Chapter 8:

Attack of the Squirrels!

"K-Krist?"

Krist stood on the window pane with a grim expression on her face. Her blood red eyes stared only at Akane; she lost her ghostly body.

"Krist—you're—you're alive!" Akane ran up to her and poked her arm. "Literally! I can't believe it! How—how is this even possible?"

"A forbidden ritual," she answered, "Akane, I've not come to chit chat. I've come to warn you."

"What's there for us to be warned about?" Hilary said.

Choosing to ignore Hilary, Krist continued, "Akane, you must be careful. Something is about to happen, but I can't tell you what because I'm not even sure myself."

"But, you'll help us, right?" Akane asked hopefully. Even after everything that's happen, hope still clung to what's left of her heart. As long as Krist was here, her heart can slowly mend. One day at a time.

Krist shook her head, her harsh expression never leaving her pale face. Bags were under her eyes, as if she spent each night staying up instead of slumbering. Instead of her regular white, she wore all black. It showed her gloomy expression. "I'm not here to stay Akane; I'm risking my neck for even coming here! No matter what happens, Akane, you must remember this," Krist bent down and hugged Akane tightly. Shutting her eyes so that all she could sense was her best friend. It seemed like an eternity passed since they've been together. "I will always be your friend,"

"And you mine," Akane whispered back, tears slipping past their barriers.

And in a split second, she was gone and all that was left was a white mist.

Wiping her eyes, Akane pushed through the trio. "Come on, we're leaving."

"But we haven't even started packing yet!" Miriam reminded her.

"Then hurry up and start!" Akane barked. She switched her gaze to the ground; she seemed to have changed, she's not the crying little vampire she was before. She's different; she's found a new inspiration. "If Krist can still fight, then so can I!"

Thirty minutes later, everyone was packed and ready to go. "So, where are we going?" Hilary asked as she pulled a coat over her body.

"A cabin in the forest." Ozuma folded the map and stuffed it in his jacket pocket.

"And you know there's a cabin in the forest how?"

They froze.

"We don't," Kenny sighed, "It's just an assumption. But if we don't have a cabin, we can probably find a cave or somewhere safe."

"And you're positive?"

They froze again, "No," Kenny answered with another sigh. "But it's the only chance we've got."

"Is there a car around here?" Dunga looked out the window.

"Mr. Dickenson has one in the garage. I'm not sure if he'll mind if we take it." Max said, walking out of the living room and towards a locked door next to the stairs. He took out a paper clip and began picking the lock. After twenty seconds, they heard a click and Max pushed the door open.

"Who cares if he wants us to take it or not!" Daichi scoffed.

Creak…

"It's a life or death situation we're in; he'll understand," Kai told them, grabbing the car keys off of the table next to the garage door.

The garage was like a regular house. It contained five different cars: a Toyota, a Honda, a Mitsubishi, a Limo, and a Porsche.

Tyson grinned from ear to ear, "Let's grab the Limo!"

"Yeah! I'm with you Tyson!" Daichi grinned, jumping on the Limo and spreading his arms as if he could hug it.

"No, the Porsche!" Max argued; standing by the silver Porsche as Tyson stared into the Limo's dark windows.

"No way! I bet the Limo has food!"

"Yeah! And we need food!" Daichi kissed the vehicle with love.

"No," Kai stated firmly, walking over to the Toyota with the silver keys jingling noisily in his hand, "I'm the driver and I say we grab the Toyota and leave!"

"What! Kai, you have a horrible taste in cars!" Tyson yelled, hugging the Limo.

"Tyson, we're not trying to catch attention so we can't use the Limo!" Ray said, pulling Tyson off of the Limo before he breaks it.

"Fine, but I call shotgun!"

"No, I call shotgun!" Daichi argued, running towards the car.

"I've got the map, so I call shotgun." Ozuma smirked and sat in the car before Tyson or Daichi could.

He pouted, "Fine! But if your life's in danger, don't expect me to save you!"

They've been driving for awhile now and all they saw was the country side. They didn't pass a car the entire time they were on the road. Kenny was worried that they'll be seen because they can't blend in with anything since they were the only ones on the road. It was late at night; everyone was asleep except for Kai and Ozuma.

Ozuma looked behind them, making sure they didn't miss a car.

"Stop worrying, we're the only ones on the road," Kai rolled his eyes.

"It's better to be safe than sorry, my friend." Ozuma answered, turning around and facing the front of the road.

"How much food did we bring?" Kai asked a few minutes later.

"How come you didn't ask before we left?" Ozuma sighed, "I'm pretty sure Tyson and Daichi stacked up on food."

"Yeah, junk food,"

"Hilary was with them when they were packing. I'm pretty sure she told—er, commanded—them to grab something healthy also, you know how she is." Ozuma ran a hand threw his hair, "Anyways, I'm gonna get some sleep."

Kai nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.

An hour passed after Ozuma fell asleep. Kai had stopped by a gas station and refilled the tank. Afterwards, he walked in the store to buy a few things. Lucky for him, the man sells first aid kits; he brought at least five of them. Like Ozuma said: "It's better to be safe than sorry." He brought water bottles, blankets and pillows, flashlights and batteries (strange, I know; flashlights, batteries, blankets, and pillows being sold in a gas station), and some pocketknives.

"Is that all you want, mister?" the man said, handing Kai his $3.32 change. He scratched his brown hair and scratched his nose.

"Hn…," Kai nodded.

"Are you alone?"

"Hn…"

"Where are you going at this time?"

"Hn…"

"Not talkative are ya?"

Kai scowled, annoyed with all of the questions. "I suggest you mind your own business."

"Ok, sheesh, sorry I asked!"

Kai opened the door and stepped out into the night. A breeze rustled the trees and an owl hooted. Thousands of stars could be seen in the night sky; a full moon was out; he could hear a long mournful howl off into the distance.

The bushes rustled; Kai whipped to his right and glared at whatever was hiding in there. It rustled again; all light disappeared. He looked up; a gray cloud hid the moon from view. Slowly, cautiously, Kai walked over to the bushes. Taking out the pocketknife, he held it before him, ready to strike if it attacked. He held his breath as sweat beads slid down the side of his face.

A cat jumped out. "Meow,"

He fell to the ground and let out the breath he held. Putting away the pocket knife, he stood up and walked towards the car.

"Meow," the cat—black as the night itself—purred affectionately as it rubbed against his leg.

Kai bent down and stroked it; the cat purred against his touch. He sighed, "Come on," It climbed up his arm and on his shoulder. He turned around and walked back into the store. Strangely, the man sold cat food. What a coincidence.

As he walked back to the car, he thought of a name. "How about…Neko?" he said, looking at the cat; it hissed. "Okay…Kuroneko, meaning black cat."

"Meow." He purred happily.

Kai opened the car door and entered, shutting it behind him.

"Meow,"

Ozuma gradually opened his eyes and stared up at the roof of the vehicle. He heard purring next to him; he turned his head and saw a pair of golden feline eyes staring back at him. He blinked a couple of times and then rubbed his eyes, making sure it was real and not a hallucination. "Um…Kai…a cat? A black cat? You know how unlucky a black cat is?"

Kai raised a brow, starting the car, "I didn't know you were superstitious."

"I'm not, but I think Dunga is."

"Dunga? He doesn't seem like the type." He drove back onto the road, glancing at the clock. 4:16 A.M.

"Hm…neither did I, until I found a book about superstitions underneath his pillow."

The two quietly chuckled; after that was total silence.

About ten minutes passed until Kai turned a corner. When he did, he saw that he wasn't the only one on the road: a black minivan was driving along side him. The windows were too dark for him to see who was driving the vehicle. It picked up speed and then turned left where they were now in front of the gang.

Kai scowled, knowing exactly who they were: stalkers (DUN DUN DUN!).

The minivan's back window opened; three men, each loaded with pistols, aimed at them.

He cursed underneath his breath. "Hold on tight, Kuroneko!"

BANG! BANG! BANG!

They fired one after the other; Kai swerved the car to the right and broke the speed limit. He swerved the car to the right once more to avoid another bullet.

"Kai! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Dunga screamed as he held onto the armrest.

"Kai! You're breaking the speed limit!" Hilary shrieked.

"Are you trying to get us killed!" Tyson and Daichi yelled.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Ozuma turned around towards the source of the bangs and grimaced, "We're being attacked!"

Dunga noticed the black cat clinging onto Kai and pointed at it with hatred. "You picked up a friggin black cat! Those things are bad luck! It's your entire fault that this is happening! Get rid of it!"

"Sorry Dunga but I'm not superstitious!"

They all swung to the left as the car veered to the right and headed straight into the woods.

Branches slammed at the car; the automobile jumped up and down because of the rough terrain they entered.

"We're gonna die!" Tyson yelped, clutching onto his seatbelt for dear life.

Finally, they reached the dirt road; the trees ceased their attacks and the car discontinued to leap into the sky.

"Did we lose them?" Miriam turned around and saw no sign of the enemy.

Everyone released their held breaths. But then, an innocent squirrel jumped in the middle of the road with an acorn. "KAI! SQUIRREL!" they shrieked, pointing at the terrified animal in the way.

"What the!" The car turned sharply to the left and rammed straight into an oak tree.

"…Stupid squirrel…"