Becky Yoder was walking quickly through the park. She knew better than to walk through Cleveland alone after dark, but church had gone late. She heard a noise behind her.
"Aha, little lamb out all alone," a voice said. She looked up. Scott Moffatt was looking at her from in a tree. She raised a sheild of stone around her, to protect her.
"Little mutant thinks she can outsmart us, Scotty," another voice said. She turned around, and Leonardo DiCaprio was dusting her shield with his atom manipulation. Before she could even react, he'd sunk his fangs into her neck. Scott jumped out of the tree, and sunk his fangs into the other side of her neck. They were both careful to avoid the cross around her neck, while they drained her dry. They dropped her unceremoniously on the ground, and wandered away, still a bit hungry.
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
Eron XV, Billy and Tim were making their way home from Church. The way thet conviently went past the Slayer school. Not that they were actually expecting to see any of the girls, as many were away on holidays.
"Hey, what's that ahead?" asked Billy, pointing.
"Looks like a body," Tim observed as the three moved in to inspect it.
"Vampire," Eron said coldly, noticing the fang marks. "Two of them. Or just one who liked to be thorough."
"Or symmetical," Tim suggested. "She from the slayer school?"
"I think so. I don't know if she's actually a slayer or not though."
"Well, if she was, she's not now. We'd better take her to them."
"The body is still fairly warm. They might still be around," Billy commented, looking around nervously.
Armelle and Jesse
Armelle had gotten back early from summer holidays. She'd gone to Frankie's party the day before, and was not back at school. She still wasn't supposed to patrol alone, so Jesse Tuck was keeping her company. She sensed two vampires, and was going to move in, when Jesse put his hand on her arm to stop her.
"That's Scott Moffatt and Leo DiCaprio, both alien vampires. You're not strong enough to take on both of them at once," Jesse said very quietly, and the two turned and walked the other way.
They came upon a group of members of the Order standing around. . . a body.
"Oh, dear Lord no," Jesse gasped. "Becky." A corss of a gasp and a sob came from Armelle.
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
"Hey," Tim said softly with a nod. "We were just about to carry her to the school."
"We figure she hasn't been here long. The vampires could still be around," Eron advised.
Bill swallowed, looking between his school mates and Armelle and Jesse.
Jesse and Armelle
"Yeah, let's get her home," Jesse said, swallowing. Armelle, overtaken, picked the body up with her Slayer strength.
"They're not just any vampires," Jesse said, gravely. "They're two alien-vampires by the name of Scott Moffatt and Leonardo DiCaprio. I knew them briefly, from Xavier's before they were vamped. John's going to have a hard time with this. Leo was a friend of his. He's a time traveller, and Scott has X-Ray vision, I believe," Jesse said, as they started walking towards the campus. "Rosalid, the selkie, is going to take this rather hard. She and Becky were, ahh, very close."
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
"And Friday's on holidays, isn't she?" Eron said.
"Ha!" Tim grinned at him. "You know she is."
Eron coughed.
"We're not exactly armed for a fight," Billy said tentatively.
"I'm good. I have my armour on," Eron grinned.
"That's because you're weird."
"Actually it's because I'm a knight and I take my duties seriously. Besides, we do live near a hellmouth," Eron rebuked him. "Besides, it's not like adamantium-lined cotton is uncomfortable."
Armelle
"Mr. Connor's been working on some bulletproof armour that is undetectable," Armelle said. "I mean, some of it can be made pretty lightweight, but you can still see most of it under clothing," Armelle said, hoping that a bit of small-talk would keep her from crying. She didn't know Becky all that well, the girl kept to herself mostly, but it was still a sad event.
And she had heard stories about those two vampires. If they were around bad things were bound to happen.
She hoped that Day and Kella would come back soon. She felt nervous without her friends.
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
"Cool," Billy said as he and his friends walked to the slayer school with Armelle and Jesse.
"A time-travelling vampire," Eron considered. "I wonder how much of a creative fighter he is."
"What do you mean?" asked Tim.
"Well, not knowing exactly how his power works... is he able to skip ahead a few seconds. Like, someone goes to strike him, and to dodge he just skips ahead a few seconds so the blow misses? Or slow time so he can get in half a dozen blows while his opponent is still in the middle of one."
"Esh," Tim said, turning up his nose.
"Of course, for all we know, time travelling takes effort and he might not be able to sustain such for the duration."
"You think about these things way too much," Billy said.
"No, I think about these things just enough," Eron corrected. "Never underestimate your opponent."
Jesse
"I'm not sure how his power works," Jesse said. He looked over Eron's armour. "I wish we had had armour like that during the Civil War. We didn't have any armour at all." Jesse knew he was making small talk, but after 200 years, he still hadn't mastered dealing with death. he didn't think anyone ever did.
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
"Hmm, well, hopefully we won't have to find out. Least, not the hard way," Eron replied.
"We only started using adamantium lined cloth armour in the last two hundred years. It took our blacksmiths awhile to figure out how to process the adamantium and how to adapt their methods to include cloth without damaging it," Billy said knowledgibly. "And it also took awhile before we could locate deposits of it that weren't being depleted in three days."
"There's the school. Are the gates closed?" Tim asked, frowning because he couldn't tell from the distance.
Jesse, Ros and Armelle
"I have the code," Jesse said. They kept walking, and when they reached the gate, Jesse typed in the number code to open the electronic gate.
As they walked through the gate, Jesse heard a scream. He wondered how long it would talk Roz to figure it out, knowing that the selkie was telepathic. Rosalind moved so quickly, running down to meet them.
"No. No. nononononononono," Ros breathed, not screaming, but being eerily quiet. She ran over to Armelle, and brushed Becky's hair from her face.
"Let's just take her down to the infirmary, Ros," Armelle said. She knew that Giles would lock the body in a cooler for 3 days, to make sure she wouldn't rise again. Ros walked by Armelle, making a strange noise that sounded something like a dolphin's cry. Jesse turned towards the Order members.
"Would you men like to come inside, and maybe grab a bite to eat?" Jesse offered. "Thank you very much for your help, and company," Jesse said.
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
The boys looked at each other.
"Sure," Tim said. "But we shouldn't stay for too long, or our folks will wonder where we are."
"Plus we should warn them about the vampires," Eron nodded.
"It was the least we could do," Billy said, nodding to Jesse, referring to walking with them.
Jesse
Jesse led the boys to the kitchens. "Help yourselves," he offered, going into one of the fridges to fix himself a sandwich.
"So, you boys are students? You're. . . knights, right?"
Eron XV, Billy and Tim
"I am," Eron replied. "Billy could be a knight at any time if he wanted to but..."
Billy shrugged.
"I don't know if I actually want to be a knight," he said. "Well... actually I'm not sure if that where God wants me to be."
"I'm going to be a knight as soon as they let me," Tim said determindly. "They won't let any of the students become knight unless they've been in the school for two years. One more to go."
Jesse
"Sometimes, we feel certain that God has a plan for us, and so we follow it, and it can either turn our well, or poorly. Other times we are completely uncertain of the Lord's plan for us. Sometimes, I think that's the better place to be. Uncertainty can be just as much of a blessing as certainty. It causes you to be more aware and conscious of things." jesse said. He made four sandwiches, and offered one to each of the boys.
Billy and Tim
"I guess so," Billy said thoughfully. "I just wish..."
He sighed.
"You just want to know where to focus your energies," Tim said, nodding his head in understanding.
"Yeah. I know I'm for the Order, but beyond that..."
Jesse
"Well," Jesse said, "I can't tell you what to do, nobody can. Some people never feel that 'click' in their soul, telling them that they've found the right path. Some people are Searchers. And their right path is the one that's always changing. I don't know if that brings you any comfort," Jesse said.
"I always thought there was a specific plan for my life. I was raised to study my Bible, respect my family, learn a trade, grow up, get married, and raise children, who learn their Bible and respect their parents. When i was seventeen, my family was moving in the Westward expansion, and we found a small spring, flowing from beneath the oldest tree I'd ever seen. The water was the sweetest we had ever tasted. We drank, we watered the horse. It turns out we were drinking from the Fountain of Youth. We didn't know right away. My brother Miles, he followed the path we were taught to follow, ho married and had two children. He buried them all, while his elderly wife cursed him for still looking nineteen. After that, Miles was an angry, broken man. He went out looking for wars to fight. He's fought in every one since. I cried out to God and asked for guidance. He didn't answer in words, but I felt a powerful need to travel. I just couldn't stay put. I've been to every country in the world. I'm still no closer to figuring out God's plan for me, but I'm a lot closer to figuring out myself." Jesse looked at the boys and chuckled.
"So, now that I've successfully bored you all to death. . ." he trailed off, taking a bite out of his sandwich.
Eron XV, Tim and Billy
"Wow, that sucks," Tim said. "Burying your family, I mean."
"Why does he go out and fight wars?" Eron wanted to know.
"Because he wants to die," Billy said, softly, having realised the reason in Jesse's telling.
"Ahh."
Jesse
"Well, I think it started that way," Jesse said, "Miles was looking for death. But now, after 150ish years-- I'm starting to lose count, actually-- I think war is easier for Miles. Battle he can handle. It makes sense to him, the strategy, and the physicality of it all. The realness, the order and chaos mixed together. It's the civillian life that scares him, I think." Jesse said, finishing his sandwich.
Eron XV, Tim and Billy
"A warrior that can't be killed would be a formidable opponent," Tim considered.
"I don't think that Jesse would tell you where to find the fountain," Eron replied, grinning at him.
"Huh? Oh, I wasn't considering it."
"Sure, sure," Billy teased.
"No really. From what I heard the social life sucks," Tim responded, with a wink at Jesse.
Jesse
"There's a grave, blocking the entrance to the stream now," Jesse said. He didn't really want to get into the details about Winnie, so he left it at that.
"Well, it's getting a bit late. You boys should probably be heading home soon," Jesse pointed out, cleaning up his plate.
Eron XV, Tim and Billy
"Yeah," Tim agreed. "Thanks for the food."
"Yeah, thanks," Billy repeated.
"Send Ros our condolences," Eron added with a nod.
Jesse
Jesse bid the boys farewell and cleaned up the plates. Then he headed to go talk to Giles before going to bed.