The Funeral Home

The movie was quite enjoyable. The guys headed home for the evening. George was now driving his new van. Irene was with them. They stopped by a pool parlor for a quick game. When they were done, they headed home for good. They decided this time, not to go to the cemetery. They had enough of cemeteries for the evening. Besides, it was nearly two in the morning. There should be no activity anywhere.

They rode down the main street. There were hardly any cars anywhere. They seemed to be the only life on the street. They just had the music, each other's company, and the bad jokes. Tonight, however, added something else to their itinerary.

There was a light on within the funeral home. Why was there a light on the inside of a funeral home? George slowed the van to a near crawl. The light suddenly went out. George hit the brakes. Another light went on. Another went on after that one. Now, both lights went out. They sensed that something was amiss. What was going on at two in the morning that couldn't wait until the next day? Were there more vampires? Did they relocate? If so, then the battle was not over. This warranted an investigation. They knew what had to be done.

George parked the vehicle. They had a new situation. Irene was with them. They were now worried about having her along in this situation. Yes, they had to do something about the funeral home. Yes, they had to keep her away from the action. Caution had to be exercised in great amounts. They had to get inside. They also had a legal worry-getting inside now after business hours would be breaking and entering. They couldn't wait till morning. Damage might be complete by then. They had to act immediately. They figured that they could park the vehicle here until morning. Each occupant would take a part of the watch and alert the others to any other unusual activity. They would then enter the building legally in the morning. They had the day off anyway. Jimmy took the first watch.

The morning silence was broken by the sound of George's wrist alarm. He nudged everyone awake including Marcel, who fell asleep during his watch. They agreed that Irene would stay behind in the van. She stayed there listening to the radio. She had hoped that Jimmy would not have any close calls like they did during the last two adventures.

The guys went inside. They glanced for a name that they could visit. They agreed to look at Mr. Charlie Smith. The mortician greeted them in the foyer. He walked them to chapel A. There is where they would find Smith's body.

Smith's body looked quite normal. He was in a black suit. Oddly enough, however, there were no flowers anywhere in the chapel. In fact, there were no flowers anywhere in the funeral home. The room had a strange aura. There was a sense of impending danger, yet they saw nothing unusual.

They were slightly convinced that everything was on the up and up. George sat in a chair in the lobby. Why were there light on in this place at two in the morning? There had to be another missing clue. Jimmy looked out of the door to see if Irene was okay. There was nothing amiss with the van. Mark looked out of the window. He, nor anyone else in the gang, had been in a funeral home first thing in the morning. Still, an investigation is an investigation.

Marcel sneezed. He had spent too much time in his wet clothes from the night before. He wiped his nose with the phlegm that he felt dripping down his nose. He took a tissue from his pocket. He turned his head and blew his nose. He opened his eyes and faced the picture frame of someone on the table. Who it was wasn't important. What he discovered brought a look of shock on his face. He looked at the reflection in the glass. It was the reflection of Smith's casket. HE WASN'T IN IT!! He turned to see the actual casket. Smith was in the box, yet in the reflection, he wasn't there. Vampires have no reflection. Therefore, Smith must be a vampire. This place must be full of them. But it's daytime. How can they be around in the daytime?

He motioned for Mark to share this discovery. Mark saw the phenomenon. They quickly excused themselves and pulled Jimmy and George in tow. They very well couldn't stay there. Their lives would surely be in danger. It was time to make another game plan.

Mark and Marcel briefed the group on the latest discovery. They were in shock. The vampires seemed to have shifted their headquarters to a new location. What were they going to do now?

Irene offered her best answer: leave. Jimmy disagreed. He would have nothing of it. In the Army, he was trained to go into battle and finish it. He wanted to make sure that the vampires were eliminated. They started something that he was intent to finish it. It had to be this way. She broke down in tears. Marcel, Mark and George agreed with Jimmy. They had to eliminate these blood-suckers.

The battle seemed to have shifted from the cemetery to the city. They now have to do battle on their own turf. This might be much tougher than before. Apparently, the vampires must have sneaked away from the burial ground. There also was the possibility that they had some help. There must have been a connection between the funeral home and the cemetery. The other cemeteries had to be checked as well.If possible, they might have to get some holy water of the other places as well. The battle has now entered a new dimension. They were ready for the challenge.

They left for Mark's house. There, he had an additional laptop computer. He, through the use of his modem, was able to do the research that they needed. He looked for any possible connection between the first cemetery and the funeral home. There was none at the moment. He then ran a check on the other cemeteries. Again, there was none. There had to be something that they were overlooking at the moment. Why was he feeling so unsure? Was there a kickback between the two? Vampires don't need money. They need blood. But why does the funeral home need to be involved? Immediate answers were needed.

There is a time when one has to rise above the law. The guys felt that this has to be the time. The home needed to be burned to the ground. The question was how it was going to be done. They couldn't afford to be caught. They had to come to some sort of arrangement. They could firebomb the place, but they were afraid of leaving incriminating evidence. No, this had to be done as cleanly as possible.

Jimmy prepared a few Molotov cocktails. They would do the trick. He made a few of these in his Army days. These would blow the foundation out of the ground. This would send those creatures sprawling for cover. The only dilemma would be the time of day; doing it during the day and they risked getting caught. Do it at night and the place would be empty or they would have moved on anyway. They had to act right away. They would try a daylight bombing.

They left Irene behind. They would go on to do this without her. Besides, if anything went wrong, she would be in the middle of it. Jimmy didn't want that to happen.

They pulled up to the home. It seemed inactive. They had to be sure that there were no mourners inside. Someone had to check first. Mark and Marcel went inside.

The place seemed very quiet. On this visit, however, all of the caskets were closed. This was what they came to expect. There were no mourners. This was what they wanted. They walked over to the Smith casket. Mark opened it up. Smith was still inside. The coldness of the body could be felt by both of them. They slammed the lid shut and ran for the exit. If he was still there, chances are that the rest were still inside as well. They were ready to go for broke. George hurled the first bomb as scheduled when he saw Mark and Marcel. Within seconds, Jimmy threw the second. Soon, the home was engulfed in flames. Screams could be heard within the walls. More bombs came crashing through the windows. Now, they had to move quickly. If the police caught them, they could be arrested.

George and Jimmy pulled them in the van. Then, George drove away. Now, they went from conquerors to possible fugitives. They had hoped that the screams were actually vampires and nothing else.

They drove for a few minutes. Soon, Jimmy saw five police cars with flashing lights giving chase to the van. They heard gunshots. The police were firing at them. George had to do something to avoid getting everyone killed. Mark came up with a plan. He convinced George to pull up to a nearby corner in order to duck the police. He did so.Mark and Jimmy hopped out of the van and ran. George and Marcel would continue driving. If they were caught, they would tell the police that only they were involved in the bombing and deny that Mark and Jimmy were with them. It was risky, but they were willing, for the sake of their friendship, to take the risk.

Jimmy and Mark hailed a cab. They headed back to the apartment where they caught up with Irene. They changed their clothes to avoid identification and rid themselves of the odor of the gasoline. Now they had to find George and Marcel.

George continued to elude the police. Vans don't corner very well at high speeds. George turned a corner. He missed the pavement by a few feet. The vehicle went tumbling for a few feet. Their luck had run out. Fortunately, they were able to crawl away from the wreck. They had only gotten away for a few feet when the van erupted into a daytime fireball. The police rushed in. They slapped handcuffs on the two of them. Marcel and George were now in the custody of the law.

They were taken to Central Booking. They were fingerprinted and given the customary phone call which they chose not to use at this time. If they called Mark and Jimmy, it would risk getting them caught as well as further the vampires' agenda. No, they had to have it this way. It was a chance they had to take. George devised a plan. They were in an accident. They still felt some pain. They would need a doctor. They made a request for one.

Meanwhile, Mark couldn't let his friends stay in jail. He was willing to go to the jail and act as their lawyer. He wondered, however, if someone spotted him as one of the fire bombers. If they did, he would be putting himself at risk in the jailhouse. That would leave Jimmy and Irene at risk. Still, something had to be done and right away. The evening was beginning to fall. Even though the home was destroyed, there was still no evidence that the vampires were gone. They had to assume that there were still vampires roaming the city, wreaking death wherever they went.

It was now evening. Still, Marcel and George were in jail. They needed to get out. The vampires' plan was still unknown. Perhaps they were going to seek revenge upon the gang. Maybe they were going to take over the town. The guys only won the battle. The war was still on. They couldn't lead the fight within the jail-or could they? George had to take the chance. He requested a lawyer. The county assigned an attorney. Their counsel would have to go about and prove their innocence. That would also probably make the plan known to the public. It was a chance that he was willing to take. The lawyer was a bit on the wimpy side. He did manage to get the bail together. Because of the damage and the nature of the damage, the bail was set at $10,000. George put his lavish apartment up for collateral. Marcel did likewise. They were now, for the moment, free men in search of their innocence. The first thing they had to do was a thorough search of the funeral home. They had to make sure that they had done their job. The proof that they would need would be there in the rubble. Their lawyer advised them not to do it. They were not the type to listen to authorities. They needed this proof. They had to show that the town was in immediate danger. A town of vampires was a far-fetched notion, but they saw it with their own eyes. They had to have proof. Marcel made a request. He wanted the trial to be held in the remains of the funeral home. He remembered the body-or missing body-in the casket. If a jury saw the same thing, perhaps they could get off scot-free.It was another shot for the guys. Combined with probation, they could be free and clear. The lawyer was hesitant at first but later agreed to help with the plan.

Mark and Jimmy, coincidentally, were thinking of the something. The secret to the whole case rested in the funeral home. If the vampires chose to make some sort of move tonight, the guys could be stuck for life in jail. They decided to go in search of proof.

It was now six PM. Marcel realized that they had to both get in touch with the second half of their group and their evidence. He and George took a cab with the lawyer to the home. On the way, they heard the radio in the cab. They heard about a group of murders in the city jail. They decided to visit the jail before they went to the home.

What they found there was more than they could accept. There were police everywhere. The carnage was worse than anything that they had seen in any movie. Jimmy and Mark met the other two at the jailhouse. Jimmy tightly held Irene's hand. She broke down in fear. The whole group felt that this was meant to be a message to the group. It seems like the entire department was wiped out. Mark snuck off beyond anyone's eyesight. He entered the computer room and subsequently deleted George and Marcel's name from the database. As a result, they were once again free men. They took the lawyer outside and informed him that his services would no longer be needed.

The message was all too clear to them. They were all set to retaliate. No vampires were going to boss them around. They went back to George's apartment and organized their new battle plans. The holy water worked in the cemetery. The stake did the job on the main vampire. It was agreed that a face to face battle would do the trick. They sat and said their prayers together. They were unsure of what to expect. This could be their final battle. They probably wouldn't come out of this alive. They continued their prayers.