The door to the house fell off its hinges when David pushed it open. Serenity stood at his side peering in to see if anything ghostly moved, but only the many years worth of cobwebs fluttered from the breeze and motion of the door. Serenity found the possibility of it being haunted exhilarating. She had never seen an actual ghost or ghoul before, other than Howie, but reckoned the two were different from each other.
Edgar and Alan had also made their way up to the daunting old house, and pushed themselves through the group so that they stood just inside. Even they seemed a bit intrigued by the eerie remnants and looked on at them as though seeing for the first time.
"What did I tell you boys…old wives tales," David said, finally stepping through the door.
Serenity studied the layout as the other boys circled the room, and ran a finger over one dusty, stuffed lion, tapping its snarling mouth with one finger. The size of this animal stuffed was fascinating and yet at the same time a bit freaky, for fear it might suddenly rejoin the living. But even though the idea was impossible, someone had gone to great efforts to keep this beast looking animated and attentive in the afterlife.
Paul hopped on the staircase and bounced up and down, testing what remained of the wood as he glanced upward with his mouth hanging open. "Psst, hey, Serenity…" he tapped the railing with one hand and looked down at her. "Whatever you do, don't use the bathroom up there, it's a fucking mess." He curled into himself and let out a hooting laugh like he knew the reason why and would rather joke about it than reveal the truth.
Serenity frowned and snickered, not completely understanding what he meant other than the house was obviously in shambles. She looked around for Marko, but he had disappeared into another part of the house, so she moved on to study the outline of a dilapidated fireplace just to the side of the lion. The stone casing around it was smothered in soot, and a lone wood poker sat to the side of it, waiting to stoke another fire. Serenity reached down, for some reason compelled to push the ashes around with her finger, and was startled to find some of them were still warm. It caught her off guard and she stood quickly, backing away and stumbled into an old broken vase.
It cut into the side of her hand and she yelped, holding it out in front of her to watch the blood run and drop to the floor. The normally rapid healing process her flesh usually went through wasn't working this time, and she winced, sucking at the wound before she held it tightly in her other hand between her legs.
Marko heard her from the other room and instantly caught the scent of her blood. Thinking someone might have found them, he hurried to her.
When she saw him coming, she hastily turned around to face the wall. "I'm alright," she whispered.
Marko noticed the blood on the floor. "No you're not," he said calmly. "You're hurt."
"Yeah well…I'm not healing either." Her voice was meek and tinged with worry.
He took her gently by the arm and turned her around, slowly lifting the wounded hand to take a look. It was deep and her blood was still seeping freely. She flinched when he ran a finger over it and put it to his own mouth, gently running his tongue over the gash.
Serenity cringed and closed her eyes tight afraid he might let loose and dig in for more, but the feel of his cold lips against her skin was not painful, but soothing. There was a slight tingling sensation where the cut had been and Marko pulled her hand away from his mouth. He ran a finger over the spot again and smiled. "Better now?"
Serenity studied her skin for a moment in amazement, and looked up at him with wide eyes, having had no idea they could do that. "Yes…thank you." She stared into the endless blue of his peepers, and drowsily pointed towards the fireplace. "I uh…who builds a fire in the summer?"
Before he could respond, Paul came scooting down the stairs, trying his best to slide the rail, but the old wood just wobbled back and fourth under his weight. "Hey, you guys should really check this out!" he exclaimed. "There are burning candles up here, and all the beds are made. It's creepy, like the ghosts were expecting us, and I swear on my human mothers name, I haven't taken any acid."
"No Paul, not ghosts," David said, wobbling in from the kitchen. "Someone has been living here, which is probably what the Frog boys heard and have been hunting."
Edgar and Alan joined them, holding up their weapons, which now consisted of crossbows, knives and one tattered cross. "We found an outlet to the sunroom," Alan said, one eye closed close to the bow's arrow, ready to hit any target that moved. "It's full of plants and flowers…and some sort of shower type thing."
"We think the ghoul's been living here for quite some time," Edgar added, holding his cross way out in front of him. "Crosses never lie."
Serenity grunted, still holding her hand in shock. "Yes, because ghouls often feel the need to take showers."
Marko and Paul snorted, trying to keep from laughing, while David gave Serenity a curious, wondering look and when she didn't respond, gave Marko the same inquisition. "Is she ok?" he asked.
Serenity looked up from her hand, half startled by the fact that David knew what had happened, but then again, the smell of blood was in the air.
"I took care of it," Marko answered calmly, as Dwayne suddenly flew in through the front door. He had gone out the back to secure the perimeter, but now he looked anything but safe. "David," he growled, lifting the door and setting it back on it's hinges, making sure to lock the deadbolt when it was good and closed. "We've been followed."
Serenity jumped back, halfway hiding herself behind Marko. This was not a good time to face an enemy, especially while she was less than perfect in the special gift department.
Edgar and Alan took position in front of the door, readying their weapons. "If they want Serenity, they'll have to get by us first," Alan snarled, curling his fingers around the trigger of the arrow.
"It's not human," Dwayne said, trying to round them up and push them towards the stairs.
"Back off man," Edgar growled, pushing Dwayne's arm aside. "This is our job. We prefer the non human type."
"You guys are fucking idiots," Dwayne snapped, finally getting behind them. He looked to David with darkened eyes and a slight shrug.
The gears in David's head were turning. He had to act fast before something less than favorable happened. "Marko! Take our princess upstairs," he demanded. "Paul, go with them. Dwayne, you stay with me."
Paul nodded and bounded up the stairs, steering clear of the bathroom. This time, he would take position in a bedroom where there wasn't any water.
Marko turned and took Serenity's arm and pulled her towards the stairs. His sudden army commando gesture made her protest and fight against the pull. She understood more and more the power of David's persuasive speech. If he asked Marko to jump, Marko asked how high, completely forgetting any connection he might have with her. Which only led her to believe that David must have been Marko's sire. Where had she heard that used before? Oh well, it didn't matter much, except for the fact that one minute Marko made her feel good and the next, he was hurting her.
"Let GO!" she demanded, ripping her arm away from his grip so fast that she had to grasp at the bottom rail to keep from going over backwards. Marko looked back and caught her by the arm again, quickly letting go when she had straightened herself. "I'm perfectly capable of running up stairs on my own," she continued, now seeing the look of apology in his eyes.
She made a move to go around him, aggravated by how the whole situation made her feel less than competent, only to pause again when a horrible screeching sound came from just outside the door. Both of them turned to look down at the old wooden frame the house had for a door, and Paul peeked around the corner to see what was going on. "What the fuck was that?" he asked. The noises got louder and closer, to the point where it sounded like a hundred hands were pounding on the door.
Edgar and Alan looked at each other fearfully over their weapons and slowly started to back away. David and Dwayne helped them along by pushing them aside as they let their vampire selves appear.
Not one of them moved as the door rattled and shook violently until it finally flew open, back off its hinges and crashed against the bottom of the stairs.
Serenity glanced down at the door and then back up with horrified eyes to watch a dark figure float in through the entrance. It was a small figure iron clad in a black gown, with its face completely concealed by the hood of its velvet cape. It let out a low screeching moan as it rose above their heads, almost eye level with Paul, and threw the hood back.
"No fucking way!" Paul gasped, looking into the stranger's red and black eyes. "It's Carla!"
The floating figure snarled and pointed a gnarly finger at Serenity, hissing her name. It then threw its head back and let out a harpy pitched laugh. Only the vampires seemed affected by it as they covered their highly tuned ears.
"She's possessed!" David yelled, still holding his hands over his ears as Dwayne flew up to knock her out of the air. He grabbed the wench by the arms and they twirled around until she sent Dwayne flying across the room and into the next.
David hissed and went up next. Carla only sang harder with laughter as she sunk below the blonde vampire and caught him by his injured leg. She twisted his preternatural skin, pushing the thorn in deeper as David let out a horrific cry and sent his fangs into the top of her head.
He quickly released his bite when the venomous blood of the demon slid across his tongue, singeing the delicate taste buds there. With a swift pull up, Carla had him dangling from his feet and tossed him in the same direction as Dwayne.
Marko growled and before Serenity could protest, was up in the air to face her himself. He managed to get one clean swipe with his claws across her face before she sent him toppling through the thick, heavy doors that led to the kitchen, sending splinters of wood and glass in every direction.
Serenity heard Marko let out a cry of pain and moved down a few stairs, but before she could rush to his aid, the banshee pushed her back with her mind alone, and shook her head fiercely.
"You bitch!" Paul cried, breaking off a piece of the railing. He lunged up into the air, holding the wood in his hand like a piercing stake.
"No Paul, don't!" Serenity yelled, looking down at the Frogs. Both of them stood mystified; their weapons dropped to their sides. "Do something, you idiots!"
Edgar and Alan shook themselves and readied their weapons taking aim, and sent a few metal arrows in Carla's direction.
Paul had already caught her in the air, and drove the wood down in force to pierce her heart, but Carla caught him half way and turned the splintered board in the direction of his heart instead. He strained against her to keep it from going straight through him.
Edgar and Alan's arrows proved no match for the banshee; they bounced off her covered skin like soft petaled flowers.
"Nooo!" Serenity screamed, unwilling to watch the vampire die. It struck a nerve deep down inside of her as if she needed to save him no matter what the cost. She swung herself back on the railing, trying to break the hold Carla had on her.
"Serenity, get upstairs!" Paul whaled, still fighting to keep from getting impaled.
Carla raised the board high in the air again and brought it down fast towards Paul's heart, but before it had the chance to reach its target, someone else entered the room.
The unknown figure marched forward holding one hand high. Serenity couldn't see what it was he held, but the light it reflected sent Carla into a fit of rage. She released her grip on Paul and the piece of railing.
Paul dropped to the ground, landing easily on his feet. He glanced back at the scene and then made for Marko, who was still lying in the rubble of broken glass and wood.
The figure with the light held steady, making his way closer to Carla. She shrieked and sank back against the wall, still high in the air. The light that came from the object in the strangers hand matched the sun's rays, and it burned the banshee; burned her cape and gown away to ashes, even burned her skin and hair.
"No, no, no," Carla pleaded, hugging the bare wall with her back while trying to cover her nudity with her hands. "Why does he hurt me so?"
The Frog brothers looked dumbfounded. This time they had dropped their weapons completely and stood with their mouths open watching the quaint display of power the stranger had brought fourth.
He said nothing, the figure, but moved even further forward. The nearer he got to Carla, the brighter the light. Her skin was melting away and soon there would be nothing but a skeleton left.
"Wait!" Serenity yelled. "She's a human being, you can't just kill her!"
The odd boy paid no attention to Serenity's pleas. He moved another step closer and Carla fell to the ground in a burning heap. Her ashes lifted into the air, and with the same light, the stranger guided them out the door where they were carried away by the breeze.
Edgar stumbled forward, holding up his cross. "Who the hell are you?"
The boy turned and Edgar had to catch his breath, for his eyes had no pigment; the pupils were completely white. He held his object out towards Edgar's cross and Alan realized that it too was a cross, no bigger than a large paper clip, and the front of it was a mirror. "I know who I am," the boy replied. "But who the hell are you?"
"We're the Frogs," Edgar stated. "We're dedicated to a higher purpose…"
The boy rolled his white eyes and blinked. "Never mind, I don't want to know." He turned his attention towards Serenity and felt for the railing. "I'm sorry for that," he told her, tilting his head towards Carla's remains. "Once they are taken over by something like that, there is no going back to human. It had to be done."
Serenity was slumped back sitting on one of the steps, still holding the rail above her head. She looked at the boy in disbelief and then over at the fallen vampires. Her heart sank as she panicked for Marko.
A small smile crept over the boy's face and he took a breath. "Don't worry, they will be fine. Their wounds are nothing you can't fix," he said pleasantly. "I've been waiting for you."