I've Always Hated Adventures - Part III
Part II
“Did you get all of that, Gabe?”
“I think so,” said Gabe, sounding rather distressed in the passenger seat. “Should we really be having this conversation while you’re busting 120 though?”
Greta looked down at her speedometer, then casually back up at the road. “We’re actually going faster than that. The boosters on full crank can go as fast as 200, but it’s a little jarring.”
“A little?!”
Greta smirked as she zipped around the highway. She usually didn’t like putting the boosters on, but the fact Gabe was freaking out over this much power coming out of a little blue sedan, she suddenly didn’t mind. Plus, he was the one who wanted to get to Chicago as quickly as possible. “Alright, repeat them back.”
“Your rules?”
“Yes, my rules,” she said as she bypassed a Greyhound bus and a minivan full of sleepy children. “Also, can you hand me a granola bar from the glove compartment?”
Gabe gave her a strange look, but obliged anyway as he opened the glove compartment with one shaky hand. “No flirting, only use formalities when addressing guests, fight in extreme circumstances, fly in others and especially no flirting.”
He handed her the granola bar and she took it from him with a smile. “Thank you, Gabe.”
She tore open the wrapper and started to take a bite out of it when she took a look out the windshield. “Oh! Our exit is coming up!”
Greta pumped the brakes and reached over to the switchboard that was installed above the radio. She flipped two of them and the car slowed down to a normal speed as they reached the exit ramp. Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. “Greta, please don’t do that to me again.”
She smirked as she swallowed some of the granola bar. He didn’t have to know that she rarely used the boosters. “No promises.”
---------------------
“So, tell me about this guy.”
Greta pushed the automatic lock button on her keychain as they walked away from her car. Gabe had directed her to what looked like a mid sized theater. Some people were mulling around outside, but from the looks of it, whatever show had taken place had long since finished.
Gabe walked beside her, but rather slowly. He looked more than happy to be on solid ground again. “Well, his name is Butch. He’s a musician and a producer on the side. Humble, yet the biggest rock star that you’ll ever know.”
Greta looked up at him. “And he can raise the dead?”
“You act like necromancers can’t lead normal lives,” he said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
“I never said they didn’t,” she said, spinning her keyring on her finger before sticking the keys back in her pocket. “I just have a hard time imagining a musician as a necromancer.”
“Lots of musicians are necromancers,” said Gabe, looking around the street before he crossed over. “Well, if Butch is to believed.”
“Name one,” shouted Greta as she followed after him.
Gabe turned as he reached the curb. “You know the ‘Thriller’ video?”
Greta sighed. She had her Michael Jackson fill back at the diner. “Yeah. The one with the dancing zombies. It’s just makeup though.”
Gabe smirked as he helped Greta up onto the curb. “Only the lead one is wearing makeup.”
Greta paused for a second, mulling this over as she followed after Gabe. If what he was telling her was true, a lot of things started making a lot more sense.
They rounded around the theater to find a bus sitting in the back. This wasn’t really what Greta was expecting when Gabe suggested finding a necromancer. “Does he know we’re coming?”
“No,” said Gabe as he strode up to the bus door. Greta had to walk quickly to keep up with him. “Like I said though, he owes me a favor.”
He banged on the door of the bus and time seemed to slow down ever second after he did. Hundreds of things began to run through Greta’s head. What if he wasn’t there? What if he said no? What kind of person was he? She had this image of this extremely drugged out rock star with a spell book raising people from their graves and making them dance around like puppets. It wasn’t comforting at all.
All of a sudden, the bus door creaked open and a head with a mess of dark hair peeked out at them. His eyes passed over Greta, but they stopped at Gabe. “Gabe Saporta? Is that you?”
The bus door swung open a little bit more and the head suddenly had a body attach itself to it. It was about as tall as Gabe and even skinnier. Greta wasn’t even sure that was possible. He dressed in jeans and flannel and the sleeves were rolled up to reveal extremely colorful tattoos. When Greta imagined rock star necromancer, this was not what she thought of.
The man took Gabe’s hand and gave him a hug. “What’s going on, man? I haven’t seen you in forever.” Greta noted the southern drawl and added it to the list of things she didn’t expect from a necromancer.
Gabe grinned and turned the other man towards Greta. “Butch Walker, this is my friend Greta Salpeter. She needs your help.”
Greta pursed her lips as she extended her hand to the man named Butch. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends. Gabe is my bodyguard. We do need your help though.”
Butch took her hand and shook it. Greta added the heart tattoo on his hand to the running list in her head. “Well, it’s still nice to meet you. Though, I didn’t expect Gabe to turn into the bodyguard type.”
“Long, boring story,” said Gabe. “Besides, you owe me one after I saved your ass from that river tribe in Canada.”
Butch paused, mulling this over. “I guess you’re right. C’mon. We’ll talk about this on the bus. The band is out in the city anyway. I’d be with them, but I guess I had a feeling you guys would be coming.”
He then raised his hand and the bus door creaked open further. Butch stepped onto the steps of the bus and Gabe followed after him. Greta hesitated for a second, but she figured that there was no turning back now. She followed after Gabe, but stopped him on the last step up. “River tribe in Canada? Really?”
Gabe looked down at her and shook his head. “You really don’t want to know.”
As soon as they were on the bus, the door slammed shut behind them. The space felt narrow, but cozy. Greta watched as a cabinet door flew open and a bottle of wine along with a few glasses came flowing out of it. Butch sat down on a couch and directed their motions to the counter. He barely looked at the bottle as it opened and poured itself into the glasses. “You guys can sit down, you know.”
Greta sat down next to Butch and Gabe followed. The bottle finished pouring and the glasses flew from the counter and to Butch. He took one from the air and the other two stayed frozen as he leaned back on the couch. He then directed the other two glasses towards Gabe and Greta. Greta almost refused, but he was kind enough to pour it and after the day she had, she needed a drink. She took the glass and began sipping.
“Now,” said Butch, leaning forward. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Well,” said Gabe, taking down his own glass. “It started when her dad’s lab blew up last week...”
Butch held up his hand. “Not from you, genius. You say she needs my help, so she tells the story.”
Greta looked over at both of them before taking another sip of wine. “Alright, but it’s a long story that does start with my dad getting fried to a crisp in his lab.”
“Don’t worry,” said Butch, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder. “We got the time.”
She nodded and took a very long gulp before launching into her story. She recounted everything she could, from what happened the morning of the accident to the attack at the funeral and the way she felt when the leader stared her down to Gabe’s jukebox abuse to purposely using the boosters to scare Gabe. She figured Gabe was glaring at her during that last one, but she didn’t care at this point.
“And then we came here. Look, I know it’s short notice, but...”
“Okay.”
Greta looked up at Butch in shock. “Really?”
“Yeah,” he said, finishing off his glass of wine. “And not just to be even with Gabe. It seems like you got some seriously bad dudes after you, darlin’. If they really are trying to use your dad’s theory, which I think I’ve read before, Gabe can only do so much to help you.”
“Told you,” muttered Gabe as he raised his wine glass to his lips.
Butch shot a look at Gabe before looking back at Greta. “What I’m trying to say is that whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. Even raise the dead.”
Greta flinched. “If you actually didn’t do that, I think we’d have a deal. Sorry, but there’s just something about the thought of the living dead...”
“I understand,” he said, turning and placing the glass on the counter. “No undead, but I’ll help you and Gabe out anyway you can as long as you need me. We have a deal then?”
He extended his hand to Greta. She looked at his hand for a lingering moment before taking it. “Yes.”
They shook and squeezed each others hands. Greta definitely knew there was no turning back now. This was another adventure. Her first one without her dad and she was unsure if she was going to get out of this alive.
Ba-BOOM!
The bus rocked back and forth and all three of them looked up. It stopped and Gabe stood up. “What the fuck was that?”
“Princess Salpeter,” said a voice outside the bus. “Come out and plaaaaay.”
It wasn’t the voice of the mad eyed leader, but Greta knew right away that the Parade had come for her.
Butch stood up as well and started walking towards the bus door. A blob of green energy began to form in his hand as he approached the steps. “Fall behind me...”
The bus rocked again and more voiced raised up, beckoning for Greta. Gabe followed behind Butch, pulling what looked like a switchblade out of his pocket. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Where the hell did you get a switchblade?”
“You don’t wanna know,” said Gabe under his breath.
Butch held his free hand up as the bus rocked again. “Okay, on three...”
He used his hand to countdown and Greta started a secret prayer in her head. God, if you really do exist, don’t let me meet my dad again tonight. I’d really appreciate it.
“NOW!”
The door of the bus flew open and the energy in Butch’s hand flew out. There were a few screams as Butch descended. Gabe ran after him, switchblade out as he leaped towards the nearest attacker. Greta held back on the steps of the bus, watching the fight unfold. There wasn’t as many this time. Only about seven or eight, but they were still dressed the same. Butch was standing against three of them, blocking their beams of magic energy with some invisible shield and firing back his own. Greta could tell that he was winning. Whatever source they were pulling from wasn’t as strong as Butch’s natural magic. She turned and watched as Gabe physically fought off three others. His blade slashed and a female voice screamed. “Gabe, you fucking asshole!”
Greta’s eyes widened. How did that girl know his name?
“There you are!”
The voice that called her out was standing near the door. It was the guy who’s face she splashed Holy Water in back at the church. He started walking closer and Greta started to panic. She could tell he wanted to bring her down. Quickly, she reached for the door of the bus. It was heavy, but she slammed it closed as fast as she could.
There was a scream and a clatter outside the door. “My hand! My hand!”
Greta looked at the door and suddenly felt embarrassed. She didn’t see what she had done, but she had figured that he reached out for her and she had slammed his fingers in the door. “Look, I’m sorry, but maybe I’ll stop injuring you if you stop coming after me.”
She opened the door and heard the man stumble back. She quickly stepped down onto the pavement. Everyone else was distracted with Butch or Gabe and the man was curled over his hand on the ground. Greta saw his gun on the ground. It looked like a science fair project with plastic and wire running everywhere. Still, it must have had some punch to it. She quickly picked it up and aimed at the man, keeping as steady as she could. “Don’t move...”
He looked up and froze. “Oh Go-”
His mouth stopped mid word. In fact, everything stopped. Everything except her, Butch and Gabe. She looked around at all the frozen figures of the Parade or whatever they called themselves. “Uh...what just happened?”
“That was me,” said Butch as he walked towards the bus door. “It’s a stasis spell. They’re frozen, but we only got thirty minutes. C’mon!”
He ran up the steps and onto the bus. Gabe followed after him, wiping the blood off his blade. Greta stopped him before he got on the bus. “Gabe, how did that girl know your name?”
Gabe looked down at her, then back at the girl. “It’s a long story and we don’t have the time.”
Greta took his wrist and looked him straight in the eye. “If you want to keep this job, you’re going to have to tell me eventually.”
“Yeah...I know.” He looked ashamed, but he didn’t budge an inch.
Butch came down the steps with a guitar bag and another bag in his hand. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
Gabe looked up at Butch. “What about your band?”
“Left them a note,” he said quickly, slamming the bus door behind him. “You really think this is the first time this has happened? We had to postpone a whole tour once because of a chupacabra incident in Borneo.”
Greta raised an eyebrow. “But the chupacabra isn’t a legend in Borneo.”
“Doesn’t mean they don’t exist there. Now c’mon!”
Butch walked off around the corner and Greta cast a look up at Gabe. “We’re talking about this later.”
She turned and followed after Butch, shouting at him to hold up because he didn’t know where she was parked. Gabe sighed and stuck his switchblade back in his pocket. “Yeah... I know.”
----------------------
“Od!”
Ryland flinched before he realized that no one was aiming at him. “Uhhh... where did she go?”
“I think the necromancer used a stasis spell,” said Victoria, reaching up for her bleeding cheek. “Her fucking bodyguard cut me though.”
Nate rubbed his head as he got up. He had been knocked back on the concrete before they had been frozen. “I told you he betrayed us.”
Victoria ignored him and looked around. “No sign of life. They must be long gone by now.”
Ryland groaned and leaned back towards the bus, cradling his hand. “So what are we going to do?”
“Let them run for now,” she said as she helped up Alex and a few of the other henchmen that had come along. “We’ll get them eventually. Right now, let’s worry about how Gerard is going to react.”
Part IV
“Did you get all of that, Gabe?”
“I think so,” said Gabe, sounding rather distressed in the passenger seat. “Should we really be having this conversation while you’re busting 120 though?”
Greta looked down at her speedometer, then casually back up at the road. “We’re actually going faster than that. The boosters on full crank can go as fast as 200, but it’s a little jarring.”
“A little?!”
Greta smirked as she zipped around the highway. She usually didn’t like putting the boosters on, but the fact Gabe was freaking out over this much power coming out of a little blue sedan, she suddenly didn’t mind. Plus, he was the one who wanted to get to Chicago as quickly as possible. “Alright, repeat them back.”
“Your rules?”
“Yes, my rules,” she said as she bypassed a Greyhound bus and a minivan full of sleepy children. “Also, can you hand me a granola bar from the glove compartment?”
Gabe gave her a strange look, but obliged anyway as he opened the glove compartment with one shaky hand. “No flirting, only use formalities when addressing guests, fight in extreme circumstances, fly in others and especially no flirting.”
He handed her the granola bar and she took it from him with a smile. “Thank you, Gabe.”
She tore open the wrapper and started to take a bite out of it when she took a look out the windshield. “Oh! Our exit is coming up!”
Greta pumped the brakes and reached over to the switchboard that was installed above the radio. She flipped two of them and the car slowed down to a normal speed as they reached the exit ramp. Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. “Greta, please don’t do that to me again.”
She smirked as she swallowed some of the granola bar. He didn’t have to know that she rarely used the boosters. “No promises.”
---------------------
“So, tell me about this guy.”
Greta pushed the automatic lock button on her keychain as they walked away from her car. Gabe had directed her to what looked like a mid sized theater. Some people were mulling around outside, but from the looks of it, whatever show had taken place had long since finished.
Gabe walked beside her, but rather slowly. He looked more than happy to be on solid ground again. “Well, his name is Butch. He’s a musician and a producer on the side. Humble, yet the biggest rock star that you’ll ever know.”
Greta looked up at him. “And he can raise the dead?”
“You act like necromancers can’t lead normal lives,” he said, sticking his hands in the pockets of his hoodie.
“I never said they didn’t,” she said, spinning her keyring on her finger before sticking the keys back in her pocket. “I just have a hard time imagining a musician as a necromancer.”
“Lots of musicians are necromancers,” said Gabe, looking around the street before he crossed over. “Well, if Butch is to believed.”
“Name one,” shouted Greta as she followed after him.
Gabe turned as he reached the curb. “You know the ‘Thriller’ video?”
Greta sighed. She had her Michael Jackson fill back at the diner. “Yeah. The one with the dancing zombies. It’s just makeup though.”
Gabe smirked as he helped Greta up onto the curb. “Only the lead one is wearing makeup.”
Greta paused for a second, mulling this over as she followed after Gabe. If what he was telling her was true, a lot of things started making a lot more sense.
They rounded around the theater to find a bus sitting in the back. This wasn’t really what Greta was expecting when Gabe suggested finding a necromancer. “Does he know we’re coming?”
“No,” said Gabe as he strode up to the bus door. Greta had to walk quickly to keep up with him. “Like I said though, he owes me a favor.”
He banged on the door of the bus and time seemed to slow down ever second after he did. Hundreds of things began to run through Greta’s head. What if he wasn’t there? What if he said no? What kind of person was he? She had this image of this extremely drugged out rock star with a spell book raising people from their graves and making them dance around like puppets. It wasn’t comforting at all.
All of a sudden, the bus door creaked open and a head with a mess of dark hair peeked out at them. His eyes passed over Greta, but they stopped at Gabe. “Gabe Saporta? Is that you?”
The bus door swung open a little bit more and the head suddenly had a body attach itself to it. It was about as tall as Gabe and even skinnier. Greta wasn’t even sure that was possible. He dressed in jeans and flannel and the sleeves were rolled up to reveal extremely colorful tattoos. When Greta imagined rock star necromancer, this was not what she thought of.
The man took Gabe’s hand and gave him a hug. “What’s going on, man? I haven’t seen you in forever.” Greta noted the southern drawl and added it to the list of things she didn’t expect from a necromancer.
Gabe grinned and turned the other man towards Greta. “Butch Walker, this is my friend Greta Salpeter. She needs your help.”
Greta pursed her lips as she extended her hand to the man named Butch. “I wouldn’t say we’re friends. Gabe is my bodyguard. We do need your help though.”
Butch took her hand and shook it. Greta added the heart tattoo on his hand to the running list in her head. “Well, it’s still nice to meet you. Though, I didn’t expect Gabe to turn into the bodyguard type.”
“Long, boring story,” said Gabe. “Besides, you owe me one after I saved your ass from that river tribe in Canada.”
Butch paused, mulling this over. “I guess you’re right. C’mon. We’ll talk about this on the bus. The band is out in the city anyway. I’d be with them, but I guess I had a feeling you guys would be coming.”
He then raised his hand and the bus door creaked open further. Butch stepped onto the steps of the bus and Gabe followed after him. Greta hesitated for a second, but she figured that there was no turning back now. She followed after Gabe, but stopped him on the last step up. “River tribe in Canada? Really?”
Gabe looked down at her and shook his head. “You really don’t want to know.”
As soon as they were on the bus, the door slammed shut behind them. The space felt narrow, but cozy. Greta watched as a cabinet door flew open and a bottle of wine along with a few glasses came flowing out of it. Butch sat down on a couch and directed their motions to the counter. He barely looked at the bottle as it opened and poured itself into the glasses. “You guys can sit down, you know.”
Greta sat down next to Butch and Gabe followed. The bottle finished pouring and the glasses flew from the counter and to Butch. He took one from the air and the other two stayed frozen as he leaned back on the couch. He then directed the other two glasses towards Gabe and Greta. Greta almost refused, but he was kind enough to pour it and after the day she had, she needed a drink. She took the glass and began sipping.
“Now,” said Butch, leaning forward. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Well,” said Gabe, taking down his own glass. “It started when her dad’s lab blew up last week...”
Butch held up his hand. “Not from you, genius. You say she needs my help, so she tells the story.”
Greta looked over at both of them before taking another sip of wine. “Alright, but it’s a long story that does start with my dad getting fried to a crisp in his lab.”
“Don’t worry,” said Butch, reaching out and squeezing her shoulder. “We got the time.”
She nodded and took a very long gulp before launching into her story. She recounted everything she could, from what happened the morning of the accident to the attack at the funeral and the way she felt when the leader stared her down to Gabe’s jukebox abuse to purposely using the boosters to scare Gabe. She figured Gabe was glaring at her during that last one, but she didn’t care at this point.
“And then we came here. Look, I know it’s short notice, but...”
“Okay.”
Greta looked up at Butch in shock. “Really?”
“Yeah,” he said, finishing off his glass of wine. “And not just to be even with Gabe. It seems like you got some seriously bad dudes after you, darlin’. If they really are trying to use your dad’s theory, which I think I’ve read before, Gabe can only do so much to help you.”
“Told you,” muttered Gabe as he raised his wine glass to his lips.
Butch shot a look at Gabe before looking back at Greta. “What I’m trying to say is that whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. Even raise the dead.”
Greta flinched. “If you actually didn’t do that, I think we’d have a deal. Sorry, but there’s just something about the thought of the living dead...”
“I understand,” he said, turning and placing the glass on the counter. “No undead, but I’ll help you and Gabe out anyway you can as long as you need me. We have a deal then?”
He extended his hand to Greta. She looked at his hand for a lingering moment before taking it. “Yes.”
They shook and squeezed each others hands. Greta definitely knew there was no turning back now. This was another adventure. Her first one without her dad and she was unsure if she was going to get out of this alive.
Ba-BOOM!
The bus rocked back and forth and all three of them looked up. It stopped and Gabe stood up. “What the fuck was that?”
“Princess Salpeter,” said a voice outside the bus. “Come out and plaaaaay.”
It wasn’t the voice of the mad eyed leader, but Greta knew right away that the Parade had come for her.
Butch stood up as well and started walking towards the bus door. A blob of green energy began to form in his hand as he approached the steps. “Fall behind me...”
The bus rocked again and more voiced raised up, beckoning for Greta. Gabe followed behind Butch, pulling what looked like a switchblade out of his pocket. She raised an eyebrow at him. “Where the hell did you get a switchblade?”
“You don’t wanna know,” said Gabe under his breath.
Butch held his free hand up as the bus rocked again. “Okay, on three...”
He used his hand to countdown and Greta started a secret prayer in her head. God, if you really do exist, don’t let me meet my dad again tonight. I’d really appreciate it.
“NOW!”
The door of the bus flew open and the energy in Butch’s hand flew out. There were a few screams as Butch descended. Gabe ran after him, switchblade out as he leaped towards the nearest attacker. Greta held back on the steps of the bus, watching the fight unfold. There wasn’t as many this time. Only about seven or eight, but they were still dressed the same. Butch was standing against three of them, blocking their beams of magic energy with some invisible shield and firing back his own. Greta could tell that he was winning. Whatever source they were pulling from wasn’t as strong as Butch’s natural magic. She turned and watched as Gabe physically fought off three others. His blade slashed and a female voice screamed. “Gabe, you fucking asshole!”
Greta’s eyes widened. How did that girl know his name?
“There you are!”
The voice that called her out was standing near the door. It was the guy who’s face she splashed Holy Water in back at the church. He started walking closer and Greta started to panic. She could tell he wanted to bring her down. Quickly, she reached for the door of the bus. It was heavy, but she slammed it closed as fast as she could.
There was a scream and a clatter outside the door. “My hand! My hand!”
Greta looked at the door and suddenly felt embarrassed. She didn’t see what she had done, but she had figured that he reached out for her and she had slammed his fingers in the door. “Look, I’m sorry, but maybe I’ll stop injuring you if you stop coming after me.”
She opened the door and heard the man stumble back. She quickly stepped down onto the pavement. Everyone else was distracted with Butch or Gabe and the man was curled over his hand on the ground. Greta saw his gun on the ground. It looked like a science fair project with plastic and wire running everywhere. Still, it must have had some punch to it. She quickly picked it up and aimed at the man, keeping as steady as she could. “Don’t move...”
He looked up and froze. “Oh Go-”
His mouth stopped mid word. In fact, everything stopped. Everything except her, Butch and Gabe. She looked around at all the frozen figures of the Parade or whatever they called themselves. “Uh...what just happened?”
“That was me,” said Butch as he walked towards the bus door. “It’s a stasis spell. They’re frozen, but we only got thirty minutes. C’mon!”
He ran up the steps and onto the bus. Gabe followed after him, wiping the blood off his blade. Greta stopped him before he got on the bus. “Gabe, how did that girl know your name?”
Gabe looked down at her, then back at the girl. “It’s a long story and we don’t have the time.”
Greta took his wrist and looked him straight in the eye. “If you want to keep this job, you’re going to have to tell me eventually.”
“Yeah...I know.” He looked ashamed, but he didn’t budge an inch.
Butch came down the steps with a guitar bag and another bag in his hand. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
Gabe looked up at Butch. “What about your band?”
“Left them a note,” he said quickly, slamming the bus door behind him. “You really think this is the first time this has happened? We had to postpone a whole tour once because of a chupacabra incident in Borneo.”
Greta raised an eyebrow. “But the chupacabra isn’t a legend in Borneo.”
“Doesn’t mean they don’t exist there. Now c’mon!”
Butch walked off around the corner and Greta cast a look up at Gabe. “We’re talking about this later.”
She turned and followed after Butch, shouting at him to hold up because he didn’t know where she was parked. Gabe sighed and stuck his switchblade back in his pocket. “Yeah... I know.”
----------------------
“Od!”
Ryland flinched before he realized that no one was aiming at him. “Uhhh... where did she go?”
“I think the necromancer used a stasis spell,” said Victoria, reaching up for her bleeding cheek. “Her fucking bodyguard cut me though.”
Nate rubbed his head as he got up. He had been knocked back on the concrete before they had been frozen. “I told you he betrayed us.”
Victoria ignored him and looked around. “No sign of life. They must be long gone by now.”
Ryland groaned and leaned back towards the bus, cradling his hand. “So what are we going to do?”
“Let them run for now,” she said as she helped up Alex and a few of the other henchmen that had come along. “We’ll get them eventually. Right now, let’s worry about how Gerard is going to react.”
Part IV