So actually I think I'll post episode 2 today also and then post episode three tomorrow. I still need to tweak it a bit, but hope you like episode 2!
Episode 2: WE WANT YOU
"Crick! Wake up!" Bea shook her sister roughly.
Cricket sat straight up in her mess of a bed, flinging a sock across the room with her. "Huh?! What?!" Her head spun in circles, taking in the sight of her dirty room. It had been close to a week since she'd moved in but she still had not gotten used to her surroundings. She locked eyes with her sister, who was dressed in blue pajamas, strands of red hair sticking out in every conceivable direction, and grinning like an idiot. "What's going on? Earthquake? Break- in?" She stopped short and took on a serious tone. "Am I late for class?" It was clear that that was the worst of the three.
"No, silly, I just wanted you to get up." Bea shrugged and giggled.
"Oh, yeah." Cricket fell back onto her bed. "It's been a little while since we've lived together that I forgot you do that." She craned her neck to see what time it read on her alarm clock- 7:03. No more need for an alarm I think. "Race you to the bathroom." Cricket sprung out of bed. For the first time since leaving for college, everything was once again in sync. Bea strode out of the room, swinging on the door frame as she exited.
She and her sister both got dressed and did their hair, making sure to check with each other that it looked alright. As always, Bea went for the more flamboyant style, making her hair swoop to one side without having a part. And Cricket expertly made a side part and carefully combed it back, away from her eyes. She rinsed out her glasses and straightened them on her face. She stuck her index to the middle of the glasses and scooted them in closer. "Perfect."
They prepared their backpacks and Bea went to turn on the morning news that they always watched. But she stopped herself.
"Ooh. I forgot to put the front lobby TV back." Bea said, awkwardly rubbing her head. "What do we do? Connor helped me carry it in and plug it to the wall, but I don't know how all that wire stuff works."
"Hmm. Uh, leave it for now and we'll reinstall it later tonight." Then Cricket thought it over a moment longer and gave a less boring response that she knew Bea loved. "Or, if he doesn't notice we could just keep it."
Her sister cracked up. There was something else that Crick wanted to ask, something that they hadn't done since she'd started college. "Oh, and I wanted to ask you something. Do you think, if you're not too busy, that you could go exploring the woods with me? I have some new samples I want to collect." Cricket wanted to get started on her research of the strange town immediately. She couldn't believe how long she'd been there and had lived her life so ignorant of the law- defying world underneath the pines. And so far she hadn't had much luck in the way of making friends, and having Bea around again was a great comfort.
Bea dropped the remote on the couch. "Like we did before?" She sounded hopeful.
"Like before." Cricket affirmed.
Bea squealed with delight. "I'll unpack my guitar!"
...
The two were about to leave the apartment to go downstairs and have breakfast with their uncle when Cricket realized her black jacket was still hanging on the bathroom wall. Pensive, she considered taking it to her class. But with one final glance, she closed the door behind her.
The four of them sat in the employee's lounge in complete and utter silence. The girls thought it'd be just the three of them. As in, Bea, Crick, and their Uncle Cisco. But there was a fourth member of the club that scared them half to death. He was very tall, broad shoulders, and had a grey beard. He wore a long camo green jacket and a grey snow cap. And he didn't talk at all. This was the guy that their uncle played cards with from time to time. His name according to Uncle Cisco was Joel. And he wasn't really sitting so much as standing in the corner eating a bowl of cold cereal.
The room they sat in was icy. The walls were unpainted, just a dull white. The table was rickety, and it squeaked at the slightest touch. And the tiles were just as boring as the walls. It was furnished with an egg shell colored refrigerator, a washer and a dryer, a sink, and a microwave.
Bea was visibly struggling to control the urge to grab a pail of paint and just empty it on the walls. She couldn't leave a room as unappealing as this alone. She never could with the tree fort they once built together as kids.
It may have been awkward for Bea, but Cricket was fully immersed in the journal. She flipped a page, and the drawing confused her. It was a werewolf- type monster. But it also had a black cape around it. And long sharp fangs. A hybrid of some sort. God, I hope these aren't real.
"So," Began Uncle Cisco. "What are you girls planning to do today?" He sipped at his coffee. Cisco was the same height as Cricket, about 5'10. He had dark skin, hair, and eyes, and had a goatee. His eyes had dark lines under them, a sign that he didn't sleep well.
Bea jumped at the opportunity to answer a question, especially one about her day. "Weeellll, I was going to start the day off at the art room, oh its sooo pretty. Those art students really know how to bring the room together. After that I was gonna-" she kept going, but the tired look from Cisco gave the clear impression that he regretted asking.
Neither Bea nor she had ever remembered seeing him growing up. Their mom had told them about how he'd tried to make it as an actor, but that it had failed miserably. He was in his mid-thirties now.
"- And then Crick and I are gonna go exploring the woods later. I'm bringing my guitar." Bea beamed at him, and Cricket had to admire her excitement. "What are you doing today Uncle Cisco?"
"Me?" He snorted. "I'm gonna do what I always do. Sit at that front desk, finish the daily crossword puzzle on this newspaper, and then slowly and inevitably wither away."
"And what's your job?"
Cisco was caught by surprise. She'd blown right over his depressing comment. "I collect rent and make sure this place doesn't fall apart."
Bea almost choked on a bite of her cereal. "Would it do that?"
"Without me runnin' it, probably. At least, more than it's deteriorated already." He said, defeated.
Bea swallowed another bite. "Cool."
"Cool? You're easily impressed." Cisco took another gulp of his coffee.
"It's a talent." Bea shrugged with a carefree expression. Cisco rolled his eyes.
...
Using up her lunch time to do research would've been the worst idea to most, but Cricket was right at home as she sat in the old dusty library. Nothing quite like the smell of aging books in a stuffy room. Everything else around her was silent except for the clacking of old keys on the computer.
She hit Enter and the computer screen showed her a list of search options.
Gravity Falls not what it Seems
Gravity Falls Supernatural Beings?
A monster ate my car. What do? Gravity Falls resid….
Cricket clicked the second one, as it most closely pertained to her situation. And for a few seconds, a website popped up with paragraph upon paragraph of information. Her fingers tingled with anticipation. But before she could read anything, the website closed, replaced by a screen stating:
Never Mind All That!
Next to the words in comic sans font was a smiley face: J
Cricket's hands froze and she brought them up. She stole a glance at the Journal. Still there. Still riddled with mysteries. Making sure nothing else was going to pop up, she reentered the information and came up with new search options:
Gravity Falls Gobblewonker
The Oddities of Gravity Falls, Oregon
Tourism in Gravity Falls, Oregon
Ghost Harassers come to Gravity Falls, Oregon
Her heart rate quickened. Other people actually knew what was going on! She clicked the second entry, but the exact same thing happened.
NEVER MIND ALL THAT….. ;)
Cricket made a sour face at the winky face. "It's mocking me. What a time to be alive when computers themselves can mock you, right? Okay." She leaned over to get at the computer next to her, at typed in the same thing.
Never Mind All That! J
Next computer.
Never Mind All That! J
Next computer.
Never Mind All That! J
Cricket stepped back. Every single computer blanked and then showed the tacky multi-colored screen that said the same thing in comic sans. Fear lingered in her mind. Something was way wrong.
Cricket got up and checked with the librarian.
"Excuse me?" She got the scowerly old lady to look at her.
"What is it this time?" She put her hands on her hips. "You gonna ask me what my favorite color is or somethin'?"
She remembered the awkward encounter from last time. "N-no, I just… I think the computers are bugged up. Do you have a history with hackers who prank? You might need a specialist to take a look at them."
The librarian's eyebrow went up and she leaned over the counter to get a better look at the computers in question. Her expression went from irritation to surprise. She slowly leaned back in the chair. "Get out." She ordered flatly.
"But what about-" Crick pointed to the buggy computers once more.
"Look, I don't deal with this technology stuff anyways, find a technician." She waved her off without meeting her stupefied stare. Cricket stayed a moment longer, not sure if she should stand her ground or leave. The librarian buried her face in a magazine that read Silence Monthly with a picture that looked like an old up-tight librarian telling a couple of kids to be quiet. With that, Cricket decided to be on her way. Behind her, the librarian picked up a phone, eyeing the student with a suspicious glare as she trekked off.
Now hurrying through the suddenly empty halls, Cricket went in search of a technician.
She observed one leaving a room, and she signaled him by waving. "Hello? I'm sorry, but there's something wrong, I think, with the computers."
The young man took one look at her and speedily marched right back into the room, closing the door and locking it behind him. A teacher walked down the hall, spotted Cricket, and did a 180, bolting in the other direction. Crick raised her hand to her. "Professor?" The teacher stopped.
"Could you please tell me what's going on? Everyone's avoiding me."
The teacher turned back around and said with a warm smile, "Who's avoiding you?"
"Everyone. These halls were full a minute ago, and now they're empty."
The prof's smile stayed plastered on her face. "Oh, never mind all that."
And Cricket was taken aback. Never mind all that.
"You too. You're avoiding my questions like you're all hiding something. Why?"
"What, what questions?" This woman was crazy!
"…Never mind. I have to go." Cricket sped off in the direction of the cafeteria.
On the way, she passed a janitor mopping the floors. He was a big guy maybe in his early thirties. This made her pause. Was it possible that this man could reveal anything that made sense? She tried her luck.
"Hello? Sir?"
"Yes?" He answered in a gruff tone.
She wasn't sure how to start. "Ahh… so, the computers are doing something way weird. I tried searching up strange events in Gravity Falls, and all I get is a pop up screen."
"Well that's because of the law." He said matter- of- factly.
"The law? What law?" Finally, a breakthrough!
"The stupid law that says we can't talk about the strange stuff that happened here. But lemme tell ya, 'no one knows what happened and no one wants to' my behind." He shook his head and kept mopping.
"So I assume you've lived here a long time." It was almost as if she was interviewing him.
"Yeah, I used to be the handyman for the Tent of Telepathy about a decade ago. Now I work here."
Cricket wanted to ask the big question. "So do you think you could answer my questions?"
"Shouldn't. Law says so. If you want to know about this place, sorry to say, but you'll have to do your own digging. Law says you shouldn't tell outsiders, but not that you can't do your own research. Do with that information what you will."
Her shoulders drooped, but a flood of new ideas entered her brain. She nodded and went off to get herself some lunch.
...
Bea was right in the middle of a drawing contest. Or at least, it felt like a drawing contest. In reality, she was right in the middle of Chemistry, not listening to a single word the teacher was saying. Too immersed in the lines she was effortlessly connecting to make a beautiful work of art. Five seats in front of her was her new friend, Connor. He was furiously scribbling in his notebook too, fully engaged in this contest. The prompt they'd made up was to draw the most ridiculous scenario. Whoever won had to buy the other a candy bar at the snack machine, and it said so right on the contract they themselves had written out and signed. Bea grinned. Her "Break Dancing Chicken President in space proclaiming the new currency to be cauliflower while riding a one-legged Rhinoceros that was shooting human elbows out of its elbow" drawing was sure to win. Stealing a quick looksee at her adversary's sketch, she took note that the competition was stiff. He was drawing a man made out of tinier men wearing a trench coat and aviator sunglasses trying to buy a movie ticket from another guy who suspiciously resembled a dingo with shark limbs to watch "The Little Engine that Had a Moderate Chance, Maybe".
"That's good." She whispered. Connor looked like a maniac while drawing out the dingo with shark limbs. "But not good enough to beat the Lord of Lead."
"Excuse me, Mrs. Atwood? What's not good enough?" The teacher's abrupt words cut into Bea's train of thought like a knife.
"Uh, What? Oh, it's, we were- Mrs. Styvers-"
"We?" Scanning the classroom, Mrs. Styvers noticed Connor trying to seclude his drawing under his notebook and flipping back to the page of notes. She swiftly swiped Bea's sketchbook and Connor's notebook from their desks.
"Hey," Connor called after her, "My notes are also in that notebook." He trailed off, having failed miserably to have some good come of the situation. Mrs. Styvers flipped through his book to his supposed 'page of notes'. It read thus:
Notes for Chemestry
Uuhhh…
The molecular bond happens when oh she moved the slide too fast
Absolute Zero: It is most definitely zero and not any other number. It is sure about its identity. Confidence is key
Kelvin: He was really mean to me in 3rd grade
Crystal: Pertaining to my uncle's jail sentence
Okay here we go: Compound: When two or more substances are chemically bonded oh she changed the thing again
[Picture of a lion with paint brushes for a mane]
[Picture of a lion shredding on the guitar with face paint like Kiss]
The teacher frowned and Connor laughed nervously.
Now having continued with the lesson, Bea's fingers itched. They were to pick their things up at the end of the day. She felt bad. She knew she shouldn't have been drawing during class.
When the bell rang, Bea packed up her things and headed for the hallway to her last class, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She started, as the hand felt less like a hand and more like a… hairy paw. She spun around, but it was only another student. Scraggly brown hair partly shrouded bright eyes.
"Aren't you going to take your belongings back?" She sounded expectant.
"My stuff? No, I have to wait until the end of the day. Might not even take it back, it was wrong in the first place-" without a pause she changed tones, "wait, why do you care?"
The girl laughed. "Call it what you want, but I know an injustice when I see one." They both turned to look at the teacher's desk. "You two worked hard on those drawings. Only fair you should get them returned to you, don't you think?"
"Well… maybe." A short moment of thought. "We did work really hard on them." Be started toward the desk. She knelt down to get at the drawers underneath. Grasping the handle of one, she found that it was locked.
Then her blood turned to ice. "Mrs. Atwood, what on earth are you doing?" Bea wanted to shrink. She'd been caught. Again.
"But I can't get detention today, I have something to do. I could go any other day!" She pleaded with Mrs. Styvers, but the teacher closed the door on her face. Bea grumbled and remembered the other kid with the scraggly hair. She was nowhere to be seen.
...
Noisy eighties music filled the bustling café. Cricket chewed on a pencil and waited for her order of fries to arrive at her table. The journal was splayed out in front of her, opened to the page on the hybrid creature. Reading up on it, she learned that, like a werewolf, it only turned on the full moon. But like a vampire, it couldn't be in direct sunlight and it also drank blood. It didn't have a name.
The bell that indicated that an order was ready stole Cricket's attention. She directed it back to the journal, but then looked back up, in a table a few seats to her right. Sitting there was the most impossibly beautiful man she'd ever laid eyes on. Chocolate brown hair tied back in a bun, short strands framing his smooth yet strong tan face. A hint of facial hair at his chin, warm hazel eyes that melted Cricket's insides. Broad shoulders that implied lean muscle underneath. He had on a very dark brown leather jacket, with two interjecting and jagged tears on the chest, indicating ware. All of that was shattered as soon as he locked eyes with her.
Cricket suddenly became aware of the way she was sitting: Droopy shoulders, head resting comfortably on the palm of her hand, a faint smile at her lips. Scrambling, occluding her face with her hands, she wished for the cold, welcome release of death. What was she doing? Trying to forget the entire event, Cricket went back to studying the Journal.
I estimate their fangs to be around five inches long when fully grown. They continue to grow throughout their lifetimes- a small movement beyond her house made out of awkwardness and arms made her flinch. Her arms dropped to rest on top of the journal. Anyone who discovered what she was looking at would think she was insane.
She considered calling Death up to pick her up herself when she saw that the God with the leather jacket was standing not twelve inches away from her. But she didn't dare look at him directly.
"Hi." He spoke, his voice like melted caramel. Cricket's eyes remained fixed on a distant corner of the establishment, as wide as dinner plates. "Is this seat taken?"
Cricket had rarely ever had a moment where her inner monologue took over.
Is this seat what? Is it taken? Is it? I don't know, my vision is failing. Well what do I do? I have to give him an answer, I can't tell him I can't see. Okay, okay, keep yourself composed Crick, you're better than this. Breathe in, breathe out, ten and two- wait that's for driving. It's just a person. Answer him in three… two…
"Five- I mean no? No, it's not." Cricket gestured to the seat opposite her. Actually, that's what she thought she was pointing at, she was actually pointing in a vague direction nowhere near the other seat.
"Cool. Sorry, I'm not a weirdo. I don't usually do this, it's just that my friends couldn't make it and I was going to have to spend lunch by myself-" He sat down, but saw her opened Journal clumsily hidden under her arms. "I'm sorry, are you studying? I didn't see the text book, I'll go, I didn't mean to intrude." He started back up from the seat.
"No! I- I wasn't studying, I was bored too!" She stated a little too loudly. She closed the book and slammed it on the floor on accident.
"Oh? That's a relief." He sat back down. "Do you like coming here?"
Small talk, you can do this. "I like their fries." She smiled shyly.
"Really? So do I. Best fries in town. Y'know, they've got a secret menu where you can order curly fries." He made a twirl motion with his finger.
"That's cool." Cricket relaxed a little.
"I know a guy that works here that can fry them in the shape of your face, no extra charge."
"I wish I knew about that before I ordered my fries." Cricket brushed some hair neatly behind her ear.
"Oh, bummer. There's always next time, right?"
Next time? "Next time, then."
"Yeah. And my friend once ordered a burger with 9 patties and 16 buns!" He stretched his arms out wide. "She was crazy."
"Must've cost a fortune!" She laughed.
"22 dollars." He nodded. "But it was worth it."
His phone buzzed, and he unlocked the screen. "Oh, I gotta go. My friends are picking me up, we have a study session planned."
"You're a student?" Cricket asked hopefully.
"Yeah, college, second year." He fixed his jacket. "I'm Silas."
"Cricket. First year."
He shot her an interested smile. "Nice to meet you, Cricket." A car horn honked outside, and he jogged out of the diner. Cricket's legs felt weak, and she collapsed back onto the chair. He ran back in. "I forgot to ask, do you want to come? Study?"
"Huh? Oh, I can't, I have plans with my sister today." Crick was stuffing the journal back into her back pack, already ruing her decision to go out to the woods on this of all days.
"That's cool. See you later then." He waved and then disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
As if on cue, a slow dance eighties ballad replaced the upbeat tune.
...
Bea unenthusiastically plopped her things down next to the desk. After school, and she was here, still. Probably the only exciting thing was that the classroom she was to spend detention in was in the domed building, and she'd never been in there before. But the room was just as insufferable due to her sentence. Connor wished the best of luck before he went home. And there was no calling Cricket to tell her she wouldn't make it home until later because they'd confiscated her phone right after 6th period.
Just then, five kids noisily spilled into Bea's prison. They all looked familiar, each had either brown or black hair and it was all very unkempt, as was their clothing. The last one to go through the door was the same girl who had convinced her to take her and Connor's drawings out early. Anger stirred inside of her.
She turned away in her desk and crossed her arms as the girl took her seat right next to her.
"How's it goin'?" She asked with a steely grin. Almost as if she knew Bea would be here.
"I'm not talking to you." Bea said curtly, closing her eyes.
Another one of the kids interjected. "But you just did." He sounded slow.
"… I guess I did." She nodded and resumed her stoic stance.
"I know you're mad." The girl twiddled a pencil in her hand. "But I know for a fact you won't be in about five seconds."
"No, I'm going to sit here and stay angry and wait until that clock reads six -" Before Bea could finish, the girl strode to her desk, every drawing in hand. She splayed them all out in front of her, then leaned in.
"Still mad?"
Bea took Connor's tiny man- shark dingo drawing in her hand. She stole them back. According to the teacher, Bea was never supposed to get them back after her stunt. "I don't know." She was genuinely torn, and studied the drawing in deep concentration.
The girl reached into her back pocket and pulled out Bea's lucky pencil.
Bea took it in her hands, marveling over her mechanical drawing pencil of over seven years. "…Let's say I'm not angry anymore." She took an exaggerated analytical stance. "What now? What do you want?"
"It's like I said," She shrugged, "I see a wrong, I right it. Plus, you seem like the kind of kid who knows what she's doing. We like you." She gestured to the other four. Then she put a wide hand to her chest. "I'm Lupita."
"Bea."
"Alright, Bea. Next order of business: We're going to find your phone."
...
"She's supposed to get here any minute." Crick explained to Joel while munching on a fry. He towered over her. A large floor to ceiling window covered the area on either side of the main entrance to the lobby. Cricket swung her legs to and fro on one of the tables while staring outside. She was fully dressed to go adventuring, black jacket, gloves, the Journal. And Joel stood ever- silent next to her. Without moving his head, his eyes wandered to Cricket's swinging legs. Picking up one of his legs, he statically swung it back and forth, mirroring Cricket's movements.
"What's taking her so long? I'll call her." While Cricket's phone rang, Uncle Cisco called for Joel.
"Joel! I need your help with something, quit socializing on the shift, I don't pay you to be a blabbermouth!" He put his leg down and he set his eyes behind him where Cisco was. Face never showing any hint of an emotion, he marched off backwards.
Cricket drew the phone away from her ear, having not gotten a response. It was getting late. Where was Bea?
...
The six students tip toed through the main hall of the school. Most of the lights were off as most of the staff was gone as well.
[Montage]
One lone student hid behind a curtain. Another two inside a closet in one of the classrooms. Bea was hunched over under a desk, and a fifth roamed the halls in search of the others. Bea snickered. They'd never find her here.
Twenty minutes later the five of them were calling out to the sixth, who refused to come out of hiding. They walked right under him, and it is revealed he was the smallest of them and was hidden in an air duct.
Bea sized up the slow one's face and did a quick sketch in her sketchbook, then showed him. He excitedly waved it at the others, who were each holding a caricature of themselves drawn in exaggerated anime style and stereotypical anime poses. The first had the kind of armor that wouldn't protect against anything, the second was dramatically ripped, the third was staring longingly out, anatomically impossible eyes covering half his face and a flower in his physic- defying hair, the fourth was dressed in a sailor outfit and long ponytails, and the last wielded a laser-sword twice his height.
"And then I said, 'Toast? I thought you said ghost!" They sat on the bleachers as the sun began to set over the far away mountains. Bea was surrounded by a chorus of laughter, knee- slapping, and applause. The two that were chasing each other around stopped to cackle at her joke, and one of them succeeded in pushing the other off the bleachers while she wasn't paying attention, winning the game of "Push and Plummet". Bea and the others stopped laughing to look on and the winner peered over the side of the stands for a moment. But everyone erupted in laughter once more.
A spark sent electricity charging through the wires and the six students snickered. Bea and Lupita were standing, arms crossed in the school's main hall while the other four knelt down and picked at the wires behind a panel connecting the intercom to the school's speakers. Another jolt of electricity shot sparks in the air, erupting from the two exposed wires and one of the kids held a thumbs up and gave Lupita a microphone with a chord extending into the wall. Lupita presented it to Bea, who carefully took it in her hands like it was a priceless ancient artifact. Giddy with anticipation, she spoke a few words into the microphone: "Butt…" The sound echoed around the entire school.
Now, one of the other kids held the microphone and was beatboxing while another held their mp3 player that played an upbeat pop song, and it was amplified to every corner of the building. Lupita, Bea, and the last two kids danced up and down the dark percussive halls.
The detention room was noiseless, save the quaint buzzing of an overworked air cooling system. Nothing moved, nothing stirred, and everything was just as the detainees had left it. Connor's drawing swayed in the light breeze that the only open window circulated through.
Not a second later, the door swung open and six rushed and giggling teenagers raced inside. The wind caused by the rapidly opening door swept Connor's drawing off of Bea's temporary detention desk. Bea wrenched herself in her seat as fast as she could. She controlled her breathing and saw that she had a bit of time. Looking down at the drawings, she yelped and crammed all of them in her backpack just as the detention- supervising teacher walked into the room. Every one of them had succeeded in making it to their desks, and some were hiding their heavy breathing. Lupita and Bea gave each other a knowing glance and smiled at the teacher, Lupita brushing Connor's drawing under her grimy book bag with her toes.
...
Cricket paced back and forth, phone in hand. It was too dark to go out now. 7 pm. The full moon was rising tonight.
She tromped over to the front desk where Cisco was organizing pamphlets. He separated the green ones that said that the apartments were voted Second Least Likely to Have a Possum Infestation, and the red ones that simply read Free Wifi? With a smiling person shrugging.
Cisco held a hand up. "Before you ask, no, I don't know what's taking your sister so long. I don't know how kids work, let alone teenagers, and I'm not going to pretend to care about your angsty teen problems." He straightened out the stack of pamphlets with the table.
"But where is she? I don't have her tall friend's number, but I'm betting she had to have gone with him. Only she wouldn't have… right? She usually likes to hang out with me. I'm not that boring to hang out with..." Cricket didn't get an immediate response from her Uncle. "Am I?"
"I don't know what to tell you, she probably found some new friends. Look, I didn't agree to give you girls a free apartment so I could be your pal to talk to about Brad and Angelina, I'm probably the least 'in the loop' person you know. In fact, I'm not entirely sure what 'in the loop' means and I hope to God I'm using the phrase correctly. So… go on and do your thing, leave me to my important work." He shooed her away.
Cricket slumped down on the floor, back propped against the desk. "I could've had a fantastic day with a really cute guy." She muttered, thinking of Silas.
Her phone buzzed and she got a text from Bea.
Go outside and I'll explain everything lol
...
The truck's engine growled and the rickety carburetor popped, and it was a miracle the thing was still functional. Lupita drove with Bea in the passenger seat and her four new friends squished together in the back. They rolled into the apartment complex's plaza.
"And you're absolutely sure you don't want to come?" Lupita asked, making the truck screech to a halt, frustration dripping from her tongue.
"Yeah. You guys are great, but I'm pooped. And starved. Spooved. Maybe tomorrow though." Bea hopped out of the rumbling vehicle to find Cricket coming out to greet her.
"Hey!" Bea called. But her sister didn't look at all happy to see her. Her hands were curled into fists and her feet stomped on the hard brick floor. "So, here's what happened. I got detention, but these really cool people had detention too, so they got my things from Mrs. Styvers' desk… your face is all red and junk, are you okay?"
Crick was fuming. "… No. I'm not okay, why didn't you answer your phone? I called it a thousand times."
"Because some mean old teacher took it for detention… for like half an hour before I got it back with my new friends." Bea came to the realization that she had forgotten entirely to call and cancel the hang out.
"Bea, I had to turn down a guy to do a study session so I could go sample- collecting with you!" A tinge of sadness came with the next sentence. "Like we used to do."
Bea paused, feeling guilt. "How hot was he?"
"Immeasurably." Cricket answered flatly.
"…Well… it wasn't all my fault, Lupita made me get detention and we ended up having a really good time-"
"So you forgot about me?" Hurt clutched Cricket's chest.
"I didn't forget-"
The two erupted in argument. The sound of Uncle Cisco's far off and glass-half-empty tone and him swinging open the lobby doors relieved some of the tension. "No arguing in front of my lobby! This place is already run down and unpleasant enough without you two at each other's throats. Go somewhere else!" He barked off frame.
Back in the truck, Lupita saw the entire thing unfold.
"What's their problem?" The smallest of the kids asked from the back seat.
"Hold on a sec, I'm going to resolve this whole matter." She honked the horn, getting Bea's attention. She couldn't hear what she said to her sister, but Bea turned back and headed to the truck.
"You need to get off my case, Crick. I was having fun until you ruined it. Adults really do ruin everything." And to Cricket's alarm, Bea turned her back towards her and walked determined back to the metal death trap.
"Bea wait-" Crick called to her. "You can't-"
"I'll be home in a few hours. Cisco's right, unpleasant is this place's middle name." Bea added in a low tone. One of Lupita's crew had taken the front seat, so Bea opened the side door and jammed herself in with agonizing slowness.
"Let's go." Bea's words were muffled from the glass that was pressed up against her face, killing the intense mood in one fell swoop, but her voice was serious. Nonetheless, Cricket watched as her sister and more often than not, only friend, drove away. But time slowed down when the last rays of sunshine glinted off of the driver's eyes. Under the scruffy bedhead were a pair of yellow eyes. Her sneer showed off a pair of small fangs growing in where her canines should be. And Cricket went stiff with surprise. Was that…? No, it couldn't be. Is it?
Cricket dashed through the lobby, making for the stairs to their third floor apartment.
Cisco was reading a newspaper. "Where's the other one?" He was referring to her sister.
"Can't talk gotta go." Cricket said, quick and to the point, not breaking her sprint.
"Yeah, fine." He gave the mechanical response because he was plain not listening. "Just be back before midnight, or whatever." Cricket was already half way up the stairs, and Cisco was alone. "Your mother would kill me if something happened to either of you twerps." He joked to himself. He turned the page of the paper and Joel came to stand next to him. He eyed Cisco, then the staircase.
Cricket unlocked their apartment door and hastily picked up the Journal she'd placed on her nightstand for safe keeping. She leafed through it until she found the page on the vampire-werewolf-hybrids. They had the same glinting eyes, the same fangs.
She dawned the black jacket, gloves, and pocketed the Journal in an inner pouch in the garment.
Flying back down the stairs she nearly careened into the towering figure of Joel. He was blocking her path. She didn't dare say a word, she had no idea what he was doing. He reached behind him and took out a long and jagged machete. Then he grabbed Cricket's hand and put the leather hilt of the weapon in her grasp.
"Umm…" She didn't know what to say, and Joel brought up his finger to his lips, indicating for her not to say anything. He just nodded. And, still not understanding the full situation, Crick unsuredly returned the gesture.
Bones rattling from the adrenaline, Cricket bolted through the town. The Journal gave a more or less accurate hot spot for the were-vamps to be during a full moon. It was a mile or so into the East woods, at the crest of a large hill.
On the way, she rounded a corner and crashed into a dense body. Crick hit the cement hard and rubbed her head. The Journal was open on the cracked grey sidewalk.
"Cricket?" Melted caramel. Silas. "You look like you're in a hurry, something wrong?" He held out a warm hand, and she took it. There wasn't any time for idle chit chat.
"I just… I need to go, it's important." Cricket gathered herself, and pecked the red tome off the ground. But Silas had already taken a short peep inside.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" His words stung the warm summer air and lingered in her mind. A fateful decision was about to be made. One that would change everything.
"…Yes. I'll tell you on the way, but we have to be fast." And the two set off. Change was a two way street. It could either be for better, or for worse; and Cricket was going to find out soon enough which of the two the shift evoked.
...
"So, you hang out here a lot?" Bea rested her hands in her jersey's pockets and took in her surroundings. She stepped over decomposing leaves that littered the soft ground underneath. "Yeah, me and… we used to have a place in the woods. It was the coolest."
"You could say we visit this hill about once a month." Lupita called from the front of the pack.
"Once a month? Pshh. We went to that tree fort at least once every day, sometimes all day. One time, it started raining and we stayed the night. Another time a beehive moved in next to us and we had to… manually remove it." Bea shivered and rubbed her arm, implying that that had been the hot spot for bee stings that day.
"You talk about your sister a lot." Lupita growled.
"I do not!" Bea retorted indignantly.
The six arrived at the top of the hill. "Why are we here? Surprise game of volleyball? Ooh I am a pro at volleyball, who picks teams?" Bea rubbed her hands together.
Lupita shared a knowing glance with the others. "We're not here to play volleyball, Bea. We are here… for this."
It became apparent to Bea that Lupita had been concealing one of her arms inside the sleeve of her sweater the entire trek through the East forest. Lupita unfurled her arms and a large sharp- clawed paw was taking up the space where her hand was supposed to be. Bea took a terrified step back.
"'Getting recognized in a high order group such as us is one of the greatest honors a human can hope to achieve'. That's what my grandpa told me once. And, Bea, with your say so, you can be fully integrated into our pack. We want you." Lupita's fangs grew longer.
Bea waved her hands in the air, lost for words. "Wait wait wait. So… you're like… a werewolf?"
"Somewhere along that line, yes." The others agreed with Lupita.
"And… you want me to be a part of this whole…" she made a long gesture to all of them. "Deal?"
"That's what I'm saying plain and simple. It takes grit to stand out from the rest. To be defiant, to get right up in someone's face and tell them to stick it. You're a natural born trouble-maker." Lupita's nose was jutting out from her face more and more, and she was taking on the form of a wolf.
Bea felt the guilt rehashed from her earlier fight with Crick. What had she become? "You think I'm a trouble-maker? I'm not… I am. Dang, what happened to me? I'm such a jerk."
"Exactly. You were born to join us." Lupita's tone became full of energy, and raspier. She was growing an inch every minute.
"… I'm sorry. You all seem like nice... wolf people, but..." Bea trailed off. "I'm gonna have to politely decline."
Lupita snarled. "What are you saying?" She took a menacing step forward.
Bea defensively held her hands out. "I'm saying, that I'm not the right person to join you."
Lupita looked confused. And Bea trembled with fear.
...
Cricket had to stop to catch her breath. They were so close to the edge of town. Her throat ached, but she kept giving Silas all of the information she could. "And then I saw the fangs and the yellow eyes." She gasped for air. "I know I might sound crazy, and if you don't ever want to talk to me again, I understand."
Silas took on a very serious expression. He too was breathing hard. "Cricket? Do you know what you're dealing with?"
"Maybe. Do you?" She said, wheezing. "Because you seem to have a great handle on this so far." More to herself she said, "Why are you so darn perfect. Are you even sweating?"
"I have a lot of experience dealing with these creatures. They're called Werevampolfires. Werevamps for short. I have some connections with them, we have a… a history. I need to make a call, hold on." He dialed a number.
"Werevam-whats? Seems kind of a stretch. How in the world did they get a werewolf and a vampire- yuck, never mind. I don't wanna know." Cricket's heart rate slowed down and she could finally breathe without fear that her lungs would explode. Silas ended the call, Cricket having skipped over it with her commentary. He reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a fully loaded crossbow.
"Where were you hiding that? Where does that fit?" She asked, incredulous. There were too many new things going on for her mind to process it all.
"Let's keep going. We're close now." He pointed the crossbow towards the East woods.
...
"C'mon, you don't wanna do this!" Bea backed away from the advancing pack of newly formed werewolves. "Kal, I found you the perfect hiding spot! Sally, you dug your elbow into my stomach the entire ride here, and I felt we made a connection, don't you think?" Bea faced Lupita. "Lups, I drew you a caricature. You had stellar abs."
Lupita snarled, now 7 inches taller than Bea, voice warped by the transformation. "That heinous drawing made me self- conscious about my body!"
"Well how was I supposed to know you had body image issues?!" Bea retorted angrily. She glanced at a rock on the ground. She readied her arms, and then dashed behind her, grasping the rock firmly in her fist and flinging it to the nearest of the wolves. It hit him right in the eye and he howled in pain. This broke the deadly stare with Lupita and Bea, and she made a run for it.
More than anything, Bea tumbled down the hill. She broke through the tree line, sprinting at full speed. What the heck?! Werewolves? Does Crick know?
A branch slapped her face. "Ow!" She covered her nose with her hand and squeezed one of her eyes shut. A howl pierced the night air, followed by four others. In truth, Bea had no idea if she was going in the right direction or not, but she did her best to identify landmarks.
...
Cricket heard the unmistakable chorus of Werevamps off in the distance. Silas jumped down from the pine tree he'd scaled. "Don't worry, my plan will work. They're this way." He pointed north.
...
They were gaining on her. Their paws trampled the shrubs behind them, and the noise of panting and claws scraping bark sparked panic inside of Bea. Her breath rapid and shallow, her whole body aching. In an attempt to lose them, and while mouthing the word nope repeatedly, Bea wriggled out of her green jersey and launched it to the side to throw them off her scent. Then, with all of her remaining force, she drew her arm around the trunk of a tree and changed direction on a dime. Only, she was startled to find herself colliding with another person. They smacked the ground with a loud thud, and whatever remaining breath was still in her lungs was practically sucker punched out of her.
Brown hair, black jacket, Cricket!
"Crick! It's you!" Bea gave her a big hug on the ground.
"Bea, you're suffocating me." Cricket's face turned red, and Bea let go.
"I'm sorry, I forgot how much of a wimpy stick you were." Bea wrapped her arms around her sister, lifted her up, and dusted her off. Crick did have a tall slender frame compared to her sister. Silas's eyes were glued in the direction Bea had come from. His eyes narrowed, and the grip on his crossbow tightened. Two hulking figures barreled out from the curtain of trees, and Silas quickly side- stepped to avoid their claws. Three more of the creatures followed and surrounded the girls.
Bea punched her fists together, flexing the muscle in her arms. "You wanna go? Let's go, I'll take all of you on!" She yelled, not being able to take all of them on. Cricket was behind her, one hand opening the jacket and the other on the jagged machete Joel had given her. She didn't want to have to use it, but a cold dread washed over her as she imagined stabbing through the abdomen of the nearest Werevamp. Silas hung back, watching the woods.
"Silas? You're the expert, what now?!" Cricket called out to him.
"Wait for it!" He shouted back, putting his crossbow away.
Cricket stared into the maw of one of the snarling beasts.
"Crick you were right! All that stuff I said it was just stress from today, I didn't mean any of it. I'm sorry for not calling you, and I'm not just saying that because I'm about to be chewed to shreds by a horde of hairy monsters." Bea swung a fist out at one of the Werevamps that got too close.
"It's okay! Actually, because of you I got to hang out with the guy I told you about!" She assured her sister. They were back to back, but they exchanged words as if it was a casual conversation.
"Really? 'Mr. Immeasurably'? Where is he?" Bea didn't have time to be pleasantly surprised because two massive figures roared just behind one of the hairy beasts, and they cowered away from the girls.
Silas went to stand next to the towering yellow-eyed monsters and crossed his arms.
The larger of the two Werevampolfires growled with terrifying ferocity. He stood on his hind legs and took on a humanoid stance. "Lupa. Come over here and explain yourself this second." Lupita's ears flattened against her furry head and the others followed suit.
"You… called their parents on them?" Cricket asked Silas, machete slack at her side, as he came to stand next to the girls and watched the parents scold their children.
"So that's their relationship. I couldn't tell if they were siblings or just that one group of friends that always all look alike, and the longer I waited the more I thought it was too awkward to ask. I know you know what I'm talking about." Bea put her hands on her hips, satisfied with her conclusion.
Silas dusted his jacket off. "I told you, I have connections. We go way back. They used to give me trouble, but we have a pact these days that prohibits them from hurting people." He smiled a job-well-done-smile, and Cricket found herself staring at him. Looking back at Bea, she was embarrassed to see her sister giving her a very big grin and eyeing her and then Silas. She raised her eyebrows.
Crick gave her a playful shove. "Shut up." She said, hiding red cheeks and a smile and looking away.
Bea was snickering. "I didn't say anything ya doof." She wrapped her arms tightly around her sister. "Thanks for comin' for me." Cricket rested her arm on Bea's shoulder.
The full moon illuminated the woods, almost as bright as the sun.
...
It was almost ten o'clock when they came home. Cricket sported a swollen eye and a bruise on her shoulder from the ungraceful impact with Bea, who had scratches up and down her arms from wayward tree branches and a scrape running from the bridge of her nose to her ear. Silas went with the Werevamps to see to it that they got somewhere safe until day.
The lobby was dark, save for a lamp at the front desk. Joel had been waiting at the front door for them, and he held it open for them. Cricket gave him back his machete. Uncle Cisco was counting the money from the register. His eyes didn't leave the green stacks of bills. "Hey, so tomorrow you girls are working from three to seven, remember, the apartment isn't totally free-" The girls walked right by him. "Woah, what happened to you Debby- Downers?" He laughed and Cricket turned around, showing her swollen eye. His voice lost all playfulness and sarcasm. "You okay?"
"Got turned around in the woods." Cricket said tiredly.
"We're good, Uncle C. Really tired though." Bea gave him a winning smile through her exhausted face and revealed her cuts, leaf-covered jersey in hand. They waited for his response, but they didn't expect what came next.
He waved a thumb behind him. "I've got a first aid kit under the counter, why don't you come with me to the lounge and we'll clean you two up."
"Mmm, so now you care?" Cricket started for the lounge.
"Hey don't push it, twerp. Now come on."
They didn't protest, feeling too tired to make it up the staircase anyways. Joel followed them in, taking one last look out of the back door into the woods. He blinked once, and then closed the lounge door behind him.