Five
"Heya. Jackie boy. Open up!" A voice said. Jack looked up from where he was sitting.
"Shit!" He hissed. "It's Anthony."
"Don't let him in…" Bumlets cautioned, but, to both of their astonishment, Shade smiled shortly as the door swung open. The short, Italian boy strode in, a cocky grin on his face, but then stopped short when he saw Shade and Misprint draped over the bed, both looking worse for their money, Misprint passed out. Jack realised how bad it must look, and rubbed his arm. Bumlets was having a hard time concealing the smirk on his face.
"Whoa…" Anthony said, raising his hands and backing up slightly. "I was going to ask for the Science notes, but ah…if I'm interrupting something…"
"Don't be a prick, Racetrack." Shade groaned.
"Racetrack?" Bumlets asked. "I thought your name was Anthony."
"Ah, Racetrack's just a nick name. Shade, Misprint. Whaddaya doing with these bums?" He grinned, cajoling.
"Shut your face." Misprint muttered, her eyes barely twitching. Shade, Bumlets, Jack, Shade, and Anthony all turned to her, surprised.
"I thought she was still unconscious." Bumlets muttered.
"Hell, I thought she was dead!" Anthony exclaimed. Shade rolled her eyes and held out her hands to Jack. Jack willingly moved to the bed and pulled her up.
"Ah, fuck." She muttered, as the pain exploded in her head.
"You wanna lie down again?"
"No." She snapped. Then she reached over and shoved Misprint's shoulder. "Misprint. Wake up. Racetrack's here." Misprint's eyes opened slightly. Shade grinned, despite the pain. She had known about the wild affection Misprint had held for the boy in grade two. She was never entirely sure if her friend had gotten over it, and even though she was suffering heavy withdrawal, and Misprint was still regaining blood, it would be amusing to see how her friend would react to lying in front of an ex-crush in her underwear and a sweatshirt.
"Heya Race." She grinned.
"So…are you going to answer my question, or what?"
"Ah…" Shade glanced at Jack before saying. "An old fashioned slumber party, Race." She grinned winningly. "You know. Go over to a friends, stay up all night…"
"I'm sure you did." He raised his eyebrows. Misprint opened her eyes long enough to throw a pillow at him. Bumlets and Jack exchanged a look. Misprint was acting completely normal, so normal that Shade's excuse was almost believable. Misprint would act the same way if she had stayed up all night, and was tired, but feisty enough to cream someone with an article from a bed.
"Oh, by the way." He said, scratching his hair. "There's some of your clothing over at my dorm. Y'know, from the last time you guys stayed over. You might need them…" He paused, then peered closer at the rumpled clothes she was wearing last night. "Mis, is that blood?"
"You know what Race?" Shade said abruptly. "Those jeans would be great. For the both of us. Thanks." Misprint nodded, hoping she wouldn't have to throw herself on top of the discarded, stained shirt to stop him from suspecting anything. Even though the fact that she would fling herself down at the floor in front of his feet would arouse a lot more suspicion in him than just a couple stains on a shirt.
"Yeah, okay." He shrugged. He gave her a weird look, then walked out. "I'll be right back." Misprint nodded. A moment of silence passed as they listened to his footsteps down the hall. Then Bumlets hastily closed the door.
"I don't remember anything past the time he bit me." Misprint said solemnly. Shade stared dully at her, then fell back down onto the pillow and wiped the sweat off her brow.
"Tell me about it when I can carry a normal conversation." She said. Misprint looked over at her strangely.
"Whassa matter?"
"We'll explain later." Jack interrupted. He kneeled down by Misprint. "Mis, you gotta give me some information here."
"A'right…" She said slowly. "But I really don't remember anything…really…Racetrack…I was trying to act normal so he wouldn't suspect anything..."
"And you did a good job." Bumlets assured her.
"But listen to us now. What happened last night?" Shade closed her eyes and tried to block out the words, not because she was afraid of what Misprint would say, but because she was afraid of the pounding that failed to cease in her brain.
"Last night…oh, that's easy." She laughed, almost kind of nervously, and her eyes showed slight panic. "I was dancing when I foist saw him…he was staring at me…I just ignored him. Then later on he was standing there. Don't know how he got there that quick, but he did. We danced for a while, I guess…" She admitted. "And then he asked me if…well, he…we went outside and he…" A flush wormed its way up her neck and the flames of the colour licked her cheeks. "Tried to kiss me."
"Tried?" Shade smirked painfully.
"Okay. Kissed me." She snapped. "And after a while he kissed my…" She motioned to her throat. "My neck, and then bit me. And…I dunno. Everything went black after a while."
"Did you see anything? Any visions?" Jack persisted.
"Nuh uh." She shook her head emphatically. Jack sighed. Bumlets started pacing, picking up where Jack left off. "Why?" She asked, a definite tremor in her voice now. "Was I supposed to?"
The door suddenly swung open again, revealing Racetrack, carrying two pairs of black jeans.
"Heya goils. And boys." He said respectfully, tossing the pants onto the bed. "Mis. So lovely to see you awake. Although, I gotta say, you ain't half as pretty without that eyeliner of yours."
"Don't test me, boy." She grinned mischievously. Bumlets almost laughed. She was pretty good at changing face when she needed to.
"Just kidding." He grinned at her, his eyes flashing with something hard to decipher. "You know that. So…what are you two doing this weekend?"
"Sleeping." Shade said immediately. "We're both kinda sick. Some flu bug or something."
"Too bad." He replied casually. He was about to say something else, when Chaos burst through the door and almost ran into him.
"What?" She snapped, her nerves already slightly on edge. Dutchy peeked in from behind the door. "Jack. Bumlets. Who's this character?"
"Anthony Higgins." He replied, letting his eyes linger on her face for a moment or two, before snapping out of it. "Heya Dutch. Whaddaya doin' ova heah?"
"Just visiting." He replied cautiously. "I know these people."
"Yeah, well that much I gathered." Anthony replied with a grin. Chaos rolled her eyes. He glanced back at her, before sighing. "Well, I can see we have a bit of a party going on here. You'll have to excuse me. I haven't had my breakfast yet."
"Don't expect a feast." Misprint called after him as he left. Shade smirked, and pulled the blankets suddenly and violently up to her chin. It was freezing. Chaos slammed the door after him, then spun around.
"I brought Dutchy." She said, pointing out the obvious.
"Good, good." Jack said. Shade moaned and her teeth started chattering. Jack glanced over at her. "Bumlet's. Take care of her, while I explain." He whispered. Bumlets nodded and grabbed the cloth out of the bowl and tried to sponge her forehead, but she knocked it away with flailing hands. "No," she bemoaned. Sighing, he hastily tucked the covers up to her chin and brushed her hair off of her face.
"Short summary." Jack was saying, his serious glower in place. "Misprint ran into Spot at the club last night. He nearly drained her, till Shade interfered. He nuked her.." Chaos was staring at the bite marks on Misprint's neck, while Dutchy was paying intent attention to what Jack was saying. "So far, neither of them remember anything after being attacked."
"You said something about visions." Misprint said hoarsely.
"Yeah. Usually, with Spot Conlon's victims, if he doesn't drain 'em completely, he leaves 'em with visions. There's only been five cases before." His scowl deepened. "An only two out of the five escaped."
"Prey." She repeated huskily. "Is that's what's going to happen to me?" Her eyes were livid with fear.
"Well, if she doesn't see visions…" Bumlets piped up, trying to assure everyone.
"It's too soon to try and figure out what's going to happen." Jack cut him off. Chaos sighed, and passed a hand through her hair. Then he looked over at Shade, who was struggling to keep her eyes open. "I got no doubt Misprint'll get better. The body can pump out two gallons of blood every twenty four hours. But Shade's going through withdrawal. A nuke withdrawal."
"Only a quarter of it was used." Chaos spoke up.
"Could be all it takes." Jack said grimly.
+
It took the man a moment to realise the figure in front of him wasn't as tall, or as intimidating as he thought she was. He laughed brutishly, when he grasped that it was feminine, child like, and half his size. He swayed a little drunkenly, most certainly owing to the fact that he had consumed eight beers that night. He had to, to drink off the pain of Angela finally leaving him.
"Ain't you a li'l young to be out so late? You lost or something?" He chuckled. She shrugged. The light of a passing car washed over her, finally giving him a clear, if not somewhat distorted because of the alcohol, image of her. A tiny Indonesian girl in a perfect little blue sundress, her hair tied back in a pony tail, smiling. Her teeth were slightly crooked.
"I've been lost for a long time." She replied cheerfully. As though she was telling him the time of day, or the name of her new Barbie doll.
"Really?" He said, the smile dropping from his face. "You should go ta da…pol…police ah somin." He tried sluggishly to get the words out from between his drunken lips.
"No. I get along fine." She replied, her words still incredibly chipper for someone who had apparently been lost. "No need to drag the police into this."
"Well how d'ya live out heah?" He asked, crouching down.
"It's not too hard." She said. "Especially when men like you go out and get drunk. Do you know how much easier it is to live off those who are drunk?"
"What?"
"Drunk. You're drunk." She repeated it, the small smile never leaving her face. Now that he thought about it, there was something very eerie about her smile, and he suddenly had this feeling he would rather be anywhere than here. "A lot of the times they're drunk. It makes things so much easier, don't you think?"
"I don't…I don't quite know whatcha talkin' about…" He replied. But before he could finish the sentence, she had leapt on top of him, efficiently pushing him to the ground. He opened his mouth to yell, but she sunk her fangs into his neck and used the small power she had to completely blank his mind.
His blood was greasy, and tasted a lot like alcohol. The only trouble with choosing the intoxicated ones was the taste. But, with her size and her youth, it was easier to attack the young, or the drunk and, let's face it, the young weren't usually out at her time.
She finished him off and stood, then wiped the blood from her lips with her arm. The blank eyes of the man stared appealingly up into the sky, where the stars connected the dark blue to each other, forming a web of night. She smiled down at him, then skipped off, her white, shiny, patent shoes clicking sweetly against each other as she made her way back home.
+
"So what. You ain't gonna tell me?" Shade asked, her eyes buried by her arm, which was slung across her face. Misprint looked up sleepily. Even though a lot of her blood had been regenerated into her veins, she still felt rather drowsy and lethargic at times, or occasionally dizzy spells. She knew Shade was having a lot more trouble. She had heard her friend groan in pain, and had felt the bed shake.
"Ain't gonna tell you what?" She replied. Jack and Bumlets had left with Dutchy and Chaos. Probably discussing top secret slayer business or what-have-you. They didn't want the girls included, that was for sure.
"What it was like, dumb ass." She grinned.
"What? Getting my own blood sucked out of me?"
"No, kissing him."
"Kissing him?" She made a face immediately, that Shade couldn't see, on account of the arm across her eyes. Her friend smirked.
"Yeah. Your foist kiss. Comon."
"Well…" Misprint blushed. Is this what being a teenager was really what it was about? If so, she didn't like it. "It was real weird…"
"Was he a good kisser?"
"He bit my lip!"
"That's sexy."
"Don't be an idiot." Misprint cautioned. Shade ignored her.
"Okay, so he bit your lip. And?" Misprint paused ni thought.
"It was too weird." There was a silence. Shade finally peeked out from under her arm.
"And…?"
"And what?"
"And what else can you tell me?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing? That it was weird, and he bit your lip? That's pathetic."
"Hey." She snapped. "I'm suffering from blood loss, and you're suffering from withdrawal. Act like it."
Shade smirked. "Didja like it?" She asked, falling back against her pillow.
"Fuck you." Misprint replied. Shade laughed, and shut her eyes, feeling her skin run cold. Her body temperature had been dipping lately. Misprint rolled over, feeling the secret smile lift the corners of her mouth. She didn't know what Shade would have said if she had replied.
+
Sometime during the night Shade woke up, and felt like she had been transported from Jack's bed into the deepest pits of hell. A fire was burning inside of her, giving her a slow flaming ache in her throat, and the pounding in her head so loud that she couldn't hear anything. She was shaking so bad that she wasn't exactly sure if she had complete control of her muscles. She raised her fingers to her face and watched them jerk back and forth in the moonlight that streamed through the window.
"Oh God." She moaned. She shut her eyes tightly and curled into a ball, hoping the pain would eventually leave. Jack and Bumlets had managed to sneak in some food before the girls feel asleep, but Shade felt so hungry…longing for something…she knew that her body wanted Nuke more than it wanted air or water at the moment, and she knew it would also be easy to creep out and find some. But she wrapped her fingers around the bed post and ground her teeth. She would not give in.
The longing filled her, driving her almost insane.
"Jack…" She whispered. "Jack…Jack!" her whispers towered into screams, and she found soon she was screaming his name, almost sobbing. A couple thumps and a figure rushing towards her told her he had heard, but it didn't stop the screams. The pain and the yearning mixed together, a tornado inside of her, tearing apart her insides. Misprint woke up and was slowly reclining to the other side of the bed, trying to avoid Shade's flailing limbs. Jack caught both her wrists and pulled her towards his bare chest, then wrapped his arms around her so strongly, she felt as though she was in a straight jacket. Her face and neck were drenched with sweat, and she was crying wildly and uncontrollably.
"Shh…" Jack muttered to her. "Don't worry. We'll get through this. Forget the nuke. Forget it."
"I can't…" She sobbed.
"Yes you can." He glanced over at Misprint, whose blue eyes were wide with fear. "Go back to sleep Mis." He said softly. She nodded and obediently lay down on her pillow, but didn't close her eyes. Shade was still weeping in the background noises of the night.
"It hurts so badly." She whispered. Even being there, tight against his chest, didn't help the fact that her insides were tearing as they spoke.
"I know." He said. "I know what it feels like."
"You?" She asked incredulously through her tears.
"No. But trust me when I say I know what you're going through." He gave her another, tighter squeeze, then let his arms relax slightly. He sighed. The very first hit of the real withdrawal had struck with a vengeance, and he wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle the rest of it. She was still sobbing, and clutching her stomach and throat.
"Can I lie you down now?" He whispered. She bit her lip and shook her head, trying desperately to calm herself, but only breaking down harder. "Don't worry. You only got another day or two."
"Uh huh."
"Just relax." Something triggered in Shade's mind. Relax. Didn't no one ever tell you that when you were getting a shot? She stiffened in his arms. But the soothing voice reassured her that it was Jack, and not Spot, that held her close to him for the next hour, trying drastically to rid her of the pain.
+
The next day was only worse for Shade. They had to move Misprint back to the girls dorm, on account of the fact that it would be even dangerous to have her sleeping in the same bed. So, amidst the girls fiery protests and insults, they had successfully packed her off to her own room, where she waited out the Sunday, pacing relentlessly and finally going back to the boys dorm, just to be with her friend. Even though it did no good. Shade looked like she was in so much pain it was unendurable to even watch. She didn't know how Jack did it, but he managed to keep vigil by her bed, the cool cloth always damp, even though she never wanted it.
The one time Misprint did manage to visit was when Shade had a particularly uncontrollable seizure. Misprint remembered sitting there with her, when suddenly her jaw had clenched and she had curled into a tight little ball. She had suddenly begun jerking and twitching, almost as though being stung by thousands of wasps. Misprint had panicked and called for Jack, who had rushed in and immediately wrapped his arms around the girl, who was still shaking, tears running down her face.
"It's what you do when someone's having a seizure." He had said, responding to the look on Misprint's face. She watched in horror as he rocked the girl back and forth, the girl who she know longer knew as Shade. "You just have to stop them shaking."
"She looks horrible." The makeup from the club still hadn't been washed, and now it was more like Shade had been crying black tears. Only Misprint had the time to wash the gel out of her hair and finally remove the crystals from her face. She stood there now, in a purple tank top and large black jeans, watching her friend cry. "It ain't like her at all."
+
"Hey. Shade." Jack said softly. Shade opened her eyes, and a horrible sinking feeling hit her when she realised what day it was.
"Monday." She said softly. "Oh no…God no…Jack?"
"Don't worry 'bout it." He said, brushing her hair back from her face. He sighed and pulled her up. She shivered, and wrapped her arms around her.
"But it's so cold!" She whined. Her voice was dulled, and her skin was waxy, but her eyes had a spark back in them that they didn't have all weekend. Jack felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he saw her look, quite normally, up at him. "Do I really gotta go?"
"'Fraid so. I already told you teachers that you had a wicked case of the flu over the weekend." He replied, trying for his life to be casual. "And I've organized it so that there's going to be one of us, or Misprint in every one of or your classes. Just in case you pass out and do something strange."
"Great. That's a relief." She moaned sarcastically, closing her eyes. "Can't I jus' skip today?"
"No. We don't want anyone to think there's something seriously wrong with you." He replied, tearing the covers off of the bed. She sat up, shakily, and found that her balance wasn't quite as off as it was over the weekend. She was able to move her limbs without shaking too bad, and under her fingers, the syringe hole wasn't as swollen. Jack then tossed her the pants she was wearing that night and one of his grey hooded sweat shirts. "Go take a shower and get changed." He instructed. "I'll walk you to your dorm to get your uniform. Misprint will meet us there."
"How's she doin'?" Shade asked, as she stumbled towards the bathroom.
"Better." He responded, gathering up his binder and shoving it into his back pack. He sighed and scratched his head. The homework had been to study the notes, but, understandably, he didn't have time. The whole idea was to blend in, not to be rebellious, or even oustandingly good. Just to be a normal kid, of who no one would suspect actually killed vampires at night. And he really had no excuse.
Oh well. Every kid didn't do their homework once in a while. He figured he was fine. He could hear Anthony and Dutchy arguing amiably a couple rooms down and grinned. It was good to know that no matter how strange some things could get, there was always something normal, no matter how small. He heard the water running and pulled on a navy blue tee shirt over the black tank top he had. He was going to get hell for still not having a uniform.
Shade let the water run over her hair and face, washing away the weekend, stinging slightly when it hit the hole in her neck. She grimaced and covered it with her hand, but only pressed the water against it more. Sighing and grabbing a small bottle of shampoo, she squeezed a globe of the substance into her palm, and stared at the sickly green colour, before she started scrubbing it against her hair.
She was almost disappointed that she didn't remember most of the weekend. Well, the idea of the whole hellish pain and torment wasn't all that appealing, but she would like to remember being held by Jack. Even though the whole two days had her thinking about far more important things, like staying away from the light, but her crush on Jack was stronger than ever and, she hoped, still not evident.
She dried out her hair and hesitantly pulled on her clothes. She had trouble with her shoes, the laces jumbling her brain slightly, and at one point sighed and wondered how the hell she would ever get through Mrs. Orellos class. She'd have to do what she did last time (it seemed so long ago!), when she had just copied down gibberish, and vowed to read off Misprint's notes. But the thought of Mrs. Orrellos face in front of hers drawling "Shade, why aren't you paying attention?" Made her want to vomit.
She finished drying out her hair and pulled at one of the spirals that it had curled into again. But at the top, as always, it was as shiny and smooth as paper. She opened the door, and Jack looked up, brushing back his hair.
"Ready?"
"Uh huh." He reached over and took her arm, to keep her steady, and led her out the door.
They met up with Misprint, true to his word, right in front of the girls dorm, where Shade changed into her uniform as quickly as possible.
"Heya Shade. How you doing?" She asked, concerned, the minute Shade was immaculate in the blouse and kilt. Shade smiled weakly.
"I'm okay. Still kinda cold though." She hugged the shirt tightly around her. Misprint and Jack exchanged a glance, then Misprint wrapped an arm around Shade's shoulders.
"Come on." She said, as the three of them walked towards the main building.
Breakfast went by quick, even though Shade refused to eat.
"But you must be starving." Misprint remarked, poking at her unappetising looking porridge.
"I am. But there is no way this is going to be my first meal." She replied acidly. Misprint had to grin, despite the horrible taste. Jack smiled too. As the bell rang, Misprint leapt to her feet, and waited for Jack to help Shade up. The brunette that Misprint had been shoved into the other day, Amy, glanced over at them, and her pretty, glossy features creased with jealousy when she saw Jack wrap an arm around her to steady her, and then take her hand. Then she turned to one of her cronies and whispered something no doubt malicious and biting. But it seemed to amuse them. Giggles from all around.
"Comon." Misprint rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here."
"I agree." Jack said, glancing around. The three of them made their way to the socials class, all wondering if Shade would be able to survive her first day back since being nuked.
The minute they entered, Shade could almost feel the vibes. Mrs. Orello was giving them a look that clearly showed the depth of the shit they were in. Jack patted Shade on the shoulder.
"I'm gonna go sit down." He said. "Good luck."
"Yeah. Thanks." she rolled her eyes. Then she turned to Misprint. "You realize I'm not taking notes today." She said firmly. "I trust you'll be generous enough to share yours?"
"Of course." Misprint rolled her eyes. They both approached the teacher.
"I trust that you girls were able to get the notes from one of your classmates." she said in her nasal voice. Misprint and Shade glanced sideways at each other simultaneously.
"Uh...actually..." Shade started. "We didn't, but we'll pay extra attention in this class, Mrs. Orrello, we'll be real good."
"Really good." she corrected automatically. Then she sighed. "Girls..." she went into her "concerned teacher" voice, and Misprint and Shade instinctively stopped listening. They watched her lips move, the red lipstick making strange smacking noises as it closed and parted.
'Jeez. What an old hag." Misprint thought. 'Just for once I wish she'd lighten up. So we missed a class, big deal.' Her thought suddenly blanked, and she gasped softly, frightened. Then they returned to her. 'What the hell was that?' She remembered the feeling she got when she had the last vision, and resisted the urge to shut her eyes and curl up into a ball. 'No visions. Not now. We're going to have our hands full enough with Shade.' She glanced up at Mrs. Orrello. 'Looks like she's wrapping up. Nod and smile.'
A few minutes later, she and Shade were returned to their seats, and Misprint elbowed Shade gently, reminding her friend to take out her book and act good. She, herself, looked up as Mrs. Orrello cleared her throat and began the lecture.
"Class. Be quiet." She said. Most of the class was so burnt out from the weekend, they weren't exactly eager to obey, but didn't want to cause some big talk on how education was so important. They all silenced.
Jack found he kept glancing up nervously at Shade, wondering what was going on with her, and hoping that she wouldn't start crying or something. He knew how bad her withdrawal was, and he was sorely afraid of any kind of gesture that would make it look like she was actually recovering from something worse than a bad case of flu. Misprint, too, was worried, for Shade and for herself. But it wasn't too bad. She figured it was probably just a spell of dizziness. Why would he still be sending her visions? She tried to think from a vampires point of view as Mrs. Orrello turned around and lifted her chalk. Go to club. Bite girl. Find out girl is protected by four slayers and a drunk best friend. Leaves girl alone, and goes for smaller fish in the pond. Made sense to her.
Shade pressed two fingers to her temples. Every sound echoed in her head, the whispers of two girls near the back, the constant scratching of pen and pencil against paper, the clack of the chalk hitting the board. She groaned softly and shook her head, trying to shake out the strange feeling that was creeping into her brain. Then she flipped her braid over her shoulder and pressed her pen against the paper, and started trailing a line of little swirls made to look like incredibly messy hand writing. She glanced up and down, in the pretense of paying attention, but every time she moved her eyes something in the back of her head exploded.
Misprint glanced over at her friend and casually reached over and patted her shoulder. Shade nodded and smiled tersely at her. Misprint sighed and continued writing. She had to pay attention, Shade and her had to wise up so things weren't so hard for them. So she wrote.
It took her a moment to realise that Mrs. Orrello was discussing a case of mysterious deaths in the 1900s. Even she managed to make such a topic sound incredibly boring.
"Ah. Here we are." She said, holding up one page that she had taken from a binder on her desk. "He was sixteen at the time. Irish immigrant. Spot Conlon."
Misprint paled and leaned back in her seat slightly, and Shade pressed her fingers to her temples harder. Jack shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A few girls giggled though.
"Spot? What was he, a dog?" One girl laughed shrilly. Mrs. Orrello tried to give them a withering look, but failed miserably.
"You have to understand that sometimes nick names were used a lot more than their real names. Sometimes their names were completely forgotten. These were boys with no families or ties anywhere, and it didn't matter a lot to them." She glanced down at the paper again.
"Mis..." Shade whispered, curling he fingers around the edge of the desk. "Mis..." She looked over at her pleadingly, before her eyes were covered by a film. She started shaking. "It's freezing..."