MAGE ; benny weir [1]

eight

Ethan, Benny, and Ellie were conjoined as always, walking out of the school entrance. They were all extremely tired and groggy from the night before. Ellie didn't get much sleep, as she allowed herself to stay focused on her bracelet. And the whole magic thing? She honestly had no clue what to think.

"Guys, wassup!"

The three turned their attention to a sunscreen-covered Rory. They guessed that he was trying to look cool since he was wearing several layers of clothing and sunglasses.
"Rory?" Ellie asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"W-We thought you were dead," Ethan said, sharing the same expression as Ellie.
"Dude, I feel amazing. I woke up the morning after the party with no asthma, no need for glasses, and I barely have to sleep anymore!"

"You're a fledgling, too?" Benny gasped.

"Heck no! I'm rocking the full vampire action, my dude. The big V! Can I get a what-what?" Rory said, holding up his hand for a high five.

"What? You drank human blood?!" Ethan asked, looking at Ellie and Benny for help. They shrugged in return. "They said that if I didn't, I'd die."

"Out of all of the people at Whitechapel High, it had to be him," Ellie whispered to Benny.
"Do you have any idea what you've just done to yourself?" Benny questioned.
"Yeah! I'm immortal and all powerful, dude. Kachow!"

The three of them just looked at each other in defeat. Rory turned around to see three upperclassmen vampires leaning against a tree, motioning him over.
"Sorry, guys and gals," he said, winking at Ellie. She rolled her eyes while Benny tried to not go completely red. "Gotta go to church."

"Church? Why would you-?" Ellie began before Rory interrupted her.
"Sorry, babe. No explanations. Top secret vampire business," Rory smirked at her. Benny started to think of how many things he could throw at Rory at the same time.

"Okay, fine. Can you just give us a hint or something?" Ethan encouraged, hoping Rory would be stupid enough to tell them about the 'top secret vampire business.'

"I don't know, but Jesse's been obsessed over a bunch of different things. He's all like: blah blah jewelry, blah blah we have to find the Cuban animals-!" he continued.

"Cuban animals?" the three asked at the same time.
"Wait, jewelry?" Ellie asked. She wondered if he could be talking about her bracelet or not. She didn't know why that bracelet was so special to Jesse but she didn't really want to find out anytime soon.

"What are you talking about?" Benny asked, starting to get impatient.
 "Sorry, maybe we can hang out later, or fang out," Rory said, flashing his fangs. "Zing!"

"See ya, guys," he yelled as he walked away. Ethan turned to look at Benny and Ellie.

"Grab your backpacks, guys. We're going to church."
"What?"

——————

When they somehow ended up at the graveyard, the three geeks bent down behind a gravestone and watched as Jesse's hooded vampires acted upon their weird cult rituals.

"Look at them; hoodies and sunglasses. Nice look if you're a-!"
"Hey guys," Sarah said, interrupting Benny as she hunkered down behind the gravestone with them. "Lookin' good."

"What are you doing here?" Ellie asked her.
"What else would I be doing here? I'm following them," she answered as she pointed to the vampires that were digging up a grave. "I just wish I knew what they were up to."

"Well, according to Rory, they're after the 'cuban animals'," Benny told her. Sarah's eyes went wide.

"You mean the cubile animus?" she asked them.
"That doesn't sound nice. Is it?" Ellie asked.