In the Dark of the Night: The Sad Truth
by Jessica Evans
Chapter 3

Nigelus was watching from behind a tree in the Riversdale Cemetery. He had just seen Jessica stake a newly born vampire, which in his opinion, was no challenge at all. He watched as she ran away, she couldn't handle what she had just seen. It was almost time. Jessica was getting closer to him everyday, her trust grew stronger. Now would be a good time to comfort her. He smiled with pleasure at the thought.

Jessica was running and she still didn't know where she was going. Finally, she got tired and couldn't run anymore. When she caught her breath, she looked around to see where she was. Jessica was in the Riversdale Park. She walked over to the swing set and sat down on a swing. She put her head in her hands. She was so confused. What was going on? She felt like she was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. But strangely, it explained everything. She started to calm down a bit. She sat there for a little while longer. She decided that she'd better get home and see her mom. Jessica got up to leave, but as she stood up from the swing: she heard a twig snap behind her and footsteps walking toward her. She tensed up and was ready. When the person that was moving toward her was right behind her, she acted. Jessica whirled around and grabbed the person’s neck. She looked at the person in surprise and embarrassment as she let him go. It was Nick. Of all the places and of all the times, he had to see her like this. He seemed to notice something was wrong.
“Jessica? Are you ok? What are you doing out this late?” asked Nick.
“I’m fine, I was just going for a walk, lost track of the time,” answered Jessica trying to look natural.
“I see,” he said, not believing her for a second.
Jessica tried to look like what she had said was true, but she couldn’t. Nick knew she was lying.
“Ok the truth is, there has been this guy following me and I’m just a little freaked out.” said Jessica.
“Is he following you now?” said Nick looking around and moving closer to her so he could protect her if the man was there.
“No he’s not,” she said.
“Why aren’t you at home?” asked Nick still looking concerned and protective.
“I just couldn’t go home, not then. I just wanted to be alone for a while. You don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.” she said reassuringly
“Yeah, I know,” he said rubbing his neck where she grabbed him. “You have a good grip.”
Jessica gave him a small smile.
“Here, let me walk you home,” he said.
She nodded and she went home.


* * * * * * * * *



The next day in school, a B day, Jessica was not herself. She was a little paranoid about all the people that were around her. How could she tell if her classmates or even her friends were…normal?
All through the morning Jessica was spaced out. Finally, it was time for lunch, which meant that half of the day was over. She met Matt and Ashley at the table they usually sat at. When Jessica sat down, Matt and Ashley started to argue about something. Jessica dozed off, she didn’t pay attention to what they were arguing about.
“Well, let’s see what Jessica has to say. Jessica?” asked Ashley.
Jessica snapped back from her moment of absence. “Hmmm?” she said feeling lost.
“Are you ok?” asked Matt. “You seem a little out of it today.”
“I’m fine…I just didn’t get that much sleep last night, that’s all,” said Jessica.
Ashley and Matt looked at each other, not sure if they should believe her or not.
“Look, I’m fine.” she said, giving them a smile to reassure them that she was ok.
“If you say so,” said Ashley. “So…are you going to The Braze tonight?”
“Why?” asked Jessica.
“Just to hang out, like we always do,” said Matt.
“But maybe you should stay home,” said Ashley, looking concerned.
“No, I’ll come,” she said. She didn’t want to stay home. Her mom was acting weird. She couldn’t blame her. Jessica’s mom had told her that Merrek had brought a very weak vampire into their kitchen to prove that what he was saying was true. In fact her mom was pretty much acting the way she was. But her mom kept insisting that she talk to Merrek.She still couldn't believe that Merrek actually brought a vampire into her house. He had put her mom in danger, what if things didn't go as he had planned? Her mom would be dead. Jessica knew that she would never be able to let go of that fact. But, never the less, her mom said that he could help her learn how to protect herself against those “things.”
“Cool,” said Matt.

Soon, lunch was over and Jessica and Matt went to Spanish. Mrs. Withersmere was busy on her computer so she just gave them work to do. Nick kept glancing over at her, trying to figure out if there was something wrong with her. Why was everyone so concerned? She told her friends that she had just lost some sleep. They kept acting like something was seriously wrong. Not that what happened to her wasn’t serious, but well, they wouldn’t understand.
When Spanish ended Jessica left in a hurry, she knew Nick was going to try and talk to her. She didn’t really want to talk to him. But walking down the hall to her next class, she ended up running into Jake. He told her he had something to tell her and to meet him after school. Jessica said she would.

Finally school was over and she went to the main lobby of the school to meet Jake. She found him in a corner away from the after-school crowd.
“So what is it you wanted to tell me?” asked Jessica.
He looked at her not sure if what he had to say was something she would like.
“Look, I know something is wrong. I know what it is and you know what you have to do,” he said looking at her straight in the eye.
“What are you talking about?” she said avoiding his eyes.
“You know what I’m talking about. You can’t keep running away,” said Jake.
“Just leave me alone! I’m fine and you don’t know what you’re talking about! How could you?” said Jessica losing her nerve. Jake started to say something but Jessica walked away and left him standing there.
She didn’t go to The Braze that night, she was too tired. She went home and ran into her room. She skipped dinner and forgot about her homework. Jessica went strait to her bed to rest and almost instantly fell asleep. The dream she had that night would change the way she felt about her calling.


He arrived back at his house to find all the lights turned off. This was always normal for his family sice thye were hardly home. When he walked up to the front door, though, he found it locked. He walked around to the back of the house and went to the back door. He reached out for the handle, but it was already ajar. He cast a fireball charm in his hand. It glowed in the palm of his hand. He would be ready for any uninvited guests. He pushed open the door and walked inside. He looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was as it was the last time he was here. He walked into different rooms of the house and fond nothing. There was only one more room he had to look in now. The kitchen. When he walked into the kitchen he froze and couldn’t believe his eyes. His sister was lying, dead, on the floor. The fireball in his hand weakened and went out as he rushed over to her and lifted her up into his lap. She was cold, he went to feel her pulse, she still might be alive. He knew the odds of her still being alive were slim, but he just wanted to hold onto that small piece of hope. He felt no pulse, but when he pulled his hand back he saw blood on it. He turned her head over to look at her neck. There was two puncture wounds in her neck. He stared blanckly at the two wounds. He felt anger flood through his body. He made his hand into a fist. He knew who did this. It was his retaliation from what his clan, the Animanica clan, did to him. It was Nigelus, one of the most well known and most powerful vampires that ever exsisted. Jake knew what he was going to do, because now, there was nothing left to lose.

Jessica woke up feeling like she never had fallen asleep, but now she was wide-awake. She got up and rushed to school. She had to find Jake. She had to find out if what she had dreamed was true. She didn’t know that his sister was a Hunter. Maybe he knew more than she thought he knew. She felt bad about getting mad at him yesterday. When she arrived at school, she ran into him in the main lobby.
“Jake,” she said, but he acted like he didn’t hear her.
“Jake!” she shouted, but still he didn’t do anything.
Jessica ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. He turned around and he had a look on his face that made her take a step back.
“What?” he snapped. He saw that Jessica looked taken aback and a little hurt at his reaction. He felt bad about snapping at her, after all, she had questions about what she was.
“Look, just talk to Merrek. Don’t ask how I know about him, but it is about time you started your training,” said Jake.
Jessica was speechless. Jake just turned around and walked away.

Jessica went to English faster than usual to see if she could talk to Jake some more, but he wasn’t there. Mr. Burns told the class that they had to write an essay. So Jessica spent the rest of class writing as much as she could.
She met Ashley and Matt in biology and they spent the whole period working on work sheets about ecology.
When she went to Math Nick was happy to see her. “Hey,” he said smiling. Even though she was confused about Jake and in a bad mood, she couldn’t help but to smile back. He was really cute. She went and sat next to him and at the end of class, he pulled her aside and he looked, for the first time ever, shy.
“I have something to ask you, meet me before sixth period?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said smiling. “Where?”
“In front of the cafeteria,” he said as he left the classroom and headed to his next class.
Her mood was a lot better then what it was before. She thought she knew what Nick was going to ask, but she didn’t want to get her hopes up. She was on her way to art and Jake still wasn’t there. Maybe he left. She felt miserable and her bad mood started to come back. When Art ended she hurried to the cafeteria, hoping that her bad mood would go away with what Nick was going to ask her.
She saw him leaning against a wall watching the people crowd into the lunchroom. He was searching through the crowd, looking for somebody. Jessica thought he was looking for her, so she would make his search easier by just walking up casually.
He finally saw her and she smiled as she walked over to him.
“Hey,” she said. He returned her “hey” with a smile.
“So,” she said. “What was your question?”
He looked at her, trying not to look shy and said, “Well…there’s a dance this Friday and I was wondering…well…”
“Yes…” said Jessica, knowing what was coming next.
“Would you like to go with me?” asked Nick, giving her one of those ‘I’m not shy I just look it’ smiles.
“Yes, of course I would,” said Jessica, feeling really happy.
“Ok, well I guess I’ll pick you up at eight,” he said also looking happy.
Her smile widened. “See you later,” she said and went into the lunchroom. She couldn’t stop smiling, Ashley’s prediction was right, Nick did ask her to go to the dance.
She met Matt and Ashley at their usual table and they noticed right away that her mood had improved from yesterday.
“What has got you so happy?” asked Matt
Jessica gave him a sly smile.
“Ooooh…I know what it is,” said Ashley. “It’s Nick, isn’t it?”
“Nick? What about Nick? Why are we suddenly talking about him? It’s not like he asked you to go to the dance or anything,” said Matt.
Jessica smiled, giving the answer away.
“I knew it!” said Ashley excited.
“I hate when I’m right,” said Matt, shaking his head sadly.
“Oh come on! At least be happy for her!” said Ashley.
“I’m so sorry that I’m not happy that she is going to a dance with someone that I don’t like,” said Matt.
“Whatever,” said Ashley, waving him away with her hand. “So Jessica, do you know what you’re going to wear?”
The rest of the lunch was like this. Ashley was overcome with the giggles and was extremely odd. Matt spent the whole time rolling his eyes at stuff Ashley said and made stupid impressions of her.

When Jessica went to Spanish, she was happy to see Nick and he was happy to see her.
“So are you excited about the dance?” asked Nick.
“I am now,” said Jessica.
Nick smiled. The class began and they were starting review for a test they had next week.

When Jessica went to Global, she noticed that Jake was still not there. She went over and sat in her assigned seat and wasn’t surprised at all about taking notes.
After class, Nick asked her if she would like him to walk her home. She told him that she had somewhere to go and told him that maybe tomorrow they could walk home together.

Jessica had finally made her decision, she was going to talk to Merrek. Her mom, Jake and Merrek were right, she couldn’t keep running. Running away from problems didn’t help the situation that much. Besides, it might be fun. Fighting evil every night, saving innocents from death, why didn’t she think of being a Hunter earlier?
When she arrived at he library, she figured that Merrek would be inside, since he said he worked there now. She walked in and tried to find him. He wasn’t at the front desk, so she looked up and down the isles of books. She finally found him. He was putting misplaced books back on the shelves where they belonged. He noticed her watching him and acted as if he did not see her.
“Look,” said Jessica, trying not to feel defeated. “You are right I can’t keep running away from my calling and I have thought about it for awhile. I want to be trained so I can protect myself and others.”
Merrek put the last book he had on the shelf and turned to look at her.
“So...you know what you are getting yourself into? You know that if you make one mistake, one misstep and you could lose your life?" asked Merrek.
"Do you want me to change my mind?” asked Jessica.
“I’m just making sure that you understand how serious this is, it may not seem like it now, but it will. Once you’ve had some training,” he said. “For your first lesson, I am going to teach you everything you need to know about vampires, since those are the most common creatures of the night.”
Merrek looked around at the other people in the library and said, “Maybe we should have the lesson somewhere else. There is too big of a risk, we might be overheard. We don’t want people to think we are crazy, do we?”
So Jessica and Merrek went into his office in the back of the library. Merrek’s office was nice. It was as if he had worked at the library for a very long time, rather than a couple of weeks. He had a regular work desk with a computer and chair, a nice plant in the corner of the room, and a small couch. He told her that she could sit on the couch, so she sat down and waited for him to start. Merrek sat down behind his desk and started to talk.
“The first thing you need to know about vampires are their weaknesses,” he said. “They aren’t known to have many weaknesses, but there are a couple. Their biggest weakness is their blood lust. Some vampires, when over come by blood lust, can’t think straight and make really stupid mistakes when they are in a situation. The only known vampires that can resist the blood lust are the old and strong ones, who have had many years of experience. But even some old vampires give in to the blood lust. These ‘old ones’ as you might call them, are very hard to kill. If you are ever caught in a fight against one, the only chance you have is using the fighting skills you have learned and staking them at the right moment. For any vampire, a stake through the heart or chopping off the head should destroy them. Their last weakness is they can’t come into anyone’s property, or house, without an invitation.”
“Wow,” said Jessica. “Sounds like you have had this lesson planned out for a long time.”
“Well, you weren’t the only Hunter I had to train. I have been taught how to explain things to the Hunter I am supposed to train,” said Merrek.
He looked around the room and began the lesson again.
“Now you know the vampire weaknesses. Now you need to learn what a vampire can do. You have to be ready for any move they might make,” he said. “A vampire’s abilities, once again, depends on how strong or old it is. All vampires can survive in the sun and can live like a normal human, if they like. They also have unnatural strength, speed, fangs and so on. The teeth marks that they leave on the victims disappear after a few minutes, to avoid being caught or hunted. Some vampires can disappear from one place and reappear instantly in another place. This ability requires a lot of energy, usually only after a vampire has fed can they do this. Old and strong vampires can change their age if they want to; one day they cold be 21, the next day they cold be 17. You never really know what a vampire's age is unless they tell you. Their ability to do this usually helps those who stay in one area; they change along with the world around them. If a vampire feels that it has been around for too long, they can age to beyond the age of humans and turn into dust. But this is rarely done among vampires, only the centuries old vampires consider this choice.”
Jessica sat and thought quietly about what she had just heard.
“So, how can I tell if someone is a vampire? I mean if they have abilities to make them seem like humans, how can I tell?” asked Jessica.
“As you get stronger, you will be able to tell whether or not someone is. You will be able to sense a difference between humans and vampires. A sort of tingling in your veins I believe, or so I’ve heard from other Hunters.”
“How long will it take before I become ‘strong’ enough?” asked Jessica. “What if I am around a really strong vampire right now, you know, in school or something and I can’t tell?”
“Well if there was, he wouldn’t be able to sense you until you could sense him, unless he had knowledge of you being the next Hunter. But you don’t have to worry. If you train everyday for the rest of the week, by Monday you will be able to sense a vampire in another room, possibly,” he said looking at her. “Now why don't we get started.”
Jessica spent the rest of the day learning tactics and using her skills. She and Merrek left the library and went a gym-like place that Merrek owned. There were punching bags, dummies, and gymnastic equipment. She was surprised at the stuff she could now, that she couldn’t do before. Her blows that she gave the practice dummies were far harder than they would have been before. She felt this overwhelming strength in her, a fire burning, getting brighter and brighter with every new move she learned. It felt right. She felt like she was doing something that made sense. It was getting dark and Merrek told Jessica that she would continue training tomorrow at the same time. Jessica was tired and was happy to go home, her body ached a bit. When she got home she told her mom where she was and what she was going to be doing it everyday after school. Her mom still looked a little shaken but she said she was happy. Her mom also knew about the dance on Friday and wasn’t sure if she should go, but with a lot of persuasion, he mom said she could go.

The next day passed quicker than usual. Ashley and Matt invited her to go to The Branze tonight. She wasn’t sure if she should go, she had a lot of homework to catch up on and plus training. She decided that she would think about it after she saw Merrek.
On her way to Merrek’s gym, Jessica realized that Jake wasn’t in school today. What happened to him? thought Jessica on her way to her training. When she made it to Merrek’s gym, she found that he had set up an obstacle course for her. She passed through it quickly the first time, but he made it harder and harder every time she went through. The obstacle course consisted of fake cardboard vampires that would pop up at different times. She would have to protect cardboard people and herself from them. One time, she lost her focus and became surrounded by cardboard vampires. Merrek told her that if that had happened in real life, she would have died. Finally after hours of dodging cardboard vampires, she could go home. It was eight o’clock and she decided she had enough time to go to The Branze for a half an hour or so. She could finish her homework later.
Jessica arrived at The Branze five minutes later and she found Ashley and Matt at their usual table. They talked about the dance the next day, about what they were wearing and who they were going with. Ashley and Matt had each found someone to go with, which made Jessica happy. When Jessica decided to go home, Matt and Ashley said they would leave together, since they all had to home.
They decided to take the back entrance into the alley because it was closer and not as crowded. Ashley went outside first and Matt and Jessica followed. Jessica was barely out of the door when she heard Ashley scream. When she got outside she saw that Matt was struggling helplessly in the arms of a vampire and Ashley on the ground kicking frantically at another vampire who was trying to grab her.
Jessica jumped into action quickly by grabbing a piece of scrap wood near the exit and heading toward the vampire with Matt. The vampire, a woman, noticed her and released Matt, who fell to the ground.
“It’s the Hunter,” it said to the other female vampire trying to get Ashley.
The other vampire finally picked Ashley up and threw her against the wall. Matt looked up at Jessica and started to crawl to Ashley, who was on the verge of losing consciousness.
“A Hunter?” asked the other vampire. She looked at Jessica up and down. “Doesn’t look like a Hunter to me. I thought a Hunter would look like more of a challenge, she doesn’t scare me.”
Jessica also looked at the vampire up and down and said “First impressions aren’t everything. Besides, you don’t look like much of a challenge either.”
The two vampires smiled.
“Oh really?” said the first one, who had had Matt. “Well let’s see what you’ve got.”
Before Jessica could think about how corny their conversation was, the vampire charged at her and she moved out of the way as fast as she could. She wasn’t fast enough though. The vampire had scratched Jessica with her long nails, the scratch stung a little. The vampire tried to kick her but Jessica grabbed its leg and made it fall to the ground. The other vampire was watching them fight, waiting for the right moment to jump in.
The vampire jumped up off of the ground and backed up next to the other vampire. They stared at her and she realized what they were trying to do. They were trying to put her into a trance. Jessica could feel them trying to take over her mind. She started to feel her mind get cloudy. Jessica remembered what Merrek told her to do in this situation. She tried with all her might to picture something in her mind that would make them withdraw. Luckily they weren't that strong and they were still hungry. She pictures in her mind, even though she didn't want to, a picture of warm blood. Jessica didn't like it, but it seemed to be working. They were being overcome by their hunger and soon they were blinded by it, unable to think straight. Once Jessica was free from their trance, the two vampires lunged at her. She pulled a stake out from her pocket and easily dogded them. She grabbed one of the vampires, threw her to the ground and staked her. The other one looked at what just happened to her partner and decided to make a run for it.
Jessica dropped the stake and looked over at her friends, who were still on the ground, shocked at what they had just seen. She walked over to them, not sure of what to say. "Matt? Ashley? Are... you ok?" asked Jessica hesitently.
They looked up at her and Matt was the first to speak. "Yeah...sure...we're fine. What were they?" he asked, his face looking dazed and empty.
"Um...well...there's no easy way for me to tell you this but...they were vampires," she said, knowing how crazy it sounded.
"Yeah...uh huh...and what are you?" he asked his face still looking dazed.
"I'm a Hunter, I'm supposed to protect people from them," she answered still knowing how it sounded.
"Well..." said Ashely, speaking for the first time. "It explains a lot. I mean alot of strange things happen here, alot of dissapearences."
"Yeah...I guess we should go home now," said Matt.
"Yeah, we should it's getting late," Ashely added.
"Ok, do you guys want me to walk you home?" asked Jessica, trying to be helpful to the two people she might lose as friends.
"No we'll be fine," said Matt. "We've walked home from The Branze before, I think we can handle it."
"Ok," said Jessica. "I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow?"
"Sure," replied Matt, as he and Ashley walked away.
Jessica watched them go. She walked home alone knowing that she had probably lost the two greatest friends anyone could ever have.

Jake walked around all day, finally, came to rest under a tree in the park. He didn’t know why he was avoiding Jessica, he was supposed to be protecting her. He would see her tomorrow, he decided, at the dance. Nigelus wasn’t going to do anything to her during the day. He would most likely do something tomorrow night. So, Jakes decided that he was going to explain everything to Jessica tomorrow night. Now that she accepted being a Hunter, he could tell her about Nick. He wasn’t sure if she would believe him or Nick. Jake wasn’t as close to Jessica as Nick was. Jessica would probably believe Nick over him. But who knows? thought Jake. Maybe she will believe me, after what she has learned. Merrek had told him that Jessica would be able to sense vampires around her by Monday or sooner. Jake just hoped it would be soon.

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