Chapter Two

"Is this it? It looks like a dump," Edgar said, as he saw the cabin he, Alan and Sam were going to stay in. Cabin 12. The one with the well underneath. Sam shivered, in a way that had nothing to do with the cold. He was definitely going to have nightmares tonight.

"Yeah. This is it." Sam said in reply to Edgar's question. "Shelter Mountain Inn,"

When they walked inside, his feelings of uneasiness intensified. There was just something about the place. Something that wasn't right. It wasn't right at all. "Hey, guys, look! There's a T.V!" Sam sat himself down on the sofa, and turned the T.V on with the remote. It showed nothing but static. "Oh, man! No reception!"

"Do you really need a T.V everywhere you go?" Edgar asked, sitting next to him.

"I kinda do." Sam said. "There's a well under this cabin, you know. A god damn well!"

"What about it?" Alan asked.

"When I think of wells, I think of corpses being thrown down them. So when I think there's a well here, I think there's a damn corpse under us!" Sam answered. Edgar and Alan remained unfazed. He supposed they must get that from fighting vampires for spending money. However, he succeeded in creeping himself out even more. He kept fidgeting nervously, as though something might happen any minute. As though a crazy man was going to burst in through the door wielding a chainsaw and tear them all to pieces. Stop being a wimp, he told himself. You've dealt with vampires, why should a well under a rental cabin scare you? It hardly helped though. He still felt nervous. He turned the T.V off.

"I'm bored," He complained.

"We just got here," Edgar said, disbelieving, though he really didn't sound anything but annoyed.

"I know… There's nothing to do…" Sam said.

"How about we go see if they are any vampires around?" Edgar asked. Sam groaned loudly.

"Seriously? Do you guys think about anything but vampires?" Neither of them gave answer to his question. And he knew he wasn't going to get one.

"You don't have to come with us," Alan said.

Sam shook his head. "I'm coming. Take a look around, you know? Besides, this place gives me the shivers." He walked over to the table where he'd dumped his bag, and tore a page out of a notebook, hastily scribbling a note. "How long should we be gone?"

"Just about an hour, more or less. Depends, really." Edgar said. Sam finished off the note and waited outside for the brothers to get ready. He stared up at the sky. It was so different here to Santa Carla. It was colder (obviously) and the scenery… it was completely different. Sam couldn't imagine a place more different if he tried. He supposed that just showed his lack of imagination.

"We're ready," Edgar and Alan said in unison as they walked out onto the steps, standing beside Sam.

"Here," Edgar said, passing Sam a stake and a holy water pistol. "You might need them,"

"Thanks," Sam said. Then he realised something. "Hey, do you guys have, like, un unlimited supply of holy water or something? I mean, sharp bits of wood, easy enough to get a hold of… But holy water! You guys didn't bring any with you!"

"Nah, we learnt how to bless water," Edgar said. "So now we can make our own."

"Cool. How'd you learn that?"

"The priest taught us. He was sick of us coming into the church to steal water," Alan explained.

"Uh huh," Sam said, trying to sound as if he were interested. He looked at the ground for just a moment, looking right back up again. His trainers were getting completely covered in mud. So were Edgar and Alan's boots. Maybe this wasn't the best place to come for a holiday weather-wise… but it certainly beat being stuck in the oven that was Santa Carla in August. Especially with no air con. How could the Frog brothers survive without burning into… whatever people burnt into. He'd never know.

"So are we going then?" Edgar asked impatiently.

"We're going," Sam said. He felt quite nervous as he walked along with the brothers. Were they going to find anything? He almost hoped they wouldn't. He wasn't too fond of hunting vampires. The only reason he agreed to it now was because it was the only thing around here that he could do.

They saw Michael and Star nearby, kissing. Did they ever do anything else?

"Where are you guys going?" Michael questioned, breaking away from Star.

"We're going to slay vampires," Edgar said.

"Be careful," Michael said. "In fact, no. I'm coming with you."

"Aw, man! Damn over protective brother!" Sam said, as Michael walked over to them.

"I'm not overprotective, I'm just worried. Seriously, Sammy, there's hardly a 'you could get hurt' about this. It's pretty much definite." He said.

"Then we need Nanook," Sam said.

"Huh?" Michael said, making no secret of his confusion in Sam wanting to take their dog vampire-killing.

"Nanook helped last time. He could be useful. He attack vampires! He bit you when you were half, remember!" Sam reminded him.

"How could I forget?" Michael said, suddenly becoming lost in thought as they continued walking. The four of them said nothing for quite a long time and they walked in complete silence but for the falling of their feet. It was unnerving, this stillness. It made it seem like something was going to happen. Stop being stupid, nothing is going to happen, Sam told himself. Don't worry, he didn't believe himself either.

…

They'd found something. An old, abandoned factory, lying alone, far away from even its closest neighbours. It seemed as though it were a likely enough spot for a bunch of vampires to hang around. Edgar pushed open the door quickly, noisily. Alan pressed his finger to his lips, a wordless gesture to be quieter. The four of them began to walk down the steps slowly, their steps as soft as was possible. The air of the factory was stale and musty, making it seem like they couldn't breathe. The darkness that pressed against them on all sides certainly did not help dissolve that illusion. Sam smelt something familiar, though he wasn't sure what it was. But a barking Nanook certainly was.

"Shut up, Nanook!" Sam said pleadingly.

"He doesn't need to. We can see them now. I'll go get the first one. Have your weapon at the ready," Edgar said, walking over to the vampires.

"You mean my water pistol," Sam said, holding said water pistol toward the vampires. Edgar staked the vampire. It woke up, screaming, blood pouring from its chest. Just like how Marko had died. Sam pulled the trigger on his water pistol immediately, squirting the vampire. He cringed as its skin began to burn off its bones. Gross.

…

Hours later, the Frog brothers and the Emerson brothers arrived back at Shelter Mountain Inn.

"Um, guys…" Sam said, stopping in his tracks. "How are we going to explain all the blood?"

"We should wash it off," Michael said. "There's a pond over there. We could get in, wash off, and if anyone asks us why we're soaking wet we'll just say we fell in and started fighting," Everyone agreed that was a good idea, and followed Michael to the pond. Michael came up behind Sam and pushed him in.

"Hey-" He said, or tried to say, for at that moment, he felt himself dragged underwater by an unseen force. He struggled, but it achieved nothing. He couldn't breathe. The wind had been knocked out of him as soon as… whatever that thing was had grabbed him. He flailed about, trying to break free. He soon lost his energy. His body went limp, like the dead. But he wasn't dead yet. But what was the difference right now? He couldn't breathe. He was going to die. And then he felt four strong arms grab him, two around his waist, two pulling him by the shoulders. Michael and Edgar. They were helping him. There were just moments left of that murky blackness under the water, and then he felt his head break the surface. He could breathe. He gasped for air, filling his starved lungs.

"Thanks," He spluttered.

"What happened just then Sammy? You can swim, I know you can swim! Tell me what happened," Sam looked up to the concerned eyes of his brother, and the emotionless eyes of the Frogs.

"I don't know…" He admitted. "It felt like something pulled me… But there's nothing there. Nothing there at all,"