Mel stretched and yawned getting out of the hotel bed. It was early in the
morning and she had luckily remembered to bring a backpack of extra clothes
though she didn't remember how she had acquired the thing. She went to the
bathroom and took a long shower just relaxing in the water before getting
out and started to brush her hair. After she was ready to face the day she
checked out of the hotel, leaving the building with her backpack slung over
her shoulder. She looked at the morning sky with a slight sigh trying to
think of what she should do while she was in town. She had walked well into
the night to the town that was the next town down the road from Tay's
house. That's when she realized that she was actually a half an hour's walk
from her Grandmother's house. She smiled and started off in the direction
that her Grandmother lived. It was a nice place, a two-story house on top
of a hill. White with green trim and a perfect deck for taking pictures
something her grandmother loved dearly. She walked with a small skip to her
step and hummed a simple tune. She couldn't really remember if her
Grandmother's dog was still alive or not. She also vaguely thought about of
the group back at the house, they wouldn't really care that she had left so
unexpectedly, or so she hoped. After about twenty minutes of walking she
decided to run the rest of the way since she now really wanted to visit
with her grandmother. When she got to the town where her grandmother lived
she went to the nearest payphone having forgot her cell phone in her room
back at the house. She did however bring her pager, something all of the
girls were required to have when living with Tay for some reason. Mel
didn't really mind since she also needed the two items if she wanted to
live in her family. She quickly dialed the number she had learned by heart
and waited.
"Hello?" A sleepy voice said from over the receiver and Mel suppressed a giggle.
"Hello, Sam. Just calling to tell you guys that I went to visit some relatives so I won't be there today or tomorrow maybe. I'll call you if my plans change and stay out of my hall. Okay? Well I got to go. Bye." Mel said before Sam could say a word and hung up the phone. She then called another number she knew by heart.
"Hello Pricilla is speaking." A kind voice said over the phone. Unlike Sam who liked to sleep in her grandmother thought that if you slept in for all the time you missed sleeping you could have been doing something productive.
"Hello Grandma. I'm in town and was wondering if I could stay at your house for the night." Mel said with a smile in her voice.
"Of course. I'd love to see you Melinda." Her grandmother said and Mel really did smile.
"Well I'm on my way. I'll see you soon." Mel said looking at the road ahead of her.
"I'll see you soon as well. Good bye." Her grandmother said and hung up making Mel do the same. Mel picked up her backpack that she had dropped and then started off towards her grandmother's house.
~
Sam had stood there looking at the phone that she had hung up. Her tired mind processing what was said before she blinked. "TAY!" She yelled now fully awake. She went off to find her blond friend. "TAY!"
"Yes?" Tay asked coming out of on of the rooms in her hall. Sam went up to her noticing that Nat was also with Tay.
"Mel called." Sam said and the two that were listening looked at each other curiously.
"Well what did she have to say?" Tay asked raising both of her eyebrows.
"She said she was visiting some of her relatives and won't be back till tomorrow or the next day. If her plans change she said she'd call." Sam said and the two nodded in unison.
"Okay, Nat can you find Bega, Louie, Dan, or Bummer and find out if they know anything about this. Sam inform the cooks of Mel's absence then tell Becky and the others if they haven't already found out." Tay said in a matter of seconds, she had always been able to take control of situations if need be, which was why when the five where on a team she had been the captain. Now they were just friends, though they still beybladed they had all taken a different road. Mel became a rather famous blader of the streets not appearing in tournaments, Becky had a reputation in the tournaments, Tay and Nat became highly qualified researchers, and Sam just seemed to drop out of the sport to work on her dancing.
Nat nodded and took off to find Mel's cousins. It was only a matter of minutes she found the four sitting in the bar down in the basement and alone. They tended to only be around when Mel was present with the others other then that, they staid away from them. "What do you want punk?" Louie said going up to Nat and looked down at her. She smiled and pushed him slightly and he backed away to lean slightly on his pool stick.
"Mel went to visit relatives. Have you any knowledge of this?" Nat asked and Bega scratched looking up at her in shock.
"No." Bummer said from his spot on a barstool. "She must have went to a relatives on her father's side. If she was to go to one of our cousins or relatives places we would have heard of it by now."
"Hey doesn't her grandma live around here? Er, I believe her name was Pricilla Waite." Dan said and the other three looked at her before thinking a while.
"Yep that sounds about right. Her cousin Katie lives with her husband and young girl not far from here as well. About an hour's drive from her grandma's place though." Bummer said as the two younger guys looked at the two in surprise.
"She could have caught a bus to Denver to visit her Uncle Kai." Louie said and Nat nearly fell over in shock.
"She has an uncle named Kai?" Nat asked and the boys looked at her almost as if forgetting she had been in the room.
"Doesn't everybody?" Louie asked only to be hit on the head by his older brother Bega.
"No, and yes she has an uncle named Kai. He is her father's half brother if I remember correctly." Bega said his older brother and older cousin nodded.
"Well okay." Nat said and left quickly not wanting to hear more of the four guys jabber amongst themselves forgetting she was there. She found Tay quickly and smiled.
"Find anything out?" Tay asked only for Nat to sigh slightly loosing her smile.
She ran a hand threw her hair and sighed. "Well other then Mel having an Uncle named Kai, her cousin Katie and her family lives an hour away from her grandmother's house which isn't that far away from here. No."
"What about Kai?" Tyson asked coming out of nowhere making Tay and Nat jump at least three feet. "Sorry."
"Yes what about Kai?" Sam asked coming up obviously done with her assigned job.
"Mel has an Uncle named Kai." Nat said and Eddy came up.
"What? Kai's Mel's uncle?" He asked Tay and Nat sigh in aggravation.
"Kai I didn't know Mel was your niece." Mariah said as she and Kai stood there. Kai just seemed to want to break something.
"NO!! PEOPLE!! KAI IS THE NAME OF ONE OF MEL'S UNCLE!!! HIS NAME IS KAI WAITE!! NOT KAI HIWATARI!!" Tay yelled angrily and all of the occupants in the house froze.
"Thou scurvy tickle-brained hell-hated lunatic, to the fiery depths of hell with thee." Becky said as she dragged Enrique down the hall going to though him out of the window. Her patients had finally worn too thin with him and he was now going to be subjected to whatever injury the fall would be inflicted on him. She however stopped when she saw Tay standing in the middle of the hall just as angry as Becky. Becky dropped the poor Italian on the floor and glared down the object that was in her way. Tension quickly filled the hall and some of the occupants left. Sam and Nat however stood there ready to break up the fight that would come if the two geniuses didn't settle their matters in a civilized manner, much to Sam's regret. "Out of my way." Becky growled and Tay glared her down.
"You're in my way." The blond said crossing her arms.
"BRIAN!! TIMOTHY!!" Came the shout from down the hall and the angry pair looked down the hall to find none other then the black clad girl that had gone missing.
"What?!" The two yelled at her but she smiled.
"Hi." She said waving the smile never leaving her lips. The two girls looked at each other and sighed knowing arguing with Mel was pointless even if she always fought the loosing battle, she was always too headstrong to give up.
"Uh? Mel?" Sam asked completely confused on how Mel had gotten there.
"Yes I'm real Simon. I got a ride from my grandma after we had tea. She had to leave on a business trip and I didn't want to bug Katie and her family. Well anyway what has happened?" Mel asked leaning against one of the walls.
"Would you drop calling us those names? I mean you haven't done such a thing since last year sometime." Nat said only for Mel's smile to widen.
"Naw, I think this will be fun." She said and her features darkened evilly. "Very fun indeed." She said evilly and the other girls looked at each other.
"MARK!" They yelled at the now laughing girl who had taken off down the halls. She had come back and now caused all the blame to land on her. How she could cause so much trouble seemed inhuman.
Mel slid going down another hall having lost the other girls. She was on the search for someone and that someone was close. She knew they'd stay near the bar and since she was in the basement he would be around there somewhere. She was checking down the hall with the Ice Rink, the hall she didn't normally go down. Just then out of a room her pray came and she tackled him somehow landing on his chest. "Beatrice I have a favor to ask of you!" She said happily looking down at the shocked Bummer.
"W-W-What? Should I even wonder why you called me Beatrice?" He asked getting up and began to give her a piggyback ride since she jumped on his back.
"Knowledge for a favor." She said and he thought this over.
"What's this favor?" He asked and she smiled knowing he'd see things her way if he ever wanted to know why she called him Beatrice. She then whispered in his ear what the favor was. "WHAT?! Why? I mean." He said and she covered his mouth with her hand.
"Please? I'm begging you." She said solemnly or as solemn as she could get after eating sugar free mints.
"I'll see what I can do. I also take it you won't tell me why you called me that until I finish my end of the concordat." He asked shaking her hand.
"You got it Beatrice." She said and hugged him. "Thank you." She said before getting off his back and took off.
"What is she up to now?" Bega asked coming out of the shadows.
"Part of the favor was I wouldn't tell anyone." He said and Bega huffed.
He crossed his arms and glared at his older cousin. "You know she might as well kill us all now and get it over with. Just living around her is enough to make a man go mad. Half the reason why we beat her up."
"Ah! Don't be chauvinistic my good friend. Soon we will be able to leave and you can forget about her existence until the Fall Powwow. You know she that's the only time she has to be present." Bummer said with a small laugh.
"I don't see why she favors that demon." Bega said glaring in the direction Mel left.
"She understands that Mel still has some good in her heart. She sees it every time Mel comes up and stays by her side." Bummer said and began to walk away. "Just put up with Mel for a while she isn't that bad."
Bega watched his cousin go before frowning. "She has corrupted you more then you know." He said before also departing.
"Hello?" A sleepy voice said from over the receiver and Mel suppressed a giggle.
"Hello, Sam. Just calling to tell you guys that I went to visit some relatives so I won't be there today or tomorrow maybe. I'll call you if my plans change and stay out of my hall. Okay? Well I got to go. Bye." Mel said before Sam could say a word and hung up the phone. She then called another number she knew by heart.
"Hello Pricilla is speaking." A kind voice said over the phone. Unlike Sam who liked to sleep in her grandmother thought that if you slept in for all the time you missed sleeping you could have been doing something productive.
"Hello Grandma. I'm in town and was wondering if I could stay at your house for the night." Mel said with a smile in her voice.
"Of course. I'd love to see you Melinda." Her grandmother said and Mel really did smile.
"Well I'm on my way. I'll see you soon." Mel said looking at the road ahead of her.
"I'll see you soon as well. Good bye." Her grandmother said and hung up making Mel do the same. Mel picked up her backpack that she had dropped and then started off towards her grandmother's house.
~
Sam had stood there looking at the phone that she had hung up. Her tired mind processing what was said before she blinked. "TAY!" She yelled now fully awake. She went off to find her blond friend. "TAY!"
"Yes?" Tay asked coming out of on of the rooms in her hall. Sam went up to her noticing that Nat was also with Tay.
"Mel called." Sam said and the two that were listening looked at each other curiously.
"Well what did she have to say?" Tay asked raising both of her eyebrows.
"She said she was visiting some of her relatives and won't be back till tomorrow or the next day. If her plans change she said she'd call." Sam said and the two nodded in unison.
"Okay, Nat can you find Bega, Louie, Dan, or Bummer and find out if they know anything about this. Sam inform the cooks of Mel's absence then tell Becky and the others if they haven't already found out." Tay said in a matter of seconds, she had always been able to take control of situations if need be, which was why when the five where on a team she had been the captain. Now they were just friends, though they still beybladed they had all taken a different road. Mel became a rather famous blader of the streets not appearing in tournaments, Becky had a reputation in the tournaments, Tay and Nat became highly qualified researchers, and Sam just seemed to drop out of the sport to work on her dancing.
Nat nodded and took off to find Mel's cousins. It was only a matter of minutes she found the four sitting in the bar down in the basement and alone. They tended to only be around when Mel was present with the others other then that, they staid away from them. "What do you want punk?" Louie said going up to Nat and looked down at her. She smiled and pushed him slightly and he backed away to lean slightly on his pool stick.
"Mel went to visit relatives. Have you any knowledge of this?" Nat asked and Bega scratched looking up at her in shock.
"No." Bummer said from his spot on a barstool. "She must have went to a relatives on her father's side. If she was to go to one of our cousins or relatives places we would have heard of it by now."
"Hey doesn't her grandma live around here? Er, I believe her name was Pricilla Waite." Dan said and the other three looked at her before thinking a while.
"Yep that sounds about right. Her cousin Katie lives with her husband and young girl not far from here as well. About an hour's drive from her grandma's place though." Bummer said as the two younger guys looked at the two in surprise.
"She could have caught a bus to Denver to visit her Uncle Kai." Louie said and Nat nearly fell over in shock.
"She has an uncle named Kai?" Nat asked and the boys looked at her almost as if forgetting she had been in the room.
"Doesn't everybody?" Louie asked only to be hit on the head by his older brother Bega.
"No, and yes she has an uncle named Kai. He is her father's half brother if I remember correctly." Bega said his older brother and older cousin nodded.
"Well okay." Nat said and left quickly not wanting to hear more of the four guys jabber amongst themselves forgetting she was there. She found Tay quickly and smiled.
"Find anything out?" Tay asked only for Nat to sigh slightly loosing her smile.
She ran a hand threw her hair and sighed. "Well other then Mel having an Uncle named Kai, her cousin Katie and her family lives an hour away from her grandmother's house which isn't that far away from here. No."
"What about Kai?" Tyson asked coming out of nowhere making Tay and Nat jump at least three feet. "Sorry."
"Yes what about Kai?" Sam asked coming up obviously done with her assigned job.
"Mel has an Uncle named Kai." Nat said and Eddy came up.
"What? Kai's Mel's uncle?" He asked Tay and Nat sigh in aggravation.
"Kai I didn't know Mel was your niece." Mariah said as she and Kai stood there. Kai just seemed to want to break something.
"NO!! PEOPLE!! KAI IS THE NAME OF ONE OF MEL'S UNCLE!!! HIS NAME IS KAI WAITE!! NOT KAI HIWATARI!!" Tay yelled angrily and all of the occupants in the house froze.
"Thou scurvy tickle-brained hell-hated lunatic, to the fiery depths of hell with thee." Becky said as she dragged Enrique down the hall going to though him out of the window. Her patients had finally worn too thin with him and he was now going to be subjected to whatever injury the fall would be inflicted on him. She however stopped when she saw Tay standing in the middle of the hall just as angry as Becky. Becky dropped the poor Italian on the floor and glared down the object that was in her way. Tension quickly filled the hall and some of the occupants left. Sam and Nat however stood there ready to break up the fight that would come if the two geniuses didn't settle their matters in a civilized manner, much to Sam's regret. "Out of my way." Becky growled and Tay glared her down.
"You're in my way." The blond said crossing her arms.
"BRIAN!! TIMOTHY!!" Came the shout from down the hall and the angry pair looked down the hall to find none other then the black clad girl that had gone missing.
"What?!" The two yelled at her but she smiled.
"Hi." She said waving the smile never leaving her lips. The two girls looked at each other and sighed knowing arguing with Mel was pointless even if she always fought the loosing battle, she was always too headstrong to give up.
"Uh? Mel?" Sam asked completely confused on how Mel had gotten there.
"Yes I'm real Simon. I got a ride from my grandma after we had tea. She had to leave on a business trip and I didn't want to bug Katie and her family. Well anyway what has happened?" Mel asked leaning against one of the walls.
"Would you drop calling us those names? I mean you haven't done such a thing since last year sometime." Nat said only for Mel's smile to widen.
"Naw, I think this will be fun." She said and her features darkened evilly. "Very fun indeed." She said evilly and the other girls looked at each other.
"MARK!" They yelled at the now laughing girl who had taken off down the halls. She had come back and now caused all the blame to land on her. How she could cause so much trouble seemed inhuman.
Mel slid going down another hall having lost the other girls. She was on the search for someone and that someone was close. She knew they'd stay near the bar and since she was in the basement he would be around there somewhere. She was checking down the hall with the Ice Rink, the hall she didn't normally go down. Just then out of a room her pray came and she tackled him somehow landing on his chest. "Beatrice I have a favor to ask of you!" She said happily looking down at the shocked Bummer.
"W-W-What? Should I even wonder why you called me Beatrice?" He asked getting up and began to give her a piggyback ride since she jumped on his back.
"Knowledge for a favor." She said and he thought this over.
"What's this favor?" He asked and she smiled knowing he'd see things her way if he ever wanted to know why she called him Beatrice. She then whispered in his ear what the favor was. "WHAT?! Why? I mean." He said and she covered his mouth with her hand.
"Please? I'm begging you." She said solemnly or as solemn as she could get after eating sugar free mints.
"I'll see what I can do. I also take it you won't tell me why you called me that until I finish my end of the concordat." He asked shaking her hand.
"You got it Beatrice." She said and hugged him. "Thank you." She said before getting off his back and took off.
"What is she up to now?" Bega asked coming out of the shadows.
"Part of the favor was I wouldn't tell anyone." He said and Bega huffed.
He crossed his arms and glared at his older cousin. "You know she might as well kill us all now and get it over with. Just living around her is enough to make a man go mad. Half the reason why we beat her up."
"Ah! Don't be chauvinistic my good friend. Soon we will be able to leave and you can forget about her existence until the Fall Powwow. You know she that's the only time she has to be present." Bummer said with a small laugh.
"I don't see why she favors that demon." Bega said glaring in the direction Mel left.
"She understands that Mel still has some good in her heart. She sees it every time Mel comes up and stays by her side." Bummer said and began to walk away. "Just put up with Mel for a while she isn't that bad."
Bega watched his cousin go before frowning. "She has corrupted you more then you know." He said before also departing.