Summertime

Chapter Ten-Let's Blame Star Lace!

An hour and a half later all of the Killjoys and I were driving throughBatteryCity, up to BLI headquarters. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Truthfully, I was scared. I was scared of getting shot, or worse, captured and tortured. Kobra squeezed my hand and pulled me close to him.

“Nervous?” he whispered in my ear.

“A little,” I breathed.

We pulled up in front of BLI and ran for the entrance. Their security must be horrible, I thought, if a vehicle can just pull up here. Kicking open the doors, we bolted in and the lasers began to fly. The Dracs had been waiting for us. That would explain the lax security; they were luring us in.

Poison had told us that we had to stay in the front lobby and distract everyone while he went to find Vine Spider. I had thought that would be easy, but now, I really saw how many Dracs just one building could pack. I had never seen so many.

Fear tumbling around in my stomach, I glanced up at Kobra Kid. He looked straight into my eyes and neither of us had to say anything. We grabbed each other and quickly locked in a passionate kiss.

“Stay safe, alright?” he said as we pulled apart.

“I’ll try, love,” I said weakly.

In the next moment he was gone. I drew my black and yellow laser gun—custom made by Show Pony—and started shooting. We were incredibly outnumbered, which I hoped decreased my chances of hitting a fellow Killjoy.

Something hit me in the head and I stumbled.

“Bloody hell!” I muttered as I whirled around and shot the Drac who had just attempted to knock me out. He collapsed without a sound.

For about another half hour, we fought for our lives. I thanked my past self for remembering to charge my laser gun the night before. If I hadn’t, it would’ve died in a few minutes and I’d be dead.

I was beginning to wonder where the hell Party Poison and his girlfriend were when someone slammed into me. It wasn’t a Drac, and it wasn’t a Killjoy I knew.

“Watch it!” I yelled. The girl jumped back.

“Sorry!” she yelped. I knew she must be Vine Spider. She had extremely messy brown hair, half of which was dyed purple. Her skin was pale, like mine, and she had hazel eyes like Poison’s.

“Vine Spider?” I panted. She nodded mutely.

“I’m Ghost Lightning. Let’s get out of here,” I said.

We started for the exit. I yelled at any Killjoys we passed that we had found Vine Spider and were getting out. Soon I saw a small mob of color swarming towards the exit.

“Lace—Star Lace, where are you?!” Noise Flag screamed. Lace was the only one missing from the group. I pushed Noise back towards the exit.

“You go, I’ll find her!” I yelled. I turned and darted back into the myriad of Dracs, searching for Lace’s pink streaked hair.

“Don’t be dead, don’t be dead,” I muttered as I shoved Dracs out of my way. Finally I practically crashed into her.

“Lace! Go, fucking go!” I snarled, pushing her towards the exit. She started running and I began to follow.

I heard the familiar zing of a laser gun, but this time it was accompanied by searing pain. With a short scream I fell, my ankle burning like it was on fire. I tried to struggle to my feet, but my left leg was useless. My voice cracked when I tried to scream for Star Lace. It was pointless anyway—she was already gone.

“It looks like they saved one but lost another two,” a cold voice chuckled. I scrambled into a sitting position, panting and glaring at Korse.

“What do you mean two?” I growled. Korse gestured behind him and my heart sank as I saw little Grace struggling in the arms of a Draculoid.

“Grace, what are you doing here?!” I yelled. Tears ran down her face.

“I—I’m sorry, I just wanted to help…I snuck in the trunk with Show Pony’s laser gun…Ghost, I’m scared!” she sobbed. I bit my lip.

“It’s going to be okay, Grace,” I said in the best comforting voice I could. Korse laughed, and a couple of Draculoids appeared at my side. They pulled me to my feet and I grimaced.

“Let her go. You’ve already got me for ransom, let her go,” I said, my voice shaking. Korse simply smiled.

“The more the merrier,” he chuckled madly.

“She’s only ten! Please, there’s no point in keeping her, you have me! Just take me!” I cried. Korse stared at me, his lip twitching, his cold black eyes boring into mine.

“Tranquilize her,” he said softly.

“No!” I shrieked as the Drac stabbed a needle into my arm. I watched Grace being carried away as darkness clouded my vision.

Atomic Urgency’s P.O.V

“And you LEFT HER THERE?!” I roared, plunging a knife into the coffee table. I had been resting at the Diner, nervously waiting for the Killjoys to get back. But when they did, Terry wasn’t with them. Apparently, she had gone back for Star Lace, and disappeared even when Lace came back.

“Urgency, the Dracs were after us. We were horribly outnumbered, and we didn’t realize she was gone until we pulled over. I’m sorry!” Zero said. All of the girls were in tears, the men with grim expressions on their faces.

“I don’t care! You left her there to die! She’s probably already dead!” I yelled.

“No. Korse wouldn’t do that,” Vine Spider spoke up suddenly, “The whole time I was there, he kept telling me that he wouldn’t kill me until he was sure the Killjoys wouldn’t come for me. She’s still alive. She’s just replaced me as bait.”

Show Pony skated into the room, his eyes red and chewing his lip.

“Grace is gone, too. She must have somehow snuck in the trunk or something. I think she wanted to help, so she took my laser gun and tried to fight. Oh, God, if she’s dead…” he moaned softly, sinking down onto the couch. Noise Flag ran to sit next to him, gently kissing him on the mouth. They had been dating for a while now.

“We have to save them,” I said, forcing myself to stand up.

“Not now! We just got back, and your shoulder’s still hurt,” Jet Star said.

“Well, we’ll wait until my shoulder heals up then! Because you guys aren’t going without me this time!” I insisted. They all sighed; they knew I couldn’t be argued with. One by one, they disappeared into their bedrooms. I curled up on the couch, panting slightly. My shoulder better heal up damn fast. I wasn’t about to let the love of my life be killed at the hands of Korse.