Bite Me
Part III
by MegaSilver

“Those… those are vampires?” Tommy murmured.

“Oui,” answered Autumn. “Are you not a Power Ranger? Have you not seen such atrocious creatures? Why should you be so amazed?”

“No—it’s just… everything we’ve had to deal with has been extraterrestrial,” explained Tommy. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this—Earth-born, that is.”

“They are not of the Earth,” explained Autumn. “They are creatures of hell.”

Katherine fumbled over words for a moment. “So… that vampire isn’t our friend Kimberly?”

“No. But she has been.”

“Huh?”

Autumn sighed. “I can see I have a bit of explaining to do. You have a mentor of some kind?”

“Yeah, we do—his name’s Zordon,” said Tommy.

“I suppose you could take me to him?”

Tommy looked at Katherine, who just shrugged. “Okay.” Tommy held his arm out to Autumn. “Hold on to my arm tight.”

Autumn looked puzzled. “Why?”

“Just trust us,” Katherine assured her. Moments later, the three disappeared in two columns of red and pink light.

***

“So you are the Slayer?” inquired Zordon. All the Rangers and Billy had convened at the Power Chamber to meet Autumn.

“Yes, I am,” replied Autumn. “Automne D’Or. My English Watcher calls me Autumn of Gold.”

“Slayer? Watcher? What do you mean?” asked Tanya.

“The Council of Watchers in England,” explained Zordon. “They have existed for several millennia, training intelligent men and occasionally women to be the guides for the Vampire Slayers.”

“So… that’s where you come in?” Rocky said, eying Autumn.

“The Slayer is a girl who has been born anointed,” explained Autumn. “By divine intervention, our watchers call us into action the moment the previous Slayer dies, usually several years after pubescence. But in most cases, the watcher finds the Slayer long before she is to be called and trains her.”

“Why did you come here?”

“I was instructed to come by my watcher. He told me that there was a dangerous clan of demons arising in Angel Grove and that its citizens would need my protection.”

“How come you never told us about this, Zordon?” Billy asked.

“I did not think it would be relevant to your mission as Power Rangers. However, as it seems that one of us has fallen victim to a vampire, I would strongly suggest that you work together with Autumn to straighten this out.”

“I agree,” said Autumn. “It would be nice to have a hand for a change. But be sure you are all armed with a stake and a crucifix.”

“Good. Let’s start formulating a plan for getting Kimberly back,” suggested Tommy.

“Back?”

“Yeah. What exactly did you mean when you said that the vampire used to be her?”

“I meant that a demon overtook her body.”

“A demon?”

Zordon spoke up. “Vampires breed by mixing their blood with the blood of a newly bitten victim. As the victim dies, their soul leaves their body, and when the vampire blood enters their vessels, a demon is summoned forth to occupy the body, thereby transforming into a dangerous undead weapon.”

“But if it’s not Kimberly, how did she know us?” asked Katherine.

“Vampires get the brains left behind by the people they take over as well as the bodies. A vampire is a demon at the core, but it retains the movements, memories, and distortions of the personality of the human it took over.”

A look of horror overcame Billy’s face. “And with Kim, who used to be a Power Ranger—”

“The skills she acquired and retained could prove deadly in the hands of evil,” finished Zordon.

“Then we should stop her right away,” concluded Autumn. “She was more than ready for a fight. I didn’t have a chance of staking her.”

“Right,” agreed Tommy. “How do we get her back?”

Autumn regarded Tommy with a strange look. “There is no cure.”

Tommy shook his head. “There has to be. If the demon could enter her body, there must be some way we could get it out and put her soul back in.”

“And how would we do that?”

“I—” Tommy sighed in frustration. “Look, what are we going to do? Dust her with a stake?”

“She is not your friend anymore!” insisted Autumn.

“I won’t believe that,” insisted Tommy. “There has to be a way.”

“I’m afraid Autumn is right,” agreed Zordon. “Much as I don’t want to lose a former Power Ranger, it seems that we’ve already lost her—except for the body.”

“Zordon, you don’t understand!” protested Tommy. “I have to find a cure. Kimberly means more to me than the world.”

Autumn gasped. “Is this true?” She looked Tommy straight in the eye. “Listen. People like us have a calling to protect the world we live in from the evils that wish to overtake it. We do not have the luxury of being enslaved to our passions.”

“No,” whispered Tommy. “I can’t accept that. What is it if we save the world and lose the people we love the most?”

“I do not know how else to tell you this. Kimberly is already gone. When you look at her now, you are looking at the thing that killed her.” Autumn stared coldly at Tommy.

Tommy looked around at his silent friends. “Are you just going to stand there? Help me out a little, huh? This is Kimberly!”

Billy sighed. “Tommy, I want her back, too, but I don’t know what we should—” but Tommy held up his hand.

“Forget it.” Tommy whirled around to face Autumn. “Listen, it’s Sunday night. You hold off on dusting Kimberly and give us until Tuesday evening to find a cure. If we can’t get one… we’ll play by your rules.”

Autumn lowered her eyebrows. “Sacre bleu! Delay slaying a vampire? And how many people would she kill before you realized that there’s nothing you can do?”

“And what if she kills you because she turns out to be too much for one person to handle?” Tommy returned her stare. “We’re not going to help you kill her until Tuesday night. We’ll fend her off, but we won’t let you kill her.” He gave the other Rangers a cold stare to keep them silent.

Autumn drew in a deep breath. “I accept. But the consequences will lie on you.” She looked up at Zordon. “Would you use this… particle splitter to send me back to my hotel?”

“I’ll take care of that,” stated Alpha. He marched to the console to activate the teleportation beams.

Autumn turned to face the Power Rangers. “I’m at the Holiday Inn on the outskirts. Stop by tomorrow afternoon and we’ll make our plans for the patrol.”

“Gotcha,” agreed Tommy. With that, the Slayer was teleported away. “Come on, guys. We have some work to do.

“Tommy, are you sure this is such a good—” began Katherine.

“Rangers, you must have faith in your leader,” said Zordon. “Tommy will not know whether he has made a mistake unless he is allowed to make this decision himself and see the consequences. And if, by some small chance, there is a cure, I have faith that you six can find it.”

***

Inside the school library, Billy snapped the book Vampyr shut. “Nothing,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing at all?” asked Tommy.

“It says pretty much everything about vampires except the cure. If one exists.”

Tommy buried himself back in Rituals of the Undead. “It has to.”

“Look, I’m taking a break. I gotta get these contacts out before they weld to my eyes.”

“All right.”

Nearby, Katherine was getting up from the table she sat at with Tanya. “Come on, Tanya. Our first class starts in ten minutes.”

“Wait.” Tanya held up her hand and kept reading from Demons: Origins, Properties, and Killings. “Oh, never mind.” She closed the book. “Nothing on curing; just on slaying.” She rose and began to walk out of the library with Katherine.

Katherine stopped to look at Tommy, who was still leafing through the book. “I’m really worried about him, Tanya.”

Tanya nodded. “Me, too. It sure isn’t like him to be this bullheaded unless things are really bad.”

“I wonder if there is a cure?” Katherine sighed.

“Well, for Tommy’s sake—and Kimberly’s—let’s hope so.” The two girls began to walk again.

“It’s hard to believe that’s not Kimberly,” remarked Katherine.

“Except for the letter, though, huh?”

“Yeah. That didn’t seem like her—and, well… now we know it wasn’t.”

***

In the basement of the boarded-up, defunct Club 20’s in Angel Grove’s abandoned warehouse district, Kimberly was executing a series of high-speed gymnastics and martial arts moves. “They’ll be ready for us tonight,” she told Jefferson, who was watching her and smiling. “But not as ready as we’ll be.”

“So I can see.” Jefferson opened the fridge. “Care for a refreshment?”

Kimberly shook her hair out. “That’d be nice.” She held out her hands and caught a bag of blood Jefferson tossed to her.

***

That evening, Raymond kissed his aunt goodnight. “Be careful,” he told her. “I’ll be over to help you tomorrow as soon as I get off school.” He exited the subdivision and entered the nearby Water Valley park, his usual shortcut home. Not too far in, he became aware of a presence surrounding him and halted. “All right. Who’s there?” He whirled around quickly. No one in sight. When he turned back around, he nearly fell over at the sight of the person in front of him. “Oh my—Kimberly! You scared me to death!”

“Hey, Raymond!” Kimberly laughed.

“When did you get back?”

“Oh, I’ve been around for a few days or so. We got the month off,” she explained.

“Nice!” He resumed walking the path with Kimberly beside him. “So what are you doing out here after dark?”

Kimberly shrugged. “Oh, just talking a reprise; getting my mind off things, y’know. What about you?”

“I’m just taking a shortcut home from my aunt’s place. Anyway, I heard your team won a bronze in the Global Games. Good job!”

“Thanks,” smiled Kimberly.

All of a sudden, Raymond heard a rustling noise in some bushes nearby. “What was that?” He jerked his head around and saw behind him a vicious creature with a demonic face. He turned back to Kimberly, only to see that her face had changed, as well. Kimberly and Jefferson nodded to each other, and then each of them took one side of Raymond’s neck.

“Ahh…” Kimberly sighed when she’d finished. “There’s nothing quite like drinking from a love cup.” She stared at a group of young adults running up behind Jefferson. “Uh-oh. I think we’ve got company.”

Tommy, Adam, Rocky, Tanya, Katherine, and Autumn arrived just as Kimberly and Jefferson dropped Raymond’s body to the ground and transformed their faces back to normal. Kimberly chuckled at their dumbfounded expressions. “You were expecting something else?”

At that, Autumn drew out a stake but Tommy grabbed her wrist. “No!” he protested. “Not now!”

“It is not for her,” explained Autumn, and Tommy released her wrist. Autumn lunged at Jefferson, trying to weaken his strength to give herself an unguarded staking opportunity.

Tommy grabbed Kimberly and held her tightly. “Come on, Kim,” he whispered as she struggled to break free. “I know you don’t want to do this.”

“Think again, boyfriend.” Kimberly transformed her face, but there was no way she could reach Tommy’s neck in her current position, or even any other part of his body.

Autumn and the other Rangers swarmed over Jefferson, and though they dealt a number of great blows, he was still strong and maneuverable enough to dodge their stakes. When Rocky rushed out of the way to retrieve the stake that he’d dropped, Jefferson saw a gap in the circle. He narrowly slipped away from them, grabbed a large stick, and beat Tommy over the head to free Kimberly. Once Tommy was out, the pair of vampires fled the park.

The Rangers rushed over to revive Tommy. “Are you okay?” asked Adam when Tommy finally came to.

Tommy moaned and rubbed his head. “Yeah—I’ll be fine.”

Autumn nodded. “You still believe that is the girl you once knew?”

Tommy looked sharply at the Slayer, but managed to keep his cool. “No,” he said calmly. “But I still have one day left.”

“You’re better off resting so that you’ll be prepared for the fight,” advised Autumn. “All of you, be at the hotel tomorrow, same time.” She turned to leave.

“Wait!” called Rocky. “Do you—need a ride?”

Autumn looked back. “I can make it. Besides, if there are vampires on the way, my services will be needed.”

As the Rangers prepared to leave themselves, Katherine was almost certain she heard Rocky mutter, “Dammit.”

***

“I haven’t found anything yet, Tommy,” Billy told his friend over the communicator a few hours later. “I don’t want to discourage you, but the database the Power Chamber connects to is pretty extensive, too.”

“It’s okay, Billy,” said Tommy calmly. “I’m not giving up. I’m still working through all these books I checked out.”

“Well, listen, I’m going to search for about another hour and then I’m going home to crash. But if you find something, wake me up and I’ll come down and have a look at it, all right?”

“I will. Thanks, Billy.”

“See you later.”

Tommy stretched out and started to pick up Rituals of the Undead, but the words just blurred together. I need a break, he decided. He got up, tiptoed downstairs, and made his way quietly over to the front door.

“Tommy?” At his mother’s voice, Tommy jumped. “Tommy, I don’t mean to rag you, but it’s eleven-thirty and it’s a school night. Shouldn’t you be getting to bed?”

Tommy quickly took his hand off the doorknob. “I—I was studying.”

“I see.” Janelle Oliver eyed her son’s position near the door. “So what are you going out for?”

“I need a break,” he told her. “I was going to take a walk.”

“At this hour? Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I can hold my own, Mom,” Tommy assured her. “I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I know that, Tommy. I just want you to use some discernment.”

“I won’t be long,” Tommy promised.

“All right. Look, I’m going to bed. Just be careful.”

“I will.” With that, Tommy exited the house.

***

As he strolled along the sidewalk, Tommy’s head was a blurry mix of the events that had transpired in the last few days. Everything he’d known, everything he’d felt… it was all disappearing. Even he was beginning to lose faith in the possibility of a cure.

Not only was he losing Kimberly, though; he felt that he was beginning to lose himself. His behavior towards Autumn… what a hothead he’d been. This certainly hadn’t been his finest couple of days; he was amazed that she was still willing to work with the Rangers after he’d represented them so poorly.

His thoughts were interrupted by a series of red flashes. He covered his eyes from the blinding light, and when it had faded, two familiar figures stood before him.

“Highty-ho, human!” greeted Rita.

“Enjoy the Machines?” Zedd taunted.