Taiy-Chan: Alright, so it’s the last chapter of 13 Dead End Drive. (sniff) I’ll really miss this story, it was fun while it lasted, that’s for sure. Thanks again to everyone who’s taken the time to read and review this. You guys rock my socks.

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything.

Dedicated to my friends: Michelle, Emily, Morgaine and Lisa.

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Chapter 8

Dawn of the Dead

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“So…” Ray glanced from Tala to Kai and back again. He sighed heavily. “What do we do now?”

The two younger men shifted from foot to foot and refused to look at one another. Ray rolled his eyes heavenward.

“Look you guys, just because Tala/Kai forever is written on that wall doesn’t mean it’s true.” He said.

The two teenagers blushed and Ray’s golden eyes widened.

“I mean… It’s not true… Right?” The riding teacher said slowly. When they still didn’t answer he let out a laugh of disbelief. “Oh my…” Ray covered his mouth to suppress a giggle. “Oh my God, it is true!!” The raven haired man burst out into loud guffaws.

Kai and Tala’s faces reddened even more.

“Let’s…” Kai glared as Ray continued to laugh. The older man waved for him to continue, quieting. “Let’s just go back to the front room where we started, alright?” he finally stuttered out. “We may as well begin our search for the back card there, since it’s obviously not in Pauline’s…” he swallowed. “Room…”

“Yeah…” Tala whispered. “Let’s do that.

Ray looked between them again and burst out laughing.

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Five minutes later the three men were standing in the front room, the long wooden table laden with flowers standing empty in the centre. The place looked gloomy and lonely.

“Where do we start?” Kai asked.

The trio looked around them hopelessly. There were so many places where one could hide the small bank card in this house. Under the couch, behind a painting… They all sighed.

“Might as well start at the bottom and make our way up.” Ray said, dropping to his knees.

Kai and Tala’s eyes met, but they looked away a second later, blushing. They quickly followed Ray’s lead and knelt down on the soft carpet. They crawled across the floor, searching all the nooks and crannies for the black plastic card.

“What… the hell are you guys doing?”

Ray, Tala and Kai’s heads snapped up at the familiar voice. Their eyes met and they all slowly turned towards the sound.

Pauline stood before them, her hands on her slim hips. A fine dark brow was raised elegantly. She blew her black bangs from her face and shook her head.

“What is going on here?” Pauline demanded.

Tala’s mouth opened and closed in his surprise, causing him to remind the girl of a fish.

“Are you guys seeing what I’m seeing?” Ray whispered/

“If you’re seeing Pauline then yeah.” Kai gasped.

The aforementioned teen rolled her eyes and strode over to them, growling when they shielded away.

“Look,” she said lowly, her foot tapping impatiently on the ground. “If someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on right now…” she cracked her knuckles. “You’ll be sorry.”

Kai, Ray and Tala gulped and jumped to their feet, not sure whether they should run or stay and explain.

“You’re supposed to be dead…” Tala finally blurted out.

Pauline just stared at him flatly. She turned her hazel eyes to Kai and Ray.

“Right… Can I have the truth this time?”

Ray hurried to explain.

“We all got letters saying that you had died and telling us to come here…” he trailed off.

Pauline’s eyes widened with realization.

“Don’t tell me…" the dark haired girl took a deep breath. "Caitlyn!!” she suddenly shouted, making the men flinch. “Get your ass out here!!”

A dark figure flew down from one of the shadowed corners of the ceiling. It landed gracefully with a soft thump beside Pauline. Kai, Tala and Ray edged away from the mysterious person. It straightened and now the boys could see that it was a teenage girl around their age. She flicked her long brown hair from her face and beamed.

“April Fools!!” She hollered, throwing her arms into the air.

They started at her blankly. Pauline sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Caitlyn,” she said slowly, as if speaking to a child. “April Fool’s Day is two months away.”

Caitlyn blinked and looked down at her black watch on her wrist. She studied it for a moment, cocking her head to the side.

“Well,” she muttered. “Would you look at that?”

Pauling sighed again and the three boys sweatdropped. Ray turned to Caitlyn suddenly, as if realizing something.

“You! You’re the one who was talking to me up on the fourth floor!” he said.

The brown haired girl grinned proudly.

“Yep, that was me alright.” She purred. “You guys were very interesting to watch.”

Kai frowned.

“You mean… you were the one who set this all up?” he asked.

Caitlyn nodded.

“Hell yeah. Pretty smart, huh?”

“So, where were you, Pauline?” Tala asked.

The girl shrugged.

“I was at Alexandra’s house for the day, I thought I told you guys but I guess I forgot. Anyways, who else is here?”

Caitlyn tapped her chin in thought.

“Michelle and Emily are here somewhere. They got their revenge on Provenche.”

Pauline glared at her friend.

“I could tell by the body on my front steps.” She said monotonously. The dark haired girl shook her head. “So, where are they now?”

Caitlyn fiddled with the hem of her black shirt and bit her lip. Pauline’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Well?” she prodded.

Caitlyn shifted from foot to foot.

“Well…” she started slowly. “You know that room you have on the third floor? The one that has your secret stash of candy?”

Pauline growled.

“How do you know about my Secret Room?” she hissed.

“Um… um…. Michelle and Emily found it and are currently eating everything.” Caitlyn blurted out in one breath.

Pauline’s eyes widened in anger. She whipped around to face the stairs.

“Those bitches are so dead!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed, tearing across the room and up to the next floor. Within seconds, she was out of sight.

Kai, Ray, Tala and Caitlyn blinked. After standing there in silence for a few minutes, Caitlyn turned to the three boys.

“So, are you three the only ones left?” she asked.

Ray looked around.

“It looks…”

“I FOUND IT!!!” The four teens jumped in shock. Their wide eyes darted around the room for the source of the shout. Their gaze landed on the long wooden table, where a little grey haired stood on its surface, waving a black envelope in the air. “It was here all this time! In the flowers! How could I have missed it?!”

Caitlyn gasped.

“What… how are you still...”

The wrinkled man grinned slowly.

“You never killed ol’ Hickory.” He said. “Mwuahahahah!!!” and without wasting another moment, he bolted for the front doors, throwing them open and disappearing out into the night.

Kai slowly turned to Caitlyn and his face paled at the horrified look on the girl’s face. He swallowed thickly.

“Caitlyn…” he said. “You didn’t…. really put Pauline’s bank card in there… did you?”

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Detective Craven’s eyes snapped open as a blur of grey hair and wrinkles flew past her. She jumped to her feet, throwing Provenche’s lifeless body off of her to bounce down the driveway. She set her gaze determinedly on the front door of the house and strode forward confidently.

She threw open the huge wooden doors and stood at the entrance proudly, her arms stretched wide.

“I’ve finally made it!! Detective Craven has-”

“Quick!! Catch him before he gets away!!!!!!!!!!!”

Dt. Craven blinked as a stampede of teenagers rushed towards the door, not seeming to notice her standing in their way. Their eyes were wide with madness and they snorted like bulls. They would stop for nothing and mow down anything in their path.

“Oh fuck it all…”

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-End-

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Taiy-Chan: And that’s all she wrote. Well, it’s done and I had a whole lot of fun writing it. There will be no sequel so don’t ask for one, alright? I hope you guys had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. Thanks to all who have reviewed and read the story, once again. Till next time!

Taiy-Chan