Chapter 3
Again the van was silent. No one wanted to be the first to speak and god knows that I was either too stunned or too terrified to be the one to break the silence. The words weren't sinking in, even though they made since. I had heard them before a long, long time ago. That had been different though.
I had been thirteen, living in England and completely unaware of the vampire population. My family was middle class, and other than my brother we fit in rather well. I was popular, well liked, just another girl trying to be perfect for my family. Then one day a strange man showed up and changed my life.
At the time I hadn't known he was a vampire. Being the girl I was I just thought he was a sickly old man. I was on my way home from a party, or at least waiting for my brother to come out and join me so he could escort me home. When the man started talking to me I had to be polite. He was in human form, and while his evil had changed his appearance for the worst, I tried to think the best of him. After all, there were many diseases that could hurt you, and he was dressed in fine cloths.
I didn't know what to do when he attacked me. I had screamed but he hadn't let me run. It wasn't proper for me to fight so I didn't even think of defending myself. If my brother hadn't walked out of the party at that time it would have been too late. He cried for help and when a mob came out to defend me the vampire fled. I didn't see him go, but I knew what he was, or at least part of me did. The logical part told me he was just a twisted evil man. After all, how could he be a demon?
Later that night I left my house, just to stand outside and stare. A part of me wanted to see that man again, to see what a demon looked like. I didn't know what I would do, but I knew that I would be okay. That was when my watcher first approached me. I was ready to run inside, thinking he might also try to kill me. He didn't, he merely told me everything.
I was no longer just a girl. I was the chosen one. The one girl of my generation chosen to stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. I was the slayer, and a damn good one if I do say so myself. I killed hundreds of vampires. It had been easy. Even the harder ones never seamed like much of a threat.
Then the inevitable happened, I came up against a vampire I couldn't beat.
His name was Brekken. The vampire from the party.
I'm not sure of how old he was, but I would have no problem saying that he was over a couple thousand. No one ever mentioned what he had done in the past. He was this figure of imposing doom, I didn't know why. It had never mattered why he was so terrifying, or at least not at first. He was simply the only vampire I had ever faced that had terrified me so much that I couldn't fight him. I had killed masters, I had killed the monsters that vampires feared, but this one topped them all.
When I did fight him, I didn't do badly. I wasn't winning, but neither was he. Then, as some might say, he cheated. He pulled out his little witch to do this spell. I didn't even hear it I was too busy staying alive. When Brekken finally spoke the last line of the spell I knew I had lost. Then the next thing I knew the entire world froze. There was no sound, no movement, no pain, until I woke up.
Everything seamed so vivid. It hurt, just to look around. Everything felt wrong, like I didn't belong. I knew that I wasn't alive. For a moment I thought Brekken had turned me, had made me a vampire. I felt like I was dead, but I wasn't. It was worse.
I was stuck. Stuck in time with nothing to do. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and couldn't die. Believe me when I said that I tried. For a hundred and twenty years I had been in existence, but not alive. My family didn't notice anything at first. Makeup and maturity covered up for lack of aging.
Vampires were still after me though. But I couldn't fight them. The spell had taken my life, as well as my strength. I was no longer the slayer. My best friend, my brother, had been killed a few months ago. Nothing was going well. My watcher just disappeared. I never really liked him. I thought I didn't need him. But when he was gone, I sure did miss him.
I faked a death and left England. America was a new frontier for me. I didn't need food or shelter. It cut down on supplies and let me save money. I sat by and watched wars. I was witness to some of the first American vampires. Master vampires crossed my path, being so distorted by the evil inside of them they were gruesome even to me.
Brekken came to America. He gave me some interesting nights. Believe it or not he was pissed. He couldn't kill me, that's all he wanted to do. He was so focused on me that he forgot about the current slayer to be. I wasn't even there to see her kill him. It was a bitter day, that one. His death ended my only source of amusement and the fact that I had nothing to do with it stung. So I sunk into the shadows and let things go on as they were.
I stood by and watched history take place, and it meant nothing to me. Politics, presidents, agriculture, the rising technology. It was meaningless. Humans were dull. They hurt, they fought and they died. All the things that I found fascinating by life became muted.
Nothing could hurt me, as far as I could tell I was untouchable, if not invincible. As great as that sounds, being immortal sucks. There was no challenge, no adventure. Even while being a pampered girl there had been competition, not to mention the slayer's life. Now. I had nothing, no one. My family was dead. My friends? Gone. There was nothing left for me, no escape. I couldn't even kill myself.
Then I found someone who shared in my misery, but also found joy in it. You'd be surprised with how easily a vampire could keep you entertained. I met him like I meet most vampires, in a dark alley while they're out for a late night snack. He wasn't young then. To this day I don't know when he died. After the bought of pain that came with biting me he was fascinated. Soon he became determined to figure out what was up with me. I became a sort of hobby to him, an unsolvable riddle that neither of us knew the answer to.
More than all of that though, Zeke was fun.
He knew where to go, what to do, how to keep eternity from getting dull. He showed me music, parties, all the while never forgetting that one question. What was keeping me here? Someone else was looking into it. That fact kept allowed me to relax. For the moment it wasn't my problem.
Zeke was one of the few vampires who didn't necessarily kill all his victims. Not that he didn't like killing, he was a vampire, it's what they do, but he realized that it wasn't always the best thing.
There was actually a group formed for these vampires. They were mocked and laughed at, but they didn't care. After all, they were getting the best deals out of it. Most of the group had at one point in their death gotten in to tight spots with the slayer. All were lucky to be alive, and all knew that the slayer wouldn't come to an area of low concentrated vampires. They left in their group, going some place where no other vampires would live.
The West Coast was just getting popular. Puyallup was a small city with no vampires residing there. To this day it's in the shadow of other cities, but now it's a city of its own.
Zeke was never formally announced the leader. He wouldn't have excepted the title but everyone knew who they answered to. The only hint he ever gave to his age was when a vampire stepped out of line. He let anyone who wanted to leave, but if they were going to stay they were going to follow the rules. Every vampire who came into that town learned that. If they didn't agree with the rules they were taken care of.
I was perfectly happy to do everything in my power to help.
Unknown to my vampire friends I started up a human life. Things didn't feel right with my living in the dark. I had nothing to do in the day. I couldn't stay with them. Not if I wanted to appear living. They couldn't know I wasn't alive in case I ever became alive. If they knew the truth, then they would know when I was vulnerable.
Yet someone knew anyway. Someone knew that I could be hurt, and they were waiting. They showed up in town just days before. No, they showed up the night I came back to life. And they knew, they knew I was the slayer.
"No," I stated, suddenly calm. Through out all of my reminiscence they hadn't said a word. They had waited for me, and I was done waiting. "I can't be the slayer. I can't do that again, not anymore."
"What are you talking about?" one of the men asked at the same time another said, "Got her info."
Everyone but the driver looked at the man who I just noticed was behind a laptop. "Elisabeth Johnson," he said. "Attending Roger's High school. She's 16, lives with her dad who travels a lot. there's not much information."
"We need to contact your parents, its very important," The man from the booth said. For the first time I got a good look at him. His thick brown hair nearly covered his emerald green eyes. He appeared shaggy, but dignified, and appeared to be somewhere in his late thirties. All of that meant nothing though. He carried himself with importance and urgency and that was what caught your attention.
"Who are you?" I blurted out.
The man took it in stride, fully expecting the question. "My name is Lloyd Stetson," he stated. "I'm here on behalf of the watchers guild to make sure you stay safe. You have no idea of the threat that's after you at the moment. The first thing we have to do is get out of here and contact your parents."
"On behalf of the watchers guild?" I murmured. "Okay, I can understand that, but what's the deal? Who's the big bad that we're running from? Obviously there're vampires out for me, but how do they know who I am? It was only a few days ago that I came back to life, besides, the other slayer hasn't died yet."
Again, all but the driver were staring at me. Lloyd was the one to explain, though he sounded unsure and was considering what I had just said. It took me a moment to realize that I had mentioned coming back to life. Chances were they didn't know what that meant. Lloyd tactfully ignored it, however, and went on to explain.
"There's a group of vampires that has been forming. They're slowly taking over different vampiric groups from all of the United States. Even with all the information we have on the group we still know very little. All the information that concerns you is that they have gotten hold a prophecy, one that concerns you. The prophecy had been translated from many different languages, and rather badly translated at that. We have managed to get a rough version of what they have." Lloyd explained. "As far as we can tell, it says that you will arrive at the location we found you, and that sometime in the next two years you will either be killed or kill all remaining vampires in this world."
I stared at him. "Kill all vampires?" I asked skeptically. He nodded, completely serious. "Well, you said you had a bad translation. You must have gotten it wrong because there's no way I can kill all the vampires. Even if I lived for another hundred years I couldn't do it."
"We realize what you're saying," said the younger watcher, "but that part of the translation is correct. The exact words we don't know, but I assure you that the prophecy is true."
I had dealt with watchers and their prophecies before. Best to let them pretend that they're right. "Fine, whatever. I have to stay alive for two years? No problem. Tell me what I have to do to take out this organization." The prophecy I would deal with later. Right now I had some business that I had to take care of. Another thought came to mind though. "Wait, how can I be the slayer, doesn't one have to die first? No one mentioned anything about Buffy dieing, and I don't think Faith would have gotten herself killed."
"You know about the slayers?" Asked the computer watcher.
I replied, "I like keeping track of them."
"Buffy died two nights ago. You won't here anything about it on the street. We've spoken to her watcher and he has devised a way to make it appear that Buffy is still alive," Lloyd explained.
I nodded understanding. "So about the vamps?" I asked.
"Yes, well," Lloyd started, "Perhaps Chris should explain. He's been doing most of the research on them."
The younger watcher looked surprised, but he nodded as he spoke. "Well, we know mostly where they're camping out, different cities across America. We know of a few of the leader's top servants. We don't, however, know much about their leader. He refers to himself simply as 'The Boss' and all his henchmen call him that. We haven't heard a name for him, or had any clues as to where he himself in hiding."
I thought about that a moment. It sounded familiar and I could sort of remember Zeke joking about it a few months ago. They hadn't known much about it, though. Of course if the new vampires in town were part of this new organization then I would know of a couple of people in it.
"Do you know of a vampire who goes by the name Alucard?" I asked.
Chris nodded. "Well, yes there're several..."
"Yes, but in this group?" I asked.
"Oh, well, let's see..." he paused to think a moment. "Yes, I've heard of one of the vampires using that name as a joke, but we don't know much about him."
"What do you know?" I asked.
Chris looked nervous as he answered. He wasn't sure of himself and it showed. "He's one of the leaders, top notch and all. We haven't been able to find out much about him, we haven't seen him as a big concern. I must admit I've only heard of him once or twice so I don't have any information on the vampire."
"Why're you so interested?" The driver asked, speaking up for the first time.
Not sure how to answer that I merely shrugged. I didn't really want to mention that I had spent the last fifty some odd years hanging out with vampires and that I was now worried about one.
This new group was slowly taking over the vampire population. I didn't know if it was by persuasion or force, but if they were trying to get Zeke out of power he's not going to fall for it. If it was a trap for him he could be in trouble. While the majority of the vampires that had been with Alucard were really young, Zeke couldn't fight them all. Then again, they were all looking for me that night, so he might be safe. Of he could be dead. Either way I was still worried.
"Now that's weird," the man behind the computer said. "We have all the basic information about her dad. His job, his number, and a lot of other things, but when you try to look in detail on anything there's nothing there to find. If I didn't know any better I'd say her family didn't exist." He looked up at me. "So how'd you do it? How'd you get this charade going about your life?"
I think I liked watchers better when they couldn't use computers. No one was questioning the man's findings, so they all knew that my cover story was fake. That didn't surprise me too much, but it left me with the decision of just how much to tell them. I decided that close to the truth would be good.
"My name is Elisabeth Blake. I was born in London in 1863. When I was thirteen I met a watcher who told me I was a slayer. When I was seventeen I was cursed so that I was stuck in a state where I wasn't alive or dead and two nights ago I came back to life. For the last hundred and twenty years I've done nothing but made up stories so that people would think I was still alive. I found that I've gotten rather good at it. As to this story? I had one of my friends help make records and just put it into play. It was quite simple."
This time they were in shock. I don't know whether or not they believed me, at the moment I was getting blank stares. I smiled to myself. It was amusing, to say the least, and after all, I had only answered the question so it's not my fault that I hadn't bothered to be subtle. Or at least that was what I was telling myself.
"Okay then," said the computer guy. "That explains a few things." He folded up his laptop and put it down. "We'll look in the files once we get back to the hotel. We should be safe for now." He looked directly at me. "You're going to tell me the entire story when we get to the hotel. I'm sure it'll sound weird and farfetched, but I need to hear it all."
By the way he said it I knew that it wasn't an option. I simply nodded, not sure as to what I'd really tell him, but I knew that it wouldn't be smart to argue. The watchers started talking to themselves. I tried to follow along with the conversation but they kept mentioning people and places I didn't know so I zoned them out.
Leaning back I closed my eyes. Other than when they occasionally said my name I didn't listen to them. Settling back in my chair I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This was boring, which should be a good thing, I've lived the non boring slayer life. It was a lot bloodier, if active.
Now to think up a story to use for when the computer guru wants some answers. I had to find a way to say just about everything and at the same time leave out all vampire friends. The smart move would be to keep some of them, same names and everything, and find a way to make them human. I went about thinking up stories for each of my friends that I wanted to keep in the story. As long as he wasn't overly good at catching lies I would be okay. Plus the watcher's will tell me what's going on, and if I didn't like it I'm sure I could run away.
With that decided I felt much better. With a small smile I went back to planning out the story I was going to use tonight. After editing quite a bit, I finally figured it out, memorizing all the details so as to not forget anything. If I messed up just one thing they might see through it, and I couldn't have that happen.
When I was done thinking I realized that everyone was quiet, then I realized that I'd been thinking for several hours. Looking out the window I saw a lot of open fields.
I really was leaving Puyallup. Once again I was starting over, just this time I had a pack of watchers guarding my back. Maybe this will work out, or maybe I'd spend the rest of my life being chased by vampires. Either way, I didn't have a clue where I was, so I'd best make the most of it.
After all, I couldn't very well go home.
*Clears throat* So... you have the history. It's somewhat complete. Of course I'll add more to it later, but that'll happen when it happens. Again, if you have any questions by all means ask. And thanks for reviews, questions are answered below.
Beyondthesilence: Yes, sorry about spelling. I don't have anyone really editing it for me--yet--so they're quite a few mistakes. I cleared most of the obvious ones through spell check and I'm actually going to look over this again before putting it online. I hope this cleared up the history for you, please keep reading. :)
Buckster: Glad you like it, thanks for the review. *looks around* yeah, that's all I have to say.
gidgetgirl: Of course, thanks for the review, glad you liked it. Now about this request. . . You're in luck. I have a very vague idea for this story so I'm open to just about everything. Oz? I liked him, he was a cool character I'd be happy to throw him in somewhere. *Mind goes into hyper drive as it considers possibilities.* Anyway. . . Liz will talk to everyone, rest assured. I don't know how she's going to deal with people, still trying to figure that out. Last but not least, the love interest. Yes there will be one. With who? *laughs* please don't ask, my mind keeps changing its mind so I'm going to just have to wait until it figures things out. Wish me luck!
Again thanks to my readers!
~Rave
Again the van was silent. No one wanted to be the first to speak and god knows that I was either too stunned or too terrified to be the one to break the silence. The words weren't sinking in, even though they made since. I had heard them before a long, long time ago. That had been different though.
I had been thirteen, living in England and completely unaware of the vampire population. My family was middle class, and other than my brother we fit in rather well. I was popular, well liked, just another girl trying to be perfect for my family. Then one day a strange man showed up and changed my life.
At the time I hadn't known he was a vampire. Being the girl I was I just thought he was a sickly old man. I was on my way home from a party, or at least waiting for my brother to come out and join me so he could escort me home. When the man started talking to me I had to be polite. He was in human form, and while his evil had changed his appearance for the worst, I tried to think the best of him. After all, there were many diseases that could hurt you, and he was dressed in fine cloths.
I didn't know what to do when he attacked me. I had screamed but he hadn't let me run. It wasn't proper for me to fight so I didn't even think of defending myself. If my brother hadn't walked out of the party at that time it would have been too late. He cried for help and when a mob came out to defend me the vampire fled. I didn't see him go, but I knew what he was, or at least part of me did. The logical part told me he was just a twisted evil man. After all, how could he be a demon?
Later that night I left my house, just to stand outside and stare. A part of me wanted to see that man again, to see what a demon looked like. I didn't know what I would do, but I knew that I would be okay. That was when my watcher first approached me. I was ready to run inside, thinking he might also try to kill me. He didn't, he merely told me everything.
I was no longer just a girl. I was the chosen one. The one girl of my generation chosen to stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. I was the slayer, and a damn good one if I do say so myself. I killed hundreds of vampires. It had been easy. Even the harder ones never seamed like much of a threat.
Then the inevitable happened, I came up against a vampire I couldn't beat.
His name was Brekken. The vampire from the party.
I'm not sure of how old he was, but I would have no problem saying that he was over a couple thousand. No one ever mentioned what he had done in the past. He was this figure of imposing doom, I didn't know why. It had never mattered why he was so terrifying, or at least not at first. He was simply the only vampire I had ever faced that had terrified me so much that I couldn't fight him. I had killed masters, I had killed the monsters that vampires feared, but this one topped them all.
When I did fight him, I didn't do badly. I wasn't winning, but neither was he. Then, as some might say, he cheated. He pulled out his little witch to do this spell. I didn't even hear it I was too busy staying alive. When Brekken finally spoke the last line of the spell I knew I had lost. Then the next thing I knew the entire world froze. There was no sound, no movement, no pain, until I woke up.
Everything seamed so vivid. It hurt, just to look around. Everything felt wrong, like I didn't belong. I knew that I wasn't alive. For a moment I thought Brekken had turned me, had made me a vampire. I felt like I was dead, but I wasn't. It was worse.
I was stuck. Stuck in time with nothing to do. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, and couldn't die. Believe me when I said that I tried. For a hundred and twenty years I had been in existence, but not alive. My family didn't notice anything at first. Makeup and maturity covered up for lack of aging.
Vampires were still after me though. But I couldn't fight them. The spell had taken my life, as well as my strength. I was no longer the slayer. My best friend, my brother, had been killed a few months ago. Nothing was going well. My watcher just disappeared. I never really liked him. I thought I didn't need him. But when he was gone, I sure did miss him.
I faked a death and left England. America was a new frontier for me. I didn't need food or shelter. It cut down on supplies and let me save money. I sat by and watched wars. I was witness to some of the first American vampires. Master vampires crossed my path, being so distorted by the evil inside of them they were gruesome even to me.
Brekken came to America. He gave me some interesting nights. Believe it or not he was pissed. He couldn't kill me, that's all he wanted to do. He was so focused on me that he forgot about the current slayer to be. I wasn't even there to see her kill him. It was a bitter day, that one. His death ended my only source of amusement and the fact that I had nothing to do with it stung. So I sunk into the shadows and let things go on as they were.
I stood by and watched history take place, and it meant nothing to me. Politics, presidents, agriculture, the rising technology. It was meaningless. Humans were dull. They hurt, they fought and they died. All the things that I found fascinating by life became muted.
Nothing could hurt me, as far as I could tell I was untouchable, if not invincible. As great as that sounds, being immortal sucks. There was no challenge, no adventure. Even while being a pampered girl there had been competition, not to mention the slayer's life. Now. I had nothing, no one. My family was dead. My friends? Gone. There was nothing left for me, no escape. I couldn't even kill myself.
Then I found someone who shared in my misery, but also found joy in it. You'd be surprised with how easily a vampire could keep you entertained. I met him like I meet most vampires, in a dark alley while they're out for a late night snack. He wasn't young then. To this day I don't know when he died. After the bought of pain that came with biting me he was fascinated. Soon he became determined to figure out what was up with me. I became a sort of hobby to him, an unsolvable riddle that neither of us knew the answer to.
More than all of that though, Zeke was fun.
He knew where to go, what to do, how to keep eternity from getting dull. He showed me music, parties, all the while never forgetting that one question. What was keeping me here? Someone else was looking into it. That fact kept allowed me to relax. For the moment it wasn't my problem.
Zeke was one of the few vampires who didn't necessarily kill all his victims. Not that he didn't like killing, he was a vampire, it's what they do, but he realized that it wasn't always the best thing.
There was actually a group formed for these vampires. They were mocked and laughed at, but they didn't care. After all, they were getting the best deals out of it. Most of the group had at one point in their death gotten in to tight spots with the slayer. All were lucky to be alive, and all knew that the slayer wouldn't come to an area of low concentrated vampires. They left in their group, going some place where no other vampires would live.
The West Coast was just getting popular. Puyallup was a small city with no vampires residing there. To this day it's in the shadow of other cities, but now it's a city of its own.
Zeke was never formally announced the leader. He wouldn't have excepted the title but everyone knew who they answered to. The only hint he ever gave to his age was when a vampire stepped out of line. He let anyone who wanted to leave, but if they were going to stay they were going to follow the rules. Every vampire who came into that town learned that. If they didn't agree with the rules they were taken care of.
I was perfectly happy to do everything in my power to help.
Unknown to my vampire friends I started up a human life. Things didn't feel right with my living in the dark. I had nothing to do in the day. I couldn't stay with them. Not if I wanted to appear living. They couldn't know I wasn't alive in case I ever became alive. If they knew the truth, then they would know when I was vulnerable.
Yet someone knew anyway. Someone knew that I could be hurt, and they were waiting. They showed up in town just days before. No, they showed up the night I came back to life. And they knew, they knew I was the slayer.
"No," I stated, suddenly calm. Through out all of my reminiscence they hadn't said a word. They had waited for me, and I was done waiting. "I can't be the slayer. I can't do that again, not anymore."
"What are you talking about?" one of the men asked at the same time another said, "Got her info."
Everyone but the driver looked at the man who I just noticed was behind a laptop. "Elisabeth Johnson," he said. "Attending Roger's High school. She's 16, lives with her dad who travels a lot. there's not much information."
"We need to contact your parents, its very important," The man from the booth said. For the first time I got a good look at him. His thick brown hair nearly covered his emerald green eyes. He appeared shaggy, but dignified, and appeared to be somewhere in his late thirties. All of that meant nothing though. He carried himself with importance and urgency and that was what caught your attention.
"Who are you?" I blurted out.
The man took it in stride, fully expecting the question. "My name is Lloyd Stetson," he stated. "I'm here on behalf of the watchers guild to make sure you stay safe. You have no idea of the threat that's after you at the moment. The first thing we have to do is get out of here and contact your parents."
"On behalf of the watchers guild?" I murmured. "Okay, I can understand that, but what's the deal? Who's the big bad that we're running from? Obviously there're vampires out for me, but how do they know who I am? It was only a few days ago that I came back to life, besides, the other slayer hasn't died yet."
Again, all but the driver were staring at me. Lloyd was the one to explain, though he sounded unsure and was considering what I had just said. It took me a moment to realize that I had mentioned coming back to life. Chances were they didn't know what that meant. Lloyd tactfully ignored it, however, and went on to explain.
"There's a group of vampires that has been forming. They're slowly taking over different vampiric groups from all of the United States. Even with all the information we have on the group we still know very little. All the information that concerns you is that they have gotten hold a prophecy, one that concerns you. The prophecy had been translated from many different languages, and rather badly translated at that. We have managed to get a rough version of what they have." Lloyd explained. "As far as we can tell, it says that you will arrive at the location we found you, and that sometime in the next two years you will either be killed or kill all remaining vampires in this world."
I stared at him. "Kill all vampires?" I asked skeptically. He nodded, completely serious. "Well, you said you had a bad translation. You must have gotten it wrong because there's no way I can kill all the vampires. Even if I lived for another hundred years I couldn't do it."
"We realize what you're saying," said the younger watcher, "but that part of the translation is correct. The exact words we don't know, but I assure you that the prophecy is true."
I had dealt with watchers and their prophecies before. Best to let them pretend that they're right. "Fine, whatever. I have to stay alive for two years? No problem. Tell me what I have to do to take out this organization." The prophecy I would deal with later. Right now I had some business that I had to take care of. Another thought came to mind though. "Wait, how can I be the slayer, doesn't one have to die first? No one mentioned anything about Buffy dieing, and I don't think Faith would have gotten herself killed."
"You know about the slayers?" Asked the computer watcher.
I replied, "I like keeping track of them."
"Buffy died two nights ago. You won't here anything about it on the street. We've spoken to her watcher and he has devised a way to make it appear that Buffy is still alive," Lloyd explained.
I nodded understanding. "So about the vamps?" I asked.
"Yes, well," Lloyd started, "Perhaps Chris should explain. He's been doing most of the research on them."
The younger watcher looked surprised, but he nodded as he spoke. "Well, we know mostly where they're camping out, different cities across America. We know of a few of the leader's top servants. We don't, however, know much about their leader. He refers to himself simply as 'The Boss' and all his henchmen call him that. We haven't heard a name for him, or had any clues as to where he himself in hiding."
I thought about that a moment. It sounded familiar and I could sort of remember Zeke joking about it a few months ago. They hadn't known much about it, though. Of course if the new vampires in town were part of this new organization then I would know of a couple of people in it.
"Do you know of a vampire who goes by the name Alucard?" I asked.
Chris nodded. "Well, yes there're several..."
"Yes, but in this group?" I asked.
"Oh, well, let's see..." he paused to think a moment. "Yes, I've heard of one of the vampires using that name as a joke, but we don't know much about him."
"What do you know?" I asked.
Chris looked nervous as he answered. He wasn't sure of himself and it showed. "He's one of the leaders, top notch and all. We haven't been able to find out much about him, we haven't seen him as a big concern. I must admit I've only heard of him once or twice so I don't have any information on the vampire."
"Why're you so interested?" The driver asked, speaking up for the first time.
Not sure how to answer that I merely shrugged. I didn't really want to mention that I had spent the last fifty some odd years hanging out with vampires and that I was now worried about one.
This new group was slowly taking over the vampire population. I didn't know if it was by persuasion or force, but if they were trying to get Zeke out of power he's not going to fall for it. If it was a trap for him he could be in trouble. While the majority of the vampires that had been with Alucard were really young, Zeke couldn't fight them all. Then again, they were all looking for me that night, so he might be safe. Of he could be dead. Either way I was still worried.
"Now that's weird," the man behind the computer said. "We have all the basic information about her dad. His job, his number, and a lot of other things, but when you try to look in detail on anything there's nothing there to find. If I didn't know any better I'd say her family didn't exist." He looked up at me. "So how'd you do it? How'd you get this charade going about your life?"
I think I liked watchers better when they couldn't use computers. No one was questioning the man's findings, so they all knew that my cover story was fake. That didn't surprise me too much, but it left me with the decision of just how much to tell them. I decided that close to the truth would be good.
"My name is Elisabeth Blake. I was born in London in 1863. When I was thirteen I met a watcher who told me I was a slayer. When I was seventeen I was cursed so that I was stuck in a state where I wasn't alive or dead and two nights ago I came back to life. For the last hundred and twenty years I've done nothing but made up stories so that people would think I was still alive. I found that I've gotten rather good at it. As to this story? I had one of my friends help make records and just put it into play. It was quite simple."
This time they were in shock. I don't know whether or not they believed me, at the moment I was getting blank stares. I smiled to myself. It was amusing, to say the least, and after all, I had only answered the question so it's not my fault that I hadn't bothered to be subtle. Or at least that was what I was telling myself.
"Okay then," said the computer guy. "That explains a few things." He folded up his laptop and put it down. "We'll look in the files once we get back to the hotel. We should be safe for now." He looked directly at me. "You're going to tell me the entire story when we get to the hotel. I'm sure it'll sound weird and farfetched, but I need to hear it all."
By the way he said it I knew that it wasn't an option. I simply nodded, not sure as to what I'd really tell him, but I knew that it wouldn't be smart to argue. The watchers started talking to themselves. I tried to follow along with the conversation but they kept mentioning people and places I didn't know so I zoned them out.
Leaning back I closed my eyes. Other than when they occasionally said my name I didn't listen to them. Settling back in my chair I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This was boring, which should be a good thing, I've lived the non boring slayer life. It was a lot bloodier, if active.
Now to think up a story to use for when the computer guru wants some answers. I had to find a way to say just about everything and at the same time leave out all vampire friends. The smart move would be to keep some of them, same names and everything, and find a way to make them human. I went about thinking up stories for each of my friends that I wanted to keep in the story. As long as he wasn't overly good at catching lies I would be okay. Plus the watcher's will tell me what's going on, and if I didn't like it I'm sure I could run away.
With that decided I felt much better. With a small smile I went back to planning out the story I was going to use tonight. After editing quite a bit, I finally figured it out, memorizing all the details so as to not forget anything. If I messed up just one thing they might see through it, and I couldn't have that happen.
When I was done thinking I realized that everyone was quiet, then I realized that I'd been thinking for several hours. Looking out the window I saw a lot of open fields.
I really was leaving Puyallup. Once again I was starting over, just this time I had a pack of watchers guarding my back. Maybe this will work out, or maybe I'd spend the rest of my life being chased by vampires. Either way, I didn't have a clue where I was, so I'd best make the most of it.
After all, I couldn't very well go home.
*Clears throat* So... you have the history. It's somewhat complete. Of course I'll add more to it later, but that'll happen when it happens. Again, if you have any questions by all means ask. And thanks for reviews, questions are answered below.
Beyondthesilence: Yes, sorry about spelling. I don't have anyone really editing it for me--yet--so they're quite a few mistakes. I cleared most of the obvious ones through spell check and I'm actually going to look over this again before putting it online. I hope this cleared up the history for you, please keep reading. :)
Buckster: Glad you like it, thanks for the review. *looks around* yeah, that's all I have to say.
gidgetgirl: Of course, thanks for the review, glad you liked it. Now about this request. . . You're in luck. I have a very vague idea for this story so I'm open to just about everything. Oz? I liked him, he was a cool character I'd be happy to throw him in somewhere. *Mind goes into hyper drive as it considers possibilities.* Anyway. . . Liz will talk to everyone, rest assured. I don't know how she's going to deal with people, still trying to figure that out. Last but not least, the love interest. Yes there will be one. With who? *laughs* please don't ask, my mind keeps changing its mind so I'm going to just have to wait until it figures things out. Wish me luck!
Again thanks to my readers!
~Rave