Continuity Note: This story is part 2 of 4.
Disclaimer: Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss, not me.
Colleen The new slayer and Dawn's teammate
Jordan New kid in Sunnydale who receives The Visions
Dawn Buffy's little sister and now on the basketball team
Aaron Dawn's friend who works at the Magic Box
*****
My parents were going to name me Jordan whether I was a boy or a girl. I wish I could say that they liked the name because of a great writer or actor or even because of Michael Jordan. Or that maybe it was because of the river Jordan. But I think they just liked the way the name sounded. And plus they could use it whether I was a boy or a girl.
I remember the day that I realized that I was different. I was six. We were playing a game where my teacher would pick a number and we would take a guess and she would tell us if we need to guess higher or lower. Every single time I would guess the right number on the first time. No one else could, and I couldn't understand why. I couldn't understand how they couldn't just know like I did. I always just sort of thought that everyone could do it.
I remember the way that all the kids looked at me like I was weird. I think most of them were just mad that they weren't getting a chance to guess. I'll never forget the way that my teacher looked at me. It wasn't awe, and it wasn't even that she was disgusted. It was fear. I don't think she understood. And I'll also never forget the thing she said that she never really said. "Freak."
Ever since then I haven't exactly been eager to do make anyone else think that I was a freak. And I did a really good job about it. Even when I would know every answer when I was taking a test I would still try to answer just based off of what I thought the answer was. Sometimes I would even try to miss answers on purpose.
The thing I was most afraid of is one day someone would notice the way things just seemed to happen around me. Like when I would lay and bed and remember that I forgot to shut the door and then suddenly the door would slam shut. Or the way that sometimes things would just fall or move when I was nearby. I knew that if anyone ever saw any of this stuff they wouldn't be able to understand. If I couldn't understand then how were they suppose to understand?
These things were all easy to ignore. Until I moved to Sunnydale that is. Until I was chosen by The Powers That Be to be their "avatar." Until I was chosen to receive The Visions. Now I can't really ignore any of this though. I can't pretend that I'm normal. But you know what? This has been the greatest experience that of my life. I love being able to be who I really am. I love not having to hide anymore. And I love that I know have friends who will accept it.
And friends who will cover for me when I look like a mental patient while receiving a vision.
"Is he having a seizure?" a girl asked when she noticed the way that I seemed to be freaking out.
"No," Aaron said, "He's just kidding around."
"Are you sure?" she asked again. I'm sure she was staring at me but I couldn't see her.
"Yeah," Aaron lied, "He does this all the time." That wasn't really a lie I guess.
"What do you see?" Dawn whispered to me.
There were vampires. There were almost always vampires. They were at a library. They were looking for a book. The Omicron. There was something going on though. The vampire, one in particular. I could feel his name. Martyr. He was powerful. I could feel his power. I could be his evil.
"Jordan, are you alright?" Dawn asked me. There was concern in her eyes. "You're pale."
"I'm fine," I said, although I wasn't sure if that was true or not. "Where's Colleen."
"Aaron's getting her," Dawn told me. This was horrible. I knew how happy Colleen was right now. I could feel how good it made her feel to be with Mike. I wish that I had the power to do this on my own.
Wait.
Why couldn't I do this on my own? I knew that they wouldn't be going for that book till well past midnight. We had a lot of time. All I needed to do was just get that book. Aaron, Dawn, and I could handle that. I was certain.
"What's going on?" Colleen asked. I could tell that she was worried but I could also tell that she was very disappointed about ending her date early.
"There's trouble," I told Colleen. I took a deep breath. I had never been a good liar, but I needed to be right now. "But not till tomorrow."
I could see Colleen shift a little. I could feel the relief, but still there was concern. "Not till tomorrow? But why would you get it tonight?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but I know that we don't need to worry about it till tomorrow. All we need to do is just get a book."
I could feel suspicion in Aaron. I could feel Dawn's curiosity. I could always tell that Colleen believed me.
"Just a book," Colleen repeated. "We just need to get a book tomorrow?"
"Yeah," I lied again.
"Do you think we should go tonight?" Dawn asked.
I shook my head. "No. We could go do some research though. We could go back to the Magic Box."
Aaron knew that I was keeping something from Colleen. "Yeah that sounds like a good plan. We'll go back to the Magic Box. You can take the night off."
Colleen was trying her hardest not to look too happy. Mike was getting closer, and I could feel that he didn't want tonight to end so soon either.
"Are you guys sure?" Colleen asked.
"Yeah we're sure," I answered for everyone.
"Well call my cell phone if you even think that you might need me," Colleen said just as Mike got to the table.
"What's going on?" he asked Colleen.
"Nothing," Dawn answered for her. "We were just telling her we were leaving."
*****
"Jordan!" Aaron said, "I can't believe you would be this stupid. We have to go back and get her."
Maybe telling them the truth wasn't the best plan I ever had. Especially because Aaron was mad at me. Ever since I moved here Aaron was the first person who made an effort to be my friend. Maybe it was predetermined that I was suppose to be here to help Colleen with her slaying duties, but I was glad that I had Aaron here to be my friend.
"I think we can handle this," Dawn said. There was something about Dawn that I couldn't figure out. I remember the first time I saw her and the only thing that I could see was green energy. I didn't know if I should ask her about that or not. Regardless of the green thing, Dawn was still amazing. She had been through so much in her life and yet she was still so strong. And plus she just stuck up for me.
"All we need to do is find this library, grab the book, and get out," I reassured Aaron. "We have hours to do that too."
"Fine," Aaron said, "We can go and do research and see if we can find the book. But if we don't know where it's at in an hour we are going back and getting Colleen."
"Can't you just like," Dawn tried to think of how she wanted to ask her question, "psychically home in on the book?"
"I don't know," I admitted. I really wasn't sure what I could or couldn't do with my powers. "I don't think I can, but maybe I could try."
*****
"We have ten minutes to figure this out before I call Colleen," Aaron said.
"Are you sure it was the Omicron?" Dawn asked me.
I nodded my head. "Positive."
"Maybe it has another name," Aaron suggested.
I was starting to get frustrated. I was so certain that we could figure this out. I didn't want to ruin Colleen's night, especially after she called us to check in and told us that she was allowed to stay out till 1:00 since Mike's dad told Colleen's dad that he would give her a ride home. I felt so stupid because I couldn't figure this out. I knew that the answer was here somewhere, but I had the feeling that we wouldn't figure it out until time just fizzled out for us. Every second that ticked by was just cutting away at the barrier that was holding back my anger. Finally, with a minute left, I slammed my fist on the table so hard that it scared Aaron and Dawn who were reading their books. At the same time, a book in the middle of the table flew upon and rifled through to a page.
"OK," Aaron said, "That was weird." I agreed.
"Hey!" Dawn said as she looked at what page was open. "This is what we need."
"Wow," Aaron said, "Good thing for your psychic powers."
I nodded. My powers did seem to flare when I lost it. Aaron and I moved closer to Dawn and tried to read over her shoulder. As I read it was like walls in my brain were coming down and I could finally see where the book was.
"Well that was helpful," Aaron said. "And by helpful I mean not helpful in the slightest."
"Fine," Dawn said, "I'll call Colleen."
"No need," I told them. "I know where it's at."
*****
It took us 45 minutes to get to the library two towns over. We took the bus which was fortunately still running. Aaron had to check the internet to see how to get to where I know the book was. While he was on the internet, he did a search for Omicron and the first page that came up was the library that we were going too. I think Aaron is going to feel stupid for a week.
"It's locked," Dawn said as she pulled on the door of the library. The look Aaron gave her screamed duh. He didn't say anything though. He turned to me.
"Any ideas?" he asked. "You know, any intuition?"
"Ummm," I said trying to figure that out. "I don't know. I can try." I tried to relax and just let my mind go. It felt like my being stretched beyond just my body and expanded till it included the library. "Around back," I said opening my eyes, "There's a door that doesn't lock."
Sure enough when we got to the back of the library there was a door that didn't lock right. That doesn't mean that it didn't lock, but it just didn't lock right.
Aaron cracked his knuckles and walked up to the door. "Well I guess it's my time to shine." He reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a small case. Opening it up, we saw that they were lock picks.
"Lock picks?" Dawn questioned. "Since when do you pick locks?"
"Since never," Aaron admitted. "But ever since our lives started taking place in a comic book I've been trying to read up on things on the internet. Luckily lock picking was one of them." It took Aaron three minutes but he did get the door unlocked.
"I'm impressed," Dawn said.
"As you should be," Aaron laughed.
We entered the library through the basement and made our way up to the ground floor. The others weren't expecting the library to be this big, but I had seen it before hand.
"I hope we didn't set off any alarms," Dawn said. I hadn't thought of that.
"Well if we did I guess we're just going to have to find out the hard way," Aaron said as we walked around taking in the library.
"I don't think we did," I suggested. "I think if we would have we would have known."
"Here's the card catalogue," Dawn said walking over to a set of computers. She looked at the blank monitors and around the desk. "I'm not sure how to turn them on."
"Don't bother," I told her. "I know where it's at."
I lead us to a back room on the third floor of the massive library. The Omicron was in there. It had just been purchased from a book dealer in London. It wouldn't have been in the card catalogue anyway. The owner of the library was planning on keeping it for his personal collection.
"Mission accomplished," Aaron said as he grabbed the book and put it in his backpack.
"I can't believe that it was this easy," Dawn said. That's when we heard the main back door of the library smash open, followed by several footsteps coming into the library.
"You just had to say it," Aaron said. "You just weren't going to be happy until you jinxed us."
"Quiet!" Dawn said in a commanding whisper. "We have to find somewhere to hide. That somewhere ended up being in a women's bathroom on the other side of the third floor.
"Jordan," Aaron asked me, "Can you get any insight."
"I'll try," I said as I closed my eyes. I already know that Martyr was here. I felt him the instant he entered the building. I didn't know that he brought with him six other vampires. "There's seven," I said, "But one of them is powerful enough that he should count for a dozen vampires."
"Well that's just great," Aaron said as he unzipped his backpack and took out the weapons that we brought. We each had a cross and a stake. Dawn had some Holy water too.
"Maybe we should just destroy this book?" Aaron suggested.
I shook my head. "No," I said, "I'm certain we shouldn't do that."
My last words couldn't really be heard though because that's when we heard his voice echoing throughout the entire library.
"I don't care how long it takes! I! Want! That! BOOK!" It was Martyr's voice. I knew it.
"Window," Dawn said as she noticed the window. "Look, you can see the rough right under it. We can get out of here."
We tried to get to the window as quickly and quietly as we could. It wasn't helping that we could hear the footsteps of a half dozen vampires who were searching the library looking for us. It was especially not helping when I started thinking about how good vampire hearing was. Aaron pried that window open and helped Dawn out.
"You next," Aaron said to me.
"You have the book," I told him, "You go."
Aaron shrugged and hurried out the window. I was half a step behind him. I was almost completely out when I felt a hand on my ankle.
"What do we have here?" the Vampire asked.
"Jordan!" Dawn said as she undid the cork on her bottle of Holy water. She leaned almost into the window and dumped it onto the vampires face. He screamed for a moment before he exploded into dust. Aaron grabbed me and helped pull me the rest of the way onto the roof. We ran for our lives. I could hear the other vampire in the bathroom calling for the others. We had a good head start but there was no where to go.
"What are we going to do?" I said. I was starting to panic.
"Well first we don't die," Aaron said.
"I guess it would be kind of pointless to call Colleen now," Dawn pointed out.
"Less pointing out the obvious, more running for our lives," Aaron said as we continued running.
"Oh Shit!" Dawn said as we realized we were trap. In front of us there was an apartment building that was attached to the library. On all other sides there was nothing but the open roof of the library.
"And here comes the company," Aaron said as he point out the two vamps that were running for us. I could already see another one coming out of the window.
Dawn grabbed the cross that she wore around her neck and put it in the palm of her hand. She ran towards the closest vampire and hoped that he didn't see it. When she was in range, she pushed her hand out and forced the cross into his flesh. His momentum wouldn't let him stop and all he could do was scream in pain. Feeling Dawn's plan before hand, I ran up in time to shove my stake into his chest before he could recover.
Aaron ran towards the second vampire. His plan though was to dive and try to roll and take out the vampire's leg. It didn't work. The vampire slowed down and kicked Aaron hard in the gut, sending him up and then back down. I ran at her and managed to catch her by surprise and knock her down. I tried to get my stake but she kicked me off of her and sent me flying back too. I landed on my back with my stake far in front of me. I was dazed but I managed to see Aaron run up and stake her before she could get back up. He didn't have time to feel proud of himself, because that's when the other 3 vampires were on their way. We were lucky in the first round, but we weren't going to be able to take on three vampires.
I sensed her a moment before she got there. She moved like liquid metal. Liquid gold. It was the Gold Chick. She kicked one vamp hard and sent him flying. She took the other two vamps on and fought the best she could. She was strong, maybe even stronger than Colleen, but she couldn't fight. She managed to knock the vampires down, and Aaron and Dawn tried staking them each time they fell.
I tried to go over there and help them out. I reached for the stake that was right within my grasp but as I was about to grab it I saw it get kicked away from me. One of the vampires was right on top of me. I panicked because I was still sitting on the ground and backed up a little. The vampire grinned as he slowly approached me. I looked at him and was more scared than I had ever been in my whole life. That's when I felt the stake. Not with my hands, but with my mind. I focused all the fear that I was feeling and used it to send the stake flying into the vampire's heart. I don't know who was more surprised, me or him.
I looked over just as I saw Dawn dust the last vampire. That's when I looked over as I watched him get out of the window. Martyr. Evil. He got to his feet and began to clap.
"Very impressive," he said. His voice was human, more human than most vampires. It was different than when we heard him screaming through the library. He spoke very deliberately. Like every word was written over a century ago.
I watched as the Gold Chick was getting ready to run towards him. "No!" I said as she stopped. "He's too powerful." She didn't argue with me but she didn't approach him either.
"So which one of you has my book," he asked. "Whoever speaks up first won't feel any pain when they die." The Gold Chick made a fist.
"Oh come on," Martyr said, "surely not all of you are stupid."
It came to me just like that. The second that I tried to think of a way out I just realized it. The window directly behind us belonged to a man that was out of town. If we broke into his apartment we would be safe. The vampire wouldn't be able to follow us.
I took off running. I knew I had to do this right. I neared the window and dove through it. I'm sure there was pain, but I couldn't feel it. When I got up I saw that Dawn and Aaron had figured out what I was planning and were on their way. Martyr also realized what our plan was but Gold Chick was on him. She tried to fight him but it was pointless. She tried to punch him with her right hand. He caught it. He tried to punch him with her left hand. He caught it. He pulled his head back and gave her a head butt.
"No!" I yelled as I went to the window after Dawn and Aaron had jumped in. Gold Chick was on the ground. Aaron and Dawn were at either side of me.
"You should have taken my offer when I gave it to you," he said to us as he walked towards Gold Chick. "Now I'll give you one last chance. If you give me the book I won't kill your friend." No one said anything. To prove he was serious he kicked Martyr hard in the gut. She went flying into the air. That's when I took control. I changed her trajectory into the most unnatural arc. She landed right outside the window and we pulled her in as Martyr yelled "NO!" By the time he got to the window it was too late and she was in.
"Leave Martyr," I said to him. I thought he would look surprised by me knowing his name. Instead he seemed to be impressed.
"A psychic," Martyr said. He gave me a grin which froze my spine. "Rest assured psychic, that you will die at the hands of the Order of Lorgun."
"You heard him," Gold Chick said as Dawn helped her to her feet, "Leave. Dawn will come soon."
"I didn't want it to have to be this way," Martyr said as he walked away, "But if this is the way you want it then so be it. It'll be more fun this way anyway."
"You're bleeding," Aaron said in a quiet voice after Martyr was out of sight. I hadn't noticed it but I was cut up by the window. My ear was the worst, but nothing looked like it needed stitches. We moved into the family room of the apartment. We were now faced with the awkwardness of what to say to Gold Chick.
"Thanks for saving us," Dawn said as she offered her a friendly smile.
"You're welcome," Gold Chick said. There was another awkward pause.
"How did you know to come?" Aaron said. "Any of the times? How did you know?"
Gold Chick just stared at Aaron. She obviously didn't want to answer the question and it didn't look like she had any plans to either.
"I'm a hero," she said. "I go where I'm needed. That's all I'm going to tell you."
She wasn't lying either. That was all she said to us. No one slept for the first few hours. Aaron was the first to fall asleep though, followed not too long afterwards by Dawn. The Gold Chick stayed a close distance to the window. She was going to stay on guard till the sun came up. I was lying down on the floor. I was determined to stay up all night. I wanted to see where she went. I felt a connection to her. It was like the same connection that I felt towards the others, but for some reasons it was almost like she belonged with us.
"What is your name?" I asked her. She didn't answer. "I'm Jordan." Silence. "Why don't you want to talk to us? What are you afraid of?" She still didn't answer. "You could fight with us? We could help a lot of people together." She still wasn't saying anything. I sighed and reached into Aaron's backpack and wrote down all of our names and phone numbers. I put the piece of paper down next to her. "Here our numbers." She still wasn't saying anything. "It would be nice if we had a way to get in contact with you. You know, in case we ever need your help."
"If you need me," Gold Chick said, "Then I will be there. Now you should go to sleep."
I gave up. I went over to the floor and tried to pretend that I was going to sleep. Of course by pretending I of course fell asleep. I knew that when we woke up that she wouldn't be there anymore.
I dreamt that night. In my dream we fought Martyr. All five of us were there against him, including Gold Chick. And I couldn't help but feel that I knew Gold Chick more than I realized that I did. I also knew that she knew me more than she would admit.
Disclaimer: Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss, not me.
Colleen The new slayer and Dawn's teammate
Jordan New kid in Sunnydale who receives The Visions
Dawn Buffy's little sister and now on the basketball team
Aaron Dawn's friend who works at the Magic Box
*****
My parents were going to name me Jordan whether I was a boy or a girl. I wish I could say that they liked the name because of a great writer or actor or even because of Michael Jordan. Or that maybe it was because of the river Jordan. But I think they just liked the way the name sounded. And plus they could use it whether I was a boy or a girl.
I remember the day that I realized that I was different. I was six. We were playing a game where my teacher would pick a number and we would take a guess and she would tell us if we need to guess higher or lower. Every single time I would guess the right number on the first time. No one else could, and I couldn't understand why. I couldn't understand how they couldn't just know like I did. I always just sort of thought that everyone could do it.
I remember the way that all the kids looked at me like I was weird. I think most of them were just mad that they weren't getting a chance to guess. I'll never forget the way that my teacher looked at me. It wasn't awe, and it wasn't even that she was disgusted. It was fear. I don't think she understood. And I'll also never forget the thing she said that she never really said. "Freak."
Ever since then I haven't exactly been eager to do make anyone else think that I was a freak. And I did a really good job about it. Even when I would know every answer when I was taking a test I would still try to answer just based off of what I thought the answer was. Sometimes I would even try to miss answers on purpose.
The thing I was most afraid of is one day someone would notice the way things just seemed to happen around me. Like when I would lay and bed and remember that I forgot to shut the door and then suddenly the door would slam shut. Or the way that sometimes things would just fall or move when I was nearby. I knew that if anyone ever saw any of this stuff they wouldn't be able to understand. If I couldn't understand then how were they suppose to understand?
These things were all easy to ignore. Until I moved to Sunnydale that is. Until I was chosen by The Powers That Be to be their "avatar." Until I was chosen to receive The Visions. Now I can't really ignore any of this though. I can't pretend that I'm normal. But you know what? This has been the greatest experience that of my life. I love being able to be who I really am. I love not having to hide anymore. And I love that I know have friends who will accept it.
And friends who will cover for me when I look like a mental patient while receiving a vision.
"Is he having a seizure?" a girl asked when she noticed the way that I seemed to be freaking out.
"No," Aaron said, "He's just kidding around."
"Are you sure?" she asked again. I'm sure she was staring at me but I couldn't see her.
"Yeah," Aaron lied, "He does this all the time." That wasn't really a lie I guess.
"What do you see?" Dawn whispered to me.
There were vampires. There were almost always vampires. They were at a library. They were looking for a book. The Omicron. There was something going on though. The vampire, one in particular. I could feel his name. Martyr. He was powerful. I could feel his power. I could be his evil.
"Jordan, are you alright?" Dawn asked me. There was concern in her eyes. "You're pale."
"I'm fine," I said, although I wasn't sure if that was true or not. "Where's Colleen."
"Aaron's getting her," Dawn told me. This was horrible. I knew how happy Colleen was right now. I could feel how good it made her feel to be with Mike. I wish that I had the power to do this on my own.
Wait.
Why couldn't I do this on my own? I knew that they wouldn't be going for that book till well past midnight. We had a lot of time. All I needed to do was just get that book. Aaron, Dawn, and I could handle that. I was certain.
"What's going on?" Colleen asked. I could tell that she was worried but I could also tell that she was very disappointed about ending her date early.
"There's trouble," I told Colleen. I took a deep breath. I had never been a good liar, but I needed to be right now. "But not till tomorrow."
I could see Colleen shift a little. I could feel the relief, but still there was concern. "Not till tomorrow? But why would you get it tonight?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but I know that we don't need to worry about it till tomorrow. All we need to do is just get a book."
I could feel suspicion in Aaron. I could feel Dawn's curiosity. I could always tell that Colleen believed me.
"Just a book," Colleen repeated. "We just need to get a book tomorrow?"
"Yeah," I lied again.
"Do you think we should go tonight?" Dawn asked.
I shook my head. "No. We could go do some research though. We could go back to the Magic Box."
Aaron knew that I was keeping something from Colleen. "Yeah that sounds like a good plan. We'll go back to the Magic Box. You can take the night off."
Colleen was trying her hardest not to look too happy. Mike was getting closer, and I could feel that he didn't want tonight to end so soon either.
"Are you guys sure?" Colleen asked.
"Yeah we're sure," I answered for everyone.
"Well call my cell phone if you even think that you might need me," Colleen said just as Mike got to the table.
"What's going on?" he asked Colleen.
"Nothing," Dawn answered for her. "We were just telling her we were leaving."
*****
"Jordan!" Aaron said, "I can't believe you would be this stupid. We have to go back and get her."
Maybe telling them the truth wasn't the best plan I ever had. Especially because Aaron was mad at me. Ever since I moved here Aaron was the first person who made an effort to be my friend. Maybe it was predetermined that I was suppose to be here to help Colleen with her slaying duties, but I was glad that I had Aaron here to be my friend.
"I think we can handle this," Dawn said. There was something about Dawn that I couldn't figure out. I remember the first time I saw her and the only thing that I could see was green energy. I didn't know if I should ask her about that or not. Regardless of the green thing, Dawn was still amazing. She had been through so much in her life and yet she was still so strong. And plus she just stuck up for me.
"All we need to do is find this library, grab the book, and get out," I reassured Aaron. "We have hours to do that too."
"Fine," Aaron said, "We can go and do research and see if we can find the book. But if we don't know where it's at in an hour we are going back and getting Colleen."
"Can't you just like," Dawn tried to think of how she wanted to ask her question, "psychically home in on the book?"
"I don't know," I admitted. I really wasn't sure what I could or couldn't do with my powers. "I don't think I can, but maybe I could try."
*****
"We have ten minutes to figure this out before I call Colleen," Aaron said.
"Are you sure it was the Omicron?" Dawn asked me.
I nodded my head. "Positive."
"Maybe it has another name," Aaron suggested.
I was starting to get frustrated. I was so certain that we could figure this out. I didn't want to ruin Colleen's night, especially after she called us to check in and told us that she was allowed to stay out till 1:00 since Mike's dad told Colleen's dad that he would give her a ride home. I felt so stupid because I couldn't figure this out. I knew that the answer was here somewhere, but I had the feeling that we wouldn't figure it out until time just fizzled out for us. Every second that ticked by was just cutting away at the barrier that was holding back my anger. Finally, with a minute left, I slammed my fist on the table so hard that it scared Aaron and Dawn who were reading their books. At the same time, a book in the middle of the table flew upon and rifled through to a page.
"OK," Aaron said, "That was weird." I agreed.
"Hey!" Dawn said as she looked at what page was open. "This is what we need."
"Wow," Aaron said, "Good thing for your psychic powers."
I nodded. My powers did seem to flare when I lost it. Aaron and I moved closer to Dawn and tried to read over her shoulder. As I read it was like walls in my brain were coming down and I could finally see where the book was.
"Well that was helpful," Aaron said. "And by helpful I mean not helpful in the slightest."
"Fine," Dawn said, "I'll call Colleen."
"No need," I told them. "I know where it's at."
*****
It took us 45 minutes to get to the library two towns over. We took the bus which was fortunately still running. Aaron had to check the internet to see how to get to where I know the book was. While he was on the internet, he did a search for Omicron and the first page that came up was the library that we were going too. I think Aaron is going to feel stupid for a week.
"It's locked," Dawn said as she pulled on the door of the library. The look Aaron gave her screamed duh. He didn't say anything though. He turned to me.
"Any ideas?" he asked. "You know, any intuition?"
"Ummm," I said trying to figure that out. "I don't know. I can try." I tried to relax and just let my mind go. It felt like my being stretched beyond just my body and expanded till it included the library. "Around back," I said opening my eyes, "There's a door that doesn't lock."
Sure enough when we got to the back of the library there was a door that didn't lock right. That doesn't mean that it didn't lock, but it just didn't lock right.
Aaron cracked his knuckles and walked up to the door. "Well I guess it's my time to shine." He reached into his cargo pocket and pulled out a small case. Opening it up, we saw that they were lock picks.
"Lock picks?" Dawn questioned. "Since when do you pick locks?"
"Since never," Aaron admitted. "But ever since our lives started taking place in a comic book I've been trying to read up on things on the internet. Luckily lock picking was one of them." It took Aaron three minutes but he did get the door unlocked.
"I'm impressed," Dawn said.
"As you should be," Aaron laughed.
We entered the library through the basement and made our way up to the ground floor. The others weren't expecting the library to be this big, but I had seen it before hand.
"I hope we didn't set off any alarms," Dawn said. I hadn't thought of that.
"Well if we did I guess we're just going to have to find out the hard way," Aaron said as we walked around taking in the library.
"I don't think we did," I suggested. "I think if we would have we would have known."
"Here's the card catalogue," Dawn said walking over to a set of computers. She looked at the blank monitors and around the desk. "I'm not sure how to turn them on."
"Don't bother," I told her. "I know where it's at."
I lead us to a back room on the third floor of the massive library. The Omicron was in there. It had just been purchased from a book dealer in London. It wouldn't have been in the card catalogue anyway. The owner of the library was planning on keeping it for his personal collection.
"Mission accomplished," Aaron said as he grabbed the book and put it in his backpack.
"I can't believe that it was this easy," Dawn said. That's when we heard the main back door of the library smash open, followed by several footsteps coming into the library.
"You just had to say it," Aaron said. "You just weren't going to be happy until you jinxed us."
"Quiet!" Dawn said in a commanding whisper. "We have to find somewhere to hide. That somewhere ended up being in a women's bathroom on the other side of the third floor.
"Jordan," Aaron asked me, "Can you get any insight."
"I'll try," I said as I closed my eyes. I already know that Martyr was here. I felt him the instant he entered the building. I didn't know that he brought with him six other vampires. "There's seven," I said, "But one of them is powerful enough that he should count for a dozen vampires."
"Well that's just great," Aaron said as he unzipped his backpack and took out the weapons that we brought. We each had a cross and a stake. Dawn had some Holy water too.
"Maybe we should just destroy this book?" Aaron suggested.
I shook my head. "No," I said, "I'm certain we shouldn't do that."
My last words couldn't really be heard though because that's when we heard his voice echoing throughout the entire library.
"I don't care how long it takes! I! Want! That! BOOK!" It was Martyr's voice. I knew it.
"Window," Dawn said as she noticed the window. "Look, you can see the rough right under it. We can get out of here."
We tried to get to the window as quickly and quietly as we could. It wasn't helping that we could hear the footsteps of a half dozen vampires who were searching the library looking for us. It was especially not helping when I started thinking about how good vampire hearing was. Aaron pried that window open and helped Dawn out.
"You next," Aaron said to me.
"You have the book," I told him, "You go."
Aaron shrugged and hurried out the window. I was half a step behind him. I was almost completely out when I felt a hand on my ankle.
"What do we have here?" the Vampire asked.
"Jordan!" Dawn said as she undid the cork on her bottle of Holy water. She leaned almost into the window and dumped it onto the vampires face. He screamed for a moment before he exploded into dust. Aaron grabbed me and helped pull me the rest of the way onto the roof. We ran for our lives. I could hear the other vampire in the bathroom calling for the others. We had a good head start but there was no where to go.
"What are we going to do?" I said. I was starting to panic.
"Well first we don't die," Aaron said.
"I guess it would be kind of pointless to call Colleen now," Dawn pointed out.
"Less pointing out the obvious, more running for our lives," Aaron said as we continued running.
"Oh Shit!" Dawn said as we realized we were trap. In front of us there was an apartment building that was attached to the library. On all other sides there was nothing but the open roof of the library.
"And here comes the company," Aaron said as he point out the two vamps that were running for us. I could already see another one coming out of the window.
Dawn grabbed the cross that she wore around her neck and put it in the palm of her hand. She ran towards the closest vampire and hoped that he didn't see it. When she was in range, she pushed her hand out and forced the cross into his flesh. His momentum wouldn't let him stop and all he could do was scream in pain. Feeling Dawn's plan before hand, I ran up in time to shove my stake into his chest before he could recover.
Aaron ran towards the second vampire. His plan though was to dive and try to roll and take out the vampire's leg. It didn't work. The vampire slowed down and kicked Aaron hard in the gut, sending him up and then back down. I ran at her and managed to catch her by surprise and knock her down. I tried to get my stake but she kicked me off of her and sent me flying back too. I landed on my back with my stake far in front of me. I was dazed but I managed to see Aaron run up and stake her before she could get back up. He didn't have time to feel proud of himself, because that's when the other 3 vampires were on their way. We were lucky in the first round, but we weren't going to be able to take on three vampires.
I sensed her a moment before she got there. She moved like liquid metal. Liquid gold. It was the Gold Chick. She kicked one vamp hard and sent him flying. She took the other two vamps on and fought the best she could. She was strong, maybe even stronger than Colleen, but she couldn't fight. She managed to knock the vampires down, and Aaron and Dawn tried staking them each time they fell.
I tried to go over there and help them out. I reached for the stake that was right within my grasp but as I was about to grab it I saw it get kicked away from me. One of the vampires was right on top of me. I panicked because I was still sitting on the ground and backed up a little. The vampire grinned as he slowly approached me. I looked at him and was more scared than I had ever been in my whole life. That's when I felt the stake. Not with my hands, but with my mind. I focused all the fear that I was feeling and used it to send the stake flying into the vampire's heart. I don't know who was more surprised, me or him.
I looked over just as I saw Dawn dust the last vampire. That's when I looked over as I watched him get out of the window. Martyr. Evil. He got to his feet and began to clap.
"Very impressive," he said. His voice was human, more human than most vampires. It was different than when we heard him screaming through the library. He spoke very deliberately. Like every word was written over a century ago.
I watched as the Gold Chick was getting ready to run towards him. "No!" I said as she stopped. "He's too powerful." She didn't argue with me but she didn't approach him either.
"So which one of you has my book," he asked. "Whoever speaks up first won't feel any pain when they die." The Gold Chick made a fist.
"Oh come on," Martyr said, "surely not all of you are stupid."
It came to me just like that. The second that I tried to think of a way out I just realized it. The window directly behind us belonged to a man that was out of town. If we broke into his apartment we would be safe. The vampire wouldn't be able to follow us.
I took off running. I knew I had to do this right. I neared the window and dove through it. I'm sure there was pain, but I couldn't feel it. When I got up I saw that Dawn and Aaron had figured out what I was planning and were on their way. Martyr also realized what our plan was but Gold Chick was on him. She tried to fight him but it was pointless. She tried to punch him with her right hand. He caught it. He tried to punch him with her left hand. He caught it. He pulled his head back and gave her a head butt.
"No!" I yelled as I went to the window after Dawn and Aaron had jumped in. Gold Chick was on the ground. Aaron and Dawn were at either side of me.
"You should have taken my offer when I gave it to you," he said to us as he walked towards Gold Chick. "Now I'll give you one last chance. If you give me the book I won't kill your friend." No one said anything. To prove he was serious he kicked Martyr hard in the gut. She went flying into the air. That's when I took control. I changed her trajectory into the most unnatural arc. She landed right outside the window and we pulled her in as Martyr yelled "NO!" By the time he got to the window it was too late and she was in.
"Leave Martyr," I said to him. I thought he would look surprised by me knowing his name. Instead he seemed to be impressed.
"A psychic," Martyr said. He gave me a grin which froze my spine. "Rest assured psychic, that you will die at the hands of the Order of Lorgun."
"You heard him," Gold Chick said as Dawn helped her to her feet, "Leave. Dawn will come soon."
"I didn't want it to have to be this way," Martyr said as he walked away, "But if this is the way you want it then so be it. It'll be more fun this way anyway."
"You're bleeding," Aaron said in a quiet voice after Martyr was out of sight. I hadn't noticed it but I was cut up by the window. My ear was the worst, but nothing looked like it needed stitches. We moved into the family room of the apartment. We were now faced with the awkwardness of what to say to Gold Chick.
"Thanks for saving us," Dawn said as she offered her a friendly smile.
"You're welcome," Gold Chick said. There was another awkward pause.
"How did you know to come?" Aaron said. "Any of the times? How did you know?"
Gold Chick just stared at Aaron. She obviously didn't want to answer the question and it didn't look like she had any plans to either.
"I'm a hero," she said. "I go where I'm needed. That's all I'm going to tell you."
She wasn't lying either. That was all she said to us. No one slept for the first few hours. Aaron was the first to fall asleep though, followed not too long afterwards by Dawn. The Gold Chick stayed a close distance to the window. She was going to stay on guard till the sun came up. I was lying down on the floor. I was determined to stay up all night. I wanted to see where she went. I felt a connection to her. It was like the same connection that I felt towards the others, but for some reasons it was almost like she belonged with us.
"What is your name?" I asked her. She didn't answer. "I'm Jordan." Silence. "Why don't you want to talk to us? What are you afraid of?" She still didn't answer. "You could fight with us? We could help a lot of people together." She still wasn't saying anything. I sighed and reached into Aaron's backpack and wrote down all of our names and phone numbers. I put the piece of paper down next to her. "Here our numbers." She still wasn't saying anything. "It would be nice if we had a way to get in contact with you. You know, in case we ever need your help."
"If you need me," Gold Chick said, "Then I will be there. Now you should go to sleep."
I gave up. I went over to the floor and tried to pretend that I was going to sleep. Of course by pretending I of course fell asleep. I knew that when we woke up that she wouldn't be there anymore.
I dreamt that night. In my dream we fought Martyr. All five of us were there against him, including Gold Chick. And I couldn't help but feel that I knew Gold Chick more than I realized that I did. I also knew that she knew me more than she would admit.