T.T.F.N.
By LanternLizzard
"Maggot. That's what I am...fitting I guess." Chloe Martinez splashed another handful of cold water on her face and turned the faucet off. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror with contempt and reached for a towel. She dried off her wet face and frowned as she stared at that blob of nothing looking back at her. 'What the hell am I doing here? What can I do?' Chloe glared at herself and turned away. She walked out of the bathroom and turned off the light. She walked down the upstairs hallway of the Summers residence.
Chloe had been here for almost two weeks now and she still couldn't do a damn thing right. She'd screwed up in practice today and she'd been useless against the vampires she and the other potentials had fought. Chloe walked past the staircase and heard the quiet chatter of potentials downstairs gossiping and giggling. She wanted to go downstairs and join them, she wanted desperately to go and hang out with Vi and Rona and Molly. Chloe yearned for their friendship but there was just something...a little voice that kept saying 'why would they want to be friends with a loser like you?' Chloe sighed and turned back away from the staircase.
Chloe headed back to Dawn's room which she had been staying in with about six other girls. God this place was a mad house. Chloe peeked into the room and saw that nobody was in there, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Chloe sighed and fell against the door. Her legs were sore from all the kicking she had done during her training earlier today. That Kennedy girl, as bossy as she was...had been right. Chloe looked over to her tiny sleeping bag and cringed. Why was she here, because it was her destiny? Sorry, it was her potential destiny? First off, the only way she could become a...the slayer was if Buffy died. Even if that happened, it was like a one in fifty chance that it would be her!
Chloe was homesick, she missed her mom. Chloe sat down on Dawn's bed and quietly started to cry. She was gently sobbing when a voice startled her, "Now that's a surprise, my girl crying her eyes out." Chloe sniffed and looked up, "Oh my god...dad?" Chloe looked in awe and confusion as her father, her dead father Carlos Martinez stood there looking at her. His arms were familiarly folded and his neck was crookedly holding his head the way it had for so many years. His eyes looked right through Chloe, the way they always seemed to when he was alive, as if when he saw her, he saw someone less than a person. Growing up, Chloe was always told to do what Daddy told her. She was raised by the hand and punished by it so understandably, seeing those dead hands now, two years after they had died was a bit of a shock to her. So much so that for awhile, it hadn't occurred to her that this was non other than her father.
"So what's with the waterworks doll? I thought I always told you that good girls didn't cry, especially not in front of their elders." Chloe stood up and quickly brushed her tears away, "Yes sir." She replied automatically. Carlos looked at Chloe and smiled, his balding head still reflecting light from the room. Chloe was trying to stand tall when her father spoke in his disappointed tone, the way he used to speak when she'd screwed up, "What are you doing here Chloe? You don't belong here with these people. You don't have the skills and you don't have what it takes." Chloe looked down at the floor and her father snapped, "Don't look away from me when I am speaking to you." Chloe quickly looked back up at her father.
Carlos continued, "From the moment you were born I knew you'd be the death of me and look where we are." Chloe felt the tears coming again and closed her eyes, "You're not my dad." Carlos replied, "Maybe not, but I'm still right." His voice changed into that of a British woman's, "Do you really think you can make a difference?" Chloe looked up in surprise, "Miriam?" Chloe's watcher Miriam Winston was standing before her. Miriam had died just weeks ago, while she was trying to get Chloe out of Texas and into California. They had been attacked by Bringers and Miriam had been stabbed in the back yet here she was. But it wasn't her.
"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I don't deserve your undivided attention young lady." Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her watcher, "What do you want?" Miriam lifted her arms and said matter of fact, "What do I want! I want to be back in London sipping tea and eating biscuits while I watch Manchester United. Instead I'm stuck here with you. You'll let them down Chloe. You'll let them all down if you stay, just like you let me down." Chloe put her hands on her ears, "I didn't..." Miriam smiled wickedly, "Didn't you? Don't you remember what happened at the airport? Don't you remember how you ran and hid in the terminal while I was being gutted? You're a disgrace to the slayer name and for humanity's sake I sure hope you are not the next slayer."
Chloe was crying again and Miriam only increased in her verbal assault, "Look at you sniveling. Your pathetic. You're a maggot. A tiny bug to be stepped on. You'd be better off dead, I know those girls downstairs would be." Chloe closed her eyes and fell to her knees. Chloe had tears streaming down her cheeks. Why was this happening to her? Chloe used all her emotional strength to rebel by saying, "Stop it!" She opened her eyes and realized Miriam had stopped speaking and had actually disappeared. Instead, her mother stood there smiling sweetly. "It's ok baby. I'm here." Chloe instantly felt relieved at the sound of her mother's soothing voice. "Mom, why is this happening to me?" Chloe's mom smiled as she replied, "Because you're a worthless waste of space dear." Chloe's eyes bulged with horrifying shock at her mother's response. Chloe's eyes narrowed as she realized what was going on, "You're not my mother...you're the first." Chloe's mom nodded politely and said, "As a matter of fact I am dear."
"This can't be real, Buffy said you could only take on the form of dead people but my mom was fine when I left..." Chloe's mom turned pale and had tears in her eyes, "When you didn't come home from school that day...I'd thought you'd run away again. I was so worried about you that I didn't bother to check when the doorbell rang. Those men, those horrible men with no eyes. Baby, they tortured me, they wanted to know where you were. I cried for you to come help me, I cried for hours but you never came. I cried even as they slashed my throat." Chloe was shivering with fear and sadness and quickly turned away in grief as a bloody wound opened up in the dead woman's throat."
Suddenly Chloe's mother transformed back into Miriam, "And I have something to tell you Chloe. I'm not here to frighten you child but I hope you are afraid. If you are afraid then that means you are wise to what's coming."
Chloe looked at her dead father's form and asked, "What's coming...Buffy says you're raising an army. She says we have to be prepared."
Miriam laughed and said, "Hun, my army isn't coming...it's already here. Now I'm here to offer you a choice." Chloe lifted her eyebrows and said, "A choice?" Miriam smiled and nodded, "When I come, they will die. They will ALL die. None will survive, not the potentials, not Buffy...no one. Now you can either stick around and prepare for a fight you will not win and die a horrible agonizing death at the hands of my Turok-Hans...or..." Chloe leaned forward, "Or?"
Miriam adjusted her glasses and said, "Or you can save yourself the pain and end it here, now. On your terms." Chloe looked around in surprise, "What!" Miriam glared at Chloe and transformed into her father Carlos, "You think one Turok-Han was bad? You saw how hard it was to beat, Buffy barely killed it. I have more, a thousand more. They will come and they will never stop coming until everything good in this world is dead and turned to dust. They will not rest until every last potential is mutilated and ripped limb from limb." Chloe put her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming. Part of her wanted to call for help, to get out of this room but...would this all happen?
Carlos continued, "Do you want to know what happens to Slayers?" He transformed into the very first slayer. The ebony woman covered in white face paint spoke, "This form, this wretched form was my first nemesis. She was the first slayer. My Turok-Hans took great pleasure ripping her flesh from her bones." The first slayer transformed into the Chinese slayer from the boxer rebellion, "This slayer was murdered by that peroxide eating vampire downstairs. He wasn't always good you know. He drained me like a pig." She transformed into Nikki Wood, the slayer from New York, "Spike killed me as well, broke my neck like a twig. Where do you think he got that snazzy coat?" Chloe was shaking as she watched the various forms changing in front of her. All these women had been slayers?
Nikki looked at Chloe sternly and asked, "How can you trust a hero who murders slayers?" Nikki transformed into Kendra, her neck still open, "I was de vumpia slayer after Buffy died. Yes it's true, Buffy Died. Where was Buffy when I was gettin me throat slashed?" Kendra transformed into Buffy, "You really think you have what it takes to replace me you little bitch? I died...twice and I'm still fighting." Buffy transformed into Annabelle, "I was a potential. Where was Buffy when that Turok-Han crushed my neck! We were all slayers. Slayers bring death."
Chloe was on her knees crying. She was shaking back and forth, "This isn't true, this isn't true." Annabelle transformed back into Buffy, "But it is Chloe. Don't you see? You're going to die, that is a fact. No one can stop what is coming. You now have the choice, do you want a fast death or a slow death? Take the bed sheets honey, make a noose. It will only hurt for a minute, then it's just like...floating away..." Buffy smiled gingerly as Chloe stood up, tears still streaming down her face. Buffy transformed into Carlos who said, "That's my girl. Good girls don't talk back." Carlos transformed into Chloe's mom, "It's ok baby, We'll be together again. We'll be a family again."
Chloe tied Dawn's bed sheet into a rope and put it around her neck, Her mother watched silently as she stood up on the bed and tied the rope around the top beam. The mom turned into Eve, "You're doing the right thing, the smart thing." Eve turned back into Miriam just as Chloe jumped off the bed. The girl's feet kicked in the air as her air supply was cut off. She squirmed like a worm on a hook. Miriam smiled and said, "When the other girls find you, I'll make up something poetic and tell them you said it."
Chloe's tearstained eyes were turning red. She spat out a choked phrase, "T.T.F.N." Miriam tilted her head, "Very retro." Chloe felt her heart start to slow down. Her feet stopped kicking and she slowed down in her squirming. The last thing Chloe Martinez saw before her eyes rolled back into her head was the form of Miriam Winston slowly transforming into an exact double of herself.
Then Chloe was gone.
Chloe's body hung quietly while the first in Chloe's form shrugged and said, "Another one bites the dust." Then she disappeared in a bright flash leaving Chloe's limp body hanging from the bed.
Ta Ta For Now.
"Maggot. That's what I am...fitting I guess." Chloe Martinez splashed another handful of cold water on her face and turned the faucet off. She looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror with contempt and reached for a towel. She dried off her wet face and frowned as she stared at that blob of nothing looking back at her. 'What the hell am I doing here? What can I do?' Chloe glared at herself and turned away. She walked out of the bathroom and turned off the light. She walked down the upstairs hallway of the Summers residence.
Chloe had been here for almost two weeks now and she still couldn't do a damn thing right. She'd screwed up in practice today and she'd been useless against the vampires she and the other potentials had fought. Chloe walked past the staircase and heard the quiet chatter of potentials downstairs gossiping and giggling. She wanted to go downstairs and join them, she wanted desperately to go and hang out with Vi and Rona and Molly. Chloe yearned for their friendship but there was just something...a little voice that kept saying 'why would they want to be friends with a loser like you?' Chloe sighed and turned back away from the staircase.
Chloe headed back to Dawn's room which she had been staying in with about six other girls. God this place was a mad house. Chloe peeked into the room and saw that nobody was in there, she stepped inside and shut the door behind her. Chloe sighed and fell against the door. Her legs were sore from all the kicking she had done during her training earlier today. That Kennedy girl, as bossy as she was...had been right. Chloe looked over to her tiny sleeping bag and cringed. Why was she here, because it was her destiny? Sorry, it was her potential destiny? First off, the only way she could become a...the slayer was if Buffy died. Even if that happened, it was like a one in fifty chance that it would be her!
Chloe was homesick, she missed her mom. Chloe sat down on Dawn's bed and quietly started to cry. She was gently sobbing when a voice startled her, "Now that's a surprise, my girl crying her eyes out." Chloe sniffed and looked up, "Oh my god...dad?" Chloe looked in awe and confusion as her father, her dead father Carlos Martinez stood there looking at her. His arms were familiarly folded and his neck was crookedly holding his head the way it had for so many years. His eyes looked right through Chloe, the way they always seemed to when he was alive, as if when he saw her, he saw someone less than a person. Growing up, Chloe was always told to do what Daddy told her. She was raised by the hand and punished by it so understandably, seeing those dead hands now, two years after they had died was a bit of a shock to her. So much so that for awhile, it hadn't occurred to her that this was non other than her father.
"So what's with the waterworks doll? I thought I always told you that good girls didn't cry, especially not in front of their elders." Chloe stood up and quickly brushed her tears away, "Yes sir." She replied automatically. Carlos looked at Chloe and smiled, his balding head still reflecting light from the room. Chloe was trying to stand tall when her father spoke in his disappointed tone, the way he used to speak when she'd screwed up, "What are you doing here Chloe? You don't belong here with these people. You don't have the skills and you don't have what it takes." Chloe looked down at the floor and her father snapped, "Don't look away from me when I am speaking to you." Chloe quickly looked back up at her father.
Carlos continued, "From the moment you were born I knew you'd be the death of me and look where we are." Chloe felt the tears coming again and closed her eyes, "You're not my dad." Carlos replied, "Maybe not, but I'm still right." His voice changed into that of a British woman's, "Do you really think you can make a difference?" Chloe looked up in surprise, "Miriam?" Chloe's watcher Miriam Winston was standing before her. Miriam had died just weeks ago, while she was trying to get Chloe out of Texas and into California. They had been attacked by Bringers and Miriam had been stabbed in the back yet here she was. But it wasn't her.
"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I don't deserve your undivided attention young lady." Chloe snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her watcher, "What do you want?" Miriam lifted her arms and said matter of fact, "What do I want! I want to be back in London sipping tea and eating biscuits while I watch Manchester United. Instead I'm stuck here with you. You'll let them down Chloe. You'll let them all down if you stay, just like you let me down." Chloe put her hands on her ears, "I didn't..." Miriam smiled wickedly, "Didn't you? Don't you remember what happened at the airport? Don't you remember how you ran and hid in the terminal while I was being gutted? You're a disgrace to the slayer name and for humanity's sake I sure hope you are not the next slayer."
Chloe was crying again and Miriam only increased in her verbal assault, "Look at you sniveling. Your pathetic. You're a maggot. A tiny bug to be stepped on. You'd be better off dead, I know those girls downstairs would be." Chloe closed her eyes and fell to her knees. Chloe had tears streaming down her cheeks. Why was this happening to her? Chloe used all her emotional strength to rebel by saying, "Stop it!" She opened her eyes and realized Miriam had stopped speaking and had actually disappeared. Instead, her mother stood there smiling sweetly. "It's ok baby. I'm here." Chloe instantly felt relieved at the sound of her mother's soothing voice. "Mom, why is this happening to me?" Chloe's mom smiled as she replied, "Because you're a worthless waste of space dear." Chloe's eyes bulged with horrifying shock at her mother's response. Chloe's eyes narrowed as she realized what was going on, "You're not my mother...you're the first." Chloe's mom nodded politely and said, "As a matter of fact I am dear."
"This can't be real, Buffy said you could only take on the form of dead people but my mom was fine when I left..." Chloe's mom turned pale and had tears in her eyes, "When you didn't come home from school that day...I'd thought you'd run away again. I was so worried about you that I didn't bother to check when the doorbell rang. Those men, those horrible men with no eyes. Baby, they tortured me, they wanted to know where you were. I cried for you to come help me, I cried for hours but you never came. I cried even as they slashed my throat." Chloe was shivering with fear and sadness and quickly turned away in grief as a bloody wound opened up in the dead woman's throat."
Suddenly Chloe's mother transformed back into Miriam, "And I have something to tell you Chloe. I'm not here to frighten you child but I hope you are afraid. If you are afraid then that means you are wise to what's coming."
Chloe looked at her dead father's form and asked, "What's coming...Buffy says you're raising an army. She says we have to be prepared."
Miriam laughed and said, "Hun, my army isn't coming...it's already here. Now I'm here to offer you a choice." Chloe lifted her eyebrows and said, "A choice?" Miriam smiled and nodded, "When I come, they will die. They will ALL die. None will survive, not the potentials, not Buffy...no one. Now you can either stick around and prepare for a fight you will not win and die a horrible agonizing death at the hands of my Turok-Hans...or..." Chloe leaned forward, "Or?"
Miriam adjusted her glasses and said, "Or you can save yourself the pain and end it here, now. On your terms." Chloe looked around in surprise, "What!" Miriam glared at Chloe and transformed into her father Carlos, "You think one Turok-Han was bad? You saw how hard it was to beat, Buffy barely killed it. I have more, a thousand more. They will come and they will never stop coming until everything good in this world is dead and turned to dust. They will not rest until every last potential is mutilated and ripped limb from limb." Chloe put her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming. Part of her wanted to call for help, to get out of this room but...would this all happen?
Carlos continued, "Do you want to know what happens to Slayers?" He transformed into the very first slayer. The ebony woman covered in white face paint spoke, "This form, this wretched form was my first nemesis. She was the first slayer. My Turok-Hans took great pleasure ripping her flesh from her bones." The first slayer transformed into the Chinese slayer from the boxer rebellion, "This slayer was murdered by that peroxide eating vampire downstairs. He wasn't always good you know. He drained me like a pig." She transformed into Nikki Wood, the slayer from New York, "Spike killed me as well, broke my neck like a twig. Where do you think he got that snazzy coat?" Chloe was shaking as she watched the various forms changing in front of her. All these women had been slayers?
Nikki looked at Chloe sternly and asked, "How can you trust a hero who murders slayers?" Nikki transformed into Kendra, her neck still open, "I was de vumpia slayer after Buffy died. Yes it's true, Buffy Died. Where was Buffy when I was gettin me throat slashed?" Kendra transformed into Buffy, "You really think you have what it takes to replace me you little bitch? I died...twice and I'm still fighting." Buffy transformed into Annabelle, "I was a potential. Where was Buffy when that Turok-Han crushed my neck! We were all slayers. Slayers bring death."
Chloe was on her knees crying. She was shaking back and forth, "This isn't true, this isn't true." Annabelle transformed back into Buffy, "But it is Chloe. Don't you see? You're going to die, that is a fact. No one can stop what is coming. You now have the choice, do you want a fast death or a slow death? Take the bed sheets honey, make a noose. It will only hurt for a minute, then it's just like...floating away..." Buffy smiled gingerly as Chloe stood up, tears still streaming down her face. Buffy transformed into Carlos who said, "That's my girl. Good girls don't talk back." Carlos transformed into Chloe's mom, "It's ok baby, We'll be together again. We'll be a family again."
Chloe tied Dawn's bed sheet into a rope and put it around her neck, Her mother watched silently as she stood up on the bed and tied the rope around the top beam. The mom turned into Eve, "You're doing the right thing, the smart thing." Eve turned back into Miriam just as Chloe jumped off the bed. The girl's feet kicked in the air as her air supply was cut off. She squirmed like a worm on a hook. Miriam smiled and said, "When the other girls find you, I'll make up something poetic and tell them you said it."
Chloe's tearstained eyes were turning red. She spat out a choked phrase, "T.T.F.N." Miriam tilted her head, "Very retro." Chloe felt her heart start to slow down. Her feet stopped kicking and she slowed down in her squirming. The last thing Chloe Martinez saw before her eyes rolled back into her head was the form of Miriam Winston slowly transforming into an exact double of herself.
Then Chloe was gone.
Chloe's body hung quietly while the first in Chloe's form shrugged and said, "Another one bites the dust." Then she disappeared in a bright flash leaving Chloe's limp body hanging from the bed.
Ta Ta For Now.