| Fan Fiction |
by DTLCT
Vincent turns back to Cyndi. “It's one of those lectures again.”
“Oh,” Cyndi said casually to maintain the conversation.
“It'll be okay. Alyssa can handle it. I guess Wallace relapsed again.”
“What happened? Is he sick?” Her Voice echoing the worried expression on her face.
“No. It's old habits. Some people couldn't get pass certain things, you know.”
Cyndi feels relief that Wallace isn't sick. “I think I might know what you mean.”
“When Wallace's ready, he would tell you. I don't want to interfere.”
Cyndi nods her head, understanding his respect for Wallace.
Alyssa and Wallace finally walk towards Cyndi and Vincent.
“Everything’s straightened out now?” Vincent asked upon seeing Alyssa' smile.
Alyssa looks at Wallace. “I hope so.”
Alyssa takes the tongs from Vincent while he goes to a nearby table to rest. She looks at Cyndi with a smile. “Go sit down, Cyn. Your cheeks are red now.” She gives Wallace a look.
Wallace takes the plate Cyndi's holding out of her hand and sets it down on the grill's armrest. “Come on, Cyn.”
Wallace and Cyndi sit across the table from Vincent. Vincent pours some soda out into a cup and hands it to Cyndi. He then opens another one for Wallace.
“Vin, no,” Alyssa said, seeing what he's doing.
Vincent stops. Alyssa puts the tongs on top of a plate and walks over to the table. She opens a cooler next to Vincent's seat, getting out a thermos of lemonade. Vincent holds a cup while Alyssa pours the liquid out. She takes the cup from Vincent and gives it to Wallace. Wallace stands up to receive the cup from her, knowing she's covering for him, drinks the lemonade in on gulp. He sits back down to rest. Alyssa puts the thermos of lemonade down and walks back to the grill. Vincent, seeing Wallace's face, knows what had happened earlier.
“Wallace, next time…be smart,” Vincent said, drawling out his voice on purpose.
“Vin, leave him alone,” Alyssa said. “Besides, there won't be a next time.”
Vincent knows that Alyssa had already talked to Wallace earlier so he doesn't want to pursue the issue further. He looks out past the first tent, seeing the difference between it and the second tent.
“I didn't realize a few of people could turn into a lot,” Vincent commented.
Alyssa smiles. “Words get around.”
“Maybe next time we should do a simple picnic with some other people.”
“Like who?”
“People from work. And maybe Wallace's neighbors. I heard they're pretty nice and fun too.”
“We could do that. It'll be better.” She pauses before going on. “And next time, don't leave Wallace in others' hands, especially when you see that Jocelyn around.”
Vincent looks guilty. “So this is my fault?”
“Honey, you brought him to ‘his fans’, remember?”
Vincent scratches his head. “Ummmm....right.” He looks down, his guilt building up. “Sorry, Wallace. It was my fault. I shouldn't have put all the blame on you.”
“It's okay, man. I should have known better.”
Before Wallace could go on further, he feels dizzy and begins to sway. Objects in front of him are beginning to move or rather spin in circular motions. He could only hear Cyndi's cry out, calling him with worry. Vincent rushes over to his side. Alyssa had tossed her tongs down and rushes over. Wallace feels like he wants to throw up. Vincent seems to know because he heard him say something and helps him out of his seat, leading him away from the girls.
Alyssa puts her hand on Cyndi's shoulder, calming her down. “It'll be okay.”
Cyndi still looks worried. “I hope so.”
“Don't worry. Vin will know what to do.”
Alyssa goes back to the grill while Cyndi sits back down. Cyndi suddenly becomes very impatient inside and keeps looking at the direction that Vincent had led Wallace away.
Fifteen minutes pass by. Alyssa's beginning to get all worried inside too. She looks in that direction also – from time to time. Five more minutes later finally the guys are back. Wallace looks a little pale but can walk on his own now while Vincent wears a worried expression on his face.
Alyssa drops what she's doing and walks up to them with Cyndi. “Everything okay now?”
“Yea, but I'm going to kill ‘the fans’ later,” Vincent said.
“What happened?” Cyndi asked, a shocked expression apparent on her face.
“They spiked his drink.”
Cyndi comes to Wallace's right side and puts her arm on his arm to lead him back to the table. Wallace gives Cyndi a smile to reassure her he's okay.
“Let's get some food in us before we decide what to do with that crowd,” Alyssa said, pointing her left thumb towards the second tent in the back.
“We can't go to war with hungry soldiers, huh?” Vincent said, smiling.
Wallace chuckles at Vincent's attempt to joke.
Ten minutes later, Cyndi sets the table they're at while Alyssa delivers the last plates to the last group in the first tent. When Alyssa's back, they all settle down to eat after Vincent makes sure the fire in the grill is put out.
They eat in silence at first. Then Vincent speaks up.
“I think we should just leave these people here after we're done eating and head for the sea to see the sunset,” Vincent suggested. “This isn't really going like we want in the first place and who knows those crowd would be here to mess everything up.”
“Nice thought, but I have to clean up first.”
“We could all help you,” Wallace said, smiling before biting into a piece of salad. He wants to make jokes and ease the moments a little since he knows that Vincent's losing his cool and that rarely happens.
Alyssa looks at Vincent to make sure he's okay before saying, “You guys want to let Ryan follow us later or no? He's one of our friends after all.”
“Fine with me,” Vincent and Wallace said in unison.
Both guys look up at each other from their plates, clinking forks.
“I swear we're brothers in disguise,” Wallace said, smiling slyly.
“You guys can be quite childish sometimes,” Alyssa remarked, shaking her head.
“We got you looking over us so we can be kids, so why not?”
Alyssa's looking at him with a look while he's reaching his fork into Cyndi's salad plate to get another piece.
“Are you sure you're not a couple?” Alyssa asked. “You two act like one.”
Cyndi stops in mid air with her fork in her right hand, reaching over to get some of the grilled-rib on Wallace's plate.
Wallace smiles. “We're trying to save time by eating like this. Are you jealous? You and Vincent can do the same!” He could see Vincent hugging his plate upon hearing his words.
“He's right, hon,” Vincent jumped in. “Sharing is caring!” He reaches over with his fork to get a piece of Alyssa's baked potato after that declaration.
Alyssa stops him before he could get to the target with her fork.
Wallace laughs. “All right! Fork fight! Bring it on, sister!”
Vincent and Alyssa really are doing the little fork fight before they broke away and Alyssa gets to Vincent's rib piece before he could reach for her baked potato. They're both laughing and giggling, having so much fun that Wallace couldn't help but feel glad that he had achieved his goal. Wallace reaches for the thermos of lemonade while Cyndi smiles at Vincent and Alyssa's cute fight. Wallace's smile fades when he sees a group of people walking up to their table.
“Well, well,” A girl’s voice uttered out mockingly.
Vincent and Alyssa stop their fight, turning around to face the group, while Wallace continues to pour the lemonade into his cup, trying to stay calm.
“Jocelyn, you had enough fun for today, so why don't you and your little group just head somewhere else?” Alyssa said.
“I just want to socialize with old friends, okay?” Jocelyn said, giving Alyssa a nasty look.
“There are about 40 plus people here, you can socialize with them all you want,” Vincent pointed out. “Leave before....”
“Or what? You'll kick me out?”
“If you want that, I can do that too.”
Alyssa puts a hand on Vincent's shoulder. “The reason why I'm not going to argue with you today is that it's a ‘reunion’ and we're supposed to ‘get along’. But if you want to make it harder than it is, we will deal with you.”
“Ooooh, did you hear that, babe?” One of the guys behind Jocelyn said. “They want to ‘deal with us’.” He lets out a hysterical laugh after that.
“Get to the point with what you want or leave!” Vincent shouted out, standing up from his seat.
While all this is going on, some guys in the first tent had heard them so they walk towards the table.
“Is everything okay?” One of the guys asked.
“It will be in a minute, Ryan,” Vincent said.
Jocelyn eyes Ryan at that time. “How have you been doing, honey? I haven't seen you this whole time.”
“Save it, Jocelyn,” Ryan said coolly.
Jocelyn begins to walk towards Ryan and puts a hand around his shoulder, which he brushes off. “Are you still playing hard to get like in high school? She flashes him a sexy smile. “I love that in a guy. So mysterious, you know. “ She winks at him after saying that.
“If you like to find mysterious guys, go to the police station,” Ryan snapping – about to walk away from the scene.
Jocelyn steps in front of his way. “My, my. Are you jealous that I got all these attention here? I meant what happened to me earlier with dear Wally was just a little visit to the past.” She walks to Wallace's side and puts a hand on his shoulder.
Wallace brushes her hand off and steps away from her, grabbing Cyndi's hand to follow him in the process.
Jocelyn, surprised at Cyndi's presence like she seen her for the first time although Cyndi's right in front of her all this time, walks towards Wallace a little more while he's edging away further.
“It seems like you found a girl to replace me, Wally,” Jocelyn said mockingly, taking in Cyndi's image in the process. “But it seems....tsk...tsk...tsk...your taste is getting quite....umm...dull.”
“Leave her alone, Jocelyn!” Alyssa exclaimed.
“What are you going to do to me if I don't? Stop mothering poor Wally. Seems like he never have any fun because of you.”
Wallace’s suddenly mad because Jocelyn's attacking Alyssa. “Alyssa is my sister, so why don't you just leave before this get out of hand? Your little game is…” He waves his hand in a circular motion for effect. “… getting quite old, so no one will fall for it anymore. Take your gang…” He gestures towards the group of guys that Jocelyn brought with her. “…and move out!”
Jocelyn walks up to Wallace. “My, my. You look so sexy when you're mad!” She edges her face closer to Wallace's as she’s saying that.
Wallace steps away, pulling Cyndi with him, not realizing that he still has a grip on her hand all this time.
“How dare you?” Jocelyn rattled out, shocked and furious at the same time. She turns to look at the crowd that's gathering before looking at Wallace again. “After that night we shared and you left me like that?” She fakes a hurt look. “I get it now. You just want to have some fun, right? You got what you want now, so you're dropping me and trying out for new tastes?”
She rushes away from the crowd after that, covering her face. Her gang follows her, trying to comfort her.
“Whoa!” Someone in the crowd exclaimed. “Wallace, I never knew you're such a man! You go, man! You're the first one who got through the ‘Ice Queen’. Even better, you played her big time!”
“All of you shut up!” Alyssa shouted. “This is that witch's doing and Wallace has nothing to do with it.”
“We know you want to cover up for him,” Someone else in the crowd said. “But it's okay! He's a man now. He can do whatever he wants. We're proud of him anyway. It's not something to be ashamed of.”
“Will all of you shut up and get out of here?” Ryan demanded, his voice threatening. “We're trying to eat here.”
“All right, man!” The same guy that spoke up before said. “0Whatever you say. You have to fill us in with the details later though, okay Wallace? We'll call you.”
Wallace doesn't bother to look at them, but he realizes that Cyndi's hand had slipped from his.
After the crowd disperses, Ryan gives them the thumbs up and leads his gang back to the first tent. Vincent signals a “Thanks” to him before he disappears.
“I don't think we'll do much of eating now,” Alyssa said. “Let's pack up and clear out of here before I'm driven to insanity.”
Vincent puts a hand on Alyssa's shoulder before looking over at Wallace and Cyndi. “You two okay?”
Wallace looks over to Cyndi. “Cyn?”
Cyndi snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Wallace.
“You okay?” Wallace repeated his question.
Cyndi gives Wallace a weak smile.
Wallace takes hold of her hand. “You're a bit pale. What's the matter?”
“If you're thinking about what Jocelyn said earlier, don't bother,” Alyssa said, giving Cyndi a reassuring smile. “She's making it up because the crowd's getting quite big. If she didn't say that, the others wouldn't think that she's an angel anymore. Only our little group and Ryan's group know she's a little witch in disguised.”
After Alyssa said that, she and Vincent begin to clean up their table, packing their food separately. Wallace continues to watch over Cyndi while this is going on. Although Cyndi said she’s fine, but Wallace senses otherwise. After ten more minutes, Alyssa finishes packing stuffs in her cooler and turns around to address them again.
“Ready to head towards the ocean-side?” Alyssa asked.
“Pretty much,” Vincent replied.
“Who’s getting rid of the grill?” Wallace asked.
“Ryan and his gang,” Alyssa answered.
“Are we going with them or no?”
“I’ll go check,” Vincent volunteered. He leaves and returns a few minutes later.
“Well?” Alyssa asked.
“They said they had enough excitement for one day,” Vincent said. “Maybe next time.”
“I’ll bet.”
Alyssa lifts the cooler and heads for the first tent while Wallace and Cyndi follow. Vincent grabs the cooler from Alyssa as she walks by him. They head outside back to the parking area.
When they arrive at the parking area, Vincent opens his trunk and puts the cooler in. Cyndi quietly walks to Wallace’s car while Alyssa stays with Vincent and Wallace, helping him. Wallace gets the direction from Vincent before he enters his car. As Wallace’s about to pull out, he hears an “Oh no” from Vincent‘s truck. Wallace turns his head in that direction, trying to see what happened. He sees Alyssa wrinkling her face and looks around in the general parking area. Wallace gets out and approaches the other two again.
“What’s wrong?” Wallace asked.
“Someone slashed our wheels,” Vincent replied.
“Must be those creeps with that witch,” Alyssa said, outrage.
“Calm down, hon. We don’t know for sure it’s them.”
“Who else would it be? Me?”
“Just leave your truck here, we’ll come back later for it,” Wallace said.
“No way. Will the truck still be here by the time we get back?”
“How about Cyn and I go buy tires for you guys while you wait here?”
Alyssa turns to look at Vincent.
“Fine with me,” Vincent agreed.
“Just don’t burn your AC out too while waiting,” Wallace told them.
Wallace gets back in his car and pulls out of there before explaining to Cyndi what had happened. Cyndi stays quiet the whole trip to the store. She insists on staying in the car while Wallace goes buy the tires. Wallace senses something really wrong with Cyndi but doesn’t have time to investigate. He thinks he could put it aside for a couple more hours until he drives her back home later.
When they return to where Vincent and Alyssa are, they couldn’t see both anywhere. Wallace panics and runs everywhere to find them. Even the tents are gone. Wallace turns around to check on Cyndi. He doesn’t want to lose her too. He grabs her hand as soon as she catches up to him. He runs around the back of the grass area again to see if there’s any possible sign of them, which is unlikely but better than nothing. Sweats drip down his face as he searches desperately for them. Cyndi feels uneasy inside also, but doesn’t want to say anything. She doesn’t want him to worry even more. When they stop to rest under a big tree, Wallace finally lets go of Cyndi’s arm.
Cyndi snaps out of her thoughts. “I forgot before. But can you just call them?”
Wallace suppresses a nervous chuckle. “Why didn’t I think of that before?”
“I should have thought of it earlier.”
Wallace flashes her a smile before pulling out his cell phone from his pants-pocket. His smile fades after it goes into VoiceMail. He looks at Cyndi after he presses “End”. “I’ll try Alyssa’s phone.”After two minutes, he shuts his phone with frustration. “Where could they possibly be? If they’re playing a joke on us, it’s obviously not funny.”
“Why don’t you try calling Ryan?”
“Uh…right.”
Wallace dials Ryan’s number. He wishes Ryan would pick up after a few seconds of listening to the lame song Ryan has on for the ‘Ringback’ tone before he goes crazy. He decides to wait for it to enter VoiceMail before he hangs up.
“Hello?” A voice said from the other said, cutting off the unfinished melody.
“Thank god!” Wallace exclaimed out in relief.
“You sound troubled. What’s wrong?”
“Ryan, have you seen Vincent and Alyssa? I went to buy tires for them to replace it for their truck but they’re not here.”
“No. I left 30 minutes ago. They were still there.”
“We just got back here 15 minutes ago, that means it took them 15 minutes to get lost? Or whoever could be abducting them did it in 15 minutes?”
“You make it sound so serious, man. Are you sure they’re not there? I meant they could have called for help from someone else and drive off already.”
“I called them already. But they’re not picking up. Besides, Vincent’s truck is still here.”
“Strange.”
Wallace could hear that Ryan’s thumbing on something on the other side. Before he could go on, he hears Cyndi calling him. He turns to where Cyndi is. “Ryan, call the police and have them come here if I don’t call you back in 15 minutes.”
“What’s wrong, man?”
“Trouble.”
“Jocelyn?”
“Worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“Wallace! Run!” Cyndi screamed out in panic.
“What’s going on, man?” Ryan asked, his voice anxious since he had heard Cyndi’s outcry.
“Can’t talk now!” Wallace yelled back quickly. “See ya!”
Wallace snaps his phone shut before grabbing Cyndi’s hand. They run faster into the fields and try to lose the two people who are chasing them.
© Saturday, April 14th, 2007
Re-posted: Saturday, October 10th, 2009