and then there were vampires

who: billy and maddie
where: the island
when: dusk

It was a nice night and Billy doubted there'd be that many more of them coming as they progressed into fall, with winter likely to arrive fast on its heels. You had to enjoy the good weather whilst it lasted. Plus, you had to enjoy the guy you were working for apparently being out of town, which left him with free days that he couldn't always fill with odd jobs for other people. Today had been one of those days and he'd spent it with Maddie, to the enjoyment of both of them. As night settled it, it found them on the island, just walking, enjoying being together and alone, where they could talk without anyone looking at the dreamwalker as if he were insane for holding an apparently one sided conversation with the air. It made all the difference in the world.

Maddie liked the island. When she wandered alone, she often went there. There was a lot of wildlife, and they were interesting to look at. "So, what're we watchin next?" she asked, watching him out of the corner of her eye. They'd started lately to rent seasons of things. It was different for Maddie. She didn't usually like keeping up with any television, because she couldn't be guaranteed to watch it regularly, but the season on dvd fixed that issue. So, they carefully picked out things that might be interesting. They'd just finished one up, and she was curious what he might bring home next. It wasn't like she was overly helpful in the decision making process--she had no idea what was out there.

Billy looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "Eager little bunny, aren't you?" he teased, lightly, flashing her a smile. "Actually, I hadn't thought about it - maybe we could stop by the store on the way home, see what catches your eye? You can read the backs if I hold them up - or we could just take pot luck for a change," he suggested. So far he'd mostly been bringing home things he'd already seen some of, or the big name series' that everyone raved about, but he'd never been a huge one for TV at the best of times, but she liked them and he'd found that he was enjoying them more and more himself.

"Okay, but y'know I don't know what's there. So...we'll have t' look round." Maddie said firmly. She also kind of wasn't sure she'd pick anything good. She didn't know what was getting good reviews, and often times televisions shows had too much pop culture for her to keep up, or she needed them explained. Which Billy was very patient with, but still. Sitcoms were right out, but dramas seemed to work better. The themes were less pop culture oriented. "An shut up." she added to the first bit he'd said, because she couldn't let it slide.

"Well, what's the worst that could happen?" Billy posed. "You could pick something shit and we'd have to get something else. It's not that big a deal, right?" Financially, right now, they were fairly stable. It wasn't like they had that many outgoings - the house was fully paid for and there was only the one mouth to feed. Living with a ghost really kept the bills down. "And fine, I'll shut up," he teased her as they turned a corner in the night and he did just that, making a show of being quiet, not talking to her at all.

Maddie laughed as they kept walking in total silence, her letting it drag on for a few. "Alright, stop!" she said. "You can talk. Just be nice about it, or I'll be forced t'hit you." Yeah like she'd use up even a few seconds of her manifestation abilities to do that. And yet she threatened it a lot.

Billy smirked at her, looking at her sideways. He shook his head a little, knowing she wouldn't follow through on that threat. Like so much of their relationship - it was all talk. He knew he wouldn't keep this up for very long, he couldn't, but it was fun whilst it lasted. He started to whistle, softly, making a show of putting his hands in his pockets and walking nonchalantly down the path.

"Oi!" she snapped, walking up around in front of him, and walking backwards to keep him in sight--it wasn't like she had to worry about tripping over anything, now was it? "Now you're ignorin me? That is not on, I'll have you know! You just wait until I get you home." Not that she could think of an appropriate threat to back that up or anything.

Billy grinned, his smile gleaming bright in the moonlight as he opened his mouth to answer. He never got to.

The only warning they had was a rustle in the bushes, before a shadowy figure emerged at wicked and inhuman speed, racing across the ground towards the dreamwalker and launching itself into him, taking him down, the attack coming completely out of the blue.

Maddie blinked. It happened so fast that she almost didn't register what she was seeing. One second there was Billy giving her a grin, and she was waiting for the next part of their play argument, and then bang. He wasn't standing there anymore. He was knocked back, and someone was on him.

Madigan was dead. She'd been dead for a long, long time. What she wasn't, was helpless. And she acted without a second thought. Her particular spiritual gift was the ability to call down lightning. Which she did, from a clear sky, the electricity arcing down, and blasting whoever had attacked her boy. She didn't even stop to think about if it was a human or not, it was pure instinctual, knee jerk reaction.

Billy didn't even see his attacker before it hit - then suddenly he was off his feet, something scratching at him, hit shirt ripped, pain, then more pain as he hit the ground. The moment they landed, the thing had grabbed his head, slamming it hard back against the dirt, dazing him so that he couldn't fight back as he was attacked, fast and vicious. And then there was a crackling sound, and a sharp pain, and suddenly whatever it was had gone. Billy tried to move, tried to get his head together. It might come back, he had to... He couldn't, he lifted his head a little and the world span around him. His wrist hurt like hell - everywhere hurt like hell.

Maddie rushed over towards him, hitting her knees at his side, even if she overshot a tiny bit and she had to move one knee back since it touched inside his ribs. "Billy, get up." she said, eyes taking in damage, and god, there was a lot of it for a few seconds of an attack. She was also looking over towards the heap of creature that had been stupid enough to attack her boy, and it was smoking, but unmoving as of yet. "Get up, love. Move. Now." She didn't know if the thing was dead or not yet, and if it so much as twitched she was frying it again.

Billy groaned, closing his eyes for a moment, then blinking them open. He hurt. It hurt. He lifted his arm and touched his chest, feeling to see if he was all in one piece. He tried to sit up, putting his weight onto his other arm - and then hissed in pain and bit back a scream as pain lanced through him. Tears pricked in his eyes and he blinked them away, pulling his weight back from the obviously injured limb. He tried on the other side with more success and stumbled to his feet, his head swimming. "What, what was it?" he managed as he leaned forward, not quite able to keep upright properly, cradling his injured hand against his chest as he stumbled down the path in the direction of the car. How far away were they? They'd been walking for a while, looping round, how far had they got? Were there more - what had that thing been? He'd cast it a mussy glance as he'd passed, but not it was nothing more than a smoking lump of nothing.

"I have no idea, we'll figure it later, Billy, now move!" Maddie stressed, heart wrenching painfully to see him all hurt, and the look on his face. She was on paranoid alert now, trying to look everywhere at once, so nothing was going to get the drop on him again. Oh hell no. No no and no. Anything came at him, it was getting fried too, before it so much as touched him. "We need to get you to the hospital." she said, looking back at him again, though only quickly as her instincts had already kicked into full gear. She was a protector. Alright, a dead protector, but still a protector, and that meant getting him the fuck out of here, and someplace he could get medical attention. Now.

Billy shook his head, that coming through loud and clear. "No. Don't need a hospital," he told her, teeth gritted against the pain. He hated hospitals. He had bad memories of them from his childhood - he wouldn't go to one unless he absolutely had to, and then someone would have to force him. He'd be fine, he just had to get out of here. He started to stumble faster, moving almost at a run, shoving the pain to the back of his mind. He could deal with that later.

Keeping up with him, Maddie still continually scanned their surroundings, waiting. "Fine, we're going to the wolf's house then." she said, and her tone suggested that he didn't want to argue with her right now, she wasn't having it. "Sophie can have a look at you. She's done enough'a that in her time." Around now she was wishing she were alive again, so she could look after him herself. She knew it was going to be hard for her to stand back and do nothing but pace and make people chilly if they walked through her. She had never been good at sitting back and watching.

"Fine - long as it's not the hospital," Billy told her, almost falling over a root that stuck up in his path. It was dark, so damn dark, he couldn't see where he was going, just able to make out the path in the moonlight. It couldn't be that far to the truck now, he was sure of it. He fumbled in his pocket for his keys, having to stretch across his body to do so, because naturally sod's law said they would be in the pocket on the side of his injured hand.

Not saying anything further, Maddie saw something move up ahead. Something, but she didn't get a good enough bead on it yet. "Billy, there's another one." she said. She didn't add 'I think' in there, because even if she was wrong, it'd be best if he thought she was right. He'd move faster, and there'd be every possibility he could react a second sooner than he had the first time. Sometimes that second mattered.

Billy didn't react much, but his head came up a little and he scanned the darkness, picking up his speed as much as he could - which wasn't much, but it was there. He carried on down the centre of the path. There was little point in doing anything else - it was the way back to the car and if whatever it was knew it had been spotted, it might just encourage it to attack. Possibly. if it planned. The end of the path came into sight, the parking lot lit with the dull glow of a couple of streetlights. Nearly there Billy thought.

The rush came quickly, but this time the dreamwalker was more prepared. He couldn't stand against it, he knew that - he'd never been able to throw a punch in his life, and now he was injured. But defense he could do, he'd learnt that in dreams, he could put some into practice in reality. He waited until the last moment, knowing the things was moving faster, faster than should be possible, but he was good at impossibility and he judged it right, sidestepping at the last minute as the thing went flying past. It wouldn't save him for long, he knew. He couldn't pull the same trick twice. But hopefully he had Maddie for that.

Lightning struck down the second the thing's face met the path, the crack of it's nose caving in lost to the strike. Fried was a good word, and she hurried along again to Billy, looking back to see if it was going to get up again. It moved, and zap, it got another one, though the flash was less bright than the first two. She could only keep up lightning target practice for so long before her spiritual batteries ran dry. "Nearly there, run." she instructed, hoping he had it in him to do that. If he left her behind, it wasn't as if he couldn't call her to bring her to him in .2 seconds.

Billy didn't try to speak, saving it all for breathing, which was hard right now. He was tiring, fast. He knew he was bleeding - he had no idea how bad it was, but he was bleeding, he could feel it cold and wet against his chest. But, then the truck was there and he fumbled the key in the lock, wrenching the door open and crawling inside, locking the door behind him before he slumped to lie on the seat. He just needed a moment. Just to lie here. A moment to clear his head.

Maddie didn't hear the truck start up. That was Not Good. He needed to start it up, and drive like a bat out of hell. Worry surged up inside of her, probably late, but she'd kicked so hard into action mode that she hadn't had time for it quite yet. She kept scanning, mind already working out what they were dealing with. Vampires. Had to be. The same kind that had killed her. The same kind that had killed Billy's mum. This was officially bad. moving through the passenger side door, she looked down at him. "Billy you get up this goddamn instant and drive!"

No, I just want to lie here, he protested mentally, but felt too tired to say. It hurt. It really hurt. He just wanted to lie here, just for a few minutes. Then he'd go - really he would. Just... not yet. He groaned, mumbling something unintelligible.

Manifesting with the little power she had left, she leaned over the seat to turn the key herself, then bodily hauled Billy up. "I said drive!" she hissed, her time being there severely limited, and she didn't want to fry out all of it just in case, so the second she had him upright, she dropped it again.

He fought a little against being pulled upright - but mostly that was because he'd just been attacked, twice, and the person he was with was generally non-corporeal and so, just for an instant, it hit the panic button and he thought he was being attacked again. he realised his error as she snapped at him, but the adrenaline rush was enough to kick his mind back into gear. He shifted the truck into reverse, pulling out, before turning the wheel and heading at full speed out of the parking lot. He learnt pretty quickly that his injured hand was useless with pain and that driving one handed was the order of the day. Luckily, Oz'd house wasn't far from here. He'd cope - he'd have to. There was nobody else.