The dilemma of whether or not to give the video to Melody was making Jade nervous, and on the way back to her friend's house, she couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened tonight.
She wanted to go back home and cry right after returning the cat, that's all she knew because Zeth?
Wow! He was so rude!
Never meet your heroes!
She wasn't a fan anymore, not after meeting him, and she hated him with all her being now.
Jade sighed and hurried to the Operman residence, then knocked on the door.
Melody opened up with huge chocolate stains on her face and clothes.
Wasn't she outside looking for the cat?
Had she sent Jade alone to look for Mozart while she was peacefully eating ice cream in her Monster Mash pyjamas?!
"What took you so long?" Melody asked. This was strange. She never sounded rude, "Where were you?"
"I was outside for hours looking for your cat while you stayed here apparently. Mozart's fine, in case you were wondering." Jade grunted.
"Oh, excellent! I thought Mum would ground me again," Melody opened the door wider. "Come on in. I would like to ask you a couple of questions."
"I'm going home actually," Jade said.
"Where did you find Mozart?" Melody asked and sounded accusatory.
"I didn't. A handsome but extremely rude boy was the one who found him." Her voice broke slightly. Well, that wasn't a lie as such was it? But Jade already wanted to go home.
"A guy found him?" Melody raised a brow. "Do I know him? Or do you want to tell me something about him?"
"No," Jade rolled her eyes. "He just gave me the cat and that was it."
"Really?" Melody raised both eyebrows.
"Yeah, it was not cool."
"Not cool?" Melody laughed. "Well, I guess you were too busy to, I don't know? Not. Call. Me."
"Oookay," Jade frowned. "See you later, I guess."
"Hey! Wait!" Melody tossed the cat over her shoulder and ran to catch up with her friend. "What's going on here? What are you not telling me?"
"You left the door open, the cat is going to run away again," Jade said, "It's just that I want to go home before dad finds out I snuck out."
"And you are not going somewhere else?" Melody insisted, "Maybe to meet with some friends or something?"
"Oh yeah! Sure! I was actually thinking of going to a party!" Jade said sarcastically. Well, if that party was going home to cry, then yes, a party... Woo-Hoo!
"And this handsome and rude boy, do you like him?" Melody insisted.
"I don't want to talk about it in the middle of your front yard."
"Are you sure I can't convince you to talk?" Melody asked, but Jade didn't turn to face her. "Jade!"
"Melody, it's nothing."
"You sure?" Melody changed her tone of voice and clenched her fists. Oh no! "You say this guy found Mozart?"
"Well... Yeah, he gave him to me," Jade took a step back. Her friend no longer looked happy; she looked furious!
"Isn't there something you want to tell me?" Melody took another step forward. "Someone you want to introduce me to?"
"Nope."
"Oh, really?" Melody sneered. "So what does that video mean?" She grabbed Jade by her arm and dragged her towards the house.
"Wait. What video? What are you talking about?!" Jade yelled as her friend dragged her inside, slamming the front door.
Melody stayed silent for a few moments, glaring at Jade, breathing heavily. Then Melody smiled, putting an arm around Jade's shoulder.
"Sorry about that. I think I was a bit annoyed by a notification from the Monster Mash fan club. As soon as I received the notification, let's say I came home, and you know why?" Melody took her phone from the couch in the living room. There were two empty ice cream buckets, yes buckets, on the coffee table, and heartbreaking music by Monster Mash playing on the TV. "Because Zeth uploaded some selfies with a cat he said Draco found in a tree," Melody showed the phone to Jade, who bit her lip. That idiot Zeth had uploaded a photo cuddling the cat, in fact there were several. "You won't tell me, will you? It was Zeth Rahman who gave you the cat, wasn't it?"
"Nope." Jade lied and clenched her fists. "It was someone else. I mean, do you really think I know the rude and conceited and soooo rude Zeth Rahman in person?"
"So, I guess the video you just uploaded... Onlyfangs sounds familiar to you?"
"Wait, a video I uploaded?" Jade pulled out her phone and gasped.
Once her device connected to the Opermans' Wi-Fi, notifications came in one after another.
There were thousands, all about new followers, comments, and likes regarding a video that every Monster Mash band member (Except for Everett) was tagged in.
Holy pozole!
More than three thousand followers?! When the hell did Jade become so popular?!
"But how did this happen?" Jade whispered.
"Why didn't you call me if you were interviewing the boys?" Melody threateningly squeezed Jade with the arm around her shoulder.
"Because I wanted to surprise you!"
"Well... It surprises me now!" Melody stepped back and yelled, "Were we not friends?"
"I was planning to give you the video for your blog!" Jade exclaimed.
"I don't give a flying fuck about the video! You know Monster Mash is my whole life and you didn't tell me you were with them!" Melody pushed Jade, and she fell flat-butt first with a loud thud. "I would have called you no matter what! You are a terrible friend!" Melody was out of control, so much so that even her mother ran down the stairs.
"Melody! Enough!" Cadence yelled, "What's going on!? Lower your voice! Your brother just got back from a long flight and tomorrow he must wake up early to go to work!"
"You're the worst friend in the world, Jade! I hate you!" Melody shouted, "Did you know I got us both tickets for the charity event on Saturday at the Hallow Inn?! I did that for us! But you, selfish as always, couldn't even call me to meet the boys! Now I'm going to have to go with my bitter, bitchy mother to the show!"
"Melody, I'm right here," her mother said.
"Wait, you did what?!" Jade gasped.
"I hate you, Jade! I hate you! Get out of my house, you... You... Fake friend!" Melody yelled even louder.
Jade got up as fast as she could and ran out the front door, stumbling a few times until she was out of the house. Melody was still yelling and cursing when Jade made it to the mailbox, but paid no attention to her.
She sighed.
She looked up. The hotel, the suite, she could see it from here.
"I better go home," she whispered. Head down, Jade began walking in the opposite direction of the hotel, wanting to cry but not really doing so.
There were footsteps behind her, stilettos to be precise.
Jade stopped walking.
She heard some kind of gunshot and a wire, perhaps made of metal, retracting.
That sound again? Had a ghost from the hotel followed her?
When she turned around, she only saw leaves falling from a tree on the sidewalk. There was no one there.
"How strange..." She whispered, looking at the leaves on the tree moving, "I thought I heard someone."
Jade started walking again, without knowing that, from among the leaves of the tree, Evie was watching her, with her silver grapple gun in hand, crouching on a branch, half-shutting her brown eyes. She removed a leaf from her short black hair with a grunt, and soon raised the communicator on her wrist to her lips...
"Sapphire, come in. I followed the girl like you asked me to," she said, her eyes fixed on Jade.
"Fine, keep me informed, EV-13," Zeth's voice sounded annoyed, "And if she is a hunter, take her out."
"I don't think she is. It seems like the girl is... Sorry, WAS a friend of Cadence's daughter. I'll keep you informed." Then she turned right, raising an eyebrow at the sight of a purple muscle car slowly driving through the darkness, "Great! Looks like we've got company." Then she moved among the branches, and with a shot from her grapple gun at a light pole, she swung her way down to the street.
Jade was too numb to realise she was being followed, hugging herself, alone on this cold night, walking in the dark.
"Stupid Zeth. And to think that I idolized you so much." Jade whispered, "Is this what I worked so hard for? I should have kept the Kardashark accent and remained a misfit!"
Then there was a roar, very loud.
And then a bright white light illuminated her.
Those were the headlights of a car, which roared at her as if it were going to eat her alive.
"Oh god!" Jade gasped, "A kidnapper! They're going to kidnap me! Because I'm famous and I know the boys! Oh God! The downsides of premature fame! God! Oh God! I'm going to die! It can't be! I'm going to die and I've never kissed anyone! I'm going to die and I've never even gotten drunk in my life! And worse yet... I'm going to die and I don't even have any fancy clothes on for when I turn into a ghost and am forced to wear the same outfit for all eternity!"
There was only one thing Jade could do now, something she had never done in her life... Aside from washing the dishes.
Run!
This had to be a nightmare.
There was a car chasing her, and she was running as fast as possible.
The headlights followed her, and the vehicle roared like a lion again.
"Please! Stop! I didn't ask to be famous!" Jade begged with tears in her eyes, barely breathing. The car was like Dominic Toretto's, a muscle car, too fast. "Please! Don't kidnap me! Don't kill me! Pretty girls like me have feelings too! Please!"
How could she escape from a fast and furious car?
And then she twisted her ankle.
She fell on her chest.
Everything disappeared around her.
"This is my end," Her vision was blurred, her legs wouldn't work, "But at least I'll die knowing that I did my best to survive!"
And then she heard two voices...
"Hey! Did you get lost, señorita?"
"Oh. OH! You made friends with the floor!"
Jade sighed.
Seriously?
"Were you two following me?" She stood up clumsily.
The engine of the purple V8 muscle car was making too much noise, and under a streetlight, Jade finally looked at the two guys who were looking at her with the window down.
"Well, I prefer to say that I was escorting you," Alex said, holding the wheel. In the passenger seat was Draco, who waved way too effusively.
She inspected the vehicle for a few seconds, up and down. The front wheel had a rim in the shape of crescent moon and the back wheel had a rim in the shape of a wolf howling. It also had a wolf howling at a golden moon painted on the hood.
"Is this your car, Alex?" Jade asked.
"You're kidding, right?" Alex asked.
No. Jade didn't seem to be joking.
"Oh. OH! Mine is a red Ferrari with rims in the shape of bats!" Draco said, too loud as ever.
"My God, guys. You really scared me. I can't believe you did this to me!" Jade shouted, stomping her foot, "I almost had a heart attack from running so much!"
"You were running?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were walking with style. And by style I mean a cramp."
"Obviously I was running!" Jade threw her hands up, "The thing is, this is a sports car and to you, it looked like I was walking."
"I was driving less than half a mile per year, Jade," Alex frowned.
"Yeah, but that's in a car. As a person, it's a lot harder to reach that speed!" Jade wiped the sweat from her forehead, "Woo! I was going so fast I feel like I broke a record."
"Jade, you didn't even break the senior snail speed limit," Alex said, lowering his eyebrows.
"But that doesn't change the fact that you made me run a mile!" Jade put her hands on her knees, sweating profusely.
"Umm... Jade?" Draco pointed back, "The house you came out of is right there, you literally just walked cramp-style to the house next door."
"Really?" Jade looked to the left. The Operman residence was less than ten feet away from her, "Oh! I guess I was too panicked to notice."
"Get in, we'll take you wherever you're going," Alex said.
"I can walk home," Jade replied.
"Are you going to walk with a cramp from here to Erich's house?!" Draco asked.
"I'm not cramped!"
"It looks like you are."
"Draco, shut up," Alex rolled his eyes.
"My dad doesn't know I snuck out. Your car is too loud, I don't want to get in trouble." Jade said.
But Draco shook his finger no.
"No-oh, it's dark, we're still far away from Erich's place and you look like you're about to faint. Get in the car," he opened the door. "Come on, say yes! Say yes, Jade! SAY YES!"
On one hand, Jade wanted to get into the car with them, but on the other, she really didn't want to get any more high hopes with the boys.
She took a look at the long road she still had to travel and all those trees.
Without a word, she finally jumped into the car.
"Thanks," Jade murmured. Alex put the car in gear, and then they were off, speeding along the road.
Unbeknownst to them, however, Evie was watching everything from afar.
"Sapphire, come in?" Evie said to her bracelet, walking slowly and gracefully down the sidewalk,
"I'm listening," Zeth said, "Let me guess. Amethyst and Ruby are with you?"
Shit.
"Oh, there was some static and I didn't hear you well," Evie tried to keep the secret, but nothing ever got past Zeth.
"That means they're with you, doesn't it?" Zeth asked and Evie sighed.
"Fine! Amethyst and Ruby are here, playing gentlemen. The girl just got into Amethyst's car by the way."
"Those two are going to be in serious trouble," Zeth replied.
"Don't ground them for being nice, Sapphire." Evie said. "I doubt the girl is dangerous."
"How do you know that?"
"She was walking, got a cramp and fell." Evie said with an eye roll, "A cramp would never take down a Hunter. But I'm worried about how... Obsessed you all are with her."
"I need you to follow those three and tell me everything you can about this girl."
"Copy, EV-13 out," she took out her grapple gun, "You guys never make my job easy," Evie fired her hook and moved upwards until she was on the roof of a house. She had to hurry. She couldn't let Alex and Draco out of her sight.
Evie ran, swung, and jumped from one roof to the next, keeping her eyes fixed on the purple car. She and Draco once practiced parkour in a park in Paris, and it was one of the best days of Evie's life. It was quite a spectacle, there were mashers everywhere, some parkour veterans even. They said Evie was crazy if she thought of flipping around and free running in stiletto boots, but Draco just laughed and said she would surprise them all.
Draco and Evie were like two flames colliding into one that day, both laughing and giving each other high fives, swinging on bars, jumping from side to side, rolling evenly on the floor and backflipping around, both in perfect synch.
"Looks like you guys are headed to Erich's house indeed," Evie said after jumping from one roof to the other.
But while Evie ran after the car, Jade could only look out the window, not knowing what to say.
The first few minutes were silent, but with Draco, you couldn't stay like that for long.
"That girl who was yelling at you..." Draco began.
"It's Melody Operman, the daughter of Cadence Christensen and Faltom Operman, CEO of Phantom Records," Jade replied.
"Cadence, the woman of the insulting articles," Alex rolled his eyes.
"Cadence is cruel but whatever," Draco said with a dismissive hand, "Don't take it seriously. She used to be hated by everyone, feared by many, and very popular."
"And since when do you know her?" Alex asked without taking his eyes off the road, driving too slowly for the kind of car he owned.
"It's just that Zeth told me not to say anything," Draco replied. Alex looked at Jade through the rear-view mirror, perhaps aware of her surprised, confused face.
"I think Jade and I deserve answers," Alex said, turning to face Draco, "You and I are the best of friends, and she is Erich's daughter, so talk."
"But don't tell Zeth I told you, or he'll hang me upside down from the ceiling, and not exactly from my feet!"
"Just say it!" Alex yelled, and after sighing, Draco nodded and spoke.
"When Zeth and I went to college to protect a boy and a pregnant girl who had just arrived from Evalon, Cadence Christensen was the popular girl, and I refused to date her." Draco explained playing with his fingers.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Jade exclaimed, and she was sure the car almost slammed to a stop, "Are you telling me you went to college with Cadence?!"
For a second, everything in Jade's mind scrambled.
She thought these guys were just singers who dressed up as monsters on stage, but after hearing this...
How was this possible?!
Was Draco really a vampire?
Were his fangs real?!
But he didn't look scary or fierce!
He wasn't mysterious.
He didn't catch fire in the sun!
He didn't even sparkle like glitter under the sun if she was talking about contemporary vampires!
He was actually the complete opposite of a predator!
How come no one knew?
Or did everyone in Hallow Woods know about him being a vampire?
Did that mean Alex was a real... Really?!
Was Zeth really a... No way!
And what about Finn?
And Frank?
Oh Jesus Christ!
What if Everett was a real Yeti?
"Did you go with Cadence to college?" Alex asked.
"She was a cheerleader, and she ended up dating Zeth, who was the captain of the cheerleading squad," Draco said, "But they weren't a match, so he broke up with her, and she started dating Faltom Operman, who was the typical cliché of the misunderstood musician, you know? The bad boy in a leather jacket? But Erich didn't take any of that well because he and Cadence also dated for a while and let's just say there was a lot of bullying involved."
"Draco, does that mean... How old are you?" Jade asked as Alex turned the car to the right, driving slowly down the narrow street where she lived.
"I'm pretty old, let's just leave it at that," Draco was bobbing the window pane up and down until Alex gave him a light smack.
"You're not acting your age," Alex pointed out, and the vampire shrugged.
There was silence, and when Alex finally parked outside Jade's house, she rushed to step out of the car. Firstly, because her whole body hurt after falling flat on her face and secondly, because she had to rush to bed because she had school the next day.
She also wanted to pee.
But if Jade was being honest, she didn't want to go to sleep.
"I promised Finn that I would call him," Jade told the boys once she was out of the car, and they both nodded from inside.
"He told us, but you better not," Alex replied. "You'll get Finn in trouble if you do. Zeth is very strict about sharing our personal information including phone numbers."
"Zeth doesn't like me, does he?" Jade pouted.
"It's just that Zeth is our leader, everyone's dad, the oldest band member," Alex explained.
"He's only three years older than me," Draco said, "Not that he's the oldest by much, you know?"
"As I was saying," Alex frowned, "It's nothing personal. He's always strict because he has to keep us safe. In fact, we better get going before he notices we're out."
"Okay, no calling Finn on the phone, got it," Jade nodded, "How about contacting you guys through Facebook or Instagram?"
"Well..." Draco shrugged, "If you send us a DM, like, we don't manage our own social media, someone else does that for us. You would be talking to an employee. But hey! Maybe you can be our model for our next video? Maybe Zeth will agree later. You would be the Dragon Girl, the rival of the girl in silver armour who fights for our love. And if you don't want to, at least you will always have the interview on your profile, right?"
"I guess but, I didn't upload the interview. I have no idea how the video got from my phone to my account if I didn't even have Wi-Fi on the street!"
Draco and Alex looked at each other, nodding.
"Evie," they both said in unison.
Jade preferred not to ask who that girl was.
"Well then..." Jade sighed. "It was fun spending the night with you, but I have to go to sleep. Dad doesn't know I snuck out so please don't make too much noise with the car."
"Got it," Alex winked.
Jade really didn't want them to leave. She didn't want to think that this would be the last time she would see them.
"We'll be in town for a while," Alex said. "There's going to be an event on Saturday at the Hallow Inn."
"It will be a meet-and-greet-ish show," Draco wiggled his eyebrows, "You could be our special guest. You can even tell Erich to come."
"If Zeth allows it," Alex interrupted, rolling his eyes.
"I wish we could meet again someday," Jade said.
"This is not the end, okay señorita?" Alex said, and his face softened just slightly.
And that promised a lot, so Jade relaxed a bit.
"Goodnight, Alex. Goodnight, Draco. Thank you for bringing me home," Jade waved goodbye, and headed for the door as soon as she saw them driving away.
Jade took the key her dad hid under his ashtray, opened the door slowly and quietly, then closed it very carefully.
"I need to go to the bathroom," Jade whispered, tiptoeing up the wooden stairs.
Jade was exhausted, shuffling as she approached the bathroom as quietly as possible so Erich wouldn't wake up.
"Why do you hate me so much, Zeth?" Jade wondered, "I don't understand what I did wrong. I just know that I hate you now."