Chapter Five: In Light of Darkness
"...and I'd never seen kids look so worried whenever somebody didn't show up for class."
-Mr. Tess, Sunnydale High Chemistry Teacher (B:tVS RPG, Slayer's Handbook)
I spent most of the train ride down composing a FARK board posting to the early article. Upon reaching the lab at school, I put up the following note:
I've seen the darkness. It's out there, it's real. I think I've seen some light too, but I can't be sure. I've got to protect this light until it can shine away the darkness.
-TZ
*****************
The important news of first period was Sammy Sosa's corked bat, for those interested in the baseball world.
It hardly dominated school, especially one on the verge of being set free for summer.
It was in second period that Jenny realized April was missing. April was not an excellent student, but she used to pride herself on her attendance. It was considered a shame that she would have an unexcused absence this close to the end.
Then, in the third period, the rumor that she had vanished the night before began to circle around.
The rumor was confirmed at lunch -- fourth period. One of the other students claimed to be checking his AOL mail and received an 'Amber Alert'. I, from downtown Chicago, got the same Amber Alert, but didn't know the significance.
After school, Jennifer and Brian talked about it.
"I don't think is a coincidence, Jenny."
"I...hoped at first. My heart tells me that it isn't, though."
"But what can we do about it? I mean...I don't want to go up against a vampire!" Brian looked closely at his friend. "I've seen that look before, Jenny. You can't be serious. You don't even know where to start looking, or are you going to go after a vampire on a bicycle?"
"I'm going to do what needs to be done," she said, the intense look not fading from her eyes. "Who can we tell, Brian? Who's going to believe a couple of almost junior high kids claiming a classmate has been kidnapped by a vampire?"
"Jenny, this is insane. Please! I had dreams about this," Brian cried, "We could end up capital D dead! Or worse!"
"I had a dream, too, Brian," Jenny began, when she was interrupted by the arrival of their bus. Slinging her backpack over shoulder, she climbed aboard. The bus was always noisy, as it pulled out of Lake Bluff Middle School. Conversations ranged from Sosa's bat, to April's disappearance, or how much nothing they were going to do during summer vacation.
Jenny and Brian sat next to each other, Brian glancing nervously out the window. "You were saying you had a dream, Jenny?" Brian prodded.
"Yes, it was quite vivid," her eyes took on a far away, yet still intense, look as she described it. "I was in a graveyard. I had a small piece of wood, though thick as my fist and sharpened at one end..."
"Like a tent stake," said Brian.
"Yeah, like that. I was waiting for something. It took a minute or two before I heard the sounds. Something crawling up from the grave. I turned around and I saw..."
"April?"
"No. The vampire from last night, the one who looked like he was out of the Sopranos. And..." she faltered.
"And?"
"I fought him, Brian. Punches and kicks and everything, I felt like a black belt. In the end, when a solid kick, I think they're called a roundhouse, left him stunned, I pulled out the stake and put it through his heart. He looked at me, looked at the stake, and exploded in a cloud of dust."
Brian looked hard at her, trying to determine if she was kidding.
"Get up, Brian."
"Huh? Why?"
"It's our stop."
"Oh."
The two made their way off the bus, where they went their separate ways home. Brian still thinking about what Jenny said. He would have been petrified if he'd seen her picking up a thick oak branch.
* * * * * *
I got off the train, having passed my A+ Core exam. That part was good stuff. I headed home, this piece of my day was dedicated to checking my E-mail!
"Junk. Spam. Spam. Junk. Listserv (click). (pause.) Spam, Junk...eh (click)?"
--------------------------
Subj: Light on Fark
Date: 6/4/03 2:34:34 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Watcher723@yahoo.com
To: TheZorker
I read your little note on Fark under the Vampire article. I'd like to arrange a meeting with you. I have information that I need to share, and I think you may know some things I need. Please reply back ASAP.
--------------------------
Horrible e-mail grammar. Not someone used to dealing with computers. I thought for second. It was legitimate, that was for sure. But was it a trap? Heh. Easy enough, though it'd have to wait for the weekend. I couldn't make it somewhere out of the way in daylight until Saturday, and I'd be damned if I was going to meet a stranger in the dark.
--------------------------
Subj: Re: Light on Fark
From: TheZorker
To: Watcher723@yahoo.com
I need all the help I can get. Meet me at 2 PM, this Saturday, at the Evanston McDonalds on Church Street. I'll be wearing a purple shirt with a white Unicorn on it.
--------------------------
The whining to my left finally got my attention. Some things in my life were changing. Ol' Penny wasn't one of them. It was walking time.
***************************
Jenny finished carving her branch with a whittling knife her older brother had left behind when he went to college. She had first snapped it half, rather easily, and thus was left with a pair of stakes. Tucking them into her windbreaker, she grabbed her baseball and glanced at the clock. The time was five thirty. She strolled upstairs.
"Jenny," her mother said, "your father and I are going out tonight. Will you be ok by yourself?"
"Yes, Mom."
"I've cooked a cheeseburger, and the fries are on the stove," she said, moving to the fridge to get the milk carton. "Finish your essay, and don't burn the house down." She looked at Jenny, "If you're going out to practice, be mindful of the time."
"I'll be careful," promised Jenny. Then she slipped forward, and caught in her mother in an embrace.
"Well, that's not like you, Jenny. I'll take it though," she smiled.
"Thanks, Mom."
Her mom left, and Jenny ate. Six O'clock. It wouldn't be sundown for another hour or more. She paced for a few minutes, then tried to relax with TV.
Ironically, perhaps, it was Cartoon Network that was flipped on, showing the Powerpuff Girls. The episode with Nuts the Squirrel, and though Jenny had seen it a dozen or so times before, it was still funny. Following that was Dexter's laboratory, with the one where Monkey was being shot at by the weird Hunter.
The hour of cartoons was over, and Jenny really didn't feel relaxed.
It was time.
Jenny opened the door, stepping out into the late evening. The sun was about to set.
Time for vampires to be waking up.
Jenny had no set plan in mind, she kind of figured that the vampires would come to her. She just didn't know how right she was.
At the corner of Moffett and North, about nine PM, she felt the darkness in her mind. She stopped, closing her eyes, focusing on it. There were two, and one was...behind her. She instinctively dropped and rolled forward. Jumping to her feet, she turned, facing...
"April?"
April's eyes, normally brown, shone red. Her close cropped blond hair moved in the breeze. Her face, formerly attractive, was twisted so it was barely recognizable. "I know you," said Ex-April.
"April...you're not like this. Fight it."
"I'm so hungry," she said, and even her voice was twisted. April ran towards Jenny, red eyes glinting.
Jenny didn't move.
April closed in, still running. As she reached out her hands, Jenny crouched, grabbing the vampire's outstretched arms, hurling it over her shoulder.
"April, don't make me do this. Come out. I know you're in there!"
The vampire was flat on its back for a moment or two, stunned. I'm not sure it'd be accurate to say it had the wind knocked out of it. April climbed to her feet, looking at Jenny. "Hungry. You're food."
Perhaps it was that moment that Jenny realized she would have no choice. She could feel April calling to her, but whatever was in there with her was stronger.
April launched herself toward Jenny again. Jenny balled up her fists, thumbs on the outside. As April got close, Jenny fired her fist, connecting with April's forehead. April rocked back, unsteadily on her feet.
Guided by instinct, strengthened by anger, Jenny pulled a stake from her windbreaker, stabbing into the vampire's heart.
April looked down at the stake. She blinked, her eyes brown, though her face didn't change.
"Good-bye, Jenny."
Her classmate turned vampire exploded into a cloud of dust, briefly exposing a skeleton.
Jenny collapsed to one knee, picking up the stake from where it had fallen on the ground. She stared at it, her vision blurring from free flowing tears. A nearby noise brought her to her feet. She wiped the tears from her face, grief turning to pure rage as she saw...
"Hello, Slayer. I see you recognized that one," he said. It was indeed, the vampire from the previous evening, in the same tacky suit. "Give yourself up, tonight. I won't have to hurt any more of your friends. Otherwise, who knows who will be next? Maybe Brian."
"BASTARD!" she screamed, hurling the stake. He twisted away, and it thunked into a nearby tree.
"That's your decision, then. Very well, have it your way." He looked at her, then turned and fled. She ran after him, but he was faster. It was three blocks before the red haze cleared and she knew she wasn't going to catch him.
She walked back to claim her stake. She needed to talk to someone. Not Brian, she didn't want him in the line of fire. Besides, he had homework. An adult, one who would believe her.
***************************
Our house is built on a hill. My bedroom is in the basement. I have window to the outside, enough to keep it from being a firetrap. I heard a knock on the window.
"Com..." I started, then stopped. No sense in giving anyone a carte blanch invitation. I grabbed my blade, walking out the garage and around the house. I saw Jenny, stake in her hand.
"Jenny? Are you all right?"
"I...I need to talk to you, John," she said.
"Jenny? You're shaking."
"I had to kill her, John. Drive a stake through her heart."
"Come inside, Jenny, tell me what happened," I said, moving through the garage.
I grabbed a pair of sodas from my mini-fridge, handing one to her.
She sipped on it, absently, as she related the events of the day.
"Powers," I said, "it's spreading."
She looked at me, the intent look back in her eye. Her shaking had stopped. "Tomorrow, John, you're going to help me find him. Brian too, if he'll come. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else. I'm going to drive a stake clear through the other side of his body."
I met her gaze. I couldn't argue with it.
"...and I'd never seen kids look so worried whenever somebody didn't show up for class."
-Mr. Tess, Sunnydale High Chemistry Teacher (B:tVS RPG, Slayer's Handbook)
I spent most of the train ride down composing a FARK board posting to the early article. Upon reaching the lab at school, I put up the following note:
I've seen the darkness. It's out there, it's real. I think I've seen some light too, but I can't be sure. I've got to protect this light until it can shine away the darkness.
-TZ
*****************
The important news of first period was Sammy Sosa's corked bat, for those interested in the baseball world.
It hardly dominated school, especially one on the verge of being set free for summer.
It was in second period that Jenny realized April was missing. April was not an excellent student, but she used to pride herself on her attendance. It was considered a shame that she would have an unexcused absence this close to the end.
Then, in the third period, the rumor that she had vanished the night before began to circle around.
The rumor was confirmed at lunch -- fourth period. One of the other students claimed to be checking his AOL mail and received an 'Amber Alert'. I, from downtown Chicago, got the same Amber Alert, but didn't know the significance.
After school, Jennifer and Brian talked about it.
"I don't think is a coincidence, Jenny."
"I...hoped at first. My heart tells me that it isn't, though."
"But what can we do about it? I mean...I don't want to go up against a vampire!" Brian looked closely at his friend. "I've seen that look before, Jenny. You can't be serious. You don't even know where to start looking, or are you going to go after a vampire on a bicycle?"
"I'm going to do what needs to be done," she said, the intense look not fading from her eyes. "Who can we tell, Brian? Who's going to believe a couple of almost junior high kids claiming a classmate has been kidnapped by a vampire?"
"Jenny, this is insane. Please! I had dreams about this," Brian cried, "We could end up capital D dead! Or worse!"
"I had a dream, too, Brian," Jenny began, when she was interrupted by the arrival of their bus. Slinging her backpack over shoulder, she climbed aboard. The bus was always noisy, as it pulled out of Lake Bluff Middle School. Conversations ranged from Sosa's bat, to April's disappearance, or how much nothing they were going to do during summer vacation.
Jenny and Brian sat next to each other, Brian glancing nervously out the window. "You were saying you had a dream, Jenny?" Brian prodded.
"Yes, it was quite vivid," her eyes took on a far away, yet still intense, look as she described it. "I was in a graveyard. I had a small piece of wood, though thick as my fist and sharpened at one end..."
"Like a tent stake," said Brian.
"Yeah, like that. I was waiting for something. It took a minute or two before I heard the sounds. Something crawling up from the grave. I turned around and I saw..."
"April?"
"No. The vampire from last night, the one who looked like he was out of the Sopranos. And..." she faltered.
"And?"
"I fought him, Brian. Punches and kicks and everything, I felt like a black belt. In the end, when a solid kick, I think they're called a roundhouse, left him stunned, I pulled out the stake and put it through his heart. He looked at me, looked at the stake, and exploded in a cloud of dust."
Brian looked hard at her, trying to determine if she was kidding.
"Get up, Brian."
"Huh? Why?"
"It's our stop."
"Oh."
The two made their way off the bus, where they went their separate ways home. Brian still thinking about what Jenny said. He would have been petrified if he'd seen her picking up a thick oak branch.
* * * * * *
I got off the train, having passed my A+ Core exam. That part was good stuff. I headed home, this piece of my day was dedicated to checking my E-mail!
"Junk. Spam. Spam. Junk. Listserv (click). (pause.) Spam, Junk...eh (click)?"
--------------------------
Subj: Light on Fark
Date: 6/4/03 2:34:34 PM Central Daylight Time
From: Watcher723@yahoo.com
To: TheZorker
I read your little note on Fark under the Vampire article. I'd like to arrange a meeting with you. I have information that I need to share, and I think you may know some things I need. Please reply back ASAP.
--------------------------
Horrible e-mail grammar. Not someone used to dealing with computers. I thought for second. It was legitimate, that was for sure. But was it a trap? Heh. Easy enough, though it'd have to wait for the weekend. I couldn't make it somewhere out of the way in daylight until Saturday, and I'd be damned if I was going to meet a stranger in the dark.
--------------------------
Subj: Re: Light on Fark
From: TheZorker
To: Watcher723@yahoo.com
I need all the help I can get. Meet me at 2 PM, this Saturday, at the Evanston McDonalds on Church Street. I'll be wearing a purple shirt with a white Unicorn on it.
--------------------------
The whining to my left finally got my attention. Some things in my life were changing. Ol' Penny wasn't one of them. It was walking time.
***************************
Jenny finished carving her branch with a whittling knife her older brother had left behind when he went to college. She had first snapped it half, rather easily, and thus was left with a pair of stakes. Tucking them into her windbreaker, she grabbed her baseball and glanced at the clock. The time was five thirty. She strolled upstairs.
"Jenny," her mother said, "your father and I are going out tonight. Will you be ok by yourself?"
"Yes, Mom."
"I've cooked a cheeseburger, and the fries are on the stove," she said, moving to the fridge to get the milk carton. "Finish your essay, and don't burn the house down." She looked at Jenny, "If you're going out to practice, be mindful of the time."
"I'll be careful," promised Jenny. Then she slipped forward, and caught in her mother in an embrace.
"Well, that's not like you, Jenny. I'll take it though," she smiled.
"Thanks, Mom."
Her mom left, and Jenny ate. Six O'clock. It wouldn't be sundown for another hour or more. She paced for a few minutes, then tried to relax with TV.
Ironically, perhaps, it was Cartoon Network that was flipped on, showing the Powerpuff Girls. The episode with Nuts the Squirrel, and though Jenny had seen it a dozen or so times before, it was still funny. Following that was Dexter's laboratory, with the one where Monkey was being shot at by the weird Hunter.
The hour of cartoons was over, and Jenny really didn't feel relaxed.
It was time.
Jenny opened the door, stepping out into the late evening. The sun was about to set.
Time for vampires to be waking up.
Jenny had no set plan in mind, she kind of figured that the vampires would come to her. She just didn't know how right she was.
At the corner of Moffett and North, about nine PM, she felt the darkness in her mind. She stopped, closing her eyes, focusing on it. There were two, and one was...behind her. She instinctively dropped and rolled forward. Jumping to her feet, she turned, facing...
"April?"
April's eyes, normally brown, shone red. Her close cropped blond hair moved in the breeze. Her face, formerly attractive, was twisted so it was barely recognizable. "I know you," said Ex-April.
"April...you're not like this. Fight it."
"I'm so hungry," she said, and even her voice was twisted. April ran towards Jenny, red eyes glinting.
Jenny didn't move.
April closed in, still running. As she reached out her hands, Jenny crouched, grabbing the vampire's outstretched arms, hurling it over her shoulder.
"April, don't make me do this. Come out. I know you're in there!"
The vampire was flat on its back for a moment or two, stunned. I'm not sure it'd be accurate to say it had the wind knocked out of it. April climbed to her feet, looking at Jenny. "Hungry. You're food."
Perhaps it was that moment that Jenny realized she would have no choice. She could feel April calling to her, but whatever was in there with her was stronger.
April launched herself toward Jenny again. Jenny balled up her fists, thumbs on the outside. As April got close, Jenny fired her fist, connecting with April's forehead. April rocked back, unsteadily on her feet.
Guided by instinct, strengthened by anger, Jenny pulled a stake from her windbreaker, stabbing into the vampire's heart.
April looked down at the stake. She blinked, her eyes brown, though her face didn't change.
"Good-bye, Jenny."
Her classmate turned vampire exploded into a cloud of dust, briefly exposing a skeleton.
Jenny collapsed to one knee, picking up the stake from where it had fallen on the ground. She stared at it, her vision blurring from free flowing tears. A nearby noise brought her to her feet. She wiped the tears from her face, grief turning to pure rage as she saw...
"Hello, Slayer. I see you recognized that one," he said. It was indeed, the vampire from the previous evening, in the same tacky suit. "Give yourself up, tonight. I won't have to hurt any more of your friends. Otherwise, who knows who will be next? Maybe Brian."
"BASTARD!" she screamed, hurling the stake. He twisted away, and it thunked into a nearby tree.
"That's your decision, then. Very well, have it your way." He looked at her, then turned and fled. She ran after him, but he was faster. It was three blocks before the red haze cleared and she knew she wasn't going to catch him.
She walked back to claim her stake. She needed to talk to someone. Not Brian, she didn't want him in the line of fire. Besides, he had homework. An adult, one who would believe her.
***************************
Our house is built on a hill. My bedroom is in the basement. I have window to the outside, enough to keep it from being a firetrap. I heard a knock on the window.
"Com..." I started, then stopped. No sense in giving anyone a carte blanch invitation. I grabbed my blade, walking out the garage and around the house. I saw Jenny, stake in her hand.
"Jenny? Are you all right?"
"I...I need to talk to you, John," she said.
"Jenny? You're shaking."
"I had to kill her, John. Drive a stake through her heart."
"Come inside, Jenny, tell me what happened," I said, moving through the garage.
I grabbed a pair of sodas from my mini-fridge, handing one to her.
She sipped on it, absently, as she related the events of the day.
"Powers," I said, "it's spreading."
She looked at me, the intent look back in her eye. Her shaking had stopped. "Tomorrow, John, you're going to help me find him. Brian too, if he'll come. I'm not going to let him hurt anyone else. I'm going to drive a stake clear through the other side of his body."
I met her gaze. I couldn't argue with it.