A/N: Here's the next installment for this fic! It's safe to say that the adventure is just beginning! Now, on to the story…
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The next morning, Emma and Shalimar were already up and out of bed by the time the others came stumbling downstairs, yawning and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Jesse went straight for the fridge while Brennan sat at the breakfast table and laid his head down on the table, mumbling. As usual, Adam had been up for hours working in the lab. They decided to let him be and continued on with their slow morning.
After breakfast, Jesse went to get Adam to inform him that Emma and Shalimar were ready to leave. While waiting in the garage, Brennan couldn't help himself and burst out with the thing that had been on his mind since he was informed of the trip. "I can't believe you didn't tell me and Jesse about the concert. You know we love that band also! Why didn't you tell us?"
Shalimar looked at Emma and broke out in a huge grin. "All's fair in love and war. In this case, it was war. Remember the last time you and Jess mysteriously forgot to tell us about that other concert? Think of this as a payback. What's more, we also have backstage passes which makes this an even sweeter revenge." She smiled at him and continued packing their luggage into the trunk of one of Adam's cars they would be borrowing from the garage.
Brennan glared at her backside and turned to Emma. "Is that really the reason? Do you really believe that garbage that Shalimar told you? Why?"
Emma smiled at him. "Because she wasn't lying. She was telling the straight truth. If she really had been lying, I would've known. Believe me. And that did hurt when you and Jesse went to that concert without telling us. Like Shalimar said, this is just a payback."
Brennan leaned back against the wall and murmured, "Yeah. Payback's a bitch."
Emma smirked at him and turned around to help Shalimar when Jesse came in with Adam. They all waited there until the girls had finished loading the car before Adam piped up.
"So, ya'll are ready to go now?"
The girls both nodded before turning around to face two angry men and a calm and cool one. Upon the look on Jesse and Brennan's face, they couldn't help but laugh. Which got them even angrier than they already were. Brennan scowled before mumbling a low 'good-bye' and heading back inside.
Jesse was a bit nicer with his approach. "Bye, girls. Hope you both have a good time." He threw them a half-smile before turning around and also heading inside.
Emma and Shalimar just looked at each other and smiled before going around to the driver and passenger sides of the car. They had decided the night before that Shalimar would be the one to drive. They got into the car and looked at Adam, who had come up on the passenger side.
"You girls just be careful. I wouldn't want anything to happen to two of the members of Mutant X, not to mention my two favorite gals in the whole world!" He smiled at them before continuing. "I'll see the both of you next week, in one piece hopefully. Have a good time." And with that, he stepped back and waved at them before heading through the door that Brennan and Jesse made their way through not two minutes before.
Shalimar turned the key in the ignition and peeled out of the driveway, laughing as she thought of the expression that Adam might have conjured up when he heard her peel out. She told Emma, who also burst out laughing. Emma looked back and tried to see if Adam was still there, but with no such luck. They were already too far out on the road to see. She turned back around and closed her eyes for a minute to relish in the sweet freedom she felt at that very moment.
Shalimar looked at Emma and couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked in the sunlight that shone through the vehicle's windows. Emma's hair seemed to glow an even more beautiful shade of red, with hints of gold streaks in them. It ran down the side of her face and spilled out over her shoulder, stopping just beneath the shoulder blades. Her face was illuminated by the light, which made her look like a complete angel.
Suddenly, Emma opened her eyes and turned to face Shalimar, catching her eye. Shalimar inwardly took a deep breath as she gazed into Emma's eyes. They seemed to dance with amusement and shone more brightly than usual. Shalimar tore her eyes away from Emma's and put her concentration back on the road. She didn't want to cause a car accident and she surely didn't want Emma to see her turning red after being caught staring at her.
Emma, on the other hand, was caught by surprise when she met Shalimar's eyes. She wanted to gaze into them forever but Shalimar had turned her attention back onto the road. Emma had sensed something in Shalimar but couldn't quite put her finger on it. She pushed it aside and decided to look out the window instead.
For a few minutes, there was complete and dead silence as they both tried to collect their thoughts. Pretty soon, the silence became unbearable and Shalimar couldn't take it any longer, so she turned on the radio. Rock music blasted out of the speakers and seemed to kill the tension that had so rudely invaded the car.
Emma decided to be the first one to speak. "So how far is the concert?"
Shalimar thanked Emma in her head for breaking the silence and answered. "Well, the place where it's being held is only a day away. From the pace that I'm going, we should be there by tonight."
Emma gawked at her. "Tonight?! Then why the hell did we leave this early?"
Shalimar threw Emma a big Kool-Aid smile. "So we can have some fun at the clubs! And not to mention prowl around the city late at night. I've heard it's quite interesting."
"Shalimar, you are one crazy person. But that's what I like about you. You sure know how to have fun!" She stared out the window at the trees before the realization hit her. "Shalimar!! Does Adam know about this? Did you tell him?" She looked at Shalimar and waited for an answer.
"No, he doesn't know. He just thinks that it's somewhere out of state. The funny thing is he didn't even bother asking. That's not like him."
Emma slumped back against the seat and sighed. "He's going to kill us when he finds out. At least we have our com-links in case of trouble."
"Yeah, see? Everything's working out just fine. No need to worry."
No sooner than Shalimar said that than the back tire from the right side blew out, causing such an exploding sound that Emma shrieked and jumped up, bumping her head on the top of the car. Shalimar quickly pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine, waiting for it to completely die down before getting out to inspect. Emma rubbed her bruised head and got out of the car too, making her way to Shalimar who was already bent over examining the damage.
"Is it a flat tire, Shal?" The young telempathic searched Shalimar's face for an answer and soon received one. Not the one she was hoping for though.
"More than you know. Not only did the tire get busted but it looks like the remains of it seem to be stuck up in the car. It looks like it's dislodging something also."
"Can you fix it?"
Shalimar frowned. "Nope. I haven't a clue about cars. The only thing I know how to do with it is drive and put gas. Other than that, I'm at a complete loss. From the looks of it so far, I have a feeling that this is definitely not good. All that we can do now is call the tow truck service and await the bad news."
"Do you know how much it's going to cost to get a new tire? Why don't we just call Adam? He can come get us and drop us off at the city where the concert's being held."
Shalimar looked at Emma like she was crazy. "Are you crazy or something? Adam'll kill us when he finds out what we did to his car! Not to mention that he doesn't know exactly how close we are to the city. If we call him, we'll both be walking to our executions. You don't want that, do you?"
Emma thought about the pros and cons of their situation for a long while before deciding that Shalimar was right. They couldn't risk calling Adam or he'd take away this once-in-a-lifetime chance away from them. Which, in Emma's case, wasn't a good thing. Especially now that they had backstage passes, which was better than anything that had happened in her entire life next to being recruited for Mutant X.
She turned to Shalimar. "You're right. Let's not call Adam. Just call the tow trucks and tell them about our trouble here on the road."
Shalimar went over to the passenger side and reached in through the window to get the cell phone that was lying in between the two front seats. Before dialing, she turned to Emma. "Umm, Emma? What's the number to the tow truck service?"
Emma turned to Shalimar and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I thought you did."
Shalimar closed her eyes and a huge sigh escaped from her lips. This can't be happening. Not only are we stuck in the middle of nowhere, but I can't even remember the damn number to get us out of here. What else could go wrong?
"Shalimar? I don't think this was exactly the best spot to stop in. Look!"
Shalimar opened her eyes and followed Emma's finger to the spot she was pointing to. Her eyes opened wide as she saw three BIG snakes make their way out of the holes that were in the ground and slowly advance upon them, their yellow eyes looking at the both of them with a sadistic glance.
Emma wasted no time. She screamed and ran behind Shalimar, holding on to her shoulders, certain that the blonde feral would protect her. Shalimar flashed her golden yellow eyes at them, but it didn't work. The snakes kept on advancing and Shalimar was certain that she saw one of the snakes smirk at her. She slowly backed up, Emma still behind her. Emma couldn't take it anymore and jumped onto the back of the car, quickly making her way to the highest point of safety as she could. Right now, she didn't care if anyone driving by thought she was crazy. She just wanted to get out of there, and fast.
Back on the ground, Shalimar kept on trying to ward them off, but to no avail. They kept on slowly advancing, never taking their eyes off their target, their forked tongues slithering in and out of their mouths. Shalimar bumped against the car and realized that she couldn't back away any longer. The biggest one of the three reared up its fat head and looked as if it were ready to strike. Emma, still on top of the car, yelled for Shalimar to get away.
Shalimar turned her head towards Emma and said she could handle them. That was a big mistake. The snake took that opportunity of distraction and hissed, jerking its head forward, mouth open and venom at the ready to bite the feral.
"Shalimar, look out!!"
Shalimar turned around and was greeted with the sight of a striking snake heading straight towards her.
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Ooohhh!!! What do you think is going to happen? Will Shalimar be fast enough to dodge it? We all know how fast snakes can strike. Maybe she'll make it, maybe she won't… As always, don't forget to review! All comments welcome, including flames.
