[ Kinship ] Jenny ~ Bane of Vampires

The kids were at recess in the small park near the library.  Miss Leela was watching them play.  She noticed that Jenny wasn't playing with the other kids.  She was hanging by her knees from the monkey bars, and swinging back and forth.  Curious, Miss Leela walked over to see what was going on.

As she got closer she heard Jenny speaking, no she was almost chanting'

'Something bad is coming, something bad is coming...oh hi Miss Leela."  She stopped swinging and dropped to the ground.

Since Miss Leela became the teacher in Kinship she had learned that Jenny had almost supernatural premonitions.  "Jenny... what...?"  A sudden boom of thunder interrupted her question.  Then dark clouds rolled in.  Very dark clouds.

"EVERYBODY INSIDE!"  Miss Leela began rounding up the kids.  'HURRY!"  She heard the town's emergency siren started blaring.

Once inside Miss Leela did a head count.  All the kids were inside.  "Okay, kids everyone get in their seats..."  The she noticed that Jenny was packing her backpack.  "Jenny?  What are you doing?"

"I have to go home now... something bad is coming."  Jenny was wearing the Cross she made in arts and crafts, out of popsicle sticks, white glue, and pink glitter. The lanyard was made from purple yarn.  She turned on the flashlight she had pulled from her pack.  "It's getting dark."

Miss Leela made her decision quickly.  "Jeff go with your sister."  Jeff was standing at a window.  His eyes wide open he turned towards his teacher.

"Oh cee... double oh... el... COOL!  I get to go home early!"  He grabbed his pack and ran for the door.

The crash of thunder rattled the library's windows, and the lights flashed off and on a few times.  Some of the younger children screamed.

"JEFF!  Take care of your sister!  Everybody CALM DOWN!"

***

Walking down the gravel road towards their home, Jeff and Jenny noticed a dark figure standing in the center of the road.

Stopping, they aimed their flashlights at the figure.  It moved  blindingly fast and was suddenly standing before them. "Hello children..."  The man was tall and pale, wearing a flannel shirt and jeans.  His black hair was long and greasy looking.  His feet were bare and grimey.  Shining their lights in his face they saw his blood red eyes.

Then he smiled, showing a pair of gleaming fangs.  "I'm soooooo hungry..."  Raising his hands, the fingernails grew longer.

"Jenny, RUN! Run into the cornfield!" Jeff threw his flashlight towards the vampire, who easily batted it away.

Jenny balled her fists and put them on her hips.  "I'm NOT afraid of a stupid, stinky, icky, vampire!"

"No Jenny run!"  Grabbing his little sister's arm he tried to pull her along, but she wouldn't budge.  "Come on! Vampires are bee a dee... BAD!"

Reaching for Jenny the vampire snarled, "Oh you will be afraid, but not for very long.  I'm going to drain you, suck you dry until there's nothing left but a papery corpse."

"What's a papery corpse?" Jenny backed away raising her Cross before her.

The vampire stopped, looking puzzled.  "Never mind, is THAT your defense? You made that yourself.  It has NO POWER OVER ME!"  Moving almost faster than they could see, the vampire grabbed the Cross,  intending to crush it into splinters.

The vampire sensed the power too late.  The instant his hand touched the Cross he convulsed in pain.  Howling,  his hand, and then the rest of him burst into flame.  The vampire collapsed into a pile of smouldering ashes.

Jeff's turned toward his sister.  "Wow, that was cool."

Jenny shrugged, "That's the power of pink glitter."  Walking around the pile of ashes, she started humming.

"WAIT!"  Jeff opened his pack, and pulled out a plastic baggy that had held his sandwich.  He started scooping the ashes into the baggy.

Stopping and turning around, Jenny made a face when she saw what he was doing.  "Eeewww.... what are you doing?  Is that for another one of your 'speriments?  Boys are so weird...."

"Maybe... hey was this the bad thing that was coming?"  Jeff stowed the bag in his pack after writing "vamp ashes" on it with a black marker.

Jenny looked up at the dark, stormy clouds.  "No... something worse is coming... something much, much worse."

"Well, let's go home then.  Maybe mom will let us bake cookies."  Jeff started walking.  "HURRY!"  Jenny followed behind him, giggling "And we can have a TEA PARTY!"

Jeff groaned, "Nooooo...  oh the horror... the horror..."