Chapter Two: Jacknife Jeds

Ariana gasped as she woke up from her dream. It was more like a memory than a dream. She blamed their run in with the Gecko brothers. She ran her fingers through her dark hair and glanced out the window of the car. "Where are we?" She asked in a groggy voice never looking towards her sister.

Mel kept her eyes on the road as she turned into a bar called Jacknife Jeds. "A place to eat and crash apparently." Mel motioned to the sign on the window. Of course the sisters were use to sleeping in run down places and creepy places. This looked more like the creepy place.

"If there is one creepy man in here, I'm sleeping in the car," said Ari getting out of the car. The sisters walked on in, a pleasant waitress welcoming the two and letting them know they could sit anywhere. The sisters thanked the waitress before walking towards a booth that was near the stage.

"Not so creepy, huh?" Mel smirked grabbing the menu, giving her sister a jab from the comment earlier.

"The night is still young." Ari pulled the menu towards her and closed her eyes, running her hands over her face.

"You alright?"

"Fine. Just weird dream."

"You've been having weird dreams for the past couple weeks. Since..."

"Since Eddie died? I know. Then running into the Geckos didn't help."

"Did you say Geckos?" asked the waitress bringing over two glasses of water. "The Gecko's own this place, you know. Unless you're talking about those little lizards that run around here."

Ari looked from the waitress to her sister Mel giving her an 'Are you kidding me' look. "That's just awesome. You hear that Mel, the Gecko's own this place." Ari had sarcasm in the tone of her voice slamming the menu on the table. "I told you. One creep is all it was going to take and there's two here. I'll be in the car."

As Ari stood up she felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked over meeting Richie's eyes, "Sit." He pushed her back down on the cushioned booth and scooted in next to her to make sure she didn't go anywhere. Ari licked her lips as her and Richie's eyes never left each others once he sat down. It's like he was reading her thoughts and listening to the voice in her soul. As if he knew the dreams she has been having.

And he did.

Richie knew everything that was going on in her dreams because he has been seeing them himself. Memories of their past when they were children, the dreams pointing them to Eddies. He was there, in her dreams.

"Isn't this funny, meeting two nights in a row," said Seth pulling up a chair to the table and grinning at Mel. He looked at the waitress, "Four hamburgers Peaches, you know what Richie likes."

"Look, we didn't know that you two owned this place. If we did, we wouldn't be here," said Mel.

"What with all the hostility, Mel?" Seth gave her a grin.

"I think you know." If looks could kill, Seth would be lying on the floor and Mel would have walked right over his body with a grin on her face and walking right out the door.

Ari finally looked away from Richie's stare playing with her hands. "We are just here for food and a bed. That's all we want." She swallowed hard feeling quite vulnerable at the moment.

"We are just being friendly. You two left in such a rush last night. We haven't seen each other in what almost ten years?"

"How is it that you two own this place?" Mel asked looking between Richie and Seth.

"Yeah, last we heard was that you two were dead," said Ari looking over at Richie.

"Yeah that's a long story," said Richie placing his arm over the back of the booth. His eyes looking over Ari once again. He couldn't help this pull that he had towards Ari. Especially with the dreams and their past they had.

"We have time," said Mel as the burgers were placed on the table.

"And it's a story for another time," said Seth. "Lets just say that certain things happened and Richie and I are now the proud owners of Jacknife Jeds. What do you think about this place?"

Mel looked around and shrugged taking a bite of her burger, "Looks like any other sit down bar with a loud band." Mel wanted to strike a nerve with Seth anyway she could even if it was just to put down the bar.

Ari couldn't help the small laugh and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Funny," said Seth and he looked over at Richie before speaking up again. "You two staying here tonight? We could get you the best rooms in the place. Just warning you that it may get a little crazy around here. You may want to get to bed early."

"You think that we can't handle what you throw at us?" asked Ari looking at Seth and Richie. "We've been around."

Richie couldn't help but smile at her, "Not around us. Things aren't like they are when we were 13. I'm not going to be saving your ass from the bullies in the park."

"I don't need saving," Ari stared right into his eyes.

He leaned closer in and whispered, "I'm sure you will be needing it."

Ari bit her lower lip feeling a bit nervous when Mel snapped her fingers, "You two need to separate because I am not having my sister anywhere near you."

Ari rolled her eyes looking towards Mel, "Nothing like that will ever happen." At least she thought. The more she at there the more she was feeling that connection like he did and had no idea where it was coming from.