He didn't answer straight away. He shot an extremely aggrieved look into Cole's eyes. "Reckless, dangerous and you still wanted to do it. I hope it's worth it Cole, I hope she is." He replied bitterly and paused in his movements.
Jay had stopped at the foot of the path that just led downwards towards certain oblivion.
"Where you going Jay?" Cole called. Turning cautiously on his heels, aware that Jay had stopped, adamant he wasn't going to go any further on this completely pointless endeavour.
"I'm going back-" Jay held tightly onto his neck, one handed. Wincing at the dull ache that resided there after one of those teens had been hovering over him in his dazed state. "-I said I'd be picking up Nya tonight, and she's due to knock off in the next thirty minutes."
Cole was sure that Jay was angry with him. But he had told him to stay away, he'd told him to go home. He thought that his earlier tone could be the reason for Jay's cold demeanour. But he figured his brother of lightning was just being grumpy.
"Look, you do what you have to. I'm staying here for a bit to see what these guys are up to. I mean, come on dude, I'm almost in there."
Jay, still looking aggrieved, licked his teeth in annoyance, his eyes turning to the sky.
For a split second Cole could have sworn that Jay's eyes were excessively watery. "Go pick her up and-" he paused, watching after the four teens and Star as they continued to make their descent, before looking back at Jay "-go home Jay."
Jay turned to face him with a look of cold ice in his eyes. "Back to Phoenix or just back to Don's?" He huffed and turned around but again his movements paused.
Cole's jaw had slackened with Jay's words. Had he said something out of turn to his brother earlier? He couldn't remember saying anything hurtful because his mind was on the game, the game being Star.
"-I'm sorry Cole, I-I didn't mean to say that. I'll uhm, I'll see you later then."
And just like that, Jay's visage faded into the darkness, the pitiful sounds of his walking eventually stopped until the sound of his motocross engine could be heard starting up and riding off slowly. He had discarded his helmet, Cole was still holding it for him. He looked down at it and winced when he saw that the thing bore a huge unsightly crack. At least Jay had been wearing it. He'd be dead if he wasn't wearing it but he had wondered who had found him.
"Cole?" A gentle feminine voice called to him.
Her hand searched for him in the darkness and she helped to guide him down into the depths of a partially hidden cavern.
The cave itself was completely hidden from the surface. It was only accessible by a dangerous and precarious cliff side path. And once inside it was no better either.
It was cold, eerie and dark.
That was until the black haired biker had grabbed a cloth wrapped chunk of wood and used his Zippo to set it alight. Within a few seconds he was dipping the burning baton into various scattered barrels that he walked past. The barrels, Cole guessed had some type of kindling in them to guarantee a quick flame, or maybe take away boxes considering how musty it smelled in here too.
Cole was silent as he entered the main part of the cave, whilst the rest of the guys and the young kid were all howling like banshees. He was silent and taking it all in until the long haired blonde one walked past and barked a gentle order at the kid.
"Get the rock box bud."
The kid must have mumbled something in response but Cole wasn't interested. He was intrigued as the where this kid's parents were, unless one of these guys was his father. That would take some serious explaining if the same thing happened to him. He didn't want to ask though, he didn't even know these guys names and now he felt incredibly stupid for making Jay go off on his own. At least with Jay here Cole would have had some back up and maybe some one to talk to.
"Not bad huh?" The teen with the short blonde hair questioned with a wide grin. His blue eyes now almost golden in the warming light of the now lit cave.
He looked around the place proudly and then turned his back on Cole as he stood taking it in. The cave was more like a den. The kind of den that any younger kid would have loved in their younger years but these teens looks too old to have a den to hang around in unless they dabbled in such highly illicit things that required complete and utter secrecy.
"This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla, about 85 years ago," he stated clearly, There was obvious pride in his voice when he spoke of it. "-Too bad they built it on the fault line."
Cole watched as the, as yet, unknown little kid hauled a hefty boom box up to the long haired blonde glam rockstar. He was fairly sure that this blonde dude could have just done it but he was just being lazy and expecting the kid to do it. At least the guy bent down to pick it up before the kid dropped it on himself. Mercifully.
Cole still hadn't said anything. He was still keeping a watch on all four of these teens with more curiosity than anything. His gaze occasionally flickering to Star as she stayed out of their reach. He was still watching the main one, whom he assumed was their leader. He'd done a full circle around what appeared to have once been a grand water feature fountain. Now it was a pitiful structure with a broken chandelier right in the middle of it and some sort of homemade mobile with assorted trinkets hanging from it like bunting. Maybe Star had done that, made it look at least a little human and homely down here. Because to Cole, this place looked more hovel than previous and former hotel resort.
Now the teen with the short blonde hair was looking directly at Cole, not caring in the slightest where the other man had gone, the one who was with Cole earlier. "In 1906, when the big one hit San Fran-" He paused and smiled, looking around, "-well, the ground opened up and this place took a header." He clapped as if to emphasise his point. Almost as if he was there when it had initially happened, like he was goading it on as the whole thing collapsed in on itself. "It fell, right into the crack."
Now having come full circle he stood less than a metre away from Cole,
Cole wasn't feeling intimidated with the stance anymore. This blonde haired dude was the only one talking and Cole, even though he wasn't overly fond of their initial ways to get him to come here, he wasn't feeling threatened, having Star standing by his side was calming him somewhat.
"So now it's ours." He finished as he looked at Cole with that same sick grin.
"So check it our Cole-y!" The longer blonde haired one mocked as he lit a cigarette, that to Cole, looked suspiciously like a joint. Nearly everybody else laughed at the mocking of his name too but Cole clenched his jaw, Star remained by his side, her face was unreadable.
Suddenly Cole felt himself being pulled forward, one armed, by the one who had given him a brief history of the former hotel. "Marco." He yelled a little louder than usual, and much louder than Cole had heard him talk so far. "Food!" he ordered.
It sounded to Cole like it was an order and he turned to identify the one with long curly blonde hair as the one called Marco. The curly blonde haired teen was holding a rock dove. Since when did he manage to catch that damn flying rodent? Cole thought.
Was he playing with it or was the rock pigeon his damned pet, Cole couldn't be sure. Especially when Marco threw the bird in the air shortly after being given his order.
That was one name down...Marco.
The troubling thing was that Cole also didn't recall seeing any nearby takeaways. And he was as sure as hell, that this former hovel didn't have a working kitchen anymore. Not that it would be rat infested so near to the ocean, rats preferred fresh water, not salt. Plus, he wasn't sure he'd want to eat anything that was over eighty years old or even prepared in a kitchen that was going to look as bad as this room did.
This cave was covered in cobwebs and Kai and Jay would have quite possibly pitched a fit with that fact alone.
Star was watching Cole intently from the other side of the room, still keeping her distance from one and all but casting her concerned gaze upon him, upon Cole.
"That's the thing about this place-" He had looked up to his brother with the lit cigarette. "It's what I love about it. You ask, and then you get." The cigarette was passed from one man to the other. "Thanks." He said whilst offering it to Cole, "Appetiser?" He held it momentarily, testing Cole. he took it after a few seconds.
He'd never smoked before. His body was a temple and he'd never felt the inclination to even consider polluting his body but something made him accept the offer and he took it willingly. Cole took a long deep breathe in and slowly blew it out, now obviously savouring the taste of what he knew wasn't just any tobacco.