Angela's Point of View;

I couldn't respond to what Misty said and soon Camella's dad stopped at a red light. The van meet up with us and I could now see who was in the car as their darkly tinted windows were down at the front seat. A brown rabbit was at the steering wheel and an elephant was sitting in the passenger seat. If there was anyone in the back seat we couldn't tell as the windows remained up. The elephant started talking to us in an accent that sounded very familiar to me.

"Hey y'all, sorry to bother you but can you tell us if we're on the right path to Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens?" He said with a smile at the end. It was strange seeing an elephant with a mustache but he wore a cowboy hat and a red flower-print shirt to complete his already weird look.

"No worries um if you make a left at the next exit and it will be a straight shot so you can't miss it." Camella's dad answered the elephant guy who nodded his head in understanding. Maybe they were following us because they were lost.

 "That's where we have to pass to get to the restaurant right Daddy," Camella chimed in followed by the brown rabbit answering. She also had on a similar print except with the flowers being purple.

"Well aren't you the clever one," She said earning a smile from Camella.

"She certainly is Jackie, much like how our William. Say hi son," As the elephant man spoke the windows in the back began to lower to reveal the William I knew from school. My eyes widen at actually meeting someone I knew from my world. He wore tinted glasses and had a beanie on his head but I was sure it was him.

Misty greeted them formally and Austin waved. I half-way smiled which seemed appropriate as I didn't have much to say to the William I knew either. But there was something different about this one. The glow that his counter had with other people seemed to be nonexistent.

"Yes well much obliged my good man. On our family vacation, you know, and taking an adventure. We'll see you around town sometime." The elephant man replied after our exchange and the windows went back up. I breathed a sigh of relief as the light changed back to green. Their car pulled ahead of us and I glanced over at Misty who didn't say anything more. He alone knew what he was thinking and I thought it best to not bother him to share it. But I did wonder if he knew William.

We eventually got to the restaurant as Camella's dad pulled into the driveway. It was certainly a sight to behold. The design wasn't typical for any restaurant that I've seen in pictures that my extended family ate at. It looked like cubicles with windows but based on what I could see it had through them it looked ordinarily fancy enough. I started to appreciate the way Camella dressed me so I could blend in with the crowd. No one has ever taken me to a place like this before, what should I expect here? I felt sort of self-conscience about the people around that got out of their cars and entered. Could I really cut it in this sophisticated crowd?

I got out of the car after Misty did and he was fixing his hair while on his phone. Austin seemed to be doing the same thing and the only reason I could think of that made those two not get along was because they were too alike. Camella's dad had to find parking so he let all of us get out and she stayed with us. I was ok with the idea of staying put until then but Camella couldn't. She held onto my wrist insisting she wanted to look through the windows at the people. The closer we got I knew I was beginning to feel even more nervous as I gripped the bag strap tighter.

As I made a step up the stairs I miscalculated the heel and stumbled forward. I didn't land on my hands and knees so I was able to straighten up quickly hoping no one saw that. I decided to step aside on the step in case anyone need to pass and walk ahead of me. Camella was too busy looking through the window to notice so I just kept an eye on her waiting for one of the guys to give some indication of where we have to go from here.

"Welcome to the Steirereck Palace. I'm Sylvia, do you have a reservation?" I heard a voice from behind me ahead of the step say. I didn't even notice anyone was there.

"Uh, contest winner. Um, his name is Austin uh..." I trailed off with my words because I couldn't remember the boy's last name. Did I ever even hear him use his last name? I just stared at her for a while as she raised her head to look at me. She would be expecting an answer that I couldn't give.

"Wait, you're Angela! They told me you were coming today! Omg! I didn't think it would be on my shift," She said excitedly like a teenager even though she could be in her early twenties. I didn't know how to respond to her reaction since it really surprised me.

"Nice of you to be careful about using my last name but I'm over the whole thing now. It's just something I inherited from my dad." Austin said as he came by my side where I was with the lama lady Syliva. Then he gave her what looked like an ID card and she swiped it.

 "Oh yes, Austin. We have your cubicle ready for the evening. So great you bought your friends. You will be sharing with another party. Please follow me." Sylvia said with a smile and by that time Misty had come along with Camella's dad.

As we followed her I got to see the inside of it. This place was like a mall for eating cause each cubicle was like a store. When we got to our cubicle the group that was already there was coming out but on seeing us they wanted a picture. Sylvia had her selfie stick to take the picture with all of us then she shared it with them all. It was like a photo shoot until the people decided to leave and we sat at our table. Then she left showing the crowd out. This seemed to be average for them but I had to force the best smiles I could. The spotlight was definitely not my thing and as we seated Misty nudged me and I came closer.

"I got through to Detective Goodfield earlier today after Austin won the competition. He'll fill you in on what you should know. I think he knows even more than I do about it so at six this evening expect a call," He whispered all that and all I could do was smile a little and nod. This was not the place to question anything.

The cubicle was really cosy considering it had us at one large table and another group at the other. I'm surprised how roomy it is and it made me feel more at ease. There was also a tablet in the middle of the table that had the menu on it. Camella's dad started to look through so he could choose for them both. It was a good thing I had that gyro earlier otherwise I would be even more impatient.

It came to my turn to look through the tablet to order something for myself. Then the automatic doors opened letting the lama lady in and another group. In the group, I noticed one person and it was William. He didn't have the glasses from before and his dark hair now revealed had brilliant blue streaks in it. He had a lot of ear piercings his jeans were ripped and a long-sleeved hoodie. He wasn't followed by the friendly Texas couple like before. An elephant and rabbit were in his group of five but they all looked edgy. The rabbit has a pink mohawk and the elephant has chains on his all-black clothes with no mustache. The other two were a muscular ape girl and a white tiger guy. They all looked like teenage rebels to me but what do I know? Aunt Sung had a lot of piercings and I wouldn't call her that.

The lama showed them to the table and then came to us to tell us that what we had chosen was being prepared. I knew I had to hurry up and make a decision but I didn't know what would be something I would actually like. Then the automatic doors opened to reveal a turtle lady who looked around the same age as Sylvia.

"Sylvia, I saw the picture you posted. Where are they?" The young turtle lady said. She was dressed in a tracksuit as if she was in training or something. Sylvia smiled excitedly and motioned to us and the girl came over.

"Everyone this is Teija Steirereck, her dad is the owner, and she's in training for the summer Olympics this year" Sylvia introduced the girl to us. I was surprised at hearing that since I've never met anyone who participated in the Olympics before. 

"Oh wow cool, what sport do you play," Misty asked and the group across from us all yelled in unison over something they alone knew. After their noise died down a little Tejia responded.

"Surfing, this would be my first time. It's a dream come through to make it this far; I'd still be training but just for tonight I had to come to see my favorite hero," she answered and now I had to wrap my head around the fact that an Olympic athlete was excited to meet me.

"I get that feeling, " Austin remarked and I saw Misty roll his eyes. The laughter from across the table got louder and the gorilla was standing on the table. Sylvia went over to settle them

"Why don't you do us the honor of having dinner with all of us?" Camella's dad added and she was excited to do so.

But as soon as she sat down we all heard Sylvia say sternly out loud, "I'm going to have to ask you and your entire group to leave!"

"Make us," William finally spoke in a nonchalant way.

"I'm calling security," Sylvia turned to leave but was blocked by the tiger guy and the gorilla girl held her in place.

"Wasn't exactly speaking to you directly, I'm talking to the celebrity at the table that you all love so much," William said rising from his table and looking over at me directly.

"The rest of you can leave if you want but knowing the great Angela wouldn't want to be responsible for what happens to her fans," he continued. I looked around and saw Camella's dad stand up but before he spoke I did.

"Doc sent you, didn't he?" I uttered in a serious tone raising my head to make eye contact which earned a snide smile from him.

"Well lucky for you we're just here to pass a message along. See Doc thinks it's time you met officially. He's tired of these cat-and-mouse games," William said as Misty's hand rested on my wrist and I saw him turn certain letters on my bracelet.

So that's how you work it manually, now it made sense all of those arrow symbols that the tablet showed. I knew exactly the direction I wanted to try out a new transformation so I readjusted the letters back. Camella gripped her father's arm tightly as tears started to form in her eyes. 

"Well if that's all to the message you and your friends can go now," Austin huffed causing the elephant guy to take a few steps toward him. Austin didn't even flinch like I did when I felt the room vibrating with every step that guy took toward us. Instead, he looked like he was willing to fight as I saw his knuckles clenched but William held out his hand to stop him.

"Who'd guess your fanboy isn't a coward? You actually have friends with a backbone. Come along to the condemned skating rink, mid-night," He answered and turned from us.

"And what makes you think she'll do that? No, better question what makes you think she can't stop you all from walking out of here upright?" Misty shouted after him causing William to stop momentarily.

"You're Mitsuki, right? When last did you speak to Kaede, your sister? She's being watched by one of ours which isn't hard since she posts every ten minutes. It would be a shame if she just suddenly stopped because she couldn't. If I don't walk out of here in the next twenty seconds then that means you forfeit. Could the great Angela live with that on her conscience?" He said as he continued walking and the automatic doors opened. Misty froze in his spot as I saw all the color flee from his face. Then they let go of Sylvia and I heard his voice as it turned the corridor.

"Didn't think so, see you tonight," I remained sitting as my head sank to process what had just happened. I was dealing with a life-and-death situation and there was no way around it. It was Misty's sister's life for my death. This wasn't new but the Doc had gotten bolder and I needed to toughen up too.