For Disclaimer and previous Reader's notes see chapter's 1, 4, 5, and 6.
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Chapter 7: Walking After Midnight
After they left the Bronze Marcus and Amelia took a brisk walk to the cemetery. Marcus stopped outside the gates and Amelia wondered what he was doing as he fiddled with the clasp on his bag. He pulled out a ring of garlic, probably stolen from his mother's kitchen, and placed it around his neck.
"Well I don't have super powers so I have to find other ways of protecting myself," he said as if she had complained.
"I wouldn't bother if I were you," she said matter-of-factly, "Because garlic doesn't work," he pulled the foul smelling vegetable from his neck and put it back in his bag.
"Phew, and I thought I was gonna have to learn to breath through my foot," she laughed at his small joke and they started into the cemetery, "so what does work then?" he asked after awhile.
"Stakes, decapitation, holy stuff," she stopped and put her hands behind her neck and took off the cross pendant he had noticed the previous day, "here take this," she put her arms around his neck and fixed the pendant in place. It was a simple silver cross made of two bars of silver, "It was my mom's," she had still not taken her arms from behind his neck and they were very close together, "it's always kept me safe, so why not you?"
They were so close that he could feel her breath on his face and he decided to risk it and move in. They both started moving their faces closer and closer when suddenly the sound of a manhole cover sliding open shook them out of their reverie and they stood apart both embarrassed but neither wanting to say anything. He was about to say something when she broke the silence, however it wasn't what he had been hoping for.
"Vampires," she said, hatred dripping from her words like blood, "they just came out of the manhole over there," she pointed with her stake and began to whisper, "three of them, I have to go and stop them. If you need to use this," she handed him a stake, "aim for the heart and push as hard as you can."
"Ah, but, but, but…" Marcus had no time to complain as she ran off in the direction of the vampires.
She ran in and spin kicked the nearest vamp leaving him in a daze on the floor and kept going, she stepped into the air and jumped onto the second vamp, the stake in her hand found it's target before the vamp even realised she was there. She landed amid a shower of dust and she span to face her third opponent, he'd had time to take up a stance and threw a punch at her, she dodged but was grazed on the shoulder. This put her off balance and gave time for the first vamp to grab her arms and hug her tight to him, she tried to escape but the vamp held on so tight she couldn't breathe.
He saw her flying into action and was amzed at her speed, she could even have been faster than Buffy. Her skill was great and showed her mastery of at least two martial arts, then she was trapped between two aggressors and one took her off balance whilst the other came upon her from behind, he could see her gasping for breath and closed his dark blue eyes. It was sad to see such a good slayer go down, but he would not interfere. He had interfered too many times, the world may be a better place but would the world fall apart if he wasn't there? He had searched many places for the answer in the past year and found nothing, he simply watched and waited. She began to look distressed and he noticed that she was suffocating, he couldn't interfere, but he would not watch the slayer die. Not again. He turned and his long black leather duster splayed out behind him and he dissappeared into the night. Behind him he heard the tell-tale screech of a vampire being dusted, she must be good.
He couldn't hold back any longer and he plucked up all his courage, wich wasn't much, and rushed in screaming a battle cry and he forced the stake he carried into the back of the vampire suffocationg Amelia as hard as he could, he heard a screech and he jumped when it turned to dust before his eyes, then he saw Amelia fall unconscious to the ground and he knelt down by her. He didn't notice the other vampire running for his life toward the nearest manhole. He sat there for a time, cradling Amelia's head in his lap and stroking her hair. He prayed she was still alive and his prayers were answered when she started to blink and drew a deep long breath.
She opened her lips and looked him in the eyes, he felt his heart melt, "Thank you," she rasped through her air-starved mouth, "you saved my life, I don't know what could have happened if you weren't here." She hugged him tightly and she didn't want to let go, but it was getting late and they both had to go home. As they started to walk she began to cheer up and she started to walk with a little spring in her step, she worked her hand into his grip and they walked home hand in hand.
