Chapter 11

Leah was eyeing us from the kitchen window. I could see her pulling back the cherry red curtains so that she could get a better look at us huddled together in the backyard.

"What should we do?" Ashley looked more nervous than me. She was fiddling with the tips of her fingers, her face two shades paler than it should have been. Taking a deep breath and swallowing the lump that was forming in my throat, I gave her a reassuring smile and placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. She can't stay here all night, and if she does, I'm sure she'll be too preoccupied with your dad to watch us… We'll just be forced to sneak out."

"I've never_"

"Oh come on Ash! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity here. Candace is gonna be in so much freaking trouble, my parents are never gonna let her drive that car again. This will be the end of her social life… We're basically causing a nuclear meltdown here." Marie leaned in close, grabbing both of Ashley's twitching hands.

"You don't have to do this. I don't wanna force you to do something you're not comfortable with." I spoke slowly. Normally, when I had something planned, I did everything by myself. I knew the risks and I took them in stride. However, Marie and Ashley were young bloods and I wasn't sure they were ready for this kind of life.

Ashley was quiet for a moment, her eyes glancing back at Leah. She sighed, and gave her a soft wave and she waved back.

"We have to do this. I've already committed… Besides," she smiled at me "What's the worst that can happen?"

I felt another wave of deja vu, but I pushed it down with a smile.

"Come on, we need to figure out a way to get your dad and Leah out of the house or something." Both Ashley and Marie nodded and linked their arms with mine, pulling me towards the house.

"Daaaaaad! I wanna go to the movies with Marie and Ellie!" Mr. Wright blinked in surprise and looked over at Leah, who had turned to face us. He was sitting down at the kitchen table, with some playing cards in front of him, obviously in the middle of setting up a game.

"The movies?" Mr. Wright looked over at Leah, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, I wanna go to the new theater by La Push, I heard it was like, super nice, and the popcorn was flavored." Ashley held onto us tighter, and I was surprised by her strength. I tried to wiggle myself from her grasp, but she held firm, almost as if she were telling me that we were in this together.

"Oh, I know that one… It isn't too far from my house." Leah placed her left hand on her hip, reaching over Mr. Wright's shoulder to grab a chip from the bowl on the table. "What movie were you guys planning on seeing?"

"Reset" I blurted out the first movie I could think of. "You know, the one with the girl who resets the year so that she can fix her broken marriage. It's supposed to be a total emotional rollercoaster." Marie and Ashley glanced over at me before nodding their heads.

"Yeah, apparently it was directed by that guy, dad you know the guy. He did that one movie that made me sob uncontrollably that one time."

"You mean the director of Titanic? He still makes movies?" He looked over at Leah and she shrugged.

"I don't know his name, and I cry at a lot of movies, anyway, it's supposed to be amazing."

"And you know I'm a glutton for emotional punishment." Marie smiled wide and innocent, making Mr. Wright chuckled.

"Why did you guys wait so late to tell me about this? I could have already bought the tickets."

"Because Ellie told us she wanted to see it and we agreed that would be a great idea."

"Yes, the council has spoken and it feels like a movie night_"

"Council?" Leah chuckled and Mr. Wright nodded his head.

"Yes, I told you, ever since Ash and Marie brought Ellie into their group, they've been calling themselves 'The Council'."

"And that's what you three were discussing outside?" Leah's tone reminded me of my moms. Calm, confident, and dangerous. One slip up and she would be on to us and our whole plan would be shattered. I forced myself to smile at her.

"Yup, we really wanna go to the movies." Marie pulled out her phone, and I smiled when I saw the phone case that I bought her. She would switch frequently between the phone case I bought her and the one that matched Ashley's.

"There's a showtime at 9."

"Well_"

"Wait." Leah crossed her arms and leaned her body against Mr. Wright. She looked down at him and then back at us. "Isn't 'Reset' a three hour movie? You wouldn't be getting out until close to midnight."

Shit.

"They'll just be sitting in the theater, I don't think it's a problem." Mr. Wright began to finish setting up his card game. "As long as you don't sneak into a rated R movie instead."

He chuckled, but I felt a lump rise in my throat. I glanced at Leah's face; she was suspicious. Her eyes were slitted slightly and her lips were pursed.

"Yay! Thanks dad!" Ashley broke our formation to wrap her arms around her dad tightly. This action caught him off guard, making him grunt at the impact and drop some of the cards onto the floor. Leah laughed, the suspicion leaving her face and helped him pick up the cards.

We were in the clear… For now.

Both Ashley and Marie were twitchy. I was sitting between the two of them in the back seat of Mr. Wright's black BMW. Leah was sitting up front, messing around with the radio and Mr. Wright was singing along with nearly every song that began to play.

"We have a playlist if you want Leah." Ashley reached into her baby blue purse and pulled out her phone. Leah looked back at us and sighed, handing her the aux cord. I chuckled as the same playlist we used for Marie's super secret birthday extravaganza began to play.

"This is… A wide array of music girls." Leah's eyes widened slightly as a heavy metal song began to blast through the speakers.

"It helps me get pumped up for my decathlons." Ashley was bobbing her head softly to the song, and I laughed.

The car ride seemed… normal, almost as if we weren't on our way to commit a misdemeanor. We were chatting with each other casually, singing along to the playlist, and it felt like we were really just going to the movies… and a part of me just kind of wanted too.

Now I wasn't the type to give up on a plan when it was in progress, but I felt more nervous than I usually did. I knew it was tied to Marie and Ashley, and I wondered if I was being a bad friend by involving them in my vendetta.

'They want to do this… Marie hates Candace as much as I do.'

"Is everything okay Ellie?" My head snapped up and I looked over at Leah. She was studying me with her dark eyes, looking me up and down. Her voice was gentle, but her eyes were sharp.

"Yeah. I'm fine… I was just thinking about my Biology test." As another lie tumbled from my mouth, I felt my stomach knot. I had almost forgotten about my failed biology test.

"Oh ew, can we not talk about school." Marie made a gagging noise and stuck out her tongue. "It's Saturday night, and I just wanna relax and watch the movie."

I nodded my head and leaned my head against the window for the rest of the ride there.

When we arrived at the movies, Mr. Wright dropped off at the lobby. He gave Ashley some money, and smiled at us as we shuffled out of his car and into the rather nice movie theater.

"Yo, when did this place open?" I looked around the spacious lobby, noting the old movie posters framed and hung on the walls. The place looked cleaner than any other movie theater I had ever been to as well.

"Oh, it's like new, new. Now… are we ready?" Snapping out of my amazement, I pulled out my phone and checked the time. 8:54pm.

"Do you think they'd be there yet?" Ashley shrugged her shoulders. Marie held up a finger and brought her phone to her ear.

"Hey, I wanted to know if you were at the house_"

"Because I forgot to feed Emilio."

"Can you just_"

"Fine, whatever, but if Emilio dies I'm telling daddy." She hung up her cell and smiled.

"She isn't home."

"Did you really forget to feed Emilio?" Ashley grabbed Marie's hand and Marie chuckled.

"Hell no, he's my lil baby cakes. I would never forget to feed him." she snorted and Ashley sighed in relief.

"Whose Emilio?" My brows furrowed and Marie smiled, pride pouring off of her. Grabbing my arm, she pulled me close and began to show me pictures of a large red bearded dragon.

"You've never been over to my house before so I'm not surprised you've never seen him, but this is snookums_" She was scrolling through the pictures rather quickly, but I was able to see photo after photo of the large lizard dressed up, in different positions, and at the beach with Marie and Ashley in the background.

"You didn't really strike me as the type to get a lizard." Marie's brown eyes widened and she placed her hands on her hips.

"And why not?"

"Because… well I don't know…" I didn't want to tell her it was because I assumed she would be the type to want a yappy little chihuahua or something of that nature.

"I'll have you know I'm allergic to feathers, fur, and most common forms of pet dander. Basically, my existence is limited to reptiles, amphibians, and fish… Which is cool. I had an axolotl named Raymond, but Candace killed him by accident last summer. That's why I got Emilio.

"She says Emilio is the only man that loves her." Ashley muttered and Marie scowled.

"It's true Ashley, don't tease me. He's the only one I can trust and I love him." I held back my laughter and took a deep breath. Candace was either on her way to the party, or she was already there. It was time to put our plan into action.

Pulling out my phone, I had the uber app and put in the address for the movie theater and the address for the beach. Our driver, Stephen, would be here in ten minutes and we needed to be ready.

"Okay, I got us the ride, now I need one of you to go and buy the movie tickets." Marie nodded her head, turning on her heel and running over to the ticket booth. Ashley ran after her as I made my way outside to wait for our driver.

Stephen, an older gentleman with white hair and tan skin pulled up to the theater much sooner than I thought he would. He was driving a red honda civic, and waiting patiently for me to approach the car. I walked up to the curb and motioned for him to roll down the window.

"Well hello, are you Ellie?" I nodded my head, and his brows furrowed in confusion. "Is your mom or dad with you?"

I shook my head, and his face filled with even more concern. The wrinkles on his face deepened, and his dark eyes seemed foggy with apprehension.

"Is it just you, little lady?" I shook my head, some of my curls coming loose from my ponytail.

"No, I have some friends with me." I didn't like how he was questioning me. I felt that sinking, slippery feeling in my stomach again, and I tried to push it down. I smiled at him, and came a bit closer to the window.

"Are they your age or older?" He muttered, looking past me towards the theater.

"My age… Why do you want to know?" I spoke slowly, not sure why he seemed so uneasy.

"What are three young girls such as yourself doing out here this late on a Saturday night?" I huffed, rolling my eyes, and crossing my arms. Of course he was concerned about what we were doing this late at night. Back home in New York, I would be able to hail a cab and everyone would just mind their own damn business. Apparently in small, middle of nowhere towns in Washington didn't have the same mentality.

"We're just trying to get home." I smiled at him, but it was almost as if he saw right past it.

"Where are your parents?" I turned my head and saw Marie and Ashley on their way out from grabbing the tickets. Letting out a reluctant sigh, I ran my fingers through my thick curls and huffed.

I didn't like doing this, and I knew Emi and my parents wouldn't approve; this was most certainly not my best behavior. If anyone found out I was doing this, and to a human no less, I would never be let out by myself ever again. I was only ever supposed to do this in life of death situations, but I was too deep into this plan to let it fail.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, and made a soft clicking sound as I prepared my voice. I glanced back one last time to make sure that Ashley and Marie were far enough away to be spared from my song and began to hum gently.

It was just a hum at first, soft tones, vibrations coming from my chest that made the older man's eyes glaze over. He blinked a couple of times, attempting to fight back, but I opened my mouth and spoke in a gentle Latin, lulling this poor man to my will. Once the words left my mouth he was too far gone to fight. He went limp for a moment, eyes foggy and empty and just smiled at me… expression blank. I finished my song quickly, and clicked my throat again, clearing it.

"Okay Mr. Stephen. I just need you to take me and my friends to La Push." He nodded his head slowly, processing my words. Guilt clawed at my insides, but I ignored it as I opened the back door and motioned for Marie and Ash to get in.

"Is… is our driver okay?" Marie whispered as she slid into the tiny Honda. I nodded my head, not trusting myself to say anything. I wasn't the best at controlling my Siren's Song, and I knew if I didn't give my throat time to reset itself, then others may fall victim to my voice.

I was the last to get into the car, slamming the door behind me. Our driver waited for us to put on our seatbelts, before pulling out of the theater parking lot and making his way to La Push.

"That's a lot of fucking cars." I breathed out as I saw the array of cars that lined the parking lot by the beach. I could faintly hear the music from the party, and I felt another wave of anxiety wash over me.

"Don't worry, I know Candy's car." We all linked hands and began to duck and weave through the sea of cars. We were all wearing dark clothing; Marie in a pair of leggings and a maroon shirt, Ashley in black jeans and a grey hoodie, and I was wearing a plain black pleated dress. As we crouched low to the ground, I prayed to whatever could hear me that there weren't any people just arriving. I'm sure the three of us would stick out like a sore thumb.

'Don't forget, Emi's here somewhere… if she catches you, you're screwed.' I bit at my lower lip, nearly drawing blood. I just needed to slash the tire, and then we could make our grand escape. I had Stephen, or uber, on standby until we got the job done.

"There it is." In the distance I saw the same ugly silver punch bug that I had seen at the roller rink all those weeks ago. Rushing over, we crouched behind it, and I looked around to make sure there were no witnesses.

"Yup, ATN, those are the first three numbers of her license plate. This is totally her stupid car." Marie smiled, a bit smugly.

"Okay, well which tire did you want to slash?" I got up and began to circle around the car, checking the tread, attempting to see which tire was the weakest.

"I guess the right-rear." I mumbled. She must have recently gotten new tires, because they all seemed pretty solid. "Okay, hand me the knife."

Ashley reached into her bag and felt around for a few moments before her eyes widened.

"What's wrong Ash?"

"I-I swore it was in here…" She turned over her bag and began to pour out the contents all over the parking lot.

"Phone, house keys, lip gloss, crackers, and there should be a pocket knife…" She muttered and I groaned."

"Did you forget the knife Ashley?"

"I… I don't remember, I swore I put it in my bag last night..." Her brows furrowed and I placed my face in my hands. We were so close and I had already gone too far.

"You switched your bag." Marie muttered and I looked over at Ashley. "You switched it before we went to the movies because the strap on your black one broke." That would explain why she was wearing a blue bag, the lightest thing on any of us.

"Oh my god_" She gasped "I'm so sorry Ellie!"

I shook my head in disbelief. How could it be going this wrong, this late in the plan. It was almost as if fate was begging us not to go through with it.

"It's fine… just… just head back to the uber and we'll catch the end of the movie." No, I wasn't going to give up like this. When I put my mind to something, I went through with it to its entirety. That was something that Emi and I had in common… We weren't quitters. "I'll catch up with you."

"I'm so sorry." Marie was comforting Ashley quietly as they began to dash back to the uber. I watched them leave, and growled out quietly. There was only one fucking way this tire was getting popped, and I wasn't happy about it.

I was using my powers twice in one day. God, if my dad could see me, I would be grounded for the rest of my life. Clenching my jaw, I felt my teeth begin to shift and move around in my mouth. Sharp, serrated fang began to form, and I could feel the razor sharp, yet delicate scales began to push through the skin on my arms, neck, and legs.

Grabbing the sides of the tire with my hands, I grunted as I clamped my jaw down on the thick rubber. It only took a moment as the tire blew with a loud pop, and I was sent back from the pressure. The car alarm began to blare and my eyes widened as I heard voices running from the beach. Pulling myself from off of the ground, I began to run.

*Hey, Hey! So I finished this chapter, sorry for the wait! I hope y'all like the chapter, and please please comment! I read all of them and it keeps me motivated! Thank you to all how do comment, and I hope you're enjoying the story so far!*

XOXO RandomKay