I do not own…
It wasn't long till summer vacation was over and all the kids were back in school. Alex is a sophomore and was a bit nervous and annoyed as she was gonna be the new student once more. She was just glad that she was already friends with Cleo, Caleb, Natali and Andy. Much to her mothers' dismay. Alex knew that her mom wanted to have normal friends at school and had tried to push her to befriend the Washington twins. Sadly for her, Alex and the twins were only hi in the hallway type of friends.
On her first day Alex rode her bike to school. Leah wanted to drop her off but she had the morning shift and her boss couldn't change her schedule. Alex didn't mind as she did it a lot when they lived in New York. But she wasn't alone. Half way she met up with Natalie and continued on towards school. When they arrived they met up with Cleo, Caleb and Andy and they sat on one of the school benches in the courtyard. They checked their schedules and prayed that they had the same classes with each other. Alex had Geometry for her first class and immediately groaned. Math was never her favorite subject. Her second period is Chemistry while for her third period was History, her favorite subject. She had P.E for her fourth period and for her fifth it was English 2. Her last class was her favorite elective, Art. So far she had few classes with her friends. Caleb and Andy took computer programming for their elective, along with AP Math and Ap Science. Cleo took Film studies as she was very serious about her film career. Once everyone saw what they got the warning bell rang everyone headed to their first class.
So far school was the same as any other school and was pretty much normal. Then somewhere in September they got another new kid. It was Mrs. Cloverfields' son Daniel Cloverfield or Dan as he likes to be called. He's in the same grade as them but he liked to keep to himself. All the girls had fallen for him as he's charming, good looking and had this bad boy vibe to him. Alex didn't see it. She was more annoyed by the guy. She didn't know why but they had a bit of a rivalry with each other, especially in P.E. In every activity the coach had, they were his best students. At times it was like she was in competition with a little brother for her. After they ran a lap their teacher, Coach Deek, had them play tennis. Alex groaned as she wasn't much of a tennis fan but she was still good at it. Her teammate was Nat and they were facing off Dan and a boy named Kyle. At first it started off easy and friendly till Dan decided to hit a fast one at them. Alex looked at him with annoyance and knew what he was up to. Unable to back down from a challenge she accepted and started hitting back. Soon Natalie and Kyle just stood on the sidelines as the two went extreme with the tennis ball. It ended when Alex got frustrated and hit the ball with so much force, it went through his racket and kind of exploded when the ball hit the wall. Natalie was stunned but still clapped in amazement.
"How did you do that? That was fucking badass." Nat asked
They were in the girls locker room changing.
"I don't know, I just got frustrated and just wanted it to end." Alex said as she slammed her locker.
"Carefull, slam it any harder you'll break the door too." Cleo joked
When they were finished changing they headed off for Lunch and they went to their normal area to eat.
"What is his deal anyway?" Alex muttered "Why is it just me?"
"Maybe he has a thing for you?" Nat said as she opened her can of coke cola. "You're the only girl that hasn't drool over him."
"Who's drooling over who?" Andy asked
He and Caleb just sat down at the table with them.
"That Cloverfield kid competed with Alex again." Cleo smirked
"Dude, it was fucking insane. It was like an extreme tennis death match." Nat laughed. "Alex won, but after one swing the ball went through his racket and the ball exploded."
"Awesome." Andy said in awe.
"And Nat thinks he has a thing for me and that's why he always competes with me." Alex said
"You better keep that down. I heard Tris is after him." Caleb said
Tris Whiteberg is the Sophomore popular rich girl at their school. Pretty much your stander mean girl you see in movies and shows. She tried to befriend Alex on their first day but Alex saw through her facade and turned her friendship down. Now it's a bit icy between them.
"Does it look like I care?" Alex scoffed, "I can kick her ass without getting out of this chair."
"I believe her, remember how she flipped over Cory Bryer when he tried to grope her in GMY." Andy said "And he benches 250."
"The asshole had it coming." Nat smirked
"I honestly don't see why girls like him." Alex scoffed, "He's rude, arrogant and a complete asshole."
"Anyone I know."
They all looked up and saw Daniel standing in front of their table.
"Ah…Hi." Caleb said
"Is it okay if I sit here?" Dan asked
"Why do you want to sit at the weirdos table?" Nat asked
"Yeah, the popular and jock tables are a few tables down that way." Andy said, and pointed where Tris, her friends and other kids were sitting.
"Yeeahhh…I really can't stand Tris and her friends." Dan said "So…can I sit here?"
Everyone looked at Alex wondering it was okay as she was the only one that had beef with him. Alex rolled her eyes and just nodded. He sat down in the middle and things were a bit awkward.
"So…Alex…sorry about the whole tennis fiasco. I kind of have a lot of older brothers and sisters so I have a bit of a competitive streak." Dan said
"So why just with me?" Alex asked
"You kind of remind me of Ivy. You both have the same eyes, hair and attitude." Dan said after taking a bite of his sandwich. "She's the third oldest and always likes calling the runt of the family.
"How many siblings do you have?" Cleo asked
"That I know of…seven. My dad has a lot of kids." Dan said and glanced at Alex a little. "He's the type of man that likes having a big family."
Since his mother sent him here to keep an eye on Alex and he hated it. Dan was trained as a warrior since he was a child. He has never been around humans as he's been taught that they're nothing but food and inferior beings. It's only been a few weeks and he already wanted to kill half of the kids in school. Then there was Alex. His supposed half-sister. Dan wasn't sure if she was his father's child as she didn't smell like their kind. So he decided to test her. If her inner vampire is contained there are a few ways for it to come out. One is if they are in danger. While the other is emotions, such as anger and hunger. Which is why he's been competing with her in P.E. After what he saw he knew that she was his kin. Now all he had to do is help her unlock her other abilities.
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October came by and it was now Halloween. At Stephen High School was holding a dance for their students. The GYM had some booths for the students to try and had a Haunted Maze built inside. Some students got roped in to work for the booths and some had to decorate the Maze. Alex and Dan were unfortunate and were forced to build the Haunted Maze for the last few days. Well, it was more Dans' fault than hers'. He was in a fight with some football players from another school and Alex, Cleo and Nat were walking by and saw the whole thing. Dan was doing fine until one sneaked behind him and tackled him to the ground. All the guys started kicking him and that's when Alex stepped in. She took down three players while Dan dealt with the rest by the time a teacher came by. Much to their annoyance they were the only ones that got detention while the other school just let their football players off with a warning. Alex didn't blame Dan as he told her why he started fighting them. The jocks were harassing two Freshmen girls and tried to pull them towards their car till Dan showed up. The girls told the principal what happened and they still got detention for fighting.
"This is bullshit." Alex growled as she finished putting up the last attraction for the maze.
"Tell me about it. I say we pay Principle Girkins a visit to his house and do a little damage to his Mercedes." Dan said as he was positioning a corpse mannequin on a lab table.
"I would say yes, but I think he'll know it was us as we're the only ones that have grudges against him." Alex said
"How can he, if we're wearing masks? It is Halloween after all." Dan smirked
"Well I can't help you either way. I got the night shift for Halloween." Alex sighed
"You're not going to the dance?" Dan asked
"I was, but Cleo got asked out by the guy from her Film class and asked if I could switch with her." Alex said "I didn't mind. I had no date and no costume."
"I'm sure Caleb would mind going with you." Dan muttered with a smirk.
"What'd you say?" She asked
"What shows are they playing?" Dan asked
Only Dan and Andy knew about Caleb's crush on Alex. They have been telling him for weeks to just ask Alex out but everytime he chickened out.
"Well…there's Saw 2, Doom and some old classic movies like Night of the Living Dead, Psycho, Dracual, The Wolf-Man and Frankenskien…oh and that Nosferatu movie." Alex said
"I don't know about squeals. They never live up to the first ones." Dan said
"Saw 2 is not that bad. It has a nice twist at the end." Alex said
"Hey…no spoilers." Dan said, covering his ears.
Alex rolled her eyes but said nothing. She looked around the room they worked on. This part of the maze theme was insane asylum. There were body parts everywhere, jars filled with organs and fetuses and other lab equipment. A student had volunteered to play as Doctor Satan while another was his victim.
"What do you think? Need more organs out or what?" Dan asked
The mannequin was strapped to the table with its chest ripped open and its guts was all over the place.
"I think it's good enough." Alex said
Her alarm from her phone went off, telling her it was time to set off for work.
"Well I have to get going. Have fun avoiding Tris at the dance." She waved.
"Not funny." Dan glared "And don't say her name. She's just like Beetlejuice. Say her name three times and she somehow finds me."
He looked around to make sure his stalker wasn't around. After seeing that they were finished he decided to leave too. When he stepped out of the Haunted Maze he ducked behind some covered tables when he spotted Trish. Caleb and Andy who were at the table looked down when he ducked next to them.
"She's still chasing you I see." Caleb teased
"Shut it or I'll tell Alex about your crush on her." Dan glared
"Where is Alex?" Andy asked
"She had work. That Nick guy asked Cleo to the dance so they switched shifts at the Multiplex." Dan said as he peeked over the table.
Tris was talking to her friends for a bit till they saw Eric Washington coming in with a few boxes. She and the girls giggled as they waved at him.
"Which reminds me, you need to make a move soon." Andy said to Caleb.
"Why?" Caleb asked
"I've overheard from Shane that Eric has a thing for Alex." Andy said
"But he's a senior." Caleb said
"And a guy." Dan said dryly. "I highly doubt he cares that she's two years under him."
"Well…he has a girlfriend." Caleb said
"Dude…they broke like a week ago." Andy replied
After hearing that Caleb began to panic a little. How was he supposed to tell a girl that he befriended that he liked her since he first saw. He couldn't compete with a smart athlete.
"So what do I do?" He asked "If I tell her how I feel, what if she doesn't feel the same."
When Trish and her friends left the GYM Dan stood up.
"Well the first thing to do is just talk to her first, alone." Dan said "Just tell her how you feel and ask her out. It's that simple."
"But…what if she rejects me?" Caleb asked
"Then I can introduce you to some girls that might be interested in you." Dan said "Nothing heals the heart more than rebound sex."
"Thanks' Dan." Caleb said dryly.
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When Alex got to the Multiplex she put on her working vest and name tag on before helping out at the snack bar. Since it was Halloween anyone that was wearing a costume gets half off on snacks. That brought in a lot of customers. When those that didn't have costumes they would make a fuss about it. So Alex was called to deal with them when it happened. Only her, Cleo and the manager could handle them without giving a shit about the customer's feelings. The only one that would give into their demands was Margaret. She is a new worker that's only worked here for a few weeks. Margaret is a quiet and shy christian woman that was easy to push around by others. Alex didn't understand why she would work on such a holiday as she believed it was an unholy day. She can only assume that she needed the money. Marcu, the night manager, had to take her off from the ticket booth as she's been suggesting non horror movies to the customers.
"I'm warning you, Margaret. One more complaint about you and you're out of here." Marcu glared "Now you agreed to work on this day. People want to see horror movies on Halloween. If they don't then that's their choice not yours, understand?"
Margaret just nodded as she looked down.
"Now go clean up theater 1 before the next show starts." He ordered "Now!"
The young woman jumped in fear before hurrying off to the cleaning supply area. Alex could only shake her head before handing the customer their popcorn and drink.
"Enjoy your show." She smiled and continued on with the next customer. "Hello, what would you like…oh hi Eric."
"Hi, Alex." Eric smiled
"Decided not to go to the dance?" She asked
"Didn't really feel like it." He shrugged
"So what movie are you seeing?" She asked "Doom?"
"Nah, my friends saw it and said that it sucked. So I decided to see that Nosferatu one." He said
"I didn't take you for a silent movie type. What would you like?" She asked
"I'll have an extra large popcorn and large Coke." He said "I don't mind them. When my grandparents babysit me when I was little they would always bring their collection of old movies for us to watch."
"That's sweet. So I'm guessing it's just you tonight? No buddies or date?" She asked as she scooped up his popcorn.
"No…all the guys are at the dance and…Lilly and I broke up a few days ago." He said
"Sorry to hear that." She said before asking. "Extra butter."
He nodded.
When she was done she handed him his popcorn before filling up his drink.
"Enjoy your show." She said
"Thank Alex." He smiled
He grabbed his things and was about to leave till four guys in football letterman jackets came inside. Alex mentally growled as she knew who these guys were. They were some jocks that attacked Daniel.
"What the hell are Derry people doing in Jerusalems' Lot?" Eric glared
"You know them?" Alex asked
"Only when we play against them." He scoffed, "Those guys are a bunch of assholes."
"You don't have to tell me twice. They're the guys that Dan and I fought with." Alex said
"Really." Eric said, in an impressed tone. "Who's the one that gave Big Bobby the cut lip?"
"That was Dan. I was the one that kicked his balls so hard that I heard that he should be Bobby with an I." Alex said
Eric laughed.
His laugh is what caught the Derry jocks attention and saw Alex by the counter. They looked like they wanted to start something but Marcus was still around when they came in. He wasn't a Derry Town fan and told them to get out. They started an argument but Marcus didn't give a shit as the Multiplex had the right to refuse customers. Alex believed that they did but she wasn't gonna say anything. The four Derry boys flipped Marcus off and turned to leave. Unfortunately, Margaret came out of Theater 1 and walked back into the lobby. She was in their line of sight and they pushed her out the way. Alex was about to jump over the counter till she saw Margarets eyes. They glowed yellow and looked like cat eyes. It was only for a few seconds but she knew what she saw. Margaret just looked at the boys with hate as they laughed at her. Marcus told them to get out once more before he called the police and they did. Another employee helped Margaret up and Marcus told her to take the rest of the night off.
"Man, that was very dickish of them." Eric muttered
"Yeah." Alex said while still looking at Margaret. "It was."
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While Alex was at work Dan showed up at her house. Her mother was working late so Simon had taken Shadow to his house to care for him. This was a rare moment and the only time he could search the place. After knowing Alex for a month and a half he and his mother were able to learn a few things. Like every morning she injects medicine into her upper arm. His mother believed that's what was blocking her inner vampire from their father. She would have tried to find it but she couldn't as there was a powerful barrier protecting the house. It nearly burned her hand when she touched the doorknob. So he was sent instead to see if he could. If he couldn't Mallory was gonna hire a human to do it. Dan looked around and saw a bunch of neighborhood kids going house to house. All the parents are focusing on their kids, and the kids are focused on getting their free candy. No one paid attention when he approached Alexs' house. He nervously reached out to touch the door frame. The hybrid felt a little sting but nothing that could damage him right away. So he headed to the backyard before using his agility to jump and land on the second floor of the house. When he got to Alexs' room he took off the window screen and used his powers to control the shadows. A shadow hand entered the room and unlocked the window. Once inside he looked around the room and found the mini locked fridge. He bit back a groan as his whole body was feeling the sting. The hybrid knew he didn't have long. He sat down and took the list his mom gave him. Dan knew he had to be careful as he wasn't sure what would happen if he got it wrong. He doubted the code was her birthday as it was too obvious so he tried Simons'.
That was wrong.
Next he tried the month they got Shadow.
No luck.
On his last try he put in 123195 and it beeped green: meaning it was unlocked. He didn't know how to feel about that. But he pushed that thought aside and took the little jars. Once they were in his backpack he took out the replacement ones that were just filled with water. Once he was done he grabbed his bag and quickly got out of the room. He closed the window and placed the screen back on before leaving. Dan couldn't help but sigh in relief as his healing ability was working. He texted his mom that it was done and he headed back to the dance. A part of him felt a little guilty for doing this as he and Alex have become good friends. But he knew that he couldn't go against his fathers' orders.
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When her shift had ended Alex grabbed her things and headed out to leave. Her mom always picked her up as she didn't want Alex to be riding her bike at night. She wasn't there yet and Alex was hungry. So she went over to the pizza shop that was behind the Multiplex. She walked down the alley and she heard some noises by the dumpster. She believed it was just a bunch of rats or cats but she still kept her guard up. You never know what could pop up and attack you. Alex passed the dumpster and like she thought it was just a bunch of rats going through the bags that were next to the dumpster. She only stopped when she saw a hand under the garbage bags. Curiosity taking over, Alex moved the bags around. She backed away as it was a dead body. But it was strange looking. She didn't know if it was the lighting of the area but the skin looked dried like and the eyes weren't in its sockets. Then she noticed the familiar looking letterman jacket that it was wearing. It was the same jacket that those Derry boys wore.