Too Rare to Die, Too Strange to Live

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/5638351.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: Gen
Fandom: Eerie Indiana
Character: Marshall Teller, Dash X (Eerie Indiana), Original Female Character(s),
Simon Holmes
Additional Tags: Yuletide New Year's Resolutions Challenge, Halloween, Samhain,
Cheerleaders, Temptation, High School
Language: English
Collections: New Year's Resolutions 2016
Stats: Published: 2016-01-04 Words: 3395

Too Rare to Die, Too Strange to Live

by karrenia_rune

Summary

It's a full moon and the town of Eerie, Indiana is gearing up to celebrate Halloween or
Samhain as it is called in Celtic Lore,
but if a certain girl named Ava has her way; for her circle of girls they are in for much more
than they or anyone else could have expected. Marshall and Dash investigate, and try to
keep things in check as much as they can.

Disclaimer: Eerie, Indiana is the creation of Jose Rivera and Karl Schafer and belongs to NBC; it is
not mine.
The characters who appear here or mentioned belong to the creators of the show with the
exception of Ava,
Pattie, Gretchen, and the other girls.

"Too Rare to Die, Too Strange to Live" by Karrenia

There was an unexpected thrill in the air in this otherwise sleepy little town, one that was as much
hard to miss or mistake for what it was; even for those residents who would have otherwise gone
on about their business without a care for how the world spun or why. I could tell you stories, but
that's another whole ball of proverbial wax.

You see it is only two and half weeks until Halloween. or Samhain if you follow the old Celtic
traditions, which I don't but I had to go to our local library branch and research later. But, wait, I'm
getting ahead of myself.
I settle down in my bean-bag chair and wonder if Dash-X knows what Halloween is, if not, I will
be happy to bring him up to speed.
You see Halloween is usually a big deal here in Eerie, Indiana, and the residents put a lot of effort
into incorporating things like hayrides and bobbing for apples at parties, and the dressing up in
costumes and going to door to door asking for candy and treats. The usual stuff.

But here's where I come in. That and my friends, Dash-X and Simon. For some reason I have not
been able to explain, it seems our sleepy little town seems to be a magnet for weirdness all during
the year, not just at Halloween.

Speaking of which, according to my research into Celtic lore is when it is thought the barriers that
would otherwise our world apart from the Otherworld, for lack of a better term, start to break down
and things come through, or try to.

The thing of it is, that's one reason for some of the stuff we've encountered, then there's another
theory that somehow a lot of concentrated weirdness had been concentrated here, like the ley lines
they have in England.

I hear my mom and Dad call to me from the living room, telling me that I had better get the lead
out so that I can make it to the party in time, and we would pick up Simon Holmes on the way to
the school.
**
I look up as Simon and get out of the car, waving goodbye to my folks as they drive away and see
the full moon scudding across the sky, and it's still early enough that it appears as if its caught in
the branches of the tree line. From this vantage point, it looks full and bright and like a giant
marble.

Simon nudges and me and reminds me that we need hurry because they are more than likely a
dozen half a dozen things that still need to be done before the party gets underway.
Dash was already there, upon a ladder string orange and black crepe paper across the ceiling.
"Hey, Dash!" I call out to him.

"Hey," he calls back.

Simon, although much younger than the rest of us and in a grade below, is a part of the team, so
he's there because even though a part of me sometimes resents having to drag him along, and he
can be a little bit annoying; he's a friend and a good one.

Besides its all grades party and I promise him that he would get a chance for the hayride and for
bobbing for apples when the party is fully underway.

The annual Halloween party at school gym; Simon, Dash and I even got roped into joining the
decorating committee by Pattie Smith, the head cheerleader.

I wouldn't have minded so much if Pattie and her entourage of fellow cheerleaders had not been
rather obviously falling all over themselves over Dash. Yeah, he was aloof, and mysterious and
kind of good-looking, and the girls seemed to be drawn into his orbit; but I don't know how much
of all of this attention he actually noticed or even registered.

I should probably mention something about Dash, you see, even in a town as screwy as ours; Dash
is an anomaly; no family, no parents that anyone has ever been able to discover; no memory of his
past or where he came from; and he has grey almost silver hair.

I don't know how long it's been, but even when we're trying to deal with the stuff that happens
around here, somewhere along the way I've been trying the best I can to help solve the mystery of
Dash-X origins.
The thing of it is, every time when we think we've come close to unraveling the mystery,
something seems to force to take five steps back for every one step we take forward.

Pattie comes over and hands me a cardboard clipboard with a piece of paper with instructions
written in a firm hand in black ink with goofy funny stickers of witches, ghosts, and pumpkins
adorning the borders. "Marshall," she greets cheerily. "It's so good of you to come. I need these
things down, like right away!"

"Sure," I reply.

"Great, really, great," Pattie replies, turning to the other cheerleaders, whose names she rattles off
at a break-neck speed that would have done an auctioneer proud, Rachel, Zoe, Matilda, Ava, and
Gretchen.

Simon and I nod politely as each girl is introduced and I Simon's eyes glaze over. He's young and
he's been hanging out with us a long time, but he's not too young to not yet notice girls or have girls
notice him.
Gretchen is nice and she even comes over to help set up the food and beverage table and chats
about how she plans on inviting Tommy Gardner to dance later.

"Tommy?" I ask.

"Yeah, he's the shortstop on the junior varsity softball team," says Gretchen. "I've had a crush on
him for the longest time."

I sigh," Not that I want to bring you down or anything, Gretchen, but isn't he dating Gina Gordon?"
"You know nothing, Marshall," she said, a bit more harshly than she intended. I heard from Ava
and she heard it from Zoe that Gina broke up with him last weekend."

"Oh," I say with a sheepish grin on my face. I should have known it might be something like that.
But then I don't really follow the societal ins and outs of high school romance, so what the hell do I
know?

Gretchen pauses and looks chagrined for a bit. then brushes a lock of ash-blond hair away from her
eyes and then smiles at me. "Sorry about what I said to you, Marshall, I really didn't mean it the
way it came out."

"It's okay," I say. In the ensuing interval Simon had drifted away and when I paused to turn and
look for him I found him over in a corner of the spacious gymnasium with Ava and Zoe who were
in the process of setting up the vat for the apple bobbing contest.

"I know, I know, but I don't what it is about you, but I always thought you were a nerd. At least, but
you're actually pretty decent, and easy to talk to you. I just wanted you to know that." With that,
Gina turned and went to join the others who were thronging around Dash.

"Ok, that was different," I mutter aloud to myself.

Dash came down from the ladder and came over to me where I stood by the food table. "Greetings,
Marshall.

"Hi, Dash."

Before I could say anything else, the crowd of students arrived and following on their heels was a
local garage band who were to set up on the improvised stage at the far end of the gym. Some were
in costume already, some just wore ordinary clothes and I figured since we were already here, we
might as well enjoy ourselves.
+++++
Somewhere along the way, Gretchen did get her wish and danced with Tommy and all the girls
wanted to dance with Dash, who graciously danced with all of them.

Dash turns out to be a surprisingly good dancer, and while won't ever admit this to anyone else; I
was actually envying his natural grace and athleticism. Damn it.
I did get a turn around the gym with Gretchen or two, and she was a very good dancer.

As the party began to wind down; the party-goers began to trickle out in pairs, or groups, or more
and it was getting late. I got Simon and then Dash and I left the gym, and we made our way head
out to the main entrance through the hallways and outside.

It was late enough that there was still enough time to go trick or treating. Simon tugged at my arm,
saying that he wanted to know where the hayrides where and if they had time for that and trick-or-
treating.
I lifted my arm to look at my watch and judged if we hurried we could make time for both, but I
did not where the hayrides were.

"Marshall," said, If I might make a slight alteration in our plans?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Gretchen says there is a gathering taking place on the outskirts of town. One which is both novel
and old-school." Dash-X shrugged, the silver-gray hair being tugged by the late fall wind. "Perhaps
I misheard her, I believe her exact words were old-school or New Age, but from I understood it
would be to our advantage to be there."

What kind of New Age gathering?" I asked."

"Something to do with summoning the spirits. I have no reason to suspect her motives or those of
the other girls who she has asked to attend, but I do think it worth checking out."

"I agree." Pr0pitating spirits, okay; that never ends well, does it?" Anywhere else and you would
more than likely scoffed and said it was nothing but a bunch of superstition and mumbo jumbo.
Here, unless you knew what to look for; and I think we've got a lot of experience, it was better not
to assume otherwise.

"Do I have to come along?" Simon asked, an eager, moist look in his blue eyes.

I smile down at him. "Nah, but I think this one that you can sit out, Simon. There's no reason that
you can't take every chance to coax candy out of folks with the pirate costume. Go for it, but make
sure you come home before curfew and be careful. "

"I think we should drop him off at his home first before we head out there," Dash said.

"All right, all right," I said, "I'll think of something."

We get underway, and the town is teeming with small pirates, astronauts, skeletons and many
others as we cross Main Street and stop off at Simon's house.

Simon isn't pleased about missing out on candy-gathering, but he takes it with pretty good grace. I
promise him to try and get him some time permitting once we check out this New Age gathering,
whatever it was.
***
There's a large glade within the confines of the small woods on the outskirts of town. The glade
has been there a long time, perhaps longer than the town of Eerie was founded. It boasts large trees
standing sentinel at the four corners of the compass and smaller slender willows at the opening to
the glade.

On the floor of the glade in the exact center is a fire pit and a rock veined with streaks of limestone
and other minerals.

The six teen-age girls gather around the fire pit. After some work of gathering kindling and less of
the usual amount of bickering the girl's manage to get a bonfire going. It's a large fine and the heat
and the flames are whipped every which way by the wind.

Ava takes the center-most point in a half-moon circle, and she carries a leather-bound book with its
pages spread open, cradled under her left arm. The other girls, Pattie, not accustomed to having to
take a back-seat to anyone, fidgets, and bites her lip to keep from letting her frustration out.

Zoe and Rachel have an eager yet fearful look on their faces. Matilda, the youngest, looks like a
proverbial deer caught in the head-lights and has a finger-nails digging into the flesh of the girl
nearest to her; Rachel. Rachel doesn't even notice it.

Gretchen, who normally considers herself a pretty level-headed person and who rarely ever gets
flustered by anything, wonders what the hell she has gotten herself into this time. A
Ava, who is older than she looks starts chanting in Old Irish; how she knows this language is
unclear, but the other girls, chant the same words in English.

From large canvas bags that have been put laid on the ground nearby and put to one side for this
moment in the ritual, Zoe and Rachel get out the costumes that all the girls will change into for the
next step. One of the robes, a long grey shift with stars embroidered on the sleeves and color they
drape around Ava.
Ava switches to back to English "Oh Spirits, of the Otherworld, we gather here to honor our
ancestors of old nations, to give thanks and to give back a measure of what the fruits of earth, and
sky and water that you have vouchsafed unto to us.'

"We give thanks!" all the other girls chant.

The others robes also grey but less embellished, and they quickly don them, leaving their
cheerleader outfits in an untidy heap.

Ava placed the book aside carefully and raised her arms up overhead a rapt look on her pale face.
"Thanks and praise, we give unto you!" Ava exhorts. "We thank oh Spirits of the Air, Earth, and
Field for protecting us through the trials and tribulations of the past months and for your continued
protection in the coming ones."

Just at that moment Ava dropped her arms and removed a small furry bundle from her pocket of
her dress. It was a chinchilla which she held it awkwardly around the middle with one hand while
peremptorily signaling Zoe to come forward and hand her a serrated knife.

The chinchilla is understandably confused and frightened at the same time.

The deep shadows that have pooled at the edges of the glade seem to flicker and respond in time to
the swaying of the flames of the bonfire.

"Ohh," Matilda whimpers, I'm so scared!" And promptly throws up. Crouching down on the
ground and wiping her soiled face with the sleeve of her robe.

"Hush"! whispers Rachel.

Ava ignores the momentary interruption and using the serrated knife quickly and efficiently slits
the chinchilla's throat; its blood quickly pooling and cooling around the hilt of the blade and onto
the ground.

"Was that really necessary?" Pattie asks calmly.

"Of course," Ava replies. "Everyone knows that blood magic is the strongest magic of all."

"I can't take this anymore," Gretchen says. "I am so outta here!"

"If you wish to leave, I will not stop you, but you are out of the coven, Gretchen," Ava replies.

Gretchen tosses a lock of ash-blond hair out of her face. "Well, lah-de-dah, I never wanted to be a
part of this, and I think you know exactly where you can take your coven!"
***
I suppose if anything, I time could not have been better because that was our cue, Dash and I
entered the glade and took in the scene as best we could. I was kind of out of breath, so I took a
second to put my hands on my knees and recover my mind. Dash was his usual cool and collected
self.

"Look, I won't even pretend to understand what's going on here...." I trail off.

"Marshall!" Gretchen exclaims. Dash! You're the last people I expected to see here, but boy am I
glad to see you!"

"You asked us to come," Dash says.

"Yeah," Gretchen replies, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. "I never actually expected that you
would show up."

"They are interlopers!" Ava calmly states.

"Yeah we are," I say, trying for bravado and hoping it comes off sounding convincing, but let's
face, I had no idea of what we might find out here, and I am stalling for time.

Dash, on the other hand, seems to be drawn to Ava, or more precisely the book that she had laid
aside earlier and quickly scans through the pages that had been bookmarked. Whatever her finds
there rapidly alters that uncanny and sometimes reflective expression on his face.

Dash turns around and brings it back to the bonfire circle. "If honoring the spirits and offering
sacrifices to the spirits and gods of old were all that was going on here; I might let this slide, Ava."

"That's not all that's going on?" I ask.

"No, she's attempting to summon spirits, and use the members of her coven into hosts for animal
spirits and use them as her personal familiars."

Ava, to her credit, had the grace not to deny it." Have you seen some of the girls who go to our
school and live in this town? I think they would be better off as animals. I'm doing them a favor."

"She's going to do what to us!" Zoe screeched.

"She's going to turn us into animals," says Pattie.

"More accurately your bodies will become hosts to animal spirits from the Otherworld," Dash
corrects.

"Yeah, well," Rachel stammers.

"Alter the ritual, then." I suggest. "Can she do that?" I ask Dash.

"I believe so, but it must be down before midnight."

"Do it!" I order Ava.

Ava snorts. "Foolish boy, thinking to instruct me, but then again, I don't see why I shouldn't this.
The ritual is already tainted and it's not like I can't simply try again next year, or the years after
that. So, very well."
Ava lifted her arms over her hand and began to chant again in Old Irish, with slightly different
cadence and pauses between syllables.

The bonfire dies down and the shadows flicker and light of the full moon comes streaming down
into the forest glade.

The other girls ran away, not even bothering to gather their discarded cheerleader outfits.

"Dash," I whisper, "I sure this will do the trick?"

"Yes, Marshall, just be patient". Dash nods and closes the book, adding "We should put this
somewhere safe and secure, along with the other potential dangerous artifacts we've collected."
"Yeah," I say, "good idea."

Ava finishes and turns to face us. "It did the trick. She pauses to lick her lips like a cat would and
regards both of us. "Come to think of it, in the past, I've only included girls, but considering the two
of you have come under my radar; Hmm, how would the two of like to become warlocks. I give
you power, renown. anything you want."

I don't care for the sound of that, I very much doubt that Dash does either.

"How about you Dash-X, the boy with gray hair, with no memory of his past or where he comes
from. I might be able to help you out with that. What do you say?" Ava sounds like she is almost
sincere.

Dash considers the offer, then shakes his head. "No. No thank you."

"What he said," I add.

"Have it your way," Ava replies, and with that, shimmers and flickers in and out of visibility which
it makes it very difficult to look straight at her; once we look up again she is gone. Simply vanished
into the ether.

"Ah, okay,....I stammer; "that was, I don't even know what that was all about. The girls are all
gone. You going to be okay, Dash?"

"I think so, Marshall. But that last being about becoming warlocks...."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Let us not speak of it again," he says.

"You got it," I say. And I mean it. Come on, let's get outta here."

"I could not agree more," Dash replies as we leave the glade, and the dying bonfire and the
looming shadows behind.
++

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