20.
The Grotto

Alice really didn’t understand what it was about the ocean that appealed so much to Butterfly. It was cold, dark, and cold.

They all moved through the water, rather quickly, making Alice strain to catch up. Thankfully, Grey grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Watching Butterfly, Alice began to hate her and the way she moved effortlessly through the water. It was as if she didn’t have any bones. She was just one long wiggling line. Suddenly she stopped and pointed to something far in the distance.

It was almost too dark to see, but there were three distinctive statues rising up from the darkness. The deeper they got the more scared Alice became. Pressure pushed down on her and everything got darker. Thankfully, Jericho brought flashlights and handed one to Grey. Butterfly was obviously not disturbed from the darkness slowly surrounding them.

There they were, three large statues standing straight and tall. Alice could make more detail. They each had a pair of massive wings folded against their backs. Butterfly shot out and swam in circles around of the statues, running her hands along the mossy stone. She stopped in front of it’s face, thinking it looked a lit like Jericho, very placid and still. Casting a glance over her shoulder, Butterfly saw the others slowly following behind. Wanting to impress them, she spiraled down between the three.

Obviously, Butterfly was the first to find it, the opening. Anyone else might have passed it by, but she could hear it, the hollowness of it, pulling her in. She moved the mouth of the rock opening and cautiously stuck her head inside. It was pitch black. Growing more and more excited, Butterfly swam back up, plucking the flashlight from Jericho’s fingers, swam back down, and shone the light down the black tunnel. She ushered the others into it, which took a while because it was the last thing Alice wanted to do.

The tunnel was long and not good for Alice’s nerves. It seemed to go down forever, but then suddenly it shot up until she could make out a dark blue glow. Then they were out in the open. One by one their heads broke the surface, and surprisingly enough they didn’t need their flashlights.

A bright blue glow came from everywhere, as if the rocks were splattered with glow in the dark paint, but Alice realized it wasn’t paint. They were flowers. They clung to the walls and gave off a luminous glow that almost hurt to look at. It reminded Alice of those creepy fish you see at the bottom of the ocean.

Grey, who was pulling off his goggles and spitting out his mouthpiece, looked around at the flowers and felt his stomach tighten uncomfortably. He should have known, they only grow in grottos. He suddenly had a memory flash of his mother placing a single long stemmed flower in a glass of water and putting it beside his bed so he wouldn’t be afraid of the dark. Just what he needed, dead mother memories running through his head.

“Have I mentioned that I’m claustrophobic?” Alice quipped in a shaky voice. “I don’t think there’s enough air down here. I can’t breath!”

“You can breath.” Grey said in a distant tone. Noticing, Alice looked over and found him staring at the flowered walls with a strange and forlorn expression.

“Grey?” She asked, but he didn’t stir. “Grey?” When she touched his shoulder he recoiled but tried to play it off as something else.

“Let’s get dry.” He said and swam towards the bank.

Jericho was already there, pulling off his fins, tank, and rubbing his wet hair. Grey simple slouched out of everything but his wetsuit and shook himself like a dog, still staring at the blue flowers.

Looking over his shoulder, Jericho nodded towards them. “You okay?”

He tore his gaze from the glow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Conversation over.

Butterfly’s humming echoed off the walls as she swam in circles. As first to get in the water, she was also the last to get out. Jericho had to jump back in and pull her out.

Finally she noticed the flowers and ran towards the wall. “Oh, aren’t you beautiful.” She whispered and rubbed her hands over the petals. Quietly, she made soft cooing noises with her tongue and eventually the flowers made them back.

Alice was completely fascinated. She hurried over and practically shoved her face into the glow. “Amazing! How are they able to do that? How are they able to live down here without sunlight? What do they use as sustenance? What are they doing? Are they talking? You’re talking to them aren’t you?”

Butterfly straightened and blinked oddly at Alice. “I can’t talk to flowers. What a silly thing to ask.” Plucking one, she placed it in behind her ear and tried to fluff her wet hair. “Flowers never suited me.” She decided while taking it from behind her ear and placing it behind Alice’s. “Pretty.”

Alice turned to Grey. “What do you think?” She asked, half laughing.

Grey’s tight-lipped expression didn’t waver in any way; he simply strode up and ripped the flower from her hair. “Stop messing around.” He said stiffly, then turned away.

What was his problem? Alice wanted to ask, but of course he wouldn’t tell her. Had she said something? Hadn’t said something? When she looked over to Jericho for an answer he simple looked away.

“Okay,” He began. “What are we doing down here.”

“Um…” Alice began. “Maybe…the proxy is around here somewhere.”

Sure the grotto was big, but it wasn’t that big. Butterfly swept her gaze over the area. “I don’t see it.”

“Do you even know what it looks like?” Alice asked.

“No…” She answered.

“Lovely.”

“It should look like your everyday ball of energy.” Jericho said and shook the water from his hands. “It’s here somewhere.”

“How do you know?” Alice asked.

“I can feel it.” He moved over to the wall and slipped his hands between the flowers to touch the cool rock behind it. Little waves of energy pulsed through his fingers and up his arm. It was definitely here. “There must be an opening somewhere. Let’s spread out.”

They did, though Grey wasn’t exactly looking. His mind was somewhere else. Alice kept glancing over at him, worried about his glazed over distant stare. She nudged Jericho’s arm and tipped up towards his ear. “What’s with Grey?”

“Sizornias were his mother’s favorite flower.”

“What? Oh, that’s what they’re called? Sizornia?”

He nodded.

On the other side of the grotto, Grey was absently searching for whatever. His mind was elsewhere, drifting far back to when he was twelve.

At a young age Little James knew that flowers made women happy. He didn’t get why, he just knew it worked. Every time he got in trouble he’d run out, pick a bunch of colorfulness and present them to her. And just like that her scowl would soften and he’d kiss his cheek. Mission accomplished.

James, who was still pretty short for his age, swung his legs as he sat at the dining room table. He looked up at Jericho who was busy looking for candles that were at least the same height. “She’s late.” Grey said and wiped his nose on the sleeve of his shirt.

“She’s not that late.” Jericho said even though she was supposed to be home about an hour ago.

“Doesn’t she know it’s her birthday?”

Jericho blew his hair out of his eyes. “I’m sure she knows.”

“Does she know we made her dinner?”

“I made dinner.” Jericho said hotly. “And no, she doesn’t. It’s a surprise, remember?”

James made a funny grunting sound he got from Jericho. “I hate waiting.”

Not in the mood to listen to James whine, Jericho grabbed an empty vase and shoved it into his arms. “Why don’t you go pick some sizornias, they’re her favorite, and this way we wont have to bother with candles.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do.” Jericho said and nodding towards the door.

With another grunt James got up and left. He went out the back of the pawnshop and meandered along the small path that led into the jungle. The air was thick and sticky, but James was used to it. He didn’t know anything else. So he moved effortlessly through the denseness without even thinking. He wouldn’t get lost, he never did. Along the way he picked a few weeds, which looked pretty even in the dying light. By the time he got to the cave the vase was almost full.

When he stepped into the clearing he knew something was wrong.

Plants and grass, which were normally lush and healthy looking, were now trampled and flat. Someone had been through there recently. James stopped, confused, but then he heard voices. The glow from the flowers could been seen from the mouth of the cave, and they wavered as the shadows of people moved inside.

Suddenly afraid, James moved back into the trees and watched as a group of dogs bounded out. No not dogs, wolves. They immediately ran back into the jungle and disappeared. It wasn’t uncommon for a pack to take refuge in a cave. They were animals after all, but something didn’t exactly seem right. Cautiously, James walked towards the opening, but stopped when he found the blood. There was a trail of drips leading right into it.

Maybe one of them was hurt, that had to be it.

But suddenly, another shadow emerged from the glowing cave. This time it was a man. He was filthy, and bloody, and completely naked. When he noticed James, he stopped. Their gazes held for a moment, then the man looked away and quickly morphed into a wolf. It was a fascinating sight, the way their bodies folded into itself, and the hair sprout all around. As a dog, the man leapt out into the clearing and followed after his pack.

James stood there a moment. What were they doing? Whose blood was James stepping in? Being a curious twelve-year-old boy, James followed it inside and froze.

At first he didn’t exactly notice her. His own mother. She was lying in the middle of the cave, surround by her favorite flowers, just dead. James didn’t have to get any close to know this. She was dead, no doubt about it. There was blood everywhere, splattered all over the sizornias. Eyes wide and terrified, James took a step around. He shouldn’t have. Her bloodied face stared up at him, her eyes completely void of any sort of life.

A sound James had never heard before echoed off the walls, and he realized it was himself, moaning. Then, suddenly, every sort of emotion just pumped right into his chest as he fell to his knees. The earth was soft with dirt and blood. Her clothes and skin were ripped and torn, horribly. Somehow it wasn’t so bad because it didn’t look like her anymore.

He sat there for hours it seemed, clutching her hand in his until Jericho found him. He carried him home, mumbling words James didn’t hear.

When something touched his cheek Grey snapped out of it and blinked down at Alice. And just right then, as she was looking up at him, he’d realized he’d never seen anyone as beautiful.

“What?” He growled, annoyed with his feelings.

She tipped her head up and pressed her lips soft, yet hard on his. Just as Grey could feel the tip of her tongue on his teeth, she pulled away.

“What was that?” He asked after a moment.

She shrugged. “I just wanted to.”

He made a deep growl and pushed past her. “Ripley, we’re in the middle of saving the world. Maybe you could keep it in your pants for now.” She came around and caught him off guard by kissing him again. This time he stumbled back but she moved with him. And when she finished, she patted his cheek, spun on her heel and walked away, in that slow hip swaying way. The wet suit didn’t hurt any either.

“Women…” He muttered to himself and ran his hand through his still wet hair.

Alice bit down on her lip to keep from laughing. She’d succeeded in getting his mind off whatever was bothering him, and now his mind was full of her.

She walked over to Butterfly who was busy humming to herself while she looked for anything that might be helpful. “What exactly do these flowers do? They must have some sort of mythical powers of awesomeness.”

Butterfly touched a glowing petal. “They’re fantastic for healing open wounds and burns. I once used them on a girl at The Queen of Hearts after a client got mad and burned her with his cigar multiple times.”

Alice shuddered. “God, that’s awful.”

Butterfly raised her eyebrow. “You’ve obviously never worked in a brothel before.”

“But… I mean… wasn’t there anything you could have done to protect yourself?”

She thought about it for a long time, making Alice frown. “Screaming usually helped.”

“How did you deal with it everyday?”

She shrugged. “I just did it. Nothing else I could do.”

“But you had to sleep with disgusting men.”

“They weren’t all disgusting. Jericho isn’t disgusting, and neither is Grey, though I haven’t slept with him.”

Alice smiled. “I have, and it’s not bad at all.”

There was a brief silence and Butterfly looked over at Grey. “Must hurt to be here.”

“Why’s that?”

“Don’t you know? Grey’s mother was killed in a grotto like this.”

Alice’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“A pack of werewolves found her picking flowers and they attacked her, or so I hear. Apparently Grey was the one to find her.”

“He found her?” Since nearly nothing bad had ever happened to Alice, this bit of information was almost too horrible to believe. She looked over at him and suddenly wanted to wrap him in a big bear hug. But something told her he wouldn’t appreciate that.

“Hey, I found something.” Grey shouted as he pulled at the vines growing up the wall. Alice hurried over and helped him remove the flowers from their apparent path. It was an archway, with large crooked stone steps leading down into a dark blue glow.

“You first.” Alice said and nudged him.

His eyebrow shot up. “I don’t think so. Jericho!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” He stopped at the opening. “Do I have to?”

“I’ll go!” Butterfly exclaimed and took a step downward, but Jericho grabbed her arm.

“No,” He said with a sigh. “I’ll go.”

Slowly, they made their way down into the gloomy earth. Sizornias grew almost everywhere and provided just enough light to see by. But this didn’t make Alice feel any safer. She felt like she was in an episode of Tales from the Crypt, and something slimy would pop out from behind a boulder and try and steal her eyeballs. Wanting to keep all her body parts, Alice stayed tight against Grey’s side, comforted by the fact that he a gun.

At the bottom, Butterfly bounded a head. “Oh my God, do you have any idea of where we are?”

Obviously no one knew.

“We’re in a catacomb!” She squealed.

“What?” Alice turned pale and wrapped her arms around herself.

“If I were to pick the last place I wanted to be, catacombs and hell are pretty much tied.” Grey muttered.

“Look!” She said and moved along the recesses in the wall. “This is fascinating.”

“What kind of catacomb is underwater?”

“A kind for merfolk.” Butterfly said matter-of-factly.

“But how would they get in here. They don’t have legs.”

Turning towards her, Butterfly said in a dark and scary voice. “Before a mermaid dies they come here, dry up, crawl down into the darkness and die alone.”

Alice looked around, worried. “I don’t want to be here.”

“I didn’t know that.” Jericho said as he moved towards an alcove to study the old bones of a dead mermaid. “You just come here and find a spot to die?”

She shrugged. “Pretty much.”

“Why?”

“Would you want fish feeding off your body?”

“I guess not.”

“Oh!” She suddenly squealed and clapped her hands together. “Maybe we’ll see a siren.”

They moved slowly forward. “As in those hot chicks who lured men to their deaths in Greek mythology?” Grey asked.

Butterfly laughed. “No silly. They’re creatures who guide merfolk through the catacombs and to their final resting place.”

“Too bad.” He sighed.

Alice made a nervous noise in the back of her throat and grabbed Grey’s hand. “And what do these sirens look like?”

“I don’t know.” She answered. “I’ve never seen one before.”

The entire time they were down there Alice was thinking of all the other places she’d rather be. She’d rather be writing a five hour exam, than be down in an underwater catacomb. She’d rather be trapped in a room full of creepy clowns. Anything than stuck in a giant air pocket with decaying bodies.

They were coming to another archway when Alice heard a sort of scuffle behind her. She whipped her head around and looked back into the darkness. She couldn’t see anything but rocks. “Did you hear that?” She asked Grey who still had her hand securely in his own.

“Hear what?”

She turned her attention on the ground a head. “Nothing, never mind.”

But only a few minutes later she heard it again. “Grey!” She said and dug her nails into his hand. “I think something is following us.”

He rolled his eyes and quickened his pace after Jericho and Butterfly. “You’re just scared, Alice. There’s nothing to-”

Then, without warning, there was this horribly loud moaning sound echoing off the rock walls. Terrified, Alice clapped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming, and Grey froze.

Butterfly spun around, excitement written all over her face. “It’s a siren!” She beamed.

“What? Where?” Alice turned in circles, hoping not to find it by her feet.

Cupping her hand over her mouth Butterfly made the same whopping sound back. Moments later they heard it again.

“Don’t call it over here!”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, they’re harmless.” She called it again and again until it’s moaning grew closer and closer. Then slowly something stepped out of the shadows. Alice was expecting some horribly deformed creature with twenty eyes, but instead, this siren looked a lot like a cat.

Of course it wasn’t a cat. As it came closer Alice saw that it’s legs were maybe half a meter long, and skinny as sticks. It’s body, which was completely hairless slinked like a feline’s. And it’s face was more like a baboons than anything else. Long snout with the skin pulled tightly over the bones.

Alice not knowing what else to do, said, “That is the ugliest cat I have ever seen.”

Butterfly crouched down and stretched her arms out to the creature that moved over the rocky terrain. “Aren’t you pretty?” She cooed softly. “Come here.” The creature cautiously moved towards Butterfly’s outstretched hand and sniffed her fingers.

“Maybe you shouldn’t do that?” Grey said, his hand ready to grab his gun at any moment.

“Oh don’t be silly.” She said and patted its smooth head. The creature didn’t like this and crunched down on her finger. “Ow!” She screamed and leapt up as the siren scrambled back into the darkness. “Stupid jerk!” She called after it and stuck her bleeding finger into her mouth.

“Real smooth Butterfly.” Jericho said. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

“How can you tell?” Alice asked.

“You can’t feel the vibrations?” He asked and placed his palm against the cold rock wall.

She placed her smaller hand next to his. “No.”

“It’s definitely close.”

They moved down a tunnel which seemed to get tighter and tighter until Jericho and Grey had to crouch to fit. Alice who was the shortest didn’t mind. They soon came to another opening with more sizornias growing all over the walls and in the center of the room was a box.

A little box.

“This is it!” Jericho said and ran over to it.

He picked up the box and tried to open it, only it was locked. Rubbing his thumb over the keyhole he looked up at Alice. “Do you have that key?”

Fascinated, Alice nodded and pulled it out from under her wetsuit and handed it to Jericho.

“The key fits.”

“No wait!” Grey said and put up his hand. “What if this is like Pandora’s Box?”

“You scared, Grey?” Alice smirked.

“No.” He huffed. “I’m concerned.”

“I’m scared too.” She smiled and squeezed his hand. “Open it Jericho.”

With a glance at Butterfly who was smiling at him, he turned the lock and heard the small click. Everyone held their breath as he slowly opened the lid. White light shot out and illuminated his face, making his skin glow. His hair blew away from his face, as if a great gasp of wind had been trapped inside. “Wow.” He said, staring down into the light. “Shiny.”

Finally taking a gulp of air, Alice took a step towards him. “What does it look like?”

He grinned. “Like a really awesome bouncy ball.”

Without any hurry, he reached into the box, causing a worried look to overcome Grey’s face. When his hand came back out he was grasping what looks like a miniature sun the size of a golf ball. Its rays peaked out from between his curled fingers and was too bright to look directly at.

“This seems like a bad idea.” Grey said nervously.

“Can I hold it?” Alice asked, staring widely at it.

Jericho shrugged. “I suppose.”

Slowly, he cupped his free hand under Alice’s and dropped the proxy into it. Immediately she screamed and dropped it.

“Jesus!” Grey jumped as Jericho quickly grabbed the proxy off the ground, and dusted it off. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s hot!” She said and pressed her fist to her stomach. “Shit, that hurt.”

“It’s not hot.” Jericho said and cradled it in his hands.

Grey took her hand in his as she slowly splayed her fingers. He made a hissing sound at how painful it looked. “Shit…” The skin was bright red and raw. Butterfly grabbed her hand from Grey and poked at the forming blister. Alice screamed again and Grey ripped her hand away from Butterfly.

“No biggie.” She said. “I can fix that.”

They watched as she skipped towards the flowers and pluck a few off the wall. Alice was surprised as they wiggled in pain then went still. She began plucking of petals and squishing them between her hands. When they became mushy enough she spread it over Alice’s burnt palm. She winced the entire time and dug her nails into Grey’s arm. But already, her skin was returning to normal.

“It’s not hot at all.” Jericho mumbled again and ran his fingers over the smooth surface.

Grey placed his palms up as if soaking up the warmth of a fire. “Oh it’s hot all right.” He said as he tried to get his hands closer. “It must be an immortal thing.”

He frowned. “Yeah maybe.”

“Hey!” Butterfly suddenly said and bent down. “Look at this strange rock.” It wasn’t a rock. It was a small tape recorder. “It has letters on it, A-L-Y no wait, that’s an I.”

Grey took it from her. “For Alice.” He read.

“What?” She asked.

He pressed the play button and everyone waited a minute. Then a scratchy voice echoed off the walls. “Hi Alice.”

Alice gasped. “It’s my dad.”

“This isn’t exactly how I planned for things to end. If you’re listening to this, which you are, it means I’m dead. Which sucks, because I was really hoping to see you on your birthday. Anyway,” Tears automatically sprung to her eyes. “I guess since you’re here that means you know a whole lot more than what I wanted you to know. I made this your burden, and I’m sorry. But this is important, and you’re the only person I trust anymore. You and Grey.”

Grey’s eyebrow’s quirked when he heard his name, but he kept quiet.

“I know you’re there Grey. There’s no way my Alice could have gotten here without you. Thank you for being the person I know you really are. Thank you for keeping her safe. I owe you one, along with that hundred bucks or so. I guess I have to say thanks to Butterfly. I only met her for about three minutes, but she was memorable.” Jericho narrowed his eyes. “Not for the reasons you’re probably thinking, but she did have a kind smile. I haven’t seen one of those in a while. So if you’re there Butterfly, thank you.”

With a little laugh, Butterfly touched her lips.

“And um… Alastor. What a character. Smartest bastard I ever met. Thanks Alastor if you’re there. And you better not have touched my daughter. Same goes for you Grey.” He let out a little chuckle. “She’s too good for you pieces of shit.” His chuckle turned into a laugh, which became strained with the tears everyone could hear clogging up his throat. “Grey, I need one more favor from you.”

“Anything.” Grey mumbled.

“I need you to take the proxy to that friend of yours, the angel you used to talk about. Jericho. I need you to get him to destroy it. I don’t know how, I just know that only angels can do it. Oh and don’t touch it, because it will burn your skin. If you do this, then… everything will stay the same. No one will have to know. Please do this for me.”

Alice whipped at her eyes, but the tears came back.

“Alice…” Her father said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t a very good father. I should have done better. I should have been there. But you know I love you, and your mom. I guess that doesn’t mean much now, huh? I haven’t even seen you in nearly ten years. I don’t even know what you look like now. Well, that’s my fault.” He paused and coughed. “I got to go. Got things to do.” His voice wavered slightly. “Fuck, getting out of here is going to be a bitch. Okay, goodbye. I love you, and I hope you’re happy for the rest of your life. And I love you too Grey. I really do. Just don’t touch my daughter. This is Mad Jack signing off.”

The second it was over Alice grabbed the recorder from his hands. “Just one more time.” She said and rewound it. When she sank down to listen to it once more, Grey did the same, with the same saddened expression on his face. When it was done Grey looked up at Jericho. “So,” He said. “Get rid of it.”

Jericho looked down at the ball. “I don’t know how.”

“What?” Alice asked.

“I don’t know how to get rid of it.”

“Then what are we doing down here?”

“I don’t know.”

Alice let out a groan and ran her hands through her damp hair. “Can we just go back to the boat?”

Grey stood and helped her up. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

By the time they left the grotto, the ocean was pitch black all around them. Grey could only make out the outline of Alice beside him. Her hand was still grasped firmly in his own as they ascended. The closer they got the better he could see. The boat was directly above them, or so he could tell. The dark shape rocked back and forth with each wave. But… was that another boat? No, just a weird wave.

The second Grey broke the surface there was a loud scream from Alice.

He spun around and watched as she was pulled right out of the water by the hair. “Alice!” He shouted just as he saw Gabriel pull out his gun and point it to her head. “Hello, hello.” He grinned from the dock of their boat. Jericho cursed under his breath, and Butterfly let out a watery cry. Alice simply looked up at Gabriel, confused and scared. “How about you all come join us?”

Grey was stunned but moved through the water slowly, and pulled himself onto the deck. Jericho half turned to Butterfly, “Swim away.” He said as he moved away from her.

“I assure you Alice will be dead before you’re able to make a splash, Butterfly.” Gabriel called to her.

On the boat Jericho looked back at Butterfly who was merely a bobbing head in the blackness of the ocean. Her eyes were clearly visible, wide with fear.

“Come along now.” Gabriel urged her on.

Butterfly didn’t move.

Grey was staring at Alice who was huddled against railing. The gun was pointed directly at her forehead, and Gabriel’s fingers just itching to pull the trigger.

“I don’t like asking twice.” Gabriel said in an eerie sing-song kind of tone.

“Butterfly!” Grey suddenly shouted at her. “Get on the fucking boat!”

She jumped at his tone and swam towards them, letting Jericho help her up.

“Lovely. Now I want mortals on this side.” He waved his gun to the left. “And immortals on the other. Go.”

Jericho moved away from his friends to stand on the other side, while Butterfly backed up towards Grey. Just then someone stepped out of the darkness from the far end of the boat. He was huge and towered over Jericho who was already freakishly tall.

Alice saw his wings first and nearly gasped. They were just massive and looked creamy in the moonlight. He stood beside Jericho, who was looking up at him, obviously concerned.

“Oh, this is Dante. He’s going to take care of you, Jericho, since I can’t touch you and all.”

“Why’s that?” Alice asked, speaking for the first time since she’s was pulled out of the water.

“Because sweetheart, he’s holy and I’m most certainly not.” Then he turned his gaze to Butterfly. “Come here and take a seat next to Alice, my little insect.” Dropping her air tank, Butterfly did just that and wrapped her arms around her knees.

When everyone was situated Gabriel turned to Grey. “This is how it’s going to work. You’re going to hand me the proxy and be a big boy about it. So, no crying or whining, okay?”

Grey shot him a dark glare but shoved the box into his hands. “Where the fuck did you come from?”

Gabriel absently waved his arms towards the far end of the boat where another small motorboat waited. “And you helped.”

“What?” He asked.

Gabriel walked over to where he’d carelessly dropped his clothes and grabbed Grey’s pants. When he pulled out the little microchip Grey groaned loudly. “Technology is really astounding, isn’t it? I was able to get your exact location to within a couple of inches.”

“What the fuck, Grey?” Jericho took a step forward but Dante placed his large hand on his shoulder.

“I didn’t know…” Grey ran a hand through his hair, frustrated.

“You didn’t really get yourself out of The Grinning Cat? Did you?”

Gabriel laughed. “Oh please, Grey was nearly crushed to death by the time I got to him.”

“You didn’t tell me!” Jericho growled at him.

“I thought it’d be pointless to worry you about it. We’d gotten Butterfly back. What was the point?”

“The point was that we were being followed you fucking idiot!” Jericho’s fists were balled and the veins in his neck looked like they were going to burst. “How could you be so stupid?!”

“I did what I thought was best!”

Jericho rolled his eyes dramatically and mumbled something under his breath. “Well fuck, Grey, your moral compass is slightly off.”

“Stop it!” Alice shouted and stood up. “This isn’t helping.”

“Oh my God!” Jericho reached up and grabbed his hair. “Like you are any better Alice.”

Her eyes widened a little. “Excuse me?”

Gabriel chucked, clearly enjoying the scene that was unfolding.

“Aside from the fact that you’re completely naïve and slightly childish, the only thing you’ve proved to be good at is sleeping with Grey.”

Gabriel’s chuckle turned into a laugh.

“What the fuck, Jericho?” Grey growled.

“No honestly Alice,” He asked her, as she simply blinked at her. “How long have you known Grey? A couple of weeks? Do you have any idea of how completely fucked up he is. Take this situation right now. Here we are being held hostage because-”

“Stop!” Alice screamed at him. “Who do you think you are?!” She didn’t give him any time to respond. “Just because you’re old and wise doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes either. Yeah, so sleeping with Grey is probably a mistake of epic proportions, but you’re doing a fish!”

“Hey!” Butterfly said. “I’m not a fish anymore.”

“Epic proportions?” Grey asked.

Jericho looked like he didn’t really know what to say. “Yeah, she’s not a fish. She has feelings!”

“And so do I! The only thing you’ve proved to be good at sleeping with Grey. Ouch Jericho, ouch. That stung.”

Jericho frowned. “All right, that was out of line. I apologize.”

“And I apologize for calling Butterfly a fish. She’s rather adorable, and I’m sure everyone has gotten very attached to her.”

“Thank you.” Butterfly smiled.

There was a long drawn out pause.

“Um… what about me?” Grey asked.

“What about you what?” Jericho asked back.

“Aren’t you going to apologize for calling me an idiot?”

“No, you’re an idiot.”

Grey rolled his eyes.

“Please stop the insanity.” Gabriel suddenly spoke up. “That was interesting for about a second.” In the background Dante yawned. “Why don’t you all just sit down and shut up.”

“Look, you got what you wanted, so why don’t you and Andre the Giant just get on your little boat and go.” Grey took a step towards him.

“Sit down Grey.” Gabriel warned and tightened the grip on his gun.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”

Gabriel pointed the gun at his forehead, but Grey didn’t flinch. “How about now?”

“Go to hell.”

Concerned, Alice stepped forward. “Grey…”

“Not now, Ripley.”

“I’m not even going to start counting.”

Grey stood his ground and so did Gabriel. But when he cocked his gun Alice held her breath. “Grey…”

He ignored her. Grey’s eyes were locked with Gabriel’s. He wouldn’t do it. He just wouldn’t. “Get your fucking gun out of my face.” With a quick swipe of his hand Grey shoved the barrel out of the way, causing Gabriel to pull the trigger. The bang was so loud and it felt like the entire earth had been spit in two. Everyone, except for Dante jumped in complete shock. Grey who felt the bullet wiz past his head, was holding his breath, thinking maybe the bullet had lodged itself somewhere else.

He looked down and found himself unscathed. With a murderous glare he grabbed Gabriel by the lapels of his fancy suit and shoved him roughly. “You son of a bitch.”

From behind his head came Alice’s quiet concerned voice. “Grey…”

“Oh relax.” Gabriel smirked. “You’re fine.”

“Grey…”

“Not now, Ripley!” He growled.

Suddenly Butterfly let out a horrifying scream. “Alice!”

Grey spun around and found Alice wavering slightly, with blood oozing out of a bullet hole in her side. A cold chill ran up his spine and caused every muscle in his body to tense.

“Grey…” She said again, then her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed onto the deck.

You know, I don't really like this chapter. But it was starting to piss me off so I figured I'd just post it, lol.

Yeah, so it's been a while. I know. I've been busy with life, which sucks. I've been writing this chapter for too long now, and it's not even that long. Well, it is what it is.

Okay so, I told you I'd give you fair warning when the end of this story drew near and I believe that time is coming soon. No the next chapter wont be the last, or even the one after that, but I'm just warning you now, that things are getting more intense for the finale, which I hope is grand. It's super epic in my head, so I hope I can transfer that into words.

Oh I was going to do review responses, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea. Believe me, I want to, it's just that I don't have a whole lot of time anymore. Well, I'll see how it goes. Anyway, thank you sooooo much for the reviews. I honestly couldn't ask for a better audience. You all rock.

I suppose that's all for now. I guess there's a bit of a cliffhanger going on. Stay tuned dudes.

Bon voyage,

Penny

P.S. Oh yeah, I got my LiveJournal working again, so if you care about my random thoughts add me as a friend. :P

P.P.S OH! And the lovely Katieeliza made me a banner for Broken Telephone! (Check it on my profile) I LOVE HER, and I'm totally freaking because I'm only on the second chapter. But the third should be out in less than a week I'd say. Thanks a ZILLION!