A/N: OMG! We're nearing the end here, guys. Last couple chapters, and it's done. Yikes! I have a feeling I'm gonna have fun writing this chapter. :D
Chapter 12: Extreme Trick-or-Treating Part 1
Max's POV
"Max! The phone's for you!" I was sprawled on the living room floor, with Ella scrunched on the couch above, painting her toenails. We were both mindlessly staring at the TV screen, watching a cute little cartoon show with a bunch of animated animals running around. Mrs. Martinez poked her head into the room, holding the phone out in my direction. "It's someone named JJ?" she informed me, wiggling the phone. I tore my eyes away from the brainwashing animation, and hopped up to take the receiver.
"Hello?" I said, walking quietly into the hallway. Mrs. Martinez retreated to the kitchen.
"Max? Hey, it's JJ." JJ's voice blared excitedly over the phone. I held it slightly away from my ear, looking for a button so that I could turn down the volume. "Hey, listen. Me and Caitlyn were wondering if we could come over and get ready for trick-or-treating at your place. Would that be cool?" I almost facepalmed. I had COMPLETELY forgotten that today was the day of Halloween. Jesus Christ, October 31st already? This was unbelievable. My time here was FLYING by.
"Oh, shit, that's tonight, isn't it?" I muttered.
"Oh my god! Max, did you forget?" JJ exclaimed.
"Er...no, I just...No." I covered for myself. "Um...right. Sure, I guess you can come over and get ready." JJ squealed.
"Great! Okay, we'll be over around four, okay? I'll bring the makeup." I was puzzled.
"Wait...what makeup?" I asked, dreading the response.
"The makeup for you, silly. Remember? You promised to let us do your makeup if all you bought were those wings." she stated matter-of-factly. I groaned. "Ah, ah, ah." JJ scolded me, "You promised. Me and Caitlyn are going to get that makeup on you if we have to tie you up and drug you." I snorted.
"Haha, very funny."
"Oh, I'm serious, Max." she said darkly. She sounded it, too. I felt just a small hint of fear for myself and my dignity. But JJ's voice brightened suddenly when she spoke again. "Okay, cool! We'll be over in a little while. Thanks, bye!" I phone hung up. I shook my head, trying to remember why I had made friends with someone so nuts in the first place.
"Who was that?" Ella called from the living room.
"Just a friend of mine. Oh, and some of my friends are coming over tonight to get ready for Halloween." I informed her, walking back in to sink down onto the carpet and drown out my fears about what JJ and Caitlyn were planning by watching cartoons.
"Nudge is coming over, too." Ella said absentmindedly. Then she laughed. "Haha...I guess that nickname really stuck. I can't stop calling her that. We're taking Angel and Gazzy trick-or-treating, okay?" However, I wasn't paying much attention to what she was saying. I was just imagining the sheer chaos that was sure to errupt with everyone that would be coming over. I shuddered. I have a feeling that I'm going to be in for a LONG night.
JJ and Caitlyn did indeed arrive just a little bit after four just like they'd promised. They also kept their other promise by practically ambushing me the minute they walked in and dragging me to the upstairs bathroom. I watched in terror as Caitlyn dumped an entire bag of oddly shaped boxes, tubes and instruments onto the counter and spread it out, sifting through them. I recognized some things like lipstick and eyeshadow, but other objects were completely foreign to me. "What the hell is this?" I asked incredulously, holding up a strange looking tool.
"That's an eyelash curler." JJ said calmly, picking up a little container and shaking it.
"It looks like a torture device." I said nervously, holding it as far away from my face as possible. They both laughed at me.
"Okay, now just hold still and everything will be fine." JJ came towards me, unscrewing the little bottle and pouring some liquid into the palm of her hand. It was skin colored and slimy looking.
"Woah, what is that?" I asked, backing up against the wall as she stepped forward.
"It's foundation. Now just relax. It will all be over before you know it." She started to raise her hand up to apply it to my face. I dodged her and started on my way to the bathroom door. "Caitlyn!" JJ called out. Caitlyn stepped in front of me and locked the door. I felt my eyes widen in horror.
"You guys?" I stuttered feebly. JJ sighed heavily, like something out of a movie.
"We didn't want to have to do this, Max." she said, her voice full of sympathy. "But with the way you're acting, we're going to have to resort to...forcefull application."
"Forcefull application?" Uh oh...that could NOT be good. JJ just looked at me in pity.
"Hold her down, Caitlyn." she said solemnly. I felt Caitlyn's arms wrapping around my own to hold them to my sides. JJ was advancing towards me with the weird liquid.
"Wait! What?" I said, squirming under Caitlyn's grip. I didn't want to hurt her, but JJ was seriously freaking me out. "Guys! Guys, hold on! Hold on! What are you doing? What are you-AHHHHHH!" And my vision was consumed as JJ descended towards my face, a sponge brandished in her hand.
"There, see? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" JJ asked triumphantly. I sat on the bathroom floor like a cat that had just been thrown into a tub of water. Though I sulked in a miserable heap, both of the girls stepped back to admire their work.
"Not bad, JJ." Caitlyn said approvingly. JJ congratulated her henchwoman on a job well done with a high five. I felt my eye twitch.
"Oh, come on Max. You SAID you would let us do it." JJ said in exasperation, helping me to my feet. I glared at her.
"I agreed to a little makeup application. NOT COSMETIC RAPE!" I shouted. The girls rolled their eyes.
"Fine, be angry with us all you want, but you look FABULOUS." JJ shoved me towards the mirror where I got see a first glance of myself. I have to admit, I was stunned to say the least. It didn't look like Maximum Ride staring back at me in the mirror. In her place was a girl with brown eyes that flashed under shimmering eyelids and thick lashes. I mean...it was me. There was no mistaking it, but I looked...I looked...
"Holy shit." I said in awe. I shut one eyelid to appraise JJ's eyeshadow work. The inner corners were a shimmery salmon color, and the outer corners and into my crease were a greyish-purple. Black eyeliner was swept close to my lash line and winged out just slightly. And my face was glowing on account of the sparkles Caitlyn had just finished dusting on me a few minutes ago. I had been terrified I was going to look like a drag queen of sorts by the time they were finished, because they had been applying PRODUCT AFTER PRODUCT. But I actually looked...well, nice, I guess.
"You look hot, girl!" JJ squealed in excitement, looking proud of herself. "And now for the finishing touch." I gave her a warning look as she stepped towards me. "Oh, relax. This is the easiest part." She made me close my eyes and then placed two, small crystal gems by the corners of each eye. "Tadah! Your transformation is complete. Just throw on something cute and whimsical, and then strap on those wings and your done." She beamed.
"Whimsical?" I asked pointedly. "The most 'whimsical' thing I own is a t-shirt with a tree on it." JJ looked like she was thinking.
"Umm...maybe Caitlyn should pick something out for you." she suggested. Then she looked frantic. "And, jeese! We better start working on our own costumes! Trick-or-treating starts at six. The guys said they were gonna be hear around 5:30."
"Wait. You invited the guys?" I asked, wondering what other surprises she had for me.
"Well, yeah. I figured you wouldn't mind." JJ said, looking a little hurt. I sighed in defeat. I didn't know how many teenagers, preteens, and children this house could hold. It was going to be like a friggen psyche-ward before long.
"Just...just go put on your costume." I said, hoping to get her out of the room before she sprang anything else on me. JJ ran downstairs to go grab the bags for her's and Caitlyn's costumes. Caitlyn followed me to my room, and I showed her where my dresser was, surrendering to the fact that they would probably force me into something regardless of how much I protested. But Caitlyn was having no luck finding anything "whimsical" in my drawers crammed with ripped jeans and well-worn t-shirts and simple tank tops.
"Do you have anything else besides jeans and t-shirts?" she asked me after several minutes of combing through my dresser. I tried not to take it as an insult while I though for a moment. Then something came to mind.
"Ummm...Mrs. Martinez bought a couple of things for me the other day. I think they're in that bag over there." I pointed to a Kohl's bag laying forgotten by the door. She rushed over to it and started to rumage around.
"Aha!" she finally exclaimed. "It's perfect. Go put it on in the bathroom." She tossed a heap of brown fabric at me. I caught it, but shook my head firmly.
"There is NO WAY I'm wearing a dress." I said firmly. Suddenly, JJ appeared in the room, already dressed in her costume. Aww...she was such a cute little crayon. But an evil one!
"Do I hear whining in here?" she asked, glaring at me. She eyed the dress. "Put it on." she commanded as though I HAD to listen.
"But-" I started to protest. She just death glared at me, though. I sighed irately and slouched into the bathroom. God...since when did I become JJ's bitch? I changed into the dress as quickly as possible and then stepped out into the room. Both Caitlyn and JJ gasped.
"Oh my God! You look amazing!" JJ gushed, running to me and steering me into the bathroom to look at myself again. The dress was brown with little sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. It clung at my waist and then fluttered down to a bit above my knees. I groaned. It looked good, but I looked like a total teenage girl. Like...oh you know what I mean. The last thing they forced me to do was put on the goddamn wings. I still didn't understand why I had to wear a dress and stuff. They would have looked fine if I'd just worn a jacket and some jeans.
JJ and Caitlyn finally left me alone so that they could finish up their costumes. I just laid on my bed while they fumbled around and giggled as they put on their own makeup. I heard Nudge arriving downstairs from her loud, babbling voice, followed soon after by Angel and Gazzy. Then I heard more masculine voices. "Oh great, the guys are here." JJ said fondly, stuffing her regular clothes into the plastic bag her costume had come in. "Come on. Let's go downstairs." I followed Caitlyn in her little car hop costume reluctantly down the stairs. JJ had already dashed ahead. I could hear her laughing at something. Probably Iggy in his Spiderman ensemble.
As I descended, I saw Michael, Iggy and Fang slide into view. Iggy was fully decked out in his superhero jumpsuit, and Michael looked...well...he looked like he was wearing a semi-cheap Michael Jackson costume. Which he was, so... Fang was the only one who was costumeless. It made me laugh for some reason. This got their attention and their heads snapped up to me as I followed Caitlyn down the stairs. They all did double takes when they saw me. Well...except Iggy, but...that's for obvious reasons. Even Fang's mouth was slightly agape. It made me feel extremely anxious for some reason. And of course, I had to do just about the stupidist thing I'd ever done.
I tripped over my own feet and went skidding down the stairs. Caitlyn had fortunately already made it safely to the ground and jumped out of the way just in time as I sailed past her. I crashed to the floor at Fang's feet. Now everyone was looking down at me with a different sort of surprise. My face flushed with embarrassment, and suddenly there was a calloused hand in my face. I took Fang's help and climbed to my feet, my face now just a few inches away from his. We didn't move for a second. "Deja vu?" he asked, recalling the first time I had met him after he bowled me over coming out of the Welcome Center."
"Just a little." I breathed. And then I let go of his hand and stepped back. Everyone was just staring at the pair of us. "It's an...er...inside joke." I said awkwardly. They all nodded, but I saw Caitlyn and JJ supressing giggles.
"Well you ladies all look fabulous." Iggy said to break the silence. JJ snorted.
"Yeah, okay. It's coming from a blind guy, but hey...I'll take what I can get." Suddenly, Angel skipped into the room. She was adorned in a cute little angel costume. I know, ironic, right? She saw me and skipped over to stand by my side.
"Hi, Max!" she squeaked, grinning. "You look really pretty." I couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks." She then saw Fang standing across from me and ran to tackle him in a hug. She could only reach his waist, but it still almost knocked him backwards. He looked startled at first but then smiled softly to himself and patted her mass of blonde curls. She pulled back to look up at him, a puzzled expression working its way onto her features.
"Where's your costume?" she asked in confusion.
"Er, well..." Fang started to say slowly. JJ stepped in, rollling her eyes as she spoke.
"SOMEBODY was being a fun-sucker and refused to get a costume." She shot Fang an icy glare. Angel frowned.
"But you HAVE to have a costume, Nick." she said in a voice that sounded remarkably heartbroken. "It's the best part of Halloween." Fang looked like he didn't know exactly how to respond.
"Well, um...costumes aren't really my thing-" He cut himself off with his own awkwardness. I smirked and spoke up to Angel's aid.
"Yeah, Fang. It's not Halloween without a costume. Look." I stepped forward and knelt down beside Angel, waving my hands to showcase her hurt-looking facial expression. "You're making her sad by being such an ignorant party pooper." Angel stuck out her lip to pout up at an extremely flustered-looking Fang.
"Uh, well I don't even have anything to put on." he said, pretending to be disappointed. I could tell that in his head he was probably thinking "Thank God for that!", though. Angel cracked an almost demonic smile.
"We can figure something out! Here, come with me! Nudge is like...an expert at costumes and stuff." She rushed forward and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the kitchen. Fang looked absolutely hororr-struck. We all chortled as his form disappeared behind a corner.
"While Nick is being...costume-ified...someone should probably go get pillowcases for the candy." Iggy pointed out.
"Right. I'll go get some." I said, eager to not have everybody staring at me like they were doing. Sigh...I hated dresses. I thunked up the stairs, thankfully keeping my balance this time, and dashed into the linen closet, hunting for some pillowcases. I was elbow-deep in a pile of sheets when I heard Mrs. Martinez's voice behind me.
"Oh, Ella. I pulled the pillowcases out already. They're downstairs on the kitchen counter." I turned around in surprise.
"Did you just call me Ella?" I asked her. She looked shocked to see that it was me.
"Oh, sorry, Max. Wow, you look just like Ella from behind. That's a real brain twister." She grinned at her mistake. "But yeah, the pillowcases are in the kitchen." I nodded and shut the closet door. I thunked back down the stairs and found the whole group of my friends congregating around in the entry way. Minus Fang, that is. Ella was another addition. She was holding the pillowcases and distributing them to everyone. The only part of her costume she had on was a simple white dress.
"Everyone ready?" I asked, taking my own pillowcase and tossing my cell phone into the bottom of it for safe keeping.
"Yeah..." Caitlyn said. "That little girl said Nick'd be done in just a bit. She told me to go ahead and start walking. Apparenly, that 'Nudge' you were talking about is looking for some white bed sheets and some leaves." I cringed.
"I don't want to know." I stated simply, slipping on some sandals. They looked a little strange with the dress, but they were the best I had. I would probably end up going barefoot anyways. "Alright...let's get this over with." I said bravely, cracking the door open and stepping outside.
"Haha! Nice costume!" some girls called sarcastically to Fang, who was walking next to me. He had recently caught up with us, and was looking less than comfortable in the costume Nudge had put together for him. I was still fighting hard to contain my laughter. The whole group of us had had to stop walking when we first saw him because we were laughing so hard. I think Michael might've still been crying just a little bit even now.
Nudge had forced Fang into an intricately tied and folded bed sheet so that he was now wearing a toga. She had then proceeded a step further by making a little band of leaves that went around his head like Caesar's crown. The sight of seeing him walking down the street in this attire was probably the biggest mindfuck I'd ever experienced. His face held a sour frown as we went from door to door and collected our candy. I tried not to smile as I asked him "Are you okay?" He cringed at my question.
"What do you think?" he said pointedly, stepping up to the door of the house we were at and receiving a handful of candy from an elderly woman in a bathrobe with rollers in her hair. She eyed him suspiciously.
"What are you supposed to be?" she asked him. He sighed.
"I don't really know..." he said solemnly.
"Well you look like a weirdo. Get off my porch." And with that, she slammed the door in his face. I heard the click of the lock and footsteps hurrying away. Fang looked just about ready to throw himself off the top of the nearest building. I snorted, but then disguised it as a sneeze when he turned to glare at me. We joined the others waiting at the bottom of the driveway and continued our trekk through the neighborhood.
We were slightly out of my neighborhood by now, and everyone was starting to get restless. We were all shoving each other around jokingly and laughing too loudly. Even Fang was looking slightly less morose as time wore on. We were looking for the next house with it's porch light on when I spotted a large house across the street. It looked as if the owners owned most of the land on that side of the street, because it was the only house for quite a distance. It sat ontop of a hill, as well. A cement path trailed up to a wooden porch at the top of the hill, which connected to the rest of the mansion.
It looked to be quite a bit older than it's more modern counterparts that populated the rest of the neighborhood. It had thin, wooden columns supporting a small awning over the front door, and the windows were shuttered with cracked wood panels with peeling paint. It looked to be two or three stories, with a fading, chipped roof. Large colonies of weeds were growing all across the lawn and up the hill. My hawk-eye vision allowed me to see the rabid vegetation that choked out all the actual plants in what I assumed had long ago been a garden up next to the house, under the windows and wrapping around the entire building. Waves of eerieness seemed to roll off of it.
"What about that one?" I spoke up, pointing to the old house. Everyone stopped and turned to look in that direction. When they caught sight of it, though, they turned to look back at me like I had sprouted another limb from the center of my forehead.
"Are you nuts?" asked Michael incredulously. I shrugged my shoulders.
"It was just a suggestion. We don't HAVE to go if you guys don't want to. I mean...if you're too scared or something." I teased Michael, elbowing him in the ribs.
"Of course he's too scared." Caitlyn said, giving a dramatic shiver. "I mean...everyone should be what with the rumors about that place." I stared at them all in confusion.
"Rumors?" I asked them to elaborate.
Fang spoke up. "You guys, she's new. She probably hasn't heard them yet." Caitlyn nodded suddenly like she had forgotten something and had just remembered.
"Of course!" she said. "Well...it's like...You see what happened was..." she paused to thing. "On second though, Michael is WAY better at telling the story." She looked over at Michael in his ridiculous Michael Jackson costume as though to cue him. He removed his sunglasses to speak, and cleared his throat importantly.
"That's the Templeton Mansion." he said darkly, moving into the light of a recently lit street lamp to cast shadows on his face as he began the story. "As the legend goes, the Templeton family moved into that house over 100 years ago. Mr. Templeton was INSANELY rich because of his huge success in cotton farming." he stopped as though to correct something he had just said. "Well...you know, he OWNED the cotton fields, he didn't actually farm. 'Cause rich guys don't-" JJ cut him off.
"Okay, we get it Michael. Just get on with the story."
"Right." Michael said, shaking his head to clear it. "Well...Mr. Templeton had a wife and two daughters. And they all lived in THAT mansion right up there." He pointed to the house, and then continued. "Well, apparently, Mr. Templeton had this huge drinking problem. And he was starting to gamble all their money away. And one day he came home drunk, and Mrs. Templeton got REALLY, REALLY pissed at him and started yelling at him and everything. Well, Mr. Templeton didn't take that so well. So he went out to the tool shed...and he grabbed his favorite hammer...and he came back into the house." He paused for dramatic effect.
"And then BAM!" he lunged forward at us, with his hand stretched out, miming hitting something (or someone) with a hammer. We all jumped backwards a little. Except Fang. He just looked bored. Michael grinned at our fright. "He blugeoned his ENTIRE family to death. And when he sobered up and realized what he had done? He threw himself off the top of the house." We all stared up at the house. "So..." Michael said, coming over and slinging his arm around my shoulders. "What do ya think? Pretty creepy, huh?" I snorted, even though there were slight chills running up my arms and legs.
"It sounds like a load of bullshit to me." I said firmly. Then Iggy spoke up.
"Look...I don't care what anybody says. That house is creepy as hell. I am NOT going up there." he said, looking ready to fight anyone who tried to force him. Caitlyn sighed.
"Relax, Jeff. No one is going to make anybody go up there. We all think it's creepy as hell too." She shivered again.
"C'mon, you guys, let's go. I think that house up there has it's light on." JJ pointed excitedly to a glowing light in the distance, and then took off at a run towards it. I sighed and followed after everyone in reluctance. I glanced back at the house for a minute, just to take it all in. It didn't look THAT spooky. Just a little dirty.
"Boo..." said a voice behind me in my ear. I started and jumped forward. Whipping around, I saw Fang chuckling at me. My eyes narrowed.
"Ass hole." I said, shoving him firmly into a street lamp before taking off to catch up with everyone else.
We'd been at it for hours. Our pillowcases were stuffed to the bursting with candy bars and all sorts of other sugary treats. It was getting dark out; the street lamps were glowing brighter than ever. And my feet hurt like a son of a bitch from all the walking. Still, I shook with laughter as Michael reiterated a confrentation he'd had with our principal after he'd collected the livers of frogs they were dissecting in biology and put them in a bowl at the cafeteria salad bar. We were all shrieking with laughter by the time he got to the climax and started miming out the frightened looks of students who'd seen the bowl.
I snorted and ended up spilling most of the package of Skittles I'd been eating. We all sat down on the nearest curb and tried to gain composure. I wiped a tear of laughter from my eye and glanced over to see JJ doing the same. Even Fang had been chuckling. Caitlyn sighed long and loudly. Then she stood up and smiled down at us. "Anyone want to head to my house? I rented a bunch of Fangoria Fright Fest movies from the video store."
"Yeah, I'm sure that'll be fun for me." Iggy complained sarcastically, remaining sitting while all the rest of us stood up. "It'll be awesome to listen to the sound of chainsaws and screaming teenage girls." JJ rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand, forcing him to stand up.
"Oh stop complaining. I'm sorry we can't cater to your every need, your highness. Just come and sit with us...it'll be fun. I'm sure we'll all be screaming things like 'Don't go in there' and whatnot. You'll figure out what's going on." So with Iggy being sulkily pulled along by JJ, we all started to walk to Caitlyn's house, which was surprisingly not that far away. We were walking up her driveway within fifteen minutes. Just as I was about to step in, I heard my cell phone ring. I paused and stepped aside to let the others go into the house, explaining that I would be in in just a minute. It took me a minute to locate the phone because it was nestled under the bulk of candy in my pillowcase, but I got it eventually and flipped it open.
"Hello?" I said into the reciever, leaning back against the wall of Caitlyn's house. It was Mrs. Martinez on the other line. She sounded a bit worried.
"Hey Max, listen...Ella's not with you guys is she?" she asked. I cinched my eyebrows together in confusion.
"No, why? I thought she went off with Nudge to take the kids trick-or-treating." I stopped leaning against the house and stood up straight. I saw Fang stop and turn to look at me in the doorway of the house. Iggy was right behind him and stopped too. They appeared to be listening. I waved them inside, telling them I would just be a second. Fang glanced over his shoulder at me in concern as the door shut behind him. Mrs. Martinez continued to talk.
"Well, it's just...when she left, she told me they'd probably be back around 8:30 because Angel and Zach would probably get tired. I was just wondering if she was with you guys at somebody's house, because it's already a bit after 9:00 and she hasn't been home yet. I glanced at the time on my phone. It was indeed 9:12 p.m. That was strange. Ella was usually very responsible when she was babysitting. It wasn't like her to stay out much later than she'd said she'd be back. A stab of fear lurched in my stomach. I could feel that something was terribly wrong.
I heard a phone ring inside Caitlyn's house, and suddenly my ears were filled with Mousey's voice.
"Regardless of whether you took it or not, he's coming after you, Max. And when he finds you, I highly doubt he's going to care WHO took it. He just wants revenge."
If her over-the-phone-warning had shaken me before, it was nothing compared to absolute terror I was feeling now. It felt like all of the blood in my veins had run cold. I took a deep breath to steady myself as I thought. "Relax." I commanded myself in my head. "They have no reason to go after Ella. They probably don't even know she exists." But then something Mrs. Martinez had said earlier made me second guess myself.
"Oh, Ella. I pulled the pillowcases out already. They're downstairs on the kitchen counter." I turned around in surprise.
"Did you just call me Ella?" I asked her. She looked shocked to see that it was me.
"Oh, sorry, Max. Wow, you look just like Ella from behind. That's a real brain twister."
My hands were shaking so much, I nearly dropped the phone. Oh no! Mousey had said that Sean had contacted some friends of his here, and that they were looking for me. Even if Sean had described me to them, there was no way they could know EXACTLY what I looked like. What if they'd mistaken Ella for me? I felt like I was going to be sick. Then I realized that Mrs. Martinez was still trying to talk to me. "Max?" My name brought me out of troubling thoughts for a second.
"Ummm...okay...I'll see if I can find her. I mean, she can't have gone THAT far." I tried to reassure her, though it was more for my benefit than hers. "Uh...what was she wearing? I forget what her costume was supposed to be."
"Well, I think she was Cleopatra." Mrs. Martinez said, a pensive tone in her voice. "She was with Nudge. Um...Ella was wearing a white dress, and some brown sandals. We couldn't find a wig, so she was just wearing her hair down. Ummm..." She paused to think if there was anything else I could use to identify her with. "Oh! And she was wearing that beautiful necklace with the purple gems she borrowed from you."
It felt like a two-pound stone had been dropped down my throat and landed in my stomach. "What?" It felt like I was spitting the word up. It came out sounding slightly strangled.
"The really nice one. It's silver and it had all those dangling purple gems on it. I asked her where she got it, and she said she borrowed it from you." I clenched my fist tightly around the phone. She must have taken it from under my bed! It made me slightly angry that she'd stolen it, but I knew I had much bigger worries than that right now. There was no doubt in my mind that Sean's little "friends" had found her. Which meant that they found the necklace as well. They were probably positive that she was me.
"Ummm...alright." I said, trying to hide any anxiety in my voice. I didn't want to worry Mrs. Martinez. After all, maybe I was just over-reacting. But something in the pit of my stomach told me I most likely wasn't. "I'll-I'll see if I can find her. I'll call if I do." Mrs. Martinez let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Max. You're a good sister." she said before hanging up.
"Yeah, not really, by the sounds of it..." I muttered to myself, reaching under my dress and clipping my phone to my underwear. It was a little ghetto, but I didn't have anywhere else to put it. I wasn't planning on carrying around my pillowcase when I went to go save my half-sister and probably all of her friends from my old gang. Sigh...that's why I always wear jeans. I threw the door to Caitlyn's house open and hurried inside. I found them all giggling in the living room. The lights were dimmed and everyone was crammed on the couch eating their candy while Caitlyn was popping a disc into the DVD player.
"Umm..." I said, causing everyone to turn and look at me. I froze, not sure how to explain the fact that I was about to run out of the house. JJ cocked her head to the side.
"You okay, Max? You look super pale."
"Uh, yeah. But...Mrs. Martinez just called...Umm...Ella got sick and Mrs. Martinez is working the night shift at the clinic 'cause they needed an extra hand. She needs me to help Nudge watch those kids she was babysitting. I have to go." They all stared at me in disbelief.
"They needed extra help at the vet clinic on HALLOWEEN?" JJ asked incredulously.
"Uh...yeah...lot's of dogs...eat...chocolate and shit. Gotta go, though. I had fun. Thanks! Bye!" And I scampered out of the house. I was halfway down the driveway when I heard a voice calling behind me.
"Max! Max, wait!" I turned around to see Fang hurrying down after me. Iggy followed closely behind. I groaned. I did not have time for this right now! Fang came to a stop in front of me and looked down at me with knowing eyes. "Okay, what's really going on?" he asked.
"I-what are you talking about? Ella got sick. I told you, Mrs. Martinez needs me to-" He cut me off, making me furious.
"Max...You have a look in your eye that tells me someone's in danger. I highly doubt you'd be so freaked out if Ella came down with the flu." He looked at me with a powerful gaze. I saw Iggy staring in my direction expectantly. "What happened?" I looked back and forth between the two of them and groaned.
"Okay, fine! I can't explain everything right now, because I don't have much time, but I can tell you this...I KNOW Ella and her friends are in danger. Some very serious danger. Don't ask me why, but I just know, okay? I HAVE to find. I don't know how much longer she'll be safe. I don't know what they'd do to her." The thought of Ella and Nudge and everyone all tied up in the back of some truck made me cringe. Mousey had said Sean was out for revenge. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what that meant.
"Who's 'they'?" Iggy piped up, looking confused at the whole situation.
"I told you, I can't explain everything right now. I have to go find her!" I was about to take off running again when Fang grabbed my elbow.
"Wait! We're coming with you." he said forcefully. My jaw dropped.
"What?" I nearly yelled.
"Yeah, what?" Iggy said, stepping forward and looking shocked that he was getting roped into this.
"I said, we're coming with you. You need help, Max."
"Uh...I don't think so." I said, snorting humorlessly. "It's WAY too dangerous." Fang gave me a look that said "Come on, Max...that's the lamest excuse I've ever heard."
"So...you're telling me it would be safer for you to go alone, than for you to go with two other guys?" he asked pointedly. I opened my mouth to speak before I realized that I couldn't contradict him. He just smirked at me. "Now, are you gonna sit here and waste time arguing with us, or are you going to just accept the fact that we're coming whether you like it or not, and get looking for Ella and her friends?" I stared at them.
"Ugh! Fine! Boys are so retarded!" I said angrily. Fang rolled his eyes.
"So, where is she?" he asked. I froze. Oh shit...that could be a problem. I had absolutely NO idea where they would have taken here. And I had no clues whatsoever to go off of. I just shook my head. I felt like it would be hours before we even got out of the driveway and started actually looking. Fang suddenly gripped my shoulders. My eyes widened in surprise as I caught his dark gaze while he looked me directly in the eye. "Think, Max." he said firmly. "Think hard. You obviously know these guys. Where could they possibly have taken her?"
I could feel the gears in my head turning as I fought to think. My mind was drawing a blank, though. I felt just about ready to have a panic attack, I was so worried. "It would probably be somewhere semi-familiar to them. That would make it easier." Fang prompted me, trying to get me thinking. And then a mental-picture of The Meeting House popped into my head.
"Think, Max...The Meeting House...it's old...and worn down. It's made of wood, it's pretty big. Almost mansion-like..." That's when I knew. Don't ask me how, but I knew for SURE. It was the only place they could have her.
"That mansion thingy!" I burst out. Fang and Iggy looked at me in confusion. "The haunted one! Where that Templeton family lived. They have them there! I'm sure of it! It's just like the-Never mind, but I know that's where they have them!" Fang nodded solemnly.
"All right, if you're sure. Let's go." He released my shoulders and we took off at a run back towards the mansion. It was a little ways away. I could hear Iggy hurrying behind us.
"Uh guys? Guys! Wait! We're going to that creepy mansion thingy? Wait! I don't think that's very safe. There could be...rusty nails! And...like...creepy stuff! Guys!" he shouted in fright.
I rolled my eyes and continued to run as fast as I could into the increasing blackness of the Arizona night."
A/N: Dun dun dun! You'll have to wait for the next chapter to figure out what happens. :D Heheh! And in case you were wonder...why yes...I do put in cliffhangers just to annoy you.
On a slightly less demonic note...guess what? GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL IN NEW YORK! Whoot whoot! Sorry...I'm an avid supporter of marriage equality and gay rights and whatnot. What can I say? I is proud of New York. :D
Anyways. A review or two would be nice. (HINT HINT!)