Hey! I'm super sorry for the long wait. There have just been a few complicated things going on at home. I hope you'll like this chapter. ~Enjoy! ;)

Ashleigh's P.O.V

A loud banging on my door caught my attention.

"Ashleigh open up! We need to get Sarah, I'm hungry!" Erica. Of course. I opened the door and walked out with her.

"Will you ever knock like a normal person?" I asked her.

"We are not normal people and you are lucky I didn't just kick your door open." She retorted. I rolled my eyes.

"Are we going to run or fly?" I asked her.

"Run, I don't want and bugs or feathers in my hair." She replied and we sped off. Ethan's house soon came into sight and we skidded to a stop by the door that connects to the kitchen. I was about to knock when Erica pushed past me and banged on the door hard, knocking it open. Benny, Ethan, Rory, and Sarah jumped and turned around.

"Are we going or what, I'm starving." Erica said in an impatient voice.

Sarah let out a big sigh and replied, "Coming Erica,"

"Wait going, going where?" Ethan asked in confusion. I stepped into the house after Erica.

"It's a new safety rule from the council." Sarah explained.

"Now they want us to hunt in small groups of like three or so." I added.

"So I had to watch this vegetarian vampire pick up her blood salad…from a delivery truck!" Erica said.

"It beats watching you choose your meal." Sarah said. "He's so stringy, he's too old, I hate her outfit."

"People with bad taste, taste bad. What? More stalk, less talk." Erica said and walked further into the kitchen.

"You are supposed to be my back-up. You can't leave me alone with them." Ethan told Sarah. I glanced at the two boys who were coloring quietly.

"What, are you afraid they are going to color outside the lines?" Erica asked and walked toward the front door. Both Benny and I let out a tiny chuckle at her 'joke'. I'm mean seriously, she was right.

"Yea Ethan, look at them now, they are coloring quietly. I'm sure they won't cause trouble." I reassured him. Benny looked at me with a smile and a wink. I rolled my eyes and smiled back.

"I won't be long. And if you need back-up I'm sure Jane can handle it. Right Jane?" Sarah asked the little girl.

"You bet ya." Jane answered with a salute and a smile. Sarah gave Ethan a look before we followed Erica out the door.

"So are you and Benny…you know…" Sarah asked, her eyebrows rising at me.

"Ugh, Ash, you are a vampire now and you can have anyone you want. Why would you want to date a dork like him?!" Erica sneered.

"I don't want to date him! Yea we've kissed a few times but it doesn't mean I like him!" I said.

"All you guys do is kiss, huh? Why don't you just get together and end the whole awkward phase?" Sarah asked.

"It's because one, I don't like him; two, he doesn't like me; and three, I'm a vampire and he's not going to live forever!" I snapped.

"Then bite him." Erica stated. Both me and Sarah stared at her in disbelief.

"Never in a thousand years." I said. She rolled her eyes as we sat down on a bench next to the road. Yes, Sarah's smart enough to order blood to be dropped off instead of having to eat people or steal from blood banks. We waited and waited and waited…

"Seriously, who gets pre-paying if the guy doesn't show up?" Sarah asked, angrily.

"It's the point of having fangs if your friends stop you from biting people!" Erica snapped.

"Erica, that person was driving." I said.

"It's called meals on wheels. And that guy had his window open." She objected.

"And he also had a mullet. I thought you were a 'food snob'." Sarah said, using her fingers as quotation marks for 'food snob'.

"Well it's not like we're at a buffet. (And sorry but when I was watching the video it blocked out what she said for some reason.)" Erica retorted.

"Actually…there's no one on the streets." Sarah spoke out as we looked both ways down the road.

All the students rushed past us as we leaned against the lockers. Erica, Sarah, and I haven't had any blood so we were starving and grumpy. It's making me go crazy.

"Why is everyone leaving?" I asked weakly.

"Who cares! Let's just go find the dork squad." Erica growled. We turned down the hallway and around the corner to see Benny and Ethan standing there while Benny was throwing boxes around out if his bag.

Benny looked in our direction before saying, "And speaking of weak here comes the hot-mess express." Erica hissed at them with her fangs out when we got closer to them.

"She so hungry that she can't control her fangs and I'm so hungry I can't control her!" Sarah said a little quickly. I just stayed silent. Erica covered her mouth to hide her fangs.

"What do you keep stalking at!" Erica hissed as two boys behind Benny and Ethan were walking past us.

"Are you guys hungry? You want some of my lunch?" Rory came up between Sarah and I with a moving bag in his hand. "It's fresh." I hit the bag away because it only made me hungrier and I was not in the mood. "Mr. lunch-y no!" Then he began chasing after it down the hall and saying the same sentence over and over again.

"No rats we need real food and this town is running on empty." Sarah told the boys.

"So, just fly over to the next town and get some take-out." Benny suggested like it was obvious.

"Nope. The vampire council says that hunting outside of White Chapel will cause a turf war." I answered him.

"Can't you just take a small nibble of a student?" Ethan asked. Erica gave him a look. "Not me of course!"

"Teenagers are full of junk food and hormones." Erica said and rested her hands on her stomach. "Do you have any idea what that could do to your skin?" The boys shook their heads 'no'. Erica stomped away.

"She's a picky eater. And my blood delivery guy vanished. Whatever's happening…un-happen it!" Sarah snapped. The boys turned their heads to me. I shrugged weakly and followed after Sarah and Erica.

The three of us were once again walking down the street to see if we can find any more food. We were still super hungry. But then something caught my eye. Little kids dressed up in uniforms were crowded around something and punching it.

"Hey guys, what's that?" I pointed out. We walked closer to it and saw Benny and Ethan stuck in the middle with cries for help. Erica took out her phone and began recording them.

"Wave to the camera guys, you're going to be internet stars!" She called out to them. Sarah and I were on the verge of cracking up.

"Sarah help! This is serious!" Ethan yelped.

"In a second, I'm enjoying you getting your butts kicked by ankle biters." Sarah joked.

"Ahhh, they're biting my ankle!" Ethan screeched.

"Guys, I think this is serious." I said and headed over to help them. Sarah quickly followed while Erica hesitated before following. We pulled the kids off and drove them away without hurting them. When the kids were gone we all began walking down a path in the park.

"I think there's a tooth in my shoe." Benny mumbled while clutching his bag to his chest.

"That kid at braces." Ethan groaned. I rose my eyebrow at him and gave him a look. "Hey, they are stronger than they look okay?"

"I could use a molie-o myself. Maybe I have some left." Benny said and began opening his bag. My stomach growled loudly.

"Benny, please don't talk about food!" I snapped before falling to the ground. Sarah clutched the collar of Benny's shirt.

"Benny, your grandma's blood substitute, I know it tastes like shoe but does she have any left?" Sarah asked desperately. Erica hunched over a little too but she didn't fall to the ground like I did. But she did hiss at Ethan when he tried to help her. See what hunger makes us do?

"Grandma is long gone. She has a pack a day habit in molie-o season. Last time I touched her stuff she put a shrunken head in my lunch. Like I wouldn't shut up-"Benny was cut off when Sarah vamped out at him. "I mean…okay let's go!" He said quickly in fake excitement.

"No wait, that alpha brat is hoarding every kid in town. Now Jane's home all alone." Ethan interjected.

"We can't fight anyone when we're this weak. You get Jane; we'll get food." Sarah said.

"Okay." Ethan reluctantly agreed and walked away. Benny walked over to me and helped me up, his arm around my waist while my arm was slung over his shoulder.

"You okay?" He asked but still held on to me.

"Yep, thanks." I responded and released myself from his strong grip. Benny nodded doubtfully at me before following Sarah and Erica, who were leading us back to his house. Not even five steps after he let go I stumbled. He quickly reached out and caught me.

"Maybe you are not okay." He chuckled and held on to my waist to help me walk to his house.

Erica, Sarah, and I stood by the doorway with our arms crossed over our chest as Benny looked through the shelves of his Grandma's magic stuff. Then he whipped out his cell phone and called Ethan probably.

"Ethan get over, I think Grandma left something that might be useful." Benny said into the phone. Then he glanced over at us. "Also the girls are looking at me like I'm a burrito." I rolled my eyes at that. What do you think we're going to do? Sit down and play a board game while we are starving.

We looked around the shelves to save up time when Rory jumped in.

"Benny!" Rory yelled out.

"What do you think you're doing? Only Benny can 'Benny!'." Benny warned.

"Says you. Whoa looks like Grandma left mid-snack attack." Rory said when he saw the opened box of doughnuts.

"Yes, but she left us this." Benny explained while picking up a book.

"The Sacred Order of the Mole by Val Mudrap." Rory read. "Wow, some of these moles look delicious." I let out a groan of hunger. Idiots, why don't you make me even more hungry.

"Skim over it, look for anything that can help us figure out what those moles are up to." Benny ordered.

"What about this Benny? It's red! Can't you make this into blood with one of your spells?" Sarah asked desperately.

"That's not how-"The three of us vamped out at him. "Sure. Let's give her a try!" He squeaked in a high voice.

"Okay." Sarah said and held up the small potion bottle. Benny said the spell and a pink colored dust floated over to the bottle. Sarah quickly unscrewed the top and drank it, making a face doing so. Then she gave it to Erica who drank it up quickly also. Erica passed it to me. I was a little smarter than that and sniffed it. And let me tell you, it did NOT smell like blood at all. It didn't even smell like Grandma Weir's blood substitutes. I quickly set it down without drinking it. I may seem stupid but no matter how hungry I am, I am NOT going to drink that stuff.

Just then I felt something touch my foot. I looked down and saw a gray…tail? Oh my god, I knew that potion was bad! Sarah and Erica grew tails like elephant trunks.

"Hey guys-"I was interrupted by Benny giving me the 'shut up' look. I sent him a glare.

"What?" Erica and Sarah asked at the same time.

"Never mind…" I sighed.

"Is this a clue? The mothers and fathers departed from the village. The children played for eternity. All hail Muld-varp, child-beast, charmer, keeper to the key to the underworld…" Rory read out loud. "Looks like a clue to me!"

"Muld-varp? Nice name, no wonder it hates its parents.

"Look whoa! Clue number two, I'm on fire." Rory boasted.

"Isn't that the girl that beat you up?" I asked Benny.

"I wouldn't say beat up…I had a stomach full of pizza." Benny said, embarrassed.

"There's that name again, Val-Mudrap." Sarah read from the name from the book in Rory's hands.

"It's an acronym for Muld-varp." Benny explained.

"It uses the same letters too!" Rory said excitedly as if he figured out something very important.

"Ethan needs to see this!" Benny said. Sarah and Erica walked out of the room. Then Rory saw their tails.

"Wow, you guys have-"Benny grabbed Rory shoulders.

"Beautiful eyes." He said. Wow, nice save… The girls looked at him funny before walking out. "Race you!" Benny said to Rory. Rory nodded excitedly and ran out of the room. My stomach let out another growl. God, I hate being hungry.

"Still hungry?" Benny said as he rushed over to my side just in case I fell again. I gave him a 'duh!' look. "Why didn't you drink that potion?" He asked.

"Easy, it smelled funny." I said. He smiled.

"You were always the cautious one, Ashleigh." He chuckled.

"And you were always the stupid one, Benny." I said and headed over to the door. I stopped by the doorway and looked back at him. "And Sarah and Erica are so going to kill you when they find out. I'm not going to stop them." I said and winked at him when I saw his horrified expression. Then I turned to follow the others to Ethan's house.

I followed Rory and Benny through the door to Ethan's house. But I was shocked to see Ethan on the floor with a frying pan next to his head.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, what happened? Where's Jane?" Benny asked, kneeling down by his friend. Ethan sat up with his hand on his head.

"Uh…I turn my back on her for one second and next thing I know, she's gone and I had this killer headache." Ethan replied with a small groan of pain from his head.

"Dude, she grilled your cheese." Rory said, holding up the frying pan. I rolled my eyes.

"Not now Rory." I hissed.

"Recognize this, little rug-rat?" Benny asked Ethan, showing him the book. "Her name is Val-Mudrap, A-K-A Muld-varp. She likes taking little kids on field trips to the Underworld!" Ethan took the book out of Benny's hands and examined it.

"I found the clue! It was fun!" Rory announced. Me and Benny each grabbed one of Benny's ears and helped him up.

" 'Mini mole house collapses, one 9 year old witness said the building got sucked into a door in the floor.'" Ethan read with a terrified look. "Where is this place? I saw it in my vision."

"It was in the old part of town." Benny informed him.

"We need to go there, fast." Ethan said. Just then Erica and Sarah walked up near us in the other room.

"How could you have so much meat in your freezer, and none of it be human?!" She snapped. Then they turned to walk away. Bad mistake, now Ethan knew about their tails. Oh my god, please don't say anything Ethan.

"Hey, cool tails." He stated.

"Tails?!" Sarah and Erica screeched and looked at their elephant trunks as tails.

"Come on, Jane's gotta get a head-start." Ethan said and rushed toward the door.

"Tails!" Benny said, trying to fake being surprised and rushed out the door with Rory.

"Did you know about this? How come you don't have one?" The girls asked me.

"I…um…" I didn't exactly want them to be angry at me. He smirked slowly crept onto my face. "It's all Benny's fault!" Then I sped out the door after the boys.

"We've been waiting for you." Val-muld-drap-whatever her name is said to Jane, and took hold of her hand.

"Jane…" Ethan said quietly from our hiding spot.

"Okay guys," Benny began, handing Sarah, Erica, and I each separate bottles. "Drink this, it might give you a bit of a boost." Then he leaned over to me. "Just drink it, trust me, it will NOT give you a tail." I sighed and drank mine.

"I ought to kick your butt for turning us into freaks." Erica hissed.

"Yeah, because before these totally awesome upgrades you guys were perfectly normal!" Benny retorted, only to be wacked in the head by a tail. "Ugh, it's like sand-paper!"

"Guys, quit it." Ethan ordered. The leader of the troop raised her snack staff.

"All hail muld-varp." She said. "And now, we open the door to eternal freedom." She then pulled the bag off of the bottom of the staff to reveal a key.

"Okay, Muld-varp is the guardian of the door, keeper of the key. We gotta get that key away from her and she can't open that door." Ethan explained. The girl walked over to the door in the ground. "How do you three feel?" He asked us.

"Better, but I don't think I can fight." Sarah responded for us.

"Then you get those kids out of here." Ethan said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going after my sister." Erica, Sarah, and I slipped past the boys. But Benny grabbed my arm and pulled my back.

"Be careful." He whispered to me.

"You too." I answered and with that, I sped off to the girls.

The girl stuck the key in the door's key hole, twisted it, and pulled it back out. The door opened to reveal a swirling purple portal of some sort.

"Single-file, to eternal freedom." She said and turned around.

"Get away from my sister." Ethan said, coming out with the other two boys. Sadly, we couldn't get Jane to come with us. There were enough kids for only three of us to handle. We couldn't grab her too.

"Where are all of my little ones?" The troop leader asked. Sarah, Erica, and I were each holding three separate groups of kids back. Now I actually wished I had that tail. Sarah and Erica were using theirs to help hold the kids back.

"They're in better hands now." Ethan told her.

"Relax you molie-o maniacs!" Erica yelled.

"Erica stop yelling at them!" Sarah ordered.

"Why won't they just nap?" Erica complained.

"Yea sure, how would you feel if you had to nap when you are being possessed by a crazy little girl?!" I snapped at her.

"I got this." I heard Benny whisper to Ethan. Benny reached his hand out toward the girl. "Zacaroth Maznacaroth-"Benny was cut off and didn't get to finish the spell when the girl shot a red beam at him from her snack staff. It shocked through him and he grunted in pain before falling down. "T-That stings you guys are on your own…" Benny was able to let out. Oh no, was he okay?! Ethan faced the girl with his fists raised. But he can never look threatening. The girl stepped toward Ethan slowly.

"Benny!" Rory said, like he did earlier, and jumped in front of Ethan.

"Knock it off, Rory." Benny croaked.

"You're ruining my fun. Stop it!" The little girl ordered angrily.

"Why don't you make me?" Rory said with his eyes narrowed and a straight face. And I will admit, he actually looked scary for like the first time ever. The girl smiled deviously and shot a red beam at him. "Ow!" Rory yelped but stood his ground. She continued to shoot beams at him. Ethan quickly ran over to Jane and grabbed her arm.

"Jane come on." He said. "Stop!" He said when she tried to struggle out of his grip. The girl and Rory suddenly fell down to the ground, the key/staff landing between them.

"Ow, my everything hurts." Rory moaned.

"Rory grab Jane!" Ethan ordered and jumped toward the staff before the girl could get it. Rory hurried to grab Jane's ankles. Ethan and the girl started to fight over it like tug-of-war.

"That's mine, you're cheating!" The girl yelled furiously.
"I must go through the door, Muld-varp is coming!" Jane said, struggling against Rory's grip and trying to get to the door.

"I can't hold her!" Rory shouted in pain.

"It's all yours creep weasel!" Ethan let go and the girl suddenly flew backwards. Her hands clung to the surface as her body dangled into the door.

"No fair, no fair!" She screeched before falling into the door. Ethan closed to the door quickly before she had a chance to get back out. The minute the door reached the floor, it disappeared.

"Ha, how do you like them dough-nuts!" Ethan said to the door. Jane ran up to her brother and gave him a big hug.

"I don't know what happened, but I'm glad you guys saved me." Jane said honestly.

"Don't worry, your safe. Everything's back to normal-ish." He replied. The kids that were held back by the girls and I began looking around in a confused way.

"Can someone finally help me?" Benny croaked out. I rushed over to him and knelt down.

"You okay? I thought I told you to be careful." I told him with a smile. Ethan came over and we helped Benny up.

"Vampire down, needs assistance." Rory groaned.

Sarah, Erica, and I were gathered around Sarah's locker.

"Mom ended up at fun-fun land. Jane was furious she went without her." I heard Ethan say. Erica went over to stand next to Sarah, who was already next to me. Benny, Ethan, and Rory came from around the corner.

"Well, you three look better. And you two don't have anymore…tails." Benny said.

"Thanks to your Grandma getting rid of those tails, you escaped an epic butt-kicking." Erica said. I gave Benny an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Hey, what was in that energy potion you gave us? It actually worked." Sarah asked curiously.

"A little this…a little that…" Then a scared expression formed on his face. "A lot of my blood." We stared at him with shocked expressions. "Later," He said in a high voice and walked past us. Ethan and Rory followed him.

"I drank Benny's blood? Ew, gross, I'm out of here!" Erica shrieked in disgust and walked away.

"Oh my god, t-this is…ugh!" I groaned and hit my head against the lockers, leaning up against them. I caught Benny staring at me as he walked down the hall. I looked back at the ground.

"Yea, so gross." Sarah stated.

"But you don't understand. I actually liked it! It was like the best blood I've ever tasted and I shouldn't be thinking about that because he's my friend." I told her. "Sarah, I can't stop thinking about it."

"It's not your fault, everything tastes good when you're hungry." Sarah tried to reassure me and walked away. I stared down the hall that Benny had walked down. I could still feel the good taste of his blood on my taste-buds. And all I knew is that I wanted more of it. But I can't have any more of his blood because he is my friend and I only drink blood from packages. I will NEVER drink from a human, especially if it's Benny. Maybe…I will forget about it by tomorrow. Yea, and then everything will be back to the way it should be…

And…that's the end of Chapter 23: Village of the Darned! I hope you liked it. And again, I'm sorry for the super late updates. Next up is Chapter 24: Hottie Ho-Tep. I have a poll up on my profile for whether or not to get Benny and Ashleigh together in the Season 2 episodes or to leave it until Season 3, too. Answer it if you want to! :) Oh, also I hope you had a great Valentine's Day. ~Anyways, R&R! ;)

~Mothflight13~