AN Thanks for the reviews! I love you all!

…except Murray. Because no one loves him : )

Chapter Two: And The Lights Dim

His eyes were strained shut, his breathing labored as his nails dug harshly into the unrelenting surface.

"Karyl," came a tired sounding voice.

His eyes clenched even tighter, beads of sweat formed on his brow.

"Karyl," it was a little more insistent this time.

He would not yield!

"Karyl, let go of the car door."

Well, when put that way he felt silly. Karyl's fingers flexed a bit, releasing the handle of the car door that Murray had tried to forcibly pry him from moments before at Kelly's request. The two boys were in a street parking lot located across from Planet Bang, and it wasn't a stretch of the imagination to say that Karyl looked nine tenths full of batshit, and one tenth crazy. Even though he was a lanky, scrawny specimen of teenage boy, he was obviously older than the young man that was trying to forcefully extract him from a station wagon, and clearly old enough not to be throwing a tantrum.

"I don't want to go!" He protested.

"Fair enough, but stop smudging my car. I just waxed it this morning."

"…it's a station wagon, Murray."

"Pride in possessions never hurt anyone."

"Actually, classical literature has shown multiple times-"

"Cut the academia crap, Karyl, you know what I mean," Murray cut off the older brother of his long-term girlfriend, leaning against the station wagon and pinching the bridge of his pierced nose.

Murray was a hardcore, anarchist kid. And while the scraped knuckles, tattooed arms, and clothes held together by little more than safety pins and willpower tended to scream 'Warning! Predator!' to people like the hopelessly dorky and easily targeted Karyl, the two were oddly enough friends due mostly to Murray's relationship with Karyl's younger sister. Something that still bewildered the poor kid. Cheerleaders just didn't fall for the guys who burned flags and vandalized cop cars. They just didn't.

Maybe there was hope for Karyl after all-

"Karyl, those junior high girls are laughing at you like you're a moron. Junior high kids, Karyl," Murray stated pointedly.

Scratch out that having hope thing.

Truth be told, it wasn't just Karyl's antisocial tendencies that made him want to run from Planet Bang like a space ship from a black hole, it was the dreams.

In the dreams, there was something lurking, pulling at Karyl and trying to get him closer. Something evil, the same something that he had felt the night he had been mugged not too long ago. It didn't settle right with the teenager, and Karyl could hear his heart hammering out of its ribcage in an attempt at self-preservation. He was piss scared, something that wasn't uncommon for him truth be told, but he was piss scared to the point of actually pissing. A woman's voice called to him, beckoning for him to come to her.

Naturally, Karyl opted to lock the door and cower under his quilt for a few years, but then his well-intentioned but helplessly nosy sister decided to intervene. After the third day or so, she had actually kicked- damn those gymnastics lessons!- his door down, getting Murray to forcibly drag him out of the room despite his really whiny protests.

And now, here he was. All dressed up and ready for a night on the town.

Except, dressed up really meant Star Trek convention shirt and khaki pants that were about an inch too short, and a night on the town was really a night on the town that might kill him.

If Murray didn't kill him first.

And god help Karyl, the kid looked sorely tempted.

"Come on now, Karyl. I like you and all, but I might have to seriously kick your ass if you keep me out here for too long," as if to prove his point, Murray withdrew something silver from his pocket-

-Karyl cowered and crouched into a defensive stance-

-and used it to light a cigarette. He stared at the kung-fu wannabe move Karyl had pulled and blinked slowly as he inhaled, "What are you doing, man?"

"…nothing."

"Anyways, Kelly's looking damn good tonight-"

Karyl cringed again, this time for an entirely different reason. He didn't like knowing that other people thought of his baby sister as a babe. He only saw her as his sibling, an accessory that was perky and fun- like a cute, fluffy, and completely asexual keychain.

"Sorry man, but skirts like that should be outlawed-" Murray pressed, seeing his friend's grimace.

"You're making me uncomfortable," Karyl said levelly.

"You think I'm comfortable standing out here talking to a lunatic that won't let go of a car door?" After a beat, "No offense."

Karyl sighed heavily, "None taken," he replied in the automatic, robot way of the irreparably and unrepentant geek that spends a good deal of his time unintentionally embarrassing everyone that knows him. As if to make amends, he released his death grip on the handle of the station wagon.

Murray's lips smirked around a cloud of smoke, "See that? We're making progress!" He tilted his head towards the entrance for the club, "C'mon, Karyl, just hang out long enough to stop Kelly from freaking out. You might even have fun."

Karyl exhaled, making exaggerated fake coughing noises and waving his hand in front of his face. Murray irritably got the hint and stubbed out the cigarette under his combat boot. "It's not that I don't want to go-"

A glare from Murray's end.

"-it's just…" he paused, realizing that he was about to say 'the scary dreams' and lose all the shreds of masculinity that he had managed to retain. "That hardcore bitch who mugged me," he covered instead.

Murray's scowl softened somewhat in sympathy, "Yeah, I know, man, if a little girl-"

"-hardcore bitch-"

"-stole all my shit I'd be scared too- well, actually, I'd be pissed and would try to take them out, but your way works for you in that sissy kind of manner. But what I'm trying to say is that you need to put your fears behind you and all that shit because your sister is wearing a mini-skirt and I am one horny bastard tonight."

"…Um, thanks Murray."

"Anytime Karyl, now let's go party. I've got your back if someone tries to stir shit up. And so does Kelly."

Karyl frowned, "Are you saying I need my little sister to protect me-?"

"She's way stronger than you Karyl, admit it."

Karyl's frown deepened as he reverted to a sulking mode.

Murray rolled his eyes, but was relieved to see that he was actually walking with him towards Planet Bang.

Shadows whirled and hissed in their wake.

ooo

"Look at her," said the blonde girl next to her in disgust, blue eyes trained on an attractive dancing couple, more specifically on the girl with curly brown hair, "Does she even know what she's doing?"

She sighed, stretching out perfect, long legs languidly and leaning back against the soft couch, craning her neck back in exhaustion, "She's just having fun," she whispered, her voice like silk even when muffled against her arm.

"Fun is for Followers with experience," the blonde said callously, although there was a flicker of something the leader couldn't recognize behind her stare, "She's going to mess this all up."

A snort came from the side, "I remember someone bending the rules more than a little with a certain scrawny geek," came a deep, masculine voice drenched in bitterness.

Laughter rang out, "Sounds to me like someone's jealous," stated another pretty dark-haired girl, who was sitting next to the leader, leaning against her side slightly. The leader didn't appear to mind.

"Shut up," the blonde girl said surprisingly, although her voice was light, obviously liking that the dark man in the shadows was fuming angrily.

"The 'scrawny geek' is a potential target, just like the boy Atertra's playing with," the leader said calmly, "There's no harm in playing with toys."

"No harm in breaking them either," came the dark haired girl, as her eyes flashed yellow under the strobe lights.

ooo

The car sputtered to a stop in the parking lot, and Tymmie let out a murmured prayer to anyone that was listening as he turned the key in the ignition. Stanton inwardly rolled his eyes, knowing that Tymmie's two-ton paperweight routinely stalled and even refused to start on the best of days. It was a miracle that it had made the journey from Stanton's house to Planet Bang at all.

"He's going to kill me," Tymmie muttered in annoyance, sending a meaningful glare at Stanton, who in turn shrugged with complete apathy, "I mean it! He's probably already sold my stuff."

Again Stanton could only muster up the energy to shrug, "It's probably better for you if he did."

Tymmie opened his mouth to retort, sighed, and rolled his shoulders, "Whatever. Let's just get going, alright princess?"

Stanton scowled at the name, but nevertheless allowed his friend to lead the way towards the entrance of the club. As the pair stood in line, Stanton couldn't help but feel his eyes unfocus, blurs of neon and darkness covering up his vision, twirling into shapes he couldn't quite make out. Annoyed, he blinked quickly, and his vision would clear before sliding into a haze again. He frowned, pinching the bridge of his nose and slightly shaking his head.

Tymmie, unfortunately observant, noticed his friend's peculiar behavior as they inched forward in the entrance line, "Stanton, what's up with you? Are you tripping on something?" Tymmie knew asking the question was pointless, Stanton never dabbled or dipped in places the law barred.

"Nothing, just a headache," he said dismissively, avoiding Tymmie's concerned stare by pushing ahead of the line.

The bouncer let Stanton pass without a second's hesitation, but he eyed Tymmie with more scrutiny. The teenager shifted awkwardly, rubbing a hand over the top of his shaved scalp. Stanton sighed, grabbing onto his friend's arm and propelling him passed the door, then quickly letting go of him.

"Why do you let him judge you?" Stanton said, as it was routine for Tymmie to get inspected rather callously by the doormen of clubs.

Tymmie scoffed, "Whatever. I do not."

Stanton could only shake his head, "Let's find Zahi and go."

Tymmie rose his eyebrows at his best friend, "And miss out on the party? You lack a sense of adventure, Stanton."

Stanton scowled, "I just find these areas…annoying." Again, his vision blurred, and he felt as if he were going cross eyed.

"To each their own," Tymmie surrendered, searching the crowd for his other friend, "I'm going to look for Zahi in there-" he gestured to the sea of dancers, "-you brave enough to try with me?"

He smiled slightly, "No thanks, I lack a sense of adventure."

Tymmie rolled his eyes, "Oh, ha ha," he deadpanned, "I guess I'll just meet you back over here in ten, sound good?"

"Fine," Stanton said, already making a b-line for the sitting area.

Tymmie laughed, the guy was horrendously predicable, or at least to Tymmie he was.

Stanton watched his friend enter the crowd, before turning his back and sitting down.

He wouldn't see Tymmie again for the rest of the night.

ooo

Up Next: Tymmie runs into thugs, Zahi sells some drugs, and Karyl could really use more hugs.