The Death in the Moonlight XI

We opened the door as a woman in a blue floral print dress reached the porch.
“Girl’s, how are you?” Aunt Mei asked hugging us.
“We’re fine.”
“How was your trip?” Alira asked.
“Oh, it was lovely!” she exclaimed.
“You remember Mara.” I said gesturing behind me.
“Of course.” she replied enveloping Mara in a bear hug. “How are you dear?”
“I’m good.” Mara said hugging her back.
“Where’s Darren?” Aunt Mei asked looking around.
“Out back, I think he went into the forest.”
“When will he be back?”
“Soon.” we said smirking. “Very soon.”
“Let’s go inside and get ready for the party then.”

Meanwhile.

“Hey, um, where are we going?” Darren asked following his captors through the forest.
“You’ll find out.” said the guy in front of him.
“When?”
“Soon.” said the guy behind him poking him with his staff. “Hurry up.”
“How far away are we?”
“Far enough.”

Back at the kitchen.

“How is the ice cream coming along Raven?”
“Good, I think it’s almost done.”
“And the snacks?”
“Perfect.” Alira said chewing on some pocky.
“What about the smoothies?”
“Um, I kinda forgot to put the lid on.” Mara said sheepishly covered in fruit.

The Death in the Moonlight X

“Any ideas?” I asked.
“We could use Tiny and your pets.”
“And the village’s animals.” Mara added.
“’Kay, how do you wanna do this?”
“I vote ambush!” Alira said, waving her hand.
“Sounds good to me.”
“What about Darren?”
“We’ll send Malvo to find him.”
“Then let’s start planning, we’ve only got a week.”
“I’ll go home and start training the animals.”
“’Kay, I’ll go to the lab and make sure they’ll be ready.”
“And I’ll go find Tiny.”
“We can meet back here tomorrow.”


Meanwhile Darren angered some elephants

The Death in the Moonlight IX

“What do you guys wanna do today?”
“I don’t know.” Alira said. “Something fun.”
“We could go digging.”
“Then experiment with what we find.”
The phone rang and I put it on speaker.
“Hello?” we said in unison.
“HELLO! Girls how are you?” asked a way too perky woman.
“Um, good.”
“Aunt Mei?”
“Yessiree.”
“Where are you? We haven’t seen you all week!”
“India.”
“What are you doing in India?!” I yelled.
“Visiting friends of course.”
“And you didn’t tell us you were leaving because?”
“I forgot.”
“Is that why you’re calling now?”
“No, I have wonderful news! We’re having a family reunion next week!” Click.
“WHAT!”
"Well at least now we have something to do." said Mara.
"Yeah." Alira and I said in unison. "We have to figure out how to make this more exciting. Otherwise it's going to be so boring."

The Death in the Moonlight VIII

“Raaaven wake uuuuup.” Alira sang swinging on a tree branch, two feet above my vine ‘hammock’.
“Noooo.”
“Yeeeees”
Crack.
“Owww.”
“Stupid branch.” Said the girl who just landed on me.
“Can you get off me?”
“Sorry, Raven.” I sat up as the girl slid into a spot next to me.
“It’s not funny.” I said as Alira started laughing.
“Your right it’s hilarious.”
“Wait a minute, how do you know my name?”
“I’m Mara. We met last time you were here.”
“Oh yeah, we were at that place with all those animal bones. You fell on me then too.”
“Eheh, sorry.” Alira finally stopped laughing.
“I’m sure you are. Alira come down here.”
“’Kay,” She said and swung down. “Hey Mara.”
“Hey.”
“Show off.”
“Says you.”
“Yup, by the way where’s Darren?” I asked looking around.
“I think he ran, that way.” She said pointing to some bushes.
“Do we look for him now or later?”
“Later, of course.”
“Home it is. Mara, do you want to stay over since it is getting dark?”
“Sure. Did you guys repaint your room yet?”
“Yes, and it looks awesome.” Alira beamed.
“Good the pink was annoying me.”

The Death in the Moonlight VII

“So when’s Tiny coming up?” I asked laying on the beach.
“Soon, very, very soon.” Alira replied.
“I wonder if he’ll flip the raft over.”
“We’ll find out in 3, 2, 1!”
“COLD!”
“Take a picture already.”
“Wait for it, wait for it.” She said holding the digital camera up.
“MONSTER!!! RUN!!!” Click.
“That was mean, you hurt Tiny’s feelings.”
“He’s not just any monster after all. He’s a lochness monster.”
“Since when does a monster have a name!”
“Since I named him, so was it worth getting up early to do this?”
“That depends, how did the picture turn out?”
“Perfect.”

Ten minutes later.

SPLASH! “Catch me if you caaaan.” Alira taunted swimming away.
“Now you’re in for it.” I said diving after her, then I noticed a big shadow. “Hey Tiny a little help.” Did I mention I love to surf.
“Traitor!” Alira yelled as I tackled her.

Half an hour later.

“When do you think he’ll realize we took the ducks off his hands?” I asked looking at Darren’s cage which was about 10 feet away from where we were laying on the beach.
“When he stops freaking out and figures out he can open the door.”
“So, in like an hour.”
“At least.”
“Then I’m going to take a nap, wake me when it’s time to go.”
“OK.” Alira answered grinning.
“Without me getting hurt.” I said staring at her.
“Fine.” She pouted.

The Death in the Moonlight VI

“RAVEN WAKE UP!” THUD.
“Do you have to do yell?” I groaned.
“No, but I like watching you fall out of bed.” She chuckled. I threw a pillow at her.
“How can you be a night AND morning person.”
“How should I know,” she threw some clothes at me, “Hurry up and get dressed.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re going out.”
“Great.” I muttered.


“Why are we doing this?” I asked as Alira carved a path through the thick underbrush towards the cage.
“I want Darren to meet Tiny.” She said matter-of-factly.
“And this can’t wait until later because?”
“He can’t get away while he’s in a cage.”
“True, but I still don’t see why we have to do this at 5 a.m.”
“It is not 5 it’s 5:19, besides this way is more fun.”
“How so?”
“I’m letting Tiny wake him up.” She grinned devilishly.

The Death in the Moonlight V

She's a rebel, she's a saint, she's salt of the earth, and she's dangerous. She's a rebel, vigilante, missing link on the brink of destruction. From Chicago to Toronto- “ALIRA WILL YOU PLEASE ANSWER YOUR PHONE?” I shrieked.
“Um, no.”
“Why?!”
“Because, I want to finish listening to the song.”
“That’s what you always say then it goes to your voice mail.”
“So?”
“So, answer it already! I want to get some sleep.”
“But it’s only 1:56.”
“Yea, IN THE MORNING!!!”
“And your point is?”
“I’m not a night owl.”
“Of course you’re not night owl you’re a person.”
“Why did I agree to share a room with you?”
“Because it’s the only room in the house that doesn’t have pink or frills.”
“Only because Aunt Mei said we could decorate it. I still think we should have used red for the stars.” I said lying on my back.

The room had black walls, a midnight blue ceiling and door that looked like it belonged in a dungeon. Each wall was different, the wall with the door was splatter paint, the wall across from it had splatters of red paint, charred skeletons, chains, and a few bloodied weapons hanging from it, to freak out any trespassers. The wall opposite their beds had an intricate pattern of entwined purple leaves and vines and some buttons which open drawers in various parts of the room. The last wall was covered in posters of bands, like Green Day, Showbread, Flyleaf and My Chemical Romance. Concealed under some of the posters were two small, black doors just big enough to crawl through, one next to each bed that led to a zoo of different animals the girls had collected. The ceiling had the sun, stars, moon, planets and clouds.

“So paint them red.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
“Then stop complaining.”
“Make me.”
“Make me make you.”
“Make me make you make me.”
“Make me make you make me make you.”