A/N- HEY ALL LEO HOWARD AND/OR KICKIN IT LOVERS! Alyss Mei and I are back with the fourth chapter of Halloween Thief, and I am really happy about the nice comments! We all appreciate those who reviewed, subscribed or even just read the story! It means a lot to the both of us. I hope you all love the story so far, because it's about to get better! Heehee, anyway, enjoy the chapter! :D
And Happy Halloween!
Part 1: Kim's POV
Tick Tock, Tick Tock.
I wish that stupid clock could actually do something useful for once- other than telling time and making annoying noises. Speeding up time would be helpful.
Yep; here I am, sitting in my history classroom, which happened to be the detention room. Jerry, Eddie, Milton and Jack were all sitting around me, so that was a plus. The "detention" classroom's walls were covered in lame posters of important figures from the past, and "Test Tomorrow" was written in huge letters across the white board. Ugh, I positively despised the smell of Expo Markers.
Anyway, detention didn't start for a while, so we were busy making sure our plan was in order. That's right…
We were escaping from detention.
Of course it was a risk, but we were all willing to take it. Clearly, we had no choice. We have to go back to Rudy's house and see if we can find any clues. I wasn't going to rest until we found the thief. I can't. I won't.
Jack gripped me on the shoulder from behind. I could feel chills seeping through my thin sweater. But why? I've never felt this way before. My stomach was doing leaps, my palms grew clammy, and yet my mind was at ease, like it was on vacation at the beach. What is this feeling?
OK, Kim, just listen to what Jack's saying.
"Kim…you ready?"
I sighed and stood to face him. "Yeah. Let's do this."
"And one more thing…I'm sorry," he said. "This was my fault."
I looked deeper into his brown eyes, and they were brimming with guilt and disappointment, with a hint of anxiousness. I almost felt culpable for yelling at him, when he was just trying to be a good friend. He IS a good friend. I don't think I've ever met someone that cared about me so much…admittedly more than my parents, who are always gone on business trips. They even were in New York on my birthday, and they didn't even bother to call. They never call, they never care….
Kim! Jack just told you something very sincerely, and it requires an unfathomable response!
"No, Jack. I'm sorry," I apologized, mentally thanking my conscience. "I shouldn't have blamed you; I should have thanked you. You were just defending me, but I was too quick to yell. So, I'm sorry."
"Hey, I guess we're both sorry then," he said. "Mostly you though," he coughed, stifling a laugh.
I smiled and shoved him playfully. "Very funny," I said. Suddenly, I felt my stomach do a cartwheel, as I touched him. I do not like Jack… I do not like Jack, I do not like JACK!
"Kim?" Jack said waving a hand in front of my face.
"Sorry," I said, snapping myself out of my train of thought.
"Alright guys!" Jerry said, standing tall on the teacher's desk. We craned our heads to see him. "Now, this AWESOME plan took some brain, but a whole lot of-"
"'Ello Mates!" I turned around to see Marcus entering the room. He had that wide grin stretching across his face, as his ruffled blond hair swept unevenly across his forehead. His shirt was neatly pressed and tucked into a pair of khakis. He was even wearing that sweater vest of his. Those dimples…that look in his eyes…that awful, tacky vest…I've seen him before! I know I have…I just can't put my finger on it.
"Marcus, what are you doing in detention?" I asked, confused. "Oh, well, Jerry told me that you lot were breaking out of detention and-"
"I never told you that?" Jerry said, jumping down from the desk. "I don't remember telling you! And I would never tell ghos-I mean, I wouldn't tell you! I would remember that, man!"
"Well, you did," Marcus snapped, with a glare in Jerry's direction. "Anyway, I figured I could help."
"Wow, thanks!" Milton piped up.
"My pleasure. I want to help you catch that…perpetrator!" Marcus said joyfully. "Now I got loads of papers that I can throw, while Jerry fakes his injury, so that you can escape when my papers are flying, it'll be like mysterious confetti!" I smiled, and not just because of his British accent. Who knew British people could be so nice?
"That's genius!" Milton said. "What an extremely ingenious plan, which happens to be genius, but it's ingenious in a genius way—"
"Milton! We get it!" Eddie said.
"Alright. Milton, Eddie and Marcus, go outside in the hall and hide under the stairs!" Jerry said. "Once we give you the text, you guys come in, and do your fake bleeding, and crying and the flying of papers! Got it? Oh, and make sure your phones are on VIBRATE!" Wow. I've never seen Jerry talk so… smart! See, this plan is benefiting ALL of us!
Milton, Eddie, and Marcus ran out of the room, leaving Jack, Jerry and me alone in the classroom.
"Okay, the window's open for us to jump out of," Jack said taking over this time. "Jerry you have your three speed bike below, right?"
"Jack… for the last time it's my sister's!" Jerry exclaimed exasperatedly.
Jack rolled his eyes. "I got my skateboard to hop on, and Kim you have yours?"
"Yep," I said. I was so ready.
"We got the decoys of us?" Jack said.
Jerry pointed to the dummies of Jack, Jerry and I, and they looked so realistic!
"Whoa!" Jack and I said in unison. "How did you get that?"
"Oh, I paid Tyler Sanders to do it. That kid's total swag at art! He's been making wax figures of everybody in the ninth grade!"
Now that is impressive. I smiled. "Our plan is full proof!"
"Alright guys, let's sit down before Ms. Hartman comes in. Just sit in the seats you sit in for History."
We all sat in our history seats, which meant Jack was sitting next to me and Jerry was kind of behind. We saw Ms. Hartman come in, with a sharp eyes darting towards each and every one of us. Her white hair was tied up into a bun, and her face was etched with wrinkles.
"See, she won't even tell the difference between the decoys and us!" Jack hissed.
"Jack, she's not blind!" I snapped, still whispering.
"Ah, Miss Crawford… where are you?" Ms. Hartman said looking around, squinting her eyes in all directions.
"I'm right here!" I said raising my hand. She was right in front of me, and couldn't even see me.
"Ah, there you are. I'm sorry I forgot my glasses today. I was too busy making sure none of you was dropping out," She saw me and shot me a look with her piercing eyes. I sank lower in my chair. "Such a surprise to see you in detention, for the very first time! I knew it was going to happen with you eventually. As for you Mr. Anderson." Jack sank lower in his chair as well looking down in "shame." We all knew he was texting Jerry to get the plan into full action.
"So, Mr. Martinez, what did you do this time?" Ms. Hartman said looking at Jerry. "Glue the desks to the ceiling? Deliberately plant banana peels in the teacher's lounge?"
"Nice to see you too, Maureen," Jerry said smiling. Ms. Hartman shot him a glare and Jerry slowly swept the smile from his face, and looked down…. to text Milton.
"Okay, you have two hours. Now, rules; you mustn't talk, tap, listen to your iPod, or even—"
"AAHH!"
Milton and Eddie came rushing in and started screaming and running around in circles. I could tell confusion and panic hitting Ms. Hartman like a lightning. Milton and Eddie poured fake blood from their noses, and in their arms. Marcus hadn't shown up. We couldn't help but laughing a bit at their act. They were good!
"Help me! Help me!" Milton screamed.
"What happened to you two?" Ms. Hartman looking blindly.
"We both hit our noses, on the pole, and then someone was cutting us! IT BURNS!" Eddie screamed. Fake tears were streaming, and Ms. Hartman bought it, considering she didn't have her glasses to know that they were throwing smiles here and there.
"Oh no, you poor things! Well go to the nurse!"
"WOMEN, COME WITH ME!" Milton was grabbing her and pulling her to the door. And just when things got "good", they got "better", as we were standing up slowly going to the window.
Marcus came in and threw papers everywhere.
"AH! ALL MY PAPERS! THEY'RE ALL F's!" Marcus screamed, as he flew around, still clutching a few papers.
"Young man, I demand you to clean up those papers, while I take these two to the nurse! Jack, Kim, and Jerry, you're staying! I'm not going to be in this room, so I expect you to all behave!" Ms. Hartman, dumb stricken, pushed Milton and Eddie out the door, while they gave me the thumbs up. We quickly placed our figures in our seats and started heading out the door.
"Wait!" Jack said. "What if she asks us something?"
"Got that taken care of!" Jerry said. "I attached audio speakers on the wax figure, so when she tells us to leave, we have answers!"
"Jerry you are amazing!" I said.
"Yeah, I can be smart!" Jerry said proudly. "Don't doubt me!"
I smirked. Quickly, we all dove through the window.
"Marcus you want to come?" I asked.
"No, it's perfectly fine; I'll just clean this up!" Marcus said. I nodded and flew out of the window, landing on my skateboard perfectly, thanks to Milton's Math and Physics skills.
"YES! We are out of detention! Great work guys! WOO!" Jerry gave us hugs, and we smiled along. Although this was a risk, it felt good to escape detention, because we were doing it for a good reason.
To get our dojo and our Sensei back.
Jack's POV
Missing Black Belt: Still Day One.
We hopped on our skateboards after our epic escape, and started riding to Rudy's house, to check on Rudy. God, I'm so scared. If that man goes psycho, he's going to have to start from level one to get his third degree black belt back.
"Hey guys!" Jerry stopped and so did we. "My sister called and she wants her bike back! I'm going to have to give a rain check for going to Rudy's house."
"What?" Kim said. "What if you make another breakthrough, and help us find that thief!"
"Breakthroughs don't happen a lot with me," Jerry sighed. "Sorry guys."
"It's okay, Jerry. At least you helped us bail out," I said sympathetically.
"Yeah, well if I don't go soon, my sister's going to flip out, see you later you love birds!" Jerry smiled and started riding home… in the other direction.
My hands were ready to strangle him. Did he really have to say that? We're not "love birds"! Kim is JUST A FRIEND! Nothing more… at least I don't want it to be anything more… well it would be nice…
Of course it would be nice, Jack! Just tell her how you feel!
I don't want to tell her how I feel, because there are no feelings, so shut up! Gosh, that little voice is so annoying!
So you're telling me that you're not afraid to snap a bone when you need to, but you are afraid to tell Kim three simple words… I like you!
Well…
"Jack, hello?" Kim was waving a hand at my face.
"Oh, sorry," I said facing her.
"Well, at least I can count on you… I know you wouldn't ditch like Jerry did…" Kim said.
"Was that actually a compliment?" I gasped overly.
"Don't make me take it back!" she snapped, pulling her hair into a ponytail with elastic. "C'mon, let's just go to Rudy's house. We'll definitely be able to find clues there." And with that, we both skateboarded to Rudy's neighborhood once more. I looked at Kim and realized how good she was at the skateboard.
"I have to say Kim…" I began. "You're doing really well on the skateboard, and I only gave you one lesson."
"Guess I get my skateboarding talents from my brother," She laughed weakly. Empathy washed over me as she reminded me of her brother… it reminds me of my granddad. I haven't even told her the news, yet. Since she told me about her brother, I guess it was fair to tell her about what happened to my granddad just a few months ago.
But now wasn't the time. Let's just focus on finding Rudy's things.
"We're here," Kim sighed as we approached Rudy's shabby-looking home. Broken shards of glass still hung off the window, and the house looked pretty messy- things strewn across the floor.
We set our skateboards on the driveway and pressed the doorbell. It was getting dark outside, and shades of purple and pink colored across the sky. And it was getting really cold. Weird… it's only October in San Jose, and yet the temperature's dropping to the 50's for the very first time. Luckily, I was wearing a sweater, so I wasn't as cold, but I looked over at Kim, who was wearing only a thin shirt and capris. She looked freezing, slightly shivering and crossing her arms.
Before I could say something, Rudy already opened the door, with a weak smile on his face. "Hey guys, come on in!" We both went inside and looked around in pity. Poor Rudy.
"Well, I made some hot cocoa, you guys want any?"
"Sounds good, it's freezing outside," Kim said. "Anyway, we just came to see if we could find any clues on who stole the papers and awards and the money. Have you been cleaning up?"
"No, not really. The police said to leave everything as is, so if they ever stop by, they'll check the place. So I haven't done anything. But I hate seeing my house so messed up!" He stomped like a little boy.
"Rudy, as soon as we find the man, we'll help you clean up," I said trying to cheer him up.
"Thanks guys. You both have been helping me a lot, and it means a lot." Rudy said. "But find him!" He went into the kitchen, and we both looked around and shifted through papers to see if we could find anything.
"Geez, this guy sure seemed desperate." Kim said. "He even looked through Rudy's birth certificate!"
"Really?" I said looking at her. "God, this detective work is so freaking hard! I wish the thief would make our lives easier and shout 'I'm the thief'!"
"Jack... really?" Kim looked at me.
"I'm sorry, but it's just that... I... we... we're just kids. No one knows who took the certificates and awards... it's just irratating."
"Yeah, I guess I agree," Kim said. "Stupid thief...why can't he just make our lives easier and go and raise Alpacas?"
I smirked, and kept digging out papers, when I saw a little gray box. I dug it out, and saw that it looked something like… a walkie talkie. It had a speaker, and an antenna, but there was no button to press to talk to anyone.
"Kim! Look at this!" I said. She came closer to me, and saw what I was holding.
"Is it a walkie talkie?" Kim asked holding it.
"I'm not so sure. If it was a walkie talkie, then there would be some sort of button to switch to communicate with the other person.
"Wait…" Kim was thinking hard. "I've seen these! On the Spy Channel, they have this walkie-talkie like things, that whatever we say…" She stopped and faced me with worried eyes.
"What?" I said, asking her indirectly to continue.
"The other person…" She began. "Can hear and watch us with the hidden camera."
Rudy came in with two Hot Chocolates in his hands. "Okay, I added extra marshmallows, because I know how someone likes…" But his voice drifted off when he saw our horrified expressions.
"What happened?" Rudy said. All we did was hand him the device.
"What's this?" Rudy said flipping the stalker-thing in all directions.
"Rudy, hand this over to the police tomorrow," I said. "And keep it inside a pillow."
"What are you guys talking-"
"Just do it, please! Kim and I need to go…" I said checking my phone for the time. It was quarter to eight. "It's getting late; our parents are going to start wondering where we are."
"But what about the Hot Chocolate?" Rudy said looking sadly at the two full cups of warm milk.
"We'll live, but thanks anyways." Kim said, patting Rudy on the shoulder. "Right now, we really have to go. Time flies."
"Okay, well thanks for your help." Rudy said, still baffled from looking at the spy cam.
"Just do what we told you," I said. "See you tomorrow." I opened the door, and Kim and I started to head out. Rudy waved in confusion, and closed the door behind him. I heard Kim's teeth chatter due to the cold.
"J-J-Jack," She stuttered. "It's c-c-c-cold. I d-don't t-think I can r-ride my s-s-skateboard."
"You don't need to," I said, taking off my sweater to give her.
"Oh, you don't need to—"
"But I want to," I said cutting her off. "It's fine." I took my jacket off, and wrapped it around her shoulders, and she smiled gratefully. I do love that smile of hers.
"Thanks," She said. "Note to self… don't be an idiot, and bring a freaking sweater!"
I laughed. "You're not an idiot, Kim."
"Well now you're cold…." She said looking up at me.
"No, I'm a man of steel!" I joked.
She smirked. "Yeah, when are you getting out of what I call a nightmare?"
I laughed. "Haha, very funny." I said carrying my skateboard. She nudged me on my shoulder, and we both ended up laughing. Pretty soon, after a while of walking, we made it home.
"Well, thanks for walking me home," Kim said. "I hope my mom doesn't…" But her voice trailed off when she heard her phone buzz. It was a text message. Her smile slowly disappeared, into a sad frown.
"What happened?" I asked looking at the disappointment in her eyes.
She looked at me with sad eyes as if that one little text message just changed her life.
"It's nothing," She said. She quickly handed me the jacket and started walking towards the entrance of her house, with her skateboard clutched in her cold hands. "Thanks for letting me use your sweater. Bye Jack." She took keys out of her pocket and started unlocking the door.
"Wait, why don't you just ring the doorbell, it—"
"Bye!" She said, slamming the door shut. In a confusing state of mind, I walked home. What was that text all about? Why didn't Kim just ring the doorbell, I mean her parents were home…
Right?
Part 2- Milton's POV
Helping Jack, Kim and Jerry escape detention was the most exhilarating experience of my LIFE! I was an awesome actor, like the best one in the history of the world! I came in all bloody, and with fake tears running down my cheeks! I mean, Eddie was okay, but I was better! This just proves that I, Milton David Krupnick, can be THE BAD BOY! And not Little Boy Blue… I hate that costume so much.
Anyway, so Ms. Hartman was frantically taking us to the nurse, not even knowing that Jack, Kim and Jerry were probably out of the building by now. But Eddie and I needed to think of an excuse so she doesn't really take us to the nurse, because then the nurse will find out about the fake blood. I turned to Eddie and gave him the signal, to do his thing.
"Hey, Ms. Hartman?" Eddie said looking up to her.
"What?" She replied in a raspy voice.
"Why are we going to your house?" Eddie said, almost ready to start cracking up.
"What? I'm taking you to the nurse… right?" Ms. Hartman said, puzzled.
"No, you said something about your cats at home, being injured…."
"WHAT? I did?" I couldn't believe she was actually buying. That's one old teacher!
"Yes!" I jumped in.
"Oh, I knew Tootsie's hairballs were going to put him in serious trouble! She said backing away from us. We almost gagged at the disgusting thought. "Thank you Eddie, for telling me about my cat. But I could've sworn I was taking you both to the nurse's office!"
Eddie and I quickly wiped off the fake blood. "You're starting to lose it Ms. Hartman!" Eddie said.
"Well, you tell Jack, Kim and… Jerry," She nearly puked when she said Jerry's name. "That they're off the hook for this week's detention, and will make it up for next week. I need to go look after my 20 cats! Don't worry, Tootsie! MOTHER'S COMING!" She ran out of the school building, and me and Eddie high fived eachother.
"Nice work, Eddie!" I said.
"Thank you, thank you," Eddie said taking unnecessary bows. "I'm the best actor there is!"
"Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm the best there is!" I whined. We both ended up arguing about who's the better actor, when I heard a ghostly British voice talking.
"Wait Eddie," I began.
"No, you wait BUB!" Eddie argued. "I am the best actor, I was so awesome from hiding the fact that Truman was—"
"EDDIE!" I hissed. "I get it; you're the best actor that ever lived! Look…" I pointed to Marcus who was talking with…
"Arthur and Truman?" Eddie whispered.
He was absolutely right. Truman was standing with Marcus and Arthur, with a worried look on his face. Marcus and Arthur, however, seemed almost happy about something. Eddie and I tiptoed towards the end of the hallway, so Truman, Marcus, and Arthur won't see us.
"Why are those two here?" Eddie asked me in a hushed tone.
"I don't know! I'm not psychic!" I snapped. "Let's just listen. Maybe this'll prove if Marcus is really a ghost or not. Then I can rub it in Jerry's face, and tell him the scientists ARE awesome, because they've scientifically proved that there are no such things as ghosts!"
"But wait, what does Arthur and Truman has to do with this?" Eddie asked, still seeming to be confused.
"Shut up, and listen!" I said. Eddie finally stopped talking, so we could overhear their conversation. We were pretty far away, so it was kind of hard to hear, but luckily, I got ears like a HAWK, baby!
"Guys, I think we're going a little too far with this." Truman said with a little worry.
"No, we're not! Shut up, Truman, if you think we're taking this 'too far' then we'd be happy to exclude you from our society!" I heard Marcus say. Eddie and I exchanged looks in confusion.
"Yeah, Truman," Arthur said. "We need to do this. Those kids annoy me. They even overheard me, when I was talking to you-know-who! So, I almost started to abuse her, when the hero of all heroes jumps in for his damsel-in-distress!"
"Really? Oh, you should see their friends! Total nut job!" Marcus said, laughing. Who were they talking about? Eddie looked just as confused as me.
"Anyway, you want to be a part of this team? Then you better get your little act together, and keep the you-know-what safe! Plan B is already underway… no one must find out my true identity, and I knew you might not keep it so safe, so it was time… to frame!" Marcus said.
Truman and Arthur gasped. "What?" Truman said.
"Seriously, British dude?" We heard Arthur said.
"Yes, indeed!" Marcus said. "No one must know my identity! It's too much for the human mind… heehee."
"Dude, you're identity isn't—"Truman said.
"Yes it is! No one must know! And if for some reason Plan B doesn't work… then Plan C has to go…"
Arthur and Truman gasped, but this time in more shock. I had no idea what they were talking about, but after he was talking about his identity, I think I know what he means.
"Ghost," I whispered to Eddie.
A/N- That's all for Chapter Two! Hope you all like it! Chapter 5 is coming up, so wait for that! Also, I think one of the comments wanted to know what Marcus looked like. I pictured Marcus to look like Eustace from Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader… haha. Yeah, so hopefully that'll give you a better idea of what Marcus looks like. So, about the story; what do you guys think Marcus was talking about? And can you believe Truman and Arthur are back? And what was the text Kim received? Why didn't she just ring the doorbell? And do you guys think Marcus is a ghost? All questions will be answered, later on in the Fanfic! Thanks for reading! REVIEW! :D
ALSO: CHECK OUT OUR OTHER FANFIC LOCKED IN… ON CONFUSINGSTATEOFMIND'S PAGE! HOPE Y'ALL LIKE IT!
PEACE. LOVE. HAPPINESS.
-Taylor and Alyss Mei