Wolf Point was a small metropolis in northern Montana. It was the closest form of civilization to the AWA, which meant that the students could use the Apparition Chambers without attracting too much attention, and if they got stuck in the city, they could always Apparate directly back to the AWA.
Craig followed Hiram down onto the AWA's main grounds. The plateau was sleepy with darkness and starlight. Craig felt a bit out of place – the grounds were open, with few places of concealment. Hiram hurried Craig over to the Apparition Chambers in which they'd arrived at the magic school three months before.
"In here," Hiram said. Craig entered, closely followed by his new friend. The Chambers looked the same as they had before; only, they seemed smaller now that they were not filled with incoming students.
Instead of the crush of youngsters Craig had encountered upon his arrival, he was now greeted by a group of five older students. One approached Hiram. "Hiya, little bro," he said. Then he did a small double take. "You made a friend! Congrats! Wha's your name, fella?"
Craig was a little uncomfortable, but the older kid's smile was as warm as Hiram's had been. "I'm Craig," he said.
"Ah, and I'm Lorcan," said he, and he stuck out his hand. Craig shook it. Lorcan took back his hand, and, still grinning, rubbed it on his side. He looked back at his friends and chuckled.
"This one's got a grip, he does," Lorcan said, and his friends all chuckled. "So…I'm gonna bet you've never been to Wolf Point, now have ya?"
"Uh, no…uh, sir," Craig said, stumbling over his words and blushing.
"Now, there'll be none of that "sir-ing" with me," Lorcan said, clapping a jovial hand on Craig's back. The older boy had meant for it to unseat Craig a little from his stiff position, but Craig didn't budge. "You can save that shit for the Profs and the staff. Out here, we're all equals. Aren't I right, boys?"
The chorus of "yes" from the others (Hiram included) made Craig nervous. Could the staff hear them back at the school? Would they be caught?
"Well, we should probably get going," Lorcan said, observing Craig with a smile. "Before 'e faints."
Chuckling, Lorcan and the others headed for the Chambers. Hiram gestured for Craig to enter one to, and he did.
A moment later, Craig found himself standing, disoriented in an alley.
"Welcome to Wolf Point," Lorcan said, the only other person to remain standing after the transport.
Craig had visited big cities before, even at night. Hell, the night was his time. Still, the lights of Wolf Point, twinkling above the warm, inviting fir trees, seemed more alluring to Craig than had any city he'd seen previously. He moved down the alley to get a better look.
This gave Lorcan an opportunity to draw Hiram aside. "Where'd you find this kid, eh?" he asked.
"He's in a few of my classes," Hiram said. "He seemed lonely."
"I don't know," Lorcan said. "There's something odd about him."
"Well, what do you expect…"
"From the AWA, I know, I know," Lorcan said. "Still, I can't help but feel there's a something more to him."
"Well, I think he's okay," Hiram said. "And they let him in at the school, so he must be one of the good guys, right?"
Finally, a smile returned to Lorcan's otherwise troubled face. "Good, evil…if only things were always so black and white, little brother," he said.
"I think Craig is okay," Hiram said, making a firm stand. "Is that black and white enough for you?"
Lorcan studied his brother a moment. "Aye," he said. "I suppose it is. Well, come along, then."
Lorcan led them all out of the ally and down Main Street.
Craig had seen things like Wolf Point before. Granted, the city was quite beautiful; still, beyond it's beauty was nothing truly new or groundbreaking for the youthful demon killer.
The club to which Lorcan brought the group was another matter altogether.
Craig had never seen or experience anything quite like "Club Z". Upon entering the door, Craig's ears were assaulted with the loud, fast industrial music for which the club was popular. The slightly hazy dance floor reveled snatched glimpses of people moving in ways Craig had never quite imagined. The sights, the smells…it was almost too much.
"Come on! Let's go have some fun, yeah?" Lorcan said.
"Great place, isn't it?" Hiram said, yelling above the din and clutching his Pepsi close to his chest.
"Uh…yeah," Craig said. As soon as his ears had adjusted to the din, he'd begun to enjoy the music. Still, his ears felt like they were under assault, but Craig came to feel that this was part of the fun.
"Seen any good ones yet?" Hiram asked, surveying the crowded, hazy dance floor intently. A stray laser hit him in the face and he flinched at the sudden light.
"Good what?" Craig asked, perplexed. He too looked out at the dance floor, searching for whatever it was Hiram was talking about.
"Ladies, dude, ladies," Hiram said. "Honestly! Are you completely hopeless or what?"
"I'm sorry…" Craig said, receding into himself a bit.
Hiram examined Craig with an incredulous expression. "Lesson number one: don't take me so literally all the time," Hiram said. "I was joking."
"Oh," Craig said. "Okay."
"Sheesh," Hiram said. He gave Craig as deliberate a look as he possibly could. He took the time to annunciate each word to show that he was kidding. "You'd think you were born in a barn."
"Um…uh…" Craig said, searching for a humorous reply. "I…was?" he looked sheepishly at Hiram, who gaped back in disbelief.
"You really are hopeless," Hiram said. He shook his head. "So, do you see any?"
Craig looked back to the dance floor. "Uh…yeah…there are a ton of girls out there."
"Yeah, but do you see any good looking ones?" Hiram asked.
Craig blanked completely. Still, he didn't know just how much more social mishap he could take, so he chose to keep his mouth firmly shut.
"Well?" Hiram asked. He looked back out himself again. "Oh, never mind…got my eye on one now, bud. See you in a bit."
Hiram strode off towards the dance floor, purposefully, leaving Craig standing alone. He surveyed the room and sighed, musing about how he'd ended up in such a foreign place. He sat down, wondering where Lorcan and the others were, and trying not to worry too much or to look too out of place.
Hiram returned a minute later, looking a bit crestfallen. "I got turned down," he said.
For once, Craig knew exactly what to say. He'd heard this from Whistler dozens of times on the hunt. "Better luck next time, buddy," Craig said.
"Yeah…I guess you're right," Hiram said, and Craig beamed. Then he stopped abruptly. The success of this phrase made him wonder how deep the parallel between hunting and attempting to gain the attention of a girl went.
"I'm going to get another drink," Craig said, and stood to do so. However, in a split second, he froze, not moving a muscle. Hiram looked at him, alarmed. "What is it?" Hiram asked him. Craig waved at him to be quiet, which struck Hiram as ridiculous in the noisy club.
Craig looked at the dance floor through narrowed eyes. His nose picked up and he smelled the air. Yes…he'd definitely smelled it right the first time. Now if only he could pinpoint…
There.
"That's a vampire," Craig said, indicating a form across the room. Hiram looked at him quizzically.
"How can you tell?" he asked.
Craig shook his head. "You'll develop a sense for it. For now…just look at how it moves, how it looks…there's something not quite right about it."
Hiram looked at the vampire through the smoky lights of the club. "There's nothing right about how he's dancing," Hiram offered. "He's lousy."
Craig grimaced. "That's not really what I was talking about," he said.
"Yeah, I know," Hiram said. "I just don't see it."
"Takes time to develop a sense for it," Craig said, his eyes never leaving the vampire across the room. "Took me a few months, anyway."
"Uh, okay," Hiram said. "Well…now what?"
"Now, we wait," Craig said, settling up against a back wall.
"What are we waiting for?" Hiram asked, hurrying quickly to get beside Craig and look inconspicuous. In his haste, he managed look quite conspicuous, which made Craig grimace all over again.
"We're waiting for him to make his move," Craig said. "He won't actually bite anyone in here – too many people around – so he'll find someone, probably a girl, and bring her somewhere quiet. Then…"
"It's meal time," Hiram finished.
"Yes," Craig said.
The two waited quietly against the wall of the club for several minutes, watching the vampire dance. Finally, the vampire gestured towards a side door to a girl. Giggling, she followed him.
"That's it," Craig said, pushing off from the wall and propelling himself quickly into the crowd. "Come on! We don't have much time before that girl becomes his dinner."
Hiram hurried to keep up with Craig as they both pushed their way through the crowd to the door. Hiram caught up to Craig just before Craig hit the bar to release the door.
"Wait, wait," Hiram said. "You're going to fight it empty-handed?"
"Nope," Craig said. He withdrew a pair of long, gleaming knives from pockets Hiram hadn't known existed. His eyes widened. Craig cocked his eyebrows as he'd seen Lorcan do, grinned, and pushed the door open.
He and Hiram spilled out into an alley. Craig looked around intently. "There," he said, pointing down the alley to where the vampire was getting ready to feed on the poor girl. "Hey!" Craig yelled. The vampire looked up.
Craig charged him, holding both knives down. He leapt from fifteen feet away and flew through the air, remaining vertical. At the same instant that his feet came into contact with the vampire's chest, Craig plunged both knives deep into the vamp's neck. Craig withdrew both blades quickly, and as the vampire began to fall backwards from the force of Craig hitting him, Craig pushed off it's chest and snapped his right foot up to connect with the vampire's head, severing it from it's body.
Craig flew backward and landed, his right hand extended to maintain his balance, on the ground. The vampire, headless, continued to fall backwards and exploded into dust. A feral grin spread across Craig's face. He turned back to the awestruck Hiram.
"Not bad, huh?"