Accidentally On Purpose

La Poire

                                                        Quill's P.O.V.

The day went by quickly. Kitty got her own invisible hammock, and we all slept on each other to try and prevent as many ticks. My head was currently resting on Fox''s behind, and Mayson's head on my tush. We were in this awkward circle of laying on each other's butts. It was something I never would have done, but for some reason we all did. As if compelled.

I shuddered. It would get colder soon, but since we were traveling south I guess we should be fine. But still, if we don't get there within a month--which is really short when we're on foot, it would be more like two months--then we'll get cold. Fast.

I fell asleep quickly, but was plagued with nightmares. What Kitty had said made us all uneasy. Sketch was all cut up? What had they done?

Will he even be alive when we get there?

When sunset came, Fox stirred beneath me, waking me up. He had to wait for Arctica to wake up, so he stayed on the ground. I stood, stretching. It was oddly quiet in the forest tonight. Eerie, even. I shuddered again, it was getting cold. We slept through the warmth and traveled through the frigid. Great.

Starlight filtered in through the trees, making the leaves on the forest floor glisten. Had it rained? That explains why Kitty is no longer in her hammock but cowering beside a log. She seems to be in a better mental state, but honestly I think I liked the crazier one better, only without the screaming. Normal Kitty is so...expressive of everything. Her feelings, true intentions, conversations, all of it. And she got angry pretty easily, but she was just overprotective. I hid all of that.

"LA POIRE!" Zaastaish suddenly screamed, leaping up from his invisible hammock and landing on the ground, limbs at awkward angles. We were all awake now, looking at him, confused. Zaastaish's face reddened, and he explained, "I had a nightmare...about....ah, pears...."

We all looked to Kitty, who was now smiling feebly. "Ah, sorry? If it helps, I didn't get any sleep."

"No, no, that doesn't help. I have always been scared of pears."

"Oh-kay then! Well, why don't we get going and on the move! Now!" Arctica commanded, practically shoving Fox up with her. She probably didn't want to be on cold, damp ground. I shuddered in the damp air. It actually was cold, I couldn't blame her.

"So, how are we going to get there?" I asked, because going on foot isn't working out. My heart flipped at the thought, but Sketch could be dead when we get there. Two months is a long time.

"We could steal a car again." Arctica said, strolling in the direction we've been going for three days. Zaastaish's eyebrows raised. "Again?" he asked, and I remembered he didn't know everything.

"Basically, Arctica and Fox were kidnapped fifteen years ago by their guardian angels plus friends, and Kitty was kidnapped by Sketch. We took the truck that the guardian angels plus friends owned and ran off to find Sketch. Who was kidnapped. And Dylan, Arctica's guardian angel's husband, who was also kidnapped. And then we crashed it because Kitty was going...way over the limit at a hundred and thirty. And then we ran into you two." I explained, because nobody else seemed to remember nor want to. I yawned, genuinely tired.

Suddenly I was tackled from behind by an unseen force, and I fell. I scrambled around to see--

My book bag. Gummy worms were spilling out, and some Band-Aids. I stuffed them back inside with my other stuff, and Kitty tossed more book bags at unsuspecting victims. I began to eat some gummy worms, following where everyone else was walking. I guess we were stealing another car.

Zaastaish was behind us all, and I was sure everyone heard him muttering, "La poire...la poire viendra..." Over and over again. Uanai actually seemed to pretty scared of pears too, though. I wonder what happened.

We broke the forest line, leaving Kitty with the kids. The rest of us teenagers went to steal a car from a suburban neighborhood that we were walking through. "So, we want a big car." Fox said, pointing to a huge van. The license plate said 10WOLF. Um, not weird at all. We crept up the driveway, and tested the door. Locked.

"Hey! Who are you?!" shouted a voice from the front door of the large house. We whipped around. A man with brown eyes and blue at the bottom was glaring at us, a toddler clinging to his leg. His long curly brown hair was a mess about his head, and he seemed to be hiding someone behind him.

"I--uh--" we had no valid reason to be walking around at midnight trying to steal their car.

"Brandon, who is it?" a voice from behind the man asked. A woman came into view, with red hair and eyes that freaked me out. One was yellow, the other was green, but one had a broken pupil. She also had some burns, one of them in a crescent on her face. She was the one the man, Brandon, was hiding.

"Nothing, Luna, go back to sleep." the man told her, probably his wife, considering the toddler's resemblance to both of them.

"They're just kids, Brandon. Let them in, ask them what they're doing. If they are here on the council's behalf we can just rip out their throats."

I choked on a gummy worm, and Zaastaish was left to help me un-choke it. That escalated very quickly. These people were nuts.

"Shape-shifter, Jinn, and cupid things. Inside, and get the rest of your group hiding in the woods." Brandon ordered, and I choked again, on the same gummy worm.

"Who are you guys?" Arctica snapped, and for once I was grateful for her prissy-ness.

"We are Brandon and Luna Wilson, alphas of the werewolf pack of New York, New York." Brandon said, and flinched when someone began crying in the house. "Hope, go and feed Bob!" he shouted, and a muffled reply came from inside the house and more crying started. Suddenly Luna and Brandon looked very stressed.

"Come inside guys." he muttered to us, following Luna inside.

We all looked to each other, but Arctica and Fox seemed to be in awe. "They'll help us. I know they will." Arctica and Fox said in unison, dragging us inside. Zaastaish went back to get the kids and Kitty.

Oh, sweet mother of gummy worms, what have we gotten ourselves into?