Chapter 20: Escaping

Normal POV

"Here's the bathroom . . ." said Amanda as she opened the door and turned on the light. The Anaconda and her weakened Viper beau slowly walked into the small room to see it look a lot tidier than Sheldon's living room. Amanda helped Randy over to the toilet, where he sat down right on the lid, wincing the entire time due to the pain the vervain in his system caused him. "How are you feeling babe?"

"I feel like shit!" exclaimed Randy as he took in a deep breath. "The mix of vervain in my system is really starting to get to me. It feels like my body is slowly burning from the inside out."

"The mix of non-lethal vervain may not be enough to kill you, but it is enough to make the next few hours a nightmare for ya," said Amanda as she stood straight back up. ". . . Unless Sheldon somehow has a universal healing potion stored somewhere in this loft, you are going to go through a few hours of pain and agony hon."

"Well . . . its' better that I'm going through it instead of you. . ." said Randy as he let out a small groan. "Help me with my shirt will ya?"

"Alright . . . but you'll probably be no help at all considering how weak the vervain's made you." said Amanda with a small smirk as she loosened the buttons on Randy's shirt. Randy was barely any help at all and basically sat back and watched as Amanda slid his shirt off his upper body so that they could view the damage.

"Break it to me gently Doc. How bad do I look?" said Randy, managing to keep his voice as sarcastic and light as possible as Amanda looked over his wounds "Am I going to survive this tragedy?"

"Oh . . . you'll survive," said Amanda as she shook her head. "Your wounds are slowly healing, so they all should be closed pretty soon since they're so small. It's a safe bet that the vervain will stay in your system for a few more hours, so you'll be out of whack for a bit. . . Maybe Natalya could whip you up a potion to knock the vervain out of your system."

"Maybe we should call her and the others . . ." suggested Randy as he shook his head. "Do you have your phone with you? Sheldon probably destroyed mine when we got here."

"I have my phone . . ." said Amanda as she took it out of her purse, which she still conveniently had with her. She tried to turn it on, but it still wouldn't come on as much as she pressed the power button. " . . . But it's dead. Maybe Sheldon had a landline, or we can try his own cellphone."

"Might as well . . ." said Randy as he let out a sigh. Amanda walked out the room and instantly spotted a phone hanging on the wall just before the living room entrance. She tried the phone, but before she could input her sister's number into the keypad, she saw that the line connected to the phone was cut. Letting out a small curse, she walked over to Sheldon's dead body, which was now sitting in its' own pool of blood due to the knife in his neck. Not even bothering to reach into his pants to get his cellphone, Amanda decided to use her telekinetic powers to get it instead. She focused on Sheldon's pockets as she raised up a hand. Slowly but surely, the items in his pockets levitated out of their former home and into the air. Amanda surveyed the bounty and saw that not only was Sheldon's phone in the mix, but Randy's phone was there too, along with some $20 bills. She took them all in her hands and walked back to the bathroom, where Randy was patiently waiting for her.

"Oh wow . . . Sheldon didn't destroy my phone after all . . ." said Randy when he spotted it in his mate's hands. "At least I won't have to worry about buying a new phone after this."

"Yeah well . . . it's not going to be much use to us now, since its battery's dead. Sheldon's phone is even worse . . ." said Amanda as she held the phone out so that Randy could see it in its' broken glory. "It must have broken when I telekinetically threw him into the wall."

"What about his landline?" asked Randy as he raised an eyebrow. "Will that work?"

"Let's just say he . . . 'disconnected' it himself." said Amanda as she threw Sheldon's phone into a nearby trash bin and put Randy's phone in her purse. "I would check to see if he has a working PC or a laptop lying around here, but I bet he 'disconnected' those too."

"Well . . . that's just great . . ." mumbled Randy as he let out a small groan. "What do we do now?"

"Right now . . . we should probably get these wounds of yours cleaned up." said Amanda as she went into Sheldon's cabinet. She plucked out an unused washrag and then wetted it with the sink's tap water before turning back to Randy. Randy stayed perfectly still as Amanda wiped the blood away, wincing a few times when Amanda hit a sensitive area on his skin. He watched her face as she worked, doing a meticulous look over as Amanda kept her eyes on his wounds. He kept watching her, even when she looked up when she noticed that his stare was directly on her. "What? Is there something on my face?"

"No . . . you cleaning my wounds is giving me ample time to take a good look at your face." said Randy as he managed to do the smallest of shrugs.

"And what . . . ? Am I developing vampire acne or something?" asked Amanda as she went over to the sink to rinse out the bloody rag.

"No . . . it's just the first time in a long time that I got to truly look at your face, that's all . . ." explained Randy as Amanda walked back over to him.

" . . . And you like what you see?" asked the Anaconda as she raised an eyebrow.

". . . I like what I see," said Randy as he slowly nodded his head. "By the way, I did get hit in my legs too you know."

"Well then . . . I can't clean the blood off your legs if you're still wearing your pants now can I?" asked Amanda as she reached for his zipper, but then stopped midstride. "Don't get turned on while I'm doing this okay?"

"I'll try not to . . ." said Randy as he slowly rolled his eyes, managing to kick off his shoes as he did. Amanda let out a small whistle before she pulled down Randy's pants rather quickly. Focusing on not paying attention to Randy's manhood in his black briefs, Amanda quickly cleaned the blood off of his thighs and shins before handing him back his pants. "Oh . . . you want me to put my pants back on now?"

"You could at least manage that much . . ." said Amanda as she held his pants out to him. "I'm going to take a look around the place. There should be something around here that could help us. While I'm gone, you can put on your pants AND take care of your friend there. He seems a little awake right now."

"HEY! I can't help myself when you have your face that close to my package!" said Randy as Amanda stepped out the room, pointing to his semi-erect member as he did. While Amanda was gone, Randy thought of any disgusting or disturbing thought that he could think of till his manhood finally died down. He grimaced as he slowly put his pants back on, practically moving like an old man as he did. Once he finally got his shoes on his feet, he slowly got up and walked out the bathroom. He used the wall for some support as he sniffed the air, following Amanda's scent till he reached Sheldon's bedroom. He found her sitting on his bed looking through the bedside drawer, the dresser and the other bedside drawer already searched through.

"Have you found anything yet?" asked Randy as he walked over to the closet to see if he can find a new shirt. His other one was basically the clothing equivalent to Swiss cheese.

"Nope . . . Everything Sheldon has that could be used to communicate with the outside world has either been disconnected or is just broken," said Amanda as she turned to him. "I guess you're ditching your old shirt huh?"

"Well . . . I can't go into the streets wearing it now huh?" asked Randy as he looked through the rack of clothes in their old classmate's closet. "If I did that, people would think I have gone insane and just finished killing a few animals or something."

"Hmm . . . that is possible . . ." said Amanda with a shrug as she crossed her arms. "What should we do now?"

"Well . . . I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay here . . . not with Sheldon's body lying around," said Randy as he plucked out an old black T-shirt from the closet. "We need to get out of here. Can you sense out if Sheldon has any neighbors next door?"

"Sure thing . . ." said Amanda as she let out a small breath. She closed her eyes and concentrated, using her mind to scan the area for any signs of life. Once she was done, she opened up her eyes to see Randy taking a seat right next to her, an expectant look on his face as he clutched the shirt in his hand. "We won't have to worry about Sheldon's neighbors after all. He doesn't have any."

"He doesn't have any?" asked Randy unsurely as he put the shirt on, letting out a small breath of relief once he saw that the shirt actually fit him.

"Nope . . . there's no one else in this building. Sheldon must have been the only resident. Not even the landlord is here," said Amanda as she walked over to the window to look out into the surrounding area. "And the area helps explain it . . . most of the buildings around here has been abandoned. They have boarded up windows and everything."

"I guess Sheldon didn't want to move out." said Randy as he let out a small breath. He slowly got back up to his feet and walked over to the door, using the wall for support the entire time. "We need to go babe."

"Are you sure babe?" asked Amanda as she walked over to him. "You don't look to be in good walking condition right now. Are you sure you don't want to rest first? You know, until more of the vervain is out of your system? I don't want you to push yourself too hard."

"Look babe . . ." said Randy as he stopped right before the doorway. "I know you want me to rest and wait till the vervain passes through my system, but I strongly believe we'll be better off leaving this place now than later. I know that I'm not in good shape now, but trust me. I can manage. I promise."

"You promise?" asked Amanda as she raised an unsure eyebrow at him.

"I promise . . . I'll probably be going slowly, but I'll manage," said Randy as he brought a hand to her cheek. "I'm going to wait for you in the living room. You may want to change out of your dress. My blood isn't a good addition for it if you ask me."

Amanda looked down at herself to see the small traces of blood splatter all across the front of it. She shook her head in agreement and walked over to Sheldon's closet to see if there was anything for her to use there. While she was doing that, Randy slowly made his way back to the living room. He looked at the dead body sitting by the wall, a small frown coming across his face as he slowly sat back down on the couch.

"Things didn't have to come to this Sheldon . . ." mumbled Randy as he talked to the dead body. ". . . Things didn't have to end this way. And look at us now. I'm a vervain weakened vampire while you're a dead wizard slumped along a wall, killed by the weapon you were trying to kill me with. . . . How do these things happen?"

"I hope I'm not interrupting your conversation, but I'm ready to go . . ." said Amanda as she walked into the room. Randy turned around to see his mate, dressed in a flannel shirt and a pair of jeans that actually managed to fit her. ". . . It turns out Sheldon had a box filled with woman's clothing hiding in his closet."

"He probably used to have a girlfriend that lived with him . . . she must have forgotten to take those clothes with her when she moved out," said Randy as he got back up to his feet. ". . . It would explain the woman's clothes."

"Yeah . . . but unfortunately . . . that old girlfriend didn't leave any shoes," said Amanda as she gestured to the heels she still wore on her feet. "My heels don't go with this outfit at all."

"Hey . . . it's probably for the best," said Randy as he did a small shrug. "You probably wouldn't have fit in them anyway."

"Randal Keith Orton, are you saying that I have big feet?" asked Amanda as she looked at the Viper in shock.

"Hmm . . . maybe," said Randy as he started to walk over to the door. "Hey . . . you know what they say: The taller you are, the bigger your feet."

"Says the 6'5, 235 lb. professional wrestler," grumbled Amanda as she followed after him. "Just remember, you have bigger feet than me."

"Because I'm a guy . . ." said Randy as he shot his mate a goofy smirk. "Guys usually have bigger feet than girls."

"Uh huh . . ." said the Anaconda as they walked out of the loft and into the hallway, the corridor looking worse for wear. "Wow . . . this place seriously needs some sprucing up."

"Now I know why the rest of his neighbors moved out . . ." muttered Randy as the two walked further down the hallway. "This place is practically in shambles, and Sheldon still lives here?"

"Hey! Look at this!" said Amanda as she spotted an old pink piece of paper hanging on the wall. "It says here this place is supposed to be demolished on June 2nd."

"That's this Monday . . ." said Randy as he looked at the paper from over his mate's shoulder. "Sheldon didn't look like he was moving out of his building anytime soon. I guess he was fighting the city's decision to break this place down by staying here."

"He probably was going to be thrown out of here by the authorities anyway," said Amanda as she turned to him. "He could have probably fought them, but then he probably would have been arrested for not complying with the law."

"Or if he wanted to go that far, he could have used his wizard powers to scare them away . . ." said Randy as a thoughtful look came across his face. "But then he would have shown humans that he was an actual wizard, and therefore revealed his race to the human population."

"I don't think Sheldon would be that stupid to do that . . . He probably would have tried something else," said Amanda as she shook her head. "But it does make you wonder."

"Let's wonder about it, once we get back home." said Randy as he turned her away from the paper.

"Fine . . ." said Amanda as they continued to walk through the hallway. They found the elevator at the end of the hall, but Randy visibly grimaced when he saw that the elevator was in a state of complete disrepair. ". . . Crap."

"Well . . . there's always the stairs," said Amanda with a smirk as she pointed to the door on their left. "According to the sign by the elevator, it says here that we're on floor seven of eight, so it'll be quite the trip down. You think you can handle it?"

"Watch me . . ." said Randy as the two entered the staircase. Randy stayed back as Amanda made the descent first. She made her way down to the sixth floor with ease before turning around to see the Viper still standing back on the seventh floor platform.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Amanda as she placed a hand on her hip. "Or is the vervain holding you back?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," said the Viper as he waved her off. He began his descent down the staircase, visibly wincing each time as he made a step, which Amanda couldn't help but chuckle at. "Don't laugh at me."

"Why not?" Amanda asked as Randy finally reached her. "You were the one that wanted to get out of here before the vervain fully passed through your system. . . And now? Your decision is starting to bite you in the butt."

"This night is not over . . ." said Randy as he wrapped his arm around her waist. "And I'll be just fine coming down these stairs.'

"Alright . . ." said Amanda as she pecked his lips. "But you're going to have to do it without me because I'll be way ahead of you. Bye!"

And with that, Amanda escaped his grip and ran down the rest of the staircase at vampire speed, leaving the Viper in her dust. Randy let a small playful scowl come across his face as he continued downward; wincing every time he took a step as he went down the dusty staircase. Once he finally got down to the 1st floor, he exited the staircase and walked into the old and desolate lobby to see Amanda looking out through the window in the door, a hand protectively on her bump as she turned to face him.

"Oh look . . . your dad has finally decided to join us," said Amanda as she looked down at her bump. "He can be quite late when it comes to getting to places."

"Thanks for leaving me back there in the staircase . . ." grumbled Randy as he crossed his arms. ". . . And see! I told you that you would start talking to the bump like it was a person. And you thought you wouldn't . . ."

"Okay . . . so the bump has grown on me . . ." said Amanda with a shrug as she turned toward the door. "This street doesn't appear to have much car traffic on it. We're better off looking for a main street in order find a ride home, or a payphone for that matter."

"We better get moving then . . ." said Randy as he opened up the door, but Amanda stopped him from moving the door any further. "What is it babe?"

"What about Sheldon's body?" asked Amanda as she pointed upward. "It's still lying up there in his loft, with a knife in his neck that has your fingerprints on it. Better yet, our fingerprints are all over the man's place! What's going to stop the police from scanning those prints and coming after us?"

"Um . . . you do know that I'm the one with the police record and not you right?" asked Randy as a small smirk came across his face. "Anyway . . . don't worry about it. Vampire fingerprints usually fade away from surfaces after about two hours, so we should be good for now."

"And what about the vervain laced blades that are still in there?" asked Amanda as she raised an eyebrow.

"To us vampires, vervain is an annoying plant that we usually stay away from. To humans and other supernatural species, it's a harmless flower," Randy explained as he shrugged his shoulders. "The cops will just think that Sheldon was just some guy obsessed with knives and was just cleaning them with some vervain scented cleaning liquid when he was killed."

"But your blood is on some of those knives, and what about the fact that there is a huge crack in his wall where I threw his body into?" asked Amanda as she followed him out the door. "How would you explain that to the cops?"

"That . . . is something that I can't explain," muttered Randy as the two walked out into the sidewalk. "If the cops examined my blood, then they'll definitely find something off with it. Plus, I seriously have no idea how to explain a man sized dent in a wall."

"So . . . what do we do?" asked Amanda as she looked down either side of the street to see if anyone was there with them.

"Hmm . . . can you summon up a flame for me?" asked Randy as he picked up an old piece of cardboard from off the ground.

"Uh . . . sure," said Amanda as she snapped her fingers, a small flame instantly appearing above her digits. Randy brought the cardboard to the flame, the flame lighting the piece on fire. "Oh . . . don't tell me you're going to burn this place down."

"It's the only way to truly hide the evidence we've left behind . . ." said Randy as he walked back inside the building. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Watch out for other people while I'm gone . . ."

"Fine . . ." said Amanda as she turned to the road. She continued to look at either side of the road to see if anyone or any car was coming by. She let out a small breath of relief when she noticed that there were no security cameras in sight. About a good five minutes passed before the smell of smoke wafted through her nose. Once she heard the sounds of footsteps approaching her, she turned around to see Randy walking over to her quickly, his gaze going back to the lobby one last time before he joined his beloved on the sidewalk. "You're done?"

"Yeah . . . I'm done," said Randy as he grabbed her hand. "Now let's go . . . I think I may have overdone it a little."

"You think?" asked Amanda as they reached the corner of the block. She then looked at her bump. "Your father is a little pyromaniac huh, little one. Please don't be a pyromaniac like your father okay?"

"Hey! I said I THINK I overdid it!" said Randy as they quickly crossed the street. "I never said I did."

"Uh huh . . . keep telling yourself that babe," said Amanda as she shook her head. "Now . . . let's just look for a main street or a payphone. I want to get out of here and back home before the morning comes. "

"Alright, alright . . ." said Randy as he shook his head. "Well . . . this has been a nice way to cap off your birthday huh?"

"Yes . . . you burning an eight story apartment building down after killing an old classmate of ours because of an old vendetta has against you has been a nice way to cap off my birthday." said Amanda as they turned back around to see flames appearing through the windows and the doors of the first floor of the building.

"Yeah . . . sorry," said Randy as an apologetic look came across his face. "But I promise you I'll make it up to you. I wanted today to be your special day, and it was that way for the most part. But it got ruined toward the end, and I want to right that wrong. I'll make it up to you, and it'll be amazing, I promise."

"I know it will . . ." said Amanda as she shook her head. "But I just want to go home now. I have no idea what neighborhood we're in right now and I just want to go home and sleep. If the morning comes and I am not in a bed by then, I will certainly be cranky. And you won't like it when I'm cranky."

"Of course I won't . . ." said Randy as he nodded his head. "I've seen you when you're cranky. It's not pretty. I would like to prevent that from happening . . . Hmm . . . if only one of our friends would just drive up to us and give us a ride home."

"Hey Randy! 'Manda!"

"Speak and you'll have your wish," said Amanda with a smirk as a shocked look came across Randy's face. She pointed forward to see Kelly's Camry coming toward them from the other direction. Ted was poking his head out and waving to them while Kelly was driving stopping when she had made a U-turn to stop right next to them. "Well aren't we glad to see you!"

"What happened to you guys?" asked Kelly as she looked out through Ted's window. "We already knew that Randy was kidnapped by that Sheldon guy, so everyone split up to search the city for him, but when Monica called to tell me us that you were missing 'Manda, that certainly got us spooked."

"Sheldon decided to kidnap me too . . ." said Amanda as the two walked over to the car. "He wanted me to be his assistant by having me hand him vervain laced knives so that he can throw them at Randy for target practice."

"What happened to Sheldon now?" asked Ted as he raised an eyebrow.

"Well . . . he felt the Anaconda's wrath, he got a knife to the throat courtesy of me, and now his dead body is roasting in a fire that was set by me in the building on the last block." said Randy as he pointed behind him at the building that was now going ablaze.

"Well then . . . if that's the case, we better get out of here before the authorities show up," said Ted as he pointed to the backdoor. "Get in you two and let's get out of here!"

"You don't have to tell us twice." said Randy as he opened the door out for his mate. Amanda got into the car quickly with Randy following after her. Once the two got settled in their seats, Kelly drove them down the street and out of the area, hoping to forget one hectic night."

Ah . . . now that they're out of trouble, I wonder what's in store for them next.

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