Eighteen
Misprint woke up to the sound of church bells in the distance.
This was the signal to get up and get your ass down to the chapel to pray. But Misprint wasn't in the mood to offer her worship to some God that she wasn't even sure she believed in any more. She folded her hands on top of the covers and silently felt her heart beat through her skin, staring up at the ceiling.
Shade wasn't in her bed. But Shade could still be out in a manic fit of slaying, scattering the sweet snow with ashes. Once she even missed class to take down a couple masters who were old enough to actually see the light of day and not burst into flame.
The reminder of fire made her again stare at her palms, still getting used to the fact that it was her power to control. She wanted to badger Specs for lessons, but knew he would have his plate full getting Gemini to calm down with the magic. Maybe she could teach herself on her own…
Grimacing, she slid out of bed and shivered as her bare feet touched the cold floor. The school decided to spend all its funds on services and the Christmas feast, which wasn't much of a feast, therefore sacrificing a few things that most took for granted. Like heat.
Misprint glanced down at her arms and realised the scars were fading.
The door burst open and Shade appeared, still wearing the Santa costume, her eyes hollow.
"Hey Mis." She yawned, closing the door behind her.
"Out slaying?" Misprint asked quietly, feeling suddenly like Shade was a stranger. Shade shook her head "no". She had never lied to her friend and didn't feel like starting now.
"I went over to Jack's."
"All night?" Misprint raised an eyebrow as she grabbed her school uniform off various spots on the floor and swept into the washroom.
"Don't be a fruit, nothing happened. He wasn't even there." She replied, grabbing a brush and running it through her hair.
"Where was he?"
"How should I know? Chances are that he's down at the service, now, like a good little Catholic."
"We should get down their too, unless we're on the list of the eternally damned." Misprint replied, parting her hair in the middle and letting it flop over her ears, before shrugging and pulling on her blouse.
"Our names are already on that list. In ink." Shade replied. She glanced down at her mussed ensemble. "I wonder how they'd react if I showed up like this…"
Spot stood outside the dorms, staring up at Misprint's window. He knew why he had come back, but wasn't quite sure that he was within the bounds of sanity. Jack had to pass that alley. Spot had to be in that alley. Jack had to have drawn blood. Spot had to have replaced it…
With human blood.
This wasn't his blood in his veins. It was Jack's blood. It was blood that crawled with anger and happiness and sadness and guilt. Emotions crowded into his brain as his gaze fastened to the window, unflickering and steady, like a candle shielded from the wind. He knew Misprint would be up there, probably getting ready for the long day of services and maybe gift giving between friends. The need to talk to her burned in a way he hadn't felt in such a long time, but things were different now.
He was insane, coming back the day after she had sent him such a brutal message. And even though his life was fucked at the moment, he found, with a human cowardice that disgusted him, he didn't want to lose it. Not yet.
He murmured softly to himself as he turned and stalked away, his shoes crunching in the snow, eyes darting back and forth. Most would call him insane, but none of them knew the story.
"Merry Christmas, Mis." He murmured under his breath. "Merry…merry…" The words got stuck in his throat, lost in a sea of inane babble.
"Hey Chaos."
Chas blinked, then twisted her head around. To her irritation, Racetrack stood behind her, hands shoved uncomfortably in the standard St. Mary's boys uniform trousers, eyes darting up and down and side to side, trying to avoid hers. She sighed and almost felt like doing the same. Last night's events were not forgotten, not by a long shot. She couldn't even remember if she had taken her bra back or if he still had it. Shit…
"Hey. Can we make this quick?" She said abruptly.
"Uh…" He looked rather hurt at her reaction, but tried not to show it. "Right. Right. I, ah, just wanted to apologise for last night."
"Apologise?" She repeated, furrowing her brows. "What did you do?"
"Well, for Shade. You know…the…the present she gave me?" He reminded her uncomfortably.
"That wasn't your fault." She shrugged. Her eyes narrowed, and for a frightening moment, she looked angry enough to kill. Creepy. "Was it?"
"No!" Racetrack said quickly, repressing the urge to raise his hands in the international "I'm arrested" gesture. "No, you think that was my idea?"
Chaos shrugged testily and wished she had pockets to jam her hands into. They seemed a safe sort of comfort. But, of course, restricted to the school kilts, they just didn't have that privilege. She could hardly wait 'till Jack either got over this stupid obsession with Spot, killed him, or got killed off himself. That way they could drop the uniforms, drop the normalcy act, drop the accents, and never have to return to this city ever again.
He tried to get back on track, but her sullen silence was throwing him off.
"You said quick." She reminded him coldly.
"Right. Just…sorry."
"That it?"
"That's it."
"Apology accepted." She said brusquely. "Now, if you'll excuse me, we both gotta Christmas ceremony to attend." Her manner was as blunt as all get out, and she didn't even offer a light hearted look to comfort him as she turned around and elbowed her way into the hall. Racetrack sighed and scratched at the back of his head. Women were hard enough to figure out, and it just so happened that he managed to fall for one of the most confusing of the entire species. Sighing, he followed her in.
Most of their friends had already found their seats. Misprint and Shade were seated at the back, characteristically. It was the only place in the entire hall where, if you had the chutzpah to cause a little mischief, you could do so without being seen. For a while, anyhow. Gemini and Blink were seated a few rows up, arms casually around each others shoulders. Mondie and Mush had tried to do the same thing, but were warned, and quite a few times, by the surrounding nuns and teachers, that they would be excused from the ceremony if they did so, so they were forced to sit staring straight ahead. Specs, Dutchy, and Bumlets were up near the front having some sort of serious looking conversation. Something seemed to be troubling Specs. His infamous glasses were off, perched at the top of his head, and his fingers were at his temples. But the matter of their conversation was unknown and probably unthinkable to most of the students in the school.
"So now we have almost all of 'em." Dutchy was saying in a low voice. "Slayers, elemental, witch…"
"You have started on Gem's trainin', haven't you?" Bumlets asked, raising an eyebrow. Specs shook his head.
"There hasn't been time."
"You are really pushing it, you know." Dutchy said. "That goil could be dangerous without the proper training."
"Yeah, the council's been giving me hell for it. But it's just that so much has been going on…I can't…" For a moment, he looked so strained that the boys felt a twinge of sympathy amidst their scorn. But not for long. They were slayers.
"Look." Dutchy said. "Lemme train Mis, you take care a Gemini. Besides, she won't give you too much trouble, besides being super over eager."
"A'right." Specs agreed. "I'll write to the council…tell them that we've found our elemental."
"And tell them that we wanna get outta here." Bumlets said. "We musta dusted every vampire from here to Greenwhich village on Halloween alone!"
Before Specs could reply, an imposing nun swept up to the front, and the students all fell silent, as though a wave swept over the church.
Misprint glanced down at her fingertips, which were twitching in her lap. She wanted to set something on fire. It was a strange desire that the old Misprint would have indulged. She glanced up and wondered where Amy was. But no, if she was caught with flames shooting out of her fingers, she'd be exorcised and expelled before she could click her heels together and wish she was back in Kansas.
Shade frowned as she scanned the auditorium. The sight of Gemini and Blink, grinning and trying to keep their whispers down to a low roar, and Mush and Mondie sending each other sweet glances, she had grown quite lonely for Jack. But he was no where to be seen. She began to feel faint twists of fear in her stomach, wondering if maybe he had gotten into a bit more trouble than he usually let on. Slayers were pretty powerful, but vampires could easily outnumber them.
Very easily.
She inhaled sharply and tried to keep still, trying to let the Christmas sermon calm her. But it did the exact opposite. The dry, biting tones of the nun was the last thing she wanted to listen to.
There was a small pop and a minute flash of light beside her, and she glanced over to see Misprint, with tiny wisps of smoke rising from her fingers, grinning guiltily.
Mondie glanced over at the row of imposing teachers, then bent over and picked her coat up from the floor. Feigning concern at its state of cleanliness, she brushed it off, then placed it on the pew. That done, she slid her hand underneath it and poked Mush on the leg. He jumped and glanced at her, (she was staring innocently at the nun, as though nothing had happened) then down at the coat, which wasn't moving. Shrugging, he turned back to the front.
Gemini felt a firm tap at her elbow and glanced up to see one of the teachers wagging a finger at her and Blink. She furrowed her eyebrows then rolled her eyes as she turned back to the front. The nuns scowled on any nonsense at the sermons, but as long as they were paying attention…
The three boys at the front definitely were not. Specs mind was on a multitude of things as he tried to keep his theories straight. Out of all seven of the fated positions, the God incarnate had eluded them the most. With powers of protection and fertility, this was one of the most obscure ones they were looking for. Even though Winter Solstice should have clued them in…
Mondie rolled her eyes and poked at Mush again. He glanced down at the coat, and was quite confused indeed to see that there was nothing there. He scratched at his curls, and looked up at Mondie again, who looked his way and widened her eyes obviously. Under the coat, she wiggled her fingers up and down, but the helpful gesture was lost on him, who shrugged and tried to pay attention to the nun.
This time, instead of just a firm tap on the elbow, the teacher grabbed her arm and pulled her away from Blink. Gemini scowled and yanked her arm away, and in return, got a firm order to move a few pews down.
Shade elbowed Misprint furiously. She didn't want her friend to get expelled. God knew, with this new wimpy attitude Spot had given her, and strange, untrained powers, she'd be mince meat the moment she set foot on the street. Misprint shrugged and motioned to the sermon, widening her eyes innocently. The exchange took Shade's mind off Jack for a moment, but not for long.
Exasperated, Mondie reached over, her fingers emerging from the folds of the coat, and grabbed Mush's hand. Mush jumped and opened his mouth to yelp, but Mondie gave his fingers a warning squeeze and pulled his hand under the coat.
Mush still didn't quite understand, but was happy to hold his girls hand.
Shade may not have been one of the chosen slayers, but she definitely had instinct. And when a hand encircled her upper arm as she was leaving the church and pulled her aside, her instinct was to grab a stake and unleash hell.
Fortunately, for Jack, she had no stake.
"Jack!" She exclaimed, as he grinned at her in a mischievous manner. "Where've you been?"
"Shh." He pressed a finger to her lips, and glanced up at the stream of students leaving. The teachers leading the procession were busy chatting, and the ones that hadn't left were still oblivious in the church. Quickly, he pulled her around the side of the building, the snow crunching under both their boots.
Shade found herself babbling as he let her go and leaned against the wall, two strands of hair falling before his eyes.
"I was so worried." She said, immediately regretting it. "Because I didn't see ya since after classes…jeez, I can't even remember if it was after classes…and you missed the Christmas party! I still got your present, all wrapped for you and everything! Oh, and you'll never guess. Misprint is a fire elemental! Isn't that weird? Hey, you still haven't told me where you were. All through the service I was…"
"Fer Christ sake, calm down!" Jack exclaimed, with a smirk. A different smirk. A little darker than the one Shade remembered. "You'd think there was something seriously wrong." She opened her mouth to protest, but his small grin stopped her. Something about him was a little slyer than usual, but she brushed it off as nothing. He was probably just smug she had gotten herself in such a fix about it. "Look, I'm sorry I missed the party and everything, but things got a little out of hand."
"Oh yeah?" She asked, arching an eyebrow. "How outta hand?"
"Very." Jack said, shoving his hands in his pockets. He felt a little guilty for lying, but mostly anxious she'd somehow clue in to what was going on. And as soon as that happened, she'd tell Specs. And Specs would send an email to Washington. He fought down a lump of fear in his throat. "Ah…I got bitten somewhere around Williamsburg Bridge." Seeing the shocked look on her face, he hastily added; "He didn't take too much. Not before I dusted him."
"So why didn't you come back to the school?"
"I couldn't remember anything for a while." He lied. He didn't want to get into details, for fear of forgetting them later. Summing it up, he finished; "I passed out in an alley 'round Central Park. When I came too, I was feeling a little better."
Shade paused, eyes narrowed, then leaned forwards. She pulled the collar of his jacket down, and winced when she saw the two bite marks. They looked pretty fresh as well, as though they had just healed over. She sighed and leaned down again. Jack was relieved. Having her skin that close was hard to deal with.
"You're a lucky man, Kelly." She said, in what was supposed to be a stern voice, but it ended up rather relieved. He raised his eyebrows, and wormed one of his hands under her sweater, pressing his cold fingers against the skin covering her waist. With a smirk, he pressed her up against the side of the church, his lips an inch from hers.
"You don't gotta tell me that." He replied.
"Jesus Christ!"
Misprint paused outside of Gemini's door. Maybe this wasn't the best time to interrupt, it sounded as though the adventures within were pretty dangerous.
"Make it stop!" Gemini was screeching.
"It's you're spell!" Specs was sounding uncharacteristically huffy. "I can't do anything about it!"
"Then tell me what to do!" Gemini wailed. Taking her courage in both hands, Misprint pulled the door open.
A pencil shot past her head and embedded itself in the plaster across the wall.
Specs grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
"Close the door!" He said quickly. "I ain't supposed to be here."
"Duh." Misprint remarked over her shoulder. "And for someone who's not supposed to be here, you sure take a lesson or two in being inconspicuous. What did I interrupt?"
"Spell. Went wild." Gemini remarked, her hair helter skelter across her head. She hastily pushed the red locks from her face.
"On a pencil?" Misprint asked, raising her eyebrow. Specs sighed.
"Be glad it was a pencil and not a flaming ball of energy." He told her sternly, crossing the room to the math book, which was open to a page covered in scrawls of ink. Gemini's eyes lit up at his last statement. Sensing this, he glanced over his shoulder with a strict look from behind his glasses. "That's for later."
"Phooey." She remarked sulkily, dropping onto the bed and resting her chin on her fists. Misprint decided not to remind Gemini that a ball of energy certainly wouldn't have been as harmless as the pencil, and instead, turned to Specs, who was flipping pages in frustration. Realising that she was supposed to be with Dutchy, learning how to control her powers, he turned and raised an eyebrow.
"Can I help you?" He asked, a trifle too late. Misprint shrugged.
"Dutchy's got some minor burn wounds. Got any healing spells?"
The weeks began to pass strangely uneventfully. After the packed beginning of the year, it almost seemed wrong not to have a vampire crawling through the window, or a new demon lurking on the horizon. Misprint began to learn how to stop frying things as she thought of them, and Gemini's magic lessons were…well…taking place. Eventfully.
School was just as boring as ever, but even more so. It seemed that after Christmas break, the eager teachers lost their zeal for teaching, and the assignments just got duller and duller. Misprint failed to see how copying a list of adjectives from a French Text book down onto a piece of paper and turning it in for marks was going to help her, but she'd rather do the worthless than fail a year.
The only thing that presented anyone with any trouble was Jack.
The boy was not himself, to put it frankly. Chaos couldn't have cared less, and while the other slayers were a bit more concerned, none so much as Shade. And understandably. She was crazy about Jack, and to see him so distant was a little hard on her.
Jack, however, had is own troubles.
"I think this area's clear." Jack remarked, running another vampire through and watching it collapse into a cloud of dust.
"Thank God." Shade replied, pushing her toque back slightly and wiping sweat off her forehead. "Madison Square Garden's always the hardest. Can we go home?"
"Shade." He said, trying to be stern, like the real Jack would have been. It was hard. His memory and emotions connected to the time before were slowly fizzling out, like cigarette smoke. Jack would have wanted himself and Shade to wipe out all possible traces of vampiric activity that they could. Frankly, all he wanted to do was pull Shade towards him and bury his face in her throat.
She wouldn't like that.
And she had a stake.
"Tell you what." He compensated. "You take Tenth, I'll take West Thirty Fourth, and we'll meet back here in an hour."
"You abandoning me, Kelly?" She grinned, sticking her stake into her belt. In all honesty, she was rather disappointed. He never seemed to want to slay with her anymore. And she was concerned about him getting in trouble, what with the bite a few months ago. She leaned on one leg. His cocky grin filled the darkness between them.
"Jeez, Shade, can't handle a couple of vampires without me to protect you?" He asked. Shade's brows furrowed and she shook her fist threateningly, but Jack had already turned and was walking away. "Holler if you get in trouble." He remarked over his shoulder.
Shade scowled. Yeah right. And he'd hear her on West Thirty Fourth? It wasn't hard to guess that he was just trying to get away.
She wanted to follow him, but no doubt, he'd sense her with some sort of weird slayer ability. And if he was edgy enough with that stake, she'd end up with a nice puncture wound through her chest. Not her idea of a good night.
Before some other hungry vamp could find her, she turned and made for Tenth. She wanted to get out of Madison Square Garden as soon as possible. It was dangerous if you were slaying alone.
Jack turned a corner and immediately lost the pleasant, amused face he wore whenever he was around her. His eyes became cold and grey as he stared forwards, and his coat flapped out behind him. A jet of smoke coming from an underground sewer cloaked him as he stalked forwards, shoving his hands in the pockets of his coat, boots hitting the pavement with silent thuds.
When he first started doing this, he didn't like it. It was a symbol of everything he hated and had worked to wipe out while he had still been…alive? He had hated the stalking and the drunk victims and even the taste. But it had just been a phase. A few human emotions still clinging onto a mind that was long dead.
Now it was just a cold, methodical way to survive and stay away from Shade.
If Jack didn't know affection, at least he was able to grow accustomed to people. And he was already accustomed to Shade. That was why he fought himself from biting her. It was hard to do, especially when his arm was around her waist, or she was hugging him, her throat hovering tantalisingly near. But he wouldn't. It was more than just the fact that she'd tell Specs. It was a…strange emotion. It didn't fit in his new life.
He swore softly. Of course he would have had to have taken a girl friend in his old life, just to make things nice and complicated now. And the sad thing was, Shade was the easiest part. Chaos? He was ready to tear her throat out the other day when she yelled at him for staying out all night and wandering into class late.
He caught sight of her immediately. More like he sensed her. Tall, blonde, and unsteady in her red valentine high heels. She was clacking nervously down the icy pavement, cursing her decision of footwear.
Marcy was just coming back from visiting a friend. Her apartment was down the block, she really saw no need for an escort, nor a ride. But there was a strange feeling in her stomach that told her she might have been wrong…
A strange, cold breath on her neck made her stop dead, and she could sense a figure behind her. She shivered, even though her thick coat was built to protect her thin, suddenly numb body.
"Ain't it a little late for you to be out?" A soft voice questioned as a hand slid around her throat.
Gemini was restless. Mondie was sitting on her bed, drumming her fingers against the mattress, in a jittery manner. The two girls eyes met, and they both glanced away. The ticking of the clock added to the atmosphere, as though they were both waiting for something to happen. But what the "something" was, they couldn't tell. Specs had gone back to his own dorm, claiming he didn't want to be mauled by Gemini's flying objects, and Mush and Blink were holed up studying, too busy cramming to provide a diversion.
Mondie stopped drumming her fingers, and it almost seemed as though the clock was slowing down.
"Something's wrong." Gemini murmured, pushing herself to her feet and pacing. Mondie looked up in surprise.
"You feel it too?" She asked softly. Gemini gave her a look.
"Of course I feel it. I'm a witch." She said this with certain relish, but it wasn't as funny as it usually was. Mondie flashed her eyebrows up and down, then started flicking almost nervously at her fingernails. "Wait a minute. You feel it?"
"It's kinda hard not to." Mondie replied irritably. "It stinks."
"Yeah." Gemini wrinkled her nose, and stopped pacing for a moment. "Sometimes, you gotta wonder…"
Both girls thought of the beginning of the year. Their minds slowly roved to their current situation. Misprint had nearly incinerated Dutchy. Gemini had nearly impaled Specs with a flying pencil. Chaos, Dutchy, Bumlets, Jack, and Shade were out risking their lives every night to keep them all alive, and Specs was more feverish about completing his mission and finding his god incarnate.
"Tell me about it." Mondie murmured, falling backwards onto her mattress.
"Not thinking 'bout Chaos." Racetrack murmured, pacing round his dorm room. " Not thinking 'bout Chaos. Not thinking 'bout Chaos. Not thinking 'bout Chaos." There was a pause, and his face lit up with satisfaction. "There. Not thinking 'bout Chaos." He smiled in satisfaction and tilted his chin up.
"Jesus Christ." Dutchy exclaimed, the door bursting open. His skin was slightly pink in patches from where Specs had to do some heavy duty healing. "I swear, that girl is a menace. It's absolute chaos in there…"
"Dammit Dutchy!" Racetrack groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Just as I got going…"
"What? What are you talking about?" Dutchy asked, squinting slightly from behind his glasses. He closed the door behind him. Technically, he and Racetrack were supposed to be in bed, but when he wasn't in the teacher's sight, he didn't care much for regulations.
"Chaos." Racetrack mumbled, rather embarrassed. Dutchy raised his eyebrows, then a knowing look flashed in his eyes.
"Ah. Right. You're lover…"
"I wish." Racetrack snapped, turning and storming into the washroom. He turned the tap on and cupped his hands under the jet of water, before splashing it onto his face and grabbing a towel from the rack.
Dutchy shrugged, wincing as the newly healed skin on his shoulder tugged at his muscle slightly. "Ah, forget about it. Get to know her, and she's not all she seems. You wouldn't like her anyways..."
"But I do Dutchy!" He replied, appearing, the hair above his forehead damp. "And I can't forget about it."
Dutchy rolled his eyes at the dramatic statement. Only a few months of rooming with the boy had taught him that he tended to be quite the thespian when stating facts. And exaggeration never hurt anybody.
"You will, Romeo." He replied. "You will."
"Maybe I'll go down to her dorm tomorrow." He replied from the bathroom. Dutchy was going to advise him on the dangers of such an act, then shrugged. Nothing he said would be able to convince the passionate Cassanova that it might result in his arms being detatched from his short body.
Jack sensed her long before she came into view. But it was too late.
Shade rounded the corner to see Jack standing over a dead girl, a brutal wound shining on her neck, her hair and skin stained with blood. She winced. The sight of failure was never a pretty one.
"There you are." She scolded, in a much gentler tone of voice. Jack always did take it hard when he found a body. One less person he wasn't able to save. Shade preferred to look at it as one more vampire who'd eventually go to bed with holy water marks up and down his sorry ass, but she knew Jack wouldn't see it her way. "I was waiting forever."
"Sorry." He mumbled. He sounded humbled. Sweet. She went to him and he hesitantly slipped an arm around her waist.
"It kinda hoits, don't it?" She asked. He sighed and nodded slowly. "Don't worry. We'll kill 'um dead tomorrow."
"Yeah." Jack replied, his eyes never leaving the wound.
"You got something on your lip." She remarked, reaching up towards his face. He spun around so fast he nearly pushed her over, and swiped at his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket.
"No I don't." He mumbled, sounding almost angry. With that, he stalked down the alley, leaving the girl lying in the snow. Shade looked down at the bite marks, brows furrowed, then up at the dark figure which was quickly departing.
"'Ey Jack!" She called, adjusting the stake at her belt. "Wait up!"