A/N: OH noes! I'm late! Sorry, I went to bed at like, what? 9:30 last night? And I didn't even do my homework :P But, here's the chapter now :3 Read and enjoy. You get to see Jon act like an idiot :D
CHAPTER FOUR. SHHHHHHEIIIT.
Finally they found a hotel. The waves of relief coming form Jonathan surprised Melissa, but when she saw the way Jessica was mangling his hand and arm she understood.
Jess had been a blubbering nutcase once they were out of the public. Whatever had spoke to her had scared her witless, but she just wouldn't let Melissa touch her. It was as if she was trying to save her from seeing a horrible sight. Jon had her cradled in his lap, soothing her the best he could while Melissa went through their stash of stuff to see what they would need while they stayed in the city.
"Jess, oh, please let Melissa see what happened. She's seen worse, she hears their thoughts...Jess..." Jon's pleas came to Melissa's ears. She sighed and shook her head. Jessica wasn't this weak; she took her entrapment in the midnight without a tear. Something else was wrong. Very wrong.
But if the girl wouldn't let her near, and Melissa wasn't going to force anything from her while she was in this state.
Jon spoke without looking up at Melissa, "She needs to sleep, Melissa...but she's too terrified to. Can you help her?" Jessica continued to sob into his chest, her arms curled around herself and legs tucked up, spilling over Jon's crossed legs at the knees. She looked like an overgrown baby.
"I'll see what I can do, Jon." Melissa replied, sending calming, sleepy vibes towards Jessica. She hated doing this; it made her feel like Maddy, a manipulative bitch of a mindcaster. What had to be done, had to be done, though.
Slowly Jessica's sobs shortened, and then grew farther apart, finally dying off all together. She sniffled once and mumbled sleepily, "Melissa, that's no...no fair..." Trailing off as she settled her head against Jon's chest and drifted off. he moved around a bit to be more comfortable, leaning back against some pillows on the headboard. He closed his eyes as well, muttering something about damn darklings. Melissa sighed.
"Okay, I guess we should catch up on some sleep, even though it's the middle of the day. I'll go out and look for the midnighters. But don't expect this to happen tomorrow, no way." She muttered the last bit as she headed for the door, ignoring Jon's call of 'thank you!' as she slammed the door behind her.
Once she was out in the streets Melissa felt the onslaught of voices hit her head. She flinched once and then sifted through them, using the age old technique Maddy had taught her to find the voices she wanted, or just tune them all out at once.
Like tuning an AM radio, She thought with a small smile.
Suddenly a thought struck her, loud and clear.
Hey Melissa! It's Audrey. Melissa's smile slipped into a grin; she felt strangely honored that the young girl had contacted her.
Hello, Audrey. How are you? Melissa replied cheerfully.
I'm great! I can concentrate in school again, it's great; my parents aren't mad anymore either. Thank you so much. The girl responded. Melissa felt a warm glow inside of her. Wow, second time in three days. Something must be wrong with her anti-cheeriness factory.
You're welcome Audrey...now, have you found anything out about the other midnighters yet? Melissa was eager to visit some of them. She had done her best to look more...normal. She knew that parents would be reluctant to let their children near someone who looked as gothy as she usually did.
She'd been changing her look a lot lately; she hoped it wasn't permanent.
Yeah, actually...five other kids at my school are midnighters. My high school's big so that might be why there's so many.
Melissa was surprised. Seven in one school? The school must have been huge.
Alright, thanks Audrey! She replied to the girl.
All she got in response was an impression of joy. Wow. She, Melissa, had made someone besides Loverboy happy. It was nice.
She stumbled and someone swore at her, then there was a loud beep and she yanked her head around, gasping slightly as she realized she hadn't been paying attention as she crossed the street.
And there came a car -- and a rather large one at that -- the driver giving off waves of terror and pity as they slammed on the brakes, trying to stop. Melissa had frozen like a deer in the headlights of a car. She essentially was a deer in the headlights now.
And soon so be a dead one.
She threw her arms over her face, her muscles tensing automatically and fear radiating from every pore in her body.
The thought she thought would be her last was something along the lines of,
I love you, Rex.
But the thought wasn't followed by a heavy, painful, feeling in her stomach, no cracking ribs, no nothing.
Just plain, glorious, silence.
Melissa slowly lowered her arms, eyes wide and heart pounding with adrenaline.
"Oh...oh no." She whispered quietly, eyes going even wider as she took everything in.
Had the blue time come again? Was there a rip in Tulsa, too?
"Hey! You're a 'nighter too?" A voice called. It was male. Melissa turned, startled, as she picked out a tall, fair haired boy. He looked to be about eighteen, maybe even twenty. A college student, probably.
"A...a midnighter? Y-yeah. I...I am." Melissa managed to choke out. She looked back at the car, jumping slightly at the ghostly effect the terrified stiff sported in the blue time and backing away. Even braking the car was probably going at least twenty. That would not feel good at all.
"Hey! And I thought I was alone...I'm James, who're you?" Melissa didn't care about introductions; she just wanted to find out what the hell had caused the blue time.
"I'm Melissa, but I don't live around here...did you do this?" The boy beamed and nodded, looking quite proud of himself.
"Yeah! It's weird, but I can stop time during the day, like at midnight. But it's hard. Well, was." Melissa was intrigued by this. A new talent? Maybe that was why she couldn't tell what the other midnighters had been. But for some reason she didn't think there could be other talents.
"So...you can stop time whenever you want?" She asked, curious. By now she was near him and her heart had slowed nor was she trembling any longer.
"Not quite. I have to wait a while before I can tamper with it again, but that's usually not more than an hour or so. It's great though, I can control how long I want to screw with time for, and when it starts to make me feel dizzy I just let it go." Melissa was astounded. This was an amazing discovery! It would make life so much easier, if only he wasn't in school...
"How old are you?" She asked, flinching a bit at how rude she'd sounded.
"Me? I'm twenty five, miss. Just a bum livin' off my parent's money. Been trying to find a job, but I haven't had much luck." Melissa beamed. Perfect -- her age guess had been off, but still, this guy would be perfect.
"Well...were you on your way to anywhere important? Because I think there's a few things I want to tell you." He frowned for a second but shook his head after a moment of thought.
"Nope, not going anywhere, miss. What do we need to talk about, though?" Melissa blinked, and then replied, "Well...lets go find somewhere we can talk, first. It'll be easier to explain then." He shrugged and agreed, replying, "Well there's this place a block or so down, we can walk there." Melissa nodded.
"That would be perfect." He smiled and then gently pulled her to his side.
"Don't wanna be in the way of anyone when time starts up again, miss." His accent sounded very Texan. Melissa felt herself blushing when he didn't move his hand from hers, so she did so herself, mentally scolding her behavior. She belonged to Rex, not some random off the streets. time jumped back to life, the onslaught of mind noise entering her brain for a moment as she sorted it out.
"Okay, lets go, James." She said, looking up at him. He smiled brightly and nodded.
He reminded her so much of a little kid.
--
"So what you're saying is...you and your two buddies are here in Tulsa, looking for midnighters, because you need to teach them about the midnight, and these things called darklings that are in it?" James said, his eyes on Melissa, attention rapt to her. She nodded, stirring her tea slowly with a spoon.
"That's pretty much it. There's a few other more...complicated details, but you don't need to know those. Mostly just boring stuff about our histories." She replied, looking up at him while she continued to stir. He shrugged and continued to eat the sandwich he's bought.
"I'm not much of a history guy, ancient or otherwise," He laughed. "But I am interested in meeting these other two. Can I?" Melissa frowned, thinking. There wasn't any harm; he was one of them. "Sure. But...lets finish up here first." James nodded, agreeing.
Once they finished, Melissa and James left the cafe, him giving off vibes of contentment. Apparently finding other midnighters had confirmed that he was not actually insane. Melissa quietly opened the hotel door, peering into the room to see if the two were still asleep.
Surprise surprise, they were.
She smiled quietly to herself as she quietly tip toes over to the bed, James following her, feeling a little awkward.
"Boo!" She yelled at Jonathan, who jolted awake, causing Jessica to fall out of his arms and wake up as well. Both had let out short yells when they were woken up, and James found himself laughing at the frightened looks on their faces. Jessica was paler than usual, and Jon looked like he had just seen a ghost.
"Jesus Christ Melissa, don't do that!" Jessica gasped, her hands trembling a bit. Jon didn't even bother speaking as he got to his feet, helping Jessica up afterward.
Melissa was grinning like she was a little kid again, barely able to hold back her laughter as she said, "Well you were asleep; I had to wake you up!" James walked up beside her with his hands in his pockets, still chuckling lightly. Jon put an arm possessively around Jessica and asked with suspicious eyes, "Mel? Who's this?" She looked at James and smiled.
"This is James. He's a time-stopper." Jessica tilted her head to the side, confused. More talents? Had her and Jon been right?
"Time stopper...? Wait, but, that means..." James nodded, and with a snap of his fingers, the blue time washed over everything. Jessica gasped at the suddenness of it, Jon grinning as he pushed off slightly from the ground, a hand rising to the ceiling and pushing himself back down as James snapped his fingers a second time. "I can only do it for a few minutes, though. I'm building myself up to a half hour at a time. I'm pretty sure it can only go over a small area." Jon looked ecstatic at the prospect of getting more blue time during the day. Even a few minutes was okay.
"So...how did you find him?" Jess asked as she stared curiously at the older man's face.
Melissa took a deep breath, about to explain, but James brushed her arm with his hand to convey that he wanted to tell, saying instead, "It's nothing important. She just happened to be in my time-stop a while ago. She's told me all about you guys and the midnighters..." He paused to hold his hand out in an awaiting handshake, "You must be Jonathan, nice to meet you, man." Jon put his hand out, suspicion pouring from the glare he sent at the newcomer and stiffly shook his hand. James then held his hand out to Jessica, who reached her own out to shake.
"And that means you're Jessica." He said with a smile, bringing her hand to his lips. She blushed and Jon tightened his arm around her shoulders. This guy had just invaded his territory. Jessica was his and there was no way this...this ladies man was going to do anything like that again. Grrr.
Melissa laughed into her hand, attempting to make it sound like a cough, though the glare she got from Jonathan confirmed that he caught the laughter.
"A-anyways...James wanted to meet you guys, so...here he is. But I'm assuming you have somewhere to stay...?" She turned to James, who was busy smiling at Jessica. He turned his head and nodded.
"I've got a place pretty close to here actually..." He trailed off, not catching the hint that it was time to go. Jessica decided to pipe up and say, "Well, it was really nice meeting you but I'm sure you've got a lot to do." James took the hint then, grinning and nodding.
"Yeah, I probably should head back to my place. Having a party later..." He paused. "Say, would you guys like to come? I'm sure you can take a break form your work -- you've got plenty of time to look for the rest of the midnighters in the city, I'm sure." Jessica grinned, the thought of a party brightening her up. She hadn't been to anything fun in -- well, a long time.
"That...sounds really fun, actually. What do you guys think?" Melissa seemed interested; maybe there would be more midnighters there. She nodded and said that she thought it was an okay idea. Jon stiffly agreed to go since Jessica wanted to.
"What time is it at?" Melissa asked as she sat down on her bed.
"Starts at 4, goes until whenever everyone's either passed out or gone." James replied as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He paused, frowning and sticking out his lower lip a bit as something clicked in his mind.
"How old are you guys anyway?" Jessica bit her lip and Jon sighed. Maybe if they were too young they could avoid the party--
"We're all nineteen, but alcohol's no problem; we're not strangers to it." Jon's eyes went wide when Melissa said that lie. She looked so...innocent when she said that. It was a good thing James hadn't been looking over at him and Jessica or else he'd have seen through Melissa's lie.
"Okay, if you guys say so. See you at four!" He's looked directly at Jessica when he said that and Jonathan fought back the urge to say anything. He settled with glaring daggers at the opposing male.
With one last wave at the group James went through the door. Everyone was silent until it slammed shut, and Jon said with a hard edge to his voice, "Melissa. Why did you accept that asshat's offer?" Melissa grinned at him.
"To piss you off." She started, earning a pillow to the face. "Not really, but, why not? This guy seems like the kinda kid that would be pretty popular which means there's gonna be more people, which--"
"Which means there could be more midnighters, yeah, yeah, but I do not like the way that guy was looking at Jess." Jon cut her off. His voice was bitter with jealousy.
"Awww, Jon, you were jealous!" Jess chimed in, giving him a peck on the cheek. He turned a little red and looked away, muttering about stupid players. Melissa laughed, earning her a surprised look from both of the other midnighters. She had been acting so out of character lately, it was starting to alarm Jess and Jon. She rolled her eyes and ordered them while getting up, "Oh come on, am I not allowed to be happy or something? Lets get ready Jess. You need new clothes." At least there was one person who agreed with her, Jess was thinking. Jon rolled his eyes.
"I'll go in what I've got, you two have fun." He muttered. Jess kissed him on the lips quick, at the same time stealing his wallet from his pocket as she did so.
"'Bye, Jon, love you!" He smiled as she said that, lifting his hand in farewell. And then she waved back, with his wallet in her hand. He stood up and stared openmouthed as the two girls left and stared dumbly at the door after it had closed.
"God dammit, I need another guy around here." He muttered, slumping back on to his bed. Laying back, he flipped on the TV.
This was going to be a long four hours.
--
"Jooooonathaaaan!" Jessica sang as her and Melissa arrived back with their arms laden with clothes and looking positively jubilant. Jon had dozed off in front of the TV, some cop show going on the set. Jessica put her stuff down and sidled up beside him, running a hand through his hair and gently kissing his forehead.
"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead." She said to him while Melissa reviewed their picks. Both girls had been thanking god for credit cards while they were out shopping, that was for sure. Jon slowly woke up, wiping his face free of drool and rubbing his eyes to wake up.
When he finally noticed how much they had bought, his mouth dropped open and he asked, cautious, "How...how much did you guys spend?" Jessica grinned sheepishly and Melissa diverted her eyes, rocking back on her heels.
"Jessica..." Jon growled as he sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "How much," He started, getting up and walking up to her, forcing her to back up into the wall behind her, "did you spend?" She blushed as he put his hands on either side of her head and leaned in.
"Jon! You're teasing me." She whined as he brushed his lips against hers. Melissa snorted. "No fair, you can't seduce her into telling you how much it is." Jon grinned. "Watch me." He reliped, letting one hand tril down Jessica's side as he whispered into her ear, "How much did it cost, honey?" Jessica bit her lip, trembling a bit at his touch. She gave in when his hand reached her stomach, going under her shit a little. She fought back the urge to just let him continue and murmured quietly, "U-uh, like, t-two hundred dollars?" Jon laughed darkly to himself, thinking so only Melissa would hear, Told you so. She scowled at him as he put his mouth over Jessica's and turned to their new clothes, shoes, pretty much everything.
Jon let Jessica move freely, taking her hand and pulling her with him to the pile of clothes, mildly curious as to what the hell they bought that had cost so much money.
He stared silently at the bags as Jess let go of his hand and pulled out her dress, held it up to herself and turned left and right.
"So? What do you think?" Jon was eyeing the dress, a grin spreading across his face as he said, referring to the zipper going down the back. "So...you'll need help getting that on?" Jessica gave him a sharp look and said with exasperation in her voice, "Yes, but Melissa will help me, Jon. Not you." He pretended to look sad but failed rather epicly due to the huge grin on his face.
"Now. I'm off to take my shower, I'll be done as fast as I can, Melissa." The other girl nodded as she sorted out her clothes, standing in front of one of the mirrors as she spun back and forth. Jessica had convinced her to buy a dark blue silk halter dress that stopped mid-thigh. She had to admit it made her feel nice, and she wasn't even wearing the thing yet. Jon had flopped back onto his and Jessica's bed, lounging while Melissa fussed with her hair and new clothes. She was acting uncharacteristically girly in a nearly sickening way.
After about twenty minutes Jon got up and went over to the bathroom, knocking and announcing he was going to the bathroom. Jessica called to him to go on in and he did so.
When he was done, though, he opened and closed the door without going out and stayed in the second part of the bath where he couldn't be seen. He spent some time with his hair, combing the knots out and spiking it up in the front. When the water finally stopped he smiled to himself and turned away from the mirror. Jessica stopped out of the shower with her towel around her, looking down as she dried her feet on the bath mat. When she looked up and saw Jon standing there she froze. He grinned and walked towards her, opening his mouth to say something, but she didn't let him.
"Jonathan you creep!" She screeched, slapping him across his face hard enough for a deep red hand print to show up on his tanned skin. He flinched backwards, surprise on his face. He honestly had not been expecting that.
"Get out! Jesus Christ, Jon!" She yelled angrily at him, her skin flushing in her rage. He backed up into the door, funmling with the handle and fleeing out into the other room. Melissa was looking over in surprise at the commotion. She started to laugh when Jon came stumbling backwards out of the bathroom, falling on his ass, and getting a hairbrush to the head.
"Jonathan, you are an idiot." Melissa confirmed as she put her dress down and went to help him up. He put a hand to his face where he'd been slapped and muttered, "Damn, she can slap hard." Melissa lost it then and collapsed onto her bed laughing. This almost made the trip completely worth it.
Roughly two hours later the girls were dressed and ready to go, and Jon had grudgingly put on a new shirt and pair of jeans at Melissa's request; Jessica was refusing to speak with him after the bathroom ordeal. The red mark on his face had gone down and was just barely visible now. It was a good thing, since they were leaving now. Jessica had left to get a taxi while Melissa ordered Jon out the door. He hadn't seen Jessica's dress on her quite yet, and hoped she'd at least let him have that comfort after their fight. One of their first ones, he realized.
Jessica was waiting for them with a taxi beside her, the taxi man looking her over, and then Melissa and grinning wolfishly as he opened his mouth to say something. Melissa narrowed her eyes at him and growled viciously, "Say it and you're fuckin' dead, you pathetic perv." His mouth snapped closed with wide eyes as the girls slid into the car and Jon paid, laughing mentally.
It was great to have a mind-reader with them.
The taxi driver stopped in front of the address Jessica had handed him, his eyes a little wide when he saw the house they were headed for.
"You sure ya got the right place?" He grumbled. The house was huge; pretty much a mansion, and these three were young. The dresses on the girls looked nice but the taximan had seen the redhead's wallet, which was empty except for a credit card a some probably already used gift cards. Jessica gave him a creepy, demeaning smile as she snapped back, "Yes, sir. Thank you so much for your time." She then opened the door and climbed out, stretching and waiting for the other two. Jon finally got a good look at her dress; it was a deep green one, making her eyes jump out. It had a deep V neck, showing quite a bit of cleavage - and the fact she wasn't wearing anything underneath. He hid a grin behind his hand, knowing he'd get hell for that one. Melissa was already glaring at him. Jessica smiled, which warmed Jon's heart even if it wasn't quite directed at him and then said cheerfully, "Come on, guys. Les get going! I haven't been to a good party in forever..." She trailed off as she hooked her arm through Melissa's and took off for the front door of the huge house.
"I...I think I might actually have some fun with this." Melissa said in wonder as they stepped inside. Jessica was immediately greeted by James, who looked quite handsome in his khaki shorts and unbuttoned polo. From what Jess could see, he was a rather built guy. He took her hand, grinning in delight that they'd come, and lifted it to his lips for the second time that day. Jon stiffened and shoved his hands deep in his pockets as he clenched his fists. Melissa sighed and rolled her eyes muttering angrily to him, "Stop that, you jealous prick. She isn't going to pick him over you; I would know." Jon sighed but didn't relax, nor was he convinced.
"Welcome, all three of you. I hope you didn't have any trouble finding the house..." He trailed off, his hand still holding on to Jessica's. She didn't bother to remove it.
"Oh, no, it was no trouble at all, James. Thanks for inviting us!" Jessica smiled as Melissa spoke. She was glad her friend wasn't hanging back like she would have a few months ago.
A slower song came on and the people in the background (there were a lot of them) split off into couples, some just picked a random person off from the crowd and danced with them. Jon was about to reach for Jessica when James asked, his eyes directly on Jon who was behind them as he spoke, "Would you like to dance?" Jon didn't expect her to say yes, so he relaxed and waited.
"Well..." Jessica hesitated, earning a smile from Jon. "I'd love to, actually." She finished. James smiled, turning it into a smirk as he looked over Jess' head at Jon. Jon just stared after them as James and his girl walked away. He glared at Melissa.
"You said she wasn't going to pick him over me." She shrugged.
"I guess maybe this is your fault." She replied over her shoulder as she walked off into the crowd.
With that, she walked away, leaving Jon open mouthed and with a hurt pride.