A/N: A lot of people have had questions regarding Giles' position and the whole 'keeping secrets' aspect. Both will be addressed soon!
September 10, 2019
It's about 3 in the morning now as I write this. School starts in less than 5 hours.
That little patrol was so not cool.
Okay, when the clock hit midnight (which I've never stayed up until), my alarm went off. It was set so low I could barely hear it, but I had to do that so no one else heard. I listened for any sounds, but could only hear Aunt Dawn shifting every once in a while. The house was as still as a tomb, otherwise.
I climbed out through my window (I had no idea how perfectly situated my window is for sneaking out) and jumped down from the low roof without any problems. Huh, guess those Slayer reflexes really are there.
Anyway, I got out of the house without detecting any movement from within.
Creeping over to Restfield Cemetery, I saw my Watcher waiting among the graves like she was in line at the supermarket or something. Just as composed in her customary tweed getup as I was in sweatpants and a T-shirt.
She started lecturing me about being punctual (we'd set the time for 12:15), then handed me a long pointy wooden stick and told me that one way to kill vampires was through a stake to the heart. Sounded a little superstitious (as well as icky) to me.
But holding the weird stick (stake, whatever), I felt another sense of déjà vu. I had seen these things before, that was for sure.
While Ms. Robson told me about other ways to kill vampires, I felt a tingle on the back of my neck. At first I panicked and thought it was Dad or something, until I saw the hand break through the soil of a fresh grave.
I stood there sort of awkwardly, staring at the otherwise normal-looking young man as he tried to get out of the earth. He looked really normal, in a dirt-caked black suit. Well, normal except for the glowing yellow eyes and bumps on his forehead.
He climbed out and didn't rush to attack me, the way Ms. Robson had said he would. I didn't rush to attack, either.
Then the weirdest thing. The man cocked his head and looked at me, then a smile broke out over his disfigured face.
And he said something like, "Hey, you're that Summers girl, right? What are you doing here?"
I recognized the voice. Albert, who should have been a senior in Sunnydale High. The kid who I had a major crush on ever since I saw him at the Bronze in June.
I found myself blushing that he knew my name. I'd always thought he was so cool, with his punk style and devil-may-care attitude. Never thought he'd ever notice me. The stake dangled, forgotten.
"Uh, yeah," I said. "That's me."
Then he looked around, sort of confused. "What am I doing here?"
"Well…uh…" I couldn't think of anything to say. What was I supposed to tell him?
Then of course, Ms. Robson had to butt in. "Angela, your stake?"
"Oh!" I'd totally forgotten.
He was evil; he'd kill people if I didn't kill him first. Evil, evil, evil, evil…
I stepped up and plunged the stake through his chest. "Sorry," I whispered.
He just kept looking at me quizzically. "I thought you liked me—"
And then he exploded in a dusty cloud.
I felt like a murderer. Still do.
The worst thing was when Ms. Robson started clapping and congratulated me on slaying my first vamp. This was what I was expected to do every night. Kill people whose faces I knew.
Ms. Robson said that few of them were like poor Albert. Most would attack me on sight, not stop to make friendly conversation. And it was extremely rare that I would run into a vampire I had known as a human. She said my job would get only easier.
That's what I'm afraid of. If I can just do this, just kill ordinary people—no, vampires, not people—who never did anything to me, how does that make me anything other than a serial killer? Well, Ms. Robson said that since vampires are already dead, I wasn't really killing them. But that doesn't make me feel any better.
A Slayer is a killer.
And I'll be a killer for Aunt Faith.
Uh-oh. I heard a sound downstairs. I have to turn off the lights and go get what little sleep I can.