The teens strolled through the house, observing the rather impressive damage. Hana turned her head to Ethan, giving him a look. "Good luck explaining this shit storm," she whistled. He pulled a face right back unhappily.
Sarah didn't notice their interaction behind her, looking over at Jane instead. "But I'm honestly more impressed that she can sleep after all that," the vampire said as she shook her head. The others followed her gaze to see Benny's grandma smoothing out a blanket over the little girl. Hana pouted slightly in envy; oh, how lovely it would be to sleep away right now.
"Yep," Benny nodded proudly at her words. "Gran's got a magic touch. You know, when I was six and scared of robots-"
"Okay whatever," Sarah cut him off. He gaped dramatically at her in offense, instantly whirling around to Hana with a pleading expression, though she just pat him on the shoulder instead. "Listen, I gotta get to Jesse's by midnight if I wanna help Erica." Hana saluted her casually, ready to wave her off alone.
Ethan spoke up then curiously. "Well is the pizza dude dead?"
Sarah hesitated before responding. "He's not dead, just in a limbo." There was more to her explanation, but Hana zoned out as her attention was captured by Benny as he looked around for something. She furrowed her brows, confused.
"What the fresh hell are you doing?" She asked, sneaking up behind him.
He popped up suddenly with a happy grin, an exceptionally well-preserved pizza slice in hand. "Ooo, a survivor!"
"Are you sure you should eat that? There might be vampire chunks in there." Benny's face grew pale, losing his smile and sadly lowered the slice.
"You ruined it," he grumbled petulantly.
She snorted. "That slice was ruined long before I say anything, buddy."
Sarah caught their attention once more, bringing them all together one last time. "Just stay safe and inside," she reminded them firmly. They nodded in sync perfectly, making her give them an odd look before relenting and finally walking out.
As she left, a phone suddenly rang out. Benny pulled his out to reveal it was Rory that had called them. He groaned, letting his head fall back in exasperation. "Should I even pick up?" He asked the other two.
Hana gave him a look. "Your ungrateful ass better pick up on one of your only friends, headass," she scolded him. Benny made a face back at her before answering. A video chat with the blond filled the screen, showing him in a suspiciously lavish chair with loud music pumping in the background.
They exchanged wazzaps casually and Ethan popped in occasionally to make a snide comment. "You're lame is what's up," he joked.
"If I'm so lame, then how am I at the most slammin' party in town?" Rory said smugly as they headed into the kitchen. The mess in there wasn't particularly any better, though that wasn't due to their small battle. Scattered marshmallows and cinnamon dust coated the island counter and she regarded it with only a small amount of guilt. So worth it.
At that, Ethan paused. "Did we miss another Mathletes event?" He whispered to Benny who ran a hand through his hair, only making the floppy hair even more messy.
Hana raised a brow at them as she settled into a stool at the island. "We're in the first week of school, how did you already miss something?" Benny merely shrugged in reply.
"Nah broseph," Rory pitched in. "It's a real party at some mansion." As if to prove his point, a voice in the background started yelling about some pool, urging everyone to join them for a swim.
Benny scoffed. "How'd you get in?"
"I was at GameStop and some dude invited me." Rory then seemed to spot something out of frame and perked up. "Also that Dusker babe that was with Ethan's cariƱo is here!" He told them excitedly, quickly turning the camera to send them a picture.
Upon seeing it, Hana sighed. "We really can't catch a break," she muttered.
"Is that a drama kids' party?" Ethan asked nervously. They each prayed he would deny such a thing, and yet-
"Yeah, and they've got a sick buffet for us at midnight for us too." Rory was practically bouncing in his seat in excitement. "It's aboutta be off the hook!"
As Ethan tried to warn Rory, Hana just gave up and started collecting knives again. Benny groaned when he noticed, looking back and forth between her and Ethan. "Don't tell me," he whined.
"He's our friend, we gotta." Ethan guilt tripped him with pleading, round eyes. He turned to Hana instead hopefully, but she just shrugged at him.
Benny sighed before resigning himself to his fate. "Fine, let's go." They grinned. "But I'm not walking."
Next thing you know, they were in the car, Benny fiddling with the controls as Hana chilled in the back on the floor what with the seats being taken up by bulbs. It was a peaceful quiet, broken up only by the clacking of buttons and the occasional bark of a dog into the night.
Ethan dropped by, leaning through the window. "Hold up," he stopped them. "Remember Halloween last year?"
"No," she deadpanned as Benny began to grin excitedly. "But I can guess what you're thinking and I'm down."
After a brief building montage in which they provided their own ostentatious soundtrack, they cruised down the road and slowed to a stop as they spotted Sarah. Ethan peeked his head out the window, calling out cheekily. "Hey miss," he smirked. "Cab for one?"
She snickered in slight disbelief. "Okay, so I'm weird because I got bit. What's up with you whacks?" They smiled at her innocently with mirroring expressions perfected from years of practice trying to escape trouble together. Sarah walked over, taking over the driving and shoving Benny into the back with Hana, who took the chance to scoot over to him. She burrowed into his side, attempting to escape the cold.
"Gimme your hoodie," Hana demanded, whispering into his ear. He did his best to pretend to be irritated, but his bright red face made his thoughts painfully obvious.
"Hell no," he shot back quietly. I'd die if I saw you wearing it. "I'm cold too."
"Well you offered earlier," she grumbled, and they didn't speak much again after that until they reached the mansion.
Sarah got out of the car, briefly turning back to them to tell them to stay in the car. Hana nodded with a small salute, but Ethan protested. "What?" He frowned. "No wa-" Sarah cut him off with a hiss and he quickly nodded back. "Yes ma'am."
She looked to Benny who rushed to reassure her. "I wanted to stay anyways," he chuckled nervously. Hana snickered at them both as Sarah rolled her eyes before striding away. They all watched her leave, and as soon as she was far enough, Ethan whirled around to them.
"Come on," he urged them.
Hana groaned tiredly. "Oh my god," she muttered. "You really just never follow orders." Despite her words, she still got out reluctantly as Benny followed suit.
They snuck into the party smoothly, crouching behind bushes, but Hana paused when she spotted something. The snack table, she noted with interest and wandered over to it. A beautiful array of snacks laid out, with everything from cheese platters to strawberries next to a modern chocolate fountain that gushed the liquid gold. Her mouth watered hungrily, and she automatically spit out her gum and stuck it to the table before piling a plate high with all she could.
As she turned happily to go find a place to sit and munch, she spotted someone giving her an odd look. "My coach told me to carb load," she told them smoothly. "And whatever excuse works, right?" They nodded appreciatively and she quietly let out the small breath she had been holding, then strolled away casually all while snacking happily on her food. The decadent tastes danced across her taste buds with each bite, chocolate complimenting strawberry perfectly and crackers completing the cheese slices.
When she finished it, she hummed happily and threw the plate out then wandered outside where she found the boys chatting with Rory. He turned his head to the side and she craned her neck to see what he was showing them proudly. "I got this sick hickey!"
"That doesn't look much like a hickey," Hana popped up, strolling over to stand next to Benny.
"Well how do you know?" Rory frowned, unwilling to give up on the idea.
She snickered. "Do you really wanna know?" He grumbled out 'no' sulkingly as Benny gaped at her. Those kinds of comments really didn't fit her sweet image in his mind and he struggled to wrap his head around it.
Ethan just rolled his eyes at them all, so done with their antics. "Whatever," he said. "Let's just find Sarah and leave."
"Orrrrrr..." Benny dragged out sarcastically. "We can just go 'cus she already told us to stay in the car." Ethan gave him a look, wordlessly pointing to Jesse dragging Sarah away. It was clear she was only going reluctantly from her expression and the way she dragged her feet the whole time. "Yeah, that sounds like a lotta 'not my business' shit. Leggo." He tried to go, but Ethan caught his arm by the elbow and they all headed up towards the stairs with Benny whining all the way.
They finally settle into the steps, listening to Jesse talk about some plan. Quite frankly, Hana didn't actually understand any of it. The hell did 219 souls have to do with a prophecy? What prophecy were they even talking about? And why the hell wouldn't Rory shut up?
That last question was helped by Benny as he plastered his hand against Rory's mouth, successfully stopping the constant commentary that was just a tad too loud. "Fine, enough talk," Jesse finished. "We're all hungry, the moon is full; let's eat." He gave the group of vamps a smarmy grin and the four friends took that as their queue to leave.
They ushered each other down the stairs quick as they could and darted for the door when they reached the bottom. Ethan tried to open the door inconspicuously but panicked when it wouldn't open. "It's locked," he hissed to them anxiously.
Hana rolled her eyes. "News flash genius," she said in a 'duh' tone. "Doors lock from the inside." She tried to go up to unlock it, but a guy by the entrance grabbed her by the arm too fast for her to even see it, shoving her into the center of the room with the boys.
"Where you girls going?" One of the vampires smirked at them, stepping forwards menacingly.
She raised her hand. "So do all vamps have to be dramatic as hell or is that just you?" She asked, straight-faced. He snarled at her, baring fangs angrily and snapping at those that coughed out small laughs at her words.
Another guy spoke up next, asking if it was time for dinner. "Yep," he answered and let the snarl die back down into the smirk he had previously worn before, even if it was slightly more strained this time.
"Ooo," Rory perked up. "What's on the menu?" Although seemingly impossible, it appeared he had remained oblivious to the gravity of their situation. Hana shared a look with Benny, taking out a lollipop she had slipped earlier and started to eat it. We're gonna die, she thought exasperatedly.
At that moment, Jesse came down the stairs with his motley crew trailing behind him and shoved Sarah forward. "Do you hear that?" He crooned. "Their sweet, powerful heartbeats. And that smell, isn't it so good?"
"That's my new deodorant," Hana piped up.
"You can't pick them," Sarah protested, ignoring her little comment. "I babysit them!" Everyone paused at the revelation before a wave of laughter began to spread across the crowds surrounding them.
Benny immediately threw Ethan under the bus. "He's the one that needs it," he pointed at him. "Just him."
The buff vampire from before snickered again. "Why do you need one?" He mocked, evidently enjoying the red tinting Ethan's face with embarrassment. "Mommy didn't wanna tuck you in anymore?" Hana let out a tiny snicker too, until Ethan smacked her on the arm and she frowned.
"No one here needs a babysitter," he insisted.
"Yeah," Benny backed him up with a surprising amount of arrogance considering he was still trying to subtly push her in front of him like a shield. "I get he's a vampire, but why's he gotta be such a dorkwad?" The aforementioned dorkwad lunged at them furiously, only to be stopped by Jesse of all people.
"Wait," he reassured him smoothly. "Initiations follow tradition. Fledglings drink first." Hands pushed Sarah forward as everyone turned their gazes to her. The weight of all those eyes pressed down on her from all sides, magnifying the allure of blood and its tantalising scent grew stronger.
Ethan noticed and tried to grab her by the arm gently, but Erica pushed them both out of the way as he froze up weirdly. Hana noted that in the back of her mind, frowning as she realised he had done that multiple times that day. Her attention was quickly drawn back to Erica when she bit Rory by the neck roughly, taking a long drink before passing out alongside him.
Oh shit, she thought mildly. That doesn't seem good. She let her knives slip out from her sleeves into her hands smoothly, as Sarah broke the legs of a chair off to hold out the wood threateningly. A tense atmosphere settled in the standoff with each side refusing to move 'til the dork duo spontaneously made an electrical trap and they all ran out to the gate as fast as they could, Benny screaming the whole way.
They hopped the fence rapidly, Hana vaulting over it in a single jump. Sarah was somehow waiting for them on the other side already and she sidled up to her. Other vamps swarmed them, so the boys finally revealed their trump card. Benny and Ethan whipped out homemade lightsabers from tote bags they had stored near the wall, Benny tossing an extra one over to Hana. He cackled excitedly, waving it wildly as Ethan called out, "We're harnessing the force of sunlight!"
"Actually, it's ultraviolet radiation in a spectrum similar to the sun," Benny corrected absentmindedly, even though no one had asked.
Hana just rolled her eyes and pushed them towards the car. "Just move, dickwads." They stumbled over their feet slightly with Sarah bringing up the rear.
Benny scoffed at her. "Listen padawan," he said condescendingly. "Do not disrespect the Master." His sentences were punctuated with the flourish of his lightsaber being waved much too frivolously.
"Hol' up," Ethan chirped in with a vaguely offended tone. "No way are you a Jedi Master."
"Stay in denial as long as you want. Doesn't change the fact that I'm right." Benny snarked as they all hopped into the car at last. Sarah revved the engine, quickly getting them the hell outta dodge and leaving the vampires in the dust.
"Just shut up, nerd squad."
Hana closed the front door behind her silently, slipping off her shoes and setting them next to the door before taking light steps towards the stairs. The wood beneath her socks absorbed the sounds perfectly, her eyes darted everywhere throughout the dark house. Her breath caught when she thought she heard something move in another room, but she relaxed when she realised it was just the house settling.
Once she managed to slip into her room with its soothing pastel blue walls, she let out a heavy exhale. The golden fairy lights on the walls twinkled down on her like guardian angels reassuring her that she was safe. Even the soft, green, wool rug tickled her feet in a comforting way as she padded over to her cushiony grey bed covered in a black blanket. Along the way, she shook off her jean jacket that had laid over her hoodie, slipped off her bra, and tossed her socks into the laundry basket near the door.
She flopped back into the mattress, head cradled by several plushy pillows, and stared up at her smooth ceiling dotted with glow-in-the-dark stars painted on. It felt like her chest was hollow with apathy despite how emotionally driven the night had been. Just like always.
So much of her worldly perspective had been forced to change in such a short period of time that it seemed impossible to reorient herself. Yet still, she paused and wondered why the discovery had felt natural. If not natural, then at least not as shocking to her as it definitely should've been.
Hana frowned slightly. "Something's not right with me," she whispered to the empty air.
No one answered back.
