Moonlight

Chapter 5

We were chanting" One of us, one of us! One of us, one of us! One of us, one of us! One of us, one of us! One of us, one of us!" Jack crushed the can, throwing it,
Hamish said" Long is the road and short is the life. Jack Morton, welcome home."
Randall said" Now, let's kick evil's ass!" We all cheered.
——
I was sketching an assignment for class,
Jack said" Hey." Lilith shh'd him, I looked up," I thought we were gonna fight evil?"
Randall said" And we will. When there's evil to fight."
Lilith said" Until then, will you all please shut up so I can work on my essay?" I focused back on my sketching,
Hamish said" What are you writing about?"
" The feminist metaphor of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein."
" Let me guess. The monster's a clitoris." She definitely gave him the middle finger,
" Yes."
Jack said" So, what? We're just gonna sit around? It's already been a week."
Randall said" Jack, we can't go all Justice League until our Spidey-senses tingle." I groaned, dropping my head,
Hamish said" No. I told you once. You can't mix DC and Marvel."
" DC and Marvel. Yeah."
Jack said" Shouldn't we at least go out and look for evil doers?" I looked at Jack,
Lilith said" You did not just say evil doers."
Hamish said" Look, Jack, being a Knight is a sacred duty."
Randall and I said" Ha, Doody."
" And I know you're anxious to get in on the game, but waiting is part of-" Then we heard the ringing,
Jack said" Finally!" It stopped," We're not going to check that out?"
Lilith said" It's probably just your friend stealing another pizza."
" Or maybe it's something evil killing people?"
Hamish said" Guys, I made my decision."
Randall said" Oh, come on, Lame-ish. Once around the campus. What harm can it do?"
Lilith said" Anything to shut him up." Jack walked out, I stood up, we all started taking clothes off.
" Where you going?"
" Aw, is little Jackie shy?"
Jack said" I'm on only child!" We laughed, as we heard the door shut.

We were circling a car, Lilith grabbed the... Girl? Thing? And attacked her, as she screamed.
We were back at the house,
Jack said" Lilith, you killed that girl!"
Lilith said" Girl? She was barely human."
Hamish said" Oh, look, they're fighting."
Randall said" Guys." He yawned," No. Stop."
Jack said" There are ways to do this without killing everyone."
Lilith said" What part of werewolf don't you understand?"
Randall said" Honestly? I don't know why we spell it like were, but pronounce it like wear."
Jack said" What if that girl was possessed? Maybe she was like Clarke. Maybe we could have saved her."
Lilith said" Look, fine. Sometimes we can wear out a spell and not kill anyone and that's great. But if it comes down to me and some monster bitch who ate a guy's face off, I'm getting mine."
" And how many innocent people have died so you can get your rocks off?"
" You're not in charge here."
Hamish said" No, I am. You, stop trying to call the shots. You, stop trying to kill everybody."
——
Hamish said" What the hell is an Elemental transference?"
Jack said" That's what I asked. It's not in any of the basic spell books. Alyssa said it's super-rare. But trust me, if Coventry ordered it, it can't be good." Randall put the empty pitcher in front of his face," I've done it twice already. Go to the bar."
Randall said" I want to go. It's too crowded. Come on."
Lilith said" I want to go on record that I am completely opposed to this."
Hamish said" You want to go to the bar?" She looked back,
" Yeah, no."
I said" Come on." I elbowed his arm, I smiled," Come on." I elbowed again, he elbowed back and bit his thumb, drawing blood.
Jack said" Anaplerosi." We watched the pitcher fill again,
Randall said" Why is there no ringing?"
Hamish said" Maybe because he's a Knight."
" So cool."
Lilith said" So not cool."
Jack said" Look, we have to figure out what this Elemental Transference is and why they want it." Randall poured the beer into my glass, after he poured his.
" No. We need to stop them."
" You can't just storm the temple on this one. That place is defended with a fuck-ton of magic spells."
Hamish said" That's ten shit-tons. Impressive."
Lilith said" I suppose you have a better idea?"
Jack said" I'm behind enemy lines. Okay, I can sabotage the spell from the inside, and stall for time while you guys research what it does."
Hamish said" Sounds good."
Lilith said" Sounds stupid. Guys. We're supposed to be the Knights of Saint Christopher, not the Nerds of Saint Christopher."
Randall said" And what if he gets caught?"
Hamish said" They'll probably just kill him."
Jack said" Wait, what?"
" Hey, this is your idea."
Lilith said" When he screws up and dies, we go with my plan."
Randall said" Deal." We clinked glasses.
——
Lilith said" You fucking hypocrite!" Jack just walked in,
Hamish said" Okay, let's take a breath."
" You have the nerve to give me shit about eating some monster's heart, but you turn around and drive a van full of people to their death!"
Randall and I said" You what?"
Jack said" It's the elemental transference. The spell needs willing sacrifices. Five of them."
Lilith said" You're supposed to be sabotaging it. Not helping."
" I did sabotage it! Okay? And we were up and running again in twelve hours."
Randall said" Dude... we're your we."
Lilith said" So you failed. You admit it."
Jack said" No. Look, I talked to Coventry. I saw it in his eyes. He's so desperate for this spell, he'll do anything. He'll risk the entire order, and we need to know why."
Hamish said" We know why."
Randall said" This spell cures sickness by passing it on to other people."
" And they don't just die. The disease has to kill them, or else the whole thing reverses. It's torture, Jack."
Jack said" When did I learn Latin? Look, no! If he's doing this spell, he's doing it for a reason. There has to be something big at the end of it. If we play it smart, I can figure out what Coventry's after, what his plan is, and then at the right moment-"
Lilith said" The moment is now! This is the reason we became Knights!"
" What if we make it worse? What if we save these five people, and then he kills a thousand?"
Hamish said" I won't let that happen."
" He lit his hand on fire as a parlor trick. You go at him, he's gonna put you down. And then none of this is gonna matter."
Lilith said" It's gonna matter to those five people."
" Oh, whatever, Kill-ith."
" Okay, I love that nickname, but this is still wrong."
" Randall, you wanted an inside man. Let me do my job as a Knight. Hamish, no one can save those people, but we can stop Edward Coventry for good."
Hamish said" You see a chance to stop this spell, you take it."
" I promise I will."
" Then go." Jack walked out, we looked at Hamish.
——
Lilith said" Jack said he would come back. He fucked us. It's over."
Hamish said" No. We can still stop it."
" How?"
" The book said the sacrifices have to die from the disease."
Randall and I asked" And what happens if they don't?"
" We win. Follow my lead."
Lilith said" About fucking time." We followed Hamish out the door, heading to kill.

We got there,
Hamish said" Hey, what's up?" As a guard came out,
The guy said" Who are you? What are you doing here?"
" Where are my friends?"
" Yeah, where are your-" Randall grabbed him and attacked, Lilith, Hamish and I walked into the room. We saw the five people hooked up to machines.
Lilith said" Why would anyone agree to this?"
Hamish said" Because they were already dying. Weren't you, old man?"
The old man said" Fucking cirrhosis."
" The spell said willing sacrifices. Who else would be willing to die?"
" Please. It hurts. Just kill me. Just kill me."
Lilith said" That's why you sided with Jack."
Hamish said" Are you ready?"
" I'm not sure I can do this."
" Call it mercy." I pulled off my jacket as they did,
I shifted and we all attacked the five people, killing and eating their hearts quickly.