pink pony riders club!

[artsyfartsy17]

I was in a pretty good mood after we had stopped. Mika had all but begged us to let him buy marshmallows, Nutella, and peanut butter so he could make "the best dessert in the entire world!!" and had thrown a hissy fit when we told him once again that we needed to stay practical, but other than that, the shopping trip had been quite successful. Everyone was full and completely dressed, and right now, driving towards dangerous circumstances, but not in them just yet, we were all quite cheerful. Walking down the aisle, I passed by Cosmo and Becky and noticed that they were deep in conversation, and Cosmo was grasping Becky's hand. Smiling to myself, I sat down next to Mika and joined in the game of Pharoah most of the group was playing. We'd played Speed and Spoons earlier on in our adventures, but as the group got bigger and we spent more time together, we preferred bigger games that took longer to play and allowed for more players, such as Pharoah and poker. Split into teams, this particular game had been going for days. Everytime Mika and I came close to winning, Baby and Cal would take our advantage. The rest of the teams just tried to stay out of the crossfire.

 

(Lol.....WAY more inactive writing....Phunks will be mad. )

 

After an hour or so, we hit an area with many foothills. The bus chugged up the side of each hill and slid down the other. I thought everything was fine, but then we heard a distant sound, like a small explosion, and then a grinding sound as the bus began to shake and bounce. Luke pulled to the side of the road and killed the engine. We got out to see what was wrong and immediately noticed the extremely flat rear tire. After examining it, Luke waved us over.

"Did you find out what was wrong?" I asked.

"Yeah." He looked grim.

"What?"

He pointed to a small hole in the side of the tire. Someone had shot out our tire with a gun. Dante was letting us know once more that he was watching. There was a shocked silence, and then Luke calmly turned and asked, "Does this bus come with a spare tire?"

[babyblue]

Are you kidding... I was just thinking a flat tyre (or other reason to have the bus break down) would be perfect

[babyblue]

I was in a pretty good mood after we had stopped. Mika had all but begged us to let him buy marshmallows, Nutella, and peanut butter so he could make "the best dessert in the entire world!!" and had thrown a hissy fit when we told him once again that we needed to stay practical, but other than that, the shopping trip had been quite successful. Everyone was full and completely dressed, and right now, driving towards dangerous circumstances, but not in them just yet, we were all quite cheerful. Walking down the aisle, I passed by Cosmo and Becky and noticed that they were deep in conversation, and Cosmo was grasping Becky's hand. Smiling to myself, I sat down next to Mika and joined in the game of Pharoah most of the group was playing. We'd played Speed and Spoons earlier on in our adventures, but as the group got bigger and we spent more time together, we preferred bigger games that took longer to play and allowed for more players, such as Pharoah and poker. Split into teams, this particular game had been going for days. Everytime Mika and I came close to winning, Baby and Cal would take our advantage. The rest of the teams just tried to stay out of the crossfire.

 

(Lol.....WAY more inactive writing....Phunks will be mad. )

 

After an hour or so, we hit an area with many foothills. The bus chugged up the side of each hill and slid down the other. I thought everything was fine, but then we heard a distant sound, like a small explosion, and then a grinding sound as the bus began to shake and bounce. Luke pulled to the side of the road and killed the engine. We got out to see what was wrong and immediately noticed the extremely flat rear tire. After examining it, Luke waved us over.

"Did you find out what was wrong?" I asked.

"Yeah." He looked grim.

"What?"

He pointed to a small hole in the side of the tire. Someone had shot out our tire with a gun. Dante was letting us know once more that he was watching. There was a shocked silence, and then Luke calmly turned and asked, "Does this bus come with a spare tire?"

Turning, I examined the nearby hills, looking for a sign of movement. The glint of the sun striking off metal caught my eye, and so I dug into my bag for the binocoulers I knew were in there.

Raising them to my eye, I saw a car driving off from a nearby hill, away from us thankfully.

Meanwhile, Artsy was shrugging, as Luke began to search through a nearby compartment for a tyre. A few minutes later he had found one, and a another 10 minutes passed as he searched for the jack.

While Luke, Mikey and Mika began to change the tyre the rest of us sat down on the slope of a nearby hill to discuss this develop.

"You don't think it could have been an accident, or a farmer or something," Cosmo asked, hopefully.

"If only, it was Dante, or one of his men," Calvin replied simply, before turning to me. "What'd you see."

"Nothing, well a car pulling away from a road on that hill over there," I answered pointing as I passed around the binocoleurs. There was nothing to see now but everyone wanted a look before I put them back.

"But why shoot out the tyre," Cosmo asked, confused as he glanced around at us.

Becky reached for his hand, directing his attention her way before answering. "To let us know his nearby, and that he could kill us at any moment. It it would have taken was for the man to shoot through the glass, and he could have easily killed one or more of us before we knew there was any danger. He likes to mess with people."

"Sky..."

"Sky will be safe, as long as she goes along with his wishes, which will seem like her wishes to him," she stated.

Artsy shot me a glance. A 14 year old, in Dante's custody, under his spell... oh yes she was going to be trouble.

Walking over, rubbing his hands on a rag he'd found Luke grimaced. "We got the tyre back on, but I don't like this. He could get to us at any time."

"He wants a confrontation Luke, we should be safe, sort of, until he gets it," Calvin replied, as we trudged up to the bus.

Taking our seats, we resumed our game, obviously distracted. Becky and Cosmo had sunk back into their seat as he sat staring worriedly out the window.

Our relaxed mood from earlier was gone, as we all took turns to watch our surrondings, looking for any hint of trouble..

[artsyfartsy17]

Are you kidding... I was just thinking a flat tyre (or other reason to have the bus break down) would be perfect

 

Seriously?

Crazy. Perhaps we were seperated at birth.

[artsyfartsy17]

Ok, posting.

[babyblue]

Seriously?

Crazy. Perhaps we were seperated at birth.

Maybe so

 

We seem to think along similar patterns

[artsyfartsy17]

"On the upside," Phunky said, trying to get everyone happy again, "At least we don't have to think up a clever way to sneak into his home. He knows we're coming."

I smiled weakly at her. "Yep, and we know he won't escape before we can get there. He's waiting for us."

Mika, usually good at cheering everyone up, took a different tact and instead killed our tentative mood by saying, "Yep, and expecting us, he'll have all the men and equipment he can buy at his disposal."

We were silent for a long time after that. I quit the card game and moved back to my original seat, staring out the window. Mika did the same, as did Glow, and eventually, no one was playing anymore, just watching the landscape out before us. After a while, we approached mountains, and were travelling through forests. The road went higher and higher and everyone's ears popped. Then Luke drove the bus around a large curve in the road that opened up onto the small, quaint village of Venasque.

"Let's stop for the night before looking for Dante." suggested BG. "We'll all be able to handle this better after food and a good night's sleep."

We all looked to Cosmo.

"What?" he asked.

"Sky is your sister. We'd all feel we'd be much more effective if we ate and slept before going to find her, but we're not going to do it if you're too worried about her. It's up to you. What do you want to do?"

Cosmo considered this. He was very scared for Sky, especially after Becky told him what had happened to her. But the upcoming confrontation was going to be difficult as it was, and eating and sleeping now might be the difference between life and death later.

"Let's stop."

[babyblue]

OK posting

[babyblue]

"On the upside," Phunky said, trying to get everyone happy again, "At least we don't have to think up a clever way to sneak into his home. He knows we're coming."

I smiled weakly at her. "Yep, and we know he won't escape before we can get there. He's waiting for us."

Mika, usually good at cheering everyone up, took a different tact and instead killed our tentative mood by saying, "Yep, and expecting us, he'll have all the men and equipment he can buy at his disposal."

We were silent for a long time after that. I quit the card game and moved back to my original seat, staring out the window. Mika did the same, as did Glow, and eventually, no one was playing anymore, just watching the landscape out before us. After a while, we approached mountains, and were travelling through forests. The road went higher and higher and everyone's ears popped. Then Luke drove the bus around a large curve in the road that opened up onto the small, quaint village of Venasque.

"Let's stop for the night before looking for Dante." suggested BG. "We'll all be able to handle this better after food and a good night's sleep."

We all looked to Cosmo.

"What?" he asked.

"Sky is your sister. We'd all feel we'd be much more effective if we ate and slept before going to find her, but we're not going to do it if you're too worried about her. It's up to you. What do you want to do?"

Cosmo considered this. He was very scared for Sky, especially after Becky told him what had happened to her. But the upcoming confrontation was going to be difficult as it was, and eating and sleeping now might be the difference between life and death later.

"Let's stop."

 

I nodded briefly as Cosmo answered. Yes, he had that much common sense.

"So, do we want to risk a hotel or just stay with the bus?" I asked, glancing around.

Artsy looked thoughtful for a moment. "The bus, we'll all be together then, and we have plenty of food in here, blankets and seats to sleep on," she replied, glancing around to see if there was any objection.

No one seemed upset by the decision, as Luke looked for a conveint place to park the bus. 10 minutes later he had found a spot, and pulled over.

We prepared a simple meal for dinner, and then considered the card game briefly before all deciding to call it an early night. M4L volunteered to take guard service first, a precaution we had decided to take."

We all settled down in our various seats, pulling blankets over us and falling asleep, or in some cases trying to sleep.

 

A few hours later I was awoken by the ring of my cellphone somewhere near by.

Reaching for it, I flipped it open and mumbled a sleepy, 'Hello'

"Baby darling, did I wake you," said a voice, sounding as if waking me had been the plan.

"Dante.." I whispered, as Calvin sat up with a start.

"Well you don't have to sound so excited to hear me dear. Still involved in that twisted relationship of yours? Its a pity you should have followed my advice. I didn't think you were so fooled by his acting."

"What do you want Dante, because if you are just going to insult me I'm hanging up now,"

"Now now dear, I was just exchanging pleasantilties.Its the least I could do after having to track down your number. That little gang of yours should really have returned my phone. Anyway I wanted to know if you all recieved my warm welcome earlier."

'If you're talking about the shot out tyre then yes, but you know that,"

"Ah yes yes, of course I do."

"What do you want Dante?" I asked, angrily.

"Now now, no need to get angry. I thought i might save you the trouble of deciding when and how to enter my house and simply invite you all to lunch. At say, noon? See you then," he finished, hanging up the phone.

Calvin stared at me in shock, having eavesdropped on the conversation, while Artsy, having only been half asleep looked over questionably.

"What did he want"

I stared at the phone in my hand in shock before answering.

"He invited us to lunch."

[artsyfartsy17]

Ok, posting.

[artsyfartsy17]

I stared at Baby in shock.

"Invited us to lunch? Like we're pals; he just called us up for lunch?"

She nodded. Calvin opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him,

"What's his angle?"

Calvin tried to answer, but Baby beat him to it,

"Probably thinks he's saving time, I suppose."

I turned over and stared at the ceiling, thinking about this new development. Once more, Calvin started to talk, but only got as far as "We-" before I said,

"We won't eat anything he serves us."

"Nope. But it seems a bit obvious for him. I don't think he'd invite us to lunch and then poison us. We'd be expecting it."

"Just in case. No drinking, either. Not even if he eats and drinks it as well."

"Agreed."

By now, Calvin was leaning on one arm and looking at the two of us with a peeved expression on his face.

"Got everything figured out, you two?"

Baby and I nodded, missing his sarcastic tone. He rolled his eyes and said,

"Right, I forgot who the commanders were."

This time, there was no missing the tone, but Baby and I merely smiled and nodded again. Fed up with the two of us, Cal let out an exasperated sigh and laid down to go back to sleep. Baby chuckled to herself and kissed his cheek, then laid down herself and grabbed his arm. They fell asleep holding hands. I smiled wistfully at the two of them. It must be nice to have someone willing to put up with the annoying manipulations of you and your friend.

 

I looked up, tracing the outline of the painted angels on the ceiling with my eyes and concentrating on the upcoming confrontation.

[babyblue]

ok posting

[babyblue]

I stared at Baby in shock.

"Invited us to lunch? Like we're pals; he just called us up for lunch?"

She nodded. Calvin opened his mouth to say something, but I interrupted him,

"What's his angle?"

Calvin tried to answer, but Baby beat him to it,

"Probably thinks he's saving time, I suppose."

I turned over and stared at the ceiling, thinking about this new development. Once more, Calvin started to talk, but only got as far as "We-" before I said,

"We won't eat anything he serves us."

"Nope. But it seems a bit obvious for him. I don't think he'd invite us to lunch and then poison us. We'd be expecting it."

"Just in case. No drinking, either. Not even if he eats and drinks it as well."

"Agreed."

By now, Calvin was leaning on one arm and looking at the two of us with a peeved expression on his face.

"Got everything figured out, you two?"

Baby and I nodded, missing his sarcastic tone. He rolled his eyes and said,

"Right, I forgot who the commanders were."

This time, there was no missing the tone, but Baby and I merely smiled and nodded again. Fed up with the two of us, Cal let out an exasperated sigh and laid down to go back to sleep. Baby chuckled to herself and kissed his cheek, then laid down herself and grabbed his arm. They fell asleep holding hands. I smiled wistfully at the two of them. It must be nice to have someone willing to put up with the annoying manipulations of you and your friend.

 

I looked up, tracing the outline of the painted angels on the ceiling with my eyes and concentrating on the upcoming confrontation.

I woke up the next morning slightly disorientated to find Angels floating above me. It took me a few minutes to remember they were the mural I had laughed over yesterday.

Reaching beside me, I nudged Calvin. "Wake up sleepy head,"

"mmmm" he muffled into his pillow, pulling me closer.

"Come on up,"

"No, sleep" he replied.

Working myself free of his arms, I nudged him again, then glanced up the bus where those few already awake were having breakfast. Nudging him once more, I gave up, and promptly took the blanket that was over us, and wrapped it around me before joining the others, allowing the cold air to wake him. On my way up to the others I passed Becky and Cosmo, both still asleep, with his arms around her.

Artsy passed me some toast, and I was glad that the bus we were on, despite its weirdness, had plugs for appliances. Noting the shadows under her eyes, I threw her a concerned glance, wondering if she had got anymore sleep last night.

"So it seems we have a lunch date," Mika asked, in between bites of toast.

"Appears that way. I don't think we can refuse it. Artsy fill you in?" I asked, putting magarine on my toast. Mika had wanted butter, but with no fridge we were had barely agreed on margarine.

"Yeah, and I agree. I personally want to know what his game is myself," he replied, finishing his toast.

I was about to take a bite of mine when the blanket I had on over my nightclothes was pulled off me and the toast taken from my hand.

Grinning I grabbed another piece of toast and began spreading it. "Morning Calvin,"

"Mmm, why didn't you wake me, instead of stealing the blanket?" he asked, wrapping it around himself and sitting next to me

"I tried," I said shrugging, as I pulled at the blanket until some was around my shoulders as well.

"Coffee?" he asked hopefully.

"If you can drink it black," I replied, pouring myself a cup.

A few seconds later Becky and Cosmo woke up, embarressed smiles on their faces and headed up to where we were having breakfast.

After a little teasing from us, in which Becky went bright red, we quickly filled them in on the phone call.

"Lunch?" Cosmo ased, a worried expression on his face. "Shouldn't we have a plan or something,"

"At the moment the plan is to see what his plan is and then improvise," Artsy replied, as she poured herself her second cup of black coffee

"What?!"

[artsyfartsy17]

Mmkay. Posting.

[artsyfartsy17]

Cosmo was looking around at us frantically.

"God, I thought I joined a group of normal people. I'm rather impressed. How did you manage to hide your insanity until now?"

"Through lots and lots of practice," muttered Baby. Calvin nudged her and I smirked, then tried to explain.

"Look, we don't have any idea what he's planning. If we make a plan now, chances are likely that he'll do something completely different, and we'd have to improvise anyway. This way is easier, because we have no expectations. We'll be suspicious of everything, ready for any situation, and besides, we all work better when we're making things up as we go along. I hope for your sake that you do as well."

Cosmo had turned quite white in the face.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked.

"Not really." I replied, and tossed back the rest of my coffee in one gulp, then poured myself my third cup in ten minutes.

"Easy on that stuff," warned Mika, "The last thing we need is you hyped up on caffiene and giggling to yourself in a corner. A clear head is best."

I took a large swallow in defiance, then nodded and made a mental note to drink water after I finished this cup.

Soon, everyone was up and eating, and we told them about Baby's late night phone call. Glow immediately began worrying about Edwin.

"I don't want to take him into that man's house!" she cried. But the problem was soon remedied when Chew Chew volunteered to stay behind and look after Edwin and the bus. I must tell all readers: You have not experienced true laughter until you've watched a monkey trying to mime the phrase "stay behind". After we all stopped laughing, we agreed that it was the best solution.

Wiping tears of laughter from his cheeks, Mika said,

"Whew. Ok,"

Chuckle.

"Let's go out and see if this village has an inn or restaurant that has a bathroom. We're going to have to use the loo and brush our teeth, wash our faces, etc. pretty soon."

[babyblue]

The images of a monkey trying to mime stay behind...

I'm still giggling...

 

Ok.. posting

[babyblue]

Cosmo was looking around at us frantically.

"God, I thought I joined a group of normal people. I'm rather impressed. How did you manage to hide your insanity until now?"

"Through lots and lots of practice," muttered Baby. Calvin nudged her and I smirked, then tried to explain.

"Look, we don't have any idea what he's planning. If we make a plan now, chances are likely that he'll do something completely different, and we'd have to improvise anyway. This way is easier, because we have no expectations. We'll be suspicious of everything, ready for any situation, and besides, we all work better when we're making things up as we go along. I hope for your sake that you do as well."

Cosmo had turned quite white in the face.

"Do I have a choice?" he asked.

"Not really." I replied, and tossed back the rest of my coffee in one gulp, then poured myself my third cup in ten minutes.

"Easy on that stuff," warned Mika, "The last thing we need is you hyped up on caffiene and giggling to yourself in a corner. A clear head is best."

I took a large swallow in defiance, then nodded and made a mental note to drink water after I finished this cup.

Soon, everyone was up and eating, and we told them about Baby's late night phone call. Glow immediately began worrying about Edwin.

"I don't want to take him into that man's house!" she cried. But the problem was soon remedied when Chew Chew volunteered to stay behind and look after Edwin and the bus. I must tell all readers: You have not experienced true laughter until you've watched a monkey trying to mime the phrase "stay behind". After we all stopped laughing, we agreed that it was the best solution.

Wiping tears of laughter from his cheeks, Mika said,

"Whew. Ok,"

Chuckle.

"Let's go out and see if this village has an inn or restaurant that has a bathroom. We're going to have to use the loo and brush our teeth, wash our faces, etc. pretty soon."

 

"Yeah, hopefully we can find a place with showers as well," Calvin said, before exaggeratly holding his nose and turning to me. "I didn't want to mention anything last night, but you stink Gumgirl," he teased.

Pushing him I laughed. "Like you smell any better,"

"Oh whatever," he replied, laughing as we moved to clear the mess made by breafast whilst Luke started the bus.

After a stopover at a local inn, who for a small fee allowed us use of the bathrooms, we were refreshed and back on the bus, playing cards to waste the time until noon, our voices light and joking as we discussed the possibilities.

"Poison, that would be my bet," Phunky stated, staring at her cards.

"We mentioned that last night. Far to obvious, and to easy for us to overcome by not eating. By the way, eat now becuase just in case we're not eating," Artsy replied.

"A gas of some sort," suggested Glow

"Not unless he was immune. I think we'd might click on if he suddenly pulled out a gas mask," I replied.

"A bomb," added Phunky again, trying to find a possibiity we wouldn't reject.

"He always found bombs to be crude. That was more my angle," Calvin stated.

"As I remember. And to think I smoked that damn cigarette to prolong you staying," Artsy replied, laughing softly.

"You could have chosen something else," he replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Momentary blank. Baby picked a good with finding nemo, and Beth and her Razzles were genius."

I grinned at Artsy, remembering, whilst Calvin laughed. "What was I thinking giving you two wishes each."

Just then Cosmo paused his pacing to interrupt. "You guys are even more insane than I realised. I thought not planning was weird enough, but now you're making a game out of how he might kill us, and laughing over how another member of your group failed to kill you. Meanwhile he could be doing anything to my sister!" he exclaimed, before stalking down the aisle and out of the bus.

Becky put her cards down and stood up. "I'll go after him," she said, before hurrying down the aisle.

"Maybe we should have gone easy on the possibilities," Artsy said, shooting a concerned glance out the window to where Becky and Cosmo were arguing.

"The kids worried, and I don't blame him, but theres nothing we can do, and this keeps our mind off the danger in a weird way," Mika replied, taking his shot at cards. "Besides, its totally going to be poisoned darts shot by African tribesmen through peashooters or bamboo shots,"

Hitting him lightly, Artsy laughed. "You watch too much tv Mika"

 

(I know, even more inactive posting... Phunky is just going to love it )

[artsyfartsy17]

Oh, that's so funny! Ahh....I'm getting nostalgic about things that never happened to me. *thinks back to the ferry with fondness*

 

Lol. Posting.

[babyblue]

Oh, that's so funny! Ahh....I'm getting nostalgic about things that never happened to me. *thinks back to the ferry with fondness*

 

Lol. Posting.

You're not the only one

*also thinks back to Ferry, giggling...*

[artsyfartsy17]

"Cosmo, wait!" called Becky. He spun around and stared at her in disgust.

"How can you just sit there and listen to that? How can they even say those things? Just laughing over how they almost died, almost killed each other, and how we're going to die!"

Becky tried to calm him down and make him understand.

"Look, we're all just as scared as you. The difference is, this is the first time you've had to deal with this fear and anxiety. We live it. ALL THE TIME. Do you understand? If we took it seriously each and every time we were up against something, we'd all be clinically depressed. Or in the hospital with stress ulcers in our stomachs. Joking about it is one of the ways we keep ourselves calm. If we're not calm, we have no hope of rescuing the captive safely."

Cosmo, instead of donning an espression of relief and understanding, merely glared at her, getting angrier.

"Sky!" he yelled at her. She looked at him, not comprehending.

"Her name is Sky. She is not just another captive, so stop calling her that! She's a person, with a life and a family and she's stuck with that monster! A monster that you've said has no mercy and likes to destroy young women for kicks! And every time I turn around, you and your friends are revealing more and more stories about how evil he is, how deceptive he can be, how Calvin, one of the people that hears everything that goes on in this group, knows all our plans and secrets, even has taken control of the situation from time to time, used to work for him! How can you trust him? What if he's the one that Dante has watching us? What if when we see him texting on his phone, he's sending information to Dante?"

Becky was quickly losing her patience, and her voice started to raise to a shout as she replied to Cosmo,

"First of all, he's not texting Dante, he's texting Baby. Anyone could see how crazy they are about each other. Second, since he is so crazy about her, why would he put her life in danger by sending Dante information on our plans? And yes. I trust him. I trust him with my life. And since the moment I started trusting him with my life, he's saved it a couple of times! Further more, how dare you act as though we don't give a damn about Sky? EVERY captive we rescue is a person with a life and a family, so you can just get off of your moral high horse, because we care about her too. But there is no middle ground in this situation! It's either laugh or cry, so you're right. We're going to laugh it up, because we might not exist after this lunch with Dante, and we will not give him the satisfaction of depressing us in our last hours of life!"

After that speech, she took a breath, and the two of them glared at each other for a moment. Then Becky rolled her eyes and threw up her hands angrily, walking away and climbing back up on the bus. Cosmo just watched her, a grim expression on his face.

 

Ok, have to go to bed now, it's midnight, and my sleeping patterns are off; trying to get them back to normal. Nice talking to you, see ya later.

[babyblue]

OK night then...

Sweet dreams...

I shall wait for the ukers to take over...and to see how Becky reacts

Posting (for anyone who comes in)

[elanorelle]

hi! Everyone!!":punk:

[babyblue]

"Cosmo, wait!" called Becky. He spun around and stared at her in disgust.

"How can you just sit there and listen to that? How can they even say those things? Just laughing over how they almost died, almost killed each other, and how we're going to die!"

Becky tried to calm him down and make him understand.

"Look, we're all just as scared as you. The difference is, this is the first time you've had to deal with this fear and anxiety. We live it. ALL THE TIME. Do you understand? If we took it seriously each and every time we were up against something, we'd all be clinically depressed. Or in the hospital with stress ulcers in our stomachs. Joking about it is one of the ways we keep ourselves calm. If we're not calm, we have no hope of rescuing the captive safely."

Cosmo, instead of donning an espression of relief and understanding, merely glared at her, getting angrier.

"Sky!" he yelled at her. She looked at him, not comprehending.

"Her name is Sky. She is not just another captive, so stop calling her that! She's a person, with a life and a family and she's stuck with that monster! A monster that you've said has no mercy and likes to destroy young women for kicks! And every time I turn around, you and your friends are revealing more and more stories about how evil he is, how deceptive he can be, how Calvin, one of the people that hears everything that goes on in this group, knows all our plans and secrets, even has taken control of the situation from time to time, used to work for him! How can you trust him? What if he's the one that Dante has watching us? What if when we see him texting on his phone, he's sending information to Dante?"

Becky was quickly losing her patience, and her voice started to raise to a shout as she replied to Cosmo,

"First of all, he's not texting Dante, he's texting Baby. Anyone could see how crazy they are about each other. Second, since he is so crazy about her, why would he put her life in danger by sending Dante information on our plans? And yes. I trust him. I trust him with my life. And since the moment I started trusting him with my life, he's saved it a couple of times! Further more, how dare you act as though we don't give a damn about Sky? EVERY captive we rescue is a person with a life and a family, so you can just get off of your moral high horse, because we care about her too. But there is no middle ground in this situation! It's either laugh or cry, so you're right. We're going to laugh it up, because we might not exist after this lunch with Dante, and we will not give him the satisfaction of depressing us in our last hours of life!"

After that speech, she took a breath, and the two of them glared at each other for a moment. Then Becky rolled her eyes and threw up her hands angrily, walking away and climbing back up on the bus. Cosmo just watched her, a grim expression on his face.

 

Ok, have to go to bed now, it's midnight, and my sleeping patterns are off; trying to get them back to normal. Nice talking to you, see ya later.

 

Becky climbed onto the bus and picked up her cards angrily, determined not to let it get to her. Deep inside she was wondering how he couldn't understand. They could be dead in a matter of hours, by means they did not know yet, and he was getting angry over them joking around... it was the only thing that kept the sane. As for Calvin, they could trust him and they all did. He had proven himself and risked his life for them.

Watching Becky, I turned to Artsy. "Trouble in paradise," I whispered, indicating her with my head.

Artsy glanced at Becky then at Cosmo pacing around outside. "He's new, he'll understand our ways soon enough," she whispered back, before saying loudly, "Nah, its definately a swarm of killer bees, trained ones of course."

Ever since Mika's suggestion, or own suggestions had got more and more outrageous.

Reaching across I tapped Becky on the shoulder. "Hey, you ok?"

Glancing up, she frowned. "I'm fine, his worried, he'll get over it," she replied, as Cosmo climbed back onto the bus.

Shooting Becky a glance, he sat down beside her, as she continued to ignore him. He stared at her for a few minutes, before looking at his shoe, as he addressed the bus.

"I'm sorry for my outburst before, I was.."

Interrupting, Calvin replied. "You were worried about your sister, and its natural. We forgive you. Besides, once the action starts we can get a little short with each other," he added, shrugging.

Cosmo looked up at him, before deciding to be honest. "I don't know if I can trust you, and I don't know how the others do."

"Trust is earned, we'll get there," he said, simply, before turning back to his cards.

Glancing at my watch I sighed. It was 11.52am.

"Guys, we better get a move on, don't want to be late for lunch do we," I said lightly, as the others invariably tensed.

"Nope, its rude to be late, and we cant be rude." Mia replied, as Luke moved to start up the bus.

 

A few minutes we were there, wondering whether or not it was safe to ring the doorbell, when the door was opened for us, and Cosmo's sister came rushing out, embracing him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you could come. I didn't have my phone with me, so couldn't call you, but he was able to get one of the groups number and I wasn't sure you with them, but I so wanted you to meet him," she rushed out, as Cosmo looked confused.

We all shot each concerned looks, and Calvin reached for my hand worriedly. Oh yes, Dante and well and truly got to this one.

"Meet who Sky?" asked cosmo, still confused.

"Why my new boyfriend of course," she said, indicating the looming, and laughing figure of Dante as he stepped into the doorway.

"Everyone, so glad you could make it" he greeted, his eyes glittering with an evil light.

[babyblue]

hi! Everyone!!":punk:

Hey Elanorelle... how are you?

Its just me here now, until some of the others come in

[elanorelle]

not just ukers a few West Coast of Canada! as its Sat and its only 12:30pm! this is when we overlap!

 

MIKA says relax !!! saw the video on TV tonight:)