"I'm very proud of you Sophie. You found out what it was they were planning. We can stop this you know, I have trained you well enough." It was the next morning, at Peter's shop. He had closed it down for the day, and they were all in the backroom.
"We'll be right there beside you, we'll stop it, you'll see." Sophie managed to give a weak smile to her best friend. It's not that she didn't believe Francis, it was that for the first time in her life, she was afraid to die. She had never felt this way, since she moved off the streets. She never gave a lot of thought to the whole process of the calling of the slayer. One died, another rose. Time after time since the beginning of the world. She had once asked Peter who had died to make her the slayer. He briefly told her of a girl 3 years ago in New York, but didn't go into details. Watchers didn't like talking about the deaths of slayers, however inevitable they were. He rarely showed emotion, but Sophie knew that making him talk about slayers' deaths pained him. She supposed it reminded him how limited the chosen one's life really is, and one day his own charge would be killed. But another would be chosen. How morbid the whole process really was. In death comes life.
"So what do we know so far? The date, in less than 2 weeks. The place, at Paul-Sauvé auditorium. I'd say we have a pretty good chance here." Francis looked at the two others.
"We need a plan, obviously. But we can't just go waltzing in shouting for people to get out. I suppose the vampires will cut power to place, then feast, and then blast the place." Peter was deep in thought, obviously trying to figure a way to solve this without alerting the general public of the presence of the undead.
"We'll go the auditorium, wait for them to show up, and kill them before they can do anything. We'll get them outside, before they have a chance to harm anyone." Sophie's confident tone returned.
"Do we know how many they'll be?" Francis turned to Peter, then to Sophie.
"No, but we've got to expect a high number of enemies." Peter responded.
"So we've got less than 2 weeks to prepare. Francis, you get as many weapons as possible. Peter, you try to gather more information, and I'll get myself ready."
The days passed quickly, as they prepared for the confrontation. Sophie trained every day, Peter tried to get info from different sources around the city, and Francis brought to the shop every weapon he could find.
Sophie felt confident once again. She was the slayer, this was her job, and she would kick their asses.
The day arrived. Early in the morning they gathered at Peter's shop. All commerces were closed, students had the day off, and people gathered and waited in lines to cast their vote. Everywhere people were nervous about the outcome of the day. Sophie was also. All weapons were in the back room. Sophie tried to train lightly so not to tire herself, but felt too nervous, so she just paced around the shop. At noon they all went to the local sandwich place, and ate in silence. The afternoon was spent by more preparation. Polls closed at 7pm. That's when the separatists would arrive at the auditorium to await the results. That's when Sophie, Peter, and Francis would get there.The vampires would probably arrive after the beginning of the meeting, as to insure a bigger feast.
Sophie looked at her watch. 6:27. It was time to get ready.
They all gathered in the backroom around the pile of weapons to gear up. Peter took several stakes, putting them in different pockets in his overcoat. He also took a few crosses.
Francis also took stakes and had a plastic gourd with holy water in it.
Sophie opened her backpack, and filled it with a few stakes and crosses. She also took the 2 walkie-talkies Francis had brought, she put them in her bag. She then took a good sized knife and tied it to her belt. They were ready.
The streets were empty, people were all inside in front of their television sets awaiting anxiously to see what the outcome of the vote would be. They took a cab to the east end of the city, where they were headed.
Something about the air. There was a distinct smell to it. Almost a taste, Sophie thought. She didn't linger on it too long, she had other things to think about.
The auditorium was all lit up. People were pilling in. The doors would close at 7:30, and then it would all begin. Sophie scouted to area. A not too large building. One floor. One main entrance, and one small backdoor. There was no telling wich way the vampires would enter.
"We'd better split up. Francis, you and Peter go guard the main entrance, take a walkie-talkie, we'll stay in contact. I'll guard the back door." She handed Francis the walkie-talkie.
"Uh, Sophie, um. There's something. Um, you know, in case… Oh what the hell…" He stepped forward and kissed her quickly. Then turned toward Peter nodded at him, and they were off.
As she stood near the backdoor, she could hear what was going on inside. People were cheering, confident that the vote would go their way.
"Hey Soph, ya there?" Francis' voice coming from the walkie-talkie in her hand. There was static while he spoke, but as long as she could hear him, it didn't matter.
"Yeah, I'm here. Anything up by you guys?" She stared at the horizon as she spoke. No one there.
"Nope, they just closed up the main entrance. Looks like they're starting."
15 long minutes went by. 20. Nothing happened. Maybe it was all a hoax, maybe the vampire had just played with her mind. She really wished that was it. Nothing was going to happen, and she could go home, get some rest, and continue her somewhat normal life. But that wasn't going to happen, and deep inside she knew it.
At 8:00, she saw them coming. About 12 of them. They all wore the true face of the beast. Their yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.
"Francis, Peter! I see 'em. Are there any where you are?" She got her weapons ready.
"About 8 of them, they're heading this way. We'll dust them, then come and help you."
"Don't worry about me, I can take 'em all. You just concentrate on not getting yourselves killed!"
Sophie saw them approach, but they didn't seem to notice her, she was hidden in the shadows. As they walked toward the building, they talked loudly, laughed, and congratulated themselves on thinking of such a good plan. The first one reached the backdoor, and as he was reaching for the handle, he didn't even realize what was going on before he became a big pile of dust. She had ran out of the shadows and staked him, as the others all stopped.
"Yeah. I don't think so, folks. The buffet's closed. Sorry."
They weren't about to let some girl interrupt their plans without a fight. They looked at each other, then attacked Sophie.
It was all a blur. She kicked, she punched, she staked. She had killed a few before she realized it. Soon a handfull had been turned to powder. One of them got a hold of her arm and pulled her toward him, trying to get his fangs onto her neck, but she turned around and kicked him in the face, he let go and she brought her attention to one who held a knife. She ducked at his attempts to cut her throat, and tripped him, he went down and soon became Sophie's latest kill, as she planted wood in his chest. The fight continued, she lost track of time, but continued to stake a vampire here and there. Before she knew it, only 4 remained. All her nervousness was gone, she had killed 8, and there was only a third of the initial group left, this was going to end well after all. She smiled knowing that only in a few hours she would be back at her place, resting.
The last 4 stood around her. One came at her from behind, she could smell the odor of decay up close, it was stomach turning. Holding a stake in one hand, and her knife in the other, Sophie managed to hit him with her elbow, turn around and slit his throat with her knife. Then before he knew it, she staked him. She turned her attention to the remaining 3. She saw a vampire look at her, look around him and bolt. 2 left.
"Well, the crowd is getting a little thin here." Sophie laughed, wiping the sweat and blood away from her forehead.
She attacked the remaining, soon only one was left.
"Heh, well looks like you're all alone here pal. Sucks doesn't it?" She was feeling pretty good now. One left. That's all that was standing in her way of victory.
She held out her hand with the knife pointing toward her foe, and smiled.
She took one step forward, but someone grabbed her from behind, took her right arm that held the sharp knife, and shoved into her gut. She didn't know what had happened. She looked down. She was holding the knife into her stomach. Blood was dripping down everywhere. She turned around and faced the vampire who had bolted earlier. He was laughing, mocking her for her overconfidence.
"SOPHIE!!!" She heard Francis screaming, he was running toward them. He jumped on the vampire who had surprised her, while Peter took care of the other one. Francis quickly took care of his enemy, and right after dusting him, ran over to Sophie, who was kneeling on the ground, still shocked by the blood on her hands and her shirt.
Francis kneeled next to her with tears in his eyes. She lay her head down on his lap, as she started to taste blood in her mouth. Peter came over, sat next to the two, and placed a hand on Francis' shoulder, who was crying.
"You'll be fine. You'll be fine. We'll get help." A tear from his face fell onto Sophie's.
"We did it. We saved them. Don't cry, I'm right here." She had trouble speaking, but felt bizarrely calm.
"Peter, I'm sorry." Peter looked at her, and a sweet smile appeared on his lips, but he said nothing.
"Francis. I love you." She was finding it harder and harder to breathe.
"I love you Sophie."
And then, it was dark.
THE END
