Anka yawned, despite it being early in the evening. She laid her clothes on the small desk, crawling into bed, setting her phone's alarm robotically. The first day of their senior year was beginning the next day and her sleep schedule was still messed up from long summer nights. With no delay her body fell into a deep slumber.

Nami's eyes fluttered open, glaring at her alarm clock that was clear across the room so she couldn't subconsciously hit the snooze button. Her strategy was to sleep all day and then caffeinate herself the next morning for school. With a sigh she sat up, grabbing her phone. As she thought, she had a message from all three of her closest friends. Nagi was still awake, Anka had gone to bed and Lulu was nigh hallucinating from her immense caffeine intake.

Nagi sat in the butterfly meditative pose, drawing in several deep breaths. He began concentrating on sleeping, something new to meditate on. As his mind began to focus on one idea he was startled by his phone's ring tone. He ruffled his muddled hair in frustration as he read the message from Nami. She was still wide awake, despite her attempts to sleep for over 24 hours. "Try meditating," he whispered before typing it.

Lulu sat, her eyes bloodshot as she lay on the bed's blankets. Her fingers had developed a nervous twitch from her attempt to stay awake for more than 24 hours. She began second guessing herself as she heard her cellphone vibrate on her nightstand. She reached for it, frowning with her friends' luck or better said, lack of luck. "I'm taking a bath..." she muttered as she stood, leaving her cellphone on the table.

Nami answered her call, "Yeah, I'm still awake," she said with a sigh.

"Me too...obviously," Nagi muttered ineptly. "So..."

Nami began mindlessly twirling her hairs between her fingers, "Think the magic shop has anything that'll help us?"

"Nami, where have you been?" Nagi asked dryly. "The magic shop never has anything to help us."

"True...but it's my only idea," she sighed in defeat.

"Meditating is my final resort from toughing out the day tomorrow," Nagi admitted.

---

"Uh, who the hell is there?" Lulu demanded. She slouched further in the mass of bubbles that filled her bathtub. "I did lock the door..." she remembered as she slowly moved the shower curtain to the side. She sighed in relief when nobody was there. "It's just the caffeine hallucinations," she said with solace.

Several minutes later she pulled the plug, switching the shower on and rinsing her body of the soapy bubbles. After enjoying the steady stream of hot water she stepped from the shower, grabbing her robe and slipping it on. She returned to her room, exactly as it was left.

Lulu nestled herself beneath the covers, staring up at the pink canopy that was artfully draped above her. Her mind began to wander from her school schedule to her friends and how they had been fairing with the sleep schedule reversal. "Hopefully they are doing better than me," she muttered as she shoved the covers from her, sitting up and approaching her dresser. She slipped her robe off and slipped into her favorite pink Disney princess pajamas and the matching fuzzy slippers. She ruffled her hair with a towel to dry it, leaving her strawberry blonde hair in a mess of damp waves.

Bored with everything else she grabbed her cellphone and sat before her open window. She decided to rely to her friends' messages, doing so swiftly. After a few moments, two of her three friends replied, leaving her to believe that Nami and Nagi were indisposed in a phone call with one another and Anka had passed out. As she received another message a large grey creature perched on the tree outside her window. The creature had bat-like wings that were twice the span of its body, its fangs were long and underbites, its tail forked and wagging like a happy puppy's tail. Its ears were long and pointed and a single horn was located in the center of its forehead. "What the hell is that thing?" she asked, pointing at it in disbelief.

"I am a gargoyle," it responded in a deep growl. "Come with me, you are in grave danger."

"Yeah, I kind of got that part..." Lulu said nervously as she dialed the magic shop lady's cellphone number.

"Hello?" the magic shop lady answered.

"Creature in a tree, long ears, forked tail, bit teeth, big wings and a horn...and it talks. What the hell is it?" Lulu said in one breath.

"Oh! It must be a gargoyle!" the magic shop lady said quickly as if that were common knowledge.

"And why is it telling me that I'm in grave danger and to accompany it?" Lulu demanded as she began stepping gingerly backwards as the gargoyle made its way through her window.

"It's a guar-"

"What? It's what?" Lulu said frantically. "My cell service is fine...hers must suck..." she said ruefully. She glanced up at the large creature that was now prowling toward her in her room. "Hey! Get out! I never invited you in!" Lulu hissed.

"I'm a gargoyle, not a vampire," the gargoyle rolled his eyes. "My name is Cobble, and I am here to protect you from the vampires."

"I thought gargoyles were named after New York cities," Lulu said sheepishly.

"There is no time to explain here!" Cobble pleaded as his tail wrapped around Lulu's wrist, him using it to inch her toward the window. "Get on my back!"

Lulu gritted her teeth, realizing that the ground was a long way down if she fell or if she was pushed. "Fine, but I have pepper spray," she said smugly as she grabbed her keys. She eased her way onto Cobble's back, forcing her eyes shut and gripping his ears for dear life.

"Relax," Cobble pleaded, gritting his teeth as she yanked on his ears. Lulu's body that was in contact with his was turned to stone.

"Wha! What the hell did you just do to me? I moisturize and I don't deserve this!"

"It's magic and quite reversible," Cobble insisted nervously. "It's so you don't fall off!"

"If it isn't I'll keep pulling your ears until they fall off!" Lulu threatened.

---

Anka sat up, panting heavily. Her strange nightmare was frightening, even in reality where she was safe from her own mind. She approached the tiny window, fanning herself with her hand. She had sweated profusely, and she slapped her forehead when she realized that she hadn't plugged in her fan. She bent down, plugging the fan in before standing at the window, basking in the fresh air, the relaxing breeze.

A ruffling noise caught her attention. She let out a surprised gasp when a neighborhood cat pounced at a cricket. "Phew, you scared me..." she admitted as she watched the cat, now bored with the cricket trot away.

She returned to her cellphone, knowing that she would have messages no matter how long she had slept. She promptly replied to the messages, frowning when she realized that she had only slept for a little over a half of an hour.

She grabbed the melted chocolate morsels and slipped a handful into Yaryck's dish. The adorable pet was curled in a ball, snoozing peacefully despite the sweltering heat. She gave his fur an affectionate stroke with her clean hand as she awaited her replies. Closing Yaryck's cage she sat on the bed, licking the melted chocolate from her hand, staring down at her phone that she held in her clean hand. "That's odd. Even if they're on the phone, Nami and Nagi always reply..." she thought for a moment, forgetting not to rule out sleep.

---

"Nami?" Nagi asked as he pinched his own arm.

"Yeah?"

"You are never going to believe what I just saw," he said in awe as he stared out his window.

"What was it?" she asked, now interested in the phenomena.

"I saw a bat attack some sort of demon in a tree and now the bat is staring in my window and it is really creepy," Nagi said as he loosened his collar.

"Nagi, it's daylight out," Nami reminded him, "bats are usually nocturnal."

"You're not concerned with the demon at all?" he asked as he slipped his robe and Pokemon slippers on.

"I'm concerned with that bat being able to take down a demon, but that's about it," she admitted. "I've got a txt," she added.

"Me too," Nagi stated, slipping the phone from his ear to his hands. "Anka's up..." he shrugged before responding to her message.

"Maybe you should call the magic shop," Nami joked as she responded to Anka's message.

"Just because your phone is in your hands doesn't mean I can't hear you," Nagi said dryly.

"I intended on you hearing me," Nami giggled.

"Maybe I should call her and make sure nobody bought anything," Nagi considered. "Do you have her number?"

"No, but Lulu should," Nami replied.

"I'll txt her then," Nagi said, shifting his gaze back to the window where the bat was once visible.

"Apparently Anka had a weird nightmare," Nami commented. "Something about vampires..."

"That is weird," Nagi agreed.

---

Anka leapt from her bed as a thump sounded from upstairs, her heart hammering in her chest as slow footsteps creaked overhead. She held her breath as she crept towards the window and the minute she heard the knob for the basement rattle she tore through it and up the street, not daring to look back. Yaryck! she thought suddenly, I hope he'll be okay... Mentally she kicked herself for forgetting him.

She plucked her phone from her pocket and dialed without looking, Maybe I'm just overreacting... That nightmare's got me a little jumpy... She thought, biting her lip as the phone rang on and a second pair of footfalls began to match her own.

---

"Oh!" Nami pulled her phone away from her ear, "Hold on a sec, Anka's calling in." She said quickly to Nagi and switched to the other line, "Whats up, Anka?" She asked. After listening to Anka pant frantically she sighed, "You know where the key is. Lock the door on your way in," she said calmly.

"Kay..." Anka sighed as she hung up the phone making a beeline to Nami's house.

"What's up?" Nagi asked.

Nami flopped onto her bed, "Anka's coming over. Nothing big, she just doesn't want to be alone."

"I see. Makes sense," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Is the weird bat still there?" Nami asked curiously.

"Uh..." Nagi glanced out the window, tilting his head as he skimmed the area. "No, I don't see it or the demon."

"Huh, weird..." she remarked.

From the ground the gargoyle slapped the vampire bat with its tail. The vampire bat let out a shriek of pain as the tail made contact with its wing, knocking it from the air. A quick buffet from the gargoyle's wings brought the vampire bat crashing to the ground. Stone, the gargoyle released a guttural noise as it bared its fangs, inching over the vampire bat.

The vampire bat gulped, its eyes widening as the gargoyle towered over it...

---

Anka quickly located Nami's house key and slipped silently inside, flipping the locks after easing the door closed. Inching through the darkened rooms she slipped into Nami's and locked that door as well, sagging against it in relief. "I never thought the day would be so terrifying," She managed after she caught her breath, flopping on Nami's bed.

"Nightmare got you that rattled?" Nami questioned, phone still pressed to her ear.

"Its definitely got my imagination running out of control." Anka replied, pillowing her head in the palm of her hand, "I could swear somebody broke into the house... I didn't take the time to check, you know the idiots who do are always the first to die in horror movies..."

Nami grinned, "Curious idiots anyhow. The other idiots are busy having sex."

"Touche," Anka perked up. "Did I miss anything good?"

"No, just restlessness that comes with staying up all night and trying to sleep normally for school," Nami shrugged.

Before Anka could speak a loud thud sounded from outside the window. "Oh. no..." Anka murmured, standing and approaching the window. Nami quickly followed, her cellphone still pressed to her ear as they peered outside where a strange bat was leering into the window.

"What do you say we lock the window?" Nami asked nervously.

"Yeah," Anka quickly obliged with their mutual thought, shivering at the sight of the bat.

"We have a strange bat here, too," Nami spoke into her phone.

"The demon's back here. Don't know where the bat went," Nagi said thoughtfully.

A crash sounded from down the hall, startling both girls, "Nami... please tell me that mom and dad are here..." Anka said softly.

"Wish I could..." Nami muttered, swallowing.

Anka and Nami yelped in surprise as the door snapped open, splitting the wood of the frame. "Nami, what's going on?" Nagi's muffled voice came from the comforter where Nami had dropped her cell.

---

Lulu pointed to Nagi's house, "It's Nagi's house..."

"Yes, my brother is already there," Cobble nodded. "We are going to retrieve him now."

"Okay, let him see me first, though. Kay?" Lulu suggested as Cobble swooped downward.

Nagi frantically dialed Nami's home number, redialing it after there was no answer. "Come on, Nami..." he pleaded.

Lulu grinned, rapping on Nagi's window. She waved happily at Nagi who was now started. "Open the window, virgin," she demanded.

"Lu, we don't have time. Nami isn't answering her cell pr home pho-" he tapered off as he took in the gargoyle Lulu was riding on.

"I know, tragedy. Now, let's get to them before the vampires do," Lulu growled, grabbing Nagi's hand, yanking him out the window.

"Lu, what the hell?" Nagi demanded as his body was turned to stone as it fused with Cobble.

"Oh, this is Cobble," Lulu explained.

"Stone!" Cobble cried happily as the other gargoyle joined them in the air.

"I got one vampire," Stone announced. "Now, we must protect the other two...let us be gone."

"Bad news, demons. Nami isn't answering me," Nagi cut in.

"She should be fine," Stone said, "Pebbles is looking out for her, and Gravel is looking out for the other girl. You'll see." He flew in circles around Cobble, clearly bursting with energy.

"Now, Stone..." Cobble warned as they approached Nami's block.

"Whaaaat?" Stone whined, hovering upside down beside them now.

"Time to settle and focus, not play games." Cobble growled.

"Can we just hurry up and land already?" Nagi muttered worriedly as they circled Nami's darkened yard.

"Don't be so antsy." Lulu said coyly, "You'll get to see your girlfriend soo-"

"Cobble, Stone, bad news!" Two other gargoyles appeared before them, one had a large chip running from the top of his head down to his chin.

"What is it, Pebbles?" Cobble questioned.

"The girls were taken!" Gravel cut in, "We were overpowered and left for dead... When I came too Pebbles was looking for them..."

"We have to find them!" Stone declared.

"We don't know where to start," Gravel frowned.

"What? Nami and Anka were taken and you don't know where their secret lair is!?" Nagi demanded.

"It isn't easy to track these vampires, you must understand," Pebbles explained.

"How hard can it be to track dead things that can only exist at night?" Nagi asked.

"They teleport and use portals," Cobble explained.

"Relax, Nagi. We'll find them..." Lulu said soothingly.

"Their magic trail has already faded. It will not be easy to find them," Gravel stated.

"What are you talking about?" Lulu asked. "They went that way," she pointed in a direction.

"I can see it too," Nagi agreed.

"Stop trying to find the vampires and focus on our friends," Lulu suggested. "We've been around enough magic to have a magical trail."

"How odd." Pebbles muttered to the other gargoyles, "Humans shouldn't have magical trails..."

"There is more to these than meets the eye." Cobble replied softly, "Otherwise we wouldn't be here guarding them."

"And the vampires wouldn't be after them." Stone said stiffly, "The others wouldn't have been turned to dust."

"Stone..." Gravel said, "We have our vows. Lets rescue the two captured humans, get the lot of them to safety and wash our hands of the matter."

"Thats enough out of both of you." Cobble said quickly as they began to follow the trail.

"So to play catch up," Nagi started, glancing around at the four gargoyles, "these guys are the good guys who were sent here to protect us and vampires which are apparently also real are the bad guys who want something we four have. Is that about right?"

"Yeah, I think you've got it now," Lulu replied.

"And we need to be back to get some sleep before school tomorrow," he added with a sigh.

---

Nami and Anka were unblindfolded after several long moments that seemed to drag on forever. They found themselves in a chamber which resembled the Hollywood chambers seen in movies about the dark ages.

"What happened?" Anka asked, trying to shake off the odd dizzy feeling that overcame her.

Nami shook her head, "I don't know..." she took a step, flinching when she found out the hard way that she was shackled to the wall.

"What were those things?" Anka asked, trying to make sense of the whole situation.

"Beats me...I don't remember anything except dropping my phone..." Nami sighed as she curled into the fetal position against the wall.

"Its going to be okay, we'll get out of here." Anka said quickly, "Nagi's gotta know something's up, I'm sure he's out looking right now after you stopped replying to him so quickly."

"I hope so..." Nami sighed.

Anka groped at her shackles, trying to loosen them or locate any other way to open them, "I wish I'd have remembered my bag." She scowled.

"Why is that?" Nami asked, looking at her quizically.

"I had a lock-pick kit in there." Anka replied with a shrug.

"Damn," Nami snapped her fingers. "Well, Nagi knows I'm not answering him."

"Of course he does," Anka said dryly. "But that doesn't help him, find us."

"I know..." Nami grumbled.

---

"Nagi! Come back!" Pebbles pleaded as the gargoyles chased after him. Nagi was running into a cave (which was not there before) steadfast and determined.

"Pace yourselves. You won't catch him," Lulu assured them.

"How can you be certain?" Cobble asked.

"Because Nami's in there," she said as she hopped off Cobble's back. "We'll just back him up from a distance."

Gravel frowned, "Are you sure?"

"If you want to catch him, go after him. But reasoning doesn't work when he's like this," Lulu explained.

"Fine, let's be surefooted and wise," Stone said tersely.

Nagi threw his arms before his face as several bats fluttered around him. When the bats showed no further aggression he continued running through the cave. "Nami?!" he called out as he weaved his way through the strange passages.


After running for what felt like hours, Nagi found himself seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. "Lu! I think this is the end!" Nagi called back.

Lulu and the gargoyles doubled over, huffing and entirely out of breath. "Get...'em...boy...." she panted, wiping seat from her forehead.

Nagi triumphantly entered the room, finding nothing but disappointment when he saw 6 podiums in juxtaposition and 1 onlooking the group of six. "It's like Jeopardy or something..."

"That is correct!" a man dressed in a flashy suit and a long black cape smiled a fanged grin as he approached the lone podium. "You and your five friends could earn the chance to meet our vampire goddesses if you win the trivia game!"

"What the hell is this, now?" Lulu demanded as she entered the room with the four gargoyles.

"Contestants take your places!" a voice sounded from out of nowhere.

"I think it means us," Cobble said as he dashed toward a podium, the others quickly following his lead.

The host grinned ear to ear, "First question," he said before pulling several note cards from his pocket. "What is Nami's natural hair color?"

Nagi tapped on the bell located on his podium, "Red."

The host slipped that note card behind the others. "Who was the only person who took Anka on a good date?" the host asked.

Lulu rang in, "Drake."

With a nod the host placed that note card behind the rest. "What is Nami's biggest fear?"

Lulu folded her arms across her chest. "That's a trick question," she announced.

"What?" the host asked.

"Nami fears two things most," Nagi explained.

"The note card only says that she fears one thing..." the host said, eying it suspiciously.

"Well, anyhow they are heights and being normal," Lulu said calmly.