Lily, the Vampire Slayer
by: Branw3n
Chapter Twenty
She ran through the field, crimson hair trailing behind her as she chased a demon who had been ready to devour a victim before she had intercepted his feeding. Harried puffs from behind indicated Sirius and James' laboured breaths as they trailed after her.
The demon was a discernable pus-colored spot before her. She had a dose of déjà vu, reminiscent of her dream. They entered a forest and she could barely see the creature through the thick wildlife which seemed to shift around her, closing paths where she had just trod through and sealing the trail in which the demon had just passed through moments ago.
She groaned as another spindly tree's branches seemed to twine with the undergrowth of the oak adjacent to it. Her patience wearing thin, she unsheathed the double-hilted ancient Celtic broadsword from its scabbard which was strapped on her back and slashed at the web before her. She only hoped James and Sirius had enough sense between both of them and utilize any number of the swords she had packed in her bag.
She eradicated any superfluous thoughts from her mind and concentrated on the hunt. This was the most rudimentary human feat in the entire world, a reflex all men have had since the beginning of time. This was primitive, where actions required no contemplation, what she was born to do, what all man were born to do.
She sliced through so much overgrowth that she had lost track, until she sensed the demon halt. The place felt familiar but she had no time for such trivial deliberation. She leapt into the narrow circular space and growled at the beast. Then it dawned on her.
The trees had sealed off any possible escape route. Keeping her eye on the creature, she spared a glance at James and Sirius who emerged from another spot in the ring the forest had created. Sirius looked absolutely exhausted, gripping her scimitar in one hand, while the other wrapped around his waist as he took in deep breaths, his face covered by a multitude of tiny scars.
James exuded the same aura of fatigue but handled it better than Sirius, who was nearly ready to collapse on the ground and sleep for an eternity, which she might have gladly espoused had those dreams not occurred. But James held himself with all the stiff properness of a noble. The tiny marks on his face seemed to only add credence the thought in her head.
He was descended from blue bloods, that much was clear about him, a moneyed family, very old, evidently. The Potters might've been even high positioned royalty once, when the British Wizarding government system had been a monarchial one.
She returned her attention to the hellbeast, who had by now begun assessing her. She glared at it, distinctly positive that she had encountered such a creature before. It was all-too-familiar.
She thought through her options, with two hapless Wizards as cavalry behind her, she had best finish this demon off quickly, lest she be responsible for anything that might happen to them.
The forest growth was dense behind the creature, if it was perceptive enough of its surroundings, then it would have come to the same conclusion she had. That it would either have to face her, run past two half-trained wizards or flee to some darkened and obviously dangerous forest where a stray branch might just catch it in the chest or where unspecified creatures might just be waiting. And that was more frightening than facing a fully trained, sufficiently experienced Slayer.
A normal forest was harmless to these creatures but one can never be too careful with magical ones. Who knows where a hidden Lethifold might be lurking about, ready to engulf a stray passerby in its vicious cloak or fierce tree people, beasts with manners similar enough to Amazon warriors and as dangerous and more mercenary in their actions with cold pitiless eyes.
She was unsure if that breed throve in this area, she had a vague memory of their inhabiting Asian forests, but she was unsure of whether that piece of information came from a Hogwarts teacher or a Watcher. Lessons were a blur in her head, all muddled up with other odd tidbits that she had stored away for later use, if ever.
She waited for him to execute the first move, patiently biding her time as the world blurred before her eyes, her main focus; the demon. Every single action played out in slow-motion for her. The creature made a leap for her neck and out of the corner of her eye, she could perceive James and Sirius raising their wands.
She ducked just in time as the demon was struck by an immobilizing curse, frozen in air for a moment before being thrown back into a huge oak. She could hear its spine crack as it made contact with the tree.
She swore under her breath, hoping both of them weren't capricious enough to actually fear the creature. Beasts such as this one fed off the terror their victims felt, got high on the trepidation that emanated off anyone in its immediate vicinity.
It crumpled on the forest floor, head shakily lolling to its side. Good, it was stunned, quite well, at that. It wasn't easy to do that to something like this. It wouldn't be a fair fight, but since when did they ever play fair?
She stalked up to it, grabbed two of the numerous pale yellow horns that decorated its skull, drew it up and kneed it I the stomach, unsure if it had a groin she could damage.
She tossed it over her head, successfully ripping its horns off. She threw them aside and would have slapped her forehead at her oversight if her fingers were not marred by thick purple blood. She had managed to have the demon land between Sirius and James.
She was about to scream out a warning, telling them to run but it was too late. Before their very eyes, the demon set its malicious golden eyes on Sirius and took on his appearance, fluidly rising from a crouch and ramming into Sirius, effectively tackling him to the ground. She ran to James' side, holding out her arm to impede his tampering with the situation. The demon was smart, she only hoped they would be able to identify the true Sirius Black.
"Get up," she commanded. "Both of you."
They complied, identical looks on their equally indistinguishable visages, both emanating a sense of confusion and helplessness.
She nearly hit James for beginning the ultimately useless inquisition.
"Who are you?"
"Sirius Black," both answered, then glancing at one another, looks of utmost disbelief painted on their features.
She sniffed the air, angling her nose in their direction. There was no incriminating evidence that suggested the farce behind one of them.
"How many O.W.L.s did you manage to acquire?"
"Thirteen. Unlucky number that it is."
She sighed. "James, this will be absolutely pointless."
"Well, what do you suggest we do about the situation?"
She mulled over her thoughts, extracting information on this particular type of shape shifter but both of her eyes never left Sirius Black and his doppelganger.
"A type descended from the Kariatchi demons of Romania," she dictated in a monotone. "Cross-bred with the Jrioghm demons of South Africa, producing his outcast kind. Feeds on fear as well as the flesh of humans and can employ the countenances of anything it chooses. Further knowledge states that to escape any awkward circumstances, it senses the emotions emitted by its victims and are able to draw upon them to recall memories."
James snapped his fingers. "That's it, then."
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. He grinned at her.
"Sirius, who do you love?"
She understood his ploy and returned his smile.
"Cassiopeia," the one on the left stated confidently.
"I'm a bachelor, I don't think I'll be settling down," the one on the right replied sheepishly.
That was when Lily pounced. On the one on the left, tackling him to the ground before reaching into her boot for the Athame she kept there. He batted the hand that held his throat away and aimed a fist to her face. Her head swung to one side, the assurity of a bruise on her cheek infuriating her. The force drove her back but she tightened her legs, situated on either side of his waist. He hooked his hands on her shoulders, trying to force her off him, and she let him.
As he was ready to throw her aside, she rammed the blade in his chest, recalling the heart that was supposed to be there.
It crumpled to the ground and gradually reverted to its original demonic form as it died. She positioned her boot on its stomach and pulled out her blade, pausing to clean it on a patch of grass untouched by the blood.
She stood and turned to face the Wizards, grinning.
"Great spellwork!" She lifted her foot, trying to stick the blade back in her boot. "I mean really!"
Great, they thought she was being sarcastic. Playing nice really wasn't all it was cut out to be. Resolutions sucked.
She hopped around for a while, her tongue sticking out of her mouth in application as she struggled to sheathe the weapon. She felt James approach and saw him roll his eyes as he took the blade from her fingers, bend down, roll up the hem of her jeans and re-sheathe the knife.
"Congratulations, James," Sirius muttered. "You the "Genius of Hogwarts" award for successfully performing regular everyday motor skills. Well, Lil's wins the trophy, you only get a medal for first runner-up."
Lily snorted. "Wanna see what else I can do?"
"Does it involve even the least amount of sense?" James stated blandly.
"Not in the normal people type of sagacity but for Slayers and Ops, it's a great party trick!"
"Ops?"
"Operatives. Watchers who aren't so good at the book thing. They're the field guys, y'know. Handle other situations when the Slayer can't be there, hunts down hellspawns for the heck of it. Really disgusting habits, blokes from the wrong side o' town or Watcher kids gone bad. They're really proud of their titles but there's not much position you can attain in that hierarchy."
They gave her blank looks.
"You really can't describe them or associate them with the Council, they would rather operate on their own but the Society keeps a tight leash-and I'm not really making any sense am i?"
"Ingenious, the way women find a way to actually talk over themselves like that," Sirius intoned.
James nodded, similarly feigning amusement. "As astounding as using their nails as makeshift claws."
She belligerently rolled her eyes in their general direction. "At least I'm not totally smitten with one of those 'strange' lion-like creatures, Black."
Sirius opened his mouth in protest but James just rolled right over him. "How did you manage to diverge that demon from Padfoot here?"
Sirius shut his mouth for he finally realized how much he resembled a hippopotamus on a particularly bad day and nodded in agreement.
She smirked at them complacently. "I've an extensive yet selected memory."
"And?"
"Well, I had recalled a bit of info on that particular thing and…well, put it to good use. It feeds off emotions, memories, that's how they're so attuned to their subject's individuality. And when I asked the question, I kinda recalled Sirius' vehement protestations against the authenticity of his relationship with the major bitch and well, I deduced some stuff from it and acted on pure intuition, which we females seem to have an abundance of."
"So basically you guessed."
That brought a genuine grin, albeit a sheepish one, to her face. "Yes Potter, I acted on instinct."
Sirius turned a ghastly shade of white. "My life was at stake and you just presumed that the other one couldn't be the indisputably handsome Sirius Black?"
"Yeah, guessed right, didn't I?"
He tossed James Lily's bag. "Hold this, please, while I empty my stomach in a secluded corner."
"I'd be honored, really."
Lily snorted but approached him, anyway. She repeatedly ran a hand on his spine, trying to relieve him as she stifled a multitude of giggles. "That's it. Better in than out. Want me to hold your hair back for you, I really do think it's longer than what's proper. Even Petey didn't react like this when that vamp almost got him that first time."
She then began to exchange amused grins with James who knelt across her, on Sirius' other side.
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Author's Note: Promise fulfilled, too! I'm not going to Xiamen, btw, Mech. My grandpa called me up and strictly forbade me and the day after my maternal grandma called up saying practically the same things. How's life in Ormoc, anyway? I had to spend two weeks in Dancagan in Mindanao? Yeah and I think I've gained an unreasonable amount of weight since you can't do anything there but eat and sleep.
To all my readers; what's taken so long is that I've been planning my chapters and they just haven't turned out right, so… I keep on forgetting important things and I'm so hyped to write about the dreams and all- *shrug* Anyway, here's to hoping I get the next chapter out in a week.