Dusk Memories
Chapter 2
We spent most of the night explaining to the others what we had to do. Megan was slightly disappointed that she couldn't come but she waved the matter aside.
"You guys need this time between you. Gerry and I will keep safe. I'm sorry I can't come."
And so, we were on our way to our hometown.
"I sense worry from you Nevin." Aziel told me. "Is there something wrong?"
I shook my head and stared out the window. There really was something wrong. It was there in my hometown that my parents were murdered along with Monica's. It was there where Monica and I became orphans. It was there that we made a bond like brother and sister.
And I would soon learn it would wield many other events, both good and bad, many that would involve Monica, Ben, Aziel, Tom...
And me.
We soon arrived at Destin City. We would take a car (donated by the VPS) through the Destin woods, across the Verity Bridge and into our hometown, Verity Town. We slid from the helicopter, down the rope ladder, and onto the helipad.
"This is Destin City folks," Harriet told us, trying to sound like a tour guide. "It is famous for its many theme parks, casinos, hotels and hundreds of arcades! It is also known for its many shops."
Monica's eyes began to glitter at the mention of shops but I swiftly changed the subject.
"Where's the car?"
"The car? Over there"
Harriet pointed to a red Ferrari in the parking lot nearby. It had flames painted on its torso, car doors, and boot, everywhere.
It was Tom's, Ben's and my turn to stare in amazement.
"I'm driving!" Tom rushed to the car and jumped in the driver's seat.
I grabbed the keys off Harriet and said "I call shotgun!"
I tossed the keys to Tom and jumped in. Aziel, Monica and Ben jumped in the back and Tom put the key in the ignition. When he did, the roof folded back into the boot.
"Convertible?" I said, impressed. "Nice"
And so, our new journey began.
As we left the parking lot Tom went at cruising speed so we could look around. We were amazed. Neon lights everywhere, LED boards all over, novelty objects as far as the eye could see, Advertising billboards surrounding us, and the people. The amount of people was staggering, and so was the variety. There were people in crazy costumes, people dressed in their best, people wearing huge sunglasses, people in rags, name it, Destin City's got it.
"This place is awesome!" Tom whistled at the sight of the city. "It's a pity we can't stay longer. There's everything here!"
We marvelled at the city a bit more, and then Tom left cruising speed and left the city. The one thing Destin City didn't have was cars. It had buses, motorbikes and taxis, but no cars. Not even any delivery trucks.
"Weird" I muttered to myself.
"Hang on guys," Tom told us. "We're leaving the city onto the highway."
We boarded the highway and Tom sped up.
"Put the roof up!" Monica shouted at Tom so he'd hear. "The wind's raping my hair!"
He put the top up and went even faster. So fast, that flame seemed to be jumping out of the exhaust pipe. On my second look however, the flames weren't coming out of the exhaust pipe...
"We're on fire!" I shouted at Tom.
Tom looked out the window and swore. He pulled his head back in and stepped on the brakes.
Nothing.
He took his foot off the accelerator and braked again.
Still nothing.
He stepped on the brakes and pulled the handbrake at the same time.
STILL nothing.
He took the keys out.
NOTHING.
"I can't stop!" Tom panicked. "I've tried everything but nothing's working!"
Aziel then came up with an idea. "I'll use my psychic powers to make the tires stop."
She then focused her mind to release her power. She then focused on the tires and willed them to stop.
The tires stopped turning, but the car kept going.
"I can't slow the car down!" Aziel told us. "We need something to ram us at a close speed from another direction to fully stop us."
I looked out the window, saw a motor-biker, jumped out the window, kicked him off, and turned the handle. I sped up past Tom and the others, did a U-turn, and braced myself.
The collision was horrendous. Car pieces went all over, screams were heard, and everything went blurry. The last thing I heard was Aziel call my name, and I blacked out.
I came to on the roadside. Monica was signalling for a ride, Tom was investigating the car wreck, Ben was playing on his DSi, and Aziel was sitting next to me, waiting for me to wake up.
"Nevin!" she said happily and shouted to the others. "Nevin's awake!"
"We thought you were dead!" Tom said with a grin as they all came over. "You hit us on that bike pretty hard. If you weren't protected by the bike and your vampiric endurance, you would be."
I yawned and looked at my watch. "How long have I been out for?"
"An hour or so, probably two." Monica answered.
I got up and looked at Destin City, not too far off.
"We could walk to Destin City, probably chill there for a while, and then get a taxi to Verity Town." I suggested to the others. They all agreed, and we made our way back to Destin City.
Once we got there we had a look around. It was evening, and soon the true heart of the city would shine, and we'd have a great time there.
We went through a couple of streets and arrived at Luxure Hotel.
"Alright" I dug into my pockets and found the wallet Harriet had given me. She said to use as much as we wanted. I opened it and started counting.
"₤500,000, ₤1,000,000, ₤1,500,000, ₤2,000,000, nothing but five-hundred thousands, and it goes on, maybe to one billion."
Aziel and Monica looked at each other with sparkling eyes and big smiles. "Let's go clothes shopping!"
"We'd rather not," Tom said, rolling his eyes. "We should split up, and meet here at midnight."
We all agreed, I gave the girls two million between them, and Ben, Tom and I set off.
We looked around, and jumped in every shop, arcade, theme park and casino that looked interesting. Although we were all enjoying ourselves, Tom seemed to be thinking about something.
"What's wrong?" I asked Tom as we blasted aliens in the arcade with Ben.
"Our car was sabotaged." Tom told me as he executed an alien's balls. "They know we're here Nevin, and when they find us, we're dead."
I thought on this for a while, but I didn't let it bother me. We were in the most congested city in the country. What's the likeliness we'll be found?
We were sitting at the bar sipping cocktails (Ben got a milkshake) when a familiar face showed up.
"Yo, Nevin!"
"Nick! How's it been?"
Nick was my classmate in year 10 but he got expelled for punching the secondary head teacher in the stomach and putting him in hospital for a month. I kept in contact with him after he was expelled until he became a boxer. He said punching the head teacher in the stomach inspired him to become a boxer, and he's won quite a few belts. I hadn't seen him ever since.
"Who are your friends?" Nick slapped Tom and Ben on the backs.
"This is Tom," I told Nick, gesturing to Tom as he examined the mark Nick's huge hand had made on his back. "He skipped year 10 so you wouldn't have met him. And the other's Ben."
"I know you!" Ben said to Nick. "You're that boxer guy! You beat Moto Diablo just by elbowing him in the back! You're awesome! Can I have your autograph?"
While Nick autographed Ben's magazine, he ordered a beer.
"We had better get going." I suggested to Tom. "After all, a famous boxer's life is busy enough without a few old friends getting in the way!"
We left the bar and walked along the vibrant streets of Destin City. Just as we turned a corner though, Aziel and Monica ran into us!
Before we could ask them anything, Aziel babbled out "We gotta get outta here! We've been found!"
I instantly understood her, and shouted to the others to follow me. They did as I said and we ran aimlessly through the city.
"Where are these guys anyway?" I shouted to Aziel as we ran through Roulette Street.
"While we were shopping I saw the guy that I pummelled in the forest at Canada. He saw me too and he chased after us with a couple other goons. They know we're here Nevin, and they're not here to share a few casino tips."
And with that we arrived at our location: Luxure Hotel.
We ran in and asked for a two-bedroom, five-person room.
"I'm sorry." The receptionist apologised, "We don't have a vacant room for such a purpose. We only have two vacancies. One is our one-bedroom, two-person bed and our family room holding two bedrooms, one with two single beds and one with a kid-sized. Will those fit your needs?"
"Yes, they'll do." I paid for the rooms, grabbed the keys and we went up to our rooms.
"I'll share the two-person bed bedroom with Monica," Tom said, taking the keys off me, "And you three can have the family-room."
Ben, Aziel and I went into the room. It was unbelievable. The beds were four-poster beds, even the kid-sized. The bathroom was spotless, the towels folded as neatly as possible, the shower state-of-the-art. Along with that, there was a plasma TV, HD, satellite, LED, LCD, 3D, DVD player, Blu-Ray player, in each room, (even the bathroom)
"Nice" we all said as we gawped at the wonder rooms.
We got settled in, cleaned up, and Ben went into his room to watch some TV as we turned on ours.
"This is twelve o' clock news, with me, Henry Foxters and Michelle Borton bringing you news live, from Channel 13!" the news presenter turned to his associate. "What do we have today Michelle?"
"Well, you won't believe it Henry, but prices in the stores are going up due to-"
"Yawn" I said, and changed the channel. Nothing good was on, so I just laid down and relaxed.
"Long day huh?" Aziel yawned in her bed and turned to me. "And to think it started with a snowboarding tournament. A bit like our friendship"
"Huh?" I was confused.
"We met with you knocked out by a tree branch, half a year later we're in a hotel room relaxing in Destin City. Life has weird paths doesn't it?"
I nodded and closed my eyes.
I opened them to everything on fire. There was nothing but fire. The fire was everywhere, raging all over. I then saw Aziel struggling in the fire. I went to rescue her, the fire having no effect on me, simply licking my skin but not burning me. I didn't even feel the heat. I put a hand out to her but the fire blocked my way. A voice whispered in my ear.
"You can control the fire Nevin. You've been doing it all along. You need to release it! Release the fire and take everything in your path. Do it! DO IT!"
That's when I woke up, sweating, and gasping. Aziel was asleep, quietly snoozing. Nothing was on fire, burnt, or charred. Everything was ok. That's what I told myself as I got back to sleep.
Famous last words.
Chapter 3
When we went down to get breakfast, Tom and Monica looked like zombies.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Aziel asked them as she put down her breakfast.
"Long story" they both said at the same time. "Need food."
Once we had all eaten, Monica and Tom went up to their room to clean themselves up.
"I need to use the bathroom." Ben moaned as Aziel and I looked through cars to use to get to Verity Town.
"Aziel, can you take him this time?" I asked her.
"Fine" she grumbled as they headed for the toilets. I looked through a bit more when a group of men, all in black suits and sunglasses walked up to me.
"Could you come with us please?" the man at the front boomed in his deep voice.
"Not before I see some identification."
The man reached for his pocket and I ran for it. He barked an order to the other men and they all chased after me until I got to the gate. It was locked. I turned around and prepared myself for a fight.
The first guy to get to me lunged at me, so I dodged out of the way and he smacked into the fence. For the next guy I picked up a wooden board and smacked him over the head, making a cracking sound. The next one had a friend to back him up, but I simply tripped one up and the other tripped over him. All that was left was the group leader.
"You have done well Nevin." The man in black smiled, pulling out a gun from his suit and aiming it at my head. "But your journey ends here."
He pulled the trigger.
Click.
Nothing happened.
The gun was empty.
I grinned, pulled out my own gun, and fired. While I was admiring my work of the MIB, Aziel and Ben arrived from the toilets.
"We're outta here" I explained to Aziel before she could ask about the five groaning men in black suits on the floor. We got in a random car and left for Luxure hotel and Tom and Monica.
Once we picked them up, Tom asked me "Did you even pay for that car?"
Oops.
Just on cue, the police sirens started to blare as they sped down the streets our way.
"Go, go, go, and go!" Aziel shouted at me as I accelerated my ass off out of Destin City. The police were almost on us when we heard gunshots and our back window shattered. Aziel and Ben screamed and ducked down while Tom got out some cherry bombs (don't ask) and lobbed them at the nearest police car. It was a direct hit and the police car was sent flying. Two other police cars came up on both sides of us and two others in our front and back.
"They're trying to block our way!" Tom screamed so we could hear him over the sirens.
"Aziel?" I asked, as if telling her what to do.
"I'm on it."
She stuck an arm out at the police car in front of us and brought it up. As if by an invisible trampoline, the car was sent hurtling upwards and smashed into the police car behind. I stamped on the accelerator and we raced away from the police cars.
Wheezing a sigh of relief, Tom settled into his seat. A while into the drive, Ben did what most kids do when they're bored.
He asked a question.
"Are boys better than girls?" Ben asked.
"Well, it depends on what way you look at it." I answered.
"What, the dick?" Tom joked, followed by a slap over the head by Aziel.
Ben and Tom kept quiet for the rest of the trip.
We soon came upon a huge forest, covering all we could see. It was Destin woods.
We drove through the forest, making the only noise in the whole forest. It was as if the sound had been sucked out by the trees.
"It's too quiet here." Aziel whispered. "It's almost suspicious."
We kept going for a while when the engine came to a stop. We got out and Tom investigated the engine.
"Outta petrol." He informed us as he slammed down the lid. "We're stuck here."
"I saw this coming," Aziel grinned as she went round to the boot and pulled out two bags. "Tents. We've been in a forest before so this time I came prepared."
We put up the tents and got out some sleeping bags that Aziel also got and we decided to explore a bit. Ben and Tom exchanged Call of Duty tips, Monica scanned the area for any animals, and Aziel and I wandered the forest.
"It's so quiet here," Aziel sighed. "Not even peaceful quiet. It's like awkward silence quiet."
We walked for a bit and Aziel stopped.
"I sense something." Aziel's eyes went cloudy. "I sense...look out!"
Aziel tackled me to the floor as a giant wolf lunged for where my neck had just been. Unfortunately where my neck had just been was where Aziel's side was. The wolf sent her rolling and smacking into a tree, knocking her out. I tried to tackle the wolf itself but it simply knocked me aside. I almost went out cold when I saw the wolf slowly padding towards Aziel. The sight spurred me to continue to fight. I attempted to tackle the wolf again and this time I took it off guard. The wolf bared it's fangs at me and lunged towards my throat. At the last minute I rolled out of the way and it smacked into the tree behind me. I swung my arm round and caught it in the jaw. It howled with pain and took one last lunge towards me. But, just as the wolf was in midair, another wolf slammed into it! The new wolf, which looked oddly familiar, growled at the other. The other wolf seemed unaffected, and jumped at the new wolf. The two connected and the new wolf transformed. It transformed into Tom! Tom laid there unconscious as the wolf thought on who to kill first. It was at that moment when Aziel woke up and saw the wolf above her. She screamed. The wolf instantly jumped on top of her, and licked its lips. I threw myself at the wolf and knocked it off Aziel and it rolled away. It got back up and ran.
Aziel got up, paused, and hugged me really tight.
"You saved me!" she said when she let go of me.
"Well, Tom helped." I said, gesturing to Tom. "In a way, we both saved you."
Aziel shrugged her shoulders and we splashed some water on Tom's face. He woke up with a jolt and instinctively punched: Punched me in the face.
Recoiling from the punch, I staggered backwards and slammed into the tree, causing a couple dozen coconuts to rain down onto my head.
Aziel giggled and helped me back up.
"Coconut tree in a forest?" I rubbed my skull where the coconuts had hit me. "Whudda hell?"
On further inspection, they were in a wooden box which broke when I hit the tree.
"Well, I was hungry." I grinned, cracking a coconut open. "Gimme a hand lugging all these back wills you?"
We soon finished all the coconuts and relaxed for a while. A few hours later I heard rustling from a bush nearby disturb the silence. Confused, I got up and stuck my head in. I was instantly sprayed with a gas and I blacked out.
"Zzzzzz..."
"Nevin!"
I instantly woke up in Year 9 History Class with my classmates chuckling quietly behind their textbooks as Mr. Roy glared down at me.
"That is the fifth time you have fallen asleep in my lesson Nevin. Do you want a detention?"
"Not really, but I wouldn't mind a Coke." I replied, causing my classmates to chuckle even more and make Mr. Roy's face change to red. It usually does that when I annoy him.
"How would you like it if I gave you two detentions? That will bring an end to your smart comments!" Mr. Roy's voice was sounding angrier with every syllable.
"Probably not." I sat back in my chair and put my feet on the desk.
That's when he cracked. A brain muscle exploded in his head. He lost it.
He picked up a chair and hurled it at me with a roar. I dodged out of the way and leant down to grab my pen I kept under the table. I tossed it at Mr. Roy just before he threw a table at me. Everyone was enjoying this, including Megan. She cheered me on as I swung out of the view of Mr. Roy.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Mr. Roy roared and charged at me.
"Wouldn't it be 'I'm going to kill you' sir?" I corrected him while dodging out of the way. He flew out of the window and crashed into his car, setting off the alarm.
"Is he dead?" Megan said as she looked out of the window.
"No," I said in a dramatic voice. "Not yet."
"Wake up!"
I woke up to Aziel slapping me over the face, making me let loose a large "Owwwwww!"
"Oops, sorry" Aziel helped me up. "You've been out for hours, we were about to get in our tents to sleep. I came to check if you were ok."
I nodded, and wandered back to camp.
I got in the tent with Tom and Ben in it, and Aziel went in with Monica. I settled down, and tried to get some sleep. I couldn't though, as I had just woken up from knocking out. So I lay there for a while until Ben fell asleep. When he did, Tom turned around in his sleeping bag and asked "Where were you? We thought you got eaten by the silence or something."
I just turned over in my covers and tried to get to sleep.
I had the same dream that night. Everything on fire, Aziel appearing, me trying to save her. One thing was different though. The voice was louder, more desperate.
"Do it! DO IT!"
I also woke up sweating and gasping. I was the only one in the tent. I got out and saw a sight I didn't want to see.
The men that had cornered me at the car dealer's had tied everyone up, and they were holding guns to my head.
"Morning!" I pulled out my penknife, jumped over the goons, cut the rope holding everyone, and we ran.
"Aziel!" I shouted to her. "Back fire please!"
"On it!" She turned around and fired several energy balls at the men, who were blasted away by the following explosion. We came to the end of the forest and came to Verity Bridge.
It was huge. It was wider than the length of a bus, and longer than the height of the Empire State Building. We ran onto the bridge, our footsteps making a clumping noise, before pausing for breath.
"We're... we're here." Monica wheezed as we came quarter-way across. "Can't we... rest?"
"No" I pointed to the stampede of gun-wielding maniacs' intent on killing us.
We surged on, Aziel firing an energy ball every now and then, just before the most horrible thing that could happen to you when being chased happened to Ben.
He tripped.
He flew headfirst off the bridge, just before I grabbed him by the legs. I hauled him up, just to be surrounded by a dozen guns.
A dozen guns all pointing at Ben and me.
Then, out of nowhere, Aziel appeared between both of us, grabbed hold of us, and teleported us to the end of the bridge.
"Telepathy, telekinesis, energy balls, and teleporting?" I was amazed. "Is there anything you can't do?"
"I can't make coffee." She simply answered.
Aziel had forgotten something. In fact, she forgot two things. Those things were Tom and Monica. They had been captured and were fighting their way out.
"I'll get them" Aziel said just before teleporting to them and teleporting them back. Once she had safely teleported them back, she used her telekinesis to toss the men off the bridge.
"Come on, before they follow us." Aziel said, grabbing us all and dragging us to Verity Town.
My hometown.
Chapter 4
"We made it!" I laughed. "We made it here in one piece! Unbelievable."
The others were happy too, now the pain was over. No more running. We're here.
We walked around town for a bit, looking at all the houses, shops, hotels, pretty much everything, and I had a memory attached to each one. It's almost weird being there, the same place I grew up.
"We'll need a hotel to stay at." Monica suggested. "Where to Nevin?"
I looked around and picked the Sweet Memories Hotel.
"Seems fitting." I said as we arrived at the front door.
We grabbed two hotel rooms, three single beds for us boys, and two singles for the girls. Of course, the rooms weren't as classy as the Luxure, but they were comfortable.
As we settled in, Monica came in.
"Nevin, we've got a call from Harriet." She said. "She wants to speak to us. Privately"
I came into the girls' room just as Aziel left.
Monica put a laptop down and Harriet's face popped up.
"What took you guys so long to get there?" Harriet asked. "You guys have taken two days to get from Destin City, through Destin wood, across Verity Bridge, and into Verity Town!"(Make of that what you will.-N)
"Technical difficulties." Monica simply answered. "What do you want?"
Harriet coughed and pulled out some papers.
"There are vampirates undercover in Verity Town. We are also aware that they know you are here as well. It is likely they have uncovered more in the prophecy than we have and are hunting for one of the five possibly located here. Be on your guard. You do not have to search for them, because knowing the vampirates, they'll reveal themselves soon enough. Just stay there, stay safe, and always be on your guard."
We nodded as she faded away. I headed back to my room and Aziel swept past me as I opened the door. Ben was playing on his DS and Tom was punching a punching bag (with Gerrard's face taped on it.
"How *punch* did *punch* your *punch* meeting *punch* go? *punch*" Tom asked, with a punch for every word. At the last one, he punched so hard it flew out of the window and smacked into a passing old lady and sending her flying into a nearby pond.
"Woops" Tom took a step back from the window and closed the curtains.
I explained to him what was going on. He simply shrugged his shoulders.
"Stay on our guard. That's what we usually do right? We'll be fine. We've survived both adventures on that tactic." He laid down on his bed and pulled out the book 'How to Intimidate a Posh Twat' by Nick Franks.
I sighed, sat down on my bed, thought for a moment, and got up again.
"I'm bored." I mumbled, and then I opened the front door. "You guys coming?"
They nodded and we left.
Our first stop was to the local internet cafe. We jumped on the computers for a while, trying to catch up on the world news.
Celebrity star in jail for murder, boring.
War in USA dying, yawn.
Scientific breakthrough in rodent killing, bleh.
Murderer on the loose in Verity Town snooz...
Verity Town!
I clicked on the link and read the page.
'...several murders in Verity Town all linked in wounds but unrelated in victim...multiple bite wounds to neck, blood drained from body...forensics confirm that the victims were all killed before their blood was drained...'
The Vampirates were attacking Verity Town, and I had to do something about it. But what?
"Nevin?"
I turned around and in an instant a memory hit me...
"What is it about her that makes everyone want her?"
That's what I said as Tom and I got off the bus. Tenth grade and a new girl's in town. Her name's Janette, but at least a million boys in this world call her their ex-girlfriend. She's known for that. She goes out with them, fools about with them, dumps them, or she'll maybe cheat and date two boyfriends at once. The worst part is that almost every boy who's seen her is instantly attracted to her. In fact, she's even gone out with the science teacher's assistant.
But not me. I'm the only boy in the school who isn't attracted to her. Yes, the only. That means that even Tom has gone out with her. Two weeks into the tenth grade and I'm the only boy in my class that hasn't slept with Janette.
"Can't help you with that mate" Tom answered my question with a blank. "But she's pretty good, if you know what I mean."
I rolled my eyes as we went up to the gate. There was Janette with her usual gang of girls. She noticed me go by her and I heard her call "Hey Nevin!"
I waved back to be polite and Tom turned to me.
"You're gonna give in soon, you know that right?" Tom smirked as we got to our lockers. "I was just like you, but then she kissed me and everything changed."
"She's tried before and it's had no effect on me. I'm telling you, she's nice and all, but I'm not going for a prostitute."
"Janette?"
"Been a while hasn't it?"
There she was, the year 10 onwards whore, right behind me, six years later.
"Someone's been mysterious; no-one's heard from you since the graduation party. Where've you been?"
"Long story"
"I've got a lot of time." She leant closer. "Start moving those lips."
"Gotta go" I said as Tom grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me out.
"Thanks dude." I said to him as we walked back to the hotel.
"No problem." Tom accepted my thanks. "We're gonna have to stay low. That means no making out with Janette."
I rolled my eyes. As we passed the girl's door, we saw a note pinned on it.
I picked it up and read it.
"'Gone shopping. Meet us at fountain at eight.' It's five now, so what should we do?"
Of course, I was asking a 9-year old boy as well as Tom so we ended up at McDonalds. Tom and I grabbed a burger each and Ben got a kids meal. As we were eating Janette showed up.
"Hello boys" she quickly glanced at Tom and then to Ben. "Who's this?"
"My cousin" I quickly blurted out. "I'm taking care of him while his parents are out of town."
She nodded and handed me a slip of paper.
It had a picture of a disco and some text. It read:
You are invited to the bi-annular school reunion party!
It had an address and a time on the back.
"See you around." She winked at me and left us.
Once we finished, we checked the time on the back.
"10:30 PM" I muttered. "We should go check out this venue."
We followed the address, and I was beginning to doubt this place was real when I walked into a pole.
I looked up at the sign on top and a memory smacked into me...
"Do I have to come?" I whined through the phone to Megan as I walked down the dark alleyways of Verity Town.
"Nevin, some of these people you'll never see again, so it's best if you come so you can say goodbye." Megan told me. "Probably settle a couple of arguments or scuffles."
"We'll be there all night if I'm going to bury the hatchet with everyone." I sighed. "Fine, I'll come. I'm not staying long though!"
I hung up and started on a faster pace. "This party's a waste of my time" I thought.
The party I'm talking about is the post-grad party. What I didn't know that the party would be the doorway to the corridor of my destiny.
I arrived at the front door, which had people shuffling in left and right. I looked around for Megan and saw her on the other side of the street. I ran up to her and when she noticed me she got angry.
"What took you so long? Come on, we don't want to be late!" She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in.
There was a DJ, a thousand dancing teens, and a finger food buffet. I looked around a bit, and turned around to leave. Unfortunately, Megan saw me.
"Where are you going?"
I froze, turned around, and made for the food buffet. Great party this is. Song sucks as well.
While I was sipping a Coke, Megan came up to me.
"Janette wants you." She told me.
"Tell her I'm at the buffet table." I finished my Coke, looked for someone I knew, and ran into the crowd.
"Where are you going?" Megan caught me talking to one of my classmates. "Aren't you meant to be at the buffet table?"
"That's what I want her to think" I finished talking and looked around and saw Monica. Weird, she doesn't even go to the same school as us.
I ran towards her, with Megan tailing me and saw her with Tom.
"Hey, great to see you here!" we both said to each other at the same time. We then both looked confused and asked at the same time "Are you hiding from someone?"
We both nodded and Monica spotted someone and she and Tom ran.
I looked around and decided to follow them. With Megan following me every step, we followed Monica and Tom to a door to the back of the disco. We went through the door to see a sight that changed our lives.
An arrow gun pointing at both of us.
"No!" Monica shouted.
I shook my head and the memory faded.
"You ok?" Tom asked me.
I nodded and looked at my watch.
"Five to seven" I said. "We better go meet the girls at the fountain."
We got there to find the girls' arms full with shopping bags.
"What?" they said as we gave them the 'where are we going to put all that?' look.
I rolled my eyes and handed Monica the invitation slip.
She took one look at the address and instantly said "Where'd you get this? Wait, don't answer, because we're not even going. Don't you know what keep your head down means? It's obvious it's a trap! It's in the same place that... No. We are not going."
We walked back to the hotel without a word until we got in our rooms. The instant Tom closed the door I said "I'm going"
"She's not gonna let you." Tom said, opening his magazine on his bed.
"That's the main idea. When have I ever done what I've been told to do? She won't find out anyway. I'll leave the hotel without a word and I'll come back as quietly as possible.
He sighed and started to read.
I settled down for a while, and when it came to ten, I left the room...
And smacked right into Aziel!
"Watch it!" she hissed, then noticed it was me. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was about to ask the same thing." I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm... Ok, I'm going to the party!"
"Really? Me too!"
"Come on then!"
We arrived at the party and it was just like last time, only the thing is, the music didn't suck.
Aziel went off somewhere and I started to dance. While I was dancing, I crashed into Gunther, the old school bully.
"You got a problem?" he grunted.
"Oh no, it was an accident I'm sorry." I slowly backed away from him. I did NOT need to draw a crowd.
"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" a ring of people had formed around us. So much for not drawing a crowd.
"Yaarrggh!" Gunther roared as he came at me in a rugby tackle position. I easily vaulted over him and kicked him in the back.
Taken by surprise, he was sent forward, but quickly stopped and turned around. His nostrils flared and he charged at me again. This time I stepped to the side and threw my fist down on his head, causing him to smack into the ground. He was furious now, and he threw an uppercut aimed at my chin. I dodged out of the way, and with nobody to knock him down again, he got up. He charged at me once more when I jumped up and kicked downwards. My foot connected with his skull and he collapsed, defeated.
There was silence for a minute, then a loud cheer from the crowd. I saw Aziel standing at the front smiling.
Once the crowd broke up, I ran over to her.
"Nice one." She said, still smiling.
"No probs." I waved the matter aside. "We should probably get going."
She nodded and we made for the front door. Before we could exit, Janette walked up to me.
"Nevin, could I ask you something in private?" she asked.
I said yes and told Aziel to wait for me at the door. Janette took me to a small room and closed the door.
"What is it that you..." That's all I could say before got up to me and started to kiss me. I tried to push her off but her grip was too powerful. I could feel her hand on my back slowly moving further down...
"What in tarnations are you two doing in here?"
A hillbilly type janitor had walked in and in the confusion I managed to break away from Janette and left the room.
I got to the door and looked for Aziel.
"Nevin!"
I turned behind me to see Aziel getting dragged away by two of the men in black. I chased after them and when I caught up I jumped up and roundkicked one in the face, sending him flying, while the other one pulled out a gun, but not before I pulled out mine and shot him in the arm. I grabbed Aziel and we ran for the hotel.
Chapter 5
Once we got there Aziel slapped me.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For being a jerk." She stormed into her room leaving me very confused.
I walked into my room, hearing Tom ask me "Was Monica right? Did you get in trouble?"
I ignored him and went to sleep.
It was the same fire dream as before but the voice was different. It was a feminine voice.
"Millions have given in. It's your turn!"
I shook my head and I woke up.
When I awoke however, I awoke to staring into a charred hole in a ceiling, carrying on five more floors where there was a charred mark at the top.
Oops.
I got out of bed to find I was alone. Tom and Ben were gone.
This can't be good.
I got out to get smacked over the head with a frying pan in the face.
"Freak!" a woman shrieked as she smacked me over the head multiple times with the steel utensil before Aziel came out of her room and used her psychic powers to summon the frying pan into her hands.
"We gotta go" Aziel said as we watched the old lady run screaming "freak invasion!"
"Where's Tom and Monica?" I asked her as we got in the car.
"Trying to find Ben" Aziel explained.
"Great. I've somehow burnt a hole in our hotel, Ben's missing and we're being hunted by a mob."
"There they are!" Aziel said, pointing to Monica and Tom running into the cinema.
We parked outside and looked behind us to see the old lady with the frying pan leading an army of people with kitchen knives, egg beaters, frying pans and one even had a microwave.
"Great, the army of kitchen utensils is chasing us now. What's next, Ben's gonna go by kung fu fighting his kidnappers and running off?"
Speak of the nine-year old devil.
There was Ben, simultaneously tackling seven vampirates, running and sticking his middle finger up at me and Aziel.
"That little show-off bastard"
We ran after him but lost him around the corner.
"Crap, lost him. Come on we gotta find him."
We ran around a bit when we got caught by the cinema warden.
"Are you going to pay to see a movie or are you going to leave?"
I answered with a punch in the face and continued searching.
"Nevin! Heads up! I mean, down!"
I ducked to see an arrow fly across my head.
"Arrows again?" I murmured. "Feels like déjà vu."
Once again, we were surrounded by arrow-wielding ninjas circling us.
I grinned and leaped.
Aziel used her psychic powers to control me and used me like a hammer with an invisible handle. She whirled me around, with me sending punches and kicks all around. Once she put me down there were ninjas knocked out all over.
We ran down the corridor before they could wake up.
"Why did you slap me last night?" I asked her while we were running.
She didn't say anything for a while then mumbled "no reason."
I rolled my eyes and turned behind me.
"We're being followed" I informed Aziel.
"In here!" she grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into one of the movies.
When we were in we dived for the seats. On further inspection the movie was a romance.
Yay.
Just then, a group of vampirates broke in and sniffed around. They were about to get to our row when Aziel said "quick!"
I turned to her to try to understand what she wanted just before she kissed me.
Something happened then. I felt something surge through my body. I then heard Aziel's voice in my head say 'I love you'
The vampirates took one look at us, passed us as a couple on a date, and moved on.
She held a bit longer, and broke from me. We paused a bit, and we ran out.
'What was that back there?' I thought as I ran.
'I can now pass my thoughts to you and you can give them to me at any time, even when we're apart.' I heard Aziel's voice say in my head.
As we turned a corner we saw Monica and Tom come past us with Ben. We also saw them being chased by the mob. We caught up to them as we left.
We kept on running until we hit the train station.
"They'll never find us here" I told everyone. "This place is full of commuters."
"We're getting the first train out of here" Monica said. "This adventure's too dangerous. I'm not playing this game any longer."
I was too tired to argue, and she was right. We're being chased by the vampirates, the men in black, and a mob of scared kitchen utensil-wielding locals and no closer to completing the prophecy.
Just before we could all agree, Tom disappeared. Then Ben. Then Aziel. Then Monica.
And I blacked out.
I woke to the sounds of roaring trains.
When my focus came back, I discovered my arms and legs had been chained to the wall, like everyone else.
We were in an abandoned part of the station, which closed down due to a train crash. It's been blocked off ever since.
"What have we here?"
Janette walked in through a hole in the wall grinning.
"Janette! Get us out of these!" I called to her but she just laughed.
"Now you're interested in me. You always intrigued me Nevin. You're not the same to others. You're like me. I'm special too. I've always known. I have this effect on boys you see. Almost hypnotic. In fact, this effect is so strong I can make any boy do what I want. Except you. I could never find a way through to you Nevin. Even your friend Tom gave in to me, but you never did." She walked up to me and leaned in closer. "Once I've killed your friends I'll have you come along with us, so I can find out why I can't get through to you."
She smiled and leaned in closer. "You know I want you and I will have you."
She got up and walked to the centre, to the control panel and flicked a switch.
Once she did, another person came through the hole in the wall, another person I didn't expect to show up.
Nick.
Tom all of a sudden started throwing himself around.
"You bastard!" he shouted, trying to free himself. "When I get out of here I'm going to tear you apart!"
Nick grinned and walked over to Monica. "Remember me?"
Monica looked away but Nick grabbed her face and forced her to look at him.
"Don't worry my little muffin" he growled "I won't hurt you. Too much"
He chuckled and walked over to Janette.
"Why Nick?" I called out to him.
"You almost ruined my life Nevin." He turned to me. Remember the day I punched the headmaster?"
Indeed I did.
"Hurry up!"
Nick and I were stealing confiscated items from the headmaster's office while he was at a meeting. I was keeping the lookout while Nick searched the office for the items. I had made a few false alarms and Nick was getting angry.
"Quick!" I called to him. "The head's coming!"
"It's probably another false alarm Nevin. Stop trying to make this harder."
"What are you doing in here?" The headmaster saw us.
Nick grabbed what he had found, ran out the back door and I followed. Just before I could leave however, the headmaster recognised me.
"Nevin? In my office again? Detention for the rest of the term!"
I ran faster and ran past Nick. Nick turned around, shouted to me to carry on, and thrust his fist into the headmaster's stomach!
The head fell to his knees, groaned, and collapsed.
"Woops" Nick mumbled.
"That day ruined my life and it's your fault!" Nick shouted at me, pure hatred in his eyes.
"If you hadn't made so many mistakes on lookout, I never would've gotten expelled! People feared me after that. I was known as the Brute of Verity Town. I wasn't allowed in any schools because they were all afraid of me. If a boxing talent scout hadn't interviewed me I would be living on the streets!"
And that was when the most shocking surprise came.
Gerrard walked through the hole in the wall.
It was my turn to throw myself around.
Once I had calmed down, Gerrard walked over to a switch on the wall and flicked it.
From the floor came Megan tied up screaming and crying in pain.
"Electric wire." Gerrard chuckled. "Very tortuous, especially when wrapped in it for two hours."
"I'd think you'd be expecting an explanation won't you?" Gerrard walked over to us all. "We've been hired to kill you all. It's simple! The vampirates hired me since they knew I had good connections. I then got in touch with a couple of your old 'friends' and we got together. The attack and avalanche in Vancouver? My work. The sabotage and ambush in Destin city? Nick handled that, along with the ambush in Destin Wood. Janette organised all the events in Verity Town, including the mob. You see, there's no way out of this one."
They all started laughing. Megan's torture, their laughing, the fact two old friends betrayed me, the fact I've no hope, and the constant voice going "Do it! DO IT!" in my head all may have something to do with what happened next.
I burst into flames.
The power surged through me like an energy overload and it was. I broke out of my chains, shot fireballs at the chains holding everyone to the wall, and tore the electric wire off Megan. I then shot multiple fireballs at Gerrard, Janette and Nick, with them swiftly dodging every one. Gerrard ducked for the most useful weapon out there when fighting a boy in flames.
The fire extinguisher.
He sprayed me all down until there was no fire left on me. He broke into an evil laugh before Megan came up behind him with the electric wire and strangled him. Once she was done she let go and Gerrard dropped to the ground, dead.
"That's for trying to kill me" she muttered, tossing the wire away.
"My turn" Nick growled and leaped towards me, transforming...
Into the wolf that attacked us in the forest!
He jumped on top of me and bared his fangs. Tom transformed and tackled into Nick. Nick was flung into the wall and slammed, causing debris to fall. I ducked under a table and hid there, onlooking the battle between the two wolves.
Tom charged at Nick at full speed when Nick jumped up and dodged Tom, causing Tom to hit into the wall as Nick had done. They growled at each other for a while before they simultaneously charged for each other.
It all went down in slow motion. Tom jumped at the last second and flew over Nick. Nick kept on running and fell onto the train track. Before Nick could blink, a train came down the track and finished Nick.
We looked away as the crunching and screeching deafened our ears. When we looked however the train had come off its tracks-
And was hurtling towards us!
Monica, Tom, Ben, Megan and I ran towards the exit.
We reached the exit just before we heard a crash.
'Help!'
"Where's Aziel?" I searched around.
"She's down there with Janette." Monica called to me from outside the exit.
I ran as fast as I could through the station to find Aziel, calling her name. On the fifth call I saw Janette pinned down by fallen debris holding onto Aziel, trying to break free. The train had crashed into the wall and had started a fire. It was only a matter of time before the fire reached the fuselage and the place would explode, consuming everything in its reach.
"If I'm going down" Janette grunted. "I'm taking her with me!"
I kicked Janette in the face and she let go of Aziel. I grabbed Aziel and we ran towards the exit.
"You'll regret this Nevin!" I heard Janette call "You'll regret picking her over me!"
That was the last we heard before the ear-piercing explosion consumed her and hurtled toward us. I ran faster and held on tighter to Aziel and we leapt out of the exit. We stumbled to the ground and just before I closed my eyes I told myself 'It's all over'...
Chapter 6
I woke up in the hospital on a bed, with a bandage on my head, Tom and Ben next to me and a strange taste of lemon juice in my mouth.
"Morning!" Tom said happily to me as I got up. "Enjoy your sleep?"
"Barely" I groaned. "Where's everyone else?"
"They're over at Aziel's bed. She has woken up but she's sleeping now. Doctor says there's nothing wrong with you both and you'll soon be ready to get going again."
"Then what's the head bandage for?"
"Take it off and look at it"
I took it off and it had written on it 'Try not to kill yourself next time!-Monica'
'Sorry about the Gerrard thing.-Megan'
'Please don't die!-Ben'
'Idiot.-Tom'
'Thanks for saving me x.-Aziel'
I smiled and put it on the side table.
"Once the VPS put the whole business to bed with the media, they got you into a private hospital, funded by the VPS of course." Tom explained to me. "They had it covered up as a 'technical malfunction'. How a train derailing, smashing into a wall and exploding counts as a technical malfunction I'll never know."
Tom chuckled as Megan and Monica came over. "Everything ok?" Monica asked me.
"Fine as a horse coat" I answered. "Aziel awake?"
"See for yourself" Monica moved out of the way to see Aziel come over.
"You're an idiot" Aziel said to me. "Almost killing yourself on the account of me."
"How romantic" said Harriet said sarcastically. "Alright lovebirds, it's time we hit the road. We've got a prophecy to fulfil!"
We all nodded and we headed towards the exit. We all boarded the helicopter. All of us except Megan.
"Come on Megan, we can't delay!" I shouted to her over the whirring of the helicopter.
"About that" Harriet scratched her head. "Megan's no longer on the team remember? She's got her own life now."
Megan waved goodbye as we lifted off and into the air.
"Don't worry" Aziel placed her hand on my shoulder. "You'll see her again."
And that's when I realised:
One day you're going to have to forget memories.
Especially in the life of a vampire.
To be continued...