Hardware Store

I woke up to Sirius' head on my chest. "Morning to you too. Do you need to go outside?" He lifted his head and nodded. "Okay, let's check out the backyard now that it's daytime," I say while pushing him to get off the bed. Regulus was waiting by the door for us. The three of us went to the back door and opened it. A nice, cool breeze blew passed through the house as we went outside. It was a beautiful day. The backyard was overgrown with weeds and dry, tall grass on the other side of the patio. The patio was linked cinder blocks with no sealant, so it also had weeds. The sides of the house were mostly dirt. "Go on the side of the house. There might be snakes in the grass. I'll clean it up after the grass is cut down and treated for weeds." I know they don't like going to the bathroom in the dirt, but can't risk them getting bit by a poisonous snake.

I made my pups some breakfast. Totally forgot I didn't buy myself any food. Just have to make another stop before the hardware store. I changed out of my sweats and tee-shirt and into clean clothes that can get dirty. I take my wolves almost everywhere I go. Hopefully, I won't have an issue at any of my stops. The outfit I changed into was perfect for this hot summer day. A black sports bra, cropped t-shirt with the quote "THE CHAINS ON MY MOOD SWING JUST SNAPPED...RUN!" A pair of cut-off denim shorts, and black Converse. Most of my tattoos were on full display. I also wore my dog tags, they hung low enough to be seen and heard at the bottom of my crop top.

Navigating around Santa Carla during the day was much easier. I was able to see more of the Emerson property. Can definitely tell Grandpa has been left unsupervised for quite some time. On the main strip, I found a small diner to stop and grab some breakfast, and I got it to-go. I didn't want to leave my pups in the Blazer too long. It was around 10 and already feeling hot. I got some toast with butter and jelly with a small coffee. The server gave a look of disgust, probably because of my outfit but I don't care. After eating my toast, and sipping some of the coffee, I drove to a hardware store.

I was looking for something specific. I was going to build an electric fence the size of a doorway. I grabbed several slabs of wood, nails, a large spool of copper wiring, and a 10ft by 6ft section of chain link fence. I also bought two car batteries, an electric fence charger, and a toggle switch. It was very crude but it will work. For the tv wall mount, I grabbed some electrical screws to use with some leftover wood. I made sure to buy some tools as well. A new hammer, screwdriver set, a jigsaw with extra blades, and two sawhorses.

The man behind the counter just stared at me or should I say my boobs. I didn't really care, it distracted him from asking questions about my purchases. After I paid for everything and loaded it up in my Blazer, I decided it was close to lunchtime. Sirius was getting bored, I can tell. He was trying to get Regulus to play with him while I was eating a burger at a picnic table at the beach. Maybe visiting the comic book shop, dressed to distract, would be a good idea. "Come on you two," I said to my pups.

Comic Fiasco

They strolled next to me off leash for now. The Boardwalk wasn't that crowded. I found the comic shop after taking too many turns. It wasn't this hard to find in the movie, but they didn't show everything. It looked exactly as it did in the movie. Rows upon rows of shelves overstuffed with unorganized comics. A little smokey and the Frog's parents were passed out behind the counter. The Frog brothers are talking to a kid I recognize as Sam Emerson. They were trying to give him a comic about Vampires, telling him it was a 'survival manual.'

I rolled my eyes, then came up with a devious idea. 'I'm going to fuck with these kids.' I got close enough to hear the tail end of their conversation, "And pray don't have to call us." I cleared my throat, "You guys don't happen to have any comics on Daywalkers, do you?" I'm trying my best not to laugh at their confused looks. Oh man, this is going to be fun. The one with the bandana, Mr., I'm trying too hard to be like Rambo, Edgar Frog, "Daywalker? There's no such thing." I suck in a breath through my teeth, "You sure about that? You have comics about Nightwalkers but not their counterpart?"

Now I have their attention. Alan finally picked his jaw up off the floor, if he could stare any harder at me his eyes would have fallen out of his head, "What do you mean?" He was talking to my chest, not my eyes. Edgar didn't even give me a once-over like he did Sam. That proves that fan theory. I turn to face the shelves of comics, fingering the top few like I'm interested in them. "I mean, there is more than one type of vampire. You really should do your research." I turn to face them only to get splashed by what I assume is Holy Water. When nothing happens except Regulus growling and baring his teeth at Edgar. Sirius had snuck up behind them and was also growling. I wiped my face off, grateful I didn't put makeup on, "Was that necessary?"

Edgar didn't feel bad at all, judging by the look on his face, "Just to be sure." I narrowed my eyes, "Did you splash him when you met him?" I pointed to Sam. Edgar realized his mistake and splashed Sam. "Happy now?" Sam asked with Holy Water dripping off his face. Edgar sheepishly nodded his head. Edgar was going to apologize to Sam when my pups' growling shut him up. Then Edgar did something that pissed me off. He took off his Silver crucifix and threw it harshly at Sirius. It hit Sirius in the head, the cross poked his eye, and Sirius yelped.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I pushed past the teenagers to get to Sirius, his brother was on his other side. I checked him over his face. His eye was watering but he wasn't really hurt. "Come on, let's get home." I turned to Edgar and got in his face, "I'll say one more time. Do your research before you get yourself hurt. And not from cheesy, cheap comics either. Open a book for once." I got even closer to him. I may be short but don't piss me off. He had to look down at me. I spoke in a cold, calm voice, "You're lucky Sirius isn't hurt." I clipped their leashes back on and stood up straight.

When I stood up, my dog tags jingled, Alan saw them and was trying to get Edgar to move out of my way. Edgar was still in my way, thinking he was some sort of bad-ass. "Move, before I move you." Alan stood closer to his brother, "Dude, she's been in the military. She can probably take us both down" Edgar looked down even further and saw my tags, he read the name 'Jennifer L. Furyan', "What's your name?" "Jenn. Now move." Alan was able to pull his brother out of my way. I left with my pups, still pissed off. Sam had stood to the side and watched the whole thing. I could hear him say something to the Frog brothers before he left, "That was messed up, Edgar."

We pulled up to our house. I let Regulus out first so I could watch Sirius. His eye had swelled a little but he could still see out of it. Entering the house, I told them to go to the kitchen as I unloaded everything into the garage. I set the sawhorses and wood against the far wall, the small roll of chain link fence on top of the wood, and everything else on the only workbench inside the room. Closed up the Blazer and went inside to feed my pups lunch.

When I came into the kitchen, a strange man was petting Sirius. He was dressed in an expensive black suit with a red tie. For some reason, I automatically thought of Crowley from Supernatural. Except this guy was taller, his dark brown hair was long and tied back, and his eyes were bright green. "Who are you?" I asked the man. He stopped petting Sirius and stood up, adjusting his suit jacket, "The name's Matthius. I'm the one who brought you here."

Answers

He gestured for us to sit down in the living room. I followed behind him, not wanting to lose sight of him. "I'm sure you have some questions. Let me just answer the most prominent one. I am Matthius, Maximilian's sire. I brought you here to help make sure his boys survive. You see, Max is not a bad sire, he just wants too much from his boys. He still has ideals of a white picket fence type of life. His boys, the new woman, and her children under one roof getting along as a family. His boys enjoy the nightlife too much to conform to Max's plans. I tried to explain to Max over the centuries that it is impossible to, as it is said, 'Have your cake and eat it too.'"

I lean forward on the couch I perched on, "Okay. But why me? Why pull me from my universe/dimension or whatever and drop me here? I mean, I've been de-aged, I have a backstory and funds from a 'long-lost relative, and I still have everything from my universe. So, why me?" Now, here comes the freakout. My breathing speeds up, my heart races, and my chest constricts. I haven't had a panic attack in some time. I scoot myself off the couch and onto the floor and lean against the couch. Sirius and Regulus have come into the room to sit by me. I try to control my breathing. Sirius is leaning into my body, while Regulus puts his head in my lap. I have one arm around Sirius, and the other is petting Regulus on the top of his head. A glass of water is dropped into my line of sight from above me.

I carefully grabbed the glass with shaky hands and took a few small sips. We all sit in silence while I get my breathing under control. Matthius has sat back down in the love seat he was in, "I realize this is quite an unbelievable situation. But believe me when I tell you, this dimension you are in is quite real. I sought you out because you were just getting by in life. You weren't happy. I know many in your dimension would gladly be here, but you are strategic. There have been others, but they have gone up to those boys and blurted everything. You have a different plan, a different strategy. One that will work more in their favor. You see, you know what to expect. You know once you intervene the whole timeline changes. So you're staying in the background until the opportune moment. And might I say, it's simple but genius."

I thought about what he said and he's right. I was just getting by, I was just going through the motions of life. I take a deep, shaky breath, "So, now what?" He smiles and it sends shivers down my spine, "Now, I only have one piece of advice. Have fun. This is your life now, live it to the fullest." He smiled one last time then vanished into thin air. I let my head fall onto the couch and catch my breath. Then I remember I was going to feed my pups.

"Alright, you two. I'm okay. Let me get your lunch so I can start working on the electric fence." I move to the kitchen, pull out what's left of the Bison and split it between their bowls, and set them down. My pups wait for the command to eat, still watching me just in case. They are smarter than most dogs. Maybe it's because they're more wolf than dog, and I'm part of their pack. "Go ahead. I'll be out in the garage," I gave them the command to eat. Walking out to the garage, I set up the sawhorses and bring a board over. I am not sure how big it should be, so I measured my garage door. 32 inches by 80 inches. I measured out four boards. Making the gate 35 inches by 85 inches. Giving it some overlap. I'll cut it down if I need to.

I piece the boards together to make sure the measurements are correct. Again, it is crude and only has to hold together for a few hours. Plus I can't piece it together until I'm inside the cave. I'm going to use wood glue so I don't make that much noise. Hopefully, they will sleep right through it. I lay out the chain-link fence and fit it to the wood frame I just cut. Using some wire cutters, I cut off some of the excess and rolled it back up. Setting it to the side, I get out the car batteries, copper wiring, toggle switch, and the electric fence charger. Piecing this together was a little more difficult. I wired the toggle switch to one of the car batteries, using the copper wiring. It will cut the power to the electric fence charger. The electric fence charger is then wired to the fence. I didn't want it to discharge before it was time. When it came time to set everything up, the second car battery would be wired to the first to add more juice. The toggle would connect to the batteries and the electric fence charger. The voltage should give enough of a shock to hurt but not kill. Maybe a burnt hand and a jumped heartbeat.

I didn't realize how much time had gone by. The sun was setting by the time I had the wood pieces I needed to mount my tv on the wall in the den. Not the living room like I originally planned. All my other electronics were already on the second floor. If I would have filmed myself carrying that tv up the stairs it would have been comical. I half carried, half dragged it up the carpeted stairs. The bungees and blankets stayed in place. Once I got the 60-inch flat-screen into the den, I surveyed the room. I chose the wall with a few pictures on it. Taking them down to be put away, and wiped the wall down. I used the hammer to find the studs I need to nail up the boards that will act as a tv mount.

It was a drawn-out process but I got it mounted. Then I set up my Xbox S, PS4, and soundbar. Turned out lovely. The first thing I did was plug everything in and turn each one on. The tv came on and tried to connect to the internet. I had to disable the WiFi, but it still works. Then the Xbox and its controllers disabled the WiFi on that too. Did the same for the PS4 before resetting the soundbar with a subwoofer. Now time for some music from my saved library.

I was in the mood to blast something really obnoxious. I wonder if it will be loud enough to piss off the neighbors. Probably not. Oh well, here it goes. I pull up my saved playlist and start with "Drive You 2" by RetroJ. Man, it was loud. I thought I was either going to blow out my sound system or shatter the windows. But it was fun! I continued to let the music play to the next song, and it made me laugh. "Pink Elephants on Parade remix" by Flow Nation. While the music was playing I used my iPhone to measure all the windows for the black-out curtains. I measured the windows in the den, and the four bedrooms and bathrooms. It's not that I don't like the sun, I just don't like waking up with the rays in my face.

All done measuring the windows, I get dinner ready for my pups. Looking at my outfit, I feel it's fine to go out. I needed to get some dinner for me, and maybe see if tonight is the night Michael takes the bait. I grab a zip-up hoodie from Beautiful Disaster, my earbuds, iPhone, vape, wallet, and Blazer keys. My pups have finished eating and are waiting by the door. I shut the music off, and the lights, lock the front door, and we load up into the Blazer. There's a reversible plushie on my dashboard. If I run into Laddie again, I think I will give it to him.

We drove to the boardwalk and park. I grab the plushie and leashes. Walking through the boardwalk is different tonight. I'm getting stared at more. I put in my earbuds on a low volume and ignore everyone except my pups. I pull them over to a Chinese food place. It sounded good. I take one earbud out and order some pork fried rice, and a couple of eggrolls. Sirius and Regulus sit by a booth near the door so they are out of the way. I sat down at the booth to wait for my order. I zone out a little looking out the window. This restaurant is positioned perfectly. I watched Star and Laddie walk by, followed by Michael. Laddie ran off, probably to find Dwayne. They pass by the restaurant slowly. Michael's bike is on the other side of the door. Tonight is the night Michael drinks from the bottle and turns into a half-vampire. It went down the same way as the movie. Star climbed on David's bike after a short back and forth. Then they all take off. I wonder if this is the Chinese place Marko gets the food from. I was brought out my thoughts when my order was called. I sat back down at the booth to eat. I ate slowly so I didn't make myself sick. Sometimes I revert to when I had to eat fast in the military.

I was about halfway through my plate when the dinger above the door went off. I looked up to see Marko stroll in. I keep jinxing myself. He orders his food and sits down to wait. Marko looked around the dining room and spotted me and my pups. He watched me have a conversation with Sirius.

Regulus was laying down, not really paying attention. Sirius was trying to beg for an eggroll. "No, Sirius. Don't you remember the last time you had Chinese?" I raised an eyebrow. Sirius shook his head 'no'. "You got sick, and you had to stay outside. So no eggroll." He whined a little before laying down. I fell for the puppy-dog eyes and his whine. "How about after I'm done, we walk for a bit." Sirius perked right up. I smiled and finished eating. I could tell Marko and the boys were regulars because his order was up pretty quick. He walked out right after I did. He stowed the food on the back of his bike, mounted it, and took off back to the cave.

And so it begins, the next few days or so are going to be interesting. With me living next door to the Emersons' I'll know when certain events happen. Like when Mike floats out his window, or when Star shows up after Mike gets told what's going on. I will be trying to stay in the background until the morning of the attack. I will beat the Frogs', Sam, and Mike to Hudson's Bluff and set up the electric gate. I plan on setting up some cameras in the cave. Maybe I should watch the movie again, and learn the layout of the cave as much as I can. So, that's how I ended my night, on my iPhone watching 'The Lost Boys'.