Ellie could only watch in horror as Marco tried to drag himself toward her. "Ellie?" He grabbed onto her and she stared at his horrifyingly murky eyes. "Ellie?"
"Ellie?" Marco asked worriedly, slapping her face lightly, trying to break her out of her apparent trance. "Ellie, can you hear me?" he tried again. She'd been spacing out for the last minute or so and he was beginning to wonder if maybe he should try to find her some help and go on with his plan without her. But he didn't want to leave her unprotected like this. "Ellie?"
Finally she focused on him. "Oh, god! Marco! What happened?" she looked at him, thoroughly confused. She was right; it had been a dream. It had to have been. That was the only thing that made sense. She peered into his eyes, no longer murky and was relieved. That was a short-lived feeling, however, when she remembered what was happening. "Marco, we have to leave now," she said as she grabbed onto both of his wrists, desperately. She didn't want whatever just happened to happen again…or for the first time…or whatever. She couldn't bear it if it really happened.
Marco wanted to agree with her and run like everyone else was doing. They could head for the hills; hole up until…until something found them and killed them. Which wasn't a very good option, either. And his gut was still telling him that this was what his Nana meant when she said that he had to be here tonight.
He smiled sadly at her as he set down his supplies and wrapped his arms around her. "El…my Nana told me this was coming," he informed her. He explained what she'd told him about the force of good that would emerge, and that his friends would be part of that force. "Now I know we're not superheroes, but somebody has to do this. If we don't, the whole city will be overrun by morning. We won't stand a chance. Our friends, our parents…they'll all be gone. There'll be nothing left to save. What we're doing…I doubt it will do anything more than buy time, but we can use that time to organize and plan a defense. We…I need to do this." He kissed her temple and stroked her hair out of her face. "But you should go. Find Sean and then find someplace safe to get people together."
Ellie blinked. "Wait…what?" Major déjà vu. What the hell was going on? She couldn't help but think that the gods were angry about Paige winning Homecoming Queen, and this was just something they cooked up to get revenge on all those who voted for her. "Marco, I am not leaving you. And you are not going out there. This whole plan of yours is stupid and it's only going to get you hurt…or worse. I can guarantee it. We have to leave. Now!"
"Ellie, I have to do this," Marco told her firmly, a little hurt that she dismissed his plan as being stupid without even hearing it. "We have to collapse the hole in on itself," he explained. "The way I see it, I need to place a few of these," he picked up a couple of the chemical jars, "around the edges of the hole-just inside it, if it's possible." He sighed. "I know that this probably won't hold for a really long time, but it should buy a day or two, maybe. And that may be the difference between all of us living or all of us dying. Now, I understand if you don't want to be part of this, but I have to try, El."
"Yeas, yes, I know all about your suicidal plan, Marco," Ellie protested. "I also know that it is way too dangerous for you to attempt. Look, we will save as many of our friends as we can, and then we'll hide out until everything calms down. Marco, please!"
Marco wanted to say okay. He wanted to take the easy way out, but he knew he couldn't. "I'm sorry, El. You can't talk me out of this. It's what I'm supposed to do. I feel it," he told her as he dumped the garbage from the small wastebasket and filled it with as many bottles as it could hold. He pocketed the mini butane torch. "I'll…be okay," he had the growing feeling that he wouldn't be, but knew that this was what needed to be done. "Even if I'm not, I have to try." He looked at her sadly, wanting her blessing. Even if he didn't get it, though, this was something he needed to do. "Please understand, Ellie. I would rather die trying than just give up and watch everyone I care about getting killed because nobody did anything to stop it."
Ellie signed in resignation as she realized that nothing was going to deter him from his mission. "Okay. I understand." She paused for a moment, thinking. She knew what would happen if he tried to pull this off. He was going to fail, and he was going to get seriously hurt. But maybe she could do it. "But let me do it. I will light the fires and you try to save some of the students."
Marco smiled a little as she agreed to help him, but he had a really bad feeling when she suggested that she do it instead of him. "El, you don't have to do that," he told her softly, not wanting her to get hurt. "I told you, I have to do this, not you."
"Marco, I saw you get hurt, okay? I saw it. I know that doesn't make any sense, but I have to do this. It's the only way that I will help you. You have to let me do this."
Maybe it's because of his Nana, but Marco did believe her. He swallowed hard. He almost asked just exactly what she saw, but somehow he felt that if he did know, he wouldn't have the guts to go through with what needed to be done. Or help Ellie get it done. He hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, realizing that it was probably the only choice. "Okay. Just, please promise me that you'll be careful. I don't want to lose you, either."
"I will," she promised, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Okay, so if I am going to play 'Militant Barbie' today, it might help if you walk me through this. What exactly do I need to do?"
"Unfortunately, there's no time to find pink camouflage," Marco teased lightly before launching into his plan, telling her how she should set the chemicals inside the hole, as deep as she could without getting herself into trouble. "We'll need to get something to use as fuses to light…maybe the tablecloths or something," he continued telling her his plan of setting the chemical explosives then lighting them-preferably with enough time to get away before they exploded and collapsed the hole. "Make sense?" he asked, hoping she understood what he had in mind. "Or if you have a better idea to close it up, by all means."
"Right, because I am planning to major in vampire slaying. You seem to know what you're talking about, so I will just go with this and hope that I don't get everybody killed." The image of Marco being attacked flashed through her mind and she failed at suppressing a shudder. She realized perfectly well that she was probably going to be bringing the same fate upon herself, but hoped that she would somehow be able to avoid it, since she knew what to expect. She hugged Marco tightly, not wanting to let him go, ever again. She had a terrible feeling about what they were doing and thought that it was probably the last time that she was ever going to see him.
"Marco, if I don't come back, I just want you to know that I love you. You are the best friend that I could have ever hoped for. You are more than I deserve and I can't imagine how my life would have been without you."
Marco didn't want to say goodbye. Even though the odds were that both of them would survive was extremely slim, he refused to give in and accept that. He hugged her back, just as tight. "I love you too, El. And you are coming back. We're going to make it," he lied through his teeth, knowing that she knew the odds, too. Probably better than he did, since she apparently had had a vision about it. He just had to keep Ellie from meeting the same fate she saw, he realized. He'd watch her closely, and at the first sign of trouble, he'd be there. He won't let whatever happened to him in her vision happen to her.
He kissed her temple and released her from the hug.
As an afterthought, he grabbed a couple pairs of safety glasses. Dorky, but hopefully effective. He gave Ellie a lopsided grin as he donned a pair and handed the others to her. Ready as they'd ever be. "Let's do it." He started walking back toward the gym, lugging the basket of chemicals.
When they got to the gym, Ellie stepped away from Marco slightly, knowing that this was it and they were walking separate paths now. "Marco, you go help Jimmy and Hazel. They are going to need it," she directed him as she walked toward the stage and began setting up the chemicals like she'd seen him do. She looked back at him and met his eyes for a fraction of a second, before turning away and getting back to the task.
Marco was afraid to take his eyes off Ellie, remembering her warning that she'd seen him hurt. He had to make sure she wasn't in his place. But she said that he needed to help Jimmy and Hazel, so he sought them out. He found them both unconscious, buried beneath some of the ceiling.
He tried to push it off, but couldn't do it alone.
He spotted Craig wandering around not far away. He looked very dazed, and Marco could see blood on his temple. Marco winced, suspecting a concussion, but called to him anyway. "Craig! Over here!"
Craig came closer and Marco motioned for him to help get the chunk of ceiling off of Jimmy first.
"Jimmy, can you hear me? Wake up!"
Marco looked back up to the stage where Ellie was to make sure that she wasn't in trouble. He really should have asked her what happened in the vision so he'd know what to look for. Craig and he almost had Jimmy uncovered. If only Jimmy would wake up so that he and Craig could get Hazel and get out and Marco could go help Ellie.
Ellie grabbed a table cloth and ripped it into long strips like she'd seen Marco do. She quickly finished setting the chemicals. She placed the cloth strips into each one meticulously and then went to the other side to finish setting p the rest.
When she finished setting up the last of them, she lit the first fuse and got ready to go to the other side of the stage again, silently bracing herself for what she knew would come next.
"Jimmy, come on, wake up," Marco pleaded with the unconscious boy, slapping his face lightly. Marco smiled as Jimmy groaned and opened his eyes. "Good. Come on, get up. Hazel needs your help.
That seemed to wake Jimmy up and he looked around for his girlfriend. "Hazel?"
"She's okay," Marco assured him. "But you need to help get Craig get her out." He pointed a few feet away to where Hazel was in much the same predicament that Jimmy himself was. "Okay? Can you do that?"
Jimmy got up rather quickly, nodding. "Yeah, we got it. Hazel?"
Marco waited a moment longer to make sure that Craig and Jimmy had a handle on it, then turned and started toward the stage, extremely worried about Ellie.
One of the beasts looked up toward the stage and frowned, trying to figure out what the red-haired human was doing there. It should be running in fear. Something was wrong. The beast strutted toward it, intending to make the brave one its first meal.
Ellie saw it coming toward her, but couldn't let it stop what she needed to do. She began to light the fuses on the rest of the jars.
Manny Santos awoke with a horrible headache. Perhaps she'd hit it when she fell out of bed, she figured as she was clearly not in bed. She opened her eyes and realized that she wasn't at home, and had no idea where she even was. After a few moments she recognized a few things-enough to determine that she was in the remains of the school gym. There were little fires starting only a few yards away. She was suddenly wide awake and scrambling to her feet, determined to get away from the fire. Unfortunately, as she leapt from the stage, she lost her balance and fell, hitting her head again. She was dimly aware of someone picking her up and slinging her over their shoulder, then lost consciousness once more.
Marco saw the hell beast headed straight for Ellie and instinctively knew that it was what hurt him before. He looked around desperately for something he could use to fight it off, or at least to distract it. He didn't have enough time to try and light a chemical jar, and his aim wasn't nearly good enough to try to hit it-he was afraid that he'd somehow end up hitting Ellie as well. So he looked for something else.
The only thing he saw that might work was a table leg that had splintered from the rest of a table. It would have to do. He grabbed it as he ran the rest of the way to the stage. If he hadn't already been on his way, he never would have been able to get there in time. As it was, the beast was getting very close to its target.
"Ellie, look out!" Marco yelled, rushing up onto the stage, the suddenly pathetic seeming table leg weapon raised to strike.
He swung the meager weapon as hard as he could at the beast. He didn't think the strike was anything more than a minor annoyance to the beast, but it did what he needed it to-the beast turned toward him.
Ellie was almost done lighting the final jars when Marco ran onto the stage calling her name. She looked behind her and saw the beast turning toward Marco. "No!" She grabbed one of the jars and threw it lightly toward the beast. It was a good thing that it was still pretty close to her, so she didn't miss and end up hitting Marco. She looked back at the fuses and realized that they didn't have very long to get out of the way. "Marco! We have to get off the stage NOW!"
The beast heard the sound of glass shattering and felt a burning against its legs and back. It turned in the direction the blow had come from. The red haired human again. It roared and started toward it again.
Meanwhile a few yards away Spinner was still battling with the vampire that was trying to get to Paige. "Stop!" he yelled, kicking at the thing again and trying to keep Paige away from it. It would be a lot easier if Paige were awake and could run away. "Paige, wake up, honeybee," he pleaded with her as he tried again to keep the vampire at bay.
"Honeybee," the vampire cooed at the burden on the boy's shoulder. He realized that he didn't really need to get the girl away from the boy. He could finish her right there. He hadn't fed as much as he'd like, but if the human girl was a queen, surely she'd make a good mate for him to take. She was still bleeding and would likely bleed out soon anyway. So the vampire slit his wrist and held it to her mouth even as she was being held by her inept protector.
Dylan heard Ellie yell Marco's name and looked wildly toward them, throwing the wolf that was attacking him away. It yelped as it hit the wall and slid down before it turned and loped away, tail between its legs.
He saw Marco heading toward a beast that was headed toward Ellie. "Marco no!" he yelled, frightened for his boyfriend's life. He glanced toward Spinner and Paige, making sure they'd be okay without him. To his disgust, he saw the vampire thing apparently making his sister drink its blood while she was still slung-unconscious-over Spinner's shoulder.
Dylan grabbed the vampire and threw him away from the two of them. "Spinner, get something on her neck to stop the blood!" he yelled, then turned back toward the stage, knowing he was never going to make it there on time.
"Ellie!" Marco had to stop the thing from getting to her. Desperate, he swung his weapon at the beast again, but it wasn't enough to distract it from going after Ellie again. So he changed tactics and used the splintered end, trying to stab the beast instead. He was rewarded as the wood miraculously sank into the beast's flesh and it fell. "Ellie, come on!" he yelled, reaching out his hand for hers. He wouldn't leave the stage without her.
Ellie quickly grabbed Marco's outstretched hand and they leapt, barely missing the explosion that happened right behind them. They landed safely on the gym floor, where Ellie took a moment to catch her breath and allow the fact that they were both still alive to sink in. "Marco…I think we actually made it!" she said, slightly laughing with relief.
"See, I told you we would," he replied, grinning. He looked back at the stage, wanting to see that they'd accomplished what they set out to do. It looked like it really worked. The hole seemed to be closed. He turned back to Ellie and grabbed her in a tight hug. "We did it, El!"
"Marco!" Dylan called out as he spotted him safe and sound after the stage collapsed. He slowed to a walk as he approached them, not wanting to ruin their moment of victory. He realized what it was that they'd done-they probably saved hundreds of lives. He beamed proudly at his boyfriend and his best friend.
But the hell beast awoke as the ground shook around it. Its eyes opened and it saw the entrance collapsing, trapping its brethren below the surface. The freedom promised them had been delayed.
The red-haired human was responsible. That was what it was doing, the beast realized as it clambered to its feet and look for the culprit. She was not far away. The beast reached behind its back and grabbed the man's puny spear and pulled, feeling its flesh close over the wound as the wood pulled free. Then it started toward the red-headed human. It would pay.
Marco looked over his shoulder toward where Dylan called him. He waved, ecstatic to see his boyfriend alive and seemingly well.
He didn't know what it was that made him look back up at the stage again, but as he released Ellie from the hug, he did. His eyes widened as he saw the beast that tried to attack her before. It was back on its feet and storming closer, seemingly focused on Ellie. It had the table leg Marco had used as a weapon and was poised to stab her with it.
No!
The next moments seem to happen in slow motion. Marco didn't have time to think. He just threw himself at Ellie, pushing her out of the way. He didn't even feel it when it happened. It was like his whole body suddenly went numb. If not for Dylan's anguished yell, he might not have even realized right away what had happened. He looked down and was startled to see the table leg embedded deep in his body. Deep enough, that he was fairly sure that it had gone clear through. He fell, his legs unable to hold his weight.
He didn't feel any pain, really, but he couldn't breathe. This was it. Guess we didn't make it after all, he thought, looking over at Ellie. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't speak, either. He felt liquid dribbling from his lips and imagined that it was probably blood.
Dylan could only watch in horror as Marco shoved Ellie out of the way and was run through by some sort of wooden beam. "Marco!" he cried out, wanting to get to him. As he neared, though, the beast turned toward Ellie. He wouldn't let Marco's sacrifice be in vain. He leapt onto the beast's back and grabbed its head, twisting as hard as he could. Its neck snaps easily and it falls to the ground, dead.
It took Ellie a moment to realize what had happened. She dropped to the floor beside Marco and put her hands over the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. "Dylan!" she screamed desperately. She didn't know if she should pull the stick out or not, but opted for not. "Marco, you have to hang on, okay?" she plead with him. "Just stay awake," she said, unsuccessfully fighting off tears. "Dylan, get over here now!" she screamed again, not giving Dylan a chance to even listen as she demanded his immediate attention. She looked deeply into Marco's face, begging him with her eyes to fight harder. "You can't leave me, Marco. I can't fight this thing alone," she said weakly as she ignored the tears that were now spilling from her eyes and falling down onto his cheeks.
Dylan knelt down beside Ellie, nearly passing out as the scent of blood threatened to overwhelm him. He couldn't keep from crying as he took in the full extent of Marco's injury. He looked at Ellie through his tears and pressed his hands to the wound, hoping to help her stem the flow of blood. He knew, though, that it wasn't going to help. Judging from the blood coming from his mouth, Dylan would have to guess that there was some massive internal damage. There was too much damage for them to be able to do anything for him themselves. "We need to get him help," he told Ellie, knowing that there was little to no chance that they'd be able to get him to a doctor in time. It's clear that he's unable to even breathe.
I'm sorry, Ellie, Marco tries to tell her with his eyes. He wanted to tell her that it was okay. She was alive, and he didn't regret what he did. He wanted to hang on for her, but knew it wasn't happening. He struggled to breathe, but couldn't. And it was so cold.
He heard Dylan say something about help, but knew it was too late for that. Marco wanted so much to tell Dylan that he loved him and that it was okay. He had no regrets. Not able to speak, he opted instead to reach out his hands, gently taking one of Ellie's and one of Dylan's. He couldn't close his fingers around theirs, but held them loosely. He felt his whole body spasm and looked one more time toward Dylan, hoping his fear didn't show. He tried to tell him goodbye, but only coughed, making his body spasm again.
He rolled his eyes toward Ellie.
He hoped they'd watch out for each other.
Dylan could see it the moment Marco slipped away. His eyes were still open but his body just suddenly went slack, his hand dropping from Dylan's as he finally let go.
A/N: This is written by: Serenity (as Ellie and other characters as needed), Chaos (as Marco, Dylan, other characters as needed), Daq (as Spinner), Azaria (as Paige), and Tiffany (as Jessica). If you'd like to participate in the RPG this is based on, please click on our profile link, and go to our 'homepage' to sign up. There are still many characters available!
