Author's Note: Bear with me on the time in between postings, everyone, I am now working on four fanfics at once here. Hope you like it!
Chapter 10: Not So Safe Haven
Fear coursed through every nook and cranny of Mike's body as he sat in the back of their car turned van. Peter drove a little fast at first, but had slowed down once Dave had pointed out that they shouldn't draw attention to themselves. Davy sat next to Mike staring at Micky with his chin resting on his knees. Davy seemed to be just as afraid of Micky not being able to pull out of this as Mike was. The difference was that Mike still had to lead the group; he had to stay strong for all of them. Back at the beach house, he felt Peter start shouldering some of the responsibility and pushing aside his own fears so that Mike could have a moment or two of vulnerability, but he couldn't keep doing that to Peter. Mike rested his head against the side of the van and took several deep breaths to try and replenish his strength so he'd be ready to do what needed to be done once they got where they were going.
After they'd been driving for several hours and stopping only once for gas, Peter finally pulled into a motel parking lot. The motel looked a little run down, but at least it would be cheap. Not that they could afford any hotel room. But Dave had said he could arrange for them to be able to afford it. Sure enough, when they pulled in, Dave pulled out some paper he'd gotten at the gas station when he'd gone in to pay for their gas and folded it up. He pressed his hands together over the paper and Mike noticed a while light emanate from between his hands. When he pulled his hands apart, the pieces of paper had transformed into 50 dollar bills.
"How did you do that?" Peter asked.
"Magic, Peter," Davy mumbled.
"It's ok," Dave smiled wide. "Magic is like science. All you have to do is manipulate the molecules."
"So that's real money?" Peter asked. "Not fake money?"
"No, it's real," Dave answered. "Don't worry. No one is going to commit any crimes here and we aren't going to rip anyone off. All I did was manipulate the molecules of the paper so that they rearranged to form the molecules of money. That and I happen to know the algorithm for putting serial numbers on the money...don't ask how. But it's all legit."
"Good," Peter said sounding relieved.
"Alright, stay here," Dave said getting out of the car.
"Wait," Mike said gathering up all of his strength. "I'm going with you. Lock the doors, Peter." Peter nodded and locked all the doors as Mike and Dave walked toward the office. When they walked inside there was no one behind the counter. They stood there for a minute before someone finally walked behind the counter.
"Help you?" the man asked lazily.
"Yes, I'd like a room please," Mike said. "5 beds if possible."
"5?" the man shrugged. "We ain't got a room with 5 beds."
"What do you have?" Mike asked impatiently.
"We got two rooms with two beds each," the man said. "And I can get ya'll a cot."
"How much is that?" Dave asked.
"Bout hundred bucks for the night," the man said. "Each."
"Each!?" Mike echoed in shock. This wasn't exactly an upscale motel.
"It's slow season," the man answered lazily. "Rates go up during slow season."
"Fine," Dave said handing the man the money that had previously just been a piece of paper. Dave signed a form and waited for the lazy employee to give them two keys.
"Are the rooms at least next to each other?" Mike asked when the man came back.
"Yeah," the man answered. "211 and 212."
"Second floor," Mike moaned. "Great."
"It's all we got," the man countered.
"I thought this was your slow season," Mike said.
"It is," the man answered. "Those are the only two clean rooms that are available. Take it or leave it, buddy. 'Less you want a dirty room or one of the ones we had to fumigate this morning."
"Oh that's lovely," Mike moaned shuddering at the thought of why they had to fumigate.
"It's fine," Dave said. "Thank you."
"You realize we gotta carry Micky upstairs now, right?" Mike asked on the way back out to the car.
"Yeah," Dave answered. "But what other choice do we have?"
"I'm just annoyed," Mike said.
"I know you are," Dave answered. "But Balthazar will find a way to fix this. I know he will."
"If there is a way to fix this," Mike answered.
"You gotta stop being so negative," Dave said. "I thought that way once. I was pretty hopeless. Kept telling myself that I wasn't destined to be this big powerful sorcerer. That I couldn't defeat Morgana; I wasn't strong enough. But in the end, I was. Thinking negatively will get you nowhere."
"It's not thinking negatively," Mike argued opening the door to the car turned van. "It's thinking realistically."
"Whatever you say man," Dave said.
"Alright, Peter, we had to get two rooms," Mike said. "Help me carry Micky to one of them. It'll be hard since it's upstairs."
"Sure," Peter nodded coming around the back to help Mike hoist Micky between them. They made it to the bottom of the stairs with Davy leading the way for them and paused for a moment to figure out how they were going to carry Micky up.
"One step at a time," Mike said. Peter nodded and they slowly made it up the stairs without injuring themselves or Micky. Davy opened the door to the first room and they carefully lay Micky down on the bed. It was starting to get dark out and Mike was starting to get a little tired from the drive so he relaxed in the chair next to Micky's bed.
"I'll go make sure the other room has the cot in it," Dave said.
"We have to split up?" Davy asked.
"They didn't have a room with 5 beds," Mike said.
"I'll sleep on the floor," Davy said. "I don't want to leave Micky."
"No, Davy," Mike said. "Don't sleep on the floor. Micky wouldn't want any of us to do that, and you know it. We'll all need some decent sleep over the next few days. For now, lets get some food and then go to bed. We'll hit the road again in the morning."
"How far are we going to go?" Peter asked.
"As far as we need to in order to keep Micky safe," Mike answered.
"And we're sure that Balthazar will be able to find us once he's found the solution to all this?" Davy asked.
"If he finds one," Mike muttered. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Peter shooting him a look.
"Yeah," Dave said. "I'm his apprentice, so he'll be able to find me wherever I am. So as long as I stay with you, he'll find us. And we will fix this."
"I'm going to order some pizza," Mike said. "Do you still have some of that money?"
"Yeah," Dave said handing him another bill.
"Mike crossed over to the phone and thumbed through the phone book next to it until he found a pizza delivery place.
"Might want to get some extra," Dave said. "Micky'll probably be really hungry when he wakes up. Eating can help replenish his energy some, too."
"Great," Mike said dialing the number he found.
"I'm gonna check on that cot," Dave said before ducking out of the room. Peter and Davy each took a seat on the second bed in the room watching over Micky. "Stay here."
"Is this for delivery or takeout?" the man on the phone answered at the end of his greeting.
"Delivery," Mike said giving the address of the hotel and room number. "Two large pizzas. One double pepperoni and one cheese."
"Cheese?" Davy asked.
"I don't know what Dave likes," Mike said. "And cheese is a safe option."
"I like cheese," Peter said.
"How are you paying today?" the man said after adding the total.
"Cash," Mike said looking at the cash in his hand. Like Peter, Mike felt bad for paying for things with money that wasn't real. It looked real enough in his hands, but even still, they didn't earn it and that alone made it fake. As the man on the other end of the phone told him what the total would be, Mike hung up the phone and looked at Micky still lying on the bed asleep. Sweat had formed on his forehead, but other than that he looked peaceful. Just looking at Micky made Mike feel slightly less guilty at using this money. They had to do whatever they could to help Micky and they weren't hurting anyone.
Mike crossed over to Micky and sat on the edge of the bed next to him just to look for a moment. It killed Mike how peaceful Micky looked; just like he was sleeping normally. Sure, he was sleeping, but it was more than that. Mike looked down at the ring on his friend's hand and wished desperately that he could just take it off. Davy's joking suggestion of just cutting Micky's finger off suddenly seemed a lot less like a joke now. If this thing really was going to kill Micky, maybe it would be better to do it. Better to lose a finger than his life. Mike immediately shook the thought from his mind; he could never do anything like that.
"He looks normal," Davy muttered. "Like nothing's wrong. It's creepy."
"You want him to look sick?" Peter asked.
"Of course not," Davy said. "I just...I don't know."
"I know what you mean, Davy," Mike said. "I don't really like it either, but at least he's not suffering." They sat there in silence for a few minutes before someone knocked on the door. Mike got up to answer assuming it was either the pizza guy or the hotel attendant. When he opened the door however, he was face to face with the muzzle of a gun.
"Hello, mate, someone order a pizza?" Drake Stone sneered just before Mike heard the explosion of the gun as the bullet left the chamber. Mike ducked out of the way as quickly as he could, but in the back of his mind he realized Drake had shot at him at nearly point blank range. He hit the ground expecting to suddenly feel enormous amounts of pain, but he felt nothing. The only sensation he had was a ringing in his ears. A very loud ringing. Mike felt Davy kneel down next to him and tug on his arm to try and pull him up. Mike pulled himself together and realized somehow he wasn't hurt. Quickly allowing Davy to help him up, he took in the situation.
Peter was struggling with trying to get Micky off the bed, but couldn't support him alone. Outside the door to the room, Dave was throwing what looked like balls of fire down the hallway of the hotel. Miky turned to instruct Davy to help Peter, but realized as soon as he tried to speak, he could still only hear the ringing in his ears. Davy seemed hesitant, but looked Mike over quickly, obviously looking for a wound of some sort, before rushing to help Peter carry Micky. Mike ran to the door to see where Drake Stone had gone and to look for the little girl. Dave was holding a fireball in his hand standing guard in front of the door. Mike was able to read Dave's lips enough to know that Drake Stone had ducked down another hallway and was hiding. Dave was instructing Peter and Davy to get Micky to the van. The little girl was nowhere to be seen.
So Mike led the way towards the van through the back exit hoping that Dave could make sure their path behind them stayed clear. They had to climb down the stairs, so their progress was slow. Adding to their slow progress, Davy was much shorter than Micky so the movement itself was awkward. When Mike turned he saw Dave covering them from behind and randomly throwing more balls of fire towards the hallway Mike assumed Drake had ducked down in the hopes he'd stay hidden. Mike could still only hear the ringing in his ears, but he didn't need to hear to see that Abigail was hiding up ahead of them near the van, not expecting them to come out the back. Mike held his hand out to signal for them to stop and wait. Abigail had her back turned to them, so didn't see them approach. Mike lunged at her and knocked her to the floor, also knocking a very long looking knife from her hands.
Sounds were starting to come back to him as Drake Stone ran up behind him and he heard Davy shouting behind him. He turned in time to see Drake point the gun at him again, but before he could fire this time, Dave threw another ball of fire at him. It hit Drake in the center of his chest and sent him flying backwards. The scarf around his neck caught fire and he squirmed to try and put it out. He could faintly hear Dave yelling at Peter and Davy to run toward the van as he gathered up another ball of fire in his hands. Abigail however, took this opportunity of distraction to grab another, smaller knife out of her pocket. Mike jumped off her, but not quickly enough to completely avoid being sliced by the sharp blade. He felt it cut into his stomach, but didn't feel the pain immediately.
Davy and Peter had made it to the van and he could hear their muffled cries and they screamed his name in fear and panic. In the next second, Abigail was blasted by another ball of fire hurled by Dave and Peter let go of Micky to rush toward Mike. Davy was barely able to pull Micky into the van as Peter grabbed Mike and pulled him towards it. Fear filled his eyes as he looked at Mike's stomach. Mike tried to protest saying that he needed to help Davy with Micky, but behind him, Dave also pushed him toward the van. As they all climbed in, Davy was already in the driver's seat getting the van started. Once he was satisfied they were all inside, Davy floored it and the van sped off.
"Mike?" Peter asked, though Mike could barely make it out over the ringing still in his ears. "Are you ok?"
"I can't hear you," Mike said. "All I hear is this loud ringing."
"Well, yeah," Peter said. "A gun went off in your face! But I meant the cut!"
"It doesn't even hurt," Mike said looking down at his stomach. As he saw the blood staining his shirt and pants, however, the pain suddenly hit him. He hissed in pain and clenched his fists together. Dave quickly lifted up Mike's shirt to inspect the wound.
"It doesn't look that deep," Dave said grabbing a towel from out of nowhere and pressing it into the cut on Mike's stomach. Mike hissed in pain again and threw his head back. "Keep pressure on that, Peter. I'm gonna make sure they don't follow us this time." Mike tried to ignore the pain as Davy drove furiously.