A/N- So I'm trying something new with this chapter. It's a little experiment, as such, and I'm curious to see what kind of reception it receives. What it is shall become clear pretty soon. Massive thanks to Guest for reviewing!
Chapter Three- Sorry, But The Party's Over
"For fuck sake, Seth!" grumbled Clarissa, stumbling after her best friend. "Slow the fuck down!"
"Hurry the fuck up, then!" he retorted, barely slowing down in his mission to get to the soccer pitch. "Jesus, Rissa, do you have to be so slow?!"
"Heels, Seth! Heels!" she shouted, slowing to a complete stop and bracing herself on her jean-clad knees. "Oh my God, I think I'm having a fucking heart attack!"
"We don't have time for this!" Seth shouted back, doing a U-turn so he could grab Clarissa by the arm and drag her along beside him.
"I hate you," she panted, dragging her feet along the floor. "What is it that you have to tell us that is sooo important that you have to tell us right now?"
"It's Jules, man," he answered, not tearing his eyes away from the entrance to the soccer field. "It's fucking Jules!"
"Oh for fuck sake," Clarissa sighed, not bothering to even question it further. Yet more deluded thoughts about Jules from Seth's deluded mind that would in no way echo anything that could possibly happen in real life.
However, Seth still insisted on dragging her on to the field with him, right into the middle of Evan's PE class. Fan-fucking-tastic.
"Evan!" the coach was shouting. "Get into the game!"
"Kick it over to me," Evan said feebly as Seth and Clarissa staggered to a running stop in front of him.
"Seth! Clarissa!" the coach shouted. "Get off the field!" Clearly it was not the first time the two of them had interrupted his lesson.
"Guys, get out of here," said Evan. "They're gonna make me run laps again."
"I don't even want to be here!" Clarissa complained. "I've been dragged here by force!"
"Dudes, just fucking listen, okay?" Seth panted. Running had never really been his forte. "Jules and her stupid fucking friend came up to me, and they asked me to buy her alcohol! But not just for her, for the whole party! Do you realise what that means?"
"That she's only fucking talking to you because you were probably stupid enough to mention that Fogell's getting a fake ID but passed it off as you being the one getting the ID?" Clarissa supplied. She'd known Seth way too long.
"No! It means that by some divine miracle, we were paired up and she actually thought of me!" Seth retorted. "Thought of me enough to decide that I was the guy she would trust with the whole fun-ness of her party!"
"Jesus fucking Christ," Clarissa muttered to herself, putting her head in her hand.
"She wants to fuck me!" Seth continued, oblivious. "She wants my dick, in or around her mouth."
"Are you fucking kidding?!" Clarissa exploded. "This is what you dragged me out of AP Biology for?!"
"Rissa's right, man," said Evan. "Did you ever think that maybe she's just using you to get her alcohol? She doesn't want your dick."
"See?" Clarissa said smugly, putting an arm around Evan's shoulders. "He knows what I'm sayin'."
"No!" insisted Seth. "She's got an older brother. She could've asked him but she asked me! She looked me in the eyes and said, 'Seth, Momma's making a pubie salad and I need some Seth's Own dressing'! She's DTF! She's down to fuck, man! P in vagi! She wants to fuck!" He grunted as he kicked a soccer ball away from the three of them.
"You chauvinistic asswipe," Clarissa said scornfully.
"Tonight is the night that fucking is an actual possibility!" Seth totally blanked her.
"You just sound like an idiot! You're not gonna be able to sleep with her, man," Evan said reasonably.
"No. Dude, I know," Seth said, quieter now. "I talk a lot of shit, okay? But she's gonna be at the party and she's gonna be drunk! And she likes me at least a little, enough to get with me! At the very least I'll make out with her! Two weeks, hand job. Month, blowjob, whatever, whatever! And then I make her my girlfriend! And I've got like two solid months of sex. By the time college rolls around, I'll be like the Iron Chef of pounding vag!"
"I'm gonna fucking kill you so hard, Seth," Clarissa warned. "So hard. Seriously. Sleep with one eye open."
"Can you guys get out of here and we'll talk about this later?" Evan begged as his soccer team appeared to converge around them. One of them was Greg, the typical high school soccer jock, and a typical asshole because of it.
"What the fuck, Evan!" he shouted, running past. "We're down two points!"
"Oh, shut the fuck up, Greggy!" Clarissa snarled at him. "It's fucking soccer! Take your two points and deep-throat them, cunt-biscuit!" She made a jerking off motion at her mouth.
"Fuck you, Clarissa," he snapped back, coming to a stop.
"Hey Greg, why don't you go piss your pants again?" Seth suggested mockingly.
"That was like eight years ago, asshole!" Greg riposted, clearly embarrassed.
"People don't forget," Seth told him as he ran off.
"Look, as much as I really, really want to hear the rest of this charming tale," Clarissa said sarcastically. "I told the teacher I was going to the bathroom so everyone now probably thinks I have fucking explosive diarrhoea."
-Superbad, 2007
When I eventually found Seth and James, Seth was stoned, as per usual, and James was pretty half-baked himself. I sat down next to James with a huff, and they both stopped laughing to look at me.
"Hey Mack, how're you enjoying the party?" James asked, putting his arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze. I did the same to him. James really was like the big brother I'd always wanted; huggable, protective and funny…if a total egotistical asshole most of the time. After being an only child my whole life, being part of the Franco family made me feel so warm on the inside.
"You've got a good shindig going on here, Franco," I said, looking around the crowded room. "But, er, if at any point you see Michael Cera bleeding from the arm or anywhere else, I can assure you was not my fault."
"Jesus, Mack, what did you do to him?" Seth groaned, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger.
"Nothing…bad," I said innocently.
"Mack." That came from James, who was putting on his 'serious brother' voice.
"Nothing that bad, I promise," I swore. They both still looked doubtful. "C'mon, y'all. Why you actin' s'picious?" I drawled at them, stealing one of James' signature lines from Spring Breakers.
"Alright fine," he laughed. "We believe you."
"Hey, gimme some of that!" I demanded, holding my hand out for the joint he was holding. He handed it over and I took a deep drag, but I inhaled wrong and started choking. "Shit!" I spluttered, handing it back. "It's like being back on the set of Pineapple Express!"
"Weird you'd say that," Seth said with a grin. "We were just talking about the sequel."
"Woah, woah, woah. Hold up," I said. "We're doing a sequel and you didn't tell me?! You dicks!"
"It's a work in progress," Seth explained. "We don't even know how it's gonna end." He went on to explain how Red would now be the main drug lord since Dale and Saul killed Ted, and Mandy, my character, now doubled as his bodyguard as well as his main assassin. Red wants Dale and Saul to assassinate Woody Harrelson because he's going to give a speech to make weed legal in the US, making Red's work useless, and if they don't kill him, then Mandy will kill them.
"And I sacrifice myself for Dale, and Red's gonna fucking eat me!" James finished enthusiastically.
"That's fucked up, man," I said, wrinkling my nose in distaste. "What the fuck kinda movie do you want this to be?! That's sick! Ew! You know what I think? I think Mandy should have like a total change of heart! Like, she sees Saul going to sacrifice himself and like steps in at the last minute to try to save him!"
"That could work," Seth said thoughtfully. "I like that."
"Oh yeah!" I cheered, high-fiveing them both. "Can you say 'character development'?" However, all my enthusiasm suddenly drained from my body when I heard the song that had just started playing.
When you're ready, come and get it,
Na na na na, na na na na, na na na na.
You ain't gotta worry, it's an open invitation.
I'll be sittin' right here, real patient.
All day, all night, I'll be waitin', stand by.
Can't stop because I love it,
Hate the way I love you.
"Oh, fuck no!" I spat out, clenching my fists. "Turn it off!" Wow. Find someone pettier than me, I challenge you. It had been a year since my failed Spring Breakers audition, and I still couldn't stomach the thought of Selena fucking Gomez, much less stomach the sound of her fucking little-girly voice.
"Woah, Mack, take it easy!" James said, flinching away as I had just screeched in his ear.
"The stupid bitch stole my role!" I yelled, grabbing his arm. "I can't listen to this! Turn it the fuck off! NOW!"
Not too long later, a little while after James had hastily changed the song, the entire party had gathered around Craig and his keyboard. Everyone, including myself, was pretty stoned and very drunk, so the mood was nice and mellow for us all. I was stood in between Craig and James, nodding my head to the notes Craig was playing.
"Now fellas, I want you to get real sexy right now," Craig said softly, playing out a few opening notes. "We're gonna sing to all the ladies. All the fellas go like this, in your Barry White voice: take your panties off," he sang.
"Take your panties off!" all the guys in the room sang back.
"Take your panties off!"
"Take your panties off!"
"Come on, Rihanna, take your panties off for me!" Craig crooned.
"Come on, Craig, can you fuck off for me?" she sang back, swaying her head in time with the music. Everyone cheered for her, followed by some laughing.
"I'll do one of them things," Craig replied with a cheeky grin. "What about the host of the party?" he suggested, looking at James, who had his arm around Seth.
"I ain't got no panties on!" James kind of shout-sung, closing his eyes.
"He ain't got no panties!" sang Craig. "Everybody!"
"We ain't got no panties on!" James, Seth and I yelled, some of the other guests behind us joining in.
"We ain't got no panties on!" repeated Craig.
"We ain't got no panties on!" the three of us continued, James now draping his other arm around my shoulders. We started dancing- well, I'd say bopping, actually.
"We ain't got no panties on!"
"We ain't got no panties on!"
"Ain't nobody got no panties on!"
"We ain't got no panties on!" At that point, you could mainly hear James shrieking over the top of everyone else.
"Ain't no party like a no-panty party 'cause a no-panty party don't stop!" Craig sang so quickly I thought he was about to explode.
"Fuck those panties!" yelled James.
"Fuck those…" I trailed off as everyone kept singing, as I realised that Jay had apparently vanished from the crowd. I removed myself from under James' arm and went looking for him, finding him leaning against a wall outside, smoking.
"Hey, dude," I said, putting my hand on his arm. "You alright?"
"I guess," he replied, taking his cigarette out of his mouth and exhaling the smoke.
"Jay, please try to have fun," I said desperately. "You're one of my best friends, and I hate seeing you all down and stepped on and shit."
"I told you I'd hate it here," he reminded me, stubbing his cigarette out on the wall.
"Is it that bad?" I asked gently. He nodded. "Maybe you just need a breather. Come on, I'm munchie-ing hard. Let's get Seth and go to this little convenience store a few blocks away. Okay?"
He sighed. "Yeah, alright." So we headed back into the house to find Seth, James and Jonah sitting around a coffee table with Mindy Kaling, Martin Starr, Kevin Hart and a few other people.
"Yo, Rogen!" I said loudly when we reached them.
"Hey Jay!" Jonah said, smiling. "Kenzie!" I nodded at him and smiled back.
"Oh, hey, hi Jonah," Jay said uncomfortably.
"Listen, we're gonna go get some cigarettes and candy from that store that's about four blocks away," I said, speaking solely to Seth. "You wanna come?"
"Sure, give me this much time," he said, gesturing at his joint. "This much joint time." And in that time, Jay left to go to the bathroom, only to return seconds later looking thoroughly revolted as he revealed he had walked in on Michael Cera about to receive a two-way blowjob. I hastily dropped the ice pop I'd been about to bite into.
It was about half eleven at night when we wound up on the streets of LA. It was dark, and starting to get cold, so I was pretty grateful for my pantyhose and leather jacket. Whilst Seth and I were making conversation, Jay stayed moodily quiet, keeping his hands thrust in his hoodie pockets.
"You okay, man?" Seth finally asked him.
"You seem even more down," I commented, frowning.
"It's nothing. It's just…you know, as soon as we got there, you both did what you said you wouldn't do," Jay accused.
"Hey man, back up!" I said angrily.
"What did we do!?" questioned Seth, sounding genuinely confused.
"You both fucking ditched my ass!"
"We didn't ditch you!" defended Seth. "Are you kidding me, man?!"
"We did not ditch you!" I said, glaring. "I said I was going to mingle! If you had a problem with that, you should have fucking said something, bro!"
"Yeah, and I was talking to Jonah and then you left to go have a cigarette," said Seth.
"Well, you know, my cigarette was an excuse," said Jay. "I really went outside 'cause Jonah was being a prick."
"Jonah was not being a prick!" Seth replied.
"Maybe you're the one being a prick here, Jay!" I snapped. "Jonah is so nice; he's trying his damn hardest to settle all this shit with you!"
"Oh my God, that's a thin veneer of kindness!" Jay insisted as we got to the convenience store. "Nobody's that nice!"
"Jonah is that nice!" persisted Seth.
"Serial killers are that nice!" Jay retorted.
"Just answer me one question," Seth said, in a clear attempt to change the topic. "Is Michael Cera's butthole as adorable as I picture?"
"Oh for fuck sake," Jay sighed, opening the shop door.
"Of all the questions," I said, entering the shop, blinking in the harsh light.
"I picture it looking like a little doughnut," Seth continued. "Like a little pink sprinkled doughnut." He recoiled at the sudden florescent light. "It's so bright in here."
"It is fucking bright," agreed Jay.
"I'm so high," groaned Seth as the three of us immediately went down the candy aisle.
"At least you guys can rub your eyes," I grumbled, pointing at my heavy eyeliner. I deliberated over the candy for a little while, eventually selecting a Hershey's bar. Meanwhile, as I headed over to the drinks chiller to grab a few cans of Arizona iced tea, I overheard a man arguing with the woman behind the register to let his daughter use their bathroom. The old bitch refused them, saying customers only.
"This cash register lady is mean," Seth whispered as Jay, clutching a bottle of orange soda, and I rejoined him. "I have anxiety, will you buy this for me?" He held out his Milky Way to me and Jay. "When I'm stoned, I can't do this."
"I got ya, buddy," I said, taking the chocolate. "Jay, you want me to get yours too?"
"Listen, I think I'm just gonna head back to Seth's place," he said apologetically. "I'm not really liking it very much over there at Franco's."
"Dude, come on," I said, starting to get royally pissed at his negativity.
"We want you to get to know these guys!" Seth told him. "That's never gonna happen if you don't put in any effort whatsoever, okay?"
"I hate it in there," Jay stressed. "I just want to drink some pop and smoke some weed." That was when an almighty shake rocked the whole store, the windows shattering behind us. Everyone in the store shrieked.
"EARTHQUAKE!" I screamed, clutching hold of Jay and burying my head in his shoulder, my eyes squeezed shut as Jay put his arms around me tightly. The shaking continued; I could feel it, could hear the sounds of glass smashing, of wood creaking, metal clanging, cars honking, Seth yelping in fear.
"Jay, what's going on?!" I yelled, refusing to open my eyes or even release the poor man from my stranglehold.
"Jesus Christ!" was all he said, sounding mesmerized. "Mack! Mack!" He tried to pull me off him, but I clung on. "Mackenzie, it's over!" He pulled a final time, and I did let go, brushing my hair out of my face. He was right; the shaking was over. The store was now empty, aside for me and him, Seth and the register lady.
Seth must have fallen over, as he stumbled to his feet and grabbed hold of Jay and I. "Are you okay?!" he asked us frantically. "Are you okay?!" I nodded, but Jay appeared to go into shock, unable to form any words at all.
"Did you see that?!" screeched the register lady. "What the hell-" Her words were cut short as a huge chunk of concrete ceiling fell down on top of her, spraying blood all over the back wall of the store.
"Holy mother of fuck!" I screamed at the same time Jay shrieked, "Oh my God! Jesus! Jesus!"
"Run!" Seth ordered. "Run, run!" So we did. Well, after I'd shoved my chocolate and cans of iced tea into my bag. It wasn't like the old bat would be doing inventory now. Jay and I jumped through the now-empty windowpane whilst Seth actually took the time to exit through the fucking door.
"This way!" Jay shouted, pointing down the main road. Well I sure as hell wasn't gonna argue with him. LA was in total chaos; people running all over the place, cars driving on the wrong side of the road, trees falling and fallen down, buildings were on fire and Jay, Seth and I had to make a dramatic turn to narrowly avoid being run over. The car in question flew past us and through the shop window, pummelling through exactly where we'd been standing moments earlier.
So what did the three of us do? Stand there like fucking morons, screaming at the car. "Oh my God!" spluttered Jay.
"Jesus!" Seth cried, pulling Jay and I out of the way so we avoided a second car ploughing into us. We stared as the car sped straight into another poor soul with a would-be-comical thunk noise. Cue more screaming.
"We need to fucking get out of here!" I screeched, turning on my heel and sprinting, the two idiots close behind me.
"Why the fuck did you being me down here?!" Jay yelled at me, and I shot him the finger as we side-stepped a shit-ton of sparks spitting out of a fallen power line. Still screaming, I might add.
"I don't know what's happening!" Seth bawled as a taxi frantically beeped its horn at us from behind.
"What do we do?!" I cried, fear coursing through me.
"We're going back to Franco's!" he shouted.
"Why?!" demanded Jay, so I punched him on the arm.
"Stop being a whiny bitch!" I yelled.
"Just run!" barked Seth. "Keep running!" We made a dramatic right-angled turn to avoid getting mown down by yet another car, which went smashing into the taxi that had just passed us and burst into flames.
"Oh my fuck!" Jay shrieked as the three of us clung together in a weird three-way hug-type-thing.
"We. Are going. Back. To Franco's!" Seth commanded, shaking Jay a little.
"Oh, goddamn it!" Jay groaned, and I had to fight the urge to trip him up several times as we ran the remaining three blocks back, and even as we reached the pavement outside Franco's, we still nearly got completely smushed by a passing fire truck.
"This way!" Seth was shouting. "We're almost there! We're so close!"
We burst through the door, gasping and panting, barely able to breathe. Everyone turned to stare at us as I pushed the door shut, limping on my now very sore feet. Fucking stilettos.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" James questioned us from his position sitting in his weird hanging bubble chair.
"Are you guys okay?!" Seth asked him. "There was a crazy earthquake! Did you guys feel that?!"
"That was insane," Jay said almost inaudibly, his hand over his mouth.
"I think I shit myself," I announced tremulously. I turned around and tried to look at my ass. "Seriously, someone look for stains. Come on, Franco, you must have felt it! It was huge!"
"Fuck no," he smugly replied. "We can't feel anything in here. This place is a fucking fortress!"
"That wasn't an earthquake, guys," Jay said quietly to Seth and me. "That was something way fucking crazier."
"What's crazier than an earthquake?" Craig asked, not even looking up from rolling his joint.
"There…there were beams of blue light coming out of the sky," Jay said jadedly. "And people getting sucked up into the sky."
"He's on hallucinogens," joked Aziz Ansari, and the dickheads around him all laughed.
"Come on, guys," said Jonah, stepping out of the crowd. "Don't bully Jay, he's a sweetheart." He looked encouragingly at Jay. "Keep going, man. What are you talking about?"
"There, there were people, and they were there, and they got sucked up into the sky," Jay explained, sounding more and more tired as he spoke.
"Jay, what are you talking about?" I frowned. I was so confused. I mean, I'd been there…and I hadn't seen any of this.
"Sucked up into the sky?" James questioned with a mocking tone. He spread out his arms to gesture around the room. "Nobody got sucked up in here!"
"I got sucked off here," Michael decided to pipe up, trying to give the blonde next to him a high-five; she just looked awkward and tried to move away. Everyone seemed to find this hilarious, but I just scowled. Man, I really hated that guy.
"No, okay, ask Seth! Ask Mack!" Jay insisted. "Guys, you were there!" he said to us. "Tell them!"
"Seth? Kenzie? What the fuck's he talking about?" James couldn't have sounded any less interested if he tried.
Seth laughed nervously. "I have no idea what he's talking about, honestly. Mack?"
"Well…I didn't really see what was going on…" I said lamely, because I wanted to support Jay, even if he sounded totally insane.
"Did anybody get sucked up into the sky?" James ridiculed, sardonically raising his arms and waving them a bit.
"I didn't see anything," Seth replied. "I don't know what he's talking about."
"Hey!" I hissed in his ear. "No need to be so dismissive, man!"
"You were there with me!" Jay said disbelievingly. "What are you saying?! All those people that were in the store with us, they just fucking vanished. Mackenzie, please back me up on this!"
"Jay, I really didn't see anything!" I said ruefully. "I had my eyes covered the whole time!"
"And I didn't see blue light sucking people up in the sky!" Seth said. "You sound crazy, man! We should just be lucky we're-" The house suddenly started shaking, the pictures on the walls rattling around and everyone gasping in surprise.
"It's not over!" shouted Jay.
"It's the aftershocks!" I elaborated. "Fucking earthquakes."
"Everyone, it's alright. Just a little tremor," James said calmly, standing up. "Party's still going. In-N-Out truck's coming in ten minutes!" I'm sure everyone's cheering would have lasted longer if the house hadn't been rocked by yet another quake or whatever the hell was going on.
"Oh my fuck!" Jay shouted for about the eighth time in the last hour, grabbing me by the hand and dragging me outside. This time, though, everyone had the sense to actually fucking listen to him, and the entire party came speeding out the front door after us. Even James came out, but he was mostly yelling at everyone to get off his new grass. But nobody was listening to him. Nobody was looking at him.
"What the fuck?!" exclaimed Jay as we stopped abruptly, starting up at the fireball that was the Hollywood Hills. All the screaming stopped. Nobody knew what to say. Nobody knew what to do. It was like the world had frozen.
I was the first to find my voice. "MY HOUSE! MY FUCKING HOUSE IS UP THERE!" I took a few shaky steps forward, getting ready to run, when Jay clamped his hands down on my shoulders and dragged me back to his side.
"Mack, are you fucking insane!?" he spluttered. I just looked at him through wide, tear-filled eyes. My house…my clothes…my furniture…my…oh my God.
"THE CATS!" I now screamed, struggling against Jay's hold. "Our cats are still there! Dear God, someone get the cats! Don't let them die!"
"Mack, stop it!" Jay grunted as he fought against me to keep me still. "It's…fuck! I'm sorry, but we can't do anything!"
"What the fuck?!" someone suddenly screeched, and I stopped fighting. We all turned to see Paul Rudd running towards the group, clutching a huge bottle of champagne. "Oh God!"
"Paul!" James shouted as the terrified man practically collided with him.
"What's happening?!" Paul cried. I was about to have a snappy comeback about how it was pretty fucking obvious what was happening when Michael stumbled out of the group and faced us.
"Alright, everybody, listen up! Listen up!" he yelled. "Who took my fucking cell phone, man?!"
"Michael, there are bigger things to worry about here!" I yelled back, gesturing at the Hills behind him.
He ignored me. "Martin, empty your pockets!"
"What?" Martin Starr said, frowning.
"I saw you in the bathroom, man!" Michael accused, pointing at him. "Kenzie!" Now he pointed at me. "Dial my phone!"
"Oh, for fuck sake, Michael," I snapped, but I pulled my phone out of my bag and dialled his number. It didn't connect. "I have no fucking signal, jerk-off! Deal with it!"
"Shut the fuck up!" he shouted hysterically. "It's unbelievable! It's unacceptable after all the coke I've wasted on you people!" Somewhere in the middle of Michael's rant the ground beneath him had started to crack. The crack began to split all the way up the grass behind him, heading in the direction of a streetlamp.
"I didn't take your fucking cell phone!" Martin insisted, which was when everyone noticed the crack.
"Mike!" everyone began to shout. "Mike! Mike! Mike!"
"Michael!" I screamed. "Behind you!" It was too late. The crack reached the streetlamp and the lamp came crashing down, spearing Michael straight through the chest. Blood spurted out everywhere, hitting Jason Segel in the face and spraying everyone else lightly too. I also got a face full of it, the red coppery liquid filling my open, screaming mouth. I spat it out, terrified and disturbed.
"What's happening to me?!" Michael howled. "What's happening?!" Everyone was screaming as the lamp began hoisting him up into the air, sparks flying everywhere. None of us could help him; he was fucked.
We all stared up in horror as Michael reached into his pocket and pulled out his blood-soaked cell. It was now playing his ringtone. I guess I'd found some signal.
"Oh shit, that's embarrassing," he sobbed. There was an almighty roaring sound and the earth physically opened up like the mouth of Hell, swallowing up the streetlamp and Michael. The hole got bigger, spreading towards the party.
People began falling in like dominos, bringing others down with them. Everyone backed up rapidly, but I watched in terror as Martin, Rihanna, Mindy and Jason were all swallowed up. I was rooted to the spot. People were running around me, and that was when I saw Jay fall too.
"Shit! No! NO!" I bellowed, making a run for him, but Seth and James each grabbed one of my arms and began to drag me back towards the house.
"No! No! Get off me!" I howled, trying to wrestle out of their grip. "Jay! Jay!"
"Mack, we're not letting you die too!" Seth said forcefully, he and James still pulling me towards the house but we were struggling against the tide of terrified guests, forcing us to stop.
"Kenzie, stop fighting us! Jesus!" ordered James, tightening his grip as they tried to wait for a gap to run, but I just writhed around even harder. There was a sudden cracking-squishing noise, and we gaped in disgusted shock as Paul crushed the head of James' assistant under his foot.
"Karen!" James shrieked whilst Seth just screamed like a girl, and I took the opportunity of them being distracted to tear myself from their grasp and sprint as fast as I could back to the hole.
"Seth, come on!" I heard James shout. "Kenzie! Get in the house!"
"Fuck you!" I yelled back. "I'm not leaving without Jay!"
"Fuck!" I heard him curse, but neither he nor Seth came back to get me. I reached the hole just as it grew another few feet, and I heard a voice whimpering from within.
"Oh my God, I'm gonna die!"
"Chris!" I shouted, and, panicking, I dropped to my knees and looked down into the hole. "Take my hand!" I reached down, but it was too late. The dirt shelf Chris had been clinging too broke away from the hole wall, and Chris went tumbling down into what looked like actual lava. The clump of dirt then smacked Martin, who had also been clinging to the inside of the hole, in the face, sending him spiralling down too.
"Shit!" I sobbed, scrambling back. "Jay! Jay, please, where are you!"
"Mack! Mackenzie!" I heard him yell, so I looked up and saw him the other side of the hole. I carefully made my way around, passing by Kevin and Aziz in time to watch Aziz get his arm cut off and fall, and to see a spasming Kevin go careening down into the hole too.
"Jay! Jay, I'm here!" I cried, collapsing next to where I could see his hand clinging to the entrance of the hole. I looked down, and thank God, he didn't seem to be hurt. There were only two people left clinging to their life down there; him and David Krumholtz. "Guys! I'll help you out!"
"I can't hold on much longer," David said weakly. "Jay, you have to reach out and grab me. You hear?"
"Okay, you take my hand, and I will swing you up to Mackenzie!" Jay promised.
"Yeah, and I'll pull you up," I swore.
"Are you sure?" David said. "I'm gonna give you my whole weight. I'm gonna reach for you, alright?"
Jay nodded. "Yeah, yeah."
"We got this, David! Just hurry!" I pressed.
"Are you sure you can do that?" he asked.
"I can grab you on three!" Jay assured him. "One, two, three!" He reached down, and I did too. Jay and David joined hands, and laughed in relief.
"Alright, buddy!" Jay said.
"Now I'm gonna…" said David. "I'm gonna swing up to Mackenzie."
"I got you, buddy!" Jay vowed.
"You're gonna hold my weight! All of it!"
"Okay, come on!"
"You can hold on to my full weight?!"
"I can do it!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Then hurry the fuck up!" I shouted. "I might fall any second!"
"One, two, three!" both men counted, but when David let go, he lost his grip almost instantly and went plummeting down into the lava.
"No! No!" cried Jay.
"Fuck!" I shrieked. "Jay, come on, you gotta take my hand! I can't watch you die too! Please!" Jay took my hand in one of his, and using our combined strength, him pushing himself up and me pulling as hard as I could, he got out. The force of the pulling/pushing sent both of us falling back on the grass with two separate oof noises.
"We're alive!" I gasped out, seizing his arms to stop my legs giving way.
"Holy fuck, we're alive," he agreed breathlessly, clutching my shoulders. We both turned, and only now did we take in the full scale of the hole that had just swallowed half of Hollywood's celebrities.
"Oh man," we both groaned.
A/N-So I'm trying this thing where, at the beginning of a chapter you see how one of Mack's characters fits into the films she's been in. Let me know how you like that, because it's the experiment I mentioned earlier. I'd really appreciate the feedback on that! So I hope you liked it, because the end has begun! Leave a review, and I'll update soon! Xx Gee xX
PS- Hey, you guys should go check out Starfire Tamaran's fic More Than Distance Between Us if you're a Franco fan! It's so good, and the characterisation is awesome!
PPS- Yup, reminder that Mackenzie's actress/model and the Polyvore page are linked on my profile!