Giving Back to the Community

[Elijah]

"I hate this....so stupid...he's stupid....whole school is stupid...." Erik grumbled, jabbing the tip of his stick through a plastic cup and dropping it into his bag. Through a series of unfortunate events, he'd been given community service as opposed to being expelled from school. It all started when this jock-head Jared started to target Erik for after school beat-downs. Erik tried to endure them, but after a while he started fighting back. He finally lays it into the jock, painting his face red. They get caught and Erik is blamed for everything. Why would the principal want to get the star football player into trouble? Their football program brings in a lot of cash.


"Why can't people just pick up their trash?" Erik filled the rest of the bag with garbage and knotted the pull strings at the top. He carried it to a dumpster and then picked up another garbage bag. After filling that bag to the halfway point, he decided to sit down on a park bench and take a tiny break. After surveying the area, he had to admit that the park looked a lot better.

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

"Because then we wouldn't have anything to do." Jo replied as she sat down next to Erik. She was absolutely gorgeous with her bright blue eyes and wavy golden blond hair. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a green long sleeve shirt under the ugly orange vest that matched Erik. Her hands were covered with clear gloves and she was holding a garbage bag and a special stick to help pick up the trash.

She put the garbage bag down on the ground and extended a hand out to Erik. "I'm Jo, you're partner for the day." She hadn't gotten in trouble, but volunteered for the task. She was a big earth freak and since she was knew she thought it would help her meet people. Everyone in school was talking about her, the new girl. In the halls she was surrounded by guys and the popular girls, all wanting to talk to her. She had become like a celebrity in the span of a day.

[Elijah]

"I know who you are," he said plainly. Realizing that he couldn't blame her for being so popular in school, he shook her hand and gave her a small smile. "I'm Erik. I've seen you around school. Actually, I believe we have a couple classes together. You seem to be getting along well with the 'popular' crowd," he chuckled. "I can't imagine you doing anything terrible, so that means you must've volunteered for this. You're insane," he said jokingly.

Erik took a moment to really look at her, and he saw how gorgeous she was. She made his heart race. Her voice was so sweet. He hated to see her hanging out with the wrong people. She'd be corrupted in no time. Maybe I should try to stop it.

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

Jo could tell there was bitterness in Erik's voice as he talked about the popular kids. "They're okay. Most of them are just hanging around me for my looks. But yeah, I signed up a couple of days ago. Beats going shopping with the cheerleaders. I don't even like shopping to tell you the truth. I'd rather be outside, or playing video games."

"So what did the jocks do to you to make you end up here?" She was partnered with Erik because he got in trouble, the principal thought it would be a good idea to that she could somehow get him to 'change his rebellious ways'. She knew he didn't like the popular crowd and he didn't look like a bully, so she put the clues together.

[Elijah]

Erik was liking this girl more and more. Any girls that loves videogames is my kind of girl. When she asked about what the jocks had done, Erik rolled his eyes. "What do you think? They beat me up, I fought back, I got blamed. It never changes. I'm a straight A student, but I don't bring as much money to the school as the football games do. I tried to get on the football team once, just so that maybe i'd fit in. They laughed me right off the field, but not before almost breaking my spine."

"Sorry for bringing the mood down. I guess I should be happy. They gave me an awesome partner," he smiled. "Maybe you'd like to hang out sometime, you know, outside of community service. I just got Left 4 Dead 2, and you look like a girl that could totally kick ass in that game."

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

"So you were the one who gave Rick the black eye? Nice." Jo thought it was a good idea for the jocks to get beaten a little. They could be really mean to some people. "It's a good thing you didn't make the football team, that sport is just an excuse for guys to jump on each other. Bunch of closeted homosexuals."

"Left 4 Dead 2? I just got that too! Do you want to finish up here and come over my house to play? I got a killer entertainment room." She lived in one of the mansions in Hollow Estates. She figured she would offer since Erik might like the wall sized television to play on. It was nice to find someone who wanted to just sit down and geek out instead of always checking their looks and going out to flaunt them.

[Elijah]

"I'm more of a soccer guy anyway. That's a real sport." Erik almost choked on his own saliva when she asked him if he wanted to go to her house and play Left 4 Dead 2. "You're like a dream....uh I mean, of course. I'd love to come over. I needed help on the bridge level anyway. I can finish it on easy and medium, but hard kills me everytime."

"Hey you kids! Get back to work, would ya?" The superviser said, catching the two on the bench. Erik stood up and offered Jo his hand. "You ready to clean up some more trash?" he smiled widely.

Across the street, Lukas glanced at the two in his limo. "I want you to chip the remaining vampires and then release the three i've tagged. They know what they're suppose to do. Cause a little chaos, and bring me some more vampires. As for the formula, is it ready yet? I'd like to try it out on someone soon. Maybe two," he grinned, returning his gaze to Erik and Jo.

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

Jo chuckled as Erik got overly excited. It was cute. She stood up after the supervisor yelled at them and started to pick up more trash, though staying close to Erik so they could talk about the game some more. "I know! I beat it on hard once, but then my system froze and didn't save it! I almost chucked my controller across the room." She got really into her games some times.

She looked up and noticed a limo in the parking lot. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't think of which house in Hollow Estates it belonged to. She shrugged it off and continued to work, hoping to get done within the hour so they could play. She couldn't wait to play with someone else beside her dad.

[Elijah]

Erik wasn't allowed to go home until all the trash was cleaned up and the supervisor gave the okay. Jo was kind enough to stay with him and help him finish the chore. The sun was beginnig to set as they threw away the last of the trash. Erik took off his orange vest and gave it back to the supervisor. "You ready to go?" he asked Jo, offering her his hand.

Erik didn't think that holding hands was weird. It was dark out and he just wanted to make sure she stayed safe. It seemed like something a gentleman would do. To get to a nicer part of town, they had to catch the bus at the downtown station. On the way there, they ran into a group of shady individuals. "Well hello there," someone hissed from the shadows. Before they knew it, they were surrounded.

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

Jo took Erik's hand and walked with him to the bus stop. She didn't think anything was wrong until the men surrounded them. She dropped her hand that had been holding onto Erik's and put her back to his. Her father had her take a few self defense classes, but she didn't think she would need them, not with her powers.

"What do you want?" She said in a stern voice, trying to show them that she wasn't afraid of them. She glanced around, hoping that the bus would come and they could get on quickly, but the bus was no where in sight.

[Elijah]

"Your blood, of course." They all laughed and inched closer to their next victims. Erik had no idea what these guys were, but he wasn't about to let them hurt Jo. He swung at one of the vampires and missed. They grabbed his arm and swung him face first into a lightpole. The vampires found this hilarious. Their eyes turned black as they smelled the blood trickling from his nose.

Erik ignored the pain and got right back into the fight. He managed to punch one vampire in the face, but he broke his hand in the process. "You two deal with the boy. I want to enjoy the girl before we drain her dry."

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

Jo watched as Erik tried to fight them, but instead got his face shoved into the lamp post. A moment later she was distracted when one of the guys said something about 'enjoying her'. She walked forward and grabbed the man's arm. "You are going to take your two friends and leave us alone. If your friends try to touch us, you'll break their hands." She demanded as she stared the man in the eyes. She hoped using her powers would work. She didn't use them much and they didn't always work, but it was worth a shot.

[Elijah]

"I'll break their hands," the vampire said obediently. He attacked his two buddies before they could break Erik's neck. Confused, but completely relieved, Erik grabbed Jo's hand with his good one and ran. "We'll find a different bus!" They didn't stop running until they were far away from the bus stop. Panting, Erik asked if Jo was okay. "Did they hurt you at all? I'm sorry, I tried to stop them."

[Kendra // Shane // Lilith]

Once they were far away from the men Jo worked on catching her breath. After a few minutes she was okay and hugged Erik. "I'm fine, thanks to you." She pulled back, hoping that giving him all the glory would take his mind away from what she was able to do back there. He was a nice guy, but she didn't trust him enough to tell him about her secret. She wasn't sure if he'd use it against her or not.

"Are you okay?" She asked, examining his injuries. His nose and part of his cheek looked pretty badly bruised and she was sure his hand was broken. "I'm going to call for a ride to the hospital." She pulled out her phone and dialed her house number. The maid picked up and she asked for a car to be sent to their address. She hung up and turned back to Erik. "Someone will be here in a few minutes hopefully. How's the pain?"

[Elijah]

"I'm fine, really. I'll get patched up and everything will be fine." Erik checked over Jo to make sure that she wasn't hurt. He found it a little strange that there wasn't even a scratch on her. He didn't let it bother him too much. When the car arrived, they both got in and were escorted to the hospital. Erik was admitted quickly, after filling out some paper work. When asked how he got his injuries, Erik just said that they were jumped on the street. "The girl who came in with me, check her too," he insisted.