Disclaimer: Any character that you've seen on the show is owned by Joss,
not me.
Colleen: The new slayer
Jordan: Psychic and receives The Visions
Dawn: Buffy's little sister and The Key
Aaron: Dawn's friend who works at the Magic Box
*****
"One more week," Dawn said as her and Aaron walked together on their way to school.
"Are you talking about days till Christmas break or days till the end of the world?" Aaron said back with a smile.
Dawn thought for a moment. "I guess both but I meant the end of the world."
"You have to try to focus on the positive," Aaron said back. "Sure there is a possibility that the world is going to end in seven days. But at the same time, Christmas break starts."
Dawn laughed. "So where have you been keeping the Omicron?"
Aaron patted his backpack. "I've been keeping it with me twenty-four hours a day."
"Are you sure that's safe?" Dawn asked him. "I mean if you just left it at your place then the vampires wouldn't be able to get in and steal it?"
"Yeah but what if they get like demons or something to come for it?" Aaron asked back. "I think it's better that I just have it with me at all times, you know? Like if someone came after it I would be able to fight them off with my amazing wit."
"Oh God," Dawn said with another laugh, "Here comes another worthless speech."
"Am I that predictable?" Aaron said with a smile.
*****
"So have you trained with Spike at all lately?" Dawn asked Colleen as she served the Ping-Pong ball.
"A couple times," Colleen said, returning the ball. "They were all random though. Like I'll be out patrolling and he'll just happen to see me and come along. He gives me some pointers and stuff."
"That's good," Dawn said as Colleen hit the ball so hard that it broke on the table. "Hey! No slayer strength. That's cheating."
Colleen laughed as Dawn got another ball. "I think he's going to leave Sunnydale," Colleen told Dawn.
Dawn nodded. She looked kind of sad. "Yeah he told me about it last time I talked to him."
"He said something about L.A." Colleen said.
"Yeah," Dawn told her. "He knows some people out there. Demon fighters."
"I win," Colleen said as she scored her last point.
"By cheating," Dawn said.
"I didn't cheat," Colleen started, but then added "Much. I'm sorry; I can't help it some times."
"It's OK," Dawn said as she looked around the gym. "Hey look. Mike is looking for a partner. Why don't you go play against him?"
"Are you sure," Colleen said looking excited. "I mean, can you find another partner?"
"Yeah," Dawn reassured her. "Go ahead. I'll find someone who won't cheat."
Dawn watched has Colleen walked over towards Mike. Mike smiled at Colleen and they started talking. It made Dawn happy to see her friend that happy. She now had the daunting task of finding a new Ping-Pong partner. She looked around the gym and everyone was already paired up. The only person who didn't have a partner was Holly Nils, who sat on the bleachers reading a book. Dawn, being the people person that she was, decided to walk right over and ask her if she wanted to play.
"Hey," Dawn said trying to give her most inviting smile. "Do you want to play me in Ping-Pong? My partner just left me because I was doing so badly."
Dawn really hadn't ever spoken to Holly since she moved to Sunnydale. She was a very quiet girl. She wore black almost ever single day. Her hair was very pale blonde and when she would walk in the halls she would look at the ground.
"No thanks," she said quietly. "But thank you very much for the offer. I'm not good at Ping-Pong anyway."
"No one is very good at Ping-Pong," Dawn said. Holly smiled a little. "Come on, please play? There isn't anyone else I can play with."
Holly sighed and set down her book. "OK," she said. "But I'm telling you I'm really not good."
Dawn took Holly over to her table and gave her a paddle. Holly was better than she said she was. Dawn at first tried to go easy on her but before long she found herself having to go all out to keep up with her. At first they weren't really talking, but before long they were having a conversation.
"So are her and Mike like," Holly thought for a moment, "Together?" Dawn had just been talking about Colleen and how she had gone over to play with Mike.
"I'm not sure," Dawn said. "They've gone out on dates together, but they aren't like boyfriend and girlfriend. They definitely like each other though." Dawn wasn't positive, but it looked like Holly might have been a little hurt. Of course, Dawn really didn't know Holly that well so she could have been wrong. Just then, Holly's eyes seemed to go somewhere else and she touched her head.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked.
"It's nothing," Holly said as she set down her paddle. "It's just a headache. Hey the bell's about to ring." Holly started walking towards the locker room quickly. "Good game," she called back as she entered the locker room.
"Yeah," Dawn said. She couldn't figure it out but she knew that something was going on.
*****
"Why are you still reading that thing?" Jordan asked Aaron. "I thought you got all the information out of it that you needed?"
Aaron looked up from the Omicron. "Yeah but I'm just trying to make sure that I didn't miss anything, you know. Like I don't want the world to end because I didn't do enough research. And besides, this stuff is actually pretty interesting."
"Have you ever tried to do any magick?" Jordan asked. "Like when you were bored at work or anything?"
"A couple times," Aaron said, "But never any serious spells or anything. Just like magickal artifacts that are lying around."
"Maybe you should practice sometime," Jordan said. "In case you ever need to do that spell to stop the Hellmouth from opening?"
"I've read up on a lot of this stuff though," Aaron said. "I think that I can handle it."
"Well if you say so," Jordan said but then stopped when he was suddenly hit with a vision. "Vision," he said quickly. That's when he saw Martyr with some vampires. There was also a demon with them that Jordan couldn't place. He didn't get any information about them. They were coming up through tunnels. From the tunnels they entered a basement, and from the basement they went into-"
"What is it?" Aaron said reading the concerned look on Jordan's face.
"Trouble," Jordan said. He was getting pale. "Big trouble."
"What?" Aaron asked, getting impatient.
"Martyr," Jordan said. "He's coming for the book again."
"So what else is new?" Aaron tried to joke.
Jordan shook his head. "He's coming to the school." Aaron's eyes were wide with horror. "And they are coming now."
*****
"I really don't know what's going on between us," Colleen told Dawn as they walked from the gym to their lockers. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that he likes me."
"And it's completely obvious that you like him," Dawn said.
Colleen blushed. "I hope it's that obvious to him too."
"It's obvious to a blind person," Dawn said.
Colleen laughed. "Would it be wrong if I asked Jordan to try to read him for me? You know, just to see if he does like me."
"Probably," Dawn said, "But you could ask him yourself." Dawn pointed down the hall to where Aaron and Jordan were walking towards them. It took them a while to realize the importance that they walked with, and they didn't notice the looks on their faces till they were right in front of them.
"What's going on?" Colleen asked. "Vision?"
Jordan nodded. "Yeah, and at the last possible moment. Right now Martyr is making his way through some tunnels into the basement of the school. They're coming for the Omicron."
"Oh my God," Colleen said. "Aaron, where's the book? Is it at your house."
Aaron looked a little guilty. "In a way yes. But in a more honest way, it's in my backpack."
"Oh this is so not good," Colleen said. "We need a plan."
"I'll go hide with the book," Aaron suggested. "Wait, did that sound why to cowardly?"
"No that's a good plan," Colleen said. "I'll go see if I can find them. I have some stakes in my locker. Jordan, you come with me. Dawn, you go with Aaron."
"Come on," Dawn said as she grabbed Aaron by the arm. "I know the perfect place."
*****
"You wouldn't happen to have a sword or anything in here?" Jordan asked Colleen as she entered the combination into her locked. The bell was about to ring and all of the students in the hall were getting ready to go to their classes.
"No," Colleen said as she grabbed a couple stakes out of her locker. She handed a stake to Jordan as she put one in her bag. "Why?"
"There was a demon with Martyr," Jordan said. "I just thought it might be easier to kill it if we had a sword or something."
"Demon?" Colleen asked as she grabbed one last stake and a cross out of her locker. "Did it look powerful?"
"Not really," Jordan said as he took the cross from Colleen, "but I'm not sure."
"Well," Colleen said, "A stake to the heart will kill most things."
"You have a point," Jordan agreed. The bell rang and they looked around. They were the only two who were still in the halls.
"So where should we go?" Colleen asked.
"Downstairs," Jordan said.
Colleen nodded. "Let's go."
*****
"How did you know about this place?" Aaron asked Dawn as they went through a door in the back of a maintenance closest into a secret corridor.
"I live with the guy who built the school," Dawn said.
"Of course," Aaron said as they walked down the dimly lit corridor. "You realize this is very creepy. Why would they have this?"
Dawn shrugged. "It connects with a couple other maintenance closets. And there is a supply room back here. Plus we can get down into the basement. I guess it's just so the maintenance people can do their job better or something."
"Still creepy," Aaron said as they got to a door.
"I don't think that they use it yet," Dawn said. The new school was still not 100% complete. Dawn turned the knob of the door but it was locked. "Great."
"Don't worry," Aaron said as he reached into his backpack and got out his lock picks. "I'm always sure to bring these with me know." Aaron got on his knee and went to work on the lock. He had the door open in a minute.
"You're getting better at this," Dawn said as they entered the room and turned on the lights."
"Well I try," Aaron said as he shut the door.
*****
"Over there," Jordan said as he pointed at a door which led into the basement of the school. Colleen and Jordan watched as the knob of the handle turned. Colleen got the sensation she always got when there was a vampire nearby. She waited until the door was being opened and then ran and delivered a hard dropkick to the door. Both Jordan and Colleen could hear the vampire fly back and flip over the landing behind the door.
"Let's go," Colleen said to Jordan as she opened the door and ran in with Jordan right behind her. They looked down they stepped onto the landing and took stock of the situation. There were ten vampires, including Martyr. There was also strange demon that Colleen had no clue what to make of. It was almost human, except that it had a pale yellow skin tone and it was bald. It wore robes, but from what Colleen could tell it didn't look very muscular.
A vampire ran up the stairs towards Colleen and Jordan. Jordan handed Colleen his cross and she stuck it in the vampire's face, holding him at bay. Martyr, as always, looked completely human. His demeanor was cool and he almost seemed happy.
"Why are you here Martyr?" Colleen asked, although she never took her eyes off the vampire in front of her.
"Why am I ever at odds with you slayer?" Martyr shot back.
"You're not getting the book," Colleen said. "And I'm not sure if you realized this or not but it's daylight. I mean, if you really want to get dusted that bad than be my guest, but my suggestion would be for you to just turn around and come back from where you came.
Martyr smiled a little more. "Really?" he asked. "Is that so?" He turned towards the demon and nodded at him. Before Colleen or Jordan could react the door they were standing by opened and they were flung through it and into the hall. They hit the wall hard. Colleen got to her feet and stood in front of Jordan. She quickly realized that she and Jordan were surrounded by the pack of vampires. They were in the middle of a semicircle. Standing right in front of her was Martyr looking even smugger than usually. Right by him was the demon that she guessed pushed them through the door.
"The boy," the demon said. "The one named Aaron. He has the book."
Colleen was shocked. Martyr laughed.
"Don't know your demons slayer?" Martyr asked. "I thought that the council would have drilled you with that kind of knowledge. Just another sign of the continual digression of the education system. This is a Gelaro demon. The purebred version of your mutt of a psychic."
"He has a lot of potential," the Gelaro demon said while looking at Jordan. The two stared at each other. Colleen could tell that there was something going on between them that she couldn't quite sense. The silence continued for another ten seconds before Jordan's nose began to bleed and he fell to his knees. The demon laughed. "Potential isn't everything though. He doesn't know where the book is definitely though. It will only take a few moments for me to sense the boy."
The demon never got a chance to find the book. Right as he got done speaking the Gold Chick appeared from behind him. She quickly grabbed him by the head and twisted so hard that his neck snapped. That's when Colleen and the Gold Chick went to work on the vampires. Between the two of them ten vampires was nothing. Within ten minutes they had most of the vampires dusted. Colleen was grateful that they were fighting in a part of the school that there weren't any classes. She was just starting to get into the fight when she heard a scream.
"Stop right where you are slayer," Martyr said. Colleen turned around to face him. He had Gold Chick by the head, just as she had the Gelaro demon. "Make one move and I'll snap her neck just like she did to the Gelaro."
Colleen didn't know anything about Gold Chick. Sure she had helped them a couple times, but she was never forthcoming about information about herself. She told Jordan that she would just hurt us. Was this what she was talking about? What if she had been working with Martyr the entire time? Why hadn't she had paid closer attention to her during the fight? Was this all just a scheme to get the book? Colleen flashed a look at Jordan. He was still squatting. The Gelaro must have hurt him with whatever he did. The front of his shirt was drenched with blood. But Jordan expression was a mix of emotions. His faced was etched with both concern and rage.
"Now I'll make this very simple for you slayer," He said while still holding Gold Chick by the head. "You give me the book and she lives. If you don't..." He increased the strength by which he was holding Gold Chick. At first she tried to mask the pain it caused her but when the blood began to flow from beneath Martyr's fingers she let out a scream.
"Don't do it!" Gold Chick screamed. "You can't! You can't let him-" Martyr cut her off by moving his hand to cover her mouth. Blood was now covering the side of her face.
"What's your decision slayer?"
*****
"Well this is boring," Aaron said as he and Dawn sat in the empty room watching the clock on the wall count the seconds go by. The room was dim and made Aaron feel slightly uncomfortable. "Terrifying, but still boring."
"Where's that tennis ball when you need it?" Dawn asked. Aaron chuckled a little. It was a nervous chuckle that was meant to just forget about the danger that they were in.
Out of nowhere Aaron put his face in his hands. He looked back up at Dawn and he looked at her through very dazed eyes. Dawn noticed that there was a tear that was going down his eye. He stood up and it was obvious that he was suddenly very dizzy.
"What's wrong?" Dawn said as she rushed over to him and helped him stand. "What's going on?"
"It's Jordan," Aaron said. He blinked a couple times and rubbed his head. "Jordan wants us to go down there with the book. We have to go downstairs." Aaron tried to walk but he was still disoriented.
"What?" Dawn said skeptically. "Are you sure? Did he like, talk in you brain?"
"No," Aaron said. He was starting to fully recover. "It was more like he just shoved a bunch of feelings in my mind. It was kind of jumbled but I'm positive he wants us to go down there with the book."
Dawn was fairly certain that there was something that Aaron wasn't telling her. "What else?" she asked.
"I don't know," Aaron said. "All I know is that he is panicked."
*****
"What is your answer Slayer," Martyr said. "Time is running out."
Colleen began to speak but Jordan interrupted her. "They are coming with the book," he said. Colleen flashed him a surprised book.
"Well at least one of you has some common sense," Martyr said.
Colleen was furious. She was hoping that Jordan had some kind of plan. She hoped that maybe he had gained some kind of insight and that he had thought out a plan. Somehow though, she knew that this wasn't the case.
Aaron and Dawn appeared a few minutes later. They walked through the wall made up of the three remaining vampire and stood by Colleen and Jordan.
"Give me the book," Martyr said to Aaron. Jordan could sense the incredible fear surging through Aaron.
"Let her go first," Colleen said. She was trying to regain control of the situation since Jordan acted without her consent.
"You're not in a bargaining position," Martyr reminded her.
"Here," Dawn said as she took the book from Aaron. She set in on the ground in between Colleen and Martyr.
"Please don't," Gold Chick said quietly.
"Now let her go," Colleen said. She looked at Gold Chick. She stared into her eye and tried to read any sign of betrayal. Unless she was the world's greatest actress, Colleen was fairly certain that the only thing that Gold Chick was feeling right now was that she had just cost them the world.
Martyr very slowly let go of Gold Chick and then pushed her into Colleen. Jordan began to float the book towards him but a vampire suddenly ran over and grabbed the book and made his way to the door.
"No!" Jordan screamed as he tripped the vampire with his mind. Martyr grabbed the book from the vampire and fled through the basement door. Colleen tried to run after him but she was stopped by two of the vampires. She fought them off while Gold Chick tried to go to the door but was interrupted by the third vampire. By the time that they had all three vampires dusted and got into the basement Martyr was gone.
"What did you do that?" Gold Chick said. She was obviously very mad. "You should have let him kill me."
"We couldn't do that," Colleen said although she wasn't entirely sure that was true now.
"I'm going after him," Gold Chick said as she ran into the basement.
"It's pointless," Jordan told her. "He's too far gone."
"Well I don't have a choice now," Gold Chick said. "Now I have to get that book back."
However she didn't go into the basement. Instead she ran off in the opposite direction down the hall and disappeared into a stairwell. Dawn followed as quickly as she could but by the time she got to the stairwell Gold Chick was gone. She jogged back towards the others shaking her head.
"She's gone," Dawn told them.
"This is all my fault," Jordan said. "I thought I could float the book away. I'm sorry. I really thought I could do it. I blew it you guys."
"Well," Aaron said while unzipping it. "It wasn't a total loss."
"What do you mean?" Colleen asked. "How are we going to do the spell without the book? Did you write down the ceremony?"
"Well not exactly," Aaron admitted while he grabbed a couple pages out of his backpack. "But I did manage to rip out a bunch of pages." Aaron waved the pages from the Omicron in front of his friends.
Colleen: The new slayer
Jordan: Psychic and receives The Visions
Dawn: Buffy's little sister and The Key
Aaron: Dawn's friend who works at the Magic Box
*****
"One more week," Dawn said as her and Aaron walked together on their way to school.
"Are you talking about days till Christmas break or days till the end of the world?" Aaron said back with a smile.
Dawn thought for a moment. "I guess both but I meant the end of the world."
"You have to try to focus on the positive," Aaron said back. "Sure there is a possibility that the world is going to end in seven days. But at the same time, Christmas break starts."
Dawn laughed. "So where have you been keeping the Omicron?"
Aaron patted his backpack. "I've been keeping it with me twenty-four hours a day."
"Are you sure that's safe?" Dawn asked him. "I mean if you just left it at your place then the vampires wouldn't be able to get in and steal it?"
"Yeah but what if they get like demons or something to come for it?" Aaron asked back. "I think it's better that I just have it with me at all times, you know? Like if someone came after it I would be able to fight them off with my amazing wit."
"Oh God," Dawn said with another laugh, "Here comes another worthless speech."
"Am I that predictable?" Aaron said with a smile.
*****
"So have you trained with Spike at all lately?" Dawn asked Colleen as she served the Ping-Pong ball.
"A couple times," Colleen said, returning the ball. "They were all random though. Like I'll be out patrolling and he'll just happen to see me and come along. He gives me some pointers and stuff."
"That's good," Dawn said as Colleen hit the ball so hard that it broke on the table. "Hey! No slayer strength. That's cheating."
Colleen laughed as Dawn got another ball. "I think he's going to leave Sunnydale," Colleen told Dawn.
Dawn nodded. She looked kind of sad. "Yeah he told me about it last time I talked to him."
"He said something about L.A." Colleen said.
"Yeah," Dawn told her. "He knows some people out there. Demon fighters."
"I win," Colleen said as she scored her last point.
"By cheating," Dawn said.
"I didn't cheat," Colleen started, but then added "Much. I'm sorry; I can't help it some times."
"It's OK," Dawn said as she looked around the gym. "Hey look. Mike is looking for a partner. Why don't you go play against him?"
"Are you sure," Colleen said looking excited. "I mean, can you find another partner?"
"Yeah," Dawn reassured her. "Go ahead. I'll find someone who won't cheat."
Dawn watched has Colleen walked over towards Mike. Mike smiled at Colleen and they started talking. It made Dawn happy to see her friend that happy. She now had the daunting task of finding a new Ping-Pong partner. She looked around the gym and everyone was already paired up. The only person who didn't have a partner was Holly Nils, who sat on the bleachers reading a book. Dawn, being the people person that she was, decided to walk right over and ask her if she wanted to play.
"Hey," Dawn said trying to give her most inviting smile. "Do you want to play me in Ping-Pong? My partner just left me because I was doing so badly."
Dawn really hadn't ever spoken to Holly since she moved to Sunnydale. She was a very quiet girl. She wore black almost ever single day. Her hair was very pale blonde and when she would walk in the halls she would look at the ground.
"No thanks," she said quietly. "But thank you very much for the offer. I'm not good at Ping-Pong anyway."
"No one is very good at Ping-Pong," Dawn said. Holly smiled a little. "Come on, please play? There isn't anyone else I can play with."
Holly sighed and set down her book. "OK," she said. "But I'm telling you I'm really not good."
Dawn took Holly over to her table and gave her a paddle. Holly was better than she said she was. Dawn at first tried to go easy on her but before long she found herself having to go all out to keep up with her. At first they weren't really talking, but before long they were having a conversation.
"So are her and Mike like," Holly thought for a moment, "Together?" Dawn had just been talking about Colleen and how she had gone over to play with Mike.
"I'm not sure," Dawn said. "They've gone out on dates together, but they aren't like boyfriend and girlfriend. They definitely like each other though." Dawn wasn't positive, but it looked like Holly might have been a little hurt. Of course, Dawn really didn't know Holly that well so she could have been wrong. Just then, Holly's eyes seemed to go somewhere else and she touched her head.
"What's wrong?" Dawn asked.
"It's nothing," Holly said as she set down her paddle. "It's just a headache. Hey the bell's about to ring." Holly started walking towards the locker room quickly. "Good game," she called back as she entered the locker room.
"Yeah," Dawn said. She couldn't figure it out but she knew that something was going on.
*****
"Why are you still reading that thing?" Jordan asked Aaron. "I thought you got all the information out of it that you needed?"
Aaron looked up from the Omicron. "Yeah but I'm just trying to make sure that I didn't miss anything, you know. Like I don't want the world to end because I didn't do enough research. And besides, this stuff is actually pretty interesting."
"Have you ever tried to do any magick?" Jordan asked. "Like when you were bored at work or anything?"
"A couple times," Aaron said, "But never any serious spells or anything. Just like magickal artifacts that are lying around."
"Maybe you should practice sometime," Jordan said. "In case you ever need to do that spell to stop the Hellmouth from opening?"
"I've read up on a lot of this stuff though," Aaron said. "I think that I can handle it."
"Well if you say so," Jordan said but then stopped when he was suddenly hit with a vision. "Vision," he said quickly. That's when he saw Martyr with some vampires. There was also a demon with them that Jordan couldn't place. He didn't get any information about them. They were coming up through tunnels. From the tunnels they entered a basement, and from the basement they went into-"
"What is it?" Aaron said reading the concerned look on Jordan's face.
"Trouble," Jordan said. He was getting pale. "Big trouble."
"What?" Aaron asked, getting impatient.
"Martyr," Jordan said. "He's coming for the book again."
"So what else is new?" Aaron tried to joke.
Jordan shook his head. "He's coming to the school." Aaron's eyes were wide with horror. "And they are coming now."
*****
"I really don't know what's going on between us," Colleen told Dawn as they walked from the gym to their lockers. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that he likes me."
"And it's completely obvious that you like him," Dawn said.
Colleen blushed. "I hope it's that obvious to him too."
"It's obvious to a blind person," Dawn said.
Colleen laughed. "Would it be wrong if I asked Jordan to try to read him for me? You know, just to see if he does like me."
"Probably," Dawn said, "But you could ask him yourself." Dawn pointed down the hall to where Aaron and Jordan were walking towards them. It took them a while to realize the importance that they walked with, and they didn't notice the looks on their faces till they were right in front of them.
"What's going on?" Colleen asked. "Vision?"
Jordan nodded. "Yeah, and at the last possible moment. Right now Martyr is making his way through some tunnels into the basement of the school. They're coming for the Omicron."
"Oh my God," Colleen said. "Aaron, where's the book? Is it at your house."
Aaron looked a little guilty. "In a way yes. But in a more honest way, it's in my backpack."
"Oh this is so not good," Colleen said. "We need a plan."
"I'll go hide with the book," Aaron suggested. "Wait, did that sound why to cowardly?"
"No that's a good plan," Colleen said. "I'll go see if I can find them. I have some stakes in my locker. Jordan, you come with me. Dawn, you go with Aaron."
"Come on," Dawn said as she grabbed Aaron by the arm. "I know the perfect place."
*****
"You wouldn't happen to have a sword or anything in here?" Jordan asked Colleen as she entered the combination into her locked. The bell was about to ring and all of the students in the hall were getting ready to go to their classes.
"No," Colleen said as she grabbed a couple stakes out of her locker. She handed a stake to Jordan as she put one in her bag. "Why?"
"There was a demon with Martyr," Jordan said. "I just thought it might be easier to kill it if we had a sword or something."
"Demon?" Colleen asked as she grabbed one last stake and a cross out of her locker. "Did it look powerful?"
"Not really," Jordan said as he took the cross from Colleen, "but I'm not sure."
"Well," Colleen said, "A stake to the heart will kill most things."
"You have a point," Jordan agreed. The bell rang and they looked around. They were the only two who were still in the halls.
"So where should we go?" Colleen asked.
"Downstairs," Jordan said.
Colleen nodded. "Let's go."
*****
"How did you know about this place?" Aaron asked Dawn as they went through a door in the back of a maintenance closest into a secret corridor.
"I live with the guy who built the school," Dawn said.
"Of course," Aaron said as they walked down the dimly lit corridor. "You realize this is very creepy. Why would they have this?"
Dawn shrugged. "It connects with a couple other maintenance closets. And there is a supply room back here. Plus we can get down into the basement. I guess it's just so the maintenance people can do their job better or something."
"Still creepy," Aaron said as they got to a door.
"I don't think that they use it yet," Dawn said. The new school was still not 100% complete. Dawn turned the knob of the door but it was locked. "Great."
"Don't worry," Aaron said as he reached into his backpack and got out his lock picks. "I'm always sure to bring these with me know." Aaron got on his knee and went to work on the lock. He had the door open in a minute.
"You're getting better at this," Dawn said as they entered the room and turned on the lights."
"Well I try," Aaron said as he shut the door.
*****
"Over there," Jordan said as he pointed at a door which led into the basement of the school. Colleen and Jordan watched as the knob of the handle turned. Colleen got the sensation she always got when there was a vampire nearby. She waited until the door was being opened and then ran and delivered a hard dropkick to the door. Both Jordan and Colleen could hear the vampire fly back and flip over the landing behind the door.
"Let's go," Colleen said to Jordan as she opened the door and ran in with Jordan right behind her. They looked down they stepped onto the landing and took stock of the situation. There were ten vampires, including Martyr. There was also strange demon that Colleen had no clue what to make of. It was almost human, except that it had a pale yellow skin tone and it was bald. It wore robes, but from what Colleen could tell it didn't look very muscular.
A vampire ran up the stairs towards Colleen and Jordan. Jordan handed Colleen his cross and she stuck it in the vampire's face, holding him at bay. Martyr, as always, looked completely human. His demeanor was cool and he almost seemed happy.
"Why are you here Martyr?" Colleen asked, although she never took her eyes off the vampire in front of her.
"Why am I ever at odds with you slayer?" Martyr shot back.
"You're not getting the book," Colleen said. "And I'm not sure if you realized this or not but it's daylight. I mean, if you really want to get dusted that bad than be my guest, but my suggestion would be for you to just turn around and come back from where you came.
Martyr smiled a little more. "Really?" he asked. "Is that so?" He turned towards the demon and nodded at him. Before Colleen or Jordan could react the door they were standing by opened and they were flung through it and into the hall. They hit the wall hard. Colleen got to her feet and stood in front of Jordan. She quickly realized that she and Jordan were surrounded by the pack of vampires. They were in the middle of a semicircle. Standing right in front of her was Martyr looking even smugger than usually. Right by him was the demon that she guessed pushed them through the door.
"The boy," the demon said. "The one named Aaron. He has the book."
Colleen was shocked. Martyr laughed.
"Don't know your demons slayer?" Martyr asked. "I thought that the council would have drilled you with that kind of knowledge. Just another sign of the continual digression of the education system. This is a Gelaro demon. The purebred version of your mutt of a psychic."
"He has a lot of potential," the Gelaro demon said while looking at Jordan. The two stared at each other. Colleen could tell that there was something going on between them that she couldn't quite sense. The silence continued for another ten seconds before Jordan's nose began to bleed and he fell to his knees. The demon laughed. "Potential isn't everything though. He doesn't know where the book is definitely though. It will only take a few moments for me to sense the boy."
The demon never got a chance to find the book. Right as he got done speaking the Gold Chick appeared from behind him. She quickly grabbed him by the head and twisted so hard that his neck snapped. That's when Colleen and the Gold Chick went to work on the vampires. Between the two of them ten vampires was nothing. Within ten minutes they had most of the vampires dusted. Colleen was grateful that they were fighting in a part of the school that there weren't any classes. She was just starting to get into the fight when she heard a scream.
"Stop right where you are slayer," Martyr said. Colleen turned around to face him. He had Gold Chick by the head, just as she had the Gelaro demon. "Make one move and I'll snap her neck just like she did to the Gelaro."
Colleen didn't know anything about Gold Chick. Sure she had helped them a couple times, but she was never forthcoming about information about herself. She told Jordan that she would just hurt us. Was this what she was talking about? What if she had been working with Martyr the entire time? Why hadn't she had paid closer attention to her during the fight? Was this all just a scheme to get the book? Colleen flashed a look at Jordan. He was still squatting. The Gelaro must have hurt him with whatever he did. The front of his shirt was drenched with blood. But Jordan expression was a mix of emotions. His faced was etched with both concern and rage.
"Now I'll make this very simple for you slayer," He said while still holding Gold Chick by the head. "You give me the book and she lives. If you don't..." He increased the strength by which he was holding Gold Chick. At first she tried to mask the pain it caused her but when the blood began to flow from beneath Martyr's fingers she let out a scream.
"Don't do it!" Gold Chick screamed. "You can't! You can't let him-" Martyr cut her off by moving his hand to cover her mouth. Blood was now covering the side of her face.
"What's your decision slayer?"
*****
"Well this is boring," Aaron said as he and Dawn sat in the empty room watching the clock on the wall count the seconds go by. The room was dim and made Aaron feel slightly uncomfortable. "Terrifying, but still boring."
"Where's that tennis ball when you need it?" Dawn asked. Aaron chuckled a little. It was a nervous chuckle that was meant to just forget about the danger that they were in.
Out of nowhere Aaron put his face in his hands. He looked back up at Dawn and he looked at her through very dazed eyes. Dawn noticed that there was a tear that was going down his eye. He stood up and it was obvious that he was suddenly very dizzy.
"What's wrong?" Dawn said as she rushed over to him and helped him stand. "What's going on?"
"It's Jordan," Aaron said. He blinked a couple times and rubbed his head. "Jordan wants us to go down there with the book. We have to go downstairs." Aaron tried to walk but he was still disoriented.
"What?" Dawn said skeptically. "Are you sure? Did he like, talk in you brain?"
"No," Aaron said. He was starting to fully recover. "It was more like he just shoved a bunch of feelings in my mind. It was kind of jumbled but I'm positive he wants us to go down there with the book."
Dawn was fairly certain that there was something that Aaron wasn't telling her. "What else?" she asked.
"I don't know," Aaron said. "All I know is that he is panicked."
*****
"What is your answer Slayer," Martyr said. "Time is running out."
Colleen began to speak but Jordan interrupted her. "They are coming with the book," he said. Colleen flashed him a surprised book.
"Well at least one of you has some common sense," Martyr said.
Colleen was furious. She was hoping that Jordan had some kind of plan. She hoped that maybe he had gained some kind of insight and that he had thought out a plan. Somehow though, she knew that this wasn't the case.
Aaron and Dawn appeared a few minutes later. They walked through the wall made up of the three remaining vampire and stood by Colleen and Jordan.
"Give me the book," Martyr said to Aaron. Jordan could sense the incredible fear surging through Aaron.
"Let her go first," Colleen said. She was trying to regain control of the situation since Jordan acted without her consent.
"You're not in a bargaining position," Martyr reminded her.
"Here," Dawn said as she took the book from Aaron. She set in on the ground in between Colleen and Martyr.
"Please don't," Gold Chick said quietly.
"Now let her go," Colleen said. She looked at Gold Chick. She stared into her eye and tried to read any sign of betrayal. Unless she was the world's greatest actress, Colleen was fairly certain that the only thing that Gold Chick was feeling right now was that she had just cost them the world.
Martyr very slowly let go of Gold Chick and then pushed her into Colleen. Jordan began to float the book towards him but a vampire suddenly ran over and grabbed the book and made his way to the door.
"No!" Jordan screamed as he tripped the vampire with his mind. Martyr grabbed the book from the vampire and fled through the basement door. Colleen tried to run after him but she was stopped by two of the vampires. She fought them off while Gold Chick tried to go to the door but was interrupted by the third vampire. By the time that they had all three vampires dusted and got into the basement Martyr was gone.
"What did you do that?" Gold Chick said. She was obviously very mad. "You should have let him kill me."
"We couldn't do that," Colleen said although she wasn't entirely sure that was true now.
"I'm going after him," Gold Chick said as she ran into the basement.
"It's pointless," Jordan told her. "He's too far gone."
"Well I don't have a choice now," Gold Chick said. "Now I have to get that book back."
However she didn't go into the basement. Instead she ran off in the opposite direction down the hall and disappeared into a stairwell. Dawn followed as quickly as she could but by the time she got to the stairwell Gold Chick was gone. She jogged back towards the others shaking her head.
"She's gone," Dawn told them.
"This is all my fault," Jordan said. "I thought I could float the book away. I'm sorry. I really thought I could do it. I blew it you guys."
"Well," Aaron said while unzipping it. "It wasn't a total loss."
"What do you mean?" Colleen asked. "How are we going to do the spell without the book? Did you write down the ceremony?"
"Well not exactly," Aaron admitted while he grabbed a couple pages out of his backpack. "But I did manage to rip out a bunch of pages." Aaron waved the pages from the Omicron in front of his friends.