Chapter 2

Kyla lay facing the window, her luminous clock glittering beside her. It was ten past eleven pm. Darryl had told her to meet him in the southern graveyard at midnight. Kyla wasn't the type of person to sneak out of her house, especially if it was a 40 year old man that she just met who was telling her to sneak out. But she wanted to see what Darryl had to show her. Kyla had refused to tell her mother what Darryl had told her, partly because she knew her mom wouldn't believe her, and partly because Darryl had said to keep the Slayer thing a secret.

Kyla stared at her clock, and the time ticked on. She heard a creak of the stairs. Her mom was coming up to check on her. Kyla quickly pretended to be asleep as her mother pushed open the door. Kyla pressed her eyes shut as the sliver of light from the hallway fell across her face. She waited until there was the soft thud of the door closing, and her mother's footsteps back down the stairs. It was time.

The quiet clatter of the window latch sounded much louder in the silent house. Kyla froze, hoping that it wasn't loud enough to wake her mother. She pushed it open as wide as it would go, and leaned out. A cool breeze played across her face and she turned and grabbed her jacket before putting one leg through the window. That's when she realized the problem. Her bedroom was on the second floor, and if she jumped down form this height, she would probably break leg. It would be hard to explain if her mother found her lying on the lawn with a broken leg.

Spinning around, Kyla searched her room for a rope, or something that would help her get down safely. She was about to give up and just sneak out the front door when she remembered her emergency ladder. It was under her bed, and she had difficulty hauling it out without the metal clanking. It was a ladder made of chains, and Kyla was instructed only to use it if there was a fire or any other emergency in which she would have to go out her window. She slipped the end out her window and slowly lowered it down. The other end she hooked to her window sill. The ladder didn't reach the ground completely, but it was a much safer drop than the one straight out her window.

Slowly she lowered herself out the window and down the ladder, and then Kyla froze. What was she supposed to do with the ladder now? She would need it to get back up, but what if her mom came into her room and saw it? What if her mom came in and saw the empty bed? Cursing herself for being so careless, Kyla dropped onto the hard packed earth and left the ladder hanging. As long as she was back soon, her mom wouldn't know that she'd been out at all.

The clang of the graveyard gate shutting behind her echoed through the empty landscape. Kyla wove her way through the many gravestones, including the one of her father that she had never known. He had died just after she was born. Kyla stared at it for a moment and then walked past, looking for Darryl. It was len minutes to midnight and so she settled down with her back against a large tree. Little did she know that this was going to be the very spot where the current Slayer would sit, waiting for the vampires to crawl out of their graves, just before she would meet her death.

Kyla sighed and looked around. Here she was, sitting in a spooky old graveyard, waiting for some guy she'd just met to prove to her that vampires really existed. Was she stupid to have come at all? The thought had just passed through her mind when Darryl himself came walking up, holding a crossbow. Kyla jumped to her feet.

"You're not going to shoot me, are you?" she asked warily. Darryl laughed.

"No, this is for protection. You'll need something, too." He fished around inside his coat and pulled out a smooth wooden stake. He tossed it to her, and she caught it and examined it, from the pointed tip to the smooth end. There was even a sort of grip carved into it that fit her fingers perfectly. He also handed her a small squirt gun.

"What's this?" she said, laughing. "What are we going to do, start a water figh with vampires?" Darryl shook his head.

"No, that's holy water in there. It burns vamps. If they swallow it, or are completely submerged in it, they'll die. But a quick squirt is good just to keep them away. Let's go."

Kyla followed him through the rows upon rows of gravestones. "What else can kill vampires?" she asked.

"Oh, lot's of things. Stake through the heart. Or anything wooden through the heart, I guess. There's also crosses, but those don't kill them, just burn 'em. And beheading, fire, you know, all the normal stuff." Kyla was about to point out that killing vamps in general was not normal, when something grabbed her ankle, causing her to trip and fall. Scrambling around, Kyla saw what had grabbed her and let out a scream. There was a hand poking out of the earth, and it was groping around for something to grab onto!