She woke up to Mimi slapping her. "Hey, cut it out!" Kat yelled. "What's going on?" "We're going, that's what's going on. Get up." She headed toward the door. "And get Dereck! Make sure he isn't wiping his makeup off." Kat got up and stumbled into the living room. Dereck was sitting on the couch, wearing flared jeans and a sweatshirt. His hair was parted and combed down. Kat fell over, laughing and now very much awake. "Hey, shut up!" Dereck yelled at her. Kat got up. "At least they let you wear a sweatshirt." She went into the kitchen where Sora had breakfast ready. Soon after 4 in the morning, they started off. Kat had left her Sunfire in the driveway, but locked; no one was allowed to drive her car. Mimi was in front, trying to find the hidden path from the bike trails into the forest. It was so foggy, it was a wonder she could see anything. A hedge loomed in front of them, covered with cobwebs. "Now what, Sherlock Holmes?" Dereck said to Mimi. "There's an opening here." She rode along it until the hedge bent inwards. A great gap was there. They started riding through it. Dereck stopped. "Good-bye, Kat. Sure wish you weren't going in there. But ... good luck." She smiled. "Thanks. You don't make a bad-looking girl, though." He forced a smile. "I'll tell Joe to hurry along the road if he comes by." He turned and left, his long hair blowing. Kat turned to the forest. "The trees don't like strangers," Mimi was saying. "Like they're alive," Kari said sarcastically. "You never know." After a couple hours, Mimi stopped. "Ha! The trees are alive! The path has shifted, because right there is where they always have bonfires." They walked their bikes up a tall hill and stopped. Mimi started pointing things out. "The valley is the queerest; we don't want to go that way." They could see nothing else. They started back down the other side of the hill, and everything seemed to be going good. Until they got lost. But they kept going on the only path they could. Soon, Mimi stopped them. "Well, here we are in this cursed valley! There is a footpath though, and it should lead us out of the forest." "Who made it though?" wondered Kari. "This forest is weird. I am suspicious of it." Sora laughed at that. "OK," was all she said. They followed the path, and by this time, the sun was getting hot and bugs were coming out. They all felt very tired. Kari fell over on her bike and Kat stopped. "Yo! We are taking a rest." They all went and sat in the shade of an unusually large rock. Mimi didn't like the idea. "Maybe we should get clear of the forest, first." But everyone was yawning. Kat got up. "Come on, Sora, let's go sit by the crick." She took a couple steps and fell onto the soft grass by the water. She laid on her back and fell asleep. Sora wasn't sleeping, though. It didn't feel right, the sudden sleepiness. Mimi and Kari were leaning against the big rock and ... was the rock singing? She closed her eyes, but soon opened them when she heard noises. A munch, munch, munch noise. Beside her, Kat fell into the crick. A rock was holding her down. Sora grabbed Kat and pulled her up. "The fucking rock pushed me in!" she shouted. "You were probably dreaming," Sora said, and they went to see what the munching was all about. If Kari was eating all their food ... The huge rock had teeth! Dull teeth, but teeth. Mimi's feet were sticking out, but the rest of her was inside the rock. At the sight of them, the rock stopped chewing, and Mimi was stuck with her ankles sticking out. "I'll run you over with the bike!" Kat shouted, grabbing her bike. "Let them go!" A noise came from inside the rock. It was Kari. "He's going to swallow me if you do! And Mimi's feet will be cut off!" Kat stopped. "Well, see what happens? You wanted to gome along, but you just end up getting eaten by rocks! Me and Sora are fine!" Then she panicked, started running around, yelling, "help, help help!" "Cry me a river, oh, cry me a riveeerrrr ..." sang a voice. A man walked over to them, singing that song. He came up to the rock and started petting it. "Come on, Rocky. I have better food for you. So spit those girlies out ..." The rock stuck out his tongue and opened his mouth slightly. Mimi slid out. Kari quickly climbed out. The rock scowled. "I am Tommy. Sorry about Rocky, here. He usually only eats Canadians. Something must've got to him. I'm just amazed that the trees didn't try to eat you. Anyway, you must be hungry. You can eat at my house and meet my wife." Tommy turned and the girls had no choice but to pick up their bikes and follow him. "Hey!" Sora yelled. "Wait up!" Tommy had run ahead of them. "Where'd the path go?" murmured Kari. The girls trudged along, feeling tired again. Well, you would too, if you'd ridden a bike for miles up and down hills, and had a rock try to eat you. At last, a small house appeared in the distance. They could hear Tommy singing. "Cry me a riverrr ..." Which immediately woke them up. Tomy was standing in the doorway with a beautiful blonde woman. He introduced her as his wife, Goldilocks. "You gotta be kidding me," said Mimi. "The Goldilocks?" "It's not a real story, the Goldilocks one," said Kat. "How thick can you get?" The girls were led into the dining room, where a nice lobster dinner was awaiting them. During dinner, Kat nudged Sora. "Goldilocks is a Celebrity." "Sure, if you blieve in fairy tales." Tommy got up. "You can stay here tonight. Sorry, you'll have to sleep in the living room, but ..." he shrugged. They slept, not too well, because they were curled up in armchairs, but they slept. In the morning, they awoke to bright light filling the huge windows. "Good morning, hearties!" sang Goldilocks as she floated into the room. "It is time for you to go now." The girls were quickly herded out of the house, without breakfast, even. Tommy handed Kat some keys. "When you get to the road, these will come in handy. Sing my song if you run into danger." She nodded, wondering if old Tommy was quite mad, and the girls hopped on their bikes and rode off. Kat was leading them in the fog, and after a while, she looked back, for she heard no noise. "OK, this isn't really funny," she said loudly. "April Fool's is over!" Silence. No movements. "Little fuckers," she muttered. She started humming Cry Me a River. "Shit, now it's in my head." Her bike hit the rocks and she fell off, watching it roll into the mists. "HELLO?!" she shouted. She listened, and heard a very faint "Kat!" "Where the hell are you?!" Kat was getting scared. "Over here!" came a deep voice. She started towards it. Wait a minute, she thought. That's not right. Then blackness covered her. When the light came back, she saw that she was in a wooden cabin. A lumberjack stood in front of the fireplace. Oh no, she thought. My journey's over already. She looked and saw Sora, Mimi, and Kari lying on the bed asleep. Hey ... "Aren't you supposed to be bad?" she spoke up. The lumberjack turned. "What do you mean?" "Uh, like kill us?" "No, only if you want me to." A glimmer came across his eyes and he quickly reached for his gun. "My wife and kids are dead, so--" Kat rolled her eyes. "Oh, cry me a fucking river." The door burst open and Tommy appeared. "That's cuh-lose enough," he said before blowing the lumberjack's brains out. The other 3 girls woke up with a start. Tommy grabbed them and led them outside. "Quickly," he said. "Someone wouldv'e heard that." "Wrong movie," stated Kat. "But, here you are." Tommy stopped them right by the road and sprinted off. Kat looked at the keys in her hand. Maybe old Tommy was right. She ran to the road. She didn't see it at first, which was crazy, because it was bright yellow, but a brand new Hummer H2 SUT was sitting on the shoulder. Kat shouted and ran to the driver's side. Mimi, Kari, and Sora weren't far behind. "Shottie!" yelled Kari, and hopped in. Mimi and Sora noticed a box in the backseat. "Guns!" exclaimed MImi. "For us, I'm sure," said Sora. "They look ... um ... like guns." "9 mms," said Kat, starting the Hummer H2 SUT. "How do you know that?" "Says so on the box." She drove onto the road and hit the gas. "We have a problem, though." "What?" asked Kari. "No map." "There's the Interstate," said Mimi. "Let's make our way to Boston and stay the night." It took them a considerable less time to get to Boston than it took them to get from Portland to Portsmouth. But soon, they were coming into city limits. They stopped in Peabody and walked into a Super 8. "A Super 8," grumbled Mimi. "We couldn't stay at a Raddison." "Do you have any money?" answered Kat. "We're on a road trip. Cheap is the way to go. Oh hey," she said quickly. "Don't call me Kat. Call me Giselle." "Why?" asked Kari. "Just 'cuz." She went to the front desk. "We need a room, please." The man's name tag gave him the name Joey. He gave them a funny look. "Did you lose your parents?" "What?! Fuck no! We need a room for the night." "Do you have any way to pay for it?" "Do I look stupid to you?" "Yes, and you also remind me of something." He tapped something into the computer. "Third floor, room 313 is available. $60 per night. Checkout is at 11 in the morning. Free continental breakfast. And, unlike most Super 8's, we have a bar, too. I feel bad for saying you were 12--" "What?!" "--and now I see you look at least 25." He paused. "$60." Kat handed him the money and they went up to their room. "What an idiot," said Sora. "I mean, you, looking 25?" "Well, he's letting us in the bar. Let's go." |
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| The Cult of the Tongue Ring part five |