Hello again, peoples! (tomato flies overhead) Er, sorry… And non-peoples! Here's the next chapter, let's see what is to become of our three protagonists!
Reviewer Thanks
Starspring: Yes! Once again you are correct! And thank you for the creature ideas… man, I can't believe I forgot about those guys.
Fangface the second: Hmm… Another story like this one, eh? That's gonna be a reader! (and I'm not just saying that) ;)
Rudy's POV
I pushed through the crowd, looking for my friend. "Danny! Danny, where are you?" I called, but the music playing inside drained out my voice. I had to use the bathroom, and told Danny to wait for me and not to wander off-- I mean, call me skeptic, but I didn't want him to mingle with a ton of strangers, especially since he's never been to a party like this before.
…And neither have I, which made it hard to use someone else's bathroom when another person had invaded the bathroom and raided the medicine cabinet, used the owner's hairbrush, and had vomited in the bathtub! What kind of party is this?! I couldn't help but ask, disgusted with the thought of someone inviting several people into their house with no care of what they did. I zipped my pants and got out of the bathroom as quickly as I could. "Hey, Danny, I think it's time we---" I was saying, but paused when I saw that he had vanished.
And now, I was looking around dimly-lit rooms and halls, looking for the missing prince. It would have been easier to find him if several other people hadn't dressed up as bikers. I looked at my watch. 11:45 PM-- almost midnight. Have we been at the party that long? I wondered… of course, time tends to fly when you're getting lost in crowds of people. I saw Ashley Tang, a girl who was in my Biology class, and asked her if she'd seen Danny, and described him. "No… who are you?" was her reply.
"Never mind," I sighed, and kept pushing through the crowd. I saw a circle of people standing around a coffee table, chanting something, and decided to check it out---
---but Chrys had grabbed me by the shoulder and stopped me. "Hey, dude, how are you liking the party?" She said, keeping close to me.
"Um… fine, but I gotta find my friend and get home," I replied, backing away from her, but she pulled me close.
"What's the rush? You're not on a curfew, are you? That would be so lame… even on a weekend!"
"No, I'm not on a curfew, I just---"
"Prince! Prince! Prince! Prince!" The chanting grew louder, and something churned in my gut.
"I gotta go!" I pulled away from my sister and ran over to the crowd, where I saw a kid in a Zorro costume and a kid in a biker costume both chugging cans of beer--- beer?! "Oh, shit…" I realized that the kid in the biker costume was Danny.
"Y'know, (hic) after my castle caught fire, I jumped in a river…" Danny said, and I could tell he had way too much to drink. "An' after that… (belch) I met Rudy-- hey, Rudy! Have your evil (hic) twins found ya yet?! Heh heh…"
"Did he just call you 'Rudy'?" Someone said to me, and I cringed. It was Chris, and Chrys was standing right next to him!
"That's it. C'mon," I said, then grabbed Danny by the arm and pulled him through the crowd, vowing to never take a prince to a wild, dysfunctional party again. I looked back, seeing that the twins were pushing through the crowd, trying to get to us. Luckily, we were able to squeeze past people better than they could, and I thanked God for making me the youngest in our family.
We reached the front door and I pulled him out, looking for the moped. Let's see… he parked it along here… I thought, then froze. There was an empty spot by the curb… the same spot he parked the vehicle! Great, first he and a talking cat steal it, now someone else stole it! How could it get any worse?!
"There he is!" I heard someone yell, and I turned and saw the twins running toward us.
"Hey, you guys!" Danny said dumbly, waving to my siblings.
"Shut up and c'mon!" I snapped, and pulled him along as we ran down the sidewalk and around the corner. There, I saw the moped, and some girl with jet-black hair, emerald-green eyes, wearing a long-sleeved, long black dress was standing right next to it.
"Need a ride?" she asked.
"What the-- how'd you--?!"
She climbed on. "Just get on before those twins catch you," She tossed me a helmet.
"But--- you can only fit two people on there, and I have to take him home," I pointed to Danny, who was petting a fire hydrant.
"So, put him in there," She pointed to a passenger car attached to the moped. How did that get there?
"Where are you?!" I heard Chris shout.
I knew you should never ride with strangers, but I also knew that it was more dangerous to stick around the twins. I helped Danny climb into the passenger car and buckled him in, and the girl revved up the moped. I quickly jumped on and we sped off down the street, just in time for the twins to run around the corner.
"Hey… you're supposed to be wearing a helmet!" I said to the girl, noticing her road-safety violation.
She laughed. "Vampires don't need helmets, my friend." she said. "We're well coordinated." As if to prove her point, she took a sharp turn--- sharp enough to make the moped lean all the way to the side, so that are faces were almost touching the pavement and Danny was right above us. I screamed. "Ha ha! Have no fear, my friend," After the turn, we were balanced on the moped again. "I've never wrecked a vehicle, and I don't plan to."
"Did… you say you were… a vampire?!" I stammered, clinging on to her.
She nodded. "Yes. My name is Brittany Isabella Bellson, but you can just call me Izzy."
"Um, okay, Izzy… why did you take our moped?"
She laughed again. "I did not take your moped, I merely just moved it to where none of those drunken minors wouldn't steal it or crash into it. Ugh, I can't stand such recklessness,"
"Hey… Are you related to Dracula?" Danny asked, still wasted.
Izzy rolled her eyes. "They always ask that… NO." She looked over her shoulder at me. "Where do you live?"
"Um… on Baker Street."
"Ah, I like that part of the neighborhood-- not too exotic, yet not too ghetto." She turned the moped again, a bit gentler this time. Cruising slowly down the street, she came to a stop on the corner of my block. "Here we are,"
"Uh, thank you, Izzy." I got off and grabbed Danny, taking off his helmet after I took off mine, handing them both to the vampire. She took them and placed them in the passenger car. "By the way, where did you get the passenger car?"
She shrugged. "I snatched it off a motorcycle." I stared at her in shock, and she laughed even more. "Don't worry, I don't plan to keep it! It looks lousy on this moped, anyway."
"Almost as lousy as you!" Danny said, then burst out laughing. I elbowed him in the ribs to shut up. "Ow."
But she took no offense. "I think your friend needs to sleep off his drunk." She revved up the motorcycle. "Better get him home-- and make sure he doesn't choke on his puke." She then leaned over and pecked me on the cheek. "Bye, my Prince in disguise."
"Um… bye, my Vampire Escape," I said dumbly. She laughed and drove off, making a U-turn and driving back the way we came. I touched my cheek, where she kissed me. I didn't know how she found us, why she helped us, or why she even kissed me, but I decided to think about it later.
"Blaurgh!!" I heard Danny throwing up in the bushes, and I took Izzy's advice and made sure he didn't choke on his vomit. He kept throwing up for another five minutes, until he stopped. "Ugh… I don't feel good…"
"Well, that should teach you to keep away from the alcohol." I wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and held his waist, guiding him back to my house. When we reached the front door, I tried the knob--- realizing the door was locked and I didn't have my house key. "Oh, double shit. Now what?!"
"Maybe you should try a secret (burp) word," Danny let out a laugh.
I sneered at him. "Like what? 'Open Sesame'?!"
Suddenly the door opened, making my heart skip a beat… and there stood Radio. "Well, look who decided to come home!" she said.
"What the-- how the-- wh---" I paused, sighing and shaking my head. "Never mind." I drug Danny inside, deciding to skip the question of why a talking cat was in my house. I lead Danny to my room and sat him on my bed, taking off his jacket and shoes. He chuckled and smiled at me, then collapsed on the bed, breathing softly. I sighed and covered him with the blanket, making sure he would be comfortable after his hangover hit. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. Midnight.
"Your brother and sister are home." Radio said, looking out the window. I quickly turned out the lights, stripped off my costume (throwing it in the closet) and dove into my bed. I covered up Danny's head to hide him, then pretended to be asleep. "I'll be back." And I heard Radio run quickly out of the room.
Ten minutes later, I heard the door downstairs swing open, and then the twins came up to my room. "Maybe we were just hearing things," I heard Chris whisper. "The faggot's in bed---"
"But I knew I saw him at that party!" Chrys hissed. "He had the same voice and same name!"
"There's no way he could have gone to that party and made it back home in under fifteen minutes."
"He probably hitched a ride with his biker-friend!"
"Chrys, calm down. Rudy wouldn't go to a party he wasn't invited to-- he knows the consequences well enough not to. Besides, where would he find a costume like that? And how could he get back inside the house if he doesn't have a house key?"
Chrys sighed irritably. "Fine, it wasn't Rudy… but I know I've seen that kid somewhere before!"
"Whatever. Lets just get back to the party before the cops get there,"
"What makes you think the cops will…" Their voices drained out as they walked away, shutting the door as they did.
A few minutes later I heard a car start outside, and the twins drove off. I sighed, thanking God that they didn't see Danny, and I uncovered his face. His face--- the most beautiful face I have ever seen, and I smiled, watching the prince sleep. "Goodnight, Danny," I whispered. Without thinking, I wrapped my arm around him, snuggling closer to him.
I heard purring, and saw Radio asleep on his stomach, curled up in a ball. I chuckled softly, closing my eyes. That night, I dreamed about Izzy swinging on the tire-swing tied to the tree on the hill beside the creek.
~0~0~0~0~0~0~
3rd Person POV
Jimmy came to, seeing that it was still dark outside, but he was in the cell. He rubbed his aching head, still feeling dizzy, and tried to sit up, but a hand pushed him down. "Lie still," Someone whispered, and he saw Lilly right beside him. "Don't move around so much, or else the nausea will get worse. …Man, boy, didn't anyone ever tell ya not to stare at a Gorgon?! What's next, cutting off Hydra heads?!"
"Ugh, what happened?" Jimmy asked, knowing right then talking only increased his dizziness.
"I heard about a fight in the courtyard-- 'course, you probably already know about that."
"After the fight? Oy…" he rubbed his head again.
"Rubbing won't help, boy, just lie still and I'll tell ya everything. …Lets see, after the fight the warden chewed you boys out, and ya'll had to come in. I was sitting on the railing, watching all the prisoners walk by, and I saw you collapse on the stairs. Man, I was so scared! I got to thinking, 'Oh, Lordy no! One of them poison-emitting creatures must've got to him!' But then Silver explained about Meds, so the guards didn't throw your body to the harpies-- thank God. Anyway, then that werewolf did the most sweetest thing-- he carried you up the steps! The guards protested, but Silver said he could handle it, and promised not to throw you over the railing--- like he did with that warlock who accidentally ate his own poisoned apple! The other prisoners gave him a look, but he told them, 'It's not MY fault the guards are too lazy to carry a twerp up a few thousand stairs!' and boy, they got kick out of that-- the guards zapped him with their cattle prods, but he didn't care."
"Silver… carried me back here?"
"Heck yes he did!" She leaned in close to Jimmy. "And-- don't tell the other monsters I said this-- but I think he likes you. Not in a romantic way… but like in a fatherly way. Don't say a word, he wouldn't want anyone to think he has a soft spot."
Jimmy sneered. "You can count on that--- I don't believe it."
Lilly shrugged. "Well, believe what you want to, but it's the truth. For now, just lie still, and I'll go tell the medical pixies you're up." She got up, jumped in the air and dove right through the floor, leaving Jimmy alone.
He looked around the room, wondering where Silver was at. Probably tried to throw me over the rail and is getting chewed out by the warden, now. he thought, and couldn't help but chuckle at the image of the werewolf throwing a warlock down the stairs.
A little light floated through the wall, and it then turned into a small, elf-like creature with wings, wearing brown pants, a green sweater, and sporting a cap with a red cross on it. It looked old, with wrinkles and white hair. "Ah, so you're the one who stared at a Gorgon and lived, eh?" The pixie chuckled. "Well, let's have a look at you," He floated up to Jimmy's mouth. "Say 'ah',"
"You're kidding, right?" Jimmy asked, arching an eyebrow.
The pixie twiddled his fingers, making sparkles appear. "Want me to open it myself?"
"Alright! Alright!" Jimmy opened his mouth, and the pixie took out a tiny tongue depressor, looking inside. Jimmy had the urge to close his mouth, but he didn't want to know what pixies tasted like.
"Well, (cough, cough) everything seems fine, except for that rancid breath of yours." The pixie waved his hand and a small vial appeared, filled with blue liquid. "Now, drink this. It'll help clear up the nausea."
Jimmy scowled, but drank the potion. He hacked and coughed at its awful taste-- like earwax and rotten cabbage-- and wiped his tongue, trying to get rid of the taste. "Blech! That's worse than Nyquil!" he sputtered.
The pixie chuckled. "Ah, you kids and your medicines. Well, I'd better be off--- there's a sick gargoyle in cell 378," And he turned back into a light. "Oh, and you'd better get off of Silver before he wakes up, kid. I don't think werewolves like it when you use them as pillows." And he flew through the door and vanished.
"Huh?"
Right then and there, Jimmy noticed that his head was resting on Silver. Motherfu--- what the heck am I doing lying against this hairball?! he thought. He saw a burn mark on the werewolf's side, and some of the fur was burnt. He remembered what Lilly said about the guards zapping him, and about the werewolf carrying him up the stairs…
…And stepping in when Meds tried to 'stone' him…
…And teaching him how to fight…
…And saving him from Ace…
…And now here he was, lying against Silver, and noticing one of his blankets was covering him, while he-- no, both of them-- lied on top of the other. Jimmy sighed. "I guess Lilly is right… You're not so bad as they say," he said, referring to Silver, but wasn't expecting an answer.
"You'd better believe it, Jimbo." Came an answer from Silver. Jimmy gasped and tried to sit up, but the dizziness swept over him and he couldn't move. He heard Silver chuckle. "Get some rest, Jim. I don't want you puking on my blankets."
~0~0~0~0~0~0~
Danny's POV
The last time I saw Rudy, he was going into a bathroom, and wanted me to stay out in the hall and wait for him. I leaned against the wall, acting casual, when a boy-- possibly a senior, I guess-- came up and offered me a drink. "Hey, dude, wanna mingle with us?" he asked, motioning to a few other guys.
"Um… my friend wants me to wait for him," I replied, handing back the drink. "And I'm not thirsty."
"Hey, it's cool dude, it's cool. We can mingle right here." Another boy said, then handed me a can. "As for the 'drink' part, you gotta try this! Craig Martin was able to sneak it in!"
I looked at the label on the can, unable to read it in the dim light. "What is it?"
"'What is it'?! Another teenage boy laughed. "It's only the most radical drink on the planet! Try it out!"
I smelled the drink, and the stench didn't seem good, but I took a small sip anyway, and the taste was a bit better that the smell. I drank a bit more of it, licking my lips. "Thanks," I drank a little more… and more… and more… and next thing I know, the can was empty. "Wow, I must have been thirsty…"
"Damn! This kid knows how to chug!" The first teenage boy laughed, patting me hard on the back.
The second shook his head. "Nah, I doubt he could beat Mikey." he said.
"Wanna bet?! How 'bout it, kid?"
"Um… I guess, maybe…" I replied.
"Great! Lets go!" And they began pulling me away.
"Wait! I gotta---" but my voice was drained out by the music in the room they dragged me in, and they sat me down on a couch next to a guy who was drinking the canned beverages like there was no tomorrow.
"Mikey, you got a challenger!" The third teenager said.
"Oh yeah? Lets see what you've got!" Mikey said, and started 'chugging'.
A lot of people were standing around, watching me and chanting, "Go! Go! Go! Go!" so I grabbed a can and started drinking. Then I grabbed another after that…
By my fifth can, I finally realized I was drinking alcohol, but I forgot about the penalty of DUI after getting a buzz in the back of my head. I grabbed another can, and everything went blank after that.
Now, I was waking up, feeling sick… and stupid. Why didn't I turn down the drink? Why did I let them drag me into a chugging contest? Why did I abandon my friend to do something incredibly---
Rudy. I forgot about Rudy! Damn it! How much dumber am I going to get?! I scolded myself, slapping my forehead-- which didn't help the dizziness go away. I had a disgusting taste in my mouth, and my first guess was that I had vomited out the brain-drain elixir. …I then noticed I was lying down in a bed, and Radio was on my stomach--- and Rudy was right beside me, his arm wrapped around me. I didn't know how we got back, and I didn't care-- what mattered was that I was with my friend again, away from that disturbing party and somewhere peaceful.
I took Rudy's hand in mine. "I'm sorry, Rudy… I'll never leave you again," I promised him in a whisper, and felt tears run down my cheeks at the thought of what could have happened if we weren't with each other now.
"There, there," Radio whispered, using her tail to wipe away my tears. "It'll be alright, Daniel."
"But---"
"Shh," she pressed her paw to my lips. "Rest now, young prince. We will talk in the morning." She curled back up on my stomach.
I sighed and listened to her, closing my eyes. I wrapped my arm around Rudy, remembering my promise and holding him close.
A/N: Touching, ain't it? ………….Review, please! Flames are for those who roast weenies on camping trips, so give them to those peoples--- ACK! (ducks rotten fruit)-- and non-peoples.