Slayer

"I don't think I should be here."
The tall figure didn't bother looking at the girl, he just kept a firm grip on the blonde's dainty wrist, leading her further into the shadows. The girl giggled, blushing slightly.
"I mean, it is the first school night of the year. I need my sleep."
She said the last sentence with a tone of scandal, suggestion, as if she had any control, any idea what was going on. Damien grinned, his bright teeth flashing in the shadows. He was getting excited - this was his favorite part. He loved the girls that thought they knew what they were doing.
"Then let's not waste time," breathed Damien, instantly turning around, the girl trapped in his iron grip. She moaned and reached up to him, unbuttoning his shirt. She didn't know she was trapped yet. Damien leaned down, kissing her neck hungrily. He was getting impatient, but he couldn't let it get the best of him. He hated it when he went too fast. The blonde moaned again, her pulse quickened. Damien couldn't wait anymore. His teeth flashed again and the girl moaned for the last time.
God, Damien had been right about this one. She tasted rich.
"Do you have to do that here?"
Damien groaned, looking up from his meal.
"I mean, honestly. It's kind of disgustiong. You never see me dragging my conquests home."
Damien laid the girl on the floor, pressing his wrist to her cold lips.
"Sol, why don't you go kill yourself a schoolgirl or something?" Damien asked "Your ruining the mood."
"Sol" stepped out from the doorway, his body pulsing a dark red color. "The good schoolgirls are all in bed by now."
Damien chuckled. The girl gurgled, almost choking on Damien's blood. Damien pulled his wrist away and began buttoning his shirt
"So, according to Alec, the big game starts tomarrow," he said, smiling devishily. "You ready?"
Sol returned the smile. "Spawned Ready."

***

A sixteen-year-old boy walked hurriedly down an unlit street, his white button-up shirt contrasting sharply with the darkness around him. He was glaring angrily at his iPod, which glowed only to tell him that it had no battery.
"Great," groaned Rhett, pocketing the useless device. He looked around, trying to remember if there were any shortcuts home. "I so need a car," he sighed, turning and walking down a random ally. It looked somewhat inviting... for an alley, anyways.
He felt a vibration in his pocket and paused. He pulled out his cell phone, the little machine shining brightly, casting long shadows everywhere. Rhett shivered. Freakin' shadows. He quickly typed out a reply to the text and shoved his phone into his pocket, immediately swallowing all the shadows into oblivion.
Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following him. He began walking faster, almost jogging down the alley. The only footsteps he could hear were his own... right?
Abrubtly, the alley ended. The small walkway opened up to a vast field of stones and monuments.
"Great. A graveyard."
Then he could feel it. Not breathing, not a sound; not even the warmth of another person's presence. But he could feel it.
"You know, if you're not careful," began Rhett, carefully walking forward, "Someone might think you were stalking me or something." He groped around inside his pocket. No, cell phone. Sweet! He did have some money! But...
Something grabbed his shoulder, its grip harder than steel. The creature was leering, almost laughing, reaching for his neck with its other hand...
WIth a sickening crunch, Rhett spun around and slammed his fist into the vampire's face. The vamp screamed and staggered back, only to be kicked against the alley wall.
The vampire looked down at the blood pouring down its shirt from its nose. His eyes went wide, and he looked up at Rhett frantically.
"Slayer?"
Rhett smirked, slamming the demon to the ground with a quick punch.
"You'll find that I don't like being interrupted during my alone time," he said, standing over the vampire. A look of victory appeared on his face, and he pulled a wooden stake out of his pocket.
"Finally!" he said, smiling. "I so need a better way to store this thing."
Face contorted with rage and hunger, the vampire stood up, fangs bared. Without even looking, Rhett plunged the stake into the demon's heart and walked away, leaving the vampire's remains to blow away in the gentle autumn breeze.
"Ah, I love it here," sighed Rhett, pocketing the stake. "Good to be back in to good 'ol -"

****
"Land of Enchantment, my ass," growled Carlos.

****

"Okay, first you take the natural log and..."
"Crud, this teacher is boring."
Carlos turned his pentagram necklace in his hand slowly while he glanced at the teacher.
"Maybe you should put a spell on her!" Another student joked, causing the whole class to snicker at Carlos - a common event since he had moved to Albuquerque and started high school. A slight smirk grew on Carlos' face - just the idea of really shutting the teacher up was good to Carlos, even if the rest of the students were only joking.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," came a whisper from behind Carlos. "You wouldn't want to hurt a teacher, now, would you?"
"Who knows? Maybe I do want to," snapped Carlos. "And what makes you think I care about your opinion on it?"
"'Cause I'm Rhett."
"And why would I care?"
"Because Baby Jesus cares."
"Ya know, I could just shut you up."
"You won't," said Rhett, leaning back in his chair.
"What makes you think that?" Carlos asked, finally turning to face Rhett.
"'Cause you're really just a big teddy bear," Rhett said, breaking into silent laughter.
Carlos turned back and shook his head. "You're an idiot."

Carlos walked into the room full of people, holding his lunch, glancing from side to side. His necklace swayed as he walked. Carlos took a seat at an open table in the corner of the room and started to eat silently.
"Lonely much?" Rhett's voice came down on Carlos' ears.
"I like being alone, okay? I don't need people," Carlos snapped back to Rhett, who had just taken a seat across from him.
"You're prety negative for a Wiccan, now aren't you?" Rhett asked calmly.
Carlos dropped his spork. "What do you know about Wiccans?"
"Not much, but I know you must be one, if your necklace means anything."
Carlos grasped his pendant and let out a loud huff. "So I guess you want something from me, then?" Carlos asked, picking up his spork and returning to his lunch.
Rhett said nothing, he only got up from his seat and walked away slowly. Carlos didn't know what to think of it, so he just shook his head and continued eating his lunch alone.

"Are you sure, sir?" a young woman asked through her cell phone. "In this town?" She seemed to be trying to convince the person on the other end of something.
"Yes, sir, I understand, but... yes sire, I understand." The young woman closed her phone and walked into her class room, shaking her head.
"How am I supposed to find the Slayer if I don't even know what he looks like?"

"What a waste of a day," Carlos said, shaking his head as he left the front of the school and started to walk towards his house.
"HEY!" Rhett shouted from behind Carlos, waving his hand and walking towards him. Carlos froze for a second, but started to walk away quicklky.
"Hey, Carlos!"
"Dammit, why did I tell him my name?" Carlos muttered to himself as he turned to face Rhett, who seemed to be quite intent on stalking him. "Unfortunately, he seems to have followed me."
"I heard that you were going to Club 7 tonight, yeah?" Rhett asked, and then quickly continued, "I thought so."
Carlos was too stunned to reply.

****

Carlos wasn't entirely sure why he had actually said "yes" to Rhett earlier. It was probably because Rhett hadn't even let him answer the question himself. But as Rhett slipped the ten dollar bill to the bouncer and slipped through the club's silver doors, disappearing into the dark abyss known as Club 7, Carlos really wished he had been more assertive. The bouncer eyed him warily, and Carlos quickly emptied out his pockets to show he had no weapons or anything. As if you need weapons in a club, he thought, smirking. The bouncer looked put off by the pentacle at Carlos' neck, but he ignored it and went on to the next person in line as Carlos handed him the cash.

The doors seemed to open slowly, almost ominously, as Carlos stepped into the club. He could barely see, his vision blurring almost instantly as the flashing lights swept across the dark room, assaulting Carlos' eyes. He winced, holding a hand above his eyes as he tried to see what was going on. Not that much was going on; the room was filled with a mass of teenage bodies all grinding together as one, sweat and sex lingering in the air, pounding techno music blaring across the room. Something grabbed Carlos' arm with inhuman strength, and Carlos reeled back, stifling a scream.

"Dude, relax. You act like you've never seen dancing before."

Carlos looked down, surprised to see Rhett letting go of his arm.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I thought you were... uh, someone else."

Rhett laughed. "Well, don't get lost. I'd hate to have you go and die on my first day meeting you." With that, he made his way into the throbbing mass of flesh, his body quickly adapting to the pulsing beat of the club. Carlos just stood awkwardly, briefly wondering why Rhett thought a club could be deadly.

"Weird kid," he sighed, turning back and sitting at one of the lounge chairs. He closed his eyes, letting the music sweep over him. He could feel his pentacle tingling in reaction to all of the energy in the room, slowly warming against his chest. Soon the music and his heart were pulsing at the same tempo, and Carlos felt like he was floating in hazy cloud of ecstasy. His head leaned back slowly, his body melting into the seat...

Something brushed against Carlos' arm. His hairs all stood on end, instantly reacting to the cold touch on his warm skin.

"Rhett, come on. I'm relaxing," he groaned, feeling too lazy to even look up.

"Excuse me?" asked a voice. A strikingly feminine voice. Carlos sat up instantly.
The girl was leaning over him, her long dark hair spilling past her shoulders, her cleavage scandalously visible from Carlos' vantage point. Her expression was strong and seductive, accentuated by her blood-red lipstick and flashing green eyes. Her hand gripped his arm firmly but suggestively, black fingernails sensually pressing into Carlos' flesh.

She had Carlos' full attention. And she'd barely said two words.

"Oh... uh, sorry," sputtered Carlos. He gulped. "Can I help you?"

The girl flashed a feral smile and tossed her hair back.

"Yeah, you looked kind of lonely sitting over here," she said, slowly dragging her hand down Carlos' arm, finally stopping as her fingers brushed against his. "I was wondering if you'd like to... dance?"

Carlos grinned more than he'd ever grinned in his life. His hands felt electric as her hand touched his. He nodded, and she took his hand and led him to the dance floor. She turned around to face him, moving his hands to rest on her hips.

Leather pants. Nice.

Her body moved slowly, sensually moving to the pulsing beat of the music, getting closer to Carlos' body with every note. The pentacle was on fire now, but Carlos didn't care. He could only stare in awe as her lithe body moved in closer... closer...

The world went black.

****

Carlos woke up with a screaming headache and familiar images of a girl in leather pants engraved into his memory.
But that was about it.
"What the fuck?" growled Carlos, sitting up and looking at his alarm clock. Seven o' clock. Great. He was gonna be late, and he didn't even know why.
As Carlos hurriedly went through his morning routines, he struggled to recall what had happened the night before... he vaguely recalled a dark room... pulsing music... leather pants. Carlos smiled in spite of his frustration. If he had to go all amnesia, it was a hell of a good memory to be stuck with.
Then an image came to him, a more important one - Rhett. Carlos could recall a fuzzy image of the new kid at some club... something like that.
"What a fucking dick!" exclaimed Carlos as all the pieces fell together in his mind. He'd been ditched at a party, by the new kid, no less. Carlos scowled and stormed out the door, wondering if it was too petty to hex the kid for it.
Nah. It would would be perfect.

"Dude! What happened to you last night?"
Rhett almost flinched as Carlos, instead of answering his question, shot the most piercing glare at him that he'd ever seen. And he'd seen some pretty hardcore ones; hell, he'd been glared at by creatures with more eyes than he felt like counting.
Ouch. Wonder what crawled up his ass.
A pink slip of paper slid across Rhett's desk, and he quickly grabbed at it, mistakenly hoping it was an explanation from Carlos or something. But as he held it up, he realized how wrong he was - it was not a simple note to cuss him out. Oh no, it was much worse: a summons. Only his second day of school, and some teacher was already calling him out of class. Great.
Rhett shoved the paper into his pocket and stood up, sliding his backpack on. He tried to catch Carlos' attention, but the other boy didn't even look up as he walked by.
That dick probably hexed me, he thought, walking out of the classroom and towards the room specified on the paper. What an ass.

A frustrated-looking woman who looked to be in about her mid-twenties sat at a desk in the middle of a very dark and very empty classroom. A dim table lamp illuminated her desk space, casting feeble light on assorted papers and overwhelmingly heavy-looking books. She tapped her long fingernails against the desk impatiently, casting a glance at the clock every few seconds.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, the classroom door opened, and a teenage boy walked in, looking very disoriented.
"Whoa... this isn't creepy," he remarked, looking around. He pulled out a pink slip of paper from his pocket. "Are you Miss Kurtz? Is this where I'm supposed to be? Or did I make a wrong turn and end up in a slasher film?"
The woman nodded curtly, motioning to a desk in front of her own. Still looking wary, the teenager made his way to the seat and sat down.
"Well, Rhett, I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here," began the teacher, brushing a lock of her long, black hair out of her face.
"It's not to rape me, is it?"
She frowned, giving him a disapproving look.
"No. It is not to rape you, mister Butler," she said, trying her best to sound calm, "It is to answer questions I'm sure you're having."
Rhett laughed. "Well, it can't be the birds and the bees, because I heard that one a way back. And, honestly, I really don't have any questions about..." he looked around, reading the writing on the chalkboard. "... Nordic History? Um, yeah. I'm good."
He stood up, but much to his surprise, Ms. Kurtz stood up abruptly as well.
"No, sit down," she said, sounding annoyed now. Rhett sat.
The teacher picked up one of the large, leather-bound books on her desk and made her way around the front of her desk, so she was facing Rhett. She dropped the book on his desk and stood silently, waiting for the boy to read the title.
"Vampires? What does that have to do with the Norse?"
"Don't toy with me, Rhett. I know what you are. You are the Slayer," she said, pointing to him. "And I," she continued, pointing at herself, "Am your Watcher."
Rhett groaned. "You see? That even sounds fun."
She chose to ignore his statement. "It is my vow and sacred duty to train you, to help you learn you heritage and the true powers as a Slayer. I will also be training you on how to fight in real combat."
The boy laughed. "Yeah, you look like you could help me a lot there."
The woman opened her mouth to say something, but Rhett cut her off.
"Look, it's nice that you want to help and all, but I really don't need it. Now I have somewhere else to be, so if you'll excuse me?"
He stood up and made his way to the door. He paused as he opened the door, then turned back to the teacher.
"Kurtz, right? Well, I hope you have a good life, because I don't need a Watcher or whatever. See you around."
With that, he walked out the door.
The woman was still scowling at the desk where he had been sitting.
"You bet you will, you little snot. You're still signed up for my class for the rest of the year," she said to the air.

It was around lunchtime when Rhett finally managed to find Carlos. It was as if he had been avoiding him all day or something, but Rhett couldn't figure out why. He had been sure that Carlos was already gone when he had left to go slay that DJ with the horrible music taste... right? He sighed, not bothering to over-think the situation.
Carlos was sitting silently beneath a tree all by himself, reading some book.
"I wonder why I even try," Rhett said beneath his breath, making his way over to Carlos.
"What's up, Los?" he said emphatically, sitting down next to the other boy.
"Nothing. And don't call me that," spat Carlos, trying to edge away from his new seating partner. He pulled his leather-bound book closer to his face, as if it could shut the blonde teenager out.
"What are you reading?" asked Rhett, grabbing the book from Carlos' hands.
"HEY!" yelled Carlos, trying to grab the book back from the other teen, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Dude, this is a spell book? I had no idea you were actually this good."
Carlos snatched the book back defensively. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
Rhett shrugged. "I dunno. I just kinda thought you were the type that was content with using magic to get A's in class and hex kids you don't like. But you, 'Los, are pretty hardcore."
"Yeah, I am. And I don't hex people," he growled.
"Whatever," replied Rhett airily. "So what's been up with you all day?"
"You know exactly what," answered Carlos venomously.
Rhett let out a breath of admission. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... I just... ugh, you wouldn't get it."
"Oh please."
"No, seriously!" exclaimed Rhett. "I had a good reason. A very good reason."
Carlos rolled his eyes. "Prove it."
Rhett's eyes lit up as an idea popped into his mind. He looked at Carlos with a giant smile on his face.
"Fine. I will."

****

"Ooh, aren't you ominous," said Carlos, careful to put as much sarcasm as he could into his words as he looked up at the large gate where Rhett had motioned to stop. The blonde teenager chose to ignore his comment, but mostly because Carlos was right; the ten-foot tall gothic iron gate, sitting between equally tall vine-covered walls that looked especially creepy in the dim lighting at one in the morning, did give a sort of feeling that Rhett was trying to overcompensate as far as the horror factor. But whatever.
"How are we even supposed to get in?" asked Carlos, pointing to the chain and padlock keeping the gates shut. "And how does this have anything to do with last -"
CLANG!
Rhett dropped the broken chain to the ground. Carlos shot him a questioning look, not even sure what to say.
"Rust," said Rhett simply. Carlos shrugged and followed Rhett through the gate.
The graveyard inside definitely matched the eerie look of the gate outside. Carlos hadn't known that people actually used crypts outside of horror movies, or seriously bothered placing eight-foot tall stone angels above people's graves.
"Come on," whispered Rhett, making his way through a labyrinth of gravestones and dying flowers, somehow not tripping on anything despite the lack of any light stronger than the pale moonlight. Carlos sighed and followed him.
"You know, if you're trying to scare me or something, it's really not working. This is lame."
Rhett didn't stop walking. "You can just go home if you're going to complain all night."
Carlos rolled his eyes. "Oh, I wouldn't think of doing that. I couldn't walk home all alone... some vampire might get me."
Rhett stopped abruptly, turning to face Carlos. "What?"
"Nothing," replied Carlos, chuckling. "God, way to be paranoid."
Before Rhett could reply, another voice interjected.
"How nice... I really thought I'd have to go out tonight."
Carlos and Rhett both looked towards the voice. Standing just a few feet away was a boy about their age, wearing a white Hollister t-shirt, shorts, and even flip-flops. His dark hair was gelled up, and he wore a cocky grin on his face.
Rhett almost gagged.
"What are you doing out here?" asked Carlos, looking seriously confused.
"You know this guy?" asked Rhett, looking back and forth between them.
"Yeah," replied Carlos, nodding slowly, "His name's Adrian..."
"Well you're not friends with him or anything, are you?" asked Rhett warily, reaching into his pocket.
Carlos was eyeing Adrian, for some reason feeling nervous as the boy slowly approached them. "Uh, not really," he said, taking a step back, "He's kind of a pompous ass..."
"Good," said Rhett, pulling out a wooden stake from his pocket.
"What the hell is that for?" asked Carlos, turning sharply towards the shorter teen as he saw him pull out the weapon.
"It won't help," Adrian hissed. Suddenly, Carlos felt as if a horse had just run into him. He fell back with a yell, flailing at whatever was on top of him.
"I got it!" yelled Rhett.
"REPEL!"
With a burst of light, Adrian and Carlos were sent flying in opposite directions. Adrian recovered quickly, standing up with a feral hiss. His once model-esque face was contorted into a bump-ridden mask of rage, his yellow eyes glowing with hunger.
"You'll have to do better than that," he growled.
Carlos slowly stood up, the pentacle on his neck glowing brightly. He looked straight at Adrian, his eyes completely black.
"Oh, I've got more."
"Carlos, let me handle this!" yelled Rhett, but Carlos wasn't listening. With a quick mumbling of unintelligible words, Carlos' left fist erupted into flame. Adrian laughed and began running at Carlos, and Carlos began running at Adrian, left fist raised. Carlos lunged, swinging his fist right at Adrian's gut, but the slender teen dodged with far more speed than Carlos had counted on. Carlos faltered, and it was all the opportunity Adrian needed. Carlos could feel Adrian behind him, gripping his arms tightly, leaving Carlos immobile.
"I told you to leave this to me!" yelled Rhett, coming out from nowhere, ripping Carlos from Adrian's grip and tossing him aside, delivering a kick to Adrian's face in the same motion. The vampire hissed and fell back, only to be hit in the chest by Rhett's fist and sent flying with an uppercut. Adrian landed with a crash, breaking a tombstone in half as he slammed into it.
For a moment, everything was quiet, save for the heavy breathing of Carlos and Rhett.
"What the hell was that?" asked Carlos, brushing off his clothes.
"A vampire," answered Rhett tensely.
"Oh."
A slow clap echoed across the graveyard.
"Ah, I see we have some valiant warriors here. I didn't expect that."
Rhett turned around. A shadowy figure stood on top of a crypt, his yellow eyes glowing. At least fifteen vamps stood below him, at the base of the crypt, all glaring menacingly at Carlos and Rhett.
"Well do you know what a warrior is?" the vampire asked, stepping forward, moonlight illuminating his figure. His face was rough and handsome, even when contorted, and his dirty blonde hair was wild and shaggy - very "Cloud," Rhett thought.
"A warrior is just someone who dies without knowing why."
Rhett glared back, holding up his stake. "Yeah, well I'm not a warrior. I'm the Slayer."
The vampire laughed. Instantly, the horde of vampires rushed towards Rhett and Carlos, fangs glistening.
"Victus Tutamen!" yelled Carlos. His form flared a light green color, and green energy exploded out from his form, erecting a light energy barrier in a large radius around Rhett and himself.
"Good thinking," said Rhett, looking admiringly at the shield around them. He smiled at Carlos. "I think I'm glad I brought you."
A fist cracked across Rhett's face, and he stumbled backwards. He looked up, confused, as a pretty redhead vampire swung her fist at Rhett again. He ducked quickly, and plunged the stake into her chest. With an ungodly scream, she exploded into dust.
"What the hell kind of barrier is this?" yelled Rhett, kicking another vampire back.
"I don't know what's wrong!" yelled back Carlos, slamming a vampire into its comrade with a spell. "It works on people!"
"Great," groaned Rhett, picking up one half of a broken gravestone and throwing it at one of the oncoming vampires. "We're fucked."
"Bet you wish we were friends now, don't you?" asked Adrian, passing through the barrier easily and advancing towards Carlos.
A small glass bottle came hurdling through the air and broke against Adrian's chest. Water splashed everywhere. Adrian looked down, confused, as his body began to smoke.
"Back off," commanded a female voice. Rhett looked next to him, only to see that one teacher from earlier... Kurtz? standing next to him, holding up a fairly large wooden cross. He hadn't even heard her come up... how did she get there?
All of the vampires froze instantly, seeing the cross.
"Boys?" she said, looking from Rhett to Carlos. "I think it's time we left this little soiree."
Rhett and Carlos nodded, and quickly began walked back to the entrance. The Watcher followed behind them, holding up the cross to keep their attackers at bay. Rhett held open the gate, allowing Carlos to slip through, and then followed him out. Ashley held open the gate with one hand, and before slipping through the gate, she chucked the cross at the horde of vampires with all her strength. The undead creatures were so busy trying to scramble out of the way that none of them noticed her dropping a beige glove to the ground and leaving the graveyard.

***

"Carlos, you are coming with me tonight, and that's final. Quit being a scaredy cat," commanded Rhett, relentless in his quest to get Carlos to go out on another patrol. He'd been bothering Carlos about for the past hour, even passing Carlos notes in the middle of math class, but Carlos still hadn't given in.
"Scaredy cat? Seriously?" asked Carlos derisively, completely ignoring the point of Rhett's nagging.
"Okay, so it's a lame insult. But whatever. You're coming."
"No, I'm not," groaned Carlos, starting to sound kind of angry. "I can not hang out tonight, so deal with it, okay? You can handle yourself; you don't need me anyways."
"That's not the point!" yelled Rhett. A few kids turned their heads, wondering what the new kids was getting so upset about. Carlos looked sheepishly at them, but Rhett seemed oblivious to their stares.
"I don't care what the point is, okay? I can't come tonight. And that's final." With that, he strode away from Rhett, shoving his way past the other students, leaving his companion standing alone in the hall.
"FINE! See if I care!" yelled Rhett.
Carlos ducked his head, hoping no one would notice. It annoyed him that Rhett couldn't just take no for answer; it wasn't like he didn't want to go. Since the night at the graveyard, Carlos had been itching to see another vampire, especially after Rhett had given him one of his wooden stakes. He also had a few questions about what had happened the last time: how in the world had his barrier failed so miserably? He was never really good with the literal translation of his spells, so maybe the answer was in the name. He made a mental note to look it up later, but right now he had somewhere else to be. He groaned inwardly as he walked out of the high school and headed off.
I'd so rather be dying at the hands of some vampire.

"Don't let it get the upper hand!"
"I know," growled Rhett, kicking the vampire's knee in with a sickening crunch.
"You know it's the heart, and not the knee, that kills them, right?" asked Ms. Kurtz, sitting primly on a gravestone, her long black hair in a careful ponytail, an open notebook in her lap.
"Yes, I know, alright?" answered Rhett, punching the vampire in the face with his left hand as he fumbled around in his pocket with his right. The vampire reeled back, holding its face in pain. With an animalistic growl, the demon lunged at Rhett, but was met with a stake plunging through its heart.
"Is there a reason your slaying is so unsafe?" asked Kurtz, jotting something down in the book. "I've noticed that you're rather sloppy."
"Well it's hard to reach for my stake in the heat of battle, okay?" said Rhett, putting the weapon back in his pocket. "As if you'd understand what that's like."
"I see," said Kurtz, jotting something else down.
"Honestly, Kurtz, why are you even here?" asked Rhett, facing the teacher. "I really don't need your little slaying lesson. As you can see, the vampire is dead, and I am not. That's all I really need to know."
"Ashley," she said, standing up and pocketing her writing utensil.
"What?"
"You may call me Ashley. I was given a forename for a reason."
Rhett paused awkwardly, not sure what to say.
"But as for your little tirade, all I can say is that my help will be an invaluable asset if you will bother to pay attention. Now shall we continue our patrol?"
Rhett shook his head. "Nah, that's it for tonight... Ashley. I mean, six vampires in one night is more than I've ever seen during one patrol, so I'm sure there's not anymore. Plus, I'm kind of craving a crack nugget..."
Ashley eyed him curiously. "Excuse me? I hope I don't know what you're referring to..."
Rhett ignored her and made his way out of the graveyard, and Kurtz had no choice but to follow. After all, she still had to explain all about the uses of Eastern-Indo asanas in slaying.

"So... this is where you get your drug fix?" asked Ashley, looking around officiously.
The McDonald's parking lot was nearly empty, save for the few cars of the employees, and the streetlights throughout the lot seemed to be brighter than a supernova. The golden arches glowed garishly above the small building, casting a cheery yet strange gleam on the outdoor playplace.
"It's not really drugs," answered Rhett impatiently, opening the lobby door for Ashley and following her inside. "At least I don't think it is."
Ashley finally realized that it was pointless to continue trying to figure out what in the world the teenager was talking about.
Rhett stood in front of the counter, not even bothering to scan the menu. He knew exactly what he wanted... now if only someone was actually at a register...
"Um, hell-O!" called Rhett. "Anyone gonna take my order?"
The sound of the McDonald's employees all telling each other to go get the customer echoed around the back for a little bit, and finally the unlucky employee emerged from the back, head hanging down defeatedly.
'Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order..."
"Carlos?"
The employee's head snapped up, recognizing the voice instantly.
"Shit."
"Carlos, you work here? Why didn't you tell me?" asked Rhett, staring at Carlos, and trying to hide his grin at the sight of Carlos' hair sticking out from the top of the McDonald's visor.
Carlos' face slowly seemed to be draining of its color, almost completely going white when he noticed Kurtz standing behind Rhett.
"So! This is why you couldn't hang out tonight!" laughed Rhett.
Carlos gulped. "Ah... um, how may I help you?"

***

Carlos slowly walked the halls of Sandia High, looking side to side, his pentacle clutched in his hand tightly. His fellow peers seemed to notice his unusually strange behavior and kept their distance - not that he was usually Mister Popular, but still. Carlos walked into his nearly empty classroom and took a seat. The junior class was taking a mass feild trip, and being a sophomore, he was one of the few students left in the class. He looked around at all the empty desks and the four other students in the class: he recognized a couple other sophomores, some girl named Gwen and and a boy named Sean. Across the room sat an empty desk where a boy named Adrian had sat at the beginning of the year before he had mysteriously dropped out. Carlos sighed, then sighed even louder as the substitute teacher slid a worksheet onto his desk. Life was just not fair.

Rhett, on the other hand, was focused on not being focused. The teenage boy sat idly in his desk, drumming his fingers across the surface, wondering if he had enough money to buy a ten piece nugget meal after school... had he already spent that five dollars he'd snagged off the vampire last Wednesday? He couldn't remember. Ashley, his Watcher, was explaining to him improvements that Rhett could make to his slaying, apparently oblivious to how oblivious her Slayer was to her lecture.
"... my notes indicated that training in a more varied arsenal of weaponry would benefit you. But most importantly, you need keep your stake in your hand so you don't have to worry about pulling it out, and thus avoid..." Ashley took her eyes off her notebook for just a moment and paused, looking at Rhett with a deadly glare. "Mister Butler! Have you heard a single word I've said?"
Rhett still lost in a sea of nothingness, or rather his mind, didn't even flinch at Ashley's "outburst," considering the teacher's inside voice wasn't very threatening at all. With one swift movement, Ashley's notebook slapped across Rhet''s head, snapping him out of his daydream's of crack nuggets and Dr Pepper.
"Wha?" Rhett stammered, to find his bearings,
"Do you have any idea..."
Ring!
The bell for the next class sounded and Rhett seized his chance to leave, making a quick dash for the door, and what little freedom school could bring.

"Geez, that was a waste of time... I mean, worksheets? What a stupid teacher," Carlos muttered on his way out of his class, clutching his pentacle once again. "I should just..."
"Carlos!" Rhett's voice echoed in Carlos' head as he froze in his place. "What's up?"
"Oh fuck..." Carlos whispered to himself before quickly turning to face his new friend. "Nothin', man. Nothing at all."
"Well you're like a real live Happy Meal now, aren't you? No wonder you work at McD -."
Suddenly Carlos' hand glowed, and an invisible barrier was erected around the two of them, blocking all sound. Rhett's voice was temporarily silenced, and Carlos was already talking before Rhett could continue.
"Yes, I work there, but no one can know, alright? Don't talk about it here."
Rhett laughed. "Well why not? What's wrong with McDonald's?"
"It's just..." Carlos groaned. "It doesn't matter. Just don't."
Rhett opened his mouth to speak, and Carlos shot him a warning look. Sounds came flooding back as the barrier dissolved, letting in the loud sound of the bell ringing.
"Well, whatever. Carlos, wanna hangout with me for awhile? Ashley probably has some books you could read." Rhett said, as the hallways emptied slowly.
"Fine," Carlos responded, not sounding at all kind or happy. Rhett looked at him warily, wondering what the hell was wrong, but decided this wasn't the best time to bother him about it.

"Ah, Rhett you're back. So do you plan to actually listen now?" Ashley asked, not looking up from her paper work.
"Damn, this is like the wrong end of a slasher movie." Carlos commented as he entered the room. "Nordic History? That's an odd subject."
"That's what I said when I first came here," Rhett laughed back. "Oh, and... this is Ms. Kurtz. She's the teacher, but I guess you can call her Ashley. But yeah, she doesn't just teach Nordic History, she... Carlos?"
Carlos seemed very preocupied as he stared out the window, his eyes fixed on one girl walking slowly by the window.
"It seems like your friend has some of your same qualities," Ashley smirked as she rose from her desk and flipped through her notebook slowly, "Are you ready to continue?" she asked, seemingly unfased that she was in the presence of a student that wasn't the Slayer.
"Carlos?" Rhett grabbed Carlos' shoulder and turned him slightly, but Carlos kept his eyes focused on the window until the girl was gone, which finally snapped him out of his daydream.
"Wha?"
"This is Ashley, my 'Watcher'."
"Its nice to meet you, I understand that you're a Wiccan," said Ashley cordially. "Please feel free to read the books on the lowest shelf of that bookshelf," Ashley said as she slowly pushed Rhett away from his shell shocked friend. Carlos turned towards the bookshelf Ashley had indicated, and his eyes lit up. Without a word, he pulled one off the shelf and began reading with more enthusiasm than Rhett had ever seen him display.
"Okay, that was wierd..." Rhett thought as he turned away from Carlos and started to study the notes that Ashley had taken the night before.

***

"As your Watcher, I must urgently protest this decision," said Ashley, repeating herself for the thousandth time. Or at least it seemed like the thousandth time to Rhett, who just rolled his eyes at the young woman.
"Well I 'urgently protested' to lugging this stupid thing around, but you didn't budge on that," retorted Rhett, lifting up a large broadsword to emphasize his point. "Besides, with this thing slowing me down, I'll need all the help I can get."
Ashley sniffed piously. "My notes indicated that you would profit from training in more weapons than your stake. Besides," she added, a smirk playing on her lips, "Slowing you down isn't really a problem."
Rhett's eyes widened.
"Hey! It's not my fault that it's so hard to pull a stake out from my pocket! Why don't you try it sometime, huh?"
Ashley allowed herself to smirk for a moment, but then her face returned to its usual state, a picture of businesslike apathy.
"Regardless of your dislike for even the slightest change in your armory, I feel that my case stands. It is not wise to bring a citizen along while you put your very life in danger!"
Carlos looked up from the stake in his hand for the first time since Rhett had handed it to him.
"Um, sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but isn't it more convenient for me to use magic or something?" he asked, holding up the stake. "I can't really use this thing."
Ashley shook her head. "I'm sorry, but no. We cannot rely on your magic, especially after that fiasco with the barrier last time."
Carlos sighed, while Rhett stared miserably at his sword.
"I don't know what went wrong!" complained Carlos, "I've used that spell a thousand times. Well, maybe only like seven, but still. It always works on people..." He looked dejectedly at the ground. Suddenly, an idea went off in his mind, and he looked up at Ashley with excitement.
"Hey, maybe you know what was wrong with the spell! Do you know why a Victus Tutamen spell would go wrong like that?"
Ashley's eyebrows raised in surprise for just a second, and her already pale complexion seemed to go a shade lighter.
"No..." she said calmly, her voice steady and thoughtful. "I can't think of why that wouldn't work." She looked down, then looked back to Carlos. "But that is exactly why we cannot rely on your magic."
Suddenly, the sound of a twig snapping echoed across the graveyard, sounding marginally louder than it really had been. Everyone snapped to attention, looking around cautiously.
"Game faces on, people," said Rhett, holding up his sword.
Ashley stepped back, pulling out her notebook and pen. Carlos' eyebrows furrowed as he gripped the stake tightly in his hand, waiting for anything to jump out at him.
Rhett looked over at Carlos' serious expression and smirked.
"Aw, come on Carlos! Put a smile on!"
Carlos looked at Rhett with a disapproving glare. Ashley scribbled something down, so it would look like she understood.
"Ah, looks like dinner came to us tonight," hissed a voice.
Rhett looked at the vampire. "Yeah, we're the delivery boys, it looks like," he said. "But guess who's getting the tip!" He leapt forward, swinging his blade wildly.
Carlos snickered. "Seriously, Rhett? 'The tip?'"
"Shut up!" yelled Rhett, jabbing at the demon. The vampire dodged, only to get cut on the leg.
Carlos opened his mouth to reply, but a vampire came out of nowhere and lunged at him. Carlos blocked his body with his arms, flinging the vampire onto the ground.
"Just tell me if you need any help," said Rhett, jumping and kicking his vampire in the head.
"I've got this," said Carlos, brandishing his stake.
The vampire looked at Carlos skeptically, judging whether or not he could win this fight. Yes, he decided, he definitely could. With inhuman speed, the vampire rushed behind Carlos, grabbing his right arm and lunging for the neck...
Before the vampire could make contact with his neck, Carlos twisted around and stabbed the vampire in the neck with his stake. The vampire screamed and fell back, clutching his neck where the wooden stake had penetrated the skin. Carlos stepped towards the vampire, and the vampire scrambled to his feet, suddenly rethinking his odds of winning. The vampire turned to run, but suddenly felt immobile. He looked down frantically, only to see the ground had come up and encased his feet. With a roar, the vampire ripped his right foot out from the ground, but it was too late. Carlos punched the vampire to the ground and staked him in the heart. As the demon exploded into dust, Carlos stood up slowly, a victorious smile on his face.
Ashley clapped softly, taking notes at the same time. Rhett bounded over to Carlos, singing happily.
"Ba-da-ba-ba-ba! I'm lovin' it!"
Carlos glared.

***
A dark, mournful voice poured from the speakers, floating across a sea of violin notes and techno beats, creating a an eerie tone in the dark room, despite the flashing lights and the throng of young men and women gyrating their bodies to the pulsing beat of the music.

A tall, hooded man slowly made his way through the dancefloor, taking careful, methodic steps as he walked. He didn't say anything, or motion for anyone to move out of the way as he walked; the people all just knew that they didn't want to be in the cloaked man's way.
The man continued walking through the club, finally stopping at a booth in the back of the building. The booth was already full, with two handsome-looking men, one with wild, shaggy blonde hair, and the other with short, black hair, and two big-busted young women on either side of the blonde. The cloaked man stood ominously at the end of the table, not saying a word. Both of the men looked up instantly.
"Wow, fancy seeing you out here! Now don't go and get a life without telling us, Alec!" exclaimed the brunette with a mischievous smile.
The cloaked man didn't respond.
"Ignore Sol," said Damien. "Why are you here?"
"You," answered Alec, his voice like a dark echo, "You two are not fulfilling your duties. The hour is fast approaching, yet here you are, mingling with filthy mortals."
Sol smiled. "Aw, come on, Alec! Don't be so hard on mortals... after all, your mom is one. Or at least she was last night."
The air seemed to thicken, and Alec raised his hand quickly.
"Silence," he roared, flinging a bolt of lightning at the brunette. Sol just laughed as his body absorbed the attack, his body crackling with voltage for a moment before returning to normal. Damien rolled his eyes.
"We are fulfilling our ends of the deal, Alec," said Damien. "My army is growing. What else do you want from me?"
"To keep an eye on your army," hissed Alec. "It is definitely not growing."
Damien laughed. "Oh, really? And why is that? Are you scared of some little Slayer picking off one or two vampires a week?"
"Seventeen were slain last night. Seventeen," retorted Alec. "He is a problem. Remove it."
With that, Alec turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows.
Damien sat rigid, stunned by the news.
"Mm, I can tell you're frustrated," said Sol. "I think I'm gonna split. Go get me some candy," he said deviously, looking over at a tall blonde football player that looked completely out of his element in the club.
"You're not his type," growled Damien.
"Oh, but I am," answered Sol, his voice suddenly feminine. Where Sol had been sitting, now sat a teenage girl, no older than sixteen, with curly brown hair, long eyelashes, and an unmistakable aura of devious seduction. She giggled and stood up, making her way over to the boy.
"Ta-ta, Damien! Hope you can work everything out!"
Damian slammed his fist against the table and stormed out, leaving the two girls to wonder how they should try and put the two halves of the table together again.

***


Two dark figures sat ominously in the abnormally dark parking lot, beneath a street lamp that should have been on, but like all the rest in the parking lot, was mysteriously out. The night sky was dark and cloudy, and the two figures were illuminated only by a small candle held by the shorter figure. The slightest breeze wafted through the lot, causing the candle flame to flicker, dangerously close to being extinguished. The taller figure took in a deep breath, and all sound seemed to stop.
"Suus pectus pectoris ago diligo..."
A powerful burst of wind swept through the lot, causing the girl to shiver. The wind swirled around Gwen, lifting up her hair and giving renewed life to the flame of the candle.
"Solvo ut orbis terrarum..."
The flame burnt a deep passionate red, reaching almost eleven inches into the sky. Gwen's eyes were focused in, unblinking, her body rigid with awe and fear. Her breathing was fast, almost panicked from the rush of energy flowing through her.
"Reverto ut suus vultus verus..."
Carlos raised his hand, a dim glow from his neck shining through his shirt, illuminating the shape of a small pentacle. A second light emulated from his hand, surrounding it with a deep purple glow. The flame's light exploded with sudden intensity.
"Facio verus!"
The wind lifted Gwen off the ground for only an instant, and her eyes sparkled with magical energy and hope for just one second as the candle's flame went out with a hiss. A smile of utter bliss grew on her goth-rocker-ish face as she shakily set the candle on the ground. The wind disappeared completely, and the sound of a cricket in the distance shattered the spell of silence around the two. The street lamps flickered back to life.
He really did it, thought Gwen, as images of her secret love flooded her mind. She stood up slowly, a triumphant smile on her face. He's gonna be mine.

***
Thump.
Carlos boredly plopped down a Big Mac box onto the tray in front of him, staring absentmindedly forward as the customer came forward and took their meal. Carlos smiled unconsciously at the woman as she walked away, and continued to stand still. He had a lot on his mind. As usual.
"Shh..." a young girl giggled as she quietly crept up on the unsuspecting Carlos. With one swift move, she opened the back of his shirt and dropped an ice cube down his shirt, and Carlos let out a small yelp as his back arched out, his body seeming to freeze up entirely in the comical pose. Laughter sounded out from the front of the store, and Carlos struggled to get out the ice from his shirt. Finally, Carlos succeed in ripping his tucked in shirt from his pants, and the ice cube fell to the floor and shattered.
Carlos turned and glared at the girl, but she wasn't paying attention to him anymore, already busy readying another meal for a customer in the drive-through. A smile formed on Carlos' face, and he quickly grabbed and handful of ice.
With the stealth of a cat, he walked behind the young woman and dropped the entire hand full of ice cubes into her shirt. The girl screamed, and Carlos began to laugh hysterically as she hopped, skipped, and jumped around the front of the store.
"I knew it!"
Carlos froze instantly, a sheepish look taking over his face. Shit. Him. Carlos turned around, the guilty look replaced by a cheesy smile.
"Hey, it's Rhett!" Carlos said in a cheerful tone. His smile faltered, and he leaned in close to Rhett.
"If you ever tell anyone at school that I'm really nice, you won't ever say anything again. Got it?" Carlos whispered threateningly.
"Oh, psh. I knew you weren't always all serious. Now I know I was right when I called you a big ol' teddy bear!" Rhett laughed. Carlos frowned.

***
Gwen had never loved this place quite like she did tonight.
Club Seven had always been one of the most badass places in town. Granted, it was like the only cool place in town, but never had Gwen seen it through such rose-colored lenses. The lights had never shined so brightly, casting dazzling colors across the floor, illuminating the bright faces of loving teenage couples throughout the room. The music's pulsing beat seemed to mimic Gwen's heartbeat, accelerating slowly as she felt her excitement grow. Tonight was the night. He would come to her. He knew where she was.
She could feel it.
He could feel her.
Gwen took a sip of her drink and tried to calm herself. She didn't want to seem completely tense when he got there, and even worse, she definitely didn't want to look flustered in front of her friends. Definitely not cool. She set her Coke down and scanned the room, feigning indifference, like she was just searching for anyone worth knowing.
Then she felt it.
A hand gripped Gwen's shoulder, and she froze.
"Gwen," he whispered.
It took all of Gwen's self-restraint to keep herself from blushing. Or turning around and throwing her arms around the boy behind her. Or fall off her chair, even. Gwen was psyched, to say the least.
The hand on her shoulder slowly trailed down her arm, and then he took her hand, turning her towards him.
"You came," smiled Gwen, looking up at Adrian's face.
"Of course I did," he said, staring lovingly into her eyes. "Nothing can ever keep us apart."
Gwen's mouth couldn't even form words.
"Dance with me?" he asked. He didn't wait for a reply, just gently pulled her off the chair and led her to the dancefloor. Gwen knew she was beaming - her cheeks were almost hurting from smiling - but she couldn't stop herself. Everything had turned out so perfectly. Adrian took her into his arms, enveloping her into his body. She felt somewhat conscious, noticing that Adrian's heart wasn't beating as wildly as hers, his skin wasn't burning with intense passion like hers was. But it didn't matter, she was here, in his arms. Time seemed to stop.
"Um, excuse me? May I have this dance?"
Gwen's head snapped up, her dreamworld shattered. Time was going again, and some boy was smartly tapping Adrian on the shoulder.
"You and I, we have some things to discuss," said the boy to Adrian. "Does what we had mean nothing? I can't believe you'd leave me for her."
Adrian's expression was a mixture of confusion and disgust. Gwen's was basically rage.
"Get the fuck out of here, asshole," she growled, gripping onto Adrian protectively. "He's mine."
The boy smiled pleasantly, almost infuriatingly so. "Oh, but me and him? We go way back. I'm sorry he dragged you into this."
"What is he talking about, Adrian?" asked Gwen, looking up at the beautiful teenage boy. Adrian didn't respond, just glared at the other boy.
"Okay, are we done here? You, me, outside. Now," commanded the boy, pulling Adrian away from Gwen.
"Why wait? Right here is good," retorted Adrian. Suddenly, to Gwen's horror, Adrian's face contorted hideously. His forehead seemed to ripple into a permanent scowl, and fangs replaced Adrian's usually perfect teeth. Gwen pulled back in fear, but Adrian didn't notice. He turned around and slammed his fist into Rhett's face, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Adrian!" screamed Gwen.
"This will all be over in a second, baby," assured Adrian.
"If that," said Rhett, standing up quickly and delivering a punch to Adrian's stomach. Adrian reeled back, almost running into Gwen. Gwen continued to scream, but the music drowned her out.
"It'll be, okay," soothed Adrian, gently brushing Gwen's face. Gwen flinched and stepped back again. Adrian's eyebrow's raised.
"What is it? What's wrong, baby?"
"Most people call it being a 'butterface,'" said Rhett, yanking Adrian away from Gwen and throwing him back to the floor.
"This isn't over, Slayer," hissed Adrian, standing up, "Gwen, I'll find away for us to be together! Nothing can keep us apart!"
With that, Adrian disappeared into the crowd of teenagers.
Rhett looked over at Gwen. "Are you going to be okay?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.
Gwen nodded slowly.
She hated this place.

***

"And this happened to who?"
"Gwen," answered Rhett. "It was insane. What really surprised me was that no one even seemed to notice there was a vamp and a Slayer throwing down in the middle of a dancefloor! This town..."
"Wow, that sucks..." mumbled Carlos, suddenly feeling a shred of guilt. Rhett looked over at Carlos, and noticed the strange look in his eyes.
"Why? Do you know her or something?"
Carlos shook his head. "Nah."
Rhett opened his mouth, ready to press further, but Ashley interrupted before he could confirm his doubts.
"Well, I'm glad that your ditching of your patrolling duties led to some good being done," the Watcher said primly. "I suppose I'll have to put a note in the Watcher diaries that wasting a night to frivolous dancing does indeed save lives."
Carlos and Rhett looked at each other. They could never tell if she was trying to make a joke or not.
"Now, Rhett, if we may continue in your training in the use of Indo-Eastern meditation. I've brought some of my personal collection of ionic crystals - "
Rhett groaned loudly, and Ashley stopped mid-sentence, shooting him a sharp look.
"You object?"
"This is dumb," protested Rhett. "Crystals have never helped me slay before."
Ashley rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes. Simply because you have never used something before, it is obviously going to remain useless to you for your entire life."
Rhett nodded in agreement.
"Alright," conceded Ashley, putting her glasses on. "Then I think it's time for a Nordic History pop quiz." She took a test from the desk and held it out for Rhett.
"Ah! What are you talking about?" asked Rhett, edging back from the paper in her hand like it was poison.
"Well, you are enrolled in Nordic History, so it is my responsibility to make sure you are learning the material."
Rhett's eyes widened in fear. "But this isn't really a Nordic History class! I don't know anything about the Nordics or whatever!"
Ashley smiled maliciously, and Rhett finally understood.
"As I was saying, the crystals I've brought in today should help heighten your awareness of the ether..." began Ashley, setting down the pop quiz and making her way over to the corner of the room. Rhett followed grudgingly, not listening to a word she was saying.
Carlos chuckled at Rhett's misfortune, but he was actually grateful that Ashley had chosen to hold another mediation session today. Besides Ashley's occasion beratement of Rhett's inability to concentrate, it left the room quiet.
Carlos pulled out a Latin-to-English dictionary from his backpack, then took a few books on barrier spells from the shelves.
He was going to figure this out.

***

Something bumped into her, and Gwen froze instantly. It took her three seconds to realize that it had just been another student hurrying down the hallway that had bumped into her; it took another twelve seconds for her to slow her breathing back to normal.
Last night had been the most horrifying night of Gwen's life, and all day she had been on edge. Her fight or flight instinct had been on overdrive, and more often than not, she felt like going into "fight" mode. It occurred to her that, just maybe, coming to school hadn't been such a good idea today. But at the same time, she really didn't think some guy, some guy whose face looked like an angry bulldog, was worth her attendance record.
Except that she could still feel him.
It took another five seconds to get her breathing down again.
It wasn't the end of the world, Gwen rationalized. There had been guys before Adrian, and there would always be guys after. Her mind wandered Justin, and for the first time all day, a hint of a smile grew on her face. He was really nice, and he seemed to be interested in her. If she hadn't been so focused on Adrian, she would have liked to date him.
Gwen smiled. Yup, Justin was the guy. A confident stride took over Gwen's step, and she was even able to shove the eerie feeling of her connection to Adrian into the back of her mind. Finally Gwen arrived at her locker, and her heart swelled at the sight of a rose taped to the door of her locker, and a post-it that had her name simply scrawled on it. She pulled the rose off, and from the way it looked, Gwen could tell that it had probably been taped on sometime the night before. But a slightly wilted flower was definitely better than nothing.
With a happy sigh, Gwen sniffed the rose while she opened her locker. This definitely had to be Justin's work, right? She put the rose in her pocket and twirled the combination lock, and it popped open. Gwen took off the lock and opened her locker door.
drip.
Gwen's breath caught in her throat.
drip.
A piece of string had been attached to the roof of Gwen's locker, and the other end of the string was tied around a fairly large fishing hook.
drip.
Beneath the string, an index card sat, slowly becoming saturated with a dark burgundy color. In different handwriting than had been on the post-it, a message said "Would he have given you his heart?"
drip.
Jabbed onto the hook, a bloody organ sat suspended in the center of Gwen's locker, slowly dripping blood down into her locker. A human heart.
Gwen didn't scream. She closed her eyes and slammed her locker shut.
Fuck this shit.

***

"Now, envisioning your verdant chakra, inhale deeply. Try to think of the air as a more than just oxygen, but as a life source, the energy that sustains all things..." said Ashley hypnotically, holding a crystal steadily in her outstretched palm.
Rhett took in a deep breath. And sneezed.
Ashley frowned. "Really, Rhett?"
Rhett looked indignantly at the Watcher. "Well, excuse me. Do you ever dust this place?"
"That's really not the point," said Ashley. "You should be able to control yourself enough to avoid breaking the meditation. And we already covered the physical chakra anyways - your physical needs should not be interrupting at this point. Have you been listening to any of my instructions?"
"What does chakra have to do with a freakin' sneeze?" complained Rhett. "I still think this is really - "
The door slammed open, and instinctively Rhett stood up, positioned to fight even before the door hit the wall. His posture instantly relaxed as he saw Gwen walk in.
"Gwen? What are you -?"
Gwen stormed up to Rhett, her eyes blazing with fury. "What the hell is going on?"
Rhett stammered, trying to find an answer, but he was too taken aback to say anything.
"First! First I go on a stupid date and you interrupt it. What the fuck is that, hitting on my boyfriend? Are you gay or something? And then you start fighting him and then he leaves and now I've been freaking out all day to find THIS!" she ranted, her voice getting louder and louder with every syllable.
"Calm down," said Rhett, trying to ease her into sitting at a desk. Gwen didn't budge. "What did you find?"
"A heart! A fucking human heart in my locker! What the fuck is going on?"
Rhett shot a look at Ashley, but she was already at her desk, calling in the police to inform them of Gwen's little surprise.
"Do you know whose heart it was?" asked Carlos, setting down his book and walked over.
Gwen whipped around furiously. "YOU!" she screamed, lunging at Carlos. She delivered a sharp kick to Carlos' shin that sat him back down in his desk. "This is all your fault!"
Ignoring the pain in his shin, Carlos glared apprehensively at the small girl. "My fault? How is this my fault? I didn't know you were jonesing for a total psycho!"
"Your spell probably caused it!" yelled Gwen, kicking his shin again.
"Spell?" asked Rhett, raising his eyebrow.
"It wasn't a big deal! She just paid me to perform a love spell on her!" exclaimed Carlos, holding his shin.
"It made him insane! He ripped out Justin's heart!"
"What were you thinking, Carlos?" asked Rhett, stepping in between Gwen and Carlos before she could draw blood. "A love spell to make a vampire stalk her? Smooth move."
"I didn't know!" protested Carlos. "She's the one who should know about her secret love being a blood-sucking fiend!"
"What the fuck? Vampire?"

***
Gwen gently closed the door behind her, careful not to wake her parents. They were stressed enough after today's events - nowhere near as shaken as Gwen was, but whatever. Old people needed their sleep.
She stepped out onto the porch, instantly wishing she had put on a jacket before she'd left. Winter was moving in, and it was getting way too cold to wear short sleeves anymore. But what had she worn? Short sleeves, of course.
Nonetheless, the crisp autumn air felt good on her skin, filled her with refreshing clarity as she inhaled the cold air. And she definitely needed clarity at this point - as if the whole heart ordeal wasn't bad enough in itself, she'd been pulled out of school and questioned by the police for hours concerning her relationship with Justin, how she'd found the heart, and they'd even thrown in an extra hour for Gwen to speak to a psychologist about "how she felt" about finding Justin's heart in her locker. How the fuck did they think she felt? She still didn't know what to make of Rhett and Carlos either. They were strange kids, and she hadn't known that they knew each other - it made everything seem so much more suspicious, especially their claims that vampires were real. She just didn't know what to believe.
Shaking her head to clear it of all the cluttered thoughts, Gwen walked off into the night, taking in more of the cold air and welcoming the clarity that followed.
"Did you get my gift, baby?"
Gwen stopped, trying not to let the fear freeze her veins.
"What do you want from me?" she hissed.
Adrian stepped out from the shadows and took Gwen's hand. "I want you, Gwen. Forever. Isn't that what love is?"
Gwen glared daggers at his hand as he touched her. "Love sure as hell isn't ripping out people's hearts. At least not in the realm of the sane."
Adrian smiled deviously. "Love makes us all crazy, babe."
"God, and people wonder why I don't date," groaned Rhett, appearing out of nowhere and yanking Adrian's hand away from Gwen. Adrian just smiled.
"Somehow I imagined you'd be here," he said. "You're always in the way. And you know I won't let anyone stand between me and my love for Gwen."
"Get me out of the way, then," challenged Rhett, holding his arms out. "Let's see what you've got."
Adrian laughed and lunged at the Slayer, tackling the boy to the ground. Rhett grunted as he was slammed into the ground, but he quickly kicked Adrian off of him.
"Not good enough," said Rhett, standing up. A blow from behind almost knocked Rhett face-forward, but he managed to maintain balance.
"Mm, did I not mention that I brought my friends?" asked Adrian.
Rhett looked around nervously. Surrounding Gwen, Rhett, and Adrian were about twelve vampires, all vaguely familiar beneath their contorted facial features.
"What the hell is this? Is the entire JV soccer team vamped?" asked Rhett, "Great. There's not gonna be a single player on varsity next year. Way to show team spirit."
"You can't face us all, Slayer," mocked Adrian, advancing on the boy.
"Funny thing," announced a voice from behind Adrian. Adrian turned around, only to see one of his comrades burst into flames. Carlos stepped through the ashes, standing where the vampire once had.
"He doesn't have to," came another voice. Adrian turned to face it, seeing a young woman with long black hair standing behind one of his vampire comrades, holding both of the vamp's arms behind his back painfully.
"Um, excuse me?" said Rhett, causing Adrian to turn back to him. Rhett held out his stake, a taunting smile on his face. "Now may I have this dance?"

***
"Haha! Dude, that was so intense!" laughed Rhett, walking down the hallways of Sandia High School. "The looks on their faces! They so knew that they were screwed! That was so much fun."
"Yeah, maybe for you," groaned Carlos, walking next to Rhett. "You heal like Wolverine or something." Carlos gently touched his black eye and winced, then winced from the pain that wincing had caused in his sore muscles.
Rhett shrugged. "I'm sure I've got a bruise somewhere."
"Whatever. I hate you," sighed Carlos, opening the door to Ashley's classroom.
"Hey, if it isn't the Watcher! Did you enjoy watching the fight last night?" asked Rhett jokingly as he sat down.
Ashley sniffed. "I am not imbued with the ancestral strength to fight the forces of darkness," she answered. "I make no apologies."
Carlos became quiet and sat close to the bookshelf, distancing himself from Ashley's desk. Rhett shot him a questioning look, but Carlos had already pulled out a book and begun reading.
The door creaked open, and Ashley quickly scrambled to hide the broadsword she's been getting out back underneath her desk, and Carlos quickly closed the book he was reading and leaned over the cover.
"So this is like the headquarters?" asked Gwen, walking in and closing the door behind her. Ashley sighed in relief and stopped her failed attempt to hide the metallic weapon.
"Gwen? What are you doing here now? Did you seduce another vampire?" asked Rhett.
Gwen shook her head. "Nah."
All three faces looked at her questioningly.
"Well, I just came to train or whatever it is that you guys do in here. You know, curb the forces of evil!" she said, thrusting her fist into the air.
Silence.
"Um, well, not that I'm sure you couldn't do it, but," began Rhett.
"What?" demanded Gwen.
"Well, it's just that you're not really a Slayer or a witch or anything, so there's not much you can do here," explained Rhett nervously.
"Oh, what-ever," said Gwen, rolling her eyes. "There's plenty I can do. I can swing a sword. I can jab some wood into a vamp. Do you honestly think that after finding out that all the horror movies specials are real, I'm gonna just go home every night and watch tv? Hell no. I'm gonna fight evil, and whether you train me or I go out by myself and die because you wouldn't help me, I'm going to do it. Got it?"
Rhett gulped. Carlos coughed and resumed reading his book. Ashley sighed.
"Well, I guess we better get you enrolled in Nordic History."

***