Battleborn - Benny Weir

Chapter 1

Despite the decades Ingrid had spent away from Whitechapel, it still held the same, slow demeanor. It was astounding how a town with such a long and dangerous history can be so sluggish. Then again, nobody really wants to educate children about how their ancestors rounded up over two-hundred townspeople and burned them alive.

Ingrid walked through the downtown area, checking to see if all of her favorite shops and stores were still in business. Years ago, Ingrid had traveled back to Whitechapel on one of her rounds--she liked to check up on towns she had been to in the past, it gave her comfort knowing she had not screwed up everyone's lives with her meddling in human events. While there, she met a young witch by the name of Evie. They became fast friends, and Evie was quick to help her around town, as everything had changed since her last visit a century earlier. She had gone by another name then.

"Excuse me," she said to a older woman passing her by, "would you happen to know where Evelyn Weir lives?"

Ingrid waited until dark to go to Evelyn's house--she had no idea what her schedule was and did not want to go through the effort of asking around, so she just hoped that she would be home for dinner. She strolled down the sidewalk, in the mood to take the scenic route to see how the town had blossomed. She turned her head when she heard a loud thumping.  

"What are you doing?" questioned a young blonde girl, who could not have been older than ten. The girl was dressed in an all-too-fluffy robe and bunny slippers. Frankly, Ingrid thought the was adorable. A large, ginger boy stood in front of her with a hockey stick. He looked her up and down in distaste.

"What's it look like I'm doing," he responded dumbly, going back to shooting pucks at the garage door of the white house.

"Trespassing," the girl sassed. Ingrid smiled from her place across the street.

The boy rolled his eyes and turned back to the girl, leaning on the hockey stick, "Why don't you make like an egg and beat it?"

"I'm going to tell my big brother."

"Really," the boy feigned fright, "I'm so scared." He then laughed and dropped the ploy. "I've seen your brother. He might be older, but he's not big." The ginger leaned over and snatched the stuffed rabbit from the girl's arms. He threw it on the pavement and shot it toward the garage door.

"Fetch!" He yelled.

"Abby!" the girl screamed as she raced to her toy. The boy laughed, but stopped when a large shadow passed over him. Ingrid frowned.

Suddenly, the boy was grabbed by a flying figure and flew into the air, the hockey stick he was holding twirled before falling to the ground. Ingrid snarled and ran after the figure, she stared up at the sky, following it by sight. She followed the two for a few miles, although it only took them all a couple seconds to travel the distance. They landed at the school, and the figure pressed the boy against the fence.

"Well, hello there," the figure said to the boy, "you look like you are going to be a good meal." Ingrid came up behind the figure and ripped him off of the boy before he could sink his teeth into him. The boy sighed in relief and sank to the ground, his back to the fence while he attempted to regain his breath.

The vampire snarled at Ingrid, showing off his fangs. Ingrid's eyes widened, though not at the teeth. She instantly remembered the vampire's dark skin and signature fluffy hair.

"Gord?" she questioned, still holding him at arm's length away from her by his shoulders. She tried to calm him down, or at least get him to stop trying to attack her, but he showed no signs of wanting to back down. Ingrid rolled her eyes before pulling Gord close and snapping his arm and throwing him to the ground, knowing he would heal. Instantly, she kneeled down and held him to the ground, kneeing him in the stomach to get him to stop moving.

"Gord? Is that you?"

He laughed. "I thought it might be you, you know? I thought I smelled you, when you were chasing me," he smiled. "You did always have a particular scent." He inhaled deeply and cackled at her disgusted look. Ingrid rolled her eyes as she broke his other arm. He cried out an tried to bite her but she smashed them back onto the ground.

"What are you doing, Gord? He's a kid!"

"He's a little asshole."

"He's a person!" shouted Ingird, her eyes turning a pitch black as she held him down.

"Whoa," Gord chuckled, "somebody's angry. I think you need to calm down, we both know what happens when you get too angry."

Ingrid ignored him as her eyes switched back to their normal blue. "What is up with you? When I left, your entire flock was on the animal diet. What changed?"

"Worked for about a week, then we actually wanted to have fun, so we went back to people."

"I'm letting you go because we're old friends, Gord," said Ingrid, "but try not to chew on the locals, okay? If I find out you decide to have a little snack on anyone in this town--" Gord tried to push up beneath Ingrid but she shoved him down, holding a hand over his throat. "Hey! I talk, you listen! If I find out you hurt anyone else in this town, I will kill you." She stood up and backed away from Gord. He stood us slowly, straightening his arms and wincing as he pushed them back into place.

"Get out of here," said Ingrid.

Gord nodded slowly. "Goodbye, Rosemary," he said before speeding off. Ingrid shook her head at the old name.

"Who are you?" Ingrid had almost forgotten about the ginger boy she had been fighting to save. She stepped towards him but he flinched backward.

"I'm nobody. I'm just somebody you'll forget about when you wake up."

"What?" he said, scared.

"Nothing, you'll be fine. I promise." Ingrid leaned down and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

She smiled. "You'll be fine, as long as you forget." Ingrid touched the boy's temple. He looked at her in confusion before closing his eyes and falling asleep.

It took some time to find the boy's house, but Ingrid speed up the process using her speed. Ingrid had to break into his room to put him to bed, but she assumed his family would rather have a broken window than a dead son. Coincidentally, Evie's home was not far away from the boy's house.

Ingrid stood at the door, nervous; she quickly knocked on the door. She swore under her breathe, not sure if this was the best decision after not speaking to Evie in many years. As she turned around to leave, someone called for her.

"Melanie?" Ingrid turned around slowly, smiling tentatively at her now old friend.

"Nobody's called me that name in some time. It's good to see you, Evelyn."

Author's Note: So, yeah, Ingrid has had a lot of different names over the years, and she has known a lot of people. To clear some things up, Gord is Jesse's friends with the afro, and Evelyn is the name of Benny's grandmother... so, let's see where that takes us.

Thank you for reading!

- Leni