This is why nobody calls on Bethany to explain anything. To anyone. Who: Zane and Bethany Where: Dairy Queen When: Wednesday Night - September 8
All she wanted to do that evening was make a quick stop at the local Dairy Queen to pick up a couple waffle bowl sundaes for her and Donovan. Her brother was staying in that night to help her take care of her little baby boy and as a bit of a thank you Zane was providing her older brother with a little bit of a treat. Things, though, don't always go as one planned. Case and point this evening for Zane was a bit of a problem in the form of two frat boys who seemed to be insistant on hitting on her.
'Not interested' were her parting words as Zane stepped away from the line of customers with her order in hand as the teen made her way to the exit and stepped out onto the sidewalk to head for her car parked in the lot.
"Come on, sweetheart. All we wanna do is talk." The dark haired preppy type of the pair said as they followed Zane out of the place and into the lot. "Be nice and we'll be nice back." The guy glanced over to his buddy with a smirk before he made the foolish choice of grabbing Zane by the shoulder to spin the girl around.
The frat boy's action had Zane dropping her ice cream order when she was forced to face the two. "I said," she hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm not interested." And in her attempt to push the guy into backing off a couple feet, Zane actually sent the guy flying across the lot into the backside of a packed Impala. Freaked out by what had just happened Zane, with a shaky hand, tried extracting her keys from a hip pocket wanting to get the hell out of the area as quickly as possible.
Funny enough, Bethany had been there with a similar idea. She had decided to get some ice cream and go surprise her cousin Brandie with a little girls night in. However, when she heard the scuffle, the redhead ran to the lot... just in time to hear the last few words spoken, and then see the boy go flying. Well how about THAT? From the look of the girl, she had NO clue what she was or how she did that.
Ah well. I guess we can't ALL be familiar with the supernatural all our lives, eh?
Chasing the freaked-out girl, Bethany called out after her. "Hey! Please... slow down... I can help you!"
It was like Zane had tuned everything out except for the single thought of getting to her car and leaving. She didn't notice the red head coming after her, or the second guy who finally found the mobility in his feet to finally make it over to his buddy who was dazed and slumped against the back bumper of the Impala. It was only when she got the door open and hopped into her car that Zane, having caught sight of the quickly approaching Bethany from her peripheral vision, fumbled with trying to get the key into the ignition in her hurried attempt to get the vehicle started and drive off before more attention was cast her way.
"Don't be scared! Please! I can help you!" She quickly, frantically, whispered to the girl before she could drive off, "I know what you are..."
She glanced back to see if either kid was coming after them or not.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Was the response that came from the teen's mouth as she tried closing the car door. Was a futile act on her part as Bethany stood in between Zane and the open door. What had just happened to the frat boy wasn't Zane. She didn't possess that kind of power. Was refusing to believe that she could.
"I'm like you... please, let me talk to you... I swear I'm not pulling your leg here. Plus... if those idiots decide to try anything again, I'd have to whoop up on them too. And then they'd die of embarrassment. And then we'd feel bad and possibly even pout." Bethany widened her eyes pleadingly. "Come on... just let me get in the car or something?"
Zane was conflicted. No one should be able to do what she had just done to the guy, but the girl seemed so sincere in her pleading and attempt to explain things that Zane was sure which way to turn for a brief moment. "Get in." The teen finally relenting as she leaned over to unlock the passenger side door for Bethany. Her explanation had best be a good one or Zane might very well drop her off in the middle of nowhere and just leave her to her own devices.
"Thank you..." Bethany said with an exasperated sigh before hopping in. "Just get us someplace private, and I promise, I'll do my best to answer any questions you have. What we're gonna talk about... you probably shouldn't be driving during."
"Just start talking." Zane told the girl in a commanding voice. She wasn't about to go anywhere private and secluded. Whatever the other girl had to tell her could be said within the confines of Zane's car. "Explain what happened back there." The teen added as she pulled out of the lot and onto the street.
"Fine. Forgive me for being... blunt. I'm not good at explaining things sometime. You and I are both whats called Slayers. Basically, we have enhanced strength, speed, the whole nine yards. We're supposed to use it to fight demons, vampires, that kind of stuff."
And then? Because she KNEW how that sounded, she just kept talking.
"I swear I'm not making it up, and I'm not crazy, and if need be... I can show you things to prove what I'm saying."
Zane glanced over to Bethany with a "you're kidding" look and the thought that the girl was indeed playing with a couple bolts loose. "Demons and Vampires? Hate to break it to you kid, but those things don't exist except in movies and books of fiction."
"Shit!" Zane cursed when her eyes finally turned back to the road with the teen managing to barely swerve in time to avoid hitting a car that pulled out from where it was parked directly into her path. Maybe driving while listening to the red head wasn't the best of ideas. And it was with that thought that Zane pulled into the first parking area she spotted.
"Look, I know it sounds crazy. But I can prove it to you. I'm just like you. I just wanna help you, ok? Trust me..." Bethany gave a nervous smile, "I was really scared at first too, in spite of my family being what they are."
"Who said anything about being scared." Zane responded. "Back there? That totally freaked me out. And just what is your family?" The teen questioned with a bit of a confused look riding her face.
"Do you know anyone in the Bale family? Or have you ever been to Avarice?" She asked, hoping to have SOMEWHERE to start here. Hey, STFU. She was just a slayer-in-training! She wasn't a watcher, or someone accustomed to explaining this crap!
"You'd have to have been living under a rock not to be familiar with the Bale name. And Avarice isn't exactly my scene." Zane told Bethany. "And I'm taking it you're a member of the Bale clan." Zane finally cut the engine then leaving the key in the ignition.
"I'm Bethany. The odd one in the the family. You know why?" Oh god, Beth. You're not going to really tell her like THIS... "Because I'm the only person in my family who isn't a werewolf."
"You're kidding, right?" This was just getting weirder and weirder for Zane. "First you tell me you're super-strength girl like me," something Zane was quite fathoming at the moment. She must have had an adrenoline rush or something that would rationalize her tossing the frat guy across the parking lot as if he were a ragdoll. "And now you're telling me you're from a family of werewolves. Anyone ever tell you you're crazy?"
"Look... I'm not good at this, ok? I'm usually all bashful and quiet, and talking to you at ALL here is scary as hell." She got out of the car and did the one thing she could think of: she lifted the front end of the car, with Zane still in it. "Now... can a normal girl do this? Seriously?"
"You're on something, aren't you?" Zane asked leaning her head out the open window, though her voice seeped with uncertainty. The teen wasn't wanting to believe what she was seeing, but Zane couldn't really deny that Bethany was standing at the front of her car holding the front end up.
"No I'm not on anything! YOU can do it too, if you try! It's what I'm trying to tell you! Just... forget common sense for a minute and just amuse me, ok?" Bethany set the car down, looking adorably flustered here. Would she make a shitty watcher? You betcha.
"I'm going to take your word on that." Zane said from within the car not wanting to freak herself out further by doing what Bethany just did. Maybe once it started all settling in after she got home she'd experiment behind closed doors. "Come on. Get back in the car."
Bethany looked adorably pouty as she got back into the car. "Look... I'm only tryin' ta help you. I swear. I had a rough enough time in MY life... an outcast among outcasts. I want you to understand what you are, so you can start hanging around other girls LIKE you. Who can make you feel... normal."
"And just what, exactly, am I, and why do I have the feeling there's more to this slayer stuff then super strength." Zane said once Bethany had gotten her cute, little pouty butt back into the car.
"A vampire slayer. Which really, is a misnomer, as it sort of gives the impression that ALL you do is fight vampires, when in all actuality, you fight off demons and other things every bit as much. So really, it's not the best of titles for us..." Think Beth rambled a little when she was nervous? Anyone?
"Can I drop you anywhere?" Zane asked as she started up the car. This is just what she <i>didn't</i> need. She had a newborn baby to take care of, which didn't exactly leave time in her schedule to play the part of some super hero type. What Bethany had told her was just too much that Zane just couldn't wrap her mind around it all. She'd need time to digest it all.
Sigh. Oh well. Better than being punched in the face or something. "Just... maybe drop me off near the Hyperion hotel? It's where we all train. I can just meet my Watcher there and get a ride home with her. Um... if it helps? I'm really, REALLY sorry if I upset you. I'm not good at this crap, and I only wanted to help."
"I know you did." Zane smiled faintly over to the girl. Zane didn't think that Bethany would try being all explainy after witnessing what Zane had done of she hadn't been trying to help. "I just can't seem to get my head to wrap around everything you've just told me." It was way too bizarre for Zane to accept it all at once.
"Want my number? I mean... if you decide you wanna talk about it, I'm always willing to help..." How was this shy, sweet, adorable thing a BALE? Seriously?
"Sure." Zane answered pulling out of the parking lot and onto the street. She knew once it all had sunk in she might need someone to talk to. Someone who could hopefully provide her with more answers to what she exactly was.
"Ok..." The redhead squeaked quietly as she pulled a pen and paper from her purse and quickly wrote it down. "If you need anything, you can call me ANYTIME. Seriously, even if it's like... three in the morning."
"Sweetie," Zane smiled taking the number from the red head, "if I'm doing anything at three in the morning it will be getting what sleep I can catch before the next feeding." Zane informed the other girl as she drove in the direction of the Hyperion Hotel.
"Feeding?" She asked, confused. To her? Feeding usually meant some weird vampire thing. "Er... I... I just meant... oh nevermind. I'm just lame."
"You're gonna find out eventually." Zane informed the girl. Wasn't like she was keeping it a big secret as if she were ashamed of it or her son. "I'm what's known as a teenage mother. I have a two month old at home." After filling Bethany in on the little tidbit, Zane pulled up in front of the Hyperion a few moments later.
This likely was NOT the reaction Zane was expecting: "Ohmygod... really??? HOW SWEET! Oh, I love babies! I bet it's just the CUTEST thing EVER!"
"I'm probably biased, but I think he's the cutest there ever was." Zane smiled softly reaching for her purse to slip a picture of the baby out of her wallet to show Bethany. Cause really what loving mother didn't have at least one photo of her child tucked away in her wallet.
"Ohmygodddd.... I think I just wanna squeal! Look at him! Ohhh, you are SO lucky." Kids were seriously Bethany's weakness. She could just play with them and dote on them all day long.
Zane smiled at the girl's excited reaction. "There are some that'd disagree with that assessment." The light brown haired teen relayed to Bethany. Not that their opinion mattered in the slightest to Zane, she had the support of her family, and that was what really mattered.
"Well poo on them then!" Bethany exclaimed, the closest she really came to saying anything bad about ANYONE... "You're a lucky girl. Just be a good mom. Don't be like mine, seriously."
"I'm trying the best I can." Zane told her truthfully as she took the photo back and tucked it away once more into her wallet. Now that they were on another subject that wasn't about what Bethany had said they were, Zane was actually starting to like the red head.
"I kinda wish we coulda just met in school like regular kids. Maybe then you'd be more likely to be my friend, and not think of me as some crazy person." Bethany admitted with a nervous laugh.
"Yeah," Zane agreed, "that would've been a lot easier. I mean it's not everyday you're told the unbelievable." The teen mother admitted. Zane was still trying to detach herself from the realty of her being a Slayer.
"I really AM sorry. But trust me... better to hear it from me than to have some watcher trying to be all cryptic and serious and approaching you. I've seen it done, and some of them... jeez." She thanked GOD then that her watcher kicked the utmost ass. At least in her opinion. Ok, so maybe she slightly hero-worshipped Isabella. Shut up.