Astrid let out a roar in anger and a little bit of fear because he knew exactly where the bathroom was and he knew that he was heading for Diana's room, but he didn't care. He was heading there on purpose!
Sam jumped over and tried to grab him by the shoulder but by then the door had already been thrown open and Ripley had stepped into the bedroom. Sam stumbled in behind of him, ready to throw him out before he could identify Caine and to file a report against him as soon as he asked Astrid how you would go about doing that when something stopped him. The others were frozen and glanced at one another, unsure of what else to do and instead were helplessly watching. But when Ripley stepped into the room he blinked and came to a stop, he looked around as he came to a stop and Sam had to squeeze passed him.
"Can I help you?" Diana frowned from where she was lying on the bed with a magazine in hand.
She was complete dressed, completely casual and the room was sparkling clean with no sign of Caine anywhere. If Sam didn't already know he was in there he would assume Caine was somewhere else in the apartment and that Diana was, in fact, alone. But unless Caine was hanging from his finger tips outside the window, he had to be in the room!
"This is not the bathroom!" Sam said sharply, stepping up in front of him and blocking his way. He was just as surprised to not find Caine in the room but he refused to let Ripley see that.
Ripley hesitated, glancing around the room like he was looking for something he was sure was in the room but didn't know where. Astrid knew he didn't know Caine was here (how could he possibly guess that?!) but he was definitely expecting something to be there. Maybe just because of the door being shut, added with all the people gathered here had him thinking suspiciously which was only increased when they all reacted so strongly to him entering the room... Or maybe it was just Ripley being same old annoying Ripley!
"Hello?!" Kevin snapped after a long moment of silence, drawing Ripley's attention to him.
"Get out of her room!" Edilio joined in.
"Now!" Quinn snapped.
Ripley turned to sneer at them all but eventually stepped out of the doorway and let Sam close it angrily behind of him. Diana still sitting on the bed watching them casually.
"You should be heading home now, kids." Ripley smirked at them, back to using his patronizing tone.
"We are not kids," Edilio said, glaring up at him but still he and Kevin remained in front of the lizard.
"And it's a slumber party!" Dekka growled. "We're sleeping."
Ripley looked directly at her and sneered again. His eyes were completely cold. His smirk seemed to forever be in place and he looked Dekka up and down like a teenage girl judging the new girl in her class. Everything about him was off-putting to her - his looks weren't exactly going to work on her - and now she knew why he was treating her so terribly without even getting to know her, was just icing on the cake. She had the urge to kick him and then throw him out the window. Dekka could only just imagine how Sam, Astrid and Diana felt having lived with him all this time.
Finally Ripley stared at them all a final time. Even when he was smiling at the normal people, it didn't quite look right and his eyes still judged them all.
"I suppose I'll be leaving you then." Ripley sneered. "By the way, you're a bit old for slumber parties, aren't you?"
Roger glanced at Sam with a shocked expression like he couldn't believe this man actually existed. While the others were too busy staring with open hate at Ripley. He smiled down at them, his expression completely innocent now. He walked towards the door but not before patting Emily heavily on the head like a dog. She responded by acting like a dog, lifting her head and snapping at his hand with her teeth bared.
That was one of the worst things about Ripley. There were a lot of other things but because a lot of the FAYZ kids were malnourished, they were probably not as tall or big as they should have been if they had the right vitamins. Emily and Kevin were good cases of this and unless you were as tall as him, Ripley treated you like you were a child. It was incredibly frustrating.
"Watch it," he said sharply to Emily before grinning again.
Then he was stepping outside. Sam was just about to slam the door when his foot paused and the door hit his heel instead. He turned, placing his foot firmly in the way and grinned at them again.
"Oh, before I forget, you better come with me, Mr. Temple." Ripley said.
"What? Why?" Astrid said, stepping up beside of Sam.
"Because he'll want to write an official statement, won't he?" Ripley asked innocently. "I mean, your home was broken into."
Sam blinked and looked at Astrid. They knew this was a trick. Ripley did not want to get a statement or a report or anything; he was probably hoping to grill Sam while he had him alone until he let something slip about why they were all here. The problem was, how were they supposed to turn him down? What normal person says 'Na, it's fine. I don't mind that someone broke in and that they slammed around in my home'? That would just scream that they were up to something! But they had no choice. They didn't trust Ripley and they needed to decide what they were doing next.
"No, thanks. I'm sure it was nothing." Sam said. "We'll be more careful when locking the door."
He frowned at them and that told them exactly what they had been expecting. He was now suspicious of them. But then again, when was he not?
"Bye." Dekka said, taking over by grabbing the door and slamming it hard. Ripley barely had time to step out of the way before it hit him.
"He's an ass!" Emily said loudly, no doubt Ripley could still hear her.
Sam smiled and leaned against the door. Astrid put a finger to her lips and everyone was silent as they waited. Finally Sam nodded as he heard the footsteps, and after a quick check out the window they were sure Ripley had officially left the building and was walking away down the street, glancing back over his shoulder. Sam and Astrid had learned their lesson about making sure he was gone before they were allowed to talk freely again.
"Is he gone?" Diana called from behind the closed door of her bedroom.
Sam walked over and opened the door slowly. "Yeah." He peered in, interested to see what she had done with Caine.
"Good." Diana sighed. She stood and walked over, pushing the door closed slightly so Caine could squeeze passed. He was rubbing his nose where Ripley had hit him when he had thrown open the door. It was only luck Ripley assumed his face was wall and didn't check when it slammed into something.
"You okay?" Sam asked.
"Oh great!" Caine snarled, staggering out of the room so he could glare at Sam and Astrid at the same time. "Who the hell was that?"
"His name is Ripley." Diana explained, following him outside. "He's just some troubling douche bag officer; he basically stalks us for an excuse to get us into trouble. He hates all children from the FAYZ, no idea why, but he hates the mutants the most. Again, no idea why."
Dekka scowled. For some reason the fact that he hated her for being a mutant rather than because she was black just seemed to piss her off even more.
"Forget him." Edilio said, standing up and turning back to the Lizzie Lizard. "We have to deal with this."
"And Sinder." Sam reminded him, turning to Astrid. "What exactly happened to her?"
Astrid sighed, trying to push Ripley from her mind and focus on what was important. It took a while to explain what Anna had told her about Sinder, she didn't even know all the details herself. But the only reason it took so long was because everyone kept arguing with her about what she was telling them, even Sam!
"Bugs? There are bugs now too?" Sam yelped.
"I don't know, this is just what Anna said Sinder told her before she passed out." Astrid moaned. "Maybe Sinder was hallucinating."
"Okay, but you said Anna said that they found plants growing inside of her?" Dekka asked slowly.
"Couldn't Sinder, herself, make plants grow?" Edilio asked slowly.
"What are you saying, Edilio?" Astrid whispered.
Edilio looked at her. His eyes said it all and he kept his lips firmly together like he didn't want to finish that sentence. Kevin turned his back and began to pack the lizard back away in the box like this conversation had nothing to do with him.
"Sinder is still alive." Astrid said slowly like how she used to speak when explaining simple commands to Little Pete. "There can't be a mutant animal, or bug, that has her power if she didn't die in the FAYZ." Astrid said slowly.
"But what other person do we know of that can make plants grow." Edilio sighed.
"Sinder helps plants grow." Astrid corrected. "She doesn't make them grow. And certainly not in people's bodies so they poisoned the person."
"And Bette could only make small balls of light to hover in her hand. The cat could burn people and make the balls bigger." Sam joined in. "I think Edilio's right. I think this is Sinder's power."
"But that means we were wrong then! And if there's one alive mutant back then does that mean we've all come back?" Astrid frowned and fear was creeping back. "And if their powers have all grown does that mean they're all dangerous now?" She turned and stumbled over to sit down. "This is crazy. How can we kill mutants if they haven't died yet? We agreed the only way to kill them was by the way they died?"
No one had an answer.
Roger and Quinn had slowly left, going back to their work. Now they added a list of all the mutants, not just the dead ones. The list seemed so much longer now. It was ridiculously long! And they had so many more question marks where they had no idea what animal they were going to come back as, or how to kill them.
"It's dark, maybe we should wait until morning." Emily mumbled, yawning and setting her bag down on the floor beside the sofa. She gently began to rub her shoulder where the straps had been digging in.
"But what if it's gone by tomorrow?" Dekka argued. "We should check it out now."
"I'm with Dekka." Sam mumbled.
"Sam, why don't you, Dekka and Edilio head down and see if it's still there." Astrid suggested, thinking fast. "I'll start setting places for everyone to sleep. Emily can help me since she's pretty tired. Kevin, why don't you see if you can find any other ways to kill the lizard? Okay?" Astrid said. "Just... Be careful with it."
Kevin scowled at her. "I'll be fine!"
"Sounds like a plan." Sam nodded, ignoring Kevin. "Where'd she get attacked then?"
G*O*N*E
Sam, Dekka and Edilio were standing outside of the house where the attack had happened. It hadn't taken them long to find the place. It was the only house that was for sale along this street that was near Anna and Emma's home. They all stood side by side, staring up at what seemed like the perfect little family home. It wouldn't take long before it was sold, and if there really was a mutated bug here that could poison you with a bite, they needed to get rid of it soon. But it was getting a lot darker and soon they wouldn't be able to see anything at all, especially not a little butterfly. Sam carried a home made butterfly net (one Astrid had quickly fashioned together from things in their apartment), Edilio a small plastic box they had poked holes in that Astrid used to store biscuits so they didn't grow stale and Dekka held the torch.
They glanced at one another but eventually both set of eyes landed on Sam. It was just like old times. They all looked to Sam for the plan and to save the day. He wasn't sure if he missed it or not but he was accepting it. Sam stepped forward and frowned. They had not said where it had come from; just that she had been attacked outside of this house somewhere. For all they knew it could be long gone, or maybe it had come from a different house, but this was the only starting point they had.
"I suppose we start with the flowers." Sam mumbled. "Stick together, and be ready at a moments notice."
Dekka crouched with Sam and Edilio hovering over her. She shone the light on the flowers and began to shuffle them occasionally, ready to throw back if anything came out. But as she searched each flower was as empty as plain as the first. There were no bugs hiding in the petals or on the leaves or near the stems or even in the dirt. They circled the whole garden but each and every one of the flowers was butterfly free.
"Okay..." Sam sighed, watching Dekka stretch her back and dust her knees. "Let's try the trees."
They walked over towards the nearest tree and directed the torch upwards. They could hardly see anything, branches were in the way and cast shadow on the branches and leaves above them. Emily had been right. It was way too dark for them to do anything now. Even if they did somehow find this butterfly in the dark, it would be even harder to catch it in the dark as it flew around their heads. That was, if it was even here. And then there was the added question of if it even was a butterfly. Sinder had been poisoned by something, maybe she was hallucinating or she did see a butterfly but that had nothing to do with what attacked her.
This was all pointless. Sam sighed and started to turn away, already his mind was on other things. They should be back, helping Kevin kill the Lizzie Lizard. Instead they were chasing butterflies. This whole thing was ridiculous! It was a waste of time for nothing and Sam was almost disappointed with himself for coming on this wild goose chase.
"Found it." Dekka said.
Sam did a double take. "What?"
"It's up there." Dekka said, shining the light on a tall branch.
"Uh..." Edilio stepped forward and moved the light to a branch just bellow the one she was pointing to. "What about that one?"
Sam felt like smacking his face against the tree. There were two... And they had no idea which was which.
"Let's step away." He mumbled. When they both glanced at him, he could feel himself blushing for what he was about to say. "I don't want it listening in."
So they trudged back over towards the second tree and leaned against it in a circle to talk. Dekka pointed the light up so they could see everyone's faces though they looked like they were about to tell a camp horror story. Sam and Edilio set the net and box down on the ground and looked at one another.
"How do we know which one is which?" Edilio asked.
"Guess we catch them both." Sam shrugged. "We'll find out sooner or later."
"Okay, so how are we going to catch them so far up in the dark?" Edilio quizzed.
Sam paused. This was getting more and more complicated. They could very easily fly away the minute they sensed trouble. And if they did they might never find them again.
"I guess the only thing we can do is climb the tree and hope for the best. But if we catch one, the other will fly away and that might be the one that-" Sam began to explain. He hoped listing the problems would make it easier.
"Sam! Look out!" Dekka shrieked and shone the light at the creature just over his shoulder.
Sam, Dekka and Edilio all threw themselves backwards away from the tree without a second thought and away from the butterfly. This was no normal butterfly. The creepiest part was that it probably was normal to begin with but they were watching it mutate in front of their very eyes.
Its wings grew bigger than Sam's fists, it seemed to grow little black fangs and its hands twitched greedily as it hovered in front of the tree, watching them with ridiculously big eyes. The pattern on its soft white silk wings was weird too; a mixture of black swirls and green flower patterns covered them. The butterfly watched them closely, they stood, Sam looking down to where they had left their net and box on the floor at the butterflies feet. All they had was the torch which was shining on the butterfly.
"Think it's safe to say that's our bug." Edilio said slowly.
"Really?" Sam asked sarcastically.
Suddenly the butterfly turned and returned back to the tree. It disappeared into the branches and they stood in silence waiting for it to come back again.
"Oh God, not another Zeke!" Dekka suddenly snapped.
"What?" Edilio blinked.
"It's like a Zeke. Just look at it. It's territorial, only this time it's territorial over a tree. It won't attack us unless we touch it's tree." Dekka growled.
"Let's test that." Sam mumbled.
Sam took one step forward. Nothing. Another step. Nothing. Another step. He was up so close to the tree so that he could reach out and touch it. Still nothing happened and Sam started to doubt it was like the Zekes at all. Suddenly the butterfly was swooping down and he had to turn and throw himself away from the tree. As soon as he was away the butterfly turned and returned to the tree once more.
Sam sat up, spitting grass from where he had fallen face first. "Yup. Definitely territorial."
"Okay... Do you think you can run and grab the net and the box before it attacks and bites you?" Edilio asked. "Maybe we can distract it or something like with the Zekes."
"Sounds like a plan." Sam shrugged. "I'll go for the stuff, you guys distract it and I'll catch it when it isn't looking."
Dekka and Edilio nodded and slowly began to walk to the tree. They moved around and watched, shining the light up at the tree and watching out for the butterfly. Sam watched and waited until he saw the butterfly fly towards them before he ran, ducked and grabbed the things in a pile in his arms, jumping up and out of the way so fast he hit the wall, rolling and landing on the ground hard. He scrambled, dragging the things out of the way and from the tree.
He glanced over and saw Edilio and Dekka were on the floor much like Sam had been and were crawling away as the butterfly returned back to the branches once more.
"Got it!" Sam gasped.
"Now let's catch this bloody thing!" Dekka snarled.
Sam passed the box to Edilio and he opened it, ready to catch the creature and lock it inside. Dekka picked up the torch she dropped and shinned it back up at the tree. For a moment they couldn't find it but then there it was, on the end of the branch, staring down at them.
"I'll catch it first." Sam explained. "Hold it in the net and then we'll get it in the box. Dekka, stay where you are and shine the light on the thing so I can see it."
"Got it." Dekka nodded.
"Let's get this thing so we can head home already." Sam grunted.
Sam ran forward once more, he reached out and touched the tree firmly with his palm. Immediately the butterfly flew down and Sam turned, waving the net around and trying to catch it. At first he just seemed to be waving it around like an idiot, the butterfly was faster and smarter than he thought and dodged the net in quick flashes. Sam panicked and waved the net harder and faster.
At one point the butterfly disappeared and Sam felt fear tighten around his lungs. He swore he would turn and find it biting either him or one of the others but then he stopped and saw it was caught in the net, it's too large wings were its downfall. They were sticking to the home made net (actually an old net like poncho Astrid's mother had sent her for christmas that she had never liked) and it couldn't break free. Sam grabbed the net and squeezed the top, running back to Edilio. It was awkward but soon they turned the net upright, the butterfly fell free into the box and they were sealing the lid and stepping back, the butterfly (bigger than they thought) had little room to move and shot in tiny movements back and forth.
"You could be a professional butterfly catcher." Edilio grinned.
G*O*N*E
"Okay, so Caine will sleep with Diana in her room, I'm with Sam, Quinn can sleep on Sam's old camp bed in our room, Edilio and Roger can have the blow up mattress, Kevin can have the sofa, and you and Dekka will need to share our spare mattress and quilts all in here." Astrid explained, lying the last mattress on the floor in the main room. It was quite big if you counted the kitchen in with it. But still they would have little room to wander around in the night, but at least they could push everything against the wall or in the bedroom the next morning. "Is that okay with you?"
Not really. Emily hated sharing beds and she didn't even know this Dekka person but Astrid had her reasons for putting the two girls together rather than the boy with the girl, even if one of the girls was a lesbian. So she didn't argue with her.
"That's fine." Emily yawned.
"Why don't you get some sleep now?" Astrid suggested with a smile. "I'll make sure everyone keeps it down."
"Think I'll join her." Quinn said standing and stretching. "Do you think Sam will mind if I borrow something to sleep in? I didn't actually bring anything and I can't be assed to go home and pick something up. I'll get it all tomorrow."
"He'll be fine. Do you need anything, Emily?" Astrid asked.
"I'm good." Emily yawned again. "I packed." She pulled out a set of panda pyjamas that made Kevin stare. "What?!"
"... You just seem... More..." Kevin fell silent and shrugged.
"Kevin, will you need anything to sleep?" Astrid asked. "Edilio? Roger?"
"We're okay." Edilio smiled. In truth the both of them slept in their boxers but they weren't going to say that out loud.
"I can sleep in my clothes." Kevin shrugged. "They're comfortable."
"Sure?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then. I think everyone is settled..." Astrid mumbled.
"Should we give it a rest now?" Edilio asked.
"I suppose." Astrid nodded. It was early. Her, Sam, Diana and Caine would probably stay up much later but everyone else seemed ready to sleep. "I'll take the lizard and lock it up in the kitchen cabinet."
"Does it need to eat?" Kevin asked suddenly.
"Who cares? Maybe we can starve it to death." Quinn snorted.
Through out the day Kevin had tried more natural ways at killing Lizzie Lizard, just to be sure none of them worked. He had crushed it, cut its head, burned it, poisoned it and even frozen it in the fridge while it stayed tied up. But none of it worked. When he crushed it with the box it was flattened but as soon as he had lifted the box up it returned to normal like an inflatable bouncy house. In the end he had to quickly fix the bands around it to keep it from escaping. When he cut it's head it was like cutting rubber with a pen. Once again it fattened out the minute he let off. Burning and freezing and poison also had no effect and soon Kevin was giving up.
"Notice Caine hasn't come on lately." Emily mumbled as she headed for the bathroom to change.
"Did he do something particular to make you hate him so much?" Astrid asked, making sure all the quilts and pillows were on straight.
"He threatened me and my brother. That is enough." Emily growled, slamming the bathroom door.
Astrid sighed, she knew exactly how Emily felt. Drake had threatened her and her brother Pete. She looked over where Edilio and Roger were sitting down on the mattress, talking quietly to one another about something she couldn't hear. It was nice when a couple made it through so many years. She knew for a fact that Lana and Sanjit hadn't lasted and so had a lot of couples. In fact, Edilio and Roger and Sam and Astrid were the only ones to make it through unless you counted Caine and Diana but since he had been dead for the passed two years, Astrid didn't count him.
Quinn was going through Sam's things and dragging out a loose pair of trousers and a top while Kevin sat down on the sofa.
"This is the weirdest sleepover ever." Astrid suddenly grinned.
When Emily came out, Kevin raised an eyebrow and she scowled at him. She looked almost cute in her pyjamas with her hair in pigs tails but she just wouldn't smile. Suddenly Astrid found herself wondering about match making. Kevin and Emily... They'd be cute... They were as stubborn and scowled at one another as much as they did anyone else.
"Bed time!" Astrid called to Diana and Caine. "Keep it down from now on!"
"BOSSY COW!"
"Shut up, Caine!"
"This is what it sounds like when you go to bed?" Roger laughed.
"Not normally." Astrid grinned.
Caine and Diana were both growing restless. They had been in the same room for the last few hours now and they were quickly growing frustrated and restless. They had flipped through all Diana's books, skimmed all magazines and Caine had spent several minutes poking through Diana's draws (including her underwear draw) before she noticed and told him off, poking his side until he stopped.
"We have nothing left to do." Diana sighed. "So why don't we talk a little more. Tell me more about your dreams."
"I told you everything I know." Caine sighed. He was getting sick and bored of this.
"You're being vague." Diana scowled.
"There's no point boring you with pointless detail that means nothing anyway." Caine argued.
"So sleep!" Diana said suddenly.
"What?" Caine frowned.
"Sleep. Dream some more and tell me about it when you wake." Diana nodded, trying to lie him down.
Caine frowned and then raised a suggestive eyebrow. "There's other stuff we could be doing."
"You're injured." Diana smirked.
"There's stuff you could do while I just lay here." Caine said.
Diana raised an eyebrow before reaching over and pushing on his rib, making him shout in pain and shock once again. This was becoming a good way to train him, Diana thought. He glared at her but she just smirked and shrugged before rolling off the bed.
"I'm changing."
"Oh," Caine said. "So now you're going to show off in front of me, and then just make me go to bed?"
"That's the idea."
32) So if the butterfly is Sinder... How do you think they can kill it?
Sorry for slow updates. Sadly these will be happening now because I am back at college and I have work. I will still try and update at least once a week!
