Decided to update a week early! Enjoy!
CHAPTER 53
Crap
"NICE ONE EMMA!" Steven shouted down his mic. "1-0 SPARTANS WITH ONLY FIVE MINUTES LEFT IN THE SECOND PERIOD!" He screamed. The whole auditorium erupted with cheers and boos.
"FOUL!" Daisy shouted, she looked around at her team mates for support.
"Yeah that was a foul!" Nate shouted.
The cheers and boos died down as the ref jogged over to try and sort it out. The other team didn't want to swap sides so we were staying at the same ends, we weren't bothered either way. Lottie kept the second team on and through brilliant team play; Emma had managed to get a goal in and the other team were now contesting it out of desperation. I think others had the same idea. "The Lions Captain is contesting the goal; don't you think this is getting a little desperate?" Clynt asked everyone in general causing boos from the Lions supporters.
I looked back at the other team trying to talk to the ref. "Ref, I saw her tap it with her foot," Nate lied.
I knew for a fact it didn't.
"Yeah!" Daisy threw her oar in. "I saw it as well."
"Me too," Vinnie added.
"And me," Rex stepped forward.
Lottie ran onto the pitch. "They are lying ref! There was no way it hit her foot, I saw it from the side-lines; it was a clean shot!"
"You would say that!" Daisy spat.
"You are so lying, I smell desperate!" Lottie folded her arms.
"I am not lying! I would never," Daisy was pretending to look shocked. I ran forward to join my team as did the others on the pitch.
"I saw it and Emma did not touch the ball," I protested.
Daisy whipped round on me. "You were all the way back there, how could you have possibly have seen it?"
I wiped a bit of spit that had come from Daisy which landed on my cheek, and I wiped it away with my middle finger with the rest of my fingers as a knuckle. "I have exceptional eyesight. You are very determined."
"Now see here!" Daisy growled as she made to lunge at me but Nate, Vinnie and Rex holding her back. "It. Hit. Her. Foot!" she said through gritted teeth.
"Are you off your medication? Don't speak to me like that!" I threw my gloves down and my helmet off and squared up to her. I was getting really angry cos they were lying.
"The Lions Captain is now having a go at the Spartans Vice Captain. What is going on?" Steven echoed what we were thinking.
"Don't even think about going for my team mate," Lottie whispered as she got nose to nose with Daisy although she had to look up. "Even think about it and I will squash you like a bug. You are cheating." Daisy smirked and that confirmed it. I looked at Emma who was looking as if she could cry.
"RIGHT!" the ref blew his whistle and separated Lottie and Daisy. "Everyone calm down, back to your benches, time is up; I will check the video recording."
Daisy backed off and left the pitch with her team, I could see them all give each other pats on the backs. Lottie stayed on the pitch until everyone was off, keeping her eyes on Daisy then slowly returned to the bench after she picked up my gloves and helmet. She walked over to Emma. "Hey chick, that's them being desperate. I saw you get that goal in," she put my stuff down and put her arms around her. "Ok, team huddle." We gathered round to form a circle around Lottie. "I don't know what will happen next but time is up for second period and second team…you really held your own out there so well done." The boys all nodded and I could see smiles creep on their faces. I bet they realised now that Lottie knew what she was doing. "Now first team is up. We need to be fast. Emma fast. All of us. Ness, keep the A game going. Ad, Graham, they will use their size to get through, don't let them. Kirsty, Megan, we go fast and hard. Graham is actually surprisingly strong for a weed-"
"Thanks. Appreciate that," Graham smiled.
"Being serious. You have shot up a little within the past few months and you have a muscle, somewhere."
"Muscles," Graham tried to clarify.
"Let's not push it. Now we need to score. If we don't, it will go to penalties. Now I know that we will win on that but we can have the better win if we can score under their noses. Now. Whatever happens next; we don't protest it, we carry on as the better team that we are. You got that? Now hands in."
We put our hands in over Lottie's and shouted; "SPARTANS!" We stood back and waited for the verdict. I looked over to the other team who were looking a little worried. "They had their ass handed to them by a fourteen year old. It's about pride," Lottie whispered in my ear.
"It's ridiculous."
"I know. But the ref didn't see it, and speaking of," she inclined her head to the ref who walked to the centre of the field.
He waited for everyone to stop talking then he raised his hands. "Ok, I have reviewed the footage and the camera, it shows Miss Thornton scoring the goal, but the footage is above the waist and I can't discern that Miss Thornton did or did not touch the ball with her foot-" the Lions team roared as they thought they were getting their way. Our supporters booed and hissed. "But!" he raised his hands to tell them to shut up. "I have decided that it is not a goal but Miss Thornton can take a penalty shot." I was ready to react but Lottie put her arm in front of me and shook her head once then glared at the rest of the team.
"Does it have to be me?" Emma shouted at the ref.
"Yes, it makes it all fair."
"You should have been watching the ball," Lottie said calmly to the ref.
"I was making sure that the one of the Lions offence wasn't illegally checking one of your defence."
"Tell the camera to move back to get the whole floor."
"I have done. Now Miss Thornton, when you are ready," he moved to speak to the other team to get Mike back in goals.
Emma moved swiftly next to Lottie. "I don't think I can do this."
Lottie put her hand on her shoulder. "You can Em. You know that you scored, we know, they know," she pointed back to our supporters. "And they know," she nodded her head towards the opposition. "They are scared of losing and resorting to desperate tactics."
"What if I miss?" she asked quietly.
"Then you miss. No big deal," she smiled reassuringly. Emma walked back for her stick, each teammate clapping her on the back for support. Someone behind started to chant her name but Lottie looked back and made a quick hand movement across her neck and it stopped instantaneously.
"Well there folks. There we have it!" Clynt started. "We all know that goal went in, even the Lions know that it went in and YOU CAN BOO ALL YOU LIKE," he shouted over the boos. "You know it's true. It is a true act of desperation. But here is Emma Thornton taking her spot in the centre. I gather when taking penalties; they can start at any point on the pitch but the shot must be taken when the player is in the penalty area. The ref places the ball in the middle and there is the whistle."
"Emma has the quick hand and she is fast on her feet, she takes the ball, she swings right, then left and….." Our crowd were on their feet as Emma took her shot and Mike dived to the right. We waited with baited breath as he stood up and cockily threw the ball in the air and caught it with the same hand to show that it hadn't gone in. "And it's been saved, second period is officially over." The Lions were on their feet; shouting and cheering for their team. Daisy ran out to congratulate her teammate, high fiving him but at the same time giving Lottie a look of triumph.
I leaned into Lottie. "What if it goes to penalties?" I whispered.
"You don't let any in. It's not cheating," she smiled. "You just happen to be a good goalie."
"And what about you?"
"I have been saving some particularly nice shots for penalties."
"Your power?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh no! I happen to have a powerful shot when I stop and rear back, just like Daisy did with you, but harder. She may be big, but I am stronger than her. I gaged that when I was watching her. I did that shot when I hit that guy on the arse. That wasn't as powerful as I can normally do it."
"You never do it in practice."
"It would do damage to someone human," she whispered. "I even think it could give you a nice bruise."
"So it's that good?"
"Without bragging….yeah," she snorted. "I have never lost a penalty." I had to say I was impressed. Lottie never really talked about the other team she captained for, she didn't want us to live up to expectations or to try and impress, she wanted us to be our own team. Emma trudged back, her stick trailing behind her. "Hey Emma, don't worry about it, we will get it back."
"They are cheaters," she whined.
"That they are, but we are going to kick some ass, he may look smug but he's just jealous that his family hasn't discovered fire yet," Emma smiled. "Second team!" Lottie shouted. "Be prepared to come back on if we get taken down. They are going to go all out now. They want it to go to penalties cos they think they can win and we don't want that to happen."
"Aye aye Captain," everyone smiled.
"Cool. First team; warm up," Lottie herself started by dropping to the floor, almost doing the splits then leaning over her right leg to warm up, similar to how we warmed up when we did Tae Kwon Do, the others followed suit.
I was already warmed up so I looked up into the audience to find my family staring down, I smiled and I gave them a quick wave then the ref blew a warning whistle. I grabbed my gloves and helmet, donned them and made my way over to the goals that I had occupied for the last two periods. The Lions were already out, their first team back on; Daisy relied on her goalkeeper has he had been on for the whole game like myself. The looks on their faces were showing determination but also a little desperation, they wanted this just as much as we did. Adeline and Graham took their positions in front of me, Kirsty and Megan taking theirs. Lottie was making a point by taking her time as she ambled her way onto the pitch.
"The Captain for the Spartans is now in play and I reckon things are going to get interesting Clynt," Steven surmised.
"Oh I think they are. The team may look smaller in size compared to the Lions but size is deceiving."
Steven looked at Clynt. "And don't I know it!"
"Hey! You have never complained!"
Steven cleared his throat. "Moving on! The ref is in position; he puts the ball between Daisy and Lottie."
I looked over at Lottie who was trying to look bored which was making Daisy irritated. The ref blew his whistle. "And we are off as Lottie and Daisy slam sticks and OH MY GOD! Lottie slams into Daisy, who is trying to hold her own but no can do!" Clynt shouted. "Lottie is practically tackling her, legal check might I add as she gets possession of the ball and passes it back to Adeline. And that's Daisy on the floor! Do not underestimate the Spartan Captain!"
"Adeline shoots to Graham who passes it back to Nessie who slams it down field to Megan who is flying around Damien and Stefan, try as they might they can't get her, she lines up her shot, she shoots and!...Good save by Mike who we have to admit, although he took a swing at my boyfriend, has played a good game today."
"Mike passes the ball to Damien who is body checked by Kirsty? YOU GO GIRL! HE IS ON THE FLOOR! TOLD YOU THOSE BOOBS WERE LETHAL! Kirsty with possession, she passes it to Megan who passes it back to Graham, Daisy is up now and she-" Clynt stared in disbelief; Daisy raised her stick and slammed up between Graham's legs, making him fall to the floor; clutching himself. Every man in the audience, including any man that was supporting the Lions; groaned in sympathy. "RIGHT NOW THAT WAS ILEGAL! Come on ref!"
"I was trying to get the ball!" Daisy shrugged her shoulders.
Lottie ran over to Graham who was groaning as he got up from the floor, breathing very carefully. "Are you alright?"
"I will be," he winced. "It's alright, I'll carry on even though my internal organs, which are ruptured by the way, are oozing through my ass and I feel that my testicles are sitting where my thyroids are."
Lottie stifled a giggle. "Do you want to be subbed?"
"No," he shook his head. He walked a little tenderly as the crowd cheered to spur him on.
The ref tapped Daisy on the shoulder. "Two minutes in the penalty box. Go!"
"That was legal!" she protested.
"No it wasn't and you know that! Anymore backchat then you're off, you got it?"
Daisy nodded as she sat down on the penalty bench. She was giving Clynt a dirty look. "Well that showed the Lion's Captain that cheating gets you nowhere!" Clynt leaned over the desk to shout at her. The Lions crowd booed and hissed at his comments but I had to admit that it was true. "Now if this was the time to score, now would be it!"
"Megan has possession, she passes back to Lottie who dodges a rather dodgy elbow from Aiden as she stops the ball with her stick, she rears back, Graham throws himself at Aiden as Aiden rears his stick back to do something no doubt; illegally…Lottie with some force rams her stick forward and the ball is now a bullet as it HITS THE BACK OF THE NET! THIS TIME IT IS 1-0 TO SPARTANS! HA!" Steven roared down the mic. Our supporters erupted as they all jumped to their feet clapping and cheering. I was cheering myself. "THERE WAS NO WAY ANYONE WAS STOPPING THAT BALL!" Mike slammed his stick against the goalpost in frustration; I noticed he was also limping.
Daisy checked the time and got back in the game whilst we were still celebrating. She ran over to Mike to check him over. "Time out!" she shouted at the ref.
"Don't tell me," the ref rolled his eyes. "The Spartan Captain hit that with her foot," he folded his arms.
"No, we think Mike has broken his foot."
"He is wearing protective padding."
"He can barely stand. Please."
"Sub him. You have a game to play. You have thirty seconds," you could tell how pissed off the ref was getting.
I ran over to Lottie and hugged her as Mike limped off with Damien and Stefan propping him up. "That was amazing! You may have broken his foot," I said with too much enthusiasm.
"Yep," she freed herself as everyone was patting her on the back.
"That was strong."
"That's why I never lost a penalty."
"I see that! I thought you were saving it for penalties, should know by now not to underestimate you!"
"I had the chance to take it so I did, even if we don't get anymore, we are in the finals."
"Don't count your chickens Lottie."
"Oh bollocks Ness, you know as well as I do that you can save each and every one."
I thought for a second, she was right. "Yeah, you're right."
"I know I am…here we go."
I ran back to my spot as James took Mike's place, and Daisy was red in the face as ref wanted them to start in the centre again. He put the ball in the middle. "The crowds are excited now Steven!"
"I know! This has been a tough game for both sides. And the ref has blown his whistle. Oooh Daisy hits the floor as she tries to get Lottie back for the face decking she took earlier but fails as Lottie jumps back and Megan jumps in to take the ball. You had better get up Daisy before another goal is let in!"
"You had better watch what you say Clynt, your mouth is getting too big for your muzzle."
"Now I am not a heartless homo, but sometimes I like to flex my handbag…" Clynt trailed off as he looked behind him.
I saw Daisy's face contort; she was not one for losing. She ran forward and met Megan with an elbow; she fell to the ground clutching her chest as Daisy took the ball. I could see it all happening in slow motion as she took the ball from Megan, Lottie rushed over to help Megan, Daisy stopping the ball with her stick, lining it up at the commentators table as thwacked the ball in its direction. This happened so fast that Steven didn't have time to warn Clynt. The ball sailed over the heads of the Lions supporters sitting in the front row and it slammed into the side of Clynt's head. His hat fell to the floor, his head turned back to the pitch, looking dazed for a nanosecond then crumpled to the floor. "Holy crap!" I heard someone say. Daisy threw her stick to the floor, knowing that she was going to get sent off and ran to the bench to get subbed before the ref could get to her, Levi running on in her place.
"Now see here!" the ref shouted at Daisy and their coach. "That was bad sportsmanlike."
"And what are you going to do about it?" Coach Stevenson folded his arms. "That is legal play, if you can't get to the player before they sub there is nothing you can do about it."
"Well, I am banning her from future games that I can do."
"No you can't."
"Oh yes I can. Watch me. Okay missy, I have your number. You won't play again if I can help it. Yes the subbing is legal but it won't happen again," he stormed off, checked Megan quickly who got up with Lottie's help then went over to the people that was around Clynt, Carlisle being one of them. I didn't want to crowd them as Clynt was still unconscious on the floor. Lottie joined me after helping Megan over to the benches. Clynt is a popular guy around school so all of the supporters were quite anxious about what was going on. His parents were clutching each other as they waited for news on their son. I turned to see Carlisle shining a pen torch in each eye.
Lottie and I edged closer to see what was happening. I could hear that he was breathing so that was a good sign. "He is opening his eyes," Carlisle said softly. "Hey there Clynt, how are you feeling?"
Clynt coughed and the people surrounding him cleared as Doug the paramedic and his colleague came through the main doors with a stretcher and their bags. "Hello Doug," Carlisle shook his hand. "This is Clynt Copeland, he is eighteen years old, and has received blunt force trauma to the right parietal of the skull, I can feel a slight deformation along the skull so I think there could be a small fracture there, no bleeding, and he has only just regained consciousness after being unconscious for under five minutes and his pupils have been equal and reactive to light throughout."
"Thanks Doc," Doug smiled. "Hey there Mr Copeland. We need to put a hard collar on and get you on this board. Are you feeling sick at all?"
"Feel…..crap."
"Ok, we will get you to the hospital," he stood up and spoke to his colleague. "Let's scoop and run and call it in."
"Agreed. Head injuries are just too unpredictable," the colleague got a collar out they got back to work on Clynt.
Carlisle stepped back and ushered us closer. We found Steven holding his hand. "He is going to be ok, probably going to stay in hospital," he lowered his voice. "I could feel small fracture, very small; they wouldn't find it unless I told them it was there."
We nodded. "That was an awful thing to do," I said quietly.
"It bloody is. I am raging," Lottie breathed out.
"I am surprised you didn't go for her."
"Believe me, I wanted to, but it would have gotten me nowhere and probably banned. But what she did is disgusting. Although I do have half a mind to take her behind the shed and do a very schoolgirl thing of giving her a kicking."
"You wouldn't do that."
"Nah," she closed her eyes. "But imagining it is always fun."
I nudged her and we both giggled. Clynt was lifted up and onto the stretcher on the spinal board. They stopped in front of us and Clynt took Lottie's hand. "Hey there sugar. Win the game," he closed his eyes as if he was going to be sick. "I will text ya'll later," he kept his eyes closed. "My head is spinning."
"Clynt," Lottie started. "You need to stop the cotton bud when there is resistance!"
"Oh hardy har!" Clynt groaned.
"I'm going with him," Steven said.
Clynt's Mom and Dad had joined us, his Dad speaking to Carlisle with a very strong Texan accent. He had his thick blond hair tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck and he wore a black cowboy hat. He took Clynt's hand. "We will follow you up in the car son, you have a hard head, you will be fine."
"Thanks Dad," Clynt croaked. Mr Copeland put a strong hand on Steven's shoulder and nodded his thanks. It was so cool to see this big hard man (I believed that he was, I imagined him riding a Harley) be so accepting of Steven and Clynt, it was nice. We watched as he was rolled out of the auditorium to a loud standing ovation. Clynt giving a royal wave has he left the auditorium.
Lottie looked up at the board. "Ten minutes left. If the ref allows us to keep playing."
I followed Lottie as we sat down on the benches and watched the ref having it out with the Lions coach; I looked at Daisy who appeared to be very smug with herself. The ref turned to blow his whistle. "Everyone up, we are resuming play," he looked really angry as he turned round and jabbed his finger at Coach Stevenson. "The Hockey Board is going to hear about this. I will get her banned."
Lottie got up and checked went over to Megan and Graham. "Are you both going to be able to play?"
They both shook their head. "She got me in the ribs, I think it's just bruising but it hurts like hell."
"I'll ask Carlisle if he can check you over," I looked up into the crowd to see Carlisle nod his head as he had only just sat back down but got up again.
"Do you think he would mind?"
"No no, he is coming now."
"What about you Graham?" Lottie asked.
Graham was clutching himself, then fell over to his left onto the bench, still cupping himself. "I think I may have lost the ability to have children. I feel like someone has shoved a hot poker down my japseye."
"GRAHAM!" Lottie and I both shouted at him in disgust.
"Whhhaaat?" he moaned like a child. "I am really sore."
"Doesn't look like you are getting laid tonight then Graham," I snorted.
"Oh, there is still a little twitch," Graham laughed then winced in pain and grabbed himself again.
"Ok, Gareth, Greg, which one of you wants to play?" Lottie said trying not to laugh at Graham.
They both looked at each other and shrugged. "Rock, paper, scissors?" Gareth said.
"Sure."
I left them to fight it out and Lottie turned to Emma. "Will you take Megan's place?"
"Sure."
"If Emma is taking Megan's place, I think that both Greg and Gareth should go on," Adeline said. "They will be gunning for me and I think you are going to need the muscle."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, it would balance out the team," Adeline said. She was a good team player.
"Ok, Gareth, Greg; you are both up."
"Wicked!" Gareth high fived Greg, I noticed more and more how much they enjoyed playing. The ref blew his whistle again, looking more and more disgruntled. We jumped up as Carlisle checked Megan over, I got into position and I realised there was going to be no one commentating. The last ten minutes were going to be a little boring. Lottie faced off against Aiden and Emma was on her right. The ref blew his whistle, Lottie and Aiden slammed sticks and Lottie got the ball, she rolled it back to Gareth and each time one of the Lions tried to take possession, the ball was passed to another Spartan. There was no rule against this but it just became boring so this happened over the course of eight minutes and I was also getting the impression that everyone was just wanting the game over now. The Lions kept pushing for the ball and were getting frustrated when it was just out of their reach and it showed when they started to body check our team players.
I saw Lottie whisper something to Emma then to Kirsty, who got back to Gareth. "Play five," he whispered to me. Cool, we were going to get some action and hopefully score another goal. Play kicked up a gear as Greg slammed the ball down field, Emma catching it before Levi got to the ball then Kirsty had the ball, Lottie, Gareth, Greg, Gareth, Greg, Kirsty; Emma moved further down, the Lions looking a little confused, Daisy shouting orders from the side lines joined by her coach. Lottie had possession but she kept it longer than the play required but she was doing it for a reason; all five players descended on her like a swarm of flies, but Emma! She flew over to the penalty area where Lottie was hidden by the pride of Lions; she shot the ball out! She shot it to Emma, the Lions not noticing she did so; Gareth, Greg and I stepped forward in anticipation. Emma stopped the ball with her stick, Daisy shouting to the Lions that the ball was gone and it dawned on them that she was pretending to have the ball as they turned to where Emma was.
"WHERE THE HELL IS MY DEFENCE!" James shouted. Lottie was near us than I thought, Emma turning her head quickly to Daisy and giving her a cheeky wink as she slammed the ball into the back of the net, James unable to catch it as she feinted left then the ball curving into the right hand side of the net.
I threw my hands in the air and screamed; "2-0 SPARTANS! WHOO HOO!" I looked up at the time on the board leading down towards zero then the ref blew his whistle with a sigh of relief. Our supporters erupted from the stands. Principle Greene threw his clipboard down and high fived Coach Clapp who bear hugged him, lifting him from the ground. I saw Jacob and the pack stand up and shout "OOOH OOOH OOOH!" over and over and the sound was drowning out the shouts, screams, cheers and boos from the other team's supporters. I looked over at Daisy who had her head in her hands and her team looked well and truly defeated, their coach slammed his clipboard down in frustration. I threw my gloves and helmet off and raced over to my teammates who were jumping up and down, hugging each other, our teammates from the bench joining in including Megan and Graham (who was jumping a little less enthusiastically than us) "NATIONALS, NATIONALS, NATIONALS!" we chanted over and over.
The ref blew his whistle to get all of our attention and the cheering and booing died down. "I can officially say that Forks High School Spartans from the Washington District are into the Nationals!" he clapped his hands and the cheers erupted again, I watched as the Lions supporters slowly made their way out of the stadium. I watched as Daisy and her coach left to go to the changing rooms with their team following in defeat.
"THAT'S HOW WE WIN HOCKEY GUYS!" Lottie shouted as Daisy passed her. "WE WIN BY PLAYING WITHOUT CHEATING!" she glared Daisy in the eye as she walked by her. We were joined by various members of the school students as they threw themselves at us. Lottie poked Emma. "That's how you get your goal back." Emma beamed at her, Lottie kissing the top of her head.
I lost track of time as we continued to celebrate, I felt the crowd slowly disperse as I could move again, able to move my arms, one was around Lottie and the other was around Kirsty. I could feel a warm hand on my shoulder and I turn round to find Jacob waiting for me. "Hey there beautiful," he said quietly and I threw my arms around him. "You all did well out there today and I hope your friend will be ok."
"Oh me too. Carlisle said he was going to be fine, although I reckon that he will be feeling rubbish for the next few days."
"Well, I certainly know how that feels like."
"You are never going to let me live it down are you?"
"Nope," he smiled flashing his shiny white teeth.
"Great! Are you patrolling tomorrow?"
"No, I am working in the garage; we have a lot of cars to get done tomorrow so it's all hands on deck so that we can have a day off on Sunday."
"We are getting our dresses tomorrow."
"Oh for Rachel and Paul's wedding, I forgot you were going to Seattle tomorrow."
"What about your fittings?"
"Done today. Paul got this afternoon off so that we could get our suits fitted."
"And does yours fit?"
"Like a glove, Alice certainly knows the right tailors."
"That's Alice," I leaned up to kiss him gently on the mouth.
"Oi!" Lottie interjected, pointing her stick at us making Jacob and I break our kiss. "No PDA's!"
Jacob wrapped his arms around me. "Hell no!" he nuzzled into my neck. "I love PDA's."
"Not when it is Rachel or Paul."
"That's different; I don't want to see them sucking each other's face off."
"Double standards!" Lottie harrumphed. "Come on you lot, let's get showered and changed."
"Ooh, a shower with Lottie!" Graham rubbed his hands.
"Not over your dead body," Lottie gave him a look.
"I was so looking forward to that."
"You are a dirty perv," Kirsty swatted his arm.
"I know!" Graham laughed as he rubbed his hands together again.
"Tell you what," I started. "Why don't we all get showered and changed, we will use the coach's shower room, just think of us Graham, in the shower, all naked and lathery, washing each other down…"
"Oh stop! You are killing me," Graham brought his hands to his face.
"Just think of your Mom and Dad doing it," I suggested. Keith and Jacob laughing behind me like hyenas.
"Or Steven and Clynt going at it in his hospital bed," Lottie laughed with us.
"Suddenly, the inside of my pants have become less exciting," Graham hung his head. "Ok, shower, change, party," he trudged off followed by the other boys.
"We need to go as well, before they do get naked and we can't get our things," I kissed Jacob on the lips again.
"Ok, meet you at Lottie's then?"
"Yes, Lottie has her car so we'll drive back."
"See you later bright eyes," he leaned in and kissed me back. "Go and get all lathered up."
I giggled. "See you later," I followed the others.
The boys had gone ahead to Lottie's house so it was just Emma, Megan, Kirsty, Adeline, Lottie and me. We slugged our bags over our shoulders and Lottie locked up the coach's office. We were the last ones left so Lottie was also locking up the gym, she had been given a key by the coach. We were laughing a joking as we got outside to the crisp spring air, the car park was almost empty, litter rolling about in the slight wind as we waited for Lottie to lock the gym, and we were facing her. "So when are we going to see Clynt?" Megan asked.
"I think we should wait for him to text us, just in case he isn't up for visitors," Adeline thought out loud.
I could feel movement behind me, I could hear a four extra heartbeats, I grabbed Lottie's arm. We are not alone.
Lottie swivelled round, she smirked; the five of us turned our heads slowly in the direction she was looking in. Great. Daisy, Aiden, Mike (who incidentally didn't have a broken foot) and Finn were standing in front of us. They were all holding onto their hockey sticks, lifting them up and down into the opposite hands in a threatening manner. I still had a hold of Lottie. I think there is someone else out there; I can't be sure as this doesn't look good.
What are you going to do?
Gob off. It's what I do best. Bide us some time. I let go of Lottie's arm, she pulled her car keys out of her pocket. "Wow. Right now I would be telling you all to fuck off in a colourful and creative way but I think this is way beyond that."
"This is payback."
"Yeah, Holly called me last week to warn me when she found out we were playing you as I believed you did this to them when you lost last year," she turned round to us, but keeping an eye on them. "I didn't tell you guys cos I didn't actually think they would do it. I thought Holly was joking," she turned back to the four menacing humans in front of us. "Emma, take these keys, go and wait in the car, keep your head down and do not come out until I say."
"But-"
"She isn't going anywhere," Daisy growled. I heard a twig snap in the forest and I whipped my head round in its direction and stared. I turned my head back slowly, I couldn't see anyone. Probably an animal.
"She is fourteen," Lottie said through gritted teeth, she turned to Emma. "Go, don't call anyone, I will sort this." She ran to the car. Lottie dropped her bag to the floor and we all did the same. Kirsty and Megan giving each other a worried look. I stepped forward so that I was behind Lottie; I had her back. "So you are all ok with this?" she spoke to the three boys behind her. "Beating up girls. How heroic of you," she said sarcastically.
"We don't care," Mike grunted.
"And let me guess," I spoke. "The others weren't so happy with this or they would be here," they looked at each other, knowing I was right.
"You know, this sort of thing makes me want to go stabby," Lottie glared at Daisy.
Megan looked at Lottie then giggled. "Oh my god, I have seen that look on Lottie before, someone is going to be bent over and fucked."
"I am going to rip out your windpipe to stop that annoying talky sound," Daisy looked at Megan. "I will do more than elbow you in the chest."
"Ooh scary, you are so out of your league it's like playing chess with a monkey," I chuckled. We were making Daisy more and more angry.
"You had better shut it," Aiden stuck is oar in. "We are just about to beat three kinds of shit out of you."
"Wow, what a threat!" I chuckled.
"You know what Nessie," Lottie folded her arms. "Have you ever looked at someone and said to yourself 'Life would be so much better if their mum had just swallowed?'" We looked at Lottie then we burst out laughing.
"If you don't shut your trap, we will do more than just give you a beating, we will put you in the boot of our car and dump you somewhere so that you have no way of getting home, and hopefully you will get eaten by a bear," Aiden threatened.
"I don't like to refer to myself as fat," Lottie touched the top of her chest for effect. "I like to refer to myself as hard to kidnap. I'm just saying; by the time you lot get me, you could have had ten skinny girls."
"You won't be that hard to take, not if we wanted to," Mike threatened.
"You know what girlies? I think he is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot," Lottie said calmly. "All this talk and no action," she looked back and chucked Kirsty the gym keys. "It's not locked; you and Megan get behind the door and lock it."
"But we have your back," Kirsty protested.
"I know you do, but we can handle this," Lottie gave her a look to make her understand. She took the keys and stepped back. I realised that if she was going to use her power, Megan and Kirsty knew about it, Emma didn't; it was best that she hid in the car.
"No way, we are taking you all on," Finn stepped forward.
Megan and Kirsty got behind the door and locked it although their faces were at the window. Finn reared his stick back and threw his stick at the window causing Lottie and I to duck and making Megan and Kirsty to jump back. "Ho ho!" Lottie slammed her fist into her hands. "This is game on!" she looked at me. "I am sure you can inflict a little pain."
"Oh I am sure!" I had never been in a fight before and I was getting really excited. "For the record," I spoke up to our would be attackers. "This is really pathetic. Coming for five girls cos you lost a game. You are about to get your ass handed to you."
"Two on four? I like those odds," Daisy raised her stick over her head and ran at Lottie, I stepped back, waiting for the guys to step in but maybe they weren't as keen as I thought. She charged, bring her stick down over Lottie's head; Lottie caught the stick expertly in her hands and snatched it out of her hands, Daisy looking shocked.
Lottie threw the stick over their heads. "Come on," she taunted, making a 'come here' motion with her hands as she got into a guarding stance. Daisy took a swing at her, Lottie moved her head back, Daisy missing and taking another swing, Lottie blocking. "Surely you can do better than that?" Daisy grunted as she lunged for Lottie and Lottie kicked her in the chest, causing her to fly back and land on the ground. Lottie rushed forward to take on Aiden and Finn who ran at her, she was in the middle as she brought her leg high across her body, bending it, kneeing Aiden in the face; his head whipped back then he fell to the ground clutching his face. She kept that leg in the air and without checking behind her, kicking Finn in his chest making him bend over in pain. Mike rushed me and I did a reverse turning kick making him fly further than Daisy. "Is that all you got?" Lottie taunted.
And I couldn't help myself. "And you got beaten up by a couple of girls," I high fived Lottie and she returned it with a big grin and I looked down at the four Lions on the ground who were groaning. "My god you're slow, it's like someone slipped you the date rape drug or something!" This time it was my turn to take charge. I bent down over Daisy. "You leave me and my teammates alone. I think it's time you go back to your hotel room and forget this ever happened, don't you think?" Daisy ignored me. I grabbed the collar of her shirt. "Do you understand?"
"Yes!" she said a little scared. I was bearing my teeth, growling for effect and I knew my eyes were glowing with anger. I stood up and Daisy shuffled back towards her teammates then got up from the ground.
"Don't ever pull this shit again with us or with any other team that beats you, or we will come after you and you will see the inside of a hospital, possibly the morgue," Lottie threatened. "You got that?" The four beaten Lions nodded and ran off to a car that was sitting on the edge of the parking lot, all of them holding the body part that we had hit: Aiden holding his face, Mike limping along with Daisy, Finn holding his chest. "Idiots."
The door behind us opened then shut. "Wow, that was intense," Kirsty sighed.
"Yeah, but you kicked some ass," Megan whooped.
"Come on," Lottie picked up her things. "We have a party to get to," she smiled as we ran over to the car to see Emma huddled on the back seat. Lottie opened the door, giving Emma a fright.
"None of you are hurt?" she asked in a squeaky voice.
"No!" I laughed. "We got them, no need to worry."
Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "Holy crap, I can't believe that they would pull a stunt like that."
"Neither could I," Lottie said. "Let's just forget about it and go and have that party that we are fashionable late for."
"Forget about it?" Megan squealed. "We are telling everyone that you kicked ass!"
"Ok," Lottie smiled. "I am sure that the boys are going to be very gutted in missing out on a fight."
"And that they missed seeing us beat up some guys," I laughed.
"And a girl," Emma piped up.
Lottie started the car. "Oh I am sure she has a Y chromosome in there," she snorted.
"I have a question," I started. "Why is it that every time we play, the other team really has it out for us, apart from Garfield High School?"
We were all pondering the question then suddenly Lottie spoke up. "I think it's my witty and charming personality."
"You look amazing Rachel!" Emily said in awe. We were all in awe as we watched Rachel emerge from the changing room. Her dress fitted her perfectly and Wendy, the shop owner was flaring out the train of her dress. It was simple yet elegant; being a one piece dress, the built in corset gave her a cleavage; but not enough to make it look tarty. It was as Wendy described, a sleeveless dress with a dark green band under the bust which in the light; showed different shades of green and there was flowered embellishments along the band. The dress was A lined with a small train with little pearl buttons trailing down the back. Wendy added clear embellishment to the hem around the bottom of the dress which met at the train, giving the dress a beautiful finish. It was truly beautiful and Rachel looked every inch the blushing bride. Her veil, which she wore at the top of her head, was simple, framing her face as crescended in waves, sitting at her waist. Her tiara was silver was in the shape of small leaves that gathered at the top.
Emily and Kim looked gorgeous in their dresses too, which were the same colour as the green band on Rachel's dress. The satin dresses itself had a sweetheart neckline with two straps that got thicker at the shoulder, there was a ruched gathering to the left of the dress with a smattering of the same embellishment that was on Rachel's dress and the bottom of the hem sat at their knees and the back was a little longer. Claire's was the same except the length sat at her ankles. They looked well and truly beautiful.
"Oh Rachel!" I rushed forward, and gave her a kiss on the cheek but being careful not to crush her dress. "You look amazing!"
Rachel kept staring at herself in the mirror; she was quiet as stared at herself in awe. "Mom would have loved this."
Emily stroked her arm. "She would be very proud of you now."
"Ok ladies, not to be rude, but I don't want you crushing your dresses, or getting tears down them!" Wendy stepped forward. "I have a machine for you to take home so that you can steam them again, I have already steamed them but it wouldn't harm them to do it again."
"Thank you so much Wendy," Rachel gushed. "Really, you are a godsend, and you girls look amazing!"
"I feel like a princess!" Claire twirled around holding the sides of her dress making it flare out as she twirled.
"And you look like one too," Emily smiled.
"You all do," Lottie beamed.
"Thank you for the machine Wendy," Rachel said. "We are taking the dresses to Lottie's tonight."
"Just post it back to me and I want pictures," she giggled. "Ok, dresses off!" she clicked her fingers.
Lottie, Adeline, Gemma and I tried on our dresses. Lottie's deep purple dress was cinched in at the waist, strappy and floated around her legs. Adeline had a dark blue dress that had a deep V neck and back (she would need tape in the right places) but it rested mid-thigh and had very long sleeves. Gemma was in her black asymmetrical dress and her cleavage was very impressive teamed with her hot pink bolero and of course myself who had my burgundy dress that had a fitted in corset from the waist up but the material had thick ruching that started at the hips and ended above my knees and the dress was strapless. All of our dresses fitted perfectly and Wendy had them bagged for us. She was now cooing over the twins who had behaved impeccably the whole time we were in the shop, even when we had time to have 'high tea' as Wendy calls it. "I can't believe how well behaved your babies are Emily, and I am also impressed that you snapped back to your dress size. It can take some people weeks; you must have this natural thing where you can pop right back in!"
"Thanks Wendy," Emily smiled.
"Well ladies, I am quite happy that the dresses all fit," she placed her dainty little cup onto the saucer and helped herself to another cake. "I do hope you have a wonderful day Rachel."
I looked at Lottie who was staring off into the distance. "Are you alright?" I asked.
She jumped a little and blinked at me a few times. "I'm just tired chick. Last night and this morning," she half smiled.
"Hungover?"
"Oh no! I didn't have that much to drink and I hid a lot of it as everyone is underage."
"Never stopped you."
"Where I come from I am legal."
"I suppose. So tired then?"
"Yeah," she puffed. "Four o'clock this morning before the lads left!"
"Really? I left at twelve."
"I know, everyone seemed to leave about that time. The lads were just gutted they didn't get a fight."
"Dad had a go at me this morning about that."
"Really?"
"Just a little, in case I had inflicted some proper damage."
"You wouldn't have done."
"I know that. He just said it once rather than keep going on about it."
"They would never have been able to take us on."
"Never!" Lottie pumped her fist out which I pounded back. "Your dress suited you."
"Thanks, yours did too. I love your top." Lottie was wearing a patchwork tunic top, the patches were red, blue and white, each one with little patterns on them, her sleeves rolled above her elbows and purple trim along the buttons from her chest up and she had just two buttoned, making it low cut. She teamed it with dark blue wide legged jeans and her biker boots. I was wearing a dark purple gypsy top that also buttoned up from the chest, it tied at the back where the ribbon separated the bust and the material flared out. The material was quite thick and it looked like it had two thick straps but attached to the straps were floaty three quarter length sleeves. I teamed it with a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of purple Lou Boutins. We were both wearing our hair down and straightened.
"Thank you Lottie. What are you doing later?"
"Keith is at the zoo today with Esme and the school. So I think I am free, shall I schedule you in?"
"Oh yes, Jacob is working all day at the garage, Keith is not here, I think we are going to have a girly day."
"Not too girly, don't want to ruin my rep," Lottie screwed up her face.
"Cool."
The babies started to stir and I saw Emily look at her watch. "Oh, it's feeding time, do you mind if I feed them here, I can always go out to the van if it bothers you."
"Dear, don't be so silly! Breast is best and all that. If you want privacy you can use the changing room."
"Oh I don't mind."
"Then you can feed them here. It's natural after all."
"Thanks Wendy," Emily picked up Liam who was fussier, pulled up her top and unhooked her maternity bra and he latched on straight away. She used his blanket to cover herself and the baby up as he had his dinner. Wendy packed up all the dresses and had them hanging for us to put into the van.
"So Rachel, are all your plans finalized?" Wendy took another sip of her tea.
Rachel placed her cup and saucer down. "Oh yes. As you can tell we are all very close and Nessie's family is helping out quite a bit. Nessie's uncles; one is the MC and the other is going to be our photographer and her Aunts are doing hair, make-up and decorations. Lottie is letting us have the ceremony and reception at her house and gardens. The men have their suits, Lottie's chef, Nessie's Mom and Nana are catering." I didn't mind Rachel telling the truth about my family, it wasn't like Wendy was going to meet them. "Everything is ready."
"You have your wedding license?"
"Oh yes, Paul picked that up last week and Sue has it now."
"Sue?"
"You know that we are an Indian tribe, we have three elders; Quil Ateara snr, Billy Black and Sue Clearwater," Wendy nodded. "Well, Billy is my father and he is giving me away and Sue is officiating."
"Oh that sounds lovely. Oh!" Something flickered behind Wendy's eyes. "I have something for you, more as a thank you really," she shot up from her seat and rushed over to the counter. "You said when we were chatting last time in the changing room that your Father was loaning you the wedding jewelry that your Mother wore when they got married. You said it was white gold necklace but the bottom was in the shape of small leaves and you would have little leaves for earrings." Rachel nodded. "Well I have something for you," she handed Rachel a small box.
She untied the ribbon and opened the lid. "Oh my!" she gasped. She lifted the object out and it was a white gold bracelet that had a small heart locket on a thin white gold chain. Rachel stared at it for a moment then she gently opened a locket and a flash of blue caught my eye. "Oh Wendy, this is beautiful. Thank you so much."
"You have given me so much business and I felt I had to say thank you in some way."
"You didn't have to."
"Do you like it?"
"Oh I love it," she laid it on the table for us all to see. It was a four leave clover that was attached by a small link inside the locket and instead of it being green it was blue instead and in the light you could see it shimmered green.
"It is for good luck, not that I think you will need it but I thought of something blue for you."
"And new," Emily said.
"Thank you so much!" Rachel was almost in tears when she got up to hug Wendy. "Thank you for being so patient and understanding."
"This should be the best experience of a bride's life and I hope I have achieved this for you. I also want to thank you for the invite but I have a christening I am attending."
"You have been amazing Wendy," Emily handed Liam over to Kim to burp and she lifted up Noah and he latched onto Emily's other breast and she covered him up as Liam let out a huge burp. "There is another bottle in there Kim if you wouldn't mind, it has a warmer around it."
"No probs Em," Kim bent down to retrieve the bottle. "Do you want the other one for Noah?"
"Yes please Kim. They don't get enough from me so they need some more milk."
"They are really hungry," Wendy observed.
"They take after their Dad," Emily said with a knowing smile.
"Would you like to feed him?" Kim offered Liam to Wendy.
"Oh I would love too," Wendy held her arms out for Liam who went to her willingly and suckled on his bottle with no fuss. Emily burped Noah and fed him his extra bottle, Claire was playing with her dolls on the bean bag chair.
"Ladies," Gemma spoke up, she had been busy on her phone texting Seth all afternoon. "I don't mean to be a killjoy, but it's getting late."
"So it is," Wendy looked at her watch. She expertly burped Liam who started to drift off to sleep again so she put him back his car seat. Emily didn't bother with a pram seeing as we were just driving straight here. "Why don't I help you girls to get the dresses into the van," she looked at Lottie, Adeline, Gemma and me and we were only too happy to oblige. Wendy took Rachel's dress, I took the bridesmaids' and the others took the dresses by the clothes hook and Lottie took the box that the steaming machine was in. Gemma had lowered the two back seats down and Seth set up a rail along the back of the minivan so that we could get the dresses home. The coat hangers were the type that snapped on so that they stayed on the railing. Emily came out with both car seats in each hand and Gemma took one and got Liam into the back two seater on the right side of the van (the passenger side), Gemma getting him all secured then his brother right next to him, securing him in. Emily got into the two seater in front of the twins but there was a single seat that was next to the double seats on the left side; the minivan had three rows (would be four but Gemma had the seat down) like this with a three seater in front of them, there was a partition that separated the back from the front which had two seats next to the driver's seat. We all said our goodbyes to Wendy and said thanks for the brilliant service we received, Rachel giving Wendy a long hug as she said her thanks again. "I loved every moment Rachel; you have all been a dream to work for. Let me tell you there have been some nightmare brides but you have been one of the best. And if any of you girlies want to get married, come back to me and I will sort you all out."
"Thanks Wendy," Emily shouted from the back of the bus. Everyone else shouted their thanks and goodbyes as we all got into the bus and made our way out of the small driveway that Wendy had down the side of the shop. Lottie was sitting in the middle single seat that was by the sliding door (she got a little travel sick sometimes), I got into the two seater in front of Emily and I stretched my legs out. Rachel and Kim were sitting on the three seater with Claire between them and Adeline sat up front with Gemma. There were various sealed boxes underneath all the bags; Rachel had bought her lingerie, shoes, tiara and veil which were all boxed separately.
I checked my phone; I had a nice text from Jacob asking me how my day went, I replied quickly, popped it on silent and put it in my pocket. Lottie had fallen asleep, her head against the window, mouth gaping open. Rachel and Kim were discussing the wedding and Adeline and Gemma were talking at the front. I turned to Emily who was staring out the window, looking a little tired herself. "Em, I can swap with you if want and I can take over. Have a little nap."
Emily snapped out of her trance and smiled at me. "Thanks for the offer Ness but if I go to sleep now I won't be able to sleep later. They will be wide awake when we get home and hopefully they will sleep a good six hours tonight."
"Do they sleep well?"
"Yeah," she laughed. "Again, taking after their Father!"
"I bet! I know what it's like when Jacob is sleeping!"
"Sam shown me the book Jacob made. It is truly a masterpiece."
I remember Jacob telling me a few days ago that he was going to show the pack. "And Sam liked it?" I asked gingerly. I remembered that Jacob was a little apprehensive in case the pack didn't like it.
"Yes, he thought it was amazing, an accurate piece of work that Jacob has offered everyone the chance to add to it. I wrote a little bit about how you helped me to give birth."
"Really?"
"Oh yes, I would have been on my own if you weren't there. You were amazing Ness."
"Thanks," I blushed a little at the compliment. "I am thinking of becoming a midwife."
"And so you should!" Emily encouraged. We were well on our way back home. Emily and I chatted for most of the way. An hour had past and it was now after five and getting darker, we were back onto Jacob's book. "So what is your favourite part of the book?"
I thought for a moment. "I like the history of my family and friends. I thought when I got to that part that Jacob might not have so objective but he was honest and fair and it was a very nice piece of work. You know he made the book itself from wood?"
"Did he?"
"Yes, he carved the front."
"It is amazing."
"Did you like the part about you?"
"Oh yes, it was really nice, how Jake drew everyone and how accurate our tales, he is a talented man, my question to him was why he kept it hidden for so long?"
"He was a little nervous incase the pack thought it was…what's the term…cissy?" I giggled.
"It's nothing of the sort," Emily shook her head, making a face. "They can't wait to add to it, Rachel and Paul are looking forward to adding their little segment from their wedding day."
I lowered my voice. "Do you think they are going to be having little bundles of joy?"
"From what Rachel tells me; yes," she smiled. "Looks like we are going to have a little pack of our own," we both chuckled.
"What about you?"
"We want more…in a few years," she added as an afterthought. "What about you and Jake?"
"We want to be married first and even then I think it will be a few years. I am only four remember," we both chuckled again.
"I forget how old you are, you are much older than your years," Emily sighed. "Make me feels so old!" she checked the twins over her shoulder. "I could see why you would want to wait a few years."
"But I don't mind babysitting."
"I'll keep that in mind for when Sam and I would like a night out."
"Or a dirty weekend," I said seductively.
"Ness!" Emily tried to look shocked.
"You know it's true!" We both laughed.
One of the babies whined in his seat and Emily turned around to see which one was fussing, I turned to see that we were on a long stretch of road leading back into Forks, I estimated that we were about thirty minutes away. My attention was changed to Lottie who took a deep breath in through her nose as she suddenly woke up. She blinked a few times then the twins cried out loudly, Liam being louder. "Are they ok?" I asked.
Emily looked worried. "They are ….they are never like this."
Lottie unclipped her belt (I didn't have mine on) and shot up in her seat, she looked forward into the darkening road. "Are you ok?" I asked.
She dismissed me. "Em, don't take your seat belt off."
"But I-"
"Don't!" Lottie shouted. Kim and Rachel looked back and her shout caught Gemma's attention as she stared at Lottie through her interior mirror. Lottie looked around.
"What is it?" I sat forward.
"I don't know, something isn't right," her hands shook by her head in frustration, her face creased with worry which made me worry.
"GEMMA! LOOK OUT!" Adeline screamed. A huge tree was falling over the middle of the road in front of us, Gemma slammed on the breaks, I lurched forward; falling off the seat, Lottie fell to the floor, I got back up to find the huge tree slammed itself down into the middle of the road, bouncing back up then coming to a rest horizontally over the road; breaking branches; making them hit the van, smashing the front windscreen, debris scattered all over the road which I could feel under the tyres. The tyres were squealing as Gemma tried to stop the van; the steering wheel shuddering under her white knuckles, Adeline with her arms covering her face, Rachel and Kim screaming; holding onto Claire who shrieking so hard, Emily trying frantically to unbelt herself to get to her babies.
I could only look in horror as we screeched towards the fallen tree in slow motion as it was only ten feet away, now five then one as the front of the minivan crashed into it and I could feel the back of the van rising up as we were flipping over the tree! The van groaned and creaked as I felt myself moving towards the front, Lottie moving with me. I could hear the front of the van crunch, protesting against the fallen tree, against the force of us being tipped forward. "EMILY! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! THE BABIES ARE BUCKLED IN!" I shouted, Emily froze as she clamped her arms around the back of her seat, her hair tipping forward. I could feel Lottie falling into me as the van tipped further forward, I steadied myself by putting my feet on the seats in front of me and I could see the tree through my hair as we were now at hundred and eighty degrees but we were high in the air, the van turning upside down; I felt myself hit the ceiling of the van, Lottie's weight left me and my hands digging into the ceiling to stop myself from being catapulted around the van. Everyone was screaming but I couldn't find my voice. The speed we were travelling at had caused us to flip right over the tree, the van suddenly flipped from its back to its left side, the girls screaming, the babies screaming, I fell into the vans frame, my left upper arm taking the brunt, breaking the window glass into a million pieces, I couldn't see behind me and I prayed that we were going to ok. Although with my half vampire eyes; all this took a split second and with my vampire thinking; we had been travelling at seventy miles an hour so the speed going over the tree was quite a force.
We stopped mid-flight; all of us lurching forward, my knees taking the strain as I had my feet on the van partition, I was lying on my left side. I realised I had my eyes shut, preparing to take the force of being rolled and tumbled about. A box floated past me and I turned my head behind me to see Lottie holding on the seats either side of her, her hair floating as she took control of the van, she slowly rotated us from being on our sides to upright, then she worked on setting the van down. I looked past Lottie to see that we had flown at least twenty five feet from where we hit the tree and we were twenty feet in the air. I looked around as we were gently descending. I felt the van touch the ground, groaning a little but taking the strain.
Amazingly, none of the dresses came off the rack! Of all the things to notice!
Rachel, Claire and Kim were still screaming in time with the babies, Adeline leaned over to Gemma to take her hands off the steering wheel then she looked down; she was wincing in pain, Emily finally unbuckling herself to see to the babies.
"Are they ok?" I asked her.
"I don't know!" she panicked. "Oh my god! Oh my god!" she chanted, Rachel and Kim stopped screaming as they turned around in their seats to see if Emily and the twins were ok.
I looked at Lottie who was staring straight ahead. "Nobody move," she said quietly and as calmly as she could.
"Lottie, my babies!" Emily screamed.
"They are screaming, they have an airway, that's all that matters at the moment," Lottie dismissed, speaking quietly. "Nobody move, nobody say a thing. Our lives depend on it."
I turned my head to see what Lottie was staring at; twenty yards in front of us were five grey cloaked figures; their cloaks floating as if they were against a breeze. I felt my heart stop for a moment.
Crap.
AN - Who do you think it is? mmmm!
Back to weekly updates (fingers crossed!) please review cos they make me happy and I like to know what you guys think cos that is important to me!
ps - Layla Jenson - missing you! and thank you to Dawnmac for giving me a great idea! (but can't tell you what it is yet, its for book two!) Cheers!
and pps! I don't know if anyone has noticed, but I just realised this chapter takes me over the 500,000 word mark. eek! x
