PrimRose

24. Fire Breathers II

“So what's the plan?” Jake asked.

“This week was stressful for all of us so we really need to get back to our homes and rest” Justin said.

“We are not robbing a bank are we?” Jake deadpanned.

“No silly” Gold face palmed herself. “Just wait a few more seconds, the boys will be here any second”

“What boys?” I frowned slightly.

The door opened and I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach. There was also this subtle fluttering in my stomach that I couldn't explain.

~

Elijah sauntered in with a guy about our age. While Elijah had a slight frown on his face, the other guy looked blank, there was barely any readable expression on his face.

“Guys, meet Davis. Davis meet Jake, Rhys and the guys” Gold said cheerfully and the guy gave us a small wave.

“So what are they doing here?” I asked drily despite the turmoil in the pit of my stomach.
Elijah wasn't allowed to have that kind of effect on me.

He glared at me, “How is that your problem?” He cocked a brow at me.

“Gold why is he here?” I demanded.
The entire room went still.

“We need as many hands as we can get” she reasoned.

“Of what use will Elijah Kings be?”

“Watch it!” Elijah threatened.

“What are you going to do?” I challenged and took a step closer.
Justin held my upper arm and pulled me closer.

Gold stepped between the two of us, “Abel needs our help. We can't afford fighting”

“If she's a part of this, then I'm out of here” Elijah said and turned around to leave.

For some reason, I didn't want him to leave and my dwindling emotions were confusing me.
“Why is he running away? Did he do something mean to Abel too and is too ashamed to help out?” I whispered to Justin, loud enough for the world to hear.

Elijah turned around and sent daggers my way.
A shiver ran down my spine and I felt myself cower a little. At least I made him stop.
“Since you've never been 'mean' to Abel, don't you think you're in a better position to know what is wrong with him?”

“How am I supposed to know when he's shutting everyone out? Besides I'm here to find out what's wrong with him and not walking out right before anything starts” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

“Why not ask your little boyfriend? He might know something” he crossed his arms too.

“Bro” Davis placed a hand on his shoulder.

I felt my jaw twitch with sudden anger.
“Why exactly are you bringing Blaise into this?” I flared. “And for your stupid information, Blaise is not my boyfriend so don't ever call him that”

“That’s enough you two!” Justin snapped, “Put your shits together and get over this. I can't have my buddy and my sister fighting like this” he gritted out. Massaging his temples he hissed, “No fucking way is keeping two fire breathers in a room for more than five seconds a good thing”

“Are you two at least going to do this for Abel?” Gold asked in concern.

The room was silent and I could feel eyes burning on my skin.
I sighed and muttered, “Fine” but Elijah remained silent.
He stared at me for a while before he too sighed and said fine.

Gold heaved in relief. “Now that all of that is settled...” she drawled and rummaged through the trash bag before her and tossed tiny pieces of black clothes at all of us.
“Masks for everyone!” she announced, “I bought toy guns too”

“But you said we weren't robbing a bank!” Jake cried.

“We are not” she told him seriously. “We should just evade Abel's house like thieves and kidnap him then torture him till he opens his mouth”

“This is stupid” Elijah said, “If we are going to spy on Abel, we don't need all of these. We could get into a lot of trouble if we fall into the wrong hands”

“For once I agree with you” I said.

“What do you mean by ‘fall into the wrong hands’?” Gold asked.

“We could get jungle justice. If we get found out, no one will care to ask about our intentions. We would be treated like criminals. Beaten and burned to death. Jungle justice is archaic, cruel and unjust but it's getting more common these days. We should try to be more careful” he answered her and her eyes widened before she nodded slowly.

“But why the trash bag though?” Jake asked.

“Looks less suspicious, duh” she gave him a ‘duh’ look.

Jake's forehead creased at her reasoning. “Is it just me or the trash bag looks even more suspicious?”

“Nope” Davis and Justin said in unison.

“Good” Jake nodded his head with a serious look on his face.

“Shut up, you guys?” she said childishly. “But I spent twenty grand on all these cool stuff”

Davis stepped forward and rummaged through the stuff and brought out a toy gun, examining it. “We can use these to play games in the near future.”

“So what's the conclusion?” Jake asked.

“We are just going to look at Abel's place and step in if we must” Elijah said.
It seemed to me that he knew more than he was willing to let on.

‘Ok’ everyone nodded.

“Before we take the group photo, Rhys you're going to have to change to that black hoodie” Gold said to me and her eyes moved from me to the hoodie that lay on the back rest of the chair closest to me.

I rolled my eyes at her.

The guys started to chatter among themselves while Gold was trying to make some last minute arrangements with Justin.

I pulled my hoodie over my head and cold air from the air conditioner hit me, causing goosebumps to spread across my arm.
I switched the two hoodies then wore the black one over my head.
When I had pulled it down, I turned to the others and they were all staring at me.

I caught Justin scratching the back of his ear, his lips pressed in a thin line and he looked anywhere but at me.
He was trying to suppress his amusement.

I narrowed my eyes but his eyes looked even higher up.
What the hell is wrong with him?
I was going to ask him once we were alone.

“Group selfie” Gold reminded to clear the awkwardness.

Everybody shuffled around awkwardly.
They're suddenly acting weird.
Maybe I totally missed something in the few seconds I changed hoodies.
Ohhhhhhhh.
My tattoos. That's what they were staring at!
I mentally facepalm myself.
My tattoos aren't weird or anything so there was nothing to feel conscious about but a little part of me did feel self-conscious.
I barely showed off my tattoo, maybe it's the reason I was starting to feel that way.