"I think we need to go to Home Depot," Matthew said to Wesley. "Our beds are going to have to be lofted."
"I don't wanna loft my bed," Wesley complained. "I like being on the ground. Besides, I might fall."
"There's not enough room," Matthew argued. "It's the only way."
"What are you," Wesley asked, "my big brother or something? If you hadn't brought all this stuff, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, which I'm moving to close right now."
"Hey," James called from outside, "it's Jimmy. Open up."
"What is it?" Wesley asked, opening the door.
"Y'all have to get all this stuff out of the hall," James said. "It's a safety violation."
"Don't tell me you're the," Matthew guessed before being cut off.
"I'm the Resident Advisor on this hall," James said. "You two are under my command now."
"Wow," Wesley said half-enthusiastically, "now I've got two big brothers to boss me around! How lucky..."
"Better be careful," James warned. "I just might take that offer."
"C'mon, guys," Matthew said, stepping between Wesley and James. "Knock it off. I don't have time to play mediator here. Why don't we all go grab something to eat and catch a movie and worry about this mess later?"
"Sounds fine to me," Wesley said.
"I'm not supposed to overlook stuff like this," James said, "but it's been a long day. I know a couple of good places around. We can go in my truck."
"Watch out, sweetheart!" Erik shouted as a fireball narrowly missed his wife's head.
Hearing her husband's warning, Lauren quickly gestured with her hands and the fireball, about to strike her in the chest, slowed to a snail pace, enabling her to easily move out of the way. She rejoined her husband, who had ducked behind the sofa to dodge the demon's attack.
The two of them handled situations like this all the time. They weren't ordinary people, but witches, people gifted with supernatural powers used to ward off evil forces. Lauren, standing at five feet five inches, was a fair-skinned woman with brown eyes and long brown hair. She was strong-willed and determined, yet she maintained a calm and grounded demeanor. She possessed two magical powers, which she used to help herself and her husband in tough situations. Her primary power was time dilation, the ability to slow time around her. Her secondary power was invisibility, the ability to vanish from sight.
Erik was her husband of twenty years. They met in college, where each had found out that the other was a witch. He was very tall at six feet four inches and was a champion wrestler and football player. His strength and physique were what caught Lauren's eye, but he quickly showed his real personality. To her, he was kind and affectionate, but to outsiders he seemed intimidating, stubborn, egotistical, and narrow-minded. His blond hair and blue eyes only emphasized what people already thought about him. His primary power was deflection, a rare power for a good witch. It allowed him to rebound any projectile attacks away from him. He also had a second power, supersensitivity, which gave him a heightened awareness to impending danger.
"Dammit!" Lauren exclaimed as she saw the fireball create a large scorch mark on a wall. "I just had these wall painted. The interior decorator people are going to think I'm psycho if I tell them that there's been another accident!"
"Later, honey," Erik said. "There's still a demon in the room."
The demon was hardly intimidating; it stood just at five feet tall and was very thin. Its crimson skin was rough and leathery in appearance. It had bright yellow eyes and claws instead of hands. It laughed sinisterly as it conjured another fireball between its claws, preparing to attack again.
Erik waited patiently, something that was not typically in his nature. He stood up from behind the sofa and taunted the demon to attack him. The demon complied and threw the fireball. With a quick flash of his hands, Erik created a faint blue sheet of light that lasted for a brief second. The fireball made contact with the light screen and rebounded back towards the demon. Lacking the speed to dodge, the demon was hit head on by its own attack and disintegrated into nothing.
"Another one bites the dust," Erik sighed, helping Lauren to her feet. "I'm getting too old for this."
"Oh my God!" Lauren shouted, pointing at an old book. "The Book! It's glowing!"
"Glowing?" Erik asked. "Why would it glow?"
"I was told that it would glow when..." Lauren said as she gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God!"
"What?" Erik asked, seeing tears fall from Lauren's eyes. "What's the matter? Why are you crying?"
From the Doctor: Why, indeed? And who the hell are Erik and Lauren anyway? They obviously have something to do with the story, otherwise they wouldn't be in it. Stay tuned to find out what their role is!