Chapter 5: "Intruders"

Venelope cleared the porch steps as a car pulled up. Dashing to it, she got in as it pulled off post-haste.

"Thank you so much for coming" Venelope said to Denise who was driving.

"Don't mention it" she replied. "I can't believe something like this has happened" she said with her eyes on the road. Venelope bit her nails anxiously in silence as they sped down the road. Denise continued talking, but Venelope was so absorbed in her worrisome thoughts she couldn't hear anything else. Her chipping nails echoed in her mind, growing louder and louder.

"Stop that, okay" Penelope said softly with concern. Venelope heard her, but couldn't stop the habit in her current state of mind.

"Stop doing that already" Cassidy shouted.

"What the hell else am I supposed to do" Venelope shouted back, and aloud, at that.

"Oh! I'm sorry" Denise said after nearly jumping out of her skin. "I'll shut up now."

"No... no--" Venelope said to her apologetically. "I wasn't-- mm. I'm sorry" she said covering her face briefly. "I was thinking... and the thoughts just got the better of me." Denise smiled at her with a subtle nod. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It'd be understandable for you to act any kind of way right now. It's cool." Both smiled faintly as the car' rear lights faded into the snowy, distant blackness.

Several police cars, a fire trunk and two ambulance vehicles came into sight as the girls arrived at the scene. Venelope quickly got out of the car as soon as they stopped. Denise was right behind her, but stopped to answer her cell.

"I'll be there in a sec. Go see how your family's doing" Denise said to Venelope who nodded as she continued on. Seeing Travis first, she ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"How'd you get here so fast" he asked as they separated.

"Denise gave me a ride" Venelope replied as her teary eyes skimmed the scene. Blue and red lights flashed in her eyes before turning back to face Travis who was leaning up against Ray' car rubbing his neck. "Are you hurt" she asked walking up to examine him. "Let me see." Her tone was subtle, yet assertive, and very clearly concerned.

"It's nothing. You know I'm all right" he replied while gently trying to keep her at the end of arm' reach.

"No, I don't! Now, let me see it" she said louder as she moved his hand away to see the large bruise on his neck. Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. "Have you seen one of the hospital workers about this?"

"V--" he said with a bit of strength and a touch of annoyance as he tried to stop her from going any further. "V" he bark as he grabbed her arms firmly. She stopped with her eyes closed and head down with tears streaming down her face as her knees quaked. "Hey, come on." He held her up as she fell into his chest. "I'm okay, and everyone else is, too." Venelope looked up at him as he then pointed at Danny who was walking towards them. The weakness in her legs prevented her from meeting him halfway, so she just reached out to him as he came within arm' reach. She hugged him tightly as she began to quietly cry.

"We're fine, okay" Danny said to her as she buried her face in his chest. He rubbed her back and head to soothed her as she looked up at him wiping her eyes. "Your dad's perfectly fine. The doctors are just giving him a once-over. The two of us were just shaken up from havin' too much to drink--" he chuckled. "--but your mom was knocked unconscious." Venelope' eyes widened as she tried to speak, but Danny quickly continued on to try and prevent anymore tears. "BUT, it's only because of the airbag. It's meant to protect you, but it still hits pretty hard. She's fine."

"The doctors said they're gonna take her to the hospital to make sure there's no significant damage" Travis added. "But they believe everything's all good." Venelope continued sniffling and wiping her eyes before holding herself.

"I wanna see her" she said keeping her broken voice together as best she could. "I need to see her" she reiterated with some strength before Danny took her over to her mother as Travis stayed where he was. His thoughts were more on the mystery man that attacked them. It wasn't a matter of him being apathetic for his family, in fact, he had a glint of vengeance in his eyes. He remembered the confrontation so clearly, it was as if it was a movie playing in his mind. He clinched his fist, imagining he had the man' throat in it. It was a face he wouldn't possibly forget. Denise walked up to him and asked about the situation as the rest of the night raced by.

Morning. A door opened quietly as a nurse then walked thru it into Lauri' hospital room. Lauri was awake and sitting up in her bed with Venelope asleep at her bedside in a chair. Her head was on the bed atop her hands as Lauri caressed it.

"I didn't think she was gonna pass out" the nurse whispered to Lauri with a smile. "The stress must've took a lot out of her" she added as Lauri smiled back as she continued running her fingers thru her daughter' hair. "How are you feeling?" Lauri took a deep breath and exhaled with a chuckle.

"Ready to get outta here" she replied as they chuckled.

"The doctor said you're okay to leave whenever you're ready" the nurse said handing Lauri a glass of water. Lauri thanked the nurse before taking a drink and placing the glass onto the small table beside her bed. "She's really beautiful" she said looking at Venelope. "What's her name?"

"Venelope" Lauri replied.

"That's unique. I like it" she said with a sparkling smile.

"She's my angel" Lauri said as Venelope started to come to. "Hey" she said to Venelope as their eyes met.

"Mommy" Venelope said rising up and hugging her mother. Lauri chuckled and patted her pack. They then held each other' hands with their foreheads together. The nurse made her way out the door and closed it behind herself. "Are you okay" Venelope asked with tears welling up.

"Please, baby" Lauri replied with her usual sassy demeanor to lighten the mood. "Takes more than that to keep your momma down." Both chuckled as the door opened again. It was the nurse again.

"I was headed down the hall when I ran into these guys" she said opening the door all the way to reveal Ray, Danny and Travis standing behind her. Danny and Ray walked in with a joyful presence that could be held in hand. Travis, on the other, had his eyes on the nurse. After she made her way out the door, he followed behind her. He tugged on her sleeve to get her attention.

"Hey, one sec" he said with his charm full blown.

"Yes" she replied with raised eyebrows.

"I'm Travis" he said reaching out to shake her hand.

"Yeah, I remember" she replied. "You were here last night" she smiled.

"Right, right" he answered while kicking himself on the inside. "Anyway, any chance we could exchange numbers and get together sometime?"

"You seem like a really cool guy, but I don't date guys younger than me" she replied. "Not to mention, I'm on the clock, so I could get in trouble for this whole conversation in general."

"Don't even trip. I'll take full responsibility" he smiled. She was tickled by his determination, and his charming smile was making her think twice. "Also, how do you know I'm younger than you?"

"Call it a wild guess" she whispered turning away. Travis quickly got to her side as they continued walking.

"Okay, okay" he said scratching his chin trying to think up something quick to say. "Fine. I'll be honest. I am younger... most likely."

"Most likely" she questioned with a laugh.

"To keep this honesty thing goin'-- I've never dated, uh... non-younger woman." She couldn't help but laugh as he avoided calling her an 'older woman'. Obviously, to avoid insulting her. "So, if I can ask you to be honest with me--" he said in a lowered posture with his hands out waiting for her to respond. His playful expression drew her in.

"Go ahead" she answered.

"Age aside, do you find me attractive" he said raising back up to a full standing posture. She turned away to bite and churn her lips before facing him. She nodded while trying to remain obstinate to not give him any false confidence. "So, why don't me... and, you... try something new?" Her eyes lowered with a glint of curiosity in them. "I like to try and keep myself open to new things." They stopped and locked eyes. "What about you?" Breaking eye contact, she closed her eyes with a sigh, but was unable to shake the smile that came onto her face.

Hours later, now back at home, Venelope laid on her bed with her blaring headphones on. The blinds were open on this partially cloudy day. The sun rays streamed thru and laid over her closed eyes as she moved her shoulders to the music. WHAM! She shot up to see Travis had walked in on her. He had smacked the bed beside her feet and was wearing a pleased smile from scaring her. Venelope, on the other hand, was a few degrees away from ticked-off. Though, she was able to contain herself. Slowly taking off her headphones, she simply went on to asking why he had interrupted her.

"I told you we were gonna have another meeting today" Travis said to the glaring girl. "Come on. Marvin just texted me and said everyone's already there. Ray's letting us use his car for a few hours." Venelope slowly put her headphones back on before falling to her back. "What the hell?"

"What's goin' on" Ray asked from hearing Travis' raised tone as he was passing by the room. Travis was now the one ticked off and Venelope' vindictive smirk was the cherry on top. Knowing Travis wasn't going to press the issue while daddy' little princess was in view of the king, her snide smirk grew into a sneer befitting a wicked witch.

"Nothing. Forget it" Travis said calmly turning to Ray as he dropped the car keys into the latter' hands before walking down the hall. Venelope shot back up with a confused expression before speeding passed Ray after Travis. As Travis reached the staircase, his ringtone sounded as he then stopped to answer his phone. His responding fingers clicked away as he made his way down the stairs.

"What're you doing" Venelope asked Travis as she stopped at the top of the stairs. "You're just not gonna go now because I'm not?"

"Yeah, why not" he answered reaching the bottom floor without turning to face her. She quickly ran down to him as he took a seat on the smaller sofa.

"You can't do that." Travis continued his texting without paying Venelope any mind.

"Mm. And why is that" he asked with a smile derived from a responding text.

"Well, unlike me, they need you--"

"And they don't need you, huh" he said cutting her off with an even bigger smile now. She was at a loss for words. He closed his phone and headed over to the front door.

"Now, where are you going" she shouted.

"Hey, V. Keep it down. Your mother's sleeping" Ray said from the top of the stairs.

"You don't even have the car anymore" Venelope went on in a lower tone.

"Can I burrow the car, after all" Travis said to Ray completely ignoring Venelope.

"Where you going" Ray asked.

"I was headed to hangout with some friends. Marvin, Gabrielle, Pablo and Phillis. But I just had a change of plans" Travis replied.

"So... where you going" Ray asked the exact same way as before.

"On a date." Ray' brows rose skeptically, though the shock hit Venelope like a volley ball to the face. "You remember that nurse? Aubrey." Further shock slammed into Venelope, but Ray was smiling ear-to-ear like a proud father. He tossed down the keys that instant. Ray had obviously sent down his blessing and props to the young man for such fine catches; meaning, the keys and the lady.

"You're blowin' off your friends for an uncertain piece of ass" Venelope shouted.

"I would" Ray said with no shame as Venelope' neck snapped around at him in disgust.

"Dad" she shouted.

"What" Ray replied rising his shoulders. "I've done it before-- twice, actually. And I told you to keep your voice down."

"How can you... accept this kind of action" she asked with her arms outstretched at her sides.

"Both times I did it, it was for your mother" he added. Venelope' face further churned with disgust. "I feel pretty damn good about it from where I'm standing now" he continued with a proud demeanor. "Annnd... keep your voice down. I'm not gonna tell you again." He walked out of sight down the hall as the front door closed. Travis had skipped out as she then threw her arms down in frustration before storming back to her room. Danny was sleeping on the larger sofa the whole time. Waking up seconds later, he yawned and cleared his throat. Rubbing his eyes, he looked around the room.

"...I feel like I missed somethin'..." he said aloud to himself. Remembering, he clapped his hands once as he popped to his feet. "That dinner!" He opened the fridge as his face lit up at the sight of all the dishes to be had. "Oh, my God. She made Salisbury ste~ak" he squealed happily.

A short time later, Travis arrived at the scene of his date. A received text sounded as he quickly took his phone out of his pants' pocket. He was smiling happily as he had assumed it was Aubrey. But his bubble busted when he found out it was only Gabrielle.

--Gabrielle: where r u--

He looked up with a shake of his head before he saw Aubrey sitting a short distance away at a café. Quickly texting back before silencing his phone and shoving it into his pocket, he made his way over to his date with nothing but good feelings on his shoulders.

"im not comin. do it without me. l8r..." Gabrielle said reading Travis' reply aloud for the others to hear. "What the f--"

"Don't you say that" Phillis said quickly.

"It's bad karma" Pablo chuckled.

"Well, is V coming" Marvin asked Gabrielle.

"He was supposed to bring her here with his sorry ass" Gabrielle answered angrily.

"Hey, tone that down" Marvin said gesturing with his hands as if patting something down. "Don't get pissed at us. We'll just get a workout in and call it a day like always."

"He was attacked" Gabrielle roared. The others fell silent. Travis had informed Marvin of his encounter with the Cloud. Needless to say, Marvin had relayed said information to the others. They all knew their situation was getting worse by the day. If they knew Travis chose a date over their meeting at a time like this, most likely all of them would be just as angry as Gabrielle in general who started walking towards the shed.

"Hold up" Marvin said to her. She turned to face him as he took his jacket and hat off and tossed them aside. "Forget the weights for now. Let's get straight to the sparring." Gabrielle' eyes narrowed as he smirked. "I'll be your punching bag." Gabrielle faced him directly only to have the sound of snapping twigs and crunching gravel underfoot amidst the trees catch their attentions. They were already asking themselves who it could be, and how could they have found this place. Maybe it was just a hiker, or some animal. All of them facing the direction of the nearing footsteps, they waited with unblinking eyes for whatever it was to appear. Though still obscured by the trees, the source of the steps finally came into sight moments later. It was Nigel and another guy. Most likely, another Cloud. Gabrielle and Marvin stood up front with Pablo close behind, while Phillis stood much further behind him. Gabrielle' electricity began crawling all over her body. "Chill for a sec" Marvin said to the anxious raven. He then eyed Nigel before continuing. "I got some questions for you."

"Oh, is that so" Nigel replied with an cocky smirk. Marvin took a few steps forward so he was now standing directly in Gabrielle' way.

"First question is: are you gonna answer my questions without any bull, or do I have to beat it outta you" Marvin said full of confidence to which Nigel laughed loudly before back-fisting a large tree, making it fall seconds later. Marvin now had his answer and readied himself. "Good. I prefer it this way" Marvin thought to himself. "You gotta be stupid, though" he said aloud. "For only two of you to show up here against the four of us."

"You're talkin' big, loser" Nigel replied. "You, specifically, only survived last time because Travis was there."

"And you only made it out of that blizzard because I carried your K.O.'d ass out of it" Marvin fired back.

"You attacked Travis" Gabrielle asked barking her question as she walked up to stand beside Marvin. Nigel sneered as his partner came to stand by his side. "You son of a bitch!" Nigel and his partner jokingly looked at each other. Clearly, it was only meant to further infuriate Gabrielle, but she wasn't exactly calm before they arrived. "You know what... I don't give a damn. You ain't gonna get carried out this time. I promise you that." Whitney appeared beside her as both were enveloped in high voltage before firing at the two intruders. In the blink of an eye, a large, rectangle shaped shadow appeared in front of Nigel and his partner. It crudely deflected the volts, but it offered enough time for them to take cover behind some trees. Nigel smiled at his partner with a thumbs up.

"That was quick thinkin' on Jett' part" Nigel' conscience said to him as it appeared beside him.

"Yeah" Nigel agreed. "So, have you ranked'em yet" he asked his conscience as it then focused on the Lights while more voltage drilled into the tree at his back. "Any day now, Moon" Nigel said to his conscience as the tree quaked with volts streaming by.

"I got it. Now, move" Moon said as Nigel then jumped into a roll just before the tree exploded and crashed down. Nigel groaned quietly behind another tree.

"I hit my damn tail-bone on a big-ass rock" Nigel said thru gritted teeth. "A rock... a big-ass rock" he said as if a light clicked on in his head. He grabbed two fist-sized rocks and threw them with force at Gabrielle. Marvin intervened and blocked the rocks. They dug deep into his upper and lower-back. Gabrielle felt the excruciating pain in his eyes as he saw the concern in hers. He puffed up, ignoring the pain.

"Phillis, call Travis and tell him to get his ass and Venelope' here, A.S.A.P" Marvin shouted before running at the intruders. Gabrielle followed close behind him as Pablo guarded Phillis as she made the call. Marvin took a few more rocks thrown by Nigel in the chest and arms while trying to evade and deflect them as he gradually closed the distance. With a strong roar, Marvin snapped a relatively small tree in two and hurled it at Nigel who ducked it in the nick of time.

"That's cheating--" Nigel shouted as he looked up to see Marvin was now on top of him. Marvin landed several thunderous blows with his fists on Nigel' shielding forearms before both began exchanging blows. Gabrielle kept Jett at bay with her volts as Pablo ran up behind her.

"Travis isn't answering his phone" Pablo said to her. Whitney looked at Pablo as Gabrielle kept her eyes on Jett. "Forget it, then, right? He can't take both of us" he added before attempting to take a roundabout way to get behind Jett.

"Stop" Gabrielle shouted as Pablo stopped to face her. He looked on with some confusion wrenching his face. "Get Phillis over here. We're gonna need her help." Marvin' fight continued, and it was now obvious that he had the upper-hand as Nigel etched away with his guard up. His left eye now closed and lip busted from Marvin' attacks. Aside from the damage taken from the rocks thrown earlier, Marvin hadn't been touched. Nigel screamed in frustration as he began throwing any and everything he could. This last desperate assault was all he could do to try and snatch victory. Marvin bulldozed thru it all as he made his way towards Nigel who was backing away with everything thrown.

Jett had his back to a wide tree that completely shielded him from Gabrielle' view. He panted heavily as the building sound of dripping water slowly took over the scene and muted his breathing. A localized downpour as it were, now rained down from the tree tops above him. One would normally assume that it had just started raining, but it hadn't. Whitney and Mateo were high above the trees pouring water down over a fairly large area. The ground, the trees and Jett were soaked in seconds. The downpour stopped as Jett caught on to their plan and was haul-assin' to get to a dry area. Using her power to control wind, Phillis lifted Pablo and Gabrielle off the ground before Gabrielle used a large electrical attack. The voltage raced across the soaked earth and vegetation in a flash. The scene fell silent with only the last of the dripping leaves yielding sound.

Gabrielle passed out from her final strike. Pablo was holding her in his arms as Phillis kept a sharp eye out for Jett. She turned to face Pablo with a smile as a distant rumbling started to build. In seconds, a massive column of snow and debris sped towards them with Jett riding it. Just as Pablo and Gabrielle could create and control water, he could do the same with ice and earth. He was able to avoid Gabrielle' electrical attack by freezing the water around his general area, and digging a deep trench into dryer soil as an extra precaution. In shock, Phillis fell to her rear as he closed in. Pablo screamed as Jett and his 'wave' rushed over her and continued on out of sight into the woods. Pablo had run and dove as far as he could with Gabrielle still in arms and managed to avoid the attack. Just as drained as Gabrielle, Pablo used the last of his energy trying to make his way over to where Phillis was before he passed out.

Nigel had backed himself into a corner. The overwhelming pressure of Marvin' presence made the cornered rat feel even smaller.

"This is bullshit" Nigel shouted "I beat you last time-- easily!"

"Things change everyday" Marvin said calmly, though there was a clear intent of intimidation in his tone as he continued to walk closer. "Here's somethin' else new for you." A strong wind began building around him that widened Nigel' eyes with even more terror. Marvin had learned to control the wind. "I was gonna surprise Gabby with this today in the spar, but this scenario will do just fine." he thought to himself as his wind continued to increase in strength. "...and she was right..." he said aloud. "I'm not carrying your ass outta the 'snow' this time!" In that instant, Jett appeared in the distance with the sight of his trailing wave, which had grew massive enough to be deemed an avalanche, taking Marvin by total surprise. Marvin looked back at Nigel who was now sneering at him, as if to say the last laugh was his. Marvin' shock had taken him focus away from the wind he was channeling. With a strong battle cry, he threw the strongest wind he could at a moment' notice at Nigel. Jett' conscience, Bucky, appeared in front of Nigel and dampened the blast of wind by raising a wall of earth before himself.

Jett and Nigel then raced off atop the avalanche into the depths of the woods. Marvin took a seat on a log trying to catch his breath. Getting up seconds later, he followed the path of the avalanche that had lead Jett to his location and made his way back to his friends.

Just over an hour later, Travis was wrapping up his date with Aubrey.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give you some more time, but I'm just so tied up right now with family affairs and work--" Aubrey said to him.

"No, it's fine" Travis politely cutting her off. "Would you like a ride home?"

"Mm, no thanks. I only live a few blocks away, which is why I chose this place" she replied. "I come here a lot. Besides--" she said standing as Travis did the same. "--I don't want you stalking me" she chuckled.

"Fair enough" he smiled.

"I had fun, though. I'm glad we did this. Gave it an honest try, huh" she said. Travis' smile was instantly erased as he looked passed Aubrey and saw the man that attacked him sitting just several feet away. The man eyed Travis before covering his malevolent smile by lifting his cup for a sip. Aubrey noticed he had zoned out and looked behind her to see what she was missing. He snapped back to his senses as both chuckled.

"I'm sorry. I just got lost for a second" Travis said quickly.

'Mmm... That is a nice suit" she said looking at the man. "He's got good taste. Maybe you should ask him were you can get one of those."

'Ha-ha. Funny" Travis replied with a playful disdain.

"Well, you have my number... if you ever get lost again, you can at least find me" she said charmingly before walking away. "See ya."

"...absolutely" Travis said with his attention split between her and the man. The man sipped from his cup again before placing it on the table, all the while his sharp eyes on Travis. The man eyed Aubrey after she passed him. Laying the money for his drink on the table using the empty cup as a paper weight, he then followed in Aubrey' footsteps. Travis casually left the scene as well as to not draw attention before following behind the man who had just turned the corner out of sight.

Turning said corner himself, he found the man was no where in sight. How did he disappear in mere seconds? His eyes quickly combed the area several times over to make sure he hadn't just overlooked the man. He then saw Aubrey down the way, coming and going out of sight among the other pedestrians. A bit alleviated seeing the man was no where near her, though he still worried where the man had gone. As quickly as he had vanished, he could appear just the same. Travis didn't want to follower her and be caught and come off as, you know... a stalker. So, he decided to call her.

Upon looking at his phone, he saw all of the missed calls from his friends and wondered why there were so many. Though presently, he was more focused on keeping an eye on Aubrey. She answered as he then made light conversation about anything he could think of. At least this way, if something should happen to her, he would know the moment it occurred. He stayed at a safe distance while heading the same direction she was. He hadn't forgotten about Ray' car, but figured it'd be better to go on foot.

Venelope headed to answer a knock on the front door. She had been in the kitchen making a snack. It was Denise at the door.

"Hey" Venelope said happily as she let her in. "I was making myself a sandwich" she chuckled. "You want one?"

"No, thanks" Denise kindly denied. "But, I wouldn't mind one of those sodas" she said pointing to the one Venelope had on the kitchen table.

"Then, a soda... you shall have" Venelope played theatrically. Denise stood at the bar counter as Venelope finished making her sandwich. The loud cracking and crisp bubbling of their sodas opening sounded. The tingling burn of the drink made Denise grunt with a painful satisfaction.

"How's your mom" Denise asked as Venelope came around the counter as they then took some seats in the living room.

"She's doing great" Venelope answered while skimming through channels with the TV remote.

"I know it's a big house, but it's pretty quiet in here. Where is everyone" Denise asked sipping her drink. Venelope had a mouthful of sandwich and coughed a bit from it. "Slow down" Denise said laughed as Venelope tried to hold back her own to prevent further choking. After taking a drink to get the food down, she gestured towards the stairs.

"My mom and dad are upstairs, and Travis went out somewhere" Venelope said before digging back into her sandwich. "I have no idea where my uncle is..." she added with her eyes rolling in thought. Getting back to her sandwich, with a few more bites, it was gone.

"Do you have any napkins" Denise asked. She wanted to wipe off the sweating of the can from her hands.

"Yeah." Getting up to get her one, Denise' cell rang as she quickly answered it. Sighing upon reading the text, Venelope popped up behind her with her hands on her shoulders and made her jump out of her skin. Both laughed as Venelope then handed her the napkin. "Could that be somebody' boyfriend" Venelope played. "You sure answered that in a hurry." Denise smiled smugly as her fingers clicked away. Closing her phone, she sat it beside her before taking another sip.

"No. No boyfriend for me" Denise replied with her eyes on her soda. Venelope paused from her friend' tone just as she was about to sit. Denise' face was sort of blank, but she was clearly thinking of something. "...what's wrong" Denise asked concernedly. Venelope looked at her and scratched her head as she slowly lowered to her seat.

"...I don't know... just had a... creepy feel of deja vu... or something" Venelope answered. She took a drink as Denise did as well. Shaking off the strange feeling, she reached for the remote.

"Actually--" Denise said which made Venelope' hand freeze on the remote as she listened for what Denise was going to say. "I came by to--" She stopped as her phone rang again. Exhaling some frustration, she picked it up and viewed the text. Quickly responding to the message, she tossed the phone back onto the couch. She and Venelope chuckled as she then continued. "I wanted to talk to you about something--" Stopping again, this time due to a knock at the front door. At the same time, Lauri and Ray were making their way down the stairs.

"Hold that thought" Venelope said as she headed over to the door. Denise waved at Lauri and Ray as they reached the living room.

"H~ey. How you doing" Lauri said to Denise.

"I'm okay... You don't remember me, do you" Denise asked Lauri. Lauri looked at her closer to see if she could. In the end, she didn't. Denise chuckled. "It's okay. It's been years since I last talked to you."

"Where did we meet before" Lauri asked. Ray had taken out a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. Venelope had opened the front door to find Evette on the other side. She abruptly hugged Venelope as soon as the door was opened wide enough.

"Hey" Venelope said in a bit of a shock.

"I'm sorry" Evette said with a flustered tone. "I heard that your mom and dad were in a car accident! I saw your missed call this morning before I went to work, but I was running late and forgot to call you back. After I finally heard about the accident, I got over here as soon as I could."

"Yeah, I called you last night for a ride so I could get to them" Venelope replied gesturing at her parents. "I was lucky that Denise was able to come and get me. It's all good, though. My mom's fine."

"In more ways than one" Lauri said proudly with a smile. The others laughed as Evette ran over and hugged her.

"I'm really sorry I wasn't there" Evette expressed with the utmost sympathy. So much so, she started to well-up.

"Oh, hush, girl" Lauri said giving Evette another hug. "Everything's fine." Ray walked up to them and handed Lauri a glass of wine.

"Thanks for asking me, and making sure I was okay, too" Ray said playfully.

"Don't be like that" Evette said slightly embarrassed as she then gave Ray a one-armed hug around his waist. Lauri turned to see Denise now standing a few feet away from them.

"Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Where was it we met before" Lauri asked Denise.

"At one of your book signings" Denise replied. Lauri' jaw dropped. It was one of her points of professionalism to try an remember as many of her readers as she could. "I love your books. I've read them all-- twice." Lauri hugged her tightly with a joyful smile. "--It was my fire that gave you life, so shall it be my fire that takes it away. Though your body turns to ash, your memory will remain as honey--" Denise said reciting lines from one of Lauri' books. "That's from your second book."

"Wow. Yeah, I know. I know" Lauri said impressed and elated. "I feel worse now that I couldn't remember you."

"It's okay" Denise smiled. "I got the first two signed, but I wasn't able to get to your third book signing in L.A."

"Sounds like today's your lucky day" Ray said to her.

"Sure is" Lauri agreed. "Well, come by anytime with it and I'll sign it for you. Or, do you have it on you right now?"

"No, it's at home" Denise replied. "Speaking of which, I'd better get going."

"Okay" Lauri replied with the same elated smile. "I won't forget you this time" she chuckled as she and Ray then made their way over to the largest couch.

"Wait a sec" Venelope said to Denise. "What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"...umm... don't worry about it" Denise replied as she back-stepped towards the front door. "It's nothing important" she said placing a hand on the doorknob.

"Oh, okay. Take care" Venelope replied.

"You, too. See you all later" Denise said as she waved before opening and closing the door behind herself.

"She's such a cutie, too" Lauri said looking at Venelope.

"She is" Venelope smiled as she and Evette made their way over to have a seat as well.

"I really do feel bad about not remembering her, though" Lauri said with her bottom lip gently pressed to her glass.

"Baby, you sign hundreds-- if not thousands of books at each of those signings" Ray said. "Give yourself a break. You can't remember everybody" he added before they then pecked three kisses on each other' lips.

"Hey, where's Danny at" Venelope asked.

"I think he went boardin' again... with T.J." Ray answered.

"What?!" Venelope exclaimed and nearly made Ray spill his wine. "I mean-- I just-- I wanted to snowboard some more, too. He could've told me he was goin'." Lauri sipped her wine with narrowed eyes beaming at her daughter. She knew it wasn't the snow she was flustered about missing out on.

"It ain't like you're leaving anytime soon" Ray said. "Just give him a call, drama queen."

"I hate being called that" she said angrily. "Danny does that, too. You two really are brothers." Evette couldn't help to laugh at Venelope' expense. "I wanna go snowboardin'. You wanna go snowboardin'" she asked Evette.

"Sure! Let's do it" Evette replied with a bright smile as they then made their way up the stairs to Venelope' room.

Denise sat in her car... with Lauri' third book in hand. She rubbed the hard-back' cover before placing it on the passenger seat. She exhaled before starting the car and pulling off when her cell rang again just as she reached the road. Stopping, she started reading the text, but her attention was altered as she saw Travis drive up passed her. She caught a glimpse of his face. He looked like he had something serious on his mind. The received text turned her depressed face into one of mild shock. Replying, she tossed the phone beside the book and drove off.

Travis raced into the house. Lauri and Ray looked over the back of the couch at him. They could tell something was up.

"Is she still in her room" he asked the two while still heading towards the staircase.

"Yeah" Ray answered. "What's going on now" he asked as Travis shot up the stairs.

"You've been in here the whole time and haven't looked at your damn phone once" Travis said upon bursting into Venelope' room. She was holding her phone with a morbid expression. "...did you read my message..." he said in a lower tone while retaining some of the same furious emphasis. She nodded once quite slowly. "Let's go, then! Hurry up" he said exiting the room. He got to the bottom floor again to see Ray standing there who was about to head up stairs to see what the fuss was about.

"What happened" Ray demanded.

"One of our friends got hurt working out" Travis replied. A lie, of course. Still, it wasn't far from the truth; relatively. "I texted V to see if she could make it out there, but-- anyway. Can I use the car for a little longer? We really need to get over there. The injury sounded serious. I just wanted to pick her up before I headed out there." Ray looked at Lauri who turned her gaze back onto the TV.

"I don't care anymore" Ray replied as he headed into the kitchen. He topped-off he and Lauri' wine glasses before facing Travis. "You just better fill the tank before you bring it back, alright?"

"No prob" Travis nodded as Venelope and Evette came to stand behind him. They quickly exited the house and got into the car.

"I'm sorry, but I really have to take off" Venelope said to Evette as she buckled herself in.

"I'd like to come with you guys" Evette said with concerned eyes.

"No" Travis intervened with a bit of a shout. He calmed himself down before speaking again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, but this is something me and V gotta keep to ourselves." He started the engine as Evette stepped away. She tried to keep a smile, but was obviously saddened. She and Venelope waved goodbye as the car sped off.

Arriving at the training area, Marvin had moved Gabrielle and Pablo into their vehicles who were still unconscious. Travis and Venelope ran up to Marvin who was laying in Pablo' truck bed. He sat up cracking his neck loudly.

"Well, I'm glad you two finally decided to show the hell up" Marvin said with due hostility. "Where were you?" Both were reluctant to say, and decided to evade the question and get to the heart of the matter.

"Never mind that. I'll tell you later" Travis answered. "What happened here exactly? Where's everybody else?" Marvin showed the two Gabrielle and Pablo, and feared the worst had happened to Phillis. Was she kidnapped during the fight, or something worse.