3.

Brittany walked toward the Bronze, looking forward to a night of dancing and fun. She wanted to lose herself in movement for a few hours; she wanted to shut off her thoughts and feelings. This day had been a roller coaster of fear and ecstasy and confusion, and she was ready to rise above all of that. But her plans for the night flew from her mind when she got about three blocks from the club and felt a familiar, shocking tingling along her skin…

Santana!

Brittany's head whipped up, her eyes darted around. She couldn't see the vampire, but she instinctively knew in which direction to move. Following the feeling in her skin like a dog tracking a scent, she wound her way through the side streets and back alleys. After several minutes she came upon a dilapidated, ground-floor apartment with boarded up and blacked out windows.

Her entire body was tensed in anticipation. She lifted her hand to knock, but stopped herself. Instead she grasped the knob and used her strength to force open the portal. The door opened immediately to a staircase descending to a basement room. The inside appeared as warm, inviting, and well-kept as the outside appeared condemned. Brittany crept quietly downward, towards a gentle light, almost like candlelight, flickering at the bottom of the stairway.

She turned the corner at the bottom of the stairs, and found the Promised Land. It was only a small living area with a couch and a couple of comfortable looking chairs, but sitting in one of the chairs, still engrossed in a large book, not noticing Brittany's sudden presence, was Brittany's personal Land of Milk and Honey. She froze for a moment, almost unable to comprehend the fact that she was seeing Santana again, taking a moment to just soak in the image of the brunette.

"Santana…" Brittany finally whispered, voice thick with emotion.

Santana froze in the middle of turning a page. She let the page slide away from her finger and slowly lifted her head, her eyes widening when she caught sight of Brittany. There was a man sitting near Santana, who Brittany had never seen and did not initially notice, whose head also whipped up. "Whoa," he exclaimed in a nasally voice, jumping up. His large, curly afro swayed as he moved. "Way to be early, Slayer."

Brittany didn't respond to the man; she simply continued to watch Santana. Santana had not moved yet. She sat stone-still, drinking in the image of the girl in front of her. "Brittany," she finally whispered.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's Brittany. And it's Santana. And I'm Jacob. Now we all know each other!" Neither girl took their eyes off the other. Jacob continued, "Look, I respect that you two have history, but if neither of you can speak or move in the other's presence…that'll get annoying fast. For me."

Brittany paid no mind to the blathering man in the room. Without conscious thought, her body surged forward, across the room, until she reached Santana. She straddled the seated woman, cradled her head, and pressed a deep kiss onto her lips.

"Well that's an improvement, at least."

Santana, who could barely manage a coherent thought under Brittany's ministrations, somehow managed to lift her arm and wave Jacob out of the room. "Hell no," Jacob answered. "This evening just got worthwhile."

Santana's motioning got more insistent. She broke her kiss with Brittany for the slightest of moments, biting out a frustrated, "Jacob! Go!"

Brittany, who honestly didn't care one way or another, recaptured Santana's lips and intensified her kiss. Santana, last reservoir of willpower gone, gave in to Brittany's probing tongue and wandering hands. Jacob watched in interest for a few more seconds, and then shrugged.

"Alright, I'm gone. I was just joking anyway." He grabbed his coat and headed toward the stairs. "Call me when you're done!" He received a muffled affirmation in response, and he left their apartment grinning.

Brittany arrived at the Bronze about an hour later than she had planned. She had attempted to convince Santana to accompany her, thrilled at the idea of tearing up the dance floor with her lover, but Santana had declined. Crowds were definitely not her thing. They had made plans to meet up the next day after Brittany finished school.

Brittany waltzed into the club feeling better than she had in months. This day had turned out to be one of the best of her life. She was still the Slayer, she had a great new Watcher, had met some interesting people, and, most of all, Santana was back in her life for the foreseeable future. Before Brittany had departed, Santana had briefly explained who Jacob was and what Santana's mission was and had always been. Warmth suffused her as she thought of Santana's task: helping and protecting her. Santana was almost literally her personal guardian angel. Her guardian demon.

Her eyes searched out a familiar face, first catching sight of Kurt and Mercedes sitting on the balcony and waving at them, then finding Rachel sitting alone at the bar, sipping a soda. She went over to the other girl, slipping into a chair beside her. "Hey, Rachel!" Brittany greeted.

"Brittany," said the other girl around the straw in her mouth. "You sound very…chipper."

Brittany grinned mischievously, leaning closer to Rachel and revealing, "Yeah, I just got laid. It was pretty much awesome."

Rachel emitted a surprised squeak in response to Brittany's declaration. "Congratulations?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Thank you!" Brittany turned slightly in her chair, surveying the dance floor with desire. Rachel continued to suck and chew on her straw, staring at the blonde girl in awe. After a few moments, Brittany turned back to Rachel and said, "So I've been thinking about your situation with Finn."

"Oh?"

"Yup. And I was thinking…you can't go from zero to sixty instantly. You need to get some experience first. When you make your move on Finn, you want to come off as a confident, in-control woman, right?"

"Right."

"So go talk to one of the guys in here. Have a discussion. Hang out. Maybe go somewhere and make-out."

"But…I can't."

"You seem like someone who values control, Rachel. So take control of the situation! That's what 95% of guys in the world want, really. They all want to know what they need to do to impress us, and they'll lap up any guidance they get."

"Really?"

Brittany smiled reassuringly. "Really. I'll leave you to it, Rach. I'm going to go dance until I can't think."

She stood up and slithered onto the dance floor, weaving between people until she had reached the epicenter. Rachel watched in admiration as she became the center of attention for all the available guys nearby, one of whom was Dave Karofsky. She deftly managed to dance with each without making any feel neglected. Watching her movements, Rachel steeled her resolve and decided to trust her new friend. She scanned the room, looking for a suitable candidate.

Brittany was lost in the music, grinding against whatever body happened to be closest, having a blast, when she felt the familiar tingling sensation indicating the presence of a vampire. Not the comforting, enveloping, warm feeling that accompanied Santana's presence, but the cold, hateful, unsettling sensation that meant there was a soulless demon nearby. Brittany froze in place, whipping her head around, frantically searching for the source. When she found it, her blood ran cold.

The vampire was good-looking enough, but was wearing clothes at least ten years out of date and sporting a haircut that screamed "'90s!", but what distressed Brittany so much was who this vampire had his arm draped around: Mercedes. They were walking out the door, smiling at each other.

"Shit," she exclaimed, attempting to dart in the direction, only to be up by the guy she had most recently been grinding against.

"Where do you think you're going, baby?"

Brittany rolled her eyes, realizing by the sound of his voice that the guy trying to hold her up was Dave, and threw off his grasp. He grabbed her again, his voice angry this time instead of flirtatious. "Hey, don't be a tease!"

Brittany whirled around to face the boy, locking eyes with him, glaring dangerously. Anger surged through her. Earlier in the day, when she wasn't sure about her future or her place in the Sunnydale High hierarchy, she had been willing to look past the kid's noxious personality. Now she knew she was the Slayer again, now she had a new Watcher, now she had Santana again. Now she was Brittany the Goddamn Vampire Slayer. She took a menacing step towards the much larger boy and exclaimed, "Fuck off and die, douche bag! You should be falling on your knees and thanking God you got what you did, not whining like a bitch about more."

She pushed him, harder than a normal girl could but not nearly at her full strength, sending him stumbling to the ground. Dave glared up at her in surprise. "Look at that Dave," she sneered. "You were right about me. I am a pusher."

Brittany turned again, her hair fanning out behind her in a golden wave, and started to wade through the morass of people between her and the exit. Once free, she sprinted in the direction Mercedes had departed with the vampire, but by the time she reached outside the trail had gone cold.

She rushed back into the club, seeking out Rachel. She found her delicately perched in the lap of a boy with olive skin and a swimmer's body. They were giggling and flirting, Brittany's advice obviously working. "Rachel," she began frantically, "I need to talk to you."

Rachel frowned in disappointment, and said, "Alright, Brittany." She stood up and followed Brittany a few feet away. Once out of earshot she whispered heatedly, "Brittany, things were going so well!"

"I have to find Mercedes," Brittany said urgently. "I saw here leaving with a guy. A bad sort a guy."

"Like a vampire sort of guy?"

Brittany froze, and stared at Rachel in shock. "Was there, like, a memo?" She asked, thinking back to Principal Figgins. "Is there anyone who doesn't know about vampires around here?"

"I overheard you talking to Ms. Holliday earlier," Rachel explained. "At first I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to think that you were crazy, but you're clearly not…so that leaves one explanation. Looking back, it actually makes sense. It's not normal for students to go missing every month. I have no idea why I ever thought it was…"

"It's a coping mechanism," Brittany said absently. "Most people never get past it. Look, I need to find Mercedes before something horrible happens to her. Is there anywhere she might take him?"

Rachel shrugged and said anxiously, "I have no idea."

Brittany nearly growled in frustration. "Alright, I'll have to figure something else out…" Brittany bit her lip, trying to think of a solution. "Santana!" Brittany exclaimed, remembering her lover's heightened sense of smell. She might be able to track down Mercedes.

"What? Who?"

"Never mind, I need to go."

"Wait," exclaimed Rachel. "I want to help. There must be some way…"

Brittany bit her lip again, thinking back to all the lectures she'd received about anonymity, before deciding. "Find Holly – Ms. Holliday; she'll probably be at the library. Let her know what's going on. There will be another friend of mine joining you in awhile- Jacob. He'll fill you guys in on the big picture."

Rachel nodded quickly, hurriedly said goodbye to the boy she had been flirting with, and rushed to gather her things. Brittany didn't waste another second, sprinting out of the club in the direction of Santana's apartment. Rachel headed off in the direction of the high school. Both were immensely worried about Mercedes. They were so worried, in fact, that neither noticed that Kurt had disappeared as well.

Mercedes had no idea what was going on. Her mind literally could not comprehend what was happening to her, could not compute the fact that the guy she had left the Bronze with had bitten her neck and drawn blood. She pressed a hand against her neck to staunch the bleeding. She could feel something impure seeping into her veins, something sickening, like she had ingested crude oil or injected bleach. She could barely think. She was trapped in a haze of fear and pain, and it barely registered that the guy she thought was so sweet was standing above her, laughing menacingly, with the face of a monster. She cowered desperately on the ground, her back pressed against the mausoleum wall.

Today had been going so well…

The new girl at school had turned out to be interesting and cool and, most impressively, willing to befriend "losers" like Rachel and Kurt. The idea that she might have an ally in school, someone who liked both Rachel and Kurt and who both liked, made her heart soar. She loved those two, really she did, but it sometimes got tiresome playing referee, with no one to turn to for back-up or support or escape.

After Brittany whirled into their life, Rachel and Kurt had spent the remainder of their day getting along better than usual. And then, when Mercedes had seen Brittany talk Rachel – Rachel!- into striking up a conversation with a guy, Mercedes and Kurt had taken it as a sign to attempt the same. Mercedes hadn't been expecting much, but even that had seemed to be going well. And now…

The man standing above her chuckled at her fear-induced actions, and growled, "I love the smell of your fear. It makes the blood taste better. You will make a wonderful treat for the Master."

"And how will the Master feel about feeding off of your leftovers, I wonder?"

Mercedes' attacker whipped around to face the source of the voice. "Lauren," he said, a tinge of fear in his voice. "I didn't mean to…I didn't think."

"Clearly," the hulking female vampire spat out. She stood in the frame of the doorway, clutching a terrified looking Kurt by the back of the neck. She pushed him forward, sending him stumbling halfway across the chamber.

For a moment Mercedes' fear diminished and her concern and love for her friend rose above it. "Kurt!" she cried in alarm.

The male vampire whipped around and hissed, "Shut your mouth!"

Mercedes' fear once again reasserted itself and she shrank back into the corner. Still, she extended a hand toward Kurt, which he crawled over to and grasped with a force she couldn't believe came from the frail boy. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," he whispered again and again.

The female vampire – Lauren – swaggered into the room. "The boy somehow managed to escape from Victor. I found him fleeing across the cemetery. I killed Victor for his incompetence. I should kill you for the same, but I won't."

The male vampire breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said.

"I'll leave that for the Master," Lauren clarified, grinning.

Mercedes had gathered Kurt protectively in her arms, holding him as he shuddered in fear. "Leave us alone," she whispered raggedly. "We won't tell anyone if you leave now. We promise."

Lauren eyed the two teenagers with disgust, before bursting into hearty laughter. "Oh, honey, that's so cute. That's just so, so cute."

"Unlike you, fugly," exclaimed a voice from behind them. Mercedes' eyes widened in shock as she look past Lauren and saw Brittany Pierce standing confidently in the entrance with a dark-haired, female companion standing behind her.

Lauren slowly turned around, a grin lighting up her face when she sighted the skinny teenager who had interrupted them. Then she looked past the blonde and saw the brunette behind her, and her smile became pure maliciousness. "Satana," she chuckled. "What are you doing here? Tired of licking rats? Come slithering back on your stomach asking for forgiveness?"

Santana didn't respond to Lauren's taunts, only nodding in acknowledgment and saying, "Lauren."

Brittany looked back and forth between the two, eyebrows raised. "You two know each other?"

"Oh, we know each other," Lauren said, chuckling. "We know each other quite well. Satana was once my greatest success, then she became my greatest disappointment."

Brittany turned to Santana, confused. "Lauren is my Sire," Santana whispered. Seeing that Brittany was still confused, Santana clarified, "She made me into a vampire."

"Oooh," Brittany uttered, drawing out her syllable of realization. She turned back to Lauren, smiling, and said, "Well, thanks for that. It worked out well for me, since SaNtana here is going to be helping me kill the likes of you from now on."

Her actions a blur to human eyes, Brittany drew a stake and launched it at the weaker, male vampire. It lodged in his chest, dusting him instantly. Then she soared into a flying kick, striking Lauren directly in the chest. The large vampire stumbled backwards a few feet, but otherwise was unfazed. While Lauren was recovering her balance, Brittany locked eyes with Mercedes and waved her forward. "Mercedes, Kurt! Come on!"

Mercedes scrambled to her feet, pulling Kurt with her as if he weighed nothing, and skittered past Lauren and behind Brittany. She turned to look at Santana and said, "Get them to safety." Turning back to Lauren, narrowing her eyes, she continued, "I'll finish this one off."

Santana's eyes widened in fear, and she exclaimed, "Brittany, no! You can't-"

"Just go!" Brittany yelled, taking a step towards Lauren. Santana cast a longing, nervous look back at Brittany, but relented and herded the two humans outside. Brittany and Lauren were alone, glaring hatefully at each other.

"You should have listened to Satana," Lauren said calmly, taking a step forward. Brittany responded in kind, and opened her mouth to begin the battle with a quip. Whatever she was going to say was cut off when, with more speed than Brittany ever would have imagined, Lauren surged forward and grabbed her by the throat. Lauren effortlessly lifted the blonde high above her head. Brittany's feet dangled far above the surface of the floor, and she kicked helplessly at her captor. Lauren squeezed harder, completely choking off Brittany's air supply, and growled, "If there one thing that girl knows how to do, which you obviously do not, it's stay alive."

To Be Continued…