Bloody Echoes
By Shotzette

"Bloody Echoes"

By Shotzette
Rated PG-13

This is a work of fanfiction that was written for entertainment purposes only. It was not meant to infringe upon anyone's copyrights anywhere.


A sequel to Missy's "Bloody Kisses"







"Hey, Shirl!"

"Laverne, you are not going to believe what just happened," her roomate squealed as she dashed excitedly through the front door of their apartment.

"That cute guy across the street is exercisng in his underwear again?" Laverne hopped off of the couch and rushed to their street level window, desperate for a peek.

"No, Miss-Smut-For-Brains! I've got bigger and better news than that," Shirley said loftily as she began to waltz with Boo Boo Kitty, twirling the stuffed animal as she hummed "The Blue Danube Waltz" under her breath.

"I dunno, Shirl! What?"

"Yours truly just met the nicest pediatrician on the bus, and he has a friend who used to play for the Braves and who has two extra tickets for tonight's game, is all!" the petite brunette shrieked as she grasped Laverne's hands in her's and theystarted to jump up and down in joy.

Laverne let out an excited whoop in between jumps. "Shirl, you are the best friend a girl could ever have! Two guys, two tickets! It's like I died and went to heaven!"

Suddenly, Shirley's warm hands turned ice cold, and became stronger than steel. The smile left her face as her eyes glowed red and the rosy glow left her cheeks. Laverne stood helpless, unable to move, unable to run, as Shirley's mouth opened to reveal jagged, rotting fangs. "Why should you go to heaven when you sent me to hell?" she hissed, as suddenly decayed flesh fell from her face in bloody bits. Before Laverne could reply, Shirley pulled her closer, and covered Laverne's lips with her own...



Laverne sat bolt upright, a muffled gasp escaping her lips in the dark bedroom. It was just a dream, she reminded herself. The same damned dream over and over. She willed her breathing to slow down before she glanced to her left. Lenny still slept quietly by her side. Sadly, they'd both become accustomed to one another's night terrors. Laverne winced as she gingerly touched the now-fading bruise on her shoulder. Well, almost. Reaching for the small blanket that lay across their feet, she silently got out of bed. It's not like she ever had been able to go back to sleep after one of these episodes.

She pulled the throw more tightly around herself as she entered the colder living area of the apartment. It never failed to amaze her how much warmer a bedroom could be sharing a bed with Lenny, than it had been in her virginal, cold bed, alone.

"But you weren't alone," Shirley's voice whispered in her mind again, "you were with your very best friend."

Laverne shivered as the implications of her dream re-surfaced. Squelching the disturbing thoughts, yet again, she curled upon the couch and tried to sort out the chaos of the last four months.

After Squiggy had left, she and Lenny had done the only thing they could do. Clean her apartment. It had been a gruesome task, but they had both been able to shut off their emotions while loading bloodied bits of glass, furniture, and flesh into trash bags before loading their hideous cargo into Lenny's truck. Fortunately, their early Sunday morning drive to Lake Michigan had seemed to go unnoticed. Wordlessly, they had grimly opened the bags at the docks and had let the obscene red tide spill and disperse into the murky water, before throwing the empty bags inas well. If they could have only rid themselves of their memories as easily...

Laverne had tried to separate the image of her best friend from the horrible creature who died right before her eyes. She had told herself over and over again that Shirley and the vampire were two different beings, but her arguements were wearing thin. Too many familiar gestures and words had come out of the beast's mouth. And, though the thought pained her greatly, she knew that deep down, Shirley would have done anything for Carmine. Even join him in eternal damnation.

Eternal damnation? Laverne laughed, a sharp and bitter noise that held no joy. You'd think that after what they'd been through, she and Lenny would have fled to the sanctuary of the Church and never looked back. But now, after a life time of beliefs and regular mass attendence, both she and Lenny now eschewed weekly services. The images of pink cheeked cherubs that had been imprinted on them in their childhoods rang hollow when confronted by the abject evil they both knew to be all too real.

Besides, now that they were living in sin, she didn't think they would be welcome. It hadn't been as much of a decision as it had been a natural progression. Alone, neither she nor Lenny could survive without their former roomates. And she sure as hell knew that she'd never be able to sleep in her old apartment ever again. No that she was doing much better at Lenny's place. Our place, she reminded herself. Lenny had been nothing less than generous with her, offering her his roof and his bed. The only think missing was a marriage license. Funny, that should have mattered to her...

She snorted derisevely. Nothing mattered anymore to her, except for surviving the day. She guessed Carmine never figured that people would eventually start missing their loved ones. She and Lenny had waited nearly a week before reporting Shirley as missing to the police. Lenny had balked, but she realized it would look better in the long run if they filed the missing report themselves. "Somehow" a rumor got started in the building that Carmine had moved to California to pursue his dream of becoming a dancer. She'd told the staff at the Pizza Bowl that she was temporary manager while her father visited her ailing grandmother in Brooklyn. The lies had hurt, and she had felt that a little part of her had died as each one had slipped more effortlessly through her lips than the one before. Luckily for her, business was good. Laverne had been able to quit her job at Shotz, and focus soley on the Pizza Bowl. In a way, it was almost a relief. When she had been back on the line, lulled by the almost hypnotic parade of glittering bottles, Shirley's voice had seemed to get stronger and more accusatory each day. The frenetic pace of the Pizza Bowl didn't give her time to think.

Her brow furrowed in concentration. The lies were starting to take their toll on her and Lenny. Every time either one of them turned around, someone was asking questions about someone else's whereabouts. Part of her wanted to scream that they weren't coming back, they were killed by vampires, vampires that she, Lenny, and Squiggy had destroyed in turn. But, she would once again adopt the strained face of the loyal best friend, and proclaim to one and all her fears and worries regarding her best friend's disappearance. Confessing their unbelievable tale would only land her and Lenny in a mental instution. Or worse, the gas chamber.

"Vernie?"

She started in surprise, then had no choice but to smile at the heroically absurd picture Lenny presented in his Bullwinkle pajamas. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't," he said, with the emphasis on the "you". The dark circles and sheen of perspiration on his forehead told her that Shirley had been busy that night.

"I"m sorry," she repeated, as she made room for him on the battered sofa. He snuggled against her, part needy child, part valiant watchdog.

"It ain't gettin' any easier."

She didn't reply, merely wrapped her arms around his form and tried to offer comfort, as she tried to draw some from him. "No, it ain't." Trying to embrace the mundane, the everyday, she asked, "Why did you get called in to Heinz's office today? I saw you head in there during my break."

He squirmed against her as he replied, "It's nothing much. I got into a little accident with one of the trucks the other day--"

"Len!" She sat up quickly, as concern colored her features.

"It's wasn't no big deal, nobody got hurt or nothin'. I just," he looked away, and swallowed nervously before continuing, "scraped a wall as I was pulling into the loading dock."

"That happens all the time! Why did Heinz make a big deal out of it?"

"'Cause, it's the fourth time it's happened in the last two weeks."

"Len!"

"I know!" He rose from the couch, and began to stalk back and forth, angrily. "I just-- I mean-- Vernie, I fell asleep behind the wheel. I ain't never done that before, you gotta believe me! I just don't know if I can do this no more."

The weight of his words hit her like a ton of bricks. Lenny wasn't a liar by nature. She should have realized how much their deceptions were hurting him, how much he'd endured for her sake. The idea that had been germinating in the back of her mind came to full fruition. "Len, we can't do this anymore. It's killing you, it's killing us."

Right away, he shook his head violently, "Oh, no. We can't tell no one what really happened. They'd lock us up. I wouldn't be able to take care of you," he said, the pain in his blue eyes revealing that the latter was the more frightening thought to him.

"No, no. I know we can't tell. We can't ever tell this to another living soul but Squiggy, if we ever see him again." She immediately regretted her words when Lenny's face fell. Lenny had been emotionally adrift ever since Squiggy's departure. As much as she loved him every night, body and soul, deep down Laverne knew that Lenny would always feel the void of Squiggy's absence. "We just need to get out of here." At his quick look around the apartment, she amended, "Not just the apartment. Out of Milwaukee, make a fresh start somewhere new."

"How?"

"I can't sell the Pizza Bowl without my Pop's signature," she said, ignoring the grimace upon Lenny's face. The two of them were the only ones who knew that Frank DeFazio's final resting place had been the furnace of their apartment building. Carmine's method of dispatching his victims had become as predictable as his old knock. Lucille, Norman, her Pop, and God only knows who else had been reduced to ash, quickly and efficiently. For a guy who couldn't even seem to manage a dance studio, Carmine had a real knack for disposing of bodies. She and Lenny had scraped the ashes out of the bin and gathered them into a shoebox. At her mother's gravesite, armed with crucifixes and holy water, she and Lenny had said a Rosary before scattering the boxes contents on the hallowed ground. Laverne had prayed that such a release would make the dead rest easier, even though it hadn't helped her or Lenny. "But, I can borrow against the Pizza Bowl, and use that money to give us a chance at a new beginning." At his blank look, she elaborated further, "About six months ago, Pop wrote a letter to the guy who runs Cowboy Bill's franchise's headquarters in California. They're expanding and they've approached a lot of small restaurant owners. My Pop," she continued, as her eyes began to tear, "was thinking of asking Mrs. Babish to marry him, and moving out to California. Y'know, to have a fresh start and all."

"I'm sorry. God, poor Mrs. Babish..."

Laverne winced. Edna Babish had taken her father's leaving as yet another in a long string of rejections. Edna's anger, and disapproval of Laverne's current living arrangement had caused a rift between the two women. A rift, Laverne knew, that would only grow since she could never tell Edna the truth. Focusing back onto Lenny, Laverne continued, "Why don't we go to California and start up with a franchise? We could make some good money, Len. And--"

"And nothing," he interrupted. "Let's do it, Laverne. Let's move to California."

"Really?" She broke into a smile and hugged him tightly.

"Yeah," he whispered brokenly into her hair, "Milwaukee ain't home no more, and it never will be again."


Three Months Later

Laverne smiled into the setting sun as she and Lenny drove down the 404. California was beautiful, warm, sunny, and filled with happy, smiling people. The darkness couldn't touch them here. Neither one of them had heard Shirley's voice since leaving Milwaukee. Their nightmare was finally over. She sighed and snuggled against Lenny's shoulder, enjoying his warmth and his scent, as the traffic increased on the freeway. She never had thought she'd feel this level of contentment or freedom again, ever.

Not that everything was perfect, but what in life was? The franchise manager had already sold the rights to the area that had interested her father in Burbank. However, he had another franchise opportunity down the coast. In Laverne's eyes, it was even a better deal since there were no other Cowboy Bill's within fifty miles, and very few other fast food outlets either. For the first time, it looked like a DeFazio was going to get in on the ground floor of a wonderful opportunity.

Make that a Kosnowski, she remined herself, yet again. Laverne grinned as she looked down at the gold band on her left hand, courtesy of a Vegas pawn shop. They had the rings, and the piece of paper. She and Lenny were bonafide and for real. She grinned again, fighting the urge to embrace him in a spontaneous hug, as hope and optimism once again swelled within her heart. Life could be good, she told herself, firmly, as she looked on the map to find Lenny's turn off.

Sunnydale. The town even sounded like a happy place to begin their new lives...


FIN












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