Kiss Of Death (Are You Afraid Of The Dark)

10

The meeting with Gary from one of the original Midnight Societies was a bust. They had told him all about their issues over ice cream, but he didn't have a good explanation for anything besides the area of the supernatural. What was worse was that he hadn't seen his brother Tucker for years, so they couldn't contact him about his own supernatural experiences. Gary did give them his number to call him in case they figured it out or they needed a little extra help with their situation. Other than that, though, this whole trip was a waste. They were back at square one, and that wasn't good because her friends were missing.

Rachel had nowhere left to turn. Her friends were going missing out of thin air one by one. She had no way to stop it before it was too late. What will happen when all of them go missing? Would they be in the ghost world or whatever that was haunting them? She had no idea. Or would they all die after the rest of them go missing? That was the worst thought she could have. It chilled her to her soul, contrasting to the warm air blowing through the car.

All of them were finally on their way back to Argento with no other clues as to how they were going to save their friends. Everyone in Quinton's car were quiet. She assumed Gavin and Graham were thinking about Akiko and Adam and Louise. After the meeting with Gary, both Midnight Societies were very quiet and solemn. They didn't speak much with each other besides telling each other that they had to get back to Argento. They didn't have any other plan than that, and that scared Rachel.

She hoped the group from Shadow Bay were coming up with ideas on how to rescue their friends right now. All of them were different than anyone Rachel had ever met before, and they came up with ideas that she would never think of. Maybe they could all brainstorm together to save Akiko, Adam, and Louise before it was too late. Hopefully they would come up with a plan because she was afraid that the rest of her friends were going to go missing.

Staring out the window, Rachel rested her head against the seat and let out a soft sigh. All she wanted to do was curl up and sleep for a thousand years in the warm car. Maybe then all her problems would be over. That was the only refreshing thought she had had in a long, long time. She wished everything would just slow down and allow her to catch up with her own life instead of worrying about losing it.

Her eyes fluttered shut as exhaustion rolled through her body. Maybe if she took a nap, everything would turn out right. Louise and Adam and Akiko would come back. The kids from Shadow Bay would be back in their hometown. Mr. Tophat wouldn't haunt her dreams. Everything would be peaceful here in Argento. If only . . .

"Why is the car slowing down?" Gavin asked from the backseat, scaring Rachel from her half-asleep state. Her eyes were blurry when she glanced over at Quinton to find him frantically hitting the steering wheel, which was weird. He seemed upset, which was even weirder. "We're not back to Argento yet."

"We ran out of gas," Quinton said. The anger in his voice was pure darkness that seeped into a warm room on a sunny day. Rachel shivered as the car got a little bit colder. She pulled her short sleeves down lower, trying to cover as much skin as possible. "I thought I could make it back to Argento before I ran out, but apparently, I was wrong."

"Just pull off onto the side of the road," Gavin said sensibly. His calm voice brought back a little of the warmth that had nearly made Rachel fall asleep. Her near dream-like state was almost lulling her back there, but she forced herself to stay awake. "I'll call Gabby and see if they can find a gas station to get us some gas."

"What will they bring it in?" Quinton snapped. "It's not like any of us have gas cans."

"I'm sure you can buy one at the gas station."

The car finally stopped in the grass on the side of the road. Other cars flew by them, shaking the car as it sat there, dead like a doornail. Rachel felt uncomfortable as Gavin opened his door and hopped out of the car. She didn't want to be left in the car, so she started to unbuckle her seatbelt when Graham said, "I'll talk to Gabby, too. I have some words for her."

"Words? What words?" Rachel asked, turning around in her seat. She looked at Graham to see a pained look on his face. He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and scooted toward the door Gavin got out of. "Graham?"

"I really have to pee, okay? And there's no way I'm peeing on the side of the road because that's just nasty."

Before she could answer him, he got out of the car and slammed the door shut, leaving her alone with Quinton. She slowly turned back around to face forward. It seemed like the air around Quinton was so thick that she couldn't breathe at all. It coated her lungs like gasoline, causing her to nearly gasp for air. 

"I didn't mean for the car to run out of gas like that," Quinton said. This time, his voice was a little softer and quieter. "I just didn't think . . ."

Rachel couldn't help but whisper, "Didn't think what?"

"I didn't have enough money to get gas the other day." Quinton gripped the steering wheel, his hands slowly turning whiter and whiter. He was looking straight ahead at the road in front of them at the cars that raced by. "That's why I was hoping I could get it when we got back to Argento. I have just enough now to get gas."

"Why didn't you say something to us?" she asked him with a frown. For some reason, she felt her hand reach out to touch his arm as if she were comforting him. "We could have helped you."

"I didn't want to impose. It's already a stretch for me to be driving you guys around for your little secret society shenanigans."

Rachel's cheeks heated up. She didn't know why. It felt strange hearing that come out of his mouth. He made it seem like they were doing something illegal together instead of just hanging out and telling scary stories in the middle of the night. Well, it was kind of illegal for them to be taking trips to Washington without asking any of their parents, but their parents wouldn't understand what they were going through. Someone had it out for their secret society, and they had to stop it before it was too late.

"Thanks for offering to drive us, though," Rachel said, clearing her throat. She didn't want him to know that he was affecting her like this. "We didn't want to split up the group."

"Because your friends are disappearing?"

"Yeah."

"Do you suspect it has something to do with the other side?"

"Other side?"

"The realm of the ghosts. Spirits. Supernatural. What have you."

Rachel stared down at her lap and shrugged. He had already heard too much about the Midnight Society and the things each group had gone through. "Maybe. I don't really know, Quinton."

The both of them fell silent. She still had her hand on his arm. It felt like it was almost glued there; she couldn't let him go at all. Not until Gavin opened the back door, at least. Her hand dropped into her lap quickly.

"I swear, if Gabby doesn't hurry up, I am going to have an accident in the back of this car," Graham grumbled as he slid into the backseat. "Sorry in advance, Quinton."

Quinton remained silent. Rachel glanced behind her and saw Gavin giving her a weird look. It slipped off his face when he caught her looking at him. In its place was a soft smile, but it didn't reach his eyes like it normally would have. Something strange wormed its way into Rachel's heart at the sight of him. She wanted to ask him what the matter was, but she wasn't going to do that with two other people in the car. Maybe they would have some alone time soon enough.

It felt like hours before Gabby finally found where they were parked. Rachel spent the time peering over the envelopes, trying to find anything else that would give her a clue. The only thing that stood out to her was the lipstick marks on each envelope. That seemed strange in itself, but the closer she looked, the more she realized the mark was words written using a thin pencil that was covered with lipstick, making it hard for her to read them. But she would try until she figured this thing out once and for all.