Disclaimer: I only own Ransofor. Nothing else.
Nighttime Visitors
"Rise and shine boys and girls," Faith called out as she swaggered into the cemetery, eyes watching the shadows around her carefully. "It's been a slow night and I'm just itching for a little fun."
Her words echoed answerless in the quiet graveyard until they slowly died away and left nothing but the wind whistling softly through the trees. Faith sighed as she walked through the many rows of gravestones, the ground crunching softly beneath her. She walked almost aimlessly through the rows of gravestones, nothing bothering her.
Her pace quickened as she fell into her thoughts, no longer paying attention to where she was heading. Nothing bothered her steps. No vampire, no demon was anywhere in site. She continued on her path, for some reason feeling as if she was being drawn to a far off part of the cemetery.
As she walked, she thought about what had occurred recently in the mall. Even now, she could not figure out what had happened. Had she dreamed it all? Or was something else at work there?
What shit was that? Faith thought to herself as she continued her walking. Someone must have been playing with me – why else would I see that now? There was something there. Slayer sense doesn't just jump out of at me during a regular day.
Faith ducked under a tree, brushing away the leaves as she stepped into a more secluded part of the cemetery. There were only a few graves in this part, though they were tended neatly. Blooming flowers stood above them, letting off a sweet scent. Faith glanced at one of the gravestones, curious to see why these headstones were kept so much nicer than the ones farther in the graveyard.
Faith gasped as she read one of the names, physically reeling back from shock. Her eyes widened and quickly flew to the other names, reading them off quickly.
Joyce Summers. Dawn Summers. Alexander Harris. Willow Rosenburg. Tara McClay.
Faith held onto the tree she had just passed under, letting it support her weight as she took gasping breathes to calm herself. Sure, she had parted from them on bad terms last time. But still…
Though she was not aware of it, she slowly sank to her knees as she stared at the gravestones in front of her. Tears of guilt welled up in her eyes as she stared at them, her mind traveling back years to when she first met them all.
At first, they had been welcoming to her. Mrs. Summers had always invited her over, as if wanting to take care of the young motherless Slayer. Dawn had always been one step behind Faith, liking Faith's attitude immediately. Xander had crushed on her for awhile – but she had ruined any chance she might have had with him. Willow, always friendly, only turned against Faith after the actions she had taken. And even though she had never really met Tara, the shy girl was nothing but likable.
But Faith had ruined her chances to be part of their group. She had continually snubbed them, even trying to kill them at some points.
"I'm sorry," Faith whispered to the gravestones. "I was just so scared of being left alone again. Figured it was best to keep my distance. Couldn't get hurt that way, y'know?"
She sat there in silence for a few moments, doing nothing but staring at the graves in front of her. She wished there was some way that she could tell them in person how sorry she was for what she had done, for how she had treated them. She sat there for a few moments, almost longing for their forgiveness. But they had none to give – they could not, for their spirits had long since moved on.
Faith slowly stood up again though she still stared at the graves beneath her. Suddenly, the silence of the alcove she stood in was broken by the distinct sound of someone clapping. Faith spun around sharply, the clapping hammering through the once silent graveyard. As she spun, she pulled a stake out from the side of her shirt and fell into a defensive stance.
Her defensive stance dropped immediately and her hand slackened, causing the stake to drop from her hand. She involuntarily took a step back, her face paling as she stared at the man before her.
The mayor.
She stood there in a stunned silence as the mayor sauntered forward, still clapping. He stared back to her for a moment shaking his head, the trademark smile of his never leaving his face.
"I expected better things of you, Faith," he admonished as she stopped clapping. "You had such a bright future in front of you. Then you had to go and mess things up by being gutted by the Slayer."
Faith tried to will herself to respond but the shock of seeing him was too great. Sure, he had been evil. Planning to take over the world and all isn't the most respectable career decision in the world. But that didn't change the fact that he had been like a father to her. The only father she had ever known.
A look of wonder overtook the mayor's face as he watched her carefully. "It seems that no matter what you did, you never managed to make things quite right. You tried being the good Slayer for awhile. Well, obviously that didn't work out. Too much rebel in my girl for that to work. Then you tried helping me out. Wasn't the best work I'd ever seen, but you almost did well. But once again, you failed."
"I thought that you would have figured out by now that no matter what you do, you're going to fail," he said as he stalked forward. "Then again, it seems as if you can be just a tiny bit slow on the uptake."
He chuckled a little. "Don't you think?"
She merely shook her head as her hands clenched into tight fists. Anger built up inside of her quickly, threatening to explode at any moment as she stared at the man she once considered to be her father. She bit back the anger, trying in vain to make herself relax.
"And now you think that the people you tried to kill are going to forgive you?" he goaded her, still smiling. "Some things just can't be forgiven, Faith. Trying to kill people – that's just pretty high up on the list of unforgivable acts. Face it. You will never be able to pay for what you've done."
"Not true," Faith spat out simply. "I'm not standing here just to listen to your bull. I'm paying for what I've done. I'm taking action to pay for what I've done. I've always been more of a taken action girl than a wimpy woe is me girl."
"Course you are," he said, the smile gone. "That's why you're ruining everything. I thought that you had a real chance to be somebody. Now I see I was mistaken."
Suddenly he lunged at Faith, but as he did so, his form changed. Faith barely had time to move as shock once again overtook her. Instead of the familiar, almost comforting form of the mayor that he had been just seconds earlier, he was different. Familiar oh yes. Comforting? Not in the least bit.
Faith jumped aside just before she was to be hit. She grabbed onto the tree as she jumped, using her momentum to swing around and stare at the creature before her.
"What the – " she started to say but was quickly interrupted as the now-vampire lunged at her again. "What game is this?"
The vampire grinned as he punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground. "Just came back to finish what I started."
He grabbed Faith's fallen stake and pressed it forward, aiming directly for her heart. He faltered, though, as Faith kicked him in the groin. He slipped to the ground, pain registering on his face. Faith swung her legs around, gaining the momentum she needed to stand.
"Doesn't matter if you're dead or not. Getting hit in the balls still hurts like a bitch, doesn't it you bastard?" Faith taunted as she hit him with a round kick to his head. He fell to the ground, his side hitting one of the gravestones. Faith reached for the stake in his hand but as her own hand clasped around it, he grabbed her wrist. With a simple flick of his wrist Faith vaulted over him. She hit the tree and winced as she slid to the ground.
The vampire stood up again, wincing slightly as he did. Faith also stood up though pain shot through her body like a knife. The two circled each other warily watching carefully for the next move.
"What are you?" Faith asked as she glared at him. The vampire chuckled, a dry humorless laugh that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on edge.
"I thought you would have recognized me, Slayer," the vampire said. "Or did more than one vampire torture and kill one of your watchers for you?"
"You're not him," Faith hissed, her eyes narrowing into slits. "You dress all bit and shit like Kakistos but you're not him. Why all the dress up? Don't have the balls to be yourself?"
Kakistos – or the being that looked like Kakistos – only smiled in amusement, fangs glistening in the moonlight. "It brings amusement to life, seeing the fear I evoke in people as I take the shape of people or things long dead. I feed on their fear. Then, I just feed on them."
Without warning Faith lunged forward. She swung her arm forward, for all intents and purposes looking like she was about to punch him. But at the last minute she brought her leg up in a round kick, hitting him full on the ribs. She did not give him a second to recover as she grabbed him by the neck with one hand and punched him in the face with the other. She kept punching him, determined to do all the damage she could.
Even as he swung at her with the stake she pushed him aside, wincing as the stake scraped the skin of her bare shoulder. He crashed into the tree, the grip around the stake loosening. Faith took advantage of the slight loosening and grabbed the stake from his hand.
Fire burned in her eyes as she glared at him, bringing the stake down to finish him. Suddenly memories flashed back to her. The stake in her hand wouldn't work for a vampire as old as him. She punched him in the face one more for good measure and reached above him, literally tearing a limb off of the tree he stood by.
She slammed the branch into his heart forcefully, putting every ounce of strength that she could into her arm.
"Killed him once," Faith whispered. "Don't think for a minute that I couldn't do it again."
Kakistos stared at her in shock for a moment then glanced down to the branch deeply imbedded in his heard. He glanced back at her, though this time the look was different. The shock was gone. Left in its place was a cool, calculating look as if something had happened that he had not at all expected.
Pain shot through Faith as she was brutally thrown to the ground. She gasped for breath as she hit the ground though she quickly scrambled back up. Kakistos had pushed the branch that lay in him forward until it had knocked Faith away. He slowly pulled the branch out from his heart, the wood making a sucking noise as it was pulled from his chest.
"Well, I surely did not expect that," he muttered to himself as he watched Faith carefully. "You surprised me, little girl. Don't expect it to happen again."
With those words, his form changed yet again. But this time, it changed into a form that Faith had never seen in person before. Sure, she had seen it in the books she and the others had been using for research. She could recognize him right away. Ransofor. But to see it in person…even Faith, Slayer that she was, had to fight herself to keep from backing up.
He stood about eight feet tall, towering over the tiny Slayer. His skin was chalky white and pulled tight against his skull. Three horns were firmly attached to the skull and were twisted at the end. Dried blood glistened off the horns, giving Faith evidence that they were used quite frequently. His eyes, sunken deep within his skull, were pitch black. Faith suppressed a shutter almost as if she could feel evil dripping from his eyes. His fangs glistened in the moonlight as she grinned at her, cocking his head to the side as he studied her.
"I underestimated you this time," he admitted, his voice harsh. "But prepare yourself for next time. I will not be defeated by a mere vampire slayer. I am much more powerful than anything you have ever encountered."
"Bull," Faith countered quickly.
His smile grew larger, more sinister as he stepped forward, almost daring Faith to back up. But Faith held her ground, refusing to let him intimidate her. "You're a good little liar, Slayer. But I know you're lying. I can see it all in that pretty little head of yours."
"I can see the demons you've faced. Difficult, why yes. But they don't even compare to me. Kakistos is merely an insect compared to the powers that I hold. I'm giving you a chance now Slayer. Run while you can. Run far away with your tail between your legs."
"Not going anywhere," Faith said as she swaggered forward. "I don't scare easily."
He smirked and took a step back. Slowly he seemed to disappear until for a brief moment, all that was left was his eyes. Faith watched as his eyes changed, becoming orbs of fire before her.
"Pity," whispered the wind around her. "Because sometimes you really should fear."
The burning orbs disappeared, leaving Faith alone once again in the darkness of the cemetery.