Choosing Home

Chapter Four

The group of four quickly made their way to the bikes. Well, maybe quickly was the wrong word to use considering Mal moved rather slowly in her forced old age. In all honesty, it was rather frustrating for the other three but they tried to hide it.

It wasn't Mal's fault after all, and she was probably moving faster than she would if she was still in that cape shawl thing she'd been wearing when Audrey first transformed her into the hag.

"Oh Gods," Jay muttered after a few minutes of needing to stop and wait for Mal, and went to pick her up to carry her on his back as they got to the bikes. He knew it wasn't her fault but she was moving much too slowly for his liking.

"If you...carry me...I curse you," Mal threatened, glaring at Jay with as much force as her hag form could muster. Truthfully it wasn't that much but Jay knew the meaning behind the glare. Once Mal got back to her regular self, he'd be cursed to kingdom come.

"Mal, you're moving slower than molasses in February." Jay sighed but stopped in his tracks. He knew that Mal was as good as her word anyway and probably wouldn't stop with just cursing him.

Though she'd probably curse him into something that would cause Lonnie to laugh for weeks. As long as it wasn't a parrot though, Jay'd be fine with it.

"Jay, if it bothers you that much, bring her bike to her. We're already here anyway," Harry stated as he climbed on his. "Gods, remind me to thank Ben for these bikes."

They truly were great bikes; each one custom made to the rider's preferences. For instance, Uma's bike was teal blue with decals that looked like ocean waves along the frame. Whereas Harry's was red and black with a hook decal wrapped around the handle bars.

Mal's bike, of course, was purple with decals along the frame that almost looked like the bike itself had wings furled up on each side, and Jay's bike was orange with a snake decal along the side.

Ben, of course, got bikes for Carlos, Gil, and Evie once they were brought more into the fold but they didn't use them as often as the Rotten Four did.

"Hey...where is Gil?" Jay asked as he looked at the red and gold bike with handlebars that almost looked like antlers.

"He's with Carlos at Rodger and Anita's," Uma said. "He wanted to be with Macaria but apparently, she hasn't told her parents about him yet."

"What, is she ashamed of him?"

"Nope. Just wants to make sure Jerkules won't give Gil the 'Leah' treatment so to speak and judge him for crimes Gaston did."

"Oh...that makes more sense now that I think about it," Jay said as he went to get on his bike. "After all, it's not like Wonderbreath would say Macaria can't date a person who didn't have a divine background."

"I'm just picturing the Gaston Twins' reaction to finding out that Gil is dating a Goddess," Harry smirked. "Considering those two like to align themselves with gangs like the Angels, they'll be pretty shocked indeed."

Uma sighed and shook her head. "Aunt Persephone should let Uncle Hades know we're coming," she said as they all got on their bikes, trying to get the boys focused back on what they were aiming to do. She bit her lip as she saw Mal almost topple over as she tried to get on her own bike.

"You alright there Mal?" Jay asked.

"Just...fine..."

"Okay," Jay sighed. "Just wanted to double check. Last thing we need is for you to fall and break something."

"I'll break...your head...if you don't...stop worrying," Mal said with a glare though the threatening aspect of it was diminished by how soft her voice had become. Jay held back a chuckle as Mal finally righted herself and the four of them drove off to the Isle. Normally Mal would have basked in the glow of the sun along the ride or smiled at the thought of seeing her dad once more.