we are the immortals

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter Seventeen

"May I ask what your 'ace in the hole' is?" Lorelei asks as Karone leads her to a room near the back of the house. The room had been empty the entire time Lorelei had been staying there, which she knew because the door was always open until Ashley and Karone had disappeared inside the room. Locking the door behind them.

"You're about to find out." Karone says, as she opens the door. Lorelei walks inside, finding four of her classmates unconscious on the floor.

"What the hell? Why are they here?"

"They're my ace in the hole. While my plan always was to take this battle to CJ's turf, I did not want it to be on her terms. So I'm changing the plan. Because knowing my sister, this party is more than a 'family reunion'. It's an ambush."

"Yeah, I figured that."

"Well, we're going to need more power. And these kids have it. You know them, so wait for them to wake up." Karone walks out of them, before Lorelei can even question how she knew that she knew them.

Then she picks up on the smell of fairy. There was a fairy in the room, but the smell was stronger. Like there was more than one in the room. She walks around the room slowly. Eventually reaching the backpacks against the opposite wall. And notices something on the purple backpack that she figured was Krista's. She flicks the thing, and a full sized Hunter Bradley lands on the floor. She hisses, "jinx, what are you doing here?"

"I saw them walking out of school like zombies. I got curious, so I decided to follow them."

"Well, have you ever heard the expression curiosity killed the cat?"

"Are you saying you're going to kill me?"

"No. Maybe. I haven't decided yet." She grabs him by the shirt, and drags him out of the room. Karone is walking down the hallway, and turns around.

"Who is this?"

"He's a stowaway from the academy."

"A stowaway? How did he stowaway?"

"He's a fairy. He shrunk down and hitched a ride on the other fairy's backpack."

"Right. Well, Ashley's too weak to teleport him back to the academy. So he just got a free night in New York City." Karone says, sounding nearly as pleased with the situation as Lorelei was. And she was not pleased by the situation at all. "You sleep in the basement."

Karone walks into her room. "Looks like you're stuck with me."

Lorelei scoffs, and brings him down to the basement. Then she turns around to leave the basement. "Are you even going to tell me what you're doing here?"

She turns around. "No. It's none of your business. And you'll be out of here by morning. So what does it matter?"

"What matters is you're in New York City? Staying with… whoever these people are."

"Why do you care?"

"I… just tell me something. You don't even have to tell me the whole truth. Just tell me something."

She narrows her eyes, noticing something… different in his own eyes. And what leads her to say this, she doesn't know. But she's saying it before she can stop herself. "People from my past are trying to kill me. These people I'm staying with… let's just say we all have a mutual interest in taking out the people out to kill me. That's all you're going to find out."

Then she walks up the stairs to the main level.

Kira wakes up to a shooting pain in her lower back. She groans, before realizing that she wasn't in her room. Instead she was in a room, with Trent, Krista and Ethan lying next to her. And Lorelei De Santos is standing over her. "Lorelei, what's going on?"

"Calm down. Remember I told you that someone was trying to kill me. Well, that same someone is also trying to kill other people. And one of those people thinks you four are going to be able to help take out that someone."

"Okay. Can you be more specific?"

"Remember I told you about CJ Lanaster? Well, that's the someone. She's also backed by a cult of vampires known as The Opposition. At least the Nashville faction. She took it over in 1833, and they've been looking for the killer of the original faction members ever since. My guess is that they've recently learned that I was the killer."

"And that's all you're going to tell me isn't it?"

"You're right. Now you're telling them about this when they wake up." Lorelei walks out of the room, leaving Kira alone with her still unconscious friends.

Tommy is woken up by Oscar crying. Kat shifts from beside him. "I'll go get him."

Kat gets out of bed, walking out of the room. Tommy sits up in bed, reaching for his phone. And sees several missed calls and text messages from Tanya, Adam, Rocky and Hayley. He decides to call Tanya who picks up instantly. "Tanya, what's going on?"

"Five students are missing."

"What? How long have they been gone?"

"Since early this morning. Whoever took them, put those of us on campus under a sleeping spell. We didn't wake up until a few minutes ago. Hayley and Ms. Redding are talking to the other students now."

"Okay. Which students are missing?"

"Kira Ford, Trent Fernandez, Krista Marks, Ethan James and Hunter Bradley. Do you think it's a coincidence that four out of five of those students are the protectors of the school?"

"No." Tommy pinches the bridge of his nose, and still registers that the baby has stopped crying. "I'll be down in ten minutes."

He hangs up the phone just as Kat walks into the room with the baby. "Is something wrong?"

"Five students are missing, and four of them are the protectors." He stands up from the bed, and walks over to the closet. He quickly gets dressed, then turns around to face her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just… there's something I need to tell you, but it can wait."

"Okay. You're not pregnant again are you?"

"What? No. But it is important. But I'll tell you later."

"Yeah. We can talk after we put the baby to sleep." He kisses her, then walks out of the house.