The Fire Inside

32. Finally Planning Some Shit

Back in the mansion, the group was discussing how Dakota knew Ezra and what had happened to Ethan after Casper left.

"Well, Ethan hasn't been around recently, but he pops in now and then. He found a really nice girl and settled down."

"How old is the guy?" Jimin asked, confused as to how old Ethan could be as well.

"A little older than Casper so by now a full grown adult. I never got close enough to know him personally since he was usually out. Ezra on the other hand, literally never left this damn house," Dakota said with a laugh.

Just as she mentioned him, the raven-haired kid walked into the room. He nodded at the lounging group before continuing up the stairs.

"Yo! Ezra!"

Ezra turned around and nodded.

"Could you help us out?"

Ezra walked down the stairs and stood next to Dakota.

"With what?" Ezra's deep voice echoed throughout the room.

"Storming Casper's place."

"Casper? Isn't he like, gone?"

"Well...all I know is that this demon king's name is Casper and he's hella powerful too."

"Ok, sure."

"Just like that?" Julien asked incredulously.

"Ezra's like that. He could care less and he never really cared about Casper before. Ok, so plan."

"Now?" Ezra asked, showing emotion on his face for the first time.

"Yes, now! They kinda need help if you haven't noticed. C'mon! You're the genius here!" Dakota said, crossing her arms.

"I can help," Varun volunteered.

"No, he's good," Dakota smirked.

Ezra let out a deep sigh, "Fine. But I don't even know what you guys do. You're going to need to be well equipped."

"Well I can use flames. Julien has a boomerang, Varun has nunchucks, Maria has a bow, Emmalynn has a scythe, Heiwa has a sword, and Izzy can turn into a dog," Jimin explained.

"What about her?" Ezra pointed to Riley.

"She's our personal medic...luckily we haven't needed her yet," Maria said slowly.

"Well she's definitely gonna need something so I'll look around. The rest of you are going to get a personalized schedule for training. I don't want any slip-ups. This is life or death at this point."

"Is there anyone else who stays here?" Riley asked.

"Nope," Dakota replied cheekily.

"Then how is it not old and broken?"

"That will remain a mystery forever," Dakota laughed.

"Back to what I was talking about," Ezra stated, "Dakota will personally train anyone with combat weapons, so Varun, Julien, Heiwa, and Emmalynn will train with her. Maria has a bow so it's slightly different. She'll be with me along with Riley, Izzy, and Jimin."

"How'd you— What was— Oh my god I'm so done," Heiwa stuttered.

"Planning? Because he's done it all the time," Dakota said proudly, "Well, you guys should get some sleep. It's not gonna be easy from here on out!"

The group grumbled before going to their respective rooms. Dakota stopped Jimin before she walked up the stairs.

"You can go to my room instead of me. I don't mind switching!"

Jimin turned red before looking at Isadora, who was making suggestive faces after hearing everything.

"I-I think I'm good," Jimin said stumbling up the stairs.

She watched as Varun and Maria chuckled as they walked into a room. Heiwa was lucky to have a room to herself and Emmalynn was attached to the hip with Riley. She sighed before walking into her room. She plopped onto one of the beds before sitting up again.

"I won't be able to sleep, will I..." she muttered.

Jimin didn't feel comfortable. She was anxious and too jittery. The door opened, interrupting her thoughts.

"So I'm sleeping with Heiwa. Just thought I'd let you know," Dakota said smiling.

"Uh, ok."

The door closed but was flung open as Isadora waltzed in.

"You like Julien! But you're too afraid to admit it!"

"Yeah. Yeah. Leave me alone. Right now we need to focus on beating Casper."

"Or Hell."

"Same thing!"

"Meh. Casper sounds like a friendly ghost or something. Hell, on the other hand, is vicious!"

Jimin threw herself face forward onto her bed, "I'm done. I thought I wasn't tired but now I am. Go to sleep. Turn off the lights. Just bye."

"You're no fun. When you're in trouble or danger, you should enjoy the small things! Otherwise you'll get stressed out and collapse before you get to Hell."

"Casper."

"What?"

"Casper. Let's pretend he's a friendly ghost so that I can relax," Jimin said coyly.

"Sure," Izzy said laughing.

"So how's you're transforming? Are you able to turn into a dog on command?"

"Actually yeah! Ever since you transferred that small bit of flame into me, I've been able to transform with ease. I think Casper finally lost his hold on me!" Isadora exclaimed before flipping around into her dog form.

"It's faster too!" Jimin celebrated.

Isadora turned back before tackling Jimin, "Thank you! You promised you'd help me and you did!"

Jimin turned towards her laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"I haven't turned you back yet. I still need to figure out how to do that..."

"Nah! You're good! I'm fine turning back and forth like this!"

"Now all you need is a collar," Jimin faked an evil smile and began walking towards Isadora with her arms out like some kind of monster.

Isadora shrieked and jumped onto her bed. Jimin began chasing her around the room before the door was flung open.

"Is everyone ok?!" Julien hollered.

Isadora and Jimin dropped the pillows they had in their hands.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Oh my god! You guys gave me a heart attack!" Julien huffed.

"Sorry," Jimin said quietly.

"Don't be sorry! Attack!" Isadora flung her pillow at the unsuspecting blond.

He flew back a few steps before walking in and closing the door behind him.

"You guys are in so much trouble," he smirked.

The rest of the night Heiwa, Riley, and the rest of the crew had to force themselves to sleep through the obnoxious laughter echoing throughout the hallways. The only one not disturbed was Ezra. He was too busy listening to his own music through his ear plugs called silence.