No one could sleep. Jonathan's eyes felt like they'd pop right out of his head. He felt the fatigue- sure- but didn't care at this point.
Melissa was fixing Dess up with the first aid kit that had been under the seat. Dess kept jerking away and growling nasty comments about Rex and his girl.
Melissa seemed unperturbed by the whole thing. She was very calm and coordinated as she listened to Jonathan and Dess' story. And she continued to be so.
"The pain is so bad now," she said to Jonathan during one of Dess' rants. "That I can't really feel anything else."
As soon as the midnight hour ended, Jonathan started the car up and they scrammed right out of the parking lot.
"What does sunrise look like?" Melissa muttered dreamily as she fell to sleep in the back.
Dess had quieted now, but you could tell that dark thoughts were still circling round in her head. Her face was a deep scowl and there was practically a rainstorm above her head.
Jonathan was thinking about Jess. He didn't know why. Usually he tried to suppress thoughts about her. He thought about the last time he saw her, saying goodbye.
He blinked away unbidden tears. She could have never come with them. They'd only be able to travel, what, one hour a day? Yeah, that'd take forever.
He sniffed, and turned his head slightly, hoping Dess wouldn't notice.
"Jess?" Dess asked.
Jonathan sighed. "Yeah. I bet she's really lonely."
Dess shrugged. "She'll deal."
Jonathan didn't answer.
Jess struggled against the bands, but every time she moved, it would shock her.
"UGHH!" she screamed as lightning coursed through her body.
"Hold still!" the boy, who couldn't have been more than 17, yelled at her.
Jess jerked again and electricity zapped again.
The boy shook his head and turned to the mirror behind him.
"Sir, if she keeps this up…Well, she might not last as it is," he reported.
"Don't worry. I will soon be there."
"Yes, Lord Ragalus."
Aris hissed like an animal as she looked down at the teal truck that moved inch by inch away from them.
"What does he want?" she muttered at Rex.
Rex looked up from the mirror. "Ragalus informs us that he's on his way. We must hurry." His black eyes slitted hungrily.
Aris grimaced. "Pulled us away from our job for that?"
"It means he's ready- and we're not," Rex stated, moving toward the edge of the roof.
Aris nodded. "Let's not waste any more time."
Contrary to Melissa's belief, the sun did rise into the sky the following morning. Dess blinked as the sunshine permeated the car. She slipped into dark shades.
Jonathan gripped the wheel as if his life depended on it. Sleep descended slowly and the car began to veer into the other lane…
Dess grabbed the wheel and yanked it back, as another car honked and whoosed by on the other side.
"Jonathan, pull over. We need to crash."
"What? No! No no crashing!" Jonathan shouted, half asleep.
Dess maneuvered the car from the passenger's seat, no small feat, be assured. After a few horn honks and close calls, she pulled into a cheap motel's parking lot.
"Move your butt, Jonathan," Dess muttered as she helped Melissa out of the car. "And we gotta get this chick some asprin or something."
Jonathan all but sleepwalked after Dess and Melissa.
"Lock the car!" Dess shouted back at him.
Jonathan nodded slowly and turned around- slamming into the side of the truck.
Dess grumbled to herself and walked into the motel's main office.
"Me and my friend here," Dess said to the front desk woman. She supported Melissa with one hand, and slammed down 10 bucks on the desk.
"Downpayment," Dess said, grabbing a key off the wall.
The girl at the front desk tried to protest, but Dess gave her a glare and went back outside.
Jonathan was passed out by the car.
Dess handed the keys to Melissa, and went over to Jonathan.
Melissa, head pounding, made her way to the room number that was on the key, and let herself in. You could smell stale cigarette smoke and the bed was unmade. Melissa shrugged and fell into the ripped chair by the TV.
Dess finally found her way inside with Jonathan, who was talking in his sleep.
"Jess, no, don't go. Come on he's not that cool…"
Dess practically threw Jonathan onto the rug, where he slept on. Dess then jumped up onto the bed and went to sleep.
Aris and Rex sulked along, keeping to the shadows. There were not many to be found in the middle of the day, but they managed to stay out of sight. Aris looked back at Rex.
"Which way?"
Rex stepped forward and sniffed at the air. "A little farther," he growled.
They slipped around a corner, and awkwardly made their way through the daylight towards the seedy motel.
"We cannot leave until they are all dead," Aris said quietly as they approached room 12.
Rex snickered. "This'll be fun."
Melissa jerked awake. Imediantly she was punished with pain. Something was wrong. She could feel it. It was on the edge of her mind…
"Dess," she whispered raspily. "Dess."
SZZZORRRkk… Dess was sprawled on the bed. Her foot hung off the edge and was in Jonathan's face.
"Dess!"
SNzoRK! "What what?!" Dess sprung up. "Where's the darkling?!"
As she sat up so quickly, her foot smacked Jonathan in the head.
"AGH!" He whacked her foot and turned, looking up, and glared at Dess.
"Well what is it?" Dess demanded.
"Something's wrong." Melissa squinted. "I think Rex and Aris have caught up with us."
Jonathan was up immediately. "Alright, let's go. Let's get out of here. As much as I really want to bash Rex's face in…"
"We're in no shape," Dess said pointedly. "Come on, get Melissa and get out of here. I'll distract them."
Jonathan helped Melissa up. He turned his head to Dess. "No, we need you with us, man."
Dess shrugged. "I can't be in two places at once. I'll catch up."
Melissa jerked away from Jonathan. "Dess. No. Come on. We're wasting time." She began hobbling toward the door. When she got there, she had trouble trying to turn the knob, what with her casts.
Jonahan slid over. "Here," he said softly, opening the door for her. Melissa gave him a small, pained smile, and headed out.
Dess growled. "Whatever. Move your butts."
Rex bounded into the parking lot. He followed the scent into the lobby, where he disposed of the clerk.
Aris followed him in, a bit behind him. "Their car isn't here." She looked at the carnage at the desk momentarily, not letting any emotion show. "You didn't have to do that," she commented.
Rex sniffed. "I know."
Aris turned her head and squinted. "I'm not sure if I should pity you…or be afraid of you."
Rex stood up straight. "Be afraid. Be very afraid." He chuckled evilly.
Aris groaned. "Come on. We've got to go. Remember, our mission?"
Rex nodded. "All too well."
Dess wouldn't let Jonathan drive. She drove like a madwoman through traffic. Her road rage was so bad, Jonathan shrunk back in his seat, as far as possible away- almost through the window.
"BLEEP BLEEP!" Dess shouted, swerving around a minivan. She shook her fist at the driver, without taking her eyes off the road.
"So, where are we going?" Jonathan asked.
"Right now, we're trying to loose freakshow and his girlfriend," Dess said.
Melissa winced.
Jonathan looked at the dashboard. "One way or another though, there's gotta be a showdown."
"Yeah, well, when there is, it'll be on my terms," Dess hissed.
"Our terms, you mean," Jonathan corrected.
Dess didn't say anything.
"What do they want?" Melissa asked. Jonathan craned his neck to look at her, which was probably not a smart thing to do, what with Dess' driving at the moment.
"Don't know," Jonathan replied. "Why would they run away- ditch us- then come back and attack us?"
Melissa shook her head slowly and then put it in her hands. "If only I could mindcast."
"If only I could freakin' get TO THIS EXIT!" Dess yelled, pulling across three lanes of traffic and up onto the exit ramp.
Jonathan's hair stood on end. "What the h*** Dess?! What's with you?"
"What's with you man?!" Dess responded without really thinking.
Melissa sighed and sat back. "We're all on edge. Let's just calm down. Right now we're on the run. Hopefully we'll be able to loose them and recharge somewhere."
"I don't think we should go around recruiting Middies right now either," Jonathan said. "Too stressful."
"Well duh," Melissa said. "However, if we do run across one, the least we could do is say 'hi, bye'."
Jonathan shrugged. "Right. I just think that we need to shift our focus at the moment."
"My focus is shifted," Dess said suddenly. "Look at this town, man. There's so many 12s I could puke!"
Jonathan and Melissa looked out the windows.
"Twelve letters on that sign, twelve houses in a row. Twelve clouds in the sky, a sale for movies; 12.99$. It's 12:12pm right now. Good cosine, dude, this is even 12th street."
Jonathan laughed, but Melissa didn't.
"What, there's no darklings- so what does it matter?" she asked softly.
"It's still an unlucky number," Dess growled. "The sooner we get out of this place, the happier I'll be."
Jonathan sunk into his seat. "Drive on, then. Drive on."