Artemis's eyes fluttered open to see it was noon. He grumbled and rolled
over. Butler needed to help Father today. Father wanted him to help
reconstruct the stupid kitchen. The door silently clicked shut. Artemis
shot up and almost yelled, 'Butler, I told you never to come into my room
without knocking,' when he saw that he wasn't in his house. Artemis looked
around to see almost complete darkness. His eyes adjusted and he saw Reret
and Nick, who hadn't moved an inch since they had fallen asleep, Holly and
Root, asleep in the couches with hands on their guns and Butler who was
sleeping on the floor and had a hand resting close to an overlarge knife.
Solo was gone. Artemis scratched his head and felt something crawling in
his hair. A cockroach had launched itself into Artemis's messy hair.
Artemis shook his head violently and the cockroach flew from his head onto
Root's face. Artemis chuckled and decided to leave it there. He leaned
over the bed and woke Butler up. Butler stood up and did his daily
stretches while Artemis cracked open a book from the shelf.
Artemis had no idea what the Vampire hunter was planning, so when the sun had set and Reret and Nick woke up, he didn't mention it. The moment Artemis was going to say Good night, the vampire hunter started telling everyone his plans. "Night clubs usually attract vampires because of the sheer mass of potential victims. So I guess that there are about one-third of the vampires are working with Axl. We find one of them and interrogate him. You humans and elves stay back, I prefer that you guys be shielded, but there is a possibility that they can see you if they are strong enough, so be on your guard. Solo will . . . Where is Solo?"
Artemis was about to answer where the door clicked open and Solo came in. She smiled to Nick. "Sorry I so long." Artemis guessed it wasn't such a big matter because Nick just nodded and kept on going with his plans. And the worst part of the plan would be using Solo, Butler and Artemis for bait.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Artemis cringed as he looked through the clothes Hot Topic offered. "Why would people wear these?" Artemis said showing Butler a pair of pants with a thousand zippers and pockets.
Butler shrugged and said, "To keep knives, guns, and drugs?"
"Only you would need so much pockets, Butler. Besides, how do they remember which pocket holds the gun? I could imagine taking out the heroin or something of that paraphernalia in a life-or-death situation and croaking because my gun was in the back, left-bottom pocket."
"Why would you have drugs, ugly, fugly zombie?" Holly laughed behind them. She was now pretending to be Uncle Chazzy's (AKA Artemis) niece again. Artemis suspected that they would have to put up with it whenever they were in public.
"Shut up."
"Oh, hey!" Holly squeaked with excitement, completely forgetting her disguise. "You'd look soo sexy in these, Artemis!" Artemis couldn't help but look over at the rack where the elf was standing. It was an underwear rack. Holly was holding up a pair of leopard skin thongs and snickering. Geeze, Holly was a pretty good actress when she wanted to be. The look of horror on Artemis's face caused Holly to double over in silent giggles with tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks.
"I fail to see what's so funny," Artemis growled and thrust the pair of pants onto the rack again. He'd never find anything decent enough for his tastes in here. Nick said that Butler looked fine and could pass as a bouncer. However, Solo and Artemis had to get new clothes. Solo had already found and bought clothes. Her shirt was black and had a white picture of a stick figure sitting Indian style saying 'Ramen.' Solo said he was Happy Noodle Boy, not a stick figure. As if there was a difference to Artemis. She also bought black pants that had all sorts of spikes on them and bought a pair of high heels along with a dog collar and a black hat that had the logo for Linkin Park stitched across the front in red letters. Eventually, it came close for the time for them to meet Nick at the club and Solo picked out Artemis's clothes. Truth to be told, Artemis kind of expected her to pick out clothes that would have had Marilyn Manson flattered. But she picked out a hat similar to hers except it had blue letters, a black shirt that silver Nazi cross right in the center, very baggy black pants and a bondage cuff. At the checkout counter, Artemis volunteered to buy, but it turns out, she was using Nick's money and he was pretty well off. Root, and Holly looked around and shielded, intending to meet Nick first and left Butler, Solo and Artemis behind.
The two changed quickly at the hotel and the trio made it's way to the club. It took about a whole five minutes for Solo to change and once she finished, she started to nit-pick at Artemis. "You don't wear your hat like that." She turned the hat halfway around so that the bill was above his left ear. "And you don't wear a belt. You need to sag." She was about to pull down Artemis's pants for him when he jumped back and did it himself.
"Excuse me, but I am not good at being stupid, okay?"
Once he got to the club though, Holly gave him an even harder time. She was shielded and when she laughed, he twitched. "Crack killed more than fifty people each year Artemis. Pull up your pants." This comment was fallowed by Root's laughter.
Nick was waiting inside. He also had a punk-rock look going on. "Okay, guys, you know what to do. Holly, go with Artemis and Root, stick with Butler. Reret and I will stay here. Solo, you can hold your own, right?"
Solo nodded.
"Good. Remember to contact us if you find a vampire."
"How do we contact you?" Holly asked. "Just say either of our names. Try to do it in normal conversations so they won't find you suspicious. But if they do take you without chit- chatting, yell our name and we will some to your aid."
The four groups split up. Solo went to the dance floor, Butler and Root went towards the entrance, Holly and Artemis lingered around the DJ and Reret and Nick stayed in the food court.
- - - - - - - - - -
Root flipped his heat sensors on and scanned the crowd. There was a bright yellow aurora emitting from the dance floor. Not one speck of blue was among it. He then turned to the entrance. There was one figure covered completely in blue. Root tugged Butler's arm. "There, the girl with the ripped clothes by the door." Butler nodded and made his way over to her with a shielded Root behind him.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Butler looked over toward the entrance. The girl had long black hair and piercing blue eyes. Butler nodded and made his way toward her. She was very pretty, but the fact that she was an undead wasn't much appealing to Butler. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Did you know that there's some girl named Reret looking for you?" The girl looked bemused but shook her head. Then she took Butler's arm.
She said, "Nope, but show me where she is." Butler looked over at the table where Reret was getting up and heading for them and took the girl outside into the back alley.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nick watched all of them go to where they were assigned. He sighed and looked around. There was too much body heat to tell from afar who was an undead. "Artemis looks cute in that outfit, doesn't he?" Reret laughed.
"Tell me about it. But they look ill fitted, you know? Since he has grown up with sophisticated stuff, they don't look right on him. I used to be just like that."
Reret cleared he throat noisily. "Uh, Nick?" He looked at her. Her hair was beautiful in the flashing disco lights. Her emerald eyes burned like green fire. She gave a nervous smile and dug into her coat pocket.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
It was odd being alone with Nick again. Usually, Solo was there so she could never ay what she wanted to. She said conversationally, "Artemis looks cute in that outfit, doesn't he?" and laughed.
Reret listened as he thought why Artemis was similar to him. He was so serious when asked a question. She guessed it's what more than a thousand years can do to you. After he was done, she cleared her throat reluctantly and said, "Uh, Nick?" She felt his sapphire eyes looks at her. She dug into her pocket and threw a smile at him.
She took out a piece of paper and gave it to him. He unfolded it and a warm smile spread across his face. "It's lovely."
"Do you know how it is?" She asked, pointing to the good-looking boy she had drawn. He was smoking a cigarette and leaning against a wall with a far away look in his eyes.
"No," Nick said, then added, "The guy you love?" It was sarcasm on the second spot, but he really didn't know who it was.
"Yeah. You." Reret then got up and fallowed Butler.
= = = = = = = =
Hello. Sorry if a lot of this is about the Vampires instead of Artemis. I really needed to emphasize their relationship. SO review! Bwahaha. Okay. New chap up soon.
Artemis had no idea what the Vampire hunter was planning, so when the sun had set and Reret and Nick woke up, he didn't mention it. The moment Artemis was going to say Good night, the vampire hunter started telling everyone his plans. "Night clubs usually attract vampires because of the sheer mass of potential victims. So I guess that there are about one-third of the vampires are working with Axl. We find one of them and interrogate him. You humans and elves stay back, I prefer that you guys be shielded, but there is a possibility that they can see you if they are strong enough, so be on your guard. Solo will . . . Where is Solo?"
Artemis was about to answer where the door clicked open and Solo came in. She smiled to Nick. "Sorry I so long." Artemis guessed it wasn't such a big matter because Nick just nodded and kept on going with his plans. And the worst part of the plan would be using Solo, Butler and Artemis for bait.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Artemis cringed as he looked through the clothes Hot Topic offered. "Why would people wear these?" Artemis said showing Butler a pair of pants with a thousand zippers and pockets.
Butler shrugged and said, "To keep knives, guns, and drugs?"
"Only you would need so much pockets, Butler. Besides, how do they remember which pocket holds the gun? I could imagine taking out the heroin or something of that paraphernalia in a life-or-death situation and croaking because my gun was in the back, left-bottom pocket."
"Why would you have drugs, ugly, fugly zombie?" Holly laughed behind them. She was now pretending to be Uncle Chazzy's (AKA Artemis) niece again. Artemis suspected that they would have to put up with it whenever they were in public.
"Shut up."
"Oh, hey!" Holly squeaked with excitement, completely forgetting her disguise. "You'd look soo sexy in these, Artemis!" Artemis couldn't help but look over at the rack where the elf was standing. It was an underwear rack. Holly was holding up a pair of leopard skin thongs and snickering. Geeze, Holly was a pretty good actress when she wanted to be. The look of horror on Artemis's face caused Holly to double over in silent giggles with tears of laughter streaming down her cheeks.
"I fail to see what's so funny," Artemis growled and thrust the pair of pants onto the rack again. He'd never find anything decent enough for his tastes in here. Nick said that Butler looked fine and could pass as a bouncer. However, Solo and Artemis had to get new clothes. Solo had already found and bought clothes. Her shirt was black and had a white picture of a stick figure sitting Indian style saying 'Ramen.' Solo said he was Happy Noodle Boy, not a stick figure. As if there was a difference to Artemis. She also bought black pants that had all sorts of spikes on them and bought a pair of high heels along with a dog collar and a black hat that had the logo for Linkin Park stitched across the front in red letters. Eventually, it came close for the time for them to meet Nick at the club and Solo picked out Artemis's clothes. Truth to be told, Artemis kind of expected her to pick out clothes that would have had Marilyn Manson flattered. But she picked out a hat similar to hers except it had blue letters, a black shirt that silver Nazi cross right in the center, very baggy black pants and a bondage cuff. At the checkout counter, Artemis volunteered to buy, but it turns out, she was using Nick's money and he was pretty well off. Root, and Holly looked around and shielded, intending to meet Nick first and left Butler, Solo and Artemis behind.
The two changed quickly at the hotel and the trio made it's way to the club. It took about a whole five minutes for Solo to change and once she finished, she started to nit-pick at Artemis. "You don't wear your hat like that." She turned the hat halfway around so that the bill was above his left ear. "And you don't wear a belt. You need to sag." She was about to pull down Artemis's pants for him when he jumped back and did it himself.
"Excuse me, but I am not good at being stupid, okay?"
Once he got to the club though, Holly gave him an even harder time. She was shielded and when she laughed, he twitched. "Crack killed more than fifty people each year Artemis. Pull up your pants." This comment was fallowed by Root's laughter.
Nick was waiting inside. He also had a punk-rock look going on. "Okay, guys, you know what to do. Holly, go with Artemis and Root, stick with Butler. Reret and I will stay here. Solo, you can hold your own, right?"
Solo nodded.
"Good. Remember to contact us if you find a vampire."
"How do we contact you?" Holly asked. "Just say either of our names. Try to do it in normal conversations so they won't find you suspicious. But if they do take you without chit- chatting, yell our name and we will some to your aid."
The four groups split up. Solo went to the dance floor, Butler and Root went towards the entrance, Holly and Artemis lingered around the DJ and Reret and Nick stayed in the food court.
- - - - - - - - - -
Root flipped his heat sensors on and scanned the crowd. There was a bright yellow aurora emitting from the dance floor. Not one speck of blue was among it. He then turned to the entrance. There was one figure covered completely in blue. Root tugged Butler's arm. "There, the girl with the ripped clothes by the door." Butler nodded and made his way over to her with a shielded Root behind him.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Butler looked over toward the entrance. The girl had long black hair and piercing blue eyes. Butler nodded and made his way toward her. She was very pretty, but the fact that she was an undead wasn't much appealing to Butler. He tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Did you know that there's some girl named Reret looking for you?" The girl looked bemused but shook her head. Then she took Butler's arm.
She said, "Nope, but show me where she is." Butler looked over at the table where Reret was getting up and heading for them and took the girl outside into the back alley.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Nick watched all of them go to where they were assigned. He sighed and looked around. There was too much body heat to tell from afar who was an undead. "Artemis looks cute in that outfit, doesn't he?" Reret laughed.
"Tell me about it. But they look ill fitted, you know? Since he has grown up with sophisticated stuff, they don't look right on him. I used to be just like that."
Reret cleared he throat noisily. "Uh, Nick?" He looked at her. Her hair was beautiful in the flashing disco lights. Her emerald eyes burned like green fire. She gave a nervous smile and dug into her coat pocket.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
It was odd being alone with Nick again. Usually, Solo was there so she could never ay what she wanted to. She said conversationally, "Artemis looks cute in that outfit, doesn't he?" and laughed.
Reret listened as he thought why Artemis was similar to him. He was so serious when asked a question. She guessed it's what more than a thousand years can do to you. After he was done, she cleared her throat reluctantly and said, "Uh, Nick?" She felt his sapphire eyes looks at her. She dug into her pocket and threw a smile at him.
She took out a piece of paper and gave it to him. He unfolded it and a warm smile spread across his face. "It's lovely."
"Do you know how it is?" She asked, pointing to the good-looking boy she had drawn. He was smoking a cigarette and leaning against a wall with a far away look in his eyes.
"No," Nick said, then added, "The guy you love?" It was sarcasm on the second spot, but he really didn't know who it was.
"Yeah. You." Reret then got up and fallowed Butler.
= = = = = = = =
Hello. Sorry if a lot of this is about the Vampires instead of Artemis. I really needed to emphasize their relationship. SO review! Bwahaha. Okay. New chap up soon.