Disclaimer: see Part 1
Chapter 3
"A what?" Mal exclaimed, ignoring the painful whimper from Simon. "Hey Doc", he said to the bleeding man and followed him into the infirmary. "You should take a look at Shepherd. He seems to have taken a bump to the head."
"Unfortunately he didn't," Simon answered and stifled a moan. "As you can see from my bloodied neck I am the one who got attacked... again." Carefully, he opened the cupboard, took out some material and gave it to Kaylee who started tending to the wound. The holes in his neck were long closed and the bleeding had stopped, but it was still painful despite Kaylee's careful ministrations.
"I don't have time for your sarcasm," Simon said between clenched teeth. "This... thing, Vampire, whatever... he's got my little sister. She needs help. She needs ME!"
"Calm down", repeated Book for the umpteenth time. His face was set in an intense mask, obviously thinking really hard about something he hadn't yet managed to say out loud.
"You keep sayin' that, holy man", Mal noted sarcastically. "But y'are walking a gorramn hole in the floor. So stop it, now! And tell us what happened. The truth, dare I say."
The captain leaned his hip against the bed and folded his arms waiting for an answer he was able to believe.
"I told you, it was a Vampire!" Simon tried to stand, pushing away Kaylee's hands.
"Sit down, Simon! Or I'll tie you to the bed," Kaylee said in a bidding tone and pushed him back in a sitting position.
"You can tie ME, if you want," Jayne said from the open door. They ignored him.
Finally Book stood still and stroked his chin. "Bear with me, this is complicated."
"How can it be complicated? Someone take Doc's loony 'sis or not?" Simon gave Mal an angry glance.
"Yes", answered Book. "Actually, something did. Something I thought no longer existed."
"What? Vampires? You're kiddin', right?"
"No, Mal. I am most definitely not."
Kaylee was finished and sat down next to Simon, carefully straddling his arm.
"How do you know it was a vampire? HOW do you know any of this?"
"Simon, I..."
"No, you knew what it was. You warned me. You told me it'd kill me. How did you know? WHAT does this creature want with my sister?"
"I don't know, Simon. Vampires DID exist... once, on earth-that-was, but there's not much I can tell you. There is little information about their existence anymore. There's been no sign of them since we left Earth-that-was."
Mal stepped up and scrunched up his eyes skeptically. "Who is 'we'?"
"A Council. A community of men observing their world."
"What do they want with my sister?"
"I don't know, they… didn't tell me."
Heavy silence filled the room and Mal was the first to find his tongue again. His voice seemed dark and enraged when he said: "You're one of them, ain't you?" It didn't sound like a question, more like a conclusion. "The council, as you call it, 'tis Alliance, right? That's why they saved you when you got shot."
"No… yes… it's complicated, I told you."
"Okay, start with the beginnin'," Mal demanded and sat down again, like he was waiting for a long and rather extensive explanation.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I don't know much, certainly not the whole background, just fragments of myths and gossip." Book sighed defeated and went on: "Okay, but I'll tell you everything I know."
oooooooooooooooooIt was much easier than Spike had feared. Well, "feared" was a little over exaggerating since he had nothing to lose. The girl was obviously in shock. She followed him along the alleys without protest. He turned around repeatedly, but no one was following them. His cold fingers were wrapped around her wrist even though he suspected she wouldn't run away if he let her go.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He finally asked when they reached the city's border. She answered with a surprised face. "Not like I want you to fight against me, you know? But you see, this is a KIDNAPPING, alright? You are my hostage. Would you please not act like I was your Sunday promenade escort? It's perturbing."
"Sorry," she answered.
"Oh, bloody hell. Are you nuts? You shouldn't be apologizing."
"I'm really sorry?" she repeated.
With
a deep growl he let go of her hand and tore his hair. A purple bruise
started to
form on River's pale skin around her wrist. "Sorry
'bout that, pet," he said and realized that she was holding
something in her other hand.
"A fish? I'm kidnapping a fish? This is my worst kidnapping ever."
"So, you do this a lot?" She asked in an innocent voice and stepped closer.
"Not recently," he answered honestly and he started walking with his hand wrapped around her upper arm. Ignoring her curious glances he pulled her into his ship and carefully tied her to a tube in the back of the cabin without looking at her. He sat down and started the engines.
"You know, you remind me of a girlfriend," he said when the ship began take off.
There was a long silence before she said: "Your teeth are real, your mind is dark. But your soul is no longer lost...Was she a vampire too?"
Nearly letting go of the steering wheel and crashing the vehicle back on the ground he turned around and stared at the young girl, who had pulled her bindings down the tube and was now sitting cross legged on the cold floor.
"You know why I've taken you, don't you?"
"I am the hunter without a fiend. You are walking in your own darkness. And you need someone to walk in the light."
He turned around, concentrating on the flight path in the dark night.
"No, because you are the slayer. And I am your prey… And because you're the one I need to get MY slayer back."
ooooooooooooooooo
The serenity crew sat down at the dinner table and everyone's attention was directed at the Shepherd who was seated at the head of the table.
"I'm not sure we have time for this," Simon noted and hissed loudly when his abused body complained with a painful cramp.
"You HAVE to take the time," Book replied. "You can't go up against a power like that." He cleared his throat and began to tell. "Before humankind left Earth-that-was, they weren't alone. Creatures, vampires, demons, everything that went bump in the night, were real. They lived among people, either ignoring or killing them."
"Reavers?" Kaylee asked.
"No, not Reavers, but similar. Their existence was effectively contained by certain powers. People who knew about and fought against them. A more or less loose network of parties devoting their lives to fighting evil. One such party was the Watchers Council."
"Sounds cool," Jayne stated while polishing a blade.
"Sounds like a lot of Fei hua," Mal countered.
"You should listen closely before you judge, Mal."
TBC
