Stephano hit the breaks in front of the infamous Wally-World that was the
CotK’s appointed destination and turned in his seat to look in true
amusement at Diane and Kezia sitting in the back seat of the cab. (Since
Jenieve’s car didn’t have enough room for all of them, the rest of the
CotK had to take the cab again.) He had just been entertained by
LaCountess who was sitting in the front seat, telling him about their
plan. And he couldn’t suppress his glee.

“Nail varnish? Torches? Are you serious ‘bouta this signorinas?” the
Italian man inquired.

“Yes, we have to rescue our leader and that is the plan.” Kezia replied
determinedly.

Stephano shook his head, “But nail varnish! Che cosa ill…you are weirdo.”

They all met up in front of the store’s entrance. Jenieve had already
parked the car and Andrea, Nicole, Lisa and Desiree were waiting for the
cab riders. They all went in.

“Ok, folks! I’ll go for the ropes and the yarn and the first aid kit to
the outdoors section, Nicole, you and Andrea go for flashlights and
batteries, Diane and Desiree, find some gloves, boots and hard hats, Lisa,
go for the markers and nail varnish, Jenieve, you get us some food, and
Sunny…where is Sunny?”

The entire group looked around but none could find the fashion crazed
Knightie. As time was running out, they decided to forget about it and all
went to carry out their assigned tasks. When they each came back with the
stuff, they saw their lost teammate as she was just finishing a purchase
at the cashier. Kezia stalked toward LaCountess in apparent anger.

“What are you doing? Aren’t you supposed to help us get the supplies?” She
asked.

Sunny shrugged nonchalantly, “I didn’t want to ruin my clothes so I went
to the women’s clothing section and bought some disposable ones.”

Kezia rolled her eyes and grabbed her head in her hands, “Oh god, how did
I end up in this Knightmare? First my own garment gets sprayed on by a
Knightie’s plush toy, then that Knightie gets lost in a tunnel and we have
to go to her rescue. Now we have to get organized but instead, I’m
standing here telling this other Knightie what her priorities are. Yes,
this is definitely a Cousin’s nightmare.”

LaCountess’ only answer was to giggle as she accepted her bagged purchase
from the cashier.

--------------

It wasn’t long before they were all gathered in front of the tunnel. Kezia
surveyed the team and made sure everyone was ready. Then she proceeded
dividing them up into separate groups.

“Ok here we go, Jenieve, Nicole and I take the one turn that goes down.
Desiree, Andrea and Diane take the east passageway, Lisa and Sunny, you
guys go straight ahead where it is brighter. I also got these…” She
offered them some model walkie-talkies she had bought from the toys
section. “We can keep in touch using these. And guys, I mean keep in
touch.”

“I’ll coma with you.” A voice from behind startled her. She turned around
in true annoyance, “No cabby boy, you won’t. You’re already too much
involved for you own good. What are you still doing here anyway? Aren’t
you supposed to be on your way to pick up more passengers?”

Stephano offered her his best charming smile, “But signorina, I wanta help
you win the mob war. I hava experience.” Kazia closed her eyes and tried
to calm down <Yes, there are things worst than Knighties in a war> she
finally opened them and said, “Fine, but you won’t follow us into the
tunnels, we can’t afford another rescue mission through these smelly rat
infested holes. Just take this walkie-talkie and keep in touch if anyone
needs your help.”

Stephano looked disappointed but accepted the toy without a word.
Meanwhile, the CotK had finished putting their boots and gloves and hard
hats on and had their flashlights ready in their hands.

“All right Cousins, Knighties, synchronize your watches. And remember,
whether she’s found or not, all of us should be back here in 3 hours, ok?
Lets go.”

----------------

Andrea rounded the next turn and sighed, “We’re at the same place again.”

Diane came behind her, panting, “Not the ‘Bingo’ mark again. Oh god, this
is starting to look like another Blair Witch Project.”

Desiree walked past them to finger the writing that looked menacingly like
the one they had put on the wall just an hour ago. She rubbed her chin and
said in a thoughtful voice, “Maybe it’s another one. What if the others
are using the same code words?”

“As cheesy as ‘Bingo’? I don’t think so.” Diane snapped.

The three CotKers started to walk along another path in search for their
trapped leader, oblivious of the fact that they themselves were
essentially trapped in a series of looped passageways, and no matter which
way they took, it would eventually lead them to the ‘Bingo’again.

------------------

The llama was becoming restless and the fractured Knightie couldn’t do
anything to calm the animal down. She whispered in its ear, “Shh, Mr.
Spitz! We’ll get out of here soon. Don’t worry.”

Kyer was lost. She wanted to lie down and sleep, she wanted to go back to
the Comfy Cottage, or kill someone (preferably the Ratpacker who had
stolen the surcoat and started this trouble) and she was so hungry she was
even contemplating eating Mr. Spitz.

“Got to control the hunger. Shouldn’t attack Mr. Spits, he’s my friend.
Got to control the urge and stay away from the blood and not kill Mr.
Spitz. I know there will be a few bottles of bovine in the Comfy Cottage’s
refrig…what the hell am I talking about? Oh, no, please you divine powers,
don’t let me switch personalities with Nick. Not now.”

She continued walking down the tunnel with no lead and no destination in
mind, musing about her hunger and her favorite blond vampire. In the next
turn, she thought she heard a masculine voice above her head. She stopped
and shook her head in disbelief, whispering to herself, “My mind is
finally going. I can swear I just heard Roberto Benigni call my name.”

TBC~~