A Roadtrip to Kill Us All

Jack packed up the crappy, rundown looking car that may have not been a looker, but it would fit everyone and it would not break down.. Well, she did not think it would break down. Her car was typically really dependable. And besides,there was little other options. She was not about to go and rent a nice car for a week.. Just so they could end up trashing it, she was sure.

Everyone had dropped their bags off by the the end of the car. Jack had to magically enlarge the back to fit all of the bags before they had started the trip. Everything everyone had brought- Keith, James, Chase, Ariel, and her- was being shoved side by side into the trunk. It was a varied group, but an important one on Jack's opinion. Chase and her were on their way back to being friends. Jack had put Keith's betrayal behind her- and she wanted to prove to him her opinions on Ari were justified. James had been her secret support all year, always the person to find her at her worst. And Ari- well it was Ari. She wanted him with her.

On top of their bags, she had a bundle of tents. A boys tent and a girls tent, both magically enlarged to have cots, a bathroom, and a small kitchen, where food was packed. She had also packed a few extra one-man tents, just in case someone got pissy and needed to be alone. Jack did not think it was necessary, but she would rather be prepared, honestly. She did not want a death on her hands. Though she was sure none of her friends would come to that.

Jack closed the trunk with a thud and glanced over at her friends. They had met up in a small park in London, one that was run down and had few muggles. It was not far from the Leaky Cauldron, just a few miles away, and the air was clean and fresh. New starts were on the horizon.. Or so Jack could hope for.

Her last summer had started out wonderfully and slowly gone to the dogs. She hoped because this one had started terribly It would get better. A battle was never a good send off from your school, but watching a professor attempt suicide was not so great either. She had just convinced Thaor from the window when he tripped... And now he was dead. Jack could not even tell what he had been up too- she kept her promises.

Now she was wanted for murder, she was sure. The Ministry would be on her case, and so would the Death Eaters. They would not appreciate her being the only one around when their leader died. Then Jack had went home and told her family her final good byes. For all they knew, she was dead. Her ties to her family were broken, she was free.

She had not told her friends about Thaor. They knew, by now, she was the last one to see him alive, but they had heard the same story- she had been flying low to the ground, saying good bye to Hogwarts, and she had seen a body falling. She tried to stop it, there was an explosion, and she saw Thaor's body. They did not know that people might be after her, that she was essentially on the run.

There were a few reasons behind this trip beyond hanging out with friends, exploration, and the usual reasons anyone takes a road trip. Keeping off the radar of the Ministry and the Death Eaters was one big reason. And the other was because she was practically homeless. She didn't want to burden her friends so she would not dare ask for a room. That was why this had been such a quickly planned thing. Buy her some time before she had to face facts that she needed money and a place to stay.

She turned back to her friends, who were congregated around some benches. She grinned. "I think we're just about ready to get going."

As the weak morning struggled through the heavy cloud-cover over London, Ariel began to wonder whether summer would ever finally arrive in Britain. The unpredictable weather on their tiny island had been, as was to be expected, truly unpredictable this season, leaving the weather men and women rather red in the face. The forecast for the next few days looked good enough though. Ariel had watched the weather report the night before and he’d figured out how to get this interesting thing called ‘The Internet’ on his phone. Muggles raved about it. The only thing Ariel liked to use it for was to keep an eye on the lunar calendar and, lately, to look at the weather report. Which, ironically enough, he was doing now while indulging in one of the cigarettes Ollie had given him in exchange for two quid for a bottle of Coca Cola the week before.

His mother was anxious.

Fiona hadn’t wanted Ariel to go. In fact, she’d even gotten herself dressed that morning and demanded that he’d stay. Ariel’s answer had been the same as it had been the last few nights – no. He knew his mother meant well but she needed to let him breathe. Fenrir would keep tabs on him all the time so Ariel had no idea what she was worrying about. If it was about the cooking then she knew his aid was only a text away – even if his texts were sometimes fairly incoherent and impatient where his mother was concerned. Really though, she just didn’t want her ‘baby boy’ to leave her. Ariel was the man of the house and unless Fenrir decided to ‘pop in’, Ollie would be the one saddled with that responsibility. Ariel wished, upon finding that out, that Fenrir would go home to his mother and spend a week in her bed; at least he wouldn’t go down the pub if the house was burning down.

The road trip would be good though, Ariel hoped, if they didn’t all kill each other first. He already had issues with the other ‘blokes’ so it was bound to be entertaining. Firstly Keith, the gobby, pint-sized Ravenclaw and Secondly that bizarre James-kid, also in Ravenclaw. Ariel wouldn’t have been surprised if someone ended up being murdered in their tent – or on the road. It was for that reason that Ariel had taken it upon himself to be the one driving. Hopefully with Jack there it would be a little more bearable. But then again, she’d been the one that had suggested it so it would have been bizarre if she hadn’t been there...

Shut up, Ariel, his subconscious, the puppy, snapped at him.

Ariel smirked to himself and chucked the cigarette on the floor. He stubbed it out with his sneaker and pocketed his phone before wandering over to Jack. He flicked her on the nose and smiled slyly before gesturing for her to give up the keys. Frankly, Ariel didn’t want to be caught dead in that monstrosity of a car. Out of the lot of them though, he figured he was the safest of drivers. Keith was a kid, James was...strange, Chase was way too over-emotional to function correctly and Jack was a redhead – i.e. road rage. So, the best possible course of action was to let the moody werewolf drive.

“Give ‘em up, love. You can call shotgun but I’m driving. I might even be kind and give you a map.” Ariel grinned.

"Then I'll take the roof," James announced, shifting his gaze between one disgruntled youth to the other. He hadn't EXACTLY mentioned to Alan that he would be traveling with friends, but the old man was rarely in. Besides, after Alan started having meetings IN HIS RUN-DOWN apartment, James had seen it more prudent to stay out of the way. Most of the Death Eaters, after all, did not know of James' involvement with their little schemes. It was best to keep it that way.

James only had a laptop bag with him, though thanks to a few enchantments, it was expanded to the size of a small room inside. Just the type of thing to carry ALL of one's possessions in. Add in the extra curse that would electrocute anyone who tried to break into it, and it was the PERFECT place to crash in, if James deemed it necessary. Thus far, it was just clothes and books. Nothing too fancy inside. But perhaps the next time, James would carry a bed inside. James marked it as a mental note, and shelved the thought. For now he had to secure a nice, quiet spot on the car to get from the rest of the crew. Perhaps the trunk?

Jack felt someone flick her nose and she turned to see Ari, just who she had expected to be there. No one else would be brave enough to do that to Jack. That was because he knew he could get away with it. He held his hand out for what she guessed was the keys but Jack was much too cheeky to just hand them over. She blinked at him and slapped his hand for a high five, as though that was what he had wanted from her.

At his words she raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Uh huh, and let Mr Moody get pissed off and drive us all into a ditch just to shut us up, I don't think so." She grinned,pulling out her keys and dropping the key ring onto her index finger, spinning them on her finger and smirking at Ari.

She heard a voice behind her and turned. She had invited James despite the fact that he acted (pretended) like he hated her most the time. She would have said he was the black sheep of this group.. but pretty much ever single person could fit that name, the group was so diverse and just... strange. "Nonsense, James, that will definitely freak out some muggles. I'd rather not get arrested. You can sit in the car with us. We won't bite." She turned and playfully glared at Ari. Quietly, she said, "Right?"

Ariel’s face fell dramatically when Jack slapped her hand against his. He pursed his lips and fought back the smirk that was threatening to take over. He shrugged his shoulders and smiled sweetly at her, too sweetly. He wouldn’t drive them into a ditch. He’d drive by a ditch and chuck James and Keith out of a window, sure, but he wouldn’t drive into a ditch; that was too dramatic even for his tastes. Ariel kicked the tyre of the monstrosity that Jack had bought and drummed his fingers on the bonnet, truly dreading the looks the Muggles would give the ugly thing. Even they had better taste – but then again, they were the ones that had manufactured it once upon a time so that statement was wrong. Ariel just couldn’t believe it. He could have bought them something better. Sure it would have sucked Richard’s bank account dry but to see his face when he found out...it would have been more than worth it.

James’ comment was entirely feasible. If it wasn’t for the fact that, as Jack said, the Muggles would look, then he would have considered it. Eventually, someone would end up on the roof or in a ditch, or in the boot...Ariel just wasn’t sure when – the how and why parts were covered and it was just a matter of who.

Ariel unzipped his jacket and shrugged off the offending piece of material – though why it had offended him he didn’t know. He chucked it onto the roof of the car and glanced over at Jack. Ariel smirked and came up behind the ex-Gryffindor. He bent over and grabbed her legs. He turned her over and straightened up again, holding her by the ankles. He lifted her up and released her before winding his arms around her legs so he had a better grip of her. Ariel looked down at his redheaded friend and smiled innocently at her.

“Alright down there, love?” he asked with a dogged grin. “Now give me the keys, sweetheart before I start calling you Jaquellene; or better, I’ll start thinking of more elaborate pet names for you. Give me a while. It beats eye-spy.”

Jack was still too busy smirking over at James to notice that there was an evil plot that was being schemed behind her. She felt something fasted around her legs and she wobbled, putting a hand out to grasp something to get her balance. She yelped a moment later when suddenly the world was being flipped upside down... or at least she was.

She was just about level with Ari's kneecaps. At his words she realized she had dropped the keys on her trip upside down. She stretched out her hands and snatched up the keys, pulling out her wand. He began to threaten her and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She could not figure out what would be worse. Being called Jack or something like Muffin-Bear.

She held her arm out behind her back, dangling the keys. She pointed her wand at him and smirked. "Rictumsempra." A second later, she realized a tickling charm was not the greatest spell for someone dangling you upside down. She called out to her friend, "Yeah, don't worry about me, just leave me hanging, that's fine."

The Queen of puns struck again.

Chase watched with interest at the excitement going on a few paces from her. She had no problems what so ever about the car, and in fact, was quite excited. Using a spell, she had managed to fit all her clothes into a duffel bag, and it now lay at her feet. Chase pulled a cigarette away from her lips and attempted to brush away her hair, only to find it not long enough to reach behind her ears. The front was much longer then the back, and it had a choppy quality to it, as though it had been up in a pony tail when it was chopped off. Scars criss-crossed her face, one in particular covered her right eye, and the scratch even had slashed her eye, so that there was a weird red look to it.

Chase sniffed slightly, and took another drag from her cigarette. She had quit because she was pregnant before.. but now.. she didn't have a baby inside her, and she had started again shortly after being rescued on the streets of London by Jack. Skinny was an understatement to her looks, and she had a dark look about her eyes, as though she hadn't slept for a long time, but her face was extremely pale, which made her freckles stand out even more. "I can drive." She piped up to the group. "I'm not completely useless.. I did have my own car.. Had to sell it.. but hey.. you do what you can... but.. I can drive." She said softly, flicking her head to the side to push her hair out of her face,the tendrils down her cheeks barely moving, unable to catch hold of her ears. Running her hand through her hair, she brought the cigarette to her lips and took in another breath.

Wearing a simple Yellow outfit Chase sighed and grabbed her duffel bag, swinging it over her shoulder, and going around back of the car, to throw it into the trunk, which had been made bigger to fit all of their stuff in it. Why was she here? Chase needed a break.. she had been going through emotional turmoil, including torture, kidnap, and family issues. Two of her 'children' had been taken away, she had realized she was better without Elijah Krum, and her and Calvin had become.. closer... anyway. Chase shook her head, holding her cigarette between her teeth as she tucked her duffel into the corner of the trunk, and turned back to the rag tag group that would be spending way to much time closer to each other then Chase had spent with anyone.. in a long.. long.. long time.

“Don’t you wanna know how we keep startin’ fires?” Vito sang quietly as he sorted through his belongings, but with a confidence that suggested he was attempting to seduce the very air before him. Due to the increasing interest in Vito’s redheaded ‘plaything’, it hadn’t taken long for those quiet whispers of Jack Dyllan’s grand road trip to reach Vito’s ears – and true to his nature, Vito had taken this as his official invitation to join in on the ‘fun’. At the very least he would gain the satisfaction of making the female feel uncomfortable, and Vito had grown rather bored.

“Danger, danger – high voltage,” Vito sang as he leaned to his left, allowing the perfect combination of the sleek floorboards and his recently polished dress shoes to carry him in that direction smoothly. He swept his hand over the small, bedside table that he’d slid towards and took hold of the only of his possessions (save the obvious, such as his mattress and the nightclub itself) that he hadn’t packed away in an enchanted suitcase; an elegant wineglass, which was still half-filled with an almost blood-colored wine. He brought the glass’ lips to his own, and shared a kiss with the chilled alcohol for a short moment, before turning towards the door.

His every step matched the bass of the song that he continued to sing along to, “It’s my desire. It’s my desire!”

He did not pause to explain his sudden departure to his employees, nor the fact that a pair of young women were lugging several of Vito’s suitcases after him; he simply continued on to the double doors that made up the entrance of Satan’s, and swung them open without casting a single glance backwards. Vito did not depart from Satan’s often, but when he did, the employees that kept the infamous nightclub running knew better than to ask Vito where he was going, or when he’d be back. They would do the jobs that they’d been paid to do, and nothing short of that if they valued their lives. Vito had made it quite clear that he did not enjoy returning to a disaster when he’d murdered the doormen that had allowed Andrew Thompson to enter Satan’s not so long ago.

“Hurry up,” Vito groaned over his shoulder, speaking to the women who’d volunteered to assist him with his luggage. Apperation wasn’t Vito’s forte, after all…

-

Several giggles escaped the mouths of the pair of women as Vito drew each close to his chest for a moment to attack the flesh of their throats, and to breath his cold, nicotine-scented breath again their lips – but it was a moment that did not last long. Vito paid each a single minute's attention in order to monetarily satisfy himself, before relieving the women of their duties. “Leave,” he ordered them simply, turning his eyes away from them, and towards the distant figures of Jack Dyllan and Chase Moor. There were others, forming a larger group than Vito had originally expected, but Vito only had eyes for the redheaded women with whom he'd become acquainted.

He started forward, his hips swaying ever-so-slightly as he walked, a suitcase in each hand. Vito closed in on Chase, and halted just as the fabric of his suit had begun to brush up against that of Chase’s attire. “Hello, Clara Bow,” He smirked against her red hair, inhaling the nicotine that had started to cling to each strand as she smoked, "Did you miss me, love?"

That voice, it rang in her ears, pounded in her memories, and still haunted her in her nightmares on occasion. She felt his suit rub up against her back, and she froze, still slightly bent over from putting her bag in the trunk. Chase slowly straightened up, her expression emotionless, and her lips drawn into a fine line. Slowly, she turned to look at the man who had just showed up, and she pulled the cigarette to her lips again. This was the man who had killed her entire family, save herself, who she had gone to to ask why he was such an evil bastard, and the man who Jack had defended on countless occasions. But since the last time Chase had seen him, things had changed.. a lot of things.

For one, Chase had her own family now, she no longer had no one in the world, she had a beautiful daughter, who was being taken care of by Calvin for her trip, she had Calvin, and Reid, she sort of had Fauve and Thierry, and she and Jack were friends again.. not only friends though... Chase understood Jack better.. for her decision to support Vito... Chase understood her feelings a bit better now, she didn't understand them all.. and perhaps she never would.. but it was a start, and being invited on this road trip.. well, she felt like it was a large leap in patching up their friendship. But now he had come... HIM.. and of course he was going to have some fun torturing her... but he wouldn't get his fun.. Chase had been tortured enough, and she understood him a bit better now.

"Hello Mr. Symons.. Very nice to see you again, I did in fact miss you..." She said and blew him a kiss, before turning away again, inhaling some more smoke. She wasn't about to betray her beating heart, or the fact that tears were nearly overwhelming her... she had to be here.. she wasn't about to let this evil, vile man to force her away, or scare her. She was here to have some fun with her friend Jack, and become better acquainted with the people Jack hung out with. She hoped it would shock Vito, at just how cool her reaction was towards him. Even if her heart was beating, and her mind was racing.. she looked cool on the outside as she leaned against the car, finishing off her cigarette and dropping it on the ground, stamping it out with her foot, and her eyes roamed over the group that had now assembled. "Are you coming with Symons? I didn't hear that you were invited." She said coolly, her voice shaking slightly when she said Symons, but her eyes darted over to Jack, as though watching her reaction, she wanted to see how she reacted to Vito Dee Symons showing up in their midst, bags in hand, as though he were really about to just join in on their road trip.

That darling giggle inducing spell; of all spells, she had to use that one. If it wasn’t for the fact that Ariel knew he’d come off worse for dropping her then he would have dumped Jack on the grass and keeled over himself. Ariel was getting a good handle on the spell – the only problem was that ticklish fiend in the back of his head, howling away to his own tune. Ariel kept a firm grip on Jack, for his own sanity later on in the day. If she was the one doomed to be driving them then they would end up in a ditch. Most likely though it would be his fault because ribbing Jack while she was driving would just add to his amusement. First the ugly car, then the ugly car totalled. Merlin knew Ariel had a preference.

But as the spell spread through his chest, Ariel could do little to stifle the laugher and so he didn’t. Jack would be the death of him, he was sure. Oddly enough though, Ariel didn’t mind as much. Ollie was the potential death of him every time they were drunk and near the bridge so he knew which death he’d rather have. Plus, Jack was a lot more aesthetically pleasing. Ollie was, as Ariel adored pointing out to the Ravenclaw, the runt. But then again so was Ariel in a round-about way; just like all of Fenrir’s other spawn. Either way, if he had to be murdered in the next few days then out of all of them he figured Jack was a better pick.

“Alright beautiful,” Ariel managed to stutter between snickers. “Give me the keys and I’ll let you go. It’s a fair deal isn’t it, babe?”

The werewolf looked up when Chase spoke up. He arched an eyebrow at her and shook his head, his laughter bubbling up again as another bout of tickles ran up his sides. Ariel let out loud guffaws as he hoisted Jack back up again. He braced her back and straightened her up so she was facing him. Ariel looked at her innocently, his face flushed pink, and released one arm from around her to grab the hand that was clenched around her keys.

“Give,” He commanded her playfully. “If Chase drives then we will die.”