Candy Mulder, The Vampire Slayer: Something Vampire This Way Comes (5/6)
"Robbie?" I sputtered. Somehow, something had possessed Robert McAfee to save my watcher and I from a crazed vampire attack. After an entire afternoon spent sniping at me and pretending vampires didn't exist. Who would've thought...?
Yet, there he was, standing in a grubby button-down shirt and faded jeans, cradling a camping lantern in his arms. It was the light from that lantern that had burned the vampire enough to stun it and let me move in for the slay. "What...?" I managed to begin again, only partly.
He switched off the lantern. "Modified it. UV light. You didn't give me the whole rundown, but I figured our fanged friends wouldn't take too kindly to it."
I stared. From his face to the lantern to his face again. It made no logical sense whatsoever. What was he doing here, saving my neck? The logical Scully side of me protested to this unbelievable situation. I started to feel a little light-headed. "I...I think I have to sit down." So I did, just sat right down on the grass.
Robbie snickered. "You just staked a vampire through the chest, didn't bat an eyelash. My presence gives you the faints? Should I feel flattered?"
Winford had left his salt circle and was coming towards me, concerned. I shot Robbie a dirty look. So saving a person's life didn't cool off his sarcasm. "Oh, please. I just...had to catch my breath." Noticing that I was still sitting, I quickly stood, brushing recently-dusted vampire off my clothes. I snuck a glance in Weirder's direction and saw that he had a cockeyed grin on his face.
"Candy, are you all right?" Winford asked. He had his hand on my arm and I got the feeling that if I didn't give him an answer soon, he'd be feeling me for broken bones. I felt a curt nod sufficed.
I moved past my watcher towards Robbie. "What are you doing here?" I asked, finally completing my previous thought.
He shrugged. "I was around these parts and it occurred to me, what with your penchant for cemeteries, it was likely you'd be up to something in here. Plus, I heard a scream." He set the camping lantern on the ground between us.
"That would be me," offered Winford helpfully. He was once again in the middle of the salt circle, scrounging around in his bag for something. After a moment or two, he bounced back up with an oversized container of salt. He popped the lid and began pouring more of the white seasoning around himself.
I stopped watching my watcher flavoring the ground and returned my attention to the issue at hand. "Right, so you heard Winford screaming...but what's with the lantern? You just *happened* to have a camping lantern modified to emit UV light, a particularly good defense against bloodsucking uglies?" I watched him flush. So the real story outs.
Robbie shrugged again. "Okay, okay, if you must know...I felt...bad...about the way I acted earlier. I just wanted you to know your secret's safe with me." The surprise must have shown on my face. He rushed on. "It still doesn't mean I become your groupie or whatever. Just that you don't have to worry."
"Wonderful, young man." Winford was relighting the candles that had blown out during the attack. "Now, if you're through, perhaps you could run along home. I have a spell to cast and Candy has some patrolling to do. Wouldn't need the added distraction of someone who so obviously does not want to be here."
A strange look passed Robbie's face. "Uh, I agree with Winford. You should go home now. But thanks for the help." I added sheepishly.
Weirder hefted the lantern up. "Anytime, Mulder." There was a funny catch in his voice. He began walking away. I got the distinct feeling he was not pleased.
I looked back at Winford and saw he was pretty much in ritual mode. "Uh, Robbie..I'll walk you out." I called, jogging after him. He didn't even slow down. I caught up to him and we walked in silence for a few minutes. I decided to break it, just as we approached the entrance gates. "What you did back there..."
"Shhhhhh." he hissed. He stopped dead in his tracks and switched on the lantern.
I was immediately on alert. Hey, you can't survive as the slayer without being able to jump into cautious mode at a moment's notice. Sure enough, I caught the faint crunch of footsteps just dying away. I felt for my stake and held it at the ready. "Be on your guard, they can strike at any..." I wasn't even able to finish my sentence before a stupid vamp was on me, trying for some non-lethal, no bloodshed attack. Fat chance. I kicked and scratched for all I was worth. "Robbie, try to bleed!"
From somewhere beyond the vamp that was straddling me, I could hear Weirder trying to do just that. I landed a right hook on the vampire's chin, enough of a blow to send him sailing off me and for me to jump back up and drive my stake through his heart. To my left, the lantern in Robbie's hands was sending rays of UV light everywhere but on his target, a gnarly girl vamp with streaked purple hair. She was too busy on top of him to notice me sneak up behind and plunge the business end of my stake into her. She vanished in a cloud of dust. Robbie lay there, looking stunned, the lantern stilled and held close to his chest. "Guess that spell of Winford's didn't kick in yet." I offered. Robbie coughed and sat up.
There was a momentary silence, then, "You do this on a regular basis, Mulder?"
I shrugged. "Ever since I got to Sunnydale. Yeah."
He stood, shifted the lantern to one hand and eyed me speculatively. "Suppose it's harder than I thought."
I would've liked to mull on that, but at that moment we were interrupted by a half a dozen more vampires. They emerged out of the darkness and grabbed Robbie, knocking his lantern to the ground. They looked like they were ready to shed some blood and they were all chanting, "Nothla." I didn't particularly like the sound of that.
One - the leader I guessed - was a twin of the vamp that'd been busy with Robbie, save for she had pink hair. She sneered and said, "Nothla's final sacrifices are ready."
I *really* didn't like the sound of that.
With Robbie as a hostage, I had no choice but to allow myself to be frog-marched to a creepy mausoleum smack dab in the middle of the graveyard. Inside, by torchlight, I saw why Winford's spell hadn't panned out - he'd been captured by two fat vampires in too-tight leather clothes. When he saw me and our situation, his entire face fell, like a kid who's been denied dessert. Of course, I'd been his only hope. And perhaps the hope of the world.
The pink-haired vamp gave a signal and a trapdoor in the ground opened up and all of us were shoved down it. The three of us were pushed into the lead, with the vamps behind us forming a sort of phalanx. "Great going. What's the plan?" asked Robbie in an elaborate stage whisper.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think there's a plan?"
An audible groan. We kept on, finally reaching a spacious antechamber, lit with hundreds of torches. The room was bright and warm, stinking of sweat. Etched into the ground was a blown-up version of the symbol Winford had shown me. It looked like it had been drawn in blood that had long since dried.
The girl vamp with the poor excuse of a dye job grabbed Robbie by the ear, taking care not to break the skin, but, I could tell, inflicting as much pain as possible. He was shoved into a makeshift cage near the back of the chamber. I could see that it housed a number of teenage boys and girls - I counted twelve in all. Winford was trying to wrench free, but was held steady by his guards. The vampire holding me pinched my arms for good affect.
Out of the darkness emerged a hooded figure, slightly stooped. From what I could tell, it was vampire - really, totally, ugly vampire. It sniffed the air with its wart of a nose, then turned to bubblegum hairdo girl. "The slayer?" it purred in an almost unnaturally low voice. The girl vamp just smiled. "This sacrifice will surely please Nothla. Prepare for the calling."
I'd been looking for an opportunity to go ballistic on everyone, but with growing chagrin I realized that with so many innocents hanging around, it wouldn't be so easy. I glanced over at Winford, who looked more than a little uneasy. Vampires surrounded us, pouring buckets of thick, fresh blood over the lines that formed the symbol on the floor. Instantly, the stench of sweat was joined by blood's characteristic metallic tang and I thought I would toss my cookies.
The cage was opened and the prisoners shoved into position. I heard one girl whimpering, "But the blood will ruin my shoes." Right hon, you're about to be sacrificed to a vampiric god who's gonna go feeding frenzy on the world and all you can worry about is a little red on your Pradas. I felt like saying, "It'll come out with club soda", but realized it wasn't the time or place for a witty quip.
Robbie was placed at the 'place of honor', the point at the top of the symbol. The others formed the square section of the etching. I remembered then what Winford had said - fourteen sacrifices in all. Standing on the symbol were thirteen - I was the fourteenth! Sure enough, no sooner had the thought popped into my mind than I was being thrust towards the place where Robbie stood, managing not to look overly scared. "Please tell me you're going to get us out of this, Mulder." he hissed as I was moved next to him.
"Um, a little difficult when I have no plan..." I started.
"Then improvise!" he practically screamed.
The hooded vampire, who'd just walked to the center of the symbol, looked our way. I nudged him to be silent and stared straight forward. The cowled bloodsucker looked pleased and removed the hood to reveal...a whole load of ugly. Just above the bulbous nose were two beady little eyes that were spaced too far apart to do anything for the face. His fangs protruded out of his mouth and they were a horrible shade of unsanitary yellow. He was hairless and had pointed ears like a garden gnome. All in all - a face even a mother couldn't love.
All around the symbol, I could hear the disgusted utterings of a group of a people accustomed only to Californian molded perfection. The worried shoe girl even had the strength of mine to murmur, "He fell into a vat of gross." The ugly seemed to take offense at this, because he roared and started towards her. I took that opportunity to pounce. All hell then promptly broke loose.
Vampires streamed out of the darkness, attacking the sacrifices. I knew that even without spilling blood, they could do a lot of damage. I needed to help the teens, but the leader vamp was a real piece of work. I was on his back, piggyback-style, trying to get into a position to stake him as he bucked and screamed like a stuck pig. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Robbie fighting off a vampiric attacker and urging the others to do the same. "Keep improvising, Mulder! It's working!" he screeched, jabbing an attacker in the eye. This made me feel a little better...except that Gnarly threw me off him and began to chant. "Candy, he's starting the ceremony!" yelled Winford from somewhere amidst the fray.
Even without that tidbit of information, I would've known the ceremony had begun. Smoke was starting to rise from the lines of the symbol and the torches flared. Teens were still fighting vamps, though, so I guess they hadn't noticed. I lunged forward to stake the leader - and was stopped by an invisible field. He smiled at me with his hideously red mouth and continued to chant. I banged on the invisible barrier, which surrounded him like a cylinder, but all to no avail. I dusted a few vamps that tried to stop me, but the leader just kept right on chanting. The ground was beginning to sizzle. Everyone began to take notice.
I had to do something. I gathered up the last remnants of my strength and prepared to launch myself at the leader - maybe I'd distract him long enough for the barrier to be dropped. I started running, waving my stake in the air like a maniac and just as I was about to launch myself, I heard a familiar voice yell, "Freeze! FBI!" The leader was distracted by *that* and it gave me my chance - I drove my stake into him so hard, he dusted within seconds. And just as quickly, his minions disappeared into the darkness.
And it was just in time for the arrival of my parents and about twenty FBI reinforcements.
"Robbie?" I sputtered. Somehow, something had possessed Robert McAfee to save my watcher and I from a crazed vampire attack. After an entire afternoon spent sniping at me and pretending vampires didn't exist. Who would've thought...?
Yet, there he was, standing in a grubby button-down shirt and faded jeans, cradling a camping lantern in his arms. It was the light from that lantern that had burned the vampire enough to stun it and let me move in for the slay. "What...?" I managed to begin again, only partly.
He switched off the lantern. "Modified it. UV light. You didn't give me the whole rundown, but I figured our fanged friends wouldn't take too kindly to it."
I stared. From his face to the lantern to his face again. It made no logical sense whatsoever. What was he doing here, saving my neck? The logical Scully side of me protested to this unbelievable situation. I started to feel a little light-headed. "I...I think I have to sit down." So I did, just sat right down on the grass.
Robbie snickered. "You just staked a vampire through the chest, didn't bat an eyelash. My presence gives you the faints? Should I feel flattered?"
Winford had left his salt circle and was coming towards me, concerned. I shot Robbie a dirty look. So saving a person's life didn't cool off his sarcasm. "Oh, please. I just...had to catch my breath." Noticing that I was still sitting, I quickly stood, brushing recently-dusted vampire off my clothes. I snuck a glance in Weirder's direction and saw that he had a cockeyed grin on his face.
"Candy, are you all right?" Winford asked. He had his hand on my arm and I got the feeling that if I didn't give him an answer soon, he'd be feeling me for broken bones. I felt a curt nod sufficed.
I moved past my watcher towards Robbie. "What are you doing here?" I asked, finally completing my previous thought.
He shrugged. "I was around these parts and it occurred to me, what with your penchant for cemeteries, it was likely you'd be up to something in here. Plus, I heard a scream." He set the camping lantern on the ground between us.
"That would be me," offered Winford helpfully. He was once again in the middle of the salt circle, scrounging around in his bag for something. After a moment or two, he bounced back up with an oversized container of salt. He popped the lid and began pouring more of the white seasoning around himself.
I stopped watching my watcher flavoring the ground and returned my attention to the issue at hand. "Right, so you heard Winford screaming...but what's with the lantern? You just *happened* to have a camping lantern modified to emit UV light, a particularly good defense against bloodsucking uglies?" I watched him flush. So the real story outs.
Robbie shrugged again. "Okay, okay, if you must know...I felt...bad...about the way I acted earlier. I just wanted you to know your secret's safe with me." The surprise must have shown on my face. He rushed on. "It still doesn't mean I become your groupie or whatever. Just that you don't have to worry."
"Wonderful, young man." Winford was relighting the candles that had blown out during the attack. "Now, if you're through, perhaps you could run along home. I have a spell to cast and Candy has some patrolling to do. Wouldn't need the added distraction of someone who so obviously does not want to be here."
A strange look passed Robbie's face. "Uh, I agree with Winford. You should go home now. But thanks for the help." I added sheepishly.
Weirder hefted the lantern up. "Anytime, Mulder." There was a funny catch in his voice. He began walking away. I got the distinct feeling he was not pleased.
I looked back at Winford and saw he was pretty much in ritual mode. "Uh, Robbie..I'll walk you out." I called, jogging after him. He didn't even slow down. I caught up to him and we walked in silence for a few minutes. I decided to break it, just as we approached the entrance gates. "What you did back there..."
"Shhhhhh." he hissed. He stopped dead in his tracks and switched on the lantern.
I was immediately on alert. Hey, you can't survive as the slayer without being able to jump into cautious mode at a moment's notice. Sure enough, I caught the faint crunch of footsteps just dying away. I felt for my stake and held it at the ready. "Be on your guard, they can strike at any..." I wasn't even able to finish my sentence before a stupid vamp was on me, trying for some non-lethal, no bloodshed attack. Fat chance. I kicked and scratched for all I was worth. "Robbie, try to bleed!"
From somewhere beyond the vamp that was straddling me, I could hear Weirder trying to do just that. I landed a right hook on the vampire's chin, enough of a blow to send him sailing off me and for me to jump back up and drive my stake through his heart. To my left, the lantern in Robbie's hands was sending rays of UV light everywhere but on his target, a gnarly girl vamp with streaked purple hair. She was too busy on top of him to notice me sneak up behind and plunge the business end of my stake into her. She vanished in a cloud of dust. Robbie lay there, looking stunned, the lantern stilled and held close to his chest. "Guess that spell of Winford's didn't kick in yet." I offered. Robbie coughed and sat up.
There was a momentary silence, then, "You do this on a regular basis, Mulder?"
I shrugged. "Ever since I got to Sunnydale. Yeah."
He stood, shifted the lantern to one hand and eyed me speculatively. "Suppose it's harder than I thought."
I would've liked to mull on that, but at that moment we were interrupted by a half a dozen more vampires. They emerged out of the darkness and grabbed Robbie, knocking his lantern to the ground. They looked like they were ready to shed some blood and they were all chanting, "Nothla." I didn't particularly like the sound of that.
One - the leader I guessed - was a twin of the vamp that'd been busy with Robbie, save for she had pink hair. She sneered and said, "Nothla's final sacrifices are ready."
I *really* didn't like the sound of that.
With Robbie as a hostage, I had no choice but to allow myself to be frog-marched to a creepy mausoleum smack dab in the middle of the graveyard. Inside, by torchlight, I saw why Winford's spell hadn't panned out - he'd been captured by two fat vampires in too-tight leather clothes. When he saw me and our situation, his entire face fell, like a kid who's been denied dessert. Of course, I'd been his only hope. And perhaps the hope of the world.
The pink-haired vamp gave a signal and a trapdoor in the ground opened up and all of us were shoved down it. The three of us were pushed into the lead, with the vamps behind us forming a sort of phalanx. "Great going. What's the plan?" asked Robbie in an elaborate stage whisper.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think there's a plan?"
An audible groan. We kept on, finally reaching a spacious antechamber, lit with hundreds of torches. The room was bright and warm, stinking of sweat. Etched into the ground was a blown-up version of the symbol Winford had shown me. It looked like it had been drawn in blood that had long since dried.
The girl vamp with the poor excuse of a dye job grabbed Robbie by the ear, taking care not to break the skin, but, I could tell, inflicting as much pain as possible. He was shoved into a makeshift cage near the back of the chamber. I could see that it housed a number of teenage boys and girls - I counted twelve in all. Winford was trying to wrench free, but was held steady by his guards. The vampire holding me pinched my arms for good affect.
Out of the darkness emerged a hooded figure, slightly stooped. From what I could tell, it was vampire - really, totally, ugly vampire. It sniffed the air with its wart of a nose, then turned to bubblegum hairdo girl. "The slayer?" it purred in an almost unnaturally low voice. The girl vamp just smiled. "This sacrifice will surely please Nothla. Prepare for the calling."
I'd been looking for an opportunity to go ballistic on everyone, but with growing chagrin I realized that with so many innocents hanging around, it wouldn't be so easy. I glanced over at Winford, who looked more than a little uneasy. Vampires surrounded us, pouring buckets of thick, fresh blood over the lines that formed the symbol on the floor. Instantly, the stench of sweat was joined by blood's characteristic metallic tang and I thought I would toss my cookies.
The cage was opened and the prisoners shoved into position. I heard one girl whimpering, "But the blood will ruin my shoes." Right hon, you're about to be sacrificed to a vampiric god who's gonna go feeding frenzy on the world and all you can worry about is a little red on your Pradas. I felt like saying, "It'll come out with club soda", but realized it wasn't the time or place for a witty quip.
Robbie was placed at the 'place of honor', the point at the top of the symbol. The others formed the square section of the etching. I remembered then what Winford had said - fourteen sacrifices in all. Standing on the symbol were thirteen - I was the fourteenth! Sure enough, no sooner had the thought popped into my mind than I was being thrust towards the place where Robbie stood, managing not to look overly scared. "Please tell me you're going to get us out of this, Mulder." he hissed as I was moved next to him.
"Um, a little difficult when I have no plan..." I started.
"Then improvise!" he practically screamed.
The hooded vampire, who'd just walked to the center of the symbol, looked our way. I nudged him to be silent and stared straight forward. The cowled bloodsucker looked pleased and removed the hood to reveal...a whole load of ugly. Just above the bulbous nose were two beady little eyes that were spaced too far apart to do anything for the face. His fangs protruded out of his mouth and they were a horrible shade of unsanitary yellow. He was hairless and had pointed ears like a garden gnome. All in all - a face even a mother couldn't love.
All around the symbol, I could hear the disgusted utterings of a group of a people accustomed only to Californian molded perfection. The worried shoe girl even had the strength of mine to murmur, "He fell into a vat of gross." The ugly seemed to take offense at this, because he roared and started towards her. I took that opportunity to pounce. All hell then promptly broke loose.
Vampires streamed out of the darkness, attacking the sacrifices. I knew that even without spilling blood, they could do a lot of damage. I needed to help the teens, but the leader vamp was a real piece of work. I was on his back, piggyback-style, trying to get into a position to stake him as he bucked and screamed like a stuck pig. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Robbie fighting off a vampiric attacker and urging the others to do the same. "Keep improvising, Mulder! It's working!" he screeched, jabbing an attacker in the eye. This made me feel a little better...except that Gnarly threw me off him and began to chant. "Candy, he's starting the ceremony!" yelled Winford from somewhere amidst the fray.
Even without that tidbit of information, I would've known the ceremony had begun. Smoke was starting to rise from the lines of the symbol and the torches flared. Teens were still fighting vamps, though, so I guess they hadn't noticed. I lunged forward to stake the leader - and was stopped by an invisible field. He smiled at me with his hideously red mouth and continued to chant. I banged on the invisible barrier, which surrounded him like a cylinder, but all to no avail. I dusted a few vamps that tried to stop me, but the leader just kept right on chanting. The ground was beginning to sizzle. Everyone began to take notice.
I had to do something. I gathered up the last remnants of my strength and prepared to launch myself at the leader - maybe I'd distract him long enough for the barrier to be dropped. I started running, waving my stake in the air like a maniac and just as I was about to launch myself, I heard a familiar voice yell, "Freeze! FBI!" The leader was distracted by *that* and it gave me my chance - I drove my stake into him so hard, he dusted within seconds. And just as quickly, his minions disappeared into the darkness.
And it was just in time for the arrival of my parents and about twenty FBI reinforcements.