Evil, Thou Art My Friend

By: Obscurus Lupa

A/N: This was another extremely good plot suggestion by my good friend Otoniel Fernandez, so if you must flame, don't flame the plot or title, flame the format or spelling errors. Or better yet, try to not flame. This takes place during "Blame It On The Haim" in the second season, so anything after that that happened is irrelevant. Please forgive any spelling errors, I try my best to proof read my stories. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own BWOC or any of the actors or actresses. I don't own "I Feel The Earth Move" or any other Carole King songs. Anything in this fic that is not a new character or plot is most likely something that doesn't belong to me. The new character is named after his creator, Otoniel, and belongs to him and only him. Please don't steal him and ask before using him. Thanks!
Things You Should Know: As with all of the fics I make in this format, almost (mostly things that aren't signs, numbers, newspaper clippings, etc.) everything in bold is Tommy's thoughts.

Chapter One: Changes

Merton leaned against a tombstone, breathing heavily. Tommy and Lori were also in the graveyard, catching their breath as well from their recent fight with Corey Haim. "I can't believe Haim got away!" Lori suddenly burst out in anger, kicking a random tombstone with a gargoyle on it. Merton sighed and got up from his spot on the tombstone. "Well, if Haim got away, we might as well take all precautions to make sure he doesn't wreak havoc. I'm going to the lair to make sure I have garlic secure on every window!" Tommy raised a paw. "Um, didn't you say that vampires can't go into a house unless you invite them?" Merton nodded his head. "True, but you can never be too careful," he told them, "I suggest you guys head home, and tomorrow we can look for Haim some more." Lori sighed. "But he could be doing things to people right now!" she yelled out angrily, punching a fist into the palm of her hand. "Well, as long as dawn is coming, he's not going to be doing anything until it's darker. I don't think it's dark enough outside. As far as I can tell, he's resting peacefully in a coffin somewhere," Merton explained, "Now let's go home. I can think of a plan overnight hopefully . . . If not, I can always cower." Lori sighed. "Fine," she said, kicking the same tombstone with the gargoyle on it as she had before, "Let's go." Tommy and Lori headed towards their homes, and Merton went the other way, his home being in the other side of town.

As Merton walked, he looked about at the dark houses. Most of them were empty, only a few lights glowing inside to indicate a night light a small child had in their room. A light breeze blew, making Merton shiver and walk faster. He walked by a lamp post, which was shining brightly, his face illuminated in the light. He continued to walk past the little white houses for a while, rubbing his hands together to help keep them warm. After a few minutes, Merton heard a crackle, then paused, turning around. He was looking straight at an empty sidewalk, a few dark trees sending eerie shapes onto the pavement. A stray leaf blew by, but that was the only movement Merton could see. He shrugged his shoulders, turning around.
His eyes went wide and he gasped upon seeing the figure in front of him. "Listen, um, I can explain everything!" Merton said, his voice higher than normal. The figure only smiled, grabbing Merton by the arm and throwing him to the ground. Merton backed up, trying to get away, but the figure jumped on top of him, opening his mouth to reveal sharp fangs. The Goth gasped and tried once more to escape, but the figure closed in on him. He yelled out in pain as the figure's fangs sank into his neck, the figure tasting his blood along with it. It was horrible. He just wanted to die then, get it over with. The figure removed his fangs from Merton's neck, getting up and wiping his mouth. Merton lay there on the ground, breathing heavily. He winced in pain again just before falling into darkness.

Merton opened his eyes. It was still dark around him outside, and no one was around. He slowly sat up, feeling his neck. Two identical holes. His eyes went wide. "I-- I'm a," Merton paused, the realization hitting hard, "vampire." He stood up, pacing around and breathing heavily. "Okay, Merton, calm down. You can fix this. Tell Tommy and Lori and they'll-- No, I can't tell them! This is bad, this is very, very bad!" Merton continued pacing, then suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Okay, I can't tell Tommy or Lori, because the results can't be good, and soon I'll be turning and-- I can do this, I can figure out how to be back to normal on my own." Merton took in a deep breath. "Just act normally, no one will suspect a thing . . . " He took another deep breath, then walked away.

"Hey, Lori, what's up?" Tommy asked Lori at school the next day, opening up his locker. "Nothing much," Lori replied, "I looked on the news to make sure Haim didn't do anything, and so far nothing's happened yet. Where's Merton?" Tommy furrowed his brows, taking out an old gym sock from his locker, then stuffing it into his backpack. "I don't know, I haven't seen him since last night." "Hey, Tommy; hey, Lori," Merton said from behind them. They turned around. Tommy smiled. "Hey, buddy, got anything on where to find Corey?" Merton shook his head, opening his locker. He took out a pair of sunglasses, putting them on. Lori stifled a laugh. "Um, Merton? What's with the shades?" Merton raised an eyebrow and looked at Lori. "So the light's a little bright," he said calmly, taking out his coffin backpack and stuffing some books and pencils inside. Tommy furrowed his brows, then quickly smiled, looking as if realization had just hit. "Oh, I get it," he said, punching Merton playfully on the arm, "It's the whole stay pale and gothic thing, right?" Merton laughed nervously. "Yeah, heh heh, I've got to stay loyal to the gothic tradition!" Merton punched Tommy playfully on the arm. "Ow!" Tommy rubbed his shoulder where Merton had hit him. "Jeez, Merton, have you been working out or something?" Merton backed up nervously. "Um, no, heh heh, guess it's just the old Dingle strength. Heh heh . . . " With that, Merton quickly grabbed his backpack and ran down the hall.
As the day wore on, Merton found it harder to concentrate on his classes. The teachers had insisted that he take his sunglasses off, and the light was extremely bright in his eyes. As he headed towards lunch, things got even stranger. He set his things into his locker, rubbing his eyes. When he turned around, three girls were standing beside him, looking as if in a trance. "Uh, heh heh," Merton clasped his hands together, backing up into his locker, "If you want my lunch money today, I honestly don't have much!" The girls continued to stare at him, cocking their heads. Merton gave them a weird look, then smiled nervously, backing away. "Okay," Merton said in a rather high pitched voice, "It was nice chatting with you ladies, but I've got to go. Bye!" He smiled nervously and waved his hand, then the girls' heads followed his hand. He paused with his hand in the air, the girls were still staring at it. He moved it to the right, and the girls heads went to the right. He moved it to the left. The girls heads went left. "Okay . . . Oh crud!" Merton cleared his throat. "Okay, listen carefully, I want you to forget about me and go back to your own business, understand?" The girls nodded their heads, then walked away. Merton sighed, leaning against his locker again. "This whole vampire thing is really going downhill . . . "

Merton sat in the lair, rubbing his temples and concentrating on what he was going to do. There was a knock on the door and he jumped, looking up. "Come in," he said quietly, looking back down at his desk. Tommy and Lori stepped in, both grinning for no particular reason. "'Sup, Merton?" Tommy asked cheerfully, picking up the skull from Merton's desk and throwing it up and down. "Heh heh, hands off the cranium," Merton said, grabbing the skull and setting it back down to it's original place, "And nothing much. Still been looking for Corey, but nothing so far." Tommy shrugged his shoulders and picked up the skull again, throwing it into the air. "Tommy," Merton said angrily, "Don't throw that a-- Ah!" Merton yelled out in pain, clasping one hand to his mouth and breathing heavily. "Merton, are you okay?" Lori asked with concern, furrowing her brows and stepping closer. Merton backed away, putting one finger up. "I-I've got to go!" With that, Merton ran out of the house, going much faster than normal.

Merton ran through the dark streets, feeling fangs beginning to form. In his anger towards Tommy, he must have done some sort of vampire "wolf out". Why it was so painful, he didn't know. There was million things going through his mind, most unanswered questions. Why was this happening to him? Was it going to last? How was he going to survive? He continued to run, feeling thirst come to him-- thirst for blood. He couldn't bite someone, or he'd turn them into a vampire as well. There was only one thing left to do-- kill them. As much as he hated it, he would have to in order to survive. Just as he was thinking of this, he saw a young girl, about fourteen with red hair wearing sunglasses, jeans, and a black leather jacket, walking down the street. He licked his fangs, then slowly glided towards her, making sure he was quiet so she wouldn't hear him coming.
The girl bobbed her head to some music, some headphones gently placed on her ears. The music was playing loudly, at least to Merton, whose hearing was especially sensitive now. She chewed some gum as she listened, walking along down the street, oblivious to the fact that she was being followed. Merton flew up behind her, baring his fangs. He slowly came to the back of her neck, breathing onto her. She furrowed her brows, taking the headphones off and turning around. She screamed then tried to run away, only tripping over her own feet. Merton smiled. "Hey, hope you don't mind, but I'll be eating you tonight." Merton paused, then added, "Nothing personal, vampire's got to eat you know." Then Merton smiled again, swooping down onto the girl, grabbing onto her neck, and twisting until he heard a crack and her neck broke. The girl's sunglasses fell to the ground, and Merton sank his fangs into her neck, tasting the blood. He continued to suck in the blood, feeling strength come back to him. He felt sorry for the girl, he had never wanted to kill her, but he couldn't create more vampires and he needed to drink blood in order to survive. He knew one thing: Now that he had fed, he couldn't go back to school, or he'd bite or kill someone there-- or worse, he could put his friends into a lot of danger. Plus now that he was changing more, the light was too much. He'd have to hide in someplace similar to a coffin, at least until the night came and he could feast. He loosened his fangs from the girl's neck and stood up, licking the blood from his lips. "Well, good bye cruel world of the living," Merton uttered before stepping over the girl and gliding away into the darkness.

So Merton had been weird at the lair. Lori and I went to look for him, but didn't find him. It was morning now, and we were both tired, so we had given up on the search. We went to school and Merton hadn't showed up, and that got us really worried. I had to go to one other person-- my brother. I could always count on his advice . . .

Tommy stepped into his house, shaking his head. His brother Dean was seated on the couch once more, stuffing potato chips into his mouth. Tommy sat down and sighed. "Dean, I've got a problem," he said, looking at his older brother. Dean muted the television, turning to face him. "Shoot, lil' bro," he said, one eye starting to drift towards the television. "Well," Tommy began, "I was at my friends house, right, and then he suddenly ran outside, and he was like in pain or something, and he never showed up at school. I think something's wrong with him. What should I do?" Dean paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and grabbing a chip, stuffing that into his mouth and chewing it with his mouth open. "Well, it seems to me that you need to confront your friend when you think something's wrong, just like on A Goofy Movie." Tommy furrowed his brow. "What happened in that movie?" "Well, Max hated his dad, and he told him what he thought. Then they had a fight throughout the whole movie . . . " Dean said slowly, eyeing the television. "How did they resolve it?" Tommy asked curiously, sitting up straighter. "Don't know," his brother said, turning the chair back around, "There was and S Club Seven marathon and I changed the channel." Tommy sighed. "Whoa! Mom's on!" Dean said, changing the subject. He turned the sound back on and Sally Dawkins came on screen.
"And tonight," Sally began in a professional tone, "It seems we have a so called vampire in our midst. A young girl, miss Julia Barns, was found dead this morning on Hertz Street, found drained of her blood with two fatal puncture wounds to the neck. She had been missing after running away, but now police suspect she was kidnapped, killed by a cult or gang. In fact, police are led to suspect that the group will kidnap someone before killing them in a "ritual". Police believe that one Merton Dingle," A picture of Merton wearing black robes and a goofy smile flashed on screen, "Who disappeared the same night of Barns' murder, is the next to be killed. More on this story later tonight . . . " Tommy's eyes went wide. "Listen, Dean, I'm going to a friends house," Tommy said, getting up and walking towards the door. "No prob, bro," Dean said, flipping the channel to Dexter's Laboratory. Tommy opened the oak door and ran out into the night, slamming the door behind him.

"What?!" Lori yelled into the phone, sitting up in bed. "Yeah," Tommy said on the other line from a pay phone at the Factory, "The girl was dead and Merton disappeared! I'm going to look around town and see if I can find him before it's too late." "Wait, Tommy, I-- Tommy!" Lori yelled at the phone. It was too late. Tommy had hung up. Lori slammed the phone down. "Merton was at the park the same night that the girl was killed by a vamp and--" she paused, considering the possibilities, "Oh no-- That can't be-- Merton can't be a-- Merton's a vampire! Tommy!" Lori quickly ran out her door in search of Tommy, hoping to find him before Merton did.

Chapter Two: Tommy's Fatal Mistake

Merton flew through the cold night air, wind whipping through his face. He wrapped his black trench coat around him, even though he didn't mind the cold so much now. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses, though why he was wearing them at night was a mystery. He saw a boy with messy dark brown hair and light blue eyes walk on the other side of the street. Merton saw his chance and felt his fangs form. He glided over stealthily and soundlessly.
Quickly flying behind the boy, Merton bared his fangs. The boy turned around and screamed. He was frozen in fear, petrified at seeing the "Pleasantville vampire". Merton crossed his arms, floating a foot from the ground. "Now come on, I'm not that scary, am I?" Merton asked. The boy stood with his mouth open in fear, then shook his head. "Good, then we won't get many screams . . . " Merton took out a knife and brought it down upon the boy, and the boy fell to the ground, eyes still opened in fear. He flew at the boy, then grabbed his neck, sinking his teeth into his skin.

Tommy ran through the streets, looking for any sign of his friend. "Merton? Yo, Merton! There's these vampire dudes out!" Tommy stopped dead in his tracks. There was a vampire holding onto a boy and sucking his blood. Without thinking, Tommy wolfed out and growled, running at full speed towards the villain. He quickly grabbed onto the vampire's neck, pulling him off the boy. The vampire turned around and Tommy gasped. It was Merton . . .

Tommy was about to say something to his friend when Merton, being disoriented, grabbed Tommy, sinking his fangs into his neck. Tommy yelled out in pain, trying to push Merton away but being unsuccessful. He could feel the blood being drained from him, his vision blurring. "Merton! Merton, it's me Tommy!" Merton removed his teeth from Tommy's neck, letting him go. Tommy fell back onto the pavement, his vision blurred and his eyes halfway closed. His breathing became ragged and short. Merton's eyes went wide, and he put his hands on Tommy's shoulders, shaking him. "Tommy! Tommy! Wake up! No! Don't die, you can do this!" Merton yelled, shaking Tommy some more. "Merton," Tommy struggled to say, "What-- What happened?" Merton shook his head. "I-- I don't know . . . Tommy, stay with me here!" Tommy coughed, some blood coming from his mouth. "Tommy, Tommy, no! No no no, stay awake, don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes! No!" As Merton was saying this, Tommy slowly closed his eyes. "Tommy, wake up, man, wake up!" Merton shook Tommy's shoulders, and Tommy opened his eyes. He smiled at Merton. "See you around, buddy," Tommy whispered, still smiling. Then his head rolled to the side, his eyes wide and the smile fading from his lips. "No, Tommy, no!" Merton yelled out, shaking Tommy's shoulders. Merton looked to the ground, a tear beginning to form. "No . . . " He looked at his friend, lying there motionless. "What have I done?" Merton asked himself, looking at his friend lying dead in front of him. There was a short pause as he wiped a tear away. "See you around, buddy," Merton whispered. Then he took one last look at Tommy's eyes before gently placing his hands on the lids and closing them, his friend now laying in his final position.

Merton walked slowly down the street, tears rolling down his cheeks. He had killed his best friend. Because of him turning into a vampire, his friend was dead. "Stupid vampires, stupid Tommy for coming, stupid me!" Merton yelled angrily, punching his fist into a pole and making a fist shaped dent. "Why couldn't he have just minded his own business?!" Merton yelled out to no one, kicking a trash can and sending it flying through the air. He paused, then looked angry again. "This is Lori's fault! If she'd have just been there with me, then I would have never been bitten! Stupid Lori, stupid Tommy, stupid world!" Merton kicked a bench, breaking it in half. He then sat on the ground, crying in huge sobs into his hands. "Tommy, I'm so sorry . . . " Merton sobbed, shaking his head. "Hey!" Merton quickly got up, flying into the air. He turned around and Lori was standing there, hands balled into fists.
"Lori!" Lori glared at him. "You were the vampire all along! Why didn't you tell us?" Lori yelled, putting her fists up. "Lori, calm down, I can explai--" "No!" Lori interrupted, "I'm just glad Tommy didn't get to you before I did! What, are you going to kill us now too?!" Merton put a hand to his mouth, then furrowed his brows, landing back on the ground and sitting down on the pavement. "Lori," Merton sighed, "Tommy's-- I met up with him and I was feeding and . . . " Merton trailed off, wiping a tear away. "What?!" Lori yelled out angrily, "You didn't hurt him, did you?!" "I-- I--" Merton began to say. Before Merton could say anything more, there was a voice from behind them. "Lori, I'm fine." Merton and Lori spun around to find Tommy standing there, still wolfed out. Merton smiled and flew into the air, showing his fangs. "Tommy!" Merton flew at Tommy, hugging him. "Tommy, yes! You're alive!" "What?" Lori asked, "What do you mean, he's alive?" "Lori," Tommy said, pushing Merton off of him, "I need to talk to Merton," He paused, and Lori just stood there, "Alone." "But--" "Lori, please, I just need to talk to him in private. Go home, I'll catch you tomorrow." Lori glared at Merton, then reluctantly walked away, clenching her fists.
"Whew!" Merton sighed a breath of relief, wiping his forehead, "Thanks, Tommy, you know cause--" Tommy looked angry and punched Merton in the face, sending him flying back. "What was that for?!" Merton yelled in shock, flying back over to Tommy. "Well, for one thing that's for killing me, and another for making me more of a freak than I already am!" Merton's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean, more of a freak?" Tommy's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth, revealing his fangs, which were much longer than before. "You think these are just my wolfy fangs?" Tommy yelled angrily, "You killed me and now I'm some sort of-- some sort of werevamp!" Merton laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, in my defense, you jumped me while I was feeding! And I was very hungry you know! I didn't mean to kill you!" Tommy looked angry. "So you killed some other innocent dude?" he yelled angrily, floating into the air. "Hey, I had to kill him or I'd die! Now that I'm a vampire it's not exactly easy to find blood floating around! Now come on, we can hunt someone together, you and me. It'll be fun!" "No!" Tommy yelled, anger still clearly etched onto his face, "I'm not killing innocent people! I'm still good, Merton, and I just can't kill someone." Merton sighed. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you . . . " With that, Merton flew off into the distance, disappearing into the dark night.

Merton looked from left to right, then quickly pounced into some bushes in the woods. He grabbed a rabbit, killing it, and slowly sucking it's blood. It was disgusting, but enough to strengthen him. He was thinking deeply about the current situation he was in. Tommy now hated him, since he had bitten him, turning him into a vampire, not to mention Lori was ticked because Merton was a vampire in the first place. He sighed. This was going to be a very, very long night . . .

Merton sat in the lair the next night, holding a magazine. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff . . . " Merton smiled, looking at the magazine, a picture of a woman in a bikini on the front of it. There was a knock on the door, and he quickly hid the magazine. "Who is it?" "It's me Tommy," Tommy said outside, his voice muffled from the door. There was a pause. "Merton, you have to invite me in or I can't come inside. Vampires, remember?" "Oh yeah!" Merton said, "Come in." Tommy opened the door and stepped inside. "I've been thinking," Tommy said quietly, "And maybe being a werevamp isn't so bad. And I wanted to say that I was sorry for hitting you." "It's all right, Tommy," Merton said, "You had every right to hit me and I shouldn't have . . . erm . . . killed you." Tommy sighed. "Well, glad that's over with. So, um . . . Can you vampires really turn into bats?" Merton smiled. "Yeah, it's really cool! Watch this," Merton said. He shook his hands, then slowly began to change form, then became a black bat. He quickly changed back, still floating in the air and smiling. "Cool!" Tommy said, smiling. "So, do you want to go hunting now? Hunger's kind of getting to me . . . " Merton said. Tommy shook his head. "No, Merton, I already told you that I can't kill innocent people." Merton shook his head. "You sure? Cause--" "No, Merton, go do some killing without me," Tommy told him, his face determined. Merton shook his head again and flew out the door.

Once again, Merton found himself in the lair alone. He stared blankly at the wall, deep in thought. Well, more of he was staring at a picture of Sarah Michelle Gellar, but he was still thinking about certain things nonetheless. As he pondered about unknown things, there came a knock on the door, and Tommy stepped inside. "Hey, Merton," Tommy said, sounding tired, "I came to ask you something . . . " Merton stopped staring at the wall and looked at Tommy, motioning him to go on with a hand gesture. "Well, now that we're vamps and everything, what are we gonna do about Lori? And what about school and stuff?" Tommy asked, sitting on the bed. "Well," Merton began, "I don't think you've turned quite enough to be sensitive to light, but I wouldn't take the chance of going out for school. Basically our past lives are gone now. As for the subject of Lori, I really don't know what to do about her. I guess we just avoid her, seeing as she might stake me. Plus she still doesn't know about you being a werevamp." Tommy sighed. "I just feel guilty about not telling her. She knew about me being a werewolf, and she didn't care." he paused. "So where am I supposed to go when it's light?" Merton smiled. "Well, I have some coffins here, courtesy of my Buffy obsession . . . " "Ew! Dude, that's gross!" Tommy said, making a disgusted face, "There is no way I'm going into a coffin!"

"Comfortable?" "Merton, shut up," Tommy said, laying back in the coffin, "One word about this at school, and you're dead meat." Merton shook his head, laying back in another coffin. "Tommy, don't forget that we're not going back to school. How could I tell anyone?" Tommy sighed. "Don't remind me . . . Let's just rest until tonight." "Fine, good morning," Merton said, beginning to close his coffin. "What?" Tommy asked, sitting up. "Good morning. I can't say good night because it's not night, so it's good morning." Tommy shook his head. "Good morning then," he said before closing his coffin and gently closing his eyes, falling into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Three: Feeding

That night, Merton opened his coffin, sitting up and stretching, yawning while in the process. He knocked his fist on the coffin next to his, which Tommy was occupying. "Hey, Tommy, it's night, you can come out now," Merton said, floating out of his own coffin, still in a sitting position. He gently stretched his legs out while in the air, landing on the ground, now standing. "Tommy, did you hear me?" Merton called into the coffin, "You can get up now." The other coffin remained still, and there was no sounds from inside. "Tommy?" Merton opened the coffin, to reveal Tommy still inside, looking paler than normal for a vampire.
"Tommy? You awake in there?" Tommy opened his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said weakly, sitting up, "Just a bit tired." Tommy got out of the coffin, but when his feet touched the ground, he began to fall. Merton caught him in time, setting him down on the bed. "Tommy, you're not okay. What's wrong?" Tommy shook his head. "I don't know." Merton furrowed his brows, deep in thought. "Tommy, when was the last time you drank blood?" Tommy shook his head again. "I haven't. I already told you, I'm not killing an innocent person," he said, trying to sit up. "We can't let you die," Merton said, "And you will if you don't drink any blood. We need someone-- someone that can't die. Tommy, feed off me." "What?" Tommy furrowed his brow, taken aback and Merton's sudden request, "Merton, I'm not drinking your blood! Ew!" Merton sighed. "It's not that bad," he said, "Trust me. It's either you feed off of me or you kill an innocent human."
Tommy sighed. "But--" "No buts about it. Drink from me." Merton pulled the collar of his shirt down, putting his neck into clear view. Tommy sighed once more. "Merton, I can't," Tommy said, almost whining. "Do it, Tommy! I'm already dead so it doesn't matter if you drink my blood!" Tommy looked at Merton reluctantly, Merton's face determined. "Fine," Tommy said, "But-- If you scream I'm letting go." Tommy stood up and faced Merton, then closed in on his neck. He sank his fangs into Merton's neck, and Merton tensed up, gritting his teeth. Tommy could feel the strength coming back to him as he tasted the blood in his mouth. So the two teenagers stood there, one gathering strength and the other giving his blood for his friend.
Tommy couldn't believe this was happening. Merton was willingly suffering this pain so that he could survive. Of course, it could have had something to do with him killing him in the first place, but Merton was truly sacrificing a lot. Tommy knew one thing: Merton was a good friend, a true friend, a true rarity to find, and his friendship was proven by this act of kindness to save him from dying again. And this also proved that Merton was a lot stronger now, whether it be from his vampirism or he had it all along inside of him, and he could take the pain, not making a sound and gritting his teeth.
Merton bit his lip, clenching his fists. It hurt terribly having his friend's fangs in his neck, not to mention having his blood drained. But he knew he had to do this if Tommy was to live. Tommy had been his first real friend, and remained his friend through thick and thin, no matter how weird he got. And now they had something more to share, the vampirism. If he lost Tommy, he didn't know what he would do. Probably stake himself. It wasn't that he was the suicidal type, as he seemed to be to others from his lifestyle, it was just he wouldn't be able to bear the loss of such a great friend. Lori was a great friend to him, yet she never really had such a close bond with him as Tommy did. Plus she didn't share as much with him as Tommy had. For one thing, the vampirism. Plus they had had so many adventures before that, and they had stuck together, without her help. All in all, he wanted Tommy to live, even if it meant sacrificing something from himself in order to do it.
Tommy finally let go of Merton's neck, and Merton rubbed the spot where Tommy had fed from. They stared at each other in silence, as if I silent conversation was going on through their minds, or as if they knew what the other was thinking and there was no need to speak. "Well," Tommy said after a pause, "That was kind of . . . " "Awkward?" Merton asked. "Yeah . . . " Tommy paused, lost for words, "Thanks." Merton made a dismissive sound. "No prob," he said awkwardly, still rubbing his neck, "I guess we'll have to do that for awhile . . . Unless you want to hunt." Tommy shook his head. "Merton, I can't hunt, but I can't do this all the time--" "Tommy, don't worry about it. As long as you don't die . . . again." There was a pause, then the two burst out laughing, holding their sides.

Lori paced her room, running her hands through her hair. She had called Tommy's house over and over, yet there was no answer. Finally, she decided to try Merton's, despite it being against her instincts. She dialed the number, hearing the phone ring. "Hello?" It was Becky on the other line. "Becky, is Merton there?" Lori asked, glad to know she was getting somewhere. "Yeah, but he's been sick lately and I haven't seen him much--" "Never mind, just get him on the line." "Fine . . . " There was a short pause, then Lori heard a familiar voice on the other line. "Hello?" It was Merton; she knew it. "Merton, where the heck have you been? And where's Tommy?" Lori asked angrily into the phone, gripping it somewhat tighter than usual. "Calm down, Lori, we can explain everything if--" "Merton, where's Tommy? Tell me the truth!"
Merton sighed on the other line. "He walked in on me while I was feeding and I sort of . . . bit him." "What?!" Lori screamed into the phone, fury in her voice. "But he's a good werevamp! Trust me, and we already got a way to feed him if he has the urge to go blood hunting." "And what about you?" Lori asked, suspicion in her voice this time. "Well," Merton said, "I was responsible for the murders, and I have been killing people--" "Merton!" "Lori, I had to! I can't control what the vampire does! It's too tempting!" Lori sighed angrily into the phone. "Can I at least see you guys? I haven't seen you two for days!" Merton laughed nervously into the phone. "Well, I guess, on Friday, but you might want to take cau--" "Yes! I'll see you Friday!" Lori smiled, then hung up the phone.

Lori waited in anticipation all week, barely able to sit still. She normally wasn't this happy about anything, but she was excited about finally seeing her friends after so long, even if it was only a few days. She slowly walked up to the Dingle household, knocking on the door. Merton's mother came to the door, her face mysteriously hidden behind a basket of laundry she was carrying. "Yes?" Merton's mother asked, her voice muffled. "Is Merton there?" Lori asked, smiling from ear to ear. "Sorry," Merton's mother said, "He's been missing for awhile." "Can I at least go down to his room?" "Okay," Merton's mother said awkwardly, kicking open the door with her foot, "But be careful on your way back home. The mayor's son disappeared the other day too . . . " Lori stepped inside, then quickly descended the stairs into Merton's lair.

Chapter Four: Conversing With Lori

"Okay," Merton said to Tommy, sounding like a drill instructor and pacing the room with his hands folded behind his back, "Lori's going to be coming here any minute now. We have to do a few things: A, not eat her, and B, stay totally calm." Merton took in a deep breath. "I can't do this!" he yelled, panic in his voice, "I'll kill her too and mess everything up!" Tommy put a hand on Merton's shoulder, smiling optimistically. "Don't worry," he said, "You're not going to mess it up." Merton smiled appreciatively at his friend. There was suddenly some soft footsteps on the stairs, and Lori came down, smiling from ear to ear. She ran at Tommy, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him. Tommy, taken aback by Lori's sudden outburst, flew into the air, pushing Lori's arms away from his neck. "Whoa, Lori, slow down there," Tommy said, flying back a few feet. "Tommy, are you okay?" Lori asked, stepping forward, "It's been awhile since we've seen each other!" Tommy smiled nervously, landing to the ground. "Sorry," Tommy said, "Just a little nervous around humans ever since I was . . . killed. Just afraid I might kill someone or something like that . . . "
Lori suddenly looked angry. "Listen," she said furiously, "I don't need your sympathy! I can take care of myself!" "Whoa, Lori," Tommy said, "I'm not giving you sympathy, I'm just being cautious." Lori looked unbelieving. "Fine," she said, "If you guys are so nice, how come you both are little vampire buddies?" Merton furrowed his brows. "Vampire buddies? Excuse me, but me biting Tommy was totally unintentional, not to mention he's only staying here cause I need to help him!" "Oh, so now you depend on Merton?" Lori asked Tommy, as if it was the worst thing in the world to do. "Lori--" "Fine, be little buddies, leave me out!" Lori, without waiting for Tommy to finish, pushed Tommy backwards, and he fell onto the bed in shock. "Lori, we're not leaving you ou--" "You're not what?" Lori interrupted angrily, pushing Tommy again, "Huh? Answer me, what are you not doing?" "I--I--" "Huh? What?" Tommy started breathing heavily, staring at Lori, who looked at him angrily, then he fainted, falling back on the bed.
Lori, surprised at Tommy fainting, suddenly looked concerned. "Tommy?" she asked, beginning to panic, "Merton, what's wrong with him?" Merton flew over and looked at Tommy. "Oh no, he hasn't fed . . . Lori, step back." Lori stepped back, and Merton shook Tommy's shoulders. Tommy slowly opened his eyes, taking deep breaths. "Tommy," Merton said, "You have to feed, you haven't had anything yet and you're weak . . . " Tommy nodded his head, too weak to argue. Merton leaned in and Tommy bit into his neck, drinking his blood and feeling the strength come back to him once more. Merton winced, but quickly gritted his teeth, taking the pain soundlessly.
Lori stood there in shock, mouth open. She'd never seen Tommy like this. He was Tommy; the guy that always kicked the monsters butt unscathed. And she'd never seen Merton like this before. He was in terrible pain by the looks of it, yet he still took the pain to help his friend, gritting his teeth. She felt helpless, watching the two teens in front of her helping each other as she stood and watched.
Merton pulled away and helped Tommy sit up, who was becoming stronger and more like the normal Tommy Dawkins. Lori stood there, then suddenly stepped towards them, and without thinking burst out, "Merton, bite me!" Merton's eyes went wide. "Okay, that was uncalled for--" "Merton, I'm not speaking figuratively, I want you to turn me into a vampire!" Merton backed up. "No, Lori," he said, "I can't. I already killed one of my friends, I'm not killing you too." Lori looked angry, and she turned to Tommy. "Tommy, you bite me then. I want you two to include me, and I can help you out!" Tommy shook his head. "Lori, I can't--" "Guys, why can't you just do this?!" Lori yelled angrily.
After a short pause, Merton flew into the air and landed on the bed. "This is all Haim's fault!" he yelled, hitting a fist on the bed next to him. "Haim's?" Tommy asked curiously, sitting next to him. "Yeah," Merton said, one of his eyes beginning to twitch as he remembered that fateful night, "He bit me and . . . I was walking, and he swooped in on me . . . I can still remember his smile as he jumped on me, and saw my fear . . . Then his fangs dug into me like-- like needles, and I-- I died that night, you guys! I can remember my own death!" "Merton--" Lori began. "Lori, don't try to apologize now. You guys have no idea how hard it is to know how you died, remember every agonizing second before you fell out of the living world!" Tommy flew into the air angrily. "What are you talking about, Merton?" he asked furiously, "I died too, you know! You killed me! Yes, you did! My best friend sucked my blood, and I died. And you know what? Now I can't believe I actually said good-bye." Now it was Merton's turn to be angry again. "Tommy, I've fed you and kept you alive, because I was sorry and--" "Guys!" Lori yelled out, "I can't take this any more! I'm going to find Haim and stake him myself!" Lori stormed out into the night, the door hanging open after she left.
Merton and Tommy looked at each other, then both landed to the ground. "Sorry, Tommy," Merton said. "No, it's my fault, I'm sorry," Tommy said apologetically. There was an awkward silence, then they both said together, "Sorry."

Chapter Five: A Stranger In Town

The woods lay gray and ghostly, illuminated by the small amount of light the day had left. It was almost midnight. Suddenly, a man wearing all black, a long black cape, high boots, and glasses, walked into view. He had long salt and pepper hair to the middle of his back, was about 5'8 and had a muscular build, and he had astonishing green eyes. He trudged along in the woods, talking to himself. "One hundred fifty years and I still can't find a decent human to feed off of!" the man yelled, his eyes suddenly turning white. He took a deep breath and his eyes went back to their natural green shade. "Okay, Otoniel, calm down," the man said to himself once more, "I can find a human. I can kill them, and they won't turn into vampires . . . I guess I'll have to use a female, they're easy to manipulate . . . " Otoniel continued to speak to himself, and flew into the air, gliding along the woods.
Otoniel came into a clearing, and looked out into the small town before him. "This must be Pleasantville . . . " he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Stupid Haim!" he heard someone yell, "I can't find him anywhere!" Otoniel whipped around, seeing a young woman with blonde hair and blue eyes coming down the street in anger.
Lori continued to run along the streets, finding Haim no where in sight. She sighed, knowing this was harder than she had expected. Once again, helplessness overcame her. She had never had to fight someone alone, never had to solve a problem. She had always had Tommy or Merton. Now she had only herself, and as independent as she acted, she needed her friends terribly. Sure she had always thought they could be annoying sometimes, but now she really needed them, and they weren't around. She paused, realization hitting hard. Tommy and Merton were dead. They would never come back if she didn't find Haim. And worst of all, she had to save them alone. Alone. That was one word she hated. She loved her friends, and being alone was one of her worst nightmares. Of course, she had never worried about it much because she had always had friends, but now that she was alone she knew how much she needed companionship-- love, even.
Otoniel glided down beside the woman, baring his fangs and ready for the kill. The woman suddenly turned around, pulling a stake and a cross from her pocket. Otoniel, taken aback, flew backwards, hissing at the cross. This had never happened before. Not in a century and five decades had one of his victims been prepared. "Mert-- Hey, you're not Merton!" the woman yelled angrily, gripping the stake tighter. "Of course I'm not," Otoniel said, "I am Otoniel Fernandez. Who are you and who is Merton?" The young woman gripped the stake tighter. "Why should I tell you? You're a vampire for crying out loud!" Otoniel sighed. "Are you prejudice against the living dead? Honestly, I won't feed off of you if you explain to me who you are." The teenager narrowed her eyes, and hesitantly lowered the stake and cross.
"I'm Lori Baxter. My friends were turned into vampires and I was looking for the one that bit them." Otoniel raised an eyebrow. "And Merton was one of them?" "Yeah," Lori answered, "But I can't talk any more, I have to find Haim. But you have to leave town. No one's killing anyone here . . . " Otoniel shook his head. "I'm not leaving, it's been decades since my last feed!" Otoniel's eyes turned white, and he glared at Lori. Lori charged at him with the stake, and he kicked it out of her hands, along with the cross. Then he knocked her over, and was about to feed when she kicked him off of her and jumped up, running off into the night. Otoniel stood there in shock at how agile this human was, then suddenly heard a horrible sound. There was a howl, a long, penetrating howl, as if someone --or something-- was in pain. He quickly flew off, searching for the source of the sound.

Tommy entered the woods, looking every which way. Tonight was a full moon, and that meant he'd be wolfing out soon. He only wished he knew what it would be like to be a vampire and a werewolf. He would be finding this out soon enough. The moon slowly came out, and Tommy felt a sudden pain shoot through his head. He put his hands to his head, wincing in pain. His fangs grew, with extreme pain, and he went to his knees, wincing again. As his fur began to grow, his eyes started to glow, yet it wasn't the normal shade of yellow. They were bright red. He felt another surge of pain and howled into the night. Slowly gripping a tree, he hoisted himself up, feeling himself getting weaker. This time he felt a surge of pain, but it was coursing through his whole body, as if sharp pins were prodding him. He howled loudly into the night in agony, falling to the ground.

Merton walked across the streets, searching carefully for someone who would be good prey. He walked by a bench where a couple was kissing, and snorted in disgust. Then he saw a little girl with black curly hair, about eleven. Too young. He came across a teenage girl with blonde hair and gray eyes, and nodded his head, knowing this would be the perfect prey. He was just about to glide towards her, when, having sensitive hearing now, he heard a loud howl. It was Tommy; he was sure. It sounded as if he was in pain. Remembering the full moon, he gasped. "Shoot, the transformation must have taken too much out of him!" Merton exclaimed, "I have to find him . . . " Merton looked around to make sure no one was watching, and went into the woods the fastest way he knew-- flying.

Merton entered a clearing in the woods, searching carefully. He changed into a bat, seeing as that was quicker, and flew through the air, using sonar to make his way. He could feel sound waves bouncing off of something on the ground and quickly changed back into vampire form while still flying through the air. He landed on the ground and got onto his knee, seeing Tommy laying on the ground in pain. "Merton," Tommy said, "I don't know what happened, but . . . " Merton put a finger up to silence his friend. "Never mind that, we need to have you feed. You're too weak from the transformation . . . " Tommy shook his head. "We can't keep feeding like this . . . You don't have enough blood to survive on your own. I'm fine, really . . . " Tommy tried to sit up, but became dizzy and laid back down. Merton shook his head. "Tommy, you have to . . . Please," he pleaded, afraid of losing Tommy again. Tommy sighed and sank his teeth into Merton's neck.
Tommy didn't want to feed, but knew he'd die again if he didn't. His friend's life was in danger, and he knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. He could feel his strength returning once more, and the feeding seemed to be almost over, until something happened to change things . . .
Merton once again began the routine feeding. He could tell his friend was reviving, and with just a few more minutes he'd be well enough to get up so he could take him to the lair. His friend was helpless, and he couldn't go on taking care of him without killing himself, no pun intended. He began to feel weak, and suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Merton fell to the ground, unconscious. Tommy hadn't finished feeding, and was too weak to do anything. "Merton . . . " Tommy muttered, almost incoherently. He lay there, but there was nothing he could do but hope that Merton would revive. There was some crunching sounds, and he saw two black boots step by him. He looked up and saw a figure, though he couldn't tell who it was for his vision was blurred. "Lori, is that you?" Tommy asked quietly and weakly, a slight slur to his voice. His eyes began to droop. "Well," he heard a deep voice say, "One of you two must be Merton . . . " Tommy took a deep breath, and looked the the figure a last time. The figure began to stoop over, and Tommy closed his eyes, unable to stay conscious any longer.

Chapter Six: Meeting Otoniel

Merton opened his eyes. He was laying in a bed with dark sheets, and his shirt was now missing. He sat up abruptly, hitting his head on a board. "Aw! Jeez, for crying out loud!" Merton rubbed his forehead, wincing in pain. He furrowed his brows, realizing his was in the lair. "What the?" Merton looked around him, and above him where there were many boards, "Why the heck are there boards over my bed? How did I get back here?" Merton got out of bed, looking at the boards. The boards were all nailed together, forming a bed, and Tommy was laying inside, unconscious. "What the-- ah!" Merton yelled out, seeing another vampire in there. "Well," Otoniel said, "Glad to see you're awake." Merton furrowed his brows. "Awake? How long have I been out?" Otoniel looked at the ceiling, in thought for a second, then stated, "About three days. And you should tell Lori to stop calling, she left about a million messages on your machine." "Whoa whoa whoa! Who are you and why are you in my house?" Merton asked, looking panicked. "I'm Otoniel Fernandez, and I found you two in the woods. I've been feeding you two so you can revive, and it seems you're fine now." Merton's eyes went wide. "Wait a second, how did you know where I live and how did you get in without being invited?" Merton asked, backing up.
"Well," Otoniel said, grinning, "When I found you in the woods a few nights ago, it's obvious that you two are new vampires. Or werewolf vampires. You had a card in your pocket that said where you lived and who you were, and when I knocked on the door, your sister said I could come in, thinking I was you. And I built that bed on top of your other one because I couldn't fit you and your friend on one together. I've been feeding you for days, it's about time you woke up to fend for yourself." Merton's mouth dropped open. "If you're a vampire too, you're obviously up to no good!" Merton yelled, "Okay, explain your hideous deed!" Otoniel laughed. "Hardly," he said, amusement clearly in his voice, "I'm a good vampire, and I've been this way for one hundred and fifty years. Besides, why do you think I saved you two when I could have used you for prey or left you to die again?" Merton paused, deep in thought. "Good point . . . " Merton said, "Thanks. Does Tommy know all this?" Otoniel nodded his head. "He woke up once or twice while you were out, and explained a few things, from you killing him and so on, and I explained everything to him that I did to you. He seemed to trust me, but that may have been due to his loss of strength. I think he thought I was you. It may be a few days yet before he revives." Merton nodded his head, soaking all the information in like a sponge.

The next few days were nerve-racking. Tommy had been in and out of consciousness, not to mention Lori would call every five minutes, saying she was closer to finding Haim, though they all knew that she was no nearer to finding him than they were. A few of the times Tommy was awake, Merton was strong enough to feed him. Finally, one day, Tommy was awake once more, and he sat up, slowly getting out of the bed. "Merton?" Tommy asked, looking at Otoniel, "What the . . . Oh yeah, that must be the dude that saved us . . . " Tommy looked at Otoniel, who smiled and did a salute from a corner. "Gee, Tommy, " Merton said sarcastically, "How did you figure that one out?" There was a pause, then Merton smiled. "Good to have you back, buddy," He said, patting Tommy on the back. Tommy smiled back at him. "So how is the Haim search going?" Tommy asked curiously. Otoniel spoke up. "You're not going to find him the way you're looking . . . "
Merton and Tommy turned to look at him. Merton quirked an eyebrow. "How do we find him then?" he asked Otoniel, curious to know. "Well," Otoniel explained, "You would need to figure out what his scent was. Many people, even some of us vampires believe we don't give off scents, but we do. Only other vampires can smell it, no blood hound could smell a vampire out. If we can find something he came into contact with, then we can smell him out." Merton and Tommy were gaping. "I think he touched one of my shirts when he bit me . . . " Merton said, going to his closet and pulling out a black short sleeved button up shirt. "Good, now we can call your friend Lori, smell around, and hopefully we'll find Haim," Otoniel told them, smiling.
Merton picked up the phone, dialing Lori's number. "Lori?" Merton asked, "What do you mean? Where did she go? Okay." Merton hung up the phone. "This is bad!" he exclaimed, panic in his voice, which was completely different from the calm voice he had used on the phone. "What?" asked Tommy, anxious to know what had happened. "Tommy," Merton said, "Lori's in Bakersville." Otoniel furrowed his brow this time. "Why?" he asked, "And why would that be bad?" Merton paused, and took a deep breath. "She went to find Haim. She's going to die if we don't find her!" "This is bad!" Tommy said, his statement obvious, "We have to find her before Haim does!" "I agree," Otoniel said, considerably calmer than the teen vampires, "Let us go. We can take the Hearse." Merton grabbed his black trench coat, put it on, and flew outside, ignoring the fact that Otoniel had volunteered that they use his vehicle without his consent. Tommy and Otoniel flew outside right after Merton and into the night.

Chapter Seven: Road Trip

The three of them drove for an hour until they reached a sign that said: Welcome To Bakersville, Enjoy Your Stay! As they entered the town, Tommy, Otoniel, and Merton all put on sunglasses in unison, and they were all wearing all black and long black trench coats. They got out of the Hearse after parking by a restaurant, looking like secret agents. People stared as they walked by, and quickly moved out of their way, frightened of them. Tommy glanced at Merton and Otoniel. "So," he said, "Should we split up and look for Lori?" Merton and Otoniel nodded. "I'll check that store over there to see if anyone's seen her," Merton said, pointing to a white building down the road. Otoniel nodded. "I'm going to check the woods, it's most likely she'll be there, and we never got fully acquainted," he said, more to himself than the two teenage vampires beside him. "Better get going . . . " he muttered, walking towards the dark, shady woods nearby.
Merton shook his head. "Sure, he gets to go into a dark, secluded area while we get--" he paused, smiling, "Never mind . . . " Tommy shook his head. "Just go," Tommy sighed. Merton smiled and walked away towards the store.Tommy glanced beside him, where there was a wooden building, with a creaky sign hanging over it. The sign was broken, and it was too scratched up to read. Tommy shrugged his shoulders and went inside.

Inside, the building was smoky, dark, and smelled horrible. Many men and women were in there, gambling and drinking, smoking and laughing, showing rotted teeth. Tommy glanced around, looking through his sunglasses for any sign of Lori. A hispanic man wearing a leather jacket and blue jeans walked up to Tommy, holding a beer bottle. "A little young to be in here, huh?" the man asked, a slur to his voice and alcohol on his breath. Tommy stepped back. "Um, I'm just looking," Tommy paused, "for a friend of mine." The man laughed, and patted Tommy on the back. "Come on," he said, "You have to have a drink! This friend can wait!" Tommy backed up hesitantly, but the man put his hand on Tommy's back, pushing him towards the bar. "Really," Tommy said, trying to get back up again, "I need to go find my friend . . . " The man just laughed. "Get some drinks and keep them coming!" he yelled, laughing enthusiastically. Tommy tried to protest, but before he got anything out the man grabbed a drink and shoved it at him, forcing it down his throat. Tommy coughed, the taste of the alcohol bitter in his mouth.
"Really," Tommy said as he coughed again, "I have to g--" The man grabbed another drink, forcing Tommy to drink it too. "Listen," Tommy tried again, "I have to go now, maybe I can come back some other time." He got up, but quickly a woman with brown hair, blue eyes, and one of the few with white teeth, put her hand on his shoulder, pushing him down. "Come on," the woman said, smiling, "I'm buying drinks, let's see how much you can take when you hang with the big boys." The crowd around them jeered, urging them to continue. Tommy sighed, sensing that these people weren't going to leave him alone if he didn't drink. Besides, how bad could I few drinks be?

Merton stepped into the little white store, eyeing the clerk, who was an old balding man. A little girl with her red hair in pigtails was looking at some candy in the store, then saw Merton and ran out of the store. Merton shook his head, walking over to the blue counter at the front of the shop. The clerk eyed him suspiciously. "Listen, kid," the clerk said, "if you're looking for an occult shop, we have one just down the road." Merton shook his head. "I'm looking for someone," he said smoothly, taking off his sunglasses, "Shoulder length blonde hair, feisty, neigh high." He put his hand in the air, estimating Lori's height. The clerk shook his head. "Nope, haven't seen anyone by that description," he stated, "Why?" "No reason," Merton said, walking away, "Thanks for the help! Bye!" Then Merton stepped out the door, heading to look elsewhere for his friend.

Otoniel smelled the cool night air. The woods smelled of pine, and the air was fresh and cool. He turned his head to the right, quickly scanning the woods once more. He had been out for about an hour, with no luck. Sighing, he flew into the air, scanning the tree tops. Still no sight of Lori in the woods. Seeing that Lori was obviously not in the woods, he landed on the ground, walking out of the dark trees and back into town to find the others.

Otoniel walked over to the spot he had last seen Merton and Tommy. There was suddenly some laughter and loud shouts from the building beside him. The building was wooden, and there was a sign that couldn't be read. Eyeing it carefully, Otoniel walked over to the building and gripped the handle on the door, stepping inside the dark, noisy room.
Inside, Otoniel's eyes went wide, though no one could tell seeing as he was still wearing sunglasses. Tommy was sitting in a seat at the bar, holding a mug and smiling. "Tony, wassup?" Tommy asked with a slur, getting up. Otoniel shook his head. "You're drunk, Tommy," he said, almost amused, "Let's go." Tommy laughed and walked over to Otoniel, putting an arm around his shoulder. "You know what your problem is?" Tommy asked, alcohol on his breath, "You're too uptight! Here, bartender, get a drink for my buddy here!" Otoniel shook his head. "We've got to go now," he said, his voice starting to get an edge to it. Tommy laughed again, but then passed out, Otoniel catching him in time.

Merton leaned against the Hearse, hoping to see Otoniel or Tommy walk by. He had searched most of the town, still finding no sign of Lori. He saw Otoniel come out of a building, supporting a very drunk looking Tommy. Merton's mouth dropped open. "What the heck happened to him?" Merton asked in shock as Otoniel opened the Hearse and set Tommy in the back. "He had one too many drinks," Otoniel explained calmly, shutting the door, "Any sign of Lori?" "Nope," sighed Merton, opening the Hearse up, "I guess we'll have to check out some other places." Otoniel nodded, stepping into the Hearse, followed by Merton.

Chapter Eight: More Mistakes And Whispers In The Woods

The three of them continued to drive, the windows rolled down so they could look around for any sign of their friend. Tommy was now awake in the back, still drunk. "Hey, guys!" Tommy yelled, looking out the window, "We're like, whee! And the people outside are like, whoa! Hey, is that one dude threatening me?" Tommy glared outside at a random man walking by. Merton rolled the window up, and Tommy got his head out of the window just in time. "I don't think he was," Merton said, looking back at Tommy, "And no throwing up back there!" Tommy laughed. "Dude, Mert, you've got to loosen up!" Tommy said cheerily, playing with the handle on the door. "No bad, Tommy, bad!" Merton said sternly, smacking Tommy's hand off the handle. Otoniel sighed. "This is going to be a rather long search, isn't it?" Otoniel asked in disappointment.
A few hours later, the three vampires were in the woods, Tommy groaning because of a major hang over and Merton and Otoniel looking for any sign of Lori. "That's funny," Otoniel mused, "I'm sure I've looked through this part of the woods before . . . " "Ugh," Tommy groaned, stooped over on the ground, "Drinking is not fun . . . " Merton tutted. "Tommy," Merton said as if he were a teacher talking to a pupil, "It's your own fault. You shouldn't have taken the drink in the first place." "But--" Tommy began to protest, but quickly stopped and held his stomach, "Never mind . . . I guess you didn't need a drunk werevamp on your hands . . . "
Otoniel smelled the air. "Guys," he said quietly, "There's a human nearby . . . " Tommy got up and walked over to them. "It could be Lori . . . " Otoniel muttered to himself, flying a few inches into the air, "but I'm not sure of her scent just yet . . . " "I'll look," volunteered Tommy, flying eagerly into the air. "Okay, but--" Before Otoniel could get anything more in, Tommy shot into the air, disappearing. "Well," Merton said enthusiastically, clasping his hands together, "He's feeling rather peppy tonight." Otoniel glanced at him. "I'm going to look for Lori," he said, as if Merton hadn't said anything else, then took off in another direction. Merton sighed and followed suit.

Tommy looked about the woods, smelling the air. He heard some crackling and whipped around. Someone was standing there, though it was too dark to tell who, even with night vision. Tommy, caught unaware, grabbed the figure and sank his teeth into their neck. The person screamed out, landing on top of a sharp rock, which they hit their head on and fell limp. Tommy quickly let go of the dead body in shock, to reveal it to be a boy with red hair and freckles, around his age. He gasped, licking the blood on his lips.
He couldn't believe it. He had killed someone, someone innocent. This couldn't be happening. Sure, he had killed monsters before, but this was an innocent person. All because of him being a werevamp, this boy was dead. Tommy got up and flew into the air, shaking his head in disbelief as he backed away. He turned around and flew as fast as he could, leaving the dead boy there in his final resting place.

Lori shivered in the cold night air of the woods, her breath forming as mist in front of her. Now she wished she'd brought a jacket with her, but in her hurry to get to Bakersville, she had forgotten to bring it along. She came into a particularly dark patch of trees, and looked at them wearily as they cast eerie shapes across the ground. Suddenly, a faint light began to glow inside the trees, and whispers suddenly filled the air and echoed about her. Lori turned to look every which way, finding no one there. Come to me, Lori, she heard a disembodied voice call, Come to your master, where your destiny awaits . . . Come to me, my queen, where fate will bring us together once more . . . Now your friends are gone and we can finally be together . . . That same call repeated, this time growing softer. It continued to repeat itself, growing fainter each time. "Wait!" Lori called, "Where are you?!" She ran towards the dark trees, where the sound was fading to.

Merton looked about the woods, flying to quicken his pace. "Lori?" he asked, a slight squeak to his voice, "You around? Yoo-hoo? Anybody home?" His eyes shifted from tree to tree, and he got nervous as it got darker around him. He began to slow down, his eyes shifting even quicker than before. There was some crackling behind Merton, and he stopped cold. "L-Lori?" he asked nervously. There was no answer. Merton whipped around, in the air and yelled out, flying back. "Jeez, Tommy, don't scare me like that!" Tommy just looked at Merton and shook his head. "Merton, stake me now," he said, deadly serious.
There was a pause. "What?" "Stake me!" "Tommy, I can't stake you! No way!" Merton said, taken aback that his friend would request what he did. "Merton, I killed someone, and they were innocent!" Tommy said, as if he didn't want to believe it, "You have to stake me, I don't want to kill anyone else!" Merton furrowed his brows. "You killed someone? How? When?" Tommy sighed. "I was in the woods, and this guy came up behind me, and it all happened so fast . . . But that could happen again, so you have to stake me!" Merton shook his head. "No, Tommy, it was an accident, I can't stake you!" Tommy's eyes glowed yellow, and he growled. "Stake me, Merton! Stake me or I'll do it myself!" "Tommy, no--" Tommy sighed and grabbed a branch if a tree, breaking it off so the end was sharp. Merton flew at Tommy, grabbing the stake and pulling it away from him.
Tommy grabbed back the stake, putting it to his chest. Merton once again pulled it from him. Tommy lunged at him in the air angrily, grabbing the stake, and they each pulled at it. "Let go, Merton!" yelled Tommy angrily, pulling at the stake. "No," Merton said in frustration, "I can't let you kill yourself!" "But I killed someone innocent!" Tommy said in retaliation, pulling harder. Tommy punched Merton in the face, and they both went tumbling to the ground, rolling around, each trying to get the stake away from the other. "Let . . . go!" Tommy yelled through clenched teeth, punching Merton in the nose with one hand. "No!" Merton yelled once more, pulling even harder at the stake. "Stop pulling!" Tommy yelled, turning the stake around in Merton's hand so that the point was facing towards him. Tommy started to pull it towards him, but Merton turned it back around so that the opposite end was facing Tommy. He tugged at it harder, and Tommy finally let go, rolling off of Merton. Merton was still pulling at the stake when Tommy let go, and he pulled it straight towards him, the stake going square through his chest. His eyes went wide, and his breath went short. He looked down at his chest, where the end of the stake could be seen.
"T-Tommy--" Merton choked, pulling the stake out. "No!" Tommy yelled, putting a hand on Merton's shoulder, "Merton, this isn't happening! I can't kill someone else, especially not you!" "Tommy," Merton said, a rasp in his voice and his eyes still wide, "F-Find . . . Haim . . . and save . . . Lori . . . " Then Merton closed his eyes, falling limp. "Merton, no!" Tommy yelled, shaking his friend. Suddenly, Merton began to glow bright yellow, and Tommy flew back in shock. Tommy looked at his own hands, which had began to glow a faint yellow, slowly getting brighter. Merton floated into the air, hanging limp as if he were a puppet on strings. Tommy looked in shock as his hands began to slowly fade away . . .

Chapter Nine: Merton Can't Die Twice, Can He?

Otoniel flew through the woods, searching for Tommy and Merton. It had been about an hour, and he was getting worried. "Where are those two?" he asked himself, scanning the trees, "It's been too long . . . " He suddenly saw a light in the trees, and furrowed his brows, floating towards it.

When he came into the clearing, there was a huge flash of light, like thunder, and Otoniel flew back into a tree, sliding down and wincing. When the light cleared, he saw Tommy standing there with his eyes open, and Merton laying down next to him. Suddenly, Merton opened his eyes and got up, looking shocked. He felt his chest quickly, then smiled, hugging Tommy. "I'm alive!" Merton paused, "Well, undead again!" "Whoa!" Tommy said, smiling too, "You should be dead! The stake went through you and everything, and there was this light and-- I'm so glad you're not dead!" Tommy smiled even wider, and pulled Merton into a hug.
Otoniel cleared his throat from behind them and they quickly pulled apart, Merton falling to the ground, but quickly getting up as if nothing had happened. "What happened here?" Otoniel asked calmly, "What do you guys mean, you're alive? And what was that light?" Merton clasped his hands together laughing nervously. "Simple misunderstanding," he explained, "I was staked, and then . . . Tommy, care to explain what happened afterwards?" Tommy cleared his throat and spoke up. "There was this light, and we both started glowing, then everything just disappeared. Then we were back here, you weren't staked, and Otoniel showed up." "Exactly," Merton added enthusiastically. "Hm . . . " Otoniel looked deep in thought, "I wonder what that light was . . . and why you're alive when you should have been staked and dusted . . . " Otoniel continued to ponder to himself, pacing around the woods. He shook his head, as if going back to reality. "We should find Lori, and by the smell of it she's long since gone from this spot, but I think she's still in the woods . . . Come on," Otoniel waved for Tommy and Merton to follow him, which they did, still smiling.

Come to me, little one, I can teach you to become queen . . . "Where are you?!" Lori yelled angrily to the air, trying to shake the whispers out of her head. Listen to me, chosen lady of the undead, follow my voice . . . You will find me . . . Lori put her hands to her head, trying to shake the whispers away. "No no no! Show yourself, you-- you coward!" There came an evil laughter, but it soon died out, and she ran towards the sounds as they began to fade away. The trees seemed to pass her by as she ran quickly through the woods, occasionally tumbling on a rock or twig. As she ran, she suddenly ran into a tall figure from behind, falling on the ground. She closed her eyes. "Stay away from me, you hear?! Stay away!" she yelled out, putting her hands to her head. "Whoa, Lori!" Lori opened her eyes and saw Tommy, Merton, and Otoniel there, looking at her with concern. She got up and went into a fighting stance. "You!" she yelled at Otoniel, "You're doing that, aren't you?! You're evil!" Lori ran at Otoniel, but Tommy went in front of her. "Lori," Tommy said, trying to calm her, "It's okay, he's helping us. Are you okay?" Lori took in a deep breath, and put her fists down. "I'm fine, but I keep hearing these whispers, and they're saying to follow them. I--" Lori paused, the whispers began again. Go to Clerksville, fair lady, go there and I will give you more instructions . . .
"You what?" "Huh?" Lori shook her head. "You what?" Merton asked again. "I heard the whispers again! They said to go to Clerksville, and then they'd tell me where to go next." Merton looked apprehensive, and glanced at Otoniel. "I guess we should go, and maybe we'll find Haim, he could be doing it . . . " Merton mused, looking from Otoniel to Tommy, then from Tommy back to Lori. "Sounds good to me," Tommy said, sounding almost eager to be getting somewhere, "But one thing. We're kind of going low on food here . . . " Otoniel nodded. "I'm going to hunt, then you can both feed from me, just as a precaution. I need us to be as hidden as possible, and making one kill is risky enough. I'll meet you back here in an hour." Otoniel flew into the air and into the woods once more, the gang either lost in thought, or too caught up in fear to say anything.
Otoniel could smell someone in the woods, though he couldn't quite place who. It should be easy prey, given his experience for the past one hundred fifty years. He slowly glided through the trees, smelling the familiar scent of human flesh. There was some rustling, and he peered between two trees, seeing a boy, about fourteen with black hair and brown eyes, standing there. He was pacing the woods, a pencil and paper in hand. "I see you limp, and wonder why . . . " the boy said to himself, "What goes next? I can do this poem! I see you limp, and wonder why . . . " Otoniel grinned to himself. He was into poetry himself, though he had never pursued it too much. "I see you limp, and wonder why . . . " the boy muttered again, furrowing his brows.
Otoniel leapt from the trees and the boy spun around, eyes going wide. The boy dropped the pencil and paper, mouth open in shock. Otoniel took this opportunity to take a dagger from his jacket, stabbing the boy in the chest. He slowly sank to the ground, his eyes still open in shock. "I see you limp, and wonder why," Otoniel said as he put some blood on his finger tips and licked it off, "Your flesh is torn, now it's time to die." Otoniel grinned. "Has a nice ring to it, kid," he said to the dead body in front of him, "You could have been something." Then he grabbed the limp body in front of him and sank his fangs into the boy's neck, drinking the blood and savoring the nourishment.
Merton floated in the air, watching his friends. Lori was pacing restlessly, and Tommy was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees and staring at the starry sky. He wondered what his friends were thinking now. Lori was no doubt thinking of the best way to kill Haim, or the fastest way to get to Clerksville. It was easy to tell Lori's thoughts sometimes, given her way of greeting the bad guys. However, sometimes it was so hard to tell what she was thinking. Her feelings were always bottled up inside, and he had always thought her anger was just a cover up of what she was really thinking. And then there was Tommy. Most people could tell what he was thinking, or at least thought they could. Merton was one of them. Tommy was usually either thinking about football, girls, or bad guys. Strangely enough, there were certain times where Tommy was just a mysterious box, nailed shut and chained, which contained all the secrets of the universe. It was at those times that Merton wanted to know what Tommy was thinking the most, though lacked the courage to ask him. He decided that Lori was too stressed right now to be bothered, so he mustered up as much courage as he could and flew over to Tommy.
Lori paced the woods quickly, listening intently around her. Her footsteps going in a continual rhythm, an owl hooting into the night, the leaves rustling as a breeze blew by. She wondered what this all meant. These whispers were coming to her, and only her. Was it Haim? Was it some new force they hadn't dealt with before? She was frightened, as much as she hated to admit it. Tommy and Merton were right in front of her, right before her eyes, yet they were dead. Both blood sucking fiends whom they usually fought together. Not to mention Merton was now evil, and because Tommy wanted to stay good, he was dying because of it. And then there was Otoniel. He was strange, and she didn't trust him at all, yet they were all depending on him to figure this out. Lori couldn't depend on him, yet she couldn't depend on Tommy or Merton either, given their state at the moment. She was utterly alone. That's what made her frightened. She had never had to deal with these things alone. There was always Tommy or Merton to turn to. Now all she had was her conscience to guide her, which was the one thing in the world she never wanted to listen to. She sighed and continued pacing.
Tommy hugged his knees and stared at the stars. He normally didn't think about this, but he wished he could be near those stars right now. He felt if he could touch one, everything he needed to know would come to him. Everything that had happened had come so fast. Merton disappearing, him dying, the mysterious light in the woods. And now these whispers were coming to Lori, and they were going on a wild goose chase. But there was one thing nagging at his mind. He had killed Merton earlier. Memories flashed past his mind like a filmstrip: Seeing the stake go through Merton, hearing Merton's plea to help the others, the blood that came from his friend. After all Merton had done for him, fed him when he was dying, helped him through thick and thin, he had killed him. Merton had said earlier that it was all right, but Tommy felt guilty. Losing Merton was, in his opinion, the worst tragedy, yet he had died, and the worst part was, he had killed him. Sure, Merton was all right now, but he couldn't help thinking the what ifs. What if Merton was gone? What if that light had never appeared? What if he had just never searched, and never killed the boy, never leading him to want to kill himself? What if . . . ?
Merton tapped Tommy on the shoulder, sending him abruptly out of his thoughts. He sat down beside him, smiling. "So," Merton said, enthusiasm clear in his voice, "How you feeling? Excited? Blue? Mad?" Tommy sighed. He knew Merton was just trying to start conversation, and he already partially knew how he felt about they journey they were on, but he really didn't feel like talking much. "I'm just thinking . . . " replied Tommy quietly, the stars reflected in his eyes as he gazed at them. Merton looked up at the stars too, taking in a deep breath. "Well," Merton said, quieter and calmer this time, "about what?" Tommy shook his head. "Nothing." "Doesn't sound like nothing. Are we going to need a group hug?" Merton smiled, putting his arms out. "No, Merton," Tommy said, tearing his eyes away from the sky to look at his friend, "I just need some time to think about things . . . " "I could help you with it," Merton volunteered, "Just tell me what you need help with." Tommy sighed. "It's nothing." "Tommy--" "It's nothing!" Tommy yelled angrily, his eyes glowing. "Tommy, tell me--" "I killed you, Merton, and I just can't forgive myself for that!"
There was a pause. Merton definitely hadn't expected to hear that. However, instead of looking shocked or angry, he smiled. "Is that all? Tommy, it's all okay now, you don't have to be mad at yourself. I'm right here, I'm alive. Well, technically undead, but you get the point." "No, Merton," Tommy said quietly, yet still angry all the same, "You don't get it. We're friends, but friends don't stake each other. Besides, you'd be dead right now if it weren't for that light, and we don't even know what it was!" Merton stopped smiling and thought for a moment. "Tommy, maybe me not dying was supposed to be a sign that you killing me wasn't meant to be. Maybe you were supposed to be the good guy all the time. Besides, I killed you, remember?" Tommy sighed. "I guess you're right . . . " he paused and laughed. "You know, a year ago I would have never thought that I'd be sitting here talking to you about our own deaths." Merton smiled. "Be neither," he said, clapping a hand to Tommy's shoulder, "Of course, a year ago, I wouldn't have imagined talking to you at all, death or no." Tommy laughed, back to his own self. "Thanks, Merton," he said, "I needed that." "No problem. What are friends for?" Friends. True friends. That's what they were, and that's what Tommy hoped they'd always be.

Chapter Ten: Some Heat And More Violence

Once more, they had all gotten into the Hearse, and were driving towards Clerksville. They left Bakersville and the scenery around them quickly changed from trees and forest to barren desert. The weather was very warm despite it being how late it was, and to add to that they were all wearing black, except for Lori, who, despite her proper clothing, still looked uncomfortable in the heat. "Are we there yet?" Tommy asked for the sixth time, grabbing the map and fanning himself with it. "No." Merton looked agitated as he turned the steering wheel, looking out at the dirt road in front of them. Otoniel looked out the window and read a sign: Clerksville, 200 miles. He sighed. Lori fanned herself with her hand, sighing as well.
They continued for an hour or so, and a cafe came into view down the road. The Hearse slowed down a bit, and they pulled over next to it. "Well," Merton said, pulling the keys out of the ignition, "Should we stop here and look around? We've still got quite aways to go." Otoniel peered outside. "It's getting light out," he muttered, once again more to himself than the others, "We shouldn't spend too much time inside." The others nodded. "As long as we get to some air conditioning," Lori said, fanning herself with her hand, "It's so hot in here." The others nodded in agreement, each as displeased with the heat as she was. So Merton opened his door and stepped out, Otoniel, Tommy, and Lori following suit.
Merton eyed the doorknob warily. He knocked on the door, despite how stupid it may have looked to others. Someone inside peered through the window, and looked back at their food, ignoring the four people outside. Finally, a tall waitresses with shoulder length red hair, freckles, and blue eyes came to the door and opened it. "It's a public place, you don't need to knock," she said with a southern accent, but smiling lopsidedly the whole time. There was a pause, and Merton stood there, mouth open. "D-I-- Hi." Merton smiled. The waitress shook his hand politely. "Hi . . . " There was another pause, and the waitress stared at the four of them, who stood there. Lori finally sighed and made her way inside, pulling the waitress out of earshot.
"Listen," Lori whispered, "my friends have a unique condition. They think they're vampires because they were in an accident and got amnesia, so you have to invite them in." The waitress looked concerned. "Are you sure they should be here if they think that?" Lori nodded her head. "Don't worry, it's all under control. We're going to be eating something, then we'll be on our way." The waitress nodded and returned to the door, where Merton, Tommy, and Otoniel still stood, wearing black trench coats and sunglasses as before. "Come on in," she said cheerily, "Have a seat somewhere and we'll be right with you." Merton smiled goofily at the waitress. Otoniel just nodded and stepped in. Merton continued to stare, but Tommy grabbed him and pulled him inside.
It turned out that the place wasn't air conditioned as they had thought, and Lori sat at the bar, pulling off her sweater and tying it around her waist. The heat was very unusual. Otoniel had noticed the strange warmth, yet he couldn't quite place why it was happening. Merton continued to stare at the waitress, a goofy smile on his face. Tommy stared longingly at the menu, though didn't order anything seeing as he no longer needed regular food. They had ordered a small platter of fries to seem less conspicuous. Otoniel stared at the fries with contempt, pushing them away from him and towards Lori, who grabbed a few and ate them.
Tommy tore his eyes away from the fries and looked around. There was a trucker sitting next to him, who was a rather skinny man with tanned skin and bags under his eyes, with long gray hair put in a pony tail in back. He was reading a newspaper. On the heading of an article is said: Murders In Bakersville, Fact Or Fiction? Tommy read the small print as best he could from that distance. It said there were six murders, each person found with two identical holes in their neck. He furrowed his brows and turned to Merton. He poked him on the shoulder, making him jump and tear his eyes away from the waitress, turning to look at Tommy.
"Hey, dude, did you feed off anyone in Bakersville?" Tommy asked. Merton shook his head. "No; why?" "There were six murders in Bakersville when we were there, and they all had two holes in their neck," Tommy explained, "It had to be a vampire, and it couldn't have been Haim if he's in Clerksville." Merton furrowed his brows. "Well, Otoniel said he'd fed off of someone in the woods, but six people's going a little overboard." "And the person I killed is the second person, but four people are still dead. You think Otoniel's lying?" Tommy asked. "I don't know," the young vampire replied, "I don't think he would do that. After all, he did save us numerous times." Tommy shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. Haim's gone, you didn't kill anyone and I only killed one person, so that leaves Otoniel. He's the only other vampire that was there. Otoniel wouldn't kill that many people with no purpose . . . Would he?" Tommy and Merton glanced at Otoniel, who was muttering to himself about the french fries and staring at them suspiciously, as if they were poisoned.
Merton shook his head again. "I don't know, but it's getting light outside. We have to find some place to hide until night." There was a pause of thought, then Tommy spoke up. "We could stay at a hotel, there's one a few miles from here." Merton furrowed his brows. "How do you know that?" "It said on the map." Merton shrugged his shoulders and stood up, bumping into the truck driver that had been reading the newspaper. The truck driver turned around, hands clenched into fists. "You better watch it, you little punk, or you'll find yourself locked in the trunk of your parent's car!" Merton laughed nervously. "Heh heh, as much as I'd love to comment on your looks and smell, my friends and I have to be going."
The truck driver glared at him. "What did you just say?" "Nothi--" The truck driver yelled in anger and punched Merton in the face, sending his sunglasses flying across the room and Merton back into the bar. Tommy, Lori, and Otoniel stood up. Lori had her hands balled into fists and was in a fighting stance, Tommy looked like he was on the verge of wolfing out, and Otoniel, unlike the others, seemed calm, yet still angered. "Listen," he said quietly, his voice full of malice, "Leave my friends alone and we'll get out of your way."
The truck driver laughed, his breath smelling of whiskey and cigars. "I'm not letting this punk get away with anything! Now why don't you three vanper look alikes leave with your little girlfriend before I cut your throats?" Otoniel suddenly flew into the air, eyes turning white, grabbing the man's throat and pushing him against the wall, both of them floating about five feet in the air. "We're called vampires, punk," Otoniel said angrily, "Say it right! Now are we called?" "V-Vampires!" The truck driver choked, looking so terrified that he'd wet his pants, "Listen, I'm sorry, man, I didn't know! Let me go!" Otoniel squeezed harder pushing the truck driver higher up the wall.
Suddenly, he looked around him and saw everyone staring in shock. He threw the man down, and he went crashing into a couple of tables, both of them breaking in half. Otoniel landed on the ground and picked up Merton's sunglasses, handing them to the shocked goth standing at the bar. "Come on," Otoniel said to the other three, "I'm going to say something I've wanted to say for one hundred fifty years." They all walked to the door and Otoniel stopped before he reached the doorknob, turning to face Tommy, Merton, Lori, and the shocked crowd. "Let's blow this joint!" Otoniel yelled before opening the door and leaving. The crowd stared at Merton, Lori, and Tommy, and the three of them quickly headed out the door.

Chapter Eleven: Reflections And Suspicion

"Wait, what the heck was that?!" Merton yelled, running to catch up with Otoniel as he walked quickly towards the Hearse. Otoniel didn't reply, but opened the door of the Hearse angrily. "Give me the keys," Otoniel demanded, holding his hand out to Merton. "Otoniel, you didn't answer me. Why did you do that back there?" Otoniel's eyes suddenly turned white, and he flew closer to Merton. "Listen," he growled, "Because of your antics in there, we can't stay in town. Just give me the keys before I get even more angry!" Merton looked shocked. "Hey, I didn't bump into the guy on pur--" "Give me the keys, Dingle, or you'll see my bad side!" Merton reluctantly stuck his hands into his pocket and pulled out the keys to the Hearse, handing them to Otoniel, who grabbed them angrily.

For half an hour, the four of them drove in silence, the heat getting to them. It began to get light outside, so they stopped in a small town, pulling over beside a small blue building proudly proclaiming in huge green letters: The Smoky Inn. Otoniel pulled the keys out of the ignition, putting them in his pocket instead of returning them to Merton. "Come on," he muttered quietly, opening the door, "We can stay here until night." Lori folded her arms. "I'm going to look around town," she stated plainly, stepping out of the Hearse, "I'll come back around nine." Then Lori walked away, not giving a glance back.

Inside the hotel, they got two rooms. When they went inside, the room looked small and shabby, with a single bed and a dresser, with a small white phone. There was a blue door with peeling paint, where Tommy and Merton went through to the other room. The other room looked exactly the same, except this time it had a portrait of a bowl of fruit. Otoniel stayed in the other room, and Tommy shut the door, sitting on the small bed with white sheets.
"Merton, do you think Otoniel murdered those people?" Merton furrowed his brows. "Yeah, I do," he replied, baring his fangs, "He shouldn't waste so much good blood on himself!" Merton flew into the air angrily, clenching his fists. Tommy's eyes went wide. "Whoa, Merton!" Merton paused from an angry rant, then his face softened. "Sorry, evil kicking in again," he paused and glided down, sitting on the bed next to Tommy, "I think he did kill them. But the one question I have is why. I mean, they were dead, but they didn't have any of their blood gone, so why would he kill them if he wasn't feeding?" Tommy shook his head.
"I'm wondering the same thing. But I don't know. Why would he save us if he was a murderer? I mean, he said he was a good vampire, maybe he's telling the truth. I just don't know, it all seems confusing. Plus we still don't know why you're alive, and we don't know if Haim's sending Lori those whispers in her head." Tommy stopped a moment to take a deep breath in. "This is getting weird, weirder than normal." Merton nodded in agreement. "Well, weirdness does seem to have a certain attraction to us," he stated calmly, now losing his angry edge he had had seconds ago. Tommy sighed and fell back on the bed, covering his face with his hands. "This is all coming too fast . . . " There was a pause as the boys reflected to themselves.
"You okay?" Tommy removed his hands from his face. "Huh?" "You okay? You seem tired." Tommy sighed again. "I'm just feeling tired now . . . I probably haven't eaten in awhile." Merton put on a concerned look. "We need to feed again, don't we?" Merton didn't wait for an answer and pulled down the collar of his shirt. "No, Merton, we can't keep doing this. You could die . . . again." Merton shook his head. "Tommy, you'll die too if you don't get any blood." Tommy sighed and closed in on Merton, feeding once more.
Tommy leaned back on the floor. The windows were all shaded to keep the light out, and they were all trying to rest. He hadn't gotten an ounce of sleep though. Memories were once again coming back to him. The boy's screams, him killing the person with no mercy. It wasn't like him. He couldn't kill anyone; it was too horrible. He pondered for a moment, then a new thought came to him. Was he evil? He had killed someone, yet no one with any heart in them would murder. Not to mention he had killed Merton too, which made it double the crime. Guilt sank down upon him, and he licked his fangs. He had those fangs because of Merton-- No, because of Haim. Haim had started this all, by one bite, and this whole chain of events occurred. If they had never met Haim, maybe it would have been different. But they did meet Haim, and things weren't different. He was . . . evil.

Chapter Twelve: Newspaper Clippings

Merton was running through dark blackness. There was no visible ground, yet he could feel something firm beneath him. Suddenly, Haim appeared out of nowhere, baring his fangs. Merton screamed in fright, turning around and running. When he turned around, he was face to face with Tommy, who bared his fangs at him too. He tried to ask Tommy what he was doing, but no sound came out, no matter how hard he tried. Otoniel appeared and smiled evilly, his eyes turning white as he laughed. The laugh echoed in Merton's ears, and Tommy and Haim joined in the laughing. The three vampires surrounded Merton, and he sank down, fear clearly etched on his face.
"What's the matter?" Tommy sneered, wolfing out and baring his fangs as his eyes glowed yellow, "Frightened, Merton?" Merton shook his head and turned to run away, but Otoniel was standing there, smiling. "Hey, Dingle," Otoniel said calmly, his eyes still bright white, "Up for a good kill tonight? Because I brought some friends and we're going to be killing someone . . . " He took a step towards Merton, chuckling. Merton turned another way, finding this way blocked by Haim. Haim laughed and stepped towards him. "Hello, Merton, evil getting to you yet? I knew I wasn't wrong biting you, you murdered even your best friend."
"No!" Merton yelled, suddenly having a voice, "It was an accident! I didn't mean to!" Tommy suddenly appeared before him. His clothes were torn and he was extremely pale, and there was blood dripping from his mouth. There were many cuts and bruises on him. "Merton, don't you remember?" Tommy asked, the blood dripping from his mouth onto his shirt, "You killed me. You killed others." Then another Tommy appeared, still wolfed out and baring his fangs. "Look what you did to me, Merton, you turned me evil," the werewolf Tommy said, stepping forward.
Merton shook his head. "I didn't mean to! It-- It was an accident!" He turned to run from the four figures looming before him, and Lori was standing there, clothed in a long black dress with long sleeves that billowed out, her hair let down. She smiled, now having fangs. "Look what you did, Merton," she said, Haim and the others coming up behind her, "You led us straight to Corey, and now I'm his queen." The dead Tommy floated behind Lori. "You killed us, Merton," they said in unison. "No! No!" Merton yelled, putting his hands over his ears, "It was an accident, I didn't know! Stop it! I didn't mean to!" The werewolf Tommy walked over to Merton and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Merton! Merton!" Merton shut his eyes and shook his head. "Please, I didn't mean to!" he yelled again. The werewolf Tommy continued to shake him. "Merton, wake up! Merton!"
"Ah!" Merton yelled out and woke up from the bed, covered in cold sweat. Tommy was above him, looking concerned. "Merton, what happened? You were yelling about how you didn't mean to do something and how there was an accident," he explained, looking worried. Merton shook his head, breathing deeply. "I was having the weirdest dream." "Really?" Tommy asked, sounding a bit interested, "Tell me about it." Merton shook his head again, getting out of the bed. "No," he said quietly, "Maybe sometime I'll tell you about it, but not now. Sorry about waking you up." "Nah," Tommy waved his hand dismissively, "I needed to get up anyway. It's night and Lori should be getting here any minute."
No sooner had Tommy finished his statement when the door opened and Otoniel and Lori stepped inside. "Ready to go?" "Yeah!" the teen vampires said in unison, both sounding as if they didn't want to reveal something. They glanced at each other, then back and Otoniel and Lori. Lori furrowed her brows, then shook her head. "Okay, if you're ready to go, we need to head towards Clerksville," she told them. They both flew into the air. Merton smiled enthusiastically. "To the Mertonmobile!" he called triumphantly, pointing to the door. Lori rolled her eyes and went outside. Tommy laughed and shook his head while Otoniel grinned and walked out the door.

When they reached the Hearse, Merton sat in the driver's seat as usual, putting on his sunglasses. "Merton, why are you putting sunglasses on?" Lori asked from the back seat. "It makes me look cool," Merton replied, as if that was the most obvious thing in the world, "Wouldn't you like someone in shades?" Lori shook her head. "Just drive." Merton put the keys in the ignition and pulled the Hearse out. "Jeez, are you sure it's even night?" Tommy asked, "It's so hot out here." He removed his trench coat and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, fanning himself with the map again. "Yeah," Lori agreed, "It's burning up." Merton turned the air conditioning on, though he could still feel the warmth from outside.
After a few hours, they were sweating and tired, and they came into a small town. They pulled over in the parking lot of a shopping center and Merton turned to face the others in the back. "Okay," he said, "This is our stop for now. I'm going to check some places out, you guys wait here." He opened the door and walked out. "Wait," Tommy said, "Where are you going?" Merton didn't reply and continued on his way outside. I was bored out of my mind. I don't know about you, but when I'm stuck in a Hearse in the middle of the night, and it's burning hot, I tend to get bored. Well, I wasn't the only one who thought it was dull . . . Lori finally sighed and opened the door. "Where are you going?" Tommy asked curiously after rolling down the window. "I'm not waiting on Merton," Lori said angrily, "I'm going to see what he's doing. He's been gone for an hour and I don't want to be stuck here all night." "Er-- Wait up, I'll come with you," Tommy said as he opened the door, "You coming, Otoniel?" Otoniel just grinned lopsidedly and flipped on the radio. "Go on, I'll wait here in the Hearse." Tommy nodded and shut the door, following after Lori.

"Okay," Lori said as they walked, "Use your wolf senses to track him. It's night, so no one will notice." Tommy shook his head. "Lori, I-- I can't do that--" "Why not?" Lori turned to face him. "Well, there's this thing--" "Tommy, just wolf out, come on." Tommy sighed. "Now that I'm a vampire, I can't really wolf out or it hurts. I can't be a vampire and a werewolf at the same time. It's bad enough at a full moon, I really don't want to cause it on purpose." Lori sighed. "I guess we'll just have to look for him the old fashioned way." She continued to walk around, looking for places Merton might have gone to. This search was getting nowhere. They say that when you have motivation, you can get a lot of things you don't want to do done. Well, I wanted to find Merton a lot, because he was a good friend and I was wondering what was taking so long, but that wasn't really much of a motivation for me. Well, after searching the whole town, I was really getting bored . . . "There's this place, he might be in there." Lori pointed out a small stone building, which they supposed was a library. "Yeah, but I don't know what he needs to be in here for," Tommy muttered to Lori. There was a sign on the door saying plainly: Come in, readers welcome! "Seems like an invite," Tommy said to himself. He wondered if it would work. He opened the door and stepped inside. It worked. "Tommy, look!" Lori whispered, pointing at something. Merton was sitting at one of the computers, typing away with an open mouth.
They slowly made their way towards Merton, the Goth apparently not noticing their arrival. "Merton, what are you doing?" Tommy inquired. Merton jumped. "Guys!" he yelled out, swiveling around in his chair. The librarian gave them a stern look. "Sh!" Merton nodded his head at the librarian, who shook her head and walked away to another row of books. "Guys, what are you doing here?" Merton asked in a whisper. "What are we doing here?" Lori whispered back, "What are you doing here? You left us out there for like an hour!"
Merton gestured with his hands at the computer screen, and Tommy and Lori looked at it closely. There were clips from newspapers there. "Look here, guys," Merton said, clicking on an image of a particular clip, "This was from a couple days ago in one of the towns we left." He pointed to the screen. "There were six murders, and each person had been bitten by a vampire, but not sucked of their blood. And take a look at this." He clicked another couple of images. "There were six more murders in another of the towns we stopped in, and there were multiple murders in Bakersville, not to mention Pleasantville. Each of the murders were the same, two holes, no blood taken. Now it wasn't me who did that, because I at least suck their blood, you," he pointed to Tommy, "couldn't do it because you can't kill. And you," he pointed to Lori, "aren't a vampire at all."
Tommy furrowed his brows. "So you think it was Otoniel?" Merton nodded his head. "I'm dead sure. There's only two other vampires, and Haim was in Clerksville this whole time. That leaves Otoniel." Lori balled her hands into fists. "We have to stake him then!" "No, Lori," Tommy said, "He saved our lives. I don't know, it just doesn't seem like something Otoniel would do." "Who else is left, Tommy? Otoniel's murdering all these people!" Tommy shook his head. "I don't think he did it. He said he was a good vampire. Besides, why would he all of a sudden kill all these people without sucking their blood or anything?" Lori stamped her foot. "I don't know, but that's what we're going to find out." Then she turned and ran out of the library, ignoring the librarian's angry calls. "Wait, Lori, you can't stake him!" Tommy ran after her. Merton quickly exited the page he was in on the computer and ran after them, causing more angry calls from the librarian.

"Otoniel, you lying, murdering freak of nature!" Otoniel furrowed his brows and flipped off the radio. "What?" "Get out of the car!" Lori yelled angrily. Otoniel, clueless as to what Lori was so angry about, stepped outside of the car. Lori grabbed a stake, which had been so conveniently placed in the back of the Hearse, and charged at Otoniel. "Hey!" Otoniel flew into the air, the stake missing his chest by an inch. "What was that for?!" "You killed all those people! All those murders in those towns were because of you!" Otoniel looked confused, but then his eyes turned bright white, his expression turning angry. "You're saying I murdered a bunch of people for no reason at all? Okay, I know you don't trust me, but this has gone too far!" Otoniel lunged at Lori and knocked the stake out of her hands, pushing her over and pinning her to the ground. He lowered in and was about to sink his fangs into her neck when there came a yell. "Otoniel, stop, we can explain!" He looked up to find Merton and Tommy floating nearby.

"Okay," Otoniel said as they drove, "There were all these murders in town, and none of the blood was taken? Strange. I don't know what you thought, but I'm telling you the truth; I didn't murder anyone unless for feeding purposes, and even then it was only one or two, not at least six a town." Lori sat in the back next to Tommy, her arms folded stubbornly. She stayed silent and glared at Otoniel. "It's weird," Tommy added in, "I wonder what the heck's going on . . . " He wiped his forehead, rolling down his window. "It's so warm in here . . . " Merton sighed. "I don't understand. It's fall, and it's night, but it feels like the Sahara Desert." He turned, grabbed the map from Otoniel, and fanned himself with it. "It's probably going to get colder later . . . " Otoniel said quietly, "Nothing really . . . " He sounded doubtful of his statement.

They were coming to the edge of town, and Otoniel suddenly sat up straight, looking at something.
"Stop here," he told Merton. Merton pulled over and Otoniel stepped out, grabbing a newspaper from a stand. His eyes went wide. He quickly paid the man at the stand and went back to the Hearse with the paper. "Look at this!" he gave Merton the newspaper and Merton's eyes went wide. "Murders- Do We Have A vampire In Our Midst?" Merton read, "There have been numerous murders within the past few days, each with two identical holes in their necks. "It's a vampire," says Mayor Lipton, "And we're going to find it and hunt it down."" Merton looked up. "Now the town's hunting us!" Lori sat up angrily. "I told you Otoniel murdered them! He went to town when you were asleep or something and killed them!" Otoniel looked angry and his eyes turned white. "Let's not start this again! I didn't kill those people!" "Oh, admit it, you liar, you killed them all!"

Chapter Thirteen: Conflict And Paranoia

Otoniel looked angry. "Merton, pull over!" Merton, not wanting to argue with the angry vampire next to him, pulled the Hearse over on the dusty road. Otoniel angrily snapped the door open and flew out and the others quickly followed suit. He flew into the air, his eyes still white. "Okay, human, you want to start this again? I've gotten one hundred fifty years of experience in this world, and never once did I get more insulted! I would never murder all of these people without good reasoning!"
Lori balled her hands into fists. "You may be a vampire, but I've dealt with your kind before!" Otoniel seemed even more angry and flew higher in the air. "My kind? What exactly is that?!" "Lori, we're vampires too," Merton piped in. "Shut up, Merton!" Lori snapped back. "Right, can do . . . " The Goth took a step back. Tommy, however took a step forward. "I know Lori kind of just insulted us there, but she's kind of right. No one else could have murdered them. I didn't think you did before, but it all kind of adds up." Otoniel looked at Tommy angrily. "Why won't you believe me? I didn't kill anyone without good reasoning, and even then it was only one! I suppose Merton's saying I'm a murderer too!" "Actually--" "Shut up, Merton!" Lori said once more.
"Lori, now that was uncalled--"
"Why can't you believe--"
"I can't believe you people--"
"Why can't we--"
"Shut up!" Everyone (minus Merton) yelled this in unison, looking angrily at one another. "Guys!" Merton finally burst out. "What?!" Everyone turned to look at him, each with an angry look. Tommy's eyes were glowing yellow, Otoniel's were white, and Lori had her jaw set tight and her hands balled into fists. "Am I the only one who has a feeling we're being watched?" Lori's hands unclenched and her jaw loosened. "I do kind of . . . " "Now can we finally put this argument to rest?" Otoniel asked calmly, landing and letting his eyes shift back to their normal green. "Yeah . . . " Lori sighed defeatedly, "I guess we should put a rest on it." She paused. "For now."
The four of them were once more driving in the Hearse, all of them tense because of the earlier conflict. Each of them were deep in thought, and it was obvious none of them were paying attention to the radio, which was blaring loudly.
Merton continued to drive as normal, deep in thought like the others. He not only had brought up his feeling of being watched to stop the fight earlier, but he had brought it up because it was starting to scare him. Ever since they had left Pleasantville, he had had an eerie feeling that he was being watched. He had ignored it at first, but the feeling got stronger, and he began to feel insecure. Even then, as he drove, he felt paranoid, and repeatedly looked into the mirror to see if any cars were behind them, or if someone was walking along the road, each time seeing the same dusty road.
Otoniel sat by, eyeing Lori every once and awhile. He wasn't angry at Lori or any of the others anymore, he was just curious to know why he seemed so untrustworthy. Lori was probably angry because he had tried to feed off of her before, yet he couldn't imagine why Tommy and Merton didn't trust him. He had saved their lives numerous times, not to mention he had helped them through this wild goose chase after Corey Haim voluntarily.
Lori shifted her eyes from one window to the next, seeing nothing but dusty road and old signs. She couldn't believe what was going on. Before her, inside of a Hearse, mind you, were three vampires. She knew Tommy and Merton would never hurt her, but Otoniel was someone she didn't trust. He had tried to kill her when they first met, and he had apologized afterwards, but she couldn't help but think it was all a set up. As if he had purposely not killed her then to gain her trust, then betray her afterwards. Maybe he was in league with Haim, maybe it was some new enemy, or maybe he just wanted to murder some people, and he was some kind of homicidal maniac. She didn't know, but she was going to find that out.
Tommy stared at the ceiling of the Hearse, lost in thought as well. He hadn't told the others, but he was also feeling uneasy and as if he was being watched. For some reason, he didn't want to tell the others. He supposed he shouldn't tell them because it would add to their problems. Being paranoid had always been their way of describing Merton, but Tommy had never really been that paranoid himself. But now, he felt very uneasy, and he hoped that whatever was following them wasn't an enemy, or at least something they could deal with without much effort . . .
The heat continued, this time getting worse. For some reason, Merton and Tommy were both feeling very tired. Otoniel and Lori didn't seem to notice their friends' sudden fatigues, so they all continued to drive. Merton looked out the window into the night. Slowly, his vision began to blur, and he felt a wave of exhaustion take over him. Before he knew it, his head fell onto the dashboard, and he went into unconsciousness.
"Someone grab the wheel!" Otoniel yelled from the back. Tommy reached for it, but suddenly collapsed where he was. Otoniel climbed over the seats and grabbed the wheel. "Pull over, pull over!" Lori yelled in panic, looking out the window as they sped by at great speed. Otoniel looked frantically over at the road, trying to find spot to park at. Before he could see anything, he heard sirens, and looked back behind him. A police car was behind them, signaling them to pull over. Otoniel pulled the Hearse over, and sighed, setting his head down on the steering wheel.
"Well, sir, can I see your license and registration?" a young police officer with brown hair and eyes asked Otoniel. He looked back into the car, eyeing Tommy and Merton, who were still unconscious, suspiciously.
Otoniel gulped. One hundred fifty years ago, he never needed a license, and he had never bothered to get one, always having flying as an option of transport. "Er-- Sir, I have it someplace . . ." He put his hands in his trench coat, pretending to be looking for it. The officer looked into the Hearse more closely. "What's wrong with those two?" The police officer pointed to Merton and Tommy with a flashlight, who were laying in awkward positions in the seat next to Otoniel.
"They got tired and they're sleeping," Lori put in quickly. The police officer still looked suspicious.
"Well, wake them up then." "Er--" Lori looked at a loss of words. To make the officer satisfied, she shook Tommy and Merton by the shoulders, getting no response. "They're pretty deep sleepers," Otoniel lied, "Why did you pull us over?" "Do you realize that you were swerving violently on the road and going above the speed limit, sir?" Otoniel put on a fake shocked face. "I had no idea. It will never happen again, officer." The officer's eyes narrowed. "Will you step out of the car, sir?" Otoniel opened the door slowly and got out, standing about a head taller than the officer.
"Sir, where's your license?" Otoniel's eyes shifted. "I left it at home," he lied quickly, and very unconvincingly. "Okay, sir, put your hands on the car." Otoniel stood his ground. "Listen, officer, just let us go, I'm not drunk or on anything and we won't speed anymore." The officer shook his head. "Sir, just place your hands on the hood of the car." Otoniel attempted to get back in the car, but the officer grabbed his hand. "You don't want to fight me!" Otoniel yelled. "Sir, you're under arrest for defiance of authority." Otoniel sighed in frustration and his eyes turned white. He flew into the air, causing the officer to jump back in shock. "Y-You're--" The officer didn't finish, and took out his gun, his hands trembling.
"Okay, you want to fight me, go ahead," Otoniel said menacingly. The officer looked nervous, and his hands were still shaking. His hands gripped tighter on the gun, and he was about to shoot. Otoniel, not expecting this, was about to fly away when a shot rang into the air and he closed his eyes.
There was a pause. The gun hadn't shot him. He opened his eyes and Lori was standing in front of the officer, holding the gun to his head. "Now, you leave me and my friends alone now, or this goes through your head!" The officer nodded nervously. "Good." Lori pointed to the officer's car, and the man quickly ran into it, driving away. Lori threw the gun down and went over to Otoniel.
"You saved me," Otoniel said, "Why? I thought you didn't trust me." "You may not be trustworthy," the young kick boxer said, "But I need you to help with Tommy and Merton. Plus I'm not completely heartless." There was an awkward pause, then Lori put in, "Besides, you don't die unless you get staked, so the most that would happen would be you in pain." Then Lori walked over to the car and opened the door up, looking in on Tommy and Merton.
"What's wrong with them?" she asked with concern. Otoniel looked inside and stared at Tommy and Merton. "They haven't fed in a long time," he stated. "So what do we do? We can't just leave them!" Lori seemed in a panic. "Calm down," Otoniel said, as if nothing had happened, "All we have to do is feed them. You'll turn if you're bitten so . . . " "Oh no you don't; you aren't feeding them!" Lori said, as if it was the biggest crime in the world. "There's no other choice, I'm the only vampire around here, and we can't turn anyone else."
Lori bit her lip. Otoniel was sure she didn't care about his well being, but wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have her friends' lives in the hands of another vampire. Lori never gave any other answer, so Otoniel stooped into the Hearse, grabbing Merton's shoulders and shaking him. "Just five minutes, mommy, I want to ride the pony . . . " Merton mumbled, his eyes still closed. "Merton, wake up!" Otoniel said loudly, shaking Merton some more. Merton's eyes snapped open. "Ah!" The Goth took a deep breath and became calmer immediately. "What happened?" "You haven't been feeding. You and Tommy both passed out in the Hearse." Merton sat up weakly, looking over at Tommy. "I've got to feed Tommy then . . . " "No," Otoniel said, "Not with you like that. I'm going to feed you both."

Chapter Fourteen: Eternal Darkness

The Hearse was once more quiet and gloomy. Otoniel had insisted he drive while Merton and Tommy recovered. Lori still sat quietly in the back, now back to her "hating Otoniel" stage. "Jeez, this heat's really starting to bug me . . . " Tommy attempted to start conversation, moving around in his seat to get comfortable. "Yeah," Lori said quietly, then folded her arms and went silent again. Boring. I mean, I just had my life saved again and we were going to stake Haim, but this intermission was getting to be dullsville. Well, I didn't have long to wait until we came to Clerksville-- Now that intermission doesn't seem so bad . . .

"Yes, we're here!" Merton sounded very pleased as they drove past a sign proclaiming proudly: Visitors welcome to Clerksville! They drove on until they came up to a small hotel, and stopped there. "Okay," Otoniel said, "Merton, Tommy, I think you should stay here. You're in no condition to fight Haim now, so Lori and I'll go and look for him, if it's even him at all." "But--" Tommy tried to protest, but Otoniel put his hand up, stopping him. "Don't start with me, I'm the master of arguing." Merton opened his mouth to protest as well, but Otoniel shook his head. "You two stay here. Lori will be fine with me, I promise." Merton and Tommy reluctantly agreed by nodding their heads and everyone stepped out of the car.

"Otoniel, I'm not going out looking for Haim with you!" Lori yelled at the elder vampire as they exited the hotel, "We don't even know if it was Haim, and he said he'd give me more instructions when we got here. We have to wait." Otoniel sighed. "Then why are we out here?" "Because we have to get our stuff out of the Hearse and bring it inside . . . " Lori opened up the Hearse and began to take out random things. "We have to--" "Listen, Fernandez, don't even try arguing with me. I grew up stubborn, and I can be much more temper mental than you!" Otoniel flew back. Lori took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. "Besides," she reasoned, "It's getting light out, and if it is Haim, he's not going to be out in the open once it's day." Otoniel raised an eyebrow. "But--" "It's getting light, I said," the kick boxer said through clenched teeth. "Right, you're the boss . . . "

"Back so soon?" "Shut up, Merton . . . " Lori said angrily, sitting on the bed in the hotel, "We can't fight Haim yet." "I see," Merton sounded amused. Otoniel soon came in, carrying the last of their things and setting them down. "Well, looks like we have quite a bit of time on our hands . . . " Waiting. We had to wait again, and it was really getting to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm usually pretty patient, but when I know that some bloodsucking fiend is out there, I tend to get a little impatient. Of course, I couldn't really talk, because now I was a bloodsucking fiend myself . . . But luckily, we had plenty of ways to spend our time usefully . . . "King me," Merton said happily, moving a black piece onto the edge of the board. Tommy sighed and flipped the piece over, setting a duplicate of it on top of it. "Okay, let's see . . . " Tommy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then smiled all knowingly. He moved a red piece a space over, jumping one of Merton's pieces. The Goth gave a wide grin, then moved a piece, jumping six pieces all at once. Tommy's mouth dropped open. "How-- You're cheating!" "Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Guys, shut up!" Tommy and Merton went silent and stared at Lori. "But--" Merton stopped short as the windows became more shaded and dark. Otoniel furrowed his brows, walking over to the window and peering through. "How is this possible? That can't be . . . " he muttered to himself. "What?" Merton's interest seemed to be sparked once more, and he flew over to the window. Otoniel opened the shades to reveal darkness outside. A dark shape was covering the sun, making it almost pitch black outside, except for a few street lamps and lights from windows in nearby buildings. "Come on, let's check it out!" Lori sounded ready for action, as always. The others nodded in agreement and flew out the door, Lori close behind.

"Well, you don't see this every day . . . " Merton said, staring at the eclipsed sun. "Guys, this is bad!" Tommy said, also staring upwards. "Gee, Tommy, as if that wasn't obvious . . . " Tommy growled at Merton, which made him silent at once. "Merton, what's up with the sun?" he asked, giving a "don't know this and your comment means nothing" look. "Well, obviously it's eclipsed, but as to the reason why, I have no idea. If we can just figure out what's eclipsing the sun in the first place . . . " Merton squinted at the darkened sky.
Lori glanced upwards too. The sky, unlike the ground and things around them, wasn't pitch black. It had streaks of red and purple all along it, with some blue intertwined in that. She furrowed her brows, pondering the reason to this sudden darkness. As she did that, she suddenly heard a voice: Lady of the night, you have come. Go to the woods, and I will confront you there . . . Lori looked at the others, who were apparently arguing over something.
"Otoniel, no way, I doubt a gorgon would be able to cause a total eclipse of the sun!" Merton argued with Otoniel. "It's just a theory," the older vampire argued back, "It could have been a plant creature . . . " "No, plant creatures take energy from the sun, they don't eclipse it . . . " Otoniel and Merton continued to argue. Lori opened her mouth to say something, but thought better of it and closed it. I don't need them,she thought, I can take on Haim by myself. She turned towards the woods and began to walk away.
Tommy watched as Merton and Otoniel argued. He sighed. This was pointless. He turned around to say something to Lori, and saw her walking into the woods nearby. He furrowed his brows. I didn't know what Lori was up to, but she sure wasn't leaving without us . . . "Guys?" Tommy attempted to say something to his fellow vampires. "No, Dingle, it couldn't have been a demon, demons don't have enough power to bring total darkness . . . " "Come on, they could if they tried!" Tommy sighed. I guess I was on my own. Tommy was about to say something else to Merton and Otoniel, but shook his head and turned away. Quietly, he flew after Lori into the woods, leaving the two vampires to their quarrel. What I didn't know was that I'd once again be at a life or death situation . . . Anyone else getting tired of this story line?

Creepy, creepy, creepy . . . How come when it's dark the woods seem so much more dangerous? This place was seriously creeping me out . . . Tommy glided nervously through the woods, following the sound of Lori's footsteps. An owl hooted and he flew around quickly, glancing about nervously. Okay, just an owl, just an owl . . . Keep your cool, Tommy, no need to panic now . . . Lori stopped and Tommy hid behind a tree, watching her. Suddenly, a woman with red hair clothed in black flew out. She smiled, showing fangs. "You're a vampire too!" Lori yelled angrily, getting into a fighting stance. Okay, panic seems like a good option right now . . . The vampire s