[smells like trouble: season 1, episode 9]
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        Serena had no idea why that thing was still around. She could've sworn that the creature was supposed to disappear when Ethan had destroyed the negative. So she wasn't entirely sure why it was still there. But Serena knew there was no good reason. The first time she saw it, her father had ended up dying. And the second time she saw it, she got these crazy Banshee powers. Now she's seen it for the third time in her life, and she had no idea what to do.

She couldn't go to anyone about it. Well, she could but Serena didn't really want to. Felicity had been busy with work meetings and stuff with Benny's Grandma. Wes and Aaliyah would probably just make it a bigger deal than it was. She could ask Ethan and Benny but they were acting fairly weird recently.

"I can believe they shipped your eternity cage without a key!" Serena heard Benny exclaim as she walked up to the both of them. "Now how are we going to play Warlock's Phantasm?"

Ethan's eyes widened in horror, "Benny keep it down. I'm trying to attract a girl, not the whole chess club."

Serena blinked, "Okay, I'm sorry. You have a cage?" she asked Ethan, clearly bewildered by this information. She marched over to the two of them. "I don't even know where to begin with that. That is so problematic on so many different levels!"

Benny gestured down to Serena, "Look, it's working. Serena's a girl," he pointed out.

Serena grimaced, "Yeah, and I'm not into either of you," she said with a fake smile.

Ethan shot Benny an 'I told you so look' as he pulled out a small bottle of liquid from his back pocket. He began to spray it all over his body. Serena instantly turned her face away. The clone smelled absolutely awful. She had to hold herself back from throwing up. Ethan began to cough as well, blowing some of the extra scents away from him.

"What is that?" Benny asked.

"This, 'Horminio'," Ethan said, holding up the bottle with pride. "It's musk. It's supposed to tap into a woman's primal nature."

Benny took the bottle out of his friend's hand and sniffed it quickly. "It's definitely, manly," he said vaguely. "Like 'wrestling team laundry bag' manly."

"Yeah, it's awful," Serena snapped, still holding her hand over her nose. "Is it in my primal nature to hit you, because that's the only thing I'm feeling right now!"

Ethan glared at her, "That's just your opinion Serena," he said, straightening his shirt out. "Okay, here goes nothing. I'm just worried she'll laugh in my face."

"She probably will," Benny said bluntly. "But that gives you one less thing to worry about!" he said as Ethan stalked away. "Joking?"

Serena tilted her head at the retreating figure. "So what exactly is he going to do?" she asked Benny. "Because I know for a fact that no girl is going to want to go near him when he smells like that. It's horrendous. I can still smell it from here." But Benny didn't answer her, either that or he decided to ignore her ramblings. "Benny?" Serena asked again, still facing forward. "Benny!" she said louder, whipping to the left to stare directly at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Benny had the perfume bottle in one of his hands, and his spellbook in the other. He looked up at her, "Do you know if the biology lab has sea slugs?"

Serena blinked, "Why do you think I would know that. Do I look like a massive nerd to you?" she deadpanned.

"I just- I just need their urine," Benny said with a small shrug.

Serena gagged, "Oh my god. That's disgusting. I'm gonna leave before I throw up in the middle of this hallway. Ew, ew, ew," she stammered, shaking her head rapidly. "That's so gross, I don't even know how you could obtain that. I don't even want to know. Uck," she finished, walking away from him.

'Snail urine, what the hell could you need snail urine for?'

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"Aaliyah, I gonna ask you a weird question and I'm gonna need you to pretend that it's completely normal," Serena started, looking over at her friend in the middle of the cafeteria.

"Serena you're scaring me," Aaliyah said, glancing up at her friend with concern in her eyes.

"Do I smell bad?" Serena asked instantly.

Aaliyah spat out the sip of the juice that she just took. "What?" she spluttered. "Serena, why are you asking me this?"

Serena took a deep breath in. "Well, I made the mistake of going over to Ethan and Benny this morning," she started slowly. "And Ethan had this weird musk thing that he sprayed all over his body. I tried to ask Benny why he was doing that but he seemed a little preoccupied. Anyways, since you have like a super scent thing, being a fledgling and all, I just thought I would ask you if I smelled like a dirty gym locker, or whatever Benny said this morning." Serena looked back at Aaliyah who looked absolutely horrified.

"Okay, you don't smell bad, if that's what you were truly worried about," Aaliyah said quickly. "Also, do you remember what that perfume bottle looked like?"

Serena scrunched up her face in concentration, trying to remember the specific details from this morning. "Well, it was clear, obviously. And a large rectangle with grooves on it. It had a small black lid and I think Benny was the last person to have it."

Aaliyah raised her eyebrow, "Mh-hmm, okay," she sounded. "Was the thing called Dusk, perhaps?" she asked.

Serena shook her head, "No, no. I think Ethan said it was called Horminio. Like Hormones, which is a weird thing to name a perfume, but like to each their own." She looked over to Aaliyah, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I did just see Benny leave the cafeteria with a similar shaped bottle with a label that said 'Dusk' on it. I was just wondering if those two events were correlated," Aaliyah explained.

"Oh my god!" Serena exclaimed, jumping up from the lunch table. "That's why he needed the sea slugs," she said loudly.

Aaliyah scratched the back of her head, "What?"

"He- he did something to that perfume, I just know he did," Serena insisted. "I should've known he was planning something. God, Aaliyah. I am so dumb sometimes! We are gonna track him down and figure out what he put in that perfume. I honestly should've known something was up when he said sea slug urine but I was too busy trying not to puke," she rambled as she exited the cafeteria. "It's probably because I'm actually becoming friends with them. It's blinding me to their stupidity. I should never have let this happen. In fact, why did you let this happen, Aaliyah? You are supposed to keep me away from the nerds. Wes would be so disappointed in me. It's better if we just don't tell him."

"Slow down, Serena," Aaliyah said calmly. "Look he's right there."

Serena and Aaliyah both stopped in the middle of the hallway, watching Ethan and Benny from a distance they felt comfortable with. "Hey, ladies. What do you say?" he asked Erica and Sarah, who had just walked past the pair.

"Drop dead, geek," Erica responded shortly. Serena had to cover her mouth with her hand to prevent herself from laughing,

Benny frowned, "Easy, babe, easy."

Erica held her hands up defensively. "Hey, nothing personal. I just don't hang out with dorks," she responded coolly.

"Just wanted to see if you wanted a sample of this new Dusk perfume," Benny said causally. Erica stopped in her tracks, spinning on her heel to walk back towards him. "Yeah, it's supposed to make even undead people smell like flowers and other girly stuff." Benny looked back at Erica. "Wanna try it?"

"Yes! Oh please!" she squealed, causing Serena to roll her eyes.

'Of course, she would be into those vampire movies,' she thought to herself.

"No thanks," Sarah said at the same time as her friend.

Erica frowned at her, "Just one little spritz?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Fine," she said reluctantly as Benny passed the bottle to Erica. She pushed her hair back and sprayed the perfume over both herself and Sarah. Serena could've sworn that she saw a small purple shimmer around the cloud of perfume.

Both Erica and Sarah began to act extremely weird, attaching themselves to both Benny and Ethan respectively. They began to say all of these odd things. 'I knew it,' Serena thought to herself. 'He did something to that perfume.' Serena narrowed her eyes as the two girls retreated. "Aaliyah, please tell me I'm not crazy, and that you thought that whole ordeal was weird, right?" she asked her friend. But Aaliyah wasn't listening to her.

Serena groaned, "Please tell me you're not ignoring me as well," she asked Aaliyah, waving her hand in front of her face.

Aaliyah blinked, "Do you know what Benny's favorite dessert is?" she asked suddenly

"What?!" Serena exclaimed loudly. "Why would I know that?"

"Well, you said that you two are both friends now. I would think that you would know what his favorite dessert is," Aaliyah reasoned.

"One, no. I definitely don't," Serena started, holding up a finger. "And two, why do you want to know his favorite dessert."

Aaliyah shrugged, "I want to bake him something."

"Why would you want to do that?" Serena asked.

"I think I'm in love with him," Aaliyah deadpanned. "Bye!" she said before skipping away from Serena, leaving her stunned in the hallway.

"I- I-," she sounded, blinking rapidly. "What did I just witness?" Serena said out loud. Serena huffed, trying to think of some sort of magical explanation for what had happened to her friend. Why she just inexplicably developed a crush on someone she would've never looked twice at. Unless Serena had completely missed the signs, which she didn't think she did. Serena prided herself on knowing what was going on with her friends, and she would know if Aaliyah had a crush, especially if she had a crush on Benny of all people.

"Oh my god, it's a love potion!" she spat. "Two idiots made a love potion!"

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The first place Serena went after school was Benny's house, to scold them of course. Serena couldn't believe that they would take advantage of the girls in the school like that. Make random girls fall in love with them against their will. It was so stupid, and Serena didn't understand it. If they wanted girlfriends so bad, they should just try harder instead of cheating their way through life. She smiled as she approached the home, her eyes landing on someone that she knew would be on her side: Benny's Grandma.

"Hi Evelyn, your idiot grandson made a love potion today," Serena said bluntly walking up to the woman in the garden.

Benny's Grandma nodded, "I've heard. Do you want to come and yell at him with me?" she offered.

Serena smiled, "That sounds like an excellent way to spend my afternoon," she responded, linking arms with the older woman. The two of them walked into the kitchen where they saw Ethan and Benny sitting at the table, a hoard of chocolates and flowers on the hardwood.

"Hello boys," Evelyn said suddenly, causing the pair to turn around.

"Grandma, and Serena!" Benny said in a panicked voice. "Sweets!" he asked, holding out a box of chocolates. "Take two!"

Evelyn frowned, "Huh! Drop it, Drake. Tweedledum has told me what you did."

"To be clear she's talking about Rory, not me, right?" Serena said, glancing over at Evelyn.

"Yes, not you Serena," Evelyn said lighting, causing the girl to exhale slowly. "Now you, start talking!" she said, pointing a finger at Benny.

"I made a love potion and accidentally dropped it and now half of the girls in school love us," Benny said quickly.

Evelyn shook her head, "The one on page 72?" she asked.

"You know it?" Benny said, looking over at Ethan. "Grandma rocked the potion too! Is that how you bagged Grandpa?" he said with a wink.

Evelyn began to hold up a yo-yo in front of Ethan and Benny. "Here's the thing boys," she said as she began to swing the toy in front of their faces. "Nature is about balance. Brainiac here upset the balance. You swung the pendulum all the way to goo-goo eyes and giggles."

"So far, so sweet," Benny said, sticking his face on top of his hands.

"But when the pendulum swings back," Evelyn contained, hitting Benny in the face.

Benny grimaced, "Oooh, ow!" he sounded.

"That's what I'm talking about," she scowled. "The more those girls loved you, the more they are going to hate you. Now, how strong was the potion."

Benny and Ethan exchanged nervous glances. "Well," Ethan said slowly. "Sarah and I brought matching cardigans."

"Yep, you're toast," Evelyn commented.

"Ooooo, Aaliyah's gonna kick your ass!" Serena added joyfully.

Benny groaned, "Please, don't punish us again, Grandma."

Evelyn shook her head, "Oh, you'll get yours."

"But, come on!" Ethan protested. "We're used to girls not liking us. What's the worst that could happen?" he reasoned.

Serena raised her brow, "Have you ever had to deal with a pissed-off girl?" she asked.

The two shook their heads. "Ooooo," Serena sounded. "You've got a big storm coming."

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Serena opted to stay and help Ethan and Benny with the swarm of angry girls that were about to come to their house. It wasn't because she genuinely wanted to help them. It was because she wanted to see if Benny's grandma had any more information on the shadowy figure that seemed to be stalking her. She hated the fact that she didn't know what was going on with herself. Serena finally thought she had wrapped her head around this whole 'being a banshee' thing. But now life wanted to throw a whole another thing at the girl. It seemed a little unfair in her opinion.

She was flipping through a random book on shadow people when she heard the sound of breaking glass from the floor below. Serena sighed as she closed the book abruptly, rushing down the stairs to join the action. Serena spotted a blonde girl holding up a wooden baseball bat. "I was in the neighbors," she said in a sing-song voice. "Thought I might, swing by!" she said, lugging the baseball bat into a nearby vase.

Serena bit her lip to prevent herself from shrieking. "For once, it wasn't me who broke the glass!" she said, following the two boys out of the house. The two boys thought they would be safe out on the front porch, but two girls jumped out from the bushes. One with a shovel, the other with a pair of nunchucks they probably stole from the school's gym.

"Who are these girls, like, ninjas or something?" Ethan questioned.

"Oh you don't recognize us from the yearbook?" one of the girls taunted. "The martial arts club?"

Serena began to laugh, "Oh, you guys are screwed," she commented, sitting down on one of the chairs on the porch. "This'll be fun to watch."

Ethan grabbed his friend and began to shake him by the shoulders. "Benny! You potioned martial arts experts!"

"Oh come on!" Benny exclaimed as the girls began to draw closer. "You liked my shirt!" he said to the girl with the baseball bat.

"That was before. Now, I just want to smash your face in!" the girl exclaimed. She began to swing at the two boys, nearly missing Serena's head.

"Okay, it looks like you guys have this covered!" she said quickly, rushing off of the porch, not wanting to get her head bashed in with a baseball bat.

"Serena!" Aaliyah called, appearing out of the bushes. "I want to kill Benny. Like kill, kill him. It'll be a good use for these fangs, see," she said flashing the sharp tools at her friend.

Serena nodded, "That's great, Lia. You have fun with that, I'm just gonna be over here. Bye!" she called, darting toward the direction she saw Ethan and Benny run toward. She skidded to a halt in front of the pair.

"By the way, all of the vamps want to kill you now," Serena said, trying to catch her breath. She narrowed her eyes at the structure in front of them.

"We know, we saw Erica and Sarah out there!" Benny told her.

She frowned, "Was this the cage you were talking about? It's even creepier in person."

Ethan nodded, "Yes, the Cage of eternity."

"Wait a minute, you told me you didn't have the key!" Benny said to Ethan.

"I don't," Ethan said simply. "But once I'm in, I don't plan on coming out any time soon. So, let's go!"

Benny held his finger up, "Hang on! There are five girls out there fighting over us!"

Serena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, over who gets to murder us!" Ethan exclaimed.

"It's still pretty cool," Benny said defensively, rushing over toward a rock.

"Oh my god, what are you doing!" Serena called after him. "I can't see over there. If you're gonna get murdered. I want to be able to at least see it so I can make fun of you!"

"Benny, a rock isn't going to help you out right now!" Ethan added.

"Not just any rock," Benny said loudly. "Emergency holy water! I stashed these in both of our backyards. You never know."

Ethan began to back up into the cage. "Yeah, that's really crazy and smart. You- wait. You hear that?"

Both Serena and Benny paused, "I don't hear anything," Benny said quietly.

"Exactly, the fight's over," Ethan stated. "And I have a pretty good idea about who won! Come on." Benny clambered into the cage after his friend. They both turned to Serena, looking at her expectantly. "Serena, come on!" Ethan yelled.

Serena shook her head, her feet rooted to the ground. "I'm not gonna get in a cage with you two!"

"Do you want to get murdered?!" Benny asked, flailing his arms in the air.

Serena huffed, "Fine!" she spat, rushing into the small metal cage as Ethan closed the door behind them.

"We are so dead, we are so dead, we are so dead," Benny said quickly.

"You guys are," Serena correct. "I'm not the one that brewed a love potion and gave it to most of the girls in our school!"

"You think this cage will keep them out?" Benny asked.

"Well, we're gonna find out any-WOAH!"

Ethan jumped back as Erica came up to the door. "Come on out, sweetie. I want to go inside and make popcorn with you!"

"I don't think he can fit in the microwave!" Sarah said, appearing on the other side of the cage.

"Oh, I'll make him fit!" Aaliyah snarled, reaching her hands through the bars to try and reach one of the guys.

Ethan and Benny both held up their water guns loaded with Benny's stash of holy water. "The eternity cage is impregnable!" Ethan shouted at the vampires.

"Yeah! And so is the prop- I hope!" Benny added.

"Stop! Don't make us use these!" Ethan warned as Serena began to laugh at their attempts to keep the vampire away.

She held onto the back of her chest. "Oh my god," she choked out. "This is the most entertained I've been in weeks!"

The whole thing went on for about five more hours, Serena watched as the girls kept trying to get into the cage. Once the potion wore off, she convinced Aaliyah to let her out of the cage of eternity while Ethan and Benny were still asleep. She brushed herself off, discarding any dirt that might've collected on her clothes.

"Why didn't the potion work on you, Shrieky?" Erica asked her.

"I'm not attracted to men in the slightest," Serena said with a small shrug.

"Good to know," Erica said quietly. "Good to know.

And we were in screaming colors,
and I remember thinking ♕

Grace talks ig: AHHHH THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN TO WRITE! Like this episode, in general, is super fun, but just adding Serena and Aaliyah into it, just made it ten times better bc they're my girls! Anyways, we officially only have four chapters of this story left (including the episode) which is so sad. I would've been able to write season 2 if they weren't taking the show off of Netflix at the end of the month. So I am gonna be grinding to get the rest of these chapters written because I am not that fast of a writer (especially with this book since there are NO transcripts anywhere, so I have to physically pause the show to get the dialogue lines written for the people who aren't my ocs. With all that being said, I hope you liked this chapter and I will see y'all soon. BYEEEEEEEE