The One That Got Away || Benny Weir

41

After scrambling around Ms. Weir's magic room, Benny found something that could be useful. Benny turns to the three vampires who stood in the corner. "I'm gonna call Ethan."

He pulls out his phone and dials Ethan's number. "Ethan? Get over here. I need your help. I might've found something useful."

Benny turns to check on the girls and they were staring him down. "Also, the girls are looking at me like I'm a burrito."

When Benny hung up, he looks at the starving vampires again. "Why am I always in these situations?"

"Benny!" Rory greets as he enters the room. "What do you think you're doing? Only Benny can 'Benny!'."

"Whoa, looks like grandma left mid-snack attack," Rory says as he stares at the box on the table. "Yes, but she left us this." Benny points to the open book beside the donuts. Rory picks up the book and reads aloud, "'Sacred Order of the Mole' by Val Mudrap."

"Skim through it. Find anything that can help us find out what those moles are up to." Benny tells him.

"What about this, Benny?" Sarah asks, holding up a vile of red liquid. "It's red! Can't you make this into blood with one of your spells?"

"That's not how it--" Benny begins but the three hungry vampires hiss at him. "Sure! Let's give it a try."

Sarah held the vile as Benny held up his hands. "Sanguinus ibgaroth cambos mortalus." Sparks flew from his hands and shot into the bottle. Sarah quickly unscrews it and drinks it with Erica and Reagan.

"Whoa." Benny suddenly said.

"What?" The girls ask in unison. "Nothing!"

"Is this a clue?" Rory asks, gaining their attention. "'The mothers and fathers departed from the village, the children played for eternity. All hailed Muldvaarp, child-beast, charmer, keeper of the key to the underworld'. Looks like a clue to me."

"Muldvaarp? Nice name." Erica says. "It's the girl that beat you up!"

Sarah points to the newspaper clip in the book, then Reagan realized the name. "Val Mudrap. It's an anagram from Muldvaarp. Ethan needs to see this."

Benny nods in agreement and grabs the book out of Rory's hands. The female vampires walk out of the room. "Wow! You guys have--" Rory begins until Benny covers his mouth.

"Beautiful eyes!"

*

When they opened the door to Ethan's house, they found him on the floor. "Whoa, what happened?" Benny asks, kneeling next to him. "Where's Jane?"

"I turned my back on her for one second and the next thing I know she's gone and I have this killer headache," Ethan explains.

"Dude, she grilled your cheese." Rory holds up the frying pan that had a dent. Benny holds out the book and shows Ethan. "The troop leader's name is Val Mudrap, aka Muldvaarp. She likes taking little kids on field trips to the underworld."

"Where is this place?" Ethan asks. "I saw it in my vision!"

"It was in the old part of town," Benny replies.

"We need to go there. Fast."

"How can you have so much meat in your freezer and none of it be human?" Erica asks as she, Sarah, and Reagan walk into the living room. "Cool tails."

"Tails?!" They shriek. They look behind them and their jaws drop. Reagan glares at her boyfriend as he runs out the front door. 

*

The six of them were behind a tree as they watched Muldvaarp's ritual with the kids. "Here, guys. Drink this." Benny hands the three hungry vampires a vile. "It should give you a bit of a boost." 

Reagan, Sarah, and Erica chug the bottles and instantly feel better. "I ought to kick your butt for turning us into freaks." Erica threatens.

"Yeah, before those wickedly awesome upgrades, you guys were totally normal," Benny tells them. The girls whip their tails around and hit him in the face. "Ugh! It's like sandpaper!" 

"Guys quit it!" Ethan says. "Okay, Muldvaarp's the guardian of the door, keeper of the key. We've gotta get the key away from her and she can't open that door."

"We can't fight, Ethan," Reagan tells him. "We're too weak." 

"Then you get those kids out of here."

The girls nod before speeding to the kids and taking them to safety. 

"Get away from my sister!" Ethan yells as he and Benny stood in front of Muldvaarp. "Where are all my little ones?" She sees the three female vampires holding them back.

"I got this." Benny steps forward. "Porkoth Zanthrak Porkoth fara--" He begins with his hands raised until Val Mudrap blasted him with her key. Benny collapsed to the ground with a groan. 

"Rory, go!" Reagan shouts at the vampire who stood with them. Rory nods before suddenly standing in between Ethan and the girl. "Benny!"

"Knock it off, Rory!"

"You're ruining my fun!" Val yells. "Stop it!"

"Why don't you make me?" Rory asks with a smirk. Val blasts him with her key several times as he yells, "This! Is! So! Painful! My everything hurts!" 

"Rory, grab Jane!" Ethan yells as he dives for the key. Rory grabs Jane's foot and watches Ethan and Val fight for the key. "That's mine! You're cheating!" Val whines.

"What an absolute child," Reagan mutters as she continues to hold the kids back.

"It's all yours, creep-weasel,"  Ethan says as he lets go of the key, and Val falls into the door. Ethan quickly shuts it. "How do you like them donuts?"

Jane runs to Ethan and hugs him. "I don't know what happened, but I'm glad you saved me." 

"Can someone finally help me?" Benny asks as he is still laid on the ground. When Reagan felt the kids relaxed, she ran over to him. "Come on, sit up." 

"Your tail keeps hitting me." Benny weakly chuckles and Reagan playfully rolls her eyes. "My mistake for drinking your spelled vial." Reagan slowly helps him off the ground. 

"I'll take you home." She wraps his arm around her shoulder before speeding to his house.

*

"You three look better," Benny tells the girls as he, Ethan, and Rory walk up to them.

"Thanks to your grandma for getting rid of those tails, you escaped an epic butt-kicking," Erica tells him. 

"What was in that energy potion you gave us?" Sarah asks him. "Little of this. Little of that. A lot of my blood." Reagan's eyes widen. "Later."

Benny grabs Reagan's hand and sped them out of the hallway. "Why didn't you tell me that you put your blood in the potion?"

"I knew you wouldn't drink it." 

"You're right, I wouldn't." She sighs. "Benny, you know I never wanted to drink your blood. That's the last thing I wanted to do."

Benny stops in their tracks and puts his hands on her shoulders. "You didn't tell me how weak you were feeling without blood. If I told you, you wouldn't drink it and who knows how long it would've taken for you to get more blood. I did it for you." 

Reagan softly smiles before leaning up to press a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you. I'm sorry for not telling you. I won't do it again." 

"Good." Benny nods.