Friends and Enemies
“Remind me why we’re doing this,” Daniel Ridger complained in a low whisper to his twin sister Olivia as he watched Mike Pearson pick at the lock on the front door to the old hotel.
“Because of you and your big mouth?” Olivia asked shrugging her shoulders.
Sophie Tyler barely heard her friends’ complaints over the voices in her head. The voices were divided as to what she should do-stay or run. She personally wanted to run and hide under her nice warm blankets and go to sleep, but she knew that the nightmare would return. Also; Mike, his girlfriend April, and their best friend John would make them look like the biggest losers in all of Willard High if they left now.
“Sophie, you coming?” Olivia asked as Mike let out a victorious whoop and kicked the door open with his black and white Nike covered foot. She shook her head as he and his friends entered the hotel like they owned the place.
Sophie took a deep breath and then let it out. The weight of a hand grasping her shoulder almost made her jump out of her skin. She turned her head to see Daniel smiling reassuringly at her. Sophie returned the smile as Daniel let his hand drop to his side.
“Come on you three! The night won’t last forever and we have school tomorrow!” John Muffler exclaimed from just inside the doorway.
John watched with an amused smirk on his face as the three stragglers made their way up the two stone steps and onto the porch. Once everyone was inside the front room of the hotel, he shut the door behind them.
There was no electricity in the hotel. The flashlights the six teenagers carried gave off just enough light to keep them from tripping over what was left of the furniture. The beam of light illuminating Sophie’s path trembled as she put one foot in front of the other, following the others to a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Olivia asked as April’s small frame made the stairs moan.
“Of course it’s safe!” April replied hoping she sounded sure of herself.
For several years the Willard Hotel had been closed, and left alone to gather cobwebs and dust. This did not bother Andrew Dentek or his tiny posse of immortal society rejects as it made an excellent gathering place for their annual Halloween party.
“You sure you want to do that?” Andrew asked, looking across the small oak table at his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. The younger man said nothing; sure that he could beat him.
Francis Metcalf nodded his head as he raised the pot two hundred dollars. The only half-giant vampire he had ever met shook his long blue haired head, and then raised the pot six hundred dollars. His girlfriend had warned him that the guy was full of himself, so he didn’t back down when she folde
Across the dark hotel room Rachel Wilmon stood by the window looking down at the deserted street below. The nearby street light cast an eerie glow over everything it touched, making her feel lonely enough to howl out to another of her kind. With the exception of her friends talking behind her, the night was quiet.
The silence was shattered into a million pieces as an only too familiar looking black mustang roared past the window, blaring Christmas music-only she and the other three could here-out of the car’s expensive stereo system. Rachel stared in horror as the car barreled down the road at top speed, an unwanted passenger hanging on to the roof for dear life. She stood there for a moment, after the car drove out of hearing distance, considering what she should do. Rachel decided Morgan would frown upon a helping hand, especially when Tina needed all the help she could get.
(Put the rest on blog site)“You cheated me, fairy!” Andrew snarled angrily, as the tiny blond elf that was Tina tried to keep him from ripping her boyfriend apart.
“No I didn’t. You got cocky,” Francis argued calmly as Tina’s hybrid friend grabbed him by the collar and threatened to toss him out the window.
Sophie, Daniel, Olivia, April, Mike, and John stood as still as stone statues in the narrow hallway as they listened to the argument filtering out of the hotel room on their left. Nobody said anything as they watched a blue haired man sail out into the hallway with them. Before he even had a chance to get up, another man was thrown out on top of him.
“Was that necessary?” the second man asked as a bushy haired Amazon leaned against the doorframe, her face illuminated by an unnatural golden glow.
“No, but it sure felt good,” the Amazon replied with a grin that revealed fangs. She was smiling at them as if she had known they were there the whole time.
“Hey,” Mike greeted as a fourth stranger, a pointy eared elf radiating more light than all of the flashlights in the world, stepped out into the crowded hallway.
“Shouldn’t you all be out trick-or-treating?” the blue haired man asked as he got to his feet.
Mike gulped, and took a step back, bumping into April who shoved him back. The blue haired man was almost eight feet tall and had to duck so he wouldn’t hit his head on the ceiling. He looked at the others to make sure they were still there.
“Andrew be nice! I’m sure they just stopped by to say hello and leave,” the elf said in a delicate voice that seemed to be saying they should get moving.
“Leave?” both men cried in unison shaking their heads at the absurd thought.
“Tina. We can’t have a bunch of teenagers running around telling people that we hang out here on Halloween,” said the fanged Amazon. “Not that anyone would believe them.”
“Don’t worry, Rachel. Morgan will know what to do,” said another woman, making everyone jump. “What? Are the dead not invited to party with their old buddies any more?”
Sophie stared at the ghost as it floated down next to Rachel, silver strands of ghostly hair billowing in its own breeze. She recognized the ghost woman from her latest dream. The ghost had been wailing something unintelligible, pointing and waving at something only she seemed to be able to see. Sophie shivered as the ghost smiled pleasantly at her, like a long lost friend. They were not friends and never would be.
“Beth,” Rachel acknowledged the ghost without looking at her. The others ignored her completely.
Beth said no more, as if she realized she was not welcome. She remained standing next to Rachel, examining the new guy with his arm wrapped around Tina. The sound of screeching tires and Jingle Bells broke the awkward silence that had formed.
“Morgan’s here,” Tina said shaking her head. The witch had impeccable timing.
The sound of breaking glass followed this statement, and the teenagers covered their ears. Morgan had let go her concentration on sound proofing the mortal world, her whole attention on the fight she was having. Tina looked to Rachel for guidance. All of the guys were already moving towards the violence. The girls were already down stairs.
“Let’s go,” Rachel said with an exasperated sigh.
Sophie, Olivia, and April stared at the brown leather and blue jean clad woman with glowing purple eyes as she danced around a stake wielding man, bits of glass shining in her dark hair as the light from a street light reflected off of it. The fight was over in a matter of moments, the two opponents shaking hands like they had just closed a business deal. The witch hunter disappeared then, leaving Morgan limping but alive.
“Why did he let you go?” Sophie asked curiously as Morgan walked up next to them, a smirk on her face.
“Because one must keep their friends close,” Morgan replied looking at the three girls, her smirk turning into a smile before adding, “but remember to keep their enemies closer.”
By: K. Park

 Our dedicated student staff is committed to bringing you news you can use, or just laugh at.  Students write, post and review the site.  It’s written by students for students. 

As we continue to build the site, watch for news updates and photo links to your favorite sports teams (theWillard Tigers, of course!!) and student events. 

And if the mood strikes you, drop us a line and tell us how you like the site.  It’s all for you! 

 Thanks for checking us out!

MizFish, On the Prowl online