Chapter Four:
It was well after noon when Faith came upon the demon again...and its fourth victim.
She had been following its path since early this morning, and as more people wandered into the streets going about their daily business, the more opportunities the demon had to catch someone off guard.
It still could not solidify its bodily form in the daylight; maybe it would not ever be able to. However, it could attack those unlucky individuals who wandered into a shady corner or down a dark street. The only real way Faith had been able to track the demon this far was by following the trail of fatalities. She dreaded what would happen once the sun went down and the protective light falling on most pedestrians right now was gone.
I'll kill it before then, Faith thought angrily and ran down an alleyway toward the sounds of the demon's inhuman attack.
As she drew closer, Faith saw the demon's smoky form encircling a man in its grasp. The demon's long vicious claws extended out from each of the five fingers on its hands, preventing its victim from moving while the life force was drained. Faith watched as the creature's arms and face became more distinct with each passing moment. The life force of its victims had given it more strength and a more definite shape.
Just so long as I can see your neck, you bastard, Faith thought.
She skidded to a halt as the demon dropped the man to the ground. It turned its disembodied face toward her, and sneered viciously. With a long screech, the demon swirled away and moved out of the alley.
Faith walked up slowly to the man's body and stared down at him. He looked cold, and empty, as if he had been dead for hours. Faith knelt next to the anonymous man she had not saved and closed his eyes. She moved the body carefully, almost respectfully to the side and covered him up with a nearby tarp. It was the least she could do...for someone she failed...
SLAM.
There was a loud clang as Faith punched her fist into the side of a dumpster, her eyes staring blankly forward.
She could see the sunlight but, from where she stood, she could not feel it.
It was not fair. What did this man ever do to deserve that demon's wrath? Why did he get to be condemned to have his life force stolen by some beast from hell? Why did the three others before him deserve the same? Why doesn't that creature just take her instead...
Faith took one long breath and drew her hand back to her chest. The dumpster had a large dent from the force of her punch, and Faith flexed her fingers with a hiss of pain.
That was better. Pain was easier to feel than guilt. It helped her focus. It helped push away memories of her past she would rather not have.
It helped her forget the man she had killed back in Sunnydale.
She had not done it on purpose.
She had thought the man was a vampire.
But that did not mean she did not enjoy the killing...
Stop it... she told herself angrily, What's done is done. And standing here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help the next person that damned monster finds...
"Monster..." she suddenly said aloud, but her voice did not seem to be her own, "That's what you call creatures who kill people...creatures like me..."
You're not a monster... Faith told herself but heard her voice speak again.
"No...I'm a Slayer..." she said, "We don't kill people...but I did...so...what does that make me?"
Faith flexed her hand again and glanced down at the dead man's body one more time.
Whatever she was now, she still had a job to do, one she could not have given up if she wanted to. The call of her heritage would never let her stop. And at least that gave her something to hold on to...something more than the guilt...something more than the hate...
So, Faith ran on, into the sunlight, but in search of the shadows.
It was less than an hour later when she passed the large sign that read:
Welcome to Westchester County