The blazing sun woke up Butch first. He looked over to check on Blake; and she was missing. He bolted straight up and scanned the camp. He then looked over to where she initially was and found her a few feet away. And he had to contain his laughter, too. He saw that Blake was still asleep, and she had her arms around Frank's neck in handcuffs; as for Frank, his was around her waist and cuffed as well.
He quietly woke up the rest of the guys and told them to not to laugh or say anything until he said so. Once the gangs had gathered around Butch, and muffled their laughter, Butch called out in a loud voice, "Rise 'n' shine, love birds~!" Blake and Frank opened their eyes from both his voice and in confusion. And let's just say, Frank sounded more like a woman more than Blake when he screams. The camp started bursting in laughter from their reactions.
Blake and Frank tried to get out of each other's arms but soon realize they can't due to being handcuffed together; and ankles cuffed as well. "Frank! I swear ta God! Ya better give me a good ass explanation fer this!" she yelled, her face tinted with red. "I-I-I-. I swear! I ain't got no idea how dis happened! Don't kill me!" The more they struggled, the more they now realized that not only were they cuffed together, but Frank and Blake's neck and belt loops, respectively, were clasped with the chains. The gangs kept laughing.
During their struggle, Blake noticed a pair of black boots and pants right behind Frank. She looked up and saw the lanky silhouette of a certain British spirit man. She couldn't see the smug smile on his face as he raised his hands like he was putting two heads together and mouthing "Kiss kiss~."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Wait
...
...
...
He did this?!
...
...
...
...
...
Boy. Was she mad as Hell.
"Why you-!" Blake growled through her teeth as she jerked her hands up, completely forgetting about them being cuffed together. Once she jerked them up, the force brought Frank's face (and lips) right on Blake. She fell backwards and made Frank go on top of her. If there were tomatoes around, their faces would be redder than those.
The laughing stopped and was replaced with whooping and whistling. Lamia had already disappeared and placed the keys in Jake's back pocket. By chance, Jake had reached down in his pocket and found the keys.
"Knock it off already! Where th' hell are th' damn keys?!" Blake yelled wanting them to stop. Jake stood up and, in a sexy cowboy way, made his way over to them, spinning the key ring on his finger. He sported a smug look on his face. "Ya knoow~, if I dose letch'alls go, wouldcha consider-"
He didn't even finish his sentence once Blake gave him a 'Say it, I'll kill you' look. The red head rolled his eyes and set the two free. Blake curled up in fetal position while Frank bolted up immediately and hid behind Butch. "B-Butch! P-Pleease don' let her kill me!" he whimpered hiding his face behind his bonnet. Butch chuckled. "Ya migh' wanna give her time b'fore she'll do that," he said jokingly.
Lamia came up to her again and tried to not laugh at her muttering. "You done, deary~?" he chirped. Blake turned her head to him and got up, still red in the face. She gave him a pissed off look before putting her hat on and walking away from him. She hung her head low but she was able to bark out, "Get packin'! We're ditchin' this stupid ghost town!"
But there was one thing she didn't forget, however.
"But b'fore y'all do, fin' any leftover wood an at least burn th' bodies… An' dig up three graves while yer at it." She said the last part while glancing at Freighter and Ray, and the two got straight to work. The guys were starting to bring in the dead bodies and piling them up on top of the wood pile.
Butch was getting his things pack when he noticed Blake sitting on the steps of the bank awaiting for Japhet to return with game. The bird came back with a rabbit and dropped it in her lap before perching on her shoulder. He watched as she sported a sort of smile and nudging Japhet's white feathery crest with her index finger, and proceeded to skin the rabbit.
Butch walked over to her and sat right next to her. "Ya like birds, don'cha?" he asked. The teen looked up from the rabbit and replied, "Yeah. I always did thought it'd be pretty cool ta be a bird, ya know?" Butch nodded and the two looked up and saw an incoming murder of crows circling from above. "It's jus' the fact that they can fly so freely, while we…" she said, "... we're jus' stuck down here on this godforsaken earth…"
Butch looked down for a moment and back to her, who was still looking at the crows. "But still… that'd be pretty cool, righ'?" He thought about that for a while before smirking and putting a hand on her shoulder, making her look at him. "Only you coulda though' 'bout that, right?" Blake smirked and replied, "..Eh, yeah, sorta."
Still keeping his smirk, Butch gently patted her back and said, "You dream a lot. I can tell. An' tha's jus' you, kid." Blake replied, "...Well, yeah-"
"Er, madame?" called out the voice of a certain Italian. Butch and Blake turned their heads towards the bank's doors and saw Edgar pop his head out the doors. And he looked like he either just saw a ghost or was lost. "I, uh, I hate to-a interrupt your little conversation, but, em… You-a might wanna check this out…!" and went back in. Butch looked really confused. "Where th' Hell'd he come from?" Blake shook her head. "I don' e'en know…"
She stood up and went in Edgar's direction with Butch following suit, and called out his name. The two entered and the first thing they noticed was bodies aligned perfectly. U-Up here!" Edgar called out from the second floor. Blake went for the stairs and climbed up. "Were they like that when y'all were here yes'erd'y?" Blake asked. "I have-a brought Scuzz with-a me to confirm to you that I am not-a crazy!" Scuzz came up from the ledge. "It-It- It's true, boss!" he called out.
Butch asked, "All o' dem were like this?" "Not like so…" Edgar said shaking his head. "An' fro' what it-a looks like, it couldn't-a been done by one sane person. They had to-a been a total nutjob to even make them all so… so…"
"Wha'? Ungodly?" Blake finished. Edgar nodded. "Si! Like that!"
Butch and Blake saw that some individual bodies were laid out like they were being crucified and they were enclosed in a pentagram.
"This is way beyon' crazy from wha' it looks like…" Butch muttered. Scuzz sat on the railing looking over the main floor of the bank when they came around the bend. "So what is it yer tryin' ta make us look at?" Blake asked. Edgar pointed over the ledge and let the two come over and see what he was talking about.; and it was something they were not expecting.
They couldn't see the pentagram from the main floor but they could definitely see it from above. The pentagram was six pointed, and on the points were the six bodies. The center had one sole body. And they were all laid down like they were on a crucifix.
"Y-Ya see! We.. We ain't crazy!" Butch shook his head. "N-No. Yer fine… Blake! Y' alrigh'?" Blake wasn't paying attention to any of the background noises. She had her focus on the pentagram. She knew she had seen it from somewhere. Blake still didn't hear Butch say her name again and again, but the sound of an Aussie did.
"Boss-mate!" Blake looked down at the doorway. "Boss? Where'd ya- Oh there ya are. Wha's up wit' all o' this?"
That's when she had an idea.
"I dunno, but can you do me a huge favor?" He nodded his head rapidly. "Yeah! Wha'?" "Alrigh' I got a book in one o' my bags on m' horse. It's a pretty thick one. Could you go git fer me?" Walliwitz gave her a thumbs up along with a toothy grin (not to mention the noticeable tooth gap) and went out. Edgar and Scuzz looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "You can read?" Edgar idiotically asked. Blake gave him a look and said in a sarcastic tone, "No I jes' have blank pages an' I jes' think o' words…" The two didn't know whether to be scared or confused. The answer came with a smack on the head along with a "O' course I can read, ya ding-bats!"
Edgar rubbed his head. "Well that was quite-a rude…" he said. Blake rolled her eyes. "Shut up," she said.
…
…
…
"Joe! Anything?... Joe. Can you hear me?" Joe opened his eyes from his vision. He looked up and saw Latham Cole looking at him. Joe gave Cole a grin as he got up from the couch and said, "I'm terribly sorry, master Cole. I was just… enjoying my vision~."
Even though Latham had told Joe not to address him as 'master', he got to the point where it never occurred to him to say anything about it. A spider Joe considers his pet came crawling up the table and onto Joe's hand. Cole shuddered.
"How do you know you can see so well?" Cole asked out of curiosity. "I left one of my dear spiders back at where I used work. It allows me to see anything from just about anywhere." Cole nodded. "So how did you manage to set up all of that? To let you see the girl?"
"He had me do it! And that was by far the most putrid thing he could've made me do!" Joe and Cole turned and saw a 5'8" tall, blue eyed, brown-grey haired, British man with a cane (not to help him walk or anything, just for the hell of it). "I hate those bloody spiders, and those damn scorpions..." he ranted to himself. He wore a black suit with a creme colored shirt. His hat was small and black, matching his suit. His suit, however, was covered in blood, and not only did he look tired, but he was pissed.
"Oh! And to make me get my new suit all dirty, Mr. Montezuma, was completely unnecessary! This suit was made from the finest wool of Ireland; and you know well the expenses I had to go through to get this made!" Joe just rolled his eyes in annoyance like a teenager being lectured by their parents. "And quite frankly, Mr. Montezuma, there were better ways to let her know you were there than to bloody wreck havoc on that town!" Joe snapped his fingers. "And I also-" and his mouth was shut tight, unable to move it; and unable to let him talk.
((A.N: I imagined Dr. Davison being portrayed by David McCallum aka Ducky Mallard of NCIS. Just go with that, m'kay?))
"I'm sorry, Dr. Davison, did I give you permission on how to carry out my plan?" Davison shook his head and gave him a look of 'I get your point'. Joe turned back to Cole. "Now. What were you saying, master Cole?" Cole gave him a blank look for a second before remembering his question. "Ah! Yes! What about the girl? Are you gonna do anything about her?" A spider crawled up Davison's cane and he became disgusted.
Joe explained to him, "I need her to come here. It's the only way I could see her suffer for myself for what she has done." Davison flicked the spider over in their direction and signed, 'You aren't considering killing her, are you?' Joe nodded and said, "He quenches for blood, Davison~. He needs it to live on~."
"I forgot to mention: Did you by chance see if Butch and any of his men were there with her?" Joe hesitated. "I'm waiting." He replied, "...He's with the girl… Along with his own." Cole shook his head. "I knew there was somethin' with that man when he left with her. Just like you said." Davison got their attention again and signed, 'From what it had sounded like, Butch must have formed some sort of bond with her. It would be hard for him if you killed her.' Cole protested, "We need to get rid of that child soon! No. Make it now, Joe! If you think she's the cause of all this nuisance, then I suggest you-"
Joe snapped back at him with, "You must not underestimate us! The minds of a sociopath must be incomparable to that of a sane man. She needs to know what my life is like now! From the time of the massacre, she has to live that experience!"
Cole had nothing to say after that. Joe sighed heavily and got out a cigar from the drawer of his desk and he lit it. "Los siento, senior… But you are right. I have a strong urge to kill her right there…" He took out a blueprint paper of the Clarton Bank and began to sketch the pentagrams from memory, which was accurate as hell.
"If you ask me, I would much rather have a personal encounter with her... I'm the type that needs to see the full, personal experience of pain from another person." Cole stood there and said, "I see..." Then, Joe asked Cole the one question he had been keeping in mind for a while. "Unless, you would like to help me. To help me get rid of that demented child." Joe got out a nice, brand new revolver from his drawer. "This gun, master Cole, was made from the finest silver. And the silver used to make this came directly behind you~." Cole looked out and back to Joe. He hesitated on his decision to assist him.
...
But of course, he agrees to help. "If killing her is the best way to make it look like she never even existed, then I shall be of assistance." He takes the revolver and replaces his one revolver in the holster. Cole looks at Cole in the eyes and says, "Now what?" Joe gives Cole a smile. A smile that only Davison could tell he is definitely up to something. Something that is no good.
He picks up the blueprint of the bank and says, "Now... I warn them~."
...
...
...
"Blake, are you-a positive that penta-whateverit-a-is is even in that book?!" Edgar asks out of impatience. Blake had been flipping through the thick book for about ten minutes and has found nothing in it about the pentagram. She closes the book and stands up to stretch her back. "Rrrgh... Nope! It ain't in here. Bu' ah know ah saw it somewhere!" She says.
As Blake, Edgar, and Butch converse about the situation, Walliwitz and Scuzz decided to kill time checking out the bank... Or at least what was left over of it.
Walliwitz found a broken paper weight and examined it. He smirked as he awed it. He turns to Scuzz and shows him the paper weight. Scuzz just chuckles. Scuzz didn't know what to do, so he walked up to one of the bodies and, out of boredom, got a piece of wood from a support beam and started poking the body. 'Somethings jes' gotta go li'e tha'...' he thought.
Suddenly, the circle began to glow.
Scuzz jumped backwards and whimpered to himself. He went and grabbed Walliwitz and pointed to the pentagram , saying, "W-W-Walli...! Wh-wh-wh-wha th' hell i-is that?!" Walliwitz gave a 'what the hell' look and said, "I shoul' be de one askin' ya tha'!" As the two argued, Edgar, Blake, and Butch turned around to see what the commotion was about.
That's when they noticed the glowing pentagram. "Now what did you-a two do?!" Edgar asked out loud. Scuzz and Walliwitz stopped arguing, looked at the trio, at each other, back to them and shrugged. Just then, two lines came out from the pentagram, connecting the two pentagrams beside it, which then repeated itself for the rest of the pentagrams. This kept going until the lines reached the bigger one on the main floor.
They all came to the railing and watched the unusual phenomenon unravel. Edgar had a look of slight realization mixed with uncertainty. "I don't-a know about you, but that-a looks like some sorta count down," he said.
'Count down?...' Blake thought. Then it hit her.
Blake gripped the railing tightly... And in the scared as hell way. She was too nervous to move away and out the door. Butch was the first one to see her reaction to Edgar's thoughts. "You okay, kiddo?" Butch asked raising an eyebrow. The rest turned and saw her. "...N-No," she muttered. "Why not?" asked Edgar. He and the rest of her gang have no once seen her so scared before. "... This thin's like a time bomb. It's gonna blow..."
...
...
...
"You sure this would work?" Cole asked as he and Davison watched Joe perform his black magic ritual. "If possible, the explosion will be only done onto anything that is dead. It won't harm anything living, however..."
That was the last thing Cole needed. "Just get it over with!" Joe smiled and carried on with the ritual.
...
...
...
"Oh so now you-a recognize it! Bloody fantastic!" Edgar exclaimed. When Blake told them that it was a self-destruct spell, Scuzz and Walliwitz were out the door faster than lightning. "Well ya know my memory ain't all tha' grea', Ed! So don' go blamin' me fer anythin'!" For Edgar, that seemed like a vague answer, so he protested, "Blame you for what?! Causing a setback for your-a slow processing?"
Blake stopped in her tracks, turned and walked up to the blond Italian and said, "Ya know wha'. Why doncha take tha' ol' pers'nal opinion o' yers, shove it up yer ass, an' jes' zip yer screaming howler!" Edgar looked at her in an insulted way. "An' I mean that in the most caring way possible," she finished. Edgar was silent for a moment before saying, "So in other words-" "Shut th' hell up, Ed," Blake finished.
Edgar and Blake stared at each other for a long while, the countdown coming closer and closer to detonation. "You-a mind getting out of the way," said Edgar in a tone Butch couldn't understand. Blake's response:
"Fo' what? Yer fancy lil' rich attitude or yo rich-ass self?"
"Both. To be-a precise."
"Fine then, Edgar…"
"Now move, Blakely…"
"Uh, guys."
Edgar and Blake turned their attention towards Butch. "De place's gonna blow in, like ten seconds," he reminded, pointing his thumb back at the pentagram. Butch has handled situations like this, but at this sort of moment; just no.
As rude enough as he is, Edgar blurted, "My pleasure~" and shoved Blake down the last few flights of stairs. Blake caught herself as Edgar tipped his hat and smirked like a scalito and left. Butch picked her up by the hand and ran for the door just as the pentagram hit the center.
From the train, Joe was telepathically able to watch his former workplace go up in flames from his time-bomb black magic. The explosion caused Butch and Blake to go flying. The shock wave also caused the others to go flying backwards. Butch held onto Blake tightly until the aftershock wore off.
Once it had worn off, Blake could only hear the ringing inside her head from it being so loud. She didn't hear Butch asking her if she was alright. "Mmhm?" Her hearing cleared up and she was able to hear "Ya alrigh'?" from Butch. Blake shook her head to get rid of the feeling and muttered, "Y-yeah. I'm fine…" The gangs recovered and saw the bank now engulfed in black and gold flames. Blake took a step closer to the fire and could have sworn she saw a figure within the flames. The figure, however, died out before she got any closer.
Whatever that figure.. and explosion was all about, she knew one thing; someone wants them dead. Or maybe even her.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Edgar picking up something from the ground. "Ed. Whadderya doin'?" she asked Edgar. Edgar quickly looked up and saw her coming towards him. He immediately stood up straight and stuttered slightly, "Oh! W-well, uh... Nothing..." Blake then gave him a look of 'Don't lie to me...' He gave in and said, "Just... collecting my treasures." Blake immediately looked confused. 'Treasures? De hell ya talkin' 'bout?"
Edgar pulled out at least $300 worth of money from his coat pocket. She looked at him in complete shock. "ED WHAT TH' HELL?" she exclaimed. The Italian shrugged innocently. "Well, you-a know me... I can't-a help it..."
Blake gave him a couple of bitch slaps... and a kick in the crotch.
…
…
…
"Well? What happened?" Latham asked rather impatiently. Joe looked up to Cole and said, "Well, the girl is spared along with the men." Cole shook his head and said, "Well that was a waste of perfect black magic and-" Joe snapped immediately, "And what did I say exactly?!" Cole looked at him in shock. "I need her to be alive! I need her to fulfill my powers! Is that clear?!" Cole remained silent. Joe took out a cigar from the desk drawer and lit it, apologizing, "Los siento, master Cole. I know what you said is quite true. But I have my own motives."
Cole could only nod his head and accept the apology. The two men then looked over to Davison, who was still muted by Joe. Joe smiled and said, "Oh I'm sorry, Davison." and snapped his fingers. Davison became unmuted and gave Joe the lecture of his life. "For God's sake, Mr. Montezuma! Why must you do that every time! You could have told me to shut the bloody hell up instead of using your little black magic-finger-snapping!"
Joe rolled and Cole smirked. "And don't you roll your eyes at me, Mr. Montezuma! I swear, you're like a child sometimes. It's always the same with you! You and your little assumptions." The British doctor began to pace in the car. "I warn you, I'll do the same! For example, when you are asleep, I'll just assume you are dead and bury you far away from this mine!" As Davison kept on ranting, Cole murmured, "Exactly how did you meet him again?" Joe shook his head and quietly replied, "It's… a long story."
((A.N.: Oh God I am so sorry for not updating this as much as I used to earlier this year! ;n; I've been caught up with not only school but my swim training's been back up and it's been getting harder for me to even write this story! I apologize again and please be patient with me for the next chapters! ^^))