Of course, no one really got up until 9 in the morning. And then, they didn't leave until 11:30, and had to stop for gas 10 minutes later. And they stopped for lunch a half hour later. "Tai?" asked Kat, when they got back into the Limo. "You know, it's taking a long time to get anywhere. Are you driving at least the speed limit?" She laughed. "Seriously, do you know where we're going?" "No." When they got into Sioux City, Tai drove around, looking for someplace he should go. "Look!" he said, pointing at a hill. "A Celebrity." Matt peeked in. "No, it's not. Keep going." A couple minutes later, he stopped them at a golf course. "This looks right." A Celebrity stopped them. "You drive so loud, we could shoot you in the dark. You might want to think about a new muffler." Tai forced a smile. "Hello to you, too." Sora nudged Mimi. "Is that who I think it is?" "I can't tell; he's wearing a hat." The Celebrity opened the gate. "Drive through there," he said. "We would like to speak with you." They drove down the one-lane road which wound its way up a hill and onto a circular driveway in front of a huge house. The Celebrity beckoned for Matt to get out. He did. "How many in your group?" he asked. "8," said Matt. "Me, Taichi, four girls, and Izzy from Utah." "That's only 7, shithead," the Celebrity said. "Yeah, there's a ... Midget too." "Oh really?" "I'm not that short!" yelled TK from the Limo. "Well, I suppose you can come in," said the Celebrity. "The Lady knows of Taichi. And we know you. Nikki Sixx called us and warned us of your coming, but you're extremely late." "Road construction, I guess," said Matt uneasily. "Anyway," said the Celebrity. "My name is Dominic Monaghan. You can all come inside, but keep an eye on that Midget." Everyone got out and went into the warmth inside the huge house. "You can put your jackets in here," said Dominic Monaghan, opening up a closet. "Then we'll go upstairs." And upstairs they went, up a wide curve of a stair. They got to the top and Dominic Monaghan led them into a large room with a roaring fireplace and huge windows. There were armchairs and a soft couch in front of it. Behind a desk in front of the windows were two Celebrities: Paris Hilton and David Gallagher. "Wait just one minute!" Kat shouted. "I'm not going to have Paris Hilton in my story. Are you actually paying her to be here? Does she even know what she's doing? Get her outta here." Dominic Monaghan gestured to Paris Hilton, and she pouted, but then stood up and sashayed out of the room. He took out a list and searched it. "Uh ... no ... no way ... whore ... ew." He looked at Kat. "Will Kate Hudson do?" "Do you have a Kate Winslet?" "She's on vacation." "Then, yeah, Kate Hudson will work." He knocked on a side door and Kate Hudson came out of it and took Paris Hilton's empty spot in the chair. Then she stood up again. Her and David Gallagher came to the middle of the room. "Uh, you can sit down," said David Gallagher, sitting in one of the armchairs himself. Kate Hudson sat in a recliner next to him. Izzy and TK took the other 2 armchairs, and Tai, Kat, and Mimi squeezed onto the couch. Sora and Kari sat on the plush carpet. "Uh," said David Gallagher, "aren't there supposed to be 9 of you? Or can't I count?" "Joe didn't come," said Kate Hudson. "And I really wanted to talk to him." "He fell in West Virginia," said Tai. He told them everything that happened since then. "Oh well, whatcha gonna do?" Kate Hudson shrugged. "You can have dinner here and sleep tonight." Dominic Monaghan led them to their room that night. It was complete with 4 King-sized beds. "So we have to share," said Kat. "I was really looking forward to my own bed." "I don't even care," said Tai. "Because my arms fuckin' hurt." They stayed with David Gallagher and Kate Hudson for a while, and Kate Hudson took the girls shopping for Christmas, which they had completely forgotten about due to the nature of their situation. There really wasn't much else to do in Sioux City, so the 8 stayed in the house most of the time and got to know each other better. On New Year's Eve, Kat and Sora were walking out in the snow under the cloudy sky. "Can't even see any stars," muttered Sora. Kat was silent. She felt like they needed to leave soon, because she was anxious to get away from the stink of "Sewer City," but she didn't really want to go on driving with Tai again, especially not to Nevada. "So," she finally said, "what do you think of Celebrities now?" "You asked me that already." Sora packed a snowball. "But they're Celebrities. It's very quiet around here, or in New York. Like they don't want people to see them." "I wish David Gallagher would come around more." Kat sighed. "And I haven't seen Kate Hudson since Christmas Eve." "You know what I think?" Sora lobbed the snowball at nothing. "I think we'll be missing Joe worse when we leave Iowa." "I don't. I don't really miss him at all. But I hope we see Kate Hudson again before we leave." "Boo!" a voice behind them cried. The two girls screamed and spun around. It was Kate Hudson. She giggled. "Come on," she whispered, and led them to a frozen fountain. Then she walked back into the house and led them to a small room on the first floor. A huge circular mirror hung on one wall. "This is the mirror of Kate Hudson," she said. "I brought you here to look in it." "What will I see?" Kat asked. "What do you think you'll see if you look in a mirror?" "Uh ..." "But this mirror may work its charm on you, and will show you pictures in your mind. Are you gonna look or not?" "I'll look," said Sora, moving in front of the mirror. "Just don't get fingerprints on it," warned Kate Hudson. "I see myself," said Sora. "And I'm captain of the Quidditch team!" Kat punched her. "Ow!" said Sora. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." Sora looked hard at the mirror again. "You're sleeping under a cliff, I'm climbing stairs, trees in Portland are falling down!" She paused. "Something's wrong in Maine." Kat stared at the mirror from where she was standing. She only saw the room behind them. "Do you want to look?" Kate Hudson asked Kat. "Seriously, what will I see?" Kat was getting annoyed. "I don't know. It's your vision, not mine." "In that case, no." Kate Hudson looked dumbfounded. "Uh ... I've never had anyone say that to me before." Sora grabbed Kat and pushed her in front of the Mirror. "No!" Kat covered her eyes with her hands, but it was too late. Images were flashing in her mind ... Joe, Joe's Brother, the sun sinking into the Ocean ... Tears sprang to her eyes. A large white city, a fire, neon lights, blackness. Kat moved her hands and gazed into the Mirror. There was no room in it, not even herself. Just blackness. Then a white poker card appeared. It was the King of Hearts. The Suicide King. The eyes on the card roamed back and forth. He was looking for her. The Tongue Ring in her coat pocket seemed like a magnet to the Mirror, and Kat started leaning towards it. "No noseprints, either!" said Kate Hudson. The vision broke and Kat stumbled backwards. "He is also looking for me," Kate Hudson said. "But the door is closed." She lifted her arms up and looked to the ceiling. The moonlight fell through the skylight and onto Kate Hudson. The light glinted off a ring in her stomach. Kat stared at it, and thought she understood. "I don't understand," she said. Kate Hudson put her arms down and looked at Kat. "My ring! It's my ring!" She pointed to her belly button. "I too, am a Ringbearer, Kat. Sure, it's not supposed to be seen, but you also have seen the King of Hearts, so I figure it's OK. Don't tell Nikki Sixx." "You can have the One Tongue Ring, if you want." "Really?" Kate Hudson's eyes widened. "You offer it to me freely. No, wait, I have a kid; I can't be wearing tongue rings." She laughed. "I pass the test." "Question." Kat raised her hand slightly. "If I put in the One Tongue Ring, can I see the thoughts of other who have worn it?" "What? Why would it do that?" Kat shrugged. "Eh, I don't know." "Now, get out." Kate Hudson shooed them out. "I'm tired. Oh, Happy New Year. You'll be leaving by midnight, I presume?" "What?" both girls said, but she had shut the door. "We should find Tai," said Kat, hurrying up the stair. David Gallagher ran into them as he was coming down the stairs. "Oh, hey. Sorry." Kat was speechless. Sora spoke for them. "Kate Hudson said that we have to leave before midnight!" she cried. He shrugged. "I think she's crazy sometimes," he said. "But you do need to leave soon, or He will find us. Actually, He will if you fail on your quest. But if you succeed, the power of the Celebrities will fade, and we must go to Canada. Either that, or find real jobs." "That's so ... um ..." Kat couldn't think of the word. "Sad," Sora finished for her. "I was going to say ridiculous." "Anyway," said David Gallagher." It's 10:30, and you need to get your things ready. Go." He shoved them. The 2 girls ran to the bedroom where everyone else was drinking and smoking and laughing. "Pack up! We're leaving!" yelled Kat, grabbing her backpack. Soon, they were all in the foyer, David Gallagher bidding them good-bye. "We are going to Utah," said Izzy. "Or, at least, I am." "We don't know," said Tai. "I don't think Joe ever did, either." "Well," said David Gallagher. "We have given you some late Christmas gifts. The Limo draws too much attention, so we have a Chevrolet SSR, and a Lincoln Aviator. And that's just for driving. We also packed a small box of Hawaiian Sweet Bread in each vehicle. Don't eat it too fast; it's very filling. Good-bye. Dominic Monaghan will show you the way out." Indeed, Dominic Monaghan had showed up again, and he helped them outside with their stuff. "I get to drive the SSR!" said Kat, running to it. "Sora, you better drive the Aviator since you're the only sober one." Sora nodded and loaded her stuff in the trunk. Kat grabbed Tai. "As much as I hate driving with you, I need you." "Aight." He tossed his backpack in the small trunk. "Wait, wait!" Kate Hudson came running out to meet them. "I forgot! I have presents for you." "Celebrities," Sora muttered under her breath. "For Tai," Kate Hudson went over to him, "a cover for your Superglued Knife, because I see you have been cutting yourself accidentally. Oh, and this:" She held up a bracelet of braided leather with a green gem intertwined in it. "I gave this to my sister in the Big-Sister program, and she gave it to her real sister. Amy Lee had this sent for you." She tied it on his wrist. He nodded in respect and could find no words of thanks to give her because he was trying very hard not to throw up. "To Izzy," she continued, "a handheld GPS system, because we got jipped, and that Aviator doesn't have one. For Mimi and Kari, I give you silver belts. Believe me, they match everything. To Sora, here's a box of dirt." Sora looked excited about that one. "And to Kat, a Zippo lighter with the Red Hot Chili Peppers logo on it. I saw it on e-bay and thought of you. To Matt, a small-caliber handgun. Look, it fits in the palm of your hand. And, uh ... TK, I don't have anything for you. But here." She plucked a petal from the flower in her hair and tucked it in his pocket. "We shall not be mean to Midgets again." Dominic Monaghan jumped in his Skyline. "I'll show you to I-29," he said, and started the engine. "Why couldn't we get one of those?" asked Kat, referring to the Skyline. When they got to I-29, Dominic Monaghan turned off, leaving them to their own road. "My only hope is that Sora can keep up," said Kat. She whipped out her cell phone and called Sora's. "We're going to need a motel with all these drunken bastards on our hands." So they stopped about an hour later, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at a Raddisson. It was 11:59. They rented two rooms and Kat and Sora stayed up a little later than the others, studying the road map (everything from the Limo had come with them). "I think we should take I-90 and let Tai decide when we get to the other end of South Dakota," said Kat. "That's going to be one boring day," said Sora. "Deal with it tomorrow." |
| The Cult of the Tongue Ring part eleven |
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