The Vampire Conundrum
Chapter 1
Tamera raced through the alleyways of New York City on foot. She had to get away from these monsters, she wasn't one of them, her mother wasn't dead, there was just no way that it was true. She jumped over the next wall and...
"Tamera! Are you done with that report yet?" Madeira snarled as she passed the half-breed's coffin. Mera just blinked, her eyes focused on her report. If she ignored Madeira she might be able to get some work done. "Tamera! I 'm talking to you! Pay attention!" Madeira hissed as she pulled back on Mera's blue hair. Hard.
"Madeira, I'm done with it. Now let me go! I need to get some sleep tonight. Unlike you, Q.B." Mera stood up and shoved the report into Madeira's hands before flipping her off and going to bed. If it was one thing Mera didn't need, it was Eira's bitchy attitude ruining the night. She had Skool in the morning. Her first day in this town. Maybe she'd be here more than a month this time...
Across town....
"Dib, Gaz, I'm heading to work. Don't blow up the house while I'm gone." Professor Membrane called as he stepped outside and walked to his car. Gaz peeked out the window and saw the Professor's car drive down the street. She turned to her brother and nodded.
"He's gone. Are you coming over?" Dib said as he walked into the kitchen. It was hard enough getting Zim to come over when his dad was home, but when it was just him and Gaz...
"Zim will be there in a moment." Zim smiled as he stepped carefully through the kitchen door, and shut off his phone. When he was right behind Dib, Zim gave the earth-monkey the scare of the night. Gaz groaned as the boys started to argue about Zim's behavior. When they traipsed back into the living room, Gaz was just glad they didn't change the TV channel from Torchwood: Inside the Hub to something else. After a few minutes, though, Gaz couldn't stand listening to them and their lovey-dovey talk. Sighing, she went up stairs to her bedroom/art studio, and she started painting. When she was done with the painting, Gaz was having a hard time placing the face. Maybe it would come to her in her sleep, like the image had last night, the person running through a city, gun in hand, running for her life from something. Or someone…
The next day at Skool, Gaz tried to stay as far ahead of her brother as possible. Rushing to her locker, she bumped into a girl with curly blue hair leaving the principal's office. The collision made them both loose their books.
"Sorry! I'm new so I don't know my way around yet. I'm Tamera." The girl smiled as she tried to clean up the mess. Picking up Gaz's book, Tamera glanced at the title before handing it back. "Edgar Allen Poe? That's pretty cool. My favorite poem's 'The Raven'."
"Really? My fave is 'Annabel Lee'. I'm Gaz Membrane." Gaz replied as she took her book back. This new kid looked familiar... "Hey, do we know each other from somewhere?"
Tamera tilted her head and looked confused. "Not that I know of... Hey do you know where Mrs. Bitters' class is? And you can just call me Mera."
"It's the last classroom on your left, next hall down. She's been teaching forever, and she taught my brother in elementary Skool." Gaz shrugged. As she walked away from the now unconfused new girl, she ended up cornered by the cheerleaders. "Do you idiots have to do this every morning?" Gaz sighed, wishing once more that she was allowed to bring her baseball bat to Skool with her. "I mean, really, how dumb are you girls?"
"At least we know who we support, unlike some," snapped the head cheerleader. Before Gaz could open her mouth, Mera stepped into the group. Smiling, she gave bad sense of doom to the cheerleaders.
"Maybe, but at least she's not some hyper sorority chick, you stupid Queen Bitch." Mera grinned as the cheerleaders began to pale underneath their bad tans. Flashing her small fangs gave her that missing chance of life. And made the cheerleaders run away, squealing like little girls. Her sense of hiding was long gone, and she could hear Gaz laughing at the cheerleaders.
"That was awesome. You are so going to be on their hit list, though." Gaz gave Mera one of her rare smiles. "And Mera, you're going to be late to class."
"Damn! I was definitely preoccupied... Thanks again Gaz." Mera smiled as she gave Gaz a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off. Gaz just stood there for a second before shaking her head and walking to gym class. This was going to be a long day...
At lunch, Dib saw Zim talking to the new girl from their first period class. It seemed that the two of them were arguing. Walking over, he could see that Gaz was also sneaking up on Tamera; that was the new kid's name. As he walked closer, Dib managed to catch some of the conversation:
"…and then you simply deal with the enemy by removing any weapons they may have."
"Well, that does seem easy enough, but with the defenses on this planet, that might not be necessary… oh hello, Dib-monkey."
"Hey Zim, Tamera, it looks like the two of you got pretty well acquainted." Dib smiled as Zim leaned closer to him and Gaz grabbed Tamera from behind. The sneak attack didn't do much to Mera and she playfully punched Gaz on the shoulder for it. As they headed into the lunchroom, Dib learned that Mera was in his sixth period class as well, the only two classes he had with Mrs. Bitters.
"I swear, in elementary Skool, all she did was tell us that we were doomed and she never really taught us anything. If one of us asked her a question, she would just tell us to be quite and go back to repeating 'Doom, doom, doom' over and over again." Dib laughed as Mera questioned him about Mrs. Bitters' teaching style. She giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Zim nudged Dib in the ribs as a teacher walked past, making Dib choke on his water, almost spraying Zim with it. Mera couldn't help herself; she just burst out laughing at Dib's discomfort. Gaz looked up from her video game to see this before ducking her head back down to finish her level and save. After lunch Zim led Mera to the computer lab, both of them jokingly sharing plans for world domination the whole way there, and Dib went to gym class as Gaz just left the Skool. When the trio met up again in Mrs. Bitters' room Dib was sporting some new bruises from the torture of gym and dodge ball, as he put it. Mera had her own theories on the matter, but Zim didn't press the issue when class started. After class, Dib headed to his bike and peddled over to the local martial arts dojo for his kendo lesson, while Zim went home to make sure G.I.R. hadn't wrecked the house again. Mera walked over to her motorcycle and drove to the local mortuary and graveyard, her home.
After Dib's kendo lesson, he took his gear and went over to Zim's house, where G.I.R. was running around the front yard in his little green dog suit. Smiling, Dib walked around the robot and into Zim's house, where the alien was lounging on the couch watching crappy sci-fi movies. Hearing Dib sigh, Zim looked over at the human, who had slung off his duffel bag and plopped down on the couch, his head in Zim's lap.
"What is wrong, Dib-stink?" Zim asked, teasing Dib with one of his various nicknames for the boy. Dib sighed and took off his glasses, placing them on the coffee table in front of the couch. Zim could see that he was sporting newer bruises, and had a cut over one eye. "Were you in another fight after these Kendo lessons of yours?" Zim whispered as he ran a claw over the cut and stroked Dib's hair.
"No, I wasn't! Zim just let it go…" Dib almost cried as he tried to ignore the pain, But Zim wasn't listening. Instead, he pulled Dib off the couch and down to his lab, and took out the medical equipment he had stored for emergencies. Dib sighed and peeled off his coat and shirt, revealing more cuts and bruises. Flinching slightly as Zim lectured him and cleaned the cuts with antiseptic, dib let the alien bandage his cuts.
"This wouldn't happen so much if you fought back, you know." Zim sighed as he packed up the medical kit and put it away. G.I.R. came running into the room, Minimoose right behind him, Piggy in hand. Dib groaned at the sight of the squeaky toy, and Zim pulled him close. Smiling, Zim placed his hand over Dib's and squeezed, causing Dib to smile back and stroke the long, thin antenna that leaned off Zim's head. Zim shivered at the feeling, but held Dib close…the human needed to feel that someone loved him. After a bit, Dib pulled his shirt back on and headed home, leaving behind a person cared very much about him.
Mera watched from a nearby rooftop. She couldn't help but scoff at the human's senselessness. Had he any common sense, the boy would have stayed where he was. Looking at her watch, Mera remembered that she had a job to do at Professor Membrane's lab in an hour. If the professor figured out how to genetically engineer vampires, all the clans would be in trouble. Mera sighed remembering her own mother trying such a foolish thing in New York just two years ago, causing her own daughter to become a near perfect monster, a freak with no end to her life, who had stopped aging last year on her sixteenth birthday.
Jumping into the alley below, she mounted her motorcycle and sped in the direction of the lab, using her memory from her trip just last summer as a map. But as she parked the bike, she couldn't help but wonder how Gaz had recognized her, it had been three long months since she had erased herself from the family's memories by kissing the only friend she had on the lips. Maybe the kiss on the cheek… No that wasn't it, was it? This was the most dangerous part of her job: protecting the vampire covens and clans in the States from discovery. It was hard trying to forget her old life and friends, but they all either thought she was dead or didn't remember her at all. Slipping in the lab through an open window, Mera reached out for the vial containing the formula, when she heard a noise outside the lab door. Without thinking, she poured the formula on to the computer keyboard, and jumped down and out the window, racing to her bike, and the safety of her coffin. Unbeknownst to her, the computer she had wrecked had contained the formula and the rest of her mother's research.
The Vampire Conundrum
Chapter 2
The next morning, the whole Skool had heard of the break in, and rumors were flying like crazy bats lost in a cave. Mera groaned as she rubbed her head. She still had a headache from Eira's yelling and lecture, and her wrist hurt from where she had given Rycu blood, again. She didn't see why it should be her job to feed the wounded clan members, and she just wanted to get some extra sleep. Sitting down in her seat for first period, Mera put her head on the desk and began to drift to sleep…
"Tamera! What is the capital of China?"Mrs. Bitters snapped a break in the long chant of doom.
"Beijing…" Mera smiled her head still down. Mrs. Bitters nodded and went back to chanting doom for the rest of the period. After the bell rang for the last period of the day to end, she walked out of the Skool feeling much better, but she could have done without the fourth period gym class… At least she had been able to talk to Gaz again. Heading over to the parking spot where her bike was, she noticed a fight. As Mera walked closer, she saw that it was Dib getting beaten up by some of the football team.
"Hey, knock it off!" The football players turned and looked at the girl walking towards them. It wasn't Gaz, but there was something feral about her. The team captain smiled and threw a punch at her. Mera dodged and kicked him between the legs before giving a round house kick to the running back when he tried to grab her arm. The only player left, the second string quarter back, just stared at his fallen friends, and then at Mera before running away. Mera just sighed and helped Dib to his feet as Zim ran over. Cradled between his two friends, Dib was taken to the local emergency room for stitches and a cast. Mera and Zim were talking in the waiting room when Gaz came running over. Though she put on a front of coldness toward her brother, she really cared about him.
"Where's Dib? Is he okay?" Gaz was shaking from the anxiety, and Mera could only walk over and hug her. Zim explained that Dib was still getting his cast fitted, but that he would be fine. If anyone needed surgery it was the two football players who had come in by ambulance just a few minutes ago. They looked worse than Dib had, and they were the ones who had beaten up Dib. After Dib was discharged, Gaz and Zim took him home, insisting that Mera come with them. It had been a while since Mera had been over, but they didn't know that. Following Gaz's car, Mera insisted Zim ride on her motorcycle with her so Dib could relax a bit. When they got to the Membrane residence, Gaz and Mera helped Dib into the house while Zim carried in their stuff, mainly because he knew that the girls were going to insist on babying Dib at the moment. And he was proven correct when Gaz let her brother lie on the couch, with Zim as his pillow, while the girls fixed up some snacks and drinks. Mera was nervous; because she knew that if she didn't get home soon, the clan would send Rycu to find her and she would get an earful for being where she wasn't supposed to…
"Hey, Mera, did you ever used to live in New York?" Gaz asked as she watched Mera get some snacks ready. Mera stopped and dropped the bowls before turning around. "Because you look very familiar, Tamera, and my girlfriend who disappeared two years ago after a lab accident had the exact same name. And you are her, aren't you? What the hell happened to you?" Gaz walked over, carefully cornering the vampire as she put a hand on the counter to block any escape.
Tamera sighed."I couldn't erase your memories, could I? Yet your brother and father don't remember me… maybe it can stay with just your dad not remembering, I want to be close to you and your brother again. More than that though, I want you back, Gaz. I need your help to get away from the clan."
Gaz looked at Mera in surprise as she moved closer and pulled Gaz in for a kiss. Which was how Zim and Dib found them when they went in the kitchen to see what was taking so long to make some snacks. And what led to the boys watching old science fiction movies while the girls "caught up" upstairs in Gaz's room/studio.
The Vampire Conundrum
Chapter 3
"Rycu, when Tamera went out today I did tell her to remember to return on time, didn't I?" Eira asked the vampire warrior who standing near her. He turned and looked at her quizzically before answering with a calm nod of the head. "And yet she isn't here yet and she has turned off her communications on her bike… Go find her Rycu. And don't come back without her."
Meanwhile…
"Gaz, there is no reason for you to not be mad at me, but I can't tell you anything." Mera sighed as she leaned over the side of the bed. Even if the sex had been great, it wasn't the same for them. Mera looked over at Gaz who just shrugged.
"I don't want you to tell me about where you've been, or what happened to you, I just want to know why you need my help. Is anything to do with my dad's research?" Gaz said as she reached over to turn on her stereo. Mera cocked her head to the beat of the song from the CATS soundtrack Gaz had gotten last week. Sure it wasn't a Goth band that screamed its lyrics, but the music was good, and CATS had always been Mera's favorite musical when she had lived in New York. The girls had planned to go see the play when they got a chance, but for now this was the next best thing. Gaz noticed that Mera tensed when she mentioned her dad's research.
"Yeah, it does, and my mom's research, which was a continuation of a project they did on vampires and genetics… She tested it on me two years ago before dying from testing it on herself. I don't know why she did it, but I do know that a group of vampires heard about her research, and they took me in after chasing me halfway through the city." Mera laughed as her sarcasm level rose. "Now I'm a hybrid vampire, or a damphir, and they send me on these stupid missions to wreck any research about them… To them I'm just a freak, a tool that they can feed off of when they get wounded." Mera started shaking and gently grabbed onto Gaz to steady herself. Gaz leaned over and wrapped her arms around Mera, almost protecting her. If anything was different, then it wasn't much. Mera had always been the tough one, but she had also needed protection when it came down to it. Dib had always said that they were too close to be friends, yet not close enough to be sisters. Zim had met her once, but they had ended up in fist-fight before Gaz and Dib could stop them. Sighing, Gaz noticed that Mera had grabbed a paint brush and was painting symbols on her skin. Mera gasped when Gaz put the colder blue paint on her skin, and soon the two girls were covered in paint and giggling their heads off. Grinning at each other, they quickly formed a plan, and were soon downstairs. Sneaking up on the boys, Mera took one side of the couch while Gaz took the other. Dib and Zim were curled up against each other for comfort and warmth.
"Do you think the girls are still upstairs?" Dib looked up at Zim, who had insisted on the positions to let Dib's wounds heal and to give the boy some comfort. Zim thought for a moment, but before he could answer, the girls jumped from their hiding spots, their skin covered in paint and symbols. Zim practically jumped from the couch, and Dib whacked his head on the back of the couch. Mera and Gaz burst out laughing as the boys glared at them in anger. After some reintroductions and explanations were made, Dib and Zim agreed to help get Mera out of the clan and into a safer hiding spot.