Eli returned to consciousness slowly. Her mouth was painfully dry, her eyes sealed closed with sleep, and the scent of dried blood filled her nose. She'd slept in, she was late for her deliveries. As she moved to sit up, her body painfully reminded her that every muscle burned like fire.

With a silent whimper she lay back on the mattress and let it all come back to her. The construction site, the sewers, the apartment, what she had done. She had not only survived being bitten by a vampire, but had gotten back up, removed the spike that even Adrian could not pull out, and practically carried him all the way through the sewers back home.

Eli's thoughts tumbled around in her head, it made no sense. It should not have been possible. Had she been turned? No, she hurt too much in a aching, human sort of way. So what had happened? How had she survived? Her chest tightened with dread. She couldn't think about this, once she started there would be no stopping it. She'd be overwhelmed by a torrent of possibilities, each more terrifying than the last. And they would drown her. And then everything would change.

She opened her eyes. Mid-afternoon sunlight shone through the cracks in the tarp, she would need to patch it if she didn't want Adrian to be a grump in the evening. She'd fallen asleep in his room, pretty unusual- but she wasn't going to think about that. Eli looked over at him. If you ignored the massive amounts of blood covering him, he looked pretty ok. His wounds were even almost closed, that was good. Wincing, she sat up. She wasn't going to freak out. She was gonna take this one bit at a time. And the first part involved getting up and getting some water. She just had to take that first step.

She stood and the world spun around her. She closed her eyes and took a long breath, then another. When she didn't feel like she was going to pass out, she opened eyes and willed herself to move. That first step was agony. The second was worse. She didn't remember making it to the sink but by the time she had, she was exhausted. She didn't even get a cup, just stuck her head in and turned on the faucet. It tasted like rust and dirt, and it was the best thing she had ever tasted. She wiped off her mouth and opened the cabinet. There was a box of crackers and a few protein bars that she'd been saving for a special occasion; she tore through both of them before she knew it.

Once sated, she sunk down to the floor. She didn't want to think about it, but she was out of distractions. Her pulse quickened, she bit her lip, her whole body was shaking. She couldn't think about this, she had to think about this. There had to be an out, someplace she could run to. Make her way up to Connecticut, lay low for a while, hide. Hide from what? From herself? But she was the only one she could rely on and if she was turning into some kind of monster, then what could she do? No, she couldn't even let herself think about that. She had to focus, where could she go? The cops were just as likely to find her here as anywhere. Jack thought she was dead. She should be dead. Was supposed to be. People don't just get back up after a vampire bite. People die. So she wasn't people anymore. Which left the question: what was she?

The questions bombarded her relentlessly, she couldn't shut them off and she couldn't keep them straight. Eli wiped the hot water off her face. She didn't want to go out again, didn't want to do anything, but she needed to get out of her own head.

The library was quiet as always. The occasional hushed conversation or cough from a hobo seeking temporary shelter filled the area. It was risky, her coming here. There were only a few hours of daylight left, and it was weak, autumn daylight at that. She wasn't even sure if Evelyn would know what had happened. Didn't know how to ask.

She meandered around a bit before heading down to the archive rooms, the last thing she needed was to be stopped by a nosy librarian. The rooms tended to be sealed off- both from the public and a source of sunlight. The air was heavy with the scent of old paper from the rows and rows of shelves. Evelyn was looking her way before she even walked around the corner. Her piercing stare, pale skin and high cheekbones, not mention her accent, she was the image of a vampire. That is, if vampires dressed like school teachers and hung out in library basements.

"Eli?" She asked. Evelyn was always so insightful, too insightful. "Whatever's the matter?"

Her heart jumped to her throat. "I need your help" were the words she wanted to say. But she knew better by now. Never let them know. If they knew she needed help, they'd know she was weak. Then they would have all the power. Instead she gave Evelyn her best smile and said, "Just thought I'd stop by."

She wasn't fooling her, Evelyn's brow was still furrowed and now she'd put down her book. Bad sign. Could she smell the blood? Eli'd tried to wash her neck as well as she could, and she had even changed her shirt, but could she still smell it? She needed a distraction, fast. "Watcha readin'?" Stupid question. The only thing down here were old newspaper articles. Evelyn had once told her that she was using them to "compare with existing data and compile a chronological list of significant vampiric events". She glanced back and shuffled through them a bit.

"It's, ah- it's an article about a woman who was murdered on a subway car in the seventies. Reports line up with certain others I've been researching, this woman was a Slayer."

"A what?" Eli said. Evelyn's worried gaze jumped back to her.

"The Slayer. The Chosen One. The one girl in all the world with the power to fight the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. Currently she resides in Sunnydale, California, but strange things have been brewing as of late… You know about vampires, but you've never heard of Slayers?" Her eyebrows were still furrowed, but her lips quirked up in a small smile. Eli just shrugged.

"Are you sure you're alri-"

"So how's it work?" Eli cut her off, just trying to keep her from asking.

"Ah..." Her face fell, Evelyn had tried to ask things like this before. It seemed like genuine concern and not a ploy to eat her, but Eli couldn't take her chances. She'd never outrun Evelyn, but so long as she visited during the day and kept her distance, the door was only a few feet away. Evelyn knew it too, knew Eli'd run if she tried to press her, even if it was only out of concern for her safety. All she could do was leave her be and hope for the best. And answer her questions.

"You mean the Slayer? She is one in a long line of Slayers who have existed since time immemorial. They are all linked, gifted with prophetic dreams and a connection to all others. But there can only be one at a time, and one is only called when her predecessor dies. Which is usually fairly quick of course, a few months, maybe a few years at best. Then the next girl will inherit all of her strength, speed, agility and power far greater than the average human, so that she may do her duty. And when it come to that, it depends on the Slayer. Some were born ready, trained by their Watcher to fight evil from an early age, others fall off the radar, so to speak. It's impossible to tell exactly who the next one will be, but eventually, they all come to accept their calling".

"...which is?" Eli asked quietly. She'd gone still, staring at the floor.

"To fight evil. In whatever form it may take. Be it demons, sorcerers, the undead, and of course," she said with a chuckle, "Vampires".

Eli looked up at her, her eyes brimming and wide, full lips pressed tight. Evelyn had never really noticed how young she was; she couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"Eli?" Evelyn reached a hand out to her, confused but trying to comfort her. Even so, Eli backed away quickly.

"I have to go." She said. And just like that she was gone, up the stairs and out the door in a flash.

The streets weren't exactly cold, but Eli found herself shivering all the same. She ran through her usual rules for when she did deliveries: keep your head down, don't talk to anyone unless you have to, walk fast but don't run, don't stop for anything. Everything would be fine once she got home. Day slipped into evening as Eli approached the apartment. Someone called out, but she didn't stop- it couldn't be for her.

"Hey!" they repeated a second time. Suddenly Eli felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around, pushing her into the alley. Terrified, she looked up. "What the fuck?" Freddy said. "You're supposed to be dead." Or, that's what he was in the middle of saying, before Eli punched him hard in the face. Hard enough to knock him down. No one could know she was alive, if they knew they'd come after her. She couldn't think further than that, Freddy was getting back up. She frantically glanced around the alleyway; everyday debris was scattered around, but there was only one thing she needed, except she was out of time. Freddy charged at her. Instinctively, she rolled out the way, grabbed a wooden chopstick from the ground, and stabbed him with it. Too low. He grappled her to the ground, simultaneously trying to bite her and wrestle the chopstick out of her hand. She tried to push his head away with her other hand, but he had the advantage. Fervently gripping the stick, she pulled her hand free. This time, she stabbed him in the back again and again. His jaws about close on her throat, she finally got the right spot. He had only a moment to seize up before he turned to dust.

Eli scurried back. She'd heard that vampires turned to dust when killed, but she'd never actually seen it happen, much less been the one responsible for it. She was shaking again, but she couldn't stay here. She had to get inside. Eli pushed herself up onto unsteady legs and checked around the corner. There was no one around, no one had seen. No one would notice her as she creeped inside.

She exhaled and shut their door closed with a click. She was exhausted, scared, and damn near her breaking point, but Adrian was on her in a heartbeat.

"Where've you been?!" He pleaded. "What the hell happened? How'd we get get back here? And how are you you still alive?!"

She tried to push past him, "Adrian, please-"

"No!" He grabbed her arms, holding her tightly in place. She wasn't the only one shaking.

It was all too much. She wanted to scream, to cry, to hit him, to do something. Instead, she felt her legs give out from under her. It was only his grip that kept her upright.

"Woah.." he hesitated a moment, "...Are you ok?"

Eli steadied herself and pulled away. She went over to the kitchen counter and hoisted herself up. Then it all came out in a rush, from the abandoned site back to the apartment. She didn't dare meet his eyes while she talked, just let it spill out in a stream. When she did, she wished she hadn't. He was sitting on the couch, perched on the edge leaning forward to listen to her. But the worst part was his face. She'd hoped maybe he'd be able to just deal with it, that she could rely on him to make it ok. Instead he looked sick, somewhere between disgusted and horrified- which was exactly how she felt. He was crumbling too and she was on her own again.

"So that's that, huh?" He flopped back into the couch.

"I- I'm not sure if the apartment's safe anymore," gulping, she tried to fill the silence, "Everything will change" She whispered. She was desperate, she had to make him understand. She couldn't survive that kind of change, she had to keep running, she couldn't-

"Everything's already changed!" Adrian snapped, exasperated. Eli flinched as his words jolted through her. He continued, his voice rising, but Eli was still processing what he had said.

"I mean, what am I gonna do for rent? Get a fucking night job at Doublemeat Palace or something? And I'll have to start feeding again, which'll send me into fits. And if Jack ever finds out I'm alive, I'll-"

"You're right." Eli interrupted. She'd gone still, her eyes fixed dead ahead.

"Huh?"

"Everything's already changed. It changed the minute I got up after the attack. I'm not just me anymore." Everything had changed and she was still standing. Still alive. Stronger than ever before.

"Oh kaaay, and what's this 'new you' thinking of doing, hmm?"

She looked up and met his gaze full on. "I'm going to kill them. I'm going to kill them all."

"What?" Adrian was rather taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Jack. Ezekiel. Ryker. All of them. I'm gonna kill em."

"Eli you're not making any sense. How would you even do something like that?

"I'm a Slayer, Adrian. The Slayer. This is what I have to do."

"Wh- ah- no. This is- this is nuts! You're the Slayer?" He stammered and began muttering to himself. "No, you know what, no. We can um, we can- I- I think I have enough stashed away to get train tickets. Forget about staying in the city, let's just run. Yeah?"

"Nuh-uh. Can't run from this, even if I wanted to. I'm done running. This is it, no escape, I'm out of road."

"You can't be serious, I- I mean…"

"Adrian, I finally have the power to do something. Really do something. I'm not letting it slip by now."

"...You'll die."

"Yeah and then a new Slayer'll come along. Who knows, maybe they'll even be in the city. Hell, then it'll be her problem." She grumbled sarcastically. Adrian was bewildered, he rarely ever heard he say anything so biting. She couldn't be taking this seriously. If she was, she'd run. There was no other way. Why would she knowingly throw her life away? Her. A human. Someone who already had such little time before they burned out. He couldn't rationalize it.

"But why? Who do you think is gonna benefit from you going and offing yourself? Me?!" he replied incredulously. She had to understand. He had to make her see. "First thing they're gonna do when they're through with you is hunt me down and find an even worse way to kill me. And if by some impossibility you actually succeed, what d'you think's gonna happen to the city, huh? New gang'll rise up and take over eventually."

"Eventually, but at least for a while I'll have made a difference." She was so calm now, changing as fast as a summer storm.

"A difference. Is that what this is about? You think people are gonna notice that there aren't as many vampires around? They already don't notice! Nobody will ever know, no one will ever thank you for it. What exactly are you trying to prove?" That seemed to provoke her, at least a little.

"Nothing! I don't exactly have an agenda here, all I'm thinking is if I'm gonna die in a couple years, I at least want it to be while doing something worthwhile. Y'know? Save a few lives, get a little revenge…" She trailed off. "It's not like I have anything to live for anyway."

"Eli…" But what could Adrian possibly say? He couldn't help her, couldn't give her a reason to live. The only reason he was still alive was his immense fear of death.

"What? It's true. I've got no education, nowhere to go, and nothing to look forward to. Say I live, the cops will find me eventually, send me back to my fosters. And I would really rather die than that. Besides, I've heard Slayers have a pretty short lifespan anyway."

As she spoke, she grew more and more animated. Excited almost. She didn't want to die, she knew that much, she'd barely had a chance to live. But thinking about what the rest of her short life would be now, even more hiding, even more running, it made her so frustrated she couldn't stand it. If she had to die soon, she might as well go out with bang. To have her existence mean something, even if it was only to one person, even if that person was a vampire- well, it was enough. The more she thought about it, the more the idea thrilled her.

"And hey, I know how to do it now. Guess I can thank Freddy for that.." she trailed off with a chuckle.

"What are you talking about?" he asked warily.

"Oh yeah. Ran into Freddy on my way back. I think Jack must've promised him your turf after they axed you, 'cause he definitely seemed like he was on the prowl."

Adrian just stared at her, dumbfounded. "What happened?"

"Killed him. Simple as that. Well, not so simple I guess. You guys are hella strong, but hey! So'm I now! Just gotta get the aim right."

Adrian was speechless. He couldn't process it all, there was too much. And here Eli was making jokes. Her grin faded as she looked at him though.

She sat up straighter, looked him dead in the eye and said, "You can't stop me from doing this, Adrian. I just need one thing from you- tell me where Jack is."