This was one of the things written as pulsar a few years ago. I've edited it slightly, but it is still very much the same story. I'm sure not many people would remember it since I wasn't all that well-known in my fandoms, but I figure I should mention it to avoid any potential freakouts over me "stealing" a story. It is archived in a few places which I can't remember anymore, so you may have seen it around. Doubtful, but possible. Anyway, I wrote this for a Halloween story. It's supposed to be a little scary and is probably a little strange, but I hope you enjoy it. As always, I'd love some feedback, and the characters are not mine

Warnings: AU, references to 1x2x1, 3x4x3, R5, 5?; violence; character death

Some notes about the story are at the end. Don't read them till after the fic!

Always Pay Attention to Mythology

Relena smiled. Sally Po was her favorite professor. Sally was
just about everyone's favorite professor, for that matter. Relena was
smiling because Sally had just invited the Culture Club to her house for a Halloween celebration of sorts. Not Culture Club as in Boy George, though. The Culture Club Relena was involved with was one celebrating world cultures. Sally was their faculty advisor, and as such, felt it was her duty to host the group at her home, especially for their annual Halloween bash.

The Halloween party was the best part of Culture Club, at least
according to Sally. This was the first year of Culture Club at the
Romefeller School of Liberal Arts and Science. Sally had been in charge
of the club at her previous teaching position, however, and said that
everyone at Khushrenada University had loved it. Sally's current students were certainly willing to believe it. Even Heero, the die-hard techie and Wufei, the stick-in-the-mud loner agreed that Culture Club was fun. ("Fun" from them was far more of a compliment than it would be from a normal person.) Duo claimed that Heero had even admitted that he thought the club was more fun than coding viruses, but nobody believed Heero would say that. Dorothy even said that she doubted Heero would say that having an orgasm was more fun than coding viruses. Duo smiled knowingly and disagreed. Dorothy decided to not make comments like that anymore.

Everyone was really looking forward to the party. …Some were
looking forward to it for other reasons, though…

Relena, for example, had an ulterior motive… Wufei. She had had a
crush on him for two years, though she was loath to admit it. She hadn't even told anyone. She hardly even admitted it to herself, but oh, she was hot for him. He was smart, intense, knew how to make a point and shut up (a quality she especially valued, with her father being in politics. She was sick of windbags droning on and on about something they had made their point about over an hour ago.), and for all his solemnity, he was actually quite funny at times. That, and he was sculpted like a Greek god. (She always listed that lastly in her mind when she thought about why she liked him. Partly because it made her sound less shallow and partly because then she wouldn't lose her train of thought about why she liked him and instead start thinking about him working out in the gym. And how after the workout, he'd peel his sweaty shirt from his rock-solid chest and reveal his delicious muscles. And then he'd remove the rest of his clothes (revealing a whole lot more of that sinewy body) and get in the shower. Heat and steam would fill the room, water would course over his body… Sometimes, when she was supposed to be listening in class, she'd zone out and fantasize about being his washcloth. Then she'd snap out of it and realize how creepy that sounded and think about being in the shower with him. Then she'd stop because she was turning red. …As red as his body would turn under the full heat of the shower…

Wufei, for his part, was rather oblivious to her affections. He
did notice her acting strangely sometimes, staring into space and then
suddenly returning to reality, a shade redder. He naturally assumed she
was thinking naughty thoughts, but never really considered who she might be thinking about. That isn't to say that he wasn't interested in knowing, though. He had the average man's curiosity about what was
turning her on in the middle of class. Truthfully, once he had started
wondering what she was fantasizing about and began thinking of her in
some rather… non-academic positions. He quickly stopped though, and from then on tried not to notice when she zoned out.

Wufei, Relena, and Dorothy, though they were the only singles in
the club, never really felt the need to either pair up with each other or bring anyone else to group. Well, Relena wouldn't have minded pairing with Wufei, but no one ever felt pressured to hook up. The couples weren't all over each other and making everyone feel uncomfortable, and even if occasional comments were made (like Duo's comment about coding and orgasms), everyone either thought they were funny or ignored them.

For the Halloween party, everyone was going to dress as something
related to a culture they had learned about together. Duo had decided
right away that he would be the God of Death, a figure present in nearly every culture imaginable. Heero snorted and said that Duo went as Death every year. Duo grinned and made a comment about spending the money he saved on the costume on more… important things… Sally cleared her throat and gave them a grin, saying that the "important things" had better not be liquor, since they were underage. Duo grinned back and replied cheerily, "Nope, just KY." Even though they knew what the comment was going to be, everyone was still a bit taken aback by his frankness. Trowa choked on his root beer. Quatre slapped him on the back and told Duo, "Great! You can stop stealing ours now!" Trowa turned red and Relena fell on the floor laughing. Wufei grinned and said that he was going as "the token straight guy." Everyone started howling with laughter.

The night of the party finally arrived. Duo was Death, as promised. Heero was outfitted with fake armor (because fake is cheap and easy to find) and a real sword (because he already had it), going as the archetype of the epic hero. Dorothy was dressed as a vampire, complete with extremely realistic fangs. Trowa was dressed as a holy man, his outfit symbolic of every culture having some form of religion. Quatre essentially looked like a prostitute. He said it was because he wanted his outfit to compliment Trowa's and that he was symbolizing sin and temptation, concepts within religions. Wufei said that Quatre wasn't symbolizing anything but Trowa's fetish for boys dressed like skanky girls. It was decided by all that Trowa wouldn't be allowed to have root beer again unless he was wearing earplugs.

Wufei himself was dressed as Zeus, king of the Greek gods. His
toga was just a wee bit revealing, with his bronzed skin showing through in amounts not quite ample enough. Relena squeaked quietly when she walked in and saw him, the view making her think about her fantasy. Wufei made a little noise of his own upon seeing Relena. She was an angel. Well, her costume was anyway. She was having rather devilish thoughts at the time.

Everyone stood around making small talk. Wufei went over to Relena, who was raiding the chip bowl before Duo had a chance to eat it
all, as he usually did. Relena fought the oncoming blush, forcing herself not to try to peep down his toga.

"I like your costume."

Relena smiled. "Thanks! I've had it for years. Have to have
something appropriate for Halloween parties. After all, I don't want
Daddy's business connections to think I'm a slut or I worship Satan or
something." She spoke with sarcasm, smiling ruefully.

"It must be tough for you."

"What, to not look like a slut?" she asked with a grin.

Wufei laughed. He was especially handsome when he laughed. "I
meant having to watch yourself all the time to make sure you don't make
your father look bad."

"It's a pain in the ass," she agreed. "That's why I love this
club. Nobody judges me here." She laughed, recalling the first day.
"Nobody even believes I'm the Relena Peacecraft." Wufei laughed as well, remembering how when Heero had wondered out loud at introductions if she was Relena Peacecraft and then Duo had called him a half-witted crack whore because "It's not Relena Peacecraft! What the hell would she be doing at school? She's too busy being fawned over by the idiot daughters of her daddy's politician friends!" (Duo was not a big fan of
politicians.) Relena burst out laughing and showed him her drivers'
license. Duo quickly apologized, but Relena thanked him for being
himself.

"Your wings look real," Wufei commented.

"They are." When Wufei looked a bit confused, she clarified,
"Real feathers, I mean. …I don't have wings," she added laughing. They
chuckled and then stood there for a moment in silence. Relena, finding
nothing better to break the quiet with, said, "So what's with the Greek
god thing? I thought you were going to be the token straight guy."

He grinned. "I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to
throw one of you ladies on the floor and ravage you." Relena was glad she didn't have a root beer. As it was, she almost choked. Wufei shrugged. "I'm Zeus, though, that's pretty close to the 'token straight guy.'"

"Zeus was bi."

"Yeah, well, real angels have eight wings." Having no intelligent
recourse, Relena did the next best thing. She stuck her tongue out at
him. Wufei cracked up. "Truly, you are the mistress of witty repartee."

She grinned. "It's a gift."

The grandfather clock in Sally's hallway struck eleven. "Where's
Sally? It's her party, shouldn't she be here?" Wufei pondered.

"That's what I was thinking…" The other club members overheard
and nodded. "Maybe we should look for her."

The doorbell rang. "I'll get it," Dorothy volunteered. She walked
down the hallway and turned the corner, heading for the door. Everyone
resumed their small talk, but it was interrupted by Dorothy's scream.

Everyone ran for the door. Wufei got there first. Relena got
there second, but he shoved her back towards the others. She started to
protest, but he looked at her with haunted eyes and a face so pale, he
looked dead. "You don't want to see," he gasped out, and she heeded his
advice, running back to where Trowa and Quatre were lingering. Duo and
Heero went forward. Relena heard one of them gasp. What frightened her
the most was that it sounded like it was Heero doing the gasping. Heero
was the "tough" one, the one that wasn't bothered by anything… and
whatever was there scared him.

The boys came back to the trio in the hall. Duo was the first to
speak. "Dor… she-- something got her…"

Relena squeaked, afraid she was interpreting correctly. "What?"
Quatre asked in a whisper.

"She's dead," Wufei whispered. It sounded so final when he said
it. And he obviously wasn't joking. Wufei knew the limits of humor. A
dead friend is never humor. "Don't go back there. We can't save her."

"How do you know for sure?" Trowa questioned.

Heero answered. "It looks like some wild creature was hungry. She
was cut very badly. It was quick, though. She barely had time to scream. She didn't suffer."

"How do you know?" Relena asked tearfully.

"The way she was cut and how much she was cut…" he trailed off,
holding back a sob for their friend. "…She wouldn't have been conscious
for more than a few seconds. …She… lost a lot of blood very quickly."

Trowa pulled out his cell phone to call the police. Unfortunately, Sally lived in a very remote area… right in the center of a dead zone for cellular phones. Not only was there no signal, they would have to travel at least twenty miles to get one.

"I want to go home!" Relena cried in fear, sobbing.

"We can't," Wufei replied solemnly.

"What?!"

"The door's blocked from the outside. And Sally doesn't have that
many windows big enough to climb through."

"And they're bullet-proof glass," Heero added. As evidence, he
held up what was left of his sword. "I tried to break the window. The
blade would have gone through normal glass with no problem. It was a good blade…which means those are damn good windows."

"Which also means that whatever killed Dorothy is in here with us
and we can't leave," Quatre supplied.

Relena sobbed. She was trying her hardest not to lose control,
but it was too much. She had just lost a dear friend to some violent
death. They didn't know what had killed her, but it was still inside with them. …And they were trapped inside. Relena could hardly help but break down.

Quatre hugged her. "We'll figure something out. We'll find a way
out. There's got to be a breakable window or an unblocked door somewhere. We just have to look."

"Should we split up to look?" Heero asked. "It would be more
efficient."

"No!" Relena shouted. "We have to stay together! We're in danger
alone!"

"We'll go in pairs," suggested Wufei. "We'll get weapons, split
into groups, and search. That way we can protect each other and still
search efficiently."

Relena still felt uncomfortable with separating, but everyone
seemed to think the arrangement was a good one. She stifled another sob
and nodded. "Fine."

They headed back into the parlor where they'd been gathered
before. Wufei grabbed two fireplace pokers. They trooped into the
kitchen, which was adjacent to the parlor. Wufei led the way, being the
only one with weapons. Once he discerned the kitchen's safety, they
headed in. Duo grabbed a few steak knives and tucked them under his belt so he could easily reach them. Heero grabbed a meat cleaver. Quatre rummaged through the junk drawers and found, to his surprise and delight, a handgun. To his further delight, it was loaded. Relena delved into her purse and came up with a can of mace. She smiled weakly at Wufei, who was keeping an eye on her, presumably to make sure she didn't have a breakdown.

"It's better than nothing, I guess," she said weakly. "I wouldn't
be much help with a weapon anyway." Quatre tried to give her the gun, but she refused it. "I'd probably shoot one of you. I'm just a hindrance…"

"So you can't shoot or fight. It doesn't matter. I'll watch out
for you."

Relena was stunned by Wufei's offer. "You realize that if someone
dies, it'll probably be me, and then you, because you're with me?"

Wufei handed her a poker. "You'll live." Wufei gave the other
poker to Trowa, and then picked up a broom that was behind the
refrigerator. As everyone looked on, confused, he snapped the broom head off, leaving a jagged spear-like pole behind. "Ready?"

Everyone nodded or mumbled agreement. Duo and Heero decided to
check out the top floor and the attic. Trowa and Quatre volunteered to
take the basement, which left the ground floor for Relena and Wufei.

"Well, we know the parlor's clean… and the kitchen… and the
hall…," Relena broke off, composed herself, and resumed speaking. "Should we… move Dor's body?" she asked tearfully.

"Part of me thinks yes… It would be more respectful to her to
move her to the couch or something and cover her… But it would be hard on you. …And me, for that matter, but you're what I'm concerned about. I think our first priority has to be getting out and calling the police. We'll have plenty of time to honor her memory later."

Relena nodded. "Sounds good. Well, not good, but…"

"I know what you meant," Wufei replied, reaching out a hand to
her. She looked up at him questioningly, and he gripped her shoulder,
pulling her close. He hugged her for a moment. "I know you're hurting
now, but I need you to be strong. Can you do that for me? Can you hold
back your tears until we're safe? Will you try to fight if you have to?" Relena nodded into his chest and mumbled something like, "Yes, I'll try." Wufei released her. "Good. Now let's go." He started to walk out the kitchen door.

"Wait!" Relena called, instantly regretting it. Wufei turned
around.

"What is it?"

Relena took a deep breath. "If… If something happens…"

Wufei tried to stop her from thinking negatively. "Relena, you
--"

"In case we don't make it – I," Relena broke off and dropped her
poker and mace. She rushed to him and pulled his head down to hers. Their kiss was soft and brief. She let go quickly, sure he'd want to pull away, sure he'd resent that she'd forced the kiss. He didn't jerk back, though. When her eyes fluttered open, his face was still near hers. "I'm sorry," she apologized quietly.

Wufei laughed softly. "Don't be sorry. I just wish our first kiss
could have been under better circumstances." He kissed her cheek. "Maybe after we get out of here we could go out sometime."

Relena smiled and nodded. "Yeah." They stood there for another
moment before remembering the horror that brought them together. Relena
stepped back and retrieved her mace and poker. "Okay, let's find a door
and get the hell out of here."

The crept down the hall slowly, keeping an eye out for any
movement. They entered the first of three rooms. It appeared to be a
guest bedroom. Sally apparently had very reluctant guests, because the
windows were barred. Wufei and Relena exchanged a worried glance. The
room was empty except for a bed and an opened, empty closet. They headed back into the hall and to the next room. It was a bathroom. Nothing of interest was in that room either. They finally entered the last room, Sally's room. It was furnished similarly to the guestroom. The only differences were that Sally's closet had clothes and that Sally's room had a desk covered in half-graded tests.

Half relieved that there was nothing on their floor, but
apprehensive because they hadn't found an exit, they looked at each
other, silently debating on whether to stay or to help the others search. The choice was made for them when they heard a gunshot coming from downstairs. They ran down the hall, trying to ignore the mess that was once their friend. They did their best not to think of it.

They ran to the furnace room, where the only light was
downstairs. They found a terrible sight there. Trowa lay on the ground,
dead, his neck gashed open. The most garish part of all was that there
was no blood. In the corner, illuminated by a small window that the two
boys had apparently been trying to pry open, Quatre was curled up in the arms of a hideous monster.

Relena gasped, and it looked up. Its eyes were red, as was the
trickle coming from its mouth and the fluid staining its long nails. Its shoulder-length hair was straggly and its skin had a faint greenish
tinge. Wufei was the first to speak.

"Sally?!" he cried. The creature dropped Quatre and stood,
laughing.

"Finally caught on, eh? Too bad none of your friends were as quick-witted as you. Tasty, but not very clever." She licked her lips and laughed again. "I even tried to give you all warning. Remember our first country we studied?"

"China. So what?" he asked, holding his spear threateningly.
Behind him, Relena readied her poker, trying not to look at her friends' remains.

"Remember the vampires from Chinese tales? I'd have thought you'd
recall better than anyone. They are, after all, the stories from your
ancestors." She stepped closer. Wufei thrust the stick to keep her at
bay. She laughed and continued. "Remember the name of the vampires? There were different ones, of course, but what kind of vampire would trick her own students into walking into their deaths? One who is 'capable of anything,' as they say."

"The po," Relena whispered. "Sally Po…"

"You always were a bright one, even if you did have to be led a
bit to find the right conclusion." Sally grinned, a terrible sight. "I
always did like to teach you. It's a shame you're going to die tonight."

"Don't be too sure," Relena replied defiantly, which made Sally
throw her head back in maniacal laughter.

"You've got to be kidding! You could never beat me!"

Wufei seized the opportunity and stabbed Sally with the spear.
Unfortunately, she moved at the last second and it wasn't fatal. He
pulled the spear back and lunged again, but she was too quick. By the
time he was ready to strike again, Sally was already behind Relena, ready to drink her blood as well. Relena gasped and tensed up. Wufei couldn't attack while Relena was in front, and Relena was in too awkward a position to stab at the vampire.

…However, there was one thing she could maneuver enough to do…
Relena maced the po. Sally shrieked, more in surprise than pain, but it
bought Relena time enough to lift the poker and thrust it through the
monster's chest. Wufei tossed her the broom handle, which she then used
to stab Sally again and again. Wufei grabbed the gun from Quatre and
rushed forward to help Relena finish off the vampire. He stuck the gun in Sally's mouth and fired three times. He would have shot more, but there had only been four bullets to begin with, and Quatre had used one. The back of Sally's head no longer existed, and her body slumped to the floor. Her brains dripped out of the half-gone skull.

It was done. Relena and Wufei stood there watching her for signs
of movement until the sun came up. When it did, her body dried up,
shriveled, and ceased to exist. Relena and Wufei forced open the furnace room window with Trowa's poker and climbed out.

When the official police report came out, it was determined that
the five dead teens were victims of a strange killer with a
blood-drinking fetish. There was a substantial reward offered for his or her capture, but a killer was never found. Sally Po was, as it turned out, an illegal immigrant and must have fled the country to avoid deportation. As for Relena and Wufei, they were at one point suspects, but were cleared based on the fact that their DNA was not found on any of their friends' wounds. They were institutionalized for a time because of their initial rantings about a vampire, but soon 'rehabilitated' and released.

After their psychological treatment, they eventually did go on
their date, and many more afterwards. But never again did they go to a
Halloween party. For them, October 31st would forever be a day of
mourning.

Notes, in no particular order:

1) the Chinese believed that there were two souls. The one (the name of
it escapes me now...) was the high soul. The po was the lower soul,
and had the potential to become a vampire. The Chinese had a saying that the po was capable of anything. The po had greenish skin, long, sharp nails, and red eyes. I got this information from a book called Lust for Blood by Olga Hoyt. It's a very good book. I have read it at least 6 times within 2 years and never got tired of reading it.

2) Zeus really was bisexual. Sure, he did big pimpin' with the ladies,
but Ganymede (hot guy chosen to be the cupbearer of the Gods) was bearing more than the Gods' cups, if you catch my drift.

3) I don't know if all angels have 8 wings, but I know there's a certain kind that does. I can't remember the word right now, though. And I can't find the dictionary... Though if memory serves, it had an octo- prefix (duh... octo eight...)

4) If anyone has a better title idea, please let me know. I think this
title smacks of stupidity.

5) This was betad by my good friend Elyse, for whom I do a great deal of my writing. Thanks E!

6) I forget the reccomended method for killing a Chinese vampire, but I
believe it was similar enough to the European vampires that the impaling and sunlight method would do it. I know you could escape it if you passed over running water (like other vampires), but I forget how to kill them. There was an instance in Lust for Blood where a po was trapped in a jar... But anyway, enough notes. Now send me feedback!