CHAPTER ONE

WARNING:  The following content may contain course language, supernatural themes, drug use and extreme horror and gore. © Copyright and all rights reserved.

MY IMMORTALS FOREVER IN DARKNESS
Written By Mark de Mortimore 

CHARACTER                                 INSPIRED BY         
The Spell Weavers [Band]                  Hey Monday         

Eternally Forgiven [Band]                  Paramore                  

Black Label Records  -  Owned by Mr Kram

The Graveyard Nightclub                                    

Cassidy Nevel - Elemental (Witch)/People of the Mist (Ghost) - (Inspired by Cassidee Pope - Hey Monday)

Jake Gamaleil  - People of the Mist (ghost)/Pirate (Inspired by Mike Gentile - Hey Monday) 

Dara - Harlequin (demon) - (Inspired by Elliott James - Hey Monday)

Gitan - Methusala (vampire) - (Inspired by Jerser Moriarty - Hey Monday)

Nawar - Lichen (werepanther) - (Inspired by Alex Lipshaw - Hey Monday)

Drake Adams - Kymera (all the immortals powers combined) - (Based on Author and others: Jared Leno from 30 Seconds to Mars, Ian Somerhalder from Vampire Diaries)

Josie Solomon - Human (with dormant vampire genes) - (Inspired by Hayley Williams - Paramore)

Arlia Solomon - Vampire (turned human) (Inspired by Kari Byron – “Mythbusters”)

Porter Solomon - Human - (Inspired by Nathan Fillion – “Castle”)

Aziel - Lichen (werewolf) - (Inspired by Dwayne Johnson-The Rock)

Mr Woolf - Lichen (werewolf, different species) - (Inspired by Hugh Jackman – “X-Men”)

Curtis Woolf - Lichen (werewolf, same species as father) - (Inspired by Josh - Paramore)         

William James - An Elder (human with immortal ability) (Inspired by Zach - Paramore)

Dalroy - Harlequin (demon) - (Inspired by Jeremy - Paramore)

JJ  - Human - (Shape shifter) (Inspired by Taylor - Paramore)

Kyah  D’Arcy - False Kymera (has to steal powers from others) - (Inspired by Ashley Greene – “Twilight”)

Tansin D’Arcy - Kymera False Kymera (has to steal powers from others) - (Inspired by Allison Scagliotti from “Warehouse 13”)

Natalia Ashling - Child of Stone (create creatures of stone, bring to life eg: Golums) - (Inspired by Allison Mack - “Smallville”)

Alexandra Dimitrie - Human (turned vampire) & Head Nurse - (Human) (Inspired by Alex Richards - a friend)

Laura & Keira - Both Human~Twins (with a kick-ass attitude) - (Inspired by Laura Hammond - a friend)

Parisa Nasreen - Half-breed (half vampire/half elemental) - Music Executive - (Inspired by Des)

Kristen - Appears to be Human  (Inspired by Allison Scagliotti from “Warehouse 13”)

Malise Lorcan - Harlequin (demon)/Lichen (werepanther)  (Inspired by Kenzi from "Lost Girl")

The Elder - Was the oldest living elder from times past - (Inspired by  Oded Fehr from "The Mummy")

Detectives Stringer & Mortimore - Human - (Inspired by Adam & Jamie from Mythbusters)

Detective Jade - Human - (Inspired by Renee Felice Smith from "NCIS-LA")

Zennyo Ryuo - The Dragon King - a Harlequin - (Inspired by Grant from Mythbusters)

[Tori's character to follow]

Elizabeth     )

Victoria       )

Harriet         )  All are Zombies/Creakers - (Character bases yet to be decided)

Louisa         )

Caroline      )  Human (not turned into Zombie)

Nichole - Timewinder - Works at Melbourne Museum as an Assistant Curator - Inspired by Nina Dobrev from "Vampire Diaries"

Danae aka Cerberus & her Pack of Hellhounds - Inspired by Serinda Swan from "Smallville"

Taraj - Shy Ones - Ruler of Shangrila - Inspired by Genelle Williams from "Warehouse 13"

Raven Queen:  Luna Adel & Her Warriors/Arlia's sister - Inspired by Sharon Den Adel from Within Temptation

Sakura - inspired by Stana Katic - Kymera from the beginning of time.

 **  Other characters and character bases will be revealed as the book continues to be written **

Rebel Heart by The Corrs

PROLOGUE 
TRYING TO UNDO WHAT HAS BEEN DONE

THE YEAR IS 2020, TEN YEARS after Kyah and Drake finished conquering the world and enslaving both mankind and the remaining immortals -  except for the Elder and a few others who still follow the old ways -  the Elder is now explaining to Cassidy, Dara, Curtis and Dalroy the strategy behind the idea for the last battle to come.

When he has finished he asks, “Does everyone understand the plan?”  As they are all leaving Cassidy turns back and says, “Are you sure this is the only way?”  The Elder answers, with a heavy heart, “Yes, it is the only way!”
A few moments later after Dara takes his full harlequin form – demon – he teleports everyone in to the Dark Fortress.  Unfortunately they are waiting for them and before Dara can react he is struck in the head & chest with gold tipped arrows.  As he falls to the ground Cassidy screams out, “NO-O-O-O!!”  They all watch as he reverts to his human form and as he strikes the ground he explodes in a cloud of dust.

The Elder tells Dalroy, “Leave what remains of him, we don’t have time for mourning!” Dalroy puts his arm up behind his back and draws out a double headed crossbow.  As they continue to move towards the throne-room Dalroy lets loose with two crystal tipped arrows into which Cassidy has channelled some of her elemental powers.  As they hit the ceiling they explode bringing the roof down on some of their enemies. While they are moving through the corridors they are meeting more resistance which eventually costs Dalroy his life as well.
Just as the Elder, Cassidy and Curtis reach the corridor that leads to the throne-room Curtis cautiously sticks his head around the corner and to his amazement there is no one there, not even a single guard.  He tells this to Cassidy and the Elder.  This worries the Elder considerably but, “We have no choice, we have to do this.”  Hesitantly they move down the corridor.  As they make their way along the corridor Curtis hears a sound, like a creaking board in an old house, but he continues on with the others.  Again he hears this sound, he turns to look towards where the sound is coming from, he turns back towards Cassidy and the Elder realising what the sound is coming from, he screams out, “CREAKERS!!!” – which is the name they have given to the living-dead.
With that Cassidy and the Elder begin to run towards the throne-room doors.  Curtis takes out both his gladiatorial swords and begins to strike down each of the living-dead which are closest to him in order to give Cassidy and the Elder time to breach the throne-room doors.

Cassidy summons her powers of an elemental, she calls forth both fire, ice and lightning and directs the lightning to strike where the massive hinges would be on the doors which are covered by the fire and ice and causes them to explode.  Then using the wind she blows the doors off the walls.  When the doors slam against the floor in the throne-room it causes a great cloud of dust to rise up.

As Cassidy and the Elder come through the cloud of dust, Cassidy looks up at Drake and Kyah and says, “KNOCK, KNOCK!!”   Drake starts saying, “You always had…..”  Kyah finishes the sentence, “….a flair for the dramatics!”
Curtis yells out to them, “Hurry up, I can’t hold off the Creakers much longer!”  As he is calling this out his concentration lapses just for a moment giving one of the Creakers time to bite him.  This causes Curtis to drop one of his swords but he brings the other sword up and swings it down straight into the Creaker’s head.  With that the Creaker pulls back, taking that sword with it and immediately all the Creakers pile on top of Curtis biting great chunks of flesh out of his body. 

Cassidy and the Elder can hear Curtis screaming but cannot do anything for him now.  With that the Elder moves towards the computer core which is made from solid diamond and begins to upload the program for a temporal shift.  Realising this Drake stands up from his throne and begins to walk down the steps towards the Elder and as he does so he reaches behind his back and takes hold of his weapon, drawing it out and holding it to his side he extends the weapon which becomes a fighting staff with blades at either end. 

Drake says, “Do you really think I would allow you to take all of what I have away?”  As he gets closer to the Elder he spins the weapon and goes to thrust it into his chest.  As he brings the weapon down he realises that there is a barrier in front of the Elder and with that he turns his head to the side and says to Cassidy, “Is this how you pay me back for all our years of friendship?”  Cassidy looks at him and says, “You call THIS friendship when you’ve slaughtered everyone I’ve ever cared for!”  Drake, “Some people have to be sacrificed for the greater good.”

Cassidy puts her hand out to one side and lifts all the weapons off the walls and they now hang in the air.  With one swift movement forward of her hand she propels all the weapons towards Drake.  They all strike him and he looks down at all of them stuck in his body, looks back up at Cassidy and with malice he says,  “I know you’re really pissed off at me but this is no way to get your point across.”  With that he pushes all the weapons out and they fall to the floor.

While Cassidy is too busy looking at the weapons and not paying attention Drake disappears, Cassidy looks around, “Shit, where did he go?” and then he re-appears directly in front of her grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up off the ground. “It’s a shame you didn’t take my offer to join me but now you have to die.”  He reaches out and causes a dagger from the floor to come flying into his hand.  Just at he goes to stick Cassidy with it he’s knocked on his arse and now standing over him is Curtis in his lichen form but badly wounded from all the flesh that has been removed from his body by the living-dead.

For the next few moments both Curtis and Drake attack each other in their lichen forms as the Elder struggles to get the system on line for the temporal shift.  Moments later Curtis flies through the air and slams in to the console near the Elder.   As Curtis gets to his feet the Elder notices that one of Curtis’s arms is severed almost all the way through and is just hanging there by a thread.  Even though Curtis has lost the use of one arm he is still willing to take Drake on and attacks him once again.  As he goes flying towards Drake, Drake grabs the injured arm and rips it off.  Kyah, sitting watching all this happening is clapping her hands, “Bravo, this is great entertainment!”  This pisses Cassidy off so she takes one of her daggers and throws it at Kyah.  The knife spins end over end through the air and just at the last second Kyah moves her head and the blade sticks in the top part of the throne behind her.

While Cassidy is doing this she has not noticed that Curtis has now succumbed to the virus delivered by the bites of the living dead until he turns on her.  She uses her other dagger to block Curtis’s strikes and at the same time trying to watch Drake as he heads towards the Elder.  Drake grabs the Elder just as the machine says, “Temporal shift in 10 seconds.”  The Elder says to Drake, “You will never rule this world and I have to undo what has been done!”  The machine states, “Temporal shift in 6 seconds.”  Cassidy, looking over, realises that if she doesn’t do something all of what has just happened will be in vain.  Cassidy slices Curtis across the chest which causes him to step back a few feet then Cassidy with an outstretched hand and tears in her eyes says, “I’m so sorry for this Curtis!”  She looks at him and with the next breath she says, “BURN!!”

Curtis arches his body back as if in agonising pain and lets out a very loud howl.  Where his chest is it begins to smoke and as he begins to howl a large flame begin to appear from his chest and then he is consumed by the flames.

With this Cassidy takes the dagger she has left and throws it with all her strength towards Drake.  The dagger strikes him in the side of the head giving the Elder the time to enter the chamber.  The Elder walks in, turns back towards the door and as the door closes he watches Cassidy being stabbed in the back by Tansin, with the iron and gold daggers.  Right at that very moment the machine says, “Temporal shift in progress” and with that there is a blinding flash of light. 

Emotional Music - Angel Tears

CHAPTER ONE

PRESENT DAY  -  BAD THINGS HAPPEN IN THREES

It’s the last day of school before Spring break and whilst walking to her car Josie breathes a sigh of relief that tomorrow she doesn’t have to spend another day in the classroom and she’s looking forward to hanging out with her friends, going to the mall and concentrating on the bands’ music for the audition.  Suddenly William James races up to her, bumps her on the arm and says, “Thank God school’s out hey?”  “Yeah, it’s great isn’t it?”  The other guys are standing by Josie’s car and yell out to Josie and William James “Hurry up you two, let’s get out of here!”  When they reach the cars they talk for a few minutes about tomorrow and then Josie gets into her car.  The guys suggest that they all go to the bowling alley and hang out.  Josie says, “Not tonight, I’m not feeling too well.”  They all say that’s cool and each of them heads off to do their own thing.  Curtis says, “I hope you feel better by tomorrow because we’ve got the record company executive coming for our audition.”  Josie replies, “I should be better by tomorrow, it’s mainly a headache I’ve got that’s making me feel sick.  I’ll go home and take some pain killers that should help.”

Josie walks into her house goes to the bathroom, opens the medicine cabinet and is looking for the pain killers when her mother Arlia, walks in and says, “How was the last day of school?”  Josie looks up and says. “It was fine, do you know where the headache tablets are?” Arlia walks over to the cabinet and picks the tablets up and hands them to Josie.  “There they are”, says Josie, “They were right in front of my face and I couldn’t see them!” Arlia asks, “Why do you need the pain killers?”  Josie replies, “I’ve just got a really bad headache.”  Her mother tries to hide the worried look on her face so Josie won’t notice the concern she’s feeling.

Arlia suggests to Josie that she go and have a lie down whilst she prepares dinner.  A few hours later Josie comes down from her bedroom and sits down at the dining table. Arlia, whilst dishing up dinner, asks Josie how she’s feeling.  Josie replies, “I’m feeling a bit better but I still have the headache.”  Arlia says, “Why don’t you have an early night because you have the audition tomorrow and going to bed early may help get rid of the headache?”  Josie nods her head and agrees with her mother.

Later on that night while Josie lies in her bed, with her hands behind her head and staring at the ceiling she’s trying not to think of the band’s audition tomorrow because the more she thinks about it the worse the headache seems to get. 

A few hours later Arlia looks in on Josie and sees that she is finally sound asleep.  Arlia goes back down stairs into the office.  She sits down behind the desk, picks up the phone and rings her husband who’s on an archaeological dig at the moment. A few minutes later on the other side of the world a member of the archaeological team brings the satellite phone to Josie’s father, Porter Solomon, the team member tells him that it’s his wife on the phone.  Porter answers the phone, “How is everyone going back in Franklin?”  Arlia says, “Everyone else is fine but Josie has a severe migraine at the moment and has gone to bed early.  I’m a bit concerned due to the severity of the headache that the tumour may be back.”  Porter says, “Could the headache be because Josie has been under a lot of stress lately, with school exams and the upcoming audition for the band?”  Arlia agrees that he could be right about the reason for the headaches.  Porter suggests to his wife that if she’s so worried about it to take Josie to her neurologist for a check-up in the next few days. 

The following morning Josie comes out of her room and while she is rushing down the stairs she tries to put her jacket on.  As she cuts through the kitchen her mother asks how she slept.  Josie replies, “Not too bad, but why did you let me sleep so long?”   Arlia says, “After you taking so long to fall asleep last night I thought it would be better to let you sleep in a bit.”  Josie says, “Thanks, but now I’m running late, it’s already half past 10 and the record company executive was supposed to be at JJ’s by 10.30.”  Arlia apologises to her daughter and says, “Do you want something for breakfast?”  Josie just grabs her car keys and as she goes out the back door to her car she tells her mother she will pick up something on the way.  

As she leaves her house she is so pre-occupied with getting to JJ’s that she doesn’t see the car that’s following her.

Josie pulls up into JJ’s driveway, she gets out of the car goes to her car boot and grabs out her acoustic guitar and other equipment including her microphone.  She walks up to the front door and as she goes to open the door one of the guys opens the door for her. 

Dalroy holds the door open and greets Josie.  She apologises for the fact that she’s very late and explains that she slept in and asks is the music executive there yet.  Dalroy replies, “No the exec’s not here yet and don’t worry about sleeping in and being late because we’ve all just arrived as well.”  Josie looks into the room and sees that they are just setting up the equipment so she doesn’t feel so bad for being late.

Josie places her guitar on the couch and as she’s doing that she hands the microphone and leads to William James.  Curtis throws a cushion from one of the chairs at her, it hits Josie and she turns around to see who threw it and Curtis says, “Nice of you to show up on time slacker!”  All the guys laugh and Josie pokes her tongue out at them.  JJ says, “Give her a break she can’t always be perfectly on time!”

Josie is sitting on the floor practising with her guitar whilst listening to what she’s already recorded on her iPod and at the same time sipping on her cup of tea which she bought at the café on her way to JJ’s.  Josie notices the guys eating cereal, she grimaces and says, “Please can I get some cereal too, I haven’t had breakfast yet?”  They all look at her and say, “Yeah, okay.”  William James jumps up, goes into the kitchen and brings back a bowl of cereal for Josie.  Josie hungrily devours her cereal as she continues to nod her head in time to the music she’s listening to on her iPod. 

The guys begin to set up and tune their instruments in readiness for the audition.  A few minutes later Josie finally finishes her cereal, stands up, takes off her jacket then Curtis asks, “Have you picked the first song we’re going to perform for Mr Kram?”

Brighter by Paramore

Josie nods her head and replies, “The first song is ‘Brighter’.They begin to play the intro and Josie begins to sing and realises that the microphone isn’t plugged in.  She asks Dalroy to plug it in.  Dalroy leans back goes to plug in and realises that it is already set, and says to Josie, “It’s already plugged in and switched on!”  Josie checks the microphone and Dalroy sees the look on her face and realises that it’s on so he gives the plug a little tweek and a few seconds later says to Josie, “It should be okay now.”  Josie picks up from where they 

left off.

After playing several songs to practice they are beginning to wonder when the music executive is going to arrive.  They decide to play one more song, 'Love's Not A Competition', and while they’re in the middle of the song Curtis’s phone rings.

Love's Not A Competition by Paramore

Curtis pulls the phone out of his back pocket and says, “Hi, Dad.”  Mr  Woolf replies, “How’s the audition going?  Does the music executive still like the band’s music?”  Curtis says, “Yeah, he would love it if he was here!”  Curtis’s Dad replies, “What do you mean, he’s not there, it’s already 12.30?”  Curtis says, “What should we do?”  His father suggests that it might be a good idea to give Black Label Records a call to see why the executive has been held up.  Curtis agrees and turns to the band and says, “Hey guys, Dad suggests that one of you should ring the record company to find out where Mr Kram is.”  They all look at each other and Josie digs into her bag and brings out her iPhone and commences to dial Mr Kram’s mobile phone number.

After she dials the number she puts the phone on speaker so that all the guys can hear too.  A few seconds later all Josie gets is Mr Kram’s message bank.  She decides to call Sheena, the executives personal assistant and when she replies Josie asks if she can speak to Mr Kram Sheena says, “Can you hold on for a few minutes while I see if he’s in the office?”

Whilst Josie is waiting she realises that Sheena forgot to put her on hold and that she & the guys can hear everything that is being said.   Sheena says to Mr Kram, “It’s Josie Solomon and she wants to speak to you because you had and appointment for an audition at 10.30 this morning and they are still waiting?”
Mr Kram replies, “Tell Josie that I’m not here and if she asks if we’re still interested in signing their band, tell them that we have decided that their music is not quite what we are looking for.” 

Sheena returns to the phone and starts to tell Josie that Mr Kram isn’t in the office and Josie says, “Don’t worry, the guys and I heard everything that was said because you forgot to actually put us on hold.  Thanks for nothing.”  Sheena attempts to apologise but Josie, being so pissed off, hangs up on her.

After Josie hangs up the phone she looks at the guys and sees the disappointment on their faces and also how angry they are.All the guys try to say at the same time, “Don’t worry about it, we’ll get signed eventually!”  Josie sighs deeply and says, “Sorry guys, but I can’t do this any more.  This is the third label we’ve been turned down by and it’s just too difficult!”

Josie grabs her bag, her guitar and as she’s going out the door the guys are trying to give her good reasons why not to give up.  Dalroy gives her a really good reason and Josie then says, “I’ll think about it and are we still on to hang out tonight?”  The guys look at each other, smile and reply “Yeah!”  Josie walks out to her car.
After Josie left the band members look at each other and start discussing what has just happened.  They all express their opinions on Mr Kram’s character and how angry they are about being let down again. The guys are fooling around whilst packing up the equipment and William James, being sarcastic says, “You know what they say, bad things often happen in threes.”  JJ, “Oh dude, that’s just like asking for trouble.”
William James asks, “Is everything ready for Josie’s surprise party tonight?”  JJ says, “Curtis and I still have to pick up the cake and the presents.”  

Meanwhile, Josie starts the car and as she is about to half way out of the driveway and suddenly a large black limo cuts in front of her and stops her from leaving.  Josie beeps the horn and puts her hands up, shrugs her shoulders and mouths, “What the hell are you doing, get out of the way!”  Josie notices that the rear passenger window is down and she is peers into the car but she can’t see anyone in there because the interior is so dark.  Josie continues to look into the car and suddenly gets a really creepy feeling.

Lunara by Adrian Von Ziegler

The men in the creepy car talk to each other in hushed tones.  Aziel says, “Can you see if she has the necklace on?”  The front seat passenger replies, “Yes, she does.  What do you want us to do now?”  Aziel instructs them to retrieve the necklace without harming the girl.  The two passenger doors open, the men start to get out of the car.

Josie starts to feel worried seeing the men getting out of the car  when suddenly the driver of the creepy car tells them to get back into the car.

Aziel asks why the driver is telling them to get back in when he has ordered them to retrieve the necklace.  The driver turns around and says, “There’s a car coming.”  Aziel says, “Do as he says, we can’t be discovered here.”  The limo then leaves, in a hurry.

Josie sighs with relief and still shaking she wonders to herself who they were.  Josie doesn’t notice that the second car has stopped and that Mr Woolf is now standing at her driver’s side window.  He taps Josie on the shoulder as he says hello to her.  Josie jumps a foot off the seat and screams with fright.  Mr Woolf says, “Calm down Josie, it’s just me!”

Dalroy, still packing up the gear says, “What the hell was that?”  William James says, “It sounded like…….”  But before he could finish the sentence all of them say in unison….”JOSIE!!!”

The guys come flying out of the house to see why Josie screamed.  They find Mr Woolf trying to pacify Josie and saying, “Calm down, calm down!”  Curtis asks his father why Josie is so upset and scared and he replies, “I think I might have scared her because she didn’t notice me standing next to her window.”  Eventually Josie calms down enough for everyone to find out why she screamed and she also told them about the creepy car and it’s occupants.  When she had finished telling them she finally left for home.

Curtis asks his father, “What brings you to JJ’s place?”  Mr Woolf says, “I was on my way to town and I thought that you and JJ could use a lift to pick up the rest of the stuff for Josie’s surprise party tonight.”  Curtis replies, “Thanks Dad, that will save us a heap of time.” JJ says to Dalroy and William James, “Don’t forget to pick Josie up at 9.30, we’ll have everything ready at your place Dalroy.”  After Curtis & JJ leave Dalroy and William James finish packing up the equipment and leave.

Emergency Intro by Paramore

When Josie arrives at her home and as she’s walking up to the door she can hear her mother playing the piano.  Josie thinks to herself, “That is one of the most beautiful pieces of piano music I’ve heard.”  She opens the door, walks into the kitchen and puts her bag on the counter and her guitar on the stool.  Josie proceeds to walk into the lounge-room where she sees her mother sitting at the piano.  Arlia is concentrating on finishing writing a piece of music, and looks up when Josie enters the room.  “How did the audition go?” she asks.  Josie says, “The audition sucked, he didn’t show up or have the decency to call us to explain.”  Arlia said, “What!  Well, what did you do?”   Josie replies, “I rang Mr Kram, couldn’t get him only his answering service so I rang his assistant, she didn’t put me on hold whilst talking to Mr Kram so the guys and I got to hear the whole conversation between her and Mr Kram and we learnt exactly what they thought of our music and that it wasn’t what the label was looking for.”

Josie went on to say, “I told the guys that I didn’t want to do music anymore.  The guys gave me a whole lot of reasons why I shouldn’t quit so I told them that I would think about it.”  Arlia said, “The guys are right you shouldn’t just give up.”  Josie, trying to change the subject, asks her mother “What was the music you were playing when I came home?”  Her mother answers, “I thought I’d give you a piece of music I’ve been writing for a while for your birthday.”  Arlia knows that Josie is very upset so decides to try and take her mind off what has happened and suggests that she play the piece she has written.

Josie sits down at the piano and begins to play.  While playing the piano piece Josie looks up at her mother, smiles and says thank you for one of the most beautiful pieces of music she’s heard in a long, long time.  Arlia smiles and replies, “You’re  very welcome.”

Arlia asks, “Josie, would you like a cup of tea?”   Josie answers, ”I’d love one, thank you.”   Arlia goes to the kitchen and asks Josie, “What time are you hanging out with the guys tonight?”  “Dalroy and William James are supposed to be picking me up at 9.30.” says Josie.  Arlie already knows about the surprise party so doesn’t ask Josie any more questions in case she get suspicious.

A few hours later Josie is upstairs getting ready to go out, but she has no idea what is coming up.  While she is doing her hair and make-up she is listening to The Spell Weavers, one of her favourite bands.  Arlia calls out to Josie, “Can you turn the music down please?”  Josie replies, “But this is one of my favourite parts of the song ’Obvious’” as she cranks the volume up.  Arlia, standing at the bottom of the stairs, shakes her head and says to herself, “Ohh no, why do I even bother!”

Obvious by Hey Monday

Just after the song finishes Arlia calls out to Josie, “Come down, it’s your father on the phone for you.”  Josie comes out of her room, down the stairs into the study and Arlia hands her the phone.  “Hi Dad, what’s up?”  Porter says, “I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday and to tell you that we found the entrance to the tomb.”  He went on to say, “Tell your mother I love her and that I will see you both in a couple of weeks.”  Josie says, “I’ll pass on the message to Mum and thank you so much for ringing me and wishing me happy birthday.  I can’t wait until you get home so that we can hang out together.”  As Josie is hanging up the phone when she notices that Dalroy and William James have just pulled up in the car outside her home.  As Josie runs upstairs to get her bag, her phone and a jacket in case it gets cold she calls out to her mother, “Can you let the guys in please?”  Arlia opens the door and says hello to the guys and tells them Josie won’t be a minute.
A few minutes later Josie and the guys head off and as Josie gets in the car she shouts out, “See you later Mum.”

Josie’s in the back seat of the car and she asks, “So where are we going tonight?”  William James answers, “Probably to the cinema to see a movie but first we have to stop at Dalroy’s to pick up JJ, Curtis and some equipment we have to drop off to the repairer as one of the guitars are broken.”  Josie says, “Cool!”

Finally they arrive at Dalroy’s home, they drive into the driveway and down past the house.  Josie wonders to herself where they are going.  They pull up in front of the barn where most of Dalroy’s gear is kept.  Josie can see JJ and Curtis inside the barn, Dalroy says they will be right back and gets out of the car.  A few seconds later Dalroy yells out to William James to come into the barn as they need some help.  A few minutes after Curtis walks into the barn all the lights go out.  Josie meanwhile has hopped out of the car and is sitting on the bonnet.  She hears Curtis yell out to her, “Josie can you grab the flashlight out of the trunk and bring it here?”

Josie gets the flashlight, turns it on and proceeds to walk into the barn.  Just after she gets into the barn the flashlight cuts out and she says, “Shit!” as she whacks the torch against her hand to try and make it work.  Suddenly the torch comes back on and the light shines on one of the guys who is standing only inches away from her.  She jumps and says, “Oh shit!” again.  Before she can hand the torch to JJ it goes out again.  Josie can hear a lot of shuffling and it’s beginning to creep her out because she thinks only she and the guys are in the barn.  Suddenly the barn lights come back on and she can see all her friends just as they all yell “SURPRISE!!”  Josie jumps with fright again but smiles and thumps Dalroy in the arm.  The other guys come up to her and ask, “How do you like your surprise 16th birthday party?” Josie laughs and says, “It’s great.”  She slightly tilts her head to the side and looking at the guys says, “Who else knew about this?”  Curtis answers, “Well, your Mum for one!”  Josie replies, “Really, now!”  Curtis also says, “Your boyfriend Khye and Shantelle they were supposed to help get everything ready but didn’t show up.”  This makes Josie more suspicious as she already thinks that her best friend and her boyfriend are cheating on her but she’s not sure if it’s just her paranoid mind working overtime.

Josie notices the lights begin to dim and all her friends sing Happy Birthday to her.  Josie, embarrassed, hides her face behind her hand.  A few seconds later Curtis and William James both carry out the cake which has been made to look like a photo of the band taken by a friend.  Written on the cake is ‘Happy Birthday Josie, remember, always follow the dream in your heart & never give up.” After seeing what her friends had put on the cake tears begin to well up in her eyes.  JJ walks up, nudges her and says, “You’re not going to cry are you?”  Josie thumps him on the arm and says, “Cry, who me??” as she begins to laugh.  Dalroy hands her the knife and says, “Blow out the candles, cut the cake and make a wish.”  Josie leans down to blow out the candles.  As she is blowing out the candles she looks up at the crowd and sees her boyfriend Khye and her best friend Shantelle kissing & holding hands whilst they are coming through the door. 

Both her boyfriend and her best friend suddenly realise that Josie has seen them and quickly they try to let go of each others hands and try to act innocent.  Josie stands up straight and being really angry at what she has observed shouts at them, “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?”  At the same time Josie plunges the knife into the cake hard enough to go through the plate which shatters and wrecks the cake.

How You Love Me Now by Hey Monday

The guests all look at each other and wonder what Josie is going to do next.  They don’t have long to wonder, as Josie walks briskly over to where Khye & Shantelle are standing and she repeats the question, “What the HELL do you think you’re doing?”  Khye & Shantelle look at each other and say, “Nothing!”  Josie, being really angry says, “Don’t lie to me, I saw you both walk in holding hands.”  Josie continues and asks Khye, “How long have you been cheating on me with my best friend?”  Shantelle tries to explain how it happened.  Josie looks at her and says, “I don’t give a shit how it happened, I want to know how long you’ve been cheating?” 

Shantelle nervously answers, “Since you must know, we’ve been seeing each other since three days after you and Khye got together.”  Josie now yells at her, “How could you do this to me, you’re supposed to be my best friend?”  Curtis begins to say “….”  and gets cut off  by Khye, who tells him, “Shut up and mind your own business.”  Josie says, “Don’t talk to my true friend like that.”  Josie said, “Khye, I had a suspicion that you were cheating on me but I didn’t want to believe it.  How can you be such an arse-hole towards me?”  Khye answers, “Since we’re going to air our dirty laundry in public, I never wanted to go with a stupid girl.”  Josie said, “What do you mean?”  “Well, can’t you figure that out for yourself?  You’re a stupid girl because you can’t read and write or spell, which makes you such a moron in my eyes.”  This really shocked Josie as she can now see and hear her friends whispering and pointing at her and some are even laughing.  After Khye finished saying what he did even the guys are getting angry at him for what he said and for wrecking the party.  Josie looks at her best friend and says to her, “How could you tell him something I told you in confidence?”  Shantelle tries to apologise by saying, “I’m, I’m so sorry Josie.”  This just enrages Josie even more.  Suddenly Josie slaps Shantelle in the face and at the same time says, “YOU BITCH!!!”

Everyone notices that Josie has slapped Shantelle hard enough to knock her onto her arse.  Shantelle has a shocked look on her face and puts her hand to her burning cheek.

Candles by Hey Monday

Khye turns towards Josie and attempts to punch her in the face but Dalroy and Curtis intercede.  Dalroy grabs Khye by the scruff of the neck and the pants as Curtis puts his hand up in front of Josie’s face and catches Khye’s fist.  Khye sees the look on Curtis’ face that says he could easily kill him.  Dalroy, still holding Khye, says, “You’re not hitting Josie tonight or any night!!”  William James and JJ both help Dalroy and Curtis throw Josie’s now very ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend out of the party. 

While they are ejecting Khye & Shantelle and everyone is watching no-one notices Josie leave by the back door of the barn.  Josie, in tears, cuts through the woods at the back of Dalroy’s place and makes her way home.
Meanwhile back at Josie’s party and after Khye and Shantelle have been thrown out of the barn the guys go back in to talk to Josie about what has just occurred. William James starts to say, “Don’t worry about…….” he stops mid sentence when he realises that Josie is nowhere to be found.  He turns to the others and says, “Josie’s gone!”  Someone says, “Well she might be sitting in one of the corners.”  After searching the barn one of the guests says, “I saw Josie leaving through the back door and heading into the woods.”

The guys, being worried about Josie, decide to split up and see if she’s gone to one of her quiet places she goes to when she wants to think.

JJ says, “I’ll go and check the music room at school.”  Dalroy and William James decide to go and check out the ledge overhanging the river where she often goes to be by herself.  At the same time Curtis calls his father, explains the situation and asks if he can pick him up so they can go and check if Josie has gone home.
Josie gets home about 10.30pm from her party at Dalroy’s house – she’s upset and comes into her home via the back door and goes to walk through the loungeroom.  “Sorry Mum, I didn’t know you had guests!”  Josie’s mother tells her to go upstairs and stay there until she calls for her.  As Josie goes upstairs she hears her mother arguing with one of the men.  Aziel says, “We know you have one of the crystals.”  One of his younger, more arrogant immortals says, “Give us the crystals or we’ll kill you and your daughter.”  Josie’s mother asks if she can talk to Aziel on his own for a minute.  She tells him she will give him the crystals as long as she has his word that he will not harm her or Josie.  Aziel agrees and gives his word.  Josie’s mother trusts his word as he was once an acolyte like her.

Josie’s mother calls for Josie to come downstairs and when she gets down to the lounge-room her mother asks her for the necklace that she gave her earlier that day for her 16th birthday.  Josie gets a little annoyed at her mother and says, “I don’t want to give up the necklace you gave me.”  Arlia says, “Don’t argue with me right now just give me the necklace and I’ll explain everything later.”  Josie reluctantly gives her mother the necklace.  Arlia turns to Aziel and hands him the necklace and says.  “Here’s what you want, now keep your word and leave.”  Aziel takes the necklace, realises that both the crystals are there and removes them.  He drops the necklace onto the floor and says, “We’re done here.”

As Josie’s mother turns back to talk to Josie the arrogant immortal who threatened her earlier steps forward drawing a dagger, stabbing Arlia in the back and piercing her heart.  Arlia looks down and sees that the blade has come all the way through her chest, looking up at Josie with a shocked look on her face Arlia falls to her knees and Josie lets out a BLOOD-CURDLING SCREAM and begins to cry.

Across the world all the immortals hear it and half way around the world as Drake is talking to Cassidy while they are walking along the beach watching the sun set.  He stops the conversation and asks, “Do you hear & feel that?”  At first Cassidy replies, “No.”  All of a sudden both Cassidy and Drake’s eyes light up and Cassidy says, “How can a mortal have so much power that she can break down the dimensions between what an immortal can sense?”  Suddenly Drake claws at his chest and Cassidy realises that he is in a massive amount of agony as he drops to his knees holding his chest and letting out a roar.

Cassidy asks, “What can I do?”  Drake, trying to get a breath says, “You must get me back to Atlantis, there’s something seriously wrong with the Golom’s heart of stone!”  Cassidy reaches into her pocket and pulls out a teleportation stone that can only be used once in an emergency.  Gripping the stone tightly in her hand Cassidy says, “Teleport us to Atlantis!!”  Instantly they are both teleported to this destination.

Seconds after they arrive Cassidy calls to the Elder.   Appearing before her, the Elder says, “Help him onto the bio-scanner.”  With the help of Natalia, the child of stone, Cassidy does as she’s instructed and the bio-scanner instantly begins to scan Drake’s body.  When it gets back to his heart, it stops and displays that Drake’s stone heart has cracked.  The Elder upon seeing this immediately activates the maturation chamber.  The Elder tells Cassidy and Natalia to help Drake into the chamber.  As she does so the Elder asks what happened, “Did you get into combat with some of the other immortals?”  “No,” Cassidy explains that it was a mortal’s blood-curdling scream that did this to him and asks, “How can this even be possible?  Will he survive?”  The Elder says, “I don’t know but it will take him a long time to heal.” 

Back at Josie’s place the younger, more arrogant immortal then hits Josie in the face knocking her out.  Aziel turns to the younger immortal and says, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I gave Arlia  my word that she and her daughter would not be harmed.”  The younger immortal says, “My instructions were to kill them anyway after we got the crystals.”  This makes Aziel very angry because he’s a man of his word.  To demonstrate this he takes both the heart and the head of the younger immortal, ripping the heart out of his chest and tearing his head from his shoulders.  As the other three step forward to finish off Josie and her mother Aziel turns to them and says, “Anyone who harms them will not live to see the sunrise this day.”  He orders the other three to leave.  He kneels down next to Arlia pulling the dagger out and tells her to heal herself.  Arlia tells Aziel she cannot, that she has given up her immortality.  Aziel realises that the crystals he is holding can remove the immortality.  At that very moment Curtis and his father break through the front door.

Aziel, kneeling next to Arlia, turns and looks at them.  Mr Woolf, looking at Aziel says, “It’s you!”  Aziel stands up and as he does so Mr Woolf sees Arlia laying on the floor in a pool of blood.  He also notices Josie laying a few feet from her mother but can’t tell if she’s alive of dead.  Curtis also sees Josie and Arlia laying on the floor and goes to run to Josie’s side but his father puts his hand out and prevents him from doing so.  At the same time yelling at Aziel, “What have you done, you’ve killed them both!!”  Aziel answers, “I never wanted Arlia to die.”  Curtis screams at him, “You didn’t only murder Arlia you’ve murdered her daughter as well.”  Mr Woolf, enraged at what they’ve seen, begins to transform and Aziel can see his eyes changing and his teeth and claws appearing as he begins to move towards him.  Curtis tells his father to stop the transformation as he can hear Police arriving.

Mr Woolf  reverts back to his human form and turns to Curtis and says, ”Go into Arlia’s office and open up the safe and grab the most valuable pieces that are there and bring them here.”  Curtis does as his father instructs him to do and brings out a computer bag full of the most valuable pieces he could find.  As he gives them to his father he is wondering why he was told to do this.  Mr Woolf then throws the bag to Aziel.  Aziel  looks at the bag, looks at Mr Woolf and nods.  Curtis can’t believe what his father has just done.  As Aziel is leaving Mr Woolf says,”If I ever meet you again I will have to kill you.”  Aziel replies, “The same here.” He then disappears out the back door and into the night.

As Curtis and his father go to check on Josie and her mother Curtis asks his father why he gave Aziel the bag.  His father answers, “To make it look like a robbery our kind cannot afford to be discovered by the humans of today.”  Mr Woolf kneels down next to Arlia and feels for a pulse but there isn’t one.  Curtis kneeling next to Josie who is face down on the floor, gently rolls her over onto her back.  As he does so she groans.  Curtis looks at his father and says, “Josie’s alive.”  Mr Woolf says, “Arlia’s not!”  At that moment the Police, with guns drawn, come through the front door.  The Police order Curtis and his father to put their hands up.  Mr Woolf says, “We’re friends of the family and just arrived here to find this.  The officer repeats the order, “Hands up!!”  Curtis yells, “We haven’t got time for this shit, Josie’s alive and needs urgent medical attention.”  One of the officers goes outside and calls for the paramedics to come inside now that the place has been made secure.
The paramedics rush in and begin to examine Arlia and Josie.One, realising that Arlia is deceased, helps the others who are working on Josie to try to get her stable enough to transport her to the hospital.

After checking out the school, JJ goes to Josie’s home and is alarmed to see all the police cars and ambulances at her home.  He tries to run inside but one of the officers prevents him from doing so because it’s now a crime scene.  He says, “Let me in, I’m a friend.”  The officer still refuses to allow him to enter the house.  JJ yells to Curtis ”What’s going on?”

As Curtis stands up and moves out of the way JJ sees a body covered with a sheet on the floor.  A few seconds later the paramedics are ready to transport Josie to hospital.  As they move towards the door a police officer moves JJ out of the way.  As Mr Woolf is still talking to the police Curtis goes outside to where JJ is and begins to explain what has happened.  As he is explaining both Dalroy and William James turn up and are also shocked by the amount of police at Josie’s place.  Curtis continues to explain and telling the guys that Josie’s mother is dead.  With shocked looks on their faces Dalroy and William James ask if Josie is alive.  JJ and Curtis answer, “Yes, but she is seriously injured and they are taking her to the hospital now!”  Dalroy asks, “Has anyone notified Josie’s father?”  In all the confusion no one has thought about doing this yet.

A minute or two later Mr Woolf walks out of the house and sees his son and the other members of the band talking together.  He asks, “What are you talking about?”  Curtis says, “We are just discussing how we can get in touch with Josie’s father.”  The police say that they are all free to leave and they decide to call Porter Solomon on the way to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital Mr Woolf calls Josie’s father with the devastating news.  Still in shock Porter tells Mr Woolf that he will catch the next available flight home. 

When they get to the hospital they enquire at the reception desk where Josie Solomon is.  The nurse asks, “Are you family?”  They reply, “No, we’re friends of the family and at the moment we’re all that she has here, her father is on a dig in Peru and is catching the next flight home as soon as possible.”  The nurse reluctantly says, “She’s down hall, to your right in room 11.”

As they get to the room they notice that the doctor is still examining Josie and there are two police officers posted at the door.

Once the doctor has finished examining Josie he gives instructions to the nurses and then leaves the room.  Mr Woolf asks the doctor, “How is she doing?”  The doctor replies, “We can’t find any brain injury but she is still unconscious and she won’t respond to any stimulation.  We have arranged for her to have an MRI soon.  You are quite welcome to wait in the waiting room and I will let you know as soon as we have anything.  We have contacted Josie’s neurosurgeon and he will be here shortly.” 

As the guys settle in for a long night of waiting the nurse wheels Josie to the elevator to go to Radiology for the MRI scan.  Each of them are dealing with the wait in their own way, some pace back and forwards, some just sit and wonder how Josie is going to deal with things not having her mother around. 

The neurosurgeon, Dr Grey, arrives and goes directly to Radiology and begins to examine Josie’s MRI scans.  As the specialist is viewing the scans he spots something that he hoped he would never see again.  Thinking to himself, “Damn!  How do I explain to Porter that I think his daughter’s brain tumour has returned just after he’s lost his wife?  This will be one of the hardest things I’m ever going to do.”  He turns to the other doctor and says, “She should wake in a few hours but it’s not good news apart from the concussion, I think a brain tumour she had when she was 9 has returned.” 

Josie’s father arrived at the hospital half an hour ago and is waiting with Mr Woolf  and the guys from the band.  A few minutes later Dr Grey walks into the waiting room and asks to speak to Porter Solomon alone.  Ten minutes later Porter comes back into the waiting room, they stand up looking to him for news.  Porter tells them that Josie just has a very severe concussion but does not tell them the Josie’s brain tumour may have returned because he doesn’t want Josie to find out accidentally from one of the guys.

As Porter is thanking Mr Woolf and Curtis for saving Josie’s life the nurse walks up to them and says, “Josie is awake, you can go in a see her now.”  As Porter walks through the door, he sees Josie is rolled over facing away from the door and as he walks up to the bedside he says to her, “I’m so sorry you had to witness your mother being murdered.”  Josie sits up, “Dad!” she puts her arms around him crying.  “I couldn’t do anything to save Mum.”  Porter says, “I’m just glad I didn’t lose you too.”  Josie notices that Mr Woolf and the guys are also standing in her room.  She gives each of them a hug and asks, “Why did this happen?”  Curtis says that it was a robbery gone bad.  Josie disagrees and says that she doesn’t believe it was a robbery because they only wanted the necklace she was wearing.  Dalroy, Curtis, Mr Woolf and Porter all look at each other but before they can say anything JJ says to Josie that the Police also said they robbed the safe of all the valuable pieces.

The nurse comes back into the room to check on Josie and Josie asks the nurse when she can go home.  “The doctor wants you to stay overnight for observation.  All being well you should be able to go home tomorrow.”  They all agree that it’s great that she will be able to go home tomorrow.

As they finish saying that they hear a voice behind them saying, “Excuse us, we are Detective Stringer & Detective Mortimore from Homicide and we are wondering if we could ask Josie some questions.”  Josie gets upset and starts to cry saying to her father, “Do I have to talk to them tonight?”  Seeing how distraught Josie is the nurse says, “She should get her rest, you can talk to her tomorrow.” 

Not only does her father stay with her all night, but so do the guys and Mr Woolf who comes back every few hours to check on Josie.

The following morning the doctor gives Josie the all clear to go home but insists that she must take it easy for the next few days.  Her father goes down to get the car as Mr Woolf and the others walk Josie out of the hospital.

A few hours later as Josie is resting at home the detectives arrive to question her.  They ask her about what happened and Josie explains to the best of her abilities what she can remember.  Mr Solomon asks the detectives if there has been any progress with their investigations and when he might be able to bury his wife.Detective Stringer answers, “No, there hasn’t been any developments as yet but you should be able to claim your wife’s body for burial in the next few days.”

Josie says that she wants to go up to her bedroom as she is feeling tired.  The detectives finish by asking a few more questions and then leave.

Josie goes up to her room.  After a short time her father knocks on the door and Josie says to come in.  Porter goes in and tells her that Curtis, Dalroy, JJ and William James are downstairs and they want to know if it’s okay to come up and see her.  Josie says that it’s okay as she wants to see them.  The guys come into the room, pull up seats and sit down.  Josie asks her father to get them all something to drink.  While Porter is downstairs getting the drinks the guys ask if Josie is feeling better today and she replies that she is feeling a little better but tired. 

A week later Mr Woolf and the guys arrive at Josie’s home to pick Mr Solomon and Josie up for Arlia’s funeral.  Mr Solomon goes to the door and greets their friends.  Dalroy asks, “Is Josie ready to face this today?”  Porter says, “Reluctantly she is ready but I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite a while yet.”  All the guys notice that Josie is sitting at the piano and is playing the piece that her mother wrote for her.  JJ asks Josie, “How long have you been sitting there playing the piano for?”  Before she can answer her father replies, “Since 4.30 this morning and as it’s now 11.30 that’s 7 hours!” 

Emergency Intro by Paramore

Josie’s father turns to her and says, “It’s time to go.”  Josie picks up her purse and with the guys walks out to the limo and hops in.  On the way to the funeral it’s very quiet as they are all lost in their own thoughts, especially Josie as she stares out of the limo window with a blank look on her face.  Shortly thereafter they arrive at the church for the service.  As they all walk in Josie notices how much her mother was loved by the amount of colleagues and friends who have come to the funeral.   Many of the people at the funeral spoke about what a wonderful person Arlia was and how much her family meant to her.  Following a very sombre but beautiful service they all leave for the cemetery.  At the cemetery they all gather around the open grave for the memorial service.  After the priest recites to burial service he ends with, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” and then the congregation file past the lowered coffin and each throws a handful of dirt into the grave.  Josie stands, watching, her mind unable to deal with what is happening gives her someone to talk to and she starts to daydream that her mother is not dead and is beside her.   In Josie’s mind Arlia says to her,"Remember I will always love you and be with you and above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.  Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.  Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil." 

Hello by Evanescence

Josie’s father comes up to her and puts his hand on her shoulder, gently shakes her and asks, “Josie, are you alright?”  Josie doesn’t respond because she is caught up in the daydream.  A few seconds later she answers her father, “I’m fine.”

The guys walk up and say, “We’ll wait at the car for you.”  As Josie and her father make their way to the car they are approached by a woman who introduces herself as Kristen.  She says to Porter, “I know this a really bad time but I would like to know if you can consider working for us on a project?”  Porter replies, “You’re right, this is a really bad time to be asking me such a question.  It might be better if you give me your card and I will get back to you in a week or so.”  Josie looks at her father and says, “It’s okay to talk right now, I’ll just wait in the car with the guys.”

The young lady Kristen begins to explain what she would like Mr Solomon to do for her.  She says, “I’m from the Melbourne Museum in Australia and we would like you to head up a dig to find a royal tomb in Egypt and/or the surrounding area.”  Mr Solomon answers reluctantly, “I will only work for you as long as it’s okay with my daughter, I will speak to her tonight and speak to you within the next 48 hours.”  Kristen says, “I look forward to hearing from you.” 

Mr Solomon goes to the car and they all head off back to his home.  On the way there he asks Mr Woolf if he can speak to him after he asks Josie a question when they get home.  Half an hour later they arrive at the Solomon house and Josie puts the kettle on to make everyone a drink.  While she is doing that Mr Solomon and Mr Woolf have gone into the study.  After Josie finishes making the drinks she hands them out to the guys and proceeds to take one to her father and Mr Woolf.  As she comes into the study her father says, “Close the door behind you please, we need to discuss something.”

As she hands the drink to her father he says, “The young woman I was speaking to at the cemetery is from the Melbourne Museum in Australia and would like me work on a dig in Egypt but I said I would have to talk to you first.”  Josie answers, “It would be fine for you to work on another dig.”  Mr Woolf suggests that while Porter is in Egypt Josie could stay with himself and Curtis at their home.  Josie says, “That’s very kind of you but I don’t want to stay here since Mum died I would rather come with you to Egypt and help work on the dig.”  Porter says, “Are you sure about this?”  Josie answers, “Yes, I’d rather be anywhere but here.”  Porter also thanks Mr Woolf for the kind offer for Josie to stay with them but the business he was going to discuss with him was if he would come on board and work with him on the dig because of the experience Mr Woolf has with ancient Egyptian tombs.  Mr Woolf says, “Yes, I would really like to do that and I can come back every now and again to check up on Curtis.”  Porter says, “I will contact Kristen right away and let her know our decision.”  As he is ringing Kristen Mr Woolf and Josie walk out to the lounge-room and Mr Woolf begins to explain to his son, Curtis, the decision he has made to go to Egypt to assist Josie’s father on the new dig.  Curtis asks, “How long will you be away?”  Mr Woolf replies, “It will take several years but I will be back every couple of weeks and of course you can come to Egypt to visit us.”  Curtis asks, “Where is Josie going to stay during this time?”  Josie answers, “I’ve decided to go with my father as well.”

Meanwhile, Porter is discussing his and Josie’s decision with Kristen.  Kristen says, “That’s fine, I will arrange for the accommodation here in Australia and also in Egypt for all of you.  See you when you arrive in Australia before you leave for Egypt.” 

The next few days things are very busy with organising to move and packing.  Josie goes back to school to clean out her locker and to finish up some of her schoolwork that she has gotten behind in.  After a week of being taunted about being unable to read and write by both those she thought were friends and others at the school she decides to spend the remaining time up until they leave anywhere else but at school.

Some of the students were sticking signs on her back with nasty comments written on them like ‘Retard coming through’ and ‘Brainless twit’.  The last sign was the straw that broke the camels back, it said, ‘I’m a brainless loser, so kick me’ and people were doing just that.  As everyone comes out to go to the next class JJ sees Josie running down the corridor and out the main entrance and out to her car.  He goes after her but by the time he gets to the car park he sees Josie peeling away from the car park.  JJ yells out ”Wait!” but Josie doesn’t hear him.

JJ rushes back into the school and finds William James, Curtis and Dalroy standing around waiting for Josie to come out of class but they don’t realise that she’s already left the school in tears.  JJ comes up to the guys and Dalroy asks, “Have you seen Josie?”  JJ tells them what he just witnessed.  William James asks, “What the hell happened to make her leave the school in tears?”  Josie’s ex best friend, Shantelle, walks up to the guys and shows them the sign that students were sticking to Josie’s back.  Curtis says angrily and at the top of his voice, “How could you guys do this to Josie when you used to be her friends?”  The guys decide that it is more important to find Josie than to stay at school and as they are leaving one of the teachers says, “Where do you think you’re going?”  Ignoring the teacher, they leave.

As they get into their cars Curtis asks JJ, “Which way did Josie go?”  JJ replied, “She headed in the direction of the ledge at the river where she sometimes goes to be by herself.”  The guys make their way to the river and see Josie sitting on the ledge overlooking the water.  Several of them go to get out of the car and William James says, “Don’t, let’s just wait here give Josie some space until she’s ready to go home.  If she needs us she’ll let us know.”   After two and a half hours Josie comes over to the guys at the car and says, “Thank you for letting me have some space and time on my own.”  The guys all give her a hug and say, “That’s okay, let’s grab some pizza and head back to your house Josie?”

The day before Josie, her father and Mr Woolf are due to leave for Australia, then Egypt, the guys turn up to see Josie but Mr Solomon says, “Josie’s not here and I haven’t seen her in hours, not since she left at 10.30 this morning.”  Dalroy says, “Okay Mr Solomon, if Josie shows up tell her we’ll all be at my place.”  Then the guys head off.

A short time later Dalroy and the guys arrive back at his place and they decide to go out and have a jam session in the barn.  As they walk over to the barn they can hear someone playing the drums, not sure who would be in their barn they hurry to the door and when they open it they see someone, with their back to them, playing the drums.  William James, seeing this person he does not know says to her, “What are you doing playing on my drum kit?”  At that very moment the girl turns around and the guys all get a shock when they notice that this girl with the really brightly dyed hair turns out to be Josie!  “What the hell have you done?” says Curtis.  Josie replies, “I wanted a change but do you think my hair is too bright?”  They say, “Yeah a little, but it looks really cool.”  Josie, knowing that she’s leaving really early the next morning, asks the guys if she can perform one more song before she goes.  The guys all look at each other and one of them says, “Yeah no problem.”
Josie says, “I’ve finished the lyrics I was writing to the music that you guys did for me.”  A few seconds later Curtis counts them in, “One, two, three, four….”  Josie begins to sing   ‘Misguided Ghosts’.

Misguided Ghosts by Paramore

After the jam session ends at 1am Josie hugs each of the guys in turn and says, “Thank you for being there for me and being my best friends, I will always love you and miss you.”  The guys, knowing how early she is leaving in the morning all say their goodbyes too.              ........To be continued........

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