~ Central High School, Los Angeles California ~
Fern Harding walked anxiously down the hallways. She clutched her books to her chest like her life depended on it. A quarter ways down the hall her foot got caught and she collapsed to the ground. Fern turned around to see Nikki Elliott and her friends staring at her.
“Oops,” Nikki said sarcastically, “Sorry. I don’t see geeks to well.”
Fern frown and collected her books as Nikki and her friends walked away laughing.
“Butt holes.” Fern said to herself as she straightened herself up
From the side of the corridor Ferns friend, Ivy Dale, rolled her eyes and walked over to her.
“God Fern!” Ivy snapped, “Why do you let them walk all over you?”
Fern brushed her long straight hair out of her face and rolled her eyes impatiently.
“There’s more of them and less of me.” Fern replied
“You gotta stand up for yourself okay?”
“Whatever,” Fern said impatiently, “I gotta get to class.”
Fern pushed past Ivy and stormed down the hallway. Ivy pouted at her friend and watched her leave.
Fern burst out the front of the school. She leaned against the wall and wiped a tear from her eyes. A sound from the side of the building caught her attention. Curious she walked around to investigate. Nothing. Fern heard the sound of crackling but there was nothing around causing it. Suddenly the glow of the rift opening next to her caught her attention. Fern was thrown backwards as the inter-dimensional tear filled her with energy. the rift closed as quickly as it opened leaving the school girl confused and disoriented.
A little further down Curtis Parrish watched her fall. He rushed over to her and helped her back onto her feet.
“Are you alright?” he asked
Fern yanked her arm away from him.
“Yeah, fine, great.” She snapped
“Hey,” Curtis replied, “I’m just checking to see if you’re alright you don’t need to be a bitch.”
Fern glared at him.
“Why don’t you . . . Get out of town!”
Fern glowed red for a brief moment. Suddenly Curtis expression became glazed. He turned and walked away from her quickly.
~ The Parrish household, Los Angeles California – 1 hour later. ~
Curtis quickly packs his suitcase. His mother leaned in the doorway.
“This doesn’t make any sense why do you have to go?” she asked
Curtis looked up to her with the same vacant stare she gave Fern.
“I have to go away.” He said softly
Curtis picked up his suitcase and started to head for the front door. His mother looked at him anxiously.
“Frank talk to him!”
Curtis’ father stepped in his way.
“Son I can’t let you do this.” Frank said seriously.
Curtis walked up to his father and grabbed him by the collar. He tossed frank across the room effortlessly and the old man hit the side wall. Frank looked up at him scared as Curtis stood over him.
“I have to go away.” Curtis said vacantly before leaving the room.
~ City street, Beverly Hills California – 30 mins earlier ~
The black rusty station wagon drove slowly through the ritzy streets. It attracted the attention of the rich people who turned their noses up at its condition. Inside Shona was performing a similar action but instead of turning it up she was scrunching her nose.
“Oh my god,” She exclaimed, “Did something die in this car?”
Gypsy looked over to her curiously. He used his vampire senses
“What are talking about I don’t smell anything.”
“You’re kiddin’ right?” Shona replied, “Where you doin’ sewage delivery in here or what?”
Gypsy gave her a look then returned his eyes to the road.
“Where we going anyway?”
“My place. Gotta pick up some stuff.”
“Shon if you’re serious about finding the rift we should be looking for it now.”
“Hey this ain’t Scooby Doo I need more then one set of clothes.”
Shona looked down at her security uniform she had been wearing for the last couple of days.
“Maybe it’s you who’s stinking up my car.” Gypsy mused
This earned him an angry look from Shona
“Oh you’re just lookin’ for a stakin’ now aren’t ya?”
Gypsy smirked as Shona scouted the store fronts.
“Hold up,” she said pointing to one of them, “We’re here.”
Gypsy pulled over and scrutinized the building Shona pointed to. He looked at Shona, then the building, then back at Shona, then back at the building again. This happened several more times until Shona’s annoyed look prompted the question.
“You lived here?” Gypsy asked
Shona shrugged.
“Yeah.” She replied
Again Gypsy looked at the building in disbelief.
“You lived here?”
“What the hell’s your point?”
“Nothing it’s very . . . bright. So you lived here?”
Shona rolled her eyes and climbed out of the car. Gypsy followed suit and watched as Shona entered the neon pink building bearing the name ‘Bertie’s house of beauty’.
The bell rung as Shona stepped into the store front. A heavy set African American Woman whose outfit, hair and nails matched the bright tone of the walls beamed broadly at her as she flung open her arms.
“Shona!” Aunt Bertie exclaimed as she rushed up to Shona, “Come here baby girl and give your Auntie some sugar.”
“Hey Aunt Bertie.” Shona replied as she kisses her in a family way
Aunt Bertie looked Shona up and down in a disapproving fashion.
“Damn girl what ya do to yourself swim in an open sewer?”
Shona laughed.
“It’s been a long week.”
“We’ll I hope you’re stayin’ for a few days I don’t get to see my favorite niece as much as I wanna.”
“Sorry Bertie just passing through. Is my stuff still upstairs?”
Above the salon was an apartment who’s color scheme matched the entire building. Shona entered her bedroom and opened up the closet. As she pulled out a sports bag and started to fill it with clothes Gypsy looked around the room in confusion.
“I know you’re gonna hit me for this but I have to ask . . . you lived here?”
“Had to live someplace and Aunt Bertie’s was the closest to the slayer club.”
Gypsy brushed the bright pink wall paper.
“God, I hate to think what the other slayers thought.”
Shona laughed sharply.
“Yeah like I’d tell them where I lived. I had a rep in that place. Ya know in the early days, if Nighthawk found out I was living, here she would have fought me to the death for this room.”
Shona stopped for a moment and leaned against the bed a look of sadness crossing her face.
“You alright?” Gypsy asked
“Yeah . . . just been a long drive.” Shona replied
Gypsy nodded but wasn’t convinced. He had seen that look in her eye before. It appears every time she talks about her old friends. Gypsy decided to change the topic
“So what was the deal with that ‘Girl Friday’ comment Talon threw at you? Why did I piss you off so much?”
Shona pulled out a couple of items from the bag and laid them out on the bed.
“My grade school teacher used to call me that,” Shona explained, “man I hated her guts”
She started to lift up her t-shirt when she noticed Gypsy staring at her.
“What? This become a private party? Get out!”
Snapping out of his trance Gypsy began to leave the room but before he could a feeling washed over the both of them. Shona leaned against the wall to stop herself from falling as Gypsy steadied himself in the doorway.
“Whoa,” he said, “Did you fell that?”
“Definitely local,” Shona replied, “felt like a few blocks over”
“Thought it was a little further north then that.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Shona replied as she drew back the small curtain next to her bed, “Where ever it is we go find it and kill what ever comes out.”
Behind the curtain Gypsy saw an array of weapons mounted on the wall. She pulled down the sword and drew out a couple of stakes. She caught Gypsy’s expression.
“Hey, the room might be pink but I’m not! Always good to be prepared.”
Shona grabbed the weapons and the bag. Gypsy continued to study the weapons as she pushed passed.
“All of a sudden I feel sorry for this Nighthawk you keep talking about.” He replied
Fern walked into the classroom shyly. In the front of the class stood Mr. Singleton. He was writing assignment details on the board when he noticed the mousy girl step into the room. Mr. Singleton stopped writing and looked over to her.
“Fern? Can I help you with something?” he asked
“Hey Mr. Singleton,” she replied softly, “Can I talk to you about something?”
“Sure.”
Mr. Singleton gestured to a chair. Mr. Singleton leaned against his desk and looked at her curiously.
“What’s this about fern?”
“You know how you were teaching us about weird things in the sky?” Fern asked
“You mean the northern lights, aurora borealis?”
“Yeah, that stuff, are those lights things kinda red?”
Mr. Singleton thought about this.
“Parts of it,” he explained, “The aurora borealis is the reflection off the atmosphere . . . what’s this about?”
“I saw something yesterday. It was like this big red thing in the sky.”
Mr. Singleton looked at her closely
“Are you okay?” he asked
“I’ve been feeling kinda freaky since yesterday.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. It just feels . . .”
Suddenly the school bell rang. Fern looked up at Mr. Singleton nervously as she quickly stood up.
“ . . . I gotta get to class.”
“Talk to me after.” Mr. Singleton replied with concern.
The station wagon pulls up to the front of the school. Inside Shona and Gypsy looked at the buildings curiously.
“This feels like the place,” Gypsy said
“Yeah, feel’s like,” Shona replied.
The both of them stepped out of the car.
“What are we supposed to do?” Shona said loading her crossbow.
Gypsy looked at her curiously.
“First off we leave the weapons in the car,” Gypsy explained, “Don’t know if you watched the news recently but public high school frown upon people getting shot at. Secondly we’re usually here on cleanup.”
“I though we’re supposed to stop this thing.” Shona snapped
“We are,” Gypsy replied, “but first we need Nancy drew and the hardy boy to work out how.”
Shona looked at the school impatiently.
“Gotta tell ya, I ain’t good at undercover stuff”
“So I should do most of the talking then?”
“Unless you want something punched then I’m you gal. What’s our next move?”
“We go in, find out what the problem is, solve it then move to the next place?”
Shona looks back at the station wagon.
“Which means more car right?” Shona replied, “Great, I’m in stinky hell.”
Gypsy shot her a look.
“Let’s go.” He said in an annoyed tone
Fern sat with ivy in the lunch room. Fern poked at whatever passed for lunch in the cafeteria unsatisfied.
“Hey did you hear the news?” Ivy said
“No.” Fern replied
“Curtis Parrish ran away from his parents.”
Fern look at Ivy in shock
“No way,” Fern replied, “Wasn’t he, like, a total momma’s boy?”
“Yeah he was the, like, last nigh he had this huge fight and he stormed out.”
“Really,” Fern replied, “that is so weird I said something to that. When did this happen?”
“A few hours ago before lunch. Mandy Thomas, she lives next to him, said he totally flaked and stormed out of the house.”
Ivy shrugged.
“Guess he couldn’t take the pace here.” She commented
“Yeah like anybody would want hang around with these freaks.”
The two of them looked over to Nikki and her friends. The both of them glared at the group.
“She thinks she’s so hot ‘cause she can get all the boys.” Ivy snapped
Fern leaned in next to Ivy and smiled.
“Hey,” Fern said, “wouldn’t be funny if, like, Nikki got so fat she could only fit into really ugly clothes.”
Fern began to glow red again for a brief moment. Off in the distance Nikki flinched slightly. The girls watched curiously as a look of discomfort crosses Nikki’s face. She stood up from the table and rushed out of the room. Fern and Ivy watched her leave. Ivy laughed and toyed with her juice box.
“Wonder what her problem is?” Ivy scoffed
Nikki ran down the hallway awkwardly. Her body tensed up as she felt her clothes get tighter and tighter. By the time she made it to the locker room they were practically cutting off the circulation to her body. It was a tremendous struggle but she managed to remove the ill fitting clothes. Wrapping a towel around herself she looked in the mirror in horror. She reached out slowly and touched the mirror. Tears formed in her eyes as she tried to understand why she just gained three hundred pounds in thirty seconds.
Shona and Gypsy walked slowly through the corridors. Shona put her hands in her pockets as they gazed into each class carefully to try and find the source of the disturbance they felt.
“So what are we lookin’ for?” Shona asked
“Well know it when we see it.” Gypsy replied
“Yeah like I ain’t heard that before,” Shona remarked, “So many times ya done this before ya found me?”
Gypsy shrugged lightly.
“Once or twice. Made it a habit to make myself away from this thing as much as possibly.”
“Don’t blame ya,” Shona commented ‘this whole thing is weirding me out.”
“It takes some getting used to.”
The school bell rang and the students began to make their way to their lockers. As they dodged the various students they eyes fell on Fern and she and Ivy stepped out of the cafeteria. Shona looked at her curiously. For some reason Fern had a faint red glow around her.
“Looks like we found our girl.” Shona said
Fern opened her locker and collected her books.
“Hey,” Shona said from behind her, “Can we talk to you for a second?”
Fern turned to see Shona and Gypsy looking at her. She backed up against her locker and clutched the books to her chest as she looked the man in leather and the African American woman up and down nervously.
“What the heck do you guys want?” She asked
“Easy,” Gypsy said, “Just want to ask a couple of questions.”
“Okay. What do you wanna know?”
Shona and Gypsy looked at each other.
“Did you see anything . . . Weird at all?” Shona asked
“Weird,” Fern asked uneasily, “Like what?”
“Like, maybe, some kind of big red tear somewhere around here?” Gypsy replied
Fern looked at the both of them curiously.
“Who the heck are you two?”
“We’re people who wanna help ya.” Shona replied
“There’s nothing wrong with me.” Fern replied
“You’re not sick,” Gypsy replied, “We think something there’s something might have happened to you.”
“Like what?”
Shona and Gypsy shared an uncomfortable look. Fern slipped passed them and started to back off.
“Hey we’re not gonna hurt you.” Shona said
“Then why are you asking all the weird questions?” Fern asked nervously
Shona stepped forward but Fern backed off immediately. She looked at them fiercely.
”Why won’t everybody just leave me alone today?” she snapped
Suddenly Fern glowed again. A moment later all the classroom doors opened and people began to file out in a daze. The trio watched this display curiously as everybody filtered out the exits. Fern looked around confused.
“What just happened?” Fern asked
Shona looked around cautiously.
“I guess you did.” She replied
Outside a limo sat patiently. The window rolled down revealing Talon staring at the school.
“This was the source of the energy burst sir.” Talon’s assistant said
“Any affected?” Talon asked curiously
“We think only one individual is.”
“Who is it?”
“We’re still working on that . . .”
“Sir!” another assistant said, “we’ve got a problem.”
Talon looked over to the assistant. He was pointing to the beat up station wagon a few meters away from the limo.”
“They’re here.” he continued
Talon smiled to himself.
“And I thought this trip was going to be boring.” He mused
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