Chapter 1

She had just received a hologram from her best friend. She was ready for her to come get her. Rachel told her parents where she was going and grabbed her car keys. She was driving to the country side, a place that she knew all too well for her liking. When she got to her best friend's house, she pulled her car into the drive way and popped the trunk.

Rachel opened her car door outside of Whitmore manor. She was waiting for Jasmine to come out with her bags. It was right before dusk, when she heard a blood curdling scream come from inside. She ran up the drive and ripped open the door. When she opened the door to the she saw the back of a man. He was standing over Jasmine holding his dagger at her throat. The man didn't even notice that the door had been opened.

Rachel heard and saw the man cut Jasmine's throat, blood squirting everywhere, Rachel screamed. The man turned around, but before he could get her with his dagger she had already bolted from the house. Rachel was now running for her life and Dusted to the woods in the middle of nowhere. She kept running, not knowing if he was still following her or not, but she was still running. She tripped on a root and fell to the ground. When she looked up, she saw lights ahead of her. While getting back up she hears a branch snap behind her and starts to run for her life again.

She had no idea for exactly how long she had been running for, but realized when she emerged from the forest that she was in Sherman Village just outside of the Blood Skulls Bar. She saw someone leaving the bar and screamed for help.

"Help! Please, help me!" she shouted, "Please. Someone is trying to kill me. I don't have anywhere that I can go. He'll find me. Please, help me."

She looked really scared, so he decided that he should see what was wrong and give her peace of mind, if he could. As he looked over her shoulder, he pulled off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. He didn't want to, but he pulled her into his body and brought her into the bar that he had just left. He walked her over to a booth in the back of that bar that was away from all the noise so he could hear her. He needed to know who she was before he brought her to his home.

"Okay, first of all, my name is Blake." He said, "Can you please tell me why you think someone is trying to kill you, but first could you please tell me what your name is."

He had a feeling that he knew who she was, but seeing as she was covered in dirt and mud he couldn't really tell. He just knew that he knew her from somewhere and couldn't put a name to the face.

"Sorry, how could I be so rude? My name is Rachel Sanderson-Weston. I'm a journalist." Rachel replied. Blake was surprised; Rachel Sanderson-Weston does not lose her wits when she is scared. Especially when her life is at stake and since when did she become a journalist, the last that he knew, she was a Slayer. She had changed a lot over the years. "The reason I have someone trying to kill me is because I saw him kill my best friend, Jasmine. The only reason that he noticed me was because of the fact that I screamed, that is when I started to run. I guess that I Dusted without thinking straight into the Bliztergantel Woods, but I could hear something chasing me, and that is when I saw you."

Blake sat there thinking on how he could make this work to his advantage. He already knew who Rachel was. He was suppose to turn her against Whitmore and Weston, but did not want his master to be mad at him taking her in.

"Don't worry Rachel; I know that I can help you." Blake finally answered her, "You just have to trust me. Can you do that?"

"Yes, I think I can." Rachel replied hesitantly, "But, how can I pay you back, Blake? I don't have any money or any other way of paying you."

"Don't worry about that. I have enough resources to help you out." Blake was smiling, inwardly of course. "You can stay with me until I get this sorted out. I don't mean to be rude in asking this, but are those the only clothes that you right now?"

Rachel looked at herself and realized that her robes were ripped to shreds, from the fact she had just been running for her life through the woods. She shifted in her seat before answering Blake.

"Yes." She felt embarrassed about her appearance. She looked down at her hands not wanting to say anymore."

"It's okay." He said lifting up her face with his finger. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. I may not be able to understand what you are going through, but I will do my best to help you. I have some clothes that you can change into at my place. Come on, let's get out of here before it picks up on your trail again, okay."

"Alright." Rachel blushed. She was still in shock and downright exhausted, but a bath sounded like a good idea to her right about now. With that said, they left the bar and Blake dusted them to his house.