I finally get another chapter up! I tried to incorporate Megan's birthday into this, but sadly it wouldn't work out with the plotline. But her birthday's tomorrow along with Antonio Banderas! Mwahaha! Also, I'm starting community college classes next week, so chapter updates may be even sparser!
Megan and Tawny had lit several candles around the living and dining areas and set flashlights nearby in case they needed them. Overhead the storm was poring down hard and occasionally there was a flash of lightning accompanied by thunder. Everyone just sat around trying to amuse themselves with something or other. Ragetti and Pintel were looking through the vast DVD collection and snickering at some of the titles and covers. Beckett sat in the recliner rocking slowly and looking deep in thought. Megan and Tawny were playing a weird sort of air hockey on the dining table with sponges and a coaster as Elizabeth and Norrington watched. Jack was content to lie on the sofa with his hat over his eyes. Garry had hopped up and snuggled next to him, purring.
"I win," said Tawny as the coaster flew off the side of the table and hit Norrington in the chest.
"No way," said Megan. "That went off the side. It's supposed to go my way."
"As if," scoffed Tawny. "You're just mad becau--" Just then everyone froze as the tune "Greensleeves" reverberated through the air. One by one, everyone's gaze turned to Jack. Slowly, Jack lifted the hat off his eyes and dug through his shirt pocket and extracted a cell phone.
"Hey! That's mine!" said Megan, going up and snatching it from him. Everyone watched as she answered it. She spotted everyone looking at her and put her finger over the mouthpiece. "Would you mind?" Everyone went back to what they were doing, but extended an ear towards the phone conversation. Ragetti and Pintel stared openly, fascinated by the little contraption by Megan's ear. Jack and Garry stared up at Megan from their place on the couch and Beckett glared at her because she was standing in front of the potted plant he had been staring at. "Uh-huh…yeah…I'm fine but we don't have power. Sure. Really? Wow. Yeah, sure. Okay, bye." Megan hung up and caught the glare of Beckett. "What?"
"Would you mind?" said Beckett, waving his hand at her as if to shoo her away. She made a face at him and went back to the table.
"That was my mom. She said that it's storming like crazy over there and the news channel says that there might be a hurricane heading this way," said Megan. Everyone except the cat looked up with wide eyes. Ragetti's eye even popped out of its socket. "I'm gonna check the breaker and see if we can get power." She left the room and Garry leapt off of the sofa and batted at Ragetti's eye.
"Oy, kitty! Give that back!" yelled Ragetti. He lunged at Garry, who dodged and batted the eye behind the couch and squeezed in after it. Pintel and Ragetti tried to scramble after him, nearly knocking over Beckett in the recliner. Tawny jumped up from her place at the table and ran over to them.
"Hey! Stop that! It's a wooden eye! It's not like the cat's gonna eat it!"
They heard a click coming from the wall behind the TV and then the lights flickered on. A moment later, Megan walked back in and raised an eyebrow at Ragetti and Pintel, who both had an arm reaching blindly behind the couch.
"Oy, can ye get yer cat offa me eye?" said Ragetti. Megan made a face and hurried to the couch, successfully knocking over Beckett, who gave a muffled scream as he fell out of the recliner. He glared and rubbed his butt as he got to his feet.
"Garry! Let go of that eye right now! You don't know where it's been!" said Megan, peering behind the couch. She saw Garry with the eye between his teeth.
"Meow!" The cat promptly spit it out and batted it away, where it hit Megan on the hand. She shot up from the floor.
"Eew! EEW! It touched me!" said Megan, doing a "grossed out" dance. Ragetti snatched up the eye, spit on it, and replaced it in its socket with a squelch.
"You do know that's disgusting, right?" said Tawny conversationally. Ragetti just grinned. Tawny looked at the clock. "Holy cow, it's almost 11:00. I've gotta get home. See you guys tomorrow!" Everyone said their good byes and Tawny saw herself to the door. Once it shut behind her, Megan sighed.
"Better get you guys settled in," she said.
Easier said than done. Megan had to explain how to use the shower and sink not once, but three times. After that she was thoroughly annoyed that she still had to show them how to use a toothbrush. After that, she set about pumping up the air mattresses while everyone stood watching in wonder. Eventually, she filled four twin mattresses for Beckett, Norrington, Pintel, and Ragetti. Beckett and Norrington set up their beds in the loft while Pintel and Ragetti took their mattresses and nearly ran down Megan's old lady cat, Ning-ning, while mattress surfing down the stairs. Megan stormed down the stairs and gave the two a good telling off until Jack stopped her and sent her up to bed, reassuring her that he would take it from there.
Megan awoke abruptly to someone pounding on her door. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 6:30. She groaned, rolled out of bed and wrenched the door open. Standing there in the dark hallway was a very angry looking Beckett.
"Your cat," said Beckett disgustedly. "Ruined my new shirt!" He held out his pajama top and arm's length away from him and looked at it like it was bound to suddenly attack him. Megan blinked and then blushed when she finally realized that he was shirtless. Putting aside those thoughts, she took a look at the shirt that Beckett was holding.
"What happened?"
"You know perfectly well what happened!" said Beckett angrily. "Your cat…that—that brown one with all the colors—it vomited all over me!" A sound like muffled laughter came from the loft down the hall and Megan had to fight to keep a straight face.
"Um…wow, that's awful. She normally doesn't do that. I'm so sorry," said Megan in a sympathetic tone, trying to sound sincere. "Here—I'll clean that up for you." She took the shirt from Beckett, who practically ran to the sink to wash his hands the moment the offending garment left his grasp. She passed by the loft on her way downstairs and exchanged an amused glance with Norrington, who was lying on his side scratching Ning-ning behind the ears, who looked rather pleased with herself. A horrible snoring sound met her ears as she descended the stairs and she had to step over Ragetti who had somehow ended up sprawled out at the bottom of the stairs about five feet away from his air mattress. Giggling to herself, she threw the shirt in the wash and started on breakfast. Soon the smell of eggs and bacon drew everyone to the kitchen.
"Did everyone sleep well?" asked Megan, finally setting down plates on the breakfast table in the kitchen. There was a general murmur of agreement as everyone ate except for Beckett, who huffed grumpily. Megan smiled and was about to start on her own breakfast when a huge crash sounded from outside in the garage. Everyone froze and exchanged glances with one another. Megan's eyes widened in fear. "Does anyone have a sword or something?" The others felt along their belts and pockets for scabbards or knives, but they found nothing.
The noises in the garage ceased. Megan reached for the first weapon she saw, which was a frying pan. "Um…can someone back me up on this?" Pintel and Ragetti got behind her, wielding their forks and knives and grinning in anticipation of a battle. Megan took a breath, disarmed the burglar alarm and opened the garage door. The frying pan clattered loudly to the floor as Megan fainted and fell backwards. Norrington caught her before her head smacked the floor and they all looked apprehensively at the imposing figure of Hector Barbossa standing right in the doorway of the garage. He looked down at the fainted girl and then to everyone else.
"I've finally died and went to hell," he said.
Woo! Hector! Until next time, enjoy the spooky image of opening a darkened doorway only to find a big ol' scary pirate standing right there on the other side!