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Chapter Four: The Invitation to a Nightmare Part 1

"Livin' on the edge, fighting crime, spinning webs, swingin' from the highest ledge, he can leap above our heeeeeeads!" Benny and Rory sang as they walked down the hallway the following Monday morning. Ethan's eyes widened in embarrassment as they headed in his direction. "Aaaaaaahaaaaaaaa! Aaaaaahaaaaaahaaaaa-"

"SHH!" Ethan hissed, looking around, running his fingers through his hair self-consciously.

"Villians on the rise and the city's victimized-" Rory started, then recieving a dark look from Ethan, and Benny snickered.

"C'mon, E, you know you loved that show," Benny said, crossing his arms.

"He still does," Rory coughed.

"Hey!" said Ethan. "You must really want to get beat up by the jocks today."

"I don't get beat up much anymore," Rory said simply. "When jocks bully me, I just eat them afterwards."

"What?" said Ethan and Benny in shock.

"Kidding!" Rory laughed. His expression went serious abruptly. "But seriously, no one messes with Vampire Ninja anymore."

Benny opened his locker, getting his stuff out for class. "Must be the life, Ror."

A white envelope fell out of his locker.

"What's that?" Ethan pointed out as Benny saw it, picking it up off the floor.

"I don't know..." Benny said, using his finger to open the envelope.

"I got the same thing..." said Rory, who was now opening his envelope of the same size and color as Benny's.

Ethan's eyes scrunched down as he opened his own locker, seeing a white envelope, and he took it out.

"Me too," said Ethan, opening it.

The three unfolded the piece of paper, smoothing it on the envelope. It was a letter.

Benny read over his.

Dear Mr. Benny Allen Weir:

Congradulations! You, along with a few other special students from your school, have been invited to a special dinner with the mayor this Friday at 7:30 p.m. for your honorary work at Whitechapel High School. This special occasion will take place in the dining room of City Hall. We would be honored to have you. We also shall ask of you to invite a guest of honor to be your escort, or date, for the evening. This will be a formal meeting, so dress to impress! We will dine and converse. The food will be extraordinary.

Don't miss out!

For any questions that you or your parent/guardian may have, please contact us at...

Benny looked up from his, stopping from there.

"So we're going to a honor dinner or something with Mayor Rowland?" Rory said when he was finished.

"Yep," said Benny. "And we have to get dates." He tapped his letter a few times with his thumb, his mind wandering back to a certain blonde.

"Done," said Ethan, relieved that he didn't have to try so hard anymore to ask a girl out. He smiled. He already had one. Finally. "Sarah'd love to go."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Rory, waving his hands back and forth. "How do you know Sarah wants to be your date?"

"Sarah's Ethan's girlfriend, sherlock," said Benny in an isn't-it-obvious tone.

"Seriously?" Rory's eyes brightened. "Dude! Since when?"

"Since a few nights ago," Benny said, looking over his letter again. "Where've you been?"

"At home!" Rory frowned. "You guys always leave me out of everything!"

"Easy, buddy," said Ethan, patting Rory on the back reassuringly. "I was gonna tell you anyway."

Rory calmed down. "Okay." He smiled, then nudged Benny's arm. "Who's gonna be your date, B?"

Benny shrugged, not really looking at anything, though his eyes were on the floor.

"You should ask Erica, Ben," said Ethan.

"Think I should?" Benny asked before looking over at him.

Ethan gave Benny a look.

"Seriously?" Rory said in disbelief. "Why are all the good ones taken?"

"Why don't you ask Cecelia from lazer chess?" Ethan suggested.

"No," Rory shuddered.

"How about someone from the martial arts club?" Benny said.

"No!" Rory protested, running his fingers through his hair. "Ugh, forever alone..." He straightened up. "No matter. Date or not, Vampire Ninja will be there!"

"Like your spirit," said Ethan. "Now, we should probably get the asking done early, so we can have extra time to pick out tuxes and suits..."

Sarah, of course, said yes when Ethan called and asked her. Benny was nervous when he had called Erica and asked her; surprisingly, she had said yes with a giggle, and said that he didn't have to be so nervous.

It had been clear in his voice, much to Benny's own annoyance at himself. He didn't know what was with himself lately. He didn't get all the butterflies around the other girls!

When the boys went to go buy their suits, Ethan chose the place this time instead of Benny, who gave a, 'What was wrong with my blue suit?' and was recieved by a 'Dude, you looked like you were from the middle ages' from Rory. They had bickered for an hour straight, much to Ethan's annoyance.

On the night of, Ethan, Benny, and Rory got ready at Grandma Weir's. Her house, unlike many in Whitechapel, was exactly like what you would expect. Old, filled with spell books and other magic.

Benny wore a black suit with a royal blue dress shirt, a black tie with dark grey stripes that gave off a metallic glow, and black dress shoes. Ethan was wearing a black suit with an emerald green dress shirt instead and black dress shoes.

Rory came out of the bathroom. He had gelled his hair, looking similar to how Leonardo Dicaprio wore his hair in Titanic in the dinner scene. He was wearing a black suite with a white dress shirt, a black bowtie, and black dress shoes.

"I don't look stupid, do I?" Rory asked, his hands in his slack pockets. His clothes were a little long for him.

Benny looked up from toying with his tie as Ethan shook his head said, "No, you look fine."

"Awesome."

The three walked into the living room, where Grandma Weir was waiting for them, and she was holding a narrow vile in her hand that held a glowing purple glow.

"You three look handsome," she said.

"Thanks, Grandma," said Benny as Ethan and Rory said, "Thanks" in different speeds.

"And here you go, dear," said Grandma Weir, handing Rory the vile. "Got it ready just in time."

"Cool," said Rory, grinning.

"What the h-?" Benny started until Grandma Weir arched an eyebrow, and he revised, "What's that, Grandma?"

"Limb Extender Potion," Grandma Weir explained. "It stretches your limbs."

"Why would Rory want that?" Ethan questioned.

"I wanna look seventeen, not fourteen!" Rory said. "I'm tired of being short..."

"No wonder why your clothes look a little...you know," said Ethan. "Big for you."

Rory took the cork out of the hole and lifted the vile up to his mouth.

"Now be warned, Rory," Grandma Weir warned, making him pause. "This process can take up to a minute long, and is very painful."

"I can handle it. Vampire Ninja can handle anything!" said Rory, and he downed the liquid, making tutting sounds with his tongue as he pondered over the taste.

"You might want to take a step back," Grandma Weir told Ethan and Benny, who took a huge step back to stand next to her.

A pause.

"Hey, I don't know what you're talking about," said Rory. "There's no-"

His leg gave an unnatural spasm and twist, his bones cracking.

"Agh!" Rory hissed, and Ethan and Benny's eyes widened as their friend fell to the floor, thrashing around and writhing as if he was having an exorcism. His bones made spine-tingling crunches as they changed and lengthened, growing maturer.

Grandma Weir watched sadly, but occasionally, she'd look at her watch to keep track of the time.

"4...3..." She counted down. "2...1..."

Rory's spasms stopped. He was on his stomach now, and he was panting as he tried to get up. Ethan and Benny grabbed him by the shoulders and helped him up off the floor.

"Thanks," he said. He suddenly smiled. "Ooh! My voice is lower too! Is that a part of it?"

Grandma Weir nodded. "Depending on age, but yes." She looked at him closely. "The potion was a success."

It was true. Rory was much taller now, almost as tall as Benny. He and Ethan, who was slightly shorter than Benny now, were neck in neck in height.

Grandma Weir did a little 'fix it' spell for Rory's hair, which had gotten messed up some while he had been writhing on the ground in pain.

"Thanks, Grandma Weir," Rory said, looking at himself.

"No problem, dear. You boys have fun," she said. As they passed, Benny kissed her cheek. "Oh! And remember to bring weapons with you, just in case. You never know in Whitechapel..."

"Good looking out, Grandma!" Benny called as he closed the door behind himself.

"Knock, knock, knock!" Benny called as he opened the door to Sarah and Erica's apartment.

"Benny? Ethan? Rory? That you guys out there?" came Sarah's voice from the hallway bathroom.

"Yeah," Ethan called back.

"You guys ready?" Rory added.

"Yeah, just stay where you are! We'll be out in a minute!" said Sarah.

"Okay!" said Ethan.

"Ooooh, this should be goooood," Benny said with a wide grin, wrapping his arms around Ethan and Rory shoulders, squeezing them, and his friends smiled too.

Sarah wasn't kidding when she said that she and Erica will be out in a minute. Benny had literally counted to sixty in his head, and on cue when he got to sixty, the bathroom door opened, and Sarah and Erica came through. Sarah was wearing a fitted green v-neck dress, the hem stopping three inches above her knees; the sleeves were spaghetti strapped, criss-crossing in the back where some of her back was exposed. The v-neck of her dress made a nice boost for her perfect bust, which caused Ethan to blush when his eyes flickered in that direction for a moment. She also had on matching jewelry-hoop earrings with five emeralds hanging off of their hinged chains, a diamond and emerald bracelet on each arm. Her makeup was kept simple-black eyeliner, green eyeshadow, and a light amount of burgundy lipstick on her full lips. Her brown hair was in loose ringlets, falling down her back; her bangs were straight, swept to the side of her face and some hair pinned back. On her feet were open-toed green pumps, and on her fingers were dark metallic green nail polish.

Benny thought Sarah looked really pretty, but then his eyes fell on Erica, and he fet his mouth drop. She was wearing a fitted blue halter dress, the hem stopping along the same lines as Sarah's. Her bust had the perfect exposure, making Benny's cheeks heat up. She also had on blue stud earrings, and a diamond three strand necklace with one sapphire on each strand, the first being the smallest, second medium sized, and the third being the biggest. She also had a diamond necklace with a sapphire pendant to match it. Her eyeshadow matched her dress to perfection, and her eyelids were covered in dark blue liquid eyeliner. Her lips were glossed in a light peachy color. Her hair was straight, and in a neat bump ponytail. On her feet were blue velvet pumps and her nails were painted a midnight blue.

"How do we look?" Sarah asked them. "Is this okay?"

Ethan and Benny just stood there with awestruck expressions on their faces. When it became obvious that they weren't going to answer any time soon, Sarah and Erica exchanged glances with little giggles as they did so.

Benny's tie suddenly felt tighter around his neck.

"You guys look great!" said Rory.

"Rory, don't you have a date?" said Sarah.

Rory shook his head. "Nah. I'll be fine. Besides, we'll be taking my car."

"You have a car?" Erica said in disbelief.

"The Rorester drives in style, thank you very much," Rory retorted.

"Is it a black Volvo?" Sarah asked knowingly.

Rory shuffled awkwardly to the side. "Maybe..."

"I think that's awesome," Sarah reassured, and Rory smiled in relief.

"Let's go!" said Rory.

"To the idiot mobile..." Erica muttered, and Benny, Sarah, and Ethan laughed. Rory's eyes darkened, but he led the way out with the others following suite and into the night.

Sarah and Ethan were arm in arm, walking in front of Benny and Erica, who were in the back, and Rory was in the front still. Benny fought the urge to roll his eyes and snicker when he heard his best friend stammer how pretty Sarah looked. He shouldn't even be talking. If he tried to talk to Erica while thinking so much about her already, he would end up stammering too. Just her standing next to him could be intoxicating.

Luckily it was dark, excluding the stars and the waxing moon. Benny took a deep breath before leaning over to Erica and whispered in her ear.

"You look beautiful."

And he leaned back.

Erica's heart lept at his words. His breath washed over her neck, nearly making her shiver. She had been expecting him to say something stupid, but no. It had been the right thing to say...just three simple words...

"Thanks," she murmured to him. Both of their eyes were on the ground, nervous to look at each other in the eyes.

Not long after her remark, her hand seemed to have found his, and they laced together. His hand was warm, feeling nice around her fingers. His fingertips were touching her knuckles, as hers were touching his.

Their eyes met, and they smiled shyly at each other before looking away.

Erica was Benny's date after all.

Benny decided to use his inner gentlemen. He had helped Erica in the Volvo before sliding in himself. Rory was sitting in the driver's seat, Ethan in the passenger's seat, Sarah behind him, Benny next to her, and Erica at the other end. No one sat in the very back.

The ride was quiet, excluding Rory-who was rocking out to Single Tear (which made Benny and Erica exchange amused glances and Ethan and Sarah roll their eyes). Throughout the entire time, Benny and Erica were still holding hands. In fact, as soon as Benny released her hand to get in, as soon as he was settled he found her hand in his again. Benny savored this moment, enjoying the feeling.

He sure did hope it would last...

The gang arrived at City Hall within fifteen minutes, more or less. They could see, as they piled out the Volvo, people who they had went to school with-and there were about ten of them. Whitechapel City Hall had been recently rebuilt, now looking brand new; it was big and circular around the back with two columns, connecting on each side of the main building. It almost looked entirely made of glass, including the three sets of stairs, two on the side and one in the center-the center being wider, that led up to the entrance. There was even a slope there, just for people in wheel chairs-but there weren't any tonight. The lights were on, indicating that people were still in there.

"Oh wow," Erica commented, now arm in arm with Benny.

"They sure did a good job," said Ethan, and Sarah and Benny nodded in agreement. Sarah was arm in arm with Ethan again.

"Ooooooh," said Rory, his fingers twitching.

Erica slapped Rory's shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Don't. Touch. Anything," she growled low in his ear, and he started whimpering.

"Please don't try to kill each other while we're here," Ethan begged. "This is important!"

"Yeah, tell that to Mr. Destroys Everything He Touches," said Erica, jabbing her thumb in Rory's direction.

"Hey!" Rory frowned.

"Do I have to come over there?" Sarah asked.

"No!" Erica and Rory said in unison.

"Alright then," Sarah said sweetly, smiling up at a pale faced Ethan. "Let's go."

Ethan exchanged glances with Benny before nodding.

"Welcome to City Hall!" said a man in a tux, gesturing towards the inside. The gang nodded and smiled before entering inside. Much like the outside, the inside was very glassy, with a lot of white things in there. They were escorted upstairs by a swirling staircase made of glass, where students were heading up as well.

After reaching the top, there was a huge space-where some people were in small groups, making small conversation- with a door that led to the dining room-obviously. From where they could see, the dining room had a long table with many chairs, and a huge wall-sized glass window that gave an amazing view of the city behind the table.

"Whoa..." said Rory, pointing ahead. "Is that-?"

"Hannah Price?" Ethan finished in disbelief, and Sarah looked up at him.

"Duuuuuude, no way!" said Benny. He then yelled across the room, "HEY, HANNAH! OVER HERE!"

A series of facepalms echoed around the spellmaster-mostly Rory, Ethan, and Sarah. Erica shook her head with pursed lips, her eyes narrowing at him, making him go "What?" in an innocent tone.

Hannah turned around, seeing them, and she smiled before making her way over to the group. She looked beautiful tonight, her hair looking longer and shinier. She had bangs now, cut and swept to the side, almost covering her left eye. She was wearing a nice amount of makeup, smokey eyeshadow, eyeliner, and clear lip gloss. She was wearing a dark silver tube dress, the skirt paneled and stopping a few inches above her knees, and dark grey stilettos with ankle straps. Her nails were neatly filed, painted clear, and slightly french tipped.

"Hi!" she greated as she approached, her arms outstretched. Sarah hugged her first, then Erica. The three had been friends since middle school, but Hannah had lost contact with them when they got to high school. Erica might've been on better terms with the girl, but Hannah'd be back on her list lickity split. "It's so good to see you guys!" She hugged Ethan, then Benny, then an awestruck looking Rory.

"Great to see you too," said Ethan, smiling at her. "How's college going?"

"It's going great, thanks for asking!" said Hannah.

"You're pretty..." Rory blurted out, catching her attention, and Benny snorted in his hand. "I-I-I mean..." Hannah was smiling at him, making his smile go dopey, and he slouched over a little. "Wow, you're pretty..."

"Thank you..." said Hannah, slightly awkwardly, but amused nevertheless.

"How'd you get invited?" Sarah asked Hannah.

"The mayor read my file and he saw my past work in high school," Hannah explained. "It's an honor to be here."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Rory blurted out, more eagerly this time. "I-I mean, a-a-a date-thing?" He stammered.

"Sadly no," Hannah said. "My boyfriend dumped me on my eighteenth birthday."

"Awww," said Ethan and Sarah.

"What a dick," said Benny and Erica in the same tone, and Ethan and Sarah's eyes narrowed at them.

"How old are you now?" Ethan asked.

"I'll be twenty years old in two days actually," said Hannah.

"Ooh! Are you having a party? I loooove parties," said Rory brightly, and Hannah giggled.

"The boy's smitten," Benny murmured to Erica.

"Yeah. Again," Erica murmured back. "Glad it's not me."

Ethan looked at his watch. "C'mon, guys. We should get inside now."

"Agreed," said Sarah.

And as the gang and Hannah headed inside the dining room, a vampire with dark hair and blue eyes, dressed like a waitor, emerged from the shadows with an evil smile on his face.

TBC in...

The Invitation to a Nightmare Part 2