A Summer in Salem with a Lot of Bay

[TelephotoMarigold]

Gand-Alf stood at the end of the pier, he now had a full length white beard and was wearing long flowing robes and sandals. He cast his fishing pole out over the water and the line spun out falling to the blue green water below.. He looked around and as there was no one watching he used his staff and tapped the fishing pole with it. Within moments he had fish vying with each other to jump on his line.

Miles walked up to him.

“Morning Gand-Alf.” He said softly.

“Ah Miles what brings you out this time of morning.” He intoned in a booming voice.

“Just taking a walk.“ he said. “That is a good catch.” He added pointing to the six fish on the end of Gand-Alf’s fishing line.

Gand-Alf smiled.

“I’m having the hobbits for diner tonight and they tend to eat a lot.” He intoned again in the extra loud booming voice.

“Have I met them?” miles asked with a puzzled expression on his face.

Gand-Alf shook his head.

“I do not think so young Miles.” He intoned.

Miles nodded.

Gand-Alf put the pipe in his mouth and started puffing away on it. A curious whiff of grey smoke rose up from the pipe that Miles could have sworn was unlit a moment ago.

“I sense that you are hear for other reasons Miles?” Gand-Alf said finally.

Miles nodded.

“I’m training Ni-body you know for a job and they keep telling me that they can only work out if they have the latest Nikboks.” He began. “Does Ni-this person understand that they is limited money in the budget for training Slayers.” He grumbled.

Gand-Alf nodded.

“Maybe we could help one another out.” He suggested after a moment.

Miles nodded.

“How?” he said finally.

“I need information on a ring. It’s gold and has writing on it.” Gand-Alf said finally.

Miles looked at him.

“You mean like Leah’s wedding ring.” He said. “That is gold and has writing on it. I never worked out what it said.”

Gand-Alf looked up.

“So that is why she is so flamin’ unlucky when it comes to men.” He said in his normal tone of voice.

Miles grinned.

“Now how can you help me?” he asked.

“One of two ways my good man.” Gand-Alf began once more in the loud booming voice, not noticing that every time he used it Miles winced and moved away and the boards were in fact shaking on the pier itself from the resonant vibrations.

“Yes?” Miles said eagerly despite feeling the start of a headache.

“Well I could make this person forget fashion and stop whining or I could magic a pair of Nikboks for her.”

Miles smiled slowly.

“Stop whining?” he asked.

“There might be a side effect from that one. She might not be able to talk at all afterwards.”

“Ah, I knew there would be a catch. You better go with the Nikboks.” Miles said disappointed. “I’ll just put cotton wool in my ears again. She never actually notices when I let my hair loose.”

Gand-Alf smiled.

“Now how do you fancy coming to dinner with the hobbits?” He asked him.

Miles nodded.

“Sounds like fun.” He murmured. “Should I bring a bottle of wine?”

Gand-Alf smiled once more and pulled up his fishing rod. Miles gasped in surprise when Gand-Alf picked off the crate of bottles

“I have that one covered.” He said.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Dr Anthony Franken-Holden eased out of the basement and moved into the kitchen.

“Hello My Dear.” He murmured to his wife in his strange lilting translyvanian accent.

“Tony how many times do I have to tell you speak Australian.” She grumbled walking over to press a kiss to his cheek.

“I try to; but vell it is hard to get my mouth avound the havrd vowwell sounds.” He said some of the words coming out sounding Australian.

She smiled at him.

“Much better.” She murmured.

He grinned.

“Have you been working all night?” she asked him.

“I’m nearly fvinished.” He proclaimed. “I just need a few more parts.”

She pushed her hair back from her face and double-checked that black out blinds were down and moved to the fridge. She took out a bottle of her special drink and poured it into a tall red goblet. She took a sip of the cool red liquid and sighed.

“I remember the days I used to get this fresh.” She murmured sadly.

“We are putting those days behind us.” Tony murmured. “I have stopped making monsters and you have become a vonderful doctor.” He comforted his wife. “And you know everything there is about blood.” He murmured and saw her eyes light us at the mention of blood.

“Do you miss those days?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Of course.” He said softly. “The excitement of creating a monster, The first shout of ‘it’s alive’. “ he reminisced. “Then the cries of Run for your life and finally the villagers storming the castle with the flaming torches and pitchforks.”

She glanced at him and he moved to sit beside her taking hold of her hand.

“But vou are rivght my darlink it is not easy making a new life in a new country and I am not sure vhat I vould have done if I didn’t get to create new bodies vorking in the gym.” He said in his full accent.

She smiled at him showing just a hint of fangs just as a hesitant knock sounded at the door.

Rachel got up slowly and moved towards it.

“Hello.” She said opening the door wide.

“Hi.” Nic called. “Could you like stand out here and maybe put your hands up.” She said softly.

“What is the problem?” Rachel asked her.

“Look there is an easy way and hard way.” She muttered. “Don’t make me Bad cop ok?”

“Er Nic I don’t know what you are talking about?” Rachel murmured.

Nic looked up at her and half smiled.

“You are a vampire.” She said to Rachel.

Rachel nodded slowly.

“Uh huh.” She murmured.

“Well then I’m supposed to like totally slay you. Did you buy your top in Yabbie Creek?” Nic murmured using the wooden stake to remove some dirt from under a fingernail.

“Yes from the boutique in the high street.” Rachel murmured.

Nic nodded.

“I thought so. Look I’m really sorry about this I mean you have such a good sense of fashion and everything. You never go around in the whole ‘I’m a vampire and I must wear black’ kind of stuff.” She looked at Rachel. “But I have to slay you it’s my job.”

“Well how about we say you did but I rose again?” Rachel suggested.

“Do you think that would work? What do I get out of lying like that?” Nic asked moving slowly towards the other woman and checking out the material on the top.

“Er…” Rachel pulled away and looked at her. “Do you want my top Nicole?” Rachel asked her.

Nic stepped back.

“Totally no.” she said. “But it might help me like say I slayed you and then you like rose again.”

Rachel sighed and pulled off the top and handed it to her.

“This would go great with that skirt you were wearing the other day.” Nic commented.

Half hour later Nic staggered home with half the clothes from Rachel’s wardrobe. Miles was waiting for her under the pretext of having a beer with her dad.

“Er Nic.” He said quietly.

“I totally slayed her and well she won’t need these clothes.” She explained and moved towards the stairs. “Oh!” she shouted out. “I think she like rose again.”

[TelephotoMarigold]

Rachel started her nightshift the usual way with rounds. She moved from patient to patient dispensing caring even though she was feeling a little bit frumpy in the old top she was forces to wear since Nicole had stolen half of her clothes. She stepped down the long hallway pausing outside Geoff’s room before she stepped into it.

She looked over the notes in the folder at the end of the bed. When Nicole brought him in he’d had a fractured wrist, broken arm, three cracked ribs and then strangely developed a concussion while he was waiting to be admitted. He had been semi-conscious and had been muttering something about a voodoo doll.

Nic had tried to explain that it was just his concussion talking but well he hadn’t hit his head at that point, in fact when she’d turned back to talk to him it was then that he had become unconscious and Nic had a very sheepish expression on her face.

She turned the page in the file and without noticing nicked her little finger. A few drops of blood eased out as she placed her hand on Geoff’s unbroken wrist to check his pulse. He sighed in his sleep stirring until he woke, blinking up at her sleepily.

“Hey there Geoff, how are you doing?” she asked him.

“I’m ok Dr.” he said.

She nodded.

“Well you are on the mend.” She murmured.

Rachel pulled out her stethoscope and pressed it against his chest.

“Deep breath please.” She asked him.

He sucked in a breath and eased it out before repeating it.

“Good.” She said. “How does that feel?”

“Actually, my chest feels better.” He told her realising it were true, his ribs no longer hurt.

“Good.” She said once more and left him in the bed after annotating his notes.

Geoff lay there breathing slowly feeling strange. His ribs weren’t hurting anymore and in fact nothing was hurting. He didn’t notice the drops of blood on his skin near a cut on his skin.

After a time he sat up in bed and looked over at the hospital dinner he hadn’t wanted earlier. He licked his lips as he looked at the salad and steak. Reaching over he began to eat.

It took him a moment to realise he was using both of his hands. He flexed the wrist encased in the plaster cast and felt it moving without pain. Reaching across he pulled at the cast and it ripped off.

“Wow.” He muttered. “They must have been giving me extra vitamins.” He concluded before getting out of bed. He dressed quickly wondering why his clothes weren’t black or well made of leather and moved out of the room. Despite eating the steak he was still hungry and fancied something like a bloody Mary or blood oranges. He walked home and went indoors. Racing up the stairs to get changed into something black. Strangely he had a full-length black leather coat in his wardrobe. He pulled it on over black leather trousers and a black T-shirt. Turning quickly around he picked up his sunglasses and started to head back down the stairs tripping over a long sharp sword in his haste to get out of the room. It took a moment for him to work out what it was but when he did he grinned.

“Perfect.” He said in a now very deep gravely voice.

He ran down the stairs and out the door. Within moments he seemed to be travelling on a very fast motorbike searching for vampires his sword strapped to his back.

“Call me Blade.” He growled out. “Bible Blade.”

[TelephotoMarigold]

Nic dressed in her school uniform and scowled at her reflection. She spun around and glared at Aden.

“How long were you standing there?” she muttered feeling her hand curl into fists by her side.

“A while.” He said with a chuckle.

She felt the urge to smash his face in not just because she was the slayer and he was a vampire.

“I like this not having a reflection bit.” He murmured glancing around her room. He found a drawback to his vampiric powers. He couldn’t enter a room without an invitation. The other day he found that he was stuck in the doorway of the bathroom for an hour because no one had invited him in. It wasn’t that much of a problem in the end, as his powers were awesome as he thought about being able to reach the toilet from the doorway. His aim had gone off a little at first when he’d hit the wall and the shower but then straight in. Of course, he’d spent the first part of the hour frantically jumping up and down as his bladder threatened to burst.

“I think I’m going to make you wear a bell.” She said and then tilted her head to one side. “Oh my god, the whole goth look.” She added with sudden realisation.

“Leave Belle alone.” Aden hissed showing his fangs.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Nic said pinning Aden against the wall literally in this case not realising she had sprung across the room that quickly,

“I said leave Belle alone!” Aden snarled back pushing her through the wall on the other side of the room.

Nic landed on the ground outside and stood up shaking the bits of rubble out of her hair and brushing down her school uniform. She stormed to the front of the house kicking the door open. It hung off its last hinge before falling to the floor as she ran up the stairs. She saw Aden standing there looking in shock at his hands.

“I swear I didn’t mean to do that.” He said.

Nic gave him a look.

“You don’t seem to realise I’m a slayer and you are a vampire. There for it is my job to slay you and your kind.”

Aden held out his hands in appeal.

“But the only thing I crave is pizza.” He stated.

“You two!” Roman called out storming up the stairs to them. “What do you think you are doing?”

“You ask us that when you keep disappearing to the basement every month?” Nic asked scathingly.

Roman blushed and lifted his paw to stroke his face thoughtfully.

“At least my basement activities don’t break the house down. Now I expect you to clean this up.” he said to them indicating the rubble and dust. He looked out of the hole in the wall and then back at them. “Is that clear?” he asked thinking that he was never going to understand teenagers. He moved to the stairs ready to go back down to the basement his tail swishing as he turned around. “And Aden next time lift the toilet seat up.” He said.

Aden blushed and thought it was a good thing he hadn’t said anything about the walls and maybe the ceiling. They watched him go before turning and glaring at each other again.

“So what does Belle have to give you to get you to forget all about her? That velvet number?” Aden said smirking and then giving out a small groan as he forgot to retract his fangs again.

Nic tilted her head to one side and glared at him for a minute.

“The red one?” she asked and he gave a quick nod.

She glared some more.

“Deal.” She said. “But she better not be all grr and stuff or I’m going to have to kick her butt.”

Aden nodded and would have said something scathing about Nic’s butt kicking ability but he had the feeling that she had dislocated his shoulder and he wanted to go back to his room and go back to bed and maybe cuddle his secret snuggle blanket. It wasn’t easy being a brooding vampire, sometimes it gave him a headache.

[TelephotoMarigold]

“Nicole are you paying attention?” Miles asked rubbing his forehead as another headache threatened to take effect.

“Yeah totally.” She told him before squealing.

“Nicole!” he muttered.

“Oh sorry its just that they are making the next Twilight movie in two parts.” She explained laying down the magazine and giving him her best innocent smile.

“Are you done?” he asked patiently.

She nodded.

“Totally listening.”

“Then perhaps you could tell me what I just said?” he asked sitting carefully on a padded chair.

“Erm…” Nic said slowly.

She took a lock of her hair between her fingers and twirled it slowly as she tilted her head and looked at him with her fiercest gaze. When she saw that Miles wasn’t going to crack and fill what she had missed she sighed.

“I don’t know.” She said quickly.

“Fine.” Miles said trying not to gloat. “I said that there was someone in Summer Bay who was going after vampires and you needed to stop him.”

“Him?” Nic asked wondering if she could at least get a date out of the situation before she had to go all violent girl on his backside.

“He means me.” Geoff aka Blade-Boy said from the doorway.

“Ouh.” Nic squealed again and shot up smoothing down her short uniform skirt.

She looked over at Geoff wondering why she hadn’t noticed him in class this morning. He was wearing black leather coat over a tight, make that very tight black T-shirt that emphasised his muscles that somehow seemed bigger than before. He had black jeans on and kick ass boots. She found her gaze drawn to the boots down his toned thighs and woah, back up to those thighs.

“Er.” She said her gaze finally going back up to his face. “Geoff.” She stuttered.

He smiled before stepping fully into the room.

“Its my job to get rid of them.” he stated in a voice that boomed around the book filled room.

“And like totally mine.” Nic began. “Maybe we should team up?” she added almost desperately.

He gave her a look.

“I don’t think so little girl.” He said.

Miles did a doubletake at the last statement before climbing out of his chair and stepping away from the fight scene. Ok neither of them were fighting but he had just insulted Nic and well that usually didn’t go down too well with the blonde.

“Little girl?” she paraphrased standing up straighter and assuming a fighting stance.

Geoff aka blade-boy looked at her and took off the dark aviator sunglasses he was wearing. He folded them up slowly and made to put them away in his pocket when Nic swung a roundhouse kick and sent them spinning over the other side of the room.

“Blade-boy.” She said. “No-one one calls me little girl.” She told him.

He gave her a look before looking over at the spot his sunglasses ended up.

“And what are you going to do about it Little girl?” he asked in his booming voice.

She gave him a look before smiling sweetly.

“What say we skip the bit where I give you the mind stunning rejoinder and you just admit you made a mistake and we go live happily ever after.” Nic said to him.

Geoff aka Blade-boy looked at her and grinned.

“You think you can take me on?” he asked.

Nic looked at him.

“You think?” she asked back.

“Touché!” Miles said from his stance near the door.

Nic and Geoff turned and glared at him before glaring back at each other.

“So how do you want to do this?” Nic asked scathingly, “Rock paper scissors or battle like a real man?”

Geoff aka Blade-boy looked at her and sneered showing off his half-fangs.

“Oh my God!” Nic exclaimed. “You are so one of them.”

“Aden and I are not Gay it’s just some rumour on the internet we haven’t even kissed that much.” Geoff snapped out. “And I have no idea what Gaden is!”

Nic looked at him.

“I er … actually meant a vampire.” She said slowly. “But wait, you and Aden?”

“Is that the time I must go.” Geoff aka Blade-boy said pointing to the clock above the door.

“Wait Geoff.” Nic said running to the window he had just jumped out off.

He turned and looked at her.

“Can we er.. get together for… er coffee sometime?” she asked blushing.

“The diner later?” he replied.

She nodded her blonde hair swirling around her face.

“I’ll be there.” she told him and watched as he pulled on a spare pair of sunglasses and climbed on to a powerful motorbike. He gunned the engine and set off.

“So you are going to team up?” Miles asked.

“I hope so.” Nic replied. “He was looking really hot.” She added and blushed again.

[TelephotoMarigold]

I know it's been a long time since I posted a new chapter to this story but well here's something to sink your fangs into.... :

Nic looked at her watch again and then the door. She sighed once more before groaning as the door opened and Aden stood on the threshold.

“What is it?” she asked after a time of watching him standing there.

“I need an invite before I can come in.” he growled out.

“Oh, like a total lost boys thing?” Nic grinned at his discomfort and tossed her long hair back over her shoulder.

Aden looked blank at the reference.

“Vampire movie, late 80’s,” Nic murmured when he continued to look at her with that same expression.

“Oh, you like… watch a load of vampire movies?”

Nic tilted her head to one side and looked at him wondering how to respond; normally she would go all sarcastic on his ass with a touch of attitude but she sensed something vulnerable about him and well, brooding. Make that more brooding than normal.

“Yes,” she answered eventually. “And Aden, er… Angel… it says welcome all on a sign outside so I think that is your invite there.”

Aden sighed and stepped inside moving over to where she was sitting and eased into a seat beside her.

“Belle dumped me,” He moaned trying to pout around his fangs. “Apparently, I’m not ‘vampire’ enough for her!” Aden lifted his fingers and mimed speech marks around the word vampire.

“Sucks doesn’t it?”

Aden glared at her before they laughed at her choice of words.

“I just don’t get it, I mean I spent most of last night chasing after the pizza guy thinking that it was his blood I was craving.”

“Er Aden, should you like be telling me this? Considering that I’m the slayer an’ all?”

Aden looked at her before noticing the wooden stake that had appeared on the table between them. His face fell and he looked all sad and pathetic again making Nic sigh and put the stake away in her handbag.

“All I wanted was the Calzonne he was delivering.”

“Aden?”

He gave her another look, his eyes sad and bewildered looking.

“Yes, that’s right,” he frowned, his features morphing into full vampire grr face before he spoke again. “I’m a vampire who only eats pizza,” he announced.

Nic threw back her head and laughed at him unable to stop herself.

“Is this how a slayer behaves?” Blade Boy growled out. “Hanging out with a Vampire?”

Nic looked up wondering why she hadn’t even noticed him coming into the diner. She looked from one to the other, seeing Aden still with his vampire face on and Geoff, er Blade Boy all brooding and wearing black. Suddenly she was torn between the two of them. Both of them were handsome and well, fit if the skin tight black T shirts were anything to go by.

Dragging her mind out the gutter where it had just sunk she muttered, “Now just a minute…”

Geoff glared at Aden, a tension arising between them.

Aden glared back at Geoff, ignoring the tension between them before internet rumours started again, although he couldn’t fail to notice the way the black leather coat clung to Geoff’s muscles and stretched over his chest.

Nic looked at both of them her mind going back and forth between which one she wanted to kiss and wondering if she could kiss both of them, one at a time of course, not at the same time, although… catching her breath she schooled her features into her normal expression and stopped panting.

“Is there something I can get you dearies?” Colleen asked interrupting.

“I’ll have a pizza,” Aden growled out ignoring Nic’s snigger at his order. “And I’m sure Blade-boy will want something too.”

Geoff shook his head before catching sight of Nicole. She was looking up at him with that expression on her face that he didn’t like. If he left she would think he was a wuss and there was no way he was going to let her go all grr vampire and dating Aden. No, she was his; he thought and then sighed, before taking a half step back. He’d spent all day working out how to twirl so his leather coat spun out in dramatic fashion and knew he needed a bit of space for it to have the full effect. Just as he was about to spin on his heel he looked again at Nic as she lifted her gaze to him. He could swear that she batted her eyelashes at him and before he knew it he sank slowly into a seat next to Aden.

“I’ll have a black coffee,” Geoff growled out, determined to match Aden’s tone.

Aden glared, Geoff glared back, Nic sighed. Colleen looked at them as though they were all mad and retreated into the kitchen.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Miles sat in the library a large antique book open in front of him reading the cursive text carefully. He still had the frown on his face from earlier when he explained to Nicole that cursive text was not actually a bunch of swearwords strung together but in actual fact a way of writing. He still had no idea what he’d down to deserve being stuck in Summer Bay and being Watcher to Nicole. She seemed to be far more interested in clothes and boys than in slaying and he frowned even more remembering the big pile of clothes she seemed to have acquired since ‘Slaying’ Rachel Holden-Frankenstein.

Looking up he caught sight of Jai walking down one of the book-lined aisles. He couldn’t frown anymore if he tried, and quite frankly he was getting a headache from screwing up his face into that puzzled/fed-up/annoyed expression. And yes, thinking of Nic being the slayer caused him to go through all of those emotions.

“Jai,” he called.

“Ah, er, ah,” Jai said looking around.

A minute ago he was in his bedroom reading a diary by Tim Puddles when he’d read something out loud and somehow ‘popped’ up in the library at school.

“What are you doing here?” Miles called out.

“I er.. “ Jai couldn’t think of a single excuse as to why he was in the school library at 10pm at night, let alone wondering around in his pyjamas. Narrowing his eyes he looked over at Miles. “What are you doing here?” he asked quickly, watching as the other man flushed, his mouth opening and closing giving him the look of a fish.

“I’m working,” Miles said at last.

“You shall not pass!” boomed a voice just outside the doors.

“Who’s that?” Jai murmured.

Miles stood from behind the desk and glared at the magical furniture, daring it to move before he walked over to the double doors at the entrance to the library and opening them cautiously. He felt Jai moving to stand behind him and peering over his shoulder.

“Gand-Alf?” Miles called out.

“Stay back little hobbits!” Gand-Alf shouted out. “I am a servant of the secret fire!”

“Not so secret, he just told us about it,” Jai pointed out.

“Shush,” Miles hissed.

Jai looked affronted and rubbed at the scar on his forehead. He was getting a headache. Why couldn’t he have read the diary of Anne Frank or Adrian Mole, no he had to read a secret diary, mutter something-something-periarnus and hey presto he was transported over the other side of the Bay with two of more crazy residents.

“The Dark Fire shall not consume us!” Gand-Alf shouted out.

Miles pushed open the door and walked over to where Gand-Alf was standing, the other man dressed in a long grey robe over grey fishing waders and a checked shirt, and holding a fishing rod in his left hand. He looked across at Miles before glancing back at someone approaching down the corridor.

“Leah?” Miles muttered recognising the person walking towards them.

“She’s the one,” Gand-Alf called out. “Be weary of her evil gaze!”

“Oh for goodness sake!”

Jai looked round at all of them thinking that maybe he was having like a nightmare or an out of body experience, or even sleepwalking, yeah, he was sleepwalking. Hopefully he would wake up in his bed and forget Miles’s strange glare at the furniture or the way it seemed to glare back at him, Gand-Alf waving his fishing pole at Leah and the way she seemed to be wearing a wedding dress and carrying a bouquet in her hands.

“But Alf, we had a date!” Leah wailed. “You are the last man in the Bay I haven’t dated yet!”

Miles looked at the expression on Gand-Alf’s face before there was a cloud of grey smoke and the other man disappeared. He gulped when he saw Leah look in his direction before backing slowly away and easing the library doors shut.

“I don’t think that will keep her out!”

Miles nodded at Jai’s words before he turned and looked around the library.

“Er, ok, I know we’ve had our differences but well, there is a woman out there who’ll send you for re-upholstering!”

Jai looked puzzled as a couple of chairs seemed to disappear amongst the bookshelves.

“You there,” Miles fixed his glare on his desk. “how would you like to be French polished?”

Jai watched in disbelief as the desk morphed into something else. The drawer in the centre of the desk dropped down making it look like a mouth, a panting mouth, whilst the big brown drawer on either side of that seemed to suddenly look like eyes. Eyes that reminded him of a big boisterous puppy dog.

“French polish, yeah, you want that?” Miles murmured. “Just stand in front of those doors and don’t let anybody in ok?”

The desk bounded over to the large wooden doors and proceeded to start barking leaving Miles looking at Jai before he ran over to the far end of the library, Jai following.

“Cooee Miles, are you in there?” Leah called out, her voice barely muffled by the double doors and the excited panting of the desk.

“This way,” Miles instructed leading Jai out through a door at the back of the library that had only just appeared when Miles needed it.

“How? What?” Jai stuttered.

“Don’t ask… better off not knowing…” Miles told him as they walked quickly away from the school.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Angelo went to bed with a wooden stake under his pillow. He had the same routine every day, Garlic spread round the windows, a crucifix above his headboard and a pentagram and symbols around his bed; just in case there were more than vampires in the town, and finally he loaded his gun with silver bullets.

During the day he coped by not revealing to anyone what he was thinking but when the sun started going down well that was when he felt the first shivers of unease creeping down his spine and he had a bad case of the collywobbles that not even Tony Franken-Holden’s miracle injections could stop.

Now it was late at night, he was alone in his second floor apartment and feeling ever-so-slightly uneasy despite the fact that he’d chosen the place because it didn’t have a basement because a basement meant that things could hide in it, strange creepy things like vampires or axe murderers. He’d also removed all the doors off the closets in case boogeymen decided they wanted to hide in there. Dragging his thoughts away from scary stuff he climbed under his doona, with the special muppets cover on and pulled it up over his head.

“Angelo!” a hissing voice called from outside his window.

The young blonde policemen shuddered violently under the duvet cover making it look as though Kermit the frog was dancing.

“Angelo.” The voice called again sounding even more frightening.

Angelo could ignore it no longer and lifted his head from under the covers and peered over at the window. The curtains remained firmly closed shutting out the scary things happening outside in the Bay, except perhaps for the faint scratching sound coming from his window. He was on the second floor, his rational mind insisted before it ran away screaming.

Angelo tepidly moved to the window and slowly pulled back the curtains.

“Jack?” he questioned looking out at his colleague. Although was colleague the right word when the man had been buried after being shot and pronounced dead. Not that the dead part was really accurate either.

“Yes Angelo, it’s me.”

“Jack it’s late I’m about to go to bed… what do you want?”

“Invite me in Angelo,” Jack called out his accent becoming slightly Transylvanian.

“Sure… wait.. no…” Angelo drew back the hand he’d stretched out towards the window.

“Pllleeaasseee…..” Jack hissed out as he floated just outside the glass. “I’m hungry….”

Angelo looked at the other man-correction-vampire and felt a little voice inside his head telling him to open the window. It sounded very much like Jack’s voice.

‘Hey,’ he thought, ‘are you in my head?’

‘Let me in….. I’m hungry….’ The voice insisted.

‘Look, no… get out of my head…. ‘ He felt the departure of the voice from in his head but not before he head Jack’s taunting voice calling out softly.

‘Echo echo echhhhooo’

“Hey!” Angelo muttered ignoring the way the word ‘echo’ continued to run through his head.

“Angelo….” Jack called.

Despite his palpable fear he moved closer to the window.

“If I let you in are you going to bite me?” he asked.

Jack put his hand behind his back and crossed his fingers.

“No….” he called softly.

“Are you sure?’ Angelo asked suspiciously.

“Yesss…..”

Angelo reached for the handle to the window before pulling his hand back sharply and glaring at the other man.

“Show me your hands!” he muttered.

Jack held up his right hand and waved that.

“And the other one!”

With a muttered word Jack slowly brought his hand round from behind his back, his fingers still crossed. Angelo saw them and immediately jumped back from the window giving the other man what he hoped was his sternest look.

“You were lying! You were so going to bite me!”

“Was not!”

“Was too!”

Jack returned Angelo’s fierce gaze with an innocent one of his own that was only spoilt when he smiled and his fangs showed.

“I knew it!” Angelo crowed at the toothsome display. “You’re a vampire!”

Jack muttered something under his breath before he gave Angelo an incredulous look.

“So the fact that I’m hovering outside your window twelve feet off the ground didn’t give you a fair idea?” he asked eventually.

Angelo shrugged and the two men lapsed into silence as they considered what to say next.

“Anyway, can I come in?”

“Sure,” Angelo moved back over to the window and opened it.

Some time later:

“I knew it,” Jack muttered, both men lying on the bed. .

“What?”

“You aren’t my type.”

Angelo glared at the other man and slowly sat up before he spoke again.

“And what is your type?”

“O’positive!”

[TelephotoMarigold]

“So like, you er, Slay here often?” Nic murmured grimacing at the words as they slipped from her perfect bow lips. She glanced over at Bible Blade aka Geoff and saw that he wasn’t paying her any attention as he play with a large carving knife. Eventually he glanced over at her and flushed.

“Irene wouldn’t let me have my sword ok,” he muttered defensively. “She caught me trying to decapitate Belle and confiscated it.”

Nic sighed before putting the wooden stake she was holding back in her bag as she moved closer to Geoff.

“Look, I think we both know why we are here…” she began and undid a button on her top to display an extra few centimetres of cleavage.

“Yes,” Geoff muttered in his ‘Bible-blade’ voice that sounding just like his Geoff voice only a little deeper.

“Well…”

“I’m here to slay vampires,” Bible Blade growled out unaware of the way that Nic’s face fell. “At least I’ll get the job done properly.”

Nic was using one of her wooden stakes to clean under a pristine fingernail and stopped turning to look at the other man. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a look. It was one of those looks that if Geoff had been paying any attention he would have backed away slowly and sought refuge in a church or possibly entered witness protection.

“Properly?” Nic asked in a frosty tone.

“You couldn’t even kill Belle and she is like…” his words trailed off and he uttered a strangled ‘ooff’ sound as Nic pinned him against the wall with enough force to make the oxygen expel from his lungs.

“So how come Belle is still alive?” Nic muttered at him, “Or undead,” she paused thinking about it, “or whatever?”

Bible-Blade grabbed hold of her wrist and glared back at her. How could he explain that Belle was alive due to Irene telling him off for the three attempts he’d made on her life. Or unlife. Wait, how did it go? Vampires were the undead, so were they also the unlife, or would that be unalive? He frowned at the headache he was giving himself before focusing on Nic. She was wearing perfume. A lot of perfume and she seemed to have makeup on and as he looked her over, which was difficult to do when she was pinning him to the wall with her hand on his neck, she was dressed as though she was going on a date.

‘Wait? What?’ His brain muttered inside his head, ‘date?’

“Grrr!” he muttered aloud glaring at her.

He lifted his hands up and placed them both on her wrist forcing her hand away from his neck and collapsing back against the ground with a thud as his feet hit the pavement.

“Now look here blondie,” he growled out giving her his best Bible-Blade stare, “You need to back off and accept that I’m here to rid Summer Bay of vampires, including your little friend!”

“My what?”

“Little Friend!” Bible-blade muttered feeling his face suffuse with colour. Surely he wasn’t jealous, he asked himself, of Aden of all people.

Nic backed away from him slowly shooting him angry looks.

“Look, well, er,” she stuttered tilting her head to one side. He was totally gay and crushing on Aden, that is why he hadn’t even noticed that she was wearing her lowest lowcut top. Any lower and she’d just be wearing her bra and what a waste that would be on him.

“Well, what?” Bible-Blade asked quickly, stepping forward towards her.

“I’ve er… got places to go and people to slay….” With that Nic took another step back before spinning around and running down the alley in the direction they had come earlier.

“Wait, Nic, come back…” Bible-Blade called out too late as he could only watch her slip away. He would have sworn then at missing out on the chance to spend more time with her but remembered just as his lips framed the word ‘knickers’ that he wasn’t the swearing type and besides hanging around in a dark alley dressed in black and shouting out the word knickers could have got him in trouble.

He began running after her, also not really a good move because chasing a girl whilst wearing black and carrying a sword, well a really big breadknife could also have got him into trouble and er, got Nic mad at him. She was some girl; she could no doubt kiss his behind and not broken one of her long manicured nails. He caught a whiff of her perfume floating back to him on the night breeze, well her perfume and something else that smelt a little like wet dog. He wrinkled his nose up at that and eased back in his pursuit of Nic as he realised they were nearing her house. It never dawned on him that as soon as she realised he was chasing her she’d slowed down to make sure he wouldn’t get left behind.

“Nic,” he called when she’d stepped up to her front door.

“Oh you again,” she muttered spinning around and fixing him with what she hoped was a steely-eyed glare.

“Look, we seem to have got off on the wrong foot,” he said sounding more like Geoff than Bible-Blade.

“I don’t think so,” she murmured.

He moved closer to her and looked down into her eyes.

“What if I promise not to do any slaying without you?”

“That is a start,” she said not letting up on him.

He sighed and pushed his hand through his hair. A lock fell forward on to his forehead and he gave her a look from his puppy dog eyes. She found she wanted to kiss him and then remembered that he had a thing for Aden. Dammit.

“Nic, would you.. er.. like… er… to …er…”

“Would I like to er?” Nic muttered putting her hands on her hips and pinning him with her steely blue gaze.

“go out with me?” he finally got out his face going bright red.

“What about Aden?”

“Oh er, “ Geoff looked down. “If you’re dating Aden I …”

“Me?” Nic’s voice now reached the higher octaves as she gasped out the word. “I thought you….”

Just as the situation was going to get really confusing for the pair of them the door behind Nicole sprung open and Roman stood there a tennis ball in his mouth. He spat out the ball he’d been chasing for the past hour and had finally caught and looked at his daughter standing next to a tall kid wearing black. He sniffed at him before lifting his paw and scratching behind his ear.

“Nicole is this your boyfriend?” Roman muttered after a minute.

“Yes Sir, I am,” Geoff said bravely.

“No.”

“Well one of you needs to decide what is going on,” Roman said slowly looking from one to the other.

“Ok fine!”

Nic stepped up to Geoff and kissed him.

“That’s enoughhhhhh” Roman howled.

Nic stepped back from Geoff and gave her father a curious look. He was wearing a flea collar, had paws and seemed to be gazing at a tennis ball on the ground every few minutes. There was definitely something odd about him lately.

“Oh Dad, you are so embarrassing,” she muttered before turning to Geoff, “The dinner, tomorrow?”

Geoff nodded exuberantly before taking a step back and spinning around letting the full length of his coat fly in a circle around him before he disappeared into the dark.

“Was that the pizza guy?” Aden asked moving to stand near Roman.

“Oh for god’s…” Nic gave both men a look before she walked past them and into the house. Rushing up the stairs and into her bedroom the following thoughts ran around her head. She had a date. A proper date. With Geoff.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Miles knocked on Roman’s door. He waited a heartbeat before knocking again.

“Maybe they have gone to bed,” Jai murmured from besides him.

“I’m sure Nic can hear me,” Miles told him glancing over his shoulder before knocking at the door again.

“So wait, what are we doing here again?” Jai muttered rubbing at the jagged scar on his forehead before reaching in his pocket and putting on his glasses.

“We need Nic to er, well, I need to check she’s doing her homework!”

Miles groaned as the pathetic excuse slipped past his lips. Surely he could tell Harry what was going on, er, Jai. His name was Jai. Surely he could tell Jai what was happening, he thought rather confusedly. After all hadn’t the boy just seen furniture move around the room as the escaped from the library. Just as his thoughts were about to collide and stunning hypothesis was going to be formed the door opened in front of him and a hairy Roman stood there scratching behind his ear with his paw.

“What the hell Miles, do you know what the time is?”

“It’s a quarter to ten, sir.” Jai said politely.

Miles and Roman shot Jai a look before looking back at one another

“Yes, well, can I speak to Nic please?” Miles murmured quickly.

“Is this a school thing?”

“Of course it is,” Jai said when Miles didn’t speak.

“Oh ok then, I hope she is behaving herself…” Roman muttered as he bounced across the floor and raced up the stairs to go get his daughter, his tail swishing back and forth.

“And that is normal?” Jai said under his breath.

Miles turned and shot him a look.

“You do know that Roman served in the army don’t you?”

“What as a guard dog?” Jai asked.

“No. in Afghanistan,” Miles continued as though Jai hadn’t spoken. “You’ve heard of Gulf war syndrome?”

Jai shook his head.

“What has that got to do with Roman?”

Miles sighed at the dumb expression on Jai’s face. Really, kids of today, if it wasn’t on twitter or Facebook they had no clue. He shook his head before speaking again.

“Roman has Afghan war syndrome.”

“Oh,” A blank expression remained on Jai’s face, before he slowly got it.

“That’s right; Roman is turning into an Afghan hound….”

“What’s that about my dad?” Nic murmured coming down the stairs and walking over to the door.

“Nothing,” Miles said quickly.

“Oh ok,” Nic looked down at a fingernail checking it out, “what did you want? Dad said it was school stuff,” she added looking bored.

“Nicole, it’s 10 o’clock at night, would I really be speaking to you about “school stuff’,” Miles mimed speech marks around the words school stuff. He rolled his eyes when she looked up and showed more interest at his words realising obviously that he wasn’t there to give her a mock English exam.

“So er..” she murmured.

“I need you to come with me, I’ve figured out how to end all the spooky stuff going on in Summer Bay.”

Nicole Franklin took a half step back her eyes flicking behind her. Her dad was chasing a ball; Aden had spent half the night chasing pizza delivery guys and was now biting into a pepperoni pizza. Belle was a vampire, as was Rachel and Ruby was a witch. She supposed that weirdness needed to end at some point and really it would be good to get back to some kind of normal around here. She sighed softly before something sprang into her mind.

“Will this like stop Geoff from like… being hotness?”