4. Lies and Love
Joe loved watching Sydney sing to the kids. Jade had always enjoyed clapping along to the bouncy tunes. Half of the time, it was the only way they could get Lexi down for her nap. Like now for instance. Lexi didn't like taking naps, but if Sydney sang a soft song or lullaby on the guitar or ukulele, the only two instruments she could masterfully play, to her, Lexi would be asleep in minutes.
Joe caught her finishing a song for Lexi in Lexi's bedroom. He quietly leaned against the door frame and listened to her lilting soprano voice with a smile on his face. He could never get tired of the melodic sound of her voice.
"Someday I'll wish upon a star, wake up where the clouds are far behind me. Where trouble melts like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me.
"Oh, somewhere over the rainbow way up high, and the dream that you dare to, why, oh why can't I? I?"
Sydney plucked out the last few chords on her ukulele and leaned over to give Lexi a kiss on her forehead.
Joe clapped softly so he wouldn't wake Lexi. "Encore, please."
Sydney chuckled and rolled her eyes, setting the instrument down. "I'm just saying goodbye."
"Don't I get a special goodbye?" Joe pouted and put his arm over her shoulder as they silently walked out of Lexi's bedroom together. "After all, you did decide to spontaneously abandon me and the kids for a week."
"You got your goodbye already," Sydney teased.
"Oh, I remember. Last night." Joe winked at her. He spoke in a light, teasing tone, "and when you woke me up in the middle of the night, and this morning, and about twenty minutes ago. What's the matter? Think your plane is going to go down or something?"
"You never know. And maybe I was just covering for the week I won't be around," Sydney responded with ease, continuing their playful conversation.
Sydney had of course not told Joe the truth about their trip or the real reason why she was trying to make everyone's goodbyes memorable. In truth, she was worried about going back in to the Land of the Dead. She hadn't been there since she was Shadowed and Death had taken Cody from her. Sydney hadn't had any dark urges or desires in years, but she had a feeling walking back in to the Land of the Dead would change that. Who knew what could happen to her. Who knew if she'd even make it back home.
"Don't act like you didn't do it for enjoyment too. I know you liked it." Joe laughed and gave her a smug grin. "I have the bite marks to prove it."
Sydney glimpsed at Joe's shoulder where there were several small indentations. She blushed and looked away. "Sorry. I just didn't want to the kids to hear us."
"I'm not complaining." Joe stopped them at the foot of the stairs and wiggled his eyebrows seductively. "But if you want to apologize for it, we have enough time for another 'goodbye' before you leave."
"As nice as that sounds, I don't think so. I need to get going." Sydney turned to give him a kiss before heading down stairs. "Take care of my babies while I'm gone."
"Take the kids skydiving, got it," Joe said sarcastically.
Sydney covered her mouth to hide her smile. "And don't go crazy with your magic. The last thing we need is for you get stuck in the past. You've come a long way, but I wouldn't warp without me there as backup yet."
"Well there goes my plans for the week." Joe laughed when Sydney put her hands on her hip and gave him a disappointed frown. "Relax. The kids and I will be fine while you're gone. And for the record, you've come a long way too."
"What do you mean?"
"About me being a Warp Wizard. I practically had to force you to start training me in the first and that was after you nearly killed me. Not to mention those few months where I was seriously concerned you were going to divorce me and run away."
"Even if I tried to run, my heart wouldn't let me get far." Sydney smiled at him. "Unfortunately, that's not the case today. I need to leave now."
"Okay." Joe gave her a quick kiss. "See you in a week."
"You sure I can't go too?" Fred smiled at Kairi.
Kairi laughed and shook her head. "I told you, it's a girls' getaway. No boys allowed. Sorry, but you know I'll miss you and think of you and Jesse every day while I'm gone."
"Fair enough." Fred continued to grin at Kairi. "I'll miss you too. Though I do have to admit this whole random vacation thing is a little weird."
Kairi shrugged. "We just decided to extend our girls' night out into a girls' vacation. We could all use a nice break."
Kairi hoped she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. She hated lying to people, especially Fred. It made her feel so guilty, but Fred couldn't know the truth about their trip. She couldn't risk Death taking Fred as her payment for the debt. He had to stay behind and watch Jesse.
"It's cool. I'll just have a guys' week with Joe and Sam. Jesse's due for a play date with Lexi and Riley anyway." Fred gave Kairi a small kiss. "You have fun, okay?"
"Of course." Kairi giggled. "It's only a week. I'll be back before you know it."
She moved past Fred into Jesse's room, hoping she would get a different reaction from her daughter than she did last night. Jesse was laying in her crib, staring wide eyed at the mobile spinning above her. The mobile was a soft pink colour and was decorated with silver and gold stars that reflected light onto the walls.
Kairi smiled down on her daughter. She resisted the urge to pick her up. She didn't want a repeat of last night. Even now, just standing over her, Jesse seemed wary of her. Kairi had been thinking a lot about it and she had come to the conclusion that Jesse could sense that Kairi was marked by Death, literally. She hoped that once this whole debt thing was resolved, Jesse would return to being her happy, loving little girl. Kairi wouldn't be able to stand it if she would never be able to hold Jesse again.
"You be good for daddy while I'm gone," Kairi said to her daughter. "I want a perfect report when I get back."
"Kairi, you ready to go?" Kairi recognized Sydney's voice coming from the entryway. She hadn't realize what time it was. She was hoping for a few more minutes with her family. They were going into this blind and with no plan, and if they didn't figure something out before the week was up, Kairi wouldn't be returning home.
With one last look at her daughter, Kairi left the room and headed out to wipe away her debt.
"I'm just saying, this whole impromptu vacation thing seems odd. It seems like something Sydney and Kairi would do, but not you." Sam studied his girlfriend curiously.
"Why not? I like vacations." Cade avoided eye contact. Sam was asking too many questions about the trip and Cade wanted to just leave already.
"Yeah, but your in the middle of a research project. Doesn't exactly seem like a good time to go to Bermuda."
"Maybe we're going to be looking into the Bermuda Triangle while we're there. There's definitely plenty of mysteries surrounding it." Cade shrugged. She probably shouldn't have mentioned the Bermuda Triangle, but Sam kept pursuing answers from her. "Who knows what type of discoveries we'll make."
"You and I both know all that is explainable by science." Sam frowned. "Why are you really going?"
"It's just a vacation." Cade glanced at the clock. Sydney and Kairi weren't supposed to be here to pick her up for another ten minutes.
"Are you sure? What aren't you telling me?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Cade looked to the front door, hoping her friends would arrive soon.
"Try me," Sam said. He was staring at Cade expectantly, his brown eyes magnified by his large glasses.
Cade groaned. Why did Sam care so much if she went on a short vacation? Granted, it wasn't actually a vacation, but how would he know that.
"Cade..." Sam looked at her with a worried expression.
"There's an old friend of Kairi's down there that we're going to see." It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the full truth either.
"That's it? There's more. I know there is." Sam crossed his arms.
How could Sam be so perceptive about this, but have no idea Cade was unhappy with him and their relationship? It made no sense to Cade and frustrated her to no end.
"We're going to the Land of the Dead," Cade spat out angrily. "Apparently when Kairi said she had died, she was telling the truth. Now she has some sort of debt to settle with Death and we have to go take care of it."
Sam blinked. "What?"
"Told you you wouldn't believe me."
"Maybe you need to stay home and rest." Sam reached out and tentatively touched her shoulder. "Did you hit your head?"
"No!" Cade shook Sam's hand off. "I wasn't even supposed to tell you that much!"
The doorbell rang and Cade had never felt so relieved in her life. "I have to go. I'll be back in a week." Cade turned to leave, but paused and glanced over her shoulder at Sam. "I love you."
"You too."
Cade clenched her teeth. "Sure you do," she mumbled under her breath.
The girls stared down at a large map of the Bermuda Triangle. It was from a tourist shop and was marked with the locations of famous shipwrecks and plane crashes. Distracting, but it served its purpose nonetheless.
They had wasted no time. The moment they got off the plane, they started planning the momentous task that laid before them. They were gathered on a pink sandy beach on the coast of Hamilton, Bermuda. Tourists milled about all around them, enjoying the sun and perusing the various shops and eateries. Bermuda was a calm place, somewhat surprising given the reputation of the waters surrounding it.
"So what are we looking for, Kairi?" Sydney studied the map. "I don't see 'entrance to the Land of the Dead' on here."
"The portal is directly in the middle." Kairi pointed to the spot. It was marked with more crashes than any other location on the map. "You won't be able to miss it."
"In the middle?" Cade paused and mentally scaled the distance. "We'd have to rent a boat, and there's no way we could get there before nightfall."
"As much as I would like to have a nice vacation, we can't afford to wait around here." Sydney sighed. "Even if we got there tonight, we'd only have six days left before the deadline."
"The portal's only open at night anyway," Kairi said. "I think I saw a boat rental place at the other end of the beach. I hope they don't mind if we don't give it back to them."
Sydney and Cade shared a concerned look. "Kairi... what exactly is this portal like?"
"Well..." Kairi bit her lip and stared at the ground. "It's basically a giant hole."
"A hole? In the middle of the ocean?"
"You'll see what I mean," Kairi explained. "Be prepared to get wet."
"How are we supposed to get back then?" Cade looked to the other girls for an explanation.
Now it was Kairi and Sydney's turn to exchange concerned glances. "We pray that Death is feeling charitable by the end of all this and transports us back home."
Cade blinked. "Is that really the only way?"
"Pretty much."
"And if he isn't feeling charitable?" Cade folded her arms over her chest.
"This trip will last a lot longer than a week."
The girls looked down the beach and spotted the boat rental place. They grabbed their things and started towards it.
"Hope you brought something to entertain yourself with girls. This is going to be a long boat ride."
A/N - Last set-up chapter before the action begins, I promise! And don't worry, this isn't going to be an OC story, the boys will be making their way in soon enough. Don't forget to review, favourite, and follow!
