Timmy wasn't sure how long it had been since he was knocked out, but when he awoke, it was very definitely night time. The moon hung high in the sky, shining a pale yellow color amidst swirling black clouds. Green wisps, the same kind that had caught Chester and done... something to him, flew lazily through the air. One sank down to Timmy's level and pushed into his arm, but didn't sink in and flew off after a few seconds.
The hole that they had emerged from remained, more wisps floated up from it and into the air. A cold, stinking wind blew from it, accompanied by an unearthly moaning sound.
All around him he could hear screams, growls, roars... all manner of frightening sounds. He occasionally noticed movement from the corners of his eyes, they looked like trick-or-treaters, but they were... wrong. The kids dressed as werewolves ran on all fours, the witches stood near large cauldrons that they stirred, those dressed as superheroes either tried their best to keep the peace; or argued about who was the 'real' Crimson Chin, or Cleft, or Crash Nebula, or whoever they were dressed as. Kids who once dressed as angels and devils now were angels and devils, fighting a battle that neither side seemed to gain any ground on. Wizards cackled madly as lightning crackled on their fingers. Zombies shambled down the street in groups, occasionally moving toward a house to try and get inside. Vampire-looking kids coolly walked down the street, searching for their next meal perhaps?
The screams and shouts grew ever louder as Timmy held his head in pain, only now becoming aware of the throbbing pain he felt in it. As he tried to rub the pain away, he realized his hands felt cold, icy cold. Looking at them revealed that they were unusually pale and bony, his nails had grown to sharpened points.
"Are you alright Master Vlad?"
"What now?" Timmy spun around to see a small group of strange looking people kneeling before him, they looked to be around his age, maybe a little older. "Who are you?"
"I am Camilla, Master." a black haired girl clad in a bloodstained maid dress spoke for the group. "This is Jack..." she pointed to a tuxedo wearing boy with similarly black hair. "And this is Lilith." she pointed to a girl wearing a completely black dress. All three of them had pale faces, dark circles around their eyes, and blood somewhere on their bodies.
"And those are fake names." Timmy replied bluntly.
"Perhaps, but we need to keep a low profile as Vampires, the best way to do that is to have fake names... except Jack, that really is his name."
Timmy pinched the bridge of his nose, which also felt unusually cold. "Alright. What do you want?"
"We live in undeath to serve you, Master."
"Why do you keep calling me that? I'm not your master!"
"But you are." the girl identifying herself as 'Camilla' handed him a small compact mirror.
He took it and opened it to see that the person in the mirror was not Timmy, at least, not the one he was when he fell into unconsciousness. His hair had turned black, his face had grown pale and nearly white, dark circles were also around his eyes, he looked dead, and for all intents and purposes as a vampire, he really was. Except...
"Why can I see myself in a mirror?" Timmy closed the mirror and returned it.
"Oh! Let me explain! It's actually rather fascinating!" the girl identifying as 'Lilith' spoke up, sounding more like a fantasy nerd than a vampire. "It seems that at least some of the myths about vampires are completely false. We can see ourselves in mirrors for one. Um... I don't know about sunlight killing us, since it's still Halloween night... here's hoping it's also false, otherwise..." Lilith looked at the sky nervously. "We do need to drink blood, but apparently, whatever changed everyone also turned the fake blood into real blood, so we don't technically have to feed on people... though real blood tastes... Mmm!"
"Focus here, I need to know more."
"Oh! Sorry Master... Uh... as far as I know, we can't turn into animals, y'know, bats and the like. I also don't know if we can 'turn' people, none of us have really tried..."
"So what? You bled them dry? Killed them?!"
"No! Of course we didn't! We just... drank a little, until they passed out. We didn't kill them, I swear!" Lilith spoke quickly and nervously.
Timmy grumbled something unintelligible, then motioned for her to continue.
"Let's see... you might want to avoid silver, it isn't nearly as effective as the stories say, but it still kinda burns... crucifixes don't work, neither does garlic or wooden stakes... hm... although I wonder what would happen if you had a silver stake... or a silver stake covered in garlic juice?"
"Lilith, focus." Camilla interrupted.
"I am! I'm just curious about all this! Aren't you?"
"No, not really."
"Ugh... anyway... We can hypnotize people, but only with prolonged eye contact and you have to keep a straight face. Hm... we're definitely faster, stronger too. But... we still need blood, without it... we start to wither away. We have plenty of those fake blood capsules, but... they won't last forever. And like I said, I don't know what will happen once the sun rises..."
"So... what you're telling me is... I'm a vampire?" Timmy frowned at the three before him.
"Yeah, don't you know? You're clearly dressed as Dracula."
"Hey, I just woke up, my friend got touched by one of those weird ghost-orb things, then attacked me! He hit me hard enough to send me across the street, then... then Vicky- she put one into my forehead... I blacked out after that..."
"Vicky? Girlfriend?" Camilla sounded almost disappointed.
"It's not important right now... Have you seen my friends? One's a mummy, tufts of blond hair sticking out from the top of his head, one is Frankenstein-"
"Master, there are a lot of Frankensteins out tonight." Lilith giggled.
"He's the black one."
"Oh! I saw him! He was with some princess and a knight."
"Purple dress on the princess? Were they okay?!"
"Seemed like it. Frankenstein was helping the knight protect the princess from all the nasties out here."
"Alright... that covers Tootie, Trixie, and AJ... what about Chester, the mummy?"
"Ah... sorry, we haven't seen him..."
"Damn... um... how about a white mage? Blonde hair? California girl accent?"
"Nope... haven't seen her either."
"Hm... how about a witch? Red hair, carrying a scythe?"
"Oh her... Yeah, she flew toward there." Lilith pointed to Remy's mansion, now a twisted mockery of what it once was, castle spires rose haphazardly from the roof, the windows emitted an eerie purple light, a swarm of... somethings flew around the spires, and the once white paint job was now black with jagged spikes running up it. "Right around when she flew over there was when it... changed. She do that?"
"Yeah, that seems very much her style." Timmy shook his head and looked at his feet, finding himself smiling slightly in spite of the dire situation. "Anything else happen? Anything I should know about?"
Lilith spoke first. "Well, after that earthquake, the one I assume was caused by that opening in the ground, and all those... what did you call 'em? Wisps? That's pretty accurate as to what they are. Well, after that, they flew into a lot of people, us included, as you can see, and people started... changing... Some just... fell apart, mostly the zombies, a few dressed as aliens and predators killed each other off... and the necromorphs..." Lilith shuddered. "The first hour was pretty bad, just be glad you weren't awake for it."
"You three were?"
"Yeah, we don't even really know each other." Camilla spoke next. "After it happened, I went looking for people like me, found Lilith not far from my house, then some damn vampire hunter started chasing us, we gave him the slip, then we found Jack about a half hour later, munching on those blood capsules."
"Jack? What do you know about all this?"
Jack shrugged.
"He doesn't really talk much."
Jack shook his head back and forth.
"Alright, I still don't fully understand what's going on here, but I need to find my friends."
"Leave that to us Master!"
"Timmy's fine."
"Huh?"
"My name, not Vlad, not Master, just Timmy."
"Oh... um... alright then, Timmy. We'll find your friends!"
Jack and Camilla darted off, but Timmy stopped Lilith before she followed them. "You stay with me. I need someone who knows their stuff and that's definitely you."
"Oh! Um... thank you..." Lilith's pale cheeks turned slightly pink. "My name- my real name is Theresa. The whole fake names thing was Camilla's idea... but Jack really is Jack. Camilla... I don't know her real name."
"Look, I want to help Vicky, but I need to find Veronica first, if I know my video games and white mages, and I like to think I do, she's not only a prime target, but she's also weak, pathetically so."
"So who are all these women in your life?" Theresa asked, obviously curious.
Timmy sighed and looked around. "Fine, you told me your name, so I'll tell you some truths. Veronica is a close friend of mine, she had a crush on me for a while, but we eventually decided to just be friends. Vicky..."
"The red-headed witch?"
"She's... she's my girlfriend. I don't know who she got the scythe from, but it must be magical in some way, especially after what it did to us. She's... not exactly the nicest person around, but I care about her, more than I ever have for anyone else. I just- I don't know why she's doing this, but I don't think it's entirely her either..."
"Like... she's possessed or something?"
"Maybe... it has to be the scythe. Either it's controlling her, or... I don't know..."
"Don't worry, we'll find her." Theresa gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"Thanks. I wouldn't expect most strangers to help me..."
"I'm not most strangers..." Theresa took notice of the worried expression on Timmy's face. "You love her, don't you?"
"Hah! Was it that obvious?"
"Hehe... only a little... plus these kinds of things are obvious to us vampires."
Both suddenly heard a growl, followed by a familiar sounding scream.
"I think that was Veronica! C'mon!" Timmy ran off in the direction of the scream, followed closely by Theresa.
As he ran, Timmy took mental notes of a few things. For one, he was definitely faster, much faster than he ever was alive. Second, his senses were very much enhanced, sights, sounds, smells... everything was stronger, more vibrant. Third, and definitely most worrying, he was thirsty, an unusual thirst that he had never felt before. Picturing Veronica drew his eyes to her neck in the mental picture, how soft the skin looked, the veins beneath pulsing slightly...
Timmy's eyes shot wide open and he shook the thoughts from his head. He didn't have time for them, saving his friends came before saving himself. As he raced toward the scream, he noticed AJ and a knight that he assumed to be Trixie fighting off a small group of zombies while Tootie cheered on from behind them.
"Master- I mean, Timmy, aren't those your friends?"
"Yeah." he called behind him. "But they seem to have things well in hand right now, Veronica takes precedence over them."
He didn't like the idea of assigning his friends varying levels of importance, but it was necessary if he was going to keep all of them alive... or as alive as they currently were.
Upon arriving at a dead end street, he saw Veronica in the distance, running very girlishly from a group of zombies. She occasionally stopped and turned to face them and shot a bolt of bluish-white energy at them, causing one of the pack to fall, before resuming her flight from them.
"Veronica!"
"Sorry, you'll have to wait your turn! These guys are really after me for some reason!" she turned to the group of flesh-eaters. "I don't know why you're all so mad at me, but I'm sorry for whatever it was that I did! Also, your wounds are terrible! If you'd just let me-" she turned and loosed another bolt of energy, causing another zombie to fall. "Heal you, perhaps we could come to some sort of-" she was interrupted as one of the ghouls leaped at her, which she only just barely dodged. "Understanding! Ooh... stop trying to bite me!" she shot out a few more bolts of energy, causing the rest of the group to fall over and Veronica to sit down, panting slightly.
Timmy ran over and knelt down beside her. "You alright?"
"Yeah... just a little spent... Thanks-" Veronica looked curiously at Timmy. "Do- do I know you?"
"Veronica? It's me, Timmy."
Veronica took a closer look at Timmy and gasped. "It is you!" she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Did you do something with your hair?"
"No... are- are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?" the look on Veronica's face was far too happy and innocent for the situation she was currently in. Usually she was rather neutral about most things, sometimes she was even slightly brooding, but now... she sported a goofy smile, like she didn't have a care in the world.
"You seem... different."
"Different? No... I just wanted to help those poor people, have you seen how badly they're hurt?"
"Veronica... they're zombies. Corpses? Rotting, walking maggot farms? They don't need healing, they need to be avoided or put down."
True, they were once trick-or-treaters, but now... They were threatening his friends, and seemed to have no humanity left from before they were turned.
"But I can heal them! I can use my magic and-"
"The only thing your magic does to them is put them out of their misery, assuming they have enough cognition left to feel misery."
"No! Watch! I can- I can help them!" Veronica weakly shoved Timmy away and sent a bolt of energy at one of the now motionless corpses. Upon being hit by the bolt, it shook slightly, then went still again. "Well- it worked before... I helped this guy and he was really grateful, and then those guys came and one of them bit him...then he started groaning like the others, trying to bite me and stuff, so I tried to heal him again and he fell over-"
Timmy watched as Veronica animatedly told her story, occasionally waving her arms or attempting to re-enact what had happened. He eventually grew impatient and spoke up. "Veronica."
"But when I tried to heal the others they fell over too, so I tried to help them but they wouldn't move and the other ones kept trying to bite me-"
"Veronica..." he was beginning to figure out what was wrong with her.
"So then I figured I must've done something to make them angry so I tried apologizing but they didn't listen and kept coming after me so I tried healing them again but they just fell over and-"
"Veronica! Please! I get it." "She's become the ditzy blonde apologetic white mage... like in some video games..." "Look, you can't help them now, we have to figure out what's going on, that may be the only way to undo what's happened tonight, the only way to help them..."
"But... I- I- can help..." Veronica began sniffling as tears streaked down her cheeks. "I can..."
"The ditzy blonde apologetic white mage who wants to save everyone..." Timmy walked over to try and comfort her, something that felt strangely alien to him now, especially amid thoughts of her neck and the delicious lifeblood that flowed through it. "Well that's not a good sign..." "I need you to focus, we can help these people, but we have to find the rest of our friends, then Vicky, okay?"
Veronica wiped her eyes on her sleeve and nodded. "Okay..." she still sounded like she was moments away from breaking down into tears again.
"Now, what do you remember from before this happened?"
"Um... after you and Vicky went to get Chester, I was leading the others around to different houses, y'know, trick-or-treating. We heard a loud cracking sound and the ground shook, not that unusual, considering we live in California, but then those weird... orb-things... they were suddenly everywhere! They flew into people and... I don't know... but people started acting like what they were dressed as. One flew at me and sank into my hand... it was really cold, like really cold, colder than anything I've ever felt, then... I must've gotten knocked out... when I woke up, there was so much screaming... then I met that guy I told you about, he had a slash mark across his chest, so I healed him." Veronica looked over at one of the now dead zombies. "Then the rest of them showed up, and... you know the rest."
"Why didn't you stay with the others? AJ, Tootie... Trixie? What happened?"
"You tell me. We were together when those things showed up, but they got me first. When I woke up, everyone was gone." It seemed Veronica was slowly regaining her normal intelligence. "What happened to you, Chester, and Vicky?"
"Chester got hit first. He hit me pretty hard, guess the mummy is pretty strong; knocked the wind outta me. Then Vicky..." Timmy looked over at Remy's mansion somberly. "I don't know... She put one of those things in my head."
"Guys?" Theresa interrupted. "We should probably find the rest of your friends, who knows what could be after them..."
"Who are you?" Veronica looked at the vampire girl skeptically.
"Ah... this is Theresa, her and her friends... they're my... followers apparently. I sent the other two to find our friends, but I'm a little worried about them."
"So you? You're-"
"Well... I am dressed as Dracula..."
"You're a vampire?!"
"Looks that way. Don't turn this into something like in those damn books... I didn't know this disaster would happen..."
"Well, I wouldn't call it a disaster..." Veronica glanced away.
"Huh? I certainly would, who knows how many people are dead because of this. And that's not counting those who are undead. Vicky's possessed or something, Chester's a walking corpse with super strength, so is AJ technically, and I'm on a time clock to see what happens first, either I die from sunlight exposure... or I give in to... baser instincts..."
"Baser instincts?"
"I am a vampire. I don't know how long we can go without feeding, but considering I've never fed..."
"You mean...!" Veronica gasped and pushed herself away from Timmy. A surprised and hurt look replacing the neutral look on his face. "How do you feel?" she backed away slowly and spoke with a seemingly accusing tone. "Any... unusual cravings?"
"Veronica, c'mon, it's me! I wouldn't-"
"Both of you just... keep your distance! After what those... zombies were like... I'm not taking any chances!" she held up her hands as if readying herself for a fight.
"But- I'm in control of my faculties! Theresa is too! Neither of us would try to hurt you, right?" he looked at Theresa for support, and she nodded in the affirmative.
"All the more reason for me to be wary around you! You don't even know this girl, yet you're palling around like you're old friends! For all I know, you could just be waiting until I let down my guard, then you'll both come after me and-"
"Veronica." Timmy began walking towards her. "I'm still me, I swear I-"
He was interrupted as Veronica cast one of her spells at him. It felt warm and inviting as it crashed into him. "Really glad I didn't go as a zombie this year..." "You should save your strength-"
"Stay back! I told you to keep your distance!" she shot more bolts of the harmless energy at him, several of which missed him entirely or hit Theresa, who was similarly unaffected.
"That's not working." Timmy got ever closer and Veronica quickly began to panic. She fidgeted and her nervousness was evident in her spellcasting as they were tossed haphazardly about. When he was finally before her, she began beating her hands on his chest, a last desperate attempt to fight him off. "What are you even doing?"
She stopped and looked at him, genuine fear in her eyes. "What?"
"Your magic isn't working and if I was going to hurt you, don't you think I would have by now?" he looked at her sadly, was she really that afraid of him? They were friends, but had the night's events really driven them apart so quickly?
"I- I don't know! You said yourself that you need to feed... How should I know if you'd bite me or not?! This thing that changed everyone... it makes people forget, forget their friends, who they are... You may be Timmy, but you're not Timmy either, at least, that's what I was afraid of..." Veronica looked down guiltily. "I... I should've trusted you..."
"No..."
"No?" she looked up at him, confused.
"No you were right not to trust me. We've all heard the stories about vampires, how they use the love that people felt for them in life to take advantage of them." Timmy took a few steps back from Veronica. "You're right. Those thoughts... I can feel them at the edge of my mind... You're better off keeping your distance from me..." he felt a pain; not unlike a needle, in his heart. Would it be this way with the others too? Not trusting him because of circumstances outside his control? Probably not with AJ, he was a monster too. And Chester... if he could be communicated with. But what about Tootie? And Trixie? They would probably push him away just like Veronica did... "Who cares if they do? You've got Jack and Camilla and Lilith!" "Huh?" those thoughts were not his own, they were closer to the ones where he thought about Veronica and the blood in her neck... Shaking his head to attain some sense of clarity, he looked over at Veronica. "C'mon, we have to find the others."
"Any idea where to start?" the sound of Veronica's voice indicated she was feeling guilty about pushing Timmy away now.
"We passed Tootie and the others on the way here-"
"Were they alright?!"
"I assume so, they were fighting off a group of... well, the various things we've encountered tonight. C'mon, follow us." Timmy moved to begin running, but thought better of it when he remembered that Veronica wasn't a vampire like him and Theresa, she likely wouldn't be able to keep up, and he wasn't about to risk carrying her, just in case those thoughts came back...
Returning to the spot where they had left Tootie and the others, they found them huddled around a small campfire, nervously exchanging bits of conversation.
"Hey guys!" Timmy called out, only for AJ to rise cautiously and Trixie to draw her now very real sword.
"Halt knave! In the name of princess Tootie, I demand you state your intent!"
Upon hearing this request from Trixie, Timmy covered his mouth to keep from bursting out laughing. Hearing Trixie talk in such a way was more than he could take, though it was a welcome reprieve from all the horror and seriousness he had experienced so far that night.
"Be you man or monster, I demand you state your intent or else I'll consider you my enemy!" Trixie pointed her sword threateningly at Timmy.
"Whoa! Relax! It's me Timmy! Are you guys alright?"
"Hah! Nice try deceiver! My compatriot Timmy does not look like you! Your skin withers, your eyes have a deadly hunger in them, and your fangs betray your true nature! Vampire!"
"Don't you remember me? I was dressed as Dracula? For Halloween?"
Trixie lowered her sword slightly. "Timmy? What- what has befallen you my old friend? You look as though the hand of Death is upon you!"
"Can we cut the pseudo knight stuff? It sounds really goofy."
"Pseudo knight stuff? What on Earth are you talking about? Everyone speaks in this manner. Perhaps you received trauma to your head?"
"One of us clearly has..." Timmy mumbled.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing! Are you guys alright? Anybody hurt?"
"I am protected by my oath to the princess! No harm can come to me as long as I don't fail in my duty to protect her. The big one though, he has suffered much at the hands of these monsters." Trixie gestured at AJ, who was grumbling something.
"How is he?" a look at AJ revealed various wounds across his body, in addition to several scars and stitchings that he had drawn on before he was turned into the real Frankenstein.
"He assures me that the pain is minimal, I almost fought against him before I realized who it was. He doesn't talk as much as he used to." Trixie finally felt comfortable enough to flip up her helmet's visor. "Princess Tootie is unused to all this excitement, she fainted earlier, but has since recovered." Trixie now gestured to Tootie, who was sitting near the campfire.
Tootie noticed that Trixie was talking to someone, so she stood up and took several wobbly steps over to them. "Timmy? Is- is that you?!" she moved forward, but stumbled and was caught by Trixie.
"Princess... you really must rest, who knows what could be lurking just beyond the firelight."
"I'm fine! I just wanted to see Timmy..."
"I would advise against that, princess. He is no longer himself, he was turned into a nightspawn, like so many others."
"I'm standing right here." Timmy deadpanned.
"My apologies, but I can not risk you coming into contact with the princess. I would be failing in my oath if any harm were to come to her."
"But... I- I won't hurt her, or anyone... I just-"
"That may be, but the risk is too great, I'm sorry." Trixie held Tootie back, as she was now struggling against her.
"Trixie! Release me at once!" Tootie struggled in vain against Trixie's strong grip. "He needs me!"
"He needs your blood! As a vampire, that's all he needs! Now stop fighting me on this!" Trixie shoved Tootie behind her. "Timmy, you may be my princess' friend, but I ask that you keep your distance while we accompany you, else I will not hesitate to draw my sword at you again." with this, Trixie sheathed her sword and led Tootie back over to the campfire.
Timmy scowled at Trixie, then turned his attention to AJ. "You okay man?"
AJ stared at him, then nodded. "I'll be fine." his voice sounded gravelly and deep. "I see you found Veronica. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she's tough, for a white mage." Timmy winked at Veronica, who rolled her eyes at his joke. "Have you guys seen Chester?"
"Briefly, he walked by us about an hour ago, I think he's been throwing locust swarms at people for some reason..."
"Sounds like all that power has gone to his head..."
"Perhaps. Who's that?" AJ pointed at Theresa.
"Her name's Theresa, her and her friends have been helping me find you guys... though I don't know what happened to them after we split up..."
"Here we are!" Camilla and Jack suddenly appeared next to him.
"Gah! Don't- don't do that... I think you scared my heart into beating again... Where have you two been? I was worried!"
"Um... well... you see..." a look at the two vampires revealed that their hair was somewhat disheveled and they occasionally shot each other nervous, lusty glances.
"Of course..." "Sometimes I regret having vampire intelligence..." Timmy sighed loudly in exasperation at his two 'followers'. "Any news to report? Besides you two hooking up?"
"Um! Your friend, Chester? We saw him a few minutes ago, he was down by the trailer park."
"I'd ask why you didn't try and talk to him, but judging by those looks you keep giving each other, I already know..."
Camilla rubbed the back of her head sheepishly as a rosy blush grew across her cheeks, while Jack merely shrugged.
"No sense standing around here... You two stay here with AJ, keep an eye on the knight and her fair princess; Theresa, Veronica, with me."
"How come you get to take the single girls with you?" AJ interrupted.
Timmy turned to look at him with a somewhat shocked expression on his face. "Huh? Why? Do you have... like... intentions with one of them?" he looked at Veronica, who shook her head, and Theresa, who looked at him quizzically.
"Well... no, but... I don't see why you get all the girls that just happen to be single with you..."
"AJ, first of all, I have a girlfriend. I don't plan on hooking up with either of these two. Second, I'm the leading man, of course I have girls following me." the second reason was a joke that Timmy couldn't resist telling.
"Pfft. Whatever, just wait 'til this is all over. Once I get my sweater vest back on, I'll have to beat the ladies away with a stick!"
"We'll see AJ, we'll see..." Timmy made for the trailer park, Theresa and Veronica following close behind.
Back at the campfire, Camilla and Jack sat across from Tootie and Trixie. "So..." Camilla began. "What's up?"
"Don't try your deceitful tricks on me Nightwalker. I know your kind." Trixie stared darkly at the two vampires.
"Hey, I was just trying to make conversation..." Camilla looked at Jack, who nodded reassuringly at Trixie.
"Trixie... these are Timmy's acquaintances, I'm sure we can trust them..."
"Yes, we can trust them from over here and we don't need to fraternize with them." Trixie pulled Tootie closer.
"Are... you two like... an item?"
"An item? What foul tricks are you weaving now, Vampire?"
"I mean... like... are you two... together? In a relationship? Dating?"
"Of course not! Such a relationship would be forbidden by the kingdom! I-"
"Yes." Tootie said while rolling her eyes. "She doesn't like people to know. We... were trying it out, before all this happened."
"Princess! I-"
"Oh just stop it already! If they meant us any harm they would've done something by now! Ever since this started, all you've been doing is keeping me away from everyone and everything we've encountered!"
"I-" Trixie stared down at her gauntlet-wearing hands. "I just want to keep you safe... you saw what happened to so many others... If something happened to you... I don't know if I'd be able to handle it." Trixie was surprised as Tootie pulled the gauntlets off her hands so she could hold them.
"I know you want to protect me... but you need to trust the people who want to help us. Look what you did to Timmy. He's my best friend and you pushed him away, like he was some stranger... some monster! He's not though, he's our friend..."
"He was our friend, maybe a part of him still is. But he's... not like us anymore. What if I did lower my guard? What if he took advantage of it? Vampires aren't like us. They owe no allegiance to anyone, not even each other-"
"It isn't like that!" Camilla interrupted. "I don't care what the myths and legends may say, we aren't- We know who our friends and families are! Jeez, you think we have no honor or something?"
"That's exactly what I think!" Trixie shot back. "All the myths and legends can't be wrong!"
"Enough!" AJ yelled, his gravelly and commanding voice silencing everyone. "We're not gonna get anywhere being at each others throats. I don't care what problems Trixie has with vampires, or what problems you two have with defending your race. Timmy expects us to behave like we're all friends, so I expect you all to get along!" AJ looked accusingly at both parties. "Understood?"
"I was only trying to say that not all vampires are bloodthirsty, honorless wretches..."
"Maybe- maybe I judged you both too quickly-"
Tootie looked at Trixie and crossed her arms, one eyebrow raised.
"Alright, I did judge you too quickly. If Timmy and the princess trust you... then I'll try to do the same..."
"...Thanks... My name isn't Camilla... in case you hadn't already figured that out... I think I got a little too into the whole vampire idea... If we're gonna be honest with each other... My real name is Jill..."
"Wait." AJ interrupted. "You're Jill? And he's-"
"Shut up... this is even more reason for us to have the fake names..."
Jack patted her on the shoulder and Jill put her hand on his, giving it a light squeeze.
Meanwhile, at the Trailer Park...
"Wow." Timmy gaped at the sight before him.
"Yeah..." followed by Veronica.
"Guess he's really getting into character..." and then Theresa.
Before them stood a gigantic mish-mash of trailers, cars, and other vehicles, all arranged into the form of a pyramid. Locusts busily swarmed along the outside, making sure the structure held together.
"I would've expected this from Vicky, but Chester?"
"Well... you did say your friend was trick-or-treating as a mummy, so I guess the wisps must've turned him into one like we see in the movies and stories. What do you two know about mummies?"
Timmy and Veronica looked at each other, then back at Theresa and shrugged. "Not much."
"Ugh... I feel like a nerd knowing all this stuff..."
"Well, you haven't exactly told me much about your past life..."
"And it'll stay that way for now. Anyway, mummies usually exhibit super strength despite being essentially dried out corpses, some also exhibit magical powers tied to Egyptian plagues; raining blood, swarms of locusts, floods, things like that. They also have an affinity for things that remind them of Egypt, pyramids, sarcophagi, statues of Egyptian gods or goddesses... I assume that's why your friend built a pyramid, makes him feel at home. Um... is there anything we can use? Something that'll remind him of himself?"
"I'm his friend..."
"Yeah, but as you said, he tossed you across the street. Anything else?"
"Ah... yeah, there is one other thing." he looked at Veronica.
"What? Something... on my face?" Veronica rubbed her long sleeve on her face. "Did I get it?"
"Chester... likes you. A lot."
"Okay...?"
"Like the way Tootie likes Trixie, ya follow?"
"Oh... I- Oh! Oh. You mean... he really likes me?"
"Yeah. Has for about a year now, he's too scared to say anything though, thinks you'll just shoot him down. Y'know, him being poor, you being rich..."
"If he was up-front and honest... I would've given him a shot... he is kinda cute..." "Not as cute as you, but..."
"We're not gonna solve anything talking out here."
"So what's the plan?" Theresa asked impatiently.
"Uh... I'll go in, you two stay here." Timmy approached the bottom-most trailer and pulled the screen door open. And off the door frame. "Uh... whoops." he tossed the screen door away and entered the trailer, leaving Theresa and Veronica outside.
"He gonna be okay?" Theresa asked, looking at Veronica.
"I think so, those two go way back. I'm sure-"
Veronica was interrupted by Timmy being sent careening out of the trailer and into the street.
"Timmy!" both girls shouted and rushed to his side.
Timmy rubbed his head where it connected with the curb. "So. Bad news: he's pissed."
"And the good news?"
Timmy stood up and dusted himself off. "I'll let you know when I find some."
A massive swarm of locusts exploded out of the trailer, causing the pyramid-like structure to collapse from the shockwave. Chester, still covered in frayed bandages, walked calmly out of the trailer, which crumbled behind him as he exited it.
"You two might wanna stay back for this." he directed his attention to Chester now. "Chester? How've you been man? You... feeling alright?"
A dry sounding growl of anger and frustration was the only reply he received.
"You thirsty? Sound like you haven't had anything to drink in like, five thousand years." Timmy smirked at Chester.
"Timmy? Maybe you shouldn't-"
"No worries Veronica, I'm just messing-" Timmy was knocked back by a giant hand made of locusts and into a rusted out car. "With him... Ow..."
"Oh! Fascinating! It seems he can use the locusts like they are extensions of his own body! Perhaps some sort of telepathy is at work... He is the hive mind and the locusts are the actual hive!"
"Yeah, less nerdy interest in his powers, more nerdy interest in getting him to not attack me!"
"Well... they're just bugs... try burning them?" Theresa said, obviously unsure.
"Oh sure! Let me just take out my handy-dandy pocket flamethrower and I NEED A BETTER IDEA!" Timmy was currently being held in the air by a disembodied hand made of locusts.
"Um... let me think... Try... talking to him?"
"Couldn't hurt... Hey Chester! It's me, Timmy! You alright?"
Chester spoke in a dry scratchy voice and whatever he was saying, it didn't make any sense.
"You catch any of that?" Timmy looked over at Theresa.
"No. I don't speak mummy, or Egyptian, or whatever the Hell he just said!"
"Me neither."
Chester continued speaking in an unintelligible language.
A bluish-white bolt of energy shot out from behind the car that Theresa and Veronica were hiding behind and hit Chester, dazing him for several seconds, enough for Timmy to get free and deliver a punch to his jaw, knocking him to the ground.
"Timmy! Be careful! He's... brittle."
"I had to get free!" he shot back at Veronica.
"I- I have an idea! Veronica, try healing him some more!"
"But! What if- what if I hurt him? Like I did the zombies?"
"Just do it!"
Chester sat up, eyes glowing with an eerie greenish-yellow light.
"I think we pissed him off..."
The locust-hand reformed and separated into two of equal size, then cracked their knuckles.
"We definitely pissed him off." one of the hands came down on Timmy in a hard slap, then the other formed a fist and punched him into the dirt, followed by the other, each taking turns delivering a sound beating on the vampire.
"Veronica!" Theresa yelled at her.
"Oh! Um... r-right!" she loosed another bolt of energy at Chester, causing him to stop as if dazed, then look over at Veronica angrily, his teeth rotted and exposed. "Eep!" she ducked back down behind the car, but did not go unnoticed by Chester this time.
Leaving one hand to continue punching Timmy, he sent the other after Veronica, knocking the car aside, then punching toward Veronica, only to miss as Theresa rushed over to her and grabbed her, then sprinted away with her in her arms.
"What- what's wrong with him?!" Veronica looked back at Chester as he re-focused his attention on Timmy.
"I don't know! He seems pretty pissed though... keep trying to heal him!"
Veronica looked over her shoulder and sent out another spell, it weaved around the locust-fist and hit Chester, causing him to stumble and grab his head. The fist following Theresa broke apart and the individual locusts scurried away. "Again! Before he can recover!"
Veronica shot another bolt of energy, then another. Both hit Chester and he was knocked over, the other fist now dissipated into a swarm of locusts and scurried away. "Oh no... is he okay?!"
Timmy stood up and looked at his cape; it was now tattered and ripped. Dirt was stuck to it along with broken pieces of locust. "Perfect." he walked over to Chester and knelt down to get a better look at him. "Yeah, he's fine. Still breathing, kind of..." the reason it was 'kind of' was because his breathing was raspy and labored.
Veronica ran over, followed by Theresa. "Chester? Are you alright? I'm sorry if you got hurt..."
"Ugh... V-Veronica? Timmy? What... what happened?"
"Damn dude, you sound like shit... don't look much better."
"Hah... hah... that's about how I'm feeling too..." his eyes were still milky-white, his skin still dried out and decayed. "What happened?"
"Those things that grabbed you, we've been calling them wisps; they grabbed you and turned you into what your costume was. Same as everyone else, I became Dracula, Veronica became a white mage, AJ really is Frankenstein... You kicked my ass pretty hard... a few times actually."
"Oh yeah? Sorry about that..."
"No worries. I had fun."
"Still... how- how did you help me? Wake me up?"
"I'll explain." Theresa interjected.
"Who are you?"
"Theresa, your friendly neighborhood genre-savvy vampiress, at your service! Now, mummies get their organs taken out when they're... mummified... So! I had Veronica use that healing magic she does. Each blast of her magic restored one of your missing organs, likely in the order that they were taken out. Your heart and brain were taken out last, so they were restored last!"
"Oh... um..." if Chester had blood flowing through his veins, he would likely be blushing as Veronica leaned over him. "Thanks..."
"Wait a second." all three looked at Timmy. "Much as I hate to interrupt you two... Theresa? How did you know his heart and brain would be restored by Veronica's magic? How did you know it wouldn't just kill him like it did the zombies?"
"Er... heh... I um..."
"A hunch? You risked my friend's life based on a hunch?!"
"Kind of..."
Timmy facepalmed.
"Sorry..."
"Nevermind. At least it worked. C'mon Chester." Timmy picked him up and offered his shoulder. "Let's head back to the others..."
Surprisingly, the small group was not bothered by the many creatures, monsters, demons, or other things as they made their way back to where they had left Tootie and the others. When they arrived, Timmy sat Chester down and Veronica sat down next to him. "Alright. Now that we're all here... we need a plan to end this. Who's offering?"
Silence prevailed, broken only by the crackling fire and occasional scream in the distance.
"Um... what do you mean 'end this'?" Jill spoke up.
"I mean fix all this, ourselves, those that died, those that are still alive... technically speaking... We need to get to Vicky and that scythe."
"But..."
"What is it Camilla?"
"Ah... you can just call me Jill..."
"Wait. Jack and Jill? Seriously?"
"Shut up... what I was gonna say was... what if people don't want to be fixed?"
"Well... too bad? I want to be fixed, if I'm not better by the time the sun rises... Hell, if you, Theresa, and Jack aren't better... what do you think will happen to us? You know what they say about vampires and sunlight..."
"We could always hide indoors... or chase the night as the sun rises."
"That's very romantic but- Wait a second... are you saying... you don't want to be fixed?"
"What's to fix? My life is more interesting as a vampire, I finally found someone I care about... I'm sure there are others who feel the way I do..." Jill looked at Jack, who nodded in agreement.
"Well... maybe... but I want to get better. I can't fight off... whatever it is I'm becoming forever, but I don't want to hurt people either. I'm sure there are many more who want to get better."
"Really? Are you really sure? The superheroes, other vampires, angels, demons? Are you really so sure they want to be 'cured'?"
"I- ...No, how can I be? All I know is: AJ and Chester want to be cured, so do I..."
"Me too." Theresa spoke up. "This... it isn't right for me. Ever since we fed on those people... I haven't felt like myself, like I lost a part of what made me, me. I'm with Timmy on this, we need to fix everything."
"I'm with you too." Chester stood up, but fell back into a sitting position as his leg fell off. "Um... I'm gonna stay here though." he grabbed his leg and tied some bandages around it to try and re-attach it. "Sorry man..."
"Don't worry about it, you need your rest. Anyone else?"
"Well, you already know I'm in." AJ stood up.
"If it means purging the monstrosities of the world, then I shall lend you my sword arm." Trixie stood up, followed by Tootie.
"Not an option, you said yourself that you need to stay here and protect Tootie."
"Hm... I see your point. Very well then. AJ! I request that you remain here to protect the princess while I accompany Timmy to the Hellspawn fortress."
"The what?"
"The mansion that Vicky has acquired for herself."
"But I'm going with Timmy!"
"I'm afraid not, your wounds are far too grievous for you to continue and you've done well in protecting the princess, I believe I can entrust her to your care."
"Trixie! Are you sure?" Tootie stood up and grabbed Trixie's hand. "If you go and help him... what if you get hurt?"
"No harm shall come to me, princess. I have the power of the divines on my side."
"But... what if- what if you succeed?"
"Hm? Is that not what you want?"
"What'll happen to us? I like how things are now..."
Trixie looked down at the ground for several seconds, then over at Remy's mansion, then back at Tootie. "It is for your benefit that I do this. I said it was my duty to protect you, what better way than to purge all the evils from this land?"
"But-"
"Fret not, I shall return with all possible haste once we complete our quest, so that I may hold you in my arms again. For now I need you to stay here, and stay safe." Trixie took off her helmet, allowing her hair the chance to flow freely over her shoulders, then placed a quick kiss on Tootie's lips before putting her helmet back on to hide her growing blush.
"Alright, who else?" Timmy looked at his circle of friends.
"Um... Timmy?" Jill spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"We- Jack and I... we're not going."
"What?! Why not?"
"We... we don't want to be cured. I know you do and I know that many other people probably do as well... but... We can't be a part of this. I'm sorry..."
Timmy looked at the two vampires cautiously. "Will you try to stop us?"
"No, you were good to us and we still owe you our allegiance, but..."
"You won't come with us..."
"..."
"I understand. Can I ask one more favor of the two of you then? As a friend?"
"Depends on the favor." Jill spoke with a sly smirk.
"Can you stay here with the others until this is done?"
"Sure. We'll keep them safe."
"Thank you."
"I'm... going too." Veronica stood up and walked over to Timmy.
"Are you sure? It'll probably be really dangerous..."
"I don't care, I'm going. We have to help these people, ourselves, everyone. I don't want to lose my powers... I can really help people with them, but... I know it's for the best."
Timmy looked at the group that formed behind him. A vampire hating knight, a vampire fearing mage, and a nerdy vampiress. "Well... we're certainly a... motley crew..."
"Do you even know how we're going to stop Vicky once we find her? You tried talking Chester down and I'm sure you remember how that went. From what I can tell, Vicky is significantly more powerful than Chester was, being that she's the root cause of all our ills."
"The Vampire is right my compatriot, what if you are unable to talk the witch down? Are you prepared for any eventuality?"
"What are you suggesting?" Timmy turned to look at Trixie.
"That you may need to do something you'd rather not. Deal with her, if you understand my meaning."
"You'd better stop that right now. We are not killing Vicky. This- it can't be her doing... the scythe must have some hold over her. If- if we can-"
"Open your eyes! Everything that's happened so far, Vicky making those wisps appear, leaving you for dead, building that fortress? She would do all of those things without the power the scythe gives her, and now she can do far more! If it comes down to it..."
"I'll find another way. I'm not ending her life, not even to save mine."
"I don't know what sort of bond you share with her, but it's clearly blinding you to the truth." Trixie lowered her visor and turned away. "We should make haste, the longer we wait, the closer we get to sunrise."
Timmy looked to the horizon, it had to be around one or two in the morning now, leaving him about six hours to undo all this and save himself and the other vampires at least. "Never should've wished for Cosmo and Wanda to take a vacation..."
The four set off one last time, hoping they would return to their loved ones triumphant, leaving AJ, Chester, Tootie, and the two vampires at the campfire.
AJ watched them leave, then turned and stared wide-eyed at Chester. "Aw... Dammit!"
"What's wrong, dude?" Chester still spoke with a dry, cracking voice.
"He took all the single girls with him... Again!"