Heavy Metal Thunder! aka So Long Cullen's!

[Jacinda Blake]

Standing in the doorway of the room that had belonged to her for almost two years, Jacinda was not surprised to feel the sting of tears behind her eyes. Cullen's had really become her home in every sense of the word. These people were not just students and teachers to her. They were family. This room was haunted with the images of Tess, Chris, Taya, and countless of their friends for any number of get togethers and shenanigans. Taking a deep breath, she got her emotions under control and pulled the door shut with a click, for the last time, then started to walk away.

She only got a few feet down the hall before she ran back and opened the door, just because she could! Hey, she would probably be back. This was just the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. One thing was sure, Cullen's instilled in those fortunate enough to attend the tools they needed to face life out there. Sure, the place was great and she was welcome to stay on. She'd even been offered a teaching job, which she might very well take, but first.. There was the rest of the world out there. Even the professors had agreed with her, that she should have some exposure to life outside Cullen's before making any decisions, and so...

The roadtrip idea was born!

A few weeks before they graduated, Carlos and Jacinda decided that they were going to hit the road and see some more of the country. Spend some time just being young people, fresh out of school and have some fun! Their first stop was going to be north of the school, Apple Valley, where Jacinda had to sign some mysterious papers, which she'd told him were to do with the sale of her parents house. She had no intention of living there, and Apple Valley had already voiced it's opinion on her. She was a mutant and a freak.

No sir, she was not going to live there..

With a bag slung over her shoulder, wearing a pair of ratty jeans with the knees ripped out and a black and red striped shirt, she vaulted over the landing and floated to the ground level floor, then walked out the doors to find Carlos as he was finishing packing...the car.

"Is it all going to fit..?", she grinned, wiping at her damp cheeks.

[Carlos Calaveras]

Carlos was mid-way through trying to force a duffel-bag into the already over packed trunk of his '69 Camaro. He looked up with a sheepish grin. “It wouldn't hurt if we misplaced a few things along the way.”

Gently, he eased the trunk closed. The car had been Carlos's graduation gift to himself. With a string of previous owners who had shown it no particular love or attention, it had seen better days – though the addition of some flames to the hood had gone a long way to hiding the fact that it was a beaten-up rust-bucket. Still, it was his rust-bucket. Just the sight of it made him feel things he hadn't thought it possible to feel towards something inanimate.

With swaggering nonchalance, he leant back against the car.

“You got everything you need?”

[Jacinda Blake]

"Mhmm.", closing the distance between them, Jacinda sneaked in a snuggle, while tossing her last bag in through the open window onto the passenger seat. "Everything I need.."

She turned to give a last look at the mansion. Knowing she would have been a watering can of goodbyes, they had just decided to treat this as business as usual. They said 'So long!' to theirs teachers and friends, and were just going to scoot early, so that the rest of the day was not too disrupted for those who were staying behind.

"You better get me out of here before I run back in to hug Professor Rhee again."

[Carlos Calaveras]

“Uh huh..”

Carlos stepped aside and pulled open the passenger door of the car, waiting until Jacinda was safely inside before slamming it shut. He cast one last look up at the school – the place which had become, more than anywhere else he knew, like a home to him – and nodded to himself, content to part ways with it for now.

Dropping down into the drivers seat, Carlos popped open the jockey box, which contained – amongst other things – a handful of cassettes. He rifled through the mess of boxes and tape for a moment before picking one out at random and pushing it into the player. He turned the key in the ignition and the engine growled to life. Out of the old speakers came the intro to Should I Stay Or Should I Go? by The Clash, the sound breaking the still silence of the courtyard.

“Alriiiiight,” he nodded and grinned, looking over to Jacinda. “Apple Valley, look out.”

[Jacinda Blake]

Refusing to be sad, Jacinda got into the spirit of things pretty quick. Mostly by having a private little fantasy of the car speeding away kicking up road dust right into Ethan Evans perfectly white teeth..

There was something extremely exciting about leaving the school, with Carlos. It was thrilling, liberating.. and even more, it just felt right. Flipping the visor down, and pulling her hair back into a messy pony tail, she squealed and leaned over to plant a loud smack of a kiss on his cheek before sitting back into her own seat and fastening her seat belt. At heart, she was a good girl, even if her loverboy had brought out a bit more of her wildside.

The drive to Apple Valley wouldn't take long. It was just a short jaunt upstate, through hills and small towns and it was a beautiful day to start the rest ofher life. Starting with letting go of the past.. Being back at her old house was going to suck. She was really glad she was going to have Carlos with her for the duration.

"So, after I sign the papers and we get the heck out of there, where to first?", she asked.

They had talked about any number of possible destinations, all over the country, they would probably do them all, but in what order was still open for debate.

[Carlos Calaveras]

“Wherever we can make it to before the engine gives up?”

Carlos flashed a grin. Though he'd got a good handle on his pyrokinetic abilities, Carlos had never been able to control the trail of bad-luck that followed wherever he went. The car was tuned up and, in spite of the paint job, in good condition – but there was no account for what misfortune might befall it simply because Carlos was behind the wheel.

“Where d'you wanna go?”

[Jacinda Blake]

"You know.. I don't know. I've only ever really traveled up and down the east coast, well, aside from that one trip to Hawaii.", she looked like she was searching her mind for possibilities, going quiet for a while as they just enjoyed the tunes and the freedom of being out in 'the world' with each other.

"I suppose we could just go west and see what interesting places pop up along the way? Hey! We could do the Mickey and Mallory Knox route, without all the mass murdering, of course..", she grinned. They did share a passion for gory movies.

Talk of stops at diners for pie, and how many cheesy gag gifts they were going to bring back to their friends filled up the travel time it took to reach Apple Valley, and soon, Jacinda found herself going silent looking on familiar streets. Suddenly she was grateful for the shades, maybe no one would recognize her.

The drive turned from quaint downtown, to quiet residential streets. All cookie cut brick houses, tire swings, basketball hoops and bikes on lawns. Suburban, perfection. They didn't stop there though, Jacinda pointed out the hills, and they went upward. Passing a rather nice gated community, she almost blurted out that Ethan's family lived a few streets back that way, but wisely remained silent on the topic of her ex-boyfriend, in present company and then..

There it was.

A massive fenced property, a gate with a keypad, and a sudden feeling of nausea. She was home.

"This is it...

Slightly pale, she leaned over Carlos and out the rolled down window, her slender body stretched across his lap as she entered the numeric code and the gate rolled back slowly.

[Carlos Calaveras]

What he had been expecting, Carlos did not know – but this was not it. As the gate began to slide, smoothly and silently, open before them, Carlos hunched forwards over the steering wheel to get a better look at the building at the top of the long, gravel driveway. It looked big enough to house his entire family, and that was something given just how fruitful his parents time together had been.

The car rolled to a stop just a short way from the front door and Carlos stepped out into the open, looking up at the front of the house. In terms of size and grandeur, it wasn't quite Cullens, but it had the same imposing presence about it. Notably absent, however, was the sense of warmth that filled the school grounds.

“Home sweet home,” he muttered to himself, before glancing back over his shoulder to Jacinda. It was up to her to take the lead now.

[Jacinda Blake]

Obviously there was no one else here yet. Plenty of time to take Carlos on the tour of what used to be her happy home. It just looked like a mausoleum to her now, and..that was not far from the truth. She took her time getting out of the car, not quite committed to actually going in, but it was a little chilly outside and, they were early. They would have to wait anyways, might as well go inside to do it.

Jacinda pulled a set of keys out of her jeans pocket and started up the steps to the front door. She slid the key into the lock, knowing exactly how it would sound, and knowing when she opened the door that it would squeak from the lining at the bottom. It did and she shuddered. It was damn uncomfortable seeing where she and her family used to live happily before they cast her aside and then had the audacity to die and leave her with unfinished business.

Jacinda was a little bitter on that point.

A sudden angry draft from behind them, slamming into their backs, seemed to signal, Go in already!

Stepping inside, she saw that executors of her parents will had already been by to prepare for the sale of the estate. Furniture and paintings. Mirrors and mantels. Everything was draped in creepy white sheeting. Obviously disturbed by the sight, she reached out behind her for Carlos' hand.

[Carlos Calaveras]

Taking a step forward, Carlos stood alongside Jacinda, her hand in his. The inside of the Blake family home was about as warm and inviting as the outside. The smothering presence of the dust sheets robbed the place of any character, obscuring the shape and character of all furniture and decorations. Carlos thought of how the clutter and commotion of his family home had made him long for somewhere big and empty to romp about it, but now when faced with such a reality he found himself longing for tiny rooms crowded with familiar faces, laughing and complaining as they tried to maneuver around one another.

“...Where should we wait?”

[Jacinda Blake]

Laughing without humor, she shrugged. "I dunno? Want to see my old room?"

She led him toward the stairs the curved around one wall, leading to a landing that overlooked the entry way they had just come through. It was lined with few door, two of which boasted detailed descriptions of who it was that lurked behind. One sported black musical notes at odd angles and the name 'Lucy', while another was decked out with a red and black megaphone and matching pom-poms, the door read 'Jacinda' in red sparkly cursive.

She pushed open the appropriate door, not even glancing at Lucy's room as she passed it. The memories were more than a little raw.

Moving into the room, Jacinda sat on the side of her Queen sized water bed, wincing a little as the chilly feel of the water beneath came through the layers of sheets and comforters to make her shiver. Obviously the heat had been off for a while.

"They should be here soon. I'll sign the papers, and then we can get the hell out of here.." She sounded very abrupt on that point.

[Carlos Calaveras]

Carlos lingered just inside the doorway, hands inside his pockets. He glanced around the room. It was bare, lacking character. It didn't feel like somewhere Jacinda had lived.

“It's a nice place,” he observed, though without much conviction. “Somewhere your folks could be proud of.”

Idly, he wandered over to the window. There was a net veil keeping some of the light out, and he drew it aside with one fingertip so he could see down onto the driveway where the Camaro was parked. Faintly, he could hear the sound of another car approaching.

[Jacinda Blake]

"Yeah.. It was okay. I mean, I didn't complain at the time because I had Lucy and we were close. We had different friends at school, of course. She was the artistic one, I guess.. I was the... well, you know who I was."

Jacinda was quiet for a moment, joining him to look out the window.

There shouldn't be any problems. Sign the papers. Take a last look. Hit the road and don't look back.

"I'm not quite the same girl anymore.", she looked thoughtful. "Must have happened when I met you and we fell down the stairs!", she grinned, and let the curtain fall back into place.

"Come on, let's get out of here. This is giving me the creeps."

[Carlos Calaveras]

With a silent agreement, Carlos followed as Jacinda lead the way out of her old bedroom, without looking back. Out in the drive-way, a sleek silver coupe had just pulled up alongside the Camaro. A guy in a suit ducked his way out of the drivers side of the car and looked up, with narrowed eyes, at the front of the Blake household. His outfit did little to hide the fact that he couldn't have been more than a couple years older than Carlos. Still, he had what seemed like a foot and a half on them both. Carlos looked him up and down, sizing him up. “Que pasa?”

[Jacinda Blake]

After trying to place the face before her with the voice from the phone, Jacinda tried to hazard a guess. "Mr. Taylor, I presume?"

Turning a smile her way, the younger man, a junior representative of the law firm nodded. "Correct. Good day, Miss Blake." Something in his gaze was perhaps a little too friendly. His chances were exactly slim to none, and she let him know that by sliding and arm around Carlos' waist as they stopped short of the coupe.

"If it's all the same to you, I 'd like to just get this over with. We're eager to be on our way.", she said. What she didn't say was that she was beginning to get a case of the creeps that had nothing to do with her former residence.

"Absolutely, Miss Blake. I understand." Opening the passenger side door of the coupe, attorney Jacob Taylor, who had come recommended by Professor Daniels to handle Jacinda's inheritance, retrieved a briefcase and a stack of papers.

"You've received copies of all of these papers, at the institute?", he asked her, as he handed over a pen.

"Yes. Everything is just as I discussed with Professor Daniels. This house goes, the lake house goes, and the money is going into a trust fund. One for me and one for my sister." The law firm had not liked the fact that Jacinda had split the bulk of the money down the middle, leaving half in a trust fund for a girl that had legally been declared dead, but Jacinda was not yielding the point. Lucy was missing. Unless they found a body, Jacinda was going to continue to hope.

Everywhere she was to sign had been flagged, and it only took Jacinda a few minutes of using Carlos' back as an impromptu desk. When she was finished, she handed the pen back to the attorney.

"Well.. that was easy enough.", she smiled, still a little shaken over the whole thing. It felt all so final now.

"Yes. We tried to make it as painless as possible for you, Miss Blake. This is the debit card to the account you set up from school.", he handed it over to her. "These papers have your account information on them, along with the firm's number, the bank's and my own if I can be of any further...", his words trailed off as he looked toward the main gate.

"Are you expecting company?", he asked.

There seemed to be a parade coming. An angry one..