A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'll update again as soon as I can.

Chapter Six

The moon was shining down upon her. The shadows were warning her of darkness. The soft breeze was calming her soul. She soaked everything up and reveled in the power of the night. She clenched her muscles and honed her senses.

The soft rustling of the bushes to her left corner caught her attention. Her face betrayed nothing. She kept up her casual stroll, and dared whatever creature was out there to attack.

And it did.

It was just a regular enough vampire, nothing special. The vamp tried to grab her from behind, figuring his speed and strength would startle her and give him an upper hand. He was obviously a newbie. She bent and threw him off of her immediately, easily.

"Slayer!" It was a voice that seethed with malevolence, yet there was an underlying fear.

He jumped back up at her with fury in his punches. She dodged and blocked without breaking a sweat. A glint in her eye said she was gonna win. She was sardonically toying with him, but he was too arrogant to admit defeat and run.

He caught the edge of her chin with one of his desperate hooks, and the smirk on her lips turned dangerous. He was smart enough to be scared for a second. She coiled her muscles like a spring, and attacked with no mercy. She was wild and unapologetic. She fought with fierce strength and utter brutality. It was impossible to be graceful and fight like that at the same time. And yet, there she was. Just beautiful. She danced a most dangerous dance, and she was having a blast. The deep pounding of her heart made her feel so alive.

This was it. Everything she ever wished for, hoped for, prayed for.

A reason.

A reason to exist. To live.

She was the chosen one.

But it was a false reason. She was false. A glitch in the process by the powers that be. For what would be the point of being the chosen one if there were two? And of course, she just happened to be the second one.

'The other one.'

What reason is left for her now?

Slayer or no slayer, she's always known deep in her bones that she was born to fight. Through all the bad and the down right shitty, she always knew that there was something great out there waiting for her. However, things didn't go the way they were supposed to, somewhere along the way someone screwed up. Someone died, and someone didn't. Now she's left alone, not knowing which way is right, or who can be trusted.

Was she destined to stand still on the very edge of a cliff and wait numbly to be pushed or pulled?

She took pity on the now bloodied vampire and flipped out her stake. She didn't bother to give him a witty quip or a snarky pun. It was never about them in the first place. She staked him, and for a moment, just a fleeting moment, she felt sorry for the person that he was. She has, after all, a bigger heart than she would have wanted.

She expertly twirls the stake in her hand and starts her casual stroll once again. Her thoughts unconsciously wander throughout everything she's ever been through. All the things she'd done. The things that's been done to her. All the people she's met. All the people she shouldn't have loved.

'More owed than owing.'

She thinks about the Scoobies. The events that happened. The words that were said. The people that were hurt. Alan Finch.

She falters in her step. The very thought of him gave her shudder of disgust.

At herself.

She knows she'll carry the stain of his blood for the rest of her life, she didn't need a brooding vampire to tell her that. She knows what she's done. She killed a human.

'But did they have to be so…'

They overwhelmed her with words of murder and consequences and innocence. They were too overbearing.

'Too damn much.'

She was still coming to terms with what she has done, not what it will mean for everyone else. Not what the watchers would do, not what The Council would think, not how Buffy would feel. She was thinking about herself. Who else would?

She got scared, but she would never have admitted it. She still wouldn't.

She admits though, that she's sorry. Sorry for Alan Finch, and sorry for hurting Xander. It's a damn shame that no one would probably know that. Not after last night.

She falters in her step yet again. Her heart immediately flared in anger.

She thought about Wesley, and the smug look in his eyes when he revealed their brilliant plan. She thought about the utter fear that he represented when he realized how stupid he was to have done so. She thought about the Scoobies, their reactions, their faces. The disbelief and the suspicion. They looked at her like a circus freak. They let her stand there and just watched in twisted fascination for what she would do next, while subtly readying to defend themselves if she goes berserk. She thought about the Mayor and how he coaxed her onto his side. She thought about how clever he was to perfectly manipulate her.

All those thoughts only feed her anger, and she shatters an innocent bystander with one strong kick. She curses herself for killing the epitaph, and quickly walks away before anyone could discover her little mishap.

'Getting arrested for vandalism is not on my to do list tonight.'

Her lips curl up in a small smile. It was the smallest of smiles, but the sincerity in it was what made it so beautiful.

'Been there, done petty shit like that.'

It was an earnest moment, and its a shame how reality had to inevitably ruin it. The smile barely dropped from her lips for it was barely there in the first place. Her anger flared up once again, but not as ablaze as before, and she can think more clearly now. It was a damnation of sorts, to be gifted with strong emotions. That was her biggest weakness after all, feeling too much. Saying anything otherwise was a bold faced lie, but she would never admit things like that. Not even to herself.

She gets her thoughts in order and thinks of what's next for her. Anyone who'd happen to glance at her right now would see a tough looking girl casually strutting around without a care in the world. Its a wonder how appearances could be so wrong, and yet so right at the same time.

She looks at the watch in her left hand. It had a black leather strap with a thick buckle, and a large titanium square face with funky looking numbers and hands and had little buttons on the side. It was an expensive rocker watch that the Mayor bought for her.

She's never worn watches before because she's always thought of them as one-handed cuffs to responsibility. But when she saw this one, with its rich black velvet box, the tag that said made in italy, and the overall coolness of what was probably the most expensive thing she's ever been given, the first word that came to her was wicked. The second word was pawnshop, luckily for her she didn't say it out loud in front of the Mayor. He really got a tick about it too, and wanted her to wear it at all times because one of his pet peeves was not being appreciated. Another of his pet peeves, she was sure, was tardiness. He didn't say it out loud, but she read it in between his words all the same.

She thinks about how smart he was to have wrapped her one-handed cuff under something so pretty.

'Kudos for bullshitting me so well.'

She bestows the night with one of her little sincere smiles again, evidence of her fondness for the demon, and considers the time on her left wrist. She takes a little note out of her pocket and grimaces as she reads the words she was relentlessly persisted to jot down herself.

To do:

1. Give message to head vampire, Danilo. Done.

2. Check Sunnydale High's parameters for graduation. Done.

3. Pick up poison from K'haralk. Done.

She reads number 4 and unwittingly thinks about her destiny. She rolls her eyes at herself for her melodramatic thoughts.

'Spent way too much time with the superfriends.'

She idly wonders what her watcher would think of her now. She decides she doesn't want to know. The dark slayer sighed a heavy sigh and set off to do another job for her so-called father figure.

4. Professor Lester Worth.