A Merging of Worlds

If anybody wishes to read this entire story uninterrupted, they may do so HERE. (http://www.mergingofworlds.blogspot.com)

Hey, everybody! I mentioned in the intro thread that I'm really into fan fiction, so I thought I'd bring my fan fiction talents to this board as well! Hope you guys enjoy this story!

A Merging of Worlds

Chapter 1

The clouds overhead foretold of a dim afternoon for John Hankle. They were brewing like some evil witch's stew, a witch that was telling John he may as well give up any hope of having fun this afternoon.

The myriad of dismal colors swirled about in constant motion, the grays intertwining mystically and almost magically with the blacks and the whites, a kind of poetry of the sky. Brief flashes illuminated the clouds for just one second every now and then, as if God and the angels were taking family album pictures up in Heaven.

The entire sky was blanketed with these gray swirling colors, making the afternoon ahead seem so boring John wondered if he may as well shoot himself to get out of it.

His chin rested on the inside of his car door, staring out the window at the small drops of rain that spattered spasmodically across the sheet of glass in his face, enclosing him in a sort of mental/glass prison from which he couldn't escape.

"John, sweetie?"

John tore his gaze away from the clouds and the rain and turned to look at his mother, who was driving the car.

They shot down Main Street at a nearly dizzying speed. His mom was not known for her good driving skills. Puddles splashed up onto the gray mini-van, spraying along up the sides of the windows, disrupting the tiny rivulets that were already running down; smashing into each other like two freight trains colliding, their pieces flying apart and off into out of sight.

John's mom's forehead wrinkled with concern, and she brushed a stray strand of golden blonde hair out of her face. Her full lips pursed in concern and she wrinkled her tiny nose.

"John, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mom," John said, turning back to stare out the window. The spectacle of the rain on his window was much more fascinating than any conversation he could have with his mother, who was barely twenty years older than him.

He hated being teased at school about having a mother who was so young. She had gotten herself pregnant at her community college at age nineteen, and had dropped out just to take care of John.

As for his father, John had virtually no memory of him. All he had was one single, solitary memory, and though the actual event tore at his heart like an emotinal knife, he held onto that memory for all he was worth, for he knew it was all he had left of him.

"Well we're going to Hollywood Video, aren't you happy, honey?" Lydia asked happily, tapping her fingers on the sterring wheel impatiently as she gazed out at the red light that had halted them in their speeding tracks.

"Whatever," John said. They were heading to the video store to pick out a couple of movies to watch, because it was a Friday night, and the one time each week that Lydia took time out to spend with John. They normally watched two movies, one Lydia picked and one John picked. Occasionally they rented a video game and picked that as well.

"John, sweetie, what's the matter?" Lydia asked.

John wanted to turn around to give her a disgusted look, but he decided not to. She wouldn't get it. Lydia Hankle wasn't exactly known for her intelligence, either. She worked as, well, as a stripper.

John hated that. Fortunately, none of his friends knew, or he'd never heard the end of it. Well, that wasn't true.

John had no friends. None whatsoever. He had a very hard time making friends, and even though he'd lived in the same apartment with his mom thirteen years, ever since he was born, he couldn't make friends. It was like there some sort of invisible curse put on him.

John knew that working as a female dancer was the only way Lydia could pay for his education, and afford apartment rent, but he still resented her for it, and was mad most of the time at her. Friday night was usually their one night out to have fun, but tonight every chance of that had been spoiled.

When he'd come home from school and found his mom entangled in the arms of some stranger. He had felt like vomiting, and had nearly dropped his backpack in shock, then ran out of the house, with his mom calling out after him. He had run and run and run, not looking back.

Four hours later they were driving to Hollywood Video as if nothing had happened. Lydia had explained that, as a single woman, she had a right to date people whom she wanted. But John didn't care. It had been the fifth man she'd seen that week, and he hated it.

Hated it hated it hated it.

He slammed his fist on the side of the door in frustration.

Lydia looked at him, but didn't say anything, clueless as to what she was going to say as usual. They pulled into the Hollywood Video parking lot, and Lydia parked the car as John jumped out and ran into the store, not even looking at his mom.

Lydia Hankle sighed and followed her son into the store.

Up in the sky, the clouds continued to darken, twisting and writhing about ominously, the flashes of light continuing.

God and his angels must have been having a real party.

i like it so far,good use of language,i look forward to see more of this soon

I'm liking it so far mate, you've got a real talent there and I look forward to seeing more of it. Excellent stuff.

Due to the enormously popular thread I've created (A Merging of Worlds for all you Einsteins out there), I have decided to include another chapter. (Yes, two posts counts as enormously popular. Give me a break. I'm new.)
Here we go.

Chapter 2

The lights of the Hollywood Video store were dim, as if the storm outside was stifling the illumination they were attempting to bring. John walked in, looking around at the familiar dingy environment.

He liked Blockbuster better. It was cleaner. The floors were carpeted. The walls were white. All the lights actually worked.

In the far corner, along a wall that displayed new releases, a light flickered on and off intermittently. John looked at the clerk behind the counter, some pimply-faced high schooler.

"Hey," John said.

The clerk looked up.

John pointed to the light. "It's broken. Fix it."

At that moment his mom entered, just as the rain started fully, breaking down from the clouds in force and smashing up against the windows of the store. The clerk, who was reading some pulp sci-fi novel, almost jumped as some very loud wind buffetted the large pane of glass that was right behind him.

John tried not to laugh. Lydia put her hand on his shoulder, but John shrugged it off. "Don't touch me, Mom," he said, heading over to the new releases, where the light was broken.

Lydia bit her lip and looked at the clerk, who was back to reading his book, seemingly engrossed in it. At the far end, behind the desk, was a door, and from it emerged the store manager.

He was a fairly large man, african-american, with scruffy facial hair sprouting from the basic area of his chin. His blue buttoned shirt was rumpled, unruly, unevenly buttoned. Not really that attractive.

He winked at Lydia when he saw her. Lydia was well known around town, for, well, you know. She remembered this man. Lars Homes. She had given him a lap dance the previous week. Earned herself 200 bucks.

She didn't like doing anything outside of work, though. Her reputation was bad enough, she didn't need to go slutting around to dirty it anymore. For John's sake, if no one else's.

To be quite frank, she had always been something of a slut. She was passed around her high school like some old shirt. It seemed every guy in the school had had a piece of her. Nothing had ever come of it. Until community college, that one fateful night where that bastard had gotten her pregnant.

She put her hand on her head and reached into her purse for a smoke. She needed one. Badly. As she pulled out a marlboro light, the clerk behind the counter glanced up sharply at her.

"Um, excuse me, there's no smoking here," he said. He pointed at a sign on the wall, a sign Lydia had come to hate. The traditional red line drawn through smoking cigarette.

Lydia sneered at him and stuck the cigarette in her mouth, chewing it slightly, just inhaling the flavor. Instinctively she reached for her lighter.

The manager, Mr. Homes, raised his hand. "I'm sorry, Miss Hankle, but there's no smoking. You'll have to take it outside."

Lydia looked outside at the storm. It was getting worse. Countless flashes of lightning dotted the sky, and the rain was coming down in sheets now, while wind of unbelievable force seemed to tear apart the trees. Man. The weatherman had said it would be bad, but she hadn't suspected this.

"I'm not going out in that shit," Lydia said matter-of-factly. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and put it back in her purse. There was no use torturing herself with the flavor. "I can wait."

The clerk nodded, and Lars Homes gave her one last wink and slipped back into his office.

Lydia muttered something to herself and flipped the finger in the direction of Lars' office. "Drop dead, you son of a bitch."

Her high heels clanking on the stone floor, she headed over to where Josh was standing.

*****

Since the store was virtually empty because of the storm, John should have been able to hear the whole exchange that took place between his mom, the clerk, and the manager. But he didn't. He was standing right next to a window, the howling of the wind and the groaning of the trees was so loud it drowned out any other noise that threatened to come his way.

He pulled his coat close around himself, hugging himself tightly as he stared at the titles. Mostly crappy sequels. Nothing good had come out in a while. He should check out the video game section...they hadn't played video games in awhile....

"John! I'm here, sweetie," Lydia came into view. John turned away and headed for Game Crazy the video game section of the store.

Outside, the storm grew more violent.

*****

On the other side of the store, the clerk reached over and flicked the volume switch to the radio store, increasing it. This storm was getting way too loud.

"....the winds are increasing to violent proportions here, Bill, almost hurricane force...our meterologists here are trying to figure it out, but no explanation is sufficing...."
"Yes, that's true, Mark, we live in North Dakota....hurricanes only form over water, don't they?"
"Yes...as of now we are advising everyone to STAY INDOORS until the storm clears. If you have an underground shelter use it, but as of now, outside is not a safe place to be..."

The clerk shook his head. Hell of a world they lived in.

*****

John and Lydia were standing in the video game section, looking at video games. (What else?) Xbox games. His mom had bought him an Xbox for his 12th birthday. He had loved it, because it came from someone he loved.

True, though he often felt like he hated his mom, he knew that without her...he didn't want to think about it.

"I don't think I've played this one," Lydia said, picking one off the shelf. "Extreme Beach Volleyball?"

John almost laughed when he saw what she was holding. It was rated M for mature, and it wasn't for violence if you know what I mean. "No, mom, that has a bunch of naked girls dancing around with their boobs hanging out of their bikinis."

Now, obviously, this was not something a thirteen year old and their mother would discuss, but not every thirteen year old had a stripper mother.

Lydia laughed and set the title back on the shelf. "Sounds like what I do for...." She stopped herself. She didn't want to go there, and break the tenous connection that she and John had been holding for nearly two minutes.

John, though, was very blunt sometimes. "You can say it, Mom. It's what you do at work." Then he fell silent.

The room fell deathly quiet. Unnaturally so.

John looked at his mom. "The storm, Mom."

Lydia looked over at the window. No rain. No wind. She walked over carefully to the window, and a look of horror flashed across her face. She turned back to John. "Sweetie, I love you...."

SMASH!! John knew incredible shock and surprise, and the next minute, he forgot everything.

Dark.

*****

And thaaaaaaat's the second installment! Hope you guys enjoy!

It's great, I'm liking it alot, I hope you keep it up.

You're pulling all the right strings.

Chapter 3

An ocean of darkness roiled over John, clouding his vision, enveloping him, swirling around him like the bodily liquids swirl around a child in the womb. So many different shades black....barely distinguishable from one another, yet all the same, uniform, not really changing, except John could see the black moving.

His eyes were closed, but he could see the black moving. He tried opening his eyes, but they seemed to be welded shut. He tried clenching his teeth, but realized, with slightly detached shock, that he had no teeth. He really didn't have a body.

He was traveling around ethereally, searching for a way out of this darkness, an escape from this prison of black. It seemed quite urgent, as though if he didn't something very bad would happen, something not quite right.

John wasn't sure. This didn't make any sense.

His mom. He didn't remember his mom. Well, he did, but he didn't. He had a vague image of some person who was supposed to be in his life, but she wasn't. She was gone, but it didn't seem to matter. Didn't seem important.

John retched, though he didn't know how he could have done that without a body. It happened though. He could feel the warm liquid of his snack earlier that day flowing down onto his legs.

His legs. He had legs.

With a shock, a jolt, a scream, he sat up, slapping his head against some metal objec, immediately sending him flying back down onto the concrete ground on the store.

The Hollywood Video store. What.

John sat up again, reaching out with his right hand to steady himself against a rack of video games.

Well, that wasn't exactly the correct description. There were no video games. None whatsoever. The entire rack was empty, but the metal was still there.

Wait a minute. He had opened his eyes. When had that happened? John felt dizzy for a second, and he felt the moving blackness beckoning to him. It was peaceful, but he knew there was some reason he couldn't.

John stood up and looked around. He was still inside Game Crazy. The purples walls caused him to feel claustrophobic. He shook himself and his jacket, shaking off the little bit of rain that had accumulated on him as he had been running into the store.

He looked around. All the video games had disappeared. The store looked completely normal, except it had no wares.

John frowned and headed out of the video game section, gasping when he saw the rest of the Hollywood Video. All the DVDs are gone, as where the VHSs. What in the hell.....?

And then John remembered his mother.

A cold chill crept up his spine, and he whirled around, to see.....

Nothing. Nothing was there. There store was completely deserted, with no one in sight. Anywhere. At all.

"Hello?" he called out, his voice tremulously shaking with fear. The manager was gone. There was no store clerk. The radio stood there, blaring out static. The man's book sat on the desk, open to some random page.

John swallowed. What had happened? Where was his mom? Where were the movies?

He looked outside.

The sky was a blazingly beautiful blue, with perfect white clouds dotting its surface, conveying a sense of peace that John couldn't help but welcome.

At first.

But then he shook it off violently. He needed to find his mom. Find out what was going on, because he had some nagging feeling his mom was important in whatever had happened.

John headed towards the door and pushed it open, a cool breeze blowing across his face. He sighed in contentment. This was nice. Then he screamed in shock and fell back against the glass, nearly knocking it out of its frame.

The parking lot in front of him was normal. There was his car. There were some other cars around. Parking meters along the road on the left.

But about a quarter of a mile to his right, where a shopping center usually sat, was a forest.

Yes, a forest.

John squinted, pinched himself, gave a slight yelp of pain.

A forest.

It seemed to groan with ancient age, its dark leaves heaving a huge sigh, as the boughs and trunks of the trees seemed to communicate with one another in some secret language. The entire canopy of the forest rippled with some kind of intense communication. It was as if the trees were talking.

There was something familiar about this forest. John couldn't quite place his finger on it.....

Wait. Yes he could. He knew exactly where he'd seen this forest.

This was Fangorn Forest, from the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"What the hell?" he muttered to himself, his jaw hanging open. This was impossible. He must be hallucinating. Dreaming. Something or other. Turning around, he tried to crawl back into the store, to the safety of Game Crazy, to let the blackness envelop him once again.

But the door was locked, and no one was inside. The shelves were still empty, the book still sat on the counter, alongside the radio, still blaring static.

John swallowed again and turned around.

"AAAAAHHHH!!" John screamed in fear as a giant winged creature swopped down toward him, an evil glare in its eyes.

It was a gruesomely hideous freak of nature, all of its limbs, including its wings, bent at an impossibly odd angle, twisted and turning around, with half of its head missing, the lower part of the brains swarming around liek a mass of worms. It smelled of sulfur.

The creature was within inches of John, until it exploded in a flash. Dozens of its burning pieces were scattered about the parking lot as some sort of string shot through the thing, ripping apart into endless chunks of ash raining down onto the cold concrete.

John's mouth hung open, and as the smoke from the explosion of the creature cleared, he saw someone standing at the far end of the parking lot.

A dark figure, head bent down, clothed in a long black coat of leather. He was holding something too, and when he clicked something on it, the string that had shot through the vile creature swirled around through the air and landed back in place.

The figure looked, and John couldn't movie, he was so petrified with fear. It began to walk over to him, then stopped about five feet away. John couldn't believe it. Absolutely could not.

How was this possible?

The man, an African-American, smiled down at him, almost amused at how afraid he was. "Hey there. Kid. Name's Blade."

*****

Like the interesting plot twist I put in there? Believe me, it's not gonna be the only one....
*Laughs maniacally*

Sweet, I'm really liking this, it's easy to read yet has a huge amount of detail, loving it mate, please continue.

Thank you for all the comments, peoples, and I really hope you enjoy this next installment of "A Merging of Worlds."

Chapter 4

It simply was not possible. It defied all the bounds of natural logic, something which John clung to with his very life at that moment. He was a math whiz in school, because he knew he could trust math. Numbers always turned out the same. It wasn't like writing, or gym, or even science stuff. Even science wasn't an exact, well, science. Math was. Every answer was the same, and he loved that sense of security that it brought him whenever he completed a problem.

With a stripper mother and a father long gone, it was something he didn't feel he could live without.

And now this was happening. A movie character, Blade, was standing right before him, with his traditional buzz-cut, and tatoos adorning the edges of his face. Large sunglasses hid his eyes, making him completely inscrutable. He had a large frame, well over six feet, and a long black leather coat cascaded down across his shoulders, the shiny sheen of black leather reflecting almost blindingly the setting sun. Various bulges in his coat showed concealed weapons, weapons that John knew he used to kill vampires.

Then he spoke, a low, commanding voice, without any hint of fear at all. John's lip curled in disgust when he saw Blade's pointed fangs, the fangs that were a symbol for the horrible connection he had with vampires. John remembered from the movies that Blade had been born from the womb of a woman who had just recently been bitten by a vampire.

As a result, he did not suffer the traditional vampire weaknesses, mainly, daylight. Silver did not affect him, did not poison his blood the way it did the damned.

And he did not have the constant craving for blood. Vampires, suffering from a deficiency in their own blood, needed to feed on the blood of others to stay alive. Of course, there were many ways that vampires could get the chemical they needed, but once they first tasted blood, they never recovered from the blood lust. It was like a mental addiction. Nothing could replace the feeling of sucking the life flow out of a living human being.

"You have a voice, kid?"

John knew he had one; he was sure of it, and he groped around, trying to snatch the elusive thing out of the air. It was somewhere. "Yes, I do," he babbled. "And my name's John Hankle. And you're Blade."

The corners of Blade's lips turned upward as he stared down at the thirteen-year old. "Very good. You can listen."

John nodded. This didn't make any sense. This was completely and totally fucked up.

What was happening here?

And then, right at that moment, everything that had happened that afternoon hit him like a freight train. He remembered his mom, completely, how she had been torn away from him, flying through the shattered debris of the store wall as she carried away the displays with her.....

One solitary drop of sadness glistened on the corner of John's eyes, slowly carving its way down the edge of his cheek, tracing a path of loss and pain. It feel off and dashed itself against the sidewalk, shattering into a thousand tiny pieces of misery.

Blade, not one much for comfort, turned away from John to look at Fangorn Forest, leaving John to dwell on his emotions.

Which was not something John really wanted to do at that particular moment. He coughed back a sob that threatened to wrack his body, because he knew that if he started he couldn't stop.

His mom was gone. That was for sure. He needed to stop thinking about it, think about something else, concentrate on something else....the logic of it all. John was good at logic; it was why he excelled at and loved math. If he found a single solitary fact in all this he could grab a hold of it and not let go.

Ever.

Then it came to him. Looking up at Blade, he nodded, then looked over at Fangorn Forest. It made sense. The DVDs in the store were gone, as were the videos. His mother had been torn away from him, with the displays flying out after her. He was living in a world of movies.

How, he knew not. He wished everything would go back to its original position, back into their DVD cases where they belonged.

But he had that fact, and he wrapped his mind around it in several tight mental knots, willing it to stay here and not leave him. He needed it. Bad.

He cleared his throat and Blade turned back around to look at him. "What's up, John?"

John began to stand up, but tumbled back down. Blade held out a hand and John grabbed it as the Daywalker hoisted him up. John stumbled unsteadily to his feet and mumbled an incoherent thank you.

Blade nodded. "Don't mention it."

Searching for something to talk about, John blurted out, "What was that thing?"

Blade looked at him. "A demon."

John nodded, but then stopped. That didn't make sense. Blade fought vampires, and though they were demons of sorts, he hadn't ever seen winged creatures like that in the Blade trilogy. He looked at Blade questioningly, but Blade didn't seem to catch his unasked question.

He turned back to Fangorn Forest, shaking his head. "I knew I should not have left there without that motherfucker."

John shifted in position. "Um, who?"

Blade turned back to look at him. "My friend. I left him out there in that fucking forest and now he's taking a hell of a long time to get back."

"What friend?" John asked.

Blade didn't answer him. Instead, in a way, the forest did.

It rumbled a huge roar, and then spit out a single solitary figure, too far away to make out the details. It was clearly a man, though. He stumbled around the ground, doused in leaves and various twigs, rolling around until he came to a stop.

Blade shook his head and began to walk toward him. John stayed put. After taking a few steps, Blade paused and turned back around. "You coming or what?"

"Oh, sorry," John said, trotting after the vampire hunter. The two walked over to the man lying on the ground, who was slowly getting himself up and patting himself down, picking off various leaves and twigs that insistently clung to his clothing like they belonged there.

Once again, John's jaw nearly fell to the ground and smashed into the concrete. Things were getting weirder, but he guess he shouldn't have been surprised.

This was just another movie character.

White shirt. Orange coat wrapped around waist. Long unruly black hair in a kind of funky halo around his head. Black vest around his white shirt. Black shorts. Dirty, ratty tennis shoes.

And one big smile. He held out his hand instantly to John and shook it vigorously, smiling all the way. "How's it going, Dude?? Name's Ted Logan."

*****
And the story continues.....

ahhh novus it's great writers like you that are giving me something entertaining to read,this is getting better and better i swear,keep up ze good work!

Is the accent fake or real?
Lol.
And thanks r-a. Anybody else, feel free to post something up. I can always use encouragement in my story. Glad you guys like how it's going so far. I'll post up chapter 5 later on today maybe, if not, I'll do it tomorrow.

Loving it mate, you know how to create a good story and I really like the detail you weave in, the details make or break a story and it's made yours. Keep up the good work.

Chapter 5

John almost groaned. Ted "Theodore" Logan, from the Bill & Ted movies. One of Keanu Reeve's first film hits. Ted was a clueless high schooler, who just liked having fun with life.

"What's your name, Dude?"

John looked at him.

"He lacks some manners," Blade said, smiling. "It took him forever to tell me his name. It's John."

"Pleased to meet you, John!" Ted said, still smiling. "How's it hanging?"

"Horrible," John blurted out.

Ted, for once, stopped smiling. "Why's that, Dude?"

John wondered if he should say anything about his mom, the video store, the huge explosion/crash, and whether or not these two people realized they were two different characters from two different movies and they had no place being the same area as Fangorn Forest, from a completely different movie.

He decided against it. "Just having a bad day," he explained quickly.

Ted nodded understandingly. "I understand how you feel, Dude. My day's been most heinous. I woke up this morning and I totally wasn't in my bed! It was most egregious."

John would have laughed at Ted's speak, but the seriousness of the whole situation made him not want to. "I see," was all he said.

Ted pointed at him. "So how'd you get here, Dude?"

John shrugged. "I really don't know," he said. "One minute I was in a video rental store with my mom, the next minute I was here, and then I came out of the video store and Blade saved me from a demon." Something about that sentence didn't seem right to John, but he shelved the information away for future reference.

Ted nodded. "Blade here is a most excellent rescuer. He saved me from a very non-non-heinous dude named Shredder."

John swallowed. "Shredder?"

Ted nodded emphatically. "Oh yes, dude. He is a most bad personage. His suit is made all up of metal spikes, and he was totally about to kick my butt, but then, most excellently, Blade here drops by and totally saves me! EXCELLENT!!" Ted leaned back at that moment and played an air guitar for a couple of seconds. Sound actually emerged from it, and John was surprised for a moment, but then he got over it. What else did he expect in this crazy little world?

"The motherfucker got away though," Blade said, finally speaking. He stared into Fangorn Forest like it was the haven of the devil himself. "Once I rescued Ted here we beat the hell out of that forest. I came out and saw you, with that demon about to attack you, and so I ran and rescued you."

"You had me worried there for a second, dude," Ted said, slapping Blade on the back. Blade stiffened. John could tell he had a hard time not blowing up at ted for constantly being upbeat and speaking in surfer-talk. "I was afraid I wouldn't get of that forest alive. Then this tree totally reached down and picked me up most heinously! It threw me out of there like a rock, dude!"

"Uh huh," John said, nodding. "So where are you guys headed?"

"We're headed to the Lair," Blade said simply. He then began walking away, towards the far end of the forest, away from Hollywood Video.

"Blade, dude, wait up!" Ted said, running after him. John followed them both.

"What's the Lair?" John asked.

They both looked at him like he was crazy. Even Ted. "Dude, you don't know what the Lair is? It is a most evil place with heinous bad guys waiting to kill us all!"

"He's got that right," Blade said. "So our job is to stop the fuckers."

"Where did you come from, Blade?" John asked, finally becoming accustomed to this weird environment. He felt, for once, like he actually belonged, which was strange. Here in this weird, impossible environment, he felt more at home than back at his middle school, with everybody teasing him mercilessly about how young his mother was. He smiled when he thought of the first Bill and Ted movie, in which Ted's friend Bill had had a mom who was barely four years older than him. Of course, she was his stepmom, but it was still pretty funny to think about.

"From vampires," Blade said, nearly spitting the words. "Fucking bastards killed my mom."

Now John knew what had been wrong with what Ted had said. Blade didn't fight demons. He fought vampires. As far as he knew, there were no demons in the Blade trilogy, except for sort of Dracula in the third one.

Ted whispered to John, "He is most frustrated at these vampire dudes. He definitely wants to kill them."

"I can understand," John said. He then turned to Ted. "Hey, Ted, where's Bill?"

Ted frowned. "How did you know about my friend Bill, dude?"

John swallowed, realizing he had misspoke. He quickly tried to think of an explanation. "Um, uh, just a guess."

Ted, simple-minded Ted, took that as an acceptable answer. "I don't know, Dude. I am becoming most worried about there whereabouts of my most excellent friend, Bill."

John nodded, then fell silent. The trio of them walked in silence for awhile, still going along the parking lot that sat out of place next to Fangorn Forest. The dark foreboding trees seemed to stretch on for miles.

The sun began to set in the sky, casting a strange blood-red glow across the parking lot as it settled behind the trees, lighting them on fire with a bright orange glow, making the forest seem even more spooky than usual. Soon it would be night, and John didn't like the idea of being caught out here at night. Something bad was bound to happen.

Apparently Blade thought so too. He stared at the sun. "Vampires come out at night. It's the only time they can. We need to find shelter."

"Most excellent idea, Blade!" Ted said, performing the air guitar move once more. A dischordant note sounded out from his imaginary instrument. John shook his head, a smile crossing his lips.

Blade pointed off the east, away from the sun. A restaurant sat there. Denny's. It was strange to think that even in this strange world Denny's still existed. Of course, with all the weird crap happening, John should have expected it.

They walked over to the Denny's, and Blade pushed the door in.

SMASH!!

The glass of the door shattered as a sword swung through it, sending twinkling shards spattering in all directions. Blade ducked and kicked off to the side, his booted foot connecting with cloth, sending some person flying back into the restaurant. Blade did a backflip out of the Denny's, coming to a stop beside John and Ted.

"MOST excellent moves, Blade, my friend!" Ted said. He pointed at the Denny's. "But there's a bad dude in there, Dude. How are we going to get him?"

"I don't know," Blade said. "I had to back out of there so I didn't get a chance to see the motherfucker."

Suddenly a voice sounded out from the Denny's, calling to them. "Oie! Who be you men?"

Blade paused, debating for a split second whether or he should reveal their identities. "NO!" he shouted finally. "You tell us who you are first! You attacked us, remember?"

The voice laughed, a mirthless laugh that mocked them. It carried a thick British accent. "If I attacked you I must have had good reason to and that being the case it is you, not I, Sir, who must tell me your name! Else I shall protect this fortress and die trying! Tell me your name, and if not, the consequences will be none too pleasant! Savvy?"

John allowed himself a small smile, despite the danger of the situation. He knew who this character was. He loved the movie.

*****

And there you go! Hope you guys liked it! If you're reading this, please leave feedback! I can always use some!

This is brilliant Novus! It's so easy to read and entertaining, and the detail is incredible. Savvy! I can't wait for the next part.

Thanks, veradis. It's comments like that that authors love to hear about their work. And thanks all you other cool cats for your encouraging comments too.

Chapter 6

For the longest time, nobody moved. John could almost feel the hands on his watch move by millimeter by millimeter. One second stretched into a minute. A minute stretched into ten minutes. John last all track of time as he stared at Blade.

The vampire hunter stood there, eyeing the store like it was a dangerous predator. Or, perhaps, a delicious prey about to be pounced upon by a dangerous predator.

He breathed in and out slowly, his massive chest heaving up and and down, each one of his breaths seeming to permeate, fill the air with tension that began to surround the three of them like a fog.

Besides his breathing, there was no sound except for the faint hum of the Denny's sign. It glowed a bright yellow, casting down its light upon Blade, John, and Ted.

The light of the spooky moon mixed with the light of the sign to create an effect that was extremely creepy. John felt a shiver run down his spine, and he looked behind him to see if anything was there.

Nothing. Nothing at all. For as far the eye could see there was no movement, except for a steady, gentle breeze carressing the trees as it swam through the air and gently touched down onto the three human's faces. John breathed it in deeply, glad for the distraction.

Then he almost puked, because the stench he inhaled was rank. His hand came flying to his mouth and he doubled over, feeling bile rush up his wind pipe and begin to seep into his mouth, infecting his taste buds with the vile flavor or stomach acid. He stomached it down and looked up at Ted, who was looking down at him.

Blade had noticed it too. He took one look at John and turned back to the Denny's. "All right, fine! My name is Blade, and behind me are Ted and John! We mean you no harm! We merely need shelter for the night!"

Nothing.

No sound.

John felt the smell overwhelm him again, and a trickle of bile escaped from his mouth and slid down his chin.

"Blade, dude?" Ted said, worried. He put his hand on John's shoulder, then noticed the smell himself. One second later he was joining John in his doubled-over position.

Then came an answer from the Denny's. "Thank you, mate! That is all I asked for: your names, and now I shall allow you to come in and enjoy the hospitatlity of yours truly." The door swung open and in the doorway stood what was unmistakably a pirate, dressed in a dusty, patched up leather hat, a white shirt that fluttered around his torso in the foul breeze, strong, sturdy, leather boots, and brown pants to match. He held out a long pirate's sword toward them, then swung it behind himself and pointed it inside. "Welcome, maties. My name be Captain Jack Sparrow."

Blade strode past him without so much as a second glance, the urgency in his step evident. Sparrow looked at him quizzically, then shrugged and turned back to Ted and John, who were hobbling over to the restaurant.

A faint buzzing began to fill the air, drowning out the comforting hum of the Denny's sign.

Blade swore, then shouted, "Come on, you fuckers, don't fuck around out there! We need to be inside!!"

John hurried up, and Ted along with him. Once they were inside Jack swung the door shut and locked it with a pair of keys he pulled from his pocket. Then, placing the keys back in their place, he turned to the trio of strangers and eyed them with a deeply insane look. He pointed at them haphazardly, the way a drunk might, but it was clear he was being very deliberate in his actions.

His piercing yet insane eyes bore into them, their dark depths unfathomable. Then he spoke. "What? No thanks do I get for offering my shelter to you?"

"Thanks, dude," Ted said, standing up, finally able to breathe because the door had blocked out the smell. "You saved our butts. Most triumphant of you to do so."

"I assume you are Ted," Jack said, holding out his hand. Ted took it, nodding and smiling, back to his usual old self.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Jack Sparrow dude," Ted said. He pointed at John, who was slowly righting himself, though still feeling as if he would barf at any moment. "This is John. He's joining us on our quest to the Lair."

"TED!!" Blade said. He ran over to the surfer dude and smacked him across the head. Ted went tumbling to the floor with a cry of pain.

Less than half a second later Jack Sparrow had the tip of his sword pointed right at Blade's jugular. "Though I have just only met master Ted here, I do believe he deserves better than how you are treating him, and by my honor, I will not allow you to do that to a good man."

The sword stayed there, still as a statue, still barely touching the skin. With one flick Jack could kill Blade.

Blade was cool as ice. "Calm yourself, Jack," he said. "I am just being careful not to be too careless with what little information we have. I don't even know if I can trust you."

"I let you into our fortress," Jack said. "What more do you want, Blade?"

John, who had been staring at both of them the whole time, frowned. "Our fortress?" he asked. "There's only one of you. Isn't there?"

"No. There isn't."

A voice emerged from the back corner of the restaurant. Everyone's eyes turned there, and from out of a booth stepped a tall man dressed in a long back coat, with a white buttoned shirt underneath, adorned by a black tie. His pants and his shoes were black as well. So was his hair.

This was a quite a contrast with what he was carrying: a weapon of some sort, the handle being the end of some sort of cross, and the chamber being a very enlarged version of the traditional old western revolver. The entire thing glistened with an unearthly golden light.

He stepped over to them, then pointed his gun straight at Blade. Now Blade had, on one side of his neck, a sword, and on the other side, the weird cross gun.

"Who are you?" Blade wanted to know.

The man growled out a response in a low whisper. "This is Constantine. John Constantine." A pause. "Asshole."

*****

Hope you guys liked it!

Okay I know this is a double post but could someone please leave a comment if you're reading this story? It would help a lot and encourage me to post more.
Thanks guys; have a great day!

Dang, you don't even pretend to not be fishing for a compliment. Oh well, good enough writers deserve to do that. And you are a very good one, my friend. I personally have never seen a story like this before. And you always leave with a stupid cliffhanger. Two Keanu's, oh no! What shall we do?

Cliffhangers are what I'm all about, veradis. You ever read the Da Vinci Code? His chapters are super short, but they always leave you on cliff hangers, so you think, "oh well, the next chapter's only a couple pages long, I'll read that", and then another...and another....and another. I like his technique.
In any case *sheepish look*. Yes, I was fishing for compliments, heh heh. I just needed to know someone was out there actually reading it, so thanks a million, veradis.
I'll post the next chapter up soon.
In the meantime, more people please leave comments! (heh heh)

No more replies? Okey, then, I will now post up the next chapter.

Chapter 7

Blade acted as though Constantine was pointing a twig at his neck. "Nice to make your acquaintance, Mr. John Constantine."

"Cut the crap," Constantine said. His finger tightened on the trigger. "Lighten up your mood, hotshot, or I'll be lighting you up."

John stood watching the whole thing, his expression tense. In their respective movies, every one of these guys was a good guy. However, here may be a different story. They weren't exactly acting friendly to each other, and John didn't know who to trust.

Constantine spoke sideways to Ted. "Get up, kid. Go over with that other kid over there." He jerked his head at John. Neither Ted nor Constantine seemed to notice that they were both the same person.

Ted scrambled to his feet and ran over to John, muttering, "Yes, sir." When he arrived right next to John he whispered. "This dude is most bogus! Who does he think he is?"

"Didn't you hear?" John muttered, half-sarcastically. "Constantine. John Constantine." He turned to look at Ted. "Asshole." Ted gave a grin and the two of them turned to look back at Blade, who was still held at Holy Shotgun point and pirate sword point.

"Should we let him go, Constantine?" Sparrow asked, his long mustache twitching. "He does not seem to be a threat."

Blade gave him a quick glance. "That's where you're wrong. Fortunately for you, I like you, so I don't think I'll kill you just yet."

"How gracious of you," Sparrow said, leering. "Perhaps you'd consider letting my friend Constantine here live as well."

Blade gave a sidelong look at Constantine, as if he could read his mind just be looking at him. The two stared at each other, and they may as well have been shooting daggers of ice at each other for the intensity that radiated outward from them like heat from a volcano.

Finally Constantine spoke. "We should let him go, Jack," he said. "We have other problems to deal with right now." He looked outside. The faint whistling that Blade, Ted, and John had heard outside earlier was growing louder. With one more glance back at Blade, Constantine let down the Holy Shotgun, while Jack followed suit, sheathing his blade in one quick motion.

Blade pulled out a gun from his pocket, a 50 caliber pistol, powerful enough to punch a hole through a brick wall.

Constantine smiled when he saw the gun. He looked back up at the vampire hunter, shaking his head. "That's really not going to help."

"Says who?" Blade asked.

"We're dealing with scavengers of the damned," Constantine said, reaching into his jacket and whipping out a pack of marlboro lights. He dumped one out into his hang and stuck it in his mouth, whipping his lighter into place and igniting the cancer-carrying stick.

Blade smiled as well. "Neither is that."

Constantine gave him a calm lok, shrugged, then turned toward the door, the cigarette still dangling from his mouth as he pointed the Holy Shotgun at the glass. "Soon they're gonna burst through," he said calmly, the cigarette bouncing around on his lower lip. "And then we attack."

"What about us, dude?" Ted said, suddenly speaking.

Constantine let the shotgun down and turned to Ted and John. "Hi," he said, extending his hand as if he were just happening to meet them on the street. "You know my name. What are yours?"

"My name is Ted Logan," Ted, said, grinning and extending his hand. Constantine took it, shook it, then turned to look at John.

"And you?"

"John."

Constantine smiled. "John, eh? Good solid name." He turned back to Blade and sparrow, pulling large vial of water from his jacket. Imprinted onto the glass vial was a small cross. He tossed it to Blade. "Pour this on your gun. Should help. Jack, you already poured yours on, right?"

Jack nodded, unsheating his sword and showing the faint sheen of the Holy Water that he had spread on the sword just minutes before Blade, John, and Ted had arrived.

"What if it doesn't help?" Blade asked, staring suspiciously at the vial.

Constantine shrugged. "Then it doesn't," he said simply. He turned to the two kids. "John and Ted, you are going to hide back in the kitchen."

John nodded, not really wanting to get involved in this whole thing. Right from the get-go he had felt confused, lost, and longing...longing to have his mom back. He wondered once more where she was. He knew they needed to find her, yet he still did not know how. He just needed to stay alive. He'd let the trained warriors do the battle.

"Oie, mate," Sparrow said, grinning at John and showing the glint of his golden tooth. "Don't worry. I'll teach you swordplay when we have more spare time. Soon me must take care of this minor threat."

"This is crazy," Blade said, pouring some water onto his gun.

"Yes....," Constantine muttered absent-mindedly, checking his gun once more. Blade gave him a look, which he paid no attention to.

"Come on, dude," Ted said, dragging John along with him as they headed for the kitchen. The two teenagers hustled along into the kitchen, the smells of the various and sundry baked goods assaulting them as they closed the door behind them. Neither of them were particularly hungry. Ted glanced back at the door. "Think those dudes'll do okay out there?" he asked, a worried tone in his voice.

John slid down onto the cold linoleum floor, his back up against the wall. "I don't know, Ted. I certainly hope so."

*****

"Ready?" Constantine asked Blade, turning to the vampire hunter and giving him a small mirthless smile.

Blade just glared at him from behind his dark sunglasses. He didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a yes," Constantine said, nodding. "You agree, Jack?"

"Completely, mate," Jack said, smiling. He pointed at the door with his sword. "Seems our friends are taking quite a bit of time to get here."

"I know," Constantine said, a frown crossing his face. "Makes me slightly worried."

CRASH!!!!!

From behind them, all the windows along one wall exploded inward with a burst of shattering glass that flew across the room in all directions, embedding in seat cushions, tables, plants, the floor, dirt, skin. The trio of fighters could hear the screams of the damned just outside.

And the fluttering of wings.

Maybe talons.

"Always a catch," Constantine muttered, aiming the shotgun and firing as the first demon shot into the room with an ear-splitting shriek of a scream.

*****

Hope you guys enjoyed! If you're reading, please leave comments!

What? :( No comments? Ah well. I'll write anyway. Please people, leave comments!!

Chapter 8

The screams of the demon as it disintegrated into a million pieces echoed off the diner, pounding away at the eardrums of its three occupants.

More demons swarmed in, straight for the trio of warriors. Constantine clenched his teeth and fired round after round. He stepped forward and let his right hand fall to his side, firing the Holy Shotgun off to his left, incinerating one demon, then tossing his gun to his right hand and blowing a whole straight through two other demons. With a cry of agony they fell to the ground in a heap of smoking, stinking ash.

Jack Sparrow, standing not ten feet away from Constantine, spun around in place, his blade whishing through countless demons as he went, slicing through the skulls ,decapitating them, disemboweling them, slashing them, thrashing them, till their the original carpet on the floor could be seen no longer.

Blade was standing on a table, grappling with another demon. The demon had his 50 caliber gun in its hand, trying to pry it away from him with all its might.

It was losing.

Blade gave one last yank one his gun, flying backward. He placed his finger on the trigger and one bullet shot through the air and pierced the demons right eye, carving its way through the demolished brains, then exiting out the other side, smashing into a light and plunging the room into darkness.

"SHIT!!" Constantine shouted. He couldn't see a thing. He felt demon scent all around him, infecting him, choking him, suffocating him. He fired randomly throughout the dark, hitting a few demons occasionally, but they had night vision. They could avoid him much easier than he could hit them.

"Nice work, mate!" Sparrow shouted, his blade effectively cutting a demon's wings off from his shoulders. Then with a final lightning-fast whip he dispatched the demon straight back to hell. Sparrow turned to Blade, barely able to see the vampire hunter in the gloom. "Was that on purpose??" he shouted.

"Shut the FUCK up!!" Blade screamed, jumping up and firing off several rounds into the air. Three demons fell to the ground and exploded into a cloud of acrid smoke. Blade coughed uncontrollably.

"It's the sulfur!!" Constantine screamed. "Don't breathe! You'll vomit like hell!"
For a moment he contemplated the irony of what he had just said. Then he blasted yet another demon into oblivion.

This wasn't working, though. More demons were coming into the restaurant by the second. There was no way they could beat the demons alone. Even Constantine, one of the most powerful exorcists on the planet, Jack Sparrow, an unparalleled swordsman, and Blade, the thing all vampires feared everywhere, could not stop this humongous horde.

Another flash from the Holy Shotgun revealed a demon about to chop Blade's head off with its deadly claws.

"WATCH OUT!!" Constantine screamed. He whipped the shotgun around and broke apart the demons head, watching the pieces smash into the back of Blade's coat. Blade gave Constantine a brief acknowledging nod, then fired off to his right, killing yet another demon.

"This does not seem to be working, mates!!" Sparrow cried, ducking and jabbing his sword behind him, into the stomach of one of the angels of hell. With a cough and an ear-piercing shriek, the demon exploded.

"YOU GOT A BETTER IDEA??" Constantine screamed, throwing his Shotgun into the air and twirling around, catching it and firing into the gut of yet another demon.

This was getting ridiculous.

*****

Inside the kitchen, John and Ted still sat on the kitchen floor, listening to the screams of the demons and the cries of their friends.

"Dude, we're so dead," normally cheerful Ted said. He looked at John, as if for guidance. "What are we gonna do?"

John bit his lip. "Why are you asking me?" he snapped, staring at the floor. Ted looked at him, kind of hurt, then stared back at the ground.

"This is ridiculous," John said, feeling tears well up in his eyes. "I shouldn't even be here. I was at the video store with my mom, we were gonna rent a video for the night." He buried his head in his hands and felt the first trickle of a tear.

Hesitantly, Ted put his arm around John. "Don't worry about it, Dude. I'm sure those dudes out there will dispatch those most heinous dudes that have crashed our party."

Despite himself, John had to smile at Ted's optimism. He and Bill, in their movies, had always been the perpetual optimists. They never seemed to see the bad side of things. Only the good side. John admired Ted for that. "Thanks," he muttered.

Ted pat him on the back. "No problem, dude."

They sat there for a minute, continuing to listen to the screams.

Then they heard another noise. Coming from the walk-in freezer at the far end of the kitchen, sixty or seventy-feet away. Something was banging on the other side of the door.

John swallowed, looked at Ted. "Constantine and Jack didn't mention anything about something back here, did they?"

Ted shook his head. "Not that I can remember, dude. I wonder what that is back there."

John searched his brain for something relation to this situation. He knew he had seen it in a movie somewhere before, but he couldn't quite recall where. It was just right there....

Another bang. The door opened a crack. John heard the scrabbling of something sharp against the metal. Then something poked out.

A reptilian claw.

*****

Hope you guys liked it. Comments are always appreciated!

LMAO this reads like a couple video games gone crazy, love it! You know, you should perhaps leave a bit time to readers to catch up to the story before you start getting impatient for feedback lol, there are so many good stories around here... anyway I'm very much looking forward to the next installment and cliffhanger (lol lol Blade + Constantine... this is alpha-male posturing at it's best lmfao. Now who are you going to add to that? First Jurassic Parc and then Bruce Willis?) :lol:

Chapter 9

John whirled around to face Ted. "Follow my lead," he said.

Ted frowned. "What do you mean, dude?"

"Just DO IT!" John hissed under his breath. He turned back around and began to crawl forward, with Ted close behind.

John padded forwards on the ground, his palms touching the cold, clammy feel of the kitchen floor. The cold of the floor enhanced the chill of fear that ran up and down his spine as he stared at the walk-in freezer door.

The reptilian claw shrank back inside, its sharp pointy tips disappearing into the mist of the freezer.

John scrambled towards one of the five long counters that sat in the middle of the kitchen floor. He pushed himself up against the end, and Ted imitated him, sidling up right next to him so that his arm barely peeked around the edge.

John whispered very, very quietly, "Bring your arm back."

Ted nodded, an expression of curious confusion on his face. He obeyed, though ,and layed his hand in his lap. John laid his hands in his lap as well as he began to tremble.

The silence of the kitchen seemed to ensconce them in some sort of invisible egg that not even the evil outside in the main restaurant could penetrate. Sure, John and Ted could hear the cries of the demons as they fought Sparrow, Constantine, and Blade, but they seemed strangely far away, distant, as if they weren't just on the other side of the door.

John and Ted sat there, huddled together up against the counter, the dim light in the kitchen casting an eerie glow onto the both of them. They heard the faint squeak of the door behind them, and they both swallowed hard.

Then, a much much louder noise. The door of the freezer slammed open from a kick from some creature that was on the inside. The freezer door bounced back against the wall, sending a thunderous cracking sound down towards Ted and John. The normally clueless surfer dude began actually be scared. He stared at John, wide-eyed, and mouthed, "What is it?"

John wasn't looking at him. He was staring straight ahead, his knees up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his knees as he trembled violently. His grip was so firm on his legs that his knuckles were turning white. He forced himself to calm down. It wouldn't do at all if they expected to escape the new horror that awaited them from the walk-in freezer.

Or rather, horrors. Two monstrosities stood in the doorway of the walk-in freezer, the mist billowing out from them dramatically, like some cheap sci-fi movie. Their silhouttes stood out starkly against the bright light of the freezer inside as they stared into the crappy lighting of the kitchen.

*****

"This is fucking STUPID!!!" Blade shouted, whirling around and incinerating one more demon. Three more took its place, flying towards the vampire hunter.

"Thanks for the info!!" Constantine shouted, jumping high into the air and kicking a demon away, then exploding it into oblivion with the Holy Shotgun.

"Any ideas, mates?" Sparrow called out from behind the counter. His sword slashed through four demons at once, then he ripped it out and their ashen insides spilled onto the floor as the rest of their bodies disintegrated.

"We need help!!" Constantine shouted.

"No SHIT, Sherlock!!!" Blade responded.

"Cut the whining crap, Dull Blade!" Constantine shouted as another demon was sent back to Hell thanks to his weapon. "There's no time!"

Blade looked as if he would like to just shoot Constantine, but he knew that that would only them make it two against a million. Now, with three against a million, it was far better odds.

"Where are we going to get said help, Constantine?" Sparrow screamed, nimbly dodging a claw from a demon that would have skewered him straight down his chest. With a whirl and a swipe the demon was done for.

"I guess it just needs to come to us!!" Constantine answered. He fired at three demons in a succession, and then the chamber was empty. Constantine curled his lip. "Ah, shit."

Three demons converged on him at once. Constantine kicked two away while punching another, as he unhooked the chamber to let it fall to the ground. Then, thinking quickly, he reached down his hand and grabbed it, smashing it straight into the cheek of one of the same demons, who had coming back for a different attack. The demon squealed in pain as the Holy material ate away at its flesh.

Blocking three demons' attacks with the Holy Shotgun, the exorcist reached into his long black coat and whipped out another chamber, slamming it into place, then tossing away the spent one straight into the wings of another demon. With a BAM Constantine killed it.

"Some help better come quick, then Mr. Constantine!" Blade shouted, slicing through demons with a lightning fast left hook. He fired at the both of them and they disappeared in a resounding puff of ash.

Right then a demon slashed at Sparrow, who was preoccupied with two different demons. The slash cut across his back, from right shoulder to his left hip. A long gash emerged which began to gush forth blood. The demon squealed in delight as Jack's mouth fell open to let out a long wail of pain. He fell forward onto the ground that was now nothing but a layer of ash. It whirled up around him as he slammed into it, then began to settle down.

Began to, that is, because the three demons he had been fighting now had a target down. They were just about to dive in for a feast when suddenly -

*****

The creatures were velociraptors. Undoubtedly some of the worst predators to ever have walked the Earth, or even some of the worst to have ever existed in movies. John knew they were deadly, and he was trapped in exactly the same situation that the two young kids had been in Jurassic Park. They had escaped, but would he and Ted?

He certainly hoped so.

John took a deep breath, to get air into his body, so that he could think clearly. There was a way out of this. Not towards the door, for out there they would be slaughtered in less than a second by one of the scavengers of the damned.

In here they were safe. Well, safe from the demons.

Over in front of the freezer, one of the raptors stepped out into the kitchen, its long elongated claw clicking ominously against the cold tile floor. Its cat-like eyes stared about the room, squinting for a sign of its prey. It twisted its long brown body, looking back and forth for a sign of the prey it knew was here.

Its partner, who had a coloring that was more green than brown, stepped forward too, slightly bumping into Brownie. With a hiss of its long tongue Brownie glared at Green, snapping almost half-playfully at Green's neck.

Green huffed and pushed Brownie away, then took a step farther, his own claw warning to the two teenagers who were hiding that they did not have long to live.

John felt like he would pee his pants. Ted was beginning to tremble as well, an expression of pure terror on his face. John took a glance to his left, away from the freezer. He looked down the aisle.

Brownie was at the far end, sniffing around for John and Ted's hiding place. Instantly John shot back to his original position, trying to think of a plan. If they could get to the freezer and lock themselves in, then they should be safe from the blood-thirsty raptors.

John looked around for something. Anything.

Brownie, meanwhile, had stepped forward, so that now he was looking straight down the aisle that John had looked down. The raptor couldn't see anything. No movement. No prey there. He turned and continued on his original course, going over to the next aisle.

Green was calmly walking forward down the original aisle, his nose to the ground, his long scaly tail slowly gliding back and forth. He was headed straight for John and Ted's hiding place.

John finally found something. He reached up and snatched a ladel that hung from the edge of the counter. Unfortunately, as soon as he snatched it, it clanged loudly against the rest of them.

Instantly Green's head shot up. With a snarling roar it began to walk faster, straight towards John and Ted.

John swore under his breath. Ted looked at him, biting his lower lip, his entire body shaking uncontrollably.

With a strong heave, John sent the ladle flying off to his left, towards Brownie. Green saw the movement instantly, and hopped up onto the counter with a resounding metal BANG!!

John held his breath, hoping it would work. Go that way...go that way...go that way......

Green hopped over to the next counter, then stared down into the aisle that was one aisle away from John's side. The ladle lay there, being thoroughly investigated by Brownie. John and Ted could hear the low heavy breathing as the raptors tried to puzzle this over.

John almost got up and make a dash for the freezer, but he didn't feel as if the raptors were far away enough. He needed to get them farther. How? Another ladle?

Green and Brownie then became bored with the original ladle. Brownie looked up at Green, then hissed and continued on down the aisle. A few more steps and he would be within sight of John and Ted.

John shot a look at Ted and motioned with his head, to Ted's right. The two teens scrambled off to the side, so that they were no longer sitting against the end of the counter. Now they were sitting against the side, where the cupboards were.

Or rather, where the cupboards should have been. There were none. Many pots and pans and containers of varying sizes sat on a shelf below the counter.

It was this way on all of the counters. John and Ted had a clear view of Brownie sniffing his way along the aisle. Or rather, they did until they dropped down to the ground before Brownie glanced their way.

Green, meanwhile, was walking around on top of the counters, searching for his prey. He knew it was here somewhere. Just waiting to be found...He hopped off the counter and continued to the far counter, the one farthest away from John and Ted.

John allowed himself a brief sigh of relief. He was watching their progress from underneath the counters, where he could see Brownie's feet stepping along, that long ugly, deadly claw slapping against the ground with a tick tick that made John feel as if his heart would stop every single time he heard it.

Then Brownie came to the end of the aisle, and peered over to where John and Ted had been originally. It came over, closer, smelling their scent. John swore. They would have to make their move now. Now or never. Once Brownie reached the end of the counter, he would turn to see them, and they would be dead.

Brownie stepped a bit closer, his nose angling down to sniff where John had been sitting. The big deadly creature's head was less than five feet away from the pair of terrified teenagers.

John looked at Ted and mouthed, "Follow me."

With a mighty push, John shoved all the pots and pans he could out onto the floor on the other side of the counter. They clanged and banged loudly together, and some ceramics that had been there exploded into many pieces.

With a shriek, Brownie turned to look at the chaos.

Right then John shot up to his feet and bolted toward the freezer, with Ted very close behind him.

On the other side of the kitchen, Green was on a counter, and he screamed in fury when he saw their prey starting to get away. With a shout of anger and bloodlust, he launched himself forward and vaulted from counter to counter with astonishing speed, converging on John and Ted's path.

With an ear-splitting cry of rage it lunged at them, its mouth open, ready to bite off one of their heads.

"DUCK!" John screamed, dropping to the floor at the same time as Ted. The raptor flew over them harmlessly, its large body slamming into the wall next to them and falling onto the stove. Fortunately for Green, the stove was off.

Brownie, meanwhile, had left the pots and pans and ceramics alone, and he was now staring straight at John and Ted from the end of the aisle. Extending his mighty claws he shot towards them, his deadly teeth glinting in the light of the kitchen.

John and Ted scrambled to their feet while Green tried to right himself on the stove, not having much sucesss. He rolled off just as Brownie came by. They rammed into each other and went tumbling to the ground in a mass of reptilian bodies.

John and Ted ran for the freezer all the faster, finally arriving and dashing in. John slammed the door closed behind him.

WHAM!!!

Brownie slammed into the other side, denting the metal and cracking the glass. John fell backward from the impact, skidding down on the floor into Ted, who was on his knees, breathing slowly and heavily, trying to catch his breath.

John stood up again and ran over to the freezer door to lock it.

Then his heart froze with horror.

"No..."

There was no lock on the inside of the freezer. Just the handle. The handle that began to turn as Green pried it open.

"NOOO!!" John reached out and grabbed the handle, pulling against Green's grip for all he was worth. He had not come this far only to be killed just because there was no lock!!

Clenching his teeth, he pulled and pulled, but the velociraptor was just too strong. The handle drove steadily downward. John pulled, but it kept on going.

Despite the intense chill of the freezer, sweat began to pour down John's face as he fought against the raptor's incredible strength.

"No....," John whimpered.

With a mighty yank, the handle jerked all the way downward, forcing John to let go. The door swung open as John stepped backward into the freezer, joining Ted against the far wall.

Green and Brownie stood just outside, evil glares in their eyes.

With a brief roar of victory, Green reared back and shot straight into the freezer.

*****

Wooooooo!! This is undoubtedly my favorite chapter so far!
Come on guys! Comments are always appreciated!! :D

Yay! Jurassic Parc all the way! Love it! Hey that freezer thing sounds a bit like ... Ghostbusters lol. There's something strange in your neighbourhood....who you're gonna call? (lmao)
And what monster is next? Alien? The hammerheads from Pitchblack? Predator? *snicker*

More please!

Chapter 10

Just right then, a whooping battle cry came from outside the freezer. Both John and Ted were closing their eyes, so they didn't see a warrior clad in brown, carrying a beautiful long sword, severing Brownie's head from the rest of his body. With a gurgle Brownie fell over. Blood began to pool from the still jerking body.

Green paused in his attack on John and Ted and whirled around, baring its teeth at the arrival of the new enemy. He hissed and lunged for him, but with a deft sideswipe the man had stepped nimbly to the side and impaled the creature on its long sword. Green gave out a cry of agony and fell to the ground, screaming in pain. The man brought his sword up high and slammed it right down on the velociraptor's neck. It lay still.

The man, a tall figure with unruly dark brown hair and a growth of beard three days old, turned to look at them, a wild look in his eyes.

Both John and Ted dared to open their eyes right then, and John's mouth fell open for maybe the tenth time that day. Ted just stared in awe.

The man nodded at them. "Greetings, young ones. My name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn.

Ted extended his hand. "Hey, Dude. My name is Ted, son of.....my dad." Aragorn took it and gave it a rough shake.

John extended his hand as well. "I'm John."

Aragorn shook it, then sheathed his sword and exited the freezer quickly. John and Ted scrambled along to keep up.

"Where did you come from?" John asked.

Aragorn paused and whirled around, his long dark cloak fluttering around his feet as he did so. He pointed at a door on the other side of the kitchen, through which one could see the dark parking lot outside. If one squinted just enough, Fangorn Forest was visible in the distance as well.

Aragorn, with a sad look in his eyes, shook his head. "I lost my friends Gimli son of Gloin and Legolas of the Woodland Realm out there."

"They died?" John asked, feeling stupid as soon as he did so.

Aragorn nodded. "Yes. They fell. To a band of the most vicious breed of Uruk-Hai I have seen yet."

"I'm sorry," John found himself saying.

"Tis not your fault, young one," Aragorn said solemnly, putting his hand on his shoulder. "They fought bravely, to their very last breath."

John nodded, and looked at the floor.

Right then he heard a scream come from the main lobby. Jack Sparrow's scream. John almost slapped himself. The batlte outside!! How could they have forgotten?

Aragorn widened his eyes and turned around quickly, walking towards the door as fast as he could.

"Wait!!" John called, rushing to catch up.

Aragorn didn't listen. He kept on striding forward, straight towards the double doors.

Ted grabbed John's shirt. "Dude, wait! Let that Aragorn dude dispatch those most heinous creatures! We're safe here!"

John have him a look. "Safe here, huh? What about the velociraptors lying dead at our feet???" He pointed at the two prone reptiles lying not five feet away. Ted looked away sheepishly.

John turned back to look at Aragorn just as the warrior reached the doors.

With a bloodcurdling yell Aragorn kicked the doors open and shot through, his long elegant blade hissing everywhere. The demon that had been about to impale Jack Sparrow screamed as Aragorn's blade cut through its heart. With an acrid puff of ash it disappeared.

"Looks like we got ourselves a solution!" Constantine yelled, killing two demons with one blast from the Holy Shotgun.

However, the group of warriors soon realized that Aragorn was not going to be enough to hold back the horde of demons. They fought valiantly, but it seemed that for each demon they sent back to hell, four or five more would come rushing through the windows, crushing the very breath from their bodies with their seemingly endless mass.

John and Ted sat in the kitchen, near the freezer, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. They knew that they would die soon, it was only a question of when.

"We need a fucking MIRACLE!!" Blade shouted, unhinging a demons jaw with a swift right hook, then blasting its brains out with his gun.

"No shit!!" Constantine screamed. A demon caught him by surprise in the back of his head, and he went flailing forward, the shotgun skittering away across the ash-littered floor. "NO!!"

Blade was just about to kill a demon when one rose up from the ground, giving him a swift kick to the groin. Blade doubled over in pain and the gun was swatted from his grip by the demon he had been about to kill. With a scream of happiness mixed with blood lust, the two demons widened their mouths to begin to chew off Blade's flesh.

Aragorn's sword was swishing about through the air in a blur of enchanted metal, but it just wasn't enough. More and more and more demons came. It was the same with Jack Sparrow, whose smaller pirate sword was no match against the hordes of hell.

Two swipes by two different demons, and the warriors were disarmed.

If a second more had passed without a solution presenting itself, they would all have died. But right then, a solution did present itself.

A blinding flash of eye-frying light came into the restaurant from outside. Instantly every demon within sight was obliterated, and the ones that hid in the darkness flew away in fright and terror, leaving the four warriors bloody, bruised, and battered, but alive.

Then they heard the galloping of a horse coming from outside. They turned to see who was approaching. In the distance, a white horse could be seen carrying a white rider.

*****

Hope you guys liked it!

Gandalf to the rescue yeee-haaaa lmao. Love it. More please.

Hey Novus! Where are you! Withdrawal here... please update??? Pretty please with sugar on top? By the way, I buyed 'Constantine' after reading this. You should be flattered lol (had not seen it yet). *caugh, caugh, slaughters a couple demons and leaves thread*

Lol I'm really sorry, FOTH. I've just gotten back to college and been swamped with school and old friends, so I haven't really had a chance to catch up on any of my fanfics. I will try to get up the next chapter as soon as possible, though, I promise!!

*aims shotgun at Novus's head*
That better be a promise pal,or the rest of your life might be much shorter than you're hoping.lol,joking although seriously i would also like to see more of this.
PS:i wasn't joking. . . . write more,soon.

Exactly. Dont' make me get the rests of the whip I broke on RA's sorry back to get him writing muahahaha

Really, FOTH? You went out and bought Constantine because of my story? Haha that's pretty cool. Hope you liked it. And RA, I don't want you to blow my brains out so I will continue writing the story.

And from now on, I will post a link to the story uninterrupted whenever I post. Here ya go.

A Merging of Worlds (www.mergingofworlds.blogspot.com)

Okie dokie!!! *Cracks knuckles quite noisily* HERE WE GO!!

Chapter 11

Aragorn's eyes lit up with expectant excitement when he saw the white rider. John also looked happy, while Blade, Sparrow, Ted, and Constantine all looked rather confused. Ted looked especially clueless.

"It's Gandalf....," Aragorn said in awe.

The white horse was galloping at an incredible speed, and it and its rider, Gandalf, seemed to be shedding away the darkness around them as they ran, not quite glowing but seeming to do so as the inky blackness around them retreated away into the safety of the shadows.

The demons' cries could still be heard as Gandalf got closer and closer to the Denny's. Blade's hand tightened on his pistol as he stared grimly at the white wizard.

Constantine noticed and looked at Aragorn. "Can we trust him?"

Blade gave Constantine an incredulous look. "Are you fucking crazy?" he asked, clencing his teeth. "What about him??" He jerked his pistol at Aragorn.

"Shut up, Razor," Constantine growled. "This man - "

"Aragorn," the Ranger supplied.

" - Aragorn," Constantine continued, "saved our lives and we do owe him a bit of gratitude."

"I do agree with Constantine on that one, mate," Sparrow supplied.

Blade looked like he wanted blow their heads off but he said nothing and just stared as Gandalf arrived at the Denny's and dismounted his horse, Shadowfax. Then Shadowfax sprinted off into the darkness.

"Nice going, old man," Blade muttered. "Send away our only form of transportation."

Even Constantine and Jack were looking a bit worried. They looked at Aragorn, who ran forward to the metal doors that were barely hanging onto their hinges, thanks to the ravages of the demons. He stepped through the broken glass and ran up to Gandalf to give him a big hug.

Gandalf laughed his calm chuckle and returned the hug, holding his staff out beyond Aragorn. The two walked back to the Denny's and Aragorn made quick introductions all around. Gandalf's stare seemed to linger a little longer on John, but John couldn't be sure. He was just so overwhelmed with everything that was happening that he just shook it off as nothing.

Gandalf quickly took charge of the situation. He pointed to a random spot on the floor that was littered with ash. "We must make a fire to keep the demons at bay." He motioned around at the dark eating room around them. "They will come back if we don't keep a light on. Demons hate lights."

"Hey, old man," Blade said. He shoved his pistol into Gandalf's chest. "Who died and made you king?"

Gandalf simply stared, and with his right hand that was holding his staff, shot at the carpet on the floor. It ignited instantly into a steadily burning fire. Then Gandalf simply turned away and walked over to it, sitting down in front of it.

Constantine gave Blade a brief condescending chuckle, then went over and sat down in front of the fire as well.

Soon everyone was sitting down, the faint light from the fire casting a flickering glow into their solemn eyes. Even Ted was uncharacteristically silent.

Gandalf let the silence reign for a few minutes, and then he spoke. "I assume you are all journeying to the Lair."

Blade's head snapped up, and Constantine and Sparrow looked confused. "How did you know about the Lair?" Blade asked bluntly.

Gandalf looked at him, seeming to tire of his little temper tantrums. "I know because I am Gandalf the White. There are many other things I know as well that you do not, Blade. And some that only you know that nobody else does."

Due to the fact that Blade was wearing sunglasses, it was hard to read his expression, but John thought he saw a flicker of fear pass over the Daywalker's eyes, replaced quickly be a look of grim determination. "I don't give a shit what you know, grandpa. I think you'll agree with me that it is hard to trust anybody in these times, and so I gotta be careful and make sure I can trust people before I tell them anything."

Aragorn's eyes burned with brown fury, and his hand went briefly to his sword hilt. Gandalf layed a hand on the Ranger's arm, though, and Aragorn relaxed and merely smiled a wan smile at Blade, who looked all the more enraged, but kept it contained.

"I understand your point, Blade," Gandalf said quite calmly. "I merely know of the Lair because I do. Perhaps some day you will learn exactly why, but now is not the time. I am merely here as a guide to help you along your way to finding it."

"What's the Lair?" Constantine asked suddenly.

Gandalf looked at him. "It is where the ultimate evil of this land lies, John Constantine. It is where we all must go if we are to end this reign of terror that haunts the world."

Constantine nodded, his face not betraying a hint of surprise or incredulity, merely his usual stone-faced bored look. He took a long pull on his cigarette and let the smoke pour out his nostrils, then sighed in satisfaction, his eyes closed. Gandalf gave him a bemused disapproving look, but said nothing.

More silence. Blade spoke again. "What if we don't need your help, Gandalf the fucking squeaky clean?" He stared at the fire as he spoke, not even looking at the white wizard.

Gandalf, though, remained quite calm, not even the least bit perturbed by Blad'es attempt to anger him. "Tell me, Blade, where is the Lair?"

Blade didn't flinch. "North."

"I do believe the vampire hunter is evading my questioning, Aragorn," Gandalf muttered in a very loud whisper to the Ranger at his side. Aragorn smiled, and Blade looked like he wanted to ram his silver sword through Aragorn's temple. He remained seated, though, barely visibly trembling.

"Fucking fine, white magician," Blade said. "I don't know exactly where it is."

"Ah ha," Gandalf said, smiling slightly. "Then how did you expect to get to it? Ask a Nazgul on the way for directions?" Aragorn gave a small chuckle and even Constantine smiled as he took another pull on the danging cancer stick from his lip. Sparrow merely whistled a tune to himself absent-mindedly, back to his crazy pirate self.

"Cut the fucking crap, Gandalf," Blade said, finally breaking his cool facade and leaning forward. "You gonna help us or not?"

Gandalf smiled, tempted for a second to shove in Blade's face that that had been what he had been saying all along. "Yes. We depart at first light. We all need some rest."

*****

John stirred in his sleep as he dreamed of demons coming to tear up his flesh....

"Aaaah!!"

He sat up in the booth, sweat pouring down his face, staring around at the dim interior of the Denny's. Gandalf sat in front of the fire several feet away, mumbling to himself and smoking a pipe steadily. John lay back down, shook his head, then stood up and went over to Gandalf and sat down abruptly next to him.

He was going to get some answers, and since Gandalf was always very wise and knowledgable on mysterious things in the books and movies, maybe he could enlighten John on what exactly this place was.

Gandalf, at first, didn't acknowledge his presence. He kept on smoking, a steady slow stream of puffs of smoke coming out of his pipe. John waited patiently. Finally Gandalf looked at him and smiled, setting down his pipe on the still ash-littered floor and giving several small coughs from the smoke.

"Hello, John Hankle," he said calmly.

"Gandalf," John said, beginning to feel a little hesitant. "Could I ask you something?"

"You want to know what this place is about," Gandalf said.

John nodded, not really surprised that Gandalf knew what he was talking about.

Gandalf did not beat around the bush. He just picked up his pipe and began to speak, and John did not interrupt him once, nodding every now and then and not really feeling surprised at all when Gandalf talked about things that nobody else in this world seemed to know about.

"In your world you have movies. Movies that come in the form of DVDs and VHSs, and they abound all over your world. In each of these objects there is a world. When you think about it, these worlds have to go somewhere. They have to exist somewhere other than the actual dvds. Something happened. Something happened to combine all of these worlds. A merging of worlds, if you will, John Hankle. I cannot tell you what exactly it is, it is up to you to go on the journey, the adventure, and find out the truth for yourself. And you are also wondering about your mother......" He turned directly to John, staring deeply into his eyes. "That is the greatest secret. I cannot tell you that either."

"You can't or you won't?" John asked, speaking at last.

Gandalf didn't answer him. He turned back to the fire and continued to smoke his pipe, tipping in a few more leaves of pipe weed into the end.

John knew he wouldn't get any more answers, so he sat up and went back to his booth, passing by Blade who was lying there. John couldn't tell if he was asleep or not, but he doubted it. Sparrow was sleeping with his hat over his eyes, and Constantine was sleeping fitfully, coughing and rolling around. Ted was snoring softly in the booth across from John.

John slipped into his own booth, falling asleep surprisingly fast as he listened to the flicker of the fire and Gandalf mumbling to himself.

*****

Hope you enjoyed it!

I like it! LOL.

Coming soon in this theater:

Sparrow asks Gandalf to conjure up some rum, Constantine (running out of cigarettes) borrow's his pipe, the horse get's eaten by some nasty, Blade (having run out of meds to keep him "nice") starts ogling John's neck with "dinner" written all over his face, Aragorn, son of Arathorn has hot dreams about Arwen and Ted gets eaten by an angry dinosaur... lmao

Hey guys!! I'm finally back from some sort of extended leave! Chatper 12 will be up pretty soon, I promise!

How soons fairly soon? I'm looking forward to reading some more. You've got a good way with words and the more active stories round here the better in my book.

Sorry this is so short, but it's better than nothing, right? I promise I'll update more often (at least I hope I will).

Chapter 12

Up in the sky the sun danced with moon as it battled for control of the day. In a whirlwind of light and dark, then sun tossed the darkness back from where it came, and its rays broke over the horizon and galloped across the landscape. Like neighing lightning fast horses they shot over the fields and mountains, heedless of any obstructions in their path.

Eventually they broke over a hill...in the distance could be seen the ruins of a once busy Denny's. Without taking a pause the light horses tore across the distacne between them, closing the gap in a fraction of a heartbeat, breaking into the cold and dank darkness that was enveloping the Denny's, colliding with the still steadily burning fire that the wizened old man sat around.

The shafts of light hit John Hankle's eyes and continued on their path as his eyelids slowly fluttered open to the piercing daybreak that shone through the shattered windows that still smelled of demon smoke.

Letting go a hug yawn, John sat up in his booth to see the rest of their motley little crew sitting up as well, greeting the day with yawns, angry looks, and suppressed rage, with the latter coming from Blade.

Gandalf extinguished the fire with a few taps from his staff, then turned to face the rest of the group. He spoke calmly, yet with great authority. John was instantly at attention. "So. You all want to travel to the Lair."

"Aren't you the smart one?" Blade retorted. "I'm glad we have the 'wizard' with us to help us with these confusing little fucking details."

Aragorn's eyes blazed, but being a Ranger, he knew when to keep his calm and when to let the angry go without rebuke. Telling Blade (rightfully so) to shut up would only cause more animosity, and that was something that they did not need, especially considering where they were headed.

Constantine, however, believed otherwise. He shook his head at the vampire hunter. "Can you just shut your mouth for once? If you spent half as much time thinking as you did bull shitting we'd be done with our quest by now."

"Hey, Exor-prick, did I - "

"Silence!" Gandalf boomed, the calm gone. He shook his head. "I would have more ease dealing with a class of 3-year olds than with you two. Now, if you'll let me continue." He wrapped his cloak closer around themselves. The morning rays of the sun, though they had brough a bit of heat, were now dissipating, and the cold of the dawn was setting in. "The Lair is located North, as our good friend Blade pointed out to us yesterday. I cannot help you anymore than I am bound to. And I cannot explain why, either. It is....the rules of engagement." He glanced briefly outside, slightly nervously, then ploughed on. "You must travel due north for the rest of the day. You will encounter numerous perils. Tragedy will strike." He looked at Ted quickly, then looked away. The clueless surfer didn't notice anything, but John felt a growing unease. Gandalf continued to speak. "You will come to an underground complex....that is where...that is where you will go next. That is all I can say."

"Thanks for nothing," Blade muttered, but he didn't say it loud enough for anyone to hear.

"Thank you for your help, my friend," Aragorn said, giving Gandalf a great big hug.

"It was my pleasure," Gandalf said, returning the hug. "And now I must leave you." Two seconds later Shadowfax had appeared at the doorway to Denny's like of of the light horses. Gandalf walked over and mounted the horse. He was just about to ride off when he looked straight at John. He tossed him a piece of cloth in which was wrapped something very light. With a steely gaze and a stone cold voice, Gandalf muttered, "Onna kuune. Loome qualme." Then he rode off into the distance until he was nothing more than a white dot on the horizon. In a flash, he was gone.

I was wondering when you would start this up again. Great job, I like the descriptions, and please don't keep us waiting this long for the next installment.