Chapter Four: Mr. Skully
We sat crunched together in the cab of my truck. Half of me was freaking out for skipping school. The other half of me was excited, the thrill of it all. And I did realize the irony of it all. I kill vampires, I have super strength, but I get the real thrill from skipping class.
"So, Braxton, where are we going?" We've been driving aimlessly for much too long. Driving on roads that barely have names, barely even paved, barely can even call them roads at all.
"You're both going to love it. I promise." he paused, " Wait, hiking isn't going to be a problem right? There will be a bit of hiking involved."
"I don't know, the last hike I went on the guy broke up with me in the middle of the woods," I said trying to not sound bitter, but comical and sarcastic.
"Aw, shoot. That guy must be a real monster."
"Yeah, total soul sucker." Carmen added.
I laugh dryly, trying to enjoy the witty banter.
"Don't worry ladies, this will be the best hike you will ever go on. And we'll be meeting a friend of mine there too. So I hope that it's okay."
"Should be fine," Besides, worst case scenario, we're vampire slayers. Nothing can stop us.
"What's the name of your friend?" Carmen piped in.
"Mitch, he goes to school with us, he's just barely ever goes." He laughs.
Mitch sounds like a real winner, I thought.
"Okay, " Braxton says pointing up the road, " Right here, take a turn, and there will be a small parking lot. Park in there."
I do as he says, making my way at a steady pace. turning into the parking lot, picking a spot close to the trail. We get out quickly, and I bring my bag with me just in case. You never know what could come up.
The trek through the forest was easier than I anticipated. Though Braxton, who was leading us through, got a little raspy in his voice. Another plus to my ridiculous slayer strength, no hike can phase me.
"Alright," Said Braxton, "We're almost there."
Just like that I felt cramping in my sides. Oh no… not now.
The scene before me was the scene from my dream. This was bad. It was so beautiful. The stream, the painted rocks, the cliff, the woods, even the canoe was located near by.
Braxton must be a demon.
Maybe.
And just when I thought things couldn't have gotten worse, Mitch, came into view. Tall, Pale skin, bleach blond hair, piercing topaz eyes.
Carmen and I gasp in unison.
A vampire. I drop my bag to the ground, I grab both of the stakes out of there and throw one to Carmen, who's agile, ready.
Our stances are rigid. "Braxton, Get out of here." Carmen's voice was stern.
"HEY! Hey. Mitch is cool."
"Braxton, he's a vampire." I say.
"Brax, you didn't say that you'd be bringing slayers along-" My hand was at his throat. before he could finish his sentence. I held him hard against the bark of a tree. He didn't have a chance.
"HEY! I'M TELLING YOU HE'S COOL. GET AWAY FROM HIM." Braxton was getting hysterical.
I loosen my grip on Mitch's throat. "Give me just one reason why I shouldn't kill you."
"Because I'm not a monster." he said through his strained vocal cords.
"I've heard that one before." I say angrily. I take my stake, draw my arm back, and -
"Bella! Don't kill him! He's here to help!" He tries to pull me away from his dead friend. He has no chance.
"You knew we were slayers." Carmen says matter-of-factly. "How did you know?"
He scoffed, "Well, I'm not all that normal myself. Bella, I'm serious. Let him go."
I'm eye to eye with Mitch, " One false move, and you're gone." I shove him to the ground and walk back to Carmen. He shuffled from the ground and back to his feet. I watch as he composes himself, dusting his shoulder's off like he's in an R&B music video.
"Now, before I ditch you with the soul sucker," I say to Braxton," you should explain to me in the deepest of details, why you brought us here." I stated sternly. Putting extra emphasis on 'here' because of that crazy dream i had the other day. Now I'm just wondering if he had anything to do with that. I took a seat on a nearby log and carmen sat next to me. Both of us with our arms crossed, and our faces that said we were not going to take any malarky.
"Well, for one, I brought you here because I knew there wouldn't be anyone around. Tourist season is over."
"What is this place?" Carmen asked, staring at the cliffs, and the beautiful body of water.
"This is called, Kitch-iti-kipi. It has a legend, but according to some historical documents, the legend itself is a scam to get more people to come here. I mean, I don't believe it. But this isn't about Kitch-iti-kipi, this is about what happened this morning."
"This morning?"
"Virginia, the girl they were dragging out of the High School. She's been accused of murder. But I know that she didn't do it. And she knows she didn't do it. She was walking around the woods with the most popular guy in school, no less. My best friend, football captain, the funny guy, his name was McKenzie."
"It was the flying skeleton, wasn't it?" Carmen questioned.
"You already know?"
"I did some research. Bells and I were going to do some patrolling tonight. Try to catch this dude before he kills any other people."
"And where does the vampire come in?" I asked flatly.
"Mitch is just here to help."
"I'm really not a monster, I've never hurt anyone. I just feed off animals. All i want to do is help. Make the world a better place." Mitch spoke very evenly.
I rolled my eyes. "I've really heard all of this before."
"What about the riot in the cafeteria today? What was the point of that?" Carmen asked.
"Those kids needed to let off some steam. The head cheerleader just got accused of murder and the most beloved guy in school was just killed. Everyone was upset, trust me, they needed that so they can grieve."
"So, you wanted to join us on our patrol?" Carmen got up slowly and walked over to Braxton. "You? You really think you can handle a flying skeleton?" She smiles coyly, and pushes him playfully. He was taken off guard and almost fell to the ground.
"Hey! I'm in human form right now! No fair!"
"Human form? What are you?" Carmen said.
"I'm a thunderbird."
He was a demon.
"Like the car?" Carmen joked.
"Uh, no." He said shortly, " Like the mythical creature, like the symbol of my people. I'm a thunderbird."
"That's actually how Braxton and I met, I was feeding in the woods and he found me in his animal form. I was actually going to eat him, until he switched back to human form. It was a really great battle we had. Too bad we stopped." He said with a smirk.
"I would've won," Says Braxton cockily.
"No way."
"Lightning comes out of my wings, you dildo, you would've been toast."
"Verses my venom? Hah. No dice."
"Okay, boys, that's enough, I wouldn't want to have to separate you two." Carmen said sarcastically.
"And lets get down to business. Where does Mr. Skully like to hang out?" I added.
Mitch scoffs. "Mr. Skully." he says. "You really don't know what you're up against, do you?"
"Whatever it is," I pause, I walk closer to Mitch and swing my arm back, I punch the tree behind him, and layers of bark shatters through, Mitch smiled "I think we can handle it."
…
"Now, Remember, Mr. Skully's prey is the fiercest of warriors. And that is us. So we better stick together if we want to kill this thing." Carmen said, taking the lead.
I grab my back pack, quickly taking inventory on what I have brought. A few stakes, my phone, credit card, flashlight, and along my belt dangled a gift from the boot camp. A katana.
"I disagree, I think we should cover more ground. We should split up." Said mitch.
"Compromise time!" Exclaimed Braxton, " Okay, Carmen and I will be on a team, and Mitch and Bella will be on a team. There we go."
"Try not to kill Mitch, Alright?" Braxton said to me.
"No promises," I said while glancing at Mitch.
We parted our separate ways, flashlight in hand, making it through the woods with intense concentration, listening in for the screech of the Skeleton.
We trailed the woods for several minutes, I tried to stay focused on the mission. Trying to make Buffy proud. I know I've never met her, and probably never will. But if I can make one less Creeper walk the earth, I feel like I'm really making a difference.
"Bella," Mitch started, "What happened to make you a slayer?"
My eyebrows furrowed together. What is he trying to do? Make conversation with me? "That's actually pretty personal to me. What about you Mitch? Why did you become a Vampire?"
"I was born this way, actually." I roll my eyes at his response.
"Nobody is born a monster. That is literally impossible."
"It's true," He says conversationally. "My mother is human, and my father is a vampire. I'm only half vampire." He said it so Matter-of-factly it just made me so angry.
"I'll believe it when I see it." I say while I kick through some branches.
"You want to meet my mother?" He said surprised. Wow, he really doesn't understand sarcasm at all.
"Yeah...Sure…"I say with my voice thick with sarcasm. We took another step through the dense woods. Flashlights in hand, I shine my way through. Before Mitch could say another word a piercing screech rang through the woods. We both stop in our tracks. My flashlight shines through the sky, I see nothing.
"You heard that too, right?" I say, trying not to sound scared.
"Yeah, I heard it." he says gruffly.
The high-pitched scream rang through the woods, I begin spinning around in circles, my eyes scanning every inch of light my flashlight hits.
"Do you see him?"
"I don't see him. But I can hear him." The screech continues.
Oh, sh*t...I keep thinking over and over again.
"Are you ready?" I say to him.
Before he can answer, there before us was the rotting corpse, his face was was half skin, half bone. His eyes piercing red. And his club. Made out of bones none-the-less.
I jump for my sword, the sound of it coming out of its holder sang in all of our ears, and I wield the sword with such majesty.
The monster snarled in out, taking no time for babysitting. He came at me with his club and screeched. his open mouth with broken teeth, his breath smelled like flesh. I blocked his strike with my sword and I wailed at the force. The sword was able to cut his club in half leaving him weaponless.
Skully stopped for a moment, almost comically. Looking at his broken weapon, that has obviously been with him for an eternity. His red eyes burned into mine. He honestly looked like I hurt his feelings or something. His face switched to rage. His cry was fiercer than ever. He came out me. his bony fingers went in for my neck. I swung my sword at him. I pierced it's chest and he cried harder than ever before. I pull my sword out, and he falls to the ground.
"He's dead." I say softly. I pant softly.
"No, it can't be that easy." Said Mitch. " We'll have to cut him up into pieces, and burn the pieces."
"Do you have any lighter fluid?"
"No, but we do have lightning." After mitch said that i remember how Braxton was some weird and mysterious Thunderbird.
Mitch grabs out his cellphone from his pocket. "Sh*t, no signal."
"Okay, go walk around for a while and try and get ahold of Braxton. I'm going to cut Mr. Skully into pieces in the mean time." I said glancing at the dead corpse. Wow, what is that? An oxymoron? A catch-22? That's something.
Mitch caught my face, the pondering. "Hey," he said, " Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, " I said cheerfully. " This guy is dead for now. I can handle it."
Mitch began to search for some service for his cell phone. And I just took a moment to stare at the body. Legend has it that he used to be the strongest of all warriors, and his tribe lead him astray. He got so lost that he could never find his way back. I'd be pretty angry too. I'd get my revenge. Not saying that he's justified killing people, but is it so messed up for me to understand his motive?
I lift up my sword and swing down. I can feel the bones crack just by hearing the shatter. I hit again, this time the debris flew all around me. I hit harder. I hit him like he's all my insecurities, and I'm killing them along with him. I'm killing the me that misses my old life. Little Bella, Miss Nobody. Minutes go by and I'm still here.
I lose all focus, I lose myself.
"Bella?"
I hear Mitch call to me, but nothing can stop me from killing Mr. Skully.
"Bella!" He's rushing towards me.
I don't stop.
He takes me by the shoulders and makes me drop my sword. "Why are you crying? Are you okay?"
I didn't realize the tears flowing so easily down my face. I didn't notice my chest heaving, and the sobs of a hot mess of myself.
I had no words to say.
"Don't talk about it," Mitch says, "You don't have to. Just calm down, and we'll set this skeleton ablaze together. You don't have to be afraid."
I gulp back the sobs and put my face in my hands a moment. I wipe away the tears from my face. "I'm not afraid of anything." I said quietly.
…
Carmen and Braxton helped gather the pieces, and Mitch dumped the lighter fluid on the remains.
Carmen turns to me and hands me the matchbook. "Will you do us the honors, B?"
I smile, "Don't mind if I do." I strike all the matches at once, and throw it on the pile of Mr. Skully.
"Would anybody like to say a few words for Mr. Skully?" Mitch says aloud.
"May he find peace!" Braxton says.
"In hell." I say cheerfully. We all laugh, like we're at a real bonfire. Like friends. Like we're not just destroying some demon.
"Also," Braxton adds, " I did bring this," He rummages through his coat pocket and pulls out a silver flask. " I say in honor of Mr. Skully we all take a sip of this here liquid courage."
I smile lightly. The most I've ever drank was a sip of Renee's wine when I was 13.
Braxton holds out the flask, toasting, "To a good kill!" he says. and he takes a sip.
He hands it Carmen, who holds out the flask to toast as well. "To being able to sleep at night knowing we've got one less creeper to worry about!" She takes a quick swig and coughs, followed by laughter.
Mitch got it next, "To being alive! Since I was almost killed today!" Laughter erupts and he drinks from it carefully, quickly, and tastefully.
He handed it to me, and I hesitated. I looked at the flask for a moment, and I knew everyone was waiting for me to say something. I looked up at my circle of friends. "To this very moment. Because I haven't felt like I belonged like this, in such a very long time. To this moment." and I took my very first drink of what I believed to be rum.
AN: Please let me know what you think of my original characters, thank you so much for taking the time to read this chapter, and please R&R!
GoodbyeIowa