“This party is bitching” Luke declared as he danced around to the throbbing beat of the music, they were all currently in Elsewhen partying.
“I know right” Jules smiled brightly her brown eyes sparkling with excitement “I love this song”
The two were dancing together, as were Obie and Phoebe on the other side of the dance floor, while Daphne and Jerry had opted to sit by the table
“It is pretty nice” Luke agreed, feeling a bit fatigued, they had been dancing for a while now and he was starting to get tired
“c’mon faster!” Jules urged him as everyone started to up their tempo
“can’t. breathe.” The redhead gasped out
“You have to” Jules pushed him “c’mon” but Luke couldn’t do it, his chest was starting to hurt
“don’t stop!” the pain was getting unbearable
“haah!” Luke stopped dancing; and suddenly so did everybody else, the whole club went silent
“…” he tried to say something but couldn’t speak up, couldn’t breathe. Jules brown eyes stared at Luke as he bent down and saw a bloodied black and white claw sticking out of his chest.
“gaah!” Luke woke up with a shout
“haah haah” he breathed heavily as he realised he was in his bed; it had just been a nightmare. Furiously e grabbed the headphones his hand had been on and threw them against the wall.
Falling down the bed again, Luke didn’t know if he wanted to sleep or be awake.
Elsewhere Frank Henshingler stifled a yawn as exited the roadside diner and walked towards the truck stop on the other side of the road. “I’m in no shape to drive but if I double down tomorrow, I can get home in time for Janice’s play’s opening night”
the middle aged man smiled happily, imagining the look of shock in his daughter’s face when he showed up. The road life was hard, but it put food on the table and secured his daughters future with a full college fund, making these lonely trips all the more worthwhile.
It was precisely because of these daydreams that Frank never heard ‘it’ approach him, nor did his brain have enough time to process what was going on as ‘it’ ripped open his body from behind.
Frank Henshingler died without even realising it.
XXXXXXX
“Hey” Luke bumped into Daphne just as he was entering the school “you seem... chipper” seeing the usually serious Daphne smiling was just a bit off putting; like someone saying yes when asked if they prefer coke or sprite.
“No morning meeting means an extra twenty minutes in bed” the Eurasian girl smiled happily, clearly enjoying the fact that Chang was away to track down ingredients that Phoebe needed to do her advanced tracking spell with the hyena fur.
“This is why I keep saying we should shift to evenings” Luke bemoaned
“You only say that because you can't handle the heat anymore” Daphne grinned back
“Okay! There's no way your mood is this good just because of twenty extra minutes” the two stopped as Luke turned to her and vice versa “what gives?”
Daphne too paused as she considered the zombie's words. “I guess... I guess I'm just happy that we finally have a way to take care of the hyena” she admitted “this chimera gang is the first one we've actually had so much trouble dealing with”
“Really?” This was news to Luke
“Yeah, before a chimera a week was what we got; and they weren't as slippery as this hyena and her pack; and really these mysterious disappearances have always happened all over the state, but in our county, all was good until a year and a half ago”
“So, you guys didn't have a nemesis before this hyena?”
“Nemesis?” Daphne raised an eyebrow as the two started walking again
“What else would you call a chimera that keeps escaping?”
“A chimera that keeps escaping!” The reply came without missing a beat.
“Hey!” Obie called them out from behind and rushed over to join them “Why isn't anyone at Chang's office for the morning meeting? Also why is Chang's office locked?”
Daphne looked between the two boys in confusion and asked Luke “you didn't tell Obie the meeting was cancelled?”
“The meeting was cancelled?!”
“I thought Phoebe was informing him the meeting was cancelled” Luke had a confused look of his own.
“Why was the meeting cancelled?”
“No, Phoebe told me when we were together, I called you and told you to tell Obie” Daphne reminded Luke who finally turned to Obie
“My bad!”
“Motherfucker!” Obie groaned as he fell in step with them. “Now will someone please tell me why we aren't having the meeting today?” So, Luke and Daphne filled him in on Chang's absence, allowing Obie to give Luke the stink eye for not informing him.
“By the way” Daphne changed the subject “any progress in creating something other than shadow balls?” She asked the redhead who shook his head in negative
“No matter what I do I can't get the shadow ball to change into a cube, and if I try to directly summon a shadow cube, nothing appears at all”
“What did Chang say? before he left?” Obie gave his best friend and intriguing look
“To keep trying, and keep meditating” Luke sighed “and about how I can't keep relying on emotional triggers to summon the true powers of the shadows”
“Well, the true powers of your shadows is nothing to scoff at” Daphne remarked “you literally threw one chimera into another chimera” they rounded the corner and entered the student lounge.
“All that is useless if I can't properly use my powers” Luke muttered
“You'll get there” Daphne assured him, “me and Phoebe too didn't exactly have a cakewalk with our skills”
“I get that” Luke nodded “but the process is kinda tedious, also could you give me a moment? What?!” The last word was irritably directed at Obie who had been thoughtfully silent until now.
“Uhh...?” Daphne was both startled and confused.
“I can feel his mind churning” Luke hissed with narrowed eyes “it's irritating”
“Umm” Daphne wasn't sure how to respond to that.
“What if you shadow balls are also a response to an emotional trigger?” Obie suddenly asked Luke
“What's up guys?” Phoebe took this moment to walk into the student lounge.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Luke and Obie are showing off their pseudo psychic bond” Daphne replied to Phoebe
“... that's cool”
“I'm just saying” Obie explained to the rest of them “what if Luke's forming those shadow balls due to his connection with baseball? I mean it used to be a huge part of his life”
“Really?” The two girls looked at Luke who acquiesced.
“I used to be the pitcher of our baseball team in middle school”
“Why'd you stop?”
“A buttload of dumb shit” Obie brushed off the inquiry, not willing to get into the whole story of how Luke punched his coach “but what if that is the reason he's only able to form shadow balls? I mean all his shadow balls are the same size as baseballs”
The other three mulled over his words, but before they could say anything, the warning bell rang through the entire building.
“Let's pick this back up after classes” Phoebe suggested
“I got track” Daphne pointed out
“I got group study” Luke added
“Late at night then” Phoebe sighed with a shake of her head as the hallway filled up with people “we should make a move”
“See you guys at lunch” Daphne swung her bag over her shoulder as she headed off to her homeroom
“yeah” Luke too departed, leaving Phoebe and Obie to walk together as their respective homerooms were next to each other.
“By the way, how’s your back, and shoulder” Phoebe asked Obie as they walked down the hallway.
“Pretty good thanks to your healing spell” Obie rotated his shoulder, grimacing in slight discomfort.
“I’m sorry you got caught up in the middle of the attack” Phoebe gave him a mollifying look which he brushed off
“All part and parcel of the job ain’t it?” he grinned even as he looked ahead, not seeing the blonde girl’s expression.
XXXXXXX
“yo!” Garret Evans nodded at Luke who nodded back as he sat down beside the lanky boy, as the class filled up “How’s the weight looking?”
“Like a bulimic model’s” Luke grinned and then saw Garret’s expression “just a joke dude!”
“it’s not funny” Garret snapped at Luke who held up his hands in apology, as fellow wrestlers they’d both heard far too many stories about the lengths people would go to for weight cutting.
“How you feeling about next week’s meet with Mears High?” Garret mumbled, still a bit irritated by the joke.
“We win, they lose” Luke shrugged “that simple”
XXXXXXX
“Off!” Phoebe gasped out when she bumped into someone, and dropped her books
“I’m sorry” the girl apologized and bent down to pick up Phoebe’s books
“I should’ve looked where I was walking” Phoebe also started picking the books, and got a good look at the dark haired brown skinned girl she had bumped into.
“Hey!” Phoebe recognized her “you’re Juliet Reyes, right? Luke and Obie’s friend”
“Yeah!” Jules nodded in acceptance “and you’re Phoebe Vesper, smartest person in our grade”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that” Phoebe smiled brightly
“Well, everyone else would” Jules wasn’t going to let the other girl downplay her intelligence.
Phoebe just chuckled awkwardly, not knowing how to respond.
“So how did you and Tyler-Stone become friends with those two?” Jules suddenly asked Phoebe, hoping to understand their group.
“Oh!” Phoebe was caught off guard “Well, it was actually Obie who approached us about forming a club-”
“That Popclub shit?” Jules groaned “he’s still trying to make it happen?”
“Yeah!” Phoebe nodded; this was she lie Obie had insisted they all remember
“And you got roped in?” Jules raised an eyebrow
“Now you see why I wouldn’t call myself the smartest person in our grade?” Phoebe smiled wryly as Jules burst into laughter.
“Well, I gotta rush, but it was nice meeting you” Jules shook hand with Phoebe
“Same!” Phoebe smiled brightly as the two girls exchanged a look and went their separate ways. “She seems cool, I wonder if she’d like to hang out some time; gosh I can’t remember just hanging out ever since magic entered our lives” the blonde witch mused as she entered the computer lab to see Obie furiously typing on a keyboard
“watcha doing there bud?” Phoebe slid beside the boy to see his screen and realised he was reading about a murder.
“Jerry mentioned a violent death in outskirts of the city, by that old trucker stop” Obie didn’t even look away from the monitor “And I think there might be something supernatural”
“Seriously?” Phoebe looked at the dark haired boy surreally “why?”
“Well, the driver’s death was unnaturally gory as if his chest was ripped open” Obie explained “but also that is similar to a couple of other-” “NO!”
Phoebe’s sharp voice made Obie and a few others look at her, so she leaned in close to the boy “you don’t have to do this, you don’t have to worry about the supernatural, you don’t have to make this your life” Phoebe realised her hands were shaky “you’re just a normal, regular guy Obie, stay that way” Phoebe left the computer lab and the stunned and hurt Obie; shaken.
XXXXXXX
“hey” Daphne walked into the stairwell and immediately spotted Phoebe “you, okay?”
“how’d you find me?” Phoebe didn’t even look up from the paper shuriken she was making
“Well, eleven years of friendship helped a lot” Daphne joked and she too sat down the stairs beside Phoebe.
“Did Obie tell you what happened?”
“No, you didn’t show up for physics, and I came looking for you” Daphne spoke slowly “why? What happened?”
The blonde girl reluctantly filled her friend in on everything that had transpired “wow” Daphne let out a low whistle “that was…”
“Stupid? Abrasive? Unwarranted?” Phoebe filled in with a bitter smile
“…Wrong!” Daphne finished with a sigh “why’d you do that?”
“Daph! He nearly got shredded shielding me from the hyena” Phoebe held her head in her palms “I’m supposed to be the protector of humanity from the forces of darkness, not some damsel in distress who needs to be rescued”
“Firstly, I too have saved your pert butt many, many times!” Daphne pointed out “secondly, that may be the reason for your outburst, it’s no way you came at him like this out of nowhere”
Silence prevailed as Daphne waited Phoebe to consider her words.
“I bumped into Juliet Reyes” Phoebe sat up straight “Luke and Obie’s friend” she added to Daphne’s confused look “We chit chatted for two minutes, but for those two minutes I felt like I was normal again, like I was a fifteen year old girl, and not a witch protecting this town from the supernatural”
“I-I didn’t know you felt that way” Daphne wasn’t sure how to respond
“I didn’t used to!” Phoebe bemoaned “but lately, it’s all that’s in our lives, all we do is talk about magic and chimeras, when’s the last time we hung out? The last time we had a sleepover? Remember we stole one of your dads’ beers and pushed each other to drink it even though it tasted horrible? Why don’t we do that anymore?”
Daphne leaned back against the stairs as Phoebe’s words hit her like hammers to the head. It was bit by bit, but looking back she couldn’t understand how she hadn’t seen the way magic consumed their lives.
“And the worst part?” Phoebe wasn’t done ranting “I dragged you into this”
“You didn’t drag me into anything!” Daphne snapped loudly, startling her friend “I chose to become your familiar!”
“Because you’re a good person who wanted to protect me” Phoebe wasn’t convinced
“Because I wanted a purpose” Daphne admitted out loud for the first time, tightly shutting her eyes.
“What?” Phoebe turned towards her friend
“Dude!” Daphne groaned “You knew what you wanted to do since you were five; go to Columbia, become a doctor, cure cancer, marry Brenton Rowe, and become the first female US President”
“well- I mean…”
“Me?!” Daphne was on a roll “I had no fucking clue what I wanted to do with my life! I mean I didn’t know what I wanted to become, what college I wanted to go to; hell, the only reason I joined track I because you said I was fast and it would look good in my college application”
“…” Phoebe gave Daphne her space
“So, when Chang offered to make me your familiar and teach me, it felt right; like the universe was telling me ‘This is your life’s purpose’”
“I didn’t know you felt that way” Phoebe gave Daphne a side hug
“Never wanted to say it” Daphne admitted “never wanted to acknowledge it” the two of them sat in silence, consumed in their thoughts until the bell rang to tell them that school had ended.
“Okay!” Daphne bounced to her feet “here’s what we’re gonna do. You!” she pointed a finger at Phoebe “are going to apologize to Obie for being a grade A ass”
“Fair enough” Phoebe admitted
“And we’re gonna have a sleepover Friday night where the words ‘magic’, ‘chimera’, and ‘witch’ are banned” Daphne grinned widely “and maybe try whiskey, I bet it tastes better than beer”
“Deal!” Phoebe too stood up, their time of wallowing was done, now it was time to do things.
XXXXXXX
“Okay” Luke sighed as he handed over his workbook to Jules “have a look” the two were currently in the quad as Jules taught him maths.
Jules checked his math workbook in detail while Luke looked on, more nervous than he was willing to admit.
Jules hummed thoughtfully as she perused the book, making Luke furthermore anxious.
“Here!” She suddenly pushed the book in front of Luke “you didn't change the positive to negative when carrying it to the other side” she pointed at a particular problem before moving onto another one “and here you didn't divide by two from both sides of the equation”
She paused and looked at Luke meaningfully
“... and?” Luke was finding it hard to handle the suspense
“And nothing” Jules shrugged “everything else is good, you just gotta concentrate and avoid these silly little missteps”
“Why so tense?” Jules grinned with a raised eyebrow
“I dunno...” Luke let out a breath he didn't know he was holding “you've spent an hour teaching me algebra, I just don't want it to be a waste”
“Time spent with you is never a waste” the chuckling Jules lightly bumped shoulders with him
“I appreciate that” Luke laughed as well
“Wanna continue on Friday? I know you have extra training with the upcoming meet so we can't continue tomorrow” Jules hummed as the two began putting away their books.
“How 'do' you remember everything?” the zombie couldn't help being amazed “like seriously”
“I am a lady of many talents” Jules gave him a seductive smile “care to find out?”
“Umm...” Luke felt his face turn hot, for the first time he felt like he was actually looking at Jules; and she was a very attractive woman.
The two stared at each other, Luke feeling his heart thump hard like it wanted to break out of his chest.
“Oh brother” Jules rolled her eyes; she had been hinting and waiting for more than half a year and she was done.
Grabbing Luke by the collar Jules pulled him close and pressed her lips against his.
Luke first felt the heat, and then the moistness, and then the sweetness.
And then Luke lost himself into the kiss.