The next day, I woke up around 12 in the afternoon. There wasn't much to do except wait until we reached Florida. We sat around and read and talked and did nothing and sat around. The captain said we would reach the dock at 5 p.m. That's a long time from 2. I was so bored! I mean, I couldn't read, or start a conversation. Usually when I'm like this, I always have a song playing in my head. The song goes with my thoughts and feelings at the time. The song now was: My Own Worst Enemy. I was downing myself. So I was listening to the song in my head. I'm crazy I know. I asked 10 people if they thought I was crazy. They said yes and so did 5 other people even though I didn't ask. The next thing I did confirmed my suspicions of me being crazy... I started laughing hysterically. I mean, I love laughing. I laugh at everything. But right now was kind of inappropriate. I couldn't help it. Lona and Pam started laughing nervously because I was cracking up and they were laughing at me, but were embarrassed to ask what I was laughing at. So really, they were laughing at nothing, but then, so was I. Val looked at me weirdly and I laughed harder. I was crying from the strain of laughing that hard. Val knew I had these laughing fits that lasted 15 minutes at a time. It hurts, but helps. I have to get it out of my system. Then everyone in the car started laughing, even Mick, really hard. We all doubled over, if it's possible in a car, and cracked up. We stayed that way for a good 30 minutes. I was the last to stop laughing. We all had cramps in our stomachs. By the end of that, it was 3 o'clock. Pam and Mick went to get snacks and I stretched my legs with Val. Lona went to the bathroom.
When we all got back in the car it was time to get off. We were at Port Salerno. Not the Salerno city in Italy. Well, obviously. We're in the U.S.! I drove off the boat and to the nearest McDonald's. We bought dinner there. We ate in the car at the pier and waited for Pete to show up. It was getting tense in the air. I guess Pete was right about the battle. After 25 minutes of sitting there, Pete tapped on my window. I scooted over toward Val to let Pete in the driver's seat. Thank Redd it wasn't a stick shift. I introduced Pete to all of the girls and Mick.
"Hello. Sorry for rushing you, Nicki. Let's see who we've got here. Valerie Prentue. Nicki's older sister. Pamala Simmons. Nice to meet you. Lona Denerick. How do you do? Mickey Jutty the Fairy. Good to see you." Pete said happily to everyone.
"How d'you know our names?" Pam asked. She hated her full name.
"I just know. It's my talent. Like Lona, except I can tell what people are coming to me for help." He answered.
"So. Where exactly are we going," Val asked.
"Exactly is the Jackson Memorial on 50 Northeast and 9th Street, Miami, Florida." He said while starting the car. He drove out of the parking lot and was going to go exactly where he said. I wondered why we had to go there. It was a statue of General Jackson, but what did that have to do with getting Creatures to fight? Pete seemed to read my mind because he piped up after 5 miles of driving.
"If you know where to look, look for the biggest groups of non-fighting Creatures. You can always find someone to help you. I'm your guy for Miami. Under the Jackson Memorial is a large under ground cave full of Creatures. They just live there. Peacefully. Happily. They just don't want to fight because their hiding place is safe, but it isn't. Someone on the outside told the government of the place. In two days they are going to attack. We need you girls to inspire them to help. Rally them up from their present states of mind."
"How? We don't have proof that the government knows where they are. They might think it was us who told the government." Pam said.
"I have proof. I've been intercepting the phone calls to the officials and the guy who is giving them away. I have them recorded at my house." Pete said.
"You have a house?" Lona asked.
"Well, I don't want to sleep with some of the Creatures down in the cave. Some of them are really nasty pieces of muscle. We have seven miles to go until we reach Port Saint Lucie. I'll fill the car up with gas and then we can hit the road. All 112 miles of it. Until we reach Jackson Square, of course."
We fell asleep during the ride. I woke up when we were 20 miles away from Jackson.
"Hey, sleepy head." Pete whispered. Everyone else was asleep.
"Hey. We almost there?"
"Almost there." He agreed. "Why do you hang around the vampire?"
This shocked me, "Because we are together. He is one of my only friends."
"That doesn't mean you should hang around him. He almost tried to kill you—twice! Why go with him?" He was right next to me. Shoulder to shoulder. I felt uncomfortable even though I kept playing Everytime We Touch by Cascada in my head.
"Well, we just stick together. He's friends with James who is with Val."
"Dump the vampire. He's only gonna cause trouble. Be with me." Pete whispered with feeling.
I got goose bumps all over. "I just met you." Was all I could say.
"You're going to be spending a lot of time with me. I'm like Lona, but I can tell what a person is feeling- not the future. You are afraid of him, but not of me." Well, actually, I was afraid of him. I think? I couldn't think any more. He leaned over and kissed me. I jumped so bad that I woke up Mick. Or he was already awake. Or he had this thing that told him he had to protect his friends. I don't know, but he punched Pete away from me. Pete swerved a bit, but gained control again.
"What is your problem?" Pete asked in a calm whisper.
"Can't you see she is already taken? Back off." Mick said standing up for me. Pete whispered something that was like a chant and Mick and I fell back to sleep.
Next thing I saw was total darkness and the darkness was soft. Pillow, I thought. I was laying on a bed. I turned over and sat up. On a queen bed next to Val. How did I get here? I was in a plain room. Nothing fancy. There was a bathroom connecting to my room. There was a door connecting my room to a hallway. Across from my room was Pam and Lona's room. I could see them sleeping. I got out of bed. I was in
different clothes. Clean clothes. I was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts. My hair was combed and I had my glasses on already. My hair would have surely been messy and my glasses come off? My clothes wouldn't have changed themselves, could they have? I walked into the hallway. To the right was another bedroom with Pete and Mick in it
sleeping. To the left was the living room. I chose left. In the living room was a TV and two couches. I walked to the right through another door leading to the kitchen. Out of curiosity I looked in the refrigerator. I could make a hearty breakfast out of these ingredients. I wanted to. I grabbed the egg carton, a pack of bacon, six potatoes, the butter, a package of bread, and started getting it ready. I scrambled twelve eggs and cooked them on the stove while I kept putting toast in the toaster. On the next place on the stove I was baking bacon. I was making coffee and setting the table. I pulled out six large glasses and filled them with orange juice. I pulled out six mugs for coffee and six little glasses if they wanted milk. I heaped bacon and eggs on everyone's plates. I already pealed and chopped the potatoes so I had to cook them. I started doing that and waking everyone up. I filled their mugs with coffee, little cups with milk, and large glasses with orange juice while they filed in and sat at the table. I put homemade fries on their plates and cleaned up my cooking supplies in the sink. I got out six little plates and put two pieces of toast on each. Then I finally sat down.
"Wow." Pete said.
"Thanks." Pam and Lona said together.
"Yum!" Mick said.
"You out did yourself." Val said.
"Dig in." I said.
Everyone started eating. I must say, it was totally awesome and I did out do myself, but we were all hungry. After every plate was cleared and no scrap was left, everyone retired to the living room while Val and I cleaned up.
"There is a spell that would do this for us, you know." She said.
"And you know I like washing things." Really, I liked playing in the water and she knew that, too.
"Pete advanced on me last night when everyone was asleep. Mick punched him off of me, though." I told Val. She knew what I meant.
"I don't really trust him."
"Me neither."
"Gonna be bad."
"Totally."
"Well, let's see what everyone is up to." Val led the way into the living room. Everyone was watching the news on the TV. The battle went bad for our side, but quite a few government men were taken down.
"This is why we need the Creatures to help fight. We will lose without them." Pete said.
"Alright. Let's grab the recordings and move out." Mick said.
Pete already had them in his right hand and the car keys in the left. We hopped into the car and Pete drove us to the Jackson Memorial. We all looked up at Jackson on his horse.
"So how..?" I said.
"It's like in the spy movies! We pet the horses nose and a hole opens in the ground at the horses feet. We slide down a giant slide and land on something soft. Then, we storm into the castle of the king and queen and demand them to cooperate." Pam said using her wild imagination.
"Sort of. We pet the nose, go through the slide, and land on something soft, but we don't storm in. We walk in and persuade the king and queen to help." Pete said.
"Close enough." Pam said to herself, but loud enough for me to hear, since I was standing next to her. I petted the horses nose first then Val, Lona, Mick, Pam, and Pete. I slid down the gigantic slide and landed on a soft bed. I quickly rolled off so I wouldn't be squished by Val.