Chapter 21; Groups of Teenagers

Okay, I feel overwhelmed with happiness now. Reading reviews from y'all have just made my day. XD But, before we get on with the review replies, here's a funny bit from a friend at school:

Sitting in Chemistry today:
My teacher: Can anyone tell me where you might find a flammable sign?
Jared: Gas tanks
Ryan: Propane tanks
Sean: *under his breath* Jews
Me: *laughing* that was so racist Sean.
Sean: Sorry DX

Yea...my class is very weird...for some reason they started talking about lady things, and we have like, six guys in that class, compared to the four girls...Sean sat in front of me in the very last row furthest from the door, and the others sat more in the middle of the room. As you can imagine, I don't much like some of my classmates, and I'm more of a loner anyway.

Anyway: Review Replies!

FireWolfHeart: haha, you're crazy XD and thank you! I'm glad David is on the team too now! It'll make it just a bit easier!

Luna WhiteWolf: Whoo! Well, here ya go!

Oak Leaf Ninja: Yeah...I saw that XD lol and thanks! Here's your update ;D

Jabber185: Haha, your welcome, and I read your story on , and I think it's amazing, though you'll see that with the review I gave you lol. Hmm...Yup, I give ya permission to use her! Just let me know when ya put it up XD

So, here we go, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit Alex's group in, but I might, you might also hear a little more on Erik ;D

Dex's POV

When Sam and Riley had pushed back through the crowd towards Tucker, Jazz and me, I started to look for Alex. I didn't need to look long to spot her in the corner of the room, watching Sam and Riley with a weary look on her face.

"Alex said we should lead those goonies away from the other ghost," Riley was saying, looking over at me with a worried expression. I smiled wickedly at that. Hell yes! Passed through my mind as I thought about the chase. Riley smiled nervously back at me. "This'll be fun!" I laughed, throwing my head back and letting the sound echo around the room. Sam smiled back and got a crazy look in her eyes.

"Alright!" Sam's voice came from a mega-phone that was much too close to my ear. "Here's how we're doing this," She began in her normal voice once she'd gotten all the teenagers attention. A blonde boy standing next to me and smirked at the Goth. "Look at this loser," He murmured to his buff friend, who smirked back. Sam's violet eyes turned towards the jock and she growled silently. "I'd remind you Dash that you signed up to follow ME, not make snarky remarks towards my leadership. You don't want to follow me, get out!" Her eyes blazed and I watched as Dash trembled and nodded. "Good, now, we're going to have some fun," She smiled at this and cast a look at each of the teenagers.

"What kind of fun?" One kid asked, standing in the very back. "We're going to cause a distraction," Riley shouted out, and I watched heads swivel towards my best friend. "Who are you?" Dash asked, his eyes were checking her out. "I'm Riley, and no, I am soo not going out with you, I'm spoken for," Riley rolled her eyes and winked at me. I blushed slightly. I'd had a crush on Riley since we first met, when I moved to our little Texas town in the fourth grade. She was so nice and so funny. I hadn't had the chance to tell her anything, because I'd never had the guts.

All the kids started pouring out the door, and I quietly retreated to the wall, letting them stream past me like a herd of cattle. I watched as Sam, Jazz and Tucker ran out with them. Each of them looked like they were about to go out and party their asses off. The look of excitement and anticipation on their faces made me want to laugh out loud, if it hadn't been such a grim situation, I probably would have.

"Hey Dex, you seen Erik?" Riley stopped in front of me, looking confused. "Uh, no Riley, not since we entered the mansion." Now that she mentioned it, I remembered that Erik hadn't been anywhere near Alex or any of us since I'd first left him alone on the first floor of the mansion. I hadn't heard anything from him, not a word, and that worried me as well. But if Alex hadn't seemed worried, I suppose I shouldn't be either.

Riley's eyes widened, but she shook it off visibly and smiled. I smiled back and ran outside, only to be knocked to the ground by a goon. "Hey freak!" The voice was coming from nowhere, but the goon fell to the ground in pain and a red and silver mist was coming off his form. Alex must've stayed until the goons had gone away; I thought as I jumped up and chased after the other teens, Riley at my heels.

Saffyre's POV

To tell you the truth, I was excited to do this. All my life I'd been walked all over and led to believe I couldn't do anything right. My parents liked to shoot me down when I was proud of something I'd done, but they'd praise my older sister like she was God Almighty. It really irked me, but what could I do? My parents would have kicked me to the street if they'd learned about my powers. That's what they did with my older brother, the only family member I'd actually liked. He eventually committed suicide though, because he couldn't take the insults from our parents. He was half the reason I was who I was though. Mike had been an amazing brother, from day one.

When I was born, he was six years old. My goody two-shoes sister was three, and already hating me. My parents would pass off responsibility to Mike anytime they could, and would pamper Lizzy, my sister. The girl was a freaking princess, and I mean that literally. Lizzy wore pretty pink bows and fluffy pink dresses that quite frankly made me sick. Our parents let her wear make-up the second she turned five, and then painted the crap on her face like she was some sort of clown.

Over the years, my brother and I had formed a bond nobody could break. Even when he finally turned sixteen and got his license, he still kept me around. He brought me with him to football games, basketball games and baseball games, just to watch him play. His friends thought that his parents made him look after me, that my brother hadn't wanted me around. When they learned that he really cared about me, they'd ditch him. Instead of getting mad, he just shook his head and laughed. Then he'd turn towards me and say, "Guess they can't take the fact that I love my little sister huh Erika?" I looked at him with shinning eyes and hug him. He was my big brother, and my best friend. He'd supported me where our parents would not.

One day after school, when I was thirteen years old, Mike had come to pick me up, since he'd been going to college by this time. In his pick-up, I bounced around excitedly. He was going to adopt me, and get me away from our parents. I was so relieved, because Mike had an apartment closer to the High School, where I would be going within the next five months. The cab had been warm compared to the cool afternoon of the Nevada spring.

He was supposed to take me to his apartment, seeing as how our parents told me that they didn't give a rat's ass where I went, what I did, or what happened so long as my ass was back home by curfew. When Mike had bought the apartment, he had me in mind. It was a two bedroom, two bathroom small apartment with a small kitchen and a living room. It was quite a comfortable little place, and I was looking forward to moving in with him.

That day, we'd been sitting comfortably in his kinda big living room, playing cards. "Hey, did you know my neighbors hunt ghost?" Mike had asked; a mischievous light had entered his eyes. "Really?" The idea that someone was interested in ghost was so cool. He nodded and stood up, his bones had crackled and popped. I jumped up, excited. He walked towards the oak door and opened it into the small, stinking hallway. Turning left, he led me five feet to the next door and knocked. A small, bald man cracked the door open and stared at my brother. "This the little sister you were telling me about?" His voice was gravelly and rough. My brother nodded and smiled as the old man opened the door wider.

The inside of the apartment was top notch tech gear. Guns and machines were piled along the floor and on the counters. The spare room held more gear and weapons whose names were unknown to me. In the middle of the room, however, was a pool of ecto-plasmic goo. It was held in a steal container that had the biohazard sign on it. I was fascinated by the green swirling goo that looked like herds of animals were stirring it up. "Like that girl? That's dangerous goo there. It melds with your DNA and changes your make-up." The old guy's right eye twitched as he stared at the pool. I blinked and backed away slightly. He cackled and turned his head to study me with one blue eye. "Mike?" I asked, hoping my brother was just around the corner. "Yeah?" Hi call was coming from down the hall. I relaxed and smiled. "It's nothing, just didn't know where you were," His heavy boots made thumps as he walked back towards us. "Time to go little sis," He smiled at his neighbor. "See you around!" We got out of the apartment and returned to Mike's.

A number flashed red on Mike's answering machine. A voicemail. I looked towards my brother. He put one finger to his lips as he pressed the playback message. "Michael?" My father's gruff voice came out of the tiny speakers. "Michael, we're calling to tell you that Lizzy has won her beauty pageant!" He sounded so happy about it, but whenever I won the spelling bee, they'd said that I'd cheated. Mike rolled his eyes and mouthed, whatever, to me before my father's voice came back on the line. "Oh, and we've reported Erika missing, seeing as how she hadn't returned home today." He mumbled something else, something I couldn't make out. Then the line cut off and I looked at my brother, who had an o shaped mouth after hearing that last part.

"That bastard!" He whispered under his breath. The phone sounded a monotonous ring when he picked it up to dial my parents back. "Look here, father," He let sarcasm drip into his voice as he left the voicemail. "Erika's not missing, she's right here with me, like she told you she would be, I don't know what's wrong with you, but I'm taking you to court, Erika can come live with me," He growled into the receiver before slamming the phone back down. "Let's go," He grabbed his car keys from the hook they were hanging on and walked to the door. I complied silently, following behind him. Before we could take even a step, however, the apartment building was rocked by an explosion. I fell backward, back into the living room, and splinters of wood and glass covered me like a blanket. I felt my brothers shoulders hit my feet and his head rested against my shin.

When I looked to my left, a large, gaping hole stood where one wall was. The old man's lab was visible, as was the pool of ecto-plasmic goo. The neighbor was lying on his back in the hallway, a pool of blood surrounding his lifeless body. A creak and groan snapped my attention back to the metal container, which buckled under the stress. The goo flowed out and onto the floor, spreading like a flood after a heavy rain. We were soon covered in it, and the pain I felt was unbearable agony. I thrashed about, cutting myself on the glass and wood splinters that covered the floors. My brother groaned, but his head lolled about. He was unconscious, I realized, and sirens were sounding off in the distance. I fell to darkness after that.

The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital with needles sticking out of my arm and a heart monitor beeping nearby. My brother laid in the next bed, with his leg propped up and the top part of his head wrapped. He was already awake and talking quietly with a cop. "Hey Erika," His voice sounded rough, like he'd been crying. "Mike? Are you okay?" I croaked out, my throat was dry and brittle. He nodded carefully, and I looked at the officer who watched our exchange quietly. "Hello Erika Stars. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" I smiled at him and nodded. "Nurse!" My brother called out, and I thought something had gone wrong with him. "Can you get some water for Erika please?" I blinked at him and shook my head with a small smile. "You didn't have to do that for me," I told him, but I had to admit that I sure needed it.

"Erika, why were you over at Mike's this afternoon?" The officer asked me as I greedily gulped down the water. "Mike's my brother sir, and the only one who cares about me within my family." Why would he ask that?I thought to myself, looking over at my brother. The officer nodded and wrote something down on his legal pad. "What about your parents reporting you missing? Doesn't that mean they care about you?" I shook my head and grimaced. "'Course not sir, that just means that they don't want to look bad." The officer looked outside the hospital window. I followed his direction of sight and saw his partner talking to both our parents. "I'm not going home with them," I told the guy seriously. "But they have legal custody of you." The cop replied back. "I don't care, my brother is taking them to court and getting custody of me," My brother groaned from his bed and I turned my head to look at him. "Don't, please, go home with them, when I get a new apartment, then we can talk about you coming to live with me," I felt tears well up in my eyes but I had to agree with Mike. With only a few more words, the cop was ushered out and we were given lights out.

About two weeks after the accident, we were released from the hospital and life was supposed to return to normal. But, I started to notice that, at varies points in the day, I might turn invisible, turn intangible or any other weird ghost like thing. That's also when I realized I didn't come out of that explosion with just a few cuts and bruises. The goo that had covered us from Mike's neighbors place had altered my DNA. When Mike told our parents about what had happened to him, they disowned him from the family. He was found three days later hanging from the ceiling by a rope. I was devastated, but my parents acted like it was nothing. After that, we packed up and moved to London, where my official hell began.

I felt, that by beating up these ghosts, maybe I could get some type of revenge. I guess that isn't entirely justified, but it's better than being with my family back in London. Hiding in the shadows, I waited silently for something eventful to happen, all the while singing various Country songs I'd listen to growing up.

Okay, I know what I said up there, but I got to thinking, and what if Saffyre had another reason for wanting to help Alex and Danny? Well, here's her sob story, and I might write another story about her, I might not lol. Anyway, R&R please, and, if you're interested in some type of Fantasy story, Jabber185 has written a story that's kinda about his character, it's called, A Fantasy Beyond Reality, and it's on fanfictions other site, the one for original stories, if ya want to read it. Please do, Jabber185 needs support to help him write this story, and it's really a great story as far as I've read! No, his name isn't Jabber185 on , its wingmaster185, and look up his story by his name! Thanks for reading y'all!