Forever Strike!
By Emily M. Hanson
Disclaimers: The characters of Forever Knight are not mine, I'm just borrowing them for some fun. Any minor characters not recognizable from the show are mine, such as Ernie and Al. Forever Knight was created by James Parriott.
This story has not been beta-read.
* * * * *
Nick couldn't believe he'd let Schanke talk him into going bowling. A member of Don's team had come down sick with a bad case of the flu. They needed one more person for the tournament, so Nick Knight volunteered. Two homicide detectives and one beat cop were on the bowling team, besides Don Schanke. It was Detective Rogers who'd gotten ill, and he had the best score in the group.
"Hey, Knight," Don said as Nick walked into the bowling alley. The lights were dimmed and glow-in-the-dark balls spiraled down the lanes. Loud music threatened to make the vampire temporarily deaf. "We're on lane eight. Find a ball and rent some shoes."
Nick got a pair of shoes.
"How many games?" The guy behind the counter asked. His nametag read Ernie. "Uh..." Knight glanced at Schanke. "How many?"
"Three. That's the standard. Don't tell me you've never bowled before, pal."
"The last time I went bowling was in the 1970's."
Don's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Nick nodded.
"Well, your hand-eye coordination ought to make up for the lack of practice."
Nick pre-paid for the games and shoes. He went over and started lifting balls. They ranged from 8 to 16 pounds. "Schank, this is like picking up a piece of paper. Where do they keep the heavier balls?"
"You want something that weighs more, you'll have to get it custom made."
"He can use Bertha."
Schanke looked behind him and saw Al O'Brien, a very tall and well-muscled Irishman.
"Al, this is my partner, Nick Knight."
Recognition dawned on the Irishman's face. "Wow. I knew you two worked together, but I never thought I'd see you here, Mr. Knight."
"Please, call me Nick. How heavy is your ball?"
The muscle-bound Irishman lifted up his ball. It was black with red sparkles and had a flaming bowling pin painted on the side. "Bertha's 25 pounds. You want to try her?"
So mortals named their bowling balls. Interesting custom, Knight thought, he hadn't heard of it before. Nick took the bowling ball and inserted his fingers into the holes, the way he'd seen Al do it.
"Yeah, this is nice. I probably need something slightly heavier, but it will be fine for now. Too bad they don't make bowling balls for vampires."
"Hmm, now there's an interesting thought. The problem is that a ball over 50 pounds could really damage the lanes and the pinsetter. A ball weighing less could still do damage, if it's thrown with enough force."
"I'll be careful," Nick said. "Thanks."
Al nodded.
Nick knew Schanke's teammates, he'd seen them around before. He was a little surprised to see Joe Stonetree, his former captain, on the opposing team.
"Knight!" The Native American said, his face splitting into a grin. "You're Rogers' replacement? I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get here during the daytime, but I'll bet it has something to do with those dragon friends of yours. I didn't know you bowled."
"I don't bowl much," the blonde vampire replied. "I let Schanke talk me into it."
"Ah. It isn't too difficult. You'll pick it up, I'm sure."
Finally, everyone had arrived. Schanke was up first. He got a split, with eight pins down and one on each end. He hit the right corner pin for a score on nine. The other mortals both got strikes. Nick was up last. He concentrated, focused on the arrow in the middle, and swung. The ball headed straight for the left gutter, but veered to the right at the last second and hit three end pins. Nick couldn't believe he'd done so badly.
"You can still pick up a spare," Schanke remarked.
"Yeah," Knight answered. He aimed and this time the ball went for the right gutter. The vampire grimaced.
"You've got a hook shot," Don said. "Keep it a little straighter next time, and you'll do fine."
They went through four more frames. Nick's score was 54 by the fifth frame. Schanke had gotten 2 strikes and a spare, his score was 85 and the others were in the 70's. The teams scores were close, they only needed to get ahead by another strike and hold their lead.
Nick picked up a spare on the sixth frame, the next time he bowled a gutter ball and then got five. Schanke got two more strikes. By this time, the vampire was getting frustrated. They were on the eighth frame and he still hadn't gotten a single strike. He watched how the successful bowlers moved, how they aimed and swung.
Finally, it was Nick's turn again. He released the ball. It veered towards the gutter! Knight groaned and started to turn around, but suddenly his teammates cheered. He turned, looked, and saw the ball curve towards the middle. All the pins went down! Nick got eight pins down each of the next two frames. His score for the game was 96.
"Not bad for a guy who hasn't bowled in over twenty years," Don remarked.
"Twenty years? Is he serious?" Stonetree asked.
"Yeah," Nick answered, looking a little sheepish.
"I'm impressed. If you practiced regularly, I'd bet you'd score 300 every time," Detective Jones said. He was on Schanke's team.
"Thanks."
In the first frame of the next game, Schanke bowled a strike. The others got nine. Nick got a spare. Stonetree also got a spare. He had been mostly getting spares, so had his teammates. Their team was ahead by nine. It was the fifth frame and Knight was up. His hook shot got him the corner pin on the first try, and the other corner pin on the second. Finally, in the sixth frame, Nick got another strike. Schanke knocked down nine pins. Detective Jones got a strike, and Officer Harrison (the other member of Schanke's team) got seven.
Three more frames passed. Knight's score was 89. He bowled and got a tricky split. The two corner pins were up, and it would be tough to knock down both of them. The vampire concentrated, trying to find the best possible angle to hit at least one pin.
He aimed for the left corner pin. At first it looked like he was going to get a gutter ball. Then the ball swung towards the pin and hit it with enough force, so that the it bounced and knocked down the pin on the right corner. He'd gotten the spare!
"All right," Schanke said enthusiastically. "Keep it up."
In the third game, Nick kept bowling strike after strike. He missed a couple, but ended up with a score of 284. Stonetree was better, but not by much. His final score was 286. Schanke's was 192. In the end, Schanke's team won by 5 points. It was a close call.
Al came forward after the game. He'd been watching from a table nearby. "You bowled pretty well there," he said.
"Thanks."
"I'll take Bertha now."
Knight handed the ball over with one hand. Al had to use both hands to take it. He inspected Bertha and then nodded satisfactorily. "No dents, no scratches. I'm a happy man. Glad to have met you."
"Same here."
"The losing team buys the winning team pizza," Schanke said. "You're welcome to join us, but we understand if you don't want to, with the garlic and all."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass," Nick replied.
"Okay. Have a good one. I'll see you at work tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you."
* * * * *
The End
By Emily M. Hanson
Disclaimers: The characters of Forever Knight are not mine, I'm just borrowing them for some fun. Any minor characters not recognizable from the show are mine, such as Ernie and Al. Forever Knight was created by James Parriott.
This story has not been beta-read.
* * * * *
Nick couldn't believe he'd let Schanke talk him into going bowling. A member of Don's team had come down sick with a bad case of the flu. They needed one more person for the tournament, so Nick Knight volunteered. Two homicide detectives and one beat cop were on the bowling team, besides Don Schanke. It was Detective Rogers who'd gotten ill, and he had the best score in the group.
"Hey, Knight," Don said as Nick walked into the bowling alley. The lights were dimmed and glow-in-the-dark balls spiraled down the lanes. Loud music threatened to make the vampire temporarily deaf. "We're on lane eight. Find a ball and rent some shoes."
Nick got a pair of shoes.
"How many games?" The guy behind the counter asked. His nametag read Ernie. "Uh..." Knight glanced at Schanke. "How many?"
"Three. That's the standard. Don't tell me you've never bowled before, pal."
"The last time I went bowling was in the 1970's."
Don's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"
Nick nodded.
"Well, your hand-eye coordination ought to make up for the lack of practice."
Nick pre-paid for the games and shoes. He went over and started lifting balls. They ranged from 8 to 16 pounds. "Schank, this is like picking up a piece of paper. Where do they keep the heavier balls?"
"You want something that weighs more, you'll have to get it custom made."
"He can use Bertha."
Schanke looked behind him and saw Al O'Brien, a very tall and well-muscled Irishman.
"Al, this is my partner, Nick Knight."
Recognition dawned on the Irishman's face. "Wow. I knew you two worked together, but I never thought I'd see you here, Mr. Knight."
"Please, call me Nick. How heavy is your ball?"
The muscle-bound Irishman lifted up his ball. It was black with red sparkles and had a flaming bowling pin painted on the side. "Bertha's 25 pounds. You want to try her?"
So mortals named their bowling balls. Interesting custom, Knight thought, he hadn't heard of it before. Nick took the bowling ball and inserted his fingers into the holes, the way he'd seen Al do it.
"Yeah, this is nice. I probably need something slightly heavier, but it will be fine for now. Too bad they don't make bowling balls for vampires."
"Hmm, now there's an interesting thought. The problem is that a ball over 50 pounds could really damage the lanes and the pinsetter. A ball weighing less could still do damage, if it's thrown with enough force."
"I'll be careful," Nick said. "Thanks."
Al nodded.
Nick knew Schanke's teammates, he'd seen them around before. He was a little surprised to see Joe Stonetree, his former captain, on the opposing team.
"Knight!" The Native American said, his face splitting into a grin. "You're Rogers' replacement? I'm not even going to ask how you managed to get here during the daytime, but I'll bet it has something to do with those dragon friends of yours. I didn't know you bowled."
"I don't bowl much," the blonde vampire replied. "I let Schanke talk me into it."
"Ah. It isn't too difficult. You'll pick it up, I'm sure."
Finally, everyone had arrived. Schanke was up first. He got a split, with eight pins down and one on each end. He hit the right corner pin for a score on nine. The other mortals both got strikes. Nick was up last. He concentrated, focused on the arrow in the middle, and swung. The ball headed straight for the left gutter, but veered to the right at the last second and hit three end pins. Nick couldn't believe he'd done so badly.
"You can still pick up a spare," Schanke remarked.
"Yeah," Knight answered. He aimed and this time the ball went for the right gutter. The vampire grimaced.
"You've got a hook shot," Don said. "Keep it a little straighter next time, and you'll do fine."
They went through four more frames. Nick's score was 54 by the fifth frame. Schanke had gotten 2 strikes and a spare, his score was 85 and the others were in the 70's. The teams scores were close, they only needed to get ahead by another strike and hold their lead.
Nick picked up a spare on the sixth frame, the next time he bowled a gutter ball and then got five. Schanke got two more strikes. By this time, the vampire was getting frustrated. They were on the eighth frame and he still hadn't gotten a single strike. He watched how the successful bowlers moved, how they aimed and swung.
Finally, it was Nick's turn again. He released the ball. It veered towards the gutter! Knight groaned and started to turn around, but suddenly his teammates cheered. He turned, looked, and saw the ball curve towards the middle. All the pins went down! Nick got eight pins down each of the next two frames. His score for the game was 96.
"Not bad for a guy who hasn't bowled in over twenty years," Don remarked.
"Twenty years? Is he serious?" Stonetree asked.
"Yeah," Nick answered, looking a little sheepish.
"I'm impressed. If you practiced regularly, I'd bet you'd score 300 every time," Detective Jones said. He was on Schanke's team.
"Thanks."
In the first frame of the next game, Schanke bowled a strike. The others got nine. Nick got a spare. Stonetree also got a spare. He had been mostly getting spares, so had his teammates. Their team was ahead by nine. It was the fifth frame and Knight was up. His hook shot got him the corner pin on the first try, and the other corner pin on the second. Finally, in the sixth frame, Nick got another strike. Schanke knocked down nine pins. Detective Jones got a strike, and Officer Harrison (the other member of Schanke's team) got seven.
Three more frames passed. Knight's score was 89. He bowled and got a tricky split. The two corner pins were up, and it would be tough to knock down both of them. The vampire concentrated, trying to find the best possible angle to hit at least one pin.
He aimed for the left corner pin. At first it looked like he was going to get a gutter ball. Then the ball swung towards the pin and hit it with enough force, so that the it bounced and knocked down the pin on the right corner. He'd gotten the spare!
"All right," Schanke said enthusiastically. "Keep it up."
In the third game, Nick kept bowling strike after strike. He missed a couple, but ended up with a score of 284. Stonetree was better, but not by much. His final score was 286. Schanke's was 192. In the end, Schanke's team won by 5 points. It was a close call.
Al came forward after the game. He'd been watching from a table nearby. "You bowled pretty well there," he said.
"Thanks."
"I'll take Bertha now."
Knight handed the ball over with one hand. Al had to use both hands to take it. He inspected Bertha and then nodded satisfactorily. "No dents, no scratches. I'm a happy man. Glad to have met you."
"Same here."
"The losing team buys the winning team pizza," Schanke said. "You're welcome to join us, but we understand if you don't want to, with the garlic and all."
"I appreciate the offer, but I'll pass," Nick replied.
"Okay. Have a good one. I'll see you at work tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you."
* * * * *
The End
