Summer Special 1994

Opening Credits

Prelude
Written and directed by Jodi Roosenraad.
The events of detailed herein take place between April 10th and July 1st, 1994.
With Anna Krupp's death, the threat of apocalypse also died, at least for a while. The dead Nazi mage and his acolytes were cremated and scattered to the New England spring winds, so whoever was left in charge of their evil order decided the Kessler Sword was far too dangerous an item to steal again. No one who came between the Slayer and her blade stayed alive for very long. And with the Blood Flag's destruction, the whole idea of magically revising history was shelved way, far back in the dustiest corner they could find. The Watchers detained both Ada and Claudia pending an investigation. Samantha Kessler and her friends were all facing Federal charges on illegal possession of weapons and an armored personnel vehicle.

Fortunately, Slayer Club had good lawyers—Tori Clark and her roommate Tiffani had their parents' company, Wolfram and Hart. (Mr. Clark was unavailable for comment on his daughter's activities.) In fact, Wolfram and Hart offered representation to all members of Slayer Club, except Drew, since he owned a certain property in Jamaica that the law firm would love to get their hands on. Him, they'd probably just as soon see go to jail, especially if asset forfeiture could somehow be invoked. Erik had the best lawyer his grandfather could hire—a gentleman from Boston by the name of Crane. Drew Killian asked Mrs. Vastarley to be his lawyer, and given the choice of Mrs. V. or W&H, Sam chose the Wiccan lawyer as well. But then Joshua arrived with a pair of MIB who presented the judge with a sheaf of papers and the charges were immediately dismissed.

Sam's court case alone went on, since it involved her father and the APV that he built in their garage, but in the end, all charges were dropped. All personal weapons that had documentation were returned, i.e., Joshua's pistols and the Kesslers' hunting rifles were okay, but not the case of hand grenades, which had never been opened. Samuel Kessler worked out a deal with the Feds to sell his APV plans and prototype to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. (Not the FBI.) This way, he no longer owned anything illegal and the ATF had a new patrol vehicle for a bargain price.

After all this, Samantha insisted they take a long vacation. She wanted to drive the NeurenRing with her father and take the Kessler sword back to Herr Doktor Professor Schmidt for a thorough metaphysical cleaning. Sam figured it was also her turn to take her friends overseas to find adventures in foreign climes. Tori's father had footed the bill for their first European adventure. Drew had taken them to Jamaica. Joshua's mother initiated the trip to Scotland. So, Samantha was thinking: Africa. A new continent for Slayer Club to explore; wide-open vistas, tropical sun, and maybe Sam could put to rest her recurring nightmares about the continent's razing in Nazi-world.

Britta had been there in the alternate 1940s when three Potential Slayers were Called and killed in quick succession, by fire, flood (the Nazis dynamited the Aswan Dam), and bullets in the head. Somehow, through blood and magic, Britta had shared those horrible visions with her offspring, to galvanize their determination in the fight. What Vampire Sam knew, Samantha Kessler remembered in her dreams, waking in cold sweat or thrashing herself out of bed. Yet another reason she didn't want Drew sleeping with her; she might accidentally kill him. And did we mention tropical sunshine? Slayer Club made their plans and Sam bought the tickets.

After finals, everyone received their dorm assignments for sophomore year. Someone in Housing had a sense of humor, obviously. St. Hubert's dorm was formerly a chapel, complete with bell tower (but no bell) and iron-barred stained glass windows in the common room. Ten singles, one double, and a room in the tower meant thirteen students: Samantha Kessler, Drew Killian, Tori Clark, Erik Sorensen, Joshua Archer, Juanita Madera, Marcy Lee, Callie Marshall, Jezebel Karellan, Tony White, Magnus Anderson, Mari Jergen, and Xiu Mei Chen. The students held a room-draw with Xiu Mei getting the tower and Marcy and Juanita sharing the double, although in reality it would be Juanita sharing Erik's single, with Marcy sharing the double room with Juanita's snake.

Having won their bet on who could inflict the most collateral damage on the chemistry and alchemy labs (metallic sodium + H₂O = big boom! fire and smoke; bat guano + salamander tongues = 10x10 ft. fireball!), Erik brought out his tattooing needle and gave Joshua a design of Legba, voodoun guardian of doorways, on his right instep, well within the bounds of Joshua's gymnastics singlet and his sense of manliness.

Commencement saw another class of Martense students released into the world, where they were probably much happier, being away from the Hellmouth and all. (The mayor's traditional declaration closing the ceremony, "God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!" was heartfelt.) For a little while, Slayer Club also went their separate ways. Erik repaid his grandfather for hiring the lawyers and not asking too many questions by taking a summer internship on Capitol Hill. One where Erik had to wear a tie! Just for giggles, Juanita went to Washington with him and got a job at a specialty vinyl record store in Adams Morgan. Joshua had three months of "special training' at a security-shrouded location near Great Falls, Virginia. And Tori decided that after college, assuming she survived the next three years (as the goddess of war, her odds were better than average), her resume would look better if she had some volunteer experience, so she got an internship for a non-profit organization based in Alexandria, Virginia. The four of them rented a house together in Foggy Bottom.

With so many of Slayer Club away from Solomon for the summer, Sam and Drew figured the vampires would come out in force, but they were wrong. The longer days and lack of students kept the bloodsuckers underground, mostly feeding at Blaire's. So, Samantha and Samuel Kessler packed their bags and flew to Germany to drive racecars and see a man about a sword. Afterwards, they met Sam's friends in Nairobi and headed out on safari. No guns, only cameras, the vast savannas and herds of antelope, zebras, and wildebeests as far as the eye could see. They didn't figure on running into a gang of poachers, and a lake monster in the bargain.

SP4.1 Slayer Club On Safari
Written and directed by Jodi Roosenraad.
The events of this episode take place between July 1st and 10th, 1994.
Aired November 10, 2007.