Chapter Seven
It was at one of the Ruin-areas that the earthquake had caused the ground to crack open and collapse, revealing the underground waterfall, and stream. The fall itself was frozen, with small cracks that let out small trails of water to the unfrozen stream below. Dave was extremely cautious about getting too close, as he assumed that the ground was no longer stable (regardless of the fact that many others were running about with no injury).
He saw abandoned vehicles about, old and decayed, not in current use, which caused him to completely miss that Craiger’s car was parked nearby. He looked over at Rin to see what condition she was in at the moment. He assumed she would be a nervous wreck and for the most part he was right. She was shaking and looking about with a great deal of energy. She did not want to be there.
Dave pretended not to notice, and felt guilty for doing so. He was not trying to be cruel, but he wanted to do what he could to help her get to being mais extrovert.
“’EY! THERE YA ARE!” A familiar voice called out from below. Dave recognized it as Asher’s, and looked over the side a bit more. He was going to wave at the teen, but that was before he noticed that Asher was neither facing him nor speaking to him. He looked about and noticed that it was actually Kyle who he was speaking to, and Craiger, who was just behind him, carrying the snacks of BLT Sandwiches.
“Hold on…” The Hyatt boy muttered, “didn’t he leave like… an hora ago?” Dave did not want to think too far into this. Craiger had probably just gone back for Kyle, which would explain them both turning up.
“Is that a cement mixer?” He heard Rin ask seguinte to him. She pointed down at the water, in a darkened area, her fingers barely showing out of her sleeves. Dave peered a bit and noticed that there did seem to be a cement car there… it must have fallen in the earthquake. There was no doubt that some of the kids had already been exploring it.
“Well, do you want to go down and get a better look?” He hinted, hoping she would either nod, walk, or show some form of yes.
“… Alright.” She walked away a bit. Dave turned around to her, confused.
“Didn’t you just say alright?” He questioned.
“Yep. She answered while rushing past him and jumping into the giant hole. Dave went from calm to panicked instantly; he flung himself to the side of the ledge, and grabbed hold of her foot, causing her to let out an “eep!” of surprise. She twisted around and braced herself with her hands on the mural so that she did not thud against them, and sighed.
Dave did not mean to but he noticed that her feet were as red as they were when she came to his has that one night, except… she had not been in a fight recently, or as far as Dave knew… they looked stained.
“I was gonna land in the water…” She informed in a monotone tone, coaxing Dave out of his observation.
Dave was processing this, along with anger, stress, pain in his arm (soon to be arms), embarrassment for multiple reasons, and slight betrayal. All he said was “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT!?”
“I was trying to be dramatic!” She yelled back. “… Can I go now please? My ankle hurts.”
“I really don’t think I’d like your head bursting open from the ground mais than your ankle.” He said through his teeth, still stressing to keep her up. Dave could carry a girl, it was not a hard task, to his shame and pride, but using one arm that was practically yanked off that he could not recover for a good thirty segundos or so, and holding over a ledge with the hard ground scraping against your arms, and having been punched in the stomach por the ground, his experience was harder than normal. And factoring in the snow in his face, and the chilling feeling it was giving him, he would not last long.
“I can still reach the-… crud…”
“What?”
“LOOK OVER THERE!!!” A voice yelled from beneath them. Dave was too busy holding on to Rin to recognize the voice. It was… male most-likely.
“OW!” Rin had kicked Dave’s hand with her free foot, causing him to let go. Normally this would need mais effort, but she hit him with her toe-nails, cutting his hand in the process. She fell downward with a gasp coming from below.
“NO NO NO-“ Dave looked over the ledge mais and saw that she had landed… she was on her feet, and seemed without a scratch. Did she grab some kind of ledge?
Dave was relieved none the less, but his relief turned to anger when he noticed that people were backing away from the Red-haired hoodie-girl, who backed away from them as well. To Dave’s surprise though, Kyle walked towards her, waving friendlily.
“Hi Rin.” He said, smiling as best he could. He approached her slowly, trying not to startle. From Dave’s perspective it looked like a man trying to tame a wild deer or something. It unnerved him.
Kyle meant no such thing of course, but it looked the part regardless. Rin did not back off thankfully, so Kyle continued talking “Do you want to look around? Some people are taking pictures.”
“I don’t have a camera.” She answered bluntly, shrugging her shoulders.
“Well we’re climbing if you want to do that.” He added. Dave was walking over beside Rin when he said this. “Hi Dave.” He waved.
“Hey.” Dave greeted back. “What’ve you guys been doin while you’re here?” Dave never did care to show off his grammar.
“Looking around, climbing mostly,” Kyle gestured his arms to the rock-wall like inside of the waterfall area, then pointed to a cave-like section at the back, “No one seems to fit inside there. Rynk wanted to but…”
“But?” Dave repeated, suggesting for Kyle to go on. Kyle simply sighed as Rynk slowly walked over, wincing with each step.
“D-did you hurt your leg?” Rin asked, walking over to Rynk. Dave noticed how open Rin was around Rynk. Then again he was not surprised, remembering that Rynk knew Rin’s secret, and was friends wither her at one, if not currently.
“I just tried to climb down from the topo, início and it… gave away.” Rynk replied, “Landed right on my rump. I’d sit down but… well… stating the obvious.”
“Doesn’t look like you’re enjoying the walking either.” Dave noted, taking a step or two forward.
“Not particularly.” She began to sit down, but remembered all too quickly the pain of just previously, where she tried to sit and ended up feeling an extreme stinging, and had to have help being pulled up from it. “It’s not permanent. I heal fairly quickly.” She turned the attention back to Rin, “So miss hoodie, what made you decide to be all social?”
“I w-was just curious is all.” Rin answered sheepishly. Dave would normally believe this since it made sense, but how she said it seemed very unconvincing, and almost secretive.
“Well unfortunately the only thing cool to do now is take pictures.” Rynk sighed, “Well there is the cave but from what I heard it’s really narrow. Climbing got nixed sadly.” Dave and Rynk both noticed Rin’s mood dampen considerably, so Rynk added “Th-there’s still sand…wiches.” She put her palm to her face, realizing how little that actually helped.
“We could go hang out somewhere else.” Kyle suggested. “Or… we could play something here… w-with everyone. I mean,” He turned to the side, getting a general idea of how many people were there, “We could do something like Telephone, or Mafia or something like that.”
Kyle was slightly drowned out at the end por the sound of part of the asphalt and stone beneath it falling, making a large splash. ‘That doesn’t seem safe…’ Dave thought to himself, “Hang on.” He said aloud, “Aren’t the cops-… like don’t they KNOW about this?”
All three of the others (unless one would count Craiger who had walked off to pass the comida around without being noticed) looked up towards the surface. Dave was curious as to why and looked up as well. He did not see anything out of the ordinary, so he could only assume, “Where you thinking that the police would show up just then?”
Rynk was the first to look back at Dave, “Well we’ve been here for about… an… almost an hour, and no blues.”
“Don’t you think they’d be here like half an hora ago? With everything falling apart?” Dave inquired.
“Maybe they’re busy.” Rin suggested. “They might be doing something else and can’t come over here.”
“Then don’t you think it would be a bad idea to be here when they do arrive?” Dave hinted.
They looked at each other. All three thought the same thing, and began to walk towards the exit but paused for a moment when Kyle asked “Wouldn’t Craiger know? He’s an adult.”
“He… I’ll go ask.” Rynk stated before walking off to talk with her bro, and a bit to get a sandwich.
While they waited for the Persian’s return Dave began to notice both Rin and Kyle slowly becoming mais awkward in their stances, slowly looking away, shuffling in small steps, and Rin even clearing her throat. “Do you want to go?” He finally asked her.
“Well… I did want to stay but it doesn’t sound like such a good idea now.” She replied.
“D-do either of you want to go do something else?” Kyle joined in. “I’m sure Rynk would like to come with us.”
“We don’t even know what we’re doing.” Rin replied.
Kyle drooped slightly. “I’m sorry…”
Rin took notice of his offended stance. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just saying…”
“Let’s just hear what Rynk finds out then figure out what comes next.” Dave suggested. “Is that alright?” They nodded. “Good.” He looked back to Craiger and Rynk who were still talking. He noticed Rynk becoming very energetic, smiling with a small hop of joy before hugging Craiger. What did he tell her?
Rynk ran back to the others with Craiger walking behind after setting down his snacks for the public. “Okay so we’re not staying here, but Craiger will drive us over a Spelunking place.”
“Do they have those in this town?” Dave asked while turning to the others for nods or shakes of the heads.
“No it’s about a thirty Mile drive out of the town.” Rynk informed. “We’ve got a lot of time though so we’ll be there and back before the sunset.”
It sounded like a good idea but no doubt it costed money and Dave often felt overly guilty when someone else paid for his enjoyment. So he said to Craiger “I’ll pay you back wh-“
“No need I’m fine for doing it myself.” Craiger interrupted while raising his hand. “Don’t need to worry about it.”
Dave wanted to just say ‘Okay, thanks’ but something just kept him in between. He felt like he owed Craiger much mais than just a day’s enjoyment, even though that was all it was. Was there a secret reason he just did not remember? He did not know but he had to say something that was not agreeing to this.
“I’m paying for myself.” He replied in a stern tone. He did not mean to come across so direct or menacingly but one look at the others’ reactions showed how strange and possibly offensive he sounded. Craiger gave him a strange look, raising an eyebrow, but said “Okay then, it’s your money.” And left it at that.
“His cash isn’t poison or anything.” Rynk pointed out with slightly narrowed eyes. “What was wrong with just accepting it?”
“I… sorry.” Dave looked down at the ground; he did not want to see their faces starring down at him even if it was a small matter. “I didn’t mean to sound so mean about that, I just didn’t want to… never mind.” He looked to Rin, “Do you want to come?”
“Are you all okay with that?” She asked Rynk and Kyle.
“Of course we’re okay with you coming!” Rynk replied while pulling Rin into a shoulder-hug. Kyle said nothing but he agreed. Rin smiled at them and soon the group was led out por Craiger.
As the group of young people exited the city via Craiger’s conversível the radio played smooth Jazz. It was easy on the ears, if a little unexpected. Rynk sat in front with Craiger, with Dave sitting between Kyle and Rin. Having everyone in silence while the música played began to make Dave become uncomfortably aware of his surroundings. He could feel the pressure on his back from the seat, where both Rin and Kyle’s eyes were looking, and if he was touching them on their arms, shoulders, or legs.
He slowly and cautiously scrunched himself up so that he was not in a position that would cause either of them to feel uncomfortable, especially Rin who herself seemed uncomfortable. Dave was used to being in cars with tons of people before, usually his anterior rock band, but those were people he knew for years. He could act like himself around them carefree and immaturely without someone getting upset with him. Here that was simply not the case.
Dave felt especially awkward being seguinte to Rin because of how socially awkward she usually was. He remembered though, how fun and energetic she was that one night when they played his Portal game. It took time to get her to come out of her shell but it was certainly possible. Maybe if they started doing something energetic she would cadastrar-se in.
“Hey Craiger!” He called to the front.
“Yep?” Craiger replied.
“Got anything we can sing to?”
“Let’s see.” The Australian flipped through the stations. There was an accordion player, news, commercials, something Heavy Metal that no one could decipher, and five channels after that later, they hit the end of what sounded like the song “Sadie Hawkins Dance”.
“Aw man we missed it!” Rynk stated.
“We’ll find something eventually.” Craiger replied. A few segundos later the station that was playing Sadie Hawkins Dance began to play a different song that they were all aware of. Rynk and Craiger were the first to begin cantar the lyrics.
“He was a boy,” they began without a care in the world, “she was a girl. Can I make it any mais obvious?”
Dave looked at Kyle and Rin. Both of them seemed to be surprised and wanting to sing along. Rin even opened her mouth to start but stopped herself. Kyle noticed this and became even less part of the music. So to help push them mais Dave began cantar to it as well. “He was a punk, she did ballet.”
Then all three of them joined in to sing “What mais can I say?” It was after those lyrics that Dave was glad to hear Rin voicing the following lyrics “He wanted her, she’d never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well.”
She was smiling and getting very into it. Unfortunately Kyle remained silent and was becoming uncomfortable. Dave nudged him “Come on, no one’s going to laugh at us.”
“We’re laughing at ourselves.” Rin retorted, “Just cadastrar-se the fun!”
Kyle looked at Dave as if asking for permission or the all-clear. Dave nodded repeatedly. Kyle gave a short sigh then began to cadastrar-se in the music. Unfortunately he did not know the lyrics too well, and would trail off here and there. Fortunately he did catch on and once they had finished their song, another one they knew came on, which Kyle could sing, then another, then another.
Almost half of an hora had passed and they did not even notice because they were too busy enjoying themselves as they sang their vocal cords off. However after yelling the lyrics for so long some of their throats began to sore so it did end, though not before the small group of friends had a good laugh.
“Why did he have to be a skater boy?” Rin asked.
“What do you mean?” Craiger replied.
“Was Ice-skater boy taken? I wouldn’t mind having that for mah man.” She teased. “or roller blades! Or- or Surfer!”
“I think that’s the point.” Kyle noted. The others looked to him with curiosity. He became a bit intimidated por the attention but continued “wh-what I mean is that isn’t the Skater Boy supposed to be really dorky or unappealing or something? Like how it said punk and the friends not liking the baggy clothes?”
“Yes, exactly!” Rynk replied while reaching over to give Kyle a high five which he happily accepted.
“Hilary Duff would be proud.” Rin noted with a chuckle. The others seemed a bit puzzled por this.
“You mean Avril Levine right?” Dave corrected. Rin hit herself in the forehead. “RIGHT! Sorry.”
“Simple mistake.” Rynk assured. “I have a hard time remembering Celebrities in general. I know about Three Hughes, two Emma’s, and all those old guys that you see in filmes now but don’t remember from earlier ones.”
“Like… Robert Downey Jr?” Rin guessed.
Rynk made a weighing gesture with her hand, “more like Jeff Bridges.” They made a turn on the Highway towards their destination. A car barely cut in front of them, causing Craiger to slam down the breaks to avoid crashing. He muttered something under his breath angrily. Apparently whatever he muttered was not very nice because Rynk slapped him upside the back of his head. He snapped her a quick glare but relaxed immediately and turned his eyes back to the road.
“I amor that movie!” Rin replied, confusing Rynk slightly as they went back to their actor topic.
“Robert Downey Jr. is that old?” Dave questioned. “He doesn’t seem like it.” Craiger began to notice the car in front of him slowing down, even though they were below the speed limit. The car continued to slow down until going at perhaps ten Miles an hour. Craiger honked at him repeatedly. Rynk patted Craiger on the shoulder comfortingly then replied to Dave.
“I don’t think he’s as old as Bridges.” She corrected, “just oldish… then again Rin’s the one who guessed Rober- wha?”
What had caused Rynk to interrupt herself was the fact that Craiger had stopped the car. “Aw flag…” She sighed. “What’s the traffic?” The Persian-Scottish girl unbuckled from her assento and stood up to see how many cars were in front of her. The only car in front of them was the slow grey Suburban.
“Uh… why did we stop?” Dave asked in a nervous tone. Craiger did not reply. He pulled the clutch, and drove backwards, then tried to drive progressivo, para a frente around the front car. He got halfway in front of the Suburban before the driver rammed into the side of Craiger’s convertible.
Craiger’s car jerked to the side a good five inches. Rynk quickly buckled herself back up. “DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!” Rin yelled at Craiger who quickly complied. Slamming on the gas and letting out a screeching from the tire on his wheels, the conversível rushed forward.
The Suburban began to chase after them. Kyle turned himself completely around to keep a good eye on it. “It-it’s still after us!” He yelled.
“Hold on tight to whatever!” Craiger ordered. “I don’t know if that idiot’s drunk or what!”
The suburban was not gaining on them but they were not losing it either. Craiger looked around for fork in the road, or a store on the side, or some kind of cover perhaps. He did not see anything.
“Maybe that underground waterfall thing was the better idea after all.” Dave muttered to himself. He looked to his left and right to check if Rin and Kyle were alright. Kyle was immobile it seemed. It was as if he was glued to the car behind them. His eyes were wide and alert. If he had dog ears they would be shooting straight up.
Rin on the other hand actually looked angry. She was looking towards the ground with a deep glare, and something in her hands. Dave got a short glimpse of the item. It looked sharp. Was she planning to use that on the car? What was she going to do; jump on it and start hacking away? Then again she did go fight Ira (if that is what she had done. ‘Come to think of it;’ he thought ‘you’d think a broken nose would stay broken longer.’) just to get her off Dave’s case. Was she crazy enough to do something here? Well she had not yet, and in a moment she would not be able to.
The real traffic was in front of them. There were dozens of cars, some large enough to conceal them if needed. Craiger did not want to lose this chance and sped up even more, going between the cars and in front of a FEDEX-themed truck. The Suburban eventually drove up to their distance but did nothing once in range of them.
“Guess it doesn’t want anyone to see.” Rynk assumed. She began unbuckling and opening her door. Craiger grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. “Don’t even think about it.” He ordered before letting go and turning back to the road. Rynk did not obey at first but eventually she closed her door again and sat with her arms crossed.
“I don’t think they’re drunk, Craiger.” Said Dave, referring to how smooth the driver was being, and how they had not been hit yet.
“Me neither…” Craiger replied. He looked over and noticed a part of the road breaking off down towards a small group of stores and jumped into it as soon as he could. He then parked in front of a Gas station with a Seven Eleven seguinte to it. “All of you get inside the store and tell anyone inside what just happened.” Craiger ordered as they got out.
Rynk stayed, as did Dave but Rin and Kyle ran inside. Sure enough, the Suburban drove up towards them. Rynk began walking towards the car but once again Craiger held her back and pushed her and Dave behind himself.
‘This isn’t demeaning at all.’ Dave thought depressingly. Sure he got to be right seguinte to a fairly attractive girl but he also looked like a little kid being protected por his daddy, and of course he was not a little kid.
The front door of the car slowly opened and a shoe could be seen landing on the ground. No doubt a foot was attached. Whoever was in the driver’s assento began to step out now but then the Store’s doors opened. Rin, Kyle, and a few adults walked out. One of them had a red-collared shirt, a scruffy beard, and a shotgun; An Adrenaline-pumped red neck.
Whoever was coming out of the car stopped. Then he got back in, closed the door, and began to drive off. Rin ran over to the car as it sped off. What did she think she was going to do? It was already out of range and almost out of sight.
“I don’t think you could outrun it.” Dave noted while walking over to her.
“I wasn’t trying to.” She replied while walking back. “D-3-4-T-H-M-U-C”
Dave raised an eyebrow in confusion. “The… license plate?” He guessed. Rin nodded.
“That was real smart of you.” Craiger complimented to the hoodie girl. The Red Neck and some of the others talked Craiger over back inside the store while the teenagers remained outside, taking in the events.
“Why was that car after us?” Kyle questioned aloud. Dave was about to snap something about no one knowing why but Rin spoke first. “It was after Craiger’s car. Maybe they were after Craiger.”
“What are you saying?” Rynk narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling that her adopted brother was being accused.
“Does he know any bad people?” Rin asked calmly.
“What, for drugs or something?” Rynk replied. “He’s not involved with an-“
“That’s not what we’re saying… I think.” Dave stumbled. Rin sounded like it was what she was saying but Dave did not want them fighting.
“What is his job?” Rin questioned again.
“A handym- ! What do you mean ‘What’s his job’?!” Rynk snapped. “I’ve known you for years, and so has Craiger! Or was it you running away from us all the time that made you forget?”
Rynk’s words struck Rin hard. She stammered slightly but said nothing before turning away.
“Hey, we don’t have to get hostile.” Kyle joined in.
Dave was a bit interested in what Rynk was saying. He knew that Rin was introvert, but at one point she and Rynk were apparently friends so was she and Craiger involved with whatever secret Rin had, whoever she was responsible for the death of. Was it one of their relatives?
“Wait a minute,” he said aloud. “when exactly was the last time you two talked socially?”
“A… ano or so.” Rin replied softly. Rynk still looked upset. “I couldn’t look at you anymore.” She continued while looking back at Rynk. “I couldn’t look at anyone. Every time I did I felt guilty, and it never stopped!”
“You’re with us now!” Rynk retorted. “And you seem fi-“
“And I feel just as bad as ever!” Rin interrupted. “I was grateful for everything, I was. You… a-and Craiger, and the others… s-stood up for me, but…”
“You don’t know if you deserved to be defended.” Dave finished. He began to figure it out. A faint thought about going back to the topic of the rogue car entered Dave’s mind, but this might be his only chance to find out the full story about Rin’s secret. Who was killed? Why was she blamed? Was Ira involved? He knew that the car was presently mais important but he could not control his curiosity.
Rin had nodded to Dave regarding his words. “I don’t know if I did it, I don’t know if she did it, I don’t know what to do! I can’t find the answers!”
Craiger and the other adults had heard the yelling. Craiger walked out. “What’s going on?”
“We’re talking about…” Rynk began but stopped herself when she noticed Rin’s expression. Rin was not for telling Craiger. With a sigh Rynk reluctantly answered “the car… is there a way to track the license plate?”
“The police were called, they’ll handle it.” The buff Australian replied. “Are you all sure you’re alright?”
“We’re not.” Rin informed. Dave had hoped that they would be able to continue to their Spelunking but he knew the chances of that were very small.
“Are we still going Spelunking?” Kyle asked while Dave continued thinking.
Craiger took a deep sigh though his nose. He looked over the others “I don’t know if that would be safe. If that car comes back then its best we’re closer to home. And I don’t want to drive in the dark with that thing on the prowl.”
“Do you have any idea who owns it?” Dave questioned, continuing Rin’s anterior question. He briefly looked over to Rin. She was walking back inside the conversível and rolling the capuz, capa up.
“If I did I can’t remember.” Craiger replied. “I’ve made enemies before but no mais than anyone else. I couldn’t list anyone for you.”
“Then… does everyone want to go back?” Kyle winced.
Both Dave and Rynk were holding on to the possibility of Spelunking after all of this, but they found logic in Craiger’s words. If they went and nothing happened, then fine. But if they went and the car came back, would they be as lucky as they were this time? That car did not play around. It did not pretend to chase them or accidentally ram them, it followed them, and attacked them. Both teenagers nodded.
“I’m sorry, guys.” Was the last thing said before they got back into the car. Dave thought over if he actually wanted to go Spelunking. ‘It’s probably unsafe anyway’ he told himself. He came up with a few other excuses but it did nothing to ease his disappointment.
He was not however completely disappointed. He knew a little mais about Rin’s problem. He had kept his curiosity at baía for this long but maybe it was time to go deeper. The police most-likely had files on the situation and would supply him. But while he knew Rin only as a new friend (or at least he hoped she was his friend) his conscious demanded he get her okay before doing so. He could not bother her at this time. It would not be polite. So the seguinte dia if he found her, he would ask.
One final set of perguntas plagued him before they arrived back in Mob Suez. What was that car after? And was Rynk simply being protective of Craiger, or was she, or Craiger, hiding something?
It was at one of the Ruin-areas that the earthquake had caused the ground to crack open and collapse, revealing the underground waterfall, and stream. The fall itself was frozen, with small cracks that let out small trails of water to the unfrozen stream below. Dave was extremely cautious about getting too close, as he assumed that the ground was no longer stable (regardless of the fact that many others were running about with no injury).
He saw abandoned vehicles about, old and decayed, not in current use, which caused him to completely miss that Craiger’s car was parked nearby. He looked over at Rin to see what condition she was in at the moment. He assumed she would be a nervous wreck and for the most part he was right. She was shaking and looking about with a great deal of energy. She did not want to be there.
Dave pretended not to notice, and felt guilty for doing so. He was not trying to be cruel, but he wanted to do what he could to help her get to being mais extrovert.
“’EY! THERE YA ARE!” A familiar voice called out from below. Dave recognized it as Asher’s, and looked over the side a bit more. He was going to wave at the teen, but that was before he noticed that Asher was neither facing him nor speaking to him. He looked about and noticed that it was actually Kyle who he was speaking to, and Craiger, who was just behind him, carrying the snacks of BLT Sandwiches.
“Hold on…” The Hyatt boy muttered, “didn’t he leave like… an hora ago?” Dave did not want to think too far into this. Craiger had probably just gone back for Kyle, which would explain them both turning up.
“Is that a cement mixer?” He heard Rin ask seguinte to him. She pointed down at the water, in a darkened area, her fingers barely showing out of her sleeves. Dave peered a bit and noticed that there did seem to be a cement car there… it must have fallen in the earthquake. There was no doubt that some of the kids had already been exploring it.
“Well, do you want to go down and get a better look?” He hinted, hoping she would either nod, walk, or show some form of yes.
“… Alright.” She walked away a bit. Dave turned around to her, confused.
“Didn’t you just say alright?” He questioned.
“Yep. She answered while rushing past him and jumping into the giant hole. Dave went from calm to panicked instantly; he flung himself to the side of the ledge, and grabbed hold of her foot, causing her to let out an “eep!” of surprise. She twisted around and braced herself with her hands on the mural so that she did not thud against them, and sighed.
Dave did not mean to but he noticed that her feet were as red as they were when she came to his has that one night, except… she had not been in a fight recently, or as far as Dave knew… they looked stained.
“I was gonna land in the water…” She informed in a monotone tone, coaxing Dave out of his observation.
Dave was processing this, along with anger, stress, pain in his arm (soon to be arms), embarrassment for multiple reasons, and slight betrayal. All he said was “WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY THAT!?”
“I was trying to be dramatic!” She yelled back. “… Can I go now please? My ankle hurts.”
“I really don’t think I’d like your head bursting open from the ground mais than your ankle.” He said through his teeth, still stressing to keep her up. Dave could carry a girl, it was not a hard task, to his shame and pride, but using one arm that was practically yanked off that he could not recover for a good thirty segundos or so, and holding over a ledge with the hard ground scraping against your arms, and having been punched in the stomach por the ground, his experience was harder than normal. And factoring in the snow in his face, and the chilling feeling it was giving him, he would not last long.
“I can still reach the-… crud…”
“What?”
“LOOK OVER THERE!!!” A voice yelled from beneath them. Dave was too busy holding on to Rin to recognize the voice. It was… male most-likely.
“OW!” Rin had kicked Dave’s hand with her free foot, causing him to let go. Normally this would need mais effort, but she hit him with her toe-nails, cutting his hand in the process. She fell downward with a gasp coming from below.
“NO NO NO-“ Dave looked over the ledge mais and saw that she had landed… she was on her feet, and seemed without a scratch. Did she grab some kind of ledge?
Dave was relieved none the less, but his relief turned to anger when he noticed that people were backing away from the Red-haired hoodie-girl, who backed away from them as well. To Dave’s surprise though, Kyle walked towards her, waving friendlily.
“Hi Rin.” He said, smiling as best he could. He approached her slowly, trying not to startle. From Dave’s perspective it looked like a man trying to tame a wild deer or something. It unnerved him.
Kyle meant no such thing of course, but it looked the part regardless. Rin did not back off thankfully, so Kyle continued talking “Do you want to look around? Some people are taking pictures.”
“I don’t have a camera.” She answered bluntly, shrugging her shoulders.
“Well we’re climbing if you want to do that.” He added. Dave was walking over beside Rin when he said this. “Hi Dave.” He waved.
“Hey.” Dave greeted back. “What’ve you guys been doin while you’re here?” Dave never did care to show off his grammar.
“Looking around, climbing mostly,” Kyle gestured his arms to the rock-wall like inside of the waterfall area, then pointed to a cave-like section at the back, “No one seems to fit inside there. Rynk wanted to but…”
“But?” Dave repeated, suggesting for Kyle to go on. Kyle simply sighed as Rynk slowly walked over, wincing with each step.
“D-did you hurt your leg?” Rin asked, walking over to Rynk. Dave noticed how open Rin was around Rynk. Then again he was not surprised, remembering that Rynk knew Rin’s secret, and was friends wither her at one, if not currently.
“I just tried to climb down from the topo, início and it… gave away.” Rynk replied, “Landed right on my rump. I’d sit down but… well… stating the obvious.”
“Doesn’t look like you’re enjoying the walking either.” Dave noted, taking a step or two forward.
“Not particularly.” She began to sit down, but remembered all too quickly the pain of just previously, where she tried to sit and ended up feeling an extreme stinging, and had to have help being pulled up from it. “It’s not permanent. I heal fairly quickly.” She turned the attention back to Rin, “So miss hoodie, what made you decide to be all social?”
“I w-was just curious is all.” Rin answered sheepishly. Dave would normally believe this since it made sense, but how she said it seemed very unconvincing, and almost secretive.
“Well unfortunately the only thing cool to do now is take pictures.” Rynk sighed, “Well there is the cave but from what I heard it’s really narrow. Climbing got nixed sadly.” Dave and Rynk both noticed Rin’s mood dampen considerably, so Rynk added “Th-there’s still sand…wiches.” She put her palm to her face, realizing how little that actually helped.
“We could go hang out somewhere else.” Kyle suggested. “Or… we could play something here… w-with everyone. I mean,” He turned to the side, getting a general idea of how many people were there, “We could do something like Telephone, or Mafia or something like that.”
Kyle was slightly drowned out at the end por the sound of part of the asphalt and stone beneath it falling, making a large splash. ‘That doesn’t seem safe…’ Dave thought to himself, “Hang on.” He said aloud, “Aren’t the cops-… like don’t they KNOW about this?”
All three of the others (unless one would count Craiger who had walked off to pass the comida around without being noticed) looked up towards the surface. Dave was curious as to why and looked up as well. He did not see anything out of the ordinary, so he could only assume, “Where you thinking that the police would show up just then?”
Rynk was the first to look back at Dave, “Well we’ve been here for about… an… almost an hour, and no blues.”
“Don’t you think they’d be here like half an hora ago? With everything falling apart?” Dave inquired.
“Maybe they’re busy.” Rin suggested. “They might be doing something else and can’t come over here.”
“Then don’t you think it would be a bad idea to be here when they do arrive?” Dave hinted.
They looked at each other. All three thought the same thing, and began to walk towards the exit but paused for a moment when Kyle asked “Wouldn’t Craiger know? He’s an adult.”
“He… I’ll go ask.” Rynk stated before walking off to talk with her bro, and a bit to get a sandwich.
While they waited for the Persian’s return Dave began to notice both Rin and Kyle slowly becoming mais awkward in their stances, slowly looking away, shuffling in small steps, and Rin even clearing her throat. “Do you want to go?” He finally asked her.
“Well… I did want to stay but it doesn’t sound like such a good idea now.” She replied.
“D-do either of you want to go do something else?” Kyle joined in. “I’m sure Rynk would like to come with us.”
“We don’t even know what we’re doing.” Rin replied.
Kyle drooped slightly. “I’m sorry…”
Rin took notice of his offended stance. “I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just saying…”
“Let’s just hear what Rynk finds out then figure out what comes next.” Dave suggested. “Is that alright?” They nodded. “Good.” He looked back to Craiger and Rynk who were still talking. He noticed Rynk becoming very energetic, smiling with a small hop of joy before hugging Craiger. What did he tell her?
Rynk ran back to the others with Craiger walking behind after setting down his snacks for the public. “Okay so we’re not staying here, but Craiger will drive us over a Spelunking place.”
“Do they have those in this town?” Dave asked while turning to the others for nods or shakes of the heads.
“No it’s about a thirty Mile drive out of the town.” Rynk informed. “We’ve got a lot of time though so we’ll be there and back before the sunset.”
It sounded like a good idea but no doubt it costed money and Dave often felt overly guilty when someone else paid for his enjoyment. So he said to Craiger “I’ll pay you back wh-“
“No need I’m fine for doing it myself.” Craiger interrupted while raising his hand. “Don’t need to worry about it.”
Dave wanted to just say ‘Okay, thanks’ but something just kept him in between. He felt like he owed Craiger much mais than just a day’s enjoyment, even though that was all it was. Was there a secret reason he just did not remember? He did not know but he had to say something that was not agreeing to this.
“I’m paying for myself.” He replied in a stern tone. He did not mean to come across so direct or menacingly but one look at the others’ reactions showed how strange and possibly offensive he sounded. Craiger gave him a strange look, raising an eyebrow, but said “Okay then, it’s your money.” And left it at that.
“His cash isn’t poison or anything.” Rynk pointed out with slightly narrowed eyes. “What was wrong with just accepting it?”
“I… sorry.” Dave looked down at the ground; he did not want to see their faces starring down at him even if it was a small matter. “I didn’t mean to sound so mean about that, I just didn’t want to… never mind.” He looked to Rin, “Do you want to come?”
“Are you all okay with that?” She asked Rynk and Kyle.
“Of course we’re okay with you coming!” Rynk replied while pulling Rin into a shoulder-hug. Kyle said nothing but he agreed. Rin smiled at them and soon the group was led out por Craiger.
As the group of young people exited the city via Craiger’s conversível the radio played smooth Jazz. It was easy on the ears, if a little unexpected. Rynk sat in front with Craiger, with Dave sitting between Kyle and Rin. Having everyone in silence while the música played began to make Dave become uncomfortably aware of his surroundings. He could feel the pressure on his back from the seat, where both Rin and Kyle’s eyes were looking, and if he was touching them on their arms, shoulders, or legs.
He slowly and cautiously scrunched himself up so that he was not in a position that would cause either of them to feel uncomfortable, especially Rin who herself seemed uncomfortable. Dave was used to being in cars with tons of people before, usually his anterior rock band, but those were people he knew for years. He could act like himself around them carefree and immaturely without someone getting upset with him. Here that was simply not the case.
Dave felt especially awkward being seguinte to Rin because of how socially awkward she usually was. He remembered though, how fun and energetic she was that one night when they played his Portal game. It took time to get her to come out of her shell but it was certainly possible. Maybe if they started doing something energetic she would cadastrar-se in.
“Hey Craiger!” He called to the front.
“Yep?” Craiger replied.
“Got anything we can sing to?”
“Let’s see.” The Australian flipped through the stations. There was an accordion player, news, commercials, something Heavy Metal that no one could decipher, and five channels after that later, they hit the end of what sounded like the song “Sadie Hawkins Dance”.
“Aw man we missed it!” Rynk stated.
“We’ll find something eventually.” Craiger replied. A few segundos later the station that was playing Sadie Hawkins Dance began to play a different song that they were all aware of. Rynk and Craiger were the first to begin cantar the lyrics.
“He was a boy,” they began without a care in the world, “she was a girl. Can I make it any mais obvious?”
Dave looked at Kyle and Rin. Both of them seemed to be surprised and wanting to sing along. Rin even opened her mouth to start but stopped herself. Kyle noticed this and became even less part of the music. So to help push them mais Dave began cantar to it as well. “He was a punk, she did ballet.”
Then all three of them joined in to sing “What mais can I say?” It was after those lyrics that Dave was glad to hear Rin voicing the following lyrics “He wanted her, she’d never tell, but secretly she wanted him as well.”
She was smiling and getting very into it. Unfortunately Kyle remained silent and was becoming uncomfortable. Dave nudged him “Come on, no one’s going to laugh at us.”
“We’re laughing at ourselves.” Rin retorted, “Just cadastrar-se the fun!”
Kyle looked at Dave as if asking for permission or the all-clear. Dave nodded repeatedly. Kyle gave a short sigh then began to cadastrar-se in the music. Unfortunately he did not know the lyrics too well, and would trail off here and there. Fortunately he did catch on and once they had finished their song, another one they knew came on, which Kyle could sing, then another, then another.
Almost half of an hora had passed and they did not even notice because they were too busy enjoying themselves as they sang their vocal cords off. However after yelling the lyrics for so long some of their throats began to sore so it did end, though not before the small group of friends had a good laugh.
“Why did he have to be a skater boy?” Rin asked.
“What do you mean?” Craiger replied.
“Was Ice-skater boy taken? I wouldn’t mind having that for mah man.” She teased. “or roller blades! Or- or Surfer!”
“I think that’s the point.” Kyle noted. The others looked to him with curiosity. He became a bit intimidated por the attention but continued “wh-what I mean is that isn’t the Skater Boy supposed to be really dorky or unappealing or something? Like how it said punk and the friends not liking the baggy clothes?”
“Yes, exactly!” Rynk replied while reaching over to give Kyle a high five which he happily accepted.
“Hilary Duff would be proud.” Rin noted with a chuckle. The others seemed a bit puzzled por this.
“You mean Avril Levine right?” Dave corrected. Rin hit herself in the forehead. “RIGHT! Sorry.”
“Simple mistake.” Rynk assured. “I have a hard time remembering Celebrities in general. I know about Three Hughes, two Emma’s, and all those old guys that you see in filmes now but don’t remember from earlier ones.”
“Like… Robert Downey Jr?” Rin guessed.
Rynk made a weighing gesture with her hand, “more like Jeff Bridges.” They made a turn on the Highway towards their destination. A car barely cut in front of them, causing Craiger to slam down the breaks to avoid crashing. He muttered something under his breath angrily. Apparently whatever he muttered was not very nice because Rynk slapped him upside the back of his head. He snapped her a quick glare but relaxed immediately and turned his eyes back to the road.
“I amor that movie!” Rin replied, confusing Rynk slightly as they went back to their actor topic.
“Robert Downey Jr. is that old?” Dave questioned. “He doesn’t seem like it.” Craiger began to notice the car in front of him slowing down, even though they were below the speed limit. The car continued to slow down until going at perhaps ten Miles an hour. Craiger honked at him repeatedly. Rynk patted Craiger on the shoulder comfortingly then replied to Dave.
“I don’t think he’s as old as Bridges.” She corrected, “just oldish… then again Rin’s the one who guessed Rober- wha?”
What had caused Rynk to interrupt herself was the fact that Craiger had stopped the car. “Aw flag…” She sighed. “What’s the traffic?” The Persian-Scottish girl unbuckled from her assento and stood up to see how many cars were in front of her. The only car in front of them was the slow grey Suburban.
“Uh… why did we stop?” Dave asked in a nervous tone. Craiger did not reply. He pulled the clutch, and drove backwards, then tried to drive progressivo, para a frente around the front car. He got halfway in front of the Suburban before the driver rammed into the side of Craiger’s convertible.
Craiger’s car jerked to the side a good five inches. Rynk quickly buckled herself back up. “DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!” Rin yelled at Craiger who quickly complied. Slamming on the gas and letting out a screeching from the tire on his wheels, the conversível rushed forward.
The Suburban began to chase after them. Kyle turned himself completely around to keep a good eye on it. “It-it’s still after us!” He yelled.
“Hold on tight to whatever!” Craiger ordered. “I don’t know if that idiot’s drunk or what!”
The suburban was not gaining on them but they were not losing it either. Craiger looked around for fork in the road, or a store on the side, or some kind of cover perhaps. He did not see anything.
“Maybe that underground waterfall thing was the better idea after all.” Dave muttered to himself. He looked to his left and right to check if Rin and Kyle were alright. Kyle was immobile it seemed. It was as if he was glued to the car behind them. His eyes were wide and alert. If he had dog ears they would be shooting straight up.
Rin on the other hand actually looked angry. She was looking towards the ground with a deep glare, and something in her hands. Dave got a short glimpse of the item. It looked sharp. Was she planning to use that on the car? What was she going to do; jump on it and start hacking away? Then again she did go fight Ira (if that is what she had done. ‘Come to think of it;’ he thought ‘you’d think a broken nose would stay broken longer.’) just to get her off Dave’s case. Was she crazy enough to do something here? Well she had not yet, and in a moment she would not be able to.
The real traffic was in front of them. There were dozens of cars, some large enough to conceal them if needed. Craiger did not want to lose this chance and sped up even more, going between the cars and in front of a FEDEX-themed truck. The Suburban eventually drove up to their distance but did nothing once in range of them.
“Guess it doesn’t want anyone to see.” Rynk assumed. She began unbuckling and opening her door. Craiger grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. “Don’t even think about it.” He ordered before letting go and turning back to the road. Rynk did not obey at first but eventually she closed her door again and sat with her arms crossed.
“I don’t think they’re drunk, Craiger.” Said Dave, referring to how smooth the driver was being, and how they had not been hit yet.
“Me neither…” Craiger replied. He looked over and noticed a part of the road breaking off down towards a small group of stores and jumped into it as soon as he could. He then parked in front of a Gas station with a Seven Eleven seguinte to it. “All of you get inside the store and tell anyone inside what just happened.” Craiger ordered as they got out.
Rynk stayed, as did Dave but Rin and Kyle ran inside. Sure enough, the Suburban drove up towards them. Rynk began walking towards the car but once again Craiger held her back and pushed her and Dave behind himself.
‘This isn’t demeaning at all.’ Dave thought depressingly. Sure he got to be right seguinte to a fairly attractive girl but he also looked like a little kid being protected por his daddy, and of course he was not a little kid.
The front door of the car slowly opened and a shoe could be seen landing on the ground. No doubt a foot was attached. Whoever was in the driver’s assento began to step out now but then the Store’s doors opened. Rin, Kyle, and a few adults walked out. One of them had a red-collared shirt, a scruffy beard, and a shotgun; An Adrenaline-pumped red neck.
Whoever was coming out of the car stopped. Then he got back in, closed the door, and began to drive off. Rin ran over to the car as it sped off. What did she think she was going to do? It was already out of range and almost out of sight.
“I don’t think you could outrun it.” Dave noted while walking over to her.
“I wasn’t trying to.” She replied while walking back. “D-3-4-T-H-M-U-C”
Dave raised an eyebrow in confusion. “The… license plate?” He guessed. Rin nodded.
“That was real smart of you.” Craiger complimented to the hoodie girl. The Red Neck and some of the others talked Craiger over back inside the store while the teenagers remained outside, taking in the events.
“Why was that car after us?” Kyle questioned aloud. Dave was about to snap something about no one knowing why but Rin spoke first. “It was after Craiger’s car. Maybe they were after Craiger.”
“What are you saying?” Rynk narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling that her adopted brother was being accused.
“Does he know any bad people?” Rin asked calmly.
“What, for drugs or something?” Rynk replied. “He’s not involved with an-“
“That’s not what we’re saying… I think.” Dave stumbled. Rin sounded like it was what she was saying but Dave did not want them fighting.
“What is his job?” Rin questioned again.
“A handym- ! What do you mean ‘What’s his job’?!” Rynk snapped. “I’ve known you for years, and so has Craiger! Or was it you running away from us all the time that made you forget?”
Rynk’s words struck Rin hard. She stammered slightly but said nothing before turning away.
“Hey, we don’t have to get hostile.” Kyle joined in.
Dave was a bit interested in what Rynk was saying. He knew that Rin was introvert, but at one point she and Rynk were apparently friends so was she and Craiger involved with whatever secret Rin had, whoever she was responsible for the death of. Was it one of their relatives?
“Wait a minute,” he said aloud. “when exactly was the last time you two talked socially?”
“A… ano or so.” Rin replied softly. Rynk still looked upset. “I couldn’t look at you anymore.” She continued while looking back at Rynk. “I couldn’t look at anyone. Every time I did I felt guilty, and it never stopped!”
“You’re with us now!” Rynk retorted. “And you seem fi-“
“And I feel just as bad as ever!” Rin interrupted. “I was grateful for everything, I was. You… a-and Craiger, and the others… s-stood up for me, but…”
“You don’t know if you deserved to be defended.” Dave finished. He began to figure it out. A faint thought about going back to the topic of the rogue car entered Dave’s mind, but this might be his only chance to find out the full story about Rin’s secret. Who was killed? Why was she blamed? Was Ira involved? He knew that the car was presently mais important but he could not control his curiosity.
Rin had nodded to Dave regarding his words. “I don’t know if I did it, I don’t know if she did it, I don’t know what to do! I can’t find the answers!”
Craiger and the other adults had heard the yelling. Craiger walked out. “What’s going on?”
“We’re talking about…” Rynk began but stopped herself when she noticed Rin’s expression. Rin was not for telling Craiger. With a sigh Rynk reluctantly answered “the car… is there a way to track the license plate?”
“The police were called, they’ll handle it.” The buff Australian replied. “Are you all sure you’re alright?”
“We’re not.” Rin informed. Dave had hoped that they would be able to continue to their Spelunking but he knew the chances of that were very small.
“Are we still going Spelunking?” Kyle asked while Dave continued thinking.
Craiger took a deep sigh though his nose. He looked over the others “I don’t know if that would be safe. If that car comes back then its best we’re closer to home. And I don’t want to drive in the dark with that thing on the prowl.”
“Do you have any idea who owns it?” Dave questioned, continuing Rin’s anterior question. He briefly looked over to Rin. She was walking back inside the conversível and rolling the capuz, capa up.
“If I did I can’t remember.” Craiger replied. “I’ve made enemies before but no mais than anyone else. I couldn’t list anyone for you.”
“Then… does everyone want to go back?” Kyle winced.
Both Dave and Rynk were holding on to the possibility of Spelunking after all of this, but they found logic in Craiger’s words. If they went and nothing happened, then fine. But if they went and the car came back, would they be as lucky as they were this time? That car did not play around. It did not pretend to chase them or accidentally ram them, it followed them, and attacked them. Both teenagers nodded.
“I’m sorry, guys.” Was the last thing said before they got back into the car. Dave thought over if he actually wanted to go Spelunking. ‘It’s probably unsafe anyway’ he told himself. He came up with a few other excuses but it did nothing to ease his disappointment.
He was not however completely disappointed. He knew a little mais about Rin’s problem. He had kept his curiosity at baía for this long but maybe it was time to go deeper. The police most-likely had files on the situation and would supply him. But while he knew Rin only as a new friend (or at least he hoped she was his friend) his conscious demanded he get her okay before doing so. He could not bother her at this time. It would not be polite. So the seguinte dia if he found her, he would ask.
One final set of perguntas plagued him before they arrived back in Mob Suez. What was that car after? And was Rynk simply being protective of Craiger, or was she, or Craiger, hiding something?
So why am I remaking it? Well the series was the first fanfiction series I made and when I did it wasn’t really well written, plotholes galore, so I wanted to remake it completely. But at the same time I didn’t want to redo it because of all the ideas I had.
So what I’m doing is rewriting the story, and keeping it as it was, but making some changes along the way. This way the original story will be there but it will be written better. I’ll add some other parts into it, but rest assured it’s not a reboot, just an edited version.
So what I’m doing is rewriting the story, and keeping it as it was, but making some changes along the way. This way the original story will be there but it will be written better. I’ll add some other parts into it, but rest assured it’s not a reboot, just an edited version.