Sorry for this chapter not being up yesterday when I told you it would. Writer's block for most of Saturday, wrote some that night, writer's block Sunday morning, and stayed up until 2 am finishing the chapter! Yay!
In summary, the Team Crafted event was amazing. You can PM me for details, nothing super duper special... except that I asked them a question during the QnA... If they could write a fanfic, what would it be about? Most of their answers... no surprises here... Merome. I guess my next mini-series will be on Merome! Yes, the last super long story that I'll be doing for a while will be Legend Part 2. After that will be shorter stories with no sequels. Less stress on me and more new content for you guys!
Oh yeah, and Mitch remembered my name when I saw him again after the show. I also got featured on the Team Crafted website. No big deal.
This is a long, action-packed chapter for you guys to enjoy! Over 2 thousand! Yeah!
Mitch POV
"There it is! We're finally here!" I whispered loud enough for the others to hear. My eyes lightened at the sight of the bus, knowing that my wife would be on it and I would be the one to save her. Preston spun around and hastily shushed me by placing his index finger to his lips, eyes wide open. Rouge rolled her eyes, paying absolutely no attention to either of us, including Preston, our mutual acquaintance. She leaned her back against the wall, constantly glancing down at her nails for an unknown reason.
Ray's brother never officially introduced me to Rouge until a few minutes before we encountered the tour bus, so I didn't know much about her. On that day she left her long dark brown hair with red streaks down, and wore gray sweatpants and a sweatshirt… which I didn't understand for such an important event… Preston only told me that they talked over the phone but had a common enemy. As much as I wanted to know who their enemy was, I nevertheless focused on Ray.
We obtained the information from a local news channel, whose helicopter spotted the bus, revealing its exact location. I lead the way by car, obviously the best with direction, since Preston didn't seem to know what he was doing. Eventually we ended up parking four street blocks away and sprinting to reach a clear view of the bus, peering around from behind a large faded glass building.
I couldn't see much detail from afar, but one girl caught my eye in particular. Mid-length brunette, common for a percentage of young women. Brown eyes, also common. But what struck me was the way the man in all black dealt with the girl individually instead of the others. That's how I knew this girl was Ray. And the man in all black… Draco Kehtarin.
"Oh my god," a voice spoke directly into my ear, causing me to jump. I instantly turned to Preston, who seemed shocked even more than me. He took no caution in checking his surroundings. Rouge, however, spun towards the voice like a bullet, staring at an innocent girl straight in the eyes. The girl jumped, sending light brown hair flying off her back.
"I'm sorry!" the girl whispered, "It's just that you're TheBajanCanadian and TBNRFrags."
Preston chuckled, trying to keep in his nervousness, "Of course we are."
"Excuse me miss, we have very important business…" I continued for my friend, but the girl interrupted.
"My name is Laurel. I'm usually not this hyper… I know how to get on that bus without being seen."
Rouge perked up, glaring away from her polished nails and at Laurel. She squinted her eyes, unsure of Laurel's motives. She took her question carefully yet simply. "How?"
"I was on the bus with Rachael and Clara… and the accomplice forgot to put the blindfold on me. There's an entrance in the back…" Laurel turned towards the bus and pointed around it, "The hard part is to not let those criminals see you coming."
Rouge laughed, shaking her head. She turned to Preston, patting him on the shoulder, "Let me handle this." Rouge then brushed invisible dirt off the sleeves of her jacket, straightened up her posture, and walked away from Laurel, Preston, and I.
Preston gasped, "I didn't think she'd do it." He stepped away from the scene, covering his eyes with the exterior of the building.
"Do what?" I questioned, curious, "What is she gonna do?"
Preston stood quietly for a few moments before replying. "Rouge's gonna be a diversion."
"That means you two can get to the bus safely," Laurel pressured us on. She smiled and I smiled back. Frightened because of both me and begin near a crime scene, Laurel backed up and ran for her life.
"KEHTARIN!" Rouge screamed, waving her hands high into the air, "I KNOW YOU'RE IN CAHOOTS WITH LIA! TELL ME EVERYTHING SHE TOLD YOU ABOUT ME OR ELSE YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!"
Draco burst out laughing, sarcastically holding his hand to his stomach. "LIA TOLD ME NOTHING ABOUT YOUR SILLY GAMES WITH ALLISON, BROOKE, AND LUNA!" Ray strangely tilted her head and looked to the red head next to her, who just seemed annoyed with being held hostage. There was something that she and I didn't know about our old friends, Brooke being still a friend. To think Luna was once my girlfriend and she had secret connections to Draco…
"HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE GAMES?!" Rouge went on shouting. At that moment, I tugged on Preston's hand and we raced on the outskirts of the surrounding buildings until we reached the opposite end of the bus. Laurel was correct. A door, partially opened, waited for us, creating an entrance into the bus.
I pointed to the stairs going up onto the second floor. Preston gulped, let go of my hand, and shook invisible germs off. I smirked, motioning for Preston to take the first few steps. He shook his head. I smirked, motioning yet again for him to take the lead. Preston sighed by lifting his shoulders, exhaled, and placed his foot on the first step of the stairwell.
"YOU JERK!" We suddenly heard Rouge yell, "HOW DARE YOU TAKE ME UP HERE! I HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE KEPT ON A STUPID TOUR BUS WITH YOU AND YOUR BUBBLEGUM POP SIDEKICK!"
"I'm no bubblegum pop sidekick!" a squeaky voice rang, "My name is Tiff West and I'm a butt-kicker!"
My eyes widened and I held in my breath through my mouth, taking smaller breaths in through my nose. The comment made even the cactus, Preston, crack up. His left hand went directly to one of the metallic handrails and the right to his mouth in order to not laugh.
"You're no butt-kicker, you loser!" Rouge fired back.
Preston tapped my arm. My sight turned to him as he mouthed, "Shots fired!" I rolled my eyes. Exactly what Jerome would say… Speaking of Jerome… where was my bacca…?
At the thought of Jerome, Preston gripped my arm and raced up the stairs. We reached the top floor of the bus. Upon spotting Preston, Rouge, the only one not duct-taped, kicked a blue-haired girl's shin, sending her straight to the floor cringing in pain.
Ray and her friend turned their bodies around to find us at the back entrance, face to face with Draco.
"I see that moose-hugger Canadian and crybaby cactus joined the party, haven't they?"
"How dare you?! Let my sister go!" Preston finally had the strength to yell, his voice shaking. He puckered his face, spitting at Draco's. The young man wiped the spit off his face, angrily staring at Preston, who stuck to my side in fright. My first instinct was to push Preston towards Rouge, run up to Draco, and kick him to the floor with the side of my foot. But however, I didn't have enough courage to do that.
I looked to Ray, who was still in shock from my arrival. After a split second, she glanced behind to see a girl with curled auburn hair put her fingers to her mouth and let out a loud whistle. Everyone covered their ears except for Rouge, who knocked Draco down using her foot.
Knowing that Draco had been distracted, I raced over to Ray and cut through the duct tape around her wrists, leaving blistering red marks from the pressure on her hands. After seeing sparks of hope, Ray cut through her friend's tape and those of the other three girls. The girls rose to their feet. Two of them, obviously friends, took one nervous look at each other and ran down the stairwell to freedom.
"Well, goodbye Maggie and Lizzy," Ray whispered to herself, rolling her eyes. I could tell she wanted at least a thank you, but that wasn't good enough for them.
The girl with the auburn hair who whistled snickered, slammed her foot against the side of Draco's abdominal, gave a sly salute to Ray and I using her left arm, and secretly jumped over the edge of the tour bus. Confused, I prayed that the girl had made the jump and not fell five feet to her death. Ray motioned a thumbs-up, which made me relieved that the girl hadn't fallen literally and figuratively.
Meanwhile, Rouge and Preston were on the phone with the police station, trying to get Draco and Tiff arrested. Ray introduced me to Clara, her red head friend, and her co-star in Hit List. Oh yeah, she also got the part as the lead. Couldn't have called your husband about it before going on a tour bus with your new best friend? Maybe not.
Tiff groaned and cracked her knuckles. With the energy she had left, the girl lifted herself to her knees and glanced up to see Ray, Clara, and I staring at her.
"I'm sorry," Tiff stammered, "I didn't mean to do this. Please don't send me to jail."
"And why wouldn't we?!" Rouge shouted, infuriated with Tiff's actions. She held the phone in one hand, her other in her sweatshirt pocket.
"Cause it's not worth it," Clara replied, growling. Everyone else paused in their tracks, "Tiff isn't worth it. She's only a backstabbing, low-life, ex-best friend. I don't want to see her in jail… just get her out of my sight."
Ray tugged on my sleeve. I then realized that I was paying more attention to Clara and Tiff. Turning to my wife, I saw the pain on her face, "Can we please leave?" she mouthed. I nodded and took her by the hand. Rouge, Preston, Clara, Ray, and I had no problem leaving Tiff and Draco on the bus with bloody noses and black eyes. Although I felt guilty, I knew that the police would do nothing about the incident and we had to move on with our lives. At least no one had died.. or that would be trouble.
After an exhausting thirty minute drive filled with questions about the tour bus incident and Ray's callback, we reached the Team Crafted house. Rouge and Clara leapt outside the car instantly, chatting away about the stupidity of specific ex-best friends while Preston walked off to the side, thinking to himself. Ray and I jumped out of the driver and passenger seats and met back up at the front of the car, connecting hands. She giggled and let go of my hand, stashing her hand in my pocket. Ray pulled out my set of keys and jingled them in her fingertips. After running to the front door, she unlocked it. I heard the keys drop to the ground and hurried up to my wife. Upon seeing who sat in the entryway bawling his eyes out, I wouldn't blame her. Rouge and Clara ran to our side and Preston closed the door since he was the last one inside.
Adam sat on a wooden chair we placed in the entryway when we moved into the house, crying onto Jason's shoulder. Quentin sat on Adam's other side, rubbing his shoulder. Brooke and Sapphire were next to their boyfriends, looking depressed and sad.
"What happened?!" I demanded in a subtle tone, not trying to be too harsh on my friends.
"We haven't found Fia yet," Adam sobbed, lifting his head off of Jason's shoulder for only a few moments.
"Hopefully Seto and Kae will be luckier than us. We checked everywhere," Jason continued.
"I'm guessing that Fia wanted her location to be secret cause we couldn't find anything on her computer or track her phone through that one app," Quentin went on. He glanced towards Adam again. I hadn't seen Adam cry in so long, even though I knew he was a pretty emotional guy. He was always the Budder King, the one to make everyone else smile. He was the one we looked up to… who I looked up. And to know that he was upset about someone else made me think how much Fia meant to him. It reminded me of how much Ray meant to me.
Aw... Isn't that sweet? :3
But really... how are Luna, Brooke, and Allison involved with Draco, Lia, and Rouge...? Where is Jerome?! When will Fia be saved from the clutches of Allison, Ashley, and her cousin Kohta?! When will I introduce the rest of the OC's?! And when will Legend Part 2 be released?! These questions will be answered in soon time, my young friends... all in soon time...