After that, it had only seemed natural for them to start looking for trouble to break up. They were both young, only just fourteen, and the idea that they could get hurt or killed never occurred to them. Breaking up fights, stopping people from hassling strangers… Any sort of trouble that looked like a close match in numbers, and they were jumping in.
Naturally, Mr. Wood was having fits about that. He was convinced that his daughter was out getting into trouble, and no amount of talk of Neighborhood Watch or the tradition of the Black Panthers could convince him otherwise. Every night that he caught Nikki sneaking out, or coming home with bruises, he'd rant and yell at her. Every time he'd have a screaming fit at Nikki, she'd be angry, tense, and more determined to take risks, to get into fights, and more likely to kiss Erik.
That was probably why he didn't try to talk her out of those moods more often - the kisses were wonderful. They'd kiss, nibbling, tasting, exploring each other's mouths and lips, their hands wandering all over. What had started in the library with her lips brushing over his had changed, slowly evolving and growing into something more, something larger and deeper and utterly incomprehensible to them both. Neither of them wanted to try to probe into the why's. They were just trying to find a release, no matter how temporary, from the bleakness of their lives. Just a few moments of joy here and there, a few moments of peace.
Neither one of them ever considered the idea of consequences.
It was perhaps a month after they'd become lovers that Nikki showed up, her eyes flickering all over as if seeking some escape while her body was stiff, almost clumsy. Her hands were clenched, sending her muscles and tendons into tight cords along her arms. "Erik? Erik, are you here?"
"I'm here, Nikki. What's… What happened?" He didn't even have to ask if something was wrong, that was obvious just by looking at her. She was upset, angry and afraid and something else, all tangled up inside of her. The question was how could he help her.
"Remember Mr. Henner, the guy with that new bookstore? He… we had a talk. He's a Watcher."
She was trembling, and had moved closer, leaning towards him, though her body was still stiff, her fists still clenched so tightly that he could smell the trickles of blood that her nails had released from her palms. "He's supposed to replace Andrew."
"Nobody can replace Andrew." The words slipped out, soft, part plea and part denial.
"It gets… stranger. Weirder." Nikki was right against him now, as if she was trying to hide beside him, or to… no, she didn't quite feel like she was trying to hide, exactly.
"What did he tell you?" Erik wrapped one arm around her shoulders, trying to let her know that she wasn't alone. Her skin quivered, and she leaned closer, resting her weight against him.
"He said that there are vampires. Demons. That they're… they're all real." She took a deep breath, which escaped raggedly. "He said that there's something called a Slayer, someone chosen by God or something like that to fight them."
Bits connected in Erik's mind, and he pulled her close, wanting to keep her safe, wanting to protect her from this, even if he wasn't quite certain how big 'this' was, and rather doubted that it would go away. "He said you were this Slayer?"
"Maybe. Apparently, there's a lot of people who could become her, and… there's only one at a time. I've got this potential." Her hands had relaxed, and he could feel her fingers splayed over his ribs, feel the dampness from her blood. "I don't like this. I don't… I don't like him, and I like the part about vampires and destiny even less."
He closed his eyes, and just hugged her close to him. It wouldn't have been as bad if Andrew were still there. Even if the scary things were still there, even if Nikki was supposed to fight them, Andrew would have made them feel safer. Andrew would have at least cared. "I'm here."
"I don't know if I could do this alone. I don't know if I could face all of these changes. There are monsters out there. Not just… not just the human ones, but things with fangs and claws." Her words were muffled as she spoke into his chest. "I wish he was just some crazy old man, someone who took a few too many drugs once upon a time, but… It fits with the way Andrew was teaching us to fight."
"I saw them. I saw a pair of vampires." The words slipped out, a response to Nikki's distress. "They… they looked like a couple out for a walk, but… Something about them was just wrong. It didn't… it felt wrong. I followed them."
"What happened?" She was looking at him, tears shimmering on her cheeks, but she looked less like the stunned victim of fate and more like herself, more like Nikki.
"They picked up some… they picked up one of the street girls. It looked… sort of like they were going into one of the allies for a little quick and dirty…" He shook his head, uncertain how to explain the whole mess. "Their faces had changed, Nikki. There were these sharp teeth, and yellow eyes… and so much blood. They'd just… sort of surrounded the girl, and bit down, one on each side of her neck."
He barely realized that his fingers were brushing over Nikki's pulse, just where the vampires had bit that girl. "I was… it scared me, Nikki. It's the only time I've backed down from a fight since I met Andrew."
"Vampires." Nikki shuddered. "It's just so much so fast. I know this guy's going to want me to fight them, to hunt them."
"Nikki…. You're… we aren't old enough to be out saving the city from vampires." Erik whispered, his mind spinning in horrible bloody directions. He remembered those vampires, the blood on their faces and the way the one had asked if he was that eager to become dessert. He couldn't convince himself that they would only be in this city, in one place on the whole world. "It's too much for someone our age."
"I know. But I don't think I get a choice in the matter. If fate picks me, then… I think that's it." She was still leaning against him, but the quivering had stopped. "I think… he made it sound like he had connections. Enough to arrange things to go his way. He said that Dad would be… handled. I'm not sure what he meant, but… it didn't sound good, Erik."
Erik shivered this time, wondering just what the man had meant by 'handled'. Did that mean he would be killed? But then what would happen to Nikki's mom? Would he be threatened into submission? Or… were there other, stranger ways to bend him to their will? He didn't know enough about this Watchers group, how far they reached, how powerful they were. How much did they know, and to what end did they use that knowledge? How did they pay for their learning and their training? And just how did new Slayers get called? He didn't have the courage to give voice any of these fears and questions.
He tried to comfort her as best he could, and they eventually headed out to the streets. Nikki had this tension in her, like she had to do something to release the confusion inside before it ate her up. A thread of worry nagged at him, and Erik looked at her. "Nikki? Did this guy… did he say anything about how to kill them?"
"Only a little. Fire, beheading, impalement… except that it had to be the right sort of things, or else they wouldn't die. He said bullets just make them mad." Nikki's voice shook a little. "I think he was trying not to get into the details just yet."
"If we run into one, we might need those details." Erik muttered, his hands clenching into fists. "Did it ever occur to this guy that you might bump into one that doesn't care about his ideas of when you should learn stuff?"
"I don't know. Maybe… maybe he thinks that things will just go his way – the Watchers have connections, after all." Nikki kicked at a bottle, watching as it bounced against a wall, falling with a crack and a clatter into some other trash. "Like fate cares about his connections."
"I don't care about his connections. What I care about is you, Nikki. I want you to be safe, or as safe as possible." Erik sighed, absently kicking a hubcap out of the way. "Not that it sounds like that's a whole lot."
"No it doesn't." Nikki was sounding off, like she had the day they'd learned that Andrew was in the hospital dying. Like everything had changed for the worse and she wasn't sure how to deal with it.
They beat up several gang members trying to make trouble, and stopped a couple muggings. Everything was going along according to a pattern that they could understand. Naturally, that was when things went stranger. There was somebody lurking near the soup kitchen. He just looked like a half starved kid, like Erik had been. But something about him made Erik twitchy, although he couldn't put it into words.
The skinny boy started to follow one of the soup kitchen ladies, slouching along with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his ripped up jacket, looking small and pathetic and helpless. Nobody tried to look that helpless on purpose.
"What… That's just…" Nikki shook her head, scowling at the skinny boy. "Something's not right."
"Nobody screams victim like that." Erik tried to figure out if there could be some sort of answer. Then, one came to his mind, an awful suspicion. "Not unless… Can kids get turned into vampires?"
Nikki looked at him, her eyes wide and horrified. "You really think..? That would be… evil. And it just might… We'd best follow them. Maybe we can do something."
Erik felt ridiculous, trailing after a soup lady and her pint sized stalker. His ears felt hot, and he ducked his head, hoping that nobody would see him. But just in case, they followed.
"I feel like some bad movie stalker." Nikki muttered, her shoulders tense.
"So do I. I hope nobody sees this…" Erik agreed with her.
"Miss? I was wondering if I could get a little bite to eat?" The boy's voice was still high and childish. He sounded so helpless and lost.
"Of course, honey. If you'd like, there's a little shop, I can get you some hot soup…" The woman turned, smiling gently at the child.
"Hot soup? The boy moved closer, pulling his hands from his pockets. "Thanks, but I think I'd like something faster."
Nikki gasped as his face just changed, eyes turning yellow as he grabbed at the now terrified woman. The soup-lady's fear was so thick that Erik could taste it. "I guess that answers that question."
Nikki lunged forward, grabbing at the skinny wrist, trying to pull the boy vampire away from his victim. His nails left bleeding gashes on her arm, and he growled, like a half starved dog. The woman was backing away with a whimper, and clutching at her wounded arm.
Erik gritted his teeth, ignoring the scents of blood and fear. He tried to ignore his own fear at those yellow eyes and sharp teeth. He didn't want to run away again, didn't want to surrender to his fear and abandon Nikki. And the vampire was just a little one, they should be able to handle him.
Of course, the little vampire was also a lot stronger than he looked. His fists left numb spots when they connected, and he was fast. Between Erik and Nikki, they were starting to wear him down, although the fight was also taking a toll on them. Nikki managed to flip him into a trash can, and a crate fell onto his head, causing the vampire to be still.
"Is he dead?" Nikki whispered.
"I don't know." Erik edged a bit closer, his heart still hammering. He had never felt so aware of people bleeding… "I wouldn't bet on it. Can we…. Is there something sharp?"
"You mean so that we can cut his head off?" Nikki swallowed, and looked around. "There's some broken windows over there. Maybe one of the panes?"
"This is going to be messy." Erik shuddered, knowing that everything had changed. And he was still so aware of the scent of blood and fear everywhere, the soup lady's bleeding arm, his own blood, Nikki's blood. A dark fear inside of him whispered that Nikki didn't seem to notice all of the blood scent in the air.
Erik had never felt quite so disturbed as when they finally dropped the broken pane of glass onto the vampire's neck. The sight of his little head rolling away, the flesh just shriveling and falling to dust was entirely creepy. Nikki apparently felt the same way, backing away with shivers as she rubbed over her arms. The soup-lady was gone.
"I think I want to go home now." Nikki's whisper fell into the still air.
End part 2.
Naturally, Mr. Wood was having fits about that. He was convinced that his daughter was out getting into trouble, and no amount of talk of Neighborhood Watch or the tradition of the Black Panthers could convince him otherwise. Every night that he caught Nikki sneaking out, or coming home with bruises, he'd rant and yell at her. Every time he'd have a screaming fit at Nikki, she'd be angry, tense, and more determined to take risks, to get into fights, and more likely to kiss Erik.
That was probably why he didn't try to talk her out of those moods more often - the kisses were wonderful. They'd kiss, nibbling, tasting, exploring each other's mouths and lips, their hands wandering all over. What had started in the library with her lips brushing over his had changed, slowly evolving and growing into something more, something larger and deeper and utterly incomprehensible to them both. Neither of them wanted to try to probe into the why's. They were just trying to find a release, no matter how temporary, from the bleakness of their lives. Just a few moments of joy here and there, a few moments of peace.
Neither one of them ever considered the idea of consequences.
It was perhaps a month after they'd become lovers that Nikki showed up, her eyes flickering all over as if seeking some escape while her body was stiff, almost clumsy. Her hands were clenched, sending her muscles and tendons into tight cords along her arms. "Erik? Erik, are you here?"
"I'm here, Nikki. What's… What happened?" He didn't even have to ask if something was wrong, that was obvious just by looking at her. She was upset, angry and afraid and something else, all tangled up inside of her. The question was how could he help her.
"Remember Mr. Henner, the guy with that new bookstore? He… we had a talk. He's a Watcher."
She was trembling, and had moved closer, leaning towards him, though her body was still stiff, her fists still clenched so tightly that he could smell the trickles of blood that her nails had released from her palms. "He's supposed to replace Andrew."
"Nobody can replace Andrew." The words slipped out, soft, part plea and part denial.
"It gets… stranger. Weirder." Nikki was right against him now, as if she was trying to hide beside him, or to… no, she didn't quite feel like she was trying to hide, exactly.
"What did he tell you?" Erik wrapped one arm around her shoulders, trying to let her know that she wasn't alone. Her skin quivered, and she leaned closer, resting her weight against him.
"He said that there are vampires. Demons. That they're… they're all real." She took a deep breath, which escaped raggedly. "He said that there's something called a Slayer, someone chosen by God or something like that to fight them."
Bits connected in Erik's mind, and he pulled her close, wanting to keep her safe, wanting to protect her from this, even if he wasn't quite certain how big 'this' was, and rather doubted that it would go away. "He said you were this Slayer?"
"Maybe. Apparently, there's a lot of people who could become her, and… there's only one at a time. I've got this potential." Her hands had relaxed, and he could feel her fingers splayed over his ribs, feel the dampness from her blood. "I don't like this. I don't… I don't like him, and I like the part about vampires and destiny even less."
He closed his eyes, and just hugged her close to him. It wouldn't have been as bad if Andrew were still there. Even if the scary things were still there, even if Nikki was supposed to fight them, Andrew would have made them feel safer. Andrew would have at least cared. "I'm here."
"I don't know if I could do this alone. I don't know if I could face all of these changes. There are monsters out there. Not just… not just the human ones, but things with fangs and claws." Her words were muffled as she spoke into his chest. "I wish he was just some crazy old man, someone who took a few too many drugs once upon a time, but… It fits with the way Andrew was teaching us to fight."
"I saw them. I saw a pair of vampires." The words slipped out, a response to Nikki's distress. "They… they looked like a couple out for a walk, but… Something about them was just wrong. It didn't… it felt wrong. I followed them."
"What happened?" She was looking at him, tears shimmering on her cheeks, but she looked less like the stunned victim of fate and more like herself, more like Nikki.
"They picked up some… they picked up one of the street girls. It looked… sort of like they were going into one of the allies for a little quick and dirty…" He shook his head, uncertain how to explain the whole mess. "Their faces had changed, Nikki. There were these sharp teeth, and yellow eyes… and so much blood. They'd just… sort of surrounded the girl, and bit down, one on each side of her neck."
He barely realized that his fingers were brushing over Nikki's pulse, just where the vampires had bit that girl. "I was… it scared me, Nikki. It's the only time I've backed down from a fight since I met Andrew."
"Vampires." Nikki shuddered. "It's just so much so fast. I know this guy's going to want me to fight them, to hunt them."
"Nikki…. You're… we aren't old enough to be out saving the city from vampires." Erik whispered, his mind spinning in horrible bloody directions. He remembered those vampires, the blood on their faces and the way the one had asked if he was that eager to become dessert. He couldn't convince himself that they would only be in this city, in one place on the whole world. "It's too much for someone our age."
"I know. But I don't think I get a choice in the matter. If fate picks me, then… I think that's it." She was still leaning against him, but the quivering had stopped. "I think… he made it sound like he had connections. Enough to arrange things to go his way. He said that Dad would be… handled. I'm not sure what he meant, but… it didn't sound good, Erik."
Erik shivered this time, wondering just what the man had meant by 'handled'. Did that mean he would be killed? But then what would happen to Nikki's mom? Would he be threatened into submission? Or… were there other, stranger ways to bend him to their will? He didn't know enough about this Watchers group, how far they reached, how powerful they were. How much did they know, and to what end did they use that knowledge? How did they pay for their learning and their training? And just how did new Slayers get called? He didn't have the courage to give voice any of these fears and questions.
He tried to comfort her as best he could, and they eventually headed out to the streets. Nikki had this tension in her, like she had to do something to release the confusion inside before it ate her up. A thread of worry nagged at him, and Erik looked at her. "Nikki? Did this guy… did he say anything about how to kill them?"
"Only a little. Fire, beheading, impalement… except that it had to be the right sort of things, or else they wouldn't die. He said bullets just make them mad." Nikki's voice shook a little. "I think he was trying not to get into the details just yet."
"If we run into one, we might need those details." Erik muttered, his hands clenching into fists. "Did it ever occur to this guy that you might bump into one that doesn't care about his ideas of when you should learn stuff?"
"I don't know. Maybe… maybe he thinks that things will just go his way – the Watchers have connections, after all." Nikki kicked at a bottle, watching as it bounced against a wall, falling with a crack and a clatter into some other trash. "Like fate cares about his connections."
"I don't care about his connections. What I care about is you, Nikki. I want you to be safe, or as safe as possible." Erik sighed, absently kicking a hubcap out of the way. "Not that it sounds like that's a whole lot."
"No it doesn't." Nikki was sounding off, like she had the day they'd learned that Andrew was in the hospital dying. Like everything had changed for the worse and she wasn't sure how to deal with it.
They beat up several gang members trying to make trouble, and stopped a couple muggings. Everything was going along according to a pattern that they could understand. Naturally, that was when things went stranger. There was somebody lurking near the soup kitchen. He just looked like a half starved kid, like Erik had been. But something about him made Erik twitchy, although he couldn't put it into words.
The skinny boy started to follow one of the soup kitchen ladies, slouching along with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his ripped up jacket, looking small and pathetic and helpless. Nobody tried to look that helpless on purpose.
"What… That's just…" Nikki shook her head, scowling at the skinny boy. "Something's not right."
"Nobody screams victim like that." Erik tried to figure out if there could be some sort of answer. Then, one came to his mind, an awful suspicion. "Not unless… Can kids get turned into vampires?"
Nikki looked at him, her eyes wide and horrified. "You really think..? That would be… evil. And it just might… We'd best follow them. Maybe we can do something."
Erik felt ridiculous, trailing after a soup lady and her pint sized stalker. His ears felt hot, and he ducked his head, hoping that nobody would see him. But just in case, they followed.
"I feel like some bad movie stalker." Nikki muttered, her shoulders tense.
"So do I. I hope nobody sees this…" Erik agreed with her.
"Miss? I was wondering if I could get a little bite to eat?" The boy's voice was still high and childish. He sounded so helpless and lost.
"Of course, honey. If you'd like, there's a little shop, I can get you some hot soup…" The woman turned, smiling gently at the child.
"Hot soup? The boy moved closer, pulling his hands from his pockets. "Thanks, but I think I'd like something faster."
Nikki gasped as his face just changed, eyes turning yellow as he grabbed at the now terrified woman. The soup-lady's fear was so thick that Erik could taste it. "I guess that answers that question."
Nikki lunged forward, grabbing at the skinny wrist, trying to pull the boy vampire away from his victim. His nails left bleeding gashes on her arm, and he growled, like a half starved dog. The woman was backing away with a whimper, and clutching at her wounded arm.
Erik gritted his teeth, ignoring the scents of blood and fear. He tried to ignore his own fear at those yellow eyes and sharp teeth. He didn't want to run away again, didn't want to surrender to his fear and abandon Nikki. And the vampire was just a little one, they should be able to handle him.
Of course, the little vampire was also a lot stronger than he looked. His fists left numb spots when they connected, and he was fast. Between Erik and Nikki, they were starting to wear him down, although the fight was also taking a toll on them. Nikki managed to flip him into a trash can, and a crate fell onto his head, causing the vampire to be still.
"Is he dead?" Nikki whispered.
"I don't know." Erik edged a bit closer, his heart still hammering. He had never felt so aware of people bleeding… "I wouldn't bet on it. Can we…. Is there something sharp?"
"You mean so that we can cut his head off?" Nikki swallowed, and looked around. "There's some broken windows over there. Maybe one of the panes?"
"This is going to be messy." Erik shuddered, knowing that everything had changed. And he was still so aware of the scent of blood and fear everywhere, the soup lady's bleeding arm, his own blood, Nikki's blood. A dark fear inside of him whispered that Nikki didn't seem to notice all of the blood scent in the air.
Erik had never felt quite so disturbed as when they finally dropped the broken pane of glass onto the vampire's neck. The sight of his little head rolling away, the flesh just shriveling and falling to dust was entirely creepy. Nikki apparently felt the same way, backing away with shivers as she rubbed over her arms. The soup-lady was gone.
"I think I want to go home now." Nikki's whisper fell into the still air.
End part 2.