The Perfect Storm

I could never understand why Alison always kept her family a secret! They’re awesome! We were up all night daring each other! Oh, and the first person to fall asleep — that’s over the age of fourteen — gets drawn on! Okay, so maybe it’s like, the first ten, but it’s fun!

“MELODY!!! WAKE UP!!!” Alison yells in my ear. I swat my hand at her, trying to make her shut up. “MELODY!!!”

“What?” I grumble tiredly, opening one eye at her.

“GOOD MORNING!!!”

“STOP YELLING!!!”

“NO!!!”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP, ALISON!!!” Charlie yells, throwing something at her.

“WAKE UP!!!”

“NO!!!”

“YES!!!”

“NO!!! NOW SHUT THE HELL UP BEFORE I SLAP YOU!!!”

“NO!!!”

“THAT’S IT!!!” I start chasing Alison, grouchy because she woke me up.

“YAY!!! YOU’RE UP!!!” Alison says, grinning at me as she runs.

“AND I’M GONNA KILL YOU!!!”

“OOPS!!!” Alison was running as fast as she could to get away. Screw revenge! This is cold-blooded murder!

“YOU BETTER RUN, AL!!! BEFORE I KILL YOU!!!”

“YOU WOULDN’T KILL YOUR SISTER, WOULD YOU?!!!”

“YEAH, I WOULD!!!” Her eyes went about a mile wide.

“WOW!!! What’s going on down here?” The man from before asks — the Oracle.

“Melody’s going to kill me!”

“Serves you right for waking me up, Al!” I yell angrily, as we run in circles around him. Alison says something in Italian, before disappearing. “ALISON ROSETTA JOHNSON!!!”

“MELODY JORDAN KNIGHT!!!”

“Actually, I had my last name legally changed. It’s now Muse, since I figured out who my dad is.”

“You mean since he died! He tortured you, Melody, get over him.”

“He’s my dad, nevertheless. And, I seem to recall you throwing a tantrum after that.”

“You didn’t even know him! I was actually happy to loose the last part that made me his daughter.”

“I never even got to meet him, Alison, I think it’s okay if I changed my last name.”

“Yeah, but listen to how it sounds. Melody Jordan Muse.”

I scrunch up my nose. She’s right. That didn’t have that ring that Melody Jordan Knight had. “Too late now.”

“Nah-uh! By the state of California, you’re dead.”

“True. But by the state of Fallen, you’re dead!”

“You have no proof of that.”

“I have witnesses!”

“DANG NICKELS AND DIMES!” Alison continues using her odd curse language — it was really just a bunch of words that may or may not be in the dictionary of any language. Alison only says them when she’s “too lazy to cuss.”

“Alison, you make little to no sense,” I say, rolling my eyes at her.

“Pickle juice!”

“What?”

“Nothing but chicken legs.” Alison grins at me, walking away as Drew cries.

“ALISON!!! TAKE CARE OF YOUR SON!!!” Kevin yells, before falling back asleep on the floor. Right next to Charlie. You can imagine what I’m doing, right? I’m laughing my head off! “What are you laughing at, Ms. Muse?”

“Look next to you.” He did as I said, and jumped to his feet.

“HOLY MOTHER FUCKING DAMN CRAP!!!”

“Not in front of children, Kevin! No wonder Alexandria got such a potty mouth with you around! CHARLIE GET YOUR BUTT UP!!!”

Charlie jerks awake, yelling, “YES, MOMMY!!!”

“Charlie, you’re twenty seven years old and still want your mom,” I say, trying to hold in my laughter.

“We can’t all be dating five hundred year olds.” Charlie sits up to glare at me.

“That’s debatable.” Kevin shoots me a glare.

“What do you mean?”

“You —” Kevin’s mouth was over mine in a second. I completely forgot what I was going to say. Once again: Who. Told. Him.

“Alright, break it up! There are children present!” Alison says. I look around, just seeing a smug Alec with a giant grin on her face. “I can mimic voices.”

“Oh. Great. Just what we need,” I say sarcastically.

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“So, Melody, as a family tradition we go out on the second night. Just anyone who’s under a hundred,” Alison says, grinning. I open my mouth to ask about that, before realizing it was pointless. I’d just manage to get confused. “Oh, and of course Kevin, Raine, and Josh. Chris and Laura are going with everyone else.”

“So, wait, how do you all decide where to go?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“Usually Jake and I do our own thing, but since this is the first family reunion with the entire family —” cue look at Kevin, “— we decided to do everything together. Soo, whatcha wanna do?”

“Why not go to that club that just opened downtown? I hear it’s supposed to be good,” I say, shrugging, “I drove by it a couple times. Looks pretty awesome.”

“Any objections?” Alison asks, looking around.

“Is there beer?” Charlie asks.

“Would I offer a place without it?”

“Alright, lets go. Where is it?”

“Just by the Ohio River. It’s called, ‘Break Out.’”

“Oh, I’ve seen it there!” Charlie says, “My good friend, Chic, owns it.”

“You have a friend named Chic?” I ask, staring at him oddly.

“Yeah, I may not know her name. But, I call her Chic.”

“And she doesn’t slap you across the face?”

“Maybe.”

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We were out, dancing and laughing, just having a good time. Kevin and I had a drink, but that was it. Hey, there’s no shame in having just a little. It’s just how much is too much. We were dancing and just having fun. I’ve never seen Kevin smile so much. I really think his face hurts — mean thought again.

“What are you staring at?” Kevin asks, laughing slightly at me.

“You! Are you drunk?”

“I only had one more than you!”

I roll my eyes, standing up on my tiptoes to kiss him. A Ciara song blares through the speakers, and we continue dancing to the music. We smile at each other, kissing and dancing …

“Where would you be?” Kevin asks suddenly.

“What?”

“Where would you be if you didn’t die?”

“Well, let me think a moment. I don’t know! I’m twenty seven. I just know that I would be attending some college in Florida with Dylan on a sports scholarship.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, why not? Everything’s nice down there. Who knows, maybe I would’ve met a guy. Maybe I’d have some kids.”

Kevin’s arms on me tighten, pulling me closer to him. He whispers in my ear, “I don’t like that idea.” He kissed me hard, his hands tangling in my hair.

As we pulled away for air, I asked, “Where would you be?”

“I would’ve been dead by now. I’m five hundred and thirty six.”

“So, I’m making out with a grandpa?” I ask teasingly. Kevin rolls his eyes, kissing me. “Kevin, really, what would have you done?”

“If I hadn’t died then I would’ve been taking care of Katharina, keeping that damned bastard away from her. I’d make sure she’d marry someone she loved.”

“And what about you? Would you marry someone you love?”

“I don’t know. I met this girl, Mercy. I liked her, maybe I’d marry her. Who knows, maybe you’d have met one of my grandsons and had his kids.”

“You don’t sound happy about it,” I say, looking up at him.

“Well, I mean, it’s not really a lot of fun to think about.” He stayed silent a moment, before continuing, “To think about anyone else holding you.”

“Kevin, you think I’m thrilled to hear about you and another girl that I’ve never met?”

“Mercy is probably old and dead by now. Even when I saw her, she wasn’t as beautiful as you are.” Kevin cups my face in his hands, kissing me with that same passion that burned my mouth.

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“MELODY, MELODY, MELODY!!!” Mary yells, jumping atop of me, “WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!!!”

“ALISON!!!” I yell angrily, sitting up, “TAKE CARE OF YOUR CHILDREN!!!”

“I’M BUSY!!!”

“WITH WHAT?!!! IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHILD THEN KEVIN WILL MURDER MARTIN!!!”

“WE’RE NOT DOING ANYTHING LIKE THAT!!!”

“THEN WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!!!”

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!”

“ALISON ROSETTA JOHNSON!!! IF YOU DO NOT GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE THEN I WILL MURDER YOUR CHILD!!!”

“MARILYNN FAITH JOHNSON!!! LEAVE YOUR AUNT ALONE!!!”

Mary runs away quickly, and I snuggle back up to Kevin. “Why not just threaten to send me after her ass?” He asks quietly.

“Because that’s code for trouble,” I say quietly, soon falling back asleep.

Or, trying to. I was brought awake by a loud, obnoxious electric guitar. Kevin and I sat up in sync, both grouchy and prepared to kick the ass that woke us up.

“ALISON!!!” I yell, just as Kevin yelled, “ALEXANDRIA!!!”

“Yes?” They say sweetly, popping their heads in.

“You have five seconds to run if you don’t let us sleep,” Kevin says, glaring at them.

They look at each other, nod their heads, and say with over-the-top perkiness, “Sweet dreams!” Then they slam the door shut and leave us alone.

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“Alison, I will not sing,” I say for the millionth time, “And there’s absolutely nothing you can do to change my mind.”

“Come on, Mel, please? This is family tradition! And, trust me, you don’t want them coming after you.” Alison rolls her eyes as the rest of her family grins. “They will make sure that you wish you were dead.”

“I’m already dead.”

“No, you’re undead! Sortta like a Vampire, but with blood and a heartbeat.” Alison shrugs as Donovan shoots her a glare. “Oh, shut up, Donnie! You should just be thankful that nobody’s tried to kill you yet!”

“Yeah, but we’re all thinking about it,” Kevin grumbles.

“Aman to that!” Jake yells, grinning.

I roll my eyes, still not budging. See, Alison wants me to sing for this “family tradition” of karaoke. Ha, yeah right! I refuse to be humiliated!

“I’ll do it if you do it,” Alison grumbles, defeated.

“HOLY CRAP!!! ROSIE’S GONNA SING!!!” Christian yells.

Alison rolls her eyes. “Well?”

“After that reaction it’s kinda hard to say no,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Great. You’re up first.” I glare at her. Figures Alison would turn against me when I least expect it. I should’ve seen this coming. “Pick a song.”

“Surprise me,” I say, smirking as I stand up. I’m not going to let her get to me. She throws me the microphone, and one of my favorite Beyoncé songs starts playing. The song was a fast-beat pop song. It was kind of a love song, but as if I cared. Good thing I knew the lyrics by heart, otherwise Alison would probably be running for dear life. Or, undead life.

Before I knew it, the torture was over. I quickly took my seat by Kevin, letting him wrap his arm back around my waist. “I didn’t know you could sing,” he whispers against my hair.

“That’s because I don’t.” I roll my eyes.

Alison was up next, and I could tell that she wasn’t happy about it. There she goes again; always underestimating herself. I should really talk to her about that.

Pretty soon a Carrie Underwood song was playing, and Alison was singing along. It was one of those slow country songs, that practically told a story. It was from her new album, Play On. I could completely understand why Alison had chosen the song. Pretty soon it was over.

Scarlett was up next, surprising me with a new Ciara song. It was fast-beat, spunky, something that you would definitely hear at a club on Friday night. I immediately loved it. Scarlett was an amazing singer. I recorded her on my phone.

Up next was Alec, who came with her electric guitar and an Orianthi song. It was so unlike Alec; something that I was not expecting. But, nevertheless, I recorded it. Alec was seriously born to be a rock star. It quickly ended, and we all burst into applause.

“Kevin!” Alison says, grinning.

“No,” he says almost immediately.

“Come on,” Alison whines.

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I. Don’t. Sing.”

“Then where did Alec hear all of those rock songs?” I give Alison a curious look.

“What? I don’t have every song in the world on my iPod.”

“But, close enough. No.”

“Please?”

“No. There’s no way you will get me to sing.”

“Come on, Kevin,” I say, looking up at him, “Please?”

He looks down at me, grumbling in a foreign language before saying, “Fine.” He stands up, walking toward the microphone. The song starts playing, and he begins singing. I could feel my mouth hang open. Kevin was the best damn singer I’ve ever heard! I couldn’t believe it! I was recording him right this second. Too soon for my liking, the song ended. Kevin came back and sat down beside me.

“I didn’t know you could sing!”

“That’s because I don’t.” Kevin smirks at me, as I roll my eyes.