-Ian's POV-
Everything was absolute chaos. Rachael and Anthony were nowhere to be found and neither was Natalie. As I let everyone in, they all asked me the same question, "What do you have to tell us?" I didn't answer because supposedly the four of us were supposed to deliver the news together.
I dialed Anthony on my iPhone and held my phone up to my ear, putting my finger in my other ear. The room was filled with chatter and I could barely hear myself think.
"Ian? What do you need?" Anthony's voice emanated through the speaker.
"Where the fuck are you, man? Everyone's here but you, Rachael, and Natalie!" I yelled at him.
"I'm sorry! Rachael and I are at the grocery store getting...No, I don't want those. Put them back!"
"What?"
"Sorry, Rachael asked me something. Look, we'll be back soon! Okay? Bye!" And he hung up. I rolled my eyes and called Natalie next.
The phone rang a few times and she eventually answered my call, "Ian, I'm kind of busy right now. What is it?"
"Uh, did you forget that we invited everyone here today? To tell them the news?" I paused, waiting for her to respond, but there was nothing on the other end of the call. I sighed, "The house is crowded and you, nor Rachael, nor Anthony are here."
She sighed, "Shit...I totally forgot. I'm sorry, Ian."
"Where are you anyways?" I inquired.
"Oh, I'm at the salon getting my nails done for Christmas. These ones are going to have little snowflakes on them with blue backgrounds and..."
"Cute," I cut her off. I really didn't care to hear about what acrylic nails she was getting this time, "...can you just come home quick? It's really loud in here and I can't handle them all by myself. Please get back as soon as you can."
"Okay, babe. Just give me a few minutes, okay? Love you! Bye!" She hung up. I put my phone on the counter and started to pace back and forth. I looked into the front room and saw everyone was in small groups talking amongst themselves. I walked over to the counter and opened up the box of donuts we had bought this morning. I picked out my favorite and took a bite into it.
Minutes later, Rachael and Anthony came in with grocery bags stuffed to the brim. Everyone quieted and watched as they set them down on the counter.
Rachael looked at them and asked, "What? You've never been shopping before?"
Next Natalie walked in, she greeted everyone with a smile and joined the three of us in the kitchen. "Why is everyone so quiet?" She whispered, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.
"Okay everybody!" I called out to them. It was weird, I had each and everyone of their undivided attention, "We have some big news to tell you."
"You guys are all getting married!?!" Lisa claimed enthusiastically.
"No," We all answered at the same time, "No..."
"Natalie's pregnant," Joey stated.
"What?" Natalie retorted, "What! WHAT!?! DO YOU THINK I'M FAT OR SOMETHING!?!" Rachael had to hold her back as she inched closer and closer to him as anger boiled up in her.
"What is it?" Jovenshire asked, breaking the tension between Joey and Natalie.
We all looked at Anthony to share the news. He looked down at us and was shocked. He rolled his eyes, "Okay, uh...there's no easy way to put this...but...Kalel and Melanie are...out of jail..." Gasps and sputters flooded the small front room, "And they're out to get us."
"Are you sure?" Mari questioned, "I mean, they were given life in prison. They should've never gotten out! Ever!"
I shrugged my shoulders, "Well, they're out. They came to us yesterday and told us we were warned. And I'm positive they want to get revenge for putting them in jail."
"I hope they don't kidnap us again," Shane commented, "Because I just went to my last physical therapy appointment and I do not want to be shot again."
"I doubt they'll do the same crime twice," Rachael remarked, "The thing is, we don't know how they're going to execute this...and we just have to prepare for the worst."
"The worst?"
"Like World War Three?" Sohinki retorted. We all gave him a concerning look. He slugged back into the couch and the chatter started up again.
"No no no. GUYS!" Anthony shouted. The whole room went silent, I swear you could hear a pin drop. "We need to come up with a plan, to avoid them or fight back."
"But they haven't done anything yet, so how are we to prepare?" Toby inquired, "I mean, I lost Gryphon! They're truly heartless and I'm sure they won't mind taking any one of us down next!"
"I was thinking we could leave California," Rachael added. All of us looked at her. She hadn't told me about this. And I'm sure Anthony and Natalie didn't know about this either, because both of them had the same shocked look on their face as everyone else.
"Leave California?" Anthony repeated, his voice cracking at the end of his question.
She looked up at him and softly said, "Yeah. I mean, there's almost no way they'll find us where I want us all to go."
"Where?" Lasercorn inquired.
"I was thinking about going back to where Natalie and I used to live."