car until we're done looking around."
"I'm not going by myself. What if there is something out there and it attacks me?"
"Then you'll die and I'll rejoice."
Dawn sighed and grabbed Francine by the hand. "Come on, I'll go with you."
Cody and Ted just watched as the two girls walked away. "Good riddance," Ted muttered. He looked at his friend. "Why did we bring them anyway?"
Cody shrugged. "Honestly, I have no idea. Come on. I want to see if we can find this Roxxi chick before it gets too late. My mom will kill me if she knows I'm out here right now."
XXXXXXX
Dwayne looked at Cactus and Miz. The three of them had been watching and following the four teenagers for awhile now. "Is it me, or are these people really annoying?" he asked.
Miz nodded. "They're more annoying than I am."
"Hold on, let's not go that far," Dwayne scolded. In his opinion, there was nobody more annoying than Miz.
"Fuck you," Miz snapped.
"Guys, these people are going in two different directions," Cactus reminded them. "We have to follow both groups."
Dwayne sighed. "You two follow the boys. I'll go after the girls." He started heading after Francine and Dawn, ignoring Miz's protest about being the Chick Magnet and how that should allow him to go after the girls. Dwayne didn't care how smooth Miz thought he was; he wouldn't be able to get both girls.
"God, I can't believe this crap," Francine complained. "I have no idea where we are right now."
Dawn looked around. "I think the car was more that way."
"Are you sure?"
"It's worth a shot, isn't it?"
"JEFF! JEFF! DAMN IT, PUT DOWN THAT SNAKE! THAT THING IS POISONOUS!"
Dwayne groaned. So much for his hunting idea. Knowing his luck, he was going to get roped into trying to catch the psycho and avoid getting bitten by a pissed off poisonous snake. It was not his idea of a good time.
Jeff came barreling into the woods like a bat out of hell. He tossed the snake at Francine and Dawn, who screamed in surprise. It bounced off of Dawn and bit her on the leg as it fell to the ground. She screamed in pain and fell over.
"Dawn!" Francine yelled. She knelt down to check on her friend, which proved to be her fatal mistake. Jeff speared her to the ground which such force that the two of them went rolling through the muddy bayou.
"Jesus Christ," Dwayne muttered. This was not exactly what he had in mind when he went out to hunt tonight. He watched the poisonous snake as it slithered away. Dawn was still on the ground. She was clutching her bite. If she didn't get a tourniquet on her leg soon, she was going to be in deep shit.
"Help me," she begged as Dwayne approached her. "Please help me."
Dwayne kicked her in the face just as James found them. She slumped over, knocked out cold from the blow. He took of his belt and used it as a tourniquet for her leg. They would have to help her get the venom out when they got back in the mansion. They wouldn't be able to play with her if she died from the poison.
"Where did Jeff go?" James asked. He was completely out of breath. "Does he still have the snake?"
Dwayne shook his head. "He threw it at this bitch. Then he tackled her friend and I don't know where he is now."
"I'm here!" Jeff said cheerfully. He came back towards them with an unconscious Francine slumped over his shoulder. He was covered from head to toe in mud. "I got the girl."
"Did the snake bite you?" James asked.
"No."
"Then you're damn lucky. Now go hose yourself. Victoria just got the carpet cleaned. She'll kill you if you track that mud inside."
Dwayne picked up Dawn. "Miz and Cactus are tracking the two boys that were with these girls. You might want to go find them. You know how Miz tends to ruin these things."
James rolled his eyes. "Believe me, I know. That's why I usually don't take him out to do stuff like this."
XXXXXXXX
Mark took a drink of his beer. He and the other Ministry members were at a club, living it up a little before they left for New Orleans in a few hours. If they drove almost nonstop, they could get there within one or two days.
"I'll be damned. I never thought I would see you in a place like this again."
He looked over and saw his ex-girlfriend Tammy Sytch sitting down next to him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
She shrugged. "Drifting aimlessly, like usual. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be a good guy now? Why are you here with the Ministry?"
"The good guy thing didn't work out," he admitted. "So it's back to the old ways for good this time."
"Does Sara know about this change of heart?" It was easy to hear the disdain in her voice as she said Sara's name.
"She doesn't know a damn thing."
Tammy smirked. "So why the change of heart? Did you just wake up one morning and realized you were sick of living the lie you built for yourself out of the sake of love?"
"It was a little more complicated than that." He told her everything that had been going on, starting with Trish getting kidnapped by Jeff and ending with the reformation of the Ministry and the upcoming trip to New Orleans.
Tammy took a moment to take that all in. "I've got a suggestion for you Mark," she finally said. "Instead of being all pissed at James and Jeff, maybe you should thank them."
He raised his eyebrows. "Thank them? For what?"
"For throwing things into perspective for you. If all this shit hadn't gone down, would you be back to doing what you did best?"
He shook his head. "No, probably not."
"See? It all worked out, even if it did piss you off." She ran her hand through his hair. "Besides, I hate knowing that you and James are at odds. As dysfunctional as your relationship is, he's the best friend you've got."
Mark took another drink of his beer. "Why are you sitting here telling me all this? I thought you never wanted to see me again."
"I missed you," she confessed. "It killed me knowing you were with Sara, living some fucking sham because she poisoned your mind. She never knew the real you."
"And you do?" he asked in amusement.
"James and I are the only ones who really do." She kissed him softly. "That's why we both drive you nuts. You can't stand having anyone figure you out."
He growled and pulled her in for a harder kiss. As infuriating as she could be, he had kind of missed Tammy. There was rarely a dull moment for her, which was what he needed now to forget about the dullness of Sara. "Come on," he growled. He got up and started dragging her out of the club. "Do you have somewhere for us to go?"
She grinned. "I've got a room at the hotel across the street."
"Perfect." He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. He didn't even bother to tell the others he was leaving. It was none of their damn business. Besides, they were smart boys; they could figure it out by themselves.
