Season 2, Episode 3 "Relics"
Detailed Synopsis
In the precredits sequence, we are introduced to Selwyn Hanify, the School Counsellor for Exeter Junior High. Selwyn is a dopey, earnest, guy in his early thirties, the kind of man who wears a suit jacket with sleeves rolled up and a polo shirt underneath. He is, however, apparently pretty good at his job given the responses he's getting.
We get a montage sequence of Zak, Candy and Cynth in School Counselling. Selwyn (or "Wyn", as he prefers) recaps the offical story - that the kids were fooling around in the dangerous site, and John went to get them out of there but fell into a hole. Selwyn's gentle but insistent questions get a variety of responses. Zak reveals what was hinted at through Season One but never entirely clear, that his mother is not actually confirmed as dead, and that his father lived with his mother's sister for a time after her disappearance. Candy lies about the details but can't avoid lying about what's going through her head - that she could have saved John. Cynth, too, breaks down thinking that it's all her fault, and apparently her school work is suffering hugely - she's once again in danger of failing the grade.
As Selwyn offers consolation, the kids notice a shadow on the wall that flickers, and gets larger, and more threatening. Selwyn doesn't react but at the window is a black hand, apparently made of shadow, pressing against the glass, scratching it so they can't concentrate, and suddenly the glass shatters into the room - and the kids wake up in their beds, and the opening credits roll.
The three are in school, walking down the corridor together. It's the last week of school and everyone's happy - except for these three. The other students are wary of them, and we overhear some sympathy and discomfort. These young people don't have the skills to relate to grieving people. Max appears and asks Cynth to study with him - he's worried about the last big test.
Phil corrals Zak and looks uncomfortable. Written on Zak's locker is "your mother's sister!!" in what looks like red paint. Everyone's puzzled and Lolly appears to ask Zak what it means, but he pushes past her and off down the corridor. Lolly, flanked by Heather and Stephanie, talks to Cynth and Candy saying she's sad for them. It seems like she might even be trying to be nice, but she isn't very good at it if this is the case and Candy doesn't give her much of a chance. Angry at Candy's attitude, she leaves too. Down the corridor, Zak briefly considers going to class, then decides against it and stalks out of school. Cynth watches him go and then heads into class.
The dinner hour at the Stevens-Knight household. Candy asks Zak about the mother's sister, and Zak doesn't go into details, only saying he's hardly told anyone. He realises he told the counsellor. Candy mentions her dream, and they realise they had the same experience. Meryll serves dinner to Candy and Zak in front of the television and turns on the news. There's a human interest story about a number of odd and unusual artifacts turning up in the park. No-one knows where they came from, and they've been handed over to the Exeter Antiquarian Society for identification. Candy and Zak instantly realise these must be Gom's treasures.
They head to the park with Cynth and find Gom's tree surrounded by a taped barrier. Zak stays on lookout as Cynth and Candy proceed to the core, where they see Gom's tree is gone, and a big hole is in the ground there instead. There's a big earth-mover parked alongside. The site has been deliberately excavated.
Realising that Gom's relics, now in the care of the Exeter Antiquarian Society, will be a target for the supernatural, and racing to beat sundown, the trio head to the EAS. It's a small, historically significant building behind the Municipal Library in a garden of trees and flowerbeds near an old church and a very old cemetery. A gruff, bearded man answers the door and refuses to let the young people in, telling them to come back tomorrow. It seems he has no knowledge of Gom. As the trio sit outside wondering what to do next, Cynth spies a shape in the now-dark cemetery. As they watch, the shape darts through the trees towards the building. The shape is a young man in jeans and dirty jacket who stops to light a cigarette. Cynth leaps out of hiding to confront him, pulling him up for smoking. He says it's a habit that he can't break, even though he knows it doesn' do him any good. Then he pressures Cynth into taking a drag. She grabs the cigarette from him and throws it down, which angers him, so he threatens her to make her run off. She heads past the EAS building, then doubles back to the front door as the smoker crosses the grass to the building and peers inside. When the smoker checks over his shoulder, his face has vamped out. Candy and Zak break cover and charge just before he signals to his comrades to come and join him.
Seeing Candy and Zak, the smoking vamp snarls at them, and turns his back to them, assuming they're going to flee from such a display. He smashes the window and jumps in, too slow for Candy to stop him. Zak nails one of the charging vampires with a stake, and its friend stops short. The other charging vamp keeps going and takes on Candy, who fends off its attack and drives a stake into its heart. The more thoughtful vamp, aware things aren't quite working out, spins on his heel and flees calling the children demons. Nonplussed by this description, Zak runs around to the front door while Candy climbs in the window after the vamp inside.
Round the front of the house, Cynth begs to use the bathroom, but when the window smashes the man runs to investigate and Cynth is able to sneak inside. She goes in and sees a strange tableau. On one side is the bearded man, his fake beard slipping, tearing off his vest to reveal sculpted black-plastic body armour and weilding a long blade. On the other side is the vampire who just leapt in the window. In between is Brian Stevens, Zak's looking rather confused.
The armoured man tells the vamp to come closer and they stare each other down. Then Candy scrabbles through the window. The vamp smiles, gestures over his shoulder without looking, and tells the armoured man he'd better watch out because now his boys are here.
So Candy dusts him from behind.