Chapter Twenty-Six

Of promised match-ups, and crazy bonfires.

"Let's have a party!"

Bree looked up from her homework at Alice's sudden declaration.

"What for?" she asked cautiously.

"To celebrate!"

"What are we celebrating?"

Alice stared at her in disbelief. "Your full week here!"

"That would have been yesterday. I got here on Thursday."

"Oh, shut up," Alice said, rolling her eyes. "I'm doing something nice here."

Bree merely shrugged. "So, where would one hold a party and when?"

"Tonight," she decided, determination clear in her eyes.

"And where?"

"Outside, of course."

"...Uh..."

"Bonfire!"

"Alice, no fires," Skyla scolded sitting next to Bree in front of the couch.

"A bonfire. Roxas'll supervise."

"...Okay then."

Alice grinned, her silver eyes full of excitement. "This'll be great! You'll get to meet everyone and..." Her eyes widened as she checked her watch. "I need to make calls, get the arrangements done...It's eight, so I still have some time..."

Alice picked up her cell phone off the coffee table, and gathered her books.

"I'll...I'll have someone get you, 'kay? Probably...Or..." Her eyes drifted to Skyla. "You. You need to come with me."

Alice dragged the blond off of the floor before shaking her head and releasing her.

"No, no, no...Someone who can drive..."

Alice ran towards the door with her phone pressed firmly to her ear. "I'll cal you later, alright?" she called over her shoulder before closing the door.

"...So, what do you feel like doing?"

XxoxX

They decided to watch Titanic.

Which, for what it's worth, was a bad idea on both of their parts.

"Why did he have to die?" Bree sobbed. "Why couldn't the chick die?"

"I don't know!" Skyla wailed.

"She was a b***h. I never liked her!"

"Why couldn't they have both just sat on the thing? They would have both lived!"

"DiCaprio, why did you agree to be in this movie?"

"Do you enjoy seeing girls cry?"

Bree frowned and muted the TV when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

"What do you want?" she snapped into the receiver, not bothering to check caller ID.

"Oh, someone's in a good mood."

"Shut up Seth."

"Well then I couldn't tell you anything."

"Well? I'm waiting."

"Jesus, moody much? Alice told me to tell you to tell Skyla where we are."

"What?"

"Tell Skyla we're at the old playground," Seth sighed.

"Fine."

"...So, what happened?"

"Nothing."

"PMS, much?"

"F*****g jack-a*s!"

"My God. You sound like you've been crying. You're acting like you just watched Titanic or something."

"..."

"...Mother of God, you did, didn't you?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Oh God, that's just...Guys! They're watching Titanic!"

"Seriously? That's just f*****g hilarious!" someone, she couldn't tell who, called in the background.

"Screw you," Bree hissed into the phone, ending the call and throwing it onto her bed.

"Who was it?" Skyla sniffed.

"Seth," Bree growled, standing up and walking to her closet.

"What did he want?"

Skyla stood up and sat on her bed.

"Told me to tell you they were meeting at the old playground. Where ever the f**k that is."

"Old...Oh! That's near my old house!"

"Old house meaning...?"

"No, that was before I met you. I've moved...One, two, three times."

"Ah."

Bree withdrew a pair of Converse that went to about her knees. She zipped them up and walked into her bathroom.

Her face was a bit red, but that was expected. She splashed some cold water on her face, and ran a brush through her hair.

"Wanna fix your make-up or anything before we leave?" she asked Skyla.

"Ugh...No. It'll be dark, they probably won't notice much."

"They already know we've been watching Titanic," Bree said bitterly.

She grabbed her cell phone, and locked her door.

"I don't think we need to bring anything, or else they would've told us," Skyla commented, opening one of the windows.

Bree took the key she had strung onto a necklace and put it on.

"Ready to go?" she asked, changing the TV to cable.

"Yeah. Meet you down," her friend said, falling out the window.

Bree felt her tail wiggle out of the hole she made in her jeans, and ducked out the window, landing on the ground easily.

She closed her eyes, and opted for little color and night vision, rather then her suckish human sight.

"Can you track?" Skyla asked, hovering a few feet off of the ground.

"Uh..."

She felt Desdemona brush up against her leg, and looked down. The cat stared back, and she felt a slight tug somewhere in her chest.

Again, Bree closed her eyes, and allowed her inner self to be brought out into the open.

I can track. Have no worries.

You're a good pet, know that?

Bree heard her snort.

Pet? Please. I'm a Guardian. I've been taking care of you from the moment you were born. I'm more then just a family pet, child.

Bree rolled her eyes, and focused in on the real world.

"Yeah...I have my ways," she said.

"Okay...Just follow me, 'kay?"

She looked down at Desdemona and back to Skyla. She nodded, and the blond flew off into the trees.

Ready for this?

Oh, please. I was born ready.

Stay in sight?

Just follow me.

With that, the two took off into the night.

XxoxX

"Where's Bree?" Alice asked, her voice still a ways away.

"I don't know...I waited for her for a bit but..." Skyla. Worried as always.

"She'll be here eventually, don't worry." That would be Avalon.

"I can go get her. I'd only be a few minutes,"Seth said.

"Just wait by the fire. She'll be here soon," Raven said.

Bree picked up her pace. She didn't need anyone to come after her.

Then she felt something grip her wrist. When she looked, there was nothing in sight, but the feeling of a hand wouldn't go away.

"She's not too far." Raven. She should have figured.

She felt the pressure on her wrist dissipate, and picked up her speed.

The forest was thinning out, and she could make out the fire, and quite a few people gathered around it. Bree stopped running, and jogged over to where Alice and Skyla were waiting on the jungle gym.

"Hey guys," she said breathlessly.

"Yay! You came!"

Alice jumped off the jungle gym and raced over to her.

"You're last," she said, locking arms with her and following Skyla and Raven over to the massive fire. "And everyone else is already by the bonfire, so you get to meet them!"

The girl broke into a run and claimed the log next to Roxas. She threw what Bree assumed was a stick into the flames.

"This," Skyla have introduced when she arrived,"is Bree."

She stood there awkwardly for a minute, looking for somewhere to sit.

Skyla was next to Avalon and Damien, who also sat with someone she hadn't met. Spencer sat next to Dallas and some other chick on another bench. Larissa sat next to her, talking even though she seemed to be tuning her out. Raven and Seth sat on opposite ends of the log they claimed.

Bree, after a moment's hesitation, walked over and sat in between Seth and Raven.

"So...What now?" Spencer asked.

"You guys introduce yourselves, of course," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I'm Dylan," the boy next to Damien said. He had wood brown hair, and bangs that were just shy of his deep green eyes. "I'm Damien's mentor."

"One of the few that can actually put up with him," Alice muttered shaking her head.

"Hey!" Damien frowned, a look of hurt painted on his face.

Skyla stiffed a laugh, and earned a glare from her boyfriend. "Traitor," he mumbled, narrowing his eyes and folding his arms.

"C'mon. You know I---" Skyla shook her head and rested her head on his shoulder.

"My turn, I supposed. I'm Laura." The girl next to Dallas, a blond with short, cropped hair, and dark brown ends, smiled at her. "Cool to meet you."

"She's my mentor!" Larissa declared proudly.

Laura rolled her eyes and leaned into Dallas. He put an arm around her waist and tucked her head under his chin.

Bree observed them for a moment before it finally struck her.

"Hey...Are you two---"

"Together? An item? Dating?" Laura finished, cracking one light brown eye open to look at her. "Yeah," she sighed pleasantly. "For two years now.

Laura grinned, mischief sparkling in her eyes. "So don't get any ideas."

Bree laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, but no." She gave an almost apologetic look to Dallas as she spoke. "But he's totaly not my type."

At that, Skyla did a double take.

"What. What? What?!"

She jumped off the log and marched over to Bree.

"You? Have a type?" she questioned.

"Well---"

Skyla grabbed her shoulders and shook them with all she had.

"You said you weren't interested in guys. When did this change? Hm? When were you going to tell---"

"It never came---"

"Oh, Gods, you must tell---"

"Sky---"

"I can finally pair you up with someone!"

"Why would you---"

"Don't worry. I'll find you someone good." She shot a pointed look at Seth, who just grinned. Skyla's eyes widened, and she looked from Bree, to Seth, to Bree, to Seth again. "Or...Maybe you like being pawed?" She looked at Bree, calculating. "I love you and all, I really do, but you could do---"

"SKYLA."

"Yes?" she replied calmly, as if the interrogation and yelling never happened.

"I'll...I'll talk to you about later. Meaning, not now. Or tonight. Possibly not even tomorrow," Bree managed, blush coloring her cheeks.

Skyla crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Fiiine," she sighed. "But," an evil glint flashed in her eyes,"you are telling me. And I am setting you up."

XxoxX

They sat around the fire and talked for awhile.

Until there was that one stupid kid who said it got really quiet.

In this case, it was Damien.

Surprised?

No.

No you are not.

"...It's getting kinda silent...Like, awkwardly..." Damien said, staring up at the sky. "What do we do now?"

"There's the lake," Avalon suggested. "We could go swimming."

"...What?" Bree asked stupidly.

"Down that hill to your left," Avalon said.

"...You guys did bring something to swim in, right?" Alice asked.

"...Seth said nothing about this."

"Oh, course, blame me." Seth rolled his eyes. "It's not like Dallas said to tell them anything else."

"Passing the blame are you?"

"Look, again, not my fault."

"Stop bickering," Raven sighed. "Okay, so, what now?"

"Got that covered," Seth groaned from the effort of standing up.

He walked over to the pavilion, away from the light of the fire.

Too lazy to use her night vision to check out what he was doing, she continued to stare at the blazing fire.

"Alice," he called.

"What is it?" she asked, prodding the burning logs with a stick.

"You said you wanted to light---"

"Shhhhh! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Alice ordered, scrambling over the logs, rushing to do...Whatever it was she was planning.

There was the audible sound of static, followed by an,"OUCH, D****T!"

"Um...Are they okay?" Bree asked, looking at their general area oddly.

"No one knows," Spencer said, shaking his head.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Alice's mad laughter made Bree and Damien nearly jump out of their skin.

"Something is wrong with that girl," Bree muttered to herself.

"Okay!" Alice yelled. "Feast your eyes on my hair work!"

Then the pavilion was lit up.

It was a domino effect, one fiery torch lighting up the other, and then that lighting up the next.

"So this is what you were talking about," Robin said in awe as she walked over to the fire surrounded pavilion.

"Yep!" Alice beamed, proudly.

"Is there music?" Bree asked, following suit, and heading over.

As if waiting for those words, Seth produced a laptop for them to see, and clicked.

Music poured out of hidden speakers, and it was given voiced approval.

"Spencer, feel like taking over as DJ?" Seth asked, turning the computer towards him.

"Hells yeah. Move over."

"PARTY TIME!"

XxoxX

"Hey, mind if I pick out something?" Damien asked Spencer.

"Uh..." Spencer looked at him wearily for a minute before shrugging and moving away from the laptop. "Know yourself out, kid. There's a little of everything on there."

He grinned and nodded, searching the database for something.

Spencer walked over to where the majority of the group was gathered around the fire.

"---and so that's when, crazy little demon she is, Alice jumped off the cliff."

Bree stared wide eyed at Robin as she finished another story.

"...How badly did she get hurt?"

"Nothing too bad," she assured her. "But she did get sick afterwards. Spending time in that water, and not changing out of the clothes, wasn't the best move."

"Spencer?" Seth asked, craning his neck to see behind him.

"What's up?"

"Is that...What's Damien doing?"

"Just picking out a song," he shrugged.

Dylan, Skyla, and Seth all froze.

"And you're not over there, why?" Skyla asked, voice raising up an octave.

"Well---"

"Do you know what he listens to?" Dylan questioned.

"Not re---"

"Country! He listens. To. Country," Seth hissed.

Spencer visibly paled.

The song faded out, and Alice came up to the fire, wringing the water out of her hair.

"What happened to the music?" she asked, pulling her shorts over bikini bottoms.

"Uh..." Seth looked back to see Damien walking over with an acoustic guitar in hand.

"Whatcha got there?" Skyla asked nervously.

"Oh, nothing. I just wanted to play along with a song I learned."

"...What would that---"

Spencer's question was cut off by Sweet Home Alabama blasting from the speakers.

Damien sat on a bench, and proceeded to play along, and sing every word.

Alice developed a twitch.

"Who turned it on?" the girl asked, to calm for any of their likings.

"Damien," Spencer said, pointing.

"Make it stop," she ordered darkly. Her silver eyes were cold, and murder intent was radiating off of her.

"Why?" Damien asked.

Alice's twitch grew worse as she stalked over to the wood pile. She pulled the ax out of the wood, and threw it at the pole behind him.

She screamed, and ran off, leaving all of them staring after her.

"...Will she be okay?" Bree asked after a few minutes of silence.

"She should cool off," Dallas said, not looking or sounding convincing.

"I heard someone scream," Roxas commented.

"Yeah, Damien was playing county, and Alice sortta freaked," Bree explained.

Roxas' eyes grew wide, and for a moment, the entire world seemed to stand still.

Then something clicked.

"Someone put the fires out," he ordered, throwing his shirt on. "Someone else get the firetruck ready."

"I'll get you for this later," he promised, looking at Damien.

"What's going on?" Bree asked.

"Alice is not happy," Roxas said simply. "That's never a good thing."

Robin excused herself to make a few calls, and Dallas left a drowsy Laura to extinguish the many fires.

With one quick look to the forest, he ran a hand through his hair.

"D****t...C'mon, I don't wanna see anything burst into flames."

The he was gone.

Bree shifted her weight and looked to where Roxas had disappeared to.

"Um...I'm...I'm gonna follow him," Bree said, running after Seth, who left quickly behind him.

Skyla followed as well, mumbling to herself.

"Oh, God. I hope she didn't do it again..."

Author's Note

This was fun.
x3

Reviews

[halflives]

YES. I can tell.

I LOVE THE PART WITH WATCHING THE TITANIC! "DiCaprio, why did you agree to do this movie?" I have not seen the Titantic for the very same reason that I'm spazzing I don't want to watch him die.

DON'T DIE, DAMN IT.

Alice is so epic. "I don't want to see anything burst into flames". BWHAHAHA. So something I would do.

MORENOWORDIE.