A/N: Hey guys! There's about four chapters left including this one, and I pretty have them written, so this is being completed! Enjoy!
The night of the full moon came fast. Eleanor found herself in the Sands backyard, shivering at the sudden chill in the air. Jordan stood with them, waiting for the moon to reach it's peak. Hunter stood in the middle of the yard, dressed only his underwear. A deep, red flush was making it's way down his chest, but Eleanor was firmly not looking.
"Can you guys go inside until I change, please?" Hunter asked, shifting back and forth. His arms were tight around himself, trying to preserve some modicum of dignity.
"Nope," Jordan told him cheerily. "We have to be out here so we can get an accurate reading to how much adrenaline there is at the change. It's very scientific."
"You're a poli-sci major!" Hunter argued. He looked to Eleanor, frowning. "I still don't get why E's here. I mean, no offense, but it's really not something I want you to watch."
"This whole experiment was her idea, and she's going to analyzing the data!" Privately, Eleanor agreed with Hunter, but she couldn't find it in herself to say no to Jordan. She was deeply charismatic.
"I won't look, I promise," Eleanor told him, turning around. "I'm just here for the blood sample."
Instead of answering, Hunter groaned, a deep, rumbling noise. Eleanor wanted to turn around, to watch him change, but she'd promised.
"Okay, I need you to relax, okay?" Jordan said, presumably to Hunter. "I need a blood sample."
Hunter growled, something so inhuman that Eleanor did turn around, faced once again with the beast that had decimated a vampire in her yard. Hunter looked to her, his huge eyes golden and swirling.
Jordan plunged the needle in, drawing back when the syringe had been filled. Carefully she pulled out the needle and handed Eleanor the vial. They'd done something similar in bio lab, and she'd spent the better part of the last two days researching.
The Sands' kitchen had been turned into a makeshift lab, and Eleanor worked diligently. Mr. Sands kept popping his head in every so often, clearly nervous. Rob and Rich were on their way, to help Eleanor analyze the data.
A few hours later, and several pages of calculations, Eleanor thought she had an answer. Rich combed over her work carefully, while Rob ran a simulation on a program he'd "found" on the internet.
Around 11, Eleanor sent a text to her mom, lying and telling her that she'd be staying over at Natalie's. She made her way to the backyard, where Hunter paced nervously in the yard. It seemed to small for him, but that might just have been because he was bigger than a bear.
"Hey," she called softly. Hunter huffed, settling down in the grass in front of her. He didn't look so scary like this, calm and sedate. In fact, he was almost cute. "We figured it out, we think. We know how much to give you."
Eleanor yawned, slumping in to the lawn chair she sat in. Hunter's clothes were slung over the back, cushioning her head slightly. She closed her eyes, resting them for just a moment.
The next thing she knew, someone was trying to pull her pillow from her. Eleanor frowned, tugging it back. It left her anyways.
"E, hey, wake up," someone said, but she couldn't place the voice. Suddenly, there was an arm behind her knees and another one at her back. Eleanor jerked awake a moment later, cradled in Hunter's arms as he carried her inside. Belatedly, she realized he was shirtless.
"Put me down, I'm good!" she squeaked. Hunter looked at her in alarm, like he hadn't realized she was awake. Surprised, he dropped her. Eleanor hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of her.
She lay there for a moment, trying to fill her lungs again. Hunter stood for a moment, horrified, before he scrambled to help her up.
"Oh, crap! I'm so sorry!" he said in a rush. Eleanor's throat went dry, and all she could do was stare at the stark expanse of his collar bone. He had yet to put a shirt on. "Are you okay? E?"
"Uh, yeah," she said finally, clearing her throat. "I'm alright."
Hunter pulled her to her feet, apologizing profusely. Eleanor looked around the living room, if only not to stare while Hunter pulled a shirt on. Mr. Sands was passed out in arm chair, a full cup of coffee untouched on the table next to him. Rob was sprawled on the floor, clutching a couch cushion, while Rich was asleep at the kitchen table, surrounded by paper. Jordan lay across the couch, a calculator in hand.
"Do you, uh, do you want some coffee?" Hunter offered. His cheeks were still flushed, eyes bright, and Eleanor couldn't help but admire how good he looked. She nodded, if only for something to do with her hands.
The smell of fresh coffee roused everyone else in the living room. Jordan was the first to wake, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she padded into the kitchen. Mr. Sands come next, grimacing as he poured a fresh cup.
"Happy Halloween," Jordan said, smiling sardonically. "You ready for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hunter said. "I've never turned twice in a row before."
"I did, back when I was a werewolf," Jordan said. She had a far away look in her eyes. "It didn't hurt, it was… easier the other nights.
Hunter nodded, busying himself with a cup of coffee. He handed it to Eleanor with a nervous smile. Eleanor took a grateful sip, sighing at the taste. The boys woke then, dragging themselves into the kitchen.
"There's still a ton to get done," Rich grumbled, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Rich nodded, still not awake enough to form words.
"What's the plan?" Eleanor asked.
"Mr. Sands is rigging out lightsabers—" Rob started.
"UV lights, I'm bringing you guys UV lights," Mr. Sands clarified. "My lights guy looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for four tanning quality UV lamps."
"Shaped like lightsabers," Rob reminded him. "They'll burn the vamps at first contact."
"Me and Rob are getting the holy water," Rich said. "My mom went to high school with our priest."
"Eleanor and I are on stake duty," Jordan said. "That and getting the dose ready."
Once everyone had their assignments, they headed off. Eleanor stopped back at her house, grabbing a shower and telling her mom she'd be at Natalie's again. She was quick to leave before another argument could break out.
Back at the Sands house, she and Jordan sat on the backyard, wooden dollies in hand to sharpen up into stakes. Jordan showed her how to run a knife over the wood, scraping away shaving to get that fine point.
"How's Hunter?" Eleanor asked, setting aside the finished stake she'd been working on. Jordan sighs, brushing back her hair.
"He's… alright, I think. It's getting harder to see what goes on his head nowadays," she admits. "He used to be just like our mom, an open book, you know?"
"Where is he, anyways?" she asked. Jordan jerked her chin up.
"Upstairs, sleeping off the change. He needs to be fresh for tonight," she said. "I didn't want to wake him."
The worked in amenable quiet for a while, until they had enough stakes for the night, and then some. Together, they prepped the dose of adrenaline, then ordered something out for lunch. Hunter stumbled downstairs just as their food arrived. He smiled at them, bleary eyed.
"So, what now?" he asked, through a mouth full of food. Jordan grimaced at him, leaning over to forcefully close his mouth. Hunter ducked out of her grasp easily.
"We wait for it to get dark," Eleanor explained. "The vampires will come out and we can test your Paulina theory."
"We're testing a lot of theories tonight," Hunter chuckled nervously. Eleanor laid her hand on top of his, squeezing gently.
"It's going to fine, I swear," she promised him. He looked to their hands, frowning a little. Embarrassed, Eleanor pulled her hand away.
"Anyways!" Jordan cut in brightly. "Let's watch a movie or something, yeah? Get our minds off it?"
They migrated to the couch, watching something mindless while waiting for the boys to show up. Hours passed by and the sun began to set before Rob and Rich came by, lugging a duffle bag between them.
"We're stocked," Rob said proudly, opening the bag. Inside where water guns of every sort, bright and colorful.
"Sort of conspicuous, guys," Eleanor said, hefting up one of the guns. It sloshed around heavily.
"We looked everywhere but we couldn't find any in black, and we didn't want to risk paint contaminating the holy water," Rich explained. "You should've seen the guy at Toy's-R-Us face, he looked at me like we were crazy.
"Okay geek squad, looks like dad's here," Jordan said, looking out the window. "Let's gear up."
Everyone grabbed a few water guns and stakes, save for Hunter, who slung a drawstring back full of spare clothes over his shoulder. Mr. Sands handed them the UV lights, which really did look like lightsabers, explaining how to use them. They piled in the van, driving up and down the neighborhood.
"Come on," Hunter whined about an hour in. "I knew I saw her here, just a couple weeks ago."
"Maybe they won't come out?" Rob wondered, stowing away his water gun.
"Maybe we were wrong about where they lived," Rich said.
"I agree with Rich, guys," Mr. Sands said. "I'm going to drive around town, through as many neighborhoods as we can. We'll see if we can find them."
"Vampires have hunting grounds," Jordan explained. "They're pretty small, like a 3- or 4-mile radius from their den. We just have to figure out where their den is."
Eleanor frowned, settling back into her seat. She thought about the vampire who attacked her, the one who killed David, and the cheerleaders. Rob and Rich squabbled about vampire lore with Jordan, who insisted she wouldn't argue with some high school noobs.
Hunter looked out the window with sharp eyes, jaw clenched. Suddenly, it occurred to Eleanor.
"Oh my god, I got it!" She said suddenly. "Mr. Sands, we have to drive to my neighborhood!"
"Wait, why? What's going on?" Hunter asked.
"Guys, can you get onto the class directory online? And pull up a map of the town? I have an idea." Eleanor pulled out her phone, ignoring her friends. She called her mom.
"Hey, honey, I'm sort of busy right now," Delphine tried to say.
"Mom! Where are you right now?" Eleanor demanded.
"I told you already, I had a gallery opening tonight. I asked if you wanted to come, but you said no remember? Why? What's wrong? I'm a few hours away but I can be home—"
"No! Don't bother, I just forgot about the gallery opening, sorry. Have a good night." With that she hung up, a wild look in her eye. "Let's go to my house."
They drove to her house, though everyone was still a little confused. Eleanor explained it the best she could.
"Mostly, they've been preying on high school students, at parties. David got attacked at the party, we knew that. Natalie got attacked at a party too. I got attacked at my house," she said. "Most of the school's popular crowd lives in my neighborhood. That's where all these parties are."
"I bet everyone's having Halloween parties tonight," Rich groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead. "Are we just supposed to go from party to party? Killing vampires?"
"Maybe…" Eleanor trailed off. She hadn't thought that far ahead. Hunter caught her eye and smiled.
"We have a start," he said. "And that's what matters."
At her house, Eleanor cleared her kitchen table while Rob and Rich pulled up a directory. Mr. Sands had a map in his car and spread it out.
"I'm going to vampire proof the house, okay?" he said. "Eleanor, where do you keep your garlic?"
Eleanor poured over the map with Jordan, figuring out the most likely hunting grounds. Hunter called out addresses of the most popular people in their school and Eleanor drew them on the map, trying to figure out the radius.
"This is pointless," Jordan groaned, trying to draw a circle around the party houses. Eleanor frowned. This had to work, it was the thing that made the most sense.
"Wait, what if Hunter's right?" she asked.
"About what?" Hunter asked. "I mean, I'm sure I'm right."
"About Paulina living in your neighborhood!" she said excitedly. "Let's make that the center." Jordan shrugged by did it anyways, using all the points to create the radius. She laughed in surprise as it worked.
"You're a genius," Jordan said incredulously. "We really are going to bust up parties, aren't we?"
"Man, why does every party I go to have to be a complete disaster," Rob complained. Still, he broke out the water guns, as well as some strange looking holster. Eleanor bit back a giggle.
"Where do we start though? And when do I turn? In the middle of a party? What would people think?" Hunter asked with a frown.
"No, Paulina wouldn't be out tonight. We do the same thing we did last time, except we keep the vampire alive, and make them take us to Paulina. She'll be in the nest." Eleanor said. Jordan nodded, grabbing up her UV lightsaber.
Just then, the doorbell began to ring, loudly and unrelenting, like someone was desperate outside. Eleanor went slowly to the door, Hunter and Jordan flanking her. She carefully opened the door, clutching a stake in her free hand.
To her utter surprise, Natalie stood at her door, covered in blood, clutching her neck.
"Help me," she said.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed! Tune in next week for part one of the conclusion. Let me know what you thought!