*Canon Alert*
I may be breaking one of the rules of B:tVS in this chapter, but I think it falls under the "never been covered" category.
Chapter 3: Trial and Terror
"I see the Chaos for everyone
but who are we, what can we do?"
-Johnny Giodeli, Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure 1)
I suppose I should comment about myself. I'm something of a gamer, and computer whiz. From Alderac's card game "Legend of the Five Rings" (where I am a loyal Unicorn) to playing a paladin in Bioware's "Baldur's Gate 2" I love stories of heroics and have always wanted to do something appropriately heroic myself.
Jenny, on the other hand, was more interested in merely getting a good grade in English. She was just thankful there was this thing called "Summer Vacation" coming up within the week. First, she had to survive finals, or at least final papers.
She was full of nervous energy that Monday in school. Not that she was unique, a lot of people were like that. Summer vacation had a way with people, after all.
It rained Monday. It rained hard. Thus, when gym came around, the gym teacher gave up all hope of control, and merely set up a few rounds of a game known as "Pin Dodgeball".
Pin Dodgeball is a team game, where equal sized teams (these were about fourteen strong), started tossing red rubber balls back and forth. Get hit by a ball on the fly, you were out. Be hit on the bounce, and you were OK. First team to knock out the other or knock down all four bowling pins on the other team's side won the round, and the game began again.
Jenny was in rare form that day. She threw straight and hard, and dodged away from all but the most perfectly thrown projectiles.
In the locker room, she changed back out of her sweats adjacent to her friend Lura. "That was incredible. I've never seen anyone move like that, and I'm in gymnastics!"
Jenny shook her head, "I don't know, Lura. I was just," she paused, grinned for a second, "Living by my own feelings," she sang.
"Where'd that come from?"
"I don't know. There's a guy who walks his dog near my house. He's always singing when he's out. It's one of his lines," Jenny responded.
"Anyway, I think you should ditch baseball. You looked like a natural gymnast out there."
"I forgot to tell you!" Jenny said, suddenly excited, "I hit a home run yesterday!"
"Wow! Forget I said that! Good for you!" Lura said, smiling. A call from the stairs indicated they were going to be late for class, so they had to quickly finish changing and make their way to their next class.
The rain continued all evening. Jenny resorted to preemptively calling Brian, to make sure she wasn't going to be made to practice in the cold.
So it was Tuesday when they came out to practice again, and they started later then they normally did. English papers do get in the way.
They warmed up with a simple game of catch, underhanded tossing back and forth.
"You been eating your Wheaties, Jenny?" asked Brian, "I've never felt you throw so hard."
Bunting was next, something Jenny and Coach Williams had been working on. Jenny was showing Brian where she held her hands on her first base hit, and the sun was about set. Again, it was a well lit street, and not quite bed time.
"Don't choke up on the bat, if you're going to try to drop the bunt, Brian," she told him. "Spread..." she faltered, "spread your hands..." she clasped her hand to her head. "Ow...that's owww."
Brian dropped the bat with a clatter. "You all right, Jenny?" he asked.
"I... I... there's something...ow," She shook her head. In the distance, a dog barked. "I think there's someone watching us."
She turned to her left, across the street. He looked like had walked out of a '30s gangster movie. He was a pale Caucasian, wearing a somewhat cheesy plaid suit.
"I never wanted to deal with the slayer, sister," he told her. "It was simple in Chicago, make money, get meals, and cheer on the White Sox at Comiskey. Nobody noticed when a bum or two vanished." Jenny looked into his brown eyes, only knowing something was terribly wrong.
"It all changed last Saturday. I could feel the slayer there, so I knew it was time to book. I figured I could still catch the occasional game without putting myself in too much risk." The dog barked again, this time closer.
"But now I'm here, and I still feel 'Slayer'. I've been thinking, and I think someone changed the rules on me. On us. Well, it's either that, or someone just had the shortest slayer run in history. Either way, I'm going to cover my bases and reduce the population."
"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Brian, stepping up in front of Jenny, bravely.
"Well, I wasn't expecting *you* to know, but she doesn't know yet? Did I beat your watcher? I guess I'll just show you."
The brown eyes flickered to red, his face twisted in an unrecognizable snarl. It was then both Brian and Jenny noticed the fangs.
"That's...not...possible! Vampires don't exist!" said Brian, his voice weak, and he fell back a step.
The vampire jumped, and Brian fell backward, trying to knock Jenny out of the way. Jenny wasn't his target, however. He grabbed at the fallen bat, hurling it into the grass at the end of the block. "I'm just not in the mood for risking anything wooden tonight, you know."
The second jump came. Jenny's instinctive reflexes may have been enough for dodgeball, but a vampire? That was something else, she was grabbed by the vampire's strong embrace. "I'm told blood of the slayer is quite intoxicating." He leaned down...
And screamed, more in surprise then in pain. A dog, beagle to be specific, had sunk her own fangs into his leg.
I panted, running after the loose leash. "PENNY!"
The vampire kicked, knocking my dog back towards me, their growls running together.
The shift in attention gave Jenny the chance she needed to get the vampire off of her. She shot him a quick kick to the most obvious target, the groin. She didn't know how to kick, well, but it did it's job. The vampire doubled over in pain, but it was still between Jenny, Brian, and now myself, and the bat.
I had been about to apologize profusely before I saw this gamely twelve year old kick him. And I saw his 'game' face.
Well, I'd seen uglier art on a piece of maho featuring Shahai. This was real though, I took a step back.
"This is starting to get crowded. Give me the slayer, and I won't hurt the rest of you," the vampire told us, his eyes flaming red.
I grabbed my anxious beagle's leash before she could come to her senses and try to chomp Mr. Personality again, and felt hurriedly in my pocket. It was a prop for a tournament...it was...there.
"No way. I'm not going to abandon my friend," Brian said, trying to cover the fear in his voice, he gripped Jenny's hand tightly. Jenny's eyes were blue, but burned with intensity. Brian told me later that it reminded of him of the way she looked at the Lake Forest pitcher.
The pendant I pulled out of my pocket was, in fact, a prop I wore while playing Legend of the Five Rings. A small, pewter, pendant. It wasn't a cross, I just prayed to every divine entity that I could think of it would work.
I was about to stake my life on it, after all.
I stepped forward, clutching the chain in my first, letting the pendant dangle forward. "In the name of Shinjo, Tyr, and the Powers that Be, stay BACK!"
"That just doesn't sound impressive," mumbled Brian.
The vampire didn't like it either, but in a different way. He jumped back and snarled. He looked angrier than ever, but was unable to advance any further. The standoff continued for a minute or so, then the vampire turned and fled into the night.
"My house is right there," I said. "If the legends are true, we'll be safe there."
Jenny swallowed, and nodded. Brian looked down the street at the bat, but followed us in backing up into the house.
Opening my door, the beagle bounded in, Jenny and Brian slipped in. I was the last one in, still clutching my pendant, searching the night for any sign of our undead adversary.
The night was still as the red door closed.
I may be breaking one of the rules of B:tVS in this chapter, but I think it falls under the "never been covered" category.
Chapter 3: Trial and Terror
"I see the Chaos for everyone
but who are we, what can we do?"
-Johnny Giodeli, Open Your Heart (Sonic Adventure 1)
I suppose I should comment about myself. I'm something of a gamer, and computer whiz. From Alderac's card game "Legend of the Five Rings" (where I am a loyal Unicorn) to playing a paladin in Bioware's "Baldur's Gate 2" I love stories of heroics and have always wanted to do something appropriately heroic myself.
Jenny, on the other hand, was more interested in merely getting a good grade in English. She was just thankful there was this thing called "Summer Vacation" coming up within the week. First, she had to survive finals, or at least final papers.
She was full of nervous energy that Monday in school. Not that she was unique, a lot of people were like that. Summer vacation had a way with people, after all.
It rained Monday. It rained hard. Thus, when gym came around, the gym teacher gave up all hope of control, and merely set up a few rounds of a game known as "Pin Dodgeball".
Pin Dodgeball is a team game, where equal sized teams (these were about fourteen strong), started tossing red rubber balls back and forth. Get hit by a ball on the fly, you were out. Be hit on the bounce, and you were OK. First team to knock out the other or knock down all four bowling pins on the other team's side won the round, and the game began again.
Jenny was in rare form that day. She threw straight and hard, and dodged away from all but the most perfectly thrown projectiles.
In the locker room, she changed back out of her sweats adjacent to her friend Lura. "That was incredible. I've never seen anyone move like that, and I'm in gymnastics!"
Jenny shook her head, "I don't know, Lura. I was just," she paused, grinned for a second, "Living by my own feelings," she sang.
"Where'd that come from?"
"I don't know. There's a guy who walks his dog near my house. He's always singing when he's out. It's one of his lines," Jenny responded.
"Anyway, I think you should ditch baseball. You looked like a natural gymnast out there."
"I forgot to tell you!" Jenny said, suddenly excited, "I hit a home run yesterday!"
"Wow! Forget I said that! Good for you!" Lura said, smiling. A call from the stairs indicated they were going to be late for class, so they had to quickly finish changing and make their way to their next class.
The rain continued all evening. Jenny resorted to preemptively calling Brian, to make sure she wasn't going to be made to practice in the cold.
So it was Tuesday when they came out to practice again, and they started later then they normally did. English papers do get in the way.
They warmed up with a simple game of catch, underhanded tossing back and forth.
"You been eating your Wheaties, Jenny?" asked Brian, "I've never felt you throw so hard."
Bunting was next, something Jenny and Coach Williams had been working on. Jenny was showing Brian where she held her hands on her first base hit, and the sun was about set. Again, it was a well lit street, and not quite bed time.
"Don't choke up on the bat, if you're going to try to drop the bunt, Brian," she told him. "Spread..." she faltered, "spread your hands..." she clasped her hand to her head. "Ow...that's owww."
Brian dropped the bat with a clatter. "You all right, Jenny?" he asked.
"I... I... there's something...ow," She shook her head. In the distance, a dog barked. "I think there's someone watching us."
She turned to her left, across the street. He looked like had walked out of a '30s gangster movie. He was a pale Caucasian, wearing a somewhat cheesy plaid suit.
"I never wanted to deal with the slayer, sister," he told her. "It was simple in Chicago, make money, get meals, and cheer on the White Sox at Comiskey. Nobody noticed when a bum or two vanished." Jenny looked into his brown eyes, only knowing something was terribly wrong.
"It all changed last Saturday. I could feel the slayer there, so I knew it was time to book. I figured I could still catch the occasional game without putting myself in too much risk." The dog barked again, this time closer.
"But now I'm here, and I still feel 'Slayer'. I've been thinking, and I think someone changed the rules on me. On us. Well, it's either that, or someone just had the shortest slayer run in history. Either way, I'm going to cover my bases and reduce the population."
"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Brian, stepping up in front of Jenny, bravely.
"Well, I wasn't expecting *you* to know, but she doesn't know yet? Did I beat your watcher? I guess I'll just show you."
The brown eyes flickered to red, his face twisted in an unrecognizable snarl. It was then both Brian and Jenny noticed the fangs.
"That's...not...possible! Vampires don't exist!" said Brian, his voice weak, and he fell back a step.
The vampire jumped, and Brian fell backward, trying to knock Jenny out of the way. Jenny wasn't his target, however. He grabbed at the fallen bat, hurling it into the grass at the end of the block. "I'm just not in the mood for risking anything wooden tonight, you know."
The second jump came. Jenny's instinctive reflexes may have been enough for dodgeball, but a vampire? That was something else, she was grabbed by the vampire's strong embrace. "I'm told blood of the slayer is quite intoxicating." He leaned down...
And screamed, more in surprise then in pain. A dog, beagle to be specific, had sunk her own fangs into his leg.
I panted, running after the loose leash. "PENNY!"
The vampire kicked, knocking my dog back towards me, their growls running together.
The shift in attention gave Jenny the chance she needed to get the vampire off of her. She shot him a quick kick to the most obvious target, the groin. She didn't know how to kick, well, but it did it's job. The vampire doubled over in pain, but it was still between Jenny, Brian, and now myself, and the bat.
I had been about to apologize profusely before I saw this gamely twelve year old kick him. And I saw his 'game' face.
Well, I'd seen uglier art on a piece of maho featuring Shahai. This was real though, I took a step back.
"This is starting to get crowded. Give me the slayer, and I won't hurt the rest of you," the vampire told us, his eyes flaming red.
I grabbed my anxious beagle's leash before she could come to her senses and try to chomp Mr. Personality again, and felt hurriedly in my pocket. It was a prop for a tournament...it was...there.
"No way. I'm not going to abandon my friend," Brian said, trying to cover the fear in his voice, he gripped Jenny's hand tightly. Jenny's eyes were blue, but burned with intensity. Brian told me later that it reminded of him of the way she looked at the Lake Forest pitcher.
The pendant I pulled out of my pocket was, in fact, a prop I wore while playing Legend of the Five Rings. A small, pewter, pendant. It wasn't a cross, I just prayed to every divine entity that I could think of it would work.
I was about to stake my life on it, after all.
I stepped forward, clutching the chain in my first, letting the pendant dangle forward. "In the name of Shinjo, Tyr, and the Powers that Be, stay BACK!"
"That just doesn't sound impressive," mumbled Brian.
The vampire didn't like it either, but in a different way. He jumped back and snarled. He looked angrier than ever, but was unable to advance any further. The standoff continued for a minute or so, then the vampire turned and fled into the night.
"My house is right there," I said. "If the legends are true, we'll be safe there."
Jenny swallowed, and nodded. Brian looked down the street at the bat, but followed us in backing up into the house.
Opening my door, the beagle bounded in, Jenny and Brian slipped in. I was the last one in, still clutching my pendant, searching the night for any sign of our undead adversary.
The night was still as the red door closed.