The Deadly Selliks

Chapter 16

The following morning, Octavia was sat at the dining table, groaning with her head on the table. She didn't allow much light to get into the house, not wanting to blind her weakened eyes in the brightness. The sound of Lacy violently vomiting in the bathroom could be heard from downstairs. Ember strolled down the stairs as an image of a zombie, moaning to herself, massaging her temples. She opened the fridge and was stunned for a couple of seconds at what she saw.

"Octavia..." She croaked.

"What?" Octavia murmured.

"Whose heart is in the fridge?" Ember stared at the random heart that was shoved on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

Octavia looked up with confusion, "I don't know."

Ember shrugged and shook her head. She grabbed the milk carton and flicked the kettle on.

"Actually, pass me that heart. I feel weak, I need energy." Octavia lifted her head from the table.

"Ew, I ain't touching that." Ember took a mug from the kitchen cabinet.

Octavia got up and snatched the heart from the fridge, immediately taking a bite out of it. "Oh thank god, it's just a pig's heart."

"How can you tell the difference?" Ember asked.

"The same way you know the difference between bacon and beef." Octavia responded, as if it were obvious.

"Where did you find a pig?" Ember questioned her.

"I don't know!" Octavia ate half of it and threw the rest of it into the bin. She sat back at the table with Ember once Ember had made herself a cup of coffee.

Lacy practically crawled down the stairs, her hair looked completely scruffy and her eyes were bloodshot. She dragged herself over to the couch and curled up into a ball without saying a word to anyone. Ember covered her with a soft blanket and handed her a glass of water.

"Thank you." Lacy closed her droopy eyes as she took a sip of the water.

The heart gave Octavia a bit of a boost, making her feel a little more alive. Ember's coffee helped her regain some of her energy.

Amanita entered through the front door and slammed it behind her, causing Lacy to jump. Amanita did not look as drained as the others. She sat at the table with Octavia and Ember, "I just woke up in bed with two naked strangers."

"So?" Octavia shrugged.

"They were women." Amanita replied.

Ember slowly lifted her head up with her eyes widened in shock. A big smirk appeared on Octavia's face.

"And from what I remember..." Amanita paused, "...I enjoyed it."

Ember laughed behind her hand. "Wait, so does this mean - ?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to question whether I'm straight or a lesbian." Amanita opened the kitchen cabinet with her mind and pulled a glass into her hand. "Hit me." She held the glass out to Ember, and Ember hovered her hand over the glass to spray water into it.

Ember's face scrunched up as if she was in pain, wiggling around uncomfortably in her chair. "Guys, my lower back is really hurting, is there a scar there or something?" Ember shot up from her chair and spun around, lifting her top up to reveal a tattoo just above her buttocks that wrote; 'ASH'.

Amanita covered her mouth with her hand whilst half-laughing. Lacy had even popped her head up to take a look, dropping her jaw open as she did so.

Octavia answered with humour in her voice, "well, it's definitely a scar."

Ash stopped in his tracks once he had reached the bottom of the stairs. He had caught sight of Ember's tattoo with regret in his eyes. He sighed with his eyes shut, "damn, I was hoping that you wouldn't notice."

"What? What is it?" Ember tried to look at what everyone was talking about but failed.

"Ash, you can explain this one." Amanita plumped herself down beside Lacy on the couch.

Ember looked at Ash with a freaked out expression on her face, waiting for answers. Octavia sat back with the biggest smirk on her face.

Ash took a cautious step backwards. "Okay, just remember that we were both really drunk..." Ash took in a deep breath. "I kind of convinced you to get a tattoo."

"What?" Ember shrieked. "I've got a tramp stamp? Of what?"

Ash began stuttering as he scratched the back of his neck, slowly taking steps backwards.

"Ash..." Ember let go of her top and prowled in Ash's direction.

"It's my name." He replied quickly.

Ember's mouth dropped open and her eyes popped out of her head. "Why would you make me get a tramp stamp of your damn name?"

"I was drunk!" Ash ducked and dodged a big flame that Ember threw at him. It hit the wall behind him, lighting it up in flames. Ember swiftly shot a blast of water at the fire, extinguishing it.

"Let's never go drinking again." Lacy spoke up weakly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lacy was sat at the dining table, sipping from her glass of water. Her, along with the others, were feeling much better than they did in the morning. Ember had calmed down about the fact that she had a tramp stamp of Ash's name. She was talking to Ash in the living room, discussing the sha crystal prison that he was going to check out. The selliks thought that it would be best if Ash went alone, that way he would not have to sneak around and could just act as if he was looking around.

"Oh, um, Ember?" Ash spoke up as he grabbed his jacket, heading for the door.

"Yeah?" Ember replied.

"There was something I didn't have the chance to do at the club last night." Ash suddenly held Ember by her waist and pulled her in, crashing his lips against hers. Ember was too stunned to do anything but to kiss back.

Lacy raised her brows at the pair of them, just as shocked as Ember was.

The kiss only lasted a couple of seconds. Ash pulled away and gave Ember a shy smile before walking briskly out of the house. Ember's cheeks blushed as she watched him leave. She snapped out of her daze when the door slammed shut. She slowly turned to face Lacy who was still sat at the table, giving Ember a strange look.

"What just happened?" Lacy got up from the table and walked over to Ember.

Ember glanced at the door and back at Lacy with a furrowed brow, "I don't know..."

"I'm so close to killing that man." Octavia stormed in from the basement, water dripping from her face. "Phil just spat his water back at me."

"Please don't hurt -"

Octavia cut Lacy off, "yeah, yeah, I know."

Amanita came down the stairs with the selliks' money. Lacy was told to take her own. Octavia drove them all to Marie's Diner for some food. It turned out that Lacy had been fired for taking off too much time, but she did not care about eating there despite her losing the job.

They sat in a booth against the wall, talking about normal topics rather than Sellortis or hunters for a change. Amanita was sat next to the window with Lacy beside her, and Octavia and Ember were sat opposite.

They finished their meals and desserts, apart from Ember who was still eating her chocolate extreme sundae. Lacy looked up from the table when the door opened with a jingle of the mini bell. She instantly noticed who had walked in. "Oh no." She mumbled and bowed her head down, trying to hide herself.

"What's wrong?" Ember asked.

The group that had entered marched over to the booth that Lacy and the others were sat in with no hesitation. The selliks all glared at them with both confusion and disgust.

"Well, look who it is." Megan grinned, standing beside Myles whilst the other three of their friends stood behind them. "Where have you been hiding, Lace?"