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Sorry for all the confusion from the before chapter!!! :( sorryy !!
Love you all - and enjoy!!! :)
thanks for reading, smeaders! (smoking hot readers! Oh yeah, I made that! that word is MINE!!!) xD
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Chapter Fifteen
My head hits the front of the dashboard as Julie backs out, attempting a parallel park. I glare at her. Mostly for slamming my head into the car, and mostly because after twenty minutes of driving, she still hasn't told me where we're meeting up.
"Why are we stopping here?" I ask, jabbing a thumb in the direction of a Starbucks. The place looks abnormally quiet for my liking.
Julie shrugs, "This is where we're meeting the boys."
"Are you serious?"
"Last time I checked," Julie answers.
Okay, so let me get this straight: We're casually meeting up with a couple of thugs that tried kidnapping me, and we're going to do it over some coffee? I don't know about you, but that sounds kind of strange to me.
I swing my legs out of the passenger seat, slamming the car door behind me. Slamming doors are fun - they let you express yourself past anger.
Julie quickly meets my side, and we stroll into the café.
The Starbucks we're at is really small. It's about the size of my living room. It has only two booths, and four tables. Across the café, Kyle and Riley are sitting at a table of four, obviously waiting for us. Riley is fiddling with his hands on his lap, his auburn hair shaking into his eyes. Kyle is - in lack of words - 'chilling'. His feet are up on the table, his blue DC shoes shimmering. His brown shaggy hair is falling in his eyes, and he looks pretty at peace. He just went into 'I own the place' mode. You were warned.
"Hey guys!" Julie exclaims, walking gracefully over to their table and taking a seat. Riley's head flicks up, and he smiles at us before composing himself into a taller position. Kyle continues looking bored and hormonal.
I pull out a chair, smiling warmly at them myself.
But now it's all business.
"So where are they?" I whisper, leaning forwards.
Kyle sighs, and Riley's eyebrow goes up in confusion.
"Over there," Kyle replies, pointing behind him at a booth containing the three men. Chad and Morgan don't look like they have seen us yet, but the third guy is staring pretty intensely at our table. I muster up my 'you're dead' look, before returning to our conversation.
"I take it that they don't know we're here, correct?"
Riley nods, "They're completely oblivious."
"Big word, little man," I compliment, patting his head affectionately like I would to a dog. He slaps my hand away, matting his hair down angrily. Ha.
"So what do you think we should do?" Julie asks.
I shrug, "I don't know... anyone else have an idea?"
Riley shakes his head, but for once, Kyle actually has something to contribute.
"Maybe we should confront them," he suggests. "Ask them why they're here and what they're up to. They can't do anything violent to us, considering that we're all in a public place. They'd get arrested or something."
I nod slightly, figuring out the idea. How would that work? Would we just stroll up to them and try to evoke a casual conversation? That would be... awkward. Not to mention suspicious, strange, weird... etc.
"But we don't really know their limits," I point out uneasily.
Kyle shrugs, "There's only one way to find out."
"And I'd rather not have the possibility of dying in the process."
"Oh, come on, live a little!" Kyle laughs. "We're a group four paranormal teens, and they're just some ugly thugs that probably couldn't screw in a light bulb. We outnumber them in people, strategies, and stamina. There's no way we could lose."
Julie frowns, but nods in agreement with Kyle.
Oh no she didn't!
"Julie!" I whine, "You're supposed to be on my side! What ever happened to 'girl power'? We're all -"
"Kendra Miller, if you break out into a High School Musical song, just to prove me a point, I am seriously going to kill you." Julie says.
I close my mouth abruptly, crossing my arms in anger.
"I think we should stay on a low profile," Riley says. "Kyle could be right, but we would have better odds if we cornered them alone."
"And you're sure about that?" Julie asks.
Riley nods, "Positive,"
Okay, what the heck? Why is it that everyone just agrees with Riley, but won't take a second thought about listening to me? I think the world is against me, I really do.
"So we wait," I say, crossing my arms.
Julie, Kyle and Riley all nod.
"We wait,"
About two hours later, the café finally closes up for the night. Thank god, too, because it was becoming dreadfully boring sitting and waiting. The entire time Julie was texting on her phone, Kyle was trying to sleep, and Riley looked like he was attempting to calculate off-hand the area of the earth. Seriously, I've never seen anyone concentrating so hard in my life. If the circumstances weren't so serious, I would probably have starting laughing at him.
"Where are they going?" I ask as we tail the men from a couple feet away. We're outside on the streets right now, and its deathly cold. Freezing, actually, and it's also very dark. The whole setting screams 'kill me now!'
"They're going into an alley..." Julie trails off. Wait, the thugs are going into a dark alley this late at night? Suspicious... very suspicious.
Kyle's face lights into action, "Let's follow them!" he whisper-yells. I slap the back of his head. God, Kyle can flip on and off like a switch. I don't think it's possible to actually have an intelligent conversation with him. One minute he's sounding all logical, next thing you know - BAM! - The stupid king is back.
Julie gives me a look before turning on Kyle, "Fine, we'll keep following them, but you've got to stay quiet."
"I am quiet!" Kyle protests loudly.
Julie slaps a hand on his mouth.
"Shut up!" she hisses.
I snicker at Kyle before refocusing back onto the gang. Their all going into an alley... an alley with a dead end...
And that's when I know we've been fooled.
"Kids," Chad laughs menacingly, "They're so predictable. How long did it take you to come up with that brilliant plan? Three hours? And that whole time you thought you had tricked us, when in reality, we were the ones that tricked you."
I roll my eyes at him, "Are you done with this crappy monologue? I've got places to be, and people to see. I don't have time for your pre-mature speeches."
"Trust me, kid, you have time." Chad says, grinning.
The hell I do.
"Alright then," I said. "Sounds peachy. Just tell me when you're finished."
Chad scowls in my direction, than crosses his arms to look bigger and tougher. Okay, let's be serious here. If I wasn't paranormally skilled, the odds of me beating Chad would be deathly thin. He's like a walking building - indestructible and virtually impossible to defeat. Chad is an unfortunate mix of Braun and brains. As much as I hate to admit that, it's still true.
"So," Julie says sweetly, "I'm sure you guys have better things to do, but since you claim that you don't, I'm sure you won't mind answering a simple question. Why are you attempting to abduct my little cousin? What did she ever do to you?"
Morgan looks to the ground, "She never did anything to us, it was just an order we had to obey. You know how things are."
"No, we clearly don't, or we wouldn't be asking you!" Kyle snaps.
The third man elbows Morgan in the stomach.
"Don't talk to them, you know about their mind tricks." He said. "You can't tell them what they want to know. Keep them guessing."
I frown at him. Who does he think he is? Oh, right. Good question. Who is he?
"Who might you be?" I ask him bluntly.
Third man snorts, "And why do you think I would tell you?"
"Because I'm awesome,"
Third man rolls his eyes, leaning against the brick wall of the alley. Gosh, what's stuck up his butt? Can't he have a little fun? Life isn't supposed to be all serious.
"Are you finished now?" Chad asks angrily. "Because like you pointed out, we have better things to do. Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your pick."
I raise an eyebrow, "Do what the hard way?"
"You have to come with us," Morgan says, "And we're taking you whether you like it or not. At least we're giving you an option of difficulty."
Beside me, Riley and Julie both stiffen.
And then there's Kyle.
"Well that's very blunt of you," Kyle says. "We may be young, but we're not idiots. What makes you think she'll go with you for no reason?"
"Because if she doesn't, we'll have to find a reason." Chad said.
I roll my eyes again. These guys have got to be kidding me. They act all tough, they look all tough, but when it comes down to it, they're just a bunch of wimps without a plan. It's not menacing, it's just stupid.
"Apparently you guys don't have very good memory," I said. "May I remind you what happened last time you kidnapped me without my permission? I'm sure Morgan here remembers fine."
Morgan shudders between the gang.
Yup, he remembers fine.
"Morgan's just a lunk-head," Chad says. "He probably just made that up."
Oh really? Did he now? This should be fun.
I smile at the men warmly before holding out my hands, palms up. Morgan frowns, taking a step back. Chad looks quite amused, but the third man is just looking blank. What, never seen a kid create fire before?
My hands grow scorching hot, and in the dark of the night, two bright fire-balls light up. All of the men gasp in surprise, and once again, I smile.
"Oh, and it's not just this," I say slyly, bouncing up and down the fire balls. Man, I love these fire-balls. Have I said that before? Oh, I did? Oh well, I love fire-balls!
Morgan looks terrified, "I told you!" he blurts, "I told you, and you didn't believe me! Look at it, Chad! Look at what that kid can do!"
"So that's what they meant by 'extreme case'." I hear the third man murmur.
I smirk at them, "So I suppose you're going to think twice about kidnapping me next time, huh?"
"Nope, because there isn't going to be a next time," Chad says. "You're coming with us right now."
I snort with laughter. Oh my god, who is this guy trying to kid? It's hilarious that after all this, he still thinks I'll go with him willingly. Like I said, I'm not stupid.
Wanna run for it? Riley asks through my thoughts. I spin around to face him before shaking my head. We need to find out more about these guys before we leave. We're not going to beeline like cowards.
As if he could read my mind, Riley walks up to the men. He looks a little frightened because of their last encounter, but being the guy he is, he quickly swallows up all his fear from before.
"What are you guys up to?" he asks. "Who are you working for?"
"Like we would tell you that," Chad replies.
Riley looks grim, "Oh, you would."
"And why is that?"
"Because if you don't, little Kendra here will have a reason to scorch you."
I smile at them once again, trying to look sweet and innocent. The third man looks at me with curiosity, but takes a step closer to Riley. Oh man, if he touches Riley even once, all that pretty black hair of his will be fried right off.
"I'm Declan," the third man says, offering a hand.
No freaking way! Are you freaking kidding me? What the freak!?
Okay, sorry, loss of words here.
Why did he just admit his name to Riley, for no apparent reason? And when I ask him myself, he won't say a word! Blah!
Riley just stares at Declan's hand, and doesn't take it.
"Now that we're acquainted, you can hand over the girl." Declan says.
Riley frowns, "No thanks,"
"That wasn't a question, it was an order. Step back." Declan commands.
"No."
Morgan comes up from behind Riley and grabs his arms. Riley kicks, struggling to get out of his grasp. But Morgan is tougher.
Oh no he didn't. He's not hurting Riley again.
So without purpose, I lunge, aiming for his throat.
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