Monday, June 13, 2005

Ghostopia, Chapter 31: Shall We Meet?

As before, there was no sight of Kat all night long. It didn't matter though, as Darren found himself for once enjoying the music being performed. Phew. Another dreary night of oldies would've plain killed him.
But amidst the ever-changing lights and messy hair, Darren couldn't seem to keep his mind on the performances. He was carefully charting out questions for the meeting later, even envisioning how it might turn out. Maybe Mortie would have to postpone their plan, assuming that the other team failed. Or what if they were successful? Would they be breaking into high-tech offices a la Mission Impossible under this very moonlight?
A couple more hours of head-banging songs wore on. Darren tried his best to keep up with the ecstatic crowd, but eventually gave up midway through I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
A thunderous drumroll, bada-bing, bada-bang, followed by an applause of the like snapped him back to his senses. "Thank you!" The breathless Ghost onstage yelled out, then brought down his guitar on the floor, smashing it to pieces. Huh. The performances were over, apparently. And he didn't even quite notice.
Yes, thought Darren with a mixture of nervousness and relief. Now here comes the main event.
"Well, well, well," Nelson exclaimed as the cafe began to grow empty. "Guess there's gonna be a meeting tonight after all."
Darren whirled around and it was Kat, sporting a tight pink jacket and matching heels, curiously breaking away from her usual black ensemble.
"Hi," he blurted curtly. "There you are."
"Aren't you going to ask me about the outfit?" she giggled in a way quite unlike her.
"Uhh...okay. What about the outfit?"
"It's a sign of celebration, actually," Kat puffed up her chest. "I'm proud to announce that the second team is...wait, wait."
She narrowed her eyes at the aloof Nelson. "I bet he told you about our meeting."
"Yup, sure did."
"And you do know that our group is highly secretive."
"Yeah. So?"
"I'm not saying a word more unless I see you in the meeting room. Darren, meeting starts in five minutes. See you there."

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