Finally time for an update! This has been in my head for a week now and I have finally found the time to write it all down. Let me know what you guys think!

Chapter 5

Brooke's Pov

Home? Well this place is pretty sketchy, eerie. Candles were the only source of light in this underground castle. It was open, spacious, and it looked like a forgotten palace. Well, besides the mis-matched furniture covering the ill-raised flooring it was. In the center of this place was an abandoned fountain, the tiles worn and cracked, junk lying inside of it. This place was a disaster, yet to say the least, it was equally stunning.

"Like it?" Paul called out, popping the bubble of my new found thoughts. Without looking to him, I nodded, offering a small smile.

"I've never seen anything like it." I whispered.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome." Marko said. Wait, did he hear me? 'No, that's impossible' I thought, mentally shaking the idea away. In the corner of my eye, I saw David give him a look. Not one of happy or kindred natured; but one that was a warning. And coming from David, it was pretty menacing. Choosing to break the awkward silence, I spoke up.

"So…" heads turned to me. "how did you guys find a place like this?" David grinned.

"Earthquake." He started. "The big one, 1906; that's when this place went under. Abandoned, if you couldn't already tell." He said, raising his arms and looking around. "Now it's ours."

"So check it out Brooke." Paul said, glancing over. "Hey, why are you still up there?"

"Yeah!" Marko exclaimed. "Here's where the party is!" he laughed, turning on some rock music.

I sent them questioning gazes, but looking around I saw that I was still on the rugged steps towering over everyone at the entrance of the cave. Slowly I shrugged, looking back to Paul. Putting one foot forward, I started my decent, but lucky me, I tripped over the uneven ground on the last step and started to fall. Crap! I thought, bracing my arms out, ready for the impact. I never hit the ground; instead two bracelet covered arms reached out, and soon I was back on my feet, one of those arms still close at my side.

"Who taught you how to walk?" Paul scoffed, looking at me from the side.

"Maybe she just fell because she's head-over-heels for me." Marko grinned from the fountain. Great.

"In your dreams, Shirley Temple!" Paul laughed.

"Shirley Tem-? Oh you're going down Twisted Sister!" and with that they lunged at each other. I walked away from their brawl, over to where the others were sitting.

"Are they always like this?" I asked. Dwayne smirked.

"You saw them yesterday, didn't you?" how would he know that? Cautiously I nodded. "Well, yes, they are always like this." He somewhat sighed.

"Idiots." I said looking out to them. David snickered.

"That's for sure." He said, lighting up a cigarette. After that we were silent, watching their little fight. With their crude remarks and taunting insults; it was quite amusing. This was all interrupted when David spoke up again.

"So, what brings you to Santa Carla, Brooke?" he asked, a small grin on his face. This even grabbed the attention of Marko and Paul, for they stopped fighting, and looked to me. What do I say? Lie? Don't lie?

"Family." I said simply, hoping they would believe it and move on.

"Oh come on," David started. "there's got to be more than that." I hesitated. "Well, I guess this means there is something more." He said smoothly. Everyone looked to me, silently asking to continue.

"I-I used to live here." I said. They nodded. "And just came back with my sister. We moved away when we were younger." I finished, trying not to think of all of the memories.

"Why did you move away?" Dwayne spoke up.

"It's complicated." I said quickly, a bit defensively. Their gazes were intense, and I stood up. "Hey, I better be off-"

"Why?" Paul blurted out. David continued.

"Yeah. Don't you want to stay? We were just about to eat." Paul sent David a gaze that not even I could comprehend. David shrugged it off, and turned to Marko.

"Marko? Food." Marko too stood, and glanced around.

"Only if Brooke says she'll stay." He said, looking to me. The others soon followed his gaze and once again, I was the center of attention. Well isn't this just my night. Slowly I sat down, and said the first thing that popped into me head.

"Fine; I'll stay a little longer." Marko grinned and nodded, then exited through the cave entrance. All was quiet until we heard the roar of a motorcycle fading off into the distance.

"Ah, finally some peace and quiet." Paul sighed, lounging in one of the couches. "It's moments like these that make life worth living for." David snickered.

"Sure, that's the Paul we all know." He said, rolling his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"One of Paul's 'happy' moments is when he's got a handful of joints and a beach-bunny at his side. Not this." He said simply.

"Well, that's a shocker." I said stiffly. It didn't surprise me one bit; why would Paul be any different than that? Just another stupid guy on the boardwalk… This seemed to cause a riot to David, and even Dwayne, for they started to crack up. The only one who didn't seem as amused was Paul. Instead, he was looking off into the distance, not daring to meet my gaze. Was he, dare I say the word, embarrassed? No, not Paul. Not Mr.-Macho-Man-Paul. Not Mr.-I-don't-give-a-shit-Paul. That's not possible.

We all sat there in the awkward silence until we heard the sound of a motorcycle pulling up. The engine died and soon Marko was bounding down into the cave.

"Who's hungry?" he hollered down. "Because I sure as hell am!" he appeared with some large boxes of food.

"The Chinese place was closed, so I grabbed the next best thing." He said, pulling out a box of pizza. "And trust me; riding back with these was no walk in the park. He opened a box, and inside laid a giant supreme pizza.

"It's better than nothing." David mused, grabbing a slice and passing the box along. The others agreed, and too grabbed pieces. The box came around to me, and I took one of the slices into my hand. It was hot. Not cold, not warm, but HOT. I had to keep replacing the hand that was holding it because it was just too hot. The guys didn't in anyway react like I did, but instead ate and ate like nothing was wrong. What is their deal? I asked myself. Slowly I raised the pizza and took a bite. Too hot! I mentally screamed, hoping they wouldn't notice. But lucky me, they did.

"Is there a problem?" David asked.

"Too hot." I answered, dropping the slice into my lap.

"Hm…" he said. "I thought you would have noticed that you're eating bugs." What? Looking down, no longer did I see a hot piece of pizza. Instead, it wasn't even pizza anymore.

Wood lice covered it like cheese, eating away the crust like it was a tree. Crawling beetles replaced the olives, all on top of the lice. Green peppers were taken by the place of grasshoppers, bounding to and fro, and rolley-pollies were curled up into groups, looking like sausage. Without a moment of thought I threw the heap off of my lap and onto the floor. Looking up, curiosity covered the guys' faces.

"Too hot Brooke?" Marko asked after a moment, a smile covering his face. "Looks like you need a new piece." He looked to the ground, and I followed his gaze. Where that once gross piece of bug-topia lay, was replaced by an average slice of pizza.

"This has got to be a joke…" I murmured, blinking.

"What was that?" David questioned, grinning. I shook my head. "Anyway," he started, "you do need another slice. How about it?" he asked, opening another box. At first I thought it would be alright; boys was I wrong. The whole pizza was covered in bugs, and it was a million times worse than one slice alone. I was going to be sick, and stammered back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I yelled at no one in particular, standing up.

"What do you mean?" Marko asked cheekily.

"What do I mean? I'm sick of this!" I emphasized, and stormed over to the entrance.

"Don't be that way!" Paul called from the couch. I turned and raced up the rigid stairs, before hearing one last "Brooke!"

Paul's Pov

"Nice David." I scowled.

"It was just a little fun." He retorted.

"Hell, some fun that was!" Marko laughed.

"I agree with Paul." Dwayne said. "And now she knows where we live. Smart move guys." Now David scowled.

"Paul, go fix this." He said.

"Why me? You are the one who had to play the trick!"

"You are the one who took interest in her. Go fix it." He said in his 'all mighty' voice. This is starting to piss me off.

"No." I said.

"Yes." He said, his eyes glowing red, his fangs elongated. "Go now!" he stammered, and if looks could kill, I would fall to a pile of ash onto the already torn up floor.

Without another word I got up, and raced to the bluff. Well this is going to be a blast.

Brooke's Pov

I made it to the top of the bluff before I heard another person behind me, hearing the creaking of the wooden stairs under the weight. I turned quickly on my heel, ready to take off.

"Brooke, wait!" I sighed, turning. Paul stood there, his chest heaving, his eyes wide. "Don't go." He said, reaching out his hand.

"Why not?" I scoffed.

"Come on. They were just playing around." He sighed, shaking one of his hands through his windswept hair.

"Well, I don't want to play!" I retorted. "Why couldn't you have just left me alone? I would rather be home right now! And of all the girls on the boardwalk, why did you pick me to be the victim of your stupid games?" I huffed. His expression quickly changed to amusement. Here I was, mad as hell, and he simply looks amused? What is his problem?

"Victim? Nice choice of words. I think that would be better used as someone who has been raped or murdered here in Santa Carla. You know it's the murder capital of the world right? Anyway, I think being 'victim' to David's bug games is not nearly as bad as you think it is. Plus, you agreed to come." He said smugly.

"But that's different. I couldn't get home because it didn't look like my truck would go anywhere anytime soon!" I raged on.

"You still could have said no." he said calmly. What could I have said to that? What retort would be clever enough to tell him off? That's right, nothing. So instead all I could do was look at him, trying to catch my breath.

"Hey." He said after a moment, looking out to the ocean. "I'm sorry, okay." Did I hear that right? I was lost for words; of all people, why would he apologize?

"Uh…" I stammered. He looked to me.

"Yep. That's right. I'm sorry I dragged you here. You probably would have had a better time watching the grass grow."

"That's not true." Did I just say that? "I have a short temper, and it's been a long day. That's all. I should be the one to apologize for blowing up in your face." He didn't say anything. "So, sorry." I sighed, turning.

"Wait." He said. "You want me to give you a ride?"

"I can walk. You've done enough." I sighed.

"Come on, I insist. It's the middle of the night and you don't know what could be out there."

"Exactly. I don't trust you." I said, turning to him. He smiled.

"Good. Don't trust anybody out here. It will keep you from being on a missing person's flyer."

"Thanks for the advice."

"No problem." He shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, and don't trust me. I can get you home, and you can forget about tonight."

"What about not trusting you?" he shook his head.

"Well, it would be smart if you didn't. But I can guarantee you a safe trip home if you want."

"You're so confusing!" I deeply sighed. "Trust, or don't trust?"

"Both." He said simply.

"Both?" he nodded.

"Do you want to get home?" He asked. I nodded. "Well come on then!" he said taking my hand and leading me over to his bike. Without thinking I got on behind him and we were off. So many thoughts filled my head then.

What if I don't get home? What if I end up like Taylor? What if I end up like my parents? What if I never see the sun shine down on me again? Why did I have to meet him? Why did I have to meet them all? Why can't I just have stayed in Colorado? Now I'll never see Taylor again. Its official, I was freaking out by now.

"Brooke?"

Great, now no one will know I'm dead, and no one will probably care. I'll just end up like any other person who comes to Santa Carla. What happened to rational thought?

"Brooke?"

Everyone will forget about me. Taylor will be off with Colin and won't ever think of me again. The house will go back into ruins. Why is all of this? Because I had to get back onto Paul's bike. A stranger. He is a total stranger!

"Brooke!"

I blinked my eyes and looked up. Paul looked at me like I had grown two heads.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a small smile covering his features. All I could do was nod my head. "Alright, good. We're here." Here? Looking around, I saw my house. He had gotten me home. Phew. Wait, he had gotten me home? How does he even know where I live!

"Brooke?" he asked again.

"How did you?-" he sighed.

"I kind of followed you home last night…"

"You what! Now whatever trust I had has been diminished."

"Told you not to trust me." He said simply.

"Yes, but I didn't know that I would have to deduce you down to stalker."

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked. All I could do was stare at him wide eyed. Is he cracked! Yes, yes he is. Without a doubt.

"Are you going to go inside? Or just stay on the bike and give me the opportunity to go back to the cave with you still there?" he asked, laughter filling his eyes.

"Uh, I-I-"

"Say no more!" he said, cutting me off. "You look exhausted Brooke, you need some rest." With that I was detached from the bike, and was swept into Paul's arms bridal style. So much for my personal bubble. He carried me up the steps and dropped me at the door.

"Uh, thanks." I said, opening the door. Before I had the time to blink I was brought back into his arms and he marched into my house. He set me down at the couch and kneeled down.

"You're crazy." I blurted out.

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment…"

"To me it was." He said smiling.

"What are you on?" stop Brooke before you get yourself in trouble! He thought a second.

"Plenty of things. But I can promise you I have been sober for a good two hours."

"Gee that helps."

"Anytime." He said standing.

"So, are you going to go or are you going to give me the opportunity to kick you out?" I asked. Once again, he smiled.

"I will be off then." Paul said, walking to the front door. Once there he stopped and turned. "Brooke, one more thing." I nodded for him to continue.

"Remember, don't trust anyone." And with that he was gone. A moment later I heard the roar of his motorcycle and him hollering. Soon it faded of into the distance, alongside me fading off into oblivion; one phrase repeating itself in my head.

"Remember, don't trust anyone…"

Sorry that it has taken me forever to do this. Hope you enjoy the twist with the pizza, because even I get tired of the Chinese food bit because it overused. Let me know what you think, and give me ideas of how to continue. Much love, Crimsonsky132