A/N: Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm back! You might not recognize me. I'm The Aquarium Master under a new pen name. Some of you may recognize me from different community games. Maybe, maybe not. Anyways, I apologize for the lack of content. I've been heavily procrastinating. That, and I had no inspiration or motivation for the time in between these chapters. Enough of that. Now onto the reviews!
WyldeHeart: Please don't kill me! If you do, no more story for you!
MBAV fan66: Yeah… Ethan's dead… but we must move on. The hell hound might be like a puppy. Just imagine it: a teenager walking down a street with a dog from Hell by his side. I can't help but smile at that thought. As for Sarah, she might be able to overcome that spell. But, how long will that take?
That's all for reviews. Where the hell did my nonexistent fan base go? Oh, wait… they're nonexistent. Right. Anyways, thank you guys so much for the support. Enjoy the story!
Chapter 8
Third Person P.O.V.
The rest of the drive went by in silence. Benny was softly crying, still grieving over Ethan's death. Rory was gazing out the window, and Cameron was focusing on the road.
After a few minutes, the road begins to open up into an abandoned parking lot.
"Well, this is it," Cameron mutters.
"Come on, Benny, get out of the car," Rory says, getting out of the car.
Said spell master just ignores them.
"Fine, be that way," Rory says. "We'll leave you be. Keep an eye on the truck while you're at it."
"Are you nuts!?" Cameron whispers. "We can't just leave him alone, especially not in the state he's in! Once we enter the building, we lose sight of Benny, and with us gone, the vampires can swoop in and do whatever they want to him! He'll be completely defenseless!"
"So what do we do?" Rory asks. "Wait, I've got an idea!"
"You've got an idea? That's new," Cameron jokes.
"Hey, I'm a genius! Everyone says so!" exclaims Rory.
Raising an eyebrow, Cameron says, "Really? Who. Give me the entire list of names."
"Ethan, Benny, Sarah, Erica," Rory lists, counting them off on his fingers. "All the jocks at school, Jesse, his minions, my cousins, and pretty much everyone else."
"You've never heard of sarcasm, have you?" Cameron asks, face palming.
"No," Rory answers, a confused expression on his face. "What's that?"
"Never mind," replies Cameron. "And forget your plan. I have a better one."
Sighing, Cameron walks over to the front passenger door of his truck and opens it.
"Benny, you get your butt out of the truck right now," Cameron demands.
"Or what?" Benny asks, turning away before sighing.
"Or this," Cameron says.
Suddenly, Cameron starts shaking violently. Fur quickly spreads over his skin, covering his entire body. Nails change to claws, teeth change to fangs, and his nose changes to a snout. His bones crack and morph. Muscles adapt to the sudden change. After shaking his head, Cameron tilts his head to the sky and lets out a fierce howl. The transformation was complete.
Benny's eyes went wide, and he did what almost anyone would do in this situation: he screamed.
"AAAAH!" Benny shrieks, cowering in fear.
Growling, Cameron grabs the spell master by the leg and yanks him out of the truck, with Benny continuously shrieking.
A moment later, Cameron goes back to normal. The teenager straightens himself, brushing the dust and fur off of himself.
"Umm, dude? Why aren't your clothes completely shredded?" Rory asks.
"Ever heard of a thing called magic?" Cameron asks as he pulls Benny to his feet.
"Yeah, why?" Rory answers.
Face palming, Cameron replies, "I used magic to enchant my clothes. The magic prevents them from getting damaged, stained, or wet. Technically, I never need to wash my clothes, although they do tend to smell after a while."
"Oh, okay," Rory says.
"Come on, let's get moving," Cameron says. He then turns around and says, "Get moving, spell master."
Benny grumbles, and follows Cameron and Rory into the factory.
Sarah's P.O.V.
Finally. They've entered. Now things are going to get interesting.
Wait. Aren't I on the geeks' side? No, I'm in league with Jesse. But, didn't I work with them? I even… no. I cannot. I will not. I'm no longer one of them. I'm one of the bad guys.
But this constant bicker with myself is starting to get to me. These mental arguments are leaving me questioning whether I'm doing the right thing. Is this really what I'm supposed to do?
I think I'm gonna have to go back to Jesse's spell master friend to increase the intensity of the evil spell. I need to get the good side out of me!
"Sarah, come on."
Looking up from the floor, I see Erica, standing in the doorway, crossing her arms.
"What?" I ask, frowning.
"Jesse sent us a message: confront the nerds face to face, but stall things to make their death painfully slow. He wants them to see what will happen to this town in their last moments," she replies. "This should be entertaining."
"Well, it's not like I have anything else to do," I say. "Plus, it's not like I can defy Jesse's orders without some sort of punishment."
"Yeah," Erica says.
I get up to follow her. As I do, an idea starts to form.
"Hey, Erica. You know what?" I say, smiling deviously.
"What's on your mind?" asks Erica.
"Before we kill those nerds, let's torture them by killing Ethan in front of them," I suggest. "They've already lost him once, and it's gonna hurt a lot more when they lose him again."
"That's not a bad idea," Erica replies. After thinking for a moment, she adds, "Why the hell not?"
"Great," I say. "I'll go get him."
I head off to go get the nerd. Erica, meanwhile, has to go tell Sam, the guy who's in charge here, about our plan.
This building is like a maze; you could easily get lost in here if you didn't know your way around. Luckily, Erica and I got a quick tour of the base, so we know where to go.
Being alone gives me time to think, and I don't really enjoy it. I'm constantly wondering whether or not I should be evil or good. This is getting so infuriating! I can't stand this. It's like I'm suffering from schizophrenia, and trust me, this isn't the first time this has happened.
A few minutes later, I finally arrive at my destination. Sighing, I push the door forward and step into the room. There he is. Ethan.
When I think of his name, my thoughts start getting even more jumbled up. Once again, the mental argument starts up, only much harder to stop.
I clutch my head, hissing in pain. Suddenly, a voice draws me out of my thoughts.
"Sarah?"
Looking up, I see Ethan, chained to the wall, a confused look decorating his face.
"What happened to you?" he asks. "What did they do to you?"
"They helped me," I answer. "They fixed me, helped me realize my true potential. They showed me what I was meant to be. I'm no longer one of you guys."
"Sarah, this isn't you," Ethan says, struggling to break free of the shackles. "You're kind, brave, and strong. You aren't evil, you're good. You are one of us. Please, don't do this. I'm begging you, Sarah."
"SHUT UP!" I shout as I slam my fist into a wall. "Enough of this, before I drain every last drop of blood out of your body!"
At that, he stops talking.
"Here's what's going to happen: you're going to stand up, and I'm going to disconnect the chains from the wall," I say.
"Thank god, Sarah," he says.
"Hey! I'm not done yet!" I yell, growling. "Anyways, after I unchain you, you're going to follow me to the entrance of the base, where I'm gonna kill you in front of your friends. Got it?"
"Yup," Ethan replies. "I got it."
He stands up, and I take off his shackles. He rubs his wrists, letting out a sigh of relief.
I push him forward, saying, "Get a move on, geek!"
He silently obeys, and starts walking. Suddenly, he stops.
"Uh, which way am I supposed to go?" Ethan asks, looking down both ends of the hallway.
"Left," I answer.
We continue towards our destination. A few minutes later, we almost make it to the entrance. Erica and Sam should just be around the corner.
Suddenly, Ethan dashes to the right. Dang it! That idiot's trying to make an escape attempt! He's not gonna escape on my watch!
I run after him, swearing madly. Just as I'm about to grab him, he turns left, and I slam into a wall. Hard.
Ow… that hurt.
Ignoring the pain, I turn and continue after him. I quickly reach him, and when I do, I tackle him.
He screams, struggling to get free. I hiss, and that shuts him up.
Frustrated and angry, I say, "Next time you do something like that, I won't hesitate to snap your neck and show your corpse to your friends."
"Okay," Ethan says nervously.
I pull him up. We continue walking, and soon, Erica and Sam come into view.
"Hey, guys," I say.
They turn around to see me walk up to them, Ethan in front of me.
"Hey, Sarah," Erica greets, smiling. "And look who's here! It's Ethan, the stupid little dork."
"Sarah, I see you've brought the nerd," Sam says as he examines Ethan. "Alright, the others should be entering in about five, four, three, two, one…"
Right on cue, Cameron, Benny and Rory stroll through the door. The trio sees us, and they stop.
"Well, look what we have here: two geeks and a dog! You nerds shouldn't bring your pets into the house," taunts Sam. Cameron growls in response.
Benny's eyes scan over each of us, before they land on Ethan.
"E!" Benny gasps, raising his holy water pistol.
Cameron and Rory also raise their weapons. Sam pulls out his spell book, while Erica gets into a fighting stance.
"If any of you nerds shoot, then I'll break your friend's neck!" I say as I grab Ethan and pull him back.
Benny turns so that his gun is aimed at me.
"Benny!" Ethan shouts. "Don't do it! Sure, she's evil, but that's because of a spell. Don't shoot!"
"Shut up!" I growl, pulling Ethan closer. My fangs pop out, and I add, "You know what? I've changed my mind. Instead of breaking his neck, I'm gonna suck him dry. That way, you can watch as life slowly drains out of him."
I can see Benny's aim waver. Sighing in a frustrated manner, he aims the gun at Sam.
"Return our friends back to normal, or I'll spray you with holy water!" shouts Benny.
"Silly mortal. I'm not scared of that little squirt gun," Sam says, smiling. "Besides, holy water can't kill a vampire. You should know that."
"Yeah, I know that," Benny replies. "But I also know this: while holy water can't kill a vampire, it still hurts when they get sprayed by it. And from what Sarah told me, it hurts like hell. So, have a drink!"
Benny sprays Sam, smiling victoriously. The vampire lets loose a blood-curdling scream of pain, dropping his spell book. I curse, then knock Ethan unconscious before rushing forward to deal with Cameron.
"Sarah, back off," Cameron says as he slips some silver gloves on. "I don't want to fight you."
"Too bad," I respond. "You're going to get a fight, whether you want it or not."
"Come on, Sarah," Cameron pleads. "This isn't right! Think about it! Ethan's correct: you're under a spell. Snap out of it!"
"Shut up!" I shout. "It's easier to rip you to shreds when you aren't to convince me that I'm a good guy!"
Hissing, I lunge at Cameron, trying to punch him. He leaps backwards, then dashes at me, fists raised. I run at him as well. I throw a hook punch at his face, but he ducks under it and tackles me.
Pinning my arms above my head, Cameron says, "Stop it, Sarah! Fight back against the spell!"
"Not gonna happen," I reply, kicking him in the chest.
He goes flying back, crashing into a wall. I rush at him, and start hammering him with punches. In an attempt to defend himself, Cameron raises his arms. Then, he throws his arms forward, grabbing my sides. He picks me up and slams me into ground. I groan in pain.
"Wait here," Cameron orders. He pulls a length of rope from his pocket and ties me up before going to help Benny and Rory.
I watch as Sam blasts Rory off his feet with some sort of spell. Before Sam can blast Benny, Cameron tackles him. I watch the struggle, but I'm slowly losing consciousness. I must have been hit harder than I thought. The last thing I see is Erica punting Benny across the room. Then it all fades to black.
Rory's P.O.V.
Wow, that was awesome. We just kicked the baddies' butts!
Benny stumbles over to us, wheezing.
"Geez. Erica sure can kick!" he exclaims, coughing. "Speaking of Erica, what happened to her? I didn't see."
"She managed to escape, taking Sarah with her," Cameron explains. "Fortunately for us, they left Sam behind."
Cameron suddenly whirls around and grabs Sam by his shirt collar.
"Where is Jesse?" Cameron asks.
"As if I'd tell you," replies Sam.
"You know, I enjoy many things," Cameron says, letting go of Sam. He starts pacing around the hallway.
"Ripping vampires limb from limb after dousing them in holy water is gonna make its way on to my list of fun activities if you don't start talking," growls Cameron.
I'm disturbed. That is incredibly disgusting, evil, and gory! Did I mention disgusting?
Benny nudges me.
"What's wrong?" he whispers.
"Not much. I just find that really, really, really, really, really, rea-"
"I get the point, Rory," Benny says. "You're extremely disgusted by what Cam said or something. Whatever, nothing new. Right?"
"Yeah," I say. "I don't even remember what I was bothered by."
"Of course you don't…" Benny mutters.
"Hey!" I exclaim, frowning at my friend.
"Hey, nerds!"
Benny and I turn, and see Cameron standing there with blood on his hands. Our eyes go wide as we see the delicious red liquid on his hands. I lick my lips in temptation.
"Rory, I know what you're thinking, and I will not hesitate to knock you on your butt if you dare try anything that involves consuming the blood on my hands," Cameron threatens.
"How'd you know?" I ask.
"One: you're a vampire. And two: I saw you lick your lips," he replies. "Don't even try it."
Benny rolls his eyes, when he suddenly shrieks.
"What the hell did you do to Sam?!" Benny screams.
"Why you asking?" asks Cameron.
"There's a severed arm right next to your foot," Benny answers, frowning.
"Okay, so I may have ripped his arm right out of its socket in order to get him to spill. And I may or may not have staked him through the heart," Cameron replies.
"Wait, shouldn't his arm dissolve or something?" Benny asks, confused.
"Meh, I'm not a vampire, so how should I know?" Cameron says.
While the two of them continue arguing, I grab the arm and drink some of the blood. Mmm, so tasty.
"RORY!"
I turn around and Cameron's standing there, crossing his arms. What did I do?
"What?" I ask.
"Stop drinking the blood and listen up!" Cameron shouts as he grabs me by the neck, pulling me up in the process. Boy, he is strong!
"Here's what's going on: Benny put a tracking enchantment on Ethan, just in case they got separated. However," Cameron says.
"There must be some sort of magical field where Ethan is, because I can't sense him. However, I did manage to pinpoint the last place he was before he disappeared," Benny says. "And I bet you can't guess where he last was."
"Where?" I ask. By now, I was completely confused. I didn't understand half of what Benny was saying, so I just pretended to follow along. All I know is that he's asking me to guess where Ethan is.
"Last I checked, he was outside Jesse's mansion. The one where you first became a vampire," Benny answers.
"Well then," Cameron says, smiling. "Let's go. We haven't got all day."
Sarah's P.O.V.
Sooooooooooo bored.
Here's a recap for you: Erica and I escaped the nerds and took Ethan with us, leaving Sam behind. We headed back to our current base, and Jesse yelled at us for leaving Sam, he appointed me Ethan's personal cell guard. What the hell?! Why would he make me keep an eye on the one person who constantly gives me a headache every time I look at him?! I can't stand it. I can't stand him… and his eyes, and his hair…
GAH! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! I SWEAR, I'M GONNA KILL THAT NERD!
"Sarah?"
I whirl around to see Ethan huddled in a corner, a look of concern on his face.
"What!" I angrily shriek.
"A-are you a-alright?" he asks. He looks a lot more scared now. It takes all of my willpower not to go over and ask him if he's alright.
"Why should you care?" I question.
He doesn't say in reply.
"That's what I thought," I mutter.
I'm bored of this. Why can't I do something that is actually worthwhile? If I were in charge, I'd just kill the nerd on the spot. But Jesse's the one leading, and he wants to keep Ethan alive. Normally, I wouldn't care, but since I've been put in charge of being his babysitter, I'm really regretting dragging his sorry butt back here. What are the chances that I'm babysitting his sorry little butt after all of this?
Suddenly, I hear the sound of a door opening. I look up and see a teen standing in the doorway.
"What?" I ask.
"Jesse wants to see you," he responds.
Finally, I think.
I leave the room. About halfway down the hallway, Erica appears beside me.
"What have you been doing?" I ask her.
"Not much," she says. "Just having a midnight snack."
"I haven't had anything for a while…" I throw in. "I'll ask Jesse if he can set up a blood delivery system. By the way, do you know what Jesse wants?"
"Not really. I was only told something about killing things," Erica answers.
"Meh. As long as I don't have to babysit the dork, I'm fine," I say.
We continue our walk in silence. I let out a yawn. It's been a while since I last slept. And no, vampires don't stay up every hour of the night, and sleep during the day. That's just some stupid stereotypical crap that some idiot made up. Some of us sleep whenever we see fit (cough, Rory, cough).
After a while, we reach the basement. The guard standing by the door glances at us, then opens the door for us. Erica gives him a flirty smile, and I sigh. When will she give up this crap?
We trudge down the stairs, where Jesse is waiting for us at the bottom.
"Hello, ladies," Jesse says, smiling.
"So, what do you need?" Erica asks.
"I've been talking to some spell masters that work for me, and they gave me an idea," he says. "Tell me: have you ever seen any gladiator movies?"
"No," Erica says.
"Sarah? What about you?"
"Yes, once. Why?" I ask.
"Some of the spell masters were on break, and they happened to be talking about a gladiator movie," Jesse says. "And one of them said that it'd be cool to have an arena to throw our prisoners in once we talk over the world. When I heard that, I thought that it was an ingenious idea. I got them to start working on building a pocket dimension with an arena."
"So why did you want to tell us that?" I question, raising an eyebrow.
"Benny, Rory and Cameron are on their way here to try and save Ethan. What I want you to is go and capture them and bring them to me. I'll send them to the arena and make them fight for our entertainment," he answers. "Do that, and you shall be greatly rewarded."
"We're on it," Erica says.
"Good. Do not fail me… again."
Benny's P.O.V.
We arrive at the outskirts of the forest behind Jesse's mansion. On our way here, Claire sent us a message, saying that Ethan's alive and well, but he may not be for much longer. As well, she told us that Jesse's planning something, but she wasn't sure what it was. That meant that we needed to hurry.
"Alright, guys," Cameron says. "Gear up. But pack lightly. We don't want to be weighed down, should we have to run."
Rory, Cameron and I take a few minutes to grab our desired gear. I take one of the larger holy water guns and grab a few garlic bombs, just in case.
Not long after, we start making our way through the forest. The one downside to going this way is that we're practically blind. We can't use flashlights, because Jesse or his minions might spot us. That leaves us vulnerable to traps and anything that's roaming these woods.
"Guys, up here," Cameron whispers.
He motions for us to climb onto the rock he's standing on. From there, we can see what the issue is.
There's a gigantic portal on the lawn. Purple, glowing, and even from here, I could feel the evil rolling off it in waves. Whatever Jesse needed that portal for, I figure it couldn't be a good thing.
"Alright, let's get moving," Cameron says. "Follow me."
Cameron leads us towards the edge of the forest, behind some bushes. Motioning for us to stay where we are, Cameron sneaks up behind a vampire before putting him in a chokehold and dragging him over to Rory and me. A few seconds later, we put a stake through him before rushing off towards the mansion itself.
As we approach one of the side doors, Cameron stops. We wait a few moments for him to do something.
"What are you waiting for?" Rory whines. "Just kick it down already."
"Are you stupid? If I did that, then we'd be killed almost immediately," Cameron answers. "It's best if we do this stealthily. That way, we won't get captured."
"So, what do you suppose we do?" I question.
"I don't know, magic man. It's not like any of us can magically make a door disappear," he sarcastically retorts.
"Oh, yeah…" I mumble sheepishly.
A quick incantation later, and we're in. Cameron leads us to the attic, where he thinks they might be hiding Ethan. Somehow, we manage to sneak by the numerous amount of guards and reach the trap door leading to the attic.
"Hey," Cameron whispers to us. "On three, we storm the attic. Weapons out. Got it?"
I nod in response, and Rory gives him a thumbs up in response.
"Three," Cameron counts down.
"Two."
"One."
"Go!"
Cameron takes charge as he pushes open the trap door, where we draw our weapons and take aim at any of the others in the attic…
Where surprisingly, there are none.
Rory sums up our confusion with a "Huh?" before we hear a slow clapping come from the stairs.
"Well done," Jesse says, his trademark smirk plastered all over his face. "You snuck into my mansion, got past my guards, and managed to get into the attic. Now, I know what you're thinking. One of you could just stab me right now. But try it. Please, do try and stab me. Try and kill me, even."
Instantly, I pick up on certain hints, and so does Cameron. Of course, Rory does not.
"This is for hurting my friends!" Rory shouts, leaping at Jesse with a wooden stake in hand.
Before either Cameron or I can react, there's a blood coloured cloud and Rory is gone.
"Ahaha! That was good. But, there are things that I need to get to. So," Jesse says, cackling madly. "Let's play a game. It's like hide and seek, but when you've been found… well, I don't want to spoil the surprise, now, would I? Hurry up, you have ten seconds to hide. And don't think you can escape. I will find you one way or another, and turn everything that you love into your worst nightmare."
Jesse then snaps his fingers, and the trapdoor slams shut and the lights go out.
"Nine seconds left," he says. Instantly, I book it, looking for any way to escape.
"Eight."
I try a spell, but my magic just fizzles out.
"Seven."
I hear Cameron swear somewhere behind me.
"Six."
I manage to find a closet, where I slip into.
"Five."
I start muttering prayers. Ones of hope, love, and luck.
"Four."
I hear shuffling outside, followed by several curses.
"Three."
I start tearing up, afraid of what seems like my demise.
"Two."
I'm too young to die! I think.
"One."
I hold my breath.
"Zero. Ready or not, here I come!"
Through the gap in the closet door, I watch Jesse walk through the room I'm hiding in. As he walks into the next room, I let out a sigh of relief. I turn my head to the right, closing my eyes. When I open them, I get the scare of my life.
Jesse's staring me in the face.
"Boo."
I started shrieking like nuts. I kept clawing at the door, trying to get out, but Jesse just laughed.
"Do you really think that you can escape?" he asks as I slam the door open and start sprinting as fast as my legs can go.
I run into another room, stopping myself short of slamming into the wall. I turn around to leave, and of course, Jesse's right there, in my face.
"Seriously, just give up!" he exclaims. "Then again, this is way too much fun."
I run past him, back into the hallway. I turn around to see if he's chasing me, and there he is, taking his time as he struts out of the room and after me. I scream continuously, running from room to room, trying to put as much space as I can. However, my luck runs out.
As I run from one room, I turn my head to check if he's behind me. Big mistake. When I look forward, there he is. And lucky me. I trip, landing right at his feet.
"Now, now, Benny," Jesse says, helping me to my feet. "Unfortunately, the fun time is up. I must send you off. Welcome to your new home!"
With that, Jesse grabs both sides of my head. His eyes glow purple, and his face is once again covered in an expression of absolute glee.
As for me, well, you can imagine how much this sucks. My head feels like it's on fire, like Jesse is driving a knife through my brain. I feel too weak to stand up, so I crumple to my knees once again. The pain is so intense that I black out. But not before I hear Jesse say one last thing.
"Enjoy the arena."
A/N: Well, the crew is in some pretty big trouble now. Ethan may be alive, but Benny, Cameron and Rory have all been taken to an arena. Sarah is still on the fence about which side to choose, though it seems like she's leaning towards evil. Erica's already given in, and Jesse and his minions may have already won. What about Claire? Has Jesse found out about her double crossing? That's all for today, and once again, thank you so much for the support. Peace!