BDH1-2
BDH1-2, "Never Grow Up", was episode 2 of Season 1 of the game Big Damn Heroes.
Story
Violet was enjoying herself at a seedy pool club...that is, until the Little 15 showed up, in all their hipster swagger. Nicky delivered the usual pitch about taking a more active role in the gang, and she demured, as usual. At his side, Trisha glowers at Vi, urging him to forget about her. Before things get out of hand, he retreats, with a promise that they'll talk soon.
For Jake, it might have been a perfectly ordinary day, if not for the (as ever) sudden appearance of an angel. Serafina pops in to let him know he is required to investigate a dying patient that she had recently delivered to Massachusetts General Hospital. He doesn't mind too much, as it gets him out of a tedious modeling session with Now magazine--although Sylvia, always a fan of the camera, is sad to go.
At the hospital, they find Josephine Tenant and her son Oliver. Josephine's condition is bad, and seems to be the culmination of many unknown diseases over the years. Dr. Sky isn't about to give up, and tries to succeed where other doctors have failed, to save her before it's too late.
Oddly, as soon as the boy is taken out of the room, she seems a little better. Vi also notices, as she is wont to do, that the shades and curtains have been drawn against the afternoon sun, and all the lights have been dimmed. Dr. Sky's intuition leads her to wonder if dark energy is afoot. While she's arranging her crystals and candles, Sylvia performs an experiment, drawing a magic circle around the woman; sure enough, when it closes, she visibly relaxes, and even achieves consciousness...long enough to ask for her son to be returned. She seems quite worried about it.
Just as he was about to take the boy to the rooftop, Jake notices that Oliver seems to feel quite unwell at the sight of sunlight. Moments later, he receives a call asking him to return the boy to his mother's room. He does, and they leave them in peace...but something doesn't quite add up.
They investigate Josephine's house, finding some damning clues; Oliver's room has been modified to be lightless, and is filled with toys and images from decades before his time. A photo on the mantelpiece shows the family in the home's front yard; visible in the background is a Hummer H1, an SUV that hasn't been sold new in almost 30 years. In Josephine's room, they find ritual tools and spellbooks; curiouser and curiouser.
On their way out, they are ambushed by Trisha and a gaggle of vampires she illegally sired. A vicious fight ensues; the spawn are thrashed, but they avoid a full-on confrontation with Trisha herself.
Back at base, Billy has some interesting results to show them from his research. Multiple records on Josephine show that she was born in 1968, making her 62 today--a bit old to have an 11-year-old son. Her husband Nathan was born in 1965 and died in 2005, a bit early to have fathered the boy. And as for Oliver, his birth certificate was signed in 1997, making him 33, not 11.
The kicker is an old article from Oliver's elementary school website, which shows him, in 2008, winning a science fair. The picture shows the boy, just as they'd seen him earlier, alongside a much younger Josephine, and his science teacher...Nicholas Pellegrino.
Violet kicks down the door to Nick's Arcade, much to the surprise of its patrons. Nick asks them to clear out, lest there be any trouble. She accuses him of siring Oliver as a vampire, of preying on children, but he demures, insisting that he wasn't even a vampire back then, pointing out the large windows and daylight clearly visible in the photograph. He wonders openly what the boy might be, if not a vampire. Before the party can leave, however, he informs Vi that he is aware of her scuffle with Trisha, and the Elders have demanded a hearing. Rather than invite a whole mess of trouble, Vi capitulates; the party is not privy to the goings-on of the vampire court session, but when all is said and done, Vi emerges just fine, and Trisha has apparently been duly punished for her illegal siring.
They head back to the hospital, but find that Josephine has been released; an odd order, considering her condition. They high-tail it to her home, just in time to find it under attack by a host of dark spirits banging at her threshold. Oliver, unwise to the perils of the supernatural, opens the door to the party, and inadvertently invites the spirits as well. They coalesce into a horrible monster, who attempts to devour Josephine...luckily, a host of heroes arrived just in the nick of time.
Though she is saved, she has much to answer for, especially since it was her knowledge that allowed them to defeat the demon. She spills the whole story:
- Her son died in 2009 of childhood leukemia. Having just lost her husband in 2005, she went a bit crazy, insisting he wasn't dead, talking to nobody, continuing to cook meals for him, etc. She had been a dabbler in the magical arts in her youth, and had some modicum of talent, though never anything noticeable...until her intense emotion manifested in a magical construct, a recreation of her son, eternally locked in the body and mindset he had before his death.
- Eventually, she realized how crazy the situation was. She had to hide him from everyone, of course, and she also found she had to prevent him from realizing he was dead, or that any time had passed. She was able to craft a convincing illusion for him, but there was one thing she couldn't fake--she was getting older, and would some day die. In fact, that day seemed sooner than it might be, when she started getting very sick in her late 50s.
- Desperate, she turned to pact magic to extend her life, to make her seem younger, to help persist the illusion. When she couldn't pay the debts of one pact, she borrowed from another, and soon had herself in a whole mess of problems. When the demons didn't get what they wanted, they took what they could, ravaging her body and soul.
- Now, she has accepted her own death, but she doesn't want to let go, for it would mean Oliver would fade away. She has no idea how to save him.
Working overtime, the party crams every magical text they can find, to see if there is any way to give the boy a real body, to give him a chance to survive on his own. It comes down to the wire when Josephine's condition worsens; she is rushed to the hospital, where the party prepares their ritual.
Oliver is by her side as she fades, as is Serafina, invisible to her, but clearly visible to the hordes of demons waiting to pounce upon her soul.
As morning dawns, sunlight fills the room, a scene from a wholly new Boston. The light falls upon Josephine's repose...and upon the boy, sleeping peacefully by her side.
