The Hunger

Summary: One month after the Jesse 'incident' and things are returning to normal. Except, Ethan doesn't feel too normal and that bite mark on his arm is taking it's time to heal.

Spoilers: Up to and including 1X13 (Re-Vamped)

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, only the madness in my words.

A/N: Thank you all for reading and for the great comments I've received for this so far. I'm really enjoying writing this so I hope you continue to enjoy reading it! And now, here's an earlier update to make up for the wait before.

Chapter 9

It was nearing midnight when Ethan and Sarah found their way to Benny's house. Almost as soon as knocking at the door, they were invited in and led through to the kitchen where Benny's grandma stood over a large pot, stirring. Upon their arrival though, she abandoned it and grabbed what looked like a juice box from a small stash of juice boxes that decorated the kitchen counter. The difference with this one though was it was already open.

"This," Benny's grandma began, handing the open juice box to Ethan, "is for you."

"Thanks," Ethan answered, voice and smile sheepish as he took a sniff of the straw then moved on to take a small taste. It was better than he had imagined, surprisingly good and much more enjoyable than the rat's blood. As it coated his tongue and he continued to drink, it soothed him, relaxed him.

"There's plenty more for you over there," she continued on, motioning in the direction of the other juice boxes before turning to her attention to Sarah, "and for you of course, too, dear."

Sarah offered a smile and a nod. "Thank you."

"How you feeling there, E?" Benny asked, speaking up from the seat he had taken by the kitchen counter.

Ethan could still smell the lingering scent of marshmallows in the air but it had faded somewhat, no longer overpowering. The fake blood inside the juice box helped calm any hunger that the scent roused and he brought it away from his lips to meet his friend's eyes. He shrugged in reply to the question and let go of a breath. "I feel like I've been sucked through a wormhole."

"Are we talking time travel wormhole or intergalactic space wormhole?" Benny questioned, eyes narrowed.

"You know, I was actually thinking more-"

But before Ethan could continue on with what he was thinking of, Sarah cut in, interrupting him with a sharp, "Boys!"

They shushed immediately and looked to her.

"Seriously?" she went on to say, "Geek speak, now, of all times?"

Ethan shuffled from foot to foot, head lowering a little as he cleared his throat. A quick glance toward Benny showed him that Benny had also clammed up, lips pulled into a tight and slightly apologetic smile. Sarah shook her head at the pair of them and let go of a lengthy sigh.

"Is now really the time?" Sarah questioned again, looking to both of them in turn.

"That really depends," Benny went on to answer, the smile of his growing into a grin. "Who has an awesome grandma? Yep, that's right – I do."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked, eyebrow raised as she regarded him.

Benny jumped from his seat and was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he looked to his grandma in silence, evidentially waiting for her to give the go ahead. She rolled her eyes and returned to the stove but nodded all the same, so Benny continued on.

"There's this book, right, Grams?" he started, the excitement clear in the exaggerated swishes of his arms and escalating volume of his voice. "And it's a magic book with spells and potions, like mine... only better. Way, way, way better."

"You want a new magic book?" Ethan questioned, narrowing his eyes on his friend, studying him.

"This isn't just any magic book. This book belonged to some dude called... Abraham? Aberforth..."

"Abercrombie," his grandma corrected, her expression bored and unconvinced, eyebrows raised. "Josiah Abercrombie. He was a powerful Spellmaster back in the day and that book is his legacy."

Ethan nodded, unsure, then shared a glance with Sarah who shrugged, uncertainty also registering on her features.

"If there's a cure," Benny continued, slamming his hand against the kitchen counter in his excitement, "it'll be in this book."

"A cure?" Sarah asked, taking a step forward. "An actual cure?"

"Well," Benny muttered, smile turned sheepish once more as he shifted from one foot to the other and offered up a half shrug, "we won't actually know until we find the book."

"Then where is it?" Ethan questioned, attempting to quell the fluttering of hope within his chest.

"Hidden," Benny's grandma answered, looking to Ethan. "Your great, great grandfather, along with a few select others, hid it somewhere within Whitechapel to keep its secrets safe and out of the wrong hands."

"Where'd he hide it?"

"I'm afraid, you'll have to ask him that."

When Benny's grandma had said that, Ethan had assumed that meant there was no way of finding out. After all, his great, great grandfather was dead – as far as Ethan knew anyway. So when she retreated to her room and then returned shortly after with a Ouija board in her hands, Ethan began to understand and after the last incident with spirits and boards, he really wasn't sure about the idea at all. Though the board was different from the one they had used before, wooden and engraved with the alphabet and numbers, along with three words – yes, no, and goodbye – Ethan still felt uneasy about any kind of board that communicated with spirits. And yet, the next evening, he still found himself sitting on his bedroom floor with two fingers on the wooden pointer, or planchette as Benny's grandma had called it, looking uncertainly to Sarah and Benny.

"Did you get it?" Benny asked.

Ethan nodded and pulled a small pin badge from his pocket then placed it on the floor beside the Ouija board. It had belonged to his great, great grandfather, according to his father anyway. Benny's grandma had told them that in order to reach Ethan's great, great grandfather, they would need something of his and the pin badge was the best thing Ethan could come up with.

"How did you get it?" Sarah questioned, eyeing the pin.

Ethan shrugged. "I told my dad it was for a school project."

Neither Sarah nor Benny questioned him any further and shortly after lighting a candle just off the side, Benny's suggestion for getting them in the 'mood', Benny placed his fingers on the planchette next to Ethan's. After a moment of hesitation, Sarah did the same.

"We wish to commune with the spirit of Theodore Morgan," Benny started, rolling his head and deepening his voice, allowing his words to expand and contract into an almost wail. It was all for show and it had Ethan rolling his eyes at his friend.

The pointer on the board remained still.

"Theodore Morgan, are you present?"

Still, the pointer did not move. Then, just as Ethan was about to let go of a sigh, he found himself holding his breath again. The pointer moved, as if someone with a shaky hand had taken hold of it. Slowly, it began to scrape across the board before finally coming to a stop, right below the 'no' marked out on the board.

Ethan breathed out, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "Really?"

Again, the pointer moved. Slow at first, away from the 'no' and then back toward it again where it came to rest once more.

"Do we have the pleasure of speaking with Theodore Morgan?" Benny questioned, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the board.

The pointer hesitated before moving toward the letters on the board. It started with 'W' then moved to the 'H' and then to 'O'. Before it could go any further, Benny spoke up again.

"I am Benny Weir! First class Spellmaster of Whitechapel," he answered, deepening his voice in an imposing manner. Or at least, it would have been imposing if it hadn't been just Benny. At the glare from Ethan and incredulous look from Sarah, he continued on more weakly. "And this Ethan, Seer of Whitechapel, and Sarah... reluctant vampire who fights for good."

The pointer didn't move and this time Ethan did sigh.

"This is useless," he whined, pushing back a little but keeping his fingers on the pointer. "How are we supposed to get in touch with my great, great grandfather with a pin and a wooden board?"

But Benny was determined, Ethan had to give him that, and instead of answering Ethan, he turned to the board and tried once more, albeit weakly and lacking the same confidence he had shown before. "Are you Theodore Morgan?"

The pointer began to scrape across the board, making its way toward the 'yes'. Ethan raised an eyebrow at Benny.

"You're making it move, aren't you?" he questioned.

Benny shook his head. "I'm not!"

"You swear?"

"I swear!"

"You swear on your Ring of Zhadar from Hell's Fury: Return of the Zombie Princess?"

At that, Benny hesitated but nodded all the same. "I swear on my Ring of Zhadar!"

Ethan swallowed, his eyes returning to the board and planchette. "If this really is my great, great grandfather, then why did he say 'no' when we first asked?"

"Because he didn't realise he was dealing with a first rate Spellmaster."

Sarah rolled her eyes and cocked her head to the side. "Or more likely it's because he just realised who Ethan is."

The pointer remained still, the spirit choosing to stay out of the conversation.

"Fine," Ethan breathed out, straightening up to look over the board, "if you are Theodore Morgan, then you can tell us where you hid the Book of Abercrombie."

The pointer moved, away from 'yes' then back again.

"Great!" Benny cried on, almost knocking the pointer off the board in his excitement. "Then you'll tell us?"

The pointed moved, scraping across the board toward the 'no'.

"Why not?"

When the pointer moved again, Ethan reached up toward his desk with a spare hand and grabbed a pen and scrap of paper that should have been a piece of homework. Instead it became a place to write down each letter as the planchette moved to them.

"Angerous?" he questioned, looking down with a frown at what he had written.

"Dangerous," Sarah corrected. "The first letter was a 'D'."

"Oh c'mon Great, Great Grandpa Morgan," Benny pleaded. "We're not afraid of a little danger."

The board and planchette wobbled and bounced upon on the floor before stilling again and Benny drew back.

"Okay, so maybe we are a little bit afraid..."

Ethan swallowed down the fear stirring in his stomach and shook his head, sharing a glance with Sarah before returning his gaze to the board. "We need to find that book. It's really important that we do."

There was no movement for a moment or two, except from the flickering of the candle beside them. But then the pointer began to move, slow and unsure, but it moved all the same. When it was finished, Ethan looked down at the paper to see the word 'bridge' had formed.

"Bridge?" he questioned, looking to both Benny and Sarah in turn. Both shrugged as the pointer moved to 'yes'.

"What bridge?"

The planchette moved toward the 'T' before heading to the 'R'. Before it could move again though, it shot out from under their fingertips and was sent skittering away from the board to land on its back somewhere near Ethan's bed. It felt very much like it had been ripped away from them. At the same time, the candle flickered out before relighting once more when the planchette had come to a stop.

"What was that?" Sarah questioned, drawing her hands away from the board as if it had burned her.

Ethan shook his head, eyes never leaving the planchette. "I think somebody doesn't want us finding that book."

Thank you for reading!