Danae: Vampire Slayer
Series One, Episode Nine
Dead As Dead Gets
By Head Staff Writer RainTiger

---


The full moon hung low in the sky that night, twinkling stars spread across a bare sky. In the distance, up the mountain, many yellow lights were dotted along where Bryony and Clairvaux straddled the highway, but it was all silent, muffled by the thick layers of snow. Even from the beach, lights from Christmas (already two weeks past) were apparent. Distant howls heralded a pack of beasts, but no one was out to tell if they were cries of the wolf or coyote.

Beyond the buoys, away from the island, the moon reflected on the swaying surface of the water. The light came from under as well as above, a sudden red glow, and the lake began to bubble slightly.

The light flashed, and the water exploded upward, a tall pillar of crashing waves, and then everything silenced again, ripples slowly receding.

The light went out, and a cloud that hadn't been there before passed over the moon, rumbles filling the quiet sky. The clouds slowly spread across the entire sky, blotting out the stars. Rain began pattering down in cold sheets, pitting the snow. Lighting flashed across the sky.

In the darkness, seven shadowed forms rose out of the water, gliding slowly towards the shore

---

Danae flung open the window, throwing her head out and letting the rain streak through her hair. She looked up at the clouds, smiling. "You know, if it keeps this up, all the snow will melt and we'll flood and have to miss lots of school."

"I know how that would just break your heart," James said dryly, dragging a large black case out of the closet. "Come back inside, now. We're training."

"Aren't we always?" Danae asked, obeying. She let the window stay open so she could hear the pattering, turning to face James in the gray-blue light. He knelt by the case, flipping the latches. "If there are Stonehenge-y crystals in there, I'm leaving."

"That's not what we're doing today," he said, opening the lid. Inside, there were several soft layers of foam, and black and deep blue crystals. There was a large octagonal one with sloped sides, and many medium pentagons.

"Pretty," Danae said, bending to run her fingers over the largest. A brief image flashed in her mind, but it disappeared before she could make sense of it.

"We're going to use these to help you focus, and maybe get you to achieve things you've never done before," James explained, lifting one out and handing it to her. "Start putting these in a circle with arm-length spaces between them. Have the biggest in the middle on the pedestal."

Danae sighed, beginning to arrange them. "I love the rain."

"I know."

"There are some bad memories I have of when its raining, but I still love it anyway," she continued, checking to see if the crystals were done properly. "I've been getting my memories back at night, now. Or I'll be at the grocery store, weighing bananas, and I'll just suddenly recall something from the market in India."

His eyes softened, and he ran his hand through his hair, but didn't comment, just handed her another two crystals. Danae set them, frowning for a moment. "Plus, my dreams are getting more prophetic. I dreamt the other night that we were having a test in Science, and I didn't study, and then today we had a pop quiz I'm pretty sure I failed."

"That's probably a stress dream," James said, amused, finishing the circle and standing.

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Get in the circle," he said patiently, stepping over a crystal. James held his hand out, palm flat. He waited until Danae joined him, and he said something she didn't catch -- although it sounded somewhat Latin-ish. The ring glowed silver. "I used to practice with this while I still went to the academy."

"That was so long ago, too," Danae said.

He continued as if he didn't hear her. "I obtained the materials from a fellow schoolmate, Hannah Pritchard, who was half-Irish and had had them passed through her mother's side. Certain Druidic covens used these to enhance concentration and allow some fairly impressive things."

"Why did she give them to you?" Danae asked curiously.

In the soft light, it almost looked like he blushed -- James doesn't blush, Danae reminded herself. "She had little magical aptitude, and thought I could better use them. I-in any case, I think we can use these for you to finally achieve balance. Balance has always been your weakness."

Giving him a funny look, she stood on one foot. "My balance is fine."

"Not like that, and you know it. Sit," he ordered. Danae sighed, settling on the floor across from him, the pedestal between them. "You technically can't use the circle on your own because you can't use magic, but --"

"With your help I can, I know," Danae yawned, reaching around to grab his hands. "Work your mojo."

James supressed his irritation, letting his magic loose a little hard "on accident". It hit her with a shock, and her eyes widened, the tingling filling her to her extremities with a little pain. Taking several deep breaths, she glared at him. "You did that on purpose."

"Oops," he said innocently.

Sneering, she opened her mouth to say something else --

Seven black forms rose from the water, drifting towards the shore, gliding as though their feet didn't touch the ground. Swords nearly as tall as they were held at their sides, and the lanky figures were draped in burial shrouds and fog.

Dropping James' hands, the vision disappeared, and the center crystal stopped glowing. "What did you see?" he asked.

Danae pressed a hand to her forehead. "Demons, bad ones. Do you have a book on the demons of the Hell dimension under Tahoe?"

"Possibly," he said with a shrug. "I haven't looked through all of my books yet, and I might have one. Before we do that, why don't we--"

"Let's just go look these up," Danae said, standing again. She didn't want any more visions, nor any of the inevitable memories she'd get if she stayed there. "I want to research before I forget what they look like," she lied.

James shrugged, going to the bookshelf full of books he hadn't read through yet and stepping carefully over the crystals. The rain outside increased, a lightning bolt flashing. Moments later, a slow rumbling rolled past. Danae peeked around her Watcher at the shelves. He muttered the titles to himself as he read them, then stopped on one.

"There are thirteen main hell dimensions," he explained. "One of them has a portal under Tahoe, and the demons that emerge are generally attracted to Sand Harbor."

"Inconvenient during the beach season," Danae commented.

"Very. Our dimension is called Sukan-Ret, a very ugly place that's essentially a place to spawn demon-human hybrids," James continued, flipping open the book, the ruffling through until he got to the chapter on Sukan-Ret. "Stop me if you see something familiar. It's run by this fellow here," James said, pointing at an etching of a very fat, horned demon, "but he's obviously too large to be much of a threat. It used to be overseen by Nü Küa, but she got fed up with it after a while and left. That was about 500 B.C. She went off to her home somewhere in Asia and disappeared for some time. Sukan-Ret is protected by the seven Hell's Sentinels, very nasty guardians that--"

"Wait," Danae said, looking closer at the picture. "That's what I saw. The Hell's Sentinels."

James sighed heavily. "Of course. You couldn't have seen Calceus demons (which spend a lot of time in the nursery for harmless demons)."

"I would have recognized them if they were Calceus demons. Are the Sentinels bad news or something?"

"That means you're perceived as a threat to the dimension," James said, reading the pages on the Sentinels quickly and putting the book back. "Fifty years ago, when there was another Slayer in the area, she began trying to destroy the dimension. She actually got inside, battling and winning against the Guardians of the Gate, and working through the ranks. She was trying to get rid of the nursery by the time the Sentinels got to her."

"How do you kill a Sentinel?" Danae asked. The thunder murmured again outside, wind shifting to let the rain in through the windows. She crossed over, leaning out to shut them. The sound of rain and thunder muted, but the flashing light was still visible, throwing James' face in sharp relief.

"Their power source is in the solar plexus, and generally, a spear through that area will kill them. The problem is getting close enough." James leaned against the wall, arms folded. "They have the ability to emit shockwaves with a radius of fifteen meters, completely destroying anything within range. They'll only do this when other Sentinels aren't around; the shockwave would kill them. If you get close enough, they have swords about as tall as you are that are sharp enough to cut through stone. You see the futility in fighting them."

"Any other methods?" Danae said hopefully, standing in front of him and looking up.

"The light of dawn, but with this storm" He shrugged. As if to punctuate this point, a particularly sharp crack of thunder went off above their heads, and the lights all went out. They were only lit by the gray-blue glow from outside.

"I'm screwed," she said grimly.

"You may not have to fight them yet," James said helpfully. "Visions aren't time-specific. It could be any time from tomorrow to a year from tomorrow."

Sighing, Danae turned to the circle. "Let's clean up this magical mess we've made and worry about it later."

---

James' eyes widened in shock, mouth opening slightly. Blood spilled over his lip, and he stumbled back, holding his side. The light flashed, but his eyes didn't close against the brightness.

Red trickled through his fingers where they clutched at his torso, and he fell back, sliding down the wall. A blood streak was left in his wake, and he toppled to the side, eyes gaping--

An explosion of thunder snapped Danae awake, deafening her. Her sheets were tangled about her legs, heart pounding. James! she thought, looking around wildly. She scrubbed at her cheeks, wiping off the tears.

Peeling off her sheets, she threw her legs over the side of her bed, holding a hand to her heart to feel it through her chest. It beat wildly, but began to slow.

Standing, she looked out the window, holding back the curtains. It was still storming, the town lights out as well. The power had gone out all over the place, but the wind that had blown trees into power lines was gone, leaving only darkness.

Slipping out her door, she glanced down at the closed door leading to James' room. He was in there, probably sleeping, and not dead. Danae meant to turn and go towards the living room, but instead turned to his room. She opened the door quietly, peeking in.

He was laying still, on his back. One hand was over his eyes, as though to block out the lightning, and his chest rose and fell rhythmically.

Danae was about to leave when James suddenly said, "Is something wrong, Danae?"

"I thought you were asleep," Danae said, embarrassed. "Sorry, I'll go."

He uncovered his eyes, raising his head to look at her. "That's all right. Come in."

Stepping in, she closed the door behind her. "I just had a bad dream, is all," Danae explained as James sat up against the headboard. He was wearing his backup pajamas -- a gray tee-shirt and boxers -- because his normal night wear was in the washer, but he looked as composed (except for his mussed hair) as someone sitting in a suit behind a desk did. "It's not a big." Realizing there were still tears on her cheeks, she wiped them off again, but they were only replaced as she thought of James' staring eyes.

"What was it about?" he asked gently.

"You uh got hurt," Danae said lamely. "Really badly. You d-died, and I f-felt all alone..."

James sighed, patting the bed beside him. She came over, sitting at his side and resting her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Was it a prophetic dream?"

"I d-don't know," she said, clutching at his shirt. "It felt so real"

"It was probably only a dream," James said warmly. "A stress dream. You're still thinking about when your parents died, aren't you?"

"Yes," she whispered.

He yawned, resting his cheek against her head. "That's all it was. Don't worry."

The yawn was contagious, and she curled her legs up to her chest. Her eyes closed slowly, but she still remained awake, feeling his heart beating. "What would I do without you?" she asked, but James didn't reply. He was probably asleep.

She soon followed.

---

"Wake up," a girl's voice said softly, shaking Danae's arm. "Danae, James, get up."

Opening her eyes, Danae saw Gabi's face right up against hers, looking amused. Danae was confused, at first -- it was still dark and raining, but the room didn't look right. Remembering suddenly that she was in James' room, her mind registered the arm around her torso and the head on her shoulder.

"Eep," Danae said, James beginning to stir at her back. Removing his arm carefully, Danae climbed out of bed.

Gabi sat back on her heels, stifling a giggle. Danae blushed, grabbing Gabi by the wrist and pulling her up to stand. "What time is it?" Danae asked.

"It's only four thirty, but its important. Demons are converging on the town from, like, seven directions or something," Gabi said. "Anthony was going for a night drive, just to look around, and he counted a bunch of these scary tall things coming near." She handed Danae a folded paper. "He bought a map at the 7-11 and marked where he saw them. Thought you'd be interested."

James stood behind Danae, looking over her shoulder as she unfolded it. There were, indeed, seven black dots -- all around the town. "He said they're moving slowly in," Gabi finished. She glanced at James and covered her mouth, trying to hide her smile.

"'Scary tall things?'" Danae echoed hollowly. "As in tall, black, draped in fluttering cloth kind of thing?"

Gabi nodded silently. Danae turned and looked up at James. "Get ready. We have to do this."

"Can you?" he asked.

"No choice," she said with a shrug. "Gabi, come with me."

Danae left the room, and could hear Gabi following. It was still dark in the house, but there was enough of a dark blue glow to see. She opened her door, let Gabi in, and shut it. Immediately, her best friend began laughing. "Why were you guys--"

"It's nothing naughty," Danae mumbled, covering her face. "I had a bad dream."

The girl wisely didn't pursue the matter, sitting on her bed while Danae dressed. She slid on a pair of tight black trousers while beginning to ask questions. "Did you see them? Has anyone been hurt? How fast are they moving? Do they have any other kinds of demons with them?"

Gabi answered best she could. "No, I didn't see them, and I don't think anyone's hurt. They're moving pretty slow, and they're alone, as far as I know."

Nodding, Danae slid a white boob tube on and her favorite leather duster, quickly doing her hair in two pigtails. Putting her feet into tall, thick-heeled boots, she paused, touching her mother's cross at her neck. "Gabi?" Danae said, biting her lower lip.

"What?" Gabi asked, cocking her head.

"Do you ever dream things and have them come true?" the Slayer asked, warming the metal in her hand.

"Occasionally, but most of the time, dreams are dreams. Isn't everyone like that?"

"I guess. Let's go," Danae said, exiting into the living room. James was already dressed, and had a couple silver spears in his hands, examining them. "Do you have every kind of weapon imaginable?"

"Only some," he replied. "I do have a weapons expert brother, and books aren't the only things he sends." James tossed Danae one, and she turned it over in her hands.

"I've never trained with a spear before, you realize."

"I know. I have faith in you."

"Anthony's waiting outside," Gabi said, touching Danae's shoulder. The Slayer nodded, twirling the spear once, and opening the door leading to the stairs. She paused.

"James"

"Yes?"

"Nothing." Shaking her head, she walked down and out the front door, where it was brighter. Immediately, she saw Anthony's car in the street, and wiped the rain out of her eyes, opening the passenger side door.

"Need a ride?" Anthony asked.

"I'd love a ride," she said. Getting in, she shut the door, and instantly the drumming on the windshield sounded louder. Danae turned to him, holding out the map. "Is the map true?"

He nodded, and Danae sighed. "Okay."

James and Gabi climbed in behind Anthony and Danae, the new passengers immediately putting their seat belts on. Anthony pulled out into the street. "I'm going to take you to where I last saw the nearest one," he explained, driving quickly down the empty road, turning on his windshield wipers as fast as they could go.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Danae said, then turned in her seat so she could see everyone. "We're going to split into teams and take the seven separately. James, you'll go with Anthony. I know you can protect him." Anthony made an indignant sound. "Sorry. Anthony, you can protect James."

"That's better," Anthony said with a smile.

"Gabi, you're with me." Unfolding the map again, Danae pointed at each dot, counting off numbers. "James, take the first three. I'll take four, five, and six, and we'll meet at seven."

Anthony stopped the car. He pointed out the front, and Danae followed his gaze. "Bloody hell," she whispered.

Nine feet tall, and looking exactly as it had in her vision, a Hell's Sentinel glided slowly down the street, a faceless shadow that examined everything it passed. When it saw the car, it brought its sword slowly forward, holding it up in front of it.

"Drive back," James hissed. "Now!"

Anthony shifted into reverse, pressing his foot flat on the gas. The car shot backwards, but it was too late -- the Sentinel's sword shone bright red, and a massive shockwave shot out of it, ripping up the street and crashing into the buildings. With a roar, the ground rippled, and the shockwave hit the car.

Anthony's ride was thrown back, smashing into a house that's walls crumbled. The car flipped, landing on its roof. Gabi was screaming, and Danae was thrown through the front of the car when it hit something it couldn't crush, sliding several feet.

Everything went black.

---

James groaned. He was hanging from his seat belt in the back seat of Anthony's car, head aching. Looking over at Gabi, he saw she was unconscious and bleeding from a cut in her forehead, but looked otherwise fine. Anthony was shifting, then coughed. "Everyone okay?"

The Watcher looked through the broken windshield to see Danae, crumpled on the ground. "I don't know," James said hoarsely, but as he watched she began to stir. The Slayer rose, holding her ribs.

"Ow," he heard her clearly say. "Stay buckled, everyone. I'm flipping you back over." She came close, stretching carefully.

She grabbed the front of the car, biting her lower lip. Oh-so slowly, one side of the car lifted, and then it sped up and struck the ground hard. Gabi flopped to the side, and James pushed her back carefully. The roof was much lower now, but Danae grabbed the top and peeled it back like a sardine can. The rain started to pour in, and Anthony looked back.

"Is Gabi--"

Danae put her fingers to her friends neck. "She's alive. Good thing she was wearing her seat belt." She snapped the belt, pulling Gabi out. "The Sentinel will still be after me. We're ahem a bit of a distance away, so I think we can find Gabi the remains of a bed."

"And the plan?" Anthony asked.

"It will go ahead," Danae said, "but I'm going to leave Gabi with Sara. She's nearby." Reaching into the remains of the car, she lifted the spears out. "You guys go. Kill quick." Tossing James one awkwardly, Danae shifted Gabi and prepared to run.

---

"Will she be all right?" Sara asked, sounding as concerned as she ever got.

"I think so," Danae said. "She might have a concussion or something, though maybe you should take her to the hospital.

Sara nodded, shifting Gabi on her bed so she looked more comfortable. "I'll call an ambulance. Go fight evil."

'Thank you," Danae said, jogging out of the room, past a curious Mrs. Friedman, and back onto the street.

Looking around warily, Danae wrapped her arms about herself awkwardly, spear in hand. She didn't want to go fight the Sentinels -- but did she have any other choice? With a resolute sigh, she began running. The rain was only getting worse, as cold as the snow that had been covering the ground only a couple days before. It made seeing difficult, too --

WHAM!

She flew several feet, skidding on the pavement. Her head spun, and she shook it to try and clear her vision. Only a few feet up the street, the ground was completely torn apart and it seemed Danae had caught the tail end of one of the Sentinel's shockwaves. It was looking for her.

Suddenly, a Sentinel rounded the corner. It looked down a her, and paused.

Danae held her breath, not moving. It was still too far for its sword, but if it shockwaved --

"Move," she whispered to herself. "Move!"

Danae shot to her feet, turning and running as quickly as she could at the Sentinel. She had to get away from the residential area, and fast.

Bringing her spear up, she flew past the demon. She was faster than that little bastard, she thought, and would have time to get a good head start.

Before she had even gone three steps, she heard it begin to move. And this thing was not moving slow. Looking over her shoulder, Danae's mouth went dry.

It sped after her, shroud blowing behind it and showing off glimpses of a mottled gray face. Danae did the only thing she could think of doing in such a situation -- she panicked.

Stopping, she held her spear over her head and threw herself to the ground. Something heavy pressed against her weapon, and she looked up.

The Sentinel was caught on the end. Danae, surprised, pulled back -- and the demon disappeared, fading away.

She sat still for a moment. "Okay. That was a little weird."

---

Heaving hard with her metal spear, Danae buried her weapon in the lower back of her third Sentinel. So she had snuck up from behind on these last two and killed them before they knew she was there -- so what? It wasn't technically cheating if it was life-or-death.

Much like the first two, the Sentinel dissolved, and Danae was left with nothing more than a face full of rain.

Pulling her cell out of her pocket, Danae leaned on the metal pole while she dialed. James answered almost immediately.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Hey. Killed the first three yet?"

"Yes. It's amazing what a decent levitation spell will do in a pinch."

"Cheater."

"And what did you do?"

"On the last two, snuck up from behind."

"Cheater."

Danae smiled. "Okay, let's meet up at the seventh." She paused, biting her lower lip, then added, "And James? Don't fight until I get there."

He hung up.

Staring at her phone for a moment as though it had suddenly grown legs and eyes, Danae paused, then shut it off.

---

By the time Danae got there, it was already too late. The post office fire could be seen as soon as she got out of the forest, but as she got closer, the fire was put out by the rain. There was no Sentinel in sight, but Anthony was standing with his back to her, staring at something.

"Anthony?" Danae called, but he didn't turn. "Anthony? Where's the Sentinel?"

"It was attacking a family," he said blankly without moving. "James h-had wanted to stay back but h-he couldn't let them die"

The last of the fire went out as Danae reached Anthony's side. "James didn't fight it, did he?' Anthony didn't respond. "He didn't fight it! I told him not to!" Danae insisted. "Where is he?"

Anthony nodded inside the ruins of the building. Danae stepped over one of the broken walls, going inside. Most of the roof was blown off, the walls charred and shortened drastically. Envelopes and paper scraps still fluttered around, so it took Danae a minute to see him.

Sitting against a wall near where the counter used to be was James, his eyes blank and staring. A streak of blood was on the wall above him, and his mouth was open slightly.

She rushed over to him, kneeling. "James?" Danae asked, placing a hand over his bloody chest. "James I told you not to fight it."

He didn't reply.

Covering her face with her hands, Danae began sobbing, bending over her fallen Watcher.

Gabi, with several bandages on her forehead, waked near and saw James. Sara gasped. "Is he--?" she began.

Gabi turned and fled, Sara following.

---

Picking a broken branch off the ground, Gabi heaved it at the front window of the studio, shattering it and reaching in to unlock the door.

"Is that such a good idea?" Sara asked, but Gabi was already inside. The younger girl followed as she darted upstairs, trying to keep up.

Gabi went immediately to James' desk and began throwing papers off the surface, tossing books and parchment to the floor. She began muttering to herself, then cried out when she found what she had been searching for.

The Book of the Dead.

"I hate to be a party pooper," Sara said, "but you are NOT using that! Don't you know--"

"Shut up," Gabi said harshly. She threw open the Book, scanning its pages.

"How do you expect to read it?" Sara asked, then gaped as the hieroglyphs shifted and began running up Gabi's arms.

The blonde girl dropped the Book, shocked, but the hieroglyphs continued their journey up her body until they coalesced on her forehead.

Gabi's mouth opened, and with a rush of pages, something red shot out of her, crashing through one of the windows and disappearing.

She collapsed to the floor.

---

Danae felt Anthony's hand on her shoulder. "The police are here," he whispered. "We have to lea--"

James began coughing, and Danae's hands came off her face instantly. He opened his eyes. "James!" Danae cried, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Aack-- can't breathe!" he gasped.

"I thought you were dead!" Danae sobbed, but Anthony was persistent.

"Police, must leave," Anthony said, dragging the small Slayer to her feet.

James stood, holding his head. "I have one hell of a headache," he complained.

---

When they all stumbled back to the studio, there was an ambulance in front, loading Gabi on a stretcher in the back of it. Sara smiled at them in greeting. "They're just taking her to the hospital," she said cheerfully.

"But why?" Danae began, then shook her head. "Never mind."

"I'll ride with her," Sara said.

"Me too," Anthony agreed, watching his cousin.

"You two stay," Sara commanded them. "It looks like you need rest something awful."

Danae was too tired to protest. She helped James into the studio, avoiding the paramedics. She didn't want them deciding that James or she herself needed attention. They went upstairs, but if James was surprised to see his desk in such disarray, he didn't comment.

He didn't notice the Book missing.

The clouds parted just slightly outside, and dawn broke through.

---