[pre season 1]
‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵

"So, you're a banshee?" Aaliyah asked curiously as she paced around Serena's room. "What does that even mean?"

        Serena closed the book she had open on her bed, "I have no idea. It's not like I have access to a step-to-step guide on how to be a banshee," she commented. "All I have is my mom, and she's at a conference this weekend, and I can't just call her up every time I have a question."

        Aaliyah titled her head, "Well, I mean, you kind of do, don't you?"

        "What?" Serena said turning her body, so she could sit up on the bed. She looked at Aaliyah who has stopped in the middle of her room. "No!" Serina said immediately, recognizing the look that Aaliyah was giving her. "No! Absolutely not. Those two don't know anything!"

        "Maybe they know more than they're letting on," Aaliyah suggested taking a pen off of Serena's desk and beginning to spin it in her fingers.

        "Trust me, they don't," Serena insisted. "And even if they did, why would I go to them?"

        Aaliyah looked at her, a little dumbfounded. "Isn't Ethan a fortune teller, or whatever? Can't he, like, magically see the future?"

        "It's seer," Serena corrected her. "And I don't think it works like that."

        "Okay, but my point still stands," Aaliyah said finally sinking down onto the floor. "We might still need their help."

        Serena sighed, "I hate it that you're right."

        "I mean, I am usually right," Aaliyah said patting herself on the back. "Okay, I have an idea."

        Serena raised her eyebrow, "Okay, shoot," she said slowly.

        "Now I know you might think this is a bad idea, but hear me out," Aaliyah started, getting up to sit next to Serena. "Since your mom is out of town, how about we invite them over tonight, for research purposes, obviously. By research, I mean actually researching, learning about Banshees and such."

        "What? Like a supernatural study group?" Serena asked laughing.

        "Okay now it sounds dumb when you put it that way," Aaliyah said rolling her eyes. "I just think this would be helpful to, I don't know, see what we are getting ourselves into."

        "Okay, fine, yeah," Serena said. "I guess I'll host a supernatural study group."

---

       Later that night, Aaliyah and Serena were setting up for the people who were coming over. "Hey, where did you get all of these books?" Serena asked as Aaliyah started to upload the bag of books she had shoved in her backpack.

        "The White Chapel Library," she breathed, starting to put the books into different piles on the kitchen counter. "You know, those librarians aren't that nice. I had a $65 dollar fine that I had to pay for checking out a book when I was five and forgetting to return it. They barely let me check all of these out."

        Serena walked over and looked at the books Aaliyah was pulling out, "Okay, why did you bring a goosebumps book? I don't think that is going to be of any help to us."

        Aaliyah picked up the book and showed Serena the cover. "Maybe there's something about Banshee's in here."

        "Revenge of the Living Dummy," Serena read out loud, looking at the cover. "Is that a puppet on the front? Aaliyah, why?"

        "Maybe they'll have like a sentence on Banshees. There really wasn't much to go off of," Aaliyah admitted. "I basically ransacked the fantasy and mythology sections of the library to find anything. Also, I haven't read Goosebumps in ages, so this might be a fun read."

        Serena raised her eyebrow, "Fair enough," she responded turning away from Aaliyah. "Do you know when they're getting here?"

        Aaliyah looked down at her watch, "Should be any minute now," she pointed out.

        "How do you even have their numbers?" Serena asked.

        "I don't" Aaliyah answered. "Well, I do, but it's only Ethan's from when we worked on a school project together ages ago."

        Serena took a seat at her kitchen table. "I'm really beginning to hate this idea." Serena looked down at the animal in Aaliyah's hand. She turned her nose up in disgust, "Did you have to bring that in here, it smells."

        "Would you rather have me drink this or human blood?" Aaliyah asked waving the animal around.

        "That," Serena said plugging her nose. "Definitely that. Just don't swing it around, okay? I don't want to have to clean animal blood out of my mother's white rug." 

        There was a small but swift knock at the door. "That's probably them," Aaliyah pointed out placing a huge stack of books on the kitchen table.

        "Yeah, I'll get it," Serena said turning out of the kitchen and marching down the hallway to the front door. She opened it up quickly and looked at the people in front of her. It was definitely a bigger crowd than Serena expected. Ethan and Benny were there, as expected, but so were Sarah, Erica, and Rory, which Serena had no clue was coming. "Uh, hi," she said quietly. "Come in, I guess?" she said.

        The people filled into the hallway and began to walk towards the kitchen. "I see you're still drinking animal blood," Erica commented as she walked into the kitchen, looking down at the thing in Aaliyah's hand. "Haven't stepped up to the real thing yet?"

        Sarah hit her lightly on the arm, "Erica, stop."

        "Right," Erica said turning back to her friend. "I forgot you were a fledgling too. You're missing out."

        "Ooooh, it that goosebumps?" Rory commented, making his way over to the table where the books were. "This book club just got a whole lot more fun!"

        "Why is there a Goosebumps book?" Benny asked.

        Ethan looked down at the books below the stack, "Yeah, why is there a whole stack of them?"

        Aaliyah and Serena didn't answer. "Nevermind, I don't even want to know," Benny said pulling out a book from his messenger bag.

        "Whatever let's just get started okay?" Serena said. "Aaliyah, want to come with me to grab more chairs?" she asked her friend.

        Aaliyah looked up from the book she had begun to read. "Yes, okay," she said following Serena out of the room and into the living room.

        "I didn't know they were coming," Serena said in a low whisper to Aaliyah, as she started to grab one of the chairs near the coffee table.

        Aaliyah looked confused, "Who?' she asked quietly.

        "The vampires," Serena continued.

        "Oh," Aaliyah said slowly. "I didn't know they were going to come, to be fair. But is it really that bad? I mean, it is more help for us."

        "I don't mind the other two, but Erica," Serena added quietly. "She bit you."

        "You're still holding on to that?" Aaliyah asked rolling her eyes.

        Serena put the chair down, "You're not?" she asked stunned.

        "Not really," Aaliyah admitted quietly. "Look, when you think about it. I have super hearing, speed, and strength, and I don't even have to drink human blood to have these abilities, so basically I still have my humanity, it's just enhanced a bit."

        "Wait super hearing?" Serena asked. "Does that mean Erica can hear everything I'm saying right now?" she asked looking back at the group huddled around the table. Erica was looking at the pair with her eyebrows raised.

        Aaliyah turned back to Serena, "Yep, she definitely can," she said answering Serena's question from earlier.

        "Dammit," Serena cursed. "Whatever, I'll deal with the consequences later," she said beginning to move the chair into the kitchen.        

        "Whatever floats your boat," Aaliyah responded.

        The group sat in silence, turning the pages of the multiple books that Aaliyah brought to Serena's house. Serena was certainly turning the pages of a very old book that would probably fall apart if she tugged at a page too hard. She had read all about werewolves, vampires, hell-hounds, and even something called sirens but there was nothing that even remotely described what was happening with her or any mention of a Banshee.

        Serena pushed the book to the side and grabbed another one from the pile next to her. 'The Bestiary,' Serena read to herself. 'This looks like it could produce some answers.' Serena flipped open to the first page but before she could read it, a voice broke the silence.

        "Look at this," Benny said showing his page of a book to the group. Serena looked at it curiously. The creature on the page had long yellow horns, bright blue eyes, and long fangs.

        "Benny," Ethan complained looking at his friend. "That's not helping."

        Benny closed the book and scowled, "I just thought it was funny," he said defensively.

        Serena rolled her eyes and looked back down at the book again, returning to what she had started earlier. The book had no table of contents, which left Serena to flip through the book at her own pace.

        She began to turn the pages one by one. Passing by creatures she had never even seen before or cared to learn about, to be honest. The flipping of pages began to feel like a chore as Serena's search was turning up nothing. She skimmed through endless pages of a thousand entries. She read about kitsunes, which Serena thought was way cooler than whatever she was. Sirens, which Serena had hoped would turn up something but it turns out Sirens were not related to Banshees in the slightest.

        Then Serena found something that caught her eye. 'The Wailing Woman,' she read to herself, running her hand over the page. There was a picture to accompany the description. The woman had dark grey hair that fell down to her waist. Its face with kind of distorted and it looked like she was constantly crying, or even screaming. But there was one thing that stood out to Serena, the bright red eyes, something that was pierced into her memory, the same eyes she saw the day her dad died.

        "Hey guys, I think I found something," she spoke.

        Benny looked up, "What is it?"

        "Listen," Serena said clearing her throat and beginning to read the passage below the drawing. "The Wailing Women goes by many names such as a 'woman of the fairy mound,' 'fairy woman', or even a 'banshee'. They are seen as a single of death. When they cry, scream, or sing it means came been seen as a warning of danger or in the most extreme cases death. Their most powerful asset is their scream or wail, the more powerful the more damage it causes. I think your grandma mentioned that," Serena said looking up at Benny, he nodded.

        Serena continued to read the rest of the page, "Which is why many young banshees are advised to hide their voices or keep quiet. Their powers are hard to control, and can often become unmanageable when the woman is in emotional situations. The wailing woman is a very powerful creature and should be avoided at all costs, for one's own safety, please be aware," she finished slowly, closing the book.

         "That end bit didn't sound good," Aaliyah pointed out sighing.

        "Yeah, I mean if your friend is really as dangerous as this book says we really shouldn't be here," Erica said quickly. "She should be left alone, and I kind of see the resemblance between that creature and her."

        "You know I could say the same about you because you constantly go around biting people who get in your way," Serena snapped.

        Sarah looked between the two and immediately tried to diffuse the tension. "Okay, stop you two," she said. "Actually, we're having a girl's only meeting. You three," she pointed at Benny, Ethan, and Rory. "Out!"

        "But-" Ethan started.

        "Out!" Sarah repeated loudly.

        "Okay, okay," Ethan said defensively, taking his friends out of their kitchen.

        Aaliyah looked a little bit nervous. "Why I do feel like I'm about to get scolded," she commented.

        "You're not," Sarah clarified. "Look, I understand that there is a little bit of a rivalry going on between you two," she said watching Erica and Serena

        "Oh a justified one," Serena commented.

        "No, not really," Erica responded.

        Sarah huffed, "See this is what I mean. We need to start being civil with each other." Erica rolled her eyes, setting the lipgloss she said just applied on the table. "I'm being serious Erica. We are probably going to be spending a lot of time together and instead of being at each other throats the whole time, why don't we try being friends. We've been doing this supernatural thing for a bit, and we can help you guys through that if you like," she offered.

        "Honestly, that would be so great," Aaliyah said sighing. "I mean, Serena and I have been a bit overwhelmed, and you guys are massively better than those three. Not that they are bad, it's just good to have more girlfriends. Right, Serena?" Aaliyah asked looking expectedly at her friend.

        Serena mulled the thought over in her mind. Aaliyah was definitely right, it would be good if the two had more connections with the group. Especially since Sarah could help Aaliyah through the whole fledgling mess. "Okay," Serena said quietly. "Yeah, I like that idea."

        "Erica?" Sarah asked.

        "Sure, whatever," she said lazily. "Let's just get out of here. I got places to be," she said standing up from the table.

        "We'll see you guys later, okay?" Sarah said as she was being dragged out of the kitchen by Erica.

        "For sure!" Aaliyah responded excitedly. "Bye!"

        The rest of the group ended up leaving soon after that and Serena and Aaliyah were left to clean the kitchen up. Serena began to return the books back into Aaliyah's bag. She spotted that small tube of lip gloss on the table. She picked it up in her hand, "Is this yours?" she asked Aaliyah.

        Aaliyah shook her head, "No, I think it's Erica's. You could give it back to her at school," she suggested.

        "Yeah I suppose," Serena said slipping the lipgloss into her pocket and continuing to clean up.

---

        "Serena!" A voice called from across the hallway the next day at school. "Can we talk?"

        Serena turned around to face the vampire, "Oh great, it's you," she sighed looking at Erica. "Come to bite my other friend this time? Unfortunately, Wes isn't here right now, so you have no one else to do that too. You must be so disappointed."

        Erica huffed and crossed her arms, "No. I came to apologize for that," she insisted. "If we are going to be around each other more, as Sarah suggested we do. I thought we should start on a clean slate. So, sorry, for biting your friend and subsequently turning her into a vampire as well," she mumbled the last part. "I got a little overzealous in my attempt to figure out what happened, so I apologize."

        "Wow, I am hearing things, or are you actually being the bigger person this time?" Serena asked. "This is simply unheard of. Frankly, I'm honored."

        Erica rolled her eyes, "I wouldn't be doing this if you didn't serve some sort of purpose. You're helpful, your powers could help us out in the long run. Plus, you and your friend are hundred percent better than the geek squad. You're not nerdy and the way you dress is acceptable so I might as well play friendly."

        "You know, I'll take what I can get," Serena said shrugging. "See you around, I guess," she said closing her locker door and walking out of the hallway. Serena remembered that she had Erica's lipgloss that she left at Serena's house the night before. She turned around to return it to her but the blonde girl was gone. "Nevermind then, that'll have to wait," she whispered to herself, swinging her bag over her shoulder, and strolled out of the school, knowing her life was about to get a whole lot more interesting.

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

Grace talks ig: this is a fun chapter (at least in my opinion) and it's the last chapter before the events of the show takes place. I would've written the movie into this book, but I couldn't find a good enough way to fit Serena, Aaliyah, and Wes into it, so this kinda acts like how I would things would work out in the movie. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the little Serica moment at the end because I couldn't help myself. They are just so fun to write, and I kinda realized that they are gonna be more of a slowburn than some of my other books so yay!!! Vote and comment if you want to, and I will see you all in the next update. Byeee <3