A Roadtrip to Kill Us All

Vito’s narrowed his eyes at Jacqueline, biting down hard on the cigar that he’d balanced between his lips, “It would be rather difficult for anyone to join that bastard’s side if I’ve stopped his stubborn heart from beating, wouldn’t it?” he asked, speaking in a lighthearted tone that did not match the words that were being spoke aloud, or the facial expression that he wore, thus adding on to the threat’s effect. Vito brought a pair of his fingers towards the cigar and removed it from his mouth for a moment so to exhale a thick cloud of smoke, grumbling grouchily, “Besides, if Clara here weren’t so irritating, I’d seduce her on the spot and rid her of that self control of hers.” He shifted, kicking one of his feet up on its heel while leaning backward on his other foot in an overconfident manner, “You should have seen her face when I kissed her, Jack,” Vito boasted, his smirk returning to his face once more; his sudden pride had overpowered his irritation towards Jack.

Vito tossed his head to the side, so to look Chase in the eyes once more, only, this time around, he’d jetted bottom lip outward in the very way Chase had on the occasion that Vito spoke of, and he forced his eyes to roll back into his skull in mock-pleasure.

When he’d finished with his impression, Vito’s expression returned to one of amusement, and his eyes darted back in Jack’s direction in order to watch her react to the fun that he was having, mocking Chase, Jack’s beloved friend. It was evident that Vito was having the time of his life with both Jack and Chase in his presence. It had been ages since the three of them had been together at one time – in fact, if Vito’s memory wasn’t too damaged from all of the toxins that he’d pumped his stolen body with, the last time they’d been together had been in a dark alley on a rainy day, when he’d attempted to murder Chase… and Jack when she’d challenged him to do so. Despite the fact that Vito found this fact amusing, however, he knew better than to bring the event up; he would scratch at the scabs of Chase’s wounds, or Jack’s, even, but not his own – and he had received quite a painful scar in his memory that evening...

“Oh come now, Jack,” Vito began once more, swatting once at the air before him in an over-dramatic fashion, “Haven’t you noticed how simple it is for me to locate you? You didn’t honestly think that it would be that difficult for me to figure out that you’d planned a little get away with all of your school friends?” He asked her, though, in all honesty, he was bluffing about being able to locate her as quickly as he’d claimed he could; in the past, he’d blamed their run-ins on coincidence, as Vito hadn’t planned any of them. It seemed that fate had it out for the two of them, or, was rather amused by the pairing, and insisted upon having them together at all times. “Besides,” Vito continued as he took another drag from his expensive drug, “I am far more interesting than any of those ignorant, hormone-controlled teenagers that you’ve affiliated with.”

Vito groaned when his eyes met with the suitcases that he’d dropped on the ground at his feet; it was becoming quite evident that neither Jack nor Chase was going to pack them away. He glanced backwards in the direction that he’d come from, searching for the pair of women that he’d ordered to apperate his bags in the first place, but they’d followed his command, and had left the parking lot the moment he’d turned away. “Brilliant…” Vito muttered while crossing his shoulders over his chest stubbornly, “What does a man have to do to be treated with respect, now-a-days?” he asked no one in particular, and began to scan the area, examining the children that Jack most likely considered her ‘friends’. His brown eyes fell on the boy in the driver’s seat of the car, whom Vito had referred to as Jack’s ‘male prostitute’ just moments prior, and smirked, before walking towards the vehicle.

Vito placed one foot in front of the other as he walked, much in the way a feline would strut about, and stopped when he reached the open door. Vito bent slightly so to make certain that the top of his head was not being cut off from the boy’s view from where he sat in the front seat, and greeted the child, “It’s a pity really; if you knew how to dress, you’d look rather decent – but that would be expecting a bit too much from your kind, wouldn’t?” By ‘your kind’, he was, of course, referring to human beings, but, unbeknownst to Vito, these words would mean quite a bit more to Ariel than intended. “Get out of the driver’s seat; I’ll be driving,” he explained, his voice never rising from his usual, intentionally-intriguing whisper, “and you can take care of my suitcases while you are getting out of the car.”

Rather suddenly, however, Vito’s attention was torn from Ariel when a voice that Vito found quite familiar rung through the air. The voice was extremely young, and so, Vito had difficulty remembering where he’d heard it before during his stay in London, but was quickly supplied with an answer upon straightening once more, and turning away from Ariel. “Well, if it isn’t that little drug-dealing kindergartener…” he replied before glancing towards Jack with an amused expression, “So you’ll shoot up, but you won’t have a drink with me every now-and-then?” Vito asked.

Jack turned her head as he mocked that incident, the incident that no one spoke of, because they were terrified of what they would discover. They did not want to go into that night, yet Vito could sense that and Jack knew he would make them relive it if it were the last thing he did. She turned her cold gaze back to him once he was done and said in a snide voice, "You look like a woman when you do that."

Jack was not sure what had gotten into her lately with Vito- it was almost as though her patience with him was gone, and yet she continued to let go of every pain he caused her. Yet here she was, instigating, just as she had at the battle, which had earned her a knife in the stomach. Apparently, she did not learn from such things.

It was intriguing really. She and Vito were the only ones she could think of that could go through 2 attempted murders and a myriad of other terrible events and still be drawn together somehow. That was the thing though, the stabbing had so been Vito's style. He had stabbed her so she could see her attacker, there was no lying, no selling it short if what it was. That was what made Jack and Vito somehow still allies, because if they saw the other being attacked, they would kill that attacker. They often credited it to the sort of thing where it was 'if anyone deserves to kill them, it's me!' but it was more too. It was as though they could trust each other more than they could trust others. They would stab each other, yes, but it would not be in the back. Keith had betrayed Jack, Chase had too, Andrew, countless others. Vito would not stab her in the back, and not just because that meant she couldn't see him. It was an agreement, an unspoken one. When they screwed each other over, they didn't lie or hide it.

She figured she should have expected it- whenever it seemed most ironic or most convenient (and inconvenient) that was when the world sent Vito to her. She glared at him, having no arguments because she knew.. There would be no arguing with him. He was going. The difficulty would be ensuring no harm came to any of her friends until she could get him to leave. He asked what he would have to do to get respect and she muttered, "Leave," but knew it was fruitless.

He strolled towards the car and Jack plunged into brain-mode. She turned to Chase. "I'm sorry, Chase. I.. I'm gonna get him to leave. But the only way I could get him to not go with us now would be to kill him. We're gonna play his game for awhile and then turn it against him, okay? Just follow my lead, don't look at him, don't talk to him." She saw him talking to Ari and she went cold. That would be a disaster.

Jack heard Vito call to her and she gave Chase a significant look before striding towards the car. She waved her wand and the rest of the bags, Vito's included, began to pack themselves into the car. "I'm not on drugs, Vito." She moved over towards the door, pushing Vito away by pushing her side against him so she could open the door. "Vito's driving, Ari." She turned and waved her hands."C'mon over guys." She glanced at Vito and gave a grand gesture towards him.

"This is Vito, you guys. He's going to be joining us as our driver." She smiled sarcastically. "Should be fun, right? We really can't dawdle though, we need to get going. It's gonna be Vito driving, I have front middle, Ari you have passenger. Chase, behind Ari, and Keith and James you have the other two spots in the back." She nodded. "My car, my rules, and no James you will not be on the roof or in the trunk." She clapped her hands and turned to look at them. "Got it? Good. Let's get-"

She happened to glance out and she saw a figure and for a second she thought it looked like Thaor. She blinked and turned white. The figure was still there, still resembling Thaor. She swallowed and said, "Let's get going." She tore her eyes away. No. She was seeing things. Nothing more.

Thaor watched in silence as they packed the car, and got ready to go. This will be fun. Thaor thought to himself. Thaor was about ready to go get a hotdog from a vendor when he saw Jack look at him, she turned white. Thaor winked at her and then she looked away. He used the cover of a passing bus to dissapparate and reappear ontop of the roof of the building accross the way from Jack and her friends. This would be much easier with a broom. Thaor said quietly to himself. Accio Firebolt Thaor said, hoping there was a firebolt within distance. Sure enough, a firebolt came to a stop next to him. He sat down on the roof and waited for them to get going.

Murdering small children was, as far as Ariel could recall, illegal. But then again, keeping on the right side of the law had never been Ariel’s forte. It must have run in the family seeing as everyone bar that recessive Indian that Fenrir had managed to spawn from Merlin only knows where was either doing something that earned them a place in Azkaban or were working on something that would ultimately give them a nice ‘cushy’ cell in the establishment. In short, although Ariel had qualms about killing small children, he wouldn’t miss Keith too much. In fact, that slimy bastard was more trouble than he was worth and Ariel wouldn’t mind having ‘psychopathic killer’ on his record if it meant that the brat was dealt with. He didn’t appreciate being labelled for something he hadn’t done.

And besides, murderous raving lunatic had such a better ring to it.

Ariel busied himself with the car. He would not lay a hand on the brat unless absolutely necessary; and even then he’d probably settle for hexing him.

Thankfully, it didn’t look as if anything was going to explode as soon as they put the car into first gear. Ariel was half tempted to put some cooling charms on the engine but he refrained figuring that even if the car did explode, no one would really miss them.

Ariel opened up the glove compartment and began to rifle through it, the sunlight being the only source of light in the dingy car.

Not a moment too soon, that light went out and Ariel looked up to see Jack’s ‘friend’ looming over him. Ariel quirked an eyebrow at the bizarre man and only half-listened to his words as his attention reverted back to the maps and such that had been stashed in the glove compartment.

However, when Vito’s particular choice of words registered with Ariel, the puppy flared.

It had been acknowledged from the very start by Ariel that Wolfsbane didn’t work. Thankfully, the dog wasn’t as bloodthirsty as most werewolves; it had its moments but it had more of a desire to play than it did to maim and kill. Ollie often pointed out that it had a better temperament than Ariel did; it certainly had more of a conscience than Ariel did. From Ariel’s point of view, the dog was just as insufferable as Ollie was though thankfully the former wasn’t as much of a stalker as the latter. He had a good relationship with the animal and they seemed to be fairly in tune with one another.

Seemingly though, the only thing they truly shared was their temper and when Vito opened his mouth, the puppy snapped.

“My kind?” Ariel spat, rising to his feet. “Well, I’m sorry I don’t adhere to your standard of dress but I suppose that might have to do with the fact that you’re more of a pretentious prick than I am. Just a little bit, eh?” Ariel smirked and brought his index finger down over his thumb, but not far enough so they were touching. “Little bit.” He reiterated, his hand quivering with anger. Ariel barked out a laugh and shook his head before hissing, “Get your own f-cking bags, I’m not your bellboy.” And with that, he pushed past Vito. He chucked the keys over his shoulder, not caring where they landed, and strode over to stand beside Chase.

His phone vibrated in his back pocket and Ariel took it out. He flipped the cover off and pressed his thumb against the screen so he could read the text. Apparently, his mother had only just found out about Orion and George’s baking escapades. Ariel snickered and sent her words of reassurance before pocketing his phone and reaching up to run his fingers through his hair.

When they were assigned their seats, Ariel grimaced. At least though, the little brat wasn’t stuck behind him. The desire to unhinge him was great but Ariel was willing to refrain if Jack was insistent on keeping him alive.

“Oh, the joys of road trips,” Ariel deadpanned. He looked over at Chase. “Looking forward to it, sweetheart? Your own personal hell for Merlin knows how long. It’s thrilling almost.”

Chase's face was white, and her hands were trembling at how much Vito was tormenting her. Her back was up against the door, and her memory was filled with the sound of rushing water and her little brother's voice. "Chassy! The room! It's full of water!" Chase stared straight ahead as Vito went on to mocking her about when they had kissed, and Chase felt bile collect in her throat. He was a monster, an absolute monster! How Jack could stand him she didn't know, but however it was, it was beyond Chase. Finally though, Vito left her alone, but only to go torment Ariel Greyback, who was attempting to find out if the car would blow up or not, but as soon as Vito left, Jack said something hurriedly to Chase, and she had to snap her attention back into focus as she realized what Jack was saying.

If her face had been white before, it was nothing compared to how white it became, when Jack told her Vito would be coming with. Chase stared with an open mouth, at Jack, knowing that she was right, he wouldn't leave unless they killed him, and knowing that she would be stuck in a car with him... a tiny little car, camping... with Vito Dee Symons for a week. Chase's hands were trembling, and she hardly paid attention when Ariel came and stood next to her, saying something about the trip."Yeah..." She said absentmindedly, and opened the door so that she could get into the seat Jack had told her she was sitting in. Better to start now, and get this trip over with, before she was driven insane waiting outside with them all. She shut the car door heavily, and busied herself with getting comfortable, buckling in, and readjusting her hair band, so that the little tendrils that still lined her face was out of her eyes. She ran her hand through the short hair on the back of her head, and gulped. This was going to be one hell of a road trip.

The puppy had bite. Now, if only Vito had a clue as to what his words had actually meant to the mutt; perhaps then he would have been able to respond to Ariel’s insults with a few witty remarks about flees – but “I take it redhead isn’t paying you enough,” worked just the same.

“Careful now,” Vito growled threateningly as he watched the boy add a hand gesture to his insult for effect, “I’m certain you would miss those fingers of yours if I tore them off…”

Without missing a beat, Vito tossed one of his arms up in the air in an effortless manner, and caught the bent-up keys that the werewolf had thrown behind him. He is a b*tchy one, Vito noted with a scowl, and slipped his finger inside the ring that the car key was attached to so to twirl it about noisily. Perhaps he’d stuff the jagged keys down the foolish bastard’s throat for good measure…

“Keep that one on his leash, Jack, or that car” – Vito pointed towards the disastrous vehicle with a flourish of his right hand – “will be that much roomier,” he warned Jack, once again oblivious to the double meaning within of his words.

Vito turned back towards the driver’s seat on the heels of his shoes, but his pleasant mood had officially been spoiled, and he found that he could not bear the sight of Jack’s car for much longer. So, with a groan, Vito made adjustments to the front of his pinstripe suit, smoothing his Italian tie against his chest, and slid into the driver’s seat. He looked out of place behind the car’s peeling steering wheel; within the car's crumbling frame - but his determination to wreak havoc was far more powerful than his urge to vomit as he allowed his hands to hover over the wheel, hesitating before actually making contact with the thing.

There had been a simpler time, when all that had been required of him in order to have a good-old-fashioned battle of wits with Jack, had been that he sit in their infamous booth within Satan’s and pour himself a glass of his favorite wine…

Times had changed drastically.

Jack was not sure what was more likely- her killing Vito or going nuts and killing herself and everyone withing a five mile radius. She hated the way Vito was treating everyone, to the point her hands were quaking in anger. She could not being to explain the battle raging- she was going to lose all of her friends through this she was sure.. Thanks to Vito.

She glanced back to the figure, which was still there. She squinted and for a second though she saw it wink. Then a car drove by and it had disappeared. She drew a long, deep breath and expelled it shakily, trying to steel herself. She had enough to think and worry over to let herself get so busy being paranoid that Thaor might have somehow survived. She had seen him die, it would be impossible for him to somehow survive. She knew that.

Jack supposed the best thing was to act unfazed. Chase was already buckling herself in and Vito was slipping into the driver's seat. She hurried over to Ari, grabbing his arm and saying sincerely, "I'm sorry, Ari. He doesn't know what he's saying. Ignore him, okay, he doesn't know anything. I didn't want him here, I wanted you." She squeezed his arm and offered a pained smile. "We'll be fine, okay?"

She turned and walked over to the car and opened the passenger seat, wincing as she forced herself to slide over to the middle, right next to Vito. She leaned forward and turned on the radio.

Keith rolled his eyes again and slipped into the back of the car, putting the headphones over his ears and silently praying that whatever magic in the air wouldn't fry them. The world blissfully faded away, vanishing only to be replaced with rapping voices. Keith didn't recognize the artist, but then again, he didn't particularly care.

Vito driving...could work. Though he was worried about the whole 'poltergeist' thing. Did the ghost even have enough self preservation to keep the car in the right lane? Keith flipped the switch on his game system, and the screen silently flashed to NEW GAME.

Keith had decided that the best way to survive this road trip would be to isolate himself from everyone else in the car, something he could do by keeping his eyes glued to the screen and his ears to the profane lyrics spewing from his headphones.

Unfortunately, he was quickly forced out of his comfort zone when presented with an unthinkable choice. Keith sighed, slipping the headphones down to his neck and turning to James. "James," he said, tapping the older boy on the shoulder. "Should I choose the grass wolf, the water monkey, or the fire bulldog?" He asked, showing James the screen. "They all look equally awesome. I'm more of a fire type myself, but it might help if I had a second opinion."

The puppy wasn’t particularly content anymore. It had been fairly excited in its own inane manner that it was going on a road trip. Ariel had feigned indifference but he too had been fairly excited. Now, the dog was keyed up and both of them were feeling a little bit on the aggressive side. Now the dog didn’t just want to devour Keith for breakfast, he also fancied a bit of Poltergeist. Ariel didn’t want to try and digest that though and so he focused his mind on something different – for instance, whether his mother had killed everyone already or not. Hopefully Fenrir had gone to see her; Ariel would kiss him if he had. George was going to be of no help to her especially if he’d been down the pub the night before which, if Ariel remembered rightly, he had been.

“So what,” Ariel hissed, “this asshole is your own personal stalker?”

There was something grossly unsettling about Vito and it wasn’t the fact that he was a Poltergeist either. That, Ariel would readily admit, was a contributing factor but it wasn’t the only reason his hackles were raised in regards to this creature. He knew Jack a little too well, Ariel feared. It was like her family all over again – Ariel was unable to stake his claim. He knew Jack wouldn’t appreciate it much but it would have put him at peace of mind. All he could do was grit his teeth and preserver. Maybe, if he was lucky...Vito would get bored and disappear within a few days. Hopefully, anyway.

Ariel slid into the car after Jack and took a seat. He immediately slipped his sneakers off, in no mood to deal with them anymore. He curled his toes forward, smirking a little at the snapping sound his joints made, and shut the car door. He slung his arm over the back of the chair and looked over his shoulder at Keith and James for a second before flicking his eyes back round and tossing his jacket onto the floor.

“Where are we going first then?” Ariel asked.

Jack sighed at Ari's words, throwing up her hands. "I guess, personal nightmare works too." She did not add that at times, he could be her personal mindreader. That always unsettled Jack, having Vito around when she was around others.. Vito liked to announce her secrets, the secrets she did not let anyone know, including herself, and Vito found out. However, he would not go too far, he had his own secrets he needed to protect.

Ari slid in next to her and she glanced up at him, her eyes flicking to his to try and see just how frustrated he was and see how she could help. She sighed, quickly buckling herself in. She was not worried about Vito's driving. He had driven her before.. when she had been quite upset, and he was actually a decent driver. And he would not risk a crash... Gasoline and nice suits didn't mesh.

Jack reached for her trusted knapsack at Ari's question and she pulled out her notebook, flipping open to the first page. She had figured out the trip and had even found information. "We're going to Borely Rectory," she said, before looking up. "It's supposedly haunted." She didn't bother to say she had been thinking about the place a lot since she found out about it. Something about it struck a note with her. She cleared her throat. "Should b interesting. I have maps, so I'll help navigate," Jack said, looking over at Vito as she began to dig out her maps.