A sixteen-year-old boy walked hurriedly down an unlit street, his white button-up shirt contrasting sharply with the darkness around him. He was glaring angrily at his iPod, which glowed only to tell him that it had no bettery."Great," groaned Rhett, pocketing the useless device. He looked around, trying to remember if there were any shortcuts home. "I so need a car," he sighed, turning and walking down a random ally. It looked somewhat inviting... for an alley, felt a vibration in his pocket and paused. He pulled out his cell phone, the little machine shining brightly, casting long shadows everywhere. Rhett shivered. Freakin' shadows. He quickly typed out a reply to the text and shoved his phone into his pocket, immediately swallowing all the shadows into oblivion. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him. He began walking faster, almost jogging down the alley. The only footsteps he could hear were his own... right?Abrubtlly, the alley ended. The small walkway opened up to a vast field of stones and monuments."Great. A graveyard."Then he could feel it. Not breathing, not a sound; not even the warmth of another person's presence. But he could feel it. "You know, if you're not careful," began Rhett, carefully walking forward, "Someone might think you were stalking me or something." He groped around inside his pocket. No, cell phone. Sweet! He did have some money! But...Something grabbed his shoulder, its grip harder than steel. The creature was leering, almost laughing, reaching for his neck with its other hand...WIth a sickening crunch, Rhett spun around and slammed his fist into the vampire's face. The vamp screamed and staggered back, only to be kicked against the alley wall. The vampire looked down at the blood pouring down its shirt from its nose. His eyes went wide, and he looked up at Rhett frantically."Slayer?"Rhett smirked, slamming the demon to the ground with a quick punch."You'll find that I don't like being interrupted during my alone time," he said, standing over the vampire. A look of victory appeared on his face, and he pulled a wooden stake out of his pocket. "Finally!" he said, smiling. "I so need a better way to store this thing."Face contorted with rage and hunger, the vampire stood up, fangs bared. Without even looking, Rhett plunged the stake into the demon's heart and walked away, leaving the vampire's remains to blow away in the gentle autumn breeze."Ah, I love it here," sighed Rhett, pocketing the stake. "Good to be back in to good 'ol -"

****

"Land of Enchantment, my ass," growled Carlos.

****

"Okay, first you take the natural log and..."

"Crud, this teacher is boring."Carlos turned his pentagram necklace in his hand slowly while he glanced at the teacher.

"Maybe you should put a spell on her!" Another student joked, causing the whole class to snicker at Carlos - a common event since he had moved to Albuquerque and started high school. A slight smirk grew on Carlos' face - just the idea of really shutting the teacher up was good to Carlos, even if the rest of the students were only joking.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a whisper from behind Carlos. "You wouldn't want to hurt a teacher, now, would you?"

"Who knows? Maybe I do want to," snapped Carlos. "And what makes you think I care about your opinion on it?"

"'Cause I'm Rhett."

"And why would I care?"

"Because Baby Jesus cares."

"Ya know, I could just shut you up."

"You won't," said Rhett, leaning back in his chair.

"What makes you think that?" Carlos asked, finally turning to face Rhett.

"'Cause you're really just a big teddy bear," Rhett said, breaking into silent turned back and shook his head.

"You're and idiot."Carlos walked into the room full of people, holding his lunch, glancing from side to side. His necklace swayed as he walked. Carlos took a seat at an open table in the corner of the room and started to eat silently.

"Lonely much?" Rhett's voice came down on Carlos' ears."I like being alone, okay? I don't need people," Carlos snapped back to Rhett, who had just taken a seat across from him.

"You're prety negative for a Wiccan, now aren't you?" Rhett asked dropped his spork.

"What do you know about Wiccans?"

"Not much, but I know you must be one, if your necklace means anything."Carlos grasped his pendant and let out a loud huff.

"So I guess you want something from me, then?" Carlos asked, picking up his spork and returning to his lunch. Rhett said nothing, he only got up from his seat and walked away slowly. Carlos didn't know what to think of it, so he just shook his head and continued eating his lunch alone.

"Are you sure, sir?" a young woman asked through her cell phone. "In this town?" She seemed to be trying to convince the person on the other end of something. "Yes, sir, I understand, but... yes sire, I understand." The young woman closed her phone and walked into her class room, shaking her head. "How am I supposed to find the Slayer if I don't even know what he looks like?"

"What a waste of a day," Carlos said, shaking his head as he left the front of the school and started to walk towards his house.

"HEY!" Rhett shouted from behind Carlos, waving his hand and walking towards him. Carlos froze for a second, but started to walk away quicklky. "Hey, Carlos!"

"Dammit, why did I tell him my name?" Carlos muttered to himself as he turned to face Rhett, who seemed to be quite intent on stalking him.

"Unfortunately, he seems to have followed me."

"I heard that you were going to Club 7 tonight, yeah?" Rhett asked, and then quickly continued, "I thought so."Carlos was too stunned to reply.