Four
Spot pulled away, and Misprint slumped to the ground, blood still running from the wound in her neck, her eyes wide. Shade swayed slowly, and had to press a hand to the wall to stop herself from falling over. The past few minutes had impacted her so quickly, it seemed as though they would leak from her eyes and ears and cover her in strange memories. She had walked over to the back of the club, stumbling slightly, and remembered seeing Jack and Bumlets searching desperately through the dance floor.
'Jack' she had thought. 'That's what I was going to do. Go talk to Jack.' But sudden, dim sounding screams had wormed their way through the music and to her ears. She paused, and realised who was screaming. Misprint. She had whirled around frantically, remembering her friend and the strange boy. Of all the boys to have a first dance with…
She had spotted Jack and wondered if she was imagining the screams. She hoped she had. She hadn't wanted to find Misprint had been hurt. She had only wanted to talk with Jack. But then had heard her friends voice. "What the hell are you doing?" She knew she was in trouble. So, Shade began making her way, past one incessant crowd of druggies, to the side door.
Spot straightened, and when he saw her, his eyes flashed, as though he was thinking of something that affected him powerfully. But the moment Shade noticed, he dropped the look, and quickly assumed a cynical smirk. Misprint's eyes were half closed, as she slumped against the garbage can at his feet.
"What the hell did you do to her?" Shade asked. Spot nonchalantly looked over his shoulder at Misprint.
"Well, since you interrupted, nothing too serious." He remarked.
"You…" She tried to get the rest of her sentence out, but it became stuck in her throat and she had to blink a few times to clear her vision. Spot smirked.
"What? Whadda ya gonna do? Hurt me?" He asked sarcastically. "I'm shaking." He walked towards her. "So comon. Take a swing at me."
"Get away." She hissed, slowly stumbling backwards.
"Comon."
"Misprint!" Shade tried to dodge the vampire and run to her friend, but he caught her elbow and gripped her forearms. With a smirk, he pulled her towards him. Her head lolled backwards.
"You girls are just so easy." He grinned.
"No!" She yelled. She struggled, trying to get to Misprint, so she could grab her and run, but her legs weren't connected to her brain. Weren't working. Numb. "Lemme go!"
"Make me! Comon, girly. I've drunk my fill. It'd be nice to have some entertainments."
"Fuck you!" She swung her fist into his gut, but it didn't faze him in the least. In fact, he laughed. Then he threw her down onto the cobblestone of the alley. She cried out as her head cracked against the cement, and black dotted her vision. Through the haze, she could see him rooting around in his pocket, and pulling out a clear plastic book of something. He pulled out a smaller container and opened it, a somewhat regretful expression on his face. Then he straddled her stomach and looked at whatever it was in his hands. Shade's sight was too obscure to see what exactly it was.
"Sorry bout this." He said, twisting off the top of some small red packet. Nuke.
"No…" She pleaded.
"It's just so much fun to see them stagger around after this. I mean…" He wrenched her head aside. "I know your drunk, but…" He smirked. "This just enhances the flavour."
"Don't!" She yelled, as he aimed the needle at a vein near the top of her neck.
"This'll just make it more interesting." He suddenly plunged the needle into the flesh of her neck and squeezed.
She closed her eyes as the impending blackness threatened to close in on her. She could feel the cool substance in her blood, and her neck stiffened, making the needle push against the vein, making it only more painful. She could hear Spot's voice in her head.
"Relax. It'll hoit less. Didn't no one ever tell you that when you was gettin' a shot?"
"Don't…" her eyes flew open as Spot rolled off of her. She sat up, a finger to the small syringe hole in her neck. The packet of Nuke fell to the ground, a quarter empty. She looked over, and saw Spot lying on the ground, his hands around someone's neck. A figure in black. Strong arms. Blonde hair that was slicked back, but now falling over the forehead. She let out a breath and pushed her fingers against the hole, making some of the drug squeeze back out. Already her head was pounding, and things were changing different colours.
Bumlets rushed over to Misprint and pressed something to the bite on her neck. Then he wrapped it around her entire throat, like a cast.
"Can you see me?" He asked softly. Misprint cleared the fogginess from her brain in time to see Bumlet's concerned brown eyes in front of hers. Behind him sat Shade, finger to her neck, and Jack. On top of Spot. Fighting. But this was too much for her, and she closed her eyes. "Just stay there." Bumlets whispered. "If someone tries to take you away, you start screamin'."
"Uh huh." She whispered. She couldn't tilt her head, afraid it would fall off. Bumlets left her, and she felt like sobbing. But she didn't. Her two rules. No dancing with guys, and no crying. Oh yeah, now she had another one. No necking with vampires.
Spot was able to roll on top of Jack, and felt like laughing as he recognised the boy. Jack was an infamous slayer, at least in New York, anyways. Spot pushed down on his hands, choking off the boys air. Jack went pale under the tan, and his eyes went blurry. Spot saw this, and smirked. Imagine that. Surprised that it had been that easy, he pushed harder. Humans were so pathetic, there were so many ways to kill them. But the only two ways to kill a vampire…
Spot cried out as something slashed across his back. He rolled off and smashed into a garbage can, then dragged himself to his feet, feeling a wave of cool blood soak his back. When he looked up, he saw Jack sitting up, and Bumlets standing, with a bloody knife in his hand.
"Too bad he's a squirmer." Bumlets commented to Jack, as the blonde boy stood up and pulled a stake from his pocket. Bumlets smirked. "I could've got his head, if he wasn't." Jack glanced over at Bumlets. Then, stake raised, he lunged towards Spot and swung the weapon towards his chest.
There was a split second where the wood punctured the iced skin of the vampire, then it ran through air and hit the wall, smashing the point to a dulled end. Jack's eyes shifted, then he looked down, and around him.
"Where'd he go?" He asked softly. Bumlets sighed, and put the blade back in its holster.
"Conlon's an incredibly powerful one, Jack." He said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Wouldn't surprise me if he did know how to transport." Jack nodded, then threw the stake on the ground so hard it shattered.
"Fuck." He hissed. He ran a hand through his hair. "I almost got him that time."
"Don't worry about it. You were just a li'l off. Probably because it was Conlon."
"No, it wasn't that." Jack said. He glanced at Shade. She was paler than usual, which was hard, considering the black hair and the natural pallor of her skin. But her eyes were going darker, and the finger was still against her neck, as though glued there. Jack looked up and glanced at Misprint.
"You take her." He said, tossing his head in the direction of the bitten girl. "I'll get Shade here."
"Where are we going?" Bumlets asked, going back to Misprint. She looked up at him fearfully, but he slowly crouched down. "S'okay, it's me." He whispered. She nodded.
"Back to the dorms." Jack replied, picking up Shade and wrapping an arm around her. "I think Conlon's done for tonight."
+
Misprint found herself clad as she had been in the club, the only difference was that one of Shade's hemp necklaces ringed her neck. The red beads glinted like blood. A giant forest of oak trees surrounded her. The path she walked on was packed dirt, an oak leave skittered past her foot. She looked around puzzled. Ahead of her she could she Shade standing on the path, her friend turned back and laughed at her. With a grin Shade called out to Misprint;
"G'wan, he's waitin' for you." Shade darted into the forest and Misprint lost sight of her. With a shrug she continued down the path. Who was Shade talking about? Without waiting a moment Misprint knew the answer, the only who'd ever be waiting for her. Him, Conlon, the demon with the blue eyes. The path led her to her room. She entered slowly, the pure white room was pristine and clean. The sun rose in the sky and as the light came through the red curtains the room turned to a blood red. Misprint's white gown remained white however. When Spot's hand pulled her to him she didn't hesitate in dancing with him. The ceiling began to leak blood, the red liquid ran like rain to the ground. Misprint's dress became stained with the substance and Spot's eyes glinted with fire.
She stood on a cliff over looking a sea of blood, her blood, Shade's blood, Jack's blood, the blood of the thousands of Hunters that had come before.
"Misprint," a familiar voice called her back from the cliff, she turned lightly. Spot was chained to a monolithic cross, a pair of black pants barely hugged his waist. His arms stretched out along the arms of the cross. Blood rain ran down his chest and try as he might he could not catch a drop in his parched mouth. "Misprint, Faith, c'mere"
Slowly she made her way towards the starving vampire, even in is famished state he managed to look amazing. His blue eyes glinted. A woman with black cherry hair and a line drawn from the middle of her forehead, over her eyelid, to the middle of her cheek stared up at Misprint, her eyes were wide and dark a container of nuke was implanted in her neck.
"Come on, Mis." Spot called to her from down the marble hall. Her blood red ball gown glistened and she looked down at him, he was dressed stunningly in a black suit with a blood red satin shirt. Soft music played. "Do you like dancing?"
"Of course" Misprint laughed. She threw all caution to the wind, she was wild and free. He took her in his arms and the two spun around the dance floor.
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Of what, you? Of course not." She grinned.
He handed her a blood red rose. Smiling she took the rose, a thorn pricked her and a drop of blood welled out. She stared at it perplexed. Hesitantly he reached for her hand and with a look at her accepting face, gently lapped the blood from the wound.
+
"So. What's with you an' Jack?" Dutchy asked, as he ran the stake through the fifth vampire. Chaos shrugged, and glanced quickly behind her.
"Whaddaya mean?"
"You two are always at each other's throats." He replied. Chaos shrugged again, not particularly wanting to get onto the subject. She abhorred Jack, and he did the same. What was the point of talking it over? Hate was so satisfying. So easy to content yourself with. It was easier than love. The world needed it.
"No comment?"
"No comment." She replied. A hand on her back made her spin around, stake ready. True to her vibes, there stood a tall black vampire, his fangs bared. Without hesitation, she rammed the stake through his chest, and watched as he exploded into dust. She knew Dutchy was watching.
"Way not to beat around the bush." He commented.
"Why should I run around beating him up and messing around when there are simpler ways?" She said simply. A sudden hiss made them both whirl around. Standing before them was a pale one, Asian, with curly black hair and an indifferent expression. Except for the fact that his fangs were glittering in the moonlight, he looked almost cute, Chaos speculated later. But, like Dutchy had prompted her to say, there was no point beating around the bush. She ran towards him and punched the stake into his chest, but then suddenly found he wasn't there.
"What?" She muttered. Dutchy whirled around, but it was too late. He already received a quick punch to the face. The vampire stood in front of him, a rather smug expression on his lips and in his eyes.
"Wise guy, huh?" Dutchy muttered, drawing his stake. He swung it towards him, but again he was gone.
"Fuck, this is the last thing I'm in the mood for!" Chaos yelled, already fed up with Dutchy's prying questions about her and Jack. But, as though intent on irritating the both of them, he appeared in front of Chaos. She punched him in the gut, in the face, then spun around and smashed her shoe into his neck. He fell backward, slightly bruised, but grinning. Just for show, Chaos ran towards him, did a cartwheel, and came up, whirled around, and swung the stake towards him. In the nick of time, it disappeared again.
"You lousy bastard!" Chaos screamed. Dutchy made a slitting-throat noise with his finger.
"Shaddup, Chaos!"
"Fuck, Dutchy, this is New York. No one cares." She drew her blade and slowly turned around on the spot. Then she smirked. "Comon. I know you wanna fight. You gonna be a coward and just keep disappearing?" Her teasing worked. The vampire appeared, perched on a gate a little ways away. Chaos grinned, then shot towards him and swung the blade in a crescent moon shape in front of her, making it whistle through the air, and go straight for his neck. But, just as it penetrated the skin, he disappeared again.
Dutchy quickly put his hands on Chaos's shoulders.
"He's just trying to get us all worked up." He said quickly, pushing her away from the site. "No use in getting all in a huff."
"I need to kill something." Muttered Chaos grumpily.
+
Shade leaned happily against Jack's shoulder as he half carried her back to the dorm. Her heart was pounding faster than usual, but it wasn't because of the fact that she was close to him.
"You're lucky he only got you with a quarter of this stuff." He had said grimly, when he found it the package of Nuke next to her. "Maybe you'll pull through."
"'Magin' that." She had replied sleepily, her eyes unfocused. He had glanced over at her, and sighed. Now he was trying his best to walk her back to the school, but she kept stumbling, and one time going down on her knees, pulling him with her. "Sorry," she had murmured supinely. "Drugs bad."
"Yeah, I'm glad you noticed that." He had muttered distractedly. She had giggled, and he was forced to lift her up on his back and carry her. Her head rocked against his back, and at one point, she breathed in deeply.
"You smell nice." She had drawled.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Yeah. I guess." She was quiet for the rest of the way.
Bumlets was having trouble with Misprint, not because she was talking, or not walking properly, but the fact that she wasn't talking. Her blue eyes were wide and staring, cutting through the darkness. He wrapped an arm around to her to steady her, and she didn't even twitch. The blood had long since soaked through the bandage, but it was the only material Bumlets had been able to supply at the moment. So he placed his hand over the soaked cotton and pressed gently. This was the only time she reacted.
"Don't." She had said sharply, craning her neck sideways, then twitching in pain.
"Just relax."
"That's what Spot told me." Misprint said vaguely. Then she slumped against his side, her legs feeling weak underneath her.
"Comon. You lost a lotta blood tonight. Jus' comon." He said, glancing around. The last thing he wanted was people to notice what was going on. Both Jack and Bumlets kept a tight lookout for vampires. Now would be an ideal time for them to strike. If they were able to keep the two slayers busy, the girls would be a free feast. There was no way they'd be able to fight back in their conditions.
They finally reached the two tenements, and Jack and Bumlets paused. Jack lowered Shade onto the ground. Her eyes contracted suddenly, and she gripped onto his arm. He placed a hand over hers.
"Don't worry. I'm right here." He whispered. Then he turned to Bumlets. "What are we going to do?"
"We can't exactly escort them to their dorms. Ms. Mayen would report us. Both me and Dutchy have room mates. Y'know…" he trailed off. "Anthony." Bumlets had been relegated to a room where he had to share with the boy. "I don't think he'd take well to the fact that there are two dazed girls in our room. Or maybe he'd take too well." He added ominously.
"They can sleep in mine, then." Said Jack, resigned.
"Sweet." Shade grinned. The two boys glanced at her edgily, then back at Misprint. She was staring down the street, a horrible, frightened look in her eyes. Bumlets squeezed her tighter.
"Comon then. Quickly." He said softly. "We got to get them both to sleep."
+
Shade stood on the top of a vibrant orange mushroom. All around her the blades of grass extended to the heavens, said grass contrasted violently with the orange mushroom due to the fact that it was a neon violet. Shade's eyes burned at the bright contrasts. Dizzying music swirled through her brain, she felt like she was flying, though her feet were firmly planted on the mushroom. In front of her giant blue eyes shimmered. She giggled and Jack gently took her hand and led her through the forest of neon green bottles. He grinned at her and a flood of red liquid ran down the path.
Shade stooped to drink from the new river. She was delirious with the new feelings. Jack sneered at her and the blue eyed demon ripped through his form to stand next to her. It smiled and held her head under the water. Blackness enveloped her senses. Shade was vaguely aware of floating in a sea that dampened all over her senses. She knew something terrible had happened but she couldn't remember what. The blue eyes continued to shine in her mind.
The next thing Shade knew she was standing all alone is a blank white world. A bitter wind bit through her thin clothing, freezing the marrow in her bones. Her skin tightened to unbearable heights and she fell to the ground screaming and feeling the tears in her eyes freeze into diamonds of her pain. Suddenly the ground beneath her was sandy and burned her body. She sprang to her feet but every where her skin made contact with any thing, clothing, hair, other limbs, it burned . even having her lips closed pained her beyond coherent thought patterns. She tore hair from her scalp the pain of this action mild in comparison to the burning along her body. Shade shredded her clothes and sobbed the tears like acid down her cheeks. All through her physical torment violent jarring sounds drilled through her mind, harshly tearing her psyche to a million jagged pieces. A ways off Misprint reached out to the demon as he drew her to him. Shade screamed for her friend to run but the fire burned at her voice and turned the words to ash.
When Shade awoke the pain of her body was reduced to a pounding in her head and a dull ache in her throat. The terror of he dream receded to the back of her mind, stored for her next walk through dream land.
+
Shade sat up suddenly, the blankets clutched in her hands, her head pounding extremely painfully, and her throat dry and aching. She tucked her knees to her chest and buried her face in them, letting the soft smelling scent of the blanket take over her senses. But it didn't drive out the dullness and blankness that seemed to cover her, like a net. She shook her head slowly, then looked around her. She was in a dorm room that she was sure was not Misprint and her own…but there was Misprint, on the other side of the bed, her eyes clamped together so tight that it looked as though she was in pain. Shade sighed, and a lurking fear came when she realised that the burning sensation from her dream was dulled, but not fading. The terror of the sudden vision hit her, and she hugged her thin legs tighter to her chest and whimpered softly. Sweat was pouring down her face, and she was shaking violently, even though the room seemed humid and heated.
"Mis…" She whispered. "Mis! Wake up!" But Misprint slept on.
+
Shade woke up the second time, and some of the panic from last night had worn off. But her pillow and hair were damp with sweat, and she was extremely cold. She trembled fiercely, and sat up suddenly. But the sudden, sharp pain that struck her between the eyes made her think her head had smashed into a stake. She let out a sudden cry, and before she could do anything else, she felt a warm weight on her legs, and saw Jack's face swing into view.
"Don't talk. Your okay." He said, lying her back down. She looked up at him and blushed. She couldn't exactly explain that she was not okay when he was leaning overtop of her, the hair from his head gently tickling her own forehead, but bit her lip and said nothing. He smirked softly as he trailed his finger over the small syringe hole in her throat, and she shut her eyes tight. The weight on her head grew steadily worse.
"Don't." She whispered. He sat back up, and then realised with embarrassment that he was straddling her. She took the time to notice, with unease, he was only wearing a pair of black jeans. With discomfiture, he hastily stumbled off of her, and went to lean over the side of the bed instead. She giggled, but the laugh quickly dissolved into a groan as she clasped a hand to her head. "It hoits."
"It's supposed to be. You were nuked." He said softly. Her eyes opened, and anger flashed in them.
"I was what?" She asked in disbelief, but the images were steadily flowing back to her. She ground her teeth together and tried to sit up, but he pushed her back down.
"Nuked. We found the package next to you in the alley."
"I remember…" She said softly, shutting her eyes. "He was over me…he said something…he wanted to see me stagger around before…I dunno, he killed me I guess. But I don't remember anything else..."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing." She opened her eyes, revealing the scared, brown irises. "What happened?" She tried to sound casual, but was clearly afraid something else, far worse, had happened during the time she could not remember. It was as though her memories were all a chalk slate, or a black board, like the one Mrs. Orrello wrote on incessantly, but someone had taken it and wiped it completely clean, without even a trace of chalk left to at least figure out some of the details.
"Me and Bumlets carried the both of you back." He said, reaching over and wringing out a wet cloth. He shook it out a few times, before rolling it into a closely compacted strip, and laying it gently across her forehead. Usually, the cool sensation against her burning skin would have soothed her, but this time, it only added to the pressure that was building in her forehead. She shook her head and pushed it off, letting it flop gently to the pillow beside her. He sighed, picked it up, and wiped some of the sweat off her face, before tossing it back into the bowl of water.
"Why can't I remember anything?" She said, a slight whine in her tone. No one could really blame her. He stood, and started pacing, the muscles in his jaw clenched and angry.
"Nuke is a damn powerful drug." He said, as though it explained something. "You're lucky he only used a quarter. More might have killed you."
"But Misprint and I saw a guy use a whole package at the club." She said, confused. "It didn't kill 'em."
"Yeah, but he wasn't a new user. Or drunk." He looked at her sternly, and she knew the lecture on going out late and alcohol was close at hand. Trying to ward it off, she pressed her fingers to her temples and uttered a small moan. It wasn't entirely faked. Her nerves felt like puppet strings, jerking up and down, pulling her along with them. He hastily kneeled at her side again. "Enough talk. You're looking pretty pale."
"How long is this pain gonna take?" She asked sleepily.
"Probably three or four days. Or more."
"Oh great. Physical Education with double PMS." She groaned. Jack laughed shortly, but a new thought struck Shade suddenly, and she sat up so fast that it felt like the stake had been rammed into her forehead again.
"Misprint!" She said softly, noticing her unconscious friend for the first time. "What's the matter with her? Why is she still asleep?"
"She's nearly lost all her blood." He said, laying her back down again, gently and resigned. "She's going to have to rest a lot to gain it back." As though living to contradict, Misprint opened her eyes and sat up immediately. Shade could have screamed. The expression in her friends eyes reminded her of one of a fish, being reeled in, by something strong, strong and evil. Then she blinked, and the look disappeared, replaced by one of extreme opaqueness. As though a film was wrapped around her expression. Her gaze focused on the both of them.
"Gotta go." She mumbled, sounding as though her mouth was full of marbles. She swung her slender legs over the side of the bed and started walking towards the door.
"Misprint, where're you going?" Shade asked.
"Out." She replied sparsely. Jack, as though he knew something was going on, and comprehended what it was too, stood and said harshly;
"Misprint. Get back to bed."
"No." She snapped over her shoulder. "I gotta go."
"Where?" Shade asked again.
"Misprint!" Jack ran at her, but she darted away from him and to the door. Shade stood with difficulty, the sweat on the back of her neck unbearable, and the quakes she was getting making it hard to regain her balance. She clutched the bedside table beside her to stop from falling. Something was horribly wrong. Misprint wasn't acting the way she usually did, it was as though she was being lead somewhere by something that the two others could not distinguish.
She shook of Jack's hand from her wrist and her fingers latched onto the door knob. She tried to twist it, but it only went a millimetre before it stopped. Hastily, almost desperately, she started rattling it back and forth. She leant over, her forehead almost touching the knob.
"Comon!" She said. Suddenly, the knob turned, but the door flew open before she could pull away in time. She fell backwards, her already half damaged head cracking against the floor, her eyes fluttering closed. Bumlets peeked in.
"What was that?" He asked incredulously.
+
"What was the matter with her?" Shade asked, as Bumlets laid Misprint down on the bed.
"I dunno." Jack said, running a hand through his hair. "I really ain't too sure. But odds are it has something to do with Spot Conlon."
"Who is Conlon?" She asked. "Does he have a history with you guys or something?" Even saying his name brought on a violent bout of shivers. Bumlets glanced warily over at Jack, who returned the glance with something that was almost a glare, but more painful.
"I'll explain." Bumlets said, affirming something. But Shade felt too sick to try and figure out what was going on, what they weren't telling her. It suddenly seemed to hot. She pushed the covers away, and rolled to a part of the bed that wasn't heated by her body. She wasn't surprised to see she was in her underwear. She had seen her clothes in a pile near the end. Misprint, too, was only in her undergarments. Shade didn't take the time to question them, or even make any wry comments. The perverse side of her was trodden down under the more serious side, as she struggled to work things out.
Just as Bumlets drew in a breath, the door smashed open and Chaos came in, almost crackling with energy. When she saw the two girls, sprawled across the bed in their underwear, she turned to Jack, an all knowing expression on her face.
"Perfect." She snapped. "Foist, you don't show me the letter, and then you compromise our identities for a little sex?"
"Chaos, it ain't like that." Bumlets said. She glanced over at him, then back at the two girls.
"Then would someone please explain? Because it sure looks like it."
"They were attacked." Jack said. Chaos's eyes flashed with something similar to sympathy, but Shade wasn't sure if it was actually pity, or if she was just catching the wrong signals.
"By who?"
"Spot Conlon."
"Oh…" Chaos glanced edgily over at Jack, before looking over at them. "So they were both attacked?"
"Sorta. Misprint here…" he motioned to the spiky haired girl, still with the crystals glued to her face. "She got bitten, and almost drained, till Shade…" He gestured to Shade, but Chaos held up her hand.
"I a'ready know her."
"Until Shade stopped him. Spot nuked her, and almost finished her off before Bumlets and I got there."
"Wow. Sounds like an exciting night." She remarked wryly. Then she cocked her head to one side. "And you wanna be gracious enough to give the ladies some clothes? I mean, sure they were almost killed, but you gotta give the girls their dignity." Rolling her eyes, she pulled of Jack's shirt, which had little bits of ash clinging to it, to reveal a small, navy blue tank top. She tossed it at Shade, who tried to pull it on, with much difficulty. Then she turned to Bumlets. "Dutchy's coming over in a second."
"I remember you." Shade said suddenly to Chaos. "You're his sister."
"Nah. I ain't his sister." She replied calmly. She grabbed a sweat shirt from the side of Jack's bed and went over to Misprint, carefully avoiding the blood stained shirt that was lying on the floor, and pulled it over the unconscious girls head. "I jus' said that."
"Why?"
"So if you were going to be as nosy as you were, the stuff you'd find out would be false." She replied simply. But not simple enough for Shade, in her current state. She closed her eyes and breathed out. Chaos glanced over at her. "Sorry. I talk too fast. And you've been nuked." She turned to Jack and Bumlets. "I'm sure glad I don't have them sleeping in my dorm. You two are going to have a hell of a time getting them to shut up in the night."
+
Kloppman looked up as the boy stumbled in, shaking the rainwater from his hair. He sighed and opened the registration book. It seemed there were so many more new kids these days, all arriving during various points in the first couple weeks. Another new one. Didn't matter much to him. But, as he studied the recent newcomer in more detail, he looked as though he had been chased somewhere, or had been escaping from somebody. He certainly looked harassed, with his tattered black shirt and jeans, that were ripped at the knee. He pushed his dirty blonde hair away from his face and slowly approached the old man.
"New student?" Kloppman asked. The boy nodded shortly. "A'right…I'll need your first and last name and age." He replied. The boy nodded. "Shoot." Kloppman said, pen poised over the forms.
"Seventeen." He said, in a soft voice. Kloppman had to strain his ears to hear properly. "Carter."
"Is dat yer first name?" Kloppman queried. The boy shook his head.
"Last name." He replied. "First name's Steph."
"Short fer anythin'?" Kloppman prompted. Steph hesitated, then nodded slowly.
"Stephen. Stephen Carter."