"Guys, this place is definitely haunted."
Mary nods in agreement with Rory while they walk down the flickering hallway of the abandoned hotel. "We should go." He adds, moving closer to his friends.
"Rory," Benny sighs, "on the monster scale, vampire beats ghost. You're the scariest thing down here. Rory grins, "I am? Cool!" Mary chuckles and shakes her head at the two.
"Whoa, wait," Benny says, studying the supernatural energy tracker in his hand, "there's a pile of supernatural energy here. Yeah, this is the right place." He moves it slightly in Rory's direction as it starts to beep faster. "Oh, no," Rory cries, "it's been in my stomach the whole time!"
He starts to frantically swat his hands in front of his stomach. Mary sighs at him and grasps his shoulders, "Rory, there's no ghost in your stomach. You are the supernatural energy." He sighs in relief, she was so calming to him. "Oh, okay, thanks."
She chuckles just as Benny stops when the tracker starts beeping again, this time it was pointed at a wall. "Yeah, okay, this is it." Benny grins and shoves the device into Rory's hands, "hold this."
Benny and Mary move away a propped up wooden pallet, covering a small Service Elevator sign. Benny knocks on it, when nothing happens, he then proceeds to open it slowly. "Aha!" Benny cheers and reaches in to grab a small sphere wrapped in a cloth, "and that's how it's done. Behold," he pauses to unwrap it, revealing a large purple orb. "The Lusifractor! We are it's new masters."
"Ah, what does it do?" Rory questions.
"It obeys our awesome commands!" Benny replies.
"Cool!"
Mary sighs, "guys, it's not a toy. If some crazy sorcerer was zapping vampires into comas to find it, I think it's safe to say it's not something to mess with. Besides, how would it even do that?"
"I...have no idea. You're probably right, we should leave it be for now." Benny replies. "I'll have my grandma figure out what it is when we get back."
"You know, for something so important you think it'd have like an alarm or something." Rory wonders, just as Benny's device starts to go off.
"You mean like that?" Mary says, her voice rising. The three look at each other, then turn around to see a large, ghost looking thing about to charge at them.
"Run!"
They hurry down the hall as fast as they could. "You lied to me, you said I was the scariest thing here!" Rory yells as they pause to take a breath.
"Second scariest is still pretty good!" Benny replies.
"Uh, guys..." Mary nods behind them at a hooded figure, they both turn, following her gaze.
"Okay, third scariest."
A deep voice comes from the hooded figure, "thanks for finding that for me kids, now let me have it."
"Oh," Benny smirks, "you'll get it alright."
"Run again!" Mary shouts, pushing them away down the hall.
...
Eventually they find their way out, losing the scary ghost and the crazy hooded guy. Rory stood from afar, waiting for Benny and Mary to catch up.
"You're...so...fast." Mary sighs, leaning over and trying to catch her breath. "I can't believe how out of shape I am still, considering all the running away from danger we do."
"You guys look tired. Here, Benny," Rory says, taking the Lusifractor from him, "let me carry that..." he trails off once the orb hits his hand. He starts to stumble and nearly fall to the ground. Mary notices and takes the orb from him, "Rory, you okay?"
The blonde nods, "that's...a lot...heavier than...I thought..." he stammers. Benny gently takes the orb from Mary and puts it in his bag, "yeah maybe you shouldn't touch this thing."
Mary nods and wraps Rory's arm around her shoulder to hold him up, he felt so dizzy and lightheaded he couldn't even enjoy the moment. "Ethan," Benny answers his ringing phone, "hey, okay, we found the Lusifractor and it-"
"You found it?" Ethan cuts him off on the other line, "was there some kind of guardian thing?"
"Oh yeah," Benny scoffs, "and-"
"Never mind, you have to bring it to the restaurant now. Hurry." Ethan states, then hangs up.
Benny huffs, "rude," and slides his phone back into his jacket pocket. "Uh, hey, Rory, you feel well enough to like fly really fast while carrying us?"
Rory, still being supported by Mary, shakes his head. "Yeah, I don't even think he can walk." Mary states. She moves her head around to study their surroundings, "aha! Benny, grab that wheelbarrow over there. We're gonna have to push him."
"Push him? What? With these noodle arms?" Benny protests, waving his skinny arms around.
Mary rolls her eyes and turns to Rory, "Rory, here," she gently moves him to the ground, "sit." He plops down, looking up at her, "you guys can go, I'm sure I'll get my strength back soon."
"Hey, no man left behind," she stresses, pointing a finger at him, "besides, that ghost thing will probably have you for dinner. Benny, come on." She stands up straight and heads over to the wheelbarrow parked in the grass, pulling it out with a loud huff. Benny groans, "fine."
Eventually they get Rory into the wheelbarrow, and they push him to the restaurant as fast as they could.
...
At the restaurant, Ethan quickly runs back to the table with Sarah. "Okay, tell me what's going on."
Ethan sighs, "there's a bit too much to explain right now, but, we should leave as soon as Benny, Rory and Mary get here, okay?"
"Benny, Rory and Mary are joining us? On our date?" Sarah scoffs.
Erica appears in her red and black waitress outfit, which she failed to mention to Sarah or any of them once they got to the restaurant. "I knew it." She says to the two, then walks away. They both roll their eyes at her.
"I'll get your coat, okay?" Ethan says, trying his hardest to make the best of the situation and show that it was still a date. He stands up too quickly and bumps right into a waiter, who glares at him then hisses, fangs appearing out of his mouth. "Please be careful, sir."
Ethan sits back down in utter shock. "This is a vampire restaurant."
"What are you talking about? You chose this place." Sarah snaps.
"Actually," Ethan sighs, "Erica did." Just as she comes into view, Sarah shoots her a lethal glare, "you recommended a vampire restaurant?"
"Vampires have restaurants?" Ethan questions.
Erica sighs, "look, there's two types of people in this world; eaters and eatees. You both need to know who you're going on a date with."
The waiter from before comes back, "is there a problem with the meal? Would you like him seasoned?"
Sarah shakes her head, "I think I'll take him to go, thanks." She snaps and quickly stands up, frustrated and slightly embarrassed.
Ethan, unfortunately, doesn't notice her demeanor when he sees Benny and the others coming in. "Benny!" He quickly hurries over to the struggling couple hurling in Rory on a rusty wheelbarrow.
"Hey!" Benny says, stopping and giving Ethan the Lusifractor while Mary helps Rory out of the wheelbarrow. "Okay, this is the good news. The bad news is..." Benny trails off once they hear a loud crash at the door.
The ghost guard from the hotel appears, struggling with the hostess. "That thing sure wants it's chew toy back. Why can't we just give it to him?" Mary states.
"Are you nuts?" Ethan scoffs, "it's powerful enough now without giving it a super weapon. Maybe we can destroy one powerful thing with another."
"Good idea, do it, now!" Benny shouts.
"I gotta figure out how to use it!" Ethan shouts back.
Benny waves at him, "maybe I can buy you some time." He moves his stance to face the monster, "Vagarath, a-" Before he could get out the second word, the monster takes Benny by the shirt collar and throws him onto the bar, dragging him along it.
Benny screams in agony, Mary quickly runs up to them. "Leave him alone!" She shouts, her hands begin to heat up and form two orbs of yellow. She throws them at the monster, and it lets go of Benny, but now it had a different target. Her eyes go wide and she backs away, "uh, Ethan!"
The monster swings at her but she ducks, just as Ethan points the Lusifractor at it. A large strike of purple lightning comes out of the orb, hitting the monster directly until it disappeared with a purple explosion.
"What is that thing?!" Sarah shouts. Rory grins, "I totally almost tasted that earlier."
"So much power..." Ethan says to himself, studying the flashy purple orb. "I can just feel it..."
As he says this, a wave of purple comes out of the orb, wiping its way through the restaurant, causing almost everyone in there besides a few to fall. "If you talk about what you saw tonight, the only ones who will believe you, are the ones that'll eat you!" Ethan calls, which makes the remaining standing people in the restaurant hurry away.
Mary quickly goes to help Benny down from the bar, "you okay?" He nods, "yeah. You weren't kidding when you said you'd protect me right back." She smiles at him, moving his arm to wrap around her shoulders for support, "of course I wasn't."
Ethan hurries over to Sarah on the ground, reaching his hand out, "are you okay?" She nods slowly and takes his hand, pulling herself up to her feet. Benny and Mary go to help up Rory.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asks again.
"Yeah," Sarah sighs, "I think I'll call it a night."
Ethan tries his best to hide the disappointment in his face, but it didn't work, at least not to his friends around him. "Oh, yeah, um, I'll call you?"
Sarah doesn't reply, but she does walk out the door without looking back at him. Mary turns to Benny, "I'm gonna go with her, okay?" He nods while she kisses his cheek and hurries off to comfort her friend.
"Well, just put it this way buddy," Benny says once Mary was gone, "she'll never forget this date."
Ethan looks down at the Lusifractor with, his face crossed and mouth curled into a noticeable frown. "Let's go."
Benny pats him on the shoulder while they walk out, "maybe next time, trooper."
...
"Sarah?" Mary catches up to her on the sidewalk just across from Sarah's house. "Are you okay?"
She nods, "yeah, I think. I don't know."
"Hey, don't let this one bad night ruin something that could be really great, okay? Do you have any idea how many times Benny and I had dates ruined by this kind of stuff? It's not the end of the world, I promise." She reassures her.
Sarah wanted to believe her, but it was hard. "Thanks. I really do appreciate all your advice."
"What are best friends for?" Mary shrugs, and loops her arm around Sarah's, "come on, how about we have one of those cheesy sleepovers where we read trashy magazines and talk about-well I guess guys won't work for tonight, how about we just watch some movies and eat crappy popcorn?"
Sarah laughs at Mary's endless rambling, one of the many reasons she loved her friend. "That sounds perfect."
...
Rory knocks repeatedly on Erica's door the next morning until he heard her stomping down her stairs. "What?!" She shrieks, then immediately groans once she sees it's Rory. "Ugh, what do you want, Rory? I'm gonna be late."
"I needed to talk to you," Rory says, "it's important. It's about you know what."
Erica sighs, normally she would just slam the door in his face and tell him to fly to school by himself, but this was something she couldn't ignore without it possibly imploding. She closes the door behind her, "alright, fine you can tell me on the way to school."
The two start to walk, and Rory begins his ramble. "And then she was holding me up and she refused to leave me behind, and it made me feel all like fluffy. I can't take this anymore, Erica, I'm thinking of just telling her and-"
"Whoa, whoa, no." Erica stops in her tracks, "no, Rory, you can't do that."
"Why not?" Rory whines, "maybe just hearing her reject me will help me move on."
"Or it could cause some serious awkwardness between you and Benny, and you and Mary. Do you really want that?"
"Well it's already awkward, I mean it feels like it to me. I need to at least do something." He cries.
Erica racks her brain for a moment, "wait, I've got it."
"What? What? Tell me!"
"Dude, chill!" Erica scoffs, and turns to fumble with her bag until she pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. "Take this, go somewhere during school by yourself, and write out your feelings. Draft it like a...letter to her, but don't actually send it. Just write out everything you wanna say to her, then get rid of it. It doesn't matter how, you can burn it, throw it away, bury it, whatever."
"How is that going to help me?" Rory questions.
Erica rolls her eyes, "because it's like a mind trick almost, it'll help you tell her your feelings without actually doing it."
Rory nods and takes the paper and pen from her, "you know I could've just used my own-"
"Rory."
"Okay, okay," he sighs and shoves them in his bag, "thank you."
"Yeah yeah." Erica shakes her head then speeds off, leaving him behind.
"Hey!"
...
Mary holds Benny's hand as they walk up to Ethan's locker. "Dude," Benny calls, "you look rough. Did you have that zombie cow dream again?"
"Oh yeah," Ethan nods, "and worse. Probably because I slept with this thing under my pillow." He holds up the Lusifractor wrapped in a large red sock.
"Hey...let's Lusifract something!" Benny grins and reaches for it, but Mary stops him. "Babe, no, I think we can all attest that that thing is not a toy."
"Yeah, it's like a magnifying glass for dark powers." Ethan adds.
"Exactly," Benny replies, "imagine what I could do with it if I was actually really good at magic. We could rule the world!"
"See! That's exactly why I'm stuck babysitting it." Ethan sneers.
"Wha-hey, I'm not power hungry like this one." Mary protests, "I can take it for a night if you need me to."
Ethan shakes his head, "no, it's okay. Thanks though-" Benny tries to reach for it while Ethan talks but he notices him and slaps his hand away. "Oh come on!" Benny whines, "just let me hold it for the morning."
"No-"
"I really wanna Lusifract something-"
"Guys stop wrestling with it you're gonna drop it then we'll all be dead-"
"I'm the one who found it!"
"Benny no!"
Mr. Stern notices the interaction and immediately storms up to them. "Boys, girl, you know how I feel about horseplay in the halls I am horseplay's greatest opponent. This is coming with me." He says, reaching to wrestle it away from Ethan.
"No, wait,-"
Mary scoffs, "you can't take that!"
Mr. Stern glares at her, which makes her freeze. "I am fairly certain I can, missy. And if any of you would like to argue the point I'd be happy to hear your complaints in detention."
They all nod, "no sir."
He shoots one final glare at them and stomps off. "At least it's relatively safe in his office." Benny shrugs.
Mary nods in agreement, "yeah, good point," she turns to Ethan, "I mean, come on what's Vice Principal Stern gonna do with that thing? He'll probably think it's just a giant marble."
Ethan sighs, "yeah, I guess you're right-"
"Ethan!" Rory shouts from behind them, causing them all to turn. "The council says they need you to stop by tomorrow."
Ethan groans, "ugh, what is it now? Do I have to give them all tarot card readings or something?"
"No, but that would be kinda interesting...I wonder what my future looks like..."
"Rory," Mary sighs, "what do they want with Ethan tomorrow?"
"Oh!" The blonde blushes, "right. They want you to bring the Lusifractor to them. No biggie, though, I mean you took it home with you last night, right?"
They all look at each other, then back where Stern walked away from. "Yeah, except now it's with Stern." Benny sighs.
"Oh," Rory replies, "so I guess it is a biggie."
Ethan nods, "you could say that."
🔮