"There, done and dusted." Astrid said.
She pulled off the cat mask from her face, that she had brought from a party shop not far from the pet shop. It was simple and was much cheaper than she expected it to be. It wasn't very scary to begin with but it was all they had to work with, and after she brought it Astrid took Sam's advice and covered it in mud and leaves and twigs to make it as ugly and monster like as possible to scare the Lizzie Lizard. And it seemed to have worked.
"More like done and melted." Quinn grinned, grabbing the box and taking it towards the sink so he could wash her black remains down the drain, though it still seemed to stain the plastic.
"So how did you figure out the lizard was afraid of monsters?" Roger asked.
"Sam figured it out."
After Astrid had gotten home she had immediately spoken with the others and found out about Ripley's little visit. She had listened to them in silence until they were done but then quickly killed off the Lizzie Lizard before she got distracted any more and before the creature could get away from them. She didn't want to risk getting so caught up that the creature got free and burned down their apartments before they were able to kill her.
It had been weird wearing the mask but it didn't take her long to guess what it was Sam was talking about when he wanted her to get the mask and make it look scary, and she had been almost embarrassed, especially when she had to growl and groan but soon the creature was melt into black liquid ash right in front of her eyes. The others seemed to have enjoyed it, laughing and making animal monster noises along with her though that was mostly teasing rather than helping.
Now it was just them, no more animals in their apartment apart from when Sam brought Toto back. They had no idea where Kevin or Edilio were since they were closest to home. And Sam should have been back by now unless Toto was weighing him down and people kept stopping to ask him what was in the cage. Dekka and Emily hadn't called in either but they were father off. However it was still nerve wracking and they were starting to get worried but all their problems were building up and keeping them distracted and they assumed they each had a mutated animal keeping their hands full which was what slowed them down. Or they hoped but none of them would admit that out loud.
"Hey!" Diana snapped when Astrid and Quinn seemed to daze off. "Can we get back to the matter! What are we going to do about Ripley?"
"There isn't much that we can do." Astrid mumbled, biting her lip, still half thinking of Sam and the others.
"So we're going to leave him to take Caine and us to prison as soon as he catches us?" Diana snapped.
"No, of course not." Astrid sighed and moved to take a seat opposite the two of them on the middle mattress on the floor, they really needed to get better seating arrangements but the sofa was still pushed against the wall and there was just no room to put the mattresses in order to pull it out. "We just need a plan."
"What plan? Shove his head into a blender?" Diana growled.
"I'd like to see that." Caine grinned. He seemed to be the only one not taking this seriously. He was settled beside Diana, half lying down leaning on his elbows with a cocky grin on his face. He looked completely at ease... But it was an act. He was just as worried about getting caught. Caine was sure he could probably take them all on but what if they somehow covered his hands? What if they cemented them and locked him away? He'd be useless and a joke rather than the king he truly was. And then there was Diana, what would they do to her if they found out she was helping him? His smile flickered but he forced it to stay in place.
"We need to think of a real plan." Astrid argued, trying to pull her mind away and think of the problem at hand. "We need a way to maybe... Maybe get Ripley either fired or transferred somewhere else so that he can't bother us any more and no one will listen to him."
"Are you sure?" Roger said, sitting beside of her.
Astrid didn't answer at first. She looked at everyone and saw their true feelings on each of their faces, even the cocky Caine who was trying to remain calm had a flicker every now and then. Enough think of the others, they were probably fine. Ripley was going to be a big problem. If he caught them then he would hurt them. He would lock them all away and if he found out about their powers again then they would all end in a laboratory along with the killer animals until more people got hurt. They needed a way to get rid of him but how were they going to do it.
"Yes. And I have a plan too!" Astrid beamed suddenly as inspiration struck. "Diana, Emily, Dekka and I will all go down to the police station where he works and say that Ripley has been sexually harassing us. We'll cry and say he frisks us for no reason, makes us stand there while he takes pictures and grabs us inappropriately whenever he wants to stop and talk. While Edilio, you, Quinn, Sam and Kevin can step forward saying whenever you tell him to stop touching us or to leave us alone he attacks you. He attacks for no reason too when you're just walking in the streets."
Quinn frowned. "But what if they think we're just people trying to cause trouble?"
"They probably will, but we'll keep complaining. And if they try anything against us then we'll go to newspapers and lawyers and complain to them." Astrid nodded.
"We'll force them to do something about him." Quinn nodded suddenly grinning.
"Exactly." Astrid grinned back.
"Okay, so we have a plan." Roger nodded. Then he stood. "I want to go search for Edilio... And the others." He added quickly.
"I think that's a good idea." Astrid nodded, relaxing slightly. The idea they had a plan for Ripley was enough to leave her guilty free to think to Sam and the others again. "They've been gone a long time."
Diana scowled. It was a good plan and she liked the idea of dragging Ripley's name through the dirt but she still didn't like the way they so easily pushed it aside. The others were probably fine, Caine was the one in trouble but of course all Astrid could think of was her boyfriend. Typically Astrid. Typically Astrid The Dumb Genius.
"You coming, Diana?" Astrid asked, looking at her.
As she stared up at her Diana felt a ridiculous pang of guilt for thinking that. But she wasn't ready to let go the fact that they were pushing Caine to the side and so in return she pushed aside the guilt and ignored it, nodding her head and standing to follow them.
They all stood up and moved for the door. They were about to leave when Diana stopped, turned and pushed Caine back down to the ground again, gently.
"You can stay here." Diana scowled.
"No way!" Caine snapped, trying to stand again.
"Yes way." Astrid chimed in, walking to stand beside of her.
"Caine, you've been seen by Ripley already. Don't you think he's going to be snooping around outside, waiting and looking for you when we come out just to see if you are going to be with us?" Diana sighed.
"Yeah, we best keep someone here too." Quinn offered, stepping back. He wanted to help Sam but a small part of him still didn't want to be involved with the animal mutants. "That way Caine can stay in Diana's bedroom and if Ripley comes in he can hide against the ceiling again while I get rid of him."
Caine did not look happy. He glared at Quinn in particular for suggesting he stay but when he opened his mouth to argue the others had already slammed the door behind them. Caine turned and scowled at the door. Then, in anger, he waved his hand and threw a draw from the furniture on the opposite side of the room out of it's place, hitting the door hard and letting it drop broken to the ground.
"You still have your anger issues huh?" Quinn smirked.
"Shut up! We all know I can break that door down and leave any time I want." Caine snarled.
Quinn frowned at that and then slowly smiled. "Yeah, but you're not because you know we're all right. You're staying here, talking to me because you know if Ripley catches you that's the end and even if you could take him, you'd have to show everyone your powers and everyone would hunt you down..." Quinn turned and began to make something to eat while still grinning. "And not just you. They'd come after Sam, Astrid and Diana and all the other old moofs just to be sure and the last thing you'd do is get Diana locked up."
Caine let out a growl so animal like Quinn hesitated. But then he fell silent and slouched where he was sitting. He hated people being able to read him so easily and it was even more insulting having some random fisherman like Quinn being able to read him. He pulled himself up into sitting position, ignoring Quinn when he looked pointedly at Diana's bedroom door.
It took a while but finally Quinn gave up being subtle. "Don't you think you should be in Diana's room in case Ripley comes by?"
"Don't you think the first place Ripley will look is one of the bedrooms? So wouldn't it make more sense for me to stay here and push myself against the ceiling in this room rather than one of the others where he thinks I would be hiding?" Caine smirked.
Quinn blinked and stared at him. None of them had thought about that.
"Didn't think of that, did ya, Fisherman?"
He watched as Caine smirked and settled back, grabbing a book off the bookshelf and flicking through it to seem busy and pass the time. It was going to be a long time. He really wasn't looking forward to having to hang around inside constantly again and he didn't plan to do it for very long anyway. As soon as something big happened he was going to force his way out to do something. He hadn't actually had a chance to test his powers properly to see how strong he was now. He felt strong but that could just be in his mind, he really wanted to try lifting something heavy and see how much of a strain it would be for him.
He smirked and looked back down to the book in his hand. It was only a matter of time before he went out to a place where he could really practice. And then he wouldn't sit around any more.
G*O*N*E
The argument lasted for ten long minutes. That was ten long minutes where Dekka was away from Emily while she suffered and possibly passed away in Connie's bed. But Emily's brother was the only one home, their parents were actually trying to find some kind of rule or law that says they were allowed to drag Emily home by her hair if they had to (apparently her family wanted her home and she had been refusing ever message they gave her via phone). Her brother said he knew Emily's blood type when Dekka asked but he wasn't telling her what it was because she wasn't telling him how his sister had gotten hurt in the first place and he didn't trust her. Well, actually Dekka was trying to tell him what happened but he just wasn't listening.
"A hydra, what the hell is that? Is that a gun? Did you shoot her?!" Brother shouted, standing in the doorway and getting more angry with her the longer she spoke.
"How can it be a gun when I told you a hydra stabbed her?! What does it matter?! You're sister is bleeding and I need to know her blood type so we can give her more blood so she doesn't die!" Dekka snarled, stepping up to him threateningly. If Brother was getting angry with her the longer they stood there, then Dekka was inches away from squeezing the life from him.
Brother looked nervous, Dekka made a frightening impression when she was acting normal, let alone when she wanted to, but he still refused to back down to her.
"Get away from here. As soon as my parents get Emily home she isn't leaving again." Brother snarled.
"Look! If you don't believe me then fine, but what exactly am I going to do with Emily's blood information?" Dekka snarled.
Brother sneered and turned into the house again, about to shut the door on her. Dekka grit her teeth until her jaw hurt. She wasn't going to let Emily die because her brother was an idiot. She jumped forward, slamming the door open with both hands and dragged him from the house by his shirt. As soon as he was out in the open, shouting and fighting, she pushed him away from her so he hit the ground hard. Before he could get up she raised her palms towards him, cancelling gravity and sending him high into the air. Brother shrieked and Dekka glared up at him.
"I am not playing! Weird stuff is happening and I need to save your sister so stop being an ass and tell me her fricken blood type!" Dekka shouted up at him.
Brother screamed and struggled in the air. He was terrified and found himself thinking back to when Caine had lifted him into the air back in the FAYZ. Emily had actually saved him by giving in and allowing Caine to use their home to contact Zil and his men. But she wasn't here any more and this crazy girl somehow had the power even though the FAYZ had ended and everyone was supposed to have lost their powers yet this girl had him higher than his home and he was still going!
"I wouldn't struggle too much." Dekka shouted. "If you struggle you could fall out of my range and fall back to the ground." That was a lie. Dekka had just as much as control as she would ever get, she could do what the leopard did and cancel gravity on Brother alone rather than the things under and around him. But she wanted to give him a good scare.
"Okay! Okay!" Brother screamed.
"What's her blood type?!" Dekka snapped.
"AB Negative!"
"Thank you!"
Dekka lowered him down until he was hovering over the ground and dropped him sharply so he landed on his side awkwardly and hard. Brother scrambled away from her but Dekka was already jogging back down towards of Perdido Beach. It wasn't long but it felt that way. Connie wasn't going to be able to get blood until Dekka told her the type and even then Dekka needed to get a needle to get the blood into her. It would have been so much easier to get the drip and take her to hospital. But they couldn't until they were sure no one would ask them any uncomfortable questions.
She felt bad for Emily but was sure she would understand when she woke up. If she didn't wake up, then Dekka would never forgive herself for what happened.
G*O*N*E
They carried Kevin from the abandoned house on Sam's back just like before and took him around to the back of the building so the ambulance wouldn't see them when it arrived. They wished they could leave him there to be found but instead they planned to have the ambulance assume it was a prank and just go away, they needed time to think before they did anything rash. Neither of them knew what to do with him. They didn't want to just leave him to be found, they wanted to call his family and tell them what happened, but if they did they were worried they would be blamed for his death. They needed to think of some way to let his family find him and let them know what happened without it leading back to them.
Sam hated that they had to do this. He hated everything about what was happening! It wasn't fair that Kevin had to die when he had been so brave, and it wasn't fair that he had to die by a slow bleed to death. But then it wasn't fair for E.Z to die, or Duck to die, or Hunter to die, or even Caine to die the first time. No one deserved to die and yet it was all they seemed to be doing.
When they were behind the building they set Kevin down carefully as if he were still alive and stared at him for a moment. In the dark shade of the house he didn't look dead, at least not with the blind fold still covering his eyes and his arm seemingly attached.
"We need to call his family." Edilio whispered.
"I hate this, Edilio." Sam whispered back.
"I know, man."
"No, I mean I really hate this. I don't think I can do this again. Watching friends die when all they're trying to do is help or survive." Sam whispered, shaking the longer he stared down at Kevin.
"How do you think I feel?" Edilio hissed. "Who was responsible for burying kids? The only difference is that it isn't just kids any more. Everyone needs our help and we can't break down now, no matter how hard. Come on, Sam. Take a breath. We'll call Kevin's family and the police. We'll just have to tell them we found him like this and hope for the best. And then we'll catch Gaia and the rest of them and kill them before they can hurt anyone else."
Neither of them bothered to mention what they both already knew. It would be impossible to beat Gaia. They had no way to do it, no idea how to start, and the chances are if they tried then they would just end up in the same position as Kevin.
Sam didn't say anything. He watched Edilio pull out of phone and call the police first. The police could contact Kevin's parents when the time came. For now they knew they would have to wait for the police to turn up and give statements on how they "found him" like this. Or one of them would.
"Go home, Sam. Tell the others what happened." Edilio said quietly after a moment when he hung up the phone.
"I can't leave you." Sam sighed.
"Yes you can. I wasn't a mutant so they can't say anything to me about that. They won't be able to have prejudice like some of them have. They probably won't even know me while everyone knows all about you." Edilio shrugged his shoulders. It was a lie, a lot of people knew about him just not as many as those who knew about Sam. "Just head back and tell the others what happened. Compared to that, I have the easy job!"
Sam stared at him and nodded, sighing. He slowly stood, cast one last long look at Kevin, then turned and headed back. It was the longest walk he had taken, having to be normal with so many people walking passed him, smiling and laughing, no idea of the tragic death just a few feet away from them.
G*O*N*E
After a while of doing nothing, Caine drifted off to sleep on the mattress while Quinn watched the news for any more signs from mutated animals in far off places. Sadly there had been a few cases, including a boy found insane beside his dead friend that he may have killed and shortly away from that very spot where a man murdered his son and killed himself in front of everyone. But then that could just be normal horror. At least Quinn might have believed that if it had happened so close to one another. For Caine, it was nice to get some rest but at the same time he knew what was coming. More dreaming of Little Pete.
It was the weirdest thing to him at first. He assumed maybe it was because he died with Little Pete taking over his body but even that didn't make sense as to why it was the two of them facing one another in a strange area that had to be death nor why Caine continued to dream about him when he was back. It was only after time as each of the dreams came together that they started to make sense. Even now Caine hadn't told Diana most of what he saw but none of it seemed very important even put together. At least, none of it seemed very important until now when it all came together in one go and every question Caine had asked was answered.
It started out like most of the dreams started, in a big white room with only Caine and Little Pete standing facing one another with no features that he could see other than those simple facts. They didn't say anything to begin with, it was like an awkward get together between old friends that had a falling out and neither of them knew what they could say, before Caine just shrugged and sat down, though his legs weren't tired he felt the need to settle and rest. In fact nothing was tired or hurt, in this dream he felt nothing like he was numb but in a good way that didn't bother him.
"Hi." Caine said when he grew tired of the silence and just wanted to move on.
"Thank you." Pete said immediately. He sounded strange, like Caine's voice was normal but Pete's echoed around the room and was completely neutral in every way a mixture of everything put into one. Maybe it was just because Caine didn't remember ever actually wearing Pete speak before but he was sure it was something more than that.
"For what?" Caine blinked when he got over the shock of Pete's voice.
"For helping me. You gave me a body to borrow. And now I have peace." Pete smiled. "I am at peace."
"Glad someone is." Caine grumbled, glaring at him.
"You aren't?" Pete blinked like the idea of someone not being happy and peaceful made no sense to him.
"No! Why would I be! I'm dead!" Caine snapped. "I gave all of it up. And now I'm really starting to regret that choice big time."
Pete stared at him for a moment, seeming to be contemplating his words. Then he nodded his head as if he understood but his face was still frowning slightly in confusion. In the dream the next round of silence was barely a minute long but Caine remembered it to have been as long as half an hour. He hadn't done anything because he didn't know what he was supposed to do now he was dead, he expected Satan or Jesus to show up and take him and Pete into Heaven or Hell. He silently wondered what happened to Gaia, his daughter as well as the monster, because he didn't see them anywhere and they weren't actually one person. Gaia was an innocent baby so would she be taken into heaven? Or would the darkness hold on her drag her to hell... It seemed weird really, no one ever imagines a baby going to hell...
"Okay..." Pete said suddenly, drawing Caine's attention back to him and out of his own thoughts.
"Okay what?" Caine frowned at him.
"You helped me. I think I can help you." Pete explained.
Caine frowned at him, no idea what he was trying to say. He really was a retard. Caine didn't care if he was powerful, that didn't make him any less deserving of his nickname 'Petard'.
"How are you going to help me?" Caine scowled.
"I think I can do it. It will be a thank you. I think I have just enough power here left to do it... Thank you." Pete smiled and stepped closer to Caine.
Caine hurried to climb back onto his feet. He wasn't really scared or Pete or anything but honestly the kid did make him a little nervous. Okay maybe he was a little scared. Any smart person would be scared of someone with his power and his little control over what he did with it. He had no idea what Pete was going to do. But he was definitely worried and took a quick step back away from him as he stepped closer with his small child hand held out.
"What are you doing?!" Caine snapped, taking another step back.
"I am going to give you a second chance." Pete beamed.
"What are you talking about?!" Caine shouted. "You're crazy, stay the hell away from me."
Pete reached over and suddenly his hand was reaching up so the tip of his finger tips just touched Caine's chest over where his heart was, no longer beating but still there. For a moment nothing happened, but then he felt a tightening cold feeling around him and hurried to get away from Pete because he knew he was the cause of these uncomfortable feelings. As he was hurrying away he felt something, his heart beating fast. Then he realised his heart was actually beating! He gasped and stumbled away with Pete watching with a calm smile, moving his hand almost like he was waving.
The feeling Pete gave him filled him even when he was no longer touching his chest that now beat rapidly, it was spreading from his chest out to the rest of his body and even around the air around him. It was a weird feeling, incredibly warm and nice but tightening too and leaving Caine feeling sick as feeling washed over him again in a rush like a wave. He stepped back sharply away from him until it was getting harder to see the younger boy and watched as Pete just stood, watching him go. He was about twenty steps away from Pete when the floor under his feet cracked and opened up like the mouth and teeth of a jagged monster, dropping Caine into the hole where he began to fall.
The fall was long, it lasted hours really but his dream was only a few minutes. He fell long in the darkness. It was like falling into the earth with the earth beside of him, hard reddish brown rock that dropped and dropped, somehow glowing even though it should have been pitch black. He couldn't see the end of the drop and get going. And then occasional animal and mutated creatures that did strange things, they came out from the rock as if they were apart of it and stretched to reach him. They were still rock just shaped as animals and things he hadn't even seen before. They all had strange powers that were exactly like the previous mutants in the FAYZ. There was bright burning of pure light, hot rippling fire, floating objects that also seemed to appear out of nowhere, blurring movements that went back and forth in front of him and everything strange that anyone could imagine. Caine couldn't help but assume that this was hell. Fire, weird mutant powers, darkness and falling down under the Earth.
He screamed once, finally getting his voice back, before he hit the ground and blacked out with all the animal monsters leering over him. That was when he woke up to find Quinn asking him if he was okay.
40) Does everyone understand what happened now?
