A/N: I keep telling myself that there's NO WAY I could possibly be dragging all of this out, but low and behold, I FREAKING DRAG IT ALL OUT. Curses, you vile fingers, you! But I guess in the long run it's okay, cuz I don't plan on finishing my story any time soon (everyone seems to still be bottled up with good stories and good times) so whatever.
Hope you like it! I worked extra hard on it, even though it's shorter then what I've been producing recently. It's just a filler chapter, I know, but it's really leading up to this next crazy idea that came to me : ) …just so you guys are forewarned. And I will personally cut my fingers off if they don't start piecing all of the damned mysteries of the story together!!!
And while I've learned to use extreme caution when promising things…I'm hoping that in the next chapter I'll shed some light on a few things. But…just don't hope too much…cuz I tend to forget things. :D
Chapter 19
Anyone else notice how much something—be it another person, inanimate objects, or myself—always seems to be knocking me down and out so much lately?
I know I've said it before but…
Like seriously.
What the hell.
Okay, okay, so maybe it was Purgatory because I had a scrump-diddily-umptous (or however it was spelled in Willy Wonka) male on top of me, but even then it was still unpleasant because I got the wind knocked out of me, and, as much as I love Conner, I'm not afraid to admit that while he looks physically perfect, he is heavy, especially when you're as dazed as I am.
Hmm…About why I'm so dazed…what happened again?
Oh yeah.
Boom.
Or, had you been standing where my friends and I were, it was BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM with an earth-shacking, wind-knocking, and heat-producing explosion of the first kind.
Moans and groans were heard in every direction from each couple, and had I not hurt so much, I might have found that thought funny.
"Conner," I wheezed. "Get off me."
He moaned and grounded and rolled off me onto a pile of rabbit poo.
"Ah, shit," he grumbled.
Haa.
Pun.
Sucks for him.
Or should I say…stinks for him?
Erm, right. Time to stop punning around.
I slapped my forehead.
I opened my eyes slowly and peered around at everyone.
My eyes stopped on Tiffany and I felt my heart beat speed up.
She had that look on her face.
The bad look.
The one where her face is totally blank and her eyes are half lidded.
Those of us who knew Tiffany began edging away from her. The ones who didn't know took the hint and started edging away as well.
"Karlton," she said, her voice neutral.
Karlton, the only one of us who mysteriously hadn't gotten knocked over by the force of the blast, slowly looked at his cousin.
The blood drained out of his already pale face.
"Uh…yes, oh beautiful cousin of mine?"
"Did you just blow up a castle?"
Gulp.
"Yes."
"In the middle of a forest?"
Sweat drop.
"…Yes."
"Full of trees that can easily be caught on fire?"
Sweet mercy.
"…Yes."
Her body twitched and then, needless to say, she tackled and then beat the living shit out of him.
"You dumbass!" Tiffany yelled as she punched Karlton in the face.
Victoria watched her man be beaten down by a five foot, 110 lb. girl with wide eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Smack.
Gabriel watched his beloved with fascination.
"You could have started a gigantic forest fire…" Kick.
Julie shook her head.
"…and really burned us all alive…" Punch.
Rudolf looked unconcerned but mildly fascinated.
"…if the blast from the explosion hadn't done it first!!!" Smack.
Pat watched the display with undisguised interest.
"Do you ever think before doing stupid things?!" Kick.
Alicia cheered her on.
"DO YOU?!" Punch.
Conner was looking up and begging God to answer him where he went wrong.
"WELL, NEXT TIME YOU SHOULD!!!" Smack!
And I started laughing.
"You think this is funny?!" Tiffany glared at me, her leg suspended in air from the intended kick, her hands fisted in the shirt of a barely conscience Karlton.
"N-no," I laughed, "It's just…"
I couldn't form straight sentence. I tried to stop laughing, I swear I did, but all that came out was this huge snort and more peals of laughter.
Everyone else was looking at me like I was crazy.
Then they joined in.
What can I say?
Laughter is just so damned contagious.
Tiffany huffed and threw poor Karlton to the ground.
His face black and blue, he looked up at his cousin in exasperation.
"Was that…really necessary?" he bit out.
She glared down at him.
"Yes. It was."
He muttered to himself, "Damn crazy tree hugger."
She twitched.
He whimpered and huddled into a fetal position, ready to take on Tiffany's next attack, but she only went over to Gabriel and buried herself in his chest.
"Gabey," she sniffed, on the verge of tears, "he nearly set this pretty forest on fire."
Gabriel obediently pet his girlfriend's head and rubbed soothing circles onto her back.
"I know, Love, I know. Shhh. It's all right now."
Alicia, who was the closest of my friends, whispered to me in a conspiring manner, "If I'd have know that all it would take to get her to go all Sergeant Jane on someone, I'd have set my lawn on fire a long time ago and blamed it on my ex boyfriend."
"I heard that!" Tiffany yelled in our direction.
Alicia threw her hands up.
"Kidding!"
"Um, you guys? How are we going to get out of this forest?" Victoria asked in a subdued voice. She's placed Karlton's abused head in her lap and was currently stoking his hair. He looked content, but I wondered if it was because he just didn't give a fuck who was soothing him at this point.
Huh.
That was a great question.
We all looked at each other.
"Uh…"
Pat spoke up.
"I've got a bunch of walkie-talkies in my bag…"
He searched around for his bag. With big eyes he looked at Julie in horror.
"Jules, please don't tell me I put the bag down in the security room and forgot to pick it up along with the rest of them."
Julie searched through various other bags.
"You forgot it."
They both gazed at the destroyed castle.
"Crap."
"Yeah."
"Why did you put all of the walkie-talkies in one place? Why didn't everyone have one? Isn't that the point of having them?" I asked.
Pat looked at me evenly.
"We decided that we'd only use them if it was absolutely necessary. The kind I had in stock sucks at communicating out in the woods like these, and I was low on batteries, so it was only natural that I wouldn't give them out except in case of an emergency."
I sunk to the ground.
"It's okay, guys. I've got an idea," Gabriel said.
Curious eyes turned on him.
"I have some…contacts in these woods. We should reach them in about an hour of steady travel southwestward."
"What kind of 'contacts'?" Conner asked cautiously.
Gabriel wouldn't reveal any more about these people, even, so it appeared, to his darling Tiffany.
And we marched southwestward.
---
A/N: Hmm, lmao, I think I need to go back and see just exactly WHAT all I need to put together. There's so many mysteries I've left u guys hanging in, I can't even remember all of them. Soooo, I plan on re-reading my story, WRITING DOWN all the things I need to clear up…and then getting them cleared up, cuz I've kept u guys in the dark for WAYYYY too long (though I swear that it was never intentional…)
Reviews:
okey-dokes: Lmao, when I came up with Victoria's character, she was actually supposed to be all stuck on Conner (like a stereotypical bitchy ex girlfriend) but then her character faded away and when Karlton, like Gabriel, came out of freaking NOWHERE, I was like hey, they'd be hilarious together! So yeah. Vic/Karl love all the way!!!
Firaa the Fallen Guardian: Hell yeah, go yaoi!!! LMAO! Actually, he was going to ask her out on a normal date (and possibly say something witty afterward if anything came to me), but I should have done something like you suggested : ) I'm sorry I didn't think of it first! (Ps: I like ur name!)
Twinkle Star Bell: Yaaay!!! We all share the love! Lmao, I'm glad u liked the end. I'd been planning it for MONTHS, literally, and some ppl didn't seem to like it very much…but I guess they just don't share our humor, hee.
starXcookie: Urrmmmmm, nope, they are NOT an official couple yet, which is actually a point someone will ask eventually…cuz I plan on ending the story with them finally getting together and going on a ridiculous date. But who knows? Anyway, they BOTH know how the other feels, (Sara cuz she read his dairy, and Conner cuz…well, I wont spoil the surprise!) so they are just instinctively that close and affectionate, even without any declarations of love being professed. Does that explain it?
Endowment's Seraph: Yay! I'm glad you loved it! Continued support makes my insides feel all warm and fuzzy. :D
embersilence: Lmao, I ask myself why shitty stories get TONS of reviews while I don't quite frequently, but then I think of how much more ur guy's reviews mean to me because of that and it makes me happier that way. :D Hmm. When I first created the story it was just a regular ONE-SHOT, so I didn't even intend on all of the rest of it happening, and now that I think about it, it IS ironic that they have such boring names, lamo. I love exotic names too, which is probably why I'm such a big anime/manga fan. It makes me chuckle when ppl point out things that are ironic in my own story that I didn't even notice before. I'm left to sad, sad conclusions about myself. Anyway, I hope I did a good job on this short filler, despite the fact that it's short…and a filler. Hee.
shattered.heart.baby: Aww, I'm sorry you took my BOOM in a more negative way. Some people loved it, others were like uhh, wtf? I've been planning on it for months though, and if u look back at old chapter A/Ns, I made a pretty big hint here and there. I hope I'm able to redeem myself in your eyes in upcoming chapters. : ) You're still my toughest fan to please, but I always love the challenge!!!
RhiaLirin: I love whiny readers. If no one whines, then I don't know what's wrong:D
Dudeofwhomlikesyourstory: Lmfao, NOOOOO, he wasn't going to ask her to marry him. It was just going to be a normal, yes NORMAL, "Will you be my girlfriend" or "Will you go out on a date with me" kind of thing. Lmao, but as I can't have normal things in my story, he was interrupted by the explosion.
Dawn's unforgiving darkness: Uhhh, judging from your name (lol kidding!), am I supposed to take that "…" in a negative way, a "I shake my head" kind of way, or just a plain "WTF?!" kind of way?
thoughtsofwisdom: Yay! I left a pretty big hint about Victoria, so I'm glad u caught on! Karlton isn't crazy…he's just special. Extra special. He blew up the castle for reasons you'll learn…well, I'd like to say "next chapter," but I cant make any promises simply cuz 99.9 percent of the time I don't even write what I intended to write in the first place. Yes, Karlton (along with Tiffany and Conner) is rich enough to blow up a castle and no one will bat an eyelash at the money wasted or that it happened in a forest…the forest thing partly cuz he owns it. The Pat/Julie issue is actually rather simple. I just haven't gotten around to explaining it, lol, sorry. Hell yeah there will be more Rudolf/Alicia action! All my couples will get their time in the spotlight. :D
Murasaki Sakura: (starts stepping away) Well …(clears throat)…All I can say is that Victoria and Karlton go waaaaaay back, before she met Conner (HINTHINT) and I can't say for sure when everything will be explained. I need to remember what "everything" is in the FRIST place, before I explain it. Woe is me….I've forgotten to many things and now I need to reincorporate them, and then I need to explain the things I DO remember. Well, since everyone will be walking for quite some time next chapter…let's hope they talk about some things that'll clear up some questions. Is that okay?
hopeless-flame: Lmfao, no, Karlton's not depressed. Nor is he psycho…well, okay, so he may have some issues, but he actually had quite a simple reason for blowing up the castle.
XxGraciousxX: Ooh, more compliments! You guys make it so hard to keep myself humble :D But I just love you all the more for it. Thanks again! I hope this filler was satisfactory enough!
eliza-smiles: Thanks a billion and one for the review:D It makes my day!
Machete-soul-dance: Omfg, you have no idea how hard your review made me laugh. While I'm still half way confused, I think I got what you meant. Even so, I'm amused to no end. :D