"You know, just for you, I'll take my 100 bucks in dollars." Benny grinned at Ethan, leaning against the locker.
Ethan sighed and put the rose in his locker. "The deal was that I had a year to ask Sarah out. I still have," He looked at his watch. "5 hours left."
Olivia scoffed. "Wow, it really has taken you ages to ask a girl out on a date."
"Yeah! Didn't take me long at all." Benny turned to Olivia and winked. "Then again, I am what women call 'irresistible."
Olivia laughed at Benny and lightly hit him. "Dream on."
"The council wants to meet with you now." Rory said to Ethan. "And this time, I've been authorised to use force."
"What force?" Ethan scoffed.
Rory lifted up the sleeves of his shirt. "These!" He tensed his muscles, earning unconvinced nods from the three. Rory turned around to look at the more threatening vampires stood behind him, growling. One bursted a rugby ball and the other blew them a not-so-friendly kiss. "And those." He grinned.
Benny nervously smiled at them, giving them a salute signal.
Ethan sighed and shut his locker. "Let's just get this over with. I'll ask Sarah out later."
"Yeah, sure you will." Benny teased. "Oh and on a completely unrelated note; I have preordered $100 worth of the world's self-chewing gum!" Benny called out as Ethan and Rory walked away.
The couple waited for about 10 seconds before looking at each-other and nodding. "To the Vampire Council we go!" Benny grinned, pointing forwards.
***
"Hey, that went well. I mean, you appear to be alive." Benny said to Ethan, who was harshly being dragged down the stairs by the two vampires who were with Rory earlier.
"Yeah, I've got all day to ask Sarah out." Ethan said, struggling.
"Yeah, this I gotta see." Rory said to Olivia.
"Get off!" Ethan ordered the vampires, who pushed him away from them once they were at the bottom floor.
"Erica told me you were here!" Sarah said, suddenly running in. Ethan was a little surprised to see her and now that the time had come, he was more nervous than ever. "Did they hurt you? Is everything okay?"
"Uh... yeah." Ethan replied, awkwardly looking around to the small audience behind him. "Can I... um... c-can we...e-er..." Ethan stuttered, putting his arm around Sarah and taking away from the crowd so it was slightly more private.
"I'd... I'd like to, er, ask you..." Ethan looked over her shoulder to Benny, who was urging him to carry on. "Maybe we could, uh," He was taking a lot of breaths between his words and Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"He's actually doing it." Benny whispered to Olivia and Rory.
"I know; it's adorable!" Olivia awed.
Benny nodded. "I changed my mind - this is definitely worth $100!"
"Sarah, would you like to go out for dinner with me tonight?" Ethan asked, nervously.
"What, like... a date?"
"No, uh, not like that-"
Rory, Benny and Olivia rapidly waved their arms around and shook their heads. "Yes!" Rory hissed.
"I mean... yeah! Exactly like that." Ethan said, subtly looking over at his friends. "On a date."
"Sure!" Sarah replied. "What the heck! It could be fun!" She smiled.
"See you tonight then?" Ethan asked, trying to hold in his excitement.
Sarah nodded before walking away. Ethan ran up to his friends and let his excitement out. "She said yes!" He jumped up and down.
"And I never doubted you - ever!" Benny pointed.
"Me neither! And I'm not lying like Benny!" Rory grinned.
"Yes, Ethan! I have to admit... I thought you'd never have the balls." Olivia chuckled.
"She said yes!" Ethan repeated this to himself so many times he passed out.
Rory, Benny and Olivia fell silent and looked at each-other, then back to Ethan. "We should probably take him home..." Olivia whispered.
Benny and Rory slowly nodded. "Yeah... I'm sure he's totally fine." Benny replied.
***
"$100 in nickels!" Benny announced, slamming his bag full of them onto Ethan's desk before sitting down. "Best money I ever spent!" He then saw that Ethan was drawing something. "What are you doing?"
"I saw this in the vision I got from the council librarian." Ethan explained.
"What did they say it was?" Olivia asked, getting up from Ethan's bed and sitting on Benny's lap.
"I didn't tell them about it." Ethan responded, biting his lip.
"Dude! You kept a secret from the council? How'd you get so cool all of a sudden?!" Rory exclaimed.
"Look, the wizard who raided the council library was looking for something called the Lucifractor - Anastasia tried really hard to not look worried when I mentioned that." Ethan told them.
"Must be pretty important if it scares Little Miss Fang-Fang." Benny said.
"Maybe we should figure this out. Maybe I should just call Sarah about tonight and-"
"Woah!" Olivia, Benny and Rory shouted simultaneously.
"It took you a full year to get one date... one!" Benny said, holding up a single finger. "This," he pointed at the Ethan's drawing. "this happens every week."
"Go on your date, Ethan. We can do this." Olivia smiled.
"Yeah, we'll totally figure this out. Benny, Olivia and I make almost a full Ethan." Rory added.
"Yeah." Benny agreed. "Wait, I think with Olivia, we make a full Ethan."
Rory pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, I guess, actually..."
Olivia grinned.
"Okay, yeah! You're right!" Ethan nodded.
"Where are you taking her?" Olivia asked.
"Erica mentioned a little restaurant that Sarah might like-"
"Wait!" Olivia said, thinking for a moment, realising it's possibly the vampire restaurant that Erica works at.
"What is it?" Ethan asked.
Olivia thought for a second, should she really ruin their date by telling them who works at the restaurant? She shook her head and smiled. "Never mind."
"Nice, time for some tips." Benny grinned.
"I don't need any tips..." Ethan said.
"I don't need any tips," He tapped Ethan on the noise. "coach."
***
"How necessary would you say that wig is?" Ethan asked Benny, staring at Rory.
"Very! I totally think it brings out the colour in my eye!" Rory replied.
"Why can't Olivia be my pretend date?" Ethan groaned.
"Because," Benny began, reorganising the towel he stole from Ethan's bathroom on his arm. "Olivia's my girlfriend and she's not pretending to be your anything." He said, looking over to Olivia, who was sat on the high chair behind him, sniggering at Rory's wig. "Now, cut the chatter! What do you do when you first sit down?"
"Act like it's the only place to be." Ethan said, taking his napkin. "Isn't this awesome?"
Rory didn't reply, he pretended to play with his nails.
Benny gasped. "Awkward pause alert! What do you do?"
"Erm, compliment her eyes or her shoes?" Ethan replied.
"Shoes?" Olivia repeated.
Ethan ignored her. "Do you have a map?"
"Why?" Rory asked, playing with his wig.
Ethan sniffed a rose before handing it to him. "Because I just got lost in your shoes."
"Oh my!" Rory gasped, taking the rose.
Olivia tried so hard not to laugh aloud.
"Here comes the bill, hotshot! There you are sir!" Benny said in an accent. "What do you do?"
"Don't make a big deal about how maybe your soup wasn't worth seven dollars?" Ethan asked, staring at the receipt.
"Lesson time's over!" Benny announced. "Get in there, get your date on! Go, go, go!"
Ethan nodded and picked up his jacket, grabbing the rose before running out.
"You think he'll blow it?" Rory asked Benny as he sat down where Ethan was previously sat.
"Yeah, probs. I mean, he left you the bill!"
***
"I've been staring at this thing for five minutes and," Benny got up from the high chair he was sat at, opposite Olivia and walked into the living room, where Rory was sat. "does this look like a monkey's head to you? I mean... with one eye?"
Olivia threw her arms up in the air and silently mouthed "out of all things." before getting up and following him.
Rory took the paper from Benny and put it next to the map laid out on the table. "I think it looks more like this."
"Hey, you're right!" Olivia smiled.
"Nice catch!" Benny said. "What is this map?"
"That would be the "oh no!" zone; it's the only part of town my company won't insure - too many weird accidents." Ross explained, kneeling down beside the table, pointing at the map. "This one: house sucked into the ground," He pointed at another spot. "garage torn apart by trees," he pointed at another. "driveway - turned to lava!"
Three looked at each-other, all sharing the same worried look. "Yeah, nothing that gets built up in these spots stays up for long it's like the area seems to be filled with bad luck."
"What's that place in the centre?" Olivia asked, pointing to it.
"1 Darkwood Road." Benny read out.
"Oh, Darkwood Hotel; oldest in town. You know, back in the forties, a bus load of people checked in, the next day... they disappeared - checked out!" Ross told them.
"Checked out... you mean....?" Rory started.
"No one knows. Whatever it was, their insurance didn't cover it." Ross joked, laughing.
The three looked at one another before awkwardly laughing along with him.
"So, Ross, um, us kids, we love your insurance stories! Do you have any pictures of like... flooded basements and stuff?" Benny asked, trying to be smooth about it.
Ross grinned. "Do I? Yeah, they're upstairs! I'll go get them!" He got up and walked off.
Once he was out of sight, Benny spun around to face his friends. "Okay, so each place he mentioned is a nexus of supernatural energy."
"What about this one?" Rory asked, pointing at Ethan's strange drawing in the middle of the paper. "It's on this drawing but not on the map."
"Ethan said the cloaky vamp stomper was looking for something called The Lucifractor." Benny told him.
"If this is where it is then we need to get there first." Olivia chipped in.
Benny nodded and hit Rory's arm before taking hold of his girlfriend's hand and lead them to the front door. "We're going to 1 Darkwood Road."
***
"This place is definitely haunted, we should go." Rory said, nervously.
"Rory, on the monster scale, vampire beats ghost." Benny replied. "You and Olivia are the scariest things down here."
"I am? Cool!" Rory grinned, trying to buff himself up a bit.
"Are the head torches really necessary?" Olivia groaned, looking at how ridiculous the two boys looked. "It's not even that dark and even if it was, we could just use a flashlight." She said, waving hers around.
"100%." Benny responded, staring at the supernatural energy detector he borrowed from his grandma. "Hold on, wait! There's a pile of supernatural energy here! Yeah, this is the right place!"
The device started to beep faster and he brung it closer to Rory. "Oh no! It's been in my stomach the whole time!" Rory started to jump around, looking at his stomach. Benny sighed and turned round to face Olivia and scanned her, it beeped the same pace. Olivia rolled her eyes. "Rory, we're supernatural creatures!"
Benny and Olivia continued to walk forward, slowly followed by Rory. The device began to beep again once Benny turned into towards a corner in one of the rooms. "This is it!" Benny pointed. "Hold this," He said to Rory, handing him the detector.
Benny pulled away the wooden fence in front of it and threw it behind them. The three bent over to read what was imprinted into it.
SERVICE ELEVATOR
Benny knocked on it and Olivia rolled her eyes again. "We're not knocking on someone's door, Benny!" She said, pulling it open, revealing what looked like a safe.
"Aha!" Benny said, reaching into the safe. "That's how it's done!" Once he pulled it out, he took out The Lucifractor inside of the rug it was rapped in. "Behold: The Lucifractor! We are it's new masters!" Benny held it in front of them, majestically staring at it.
"What does it do?" Rory asked, gazing at it.
"It obeys our awesome commands!" Benny replied.
"Come on, guys. It's not a toy." Olivia said, seriously. "We shouldn't mess with it."
"Cool!" Rory ignored her. "How?"
"I... have no idea." Benny responded, his stare fading. "Grandma will figure that one out."
"Surely there's got to be some sort of guard on this thing." Olivia wondered, looking behind her.
Her eyes widened at the sight of what looked a shadow that had just formed, it began to growl at them.
Benny took hold of Olivia's hand with his spare one and looked at Rory. "Run!" They both yelled.
"You lied to me! You said Olivia and I were the scariest things here!" Rory shouted at Benny.
"Second scariest is still pretty good!" Benny argued.
"Guys, not the right time!" Olivia groaned.
Benny saw in the corner of his eye, a figure in a cloak. "Third scariest." He whispered to them.
"Thanks for finding that for me. Now let me have it!" The man in the cloak ordered.
Benny grinned. "Oh, you'll get it, all right!" He then turned to his friends. "Run again!" He squealed.
***
"You're so fast." Benny said to Rory, taking deep breaths.
"You weren't even running, I had to drag you along with me." Olivia laughed.
"He still looks tired, you want me to carry that for a while?" Rory offered.
Benny nodded and handed it to him. "Yeah, thanks."
The minute Rory held it in his hand he instantly felt weak and struggled to stop himself from falling to the floor. Olivia tried to take The Lucifractor so Rory didn't struggle but her reaction was the same. Benny quickly took it from her.
"It's a lot heavier than I thought..." Rory said, stumbling a little. Olivia nodded, holding onto Benny's arm.
"Maybe I could keep hold of this thing." He said, carefully placing The Lucifractor back into his bag.
Benny's phone started to ring and he quickly took it out, answering it. "Ethan, hey. Okay, we found The Lucifractor and it- yeah! And it's-" Benny sighed as his friend cut him off, ordering him to bring it to the restaurant right now.
"Uh... Rory?" Benny asked. Rory nodded.
"Do you feel well enough... to like, fly really fast whilst carrying me." Rory was still recovering and he shook his head.
Benny turned to his girlfriend and she sighed. "Looks like it's my turn... again."
***
"Benny!" Ethan called out as he saw the three enter the restaurant.
"Yep..." Olivia mumbled. "I knew Erica would recommend this place."
"Okay, this is the good news," Benny said, handing Ethan his bag, which contained The Lucifractor. "Bad news is..." The three turned around and saw the guard outside the restaurant trying to fight off the shadow following them.
Ethan jumped back a little.
"That thing sure wants its chew toy back. Why can't we just give it to him?" Benny questioned.
"Are you nuts?" Ethan almost shrieked. "It's powerful enough now without giving it a super weapon. Maybe we can destroy one powerful thing with another."
"Do it, then!" Olivia shouted.
"I've gotta figure out how to use it!" Ethan shouted back, looking at The Lucifractor.
"Maybe I can buy you some time." Benny said, tapping his friends shoulder and eyeing the shadow.
"Benny, no!" Olivia yelled, knowing how this would end up. He began to recite a spell before the shadow took hold of him and dragged him across the bar.
Everyone in the restaurant began to shriek, Benny especially. Olivia, Rory and Sarah watched in horror as Benny screamed. "Is it ready yet?!"
Ethan jumped forward and held The Lucifractor in front of the shadow. A purple light shot from it and hit the shadow. Bolts of lightening then came and knocked the shadow to the floor. The shadow then disappeared and Ethan looked between The Lucifractor and the spot where the shadow was previously with disbelief.
"What is that thing?!" Sarah yelled, pointing at it.
"I totally almost tasted that earlier!" Rory said.
"So much power." Ethan whispered, holding The Lucifractor in both his hands. "I can feel it." The Lucifractor then lit up and a wave of purple struck every vampire in the room over. The humans looked around, terrified and traumatised.
"If you talk about what you saw tonight, the only people who will believe you, are the ones who will eat you!" Ethan yelled.
The people looked around once more before running out of the restaurant.
Ethan ran up to Sarah, Rory and Olivia, followed by Benny, who helped his girlfriend up. She hugged him for a second before pulling away and putting her hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?"
Benny forced a smile. "Could be better. That wave didn't hurt you did it?"
Olivia shook her head. "Not really, just made me a little dizzy." She turned to Rory and held her hand out for him to take.
"Are you alright?" Ethan asked Sarah.
"Yeah. I think I'll call it a night." She replied.
Ethan paused for a moment, a little upset that their date had to end so suddenly. "Okay. I'll... call you?"
Sarah didn't respond, she just sighed and walked out.
"Well," Benny said. "let's put it this way, buddy; she'll never forget this date."
Olivia hit his arm.
"Let's go." Ethan sighed.
Benny patted his best-friend's shoulder. "Maybe next time, trooper."