Justice: “Do I dare, even ask what your “insane idea” is?!…. Or are you just gonna come up with a faster way to get us all killed?!…”

Link: “Hey!… Will you give me a break?!…. I’m being serious here!”

Link grits his teeth and starts growling through them, as if he were a rabid rottweiler.

Luke: “Eeh!…. Justice! This isn’t the time for that stinky attitude of yours!…”

Link: “Hey!… Now listen up!…”

All of us crane our necks to look straight on towards Link.

Link: “Now…. I think Key was onto something when he came up with the plan to combine his and Luke’s abilities to solve the lighting problem…. Well, I figured, what if we try combining abilities again…to save Green this time…”

Luke: “Ahh… I don't know…. That didn’t turn out so well the last time… You see, Key, he—”

Link: “Hey! Who said you could interrupt me?!”

Link stamps his foot and closes in on me at the same time.

Link: “It’s gonna work this time…. Trust me…”

Justice: “And how are you so sure?…”

Justice crosses his arms and pokes his tongue through the inside of his cheek.

Link: “Well….cause I came up with it! It's a pretty rad idea!”

Fern: “Okay… Just get to the point…”

Link: “Okay, okay…. Here’s how it goes…. I’m gonna make some big chains…some damn huge ones…”

Link waves his open palms around his face to indicate the size of the chains he thinks will save Green…

Link: “And Fern!…. Fern, can you grow something that can be attached to my chains?…. Something….something claw-like…. Something like a hook!”

Fern: “Aaah….well, I have been trying to grow some new varieties of roses recently…. If I try growing some rose thorns, will that work?…”

Link: “Yes!…. Alright! Let’s get started then!…”

Link signals for all of us but Fern to back away and make a wide enough clearing in our corner of the backstage…. Fern stands, ready, at Link's side however, she starts taking a few hesitant steps backwards, as Link hunches over and begins groaning… The sounds he makes…sound almost agonizing!

Link: “Hrrnnnkk….Haaaggh…..Aarrgh!… Come on!…. Come out already!”

Sweat pools under Link's nose, a few little droplets of expended energy. He straightens up for a moment to take off his uniform jacket.

Link: “Hrrnnghh….Haa!…. There!… It's coming…”

With both hands, Link takes either side of his shirt collar and tears the two halves apart. Fabric ripping and buttons popping off, flying away to different dimensions.

With his chest and upper body exposed, Link’s chain links begin to pour out of the shining muscle of his upper chest and below his neck. The individual chain links themselves are massive, just as Link promised. They fall in a slow stream of black metal and make a neat, yet hulking pile on the floor, right next to Link’s feet.

Link: “Haaa…. Ahh…. Man, take a look at the size of these things…”

Link picks up one of the chain links from the floor. Holding it with both hands, the large metal ring is comparatively the same size, if not bigger than Link’s head (spiky hair included)….

I hear Justice sigh from where he lingers behind me.

Justice: “Ehh!…. How did you—…. You know what….I’m not even going to ask…”

Link hobbles towards us, dragging the chains along between his feet, as they are still attached by a thick loop around his neck and from within his rib cage.

Link: “Hmmm…. Heh… Alright, Fern… Now you go…”

Fern: “Ehh…. Link, you have no class…. But then again, we already knew this…. Okay then… This should only take a moment…”

Fern readies herself, standing with her legs straight together and with her arms extended. She holds one arm high above her head, like a broad and sturdy tree branch, while the other unfurls low, beneath her hips, as the intricate roots of the tree. The wingspan of her arms makes a smooth arch shape, as she kicks one leg out, completing the stance of ultimate earthly liveliness. Then, she allows her plants to grow.

The boney, white spines of rose stems begin to spread themselves out from inside the cuffs of Fern’s jacket. The winding vines climb across her palms and hook around each one of her outstretched fingers.

A long and tangled net of rose vines pile into a uniform coil around Fern’s feet. Fern sweeps her hands through the air, and the rose vines fly over our heads and spread over the floor around us.

The pale vines appear to writhe and ever so slightly wither, as if they move by their own control. The vines sprout thin and sharp pointed thorns in all different directions. Each thorn grows outward in a long and painful looking spike. Despite the dangerous appearance of Fern’s rose briars however, the vines themselves also sprout the buds and delicate folds of deep blue rose petals.

The blue of the roses is such an unreal colour that the flowers seem to exude some sort of supernatural aura. We all stand silent for a moment and watch Fern’s roses bloom.

Fern: “There… Link, these should be enough… Now, let's attach the vines to your chains.”

Link: “Come on, everyone! Grab the vines and loop the briars through each of the chain links!…. Act fast and don't poke yourselves!….”

Each of us trainees gathers along the length of the rose vines and Link’s length of massive chains. Careful to only hold the parts that are smooth enough not to get stabbed by the points of thorns, we move quickly and secure the briars onto the chains.

The rest of us retreat back to the far side of the backstage while Link advances forward, carrying the thorn-clad chains in his outstretched arms. He walks to the centre of the room.

There, in the centre and hugging along the back wall, underneath the too bright stage lights, Fang, the hulking snake-vampire smooths the slick exterior of his scales along Green’s limp and asphyxiated form.

From the opposite side of the room, I hear talking come from within the shelves and storages of discarded musical instruments and equipment. Within this theatrical barricade, Monty and the rest of his group are hiding…

Octavia: “Waah!…. Yikes! Venus, those VLAD rookies!…. They…. They’re up to something!….”

Venus: “Oh?…. Well, that might be bad news…. Houndz, Francis, I say we leave… We already collected the money. Let’s get out of here. I don't want to over exert myself… Huhu.”

Francis: “Ehh? Well….okay then…. Hey!…. Hey Monty!”

I hear Francis shout in that youthful but still so mischievous voice of his… From somewhere further away, Monty replies…

Monty: “Huh?! What!…. What’s going on!?”

Francis: “Monty. This intimidation technique Doroda and Fang are pulling is cool and all….but it's getting boring. Let’s take the last of our cash and get lost… We can kill that one boy…but more than that may just be…unnecessary cockiness! Haha!”

Monty: “….What?…. Ehh, fine! The rest of you lunatics can leave…. I’m going to stay here a bit longer…. Just while Fang and Doroda finish things up…”

Link: “Hey! You! Get your vile serpent body off of Green!”

From my side, Justice scampers over to me and speaks into my ear.

Justice: “Link’s going to use the chains now!…. We’d better get back…. Luke!….”

Luke: “Huh?!… Ehh, yeah…. Justice, don't…you don't have to worry….”

I don't care to look him in the eyes. It seems that in tense moments such as this one, I cannot bother to provide any sort of emotional support to anyone…. I indicate Justice to leave my side with a gentle shove on the corner of his chest.

However, from the edge of my vision I can still see each jolt of new worry and unsettling emotions brimming in Justice’s eyes…. He walks away…

Link has now fully approached the centre end of the backstage. The long, thorn riddled lengths of the briar chains trail behind him, making a shrill scraping sound as they drag from where they wrap around his wrists lower arms. His shoulders heave with each breath he takes…. Challenging a massive snake is no easy task…

Fang: “Get…away…from me…. Else…I should devour you…as well!”

Link: “Heh!…. There isn’t even a chance!”

Along with the utterance of that last word, Link whips his right arm in a wide arc above his head. The thick, clanking metal of the briar chains carry momentum as they are tossed forward. Link makes the same motion with his other arm, the two lengths of chains quiver, and as one collides with the other, a thunderous ‘crack’ sound echoes throughout the room.

Link dashes to the left, his arms trailing behind him. At the same time, Fang has uncoiled some of the length of his body and moves his head so it hovers a short distance from the floor. The serpent vampire’s tongue flickers between his top and bottom lips…

The individual chain links make sounds like Christmas bells, as they begin to clatter and swing into a large momentum-filled spiral, centring itself from Link’s body.

Link: “Haaagh!”

With another powerful flex coming from his shoulders, Link hurls the chains forward. He skids across the slick wooden floorboards, his body coming to an abrupt, halting stop. The briar shrouded chains whip into the air and begin to descend over to the right.

The heaviness of those gigantic chain links causes the chains to drop all at once. In the area where Fang lingers with Green in his custody, Fang can be seen recoiling slightly, as if the oncoming pain hits him before the chains themselves can land.

The thorns wrapped tight around the chains crunch between the metal, as they are falling airborne. This makes some even sharper spiked pieces stick out from more alarming angles.

I feel my stomach jolt for a moment. The loud clunking noise the heavy chains make as they clash with the floor is felt within my soul, it seems, as if the sound is vibrating through each object in this room. I shut my eyes as the chains’ impact comes to fruition.

The girthy widths and needle-thin points of the thorns all latch onto Fang’s snake body where they connect. The weight of the long, metal object causes the keen briars to sink deep into his smooth flesh. It takes no time at all for the rich red of blood to ooze out of the thorn filled cuts on Fang’s writhing and mangled form.

The snake vampire twitches in place for a moment, then he begins to convulse with quick, violent pulses of pain attacking his muscles.

Fang: “Aaahh… Hsssahh…. Aaahhsshh…”

The serpent starts crying out. To me, his screams sound like the hissing of air escaping a balloon as it deflates slowly. I am urged to look away…. As repulsive as this serpent vampire is, it still sickens me to see someone in this much agony.

It seems the deflating sound actually has some substance because when I look again, the heaving form of Fang’s snake body appears to melt away in a hazy plume of rising smoke…. I suppose this much pain would cause any vampire to lose control of their ability… The smoke clears a bit and Fang is back to his original self….but his body is maimed and hunched over, and he is drenched all over with blood as it still leaks from his fresh wounds.

Link, having succeeded with his own miraculous idea, allows the chains to disappear as well.

Seeing as the serpent has been slain for now, Link speeds over to where Green lay, unrestrained and on his back, as if he were sleeping.

Link hooks both of his arms under and through Green’s armpits. He drags our fellow trainee with caution, but quickly over to where the rest of us wait in retreat.

Ginger: “Oh…. Green…. Poor Green…”

Link: “Eghh…. Quick! Someone try and wake him up! Make sure he’s not dead, for crying out loud!”

Link is rather careless, seeming to be tired from carrying those massive chains, and plops Green down on the floor once again. Link huffs and slicks his sweat drenched hair back from where it clings to his forehead.

Everyone rushes to hover around Green’s passed out figure, all of their deep concern beginning to create unflattering marks on their faces.

As the others crowd in an urgent circle, I decide to squeeze myself out from the bunch for a moment to try and relax my own elevated heart rate.

I take a few steps back from the group. With no action to train my eyes on anymore, I let my gaze roam over to the opposite side of the room….

I see something else that's strange and difficult to watch…. Justice is speaking with Monty….but why?!

Halfway across the stage and partly obscured by the thick, cushiony ripples of curtain fabric, Monty and Justice stand face to face, only a couple steps in between each of their toes. Monty holds his gaze down towards Justice and glares at him through the intense slits of his eyelids. Justice’s body is turned away from me slightly, so I cannot observe whatever expression he has on his face…but he stands with a casual slump about his round shoulders, and his feet are spread at an even distance apart on the floor.

The straight line of Monty’s mouth moves up and down, appearing to accentuate whatever unheard words he has to say to Justice.

Justice lifts his right arm up and uses the tips of his slender fingers to scratch at the back of his head…

I watch the pair speak for a moment… Without my knowing, the muscles on my forehead begin to stretch into tight lines…. Seeing Justice speaking in such a nonchalant manner with this….criminal….is giving me the most uneasy headache…

Monty flinches his head and shoulders back, his face becoming even uglier somehow, as his eyebrows extend in severe, skeptical arches. Justice must have said something to elicit this reaction from Monty…but I still just can’t begin to speculate what these two could be conversing about… Justice isn’t the type of person who is brave enough to challenge an enemy with confident words, all alone and in the most vulnerable position out of the pair, right?

It can't be possible for Justice to know how to speak with individuals like Monty… He’s lived a much too sheltered life, always kept behind the protective walls of Blackember Academy.

I stare at the pair’s feet while these thoughts ravage my once carefree mind… Wait. I know… Justice walked away from the group all on his own. It was his decision to do so, and now he’s speaking with Monty on his own accord…

This has nothing to do with me… There’s no doubt about it.

Luke: “Hmmm…. When did I start worrying about you…Justice?”

I ask myself out loud, even though know one can hear me to answer. It seems the only thing to come from my spontaneous first meeting with Justice…is that…he isn’t leaving my side…and I haven’t the slightest idea why he has such a bewitching effect on me…

I watch as Justice makes an abrupt turn on his heels. He turns away from Monty and begins walking back towards me at a quickened pace. He keeps his eyes to the floor, and it's as if I can see the exact thoughts that plague his conscience at this moment as he lightly gnaws on his lower lip. I can tell… Justice is facing genuine disconcertment…. Not the same as the half-mocking angst he usually displays to express whatever mixed feelings he holds for others… This is different. Whatever Monty has said to Justice…. He must really be bothered by it.

As Justice approaches me, he is slow to raise his eyes. He finally looks up at me. The lighting in the backstage is casting odd shadows across Justice’s face, distorting his facial expression. His eyes look grim underneath his furrowed brows…. The green of his irises looks cold….not like Justice’s eyes at all!

I cannot tolerate this unusual behaviour any longer!

Luke: “.... So… What did he want?...”

Justice: “Hmmmgh…. I'm sure you’re keen on knowing… Or…are you too involved in whatever supernatural abominations you and the rest of your kind have going on back there?...”

Luke: “Eh!...Oh, come on, Justice….”

Justice: “Ughh…. It's not any of your business what that lousy gangster had to say to me…. It was nothing…really…”

Luke: “Justice…. You know you won't be able to hide anything that bothers you so much from me for long…. So what is it?”

Justice: “.... Oh! Fine! Well, it's just that…. Monty… he used to work for my father is all…. He used to be a…security guard….at Blackember Academy…”

Luke: “Ehh… Is that true?”

Justice: “Yes…. Well… He was a horrible security guard, anyway… I mean, it's clear he's found himself a more fitting line of work, now….with his unsightly appearance and crappy demeanour and all….”

Luke: “...Humm…”

Based on the sickening glare Justice lays upon me, I decide not to question him any further… In many ways he's right… Just as the sense within me knows…his business really has little to do with me. Aside from the mysterious, fateful bond that ties the two of us…in reality we are strangers of sorts…

Justice parts his lips open, as if he has something more to say however, he does not speak fast enough…. The awkward silence that has wedged itself in between the two of us is sliced away as fast as it had formed, when we hear loud voices coming from the back of the room once more. We turn our heads in unison to the direction of the commotion.

It's that woman, Doroda, one of Monty’s subordinates. Over on the opposite side of the room, Doroda is crouching low to the floor where Fang lay, still appearing deflated and unable to move because of his injuries. Doroda jumps in close to Fang and leans down, so that her face is nearly on the same level as his.

Fang: “Aaaaghnn…. Ahh!…. How….could this…have happened?…. Why…”

Doroda: “…Haah…. Fang… They got to you this time…but you haven’t disappointed me….”

With her small hand on Fang’s arm, Doroda helps the wounded vampire ease into a sitting position. Doroda looks over into the direction of me and Justice. She has the kind of facial expression that is so plain and unreadable that it is almost impossible to imagine her laughing, crying or to know at all what is on her mind. Doroda’s blank glare shifts again, over to the back of the room, as Monty begins hollering.

Monty: “Oooii!”

He stands near the far right corner of the backstage with his hands cupped around his mouth, as if the echo within the room would not be enough to project his voice.

Monty: “Let’s roll out!…. Doroda!…. Doroda, you can manage Fang alright?”

Doroda: “… It's not a problem!…”

Despite her petite figure, we watch as Doroda handles the injured vampire, helping to raise Fang off of the hardwood floor and up into an unsteady stance. Doroda leads Fang by the arm, as if she were pulling a reluctant pet on a leash. The two of them go to the back door at the furthest end of the theatre and move to exit. Doroda and Fang hobble out the door and it makes a resounding ‘slam’ as it shuts.

Luke: “….Eh… They’re leaving….”

Justice: “Yeah…. It's about time too…”

None of the other trainees move or speak up to object to the non confrontational exit of the group of criminals who ambushed us. Monty’s other friends had already left (like cowards) before our great plan to save Green unfolded. It seems that the main priority for us as of now is just to be glad that we managed to get Green out of that situation, safe and basically unhurt. As VLAD trainees, I guess we’ll have to justify letting these criminals go free because it is in the best interests of our peers…

Monty also moves away from his shadowy dwelling on the dark corner of the backstage. He stomps, in almost a sloppy manner, over to the centre of the room, just before the ledge and the stairs that go down to the back door.

Looking down and with his hands hidden within the folds of the rags he wears, Monty slowly turns to face Justice and I. He looks at us with a straight face, and then he smiles before looking down once more.

Monty: “Since you two are VLAD trainees, I’ll assume that you’re going to tell the VLAD higher ups all about what went down here….”

Neither me or Justice has a response for Monty. The room is too quiet now, it seems. The air is a stabbing cold and filled with the fearsome seriousness of the violence that had just occurred.

Monty: “…. Anyway…. I’ll let you tell them this as a warning…. We are a part of an organization called the ROA… The Retributive Order Army…. And we will gain control over the vampire race… We will rewrite the laws one way or another so….”

All of a sudden, a thought comes to me… I realize that, once you think you feel calm or safe…

Monty: “Consider the ROA VLAD’s enemy number one!”

You’ll start to get comfortable in that familiar, fuzzy feeling place, only to be threatened by another new evil. It's because of this I think it's helpful to consider that fate influences evil just as it influences us all.