A/N: Snooooowwwww ddaaaayyyy! Woot woot! And that means... IT'S CHAPPIE TIME! YAAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! *balloons and confetti rain down*
Sorry. I'm on a bit of a sugar rush right now O.O
Anyways, let's respond to some reviews, shall we?
Perks of Being a Book Nerd: Hehe. Yes. And he has SO many lines in this chappie. Like, you would not BELIEVE.
panko17Oo: Yay:):):):) right back ;D
Sunnycanary613: Yeah. Sllliiiiggghhhtttllly evil. Just a bit. Yay! Suspense!
Meg Cahill: Dying of Cliffie? That's POSSIBLE? Oh dear.. well, I don't THINK this one ends in a cliffie, but still... Was this within 2 weeks? I think so...
Guest (Fifi...?): Really? I love them. They make me happy. Especially when you guys are all like, "The frick? GIVE US A NORMAL ENDING ALREADY WOMAN!"
The Definitely Fifi: Haha. USA woooonnnnn... Ha. Jkjk, I knew it would be one of those two pairs. Isabel defeated by wheely tables? Hehe. The mental images... Maybe they'll edit Phillip Seymour Hoffman in with movie magic and lines from his other movies? I dunno. It's kinda hard to replace him at this point. And that, kids, is why you don't KILL YOURSELF WITH DRUGS BEFORE FINISHING AN AMAZINGLY FANTABULOUS MOVIE SERIES BASED ON AN EVEN MORE FANTABULOUS BOOK SERIES! GRRRRRRRR! Holy crap that girl was good. I bet she wasn't pressured at home. Not at ALL. The snowpocalypse was bad. I was out of school for like two weeks ;D.
c'estgold: Aww, in love with it? Why, thank you ;). The names just kinda came to me. All of these kids were originally going to be in a totally unrelated fic (that was going to be my first fic, before I chickened out and then posted WSTSBCBS instead) and then I just decided to use them. And no, most of this I make up or get inspiration from a combination of different tv shows and books and then just combine things with my own Emory twist. My life is no where NEAR this interesting.
Miss know it all (all the glorious reviews :DDD): Let me say, your reviews are fricking hilarious. Yeah, Hope IS a "few toes short of a foot". Oh my cheese and biscuits? Classic :P. Yes, I am a mental institution escapee, but don't tell anyone, shhh... even though I just... posted this on the internet. *you hear the sounds of windows being broken and doors being busted down* NOOO! I WON'T GO BACK! NEVER! *runs out the door*
Amelia Cahill: *runs back in and grabs my computer before running again and hiding in a tree* Well, you'll see. Some things go right. You shall have to read and find out ;).
Probably Mistaken: Your name changed again! Mmk. I would be mad, but, you know... late update... I'm not really one to talk :P
Reader277: I been AWOL too. Don't worry about it. xD. You updated though... ;D. Ikr? Nico! I need to hug him! WHY CAN'T I HUG THE POOR SON OF HADES?! DARN YOU, RICK RIORDAN! No, not really. You're awesome. Like seriously. Can I have your autograph?
Rstardauntless: xD The old homework-but-really-doing-fanfiction thing. I've done that many a time. Fangirky? That's awesome right there :)
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. *sigh*
Now, to post this before they catch me! So I can get out of this tree... (confused? Read the response to Miss know it all and Amelia Cahill's reviews...)
Rebecca POV
The Wizards saved us. Well, no, they were all stupid and just ran out into the line of fire and are probably going to die, but still. Aw!
After Jaden said, "Go," we took off. I couldn't see anything through the swarming crowd of people. Oh, there was Hope. I would recognize her rainbow hair anywhere. And I think I just saw Maddie run by...
Oh God. Where was my sister? I looked around frantically. Did I even know half of these people? I was being tossed and turned around the ballroom by the chaotic swarm of panicked partygoers. Where was Maria?! I know for a fact she was just-
Suddenly I heard her scream from up by the stage where Lukas and Isabel were. I swear to God my heart stopped beating. As soon as I heard it, I was running back, unable to think of anything but getting to my sister. One of the heels of my shoes broke off, but I really was beyond caring.
"Maria!" I yelled as she came into view. Isabel had grabbed her by the hair and was pointing a gun to her head. I was about to reach her when...
I was kicked on the back of the head and knocked to the ground.
"Ow!" I exclaimed indignantly, rubbing my head. I stood up to see a blond minion smirking at me. Even though most of her face was covered, I could've sworn I'd seen her somewhere...
"Hullo, Rebecca!" she greeted sarcastically, a British accent clear in her voice.
Ugh... that voice! Where had a heard that voice before?! It was so familiar...
"What, dear? Don't remember me? Here, let me give you a clue," she taunted, pulling the hood down and the sunglasses off. It was killing me not knowing who she was. I mean, honestly! It was on the tip of my tongue!
I didn't have much time to think because she sprinted towards me, attacking me at full force. A few instincts I'd gained from all those years of karate practice kicked in, but I still hadn't practiced in months! No wonder I was sucking!
I got a view of Maria struggling against Isabel's grasp and Isabel's finger on the trigger...
And then I saw Lukas running away before the blond hit me in just the right place on my head. The world went black.
Lukas POV
Lukas was crazy. He knew it, too. The only thing this would lead to was his death, but he had to do it. He ran towards the back of the stage, stopping right before the stairs that headed downward.
Then he turned around a sprinted at full speed towards Isabel.
Once he was right on the edge of the stage, he leapt up with all his might and crashed into her, dragging her to the ground with him by the hair. Once they were on the ground, he fought like any ten year old would: he clawed and bit her until she dropped the gun. Honestly, with all the training she gave him he probably could've thought of something better, but he was too far in the zone to care.
"It. Isn't. Nice. To. Shoot. People's. Cousins!" he yelled, attacking her at full force. She tried to regain control of the situation, but the adrenaline pumping through his body allowed him to prevent her from doing so.
"Lukas! Lukas, no! Please!" she exclaimed, but he was too far gone to hear. In fact, her barely registered the fact that most of the partygoers were gone and that Wolff was yanking him off of Isabel.
He didn't even notice when they hit him on the head so hard that he crumpled to the ground, unmoving.
Hope POV
So, at first I was fighting my heart out (and losing. Hey, it happens to the best of us!) and then suddenly, they all left. Just like that. It was as if some fairy waved her magic wand and bippity boppity boo! The bad guys were gone. And.. you know... everyone else.
I sat up, immediately regretting my decision when all the blood rushed to my head, giving me a killer headache.
"Hello?" I called, my voice hoarse. Since my vision was still a bit blurry, I decided relying on hearing was my best bet.
"H-hope?" Maddie croaked from somewhere near me. My vision was adjusting... I could see faint outlines of everything now. Geez, how hard had that guy hit me?
"Where is everyone?!" I called out, standing up now that my vision was almost completely renewed. I saw Maria on the ground, covered in scratches but for the most part okay. The Wizards were covered in a combination of blood and cake (not even asking how that happened) and Devin was lying unconscious on the ground.
"Here," several different voices called out. The Holts and Starlings were coming into the ballroom, probably after evacuating everyone. But... where were...
"Where's Rebecca and Lukas?" I asked.
We all looked around frantically.
"Maybe... maybe she just evacuated with the others?" Maddie offered hopefully.
"No... she was fighting some blond Isa-minion and got knocked out..." Maria said, tears already forming in her amber eyes, "I-I I couldn't stop them. Isa-Isabel was gonna kill me."
I walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, "Shh, it's okay. We all sucked today. It wasn't your fault."
"H-Hope?" she stuttered.
"Yeah?" I asked.
"S-She was g-gonna kill me and Lukas j-jumped on her and attacked her like a crazy p-person. I've n-never seen anything like it."
"Wait, if Lukas attacked Isabel, why did he help her kidnap Becca?" Maddie asked.
"I don't think he did. I think Isabel has both of them. And that means..." Jada looked at me.
"Aw crud. We need help."
They nodded and looked at me, as if waiting for me to freak.
As tempting as it was, I knew they were right, "Well, what are we standing around for? Let's go gather the parents."
"Mom and Dad mentioned going to this restaurant since someone insisted they not be at the party," Maria turned to glare at me. I held my hands up in surrender.
We walked inside and, after some careful distractions of the hostess, we found Dan and Natalie sitting at a table, eating. Surprisingly, my mom wasn't with them.
"Mom! Dad!" Maria called, running over to them. Maddie and I followed behind awkwardly.
Maria ran into her mom's arms, crying.
"Dang. Did someone's puppy die?" Dan asked. Natalie smacked him on the arm.
"W-We w-w-w-were at this p-p-party and Isa-Isabel c-c-came and t-tried to k-kill me and then she t-t-took R-R-Rebecca a-and L-Lukas!" Maria cried, her tears making her speech almost unrecognizable.
"Isabel... you mean..." Natalie appeared unable to form the right words.
"You mean you and Dad's bloodthirsty psychotic mother? Yeah. That Isabel," I replied.
Natalie and Dan shared a horrified look.
"Check please!"
God, this sucked. Why couldn't Maddie do this? I mean, I get that Maria was explaining things to Dan and Natalie and why the Holts and Starlings were off getting their parents, but still! I didn't want to do this!
I walked into the hospital. According to Dan and Natalie, that's where Mom was. Ignoring all the weird looks I got for being in a torn up party dress, I headed straight for my dad's room.
"Mom, look, I-" I stopped dead. Mom was there, and Dad was... sitting up?! What?!
"DAD!" I exclaimed, running towards him and hugging him as hard as I could.
He let out a groan of pain.
I let go, smiling sheepishly, "Oops. Sorry."
"What are you doing here?" Mom asked, clearly angry at me.
"I... um... I... well, you see... there was this thing... at this place... and then this person... you know... did a thing... and then they did a thing... and now... I'm doing a thing... you know?"
"Uh, no. Not really," Mom answered, confused.
"WlIzbltrytooklusndowshegtbeccnds," I told them.
"Huh?"
"Well, Isabel tried to kill us and now she has Becca and Lukas!" I finally managed to say, "and I'm sorry I was such a b...rat... about everything because, let's face it, our grandmother is crazy! Like psychotic! And I was so stuck up and stubborn that I didn't stop to think about anything and you know how hard this is for me because I hate apologizing and I hate being wrong and I hate needing help! But I don't know how to do this! I've only known about this Cahill crap for a few months and I thought that I knew it all, but really, I don't! But you do! You and Dad and Uncle Dan and Aunt Natalie and we really need your help because that psycho has my best friend and baby brother, and I don't know what else to do!"
I was in tears now, which only frustrated me more. For a while the three of us just sat on a hospital bed, looking at each other. Then, finally, my mom pulled me close and hugged me.
As painful as it is for me to admit it, the hug felt good. I really needed one.
When she pulled back she touched the necklace around my neck, "You wore it."
Unable to speak, I just nodded mutely.
She looked at me sternly, "You do realize that you're grounded, right?"
I nodded again and leaned forward and hugged both of them.
"We'll always love you, Hope," Mom said. I nodded yet again because, you know. I'm just eloquent like that.
When we finally pulled apart and I was finally capable of speech again, Mom smiled, "Let's get to work then, shall we? Where are the others?"
A/N: So peeps? How was it? I think they're gone... Now to get down from this tree! Well, maybe in a sec.
Sorry Hope was all dramatic and they got their butts kicked. But I'm still fighting the urge to make Hope Mary-Sueish, and I KNOW we don't want that. YA HEAR THAT SUBCONSIOUS?! I WON'T DO IT! NEVER...
Only like 3 or 4 chapters left guys! The end is near!
-Emory