DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE

Part I

By Wesley Overhults

San Francisco, California

Rachel Roth knew she didn’t have the most normal of lives.  When you discovered that you were half-demon and could very well bring about the destruction of the entire world, you got used to the idea that nothing in your life was ever going to be normal again.  However, Rachel was pretty sure that normal people didn’t do what her current roommate was doing.

“Well, I can at least say you have a hell of a talent with that paint,” she admitted as she watched June carefully craft the three Greek letters of her sorority on one of her cheeks.

June turned to look at Rachel, getting her lower lip to quiver slightly so that she looked like a kicked puppy.  Rachel almost laughed at how comical such a facial expression was given that she knew June better than most.  Rachel didn’t understand the entire Greek system of college life.  Truthfully, she didn’t understand much about college life in general.  She assumed this was because she hadn’t even thought about college and now that she had the time to do so, it came with the haunting realization that she would probably never attend it.  The Greek system was the worst though and Rachel had already made a pact with herself that the closest she would ever come to it was watching Animal House every so often to reinforce her feelings on it.

“It’s rush week and I felt like getting into the spirit of things,” explained June.  “Bid Day is tomorrow and that means it’s party time tonight.”

“You do realize I have no idea what you’re talking about, right?” asked Rachel.  “You’re not even speaking English anymore, are you?”

June playfully rolled her eyes at Rachel and realized that she had missed having a friend she could share her life with.  June would never count the Enchantress as anything like a friend.  No, the Enchantress would always be that evil voice in the back of her head that occasionally came out to play.  She would never be June’s friend but June was learning that just because she was stuck with the sorceress’s spirit inside her it didn’t mean she couldn’t make real friends.  She was happy to put Rachel in that category even if the two girls were almost complete opposites.

“You’ll understand when you get into college,” said June.  “I know all this seems pretty dumb to you, Rachel.  Honestly, sometimes it’s a little dumb to me too but I like to think it’s more than just Greek letters on a sweater.  Being part of a sorority is being part of a family.”

“Hey, family I understand,” said Rachel.  “God knows I wish I had more family in my life.  All I have are my foster parents back in Gotham.”

Rachel grew quiet and June knew that meant she was treading on very thin ice, conversationally speaking.  June wished that Rachel could see that family wasn’t just the people whose blood you shared.  The idea, the concept, of a family was more than that.  It was something that helped keep you grounded, something that kept you anchored so you didn’t fly off into the darkness.

“You have me, Rachel,” she reminded the younger girl.  “C’mon, I spent forever on this.  Don’t make me cry and ruin it.”

“You cry at everything,” cracked Rachel, smiling and seeing June smile back.  “Seriously, it looks good.  You have talent with that brush.”

“Thanks.”

Rachel let June get back to her work.  She looked at June’s nightstand and saw a picture sitting on it.  It was of June and another girl, obviously one of June’s sorority sisters given that they were wearing the same t-shirts with the same Greek letters.  Her mind flashed back to the pictures that Megan had kept under her bed, pictures of the friendship she had once had with Rachel.  Things had been better back then, back when she had felt that sense of stability that normalcy provided.

“Who’s this?” asked Rachel absently.

“Oh, that’s Emily,” said June as she saw Rachel looking at the picture.  “She and I were roommates our freshman year.  We both pledged Phi Sig.  She’s actually picking me up tonight.  I could introduce you to her if you want.”

“No,” said Rachel and turned her eyes back to June.  “It’s alright.  Seeing that picture just reminded me of someone.”

June nodded and then turned her attention to the phone in her pocket as it vibrated.  She saw the text from Emily and looked back to Rachel.  June wished that she didn’t have to feel guilty about leaving Rachel alone while she went out to do normal things.  She wanted to bring Rachel to the party but knew there was no way she could explain things to Emily or her other sorority sisters.  June just wished that Rachel didn’t have to be so alone all the time.

“I might be kinda late getting home,” she told Rachel.  “I wish you could come with me.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” said Rachel nonchalantly.  “Go out and be normal.  One of us has to be, right?”

“I’ll party extra hard for you,” said June as she hugged Rachel goodbye and then left the apartment.  “Don’t worry, once rush week is over everything will calm down and we’ll have time to hang out.”

“I’ll be here,” said Rachel and then sighed as June closed the door and went out into the night.

Rachel turned her attention back to the picture of June and Emily.  She needed to get out, maybe find some unusual activity or some scumbags she could beat up.  Anything was better than hanging around June’s apartment and being reminded of the happy, normal life she no longer had.  With that in mind, Rachel put on her trusty purple jacket and decided that she would find her own fun for the evening.

“Damn,” said Emily Briggs as she looked at June’s face once the blond got in the car.  “Now I wish I had gotten here sooner so you could’ve done my face too.”

“You sure you wanna let me near it?” asked June.  “Your face is gonna be famous someday, right?”

“Maybe sooner than we both think,” said Emily as she began driving towards campus to get to the sorority house.  “I got that job, June.”

“Then we are totally celebrating tonight,” said June.  “Seriously, Em, I’m happy for you.  This job is just the thing you need to get your career off the ground.”

“It’s only an internship,” reminded Emily.  “I’ll just be, like, getting everyone coffee or something.  I dunno if I even get paid or not.”

“It’s with a modeling agency and you wanna be a model.”

Emily nodded, brushing a loose strand of her cherry-red hair back behind her ear.  It was true that she wanted to be a model someday.  Everyone said she had the looks for it and it wasn’t as if she was particularly good at anything else.  She didn’t have any natural talents like June did with her artistic abilities. No, Emily was good at one thing and that was looking good.  She figured she should cash in on that while she was young enough to still have it.  She knew her parents didn’t understand her dream but that didn’t matter so much.  It was her dream, not theirs.

“It’s a great opportunity to get my feet wet,” she said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself of it.  “I dunno, sometimes I just wish I had some other talent like you do.  I wish I was good at something, you know?”

“Hey, you are good at tons of things.  You’re good at being an amazing friend.”

“You are terrible tonight and you’re not even drunk.”

“You know I don’t even drink anyways.”

Emily smiled at June as she pulled the car into a parking space, the thump of the bass from the speakers inside the building letting her know that the party was already in progress.  She knew that June was different from most of the girls she regularly hung out with.  Emily honestly believed that was why she was friends with June. That her difference made her a better friend.  By all accounts, Emily had the average American existence.  She was pretty, popular, a good student, everything that everyone wanted from a girl her age.  Yet that existence always seemed a little hollow to her, as if she was trying to pour herself into a mold she couldn’t quite fit into.  Being around June helped make her feel more like herself and less like what everyone thought she should be.

“Yeah, I know,” said Emily as the two girls got out of the car and she tossed her keys to June.  “That’s why you’re always the designated driver.”

Port of San Francisco

Rachel Roth crouched in her perch atop one of the shipping containers.  Jimmy Tilton had said there was something shady going on tonight at the Port of San Francisco.  Rachel didn’t know where Jimmy got his information from but she trusted that it was reliable.  She assumed people were trying to move drugs or perhaps guns, both of which would flood the streets in a matter of days unless someone cut off the supply line.  She secretly hoped that the illegal shipment was somehow tied to Brother Night’s organization.  She hadn’t lost her focus on Night, merely allowed him to breathe for a bit to see what new scheme he could concoct.

“Looks like Jimmy was right,” she said to herself as she watched the boat dock at the pier and the people there begin to unload the cargo.

As far as Rachel could tell, it didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary.  The men on the dock and on the boat carried no weapons or anything unusual, at least not that she could see.  The shipping containers were standard as well but there was something off about the entire operation.  Rachel couldn’t sense any emotion from the workers but she could sense a lot of fear coming from somewhere.  It was enough to warrant a closer inspection to see just what was really going on.  Rachel teleported from her perch and landed in the midst of the men.  She was right in her assumption that they weren’t carrying any weapons because if they had then they would have trained them on her in an instant.  She wondered if perhaps she had gotten some bad information but there was the aura of fear coming from somewhere in the vicinity that told her she hadn’t made a mistake.

“Whatever you’re getting paid, it’s not enough,” she said to the men.  “Go back to your boss and tell them that there’s not going to be a shipment tonight. If you hurry then you might get to live.”

“A little too late for that last part, honey,” said one of the men and Rachel could see his eyes were a deep crimson.  “You think a little girl is going to scare off people like us?”

Rachel watched the man smile and could see the fangs.  She couldn’t believe that she had blundered into something so obviously out of her league.  She dealt with low-level street thugs, not vampires and especially not a very large pack of them.  She could still sense that fear though and that meant that wherever it was coming from, someone was in danger.  Rachel wasn’t going to turn down the chance to help someone in trouble.

“Better hope your boss gives you good dental insurance,” she cracked.  “If you think you’re supposed to scare me then you obviously don’t know who I am in the first place.  You don’t scare people like me.  People like me scare you.”

The pack of vampires moved closer to her as Rachel pulled back the hood on her jacket.  She went to that space inside her, the space where the monster was held, and let loose the smallest fraction of what she really was.  Her eyes glowed red and her appearance became more demonic.  The leader of the group, the one that had spoken to Rachel earlier, saw what was happening but it didn’t give him pause in the slightest.  He motioned to attack and the vampires swarmed towards Rachel.  The demon girl let loose with her telekinesis, flinging the vampires in a multitude of directions.  Rachel turned to the ship and telekinetically ripped the railings from its deck.  She used the metal rods to impale some of the vampires, instantly turning their bodies into powder as the metal pierced their hearts.  The ones that were left soon realized that the daughter of Trigon wasn’t someone they were prepared to deal with.

Before Rachel could continue her attack on the vampires, something stopped her.  She noticed that there was a man towards the back of the group with something in his hand that looked like a smart phone.  It didn’t take Rachel more than two seconds to realize what the man was doing with that phone.  He was taking a picture of her.

“Sorry, I didn’t know I was famous enough to have my own paparazzi,” she joked as she teleported towards the man.  “Fork over that phone and I won’t rip your head off.”

“You’re very pretty when you’re angry,” commented the man, unfazed by Rachel’s frightening visage.  “That’s quite a lovely shade of red in your eyes.  I assume it’s a family trait?”

“Now you’re just pissing me off,” warned Rachel.

“All the better I think,” replied the man with a grin.  “Be a good girl and smile for the camera.”

“I don’t think so,” retorted Rachel as she reached for the phone with her telekinesis.

Something came between her and the man with the phone.  One of the vampires tackled her to the ground and intended on making her his midnight snack.  Rachel used her telekinesis to throw the vampire off of her but it gave the man with the phone enough time to disappear into the darkness.  As Rachel got back to her feet, she realized that the vampires were retreating as well.  They were her second priority at this point.  Finding the man who had pictures of her was obviously her first course of action.

“Another time then, girl,” said the leader as he and the rest of his men fled into the night.

“There’s always another time,” shot back Rachel as she returned to normal and watched the vampires flee.

The fear had been spiking upward throughout the fight.  It wasn’t coming from the vampires though.  Instead, it was coming from one of the containers that the vampires had been unloading.  Rachel tabled the threat of the man with the phone for the moment and instead tracked the emotion to its source and used her telekinesis to rip the container’s door from its hinges.  What she found inside made her want to vomit.  The foul stench of human excrement flooded her nostrils and she had to steady herself before doing anything else.  She couldn’t count how many girls there were inside the shipping container but even if there was only one, her reaction would’ve been the same.

“Any of you speak English?” she asked and sighed as no one answered.  “Alright, that’s okay.  I’m going to find a phone and call the police.  They’ll take care of you, get you back to your homes if possible.  I don’t know what these monsters were doing to you but it’s over now.  You’re safe.”

“Safe,” repeated one of the girls.

“Safe,” said Rachel again with a nod.  “I’ll be back in a minute.  Just stay there until I get back.  I promise that nobody’s ever going to hurt you again.”

True to her word, it only took her a minute to find a phone and make the call to the police.  Rachel returned to the container and found all the girls still inside it.  She waited with them until the police arrived, disappearing into the night once she was sure that the girls would be okay.  Inside, she was disgusted with what she saw.  It looked as if she had a new focus besides Brother Night and that focus was to take down these vampires and their human trafficking.  Rachel was just human enough to have a heart and that heart told her that people weren’t meant to be shipped across oceans like livestock or material goods.  She was going to find the undead monsters who ran this operation and she was going to show them what it was like to be afraid of something for a change.

The Velcoro and Mishkin Modeling Agency

Emily Briggs rubbed her fingertips against the palms of her hands, trying to get the sweat off of them without wiping her hands on her skirt in a manner that would be undignified.  She braced herself as she stepped inside the building.  She had no idea what she was doing at her new job.  She wasn’t joking when she told June that all she would probably be doing was getting everyone coffee.  That was what interns did, the grunt work that no one else wanted to do.  Emily didn’t mind that so much.  She understood that she had to start at the bottom and work upward.  Her pretty face was only going to get her so far in life.  She counted herself fortunate that she was working a night shift.  It gave her plenty of time to sleep in after a wild weekend but she wondered why the agency wanted her to come into work after sunset.

“You must be Emily.”

Emily looked to follow the sound of the woman’s voice.  It wasn’t the woman who had interviewed her and therefore she had no knowledge of who the woman was or how much she should defer to her.  Emily smiled politely and nodded, indicating that she was in fact the new intern.  She was hoping that the woman was sympathetic to her cluelessness about what to do.  It wasn’t as if there was some manual she could find on the internet that told her how to be an intern.

“I’m sorry, first day here,” said Emily.

“Nonsense, you’ll do just fine,” said the woman.  “My name is Dunya Mishkin.  I’m one of the people that owns this agency.  I like working with all the new girls.  My you are the pretty one.  I’m surprised you’re an intern and not a model.”

“Well, I was hoping that could change in the future,” said Emily.  “I’d like to get into the business.”

Mishkin eyed Emily, appraising her looks and no doubt silently judging the girl on them.  Emily found it a little unnerving to be stared at like that.  She knew that when you were a model it came with the territory but that still didn’t mean she liked it.

“I think you’ll do just fine,” said Mishkin.  “Come along now, there’s plenty of work to be done.”

Emily couldn’t be sure but she thought that there was some kind of predatory look in Mishkin’s eyes.  The way the woman looked at Emily, it was like she was a nice steak that was ready to be devoured.  Emily tried to pay it no mind though.  It wouldn’t do for her to make waves on her first day so she decided it would be best to just go with the flow.

“They didn’t really specify what kind of work I’d be doing,” said Emily as Mishkin began showing her around the office.  “I figured it wouldn’t really be much.”

Mishkin smiled and Emily caught that predatory glint in her eye.  It made the redheaded co-ed even more nervous than she already was.  The older woman continued with the tour but was interrupted when a man came to greet the two women.  Emily didn’t recognize the man but that was nothing new.  She was starting to wonder what had become of the woman who had interviewed her.  Perhaps it was simply her day off or something.

“Dunya, I have some disturbing news,” said the man.  “I need to speak to you in private about a bit of a setback.”

“Emily, this is Mr. Vincent Velcoro,” introduced Mishkin.  “Mr. Velcoro is co-owner of this agency alongside myself.  He handles the finances and logistics while I deal with the glamorous men and women contracted with us.  Vincent, this is our new intern.  Her name is Emily Briggs.”

“A pleasure,” said Velcoro as he took Emily’s hand and kissed it, oozing old-world charm while Emily blushed at the gesture.  “Actually, I believe you’re just what we’re looking for Miss Briggs.”

“What?”  Emily was completely bewildered by what her new boss had just said.

“Yes, it seems one of our girls has decided to abruptly part ways with our agency,” explained Velcoro.  “That does leave a great many unfulfilled commitments.  Someone with your beauty deserves to be in front of a camera and not behind a desk.”

“Emily was just saying how she hoped this job could lead to a start in the business,” mentioned Mishkin.

“I . . . are you offering me a modeling contract?” asked Emily.  “I mean I would totally love to take it if you’re offering.”

“I think perhaps just for a couple of photo shoots,” said Velcoro.  “It would be very big exposure for you though.”

“I’ll do it,” said Emily.  “Of course.  I just . . . wow this all so fast.”

“Take care of her, Dunya,” said Velcoro.  “We’ll work the rest of it out in private.”

Mishkin swept the young intern away and Velcoro watched the two women depart.  He would talk to his partner later in private about that setback.  He would smooth things over in the meantime just as he always did.  Emily was quite beautiful but beautiful girls were in no short supply.  He had seen them come and go so often that he knew it didn’t matter in the end.  What mattered was the image, the projection presented to the masses.  Beautiful girls were meant to earn the attention of every man and the envy of every woman.  They were meant to embody the package of sex appeal and down-to-earth charm that meant they could have any man they wanted and yet still be just like all the other girls.  Everything in Vincent Velcoro’s chosen profession was about style over substance, about the image you presented to the world.  Emily would do just fine in that regard.

“New meat?”

Velcoro looked in the direction of the voice and saw his main meal ticket standing in front of him.  Kevin Craft was a face that everyone knew.  He had adorned the covers of many magazines and was the object of lust for many not only across the country but in other countries as well.  Velcoro knew what a lucrative venture it was to keep one of the world’s top male models under contract with his agency so he most often bent over backwards to make sure that Craft was happy and taken care of.  There were, of course, other reasons why it was important to keep Craft happy but Velcoro often decided not to dwell on such unpleasant things.

“Just for a few engagements,” said Velcoro.  “You, I, and Dunya will have to discuss in private what to do next.  You know that Friday night didn’t go well for us.”

“I wouldn’t worry,” said Craft, pulling his smart phone out and holding it up to take a selfie.  He clicked the button and then took a look at the picture he had just taken.  “It amazes even me how pretty I can be.”

“If you could unglue yourself from staring at your reflection then maybe we could get something done,” noted Velcoro.

“That was very rude,” replied Craft, his eyes taking on a dangerous glint.  “We’ll have our meeting later and I’ll tell you what happened Friday night.  Until then, just remember what happens when you get on my bad side, Vincent.”

Emily had barely read the contract she was given before signing it.  She knew that was a bad practice but everything was happening so fast that she had no time to really think about what was going on.  She walked in the door of the modeling agency as an intern and now she was going to model for real.  It was like something out of a dream.  She always heard stories about famous people living ordinary lives until they were ‘discovered’ but she never put much stock into it until now.

“So we’re going to get you set up for some photos,” explained Mishkin.  “It’s pretty standard stuff.  You pose, our man Victor here snaps the pictures, and everyone gets paid and goes home happy.  Seems easy, right?”

“Um I guess?” responded Emily.  “We’re not going to get crazy with how much skin I’m showing, right?  I mean I’m okay with looking sexy but I’m not getting naked or anything.”

“No, no, this is tasteful,” assured Mishkin.  “As you can see by your wardrobe, you won’t have to do anything like that.”

Emily nodded and tried to figure out what to do.  Mishkin directed her in front of the camera and then began telling her what to do.  Emily tried as best she could to follow the woman’s directions despite having never done anything like it before.  Victor moved around, taking her picture from different vantage points while Emily went through various poses.  Once Mishkin was satisfied, she took Emily’s hand and led her over to the rack of clothes to get her a new outfit.

“Did I do okay?” asked Emily.

“Very well for your first time,” answered Mishkin before pulling a dress off the hanger.  “Go get changed into that, dear, and then we’ll do another round.”

“Girl’s a natural,” said Victor as he watched Emily go to the changing room.  “I think she’s going to work out pretty well.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” warned Mishkin as she saw the way Victor was looking at Emily.  “Business always comes first, Victor.  I hope you learn that soon because I’m not going to clean up another one of your messes.”

“I can’t help it if I enjoy beautiful things,” said Victor.

“You can help it and you will with this one,” retorted Mishkin.

June Moone’s Apartment

Rachel Roth appeared inside June’s apartment and sighed.  She had spent most of the weekend trying to track down anything she could about the group of vampires she had encountered at the docks on Friday night.  It seemed that the vampires and the man with camera were all beyond her reach at the moment.  It still sickened her when she thought about those girls in the shipping container.  She was going to find out who ran that human trafficking ring and make sure they wouldn’t bother anyone ever again.  Rachel knew she wasn’t a killer but that didn’t matter with these vampires.  As she understood it, they didn’t have souls anymore so she had decided that if it came to it then she would do what was necessary.  There was an uneasiness in her heart about it but she chose not to dwell on it.

“We’re out of Pop-Tarts,” said June, seeing Rachel about to open the cabinet where they were kept.  “I was about to make a grocery run when you popped in.  Wanna tag along?”

“Sure.”  Rachel always marveled how fast she could catch June’s infectious good mood.

The two girls left June’s apartment and walked down the street to a corner market where June bought her groceries.  Rachel had to remind herself to stay alert though.  Too many bad things could happen at night, especially to girls.  It was easy to let her guard down with June though.  The two of them had become closer in their time as roommates, settling into an easy familiarity with one another.  June had even caught Rachel smiling once or twice.

“So what’d you do this weekend?” asked June.

“Ran into something on Friday night and I’ve been trying to find out more about it ever since,” said Rachel.  “There was something going on down at the port.  I thought they were just running drugs or maybe guns but it turned out to be something worse.”

“What was it?”

“People,” said Rachel and she saw the look of horror on June’s face.  “There were girls in that shipping container.  I broke it up, called the cops, and waited with them until the police came.”

“That’s so terrible.  Who would do something like that?”

“Vampires.”

June stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at Rachel in shock.  Rachel had to keep reminding herself that even though June had her own connection to the supernatural, much of it was new to her.  Rachel was too jaded to be surprised by anything anymore, much less the existence of vampires.  She figured if her father could be Satan incarnate then the existence of vampires was well within the realm of possibility.

“Vampires?  You’re serious?”

“Yep.”

“Like really?”

Rachel almost laughed because June’s reaction was comical.  Thinking about the girls in that shipping container was no laughing matter though.  Rachel felt nothing but anger when she thought about it and she had to remind herself to keep that anger in check.  She had let part of the monster out Friday night but only to tackle a problem that was obviously over her head.  She had told herself she wasn’t going to make a habit of it.

“Like really,” said Rachel as the two of them resumed walking and reached the store.  “Let me help with the groceries this time, June.  You know I don’t like just mooching off you.”

“Sure,” said June and she gave Rachel a look that plainly said they would talk more about her newest adventure once they returned home.

Rachel absently waited while June did her shopping.  Her eyes moved to the magazine racks, most of the publications filled with nothing but scandal and gossip in her opinion.  There was one that caught her eye but not for the usual reasons.  Rachel couldn’t believe what she was seeing and she darted towards the rack to get a better look.  She picked up the magazine and stared hard at it.  Her mind went back to Friday night and the man with the smart phone, the one who had taken pictures of her and now knew her face.  She knew his face now as well because it was the same face that stared back at her on the magazine cover.

“This guy was there that night,” she said to June as the co-ed came over to see what had gotten Rachel’s attention.  “He was down at the port and he had a smart phone with him.  He took my picture.  Who the hell is he?”

“You seriously don’t know who he is?” asked June.  “He’s Kevin Craft.”

Next Issue: Emily learns that getting everything you want comes with a high price while Rachel and June dig deeper into the mystery of Kevin Craft.