I laid awake in the room the Killjoys have given me and sighed, thinking about this afternoon. After I had told Kobra and Ghoul my dad’s name, Ghoul had nearly killed me. Party had pulled him off of me and I would have killed him but Kobra was holding onto my upper arms. The moment Kobra had grasped my arms; a tingling sensation ran through my body. Now he was avoiding me. Which meant he felt it to? No he can’t have. Maybe he was jealous about me being a better mechanic than him and he hated me for it. I rolled over and gazed out at the moonlight. I slowly sat up and crawled over to the window. I glanced out and saw three guys. I gasped and ducked back down. I glanced back up and saw that they had the weird masks on like the ones the Dracs had on when they attacked me. I slid over to the curtain and sat in front of it. My door slightly opened and a dark figure crawled in. I held my breath and the figure cursed. I noticed that the figure began to look around. A soft wind blew in through the open widow and the curtain near me rustled. My eyes widened as the light flowed onto my arm and my mouth was suddenly covered by a gloved hand.
“Shh,” whispered a familiar male voice. “It’s me. Party Poison.”
I exhaled the breath I had been holding and he removed his hand.
“What are the Dracs doing here?” I whispered back.
“I don’t know,” he whispered. “They have never come this close to our hideout before.”
My eyes widened and he grasped my hand, pulling me towards my door. I crawled behind him and he lead me to the kitchen but before I could make it into the kitchen, something grasped my ankles. I screamed and was being dragged away forcefully from the Killjoys. I tried to twist around but ended up hurting my ankles. I grabbed hold of the first thing I could find – the booth chair leg. I held on tight and the sound of a ray gun was fired. My legs fell to the ground and I glanced over my shoulder. The Drac was on the ground, dead. I scrambled away and stared at the Drac, gulping. I felt hands on my shoulders and turned around to see Party Poison. I slowly stood up and clenched my jaw.
“What do we do now?” asked Jet.
“I don’t think we should stay here,” replied Party Poison.
“I need to make sure mum is okay,” I blurted out. “Can I please call-?”
I was cut off when my phone rang. I quickly looked at the caller ID and gasped.
“Jack?” I said.
“Hey,” he replied. “Why haven’t you been at school for the last couple of days?”
“Um,” I said and turned away. “I can’t exactly – Hey!”
Ghoul had snatched my phone away and snapped it shut.
“Why did you do that?” I shouted.
“Do NOT make any sort of contact with your friends or family,” he snapped.
“That does so NOT give you the right to snatch my things,” I snapped back.
He turned to Party Poison.
“Can I destroy her phone?” he asked.
“If you do,” I threatened, crossing my arms over my chest, “I will destroy your face.”
Party sighed and held out his hand. Ghoul gave him the phone and Party shoved it into his pocket. I groaned. I was never getting that back.
I stared out the dusty window of the car and sighed. I seriously hated Ghoul right now. The whole time since we left the Diner, he hadn’t stopped glaring at me.
“What is your problem?” I hissed at him.
“You are my problem,” he answered back and turned to the front.
I groaned and stared out the window again. This time I saw a dust trail heading towards the Trans Am and squinted. I gasped.
“Uh guys,” I whispered. “There is something heading our way.”
“What?” asked Party Poison and I stared out the window, mouth hanging open.
“Is that a Draculoid on a motorbike?” I asked and Party slid the car to a stop.
The Killjoys were out of the car and I slowly crept out. Glancing around, I saw an old motorbike and parts on the ground. I dashed over to it and started to fix it back together. Hey, what can I say, I am a major Grease Monkey. I finished getting the bike back together and started the engine. I spun the bike around and got on.
“What are you doing?” asked Jet and I smiled at him.
“Do you have a spare ray gun on you?” I answered and Party whipped one out of his belt.
He gave it to me and I smiled.
“You have to trust me on this,” I said and before he could reply, I revved the engine and flew towards the Draculoid.
I held the ray gun in my hand and aimed it at the Drac. I fired the gun and got the Draculoid square in the chest. They flew off the bike and landed on the ground with a thud. I pulled the bike up next to them and stared at the Drac.
“One down,” I whispered and rode back to the other open-mouthed Killjoys.
“Wow,” said Jet.
He was obviously impressed.
“Beginners’ luck,” huffed Ghoul and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You are one tough girl,” complimented Party and I smiled at him.
“We should get going,” said Ghoul and I glared at him but we did get going.
“What are you doing?” asked a male voice and I glanced up to find Kobra Kid glancing over my shoulder.
“Making a bow and some arrows,” I said and showed him.
The wind was blowing my long golden coloured hair around me and I shook it out of my face. The stupid part was down the side of my head instead of the middle, which makes my hair annoying. Plus it was down to my butt.
“Wow,” he said and ran his fingers over the intricate design I had scratched in.
“Yeah,” I said. “I was always a little crafty back in high school.”
“Gerard is like that,” he muttered.
“Who’s Gerard?” I asked and Kobra grew rigid.
“Umm,” he said. “Party Poisons’ real name is Gerard. My real name is Mikey. Fun Ghouls’ is Frank and Jet Stars’ is Ray.”
“Oh,” I said and Mikey smiled.
I stood up and dusted myself off. I tightened the string and aimed at a tree. I released the string and the arrow flew through the air and struck the tree.
“I almost never miss,” I said and Mikey smiled.
“Can I try?” he asked and I handed him the bow.
I showed him how to hold the bow and arrow. I then showed him how to aim and release the arrow. He did everything I told him and got the tree.
“Well done,” I said and he smiled.
I smiled back and his hand slowly moved up to caress my face. Mikey lent in and kissed me on the lips. I kissed him back and his hand ran along my back. He suddenly jerked away and ran off. My lips were tingly and I turned back to the tree. I aimed at the tree and released the string. The arrow hit the tree and I sighed.
“You are so good at archery,” came Jet Stars’ voice and I spun around.
“Thanks,” I said.
“You do know that Mikey likes you,” he said and I shook my head. “Well I am just saying what he told me.”
He walked off and I looked around for Mikey. Suddenly, a Draculoid attacked and caught me around the upper arms. I screamed and a hand covered my mouth. I kicked the Draculoid in the shin and he hoped back from me. I grasped an arrow and pointed it at the Drac.
“What do you want?” I hissed and the Killjoys ran up to me.
“What the hell?” shouted Party Poison.
“I said ‘what do you want’?” I hissed again.
“To take you to Korse,” said the Draculoid.
“What?” I said. “My dad is dead.”
“No he is very much alive as you or I,” riddled the Drac and aimed the arrow at his chest.
“Don’t kill him,” said Party and I turned around.
“Why not?” I asked.
“We could use him to get information,” he replied.
The Drac got up onto his feet and ran off into the desert. We let him go. Great. Now my dad was supposedly alive but what would he want to do with me?
“We need to somehow stop the Draculoids from finding us all the time,” said Ghoul.
The other Killjoys nodded and I glanced away, chewing my lip.
“T.J?” said Gerard and I looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
“What if he Drac is right and my dad is alive?” I asked and they all looked at each other, then back to me. “Don’t you think that maybe I might be the one leading them here?”
They all shook their head and I looked at the ground. The revving of a motorbike caught our attention and I stared out onto the distance. I saw dust being picked up and a small figure came into view. This time, it wasn’t a Draculoid.
“T.J!” called out a very familiar voice.
“Jack?” I said and frowned.
How the hell would he have been able to find me? Jack pulled the bike to a stop and jumped off.
“Why the hell haven’t you returned any of my calls?” he said and hugged me.
I must have looked like an idiot staring at him with my eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
“Someone had taken my phone off of me when you called,” I said and glared at Frank.
“Your mum is really worried about you,” he said and grasped my hand, pulling me to his bike.
“Jack,” I said, “I can’t go back.”
“Why not?” Jack stopped and turned around to face me.
“Because these guys need my help to stop those masked maniacs,” I answered and Jack looked at the Killjoys as if he was just noticing them for the first time. I stared at him and he frowned.
“Those guys kidnapped you?” he asked and I shook my head.
His hand caught my wrist and he dragged me to his bike.
“Jack, no,” I said and pulled my hand wrist from his hand.
He turned to face me and glared at me. I returned the stare and crossed my arms over my chest. Jack shook his head and mounted his bike. He turned the bike around and sped off. I stared at his disappearing figure and groaned.
“So what is he to you?” asked Gerard.
“My ex,” I said and my head started to pound with that annoying head ache I had been having once every week.
“You okay?” asked Ray and I shook my head, which caused my head to hurt even more.
“Headache,” I said and saw a figure running up to us.
I squinted and saw that it as fluffy and had four paws. Behind it was another bigger figure. This one had a mane and tail, a long broad neck and the sound of hooves beating against the ground.
“Grace and Lilly?” I whispered and the bundle of fur jumped into my arms.
“Woof,” barked Grace and she liked my face.
I hugged my fluffy Cavalier and kissed the top of her head. I placed her on the ground and grasped the reins to my Appaloosa.
“Hey Lilly girl,” I said and she neighed, nuzzling my jean pockets for sugar mints.
“Who are they?” came Mikeys’ voice and I turned around.
“This is Grace my dog and this is Lilly, my Appaloosa,” I said and Lilly nodded her head. I giggled and rubbed the blaze on her face.
Her forelock was just the right size and her eyes were big. Grace propped her dirty paws on my knees and I rubbed her head. She grumbled in happiness as I scratch an itch.
“They can’t stay here,” said Frank and Grace began to growl.
“Down Grace,” I said and Grace stopped. “Why?”
I turned to face Frank.
“They will get hurt,” he said lamely and I rolled my eyes.
Jeez this guy had some issues.