Thursday, May 15, 2008

Drabble I wrote

Hi, this is a drabble I wrote with a friend. I was having writer's block, and so was she, so we decided to write together. It had to be at least 200 words, but not a full length chapter, and it had to have the sentence "Dean's eyes seemed to take on a glow of their own, borrowed from the fire raging in front of him." in it. This is based on the tv show "Supernatural" again, and Sam and Dean are brothers and ghosthunters. I was in chat on MSN Messenger with my friend, and we started the same time. This was the result of mine:


“Sam!”

Dean ran quickly from the Impala towards the house, his heartthudding in his chest. He could hear the crackling before he felt the heat ofthe flames that were hungrily consuming the wooden structure.

“Sammy!”

He shouldn’t have left Sam here. He shouldn’t have gone back to the car, never mind that his flashlight battery was dead. They knew the spirit was a firestarter in life. There was no reason not to think it would be the same in death. Three minutes. That was all the time Sam was left alone in the house, and it was three minutes too long. Cursing, Dean leapt onto the porch, embers already smoldering next to the rickety chairs.

About to bang the door down, he froze as he heard his name. It was coming not from within the house, but from behind him and to his left.

“Dean, stop!”

He whirled and drew a deep breath, immediately regretting it as heat seemed to pour into his lungs. Then Sam was there, yanking on his arm and pulling him off the porch, both of them tumbling to the dry ground.

“Can’t leave you alone for a minute,” Sam grumbled as he rose,straightening his clothes.

“Can’t leave me...I thought you were in there!” Dean’s voice was hoarse and then he coughed as they walked a bit away from the burning structure.

“Well the minute I saw old Mr. Nickel with a gas can I booked. Not before I salted the fireplace where his bones were though. He kinda saved us the trouble. You okay?”

Dean drew in a breath of fresh air and nodded, looking at the house and studiously not looking at his brother. Sam nodded back, looking towards thehouse as well, and then turned to look at Dean. Dean's eyes seemed to take on a glow of their own, borrowed from the fire raging in front of him.

“I would have gone in after you,” Dean said quietly.

“I know,” Sam replied, equally soft.

Turning their backs on the fire, they walked in sync back to the Impala.

End

Hope you liked if you read :)

Thursday, April 24, 2008

The Plant

Here is a story I wrote for a writing contest. It didn't win, but the people I showed it to all loved it so I'm not discouraged. I'll write for another contest soon, when I'm caught up with my fanfiction :) This is a short story that just popped into my head, complete and written in just a few hours. I was literally printing it out and mailing it off on the last day of the contest just before the post office closed. Guess I have a thing about deadlines, lol. Hope you like!


The Plant Family Circle Entry


I was hurrying home, after another drab gray day at work. I remembered that I’d finished the last of the milk and grumbling to myself I detoured to the convenience store. Of course they were out of the lowfat kind. I picked up a packaged salad to go with the regular milk and then headed to the counter. A mother and daughter, wearing matching pink shirts, were babbling about how they were decorating the daughter’s room. I impatiently waited, and then wondered why I was in such a hurry. There was nothing to go home to, just my barely decorated apartment and some shows on television. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered. Finally the two women were done and moved off, still chatting, and I plopped my salad and milk on the counter. The clerk asked if I needed anything else. Yes, I wanted to say, I need a new life, but I don’t think you sell that here. I didn’t bore him with the response I wanted to make however and instead shook my head. Then I caught sight of a scraggly little plant on the end of the counter. The price had been reduced twice already, according to the red X’s over the numbers. A little sign said “Last Chance, 99 cents!” attached to a wilting brown leaf. As though my mouth was not attached to my brain I heard myself saying yes, I’ll take that plant too. Ten minutes later I was opening my front door, juggling the keys, the bag of milk and salad, and a little plant smaller than my arm.

After dinner, I took a look at the little orange pot that the plant came in. That wouldn’t be big enough to hold it for long if it were to grow. My plant didn’t even come with a label to say what kind it was, and I had no experience with greenery. I was pretty sure that it should be green though, and began to make a list of things I might need. I knew there was a woman who did gardening at work but I usually kept to myself. Maybe though I could talk to her. I took the little plant and held it under the faucet, and ran cool water for it. The soil inside the pot was dry, and even I knew that plants needed water. Then I put the little plant inside a bowl with more water, set it on the kitchen table and turned in for the night.

In the morning, the sun seemed to be shining just a bit brighter, as the rays shone over the little plant. I ate my breakfast of cereal at the table and found myself looking at the plant and wondering if maybe it was lonely. After having several disastrous dates in a row I’d sworn off dating, but maybe my plant would have better luck. I’d heard generally that if you talked to plants they would grow better, so I said “see you later” as I left for work. I only felt a little silly.

At my job, which was basically scanning barcodes in the computer, I poked my head around the cubicle wall. Kathy, a tall thin brunette always had her space decorated with pictures of her family and silk flowers, while my area was always empty. I figured she might know something about plants, at least more than I did, and I said hello. She looked up, surprised.

“Hi,” she replied.

“Hi, um, I was wondering. Do you know anything about plants? I kind of got one yesterday,” I said.

“You got a plant? What kind?” she asked.

“I don’t know, it’s kinda small and has some brown leaves along with the green.” I found myself describing the plant and even the pot it came in.

Kathy listened, and for the next few minutes gave me advice on what to do. She also suggested I speak to Betty, who did the gardening. Then she invited me to lunch. I was about to say no, as I usually did if I ever got an invitation, and found my mouth unattached to my brain again as it said yes. We ended up inviting Betty to lunch as well, and for the first time in a long time I found myself actually enjoying my job. Well lunch, anyway. I even surprised myself by being interested in Betty’s garden, of which she had pictures. By the time I left work at the end of the day I found myself actually humming. I didn’t go straight home. I went to the supermarket and bought a bit more than I’d planned, but found myself not worried by it.

“I’m back!” I called out as I opened the door to my apartment. Then I took a look at the sparse furnishings and wondered if I should get some more furniture. Definitely a plant stand, I thought. It might have been my imagination, but the little plant seemed a bit healthier. I talked to it as I dropped my groceries down on the table and put them away. Then I opened the magazine I’d found that told how to transplant little plants like mine and proceeded to follow the instructions, placing my little plant in a slightly bigger pot. Then I introduced it to its new neighbor, a Coleus that had caught my eye. I actually cooked dinner, nothing fancy, just pasta, and ate it at the table while leafing through a plant book that I had bought. I said goodnight to the plants, arranging them so that they would catch the sunlight first thing in the morning. Then I headed to bed, actually looking forward to the next day. Betty had said she would bring in more pictures.

The next two workdays went by quickly, and I found myself invited to come over to Betty’s on the weekend, and to bring my plant. On that Saturday I placed my plant carefully in the car, and drove to a beautiful house with a large garden outside. I recognized roses, and the sheer mass of healthy looking greenery made me look at my forlorn little plant, which I held cradled in my hands. Betty came out and waved, and I walked inside, commenting on how beautiful her garden was.

“I love it, and it’s so relaxing,” she replied. “You can make an indoor garden yourself, you know.”

I shrugged, and placed my plant on her kitchen table. Many houseplants adorned the windowsill, and her kitchen was decorated in a country style. I felt at home there, and soaked up the ambience as Betty examined my plant.

“Look, you’ve got a new leaf growing,” Betty said, pointing it out. Sure enough, my little plant was growing, and the brown leaf had fallen off. “I don’t know what kind it is though. It could be...but maybe not. Or it might be..”

I told her it didn’t matter. So long as it was getting healthier it would be fine, I said. She replied that some plants needed more water than others, and some did better with a certain amount of sunlight.

“How about general guidelines?” I asked.

“Well,” she replied, looking at my plant, “you could do this...”

For the next half hour we talked plants, and then somehow the conversation turned to other things. She asked why I never went out, and I replied that I’d had some bad experiences and didn’t need anyone anyway.

“Everyone needs someone,” Betty said. “Like your plant needed you.”

I shrugged, but found myself agreeing when she invited me to a picnic that she and some others from work were going to the next weekend. I detoured on the way home, and fitted the plant stand in the back seat of the car.

Over the next few weeks, my little plant grew, and so did the greenery in my kitchen. Five more plants now adorned plant stands, and I’d put some pretty wallpaper up. My living room also looked more cosy from the eclectic furniture I’d chosen. Two months after I’d first brought my little plant home I hosted a garden party. My apartment came complete with a nice little patio, which had remained empty since I’d moved in. Now it had a table and chairs, and of course some plants. I’d invited the “gardening crew” from work, and set to decorating the space. It was a beautiful sunny day and Betty, Kathy, Lee, Linda, and Jill showed up with various edible treats. We talked gardening and about other things, and they all commented on how healthy my little plant was looking. Linda, who was single like me, told me that she knew of two cute guys from the mail room that were interested in going on a double date. I was about to say no and my mouth once again didn’t check with my brain as it said I would love to and for her to let me know when.

They stayed for hours, and helped me clean up, and when they left I didn’t feel lonely. My apartment, which I had simply thought of before as merely a place to sleep, now felt like a home. That week I looked forward to work, as my boss said I was in line for a promotion, and would be able to do more than I had been doing. My work space was now decorated with pictures of my plants, and I had a healthy philodendron that everyone that stopped by admired.

My double date went very well. Linda was happy with Jerry, and Michael let me chat away about plants and gardening. I learned that he was an amateur gardener, and then as we talked found we had many other things in common. I’d taken my car to the restaurant where we all met, and he kissed me and asked if I’d be interested in a second date, sans the other couple. This time I was quite unsurprised to hear my mouth saying yes. On the way home I remembered that I needed to get milk, and stopped by the same convenience store where I had picked up my little plant. It was late, and a couple were ahead of me, leisurely chatting and adding things to their order. I flipped through the horticultural magazine that was on the rack next to the counter as I waited, and smiled at the clerk when it was my turn. I added the magazine to my purchase, and took a quick look at the little plant sitting on the end of the counter. It too had been on sale for some time, and I plunked down the extra dollar for it.

I was humming as I opened the door to my apartment, and called out “I’m home!” to my plants as I entered. It felt good to walk inside, and smell the healthy fragranced air. My home was now decorated in a style that I realized I liked, and I walked into the kitchen, placing the new addition on the kitchen table.

My little plant sat in a place of honor, where it could soak up the most light from the morning sun. It wasn’t so little anymore, and I’d needed to repot it twice already. Its healthy green leaves seemed to be reaching out to greet me, and I told it hello and that I had a new purchase that needed some TLC. I looked from it to the new bedraggled plant, and smiled. This new plant would be just fine, and so would I. Apparently that convenience store did sell a new life, as my full life now and the healthy condition of my little plant could attest to. With a smile, I watered the new plant and said goodnight to my garden. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

The End.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Foiled by the Winchesters

Hi, this is a story I wrote (told ya I'd be sharing) for a show that I love. A lot of people, fans of certain tv shows and movies, write fictional stories based on those shows, called fanfiction. It's also called fanfic. The fans don't own the shows or their characters, but just want to share their love of that show with others (and in my case start honing my writing skills on something fun). For this particular show, "Supernatural", the creator, Eric Kripke, is fully aware of and encourages fanfiction. (Or so he has stated at one of the fan conventions held for the show, according to the site that I belong to.) In fact, many ideas that have come up in the show in Season 2 are eerily similar to many fanfiction stories that had been written during and just after Season 1 ended...

Disclaimer: The following story was written based on characters from the CW tv show "Supernatural". I do not own the characters from that show or any rights to it whatsoever, and I'm not making any money off of this. I just write for fun and enjoyment. If you are interested in this show, OCL owns copies of both seasons (and I am very happy about that).

Short summary of the show (which for this story you don't really have to have seen): Sam and Dean Winchester are brothers that hunt the supernatural; the scary things that go bump in the night. They grew up learning and hunting, and are quite good at it. They have faced (in the show so far) vampires, ghosts, Wendigo, vengeful spirits and other creatures that no one believes exist. That's about all you need to know for this story.

Story summary: This was written for a fanfic challenge. Slacker Todd finally found what he wanted to do with his life-be a vampire. Unfortunately for him the Winchesters keep showing up and "saving" him from his fate. One shot, humor.

Warnings: Contains imagery that might be upsetting to some individuals. However, it is meant in a humorous context. Also contains a bad word or two, but it's in character for the characters.

Hope you like!

Read no further if you don't like beheading!

Foiled by the Winchesters

The two times Todd Peterson tried to become a vampire and failed, and the one time he almost succeeded.

--

Todd Peterson sighed and swiped yet another customer’s card across the checkout counter’s glass. He mechanically began moving said customer’s items over the scanner’s electronic eye. A steady beep beep beep could be heard as each object passed on to the moving belt which took them to the end of the register, where his friend Gary was waiting to put them in a bag. Todd scanned the customer’s last item and hit the “Total” button.

“That’ll be forty eight seventy three,” he told the person in a bored voice. He barely looked up, just taking the cash, punching the appropriate buttons and when the register opened putting the money in and taking out the change.

“Thank you for shopping here and have a good day,” he mumbled the appropriate closing sentence.

Still not looking up he reached out for the next card, but there were none forthcoming.

“Hey crap for brains, no one else is standing on line. The store’s deserted, man,” Gary helpfully told him.

Todd finally looked up, his watery blue eyes taking in his friend’s cool triangular beard. He could never get his facial hair to look anything like that. He had a drab face, a drab body, a drab job, and oh yeah, a drab life. He’d never had a girlfriend, had never moved out of his parents’ house, and had just barely graduated high school. His guidance counselor had told his parents to save their money and not send him to college, but maybe to a vocational school. The man had tried and failed to find anything that piqued Todd’s interest. So here he was in the local supermarket, earning minimum wage while he was supposed to “find” himself and figure out what he wanted to do with his life. Like he really wanted to do anything other than hang out.

“Yeah, well maybe it’s time for a break,” Todd replied.

“Don’t know if Manny will go for that, everyone else is off. I mean it man, the store is EMPTY,” Gary said, waving his hand around.

This time Todd really looked up, and swung his gaze around. His register was the only one that was lit; all the others were dark. And it was so quiet he could have heard the proverbial pin drop. Weird.

“There should be someone else on,” he said.

Picking up the phone, he hit the intercom button.

“Hey, this is Todd on register thirteen. Who else is supposed to be up here?”

Gary grinned widely. “Man, you are going to get in trouble for that.”

Todd shrugged and waited. Like anyone else would want this job. He looked at Gary.

“Dude, did you notice everyone leaving?”

Gary shook his head, brown eyes as mystified as Todd’s own. “Nah, I was busy. Y’know how it is, keep your attention on the current customer. When he walked out I noticed how quiet it got.”

“Yeah,” Todd agreed, and glanced at the clock high up on the wall above the front windows, which his register was facing. “Hey, it’s almost eleven. Maybe we’ll close up early.”

Gary nodded, hoping the same. They worked the night shift, the store being open to midnight. It being slow sometimes at this hour was not unusual. What was unusual was the complete silence and lack of other employees. And hey, no one had answered Todd’s call.

“Dude, this is strange,” Todd said, about to page the supermarket’s office when the office door located by the first register swung open.

Todd and Gary looked at the door, but no one came out of the office. They waited. And waited.

Feeling a bit uneasy, Todd called out. “Hey! Can we take our break?”

There was no answer, and the two young men looked at each other. Todd looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon, and picked up the triangular plastic grocery divider. Gary grabbed a few plastic bags. Thus armed, they left their spots by the register and began to stalk cautiously to the open door.

Todd turned to Gary and said in a stage whisper, “Dude, what are you going to do with those? Offer to bag the victims?”

Gary scoffed at him. “Like you can do any more than annoy someone with that thing? It weighs less than a pound!”

Todd shook his head. “Man, what are we doing? If this were like a horror movie we should be running out the door right now.”

Gary grinned, “I know. But it’s probably Manny playing a practical joke on us. When you switched all the coffee labels and made people think the real stuff was decaf in the break room you really ticked him off.”

Todd smiled. “Yeah, but it was worth the look on his face when he didn’t know why he had so much energy. Only an idiot would drink decaf.”

“Yeah, but Rob kept falling asleep and got in trouble.”

“Well he should get some sleep instead of going to the bar all night,” Todd said a bit enviously.

By this time they were almost at the door. Giving each other a quick look and hefting their make-do weapons Todd nodded at the door and said quietly, “On three.”

Gary murmured, “One, Two,-“

“THREE!” a strange voice yelled from behind them.

Letting out a yelp, the two employees dropped their weapons as they turned, their eyes widening as they took in the sight now in front of them. Red blood. It was streaking the front of the stranger’s jacket and dripping onto the floor in front of heavy boots. Gulping, the two noticed that the blood was dripping onto the jacket from above. Slowly, like in a campy horror movie, they raised their eyes to look at the stranger’s face.

The stranger was smiling at them, but that put them far from at ease as dripping from the strangers mouth was the origin of the blood on the jacket. Protruding from the stranger’s open mouth were fangs set into a swarthy face with cold blue eyes and black hair.

“Boo!” the vampire said upon noticing their stares and Todd and Gary were released from an involuntary paralysis. Letting out a cry, they scrambled to get out of the way, Gary running past the stranger to get to the exit of the supermarket while Todd ran in the opposite direction, into the office.

He barely had time to see a scene of devastation; Manny leaning back in a chair with his sightless eyes fixed on the ceiling while blood leaked from his neck; two other cashiers lying on the floor with their throats ripped out; and the safe open with bills scattered about.

Before he could fully process it he felt a blinding blow to the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground. Through fuzzy vision he could see stiletto heels walk in front of his face, and a small hand touched his cheek.

“Mmm, dessert,” a feminine voice purred.

Todd heard the sound of boots heavily striding into the room.

“Hey baby, thought you were going to share,” a masculine voice rumbled.

“Anything for you darling, he’s all yours,” the woman responded.

Todd’s vision slowly came back into focus, and he realized he’d been hit with an empty register drawer. The woman (vampire, he thought, she had to be) dropped it onto the ground next to him.

“Uh,” he managed to squeak.

“Honey, I do believe your food is talking to you,” the woman told the male vampire.

The stranger’s strong hand easily lifted Todd up and threw him to the other side of the office, where he hit the wall and slid down it to lay in a heap. The woman smiled and sashayed over to her companion. She threw a handful of money in the air and rose up to give him a scorching kiss as the bills fluttered around them. The man lifted the woman up and she wrapped her legs around his stomach as they continued to kiss, licking the blood from each other’s mouths.

“Why can’t I be that strong?” Todd thought illogically. He guessed maybe he had a concussion or something because he wasn’t scared. He was probably going to die and he’d finally found what he wanted to be. He wanted to be a vampire. Now that would be cool.

“Hey!” a voice yelled. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at the office door, where a tall stranger wearing a leather coat was holding a crossbow.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Dean started and then shrugged. “Nah I’m not. Don’t you know PDA’s are not allowed during store hours?”

The vampires snarled and the crossbow fired, the male vampire grunting as the arrow hit him in the back when he turned to shield the woman.

They both fell but the woman sprang up again almost immediately and darted for the hunter, only to be felled by an arrow herself when a second crossbow fired.

“Took you long enough,” Dean muttered as he dropped his crossbow and pulled out a machete, his brother doing the same.

Before Todd could fully process what was going on, metal flashed, there were a couple of thuds, and a head rolled along the floor only to be stopped by his shoe. When he realized what it was-the scary guy vampire’s dead eyes watching him with an almost disappointed expression-he screamed. A full out, girly shriek that would have been perfect in a horror movie. Then he fainted.

He roused slightly to the sound of hushed voices arguing.

“We should do him too just to be safe.”

“We don’t even know if he’s been turned! Look, there’s no blood by his mouth.”

“Maybe he drank it all.”

“Check his teeth then.”

“Fine.”

Todd felt pressure around his mouth, but he was too dazed to offer any resistance. A thumb pressed behind his front teeth, and there was a grunt and the thumb withdrew, his mouth closing again. He had a feeling he might be drooling a little.

“Satisfied?”

“So he isn’t a bloodsucker, but he might have seen too much.”

“No one will believe him, and besides we have to get out of here.”

“Yeah okay.”

There were the sounds of footsteps receding, but then he heard some getting closer and felt a breath puff over his ear.

“You didn’t see what you thought you saw. You imagined everything. And if you tell anyone that vampires are real or people hunt them you’ll be missing a head too.”

Then footsteps were leaving again, and Todd decided being unconscious was a good thing, and promptly blacked out.

Over the next few weeks, life slowly returned to normal for Todd, or as normal as it could be after having seen vampires and knowing your boss got killed by them. The police had taken his statement, where he said he’d run into the office, seen the devastation, got knocked out and had been unconscious until an officer had awoken him. They had believed him, and then cleanup had begun. The store closed for a few days and his parents didn’t pester him about a career choice. Todd however began to research where one might meet a vampire, bought clothes he didn’t let his parents see, and at night after his shift-once the supermarket reopened (the store now closed much earlier, so Todd was off night shift)-he went out and put his plan into action. He was a bit less than successful however.

--

Todd trudged along the sidewalk in the growing dusk, the bruises from being thrown out of the club still fresh. He didn’t understand; he’d dressed appropriately, had behaved the correct way-was there some radar they had that said ‘normal person, avoid at all costs’? At this rate he’d never meet another vampire.

--

In an upscale apartment classical music was playing, while a woman tapped impatiently on a table. Her mate was late.

Tabitha sighed, whirled around, and promptly banged her head against the gaudy Victorian lamp Ian had insisted on buying.

“D-!” she started, noticing the blood now running from a cut on her forehead. Of course it would heal, but that wasn’t the point. She decided she needed to go and get some food, which would make her feel better. Ian could get his own. As she strolled along the sidewalk she chose her meal. That one was too thin. That other one bore a striking resemblance to a man on an infomercial. He had been touting his exercise machine. She shook her head, too stringy. The stench of alcohol wafted past her delicate nose and she hurried past the drunk. Been there, done that, and no thank you.

Then-oh yes that one would do nicely, very nicely indeed.

Todd jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder. He quickly turned around, to gaze into the most remarkable eyes he’d ever seen in his life. Their colors seemed to change, from blue to brown to green, like a kaleidoscope. Mesmerized by those eyes, he barely noticed the gorgeous female body they were set in.

“I know you don’t know me, but would you like to be dinner?” a seductive voice said.

All Todd heard was “you” “me” and “dinner”. “Yeah, sure!” he said breathlessly, and eagerly followed the mystery woman to a nearby alley.

Tabitha smiled, her teeth lengthening as soon as she reached the shelter of semi darkness. She turned to face her intended meal, allowing the hypnotic effect to fade from her eyes. It was sweeter when they struggled a little.

Todd blinked, and gasped. “You...you’re...”

“Your worst nightmare, I know,” she crooned.

“What? No. That was seeing my boss naked. You’re a vampire! I’ve been looking for you!”

Tabitha cocked her head and growled, grabbing a fistful of Todd’s mesh shirt. “What do you mean you were looking for me?”

Todd squirmed. “No, no. Not you specifically, but a vampire in general. I want to become one. I want you to make me a vampire!”

Tabitha stared at Todd in shock, and perhaps that could be the reason that she didn’t hear the hunter suddenly enter the alley behind her.

“Hey! Get away from him!” a deep voice rumbled.

She grabbed Todd and whirled, holding him in front of her as a shield. Of course, that left her back completely vulnerable to the arrow dipped in dead man’s blood shot by the other hunter which suddenly pierced the back of her right knee. She jerked and lost her grip on the human, who fell to the ground at her feet.

Reeling from the poison in her system, she was aware of the one who’d shot the arrow moving by her to reach for her former meal. With a burst of hatred for their kind she grabbed the shaggy haired hunter by the throat, lifting him up and pinning him to the alley’s grimy wall.

He fought back but was no match for her anger as she felt his neck constricting.

“Let him go you bitch!” the other hunter yelled, aiming a crossbow at her heart.

“No, don’t!” Todd lunged up between Dean and Tabitha, spreading his hands.

“I was asking for it, honest. She wasn’t doing anything wrong!” Todd implored, as the sounds of Sam choking met their ears.

Tabitha’s grip loosened as the poison began to affect her, and she watched Todd in wonder. Unfortunately for her, Sam managed to kick out of her grip, knocking her to the side. Dean immediately fired, and while Sam rubbed his throat and tried to get his breath back his brother took out his machete. Todd groaned as his would-be key to being a vampire was decapitated. Well, there was always next time.

“You okay?” Dean asked, looking at Sam worriedly as he quickly cleaned off the machete.

“Yeah, fine,” Sam croaked, then they both turned to look at Todd.

“Hey buddy, no more seeking out vampires, okay? Or what I said to you about missing your head? I meant it,” Dean growled, looking Todd straight in the eyes. Then Dean turned to look at his brother, where the bruises were just starting to come out around his neck, and Dean turned to look at Todd again. Todd gulped, and nodded, and then the Winchesters headed out of his life again, Dean gripping his brother’s shoulder.

--

An intelligent person with self interest in survival probably would have left it there, but Todd was finally set on a course and wouldn’t be swayed. He did lay low for a few nights, hanging out with Gary and playing Xbox, but the fifth night after the vampire incident Gary finally had a date and Todd dressed in his “special” clothes.

“I’m going out!” he yelled to his parents, hoping that when he saw them next he would be changed.

He was out the door before he heard their response. This time he picked a different club, sure that he might meet a vampire there. Those other guys were probably long gone from the town by now, or at least he hoped so. He kept an eye out for them however, and relaxed when he didn’t see them in the club he finally managed to get into. In a dark corner he thought he spotted a possibility.

“Hey, I was just wondering if you’re into sucking blood,” he grinned at a voluptuous beauty who was sipping at a ruby red drink. She was very pale and Todd was almost certain she was a vampiress.

She looked him up and down and then sneered. “Not yours, honey. But I know someone who will.” She nodded behind him, where a tall thin and elegantly dressed man at odds with the rest of the club’s patrons had materialized noiselessly behind him.

Todd whirled, to stare into kaleidoscopic eyes, very similar to…

“Wow, you have eyes just like her,” he said. Tact was not one of his strong points.

The man opened his mouth, vampiric fangs appearing. With dazzling speed he’d grabbed hold of Todd’s shirt. “Eyes like who?” he snarled.

“A-a-a la-dy vam-vam-pire I met,” Todd stuttered.

“You met my mate?” Ian growled.

“I asked her to turn me but we got interrupted. Hey, can you make me like you?” Todd asked, looking at Ian’s fangs, fascinated rather than repulsed.

Ian turned to look at the woman at the table, but she held up her hands and shrugged as if to say “he’s all yours”.

The vampire turned back to Todd, and then smiled, eyes dark. “I can’t make you like me, but into something even better,” he told the human.

If Todd had been paying attention, he would have run at that point. But Todd was set on his course, so he happily followed the vampire as he was led into the empty bathroom. Ian locked the door, and then turned to his waiting meal.

“What do I do?” Todd eagerly asked.

“Just close your eyes and keep them closed,” the vampire purred.

“Okay,” Todd agreed, standing next to one of the sinks and closing his eyes.

Suddenly he heard a commotion, and then the sound of the door being kicked in like in a movie. He kept his eyes closed though, hoping the vampire could finish whoever off and then get back to business, namely turning Todd. It was not to be his day, however. There were the sounds of a scuffle, a grunt, metal hitting metal, and then an awfully familiar thud. Swallowing, Todd opened his eyes, and turned to see the vampire in two pieces on the floor, torso and body near the door while the head had rolled under one of the sinks. A knife was still gripped loosely in one of the vampire’s dead hands. The taller shaggy haired hunter was cleaning off a machete while the other one was kneeling on the floor holding his shoulder. Todd groaned. Of course they would show up.

“Dean?” Sam said, kneeling next to his brother and trying to get a look at his injured arm.

“Dude, I’m fine. Let’s book before we’re discovered,” Dean said, but he allowed Sam to help him up and give him rolled up towels to hold against his still bleeding shoulder.

Sam turned to Todd, glaring at him. “Seriously man, you stirred up activity in this town. We’ve been running all over having to track them. Just, lay low and be happy you’re not a vampire!”

Todd nodded, and Sam walked out the door, but before Dean left he stared at Todd and made a cutting motion with his hand. Todd gulped and nodded harder and then he was alone in the bathroom with a dead undead body. Undead but now dead body? Todd decided he’d had enough and he should just scram, and he hurriedly left the club. Once home he burned his “special” clothes, erased all the sites on his computer about vampires, and enrolled in the local vocational school.

He found that he actually did have a skill-cooking. He started in the culinary program, and soon his parents were being treated to vichyssoise soup and Lamb au Poivre; Risotto and sliced cucumber salad; and many more delicious and well made recipes including desserts like Tiramisu and Ginger Crème Brulee. The only thing Todd wouldn’t make was anything involving blood. No steak tartar from him. But other than that quirk, his chef/teacher was pleased with his progress and told his parents that, and they soon looked forward to him leaving the nest as a successful chef himself.

One day as he was leaving the school late he had his final run-in with a vampire. He wasn’t even looking for it; images of salmon fillets and wild rice pilaf filled his mind, and as he went to open his car door the feel of a hand suddenly jerking him backwards took him completely by surprise.

He blinked at the kid, who couldn’t have been older than him but who was gazing at him hungrily with lips peeled back to show familiar looking fangs.

“Oh no, look, I don’t want to be one of you anymore, I mean it! I’m a chef now, I like real food!”

The vampire blinked. “What are you on about?” it rasped. “You-you want to be like me? Be my friend?”

Todd stared at the kid.

“You’d let me turn you? Really? ‘Cause I never turned anyone before and it would be cool. We could hang out together and everything!”

Man, that vampire was pathetic, Todd thought, wondering why he’d ever wanted to be one in the first place.

“This’ll be great! I get to feed and get a friend too! Okay, just hold still…”

Todd looked around, wondering where the two hunters were, but the street was quiet.

“Uh, well, you see, I kinda changed my mind about that, and um, sorry you’re lonely and all, but I’m sure you’ll find a friend somewhere else, but hey, if you want, I can go back in that building over there and get some blood for you, it’s cow but I’m sure food is food to you, and-“ Todd knew he was rambling, but he really really didn’t want to be a vampire or its meal anymore.

The kid looked at him as though he was crazy, and at that moment the zing of an arrow sliced through the air and the vampire jerked. Todd took that opportunity to slither out of its grasp and ducked around his car, and the two men he thought he’d never be happy to see again were there. One, two, and the vampire was headless.

This time Todd took the bull by the horns, and came back around the car to say, “Thank you for saving me! I really didn’t go out of my way to find him, I promise! No more vampire hunting for me! Vampire? What’s that? They’re a myth! They don’t really exist. Neither do people that hunt them. Yep, I’m just going to go home and cook a nice meal, with no blood, no blood at all, and not think about mythological creatures, ‘cause they’re not real. Nope, not at all, and if you two regular people get hungry we serve gourmet lunches at the school’s cafeteria every day at noon and it’s open to the public. Well, I gotta go now, to my nice normal home where I sleep in a real bed at night, not a coffin, and I get up in the morning and go out into the sun and everything. I even eat garlic. Lots of it. I love garlic! It’s my favorite. You gotta try my garlic mashed potatoes. Okay, well, then, bye!”

Todd opened the car door, started up and peeled out, leaving two confused Winchesters with their mouths hanging open behind him.

Sam turned to Dean. “Was it something I said?”

Dean just grinned back at his brother. “Nope, guess he’s just a whack job, but a normal human whack job. You know it’s true, people are crazy.”

Shrugging, the brothers cleaned up the vampire mess and left town, having knocked off all the vampires in the area.

Todd never saw another vampire in his life, and when he became a successful chef running his own restaurant he met the love of his life and got married, and lived happily ever after. The same couldn’t be said of the vampires he’d met however of course.

The End.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day :)