Chapter Nine

Charley opened his eyes, he survived the night.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep, wanted to stay away until the break of dawn. Though Dandridge threatened he wouldn't know when that moment would come, he feared it would come that evening. Yet, it never came.

He adjusted in the chair, his eyes immediately saw the brightness of day shining through his bedroom window. He heavily sighed, relieved that he survived another night. So, he pried himself out of the chair and stretched out his arms while sounded a long yawn. Yet, he knew it wasn't over. If Dandridge blamed him for that lengthy separation from Thea, he continued to be a target. Well, he thought, at least no one else was a target.

His eyes widely opened with the realization that poor Peter Vincent likely became a target as well having struck Thea with his car. "Ah, shit." he groaned then hurried and rushed to clean up. He had to warn Peter. Oddly that was the day he would have gone to the actor for help but now he was going to Peter in effort to save the man's life.

Charley anxiously paced outside the studio, hated how beyond Deja-vu it was. He also knew that when he saw Peter, the actor would be irate about being terminated from his position as the Fright Night horror host. But he had to look passed what he knew and pray Peter would believe his warning. If he could prevent anything, he would desperately try.

The gate to the studio lot slowly opened and from its opening stomped a very upset Peter Vincent. His gray brow was tensely furrowed. How dare they, he grumbled in thought, fire him and replace him nonetheless? His eyes focused on his parked care as he lugged his infamous wooden vampire killing case. "Preposterous," he snipped under his breath.

"Mr. Vincent!" Charley called out to the actor and raced towards him, "Mr. Vincent, please!"

Peter was in no mood for fans. He continued towards his car, heard the young man's voice keep calling out.

"Mr. Vincent, I need to talk to you, please!" Charley pleaded then watched the actor skid to a stop.

Peter rolled his eyes with annoyance then sluggishly turned to the side and looked to the young man. His eyes frowned then he stated, "Charley Brewster."

Charley eagerly nodded and stepped up to Peter.

"Well?" Peter quickly asked.

Charley took a deep breath then explained, "Mr. Vincent, I really need to talk to you about something really, really important."

Peter asked with low tolerance and patience, "And what might that be?"

"Um," Charley mumbled then requested, "Um, can we go somewhere to talk?"

"My boy," Peter puffed out his chest and adjusted the strap of the case, "I have no time for chit chat."

Charley's shoulder slumped then he pleaded, "Please, Mr. Vincent, this is really important, you gotta hear me out."

"No I don't." Peter snipped then turned and continued towards the trunk of his car.

Charley's jaw dropped, Peter was just as snippy without the vampire talk. He shook off being snubbed then rushed up to the actor. "Mr. Vincent, you gotta listen to." he tried to explain as Peter continued to open the trunk and toss the case inside, "This is a matter of life or death."

Peter kept his brow tensed and eyes narrowed. He glared at the kid then slammed his trunk. "I am in no mood." he snapped then shooed the boy out of his way, "I have serious matters to tend to."

"Yeah, I know," Charley griped then blurted, "You got fired."

Peter gasped and looked at the boy in disbelief then questioned, "And how is it you know?"

Charley rolled his eyes then stated, "If you would give me a minute of your precious time, I'd be glad to tell you."

Peter again narrowed his eyes then pridefully lifted his chin and straightened his jacket. He huffed, "No." he swung open the driver's side door.

Charley grabbed hold of the door handle and firmly said, "Mr. Vincent, you're life is danger."

Peter continued to frown and looked at the boy in disbelief as he stood inside the open door.

Charley quickly questioned, "You know that woman you hit with your car the other day?" He watched Peter's frown fade from surprise. He nodded, "Yeah, her name's Thea Bellamy and she's why you're in danger."

"What?" Peter somewhat gasped then asked, "Why is that?"

Charley had no choice though it would sound crazy but he said what he had to, "Mr. Vincent, that woman, Thea, well, her fiance..."

Peter quickly cut the boy off, "Wait, did they find her?"

Charley nodded then shook his head, "Well, yeah and no. Well," he grimaced, "Well, her fiance found her."

Peter sighed with relief then smiled, "Oh thank God, I was so worried."

Charley frowned then shook his head, "Mr. Vincent, her fiance..." he was really about to tell him but Peter again interrupted.

"Thank you for the update, Charley Brewster." Peter chimed then sat down behind the steering wheel.

"Wait, no," Charley quickly spoke up, "Mr. Vincent, ya gotta listen to me, please." Why the hell was Aiden easier to convince than his descendent?

"Tah-tah," Peter chimed again and slammed the door, the window rolled down.

Charley blurted out of desperation, "Mr. Vincent, Thea Bellamy's fiance is a vampire and he knows you hit her with your car!"

Peter narrowed his eyes up at the kid then snapped, "Not funny!" He crammed the key into the ignition and started up the car.

"I'm serious, Mr. Vincent!" Charley shouted, "I'm deadly serious!" Damn, he said that before.

Peter simply tapped the kid's fingers that gripped the car door through the open window.

Charley huffed and jerked his hands back then stated, "Mr. Vincent, Jerry Dandridge is gonna come after you!" He pointed at Peter's grimaced expression.

"I am not amused!" Peter grumbled then slammed the car in gear, "If you don't mind, goodbye." He hit the gas and sped away.

"God dammit!" Charley shouted, again he was ignored like some lunatic. He tossed his hands in the air then slapped them to the sides of his head. He stomped his foot then shouted, "What the hell?!" again he tossed his hands in the air and looked up at the sky, "Cut me a fucking break, would ya!"

Charley sat in his room, surrounded by unlit candles and a pile of makeshift stakes at his feet. His eyes vacantly stared forward at the blank television screen. He tried everything imaginable. He went through hell to kill Dandridge and save Amy, let alone his own ass. Then he went back in time and tried to save Dandridge's ass, let alone his own ass again. Now, he helped, somewhat, reunite Dandridge with Thea but still his ass was in jeopardy. He even tried to give Peter Vincent a heads up but that failed and still his ass was in deep shit.

"I should just leave." he mumbled, his eyes glazed over, "Just pack up my stuff and leave." his shoulder slouched, "Maybe Amy will come with me." he desperately searched for anything to save himself, "Hey, I'll even take Ed with me too but what about Mom?"

He heard his voice called but it wasn't his mom, she was at work. His eyes looked to the bedroom door hearing two sets of feet marching towards his door. "Amy," he drolly said, knew it was coming.

Amy quickly knocked on Charley's door then swung it open with a big smile on her face. "Hey!" she called out then her eyes looked to her boyfriend who sat slumped on the foot of his bed and looked dreadful, "Charley?"

Charley simply sat there quiet, watched Ed come barging into his room behind Amy.

Amy looked around Charley dimly lit room, a single table lamp on. Her eyes scanned the array of crucifixes, holy statues, then looked to Charley's feet where the small pile of stakes rested. Her eyes lifted and looked to Charley.

"What the..." Ed mumbled as he too eyed Charley's oddly decorated room then laughed, "Brewster, you take up religion?"

Charley simply shrugged in response to Ed's stupid question. No use telling them anything, he thought, for he knew they wouldn't believe him. He thought it best to keep quiet.

Amy stepped forward, her eyes focused on Charley's exhausted expression. "Charley, what's wrong?" she asked with genuine concern, her eyes again briefly scanned the strange set up then returned to Charley, "Why weren't you in school yesterday or today? Are you sick?"

Charley took a deep breath then lied, "Yeah, I haven't felt good." Yep, he felt horrible because likely he was gonna be dead soon.

"Well, what's wrong?" Amy asked again as she stepped before Charley, "Charley," she glanced at the leaned framed photo of Jesus then again looked down at Charley, "What's really going on?"

Charley heavily sighed and looked down at the floor before his feet.

"Brewster, what's up with all this?" Ed asked as he stepped about the room and eyed Charley's weird collection, "Are ya planning on going into the priesthood?" He chuckled at his own wisecrack.

Charley rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Amy sat down beside Charley, truly concerned, "Charley," she spoke up, "Tell me what's wrong, what's going on."

Ed leaned forward as his eyes focused with those of a very creepy looking Jesus. His lips twisted side to side. "This is some weird shit, Brewster." he commented then leaned back, "Did you rob St. Mathews?" He looked to his best and only friend, his eyes caught sight of the obvious pile of stakes.

"You guys need to just leave, okay." Charley urged, really didn't want them involved.

Ed took a couple steps forward, his eyes squinted and knew what he saw were stakes. His eyes slowly lifted and looked at Charley. "Brewster, you going vampire hunting or something?" he asked with a bit of amused suspicion in his voice.

"Ed," Amy scolded, "Don't be ridiculous."

"No," Charley drolly responded to Ed, "The vampires are going to be hunting me." his eyes frowned then he commented, "Actually they won't have far to go." He oddly chuckled.

Amy looked at Charley, her eyes were frowned with confusion and even more concern.

Ed belted out a loud cackled then asked amidst the laugh, "What?!"

Amy dared and rested a gentle hand on Charley back, "Charley, what exactly are you saying?" she sweetly asked, "What vampires, Charley?"

"Um, likely two by now." Charley replied with a nod. Yeah, they won't believe him so why not just talk about vampires and the likeliness they're gonna come to his house and kill him. "Yeah," he again gave a nod, "Yep, I'm guessing by now Dandridge likely turned Thea. Yep, so two vampires."

Amy looked up at Ed who was doing his best not to cackle again. She slowly rose up off the bed then stepped up to Ed with her back to Charley and asked with a whisper, "What's he talking about?"

Ed didn't whisper, "Beats the shit outta me."

Amy gave Ed a quick glare for his none subtlety. She quickly turned around and looked down at Charley. She took a breath and dared to ask, "Charley, who's Dandridge and Thea and what makes you think they're vampires who are, well, wanting to hurt you?"

"Kill me," Charley quickly corrected then looked up at Amy, saw the concern and disbelief, "Jerry Dandridge, my recent new neighbor and Thea is his, well, fiance and likely, now Dandridge's vampire bride."

"Wait," Amy spoke up, she remembered the night she had gotten angry with Charley and him saying something about a coffin, "Charley, does this have anything to do with that, um, coffin you said you saw?"

Charley bobbed his head.

"Coffin," Ed chimed, that sure got his interest. He looked at his friend then scolded, "Brewster, you saw a damned coffin and you said shit about it." he shook his head with disappointment, "Some friend you are."

"Ed!" Amy loudly scolded Ed in return and darted a serious glare at him.

"What?!" Ed leaned back as if Amy's glare was going to smack him, "Well, he shoulda told me," he leaned forward with his eyes locked with Amy's glare, "I am his best friend, you know."

"Some friend you are." Amy snapped at Ed then returned her attention to Charley, "Charley, just because you thought you saw a coffin doesn't mean you did."

Ed rolled his eyes, he and Brewster knew a coffin when they saw on. He stepped away from Amy's overly sweetness and stepped to the bedroom window. He pried back the curtain and commented, "House is kinda creepy."

"Ed!" Amy again scolded, believed Ed wasn't making the situation any better.

Ed looked to Amy, "God, you sound like my Mother." he commented then mocked her voice, "Ed!"

Amy crossed her arms over her chest with her lips slightly puckered with annoyance. She huffed then snapped at the so called best friend, "Ed, ever hear the saying; if you can't say anything nice, don't say nothing at all?"

"Yep," Ed widely grinned then asked, "What's your point?"

Amy grumbled then, again, sat down beside Charley and again rested her hand on his back. "Charley, is there anything we can do to help?" She was truly at a loss, had no idea how to deal with such a weird situation.

Charley slowly shook his head then paused. He then nodded. He quickly stood up then went to his clutter desk. He returned to Amy then sat back down and handed her an envelope. "You gotta get this to Peter Vincent." he said.

Peter Vincent got Ed's attention. He widely grinned and rejoined the conversation. "Okay, you mean the Peter Vincent, right?" he eagerly asked, "You want us to go to Peter Vincent's, right?"

Amy again glared up at Ed and stated, "I think he meant for me," she took the envelope from Charley, "To bring this to Peter Vincent."

Ed quickly shook his head in protest and verbally did so, "No, I go too," he pointed at Charley, "I'm his best friend."

Charley rolled his eyes then quickly rose up and shouted, "Both of you!" he lifted his hands in almost surrender to their bickering, "The both of you can take that," he pointed at the envelope in Amy's hand, "And both of you can give it Peter Vincent." he glanced between the two, "It's really important that he gets the letter inside of it."

Amy quickly stood up and gave a confident nod, "Yes, Charley, I," she paused, "We'll make sure Peter Vincent gets this."

"Yeah," Ed nodded, he was going to meet his idol.

Amy stepped up to Charley then placed a kiss on his cheek and sweetly chimed, "I love you, Charley."

Charley slightly smiled then looked at Amy's sweet hazel eyes and replied, "I love you, Amy, probably more than you'll ever know."

Amy smiled even sweeter in awe of Charley's words.

Ed rolled his eyes then spoke up, "Gah, enough, I'm gonna hurl."

Charley took one step and quickly embraced Amy. He felt as if it were the final time he would hold her in his arms. Perhaps if they got the letter to Peter, the actor's would take heed his warnings. "Thank you," he said and squeezed her tightly, "I really do love you."

Amy continued to smile as she squeezed Charley in return. "I know, Charley." she sweetly sang, "And I'll come back afterwards, okay?"

Charley nodded, "Yeah, just don't bother if it's dark."

Ed choked on a laugh.

Amy held her smile as she leaned back. She knew Charley meant. She leaned forward and kissed Charley's lips. Then gagging sounds came. She pulled back and darted her glare at Ed who stood with his finger in his wide open mouth signaling that her kiss made him sick. She stepped away from Charley, gave Ed a good shove then marched out of the door.

Ed went to follow Amy but paused at the doorway and looked to Charley. "Brewster," he spoke up with his face serious. He watched Charley look at him with question. He kept his face serious, "I love you, Charley." he mocked Amy sweet voice.

Charley grimaced.

Ed belted out a loud cackled then stepped out of the bedroom.

(Author)

Yeah, apologies that it took so long! So, any of ya catch a hint I dropped somewhere in this chapter? Huh? Huh? No? Yes? If not, well too bad! :P So, will things possibly head into the same original direction where, possibly, Amy pleads with Peter Vincent to help Charley's insane vamprie notions? Hmm, would be interesting, won't it because Charley knows Dandridge is vampire. Hmm... Let's see if things either head into the right direction and totally wrong but right direction.

FRIGHT NIGHT FOREVA!