February 11, 1998

Faith was surprised at how well she slept. Her first night at a new home usually entailed a restless sleep plagued with nightmares. But she slept deeply that first night in the Professor's house. Her mind still reminded her of her past in the form of unpleasant dreams, but Faith still slept soundly and more peacefully than she had in a long while. She told herself it was the bedroom. It was the first time in her life she had slept in a room devoted to her and her alone. When living with Lara, Faith had always shared a room with Dani, and in her other foster homes had shared with a number of other kids.

It was almost nine o'clock when Faith made her way downstairs the next morning. She had pulled her hair back and was dressed in track pants and an oversized t-shirt. The teen wanted to take a shower, but felt obligated to ask Diana first. It was her house after all.

She found the elder woman in the kitchen, sipping from a mug of tea and reading a thick leather-bound book.

"Hey," she said, stepping into the kitchen.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder; I was aware that teenagers like their sleep, but I was worried you were going to sleep the whole morning away."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that."

"It's quite alright, Faith. Can I get you some tea?"

Faith snorted, "Nah, that's okay. Not big on tea."

"Perhaps some orange juice then," Diana said, getting up and walking towards the fridge.

Faith didn't argue, instead she sat down across from where the woman had been sitting. "Whatcha reading?"

"Oh," Diana laughed, "A book about Darwin, a collection of letters he sent while sailing The Beagle. It's a favourite of mine. Are you interesting in history?"

It was the brunette's turn to laugh, "Uh, no. Not really interested in a lot when it comes to school." She shrugged, "I'm good at geography. Like, directions and maps and stuff. I can find my way from point a. to point b. S'about it. Not big on reading. Or numbers."

"Well, just because you aren't interested now doesn't mean there isn't hope. If there is one thing you'll find in this house, its history books. Perhaps I'll be able to find something that will interest you."

Faith doubted it, but didn't vocalize her thoughts. Better just to leave the woman happy.

A thought struck her. "Did you, uh, did you ask about Dani?"

Diana set a glass of orange juice and a bagel down in front of Faith before taking her previous seat. "I did. The woman I spoke with said Daniela had a setback a few days ago and they're trying her on a new medication. She said the doctor's requested no visitors for your sister until she's adjusted to the new dosage, but she said she'd call back in a few days and let us know."

The small flame of hope inside Faith flickered and weakened, but didn't die completely. She couldn't see Dani today, but she would get too soon.

That was enough for Faith.


The professor taught both Medieval and European History at the university Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and gave lectures on Mythology Tuesday mornings, which meant that until Faith's suspension was over, Faith was home alone in the mornings.

Faith had been living with the professor for four days now. She had, feeling like a small child, explored every inch of the house. It was sort of like a museum. Diana had collected a lot of different things during her life. From what Faith assumed, the woman had spent some time in Africa; there were items all over the house to indicate that. In addition to the elephant statue she'd found on her first day there was an ostrich egg, map of southern Africa, and tribal pottery in the library.

The woman seemed to like small but unique knick-knacks. On a shelf in the kitchen was a replica of the Parthenon in Rome, and Faith had snuck a peek in the woman's room and seen a similar model of the Coliseum.

She also, clearly, loved history. Faith still wasn't used to the vast amount of books in Diana's personal library. Shelf upon shelf upon shelf.

It had taken four days, but eventually her curiosity had won over and Faith had opened some of the books. They weren't overly interesting; old journals and letters and descriptions of wars and battles. Boring. It was all about people long dead; what was the point of living if you weren't in the present, right?

Though, Faith discovered, not all the books on Diana's shelves contained descriptions of a medieval world.

The teen knew Diana taught mythology in addition to history, but she hadn't realized just how into the subject she was. There were books on all kinds of mythological creatures – these were the interesting books, Faith found – from all types of religions. There were books on Chinese dragons, European fairies and African beasts. There were stories of Native American spirits, half-human Greek creatures, and Norse tricksters.

But it was all fantasy, Faith rationalized. Why would Diana have so many books on creatures that didn't actually exist?

There was a whole bookshelf dedicated to vampires. Vampire families, vampire sightings, vampire killings. Ways to kill vampires, ways to get killed by vampires, ways the movies made-up about killing vampires.

It was like this that Diana found Faith on the fourth afternoon of her stay; sitting in the library, leaning back in the chair, feet up on the table, a book in her lap.

"I thought you weren't a fan of reading."

Faith's head shot up, startled. Her feet came off the table and the chair landed back on all four legs with a dull thud. A panicked expression covered her face. "Uh…"

"It's quite all right, Faith. I'm not going to scold you for reading. Hardly." She walked towards the brunette, dropping her worn leather teaching bag on the table. "So, what peaked your interest? The Battle of Pliska? The Siege of Lisbon?"

"Um…" Faith closed the book to look at the cover. "The Chronicles of Grie… Grilmo… Gimahr…

"Gilramoires," Diana corrected. Her face pinched slightly, "That's an… interesting choice."

Faith shrugged, "It was on the table. It has pictures. Black and white… but they're still pretty cool. What's a… fyarl demon?"

The Englishwoman answered automatically as she shuffled papers on the table into neater piles, "A very violent breed on demon. Rather unintelligible, but destructive. I believe they can secrete paralyzing mucus from glands on the back of their hands when provoked."

"Nice," Faith said, raising an eyebrow.

"You find the demonology interesting?" Diana asked, smirking slightly.

Another shrug, "It's better than reading about some dumb war hundreds of years ago that changed a border by like, a few hundred feet." She flipped through the book again, "And what's this, this word keeps coming up."

"Hmm?"

"A Slayer?"

Diana dropped the stack of books she had been moving. "What did you say?"

"A Slayer. Is it some kind of demon? The book mentioned it a few times. I've read about half-way through. I don't understand it all, but some of its pretty cool. And this word keeps coming up, something that kills other demons. What is it, a super demon or something?"

The elder woman numbly sat down in an empty chair, looking a little pale.

"Diana?"

"I'm all right. Just… surprised. I wasn't expecting it to come about quite like this."

"You what?"

"I guess its best I answer your question first, and we will go from there. A Slayer is… well to put it simply, a Slayer is a demon fighter. A human girl gifted with the power to stop the spread of evil. Particularly that of vampires."

"This thing's human?"

It was Diana's turn to sigh, "To quote the lore, 'into every generation a Slayer is born: one girl in all the world, a Chosen One. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers. She is the Slayer.'"

"So… some kind of ancient Lady Hercules?"

"The Slayer isn't ancient Faith. Well, she is, but she is still alive today."

Faith leaned forward, giving the older woman a long, hard look. "We are still talking about like, myths and fairy tales, right? You don't actually think all this is real, do you?"

The smile Diana gave made Faith reconsider just how great this living arrangement was. Had the old woman lost it?

"Faith, I assure you, everything you read in these books is real. Demons, magic, other realms; all of it exists."

"When you smoke the happy stuff, yeah. You do know this," she gestured around the room, "is scary. You can't believe this is real. Monsters don't exist. I'm not a kid. I'm not an idiot."

"Faith," Diana said gently, "I'm not trying to fool you. I want you to believe me."

The brunette looked sceptically at the professor. There wasn't any hint of deceit or pretence in her eyes. It didn't look like she was trying to con Faith, to be dishonest or make the teen feel gullible. She looked like the same old, kind woman she'd been the last few days.

"Prove it."

"Pardon me?"

"Prove it," Faith repeated. "You think monsters are real, then prove it."

"Faith, surely all the literature in this room is proof enough. The sheer volume of demonic accounts here-"

"Books can lie. People can lie. You want me to believe you, you want me to trust you, then prove it."

"Very well. We shall go out to the cemetery tonight."

Warning bells clanged inside Faith's head. You don't just go to the cemetery at night. No, if you went to the cemetery at night it was not just to go but to get killed because the person taking you was a serial killer. They took you to a secluded, spooky place, distracted you with some ghost story, and then broke out the chain saw. That was how it worked.

No way was Faith going to go for this. Even if it was Diana. The woman who, though Faith had only known her four days, the teen knew wouldn't be capable of hurting a mouse. Diana's personality and appearance screamed gentle and grandmotherly. Faith had accepted this woman, but she had not trusted her yet. And would not be going for a stroll in a park full of dead people just because Diana asked her to.

"Uh, no way."

Diana sighed, exasperated.

"Look," Faith said, "I get that you're really into this. Whatever this is. Like, you can go out and do those weird battler e-enactments or whatever. And you can believe all you want that fairies exist. But I am not going into a cemetery with you in the middle of the night."

Diana seemed to ponder her answer a moment, "Well, I can see how that would have sounded to your ears. But Faith, I'm not really sure how to, as you put it, prove this to you without letting you glimpse a real vampire.

"I'm not sure how to make you believe me, Faith, besides being truthful with you. My name is Diana Dormer, I teach at the university, and I was sent here specifically to find you."

You have got to be kidding me.

"I'm a member of… well, you would consider them to be a, a sort of secret society. I am a member of the Watcher's Council of England. We are a group of people who dedicate our lives to stopping the spread of evil, specifically in supporting the Slayer and all she need."

"So, there is a whole family of whack-jobs living in England then. Great," Faith said, deflecting to sarcasm. She wasn't sure exactly how to deal with what the insane bat sitting in front of her was saying, but sarcasm seemed like a likely defence choice.

"Faith, I'm aware that this is a rather difficult idea to grasp for you, but believe me in that I speak the truth. Vampires, demons, monsters, they all exist. And I'm one of a small group of people who try to put a stop to them."

"No offense, but you're an old lady. How exactly do you expect me to believe you kill vampires every night."

"I myself don't do away with the demons, Faith. I'm a Watcher. It is my job to train, prepare and educate young girls should they be the one Chosen as the Slayer."

Faith could not hold off the eye roll, "And… you're saying you came here specifically for me. You think I'm some special girl?"

"You are, Faith. You are what is called a Potential. You possess somewhat enhanced physical abilities and awareness for the dark creatures around you. And, should the current Slayer pass on, it is possible that you would become her successor."

"This is crazy," Faith said, standing up and backing away from the table a few steps. "This," she gestured around her, "this is all crazy."

Diana stayed passive, "I'm not trying to alarm you, Faith. I'm aware that this is a lot for you to take in. But I am here to help you, to protect and prepare you. Come with me tonight, and I can show you a real demon and you can judge for yourself if I'm sane or not." The professor stood up as well, "I'll leave you alone to process this," she said, "I'll go start on some dinner."

The woman pointed to the shelf behind the display table, "Read through those books," she said gently, giving Faith an even smile. "Among those books you will find all the accounts you need as proof that I'm not fooling you. That shelf contains the diaries of other Watchers, ones specifically who looked after previous Slayers. Read through them, and come with me tonight to let me show you I'm not bluffing. And, after tonight, you still do not believe me, then I can accept this. I will make sure you are properly enrolled back in school, and I will care and provide for you as your foster parent, and I won't force this upon you anymore.

"But Faith," she continued gently, looking Faith in the eye, "Give me until at least tonight before you give up on me."

And with that she left the room.

Faith stood stunned a moment. Who the hell was this woman and where the hell did she get off? When had Faith been sucked into the house of a demon-crazy psychopath?

But damn it, it was like she knew exactly what to say to the teen. Diana knew exactly what to say to make Faith feel guilty enough to at least humour the woman until sundown.

She'd asked Faith not to give up on her.

It was what everyone in Faith's life did, give up on her.

If Faith wanted this to be different, if she didn't want Diana to give up on her, Faith figured she'd at least have to return the favour.

Even if the woman was a nut-job.