Nightfall

Chapter 11

The old wooden door creaked open as I walked into my lousy apartment once again. Everything still looked the same, but there was an odd smell to it.

"This is where you lived?" Liam asked, looking around. "It's a dump."

I laughed lightly. "I know," I said, walking into the bathroom. "Ah, here it is."

I grabbed a shampoo bottle from my bathroom and walked back into my bedroom.

"Ember, now is not the time to wash your hair," Andrew said. Giving him major side-eye, I explained, "This is not a shampoo bottle. Inside it contains money that I saved over time."

"Well, how much is in there?" Mav asked, reaching for the bottle. Slapping his hand away, I opened it. "About...seven thousand."

"Holy crap!" a voice said. I turned around to find Mary in my room staring at me and the boys. "My dream just came true," she whispered. "There are guys in Ember's room, and I had nothing to do with it."

"Hi, Mary," I said, hugging her. "Why does my room smell so..."

"Fresh?" Mary asked. "Sure," I said sarcastically. "Guys," I said, turning towards the confused boys, "This is my apartment neighbor, Mary. She works with me at the restaurant."

Walking forward, Andrew kissed her hand. "Bonjour, mademoiselle," he said sweetly, staring into Mary's chocolate brown eyes. Blushing, Mary was taken aback as I grabbed her hips and pulled her away from the boys.

"So, how's the restaurant?" I asked, glancing into Mary's lovesick eyes.

"Pretty normal," she said, "Although, Lillian's missing you. I've been making excuse after excuse for your ass, so you owe me."

I laughed. "Well, thank you," I said, "but I have to go to Australia for a while."

"What?!" Mary looked stunned. "Why?!"

"It's a very long and complicated story," I said, grabbing my stuff, "but I will be back soon, I promise."

"Well, let me help you," Mary said. "My cousin works at the airport, and she can instantly hook you guys up with tickets."

"Well," I said hesitantly, "I don't know, Mary. That's pretty intense."

"Oh, it's okay. She's fine with it," Mary responded. "So, while you're gone, who's going to take care of your apartment?" Mary was helpful, her eyes growing wide with incitement. "And what am I supposed to tell Lillian now?"

"Tell her I'm down with something, and I was hoping you could take care of my apartment," I explained, stuffing all my clothes in a bag.

"Are you sure?" Mary leaned against my door. "I mean, I could come with you."

"No, Mary. You stay here. After all, that's why I have them," I said, pointing at the four boys huddling in a corner of my room.

"Okay," Mary slumped on my bed, grabbing my hand. "Just be careful."

"Have I ever been careful?" I laughed, pulling Mary into a hug. "Thank you so much, Mary," I murmured.

"Bye, Ember," she responded. "Bye, mysterious boys," she called out.

As Mary left, the boys waved awkwardly, and Andrew called out, "I love you!"

"Dude," Mav said, grabbing him by the shoulders and slapping him across the face. "You're going WAY too fast. I mean, you don't even know her."

Smiling, I grabbed my bag and the shampoo bottle containing the money. "Let's go."

"Come on, guys! Hurry up!" I shouted as the boys came tumbling down the stairs. "Our flight leaves in a few hours!"

"How did you manage to get tickets so fast?" Mav groaned, grabbing his bag at the door and tossing it into the car.

"Didn't you hear Mary? Her cousin hooked us up with the tickets," I responded.

"Sweet," Andrew said, throwing his bag in the car. "Caleb, hurry up!" Liam said, hopping into the car. "I'm coming!" Caleb called back, sliding down the staircase.

"Why do we always have to wait for you?" I asked Caleb as he threw his bag into the car and climbed through the back into his seat. "It takes time to look this sexy," he responded, flexing his biceps.

Shaking my head, I hopped into the driver's seat. "I'm driving, right?" I asked the boys. "NO!" They all shouted.

"Why not?" I said, clearly hurt. "Mav's driving," Liam said, pulling me out of the seat and allowing Mav to take my place. "But I'm a great driver," I argued, looking at the boys. "Mav?" I said, glancing at him.

"Sorry, Ember," he said, pulling out of the driveway, "I'm more responsible, and you suck ass at driving."

After almost a day of flying, we finally made it to Sydney, Australia, which was good, because the boys were annoying the fuck out of me. Throughout the flight, they were sleeping, eating, and watching television. Oh, and they were also arguing and flirting with multiple girls. I had to growl at them ten times to get them to shut up. I swear, it was like taking care of four horny sixteen year-olds.

As we drove through the city in a rental car, Caleb looked over at me as I slept, my head on his lap. "She's so peaceful," he murmured.

"Stop giving stalker eyes and tell her how you feel already, dumbass," Andrew said, snapping Caleb out of it.

"Says the person who gave up his 'I love you' card for a girl he's never met," Mav retorted.

The boys snickered as I woke up, rubbing my tired eyes. "Hey, she's awake," Liam said, scooting me into an empty space between him and Caleb. "Hi," I murmured, pulling my curly brown hair into a messy bun. "So where are we going?"

"My parents' place," Caleb said, glancing outside. "We called our parents and asked them to meet us at my parents' house."

"Why?" I said, my eyes nervously glowing a dark red.

"Well, you did murmur in your sleep about how you want to meet our parents to find out what went wrong, and why they left," Liam said, his bright blue eyes staring at me. "You also said something about a forest, which was weird but whatever."

"You were listening to my inner conversations?" I asked.

"You also snore, which is irritating," Mav added, glancing at me through the rearview mirror.

Smiling, I rubbed my forehead, looking out the window at the tall buildings that restricted me from seeing the beautiful blue waters on the coast. "It's so pretty," I said.

"Don't get too excited," Mav said, driving onto a bridge. "You'll be screaming like a little bitch when you find a spider in the bathroom."

"That's you, Mav," Liam said, laughing.

Messing with his blue locks, Andrew asked, "So Ember, when are we going to rescue your friend?"

"Well," I explained, "First, we have to track her scent, then I have to prepare you somehow."

Parking in front of a large brick house, Mav turned around. "Don't worry, Ember. We'll be ready," he said.

"Good," I responded, hopping out of the car. "Now, let's meet your parents," I said, ringing the doorbell and listening to the many voices and footsteps inside.