The Fifth Element

Chapter 12

Jem roughly dropped Nathan on the dirty matress that lay limply on the floor of the abandoned house. Really though...what if that thing was infested with Hepatitus B? Eh, Nathan kinda deserved it after his actions. Well, he was under the influence of some heavy Siren Nightmorph spells. But still.

"Please tell me we're not actually staying here for more than five minutes," Peri wrinkled her nose.

"This place reeks of homeless dude," Lex added, holding her nose.

"We've got a tortured girl..." Jem began, looking toward Talia, who had fallen asleep while Sam carried her on his back. Her face was scarred and her arms were covered in blue-ish bruises. "And a guy who's practically in a coma..." he finished, nodding toward Nathan. "Where else can we go where there'll be no chance of running into Nightmorphs?" Peri bit her lip and Lex quit pinching her nose.

"Jem's got a point," I jumped in. "Let's just see if we can get Nathan and Talia to wake up soon and then we'll see what we can do." Oh no, I'm starting to act like a leader. Is his how Mussolini felt? Let's not go there, Sky. Not today.

"Gotta agree with Sky," Sam blew air out of his mouth as he set Talia down on the mattress next to Nathan. Even though it didn't mean anything, this action felt like such a punch in the gut after what had happened back in the diner with Angel. Ugh, emotions are the most crippling, useless things ever.

And that's when I heard the siren. And it wasn't from an ambulence.

"Yes!" I heard Lex whisper-shout. Really? She'd take getting caught by cops over a nasty smell? Typical Lex.

Nathan started and jumped up suddenly. The boy had some major survival skills, I'll give him that. Talia stirred and her eyes fluttered open.

"Time to bail," Peri said, scurrying toward the back door...which had an old-fashioned wooden bar locking it. Wow...our lives are just combined into one gigantic soap opera. Sam scooped a delirious Talia up into his arms and Jem and Lex ran after them. Nathan gave me a pained look and gestured toward me to join them first. I could tell we would have a lot to talk about later.

"What do we do?" Peri glanced at me. I shrugged in frustration.

"No clue."

"I can teleport...but..." Peri stated, glancing at the others.

"Can you teleport with another person?" I inquired, biting my lower lip.

She shook her head. "I've tried that before. It doesn't work."

I sighed and squeezed my eyes shut, attemping to ignore the sirens that were drawing closer.

Force. Strength. Nature? Wind!

"Get the others to move back," I commanded. I really hated being bossy but at the moment it was necessary. "Please?" I added as a consolation.

The others scooted back and I could feel the tattoo on my arm throb. I placed my hands before me, the way I had seen all other cliche super heroes from the movies do (ie Storm from X-men), waiting for the strength to course through my body again. A gust of wind crashed through causing my hair to whip violently around my head like a halo. The door shattered and I felt splinters of wood thrash at my face. I hope the landlord that has ownership over this house has insurance. I let Peri, Sam, and Talia rush out and followed behind with the others. I heard a cop yell from behind us to stop running before a gunshot rang out.

"Run into the closest place! Don't get separated!" Peri shouted. She was a lot better at being authoritative. I trailed behind her as she dashed into a building with a flashing neon sign.

Music hummed over us as we entered. I wasn't sure what was going on, still a bit flustered from the adrenaline rush, but I made a head count and we all dispersed into the crowd together. Once I made my way to the front, I realized where we were.

"Is she..." Lex made a strange face.

"Pole dancing?" I slapped my hand over my face. Nice going, Peri. I mean, 'I Wanna Love You" by Akon was playing and everything.

"Uh..." Nathan looked uncomfortable. Good. Sam appeared confused (such an innocent child) while Jem looked mildly amused. Of all places...How many facepalms in a minute are socially acceptable?

Before I even had time to adjust to this dilemma, a man wearing a frilly red shirt grabbed my arm and looked me up and down. He wasn't unattractive or creepy but...

"Oh, honey, this ain't an S&M type. Let's get you dressed, baby," The most likely homosexual man shook his head and pulled me away with him.

"Wait, god no, I'm not part of this show!" I squirmed, trying to pry him off of me. I jerked my head back toward my friends and saw that Nathan was staring at me in horror. He pushed a man out of the way to come after me but ended up being pushed back into the crowd.

He tossed a card into the air. King of Hearts. This is no time for games, Nathan. Kinda being kidnapped here. Ain't no way a playing card is going to save me.

"King of Hearts?!" I yelled at him.

"Signal!" He shouted back. Nathan, I'm starting to understand you less and less...

Too late. The man led me to a changing room where girls from nineteen to twenty-five were getting primped and wearing...not much at all.

"Oh, doll, don't worry! Raul will get ya all cleaned up and ready for the show. You're a new face but you're such a looker so you'll have no problem," the man said. He spoke about himself in third person?! THERE IS NO WAY I'M IN THIS FREAKING SHOW?! THESE PEOPLE NEED JESUS!

I squirmed but Raul managed to get me dressed up in a skimpy sequined dress with matching earrings and pumps that I couldn't even stand in and practically doused me in makeup and glitter, to put the icing on the cake.

"Oh, somtimes I just outdo myself!" Raul swooned, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away falling tears. I'm pretty sure this guy had cried more in one minute than I had in an entire lifetime. There's gotta be a way to get out of here. And that's when I saw the King of Hearts laying on the ground before me. The signal...Nathan, I hope you know what you're doing. I really do.

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Okay, so I was laughing so hard as I wrote this chapter. It's not meant to be totally risque but the idea was just too funny to pass up and there's this whole inside joke about strip clubs at school. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update but I'll try to be better about updating, I promise! Have a merry monday!!