Chapter Eight: United
Lita was lost; she admitted it. As she stood alone in the middle of the road, dressed in her black buckle pants and army green tank top, all she could think about was how lost she was.
Candice had told her what was happening. It seemed to far out to be true. At least, in her logical mind that was. Lita admitted it; she was the type that over analyzed things. But Candice had demonstrated her magical prowess to her, and Lita was inclined to believe it.
She had told her about a beautiful queen named Stephanie, whose king was waiting for her in the Land of Paradise. Until she is reunited with the king, it seemed as though beauty and this world would be lost. Especially if Vince made it there first with Queen Stephanie.
But the problem was that nobody knew where she was. Vince had ordered her abduction by his henchmen, Steve and Rocky, but both had since perished into the windows of time, and nobody had seen hide nor hair of them since the abduction.
Lita was warned of the wicked angels. Each of the girls' angel have an alter ego devil, so to speak, one that would bring them death, misfortune and destruction. With a nod, Lita understood. It was the only thing she understood in this messed up situation.
She looked around her. The sky was a pitch black without the presence of a single cloud, but with the presence of white dots that she easily identified as stars.
Slowly, unsure of the direction, she moved down the left leg of the road, where the cryptic arrow pointed downward.
Batista was aggravated. This entire thing seemed like a load of crock. But as he stood, dressed in his black pants and white muscle shirt, he realized just how cold it was outside. He had to guess the time at about two in the morning, and he wondered what his parents thought. He hadn't even gone home yet. For all they knew, he was probably still at school.
"Yeah, at school at two in the morning," he murmured. But with the way that his parents were – his mother worked nightshift at a grocery store, and his father was wherever, whenever, there was the good possibility that his absence wasn't even noticed.
Looking around, he was reminded of what Beth had told him. Cena, Randy, the new girl, and the cheerleader were out there somewhere.
And Lita.
He hoped she wasn't afraid of what was happening. This was happening so fast that it was making his head feel light, as though it were spinning on an axis.
He was tired. But they had the mission to work on. His friends were...fairies? What on earth were they? They were using angels, but angels don't stay in a place like this, do they? And then there were evil ones out there, but they had to be all together for the warnings. It was going to be a long night, he realized with a sigh.
He had to find the graveyard. He was pretty sure that the green sign that pointed down the hill would lead him there. So, he followed the gray stone road.
Maria couldn't believe this. She was standing alone in the middle of the road, arms crossed over her chest. She had to be taken in this top, she lamented, but quickly snapped back into focus as she heard somebody say, "Hey – you're the new girl, ain't you?"
She turned around. It was him! John Cena with those beautiful blue eyes and killer physique. She offered a weak smile.
"That'd be me."
"Been meaning to talk to you. What's your name?"
"Maria."
"Maria. John Cena. But you probably know that one already," he smirked.
"Yeah. You're probably the most talked about man at Stamford High," she confessed. "Do you have any idea what the hell is happening?"
"Your guess is as good as mine. I come to and there's Torrie with wings!" He laughed. "Like she's an angel." They laughed. "We gotta find the graveyard. You lost?"
"Yeah. Totally lost."
"Good. We'll be lost together," he replied and they laughed. They were looking around. "What if we went right?" she asked.
"Could be a spacious graveyard. And if all else fails, then we'll just go back," he replied. "Come on. Let's go." Together, the two of them walked down the road.
Randy Orton was jogging along the roads. He wasn't a fitness freak – he just wanted to get this over with. The faster that he got to the graveyard, the faster he could get the instructions, and the faster he could get the hell out of there and go home. He didn't want to be here anymore than the other five.
He had learned that Cena and Batista were there, too, and he was thankful for that. Coming to with Lilian, he figured he was going to be surrounded by women. But this wasn't the case as three of the angels had picked them out. Stopping at the fork in the road, he pondered which direction he should go. He hoped all of them led to the graveyard; after all, he didn't want to run back to try all the directions. This was going to be irritating. With a deep breath, he just kept going straight.
Layla was the first one to find the graveyard. She walked past the front gates, and pried open the black iron bars that led her to the eerie burial site. Grey-white fog danced around the tombstones and her knees like dancers as she shivered, moving slowly through the graveyard. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and she was shivering. She wished she had a sweater. Of course, had she known she would be on this stupid...journey or mission or whatever, then she would have dressed accordingly. That was if she had to. The last place she wanted to be was here.
She sat down on a tombstone that read "Foley", a regarded name of the past in this place, and waited. Hopefully, they would all show up soon.
She spotted John Cena and Maria walk through several minutes later. "Guys!" she called out. Victoria had already informed her that they were amongst the other five. Cena and Maria saw her.
"Hey!" Cena called back and Maria waved as they rushed over to her, Maria's boots sinking in the moist, damp grass.
"Good, we made it," Maria said with a sigh of relief.
"I'm glad. I feel like I've been waiting here forever," Layla replied. "Two minutes in this place is too long." They nodded in agreement.
"This is pretty fucked up, isn't it?" Cena asked. The girls nodded.
"With a capital F," Layla replied. She saw over Cena's shoulder as Randy Orton walked through. "Orton! Over here!"
They all turned as Randy jogged over to them. "Good, I went the right way."
"I have the strangest feeling that whatever way we took would lead us here," Maria told them. "We were supposed to meet here..."
"And we have no idea where we're going..."
"So they set this up," Randy panted. "This is so weak."
"I gotta agree," Layla replied. Randy gave her a smirk. As a football player, he was very familiar with the school's head cheerleader.
"Who else are we missing?" Cena asked.
"Lita and Batista," Randy replied, quickly looking them all over. "Lilian said she was here."
"Lilian? As in Garcia?" Maria asked. Randy nodded.
"Well, that's great," Layla replied. "Victoria told me you guys were here."
"I got Torrie."
"I got Mickie."
"I got Beth."
They turned to see Batista, staring around at the graveyard. He turned to the others. "Anybody agree with me when I say that this is messed up beyond anything I could have ever imagined?"
"Yeah," they all agreed.
"So it's just Lita now," Maria said.
"You mean, she hasn't made it here yet?" Batista asked, worried. "Think one of us should go out there and find her?"
"No. We've come to the conclusion that all the roads will lead here. She'll be here pretty soon. She shouldn't be too much longer now." As Randy said that, Lita walked through the main gates.
"Speaking of which, there she is now."
Batista wheeled around as she walked slowly through the maze of tombstones, arms crossed over her chest, staring around in fascination and fear as she approached them.
"I guess I can say that it's a good thing it's all people we know," Lita mused as she approached them. "Forgive me, but this whole thing is giving me the creeps."
"I have to agree with you," Batista replied.
"I think we all agree with you, Lita," Maria replied. "Do you have any idea what's happening?"
"Nothing more than what Candice told me, which I'm sure is what she told you."
"Candice?" Batista replied. "I didn't get Candice."
"We all have different people that brought us here. Candice didn't mention that."
"No, she spent most of the time pleading with me not to be mad. Forgive me, but how happy can you be when you wake up in a casket made of concrete?"
"Don't complain," Randy replied, pulling up his trackpants to the knee. It was chafed from the casket. "At least yours wasn't too small."
"You made it."
They all turned to see the six angels.
"What the hell are we doing here?" Cena demanded. The angels all looked at each other, as though to decide which one would tell.
"Have a seat," Candice replied. "This may take awhile."