The Embrace (BOOK 2)

Chapter 6

Ricky's POV

Johnny, Zacky, Chris, Iris and I all pile up in Johnny's car, and we head to Hurricanes Bar and Grill.

Because I was so starstruck by Avenged, I didn't notice that Ville was supposed to be with us but he wasn't. When I asked Iris, she said that there's nothing to worry about. He disappears often but never without reason.

After 10 minutes of driving, we arrive and we enter the bar and grill. Iris receives ugly stares from a lot of people, including the bartender. You don't see women or even men dressed in medieval looking clothes every day. But even then, Iris doesn't seem to notice or care. We all order a beer to get refreshed while we wait for Nick's arrival.

I remain silent while Chris, Johnny, Iris and Zacky all make small talk. Eventually, Iris notices and she nudges me with her elbow.

"Earth to Ricky, don't let your beer get cold." She snorts but I see her smile fade away from the corner of my eye when I don't respond, move or even blink. "Are you okay?"

After a few more seconds of silence, I take a deep breath and look at her. "Yeah." I croak out. "Just thinking." 

"A penny for your thoughts?" She asks.

I hesitate, but then open up like a book that was just taken out from the shelf. "I don't know what's going to happen if we find my sister. If she doesn't have amnesia, great. If she does, then I'm screwed cause there's pretty much going to be no way to get all of her memories and identity back. She's not going to trust strangers, and she's not going to believe anything we tell her..." I trail off. "But I also don't know what's going to happen if we don't find her. I don't know what's going to happen to me if we don't find her." I whisper the last part.

"You're thinking way too much into this when we've barely just made a baby step. You'll decide all of that when we find her or if we never do. We'll cross those bridges when we get there." Her glowing brown eyes look into my blue ones. I'm about to say something before Iris doesn't give me a chance by looking past me, saying "is that him?"

I turn to look over at my shoulder and see Nick enter the bar. He hasn't changed much from the last time I saw him, except this time he doesn't have the three claw marks across his eye.

His eyes scan the entire bar and grill before his eyes meet mine, and he walks toward us.

"Guys." I get the others' attention and stand up. "Nick."

"Ricky." He nods, and he looks at Iris. "Iris I assume?"

"The one and only."

"No offense but who are you?" He squints at her.

"Guardian that many people don't know about. But, people do know the band HIM and its lead singer, Ville Valo. I'm his cousin."

"No way, seriously? This is fucking awesome. I'm going to get to team up with my childhood idols. Sweet." He says excitedly.

He looks behind me, at Zacky and Johnny and walks toward them. "Hi, Nick Rossi, portal jumper. I'm a huge fan of your band." He shakes both of their hands and they smile back, being used to having so many fans of all ages. 

"I'm here so... what now?" He then turns to the rest of us. 

"You'll build a portal. Somewhere where there aren't people. Maybe try the back of this park and grill?" Iris suggests, and we all nod. 

We all exit, and make our way to the back of the building, where the staff park. No one is around, so I hint to Nick to do it.

He nods and kneels down, lowering his hands across the warm pavement. He closes his eyes and soon enough, a portal begins to form, expanding. "Step back." He says and stands up. We all stand back a few feet until the portal fully opens.