Author's Note: In celebration of Amazon Prime Video's newest series Panic, I am thrilled to be teaming up with Amazon Prime Video and Wattpad to write this exclusive chapter that puts my characters from this story into the world of Panic!
I hope this chapter intrigues and inspires you to learn more about Panic. Visit the #PanicWritingContest on Wattpad for the chance to put your creative writing chops to the test and learn more about the show!
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Don't forget to watch the series premiere on May 28th, only on Amazon Prime Video, here: http://primevideo.com/
Carp Shoot
Calponia squinted at her arch nemesis, reaching for the button with a trembling finger. The blue light came on with a quick jab and she held her breath, fighting the urge to duck down below the counter. A grudging gurgle sounded in the belly of the machine, moments before a slow drip of brown liquid descended into the waiting metal carafe. She punched her fist into the air, crowing her success. This called for a victory dance.
The front door of the Edgewise swung open mid shimmy. Calponia jumped with a squeak, her socked feet slipping out from under her. Her journey to the floor came to an abrupt end, an arm reaching over the bar to catch the waistline of her pajama bottoms in midair. Only one patron moved that fast. A blush crawled straight to her hairline.
"Morning Eugene," she mumbled to the floorboards. The vampire lowered her gently, but remained silent until she chanced a peek up at him through her sleep tangled curls. He stared at her with a look of bemused adoration.
"You have penguins on your pants," he said.
If possible she blushed harder. "I like penguins."
"They're adorable," said Eugene.
Calponia bit back her automatic retort of 'You're adorable.' That would lead into a full blown flirtation and, though she hoped they were past that initial awkward phase in their relationship, she hadn't even managed to inject caffeine into her system yet. Instead she said, "You're here early," mentally berating the tavern for not so much as a warning. She was still in her penguin pajamas for heaven's sake.
Eugene shrugged, settling his lanky form onto a stool. "Mack asked if I could handle any infestations that popped up today."
"Infestations? Today?" Calponia frowned. "But we had--"
She cut herself off at the warning creak from the rafters above. The front door swung open for the second time that morning, admitting the tavern's proprietor. Mack practically dragged himself inside, his usual trench covered in all manner of foul smelling fluids. Calponia hid her wince as her boss slumped into the stool next to Eugene, the vampire too polite to react to the man's stench. She recognized that foul odor.
"Gremlins? Again? Didn't we just wipe up the last infestation?"
Mack sighed. "They're like the cold sores of the multiverse. You can never fully get rid of them." He rapped a knuckle on the bar. "Whiskey neat." A glass of amber liquid rose up through the bar a moment later. He had to be exhausted if he couldn't be bothered to pour his own drink.
"You look terrible," said Calponia, tentatively making herself a cup of coffee from the now full carafe. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Three days ago. Hence asking his highness to run interference for me," said Mack with a sidelong glance at the vampire.
Eugene's lips curled at the title. Calponia took a sip of her coffee and immediately spat it back out, more grounds than liquid. How was that possible? She glared at the coffee maker, her nemesis. Foiled again!
Mack shot back his whiskey. "I'm going to bed," he declared, making a face as he stood. "After a shower." He clapped the vampire on the shoulder, before staggering up the stairs.
Eugene waited for the tell tale slam of Mack's bedroom door before he spoke. "I know, I know, we had plans, but you saw him. I couldn't say no."
No, he couldn't and Calponia wouldn't want him to. Gremlins! No wonder Mack was so exhausted. She hated the little pests, but still, she was bummed to miss quality time with Eugene. Dating across dimensions & worlds made it hard enough to schedule time together. She hid her pout in her failed cup of coffee sludge.
On cue, the Edgewise groaned, communicating in the scent of bitters and a clink of glass. Eugene rose, donning a set of leather gloves. "Looks like I'm off." He headed for the door, completely missing the piece of paper that wafted down from the rafters. Calponia came around the bar, trying to make sense of the strange hand drawing when a tingling sensation spread across the back of her hand. The number twenty four appeared in inky black scrawl on her skin.
The world tipped sideways.
Calponia shrieked, falling. She zipped straight past a shocked Eugene, her scream taking on a higher pitch as she tumbled through the open door.
The vampire swore, following her a moment later. The tavern door snapped shut, a hint of whiskey scenting the air with smug satisfaction.
***
Calponia plummeted through the air. Flailing, she tried to right herself, sights and sounds rushing around her in a disorienting blur. Shocks of red flame painted the night, punctuated by shouts and laughter. Calponia swore she heard the sound of cheering a second before her body hit water. Unprepared, she swallowed a mouthful, frantically kicking in what she hoped was towards the surface. It would be par the course to nearly drown on arrival.
Her outstretched hands hit the silty bottom, making the water even murkier. She scrambled in the opposite direction, ignoring the burning pinch in her ill prepared lungs. Too deep, too light headed, she wasn't going to make it. An arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her against a hard body. Her head broke the surface a second later, Eugene holding her aloft as she gulped big mouthfuls of air.
"You really need to stop telling the Edgewise when we make plans," he muttered.
"No harm, no foul," she wheezed. Dammit but he was right. The tavern probably thought it was being helpful by sending her to tag along. Her pajama bottoms dragged on her hips, making it harder to tread water.
Eugene frowned. "Are-are they calling your name?"
Calponia looked at the shore, where, sure enough, a cluster of teenagers in various states of undress shouted her name. A boy with floppy brown hair shouted through a megaphone. "What a show! Our last surprise contestant of the night, number twenty four Calponia Anders securing a tie for the lead with another death defying leap off Devil's Drop!"
Not only did they know her full name, they acted like her appearance out of thin air was completely normal. The Edgewise must have been pulling some major mental influence to smooth their unusual entrance. Calponia and Eugene looked at each other, the former sputtering through a mouthful of tepid lake water. "Where the hell are we?"
He looked around. "Feels like Earth."
She splashed him. "Fine detective skills there, slick." Eyeing the crowd on the shore, she wondered just how much of a mental nudge the Edgewise laid down for her when she caught a flash of something much more alarming, skittering through the crowd like a demonic chihuahua. None of the teens reacted to the gremlin's presence, which meant it hadn't created enough havoc to properly manifest, yet.
"Did you see that?"
"Yep," said Eugene, his tone grim. "I'm going to get you to shore."
She sent him a startled look. "Where will you be?"
"Uh, after the gremlin," he said, pointedly.
"But it's not corporeal yet," said Calponia. Eugene made a face, keeping his response to himself until he managed to get them both on muddy shore, out of sight of the main beach. Water poured off the vampire's layered outfit, far more cumbersome than her tank top and pajamas.
Calponia could hear the kids calling her name. She winced eternally. They had to be five or six years younger than her tops and she was calling them kids? Apparently the Edgewise thought she could still pass physically for a teen, though maybe one who hadn't slept since finals week.
"Okay, so we can't grab it until it manifests," said Eugene. "This event appears to be winding down. I doubt it will generate enough tonight. What do you suggest?"
She bit her lip. These were kids, and, no doubt willfully, the gremlin had tied them up in its machinations. It would very likely get one or more of them killed, building enough mayhem and misfortune to punch through to the material plane. She refused to let that happen.
She held up her hand, showing him the number. "You heard him. I'm a contestant. Guess we play the game."
Eugene's shoulders slumped. "Why do our dates always go sideways?"
***
The streets of Carp, Texas didn't look any better in the light of day. Their initial late night scout session of harmless questions and eavesdropping the departing crowd of teens coughed up enough details for Calponia to get a solid picture. In the dark, the small town was more eerie than charming, the oppressive heat of the south in full swing so the muggy nights clung to the skin in a film of sweat. Despite its size, the divisions ran deep in its roots, a grid of varying degrees of desperation, verging from impoverished to weather beaten picket fences. Daylight merely highlighted those divides further. Calponia could understand why the town's youth threw their lives into such a dangerous high stakes game, pooling every spare dollar into a tantalizing prize worth risking their lives for. The promise of escape was too tempting to pass up when the entire town slowly closed around them like a giant fist.
But that game had victims. They stared back at her from the poster, dark haired and dark eyed, their youthful face frozen in a permanent smile, their last smile. In memoriam.
High stakes indeed.
"Find anything?" Eugene appeared beside her, covered head to toe despite the heat, a wide brim hat and sunglasses completing his ridiculous outfit.
She jerked her chin towards the movie theater marquee overhead, bearing a coded message in carefully misplaced letters. "I know where the next event will be."
His brow rose. "You were able to decipher that nonsense?"
"No, I overheard some of the others." For a covert game, the whole lot were remarkably terrible at keeping it on the down low. The players seemed to chatter about it every where, in the diner, in the street, as if their whispers couldn't be overheard by any keen ear listening hard enough. Even the adults of the town new about it. Though that might have more to do with the two faces, forever young, on the poster than anything else.
"Those are not our ghosts to lay to rest," Eugene said softly.
No they were not. Calponia inhaled a breath. They had a gremlin to catch.
The gremlin kept itself scarce in the lull of activity that hung over Carp. And there was no guarantee it would show up at this particular trial but it was their best chance.
Eugene shifted further into the shadows beside her, uncomfortable in direct sunlight despite his coverage. It wasn't like he would burst into flames, but Earth's sunlight made him lethargic and itchy. "They really call this game Panic?
"Oh yeah, as in perfectly survivable as long as you don't panic," said Calponia.
He inhaled through his nose. "What is there to do in this town until nightfall?"
She snorted. "Not much, hence why they play this game." She nudged him with her hip. "We could hunker down somewhere for a nap?" At least she'd scavenged a pair of serviceable shorts, her pajama bottoms unsalvageable. Her words were meant to be teasing but the look he gave her made her squirm.
He cleared his throat. "Maybe another time," he said, sounding a little strained.
"Then let's grab something at that diner," she said. She took the lead, but damn if her hormones weren't running high like any teenage girl.
***
Nightfall brought them to the next challenge. It creaked above them, shifting in a hot Texas breeze that did nothing to relieve the heat. Calponia gaped at the rickety strip of metal.
"Oh eff that, I'm out," she said.
Eugene's nostrils flared. "I agree. Concentrate on finding our quarry."
She tried to do just that, but it was hard to take her eyes off the 'bridge', a two foot wide metal plank between the two towers. Far too high off the ground and hazardous enough by any standard of OSHA, of course it was deemed challenge worthy by the game's judges. A couple of contestants had already made their way across, her gaze riveted to their stressful crossing.
And it was because she couldn't take her eyes off the thing that she caught sight of the gremlin, clawing along the underside of the plank.
"Oh no," said Calponia. "It's going to get someone killed."
The crackle of the mega phone startled her "Heather Nill, you're up!"
A young blonde started forward. Calponia grabbed Eugene, pointing to the gremlin as it started digging at the underside of the plank. "Ah, what's it doing! Is it corporeal yet?"
"Not quite, but I think the more worrisome question is what has it already done?" Eugene drew her attention to the bottom of the tower where the metal support shafts had been gnawed away.
Calponia could hear the ominous grind of breaking metal as Heather began to ascend. "Oh my gosh the whole thing is going to collapse under her.
The blonde Heather took her first wobbling step, up the ladder. Could they not hear or see what was happening? Or were they too focused on the game? Like a picture becoming clear through static, the gremlin snapped into focus, breaking through to their reality.
"I can stabilize the tower," said Eugene, "Or I can get the gremlin, but not both." He shot Calponia a worried look.
Calponia tried to swallow, the moisture in her mouth drier than desert sand. "Hold the tower. I'll get the gremlin."
Eugene caught her wrist. "I'll catch you."
Scared as she was, a small smile tugged her lips "You always do."
The vampire darted ahead of her. His dark clothing let him blend into the night so none of the gathered crowd could see a single man in the shadows, holding the entire structure aloft. Besides, their attention was currently on Calponia, in clear violation of the rules. She grabbed Heather before she could get more than a few feet off the ground.
"I'm sorry, I need to go first," said Calponia.
Heather stared at her as if she had to heads before she managed to answer. "Wait, no, I have to do this," she insisted, her expression nervous but determined.
"Look, I promise, I'm not trying to compete," said Calponia, knowing she sounded like a maniac. "I'm just trying to save your life kid."
The statement only confused the teen further. "What-" But Calponia interrupted her, getting the girl's feet firmly on the ground so she could take her place.
"Uh excuse me, contestant twenty four? Your number isn't up. You need to wait your turn!"
Calponia ignored the distorted voice yelling at her through the megaphone. She clenched her jaw hard, crawling up the ladder as fast as she dared, praying the curse in her blood would hold off long enough for her to reach the top. Despite the yelling and threats of disqualification coming from below, she reached the top in less than a minute. Adrenaline kept her courage going, the world below washing away in a buzz that filled the space between her ears. She took a tentative step onto the bridge. The metal plank seemed to buck under her feet like a living thing. Calponia immediately dropped to her knees, unwilling to tempt the fates that much before she could her hands on the beastly little gremlin.
The creature chose that moment to appear, less than a foot away. This close, she got a good look at it, a truly horrible mix as if a demon chihuahua mated with a lawn gnome. It grinned at her with a mouthful of sharp spiky teeth, clearly expecting her to scream and fall.
Calponia sneered at it. "There you are, you little punk."
The gremlin's beady little eyes went wide as she lunged. It hissed, aiming a swipe at her with its grubby claws. Calponia braced for the pain but apparently her curse had held back long enough.
A tendril of black power wrapped around the gremlin's throat, shaking it like a rat terrier as the metal plank beneath began to weaken from the curse's influence.
"Eugene!" Calponia yelped. The plank bent unnaturally with the wind, dumping both her and the now dead gremlin. The vampire smoothly caught her before she hit the ground, the gremlin not so much. It hit the ground with a wet splat that made both of them wince. The metal tower gave another shake but didn't collapse. Though Calponia swore the tower now looked slightly lopsided.
Eugene set her on her feet, subtly checking her over for damage. "I've secured the tower. It will hold if these hooligans decide to continue their game."
"Number twenty four, you're disqualified!"
Calponia glared at the boy yelling at her through the megaphone. "You can't disqualify me. I quit." She ignored the others, poking the dead gremlin with the toe of her stolen sneakers. "What now?"
"First, bury this thing." Eugene grinned at her. "Then we go home."
Calponia left him that task to him, aware she would only slow him down. Instead she watched the game carry on, as if they hadn't witnessed her fall not moments ago. Truthfully, they hadn't. With their task done, the Edgewise would already be working its influence over the teens, smoothing the wrinkles of Eugene and Calponia's presence from their collective memory.
The last dregs of adrenaline drained from her system. Calponia just wanted to go home and have a good nap, maybe scold the Edgewise for the loss of her favorite pajamas. Still, part of her wondered what would happen to these kids, snared in the tangle of depression and secrets woven around the town of Carp. This town had its share of restless ghosts and wrongs that needed to be dragged into the light of day. But that was not her job.
They were just here to keep reality from slipping its leash.
Calponia withdrew a piece of chalk from her pocket, poached from the local playground, and began to draw a door on the side of a grain silo well away from any curious onlookers. Eugene joined her. His gloves gone, and likely buried with the gremlin, he slipped his bared hand into hers, giving it a squeeze.
She smiled and knocked on the drawn door three times. Light traced along the chalk lines. The scent of whiskey teased the hot Texas air, the gush of air from the opening tavern door a cool draft in comparison.
"Next date night," said Calponia, "Let's shoot for a movie in my room."
"That sounds marvelous," said Eugene.
The door shut behind them, the outline of golden light fading until it was nothing more than a whimsical chalk drawing on the side of a silo.