Dwayne lunges for us and we all scatter back into the hedge, some of us climbing into the higher limbs while the others stayed close to the ground.
"Show your filthy little rat faces!" Gladys screamed, thrusting the weed hacker into the hedge as well, "Stay in the woods where you belong!"
With a bear on one side of the fence and two murderous humans on the other I felt at that moment that there was no way we could get out of this. A feeling of hopelessness washed over me.
"Look out!" Hammy jumped at me and pushed me out of the way as the tazer shot through the hedge and zapped Vincent in the chest. Vincent's reaction time was pretty good because he punched Dwayne in the face not a moment later.
I gasped and looked up at the hyperactive squirrel, "Thanks Hammy."
He smiled brightly and pulled me to my feet. The hedge above us was suddenly ripped open and the triplets were exposed. They screamed and Penny and Lou looked up at them in horror, "KIDS!"
They leaped from their branch as Vincent took a swing. Quillo and Spike were caught by their father and Penny caught Bucky before they all booked it towards the ground.
"Get down! Everyone get down!" RJ yelled, rallying all of the animals together near the roots of the hedge, "That's it! Verne get everybody out of here!" He leapt onto a close branch, "I'll distract him!"
"What?" I snap, running over and grabbing his tail so he couldn't run up the hedge.
"Are you crazy?! He'll kill you!" Verne snaps.
"I'm the one he wants! Just take care of your family!" RJ says, looking back down at us.
"You are family," I say sternly.
RJ looks at me, a surprised and happy expression really.
"So we intend to take care of the family. The WHOLE family. Now there's gotta be something we can do!" Verne says.
"There's no time!" RJ snaps and suddenly as if right on cue, two fireflies appeared above their heads and lit up like light bulbs before flying away.
Verne and RJ turned to each other, "Hammy!"
Hammy jumps and looks over at them, shaking slightly.
RJ grabs an energy drink from his golf bag and opens it with a click and a fizz.
"Am I missing something? What's the plan?" I ask urgently, wondering where they were going with this and how it would save RJ.
"Simple. We give Hammy the energy drink. He moves so fast time appears it has stopped. He goes over, turns on the Depelter Turbo, then comes back here," RJ says.
"Sure that takes care of Gladys and Dwayne but what about Vincent?" I ask in confusion.
"We'll need to get him to jump over the hedge to get there with Gladys and Dwayne. So…I'll prevoke him," RJ says simply.
"No! Bad idea," I say instantly, "What if he catches you!?"
"I'll need armor…" He says, tapping his chin before his eyes lock on Verne's shell.
"Just bring it back in one piece," Verne says, slipping it off and passing it to RJ who pulls it on. Verne attaches a fishing rod to the back of the shell so as to get RJ back if Vincent were to grab him.
RJ rubs his hands together, "Everything set? Ready Hammy?"
Hammy nodded and held the energy drink can in his hands shakily, "Y-Yep!"
"Okay, here I go…" RJ says slowly, looking up at the top of the hedge where he had to climb.
I instantly rush over and hug him tightly. He seemed startled for a moment and then hugged me back. My eyes ease as I frowned, "Promise you'll be safe. Okay?"
"I promise," He says, giving me a gentle squeeze.
Pulling back I give him a quick peck on the cheek so the others wouldn't notice. He seems a bit flustered as I smile up at him, "Go get em."
He smiled and gave a nod, climbing up the hedge instantly. He pushed his way out of the top and grinned, "Hey Vincent! You were right! With a spuddie, enough just isn't enough!" Then RJ bit down on one of the chips from his bag.
"RJ!" Vincent growled and leapt at RJ in anger. My eyes widened in horror as Vincent got over the hedge and locked his teeth around RJ's torso which was safely inside Verne's shell.
"Now Hammy! Go, go, go!" Ozzie yelled and Hammy chugged the drink instantly. My eyes locked on him as he twitched like crazy and suddenly he was gone and I darted to the top of the tree. From there I could see all of the lasers in the yard had indeed been activated and Verne instantly pulled on the fishing line, ripping RJ from Vincent's jaws.
RJ flew back and waved in Vincent before I caught him in. I smiled down at him, "That was one of the most stressful things I've ever done. And I wasn't even the one in a bear's mouth."
Vincent flew forward and landed on Dwayne and Gladys, setting off loud alarms and beeping.
"Well I'm okay. So you don't have to worry," He smiled back as the others gathered on the top of the hedge, all wearing protective eyewear ranging from sunglasses to hockey helmets. Verne handed us each a pair of 3-D glasses which we put on instantly and stood up.
"As long as you're around I'll always have to worry," I say and look down at Dwayne, Gladys and Vincent on the ground.
Gladys blinked, "Is that…?"
"The Depelter Turbo. Prepare for a lot of stinging…" Dwayne cringed back and the beeping got louder and became constant.
I felt something touch my paw and I looked down to see RJ holding it in his. My eyes return to the scene in front of us as I squeeze his paw back.
"No no. No no. No no no no nononononononoooo!" Dwayne yelled and suddenly there was a bright light that came from the machine.
I don't remember much after that. Just bright lights and lots of screaming. By the end of it all the three of them were locked inside a cage. Police cars began to show up soon after that.
We all removed our glasses and protective wear and everyone began cheering.
RJ looked over and grinned, "Come here, Hammy. Come here. You are a genius, my boy!"
"Oh thank-" Hammy way cut off when he burped, flying off the hedge and landed in the woods.
"And Verne," RJ says, turning to the shell-less turtle, "Don't you ever fix this shell!"
"Yeah. Glad it's working for you," Verne laughed before coming serious, "Take it off. Give it back."
The others headed back down to the clearing and the log but I sat on top of the hedge and watched the police take away Dwayne and Gladys before they put Vincent inside of an animal control van. After I was sure they were taken care of I turned back watched as the animals I had grown to love were celebrating and running around happily.
"Stellaaaaaaaa!" There was suddenly yelling from the other side of the hedge and a very flustered Persian cat burst through the leave, "Stella!"
"Over here, Tiger!" Stella grinned and waved happily.
"Oh, Stella!" The cat ran over and hugged her tightly before pulling back, "So this is the outdoor woods?" He looked around before looking back down at her smiling, "I like it."
"Come on, Big Boy. You're coming with me," Stella says, pulling him off so she could show him around. Or whatever else she wanted to show him. I didn't judge.
"You know, RJ…Um…"
I look up to see Verne approaching RJ, standing at RJ's side as he had his Golf Bag thrown over his shoulder.
Verne rubs the back of his neck, "Just for the record…If you told us all that food you were trying to get was to pay back an angry bear…We would have given it to you."
RJ looks stunned and confused as he looks over at Verne, "…Really?"
"Yeah," Verne says, "That's what families do. They look out for each other."
"Rebekah?!"
My ears prick up and I turn to see where the voice had come from. Then I recognised it as a bright red car drove up in front of Gladys's destroyed house.
Jason got out of the car and clapped his hands as he whistled, "Rebekah are you here, girl?"
I quickly return my gaze to my friends.
RJ chuckles breathlessly and looks over at Verne with a sad kind of smile, "I've never really had anything like that…"
"I know, but believe me," Verne gestures to them and smiles, "This. This is the gateway to the good life."
"Really wish you would have told me that sooner," RJ smiles genuinely.
"Yeah well that's bad communication. Also something families do," Verne grins.
I giggle slightly.
"Rebekah!"
Jason's voice startled me and I looked down from my spot on the hedge, seeing Jason approaching me from the other side.
"Do you wanna be a part of it?" Verne asks from the other side of the hedge.
The human was now right by the hedge and smiled up at me, "There you are! Baby girl, come down here."
From the cheers from the other side of the hedge I assumed RJ said yes.
I bite my lip and jump down off the hedge into Jason's arms. He caught me with ease and rubbed my head soothingly, "You gave me quite a fright back there! You jumped right out of my car and I thought I was going to lose you all over again." He began to walk with me back to the car.
I missed the way he used to hold me like this. Nights that we used to spend watching television in front of the fireplace. Just me and Jason. The two of us. The way it used to be.
The way it used to be…
I blinked and looked up at Jason. The smile on his face.
But that meant that there would be no forest. No Friends. No Verne or Hammy or Stella. None of them would be there. Not even…
"Rebekah?"
I looked over my shoulder at RJ as he emerged from the hedge. He looked confused and hurt.
"RJ…" I frowned and stared at him.
Jason stopped and turned to see what I was barking at. He smiled when he saw RJ, "Looks like you made a friend, huh?"
"Where are you going?" RJ asks, brow furrowed.
My eyes eased as I felt my chest tighten, "This is my Human…He found me. He's taking me home."
"But you're already home." RJ frowned. Verne and the others emerged from the hedge as well.
"Whoa. You made lots of friends," Jason laughed slightly, looking down at me. I saw his smile waver and he sighed, looking back at the others, "You don't want to come home with me…do you?"
I really wished Jason could understand me as I stared up at him, "I'm sorry. But home is where the heart is and that's not with you anymore. It's in the forest with my friends. Verne, Stella, Lou, Penny and the triplets, Heather and Ozzie and RJ. I love you, Jason, but you'll never be able to give me what they can."
Jason looked down and closed his eyes, kissing me on the forehead before setting me down. I turned and looked up at him as he sighed, "I knew one day I'd have to let you go…I just didn't think it would be so soon…"
He bends down and un-clips my collar, putting it in his pocket before he gets to his feet and walks back to his car. He just sort of stands there and watches me before ushering me to go back to them.
"Rebekah!"
I spun around instantly to see RJ running towards me. I grin and run at him too, "RJ!"
We met in the middle and I hugged him tightly, burying my face in his fur. I felt his arms tighten around my shoulders, "Please tell me you're staying! Because I just joined this family and I would hate to lose a part of it."
My smile grew as I pulled back and looked up at him, "I don't think I can leave your side ever again. You get yourself into too much trouble when I'm not around."
"So you're staying?" He asks hopefully.
"I'm staying," I say happily.
RJ throws his arms into the air and cheers, "She's staying!"
The other animals run over to me.
"Group hug!" Hammy cheers.
I am trapped in the arms of all my close friends and couldn't help but laugh and hug them back the best I could.
My eyes wander over to Jason who smiles weakly at me as he gets in his car.
"Goodbye Jason," I whisper.
He rolled up the windows and drove away. But neither of us knew at the time that we'd be seeing each other again sooner than we thought.
To Be Continued…
(A/N: Yes this is indeed the end of the story. I'm so sorry it took so long but I finally finished it after my friend kicked me in gear. Also, the reason the story says 'To Be Continued' is because I am thinking of making a sequel to the story. What do you think? I may get into the next story and won't slack off like I did in this one? No, I'll probably slack off just as much as I did in this one but I'll try not to at least.
The sequel will be about the last of their forest being cut down and the group heading off on a cross country trip to find Jason because Rebekah thinks that it would be a safe place for them to go. I dunno, probably something along those lines if you guys think it's a good idea.
Okay. Bye for now guys and thanks for sticking with me for so long even though I suck at updating! Love you all )