FicWad

The next morning, Dawn sat up in her creaky bed and wondered where the hell she was. When the realisation hit her, she laughed slightly, not knowing if she was lucky or just plain stupid. It was her choice to come to this village, yet was it a good idea?
Dawn's new house looked small and dingy from the outside, but on the inside it was quite pleasant. The floors were wooden but Dawn had spread a few colourful rugs here and there, and had set out all of the furniture. Although it was more like a small holiday house, Dawn felt really quite at home.
After a quick shower she dressed in jeans and a hoodie. Deciding to see what the others were up too, she stepped out her front door and took a deep breath of the fresh, Dorset air.
The small village really was quite nice once the shock of hearing about a vampire living there had disappeared. Various plants and flowers were dotted outside the houses, and the sun shone down brightly revealing the incredible landscape. Surprisingly, some of the coast was viewable inbetween the rolling, green hills.
"Awright, treacle?" came a sudden voice. Dawn leapt about three feet into the air and grabbed at her chest, panting.
"Dude!" she gasped. Stood there with his dusty old tophat, was the crazy old man she had met the day before. He bent over and cackled wickedly.
"Tha' never gets old," he wheezed, straightening up. "Me name's Barney. I look after this village!"
"Oh. Well, nice to meet you, Barney. You've sure done a good job on it," Dawn smiled, gesturing at the flowers and well kept bushes. Barney beamed his toothy beam, and tapped his tophat professionally.
"Just doin' me job, ma'am. Anyway, I wuz sent to tell ya that you are now officially a vampire hunter! You now have a right to kill those nasty wogglies, and if ya ever need any help for anyfink, I'm always here no matter what!" he said, putting his hand on his chest.
"Erm, cheers Barney. I'll be sure to come to you in times of ... very desperate need," Dawn replied uneasily, not sure what Barney could help with anyway. He seemed to sense her doubt.
"Now, now, me lovely! I nailed a werewolf or two in my day, though not as spectacularly as that Gerard. He's a good man, but some just won't accept it," Barney sighed, seriously. Without a goodbye, he scuffled away while dragging his pitchfork behind him.
Dawn remained still for a moment, trying to get her head around the conversation. Barney was crazy. Surely his crackpot idea of Gerard being good was false? She shook her head slightly then made her way to the main building, where she was sure all the other guys were. On her way, she saw Gerard walking up a nearby path. He looked up and saw her waiting for him at the top of the path, which surprised him slightly.
"Hi!" Dawn smiled, remembering her plan to falsely befriend him.
"Er, hi. Why'd you wait?" he asked, confused.
"I thought we could just walk together, seeing as we're living in the same village. Hey-" her eyes snapped to one of his, and she squinted slightly. "Where'd you get that bruise?"
"Oh, village idiot. Nothing bad," he smiled back, wincing as he subconciously raised his hand to it. "We'd better, erm, go."
The two walked together, nattering about random nonsence. A little while later, they were both surprised to hear shouting coming from the main building. They raced in and entered the chill out room, seeing the other guys crying out in alarm.
"What the hell's going on?" Dawn half shouted over the noise.
"Ohmygod!" Ray was shouting over and over, tugging at his big hair in panic. He stopped for a moment and grabbed Gerard by the front of his shirt.
"Moe's coming!" he squawked, releasing a befuddled Gerard and began fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket.
"What?!" Dawn yelled, joining in the panicking. She may of never seen the evil vampire before, but by the way the others looked she knew she should be scared.
"Settle down everyone!" boomed Patrick angrily. "We'll act professionally about this and not race around like demented monkies! We can get through this if we just SETTLE DOWN!"
Everyone stopped banging into eachother and turned to face the hunter leader hopefully.
Patrick breathed out, then started rapping the table with his knuckles, thinking of what to do. "Now, we're neither experienced or strong enough to take on Moe, so we'll have to try and talk him down-"
"Hellooo! This is MOE we're talking about!" Bob shouted. "We can't just 'talk him down'! We're doomed!" Everyone agreed miserably, apart from Gerard. He took a step into the centre of the room and gazed around at the eyes upon him.
"You all have an image of Moe being smart just because he leads a group of warped vampires, but he's not smart even if he acts it. He's never been human so he hasn't learnt like them. He learnt through his own evil, and that's why we CAN talk him down. It's just a matter of being calm and quick thinking," he said. Patrick stood up and nodded.
"Gerard's right. I made the mistake of making you think he was clever, but his only talents are manipulating and brainwashing. In reality, he's about as smart as a stuffed goose."
The others were silent for a few moments, considering what to do when he arrived. Dawn stared out of the small window nervously; how on earth could she know how to emerse a vampire in conversation so deeply that it forgets to kill everyone?
By the looks of everyone elses faces, they were thinking the same, but their thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scream from outside.

The group raced out of the building towards the opening in the center of the village. Dawn was shocked to see a black, swirling portal growing wider and wider on the ground.
"What the hell is that!" she yelled, sliding to a stop. Gerard rushed up from behind her and nearly did a face-plant in the gravel when he saw the vortex.
"Moe's transport," he muttered grimly after regaining his balance.
A woman was stood next to the portal, clearly paralysed in terror. Dawn nearly screamed at her to get her away from the growing circle, but her words were caught in her throat when she saw a huge black hand rise from the portal. It wasn't a human hand, more like a bat's foot. It grabbed the cowering woman and shook her violently, then let go and sent her flying onto the roof of a house. Luckily a group of men caught her as she slid down the cracked tiles.
The hand disappeared, and slowly rising in it's place was an extremely tall cloaked figure. It's robes were a deep purple, and instead of a face was a golden mask in the shape of a sun. The figure hung above the portal as the darkness slowly closed up below it.
Suddenly, everything stopped. All the people stood around were dead silent when they waited for Moe's next move, but he just stood there, surveying them from his mask. A few minutes later, a rumbling yet raspy voice emitted from him.
"Pitiful," he said, taking a step towards Dawn and her group. They all took a step back out of instinct, but Gerard mirrored Moe's move.
"Why are you here," Gerard demanded, his eyes pits of fire as they glowed a deathly red. Moe laughed mockingly.
"Put that power away, Gerard. Both you and I know you havn't a clue how to use it."
"Why are you here!" Gerard yelled in reply, taking yet another step forward.
"Temper, temper! I'm not here to fight. I'm here to negotiate," Moe said, audibly smiling. All the hunters were stunned. When did Moe ever negotiate? The evil vampire raised his head slightly and sniffed the air hungrily.
"I smell deceit and lies. Delicious," he raved, and suddenly looked at Dawn. It was all she could do not to squeak when he began to glide towards her menacingly. "You, girl. You would fit the title of vampire perfectly. Who is it you're hiding from? You must let me know..."
Dawn yelped when she felt a sudden stabbing pain in her head. Her vision flashed and blurred as she fell to the ground in pain. Gerard growled angrily.
"My, my. Yet another betrayal, Gerard. It seems as if this woman is only pretending to like you," Moe hissed in glee, halting his glide. Gerard stiffened and looked daggers at Dawn, who was breathing heavily on the ground.
"I'm used to it," he said, trying to contain his voice.
"But are you? The taste of your misery never gets old. It grows everytime I've seen you. Yet, it has never been as strong as the day you kil-"
"Shut up!" Gerard roared, his eyes growing red again. Everyone gasped when he took a run towards Moe and prepared to leap at him, but the evil vampire raised a hand instead of moving.
A violet energy surrounded Gerard as he was hung in the air, suspended by magic.
"Youth. It is sewage. Your teen years were drowned by guilt. What is it like living with it, Gerard? The guilt, the loneliness, the pain. No one has time for you. Humans are raised to hate you. Light is endless torture." Moe taunted, yet his words were the truth. Gerard stopped struggling against the magic and hung in the air, defeated. "People only befriend you for your power. Everyone here is mistaken though; you have no power. You are weak. You are scum on my shoe that won't come off."
Moe flicked his hand outwards, and Gerard was sent flying into the side of a house. He let out a pained 'oof' as his back smashed into the stone, but was silent when his head hit the hard ground. Dawn cried out in alarm, even through her pain. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Why was no one helping Gerard?
"Ah, so there is a little love in your heart," Moe cackled at Dawn. "Shame Gerard wasn't awake to hear." He stood up straight and revolved slowly, looking at everyone. "Give up this endless chase and I will spare you your lives. Carry on planning to defeat me, and you will wish you were never born. That is my negotiation. Think hard; make sure it's the right choice."
The vampire spread both of his arms, and another swirling portal opened from beneath him. No one made a move to stop him as he slowly sank into the darkness. Soon, the floor was as normal as it had been before he had arrived. All was silent.