The bar was crowded. The girls found themselvs a booth and ordered drinks that sounded cool. "Scotch on the rocks with a twist." "Bloody Mary." "Screwdriver." "Vodka." Mimi tried her vodka and gagged. "This is too much for me; I'm going back to the room." A guy with big bushy hair sat in Mimi's vacated seat. "Nice to meet you ... Giselle, if I got your name right." "Uh ... yes. And you are?" "They call me Tai. You should watch your friend over there." He pointed his head toward Kari, who was at the bar, where everyone was buying her drinks. She was telling them a story. "And then, he tossed his speech away. Poor Ka--Giselle, she looked so devastated. Spent an hour writing it for him. No, she looked mad. Like, ready to tackle him right then and there." Joe's Brother's 21st birthday party. If Kari mentioned his disappearing, people were sure to ask questions. Kat shoved Sora out of the booth and headed toward the bar. "He said, 'Let's try that again. Good-bye.' And ... you ready to hear this?" Kat jumped onto the pool table. Kari stopped talking, and everyone looked at Kat. Sora and Tai had followed her, and were now wondering what exactly she was going to do. Kat was wondering that, too. She played with her Dice Tongue Ring, but it was scraping the roof of her mouth, so she reached in and unhooked it. "Is she trying to gag herself?" asked Sora. "You better do something," said Tai. Kat stood there, feeling herself blush. "Uh ... who's up for a pool tournament?" There were some cheers, and Kat felt like Kari would get the hint, so she jumped off the pool table. Something went though the hole in her tongue. She heard gasps and knew that she had vanished. So she quickly crawled under an empty booth and took out the One Tongue Ring. Tai was sitting there. "Hello, puppet," he said. "Gah!" She jumped. "You're a fucking idiot, you know that? That's worse than what Kari was about to say. Why'd you get your tongue pierced anyway?" "To ... look cool? Wait a minute, I have no idea what you're talking about." She crossed her arms. "Yes, you do, Kat. I think we should go upstairs." He grabbed her arm and dragged her along. Joey stopped them in the hallway. "I just remembered something, Giselle. I need to talk to you." And he took her away from Tai and into the lobby. He started looking for something, then the phone rang, and he talked on it for an awful long time. Kat made her way back to the room. Kari and Sora met her in the hallway. Tai was sitting in their room, watching TV. "How the hell did you get in here?" demanded Kat. Tai held up a room card. "You left it on the table in the bar." "Well, what do you want?" "To talk to you." He turned off the TV. "You can sit down if you want." They did. Mimi was nowhere in the room. "Wait a minute!" said Kat. "In the bar, you came up to our table and said, 'Nice to meet you Giselle.' How did you know my name? And my real name?" Tai laughed. "In the lobby, you said, 'Don't call me Kat; call me Giselle.' I knew 'just cuz' wasn't your reason." Kat glared at him. "Why are you interested in my name?" "Because I was looking for someone from Maine named Kat." Sora jumped up. "You're a stalker!" "No, I just knew that Kat had a secret that concerned me and my friends. And I can keep it secret; more secret than you are." He stood up and looked out the window. "Black Mustangs have been coming through here." "No wonder Joey pretended we looked 25," said Sora. "He wanted us to go into the bar so there'd be plenty of people around." "You shouldn't have, though." Tai sat next to Kat. "Joey wouldn't tell me which room you were in." Kat scooted away from him. "At least the Mustangs seemed to have gone away." He laughed. "Psh! Yeah right. I know them." "Are they your 'friends?'" "No. But there are shady people in Peabody. Did you see that guy who left after you disappeared? His name's Bill." "Original," said Kari. Tai shot a sharp look at her. "And he'd sell a story like that to the paper. And no one would care what you're real name was." He stood up. "So, I'm coming with you. We'll have to leave at night and we'll be able to escape from Peabody, and ..." He stopped at looked at them. "I obviously know more about the Black Mustangs than you, so you have to take me with you." "Except I don't trust you and your poofy hair," said Kat. He looked up into his hairline. "OK, no more jokes about the hair. But you can't make it to New York CIty by yourself." The door knocked. "Wait a minute," said Kat. "Did the door just knock?" "No, I did!" said Joey on the other side. Tai dove behind the bed as Kari let Joey in. "Sorry, sorry," he said. "I forgot, that's all. But I was told to look for someone from Maine who's name was Kat but was going by the name Giselle. And the description fit." "What?" Kat was confused. Joey continued. "'A skinny girl with bright red hair and sparkling purple eyes. She's beautiful and witty and a bitch.' Well, he said it, not me," he said when he saw her look. "Who's he?" "Joe, of course. One of them Nerds. Hope he doesn't get mad at me for what I've done. Joe gave me a letter a while back to have mailed to you in Maine." He held out an envelope. It had Kat's name and addess on it. "Joe sent me a letter!" "So your name is Kat. He said if he wasn't with you when you came, trouble wouldn't be far off. But now here trouble is." "You mean those Mustangs?" asked Sora. "Yeah, they were looking for Kat, but I sent them away. That Tai, he wanted to get up here earlier, but I wouldn't let him." "Too bad!" Tai jumped out from behind the bed. "And a lot of trouble would've been averted if you'd let me in earlier." Joey jumped. "You! What do you want? You're always popping up." "He's come to offer help," said Kat. Joey snorted. "I wouldn't trust a Cowboy." Tai crossed his arsm. "What? Should they trust you, then? A man who only remembers his name because he wears a name tag?" Kat spoke up. "We need help, because those Black Mustangs have license plates from--" "From Nevada," interrupted Tai. Joey looked ready to faint. "Goodness me! Well, I can't do anything about it. Good night." He left. "Where's Mimi?" asked Kari. Tai grabbed the letter from Kat and opened it. "'My dear Kat.' Aw, how sweet. 'I have bad news You must leave Maine by July, at the latest. If you come through Peabody, leave a message for me at the Super 8. You will meet a friend of mine on the Road. His name's Tai, he has humongous hair, and is a Cowboy.' Humongous. Really. 'He knows our secrets and will help you get to the Big Apple. Don't use that Tongue Ring, because I know you would've pierced your tongue. Don't drive at night, because you're more than likely drunk. And make sure it's the real Tai. His real name is Taichi. If Joey forgets to give this to you, I shall shoot him.' And a poem: 'All that glitters is gold--'" "Enough with the poetry!" shouted Kat. "What's your real name?" "Taichi." "Well, duh!" said Sora. "You just read the letter!" Kat sighed. "If we had gotten this right away, we'd be safe in New York CIty." Kari scoffed. "Yeah, New York City sure is safe." "Why didn't you tell us you were Joe's friend?" asked Kat. "Would you have believed me?" "No." "Then why do you ask dumb questions?" She shrugged. "It's in my nature." "Anyway, we will have Black Mustangs on our tail, so it's lucky I know the back roads. Then we will go to Bridgeport, Connecticut." "What's there?" asked Sora. "Back roads are the devil," said Kat. Tai ignored them both. "I suppose if Joe's looking for us, he will go to Bridgeport. He likes the library there." "When did you see him?" asked Kat. "In the spring. But I didn't worry about him, until I heard from the Celebrities that you weren't leaving Portsmouth... or -land, or -town, or whatever it's called." "Do you think the Mustangs took Joe?" asked Kat. "Why are you so interested in Joe?" asked Kari. "Me, I'm more interested in sleep. Where could Mimi have gone?" As if on cue, Mimi burst into the room. "Black Mustangs! Not Cobras, but Mustangs! Here, in Peabody!" She looked at Tai, standing by Kat. "What, you have another boyfriend already?" "We'll explain later," said Kat. "But we need to leave," said Tai. He grabbed their backpacks and threw them out into the hallway. "Go hide in the laundry room while I'll rearrange these pillows to look like people sleeping in beds." The girls obeyed, and snuck into the laundry room. Soon, Tai joined them and sat by Kat on the washing machine. The girls were busy telling Mimi what had happened. Then, they waited. "Who drives the Black Mustangs?" whispered Kat to Tai. "Grim Reapers." He would say no more, so Kat changed the subject. "How does everyone know that we're from Maine? The Hummer H2 SUT has New Hampshire plates." He looked at her, and she could see his eyes were laughing. "Don't you think New Hampshire's close enough to Maine? Besides, your sweatshirt says, 'University of Maine' and you talk funny." Back in Portsmouth, Dereck stood in the doorway, looking outside. He couldn't sleep (Yes, he had taken off the make-up, rumpled his chin-length hair, and was wearing his own clothes). Something moved. Dereck jumped inside and locked the door. He could hear vehicles slowly driving on the road. Three Black Mustangs stopped in front of the house. Three tall figures came out of the Mustangs. They had long cloaks and hoods and each carried a long sickle. Two of them went to the corners of the house while one went up to the door. He knocked with his Sickle. Then he kicked it in. The town's sirens went off. As soon as the Mustangs stopped, Dereck had ran out of the back door and through the fields to the next house. "I don't have it!" he was yelling. "For heaven's sake, I'm not a girl and I don't have my tongue pierced!" The Three Grim Reapers fled to their Black Mustangs when the sirens sounded, leaving clothes all over the house. The cars sped away like horses galloping. But faster. |
| The Cult of the Tongue Ring part six |
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