The Day Buffy Came Back
Chapter 4
A dagger was flying towards my head. I ducked.
"Oh come on Todd," I taunted, "You can to better than that."
"Yes, and you could have caught it," He said as he picked up a staff from the table behind him. He grinned at me as he slowly twirled the staff. "I'm not going to give you my all If you're not going to do the same."
"Fine then, how many bones do you want broken?" I teased.
Todd smirked, but he knew I wasn't lying. It was our joke, I could slaughter him if I wanted to. He knew it, I new it, but we could still pretend he stood a chance. After all, he was one hell of a fighter.
The one thing that really bugged me about being a slayer is the simple fact that I could beat the crap out of almost any human, even if they had studied different fighting techniques for their entire life. In truth, I shouldn't be able to win. Fighters such as Todd knew so much more than me that it bugged me even to fight them. It wasn't fair for them, and that was wrong. Sure, I could fight vampires and save the world, but I still didn't like having the power.
Todd picked up another staff and tossed it to me. "Ready?" he asked.
"More or less," I answered.
We circled each other slowly. He thrust his staff at me a couple of times. I blocked each one without a problem. I was waiting for him to make a real attack. He thrust one end of the staff at me, but was already throwing the other side before I had a chance to block the first. He kept up the attack, making it hard for me to keep up. He finally hit my hand, which I knew he would do. I let go of that end of the staff and he hit my arm.
The left side of my body was throbbing, a normal human would have had their arm broken. I dropped the staff, knowing that I wouldn't be able to move my good arm fast enough to make it block anything. Todd continued to attack, again and again. I dodged every blow.
"Beth?"
Todd paused and looked at the door to see who said that. I grabbed his staff, pulled it out of his hand and quickly knocked his feet out from under him. Todd fell to the ground before he even had time to see Lloyd at the door.
"So what's the plan?" I asked as I leaned against the staff.
Lloyd casually glanced at Todd as he walked into the room. "Well, I talked to the council, and we have a few more days."
"That's good," Todd muttered as he got to his feet. He took a moment to glare at me before going on. "So is she going out tonight?"
Lloyd nodded. "It wouldn't hurt for Beth to be out for a few hours, but we're leaving tomorrow morning." He stated. He looked at Todd before he went on. "I don't want her out alone, I have a bad feeling about tonight." and with that he left.
Todd looked at me. "If we're going out tonight training's over, I have to get online for a bit." He was already leaving the room, leaving me alone.
"Joy, the boss is gone and the computer guru goes back to work. My life is so fun," I murmured after them.
After putting the staves away I shoved my hands in my pocket and walked slowly out of the room. The entire building was large, but mostly empty. The watchers guild owned a lot of places through out the states, and even more in England. That came in handy when you have to move around a lot. Sometimes we stayed in hotels and other times we stayed in big, empty buildings. It didn't matter where we went though, the vampires always found us. The watchers had several charms and artifacts to help keep us hidden, but the vampires had many more shamans and witches looking for us. So, every two to four weeks we moved.
For the most part our group stayed the same. Lloyd was in charge, he decided when we moved and when we were in trouble. He went mostly on instinct and was usually right on target.
Chris was the guy who did most of the research. I didn't dislike him as much as I thought he was annoying. He loved his books but didn't like having to talk to people. Mostly he just sat around reading some ancient text, and when he talked he said something either completely intelligent or utterly stupid.
Jordan was our driver. Though I'm sure he did other things, all I've seen him do is drive. He talked to me sometimes, but not often so I didn't really know much about him.
Todd was our computer guy. If we needed any information that Chris couldn't find we turned to Todd. While Chris could identify and describe many creatures by memory, Todd could find almost anything online, and the Internet has a lot more than most books.
While all the watchers knew the basics of fighting, Todd was my trainer. Fighting was his hobby, and he was good at it. So he was slowly teaching me. In truth I needed all the help I could get.
Unknown to my watcher friends, while I was now alive, I wasn't exactly one hundred percent slayer. For starters, I didn't have the full strength. Sure I could fight and get knocked down a few times, but I knew what slayer strength was and I wasn't quite there. In its place was instead a higher ability to sense things. Slayers can always tell who's a vampire. It's our sixth sense, we just know. I have a stronger version of that then most slayers. If someone walks in the room I know who it is, if a vampire walks down the street outside I know he's there. It was my new defense mechanism.
Again though, they didn't know about it, not yet at least. My sixth sense was telling me it wouldn't last forever, that it was only helping me until things changed again, and things were changing. Twice so far this summer I had passed out again. Both times I woke up a little more human with a bit of that sixth sense gone. I wasn't sure which one I wanted more, extra strength or the psychic ability. Both helped, but which was better?
I sighed as I walked past Chris's makeshift room. Sure enough he had his nose in a book. He didn't notice me walk by so I didn't say anything to him. My room was small and cramped, like everyone else's. All I really had with me was clothes, and all of those were new, mostly preppy. There hadn't been any time for me to grab any personally belongings before I had left Washington and I hadn't grown attached to anything new.
I blew off the next couple of hours lying on my bed and looking up at the ceiling. All day I had been having a nagging feeling and I wasn't so sure as to why. I didn't sense an abnormal amount of vampires in the area, so they couldn't be here yet. Today had been as normal as any other day this summer.
It was ten o'clock before Todd walked in. He didn't bother knocking, but simply threw a stake in my general direction. It bounced off my stomach and onto the floor.
"Come on, we have vamps to slay," Todd said cheerfully.
I rolled over and grabbed the stake from the floor before standing up and walking over to Todd. "You're supposed to use the stakes on the vampires, not throw them at me," I said with a yawn.
He shrugged while pushing me towards the door. "Come now, let's be grumpy with the vampires, not each other." I started walking on my own and he stopped pushing me. "So anywhere in particular you want to go?"
I shook my head. "I don't even know where we are," I stated. "I just remember getting off the air plane."
"Chicago O'Hare, it's muggy outside, you've been warned," Todd said.
I sighed. I had visited many new places, none quite like western Washington. Some of them I didn't mind, but the muggy ones were annoying. "Why are we here again?" I asked.
"It's a big city, and we're right next to the airport. If we need to we can get lost in it or simply fly away," Todd explained. I had known the answer, but I had heard it too many times that it was getting old.
Todd was right, it was muggy outside. Even though it was late the streets were still crowded and it all looked the same to me. I wasn't sensing any vampires close so I let Todd lead the way.
"Are there any clubs or parks around that vampires might like to hang out in?" I asked?
Todd frowned. "Well, I've never actually been here before, so I'm just wondering." I gave him a don't-get-us-lost look and he just smiled. "Don't worry, I've been keep track of street names," he assured. I wasn't so sure that he completely knew how to get us back, but we could always call Lloyd if we got too lost.
"You know, sense we're not really going anywhere, why don't we get something to eat?" I asked knowing that Todd wouldn't say no to food.
Todd thought a moment before answering. "We're only supposed to be out slaying, but I don't suppose a few French fries or maybe a milkshake," he decided then turned to me grinning. "So where do you want to go?"
"To the next fast food restaurant, I'm not going to be picky tonight," I replied.
"Well there was a Mcdonald's a few blocks back," Todd suggested.
"That works," I said.
Turning around I felt something. Pausing a moment I focused to see where the feeling was coming from, but I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Focusing more didn't help any so I stopped. Maybe I was just hungry. Mcdonalds wasn't very far away, and the line wasn't too long. I only got a shake but Todd got two large fries and a large coke. We sat down to eat near the window and I kept a casual watch on the outside.
Across the street I saw a person who caught my eyes. Everything about him screamed vampire. "Hey, Todd, look at that guy," I pointed him out. "What do you think about him?" I asked.
Todd shoved some more fries in his mouth before answering. "He's a vampire, but you would know that."
"Yeah, I should," I murmured. Again I focused to see if I could feel any vampires. As far as I could tell there weren't any out there. "Look, I'm going to head outside, stay in here for a bit, will ya?" I asked. I didn't wait for his answer but got up. I knew he'd try to follow me but instead of doing anything to stop him I walked faster. If I could lose him he'd go back inside and watch out for me.
The vampire was already down the street. I had to jog to catch up to him, but he either didn't care that I was following him or just didn't know that I was here. He turned around the corner and I followed about fifteen seconds after him. Once I got around though he wasn't there.
I sighed. Maybe it was nothing, but something felt wrong. I couldn't tell were the vamp was and I didn't want to go after it alone. I'd get lost and probably stuck in a bad situation. Besides, It was something I should talk to Todd about anyway. Turning back around I walked back to Mcdonalds. Todd wasn't sitting in the window, but the food was still there. Thinking that he might have come after me after all I closed my eyes and searched for him. I couldn't find him, but I could sense about thirty vampires one this block alone. None were very close, and it didn't seam like they were paying attention to me. The moment I focused on them they were gone.
"A reversal spell," I muttered. It was the perfect way to throw me off. I had to get back inside the Mcdonalds and hope that Todd showed up. I couldn't afford to go off looking for him when I wouldn't be able to find him, especially now that I knew that this place was swarming with undead who were trying to keep themselves hidden.
Going back into the restaurant I looked for Todd again, as expected I picked up every vampire outside, and one inside. I'd never been here before, but it was a busy city. Maybe there were always this many vampires. I had mixed feelings to that idea. If they were always here then they wouldn't notice me, if not then we were in big trouble.
Todd walked out of the bathroom, saw me and came right over. "Hey, what was all that about?" He asked.
"How many vampires are normally here in this town?" I asked softly, my mind not really focusing on what was happening now, but instead thinking ahead.
Todd shrugged as he sat down and ate another French fry. "Well, it's a busy town, so there's quite a few, why?"
"Right now there is about thirty vampires on this block, not to mention in other areas," I stated.
Todd blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say thirty?" He asked. I nodded. "Well, I don't think that's normal, maybe it would be best if we headed back."
Again I nodded. "Yeah, you sure we know a way back or do we want to call?" I asked.
Todd leaned back. Brushing a hand through his hair he took a moment to think. "I'm sure I could find the way back, I just might not be quick about it."
"That's okay," I stated softly, still thinking. "We just have to call Lloyd."
"Um... yeah, about that," He murmured, "My cell phone's dead, so unless you have one we have to find a pay phone." He said.
That would set us back. I'm sure there was one outside, but I wasn't big on going out there. Things just felt wrong, that and the big vampire threat were both huge reasons to not go out there. Mcdonald's was a public place though, so they could come in at any time. Of course, that's only a problem if they were really after me.
"So, should I go look for a pay phone?" I asked.
"Not by yourself," Todd said sternly. "Lloyd said I have to watch out for you." He took a moment to think before continuing. "I'm going to see if I can use a phone here. Don't go anywhere.
I surpressed a sigh. He could be helpful in a fight but I preferred to fight alone. Glancing out the window I searched for a close phone booth. There was an intersection not far down the road. I could see a sign for a payphone. Glad that I had a place to go I stood up to meet Todd coming back.
"No phone here," he muttered. "The lady behind the counter insists they're too busy to help us."
"That's okay, I know where a phone is," I stated. "We need to head out now." Todd nodded and grabbed the rest of his fries on the way out.
I kept an eye out for vampires, but as far as I could tell no one was paying any attention to us. We stayed casual walking towards the pay phone but the moment we entered the general area of the gas station I broke out in a sprint. Todd took his time catching up as I searched my pockets for change. I had to wait for someone who was already in the booth, so I fished in my pockets for change. I only had thirty five cents..
"You know, I liked the phones better when it was only a quarter," I muttered to Todd once he caught up. Todd grinned and showed me had had fifty cents already waiting.
I looked back into the booth to see the guy just staring at us. He looked from me to Todd then back to me. I pounded on the booth to get him to hurry up and he grinned. I stepped back as the phone booth opened. "Sorry I took to long," he said in a raspy voice as he walked out. Todd took place. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" the man asked me.
I took a good look at him before turning back to Todd who was busy dialing the number. "No, I don't think so."
"Funny, I do," the man said, his voice suddenly different. I didn't get a chance to look at him before he pushed me aside.
Stumbling backwards I took a second to get to my balance back, giving the guy I now saw was a vampire time to punch the phone booth's door inward, Todd automatically turned around, trying to open the door and get out. The door was stuck tight and wouldn't budge.
"Okay then, this was unexpected," I muttered as I sized up the vampire.
He nodded. "Yes, actually it was," the vamp agreed. I wasn't sure what exactly he meant by that, but I was guessing that the large amount of vampires weren't looking for me. Yet he was one of the boss's vampires else he wouldn't have recognized me so easily. The vampire had changed his appearance entirely, instead of appearing to be an older man he looked young and ready to fight. I glanced at Todd to make sure he was okay. He was still talking on the phone while trying to get out of the phone booth. He wasn't hurt so I wasn't worried yet.
Turning my attention to the vampire I watched him carefully. We didn't have much time for a fight, not when there were so many others around.
Grinning the vampire lunged at me. Stepping to the side I dug my knee into his stomach. His running start gave all the force needed to make it a hard blow. He took a few steps backwards, regaining his stance before launching himself at me in a wave of punches. He wasn't a good fighter so I had no trouble blocking and dodging all his blows. Grabbing his fist I pushed him back. I kicked him before he could attack again, knocking him to the ground. Quickly I pulled out my stake and thrust it into his heart.
Taking a deep breath I got to my feet. I didn't sense the vampires surrounding me, so when I looked up at them I was surprised. Cursing whatever spell they were using I counted the vampires. Twelve. For a moment I stopped breathing. How could I take on twelve vampires? Todd was still locked up and I couldn't get to him without fighting past vampires.
The options that I could come up with were all looking really bad. The only good things was that most of the vampires didn't look like they were planning to attack. It was more as if they were standing guard. A few of the vamps were getting cocky though, they didn't like standing put. Three in particular seamed to be getting ready to attack.
They exchanged glances before moving in on me. I was backed into a wall, making it so I didn't have to watch my back, but I only had so many arms to block punches. I had a stake handy though, and the vampires weren't being very smart. I barely had to work to dust the first one.
Unfortunately after that things started to go down hill. One of the vampires grabbed me while the other threw a few punches. I wished I had met these idiots while I had been at full strength, they'd be dust by now. The problem was, however, that I was having a hard time pulling out of the vampires grasp.
When I finally managed to I blocked a kick, grabbing the vamp's leg as I did so and threw him into the other vamp. They both fell backwards. Scrambling to their feet they prepared to attack.
Suddenly one of them burst into dust. I blinked in surprise and watched as the other followed suit, leaving behind another vampire who was still in human face. He smirked at the pile of dust at his feet before looking up at me.
"I see we have ourselves a slayer," the new vampire drawled. Surprise filled me when I saw who it was. He looked at me and grinned. "Unfortunately though you're all supposed to be else where right now. I can take the slayer myself, get back to your posts." Instantly the vampires scattered, everyone one of them catching the threat in his voice. I tried to follow where they went but there were too many going too fast.
"Well," I murmured as I watched them go, "that was interesting." I turned back to the vampire. "Hello Zeke, what're you doing here?"
Zeke shrugged and shoved his hands into his pocket. "Not looking for you for a change," he murmured.
"Why would you be looking for me?" I asked, having a good idea what the answer might be.
"Well, I'd let you guess but it'd be a waste of time. I think you know the answer," Zeke said with a grin. I knew what he meant. Only one person was looking for me, I was just a little disappointed that Zeke would be working for him. "Actually though, I'm quite surprised that you're here. And we weren't even looking for you."
"Who are you looking for?" I asked.
Zeke just looked at me for a moment, thinking through his answer "No one important," he said finally. Translation to that was that he didn't want to tell me.
Not sure what else to talk about and not wanting to say too much I went for a major switch in topic. "Are we supposed to fight? After all, you are the bad guy now."
"Yes, but you were the slayer first so I'm blaming it on you," Zeke said.
I rolled my eyes. "Like I actually chose to be the slayer," I snapped.
"And I chose to be a vampire?" Zeke snapped back.
"Technically you were a vampire before I was a slayer," I pointed out.
Zeke shrugged again. "True, but I never lied to you about being a vampire." I glared at him, he grinned back.
"Well, I didn't think I was the slayer at the time I met you, so I wasn't lying about it," I said back.
"This is a pointless argument, isn't it?" Zeke asked, stopping our flow of meaningless come backs.
I nodded my agreement. "Yeah, it is."
"So, are we going to fight now?" he asked.
Again I nodded. "Yeah, I think so." In an instant both of us switched gears from being friendly to looking completely serious.
Zeke stood silently. He was still dressed like a punk, today in camo cargo pants and a black shirt with the words "the clowns made me do it" on the front. He looked like a normal guy at the moment, but I knew the moment we actually started fighting he'd switch to his vampire face.
To say I was nervous would be one of the biggest understatements I could ever make. I was terrified. I had seen Zeke fight before. He was strong and fast, and at the moment I wasn't. Not being at full slayer strength really sucked.
Zeke didn't bother to say anything else. He was tired of small talk and ready for action. Barely seeing his movement in time I blocked a punch before pushing him back. He was ready though and had a follow up. This time he hit me, and it hurt. Throwing a punch at him he didn't even bother to block, and even as my hand slammed into his face I knew it hadn't faced him. He grabbed my arm and twisted it.
Hissing in pain Zeke fought back, sliding his leg behind mine he pulled me off my feet while still holding on to my arm. It was my turn to hurt as I bit my tongue to stop from screaming. I hadn't heard anything break, but I still thought he just broke something.
Being near the ground I simply grabbed his leg and pulled. He wasn't expecting that and suddenly lost his balance, letting go of me as he fell.
I forced myself to my feet as I cradled my arm. Trying hard to ignore the pain I watched Zeke closely. He took his time getting up from the ground, chuckling as he did so.
"Well, most people would be dead by now," he said, an almost mocking look on his face. He had some personal joke that I wasn't getting. Suddenly his face turned serious, as if he just remembered something important. "When you die, and I won't be the one to kill you, but when it happens, do you want us to make you a vampire?"
Okay, to forget the sudden change in topic, he was asking me? No, he was asking for my opinion. I could see the decision was already made. I'm not sure why he wanted to know, but he was curious. The answer? There was no way I'd want to be a vampire, but I didn't want to tell him that. I didn't want to answer at all. So I looked away and kept silent.
Zeke sighed softly, understanding that I wasn't going to answer his question. He didn't say anything else either. The silence hung in the air for a moment, then Zeke moved again.
For a moment I was able to keep up with him, punch for punch, even with a broken arm. Then things went bad. Zeke must have wanted to finish it because suddenly he was moving faster than I could. Before I knew it I was thrown to the ground. Taking a deep breath I tried to stand up. Zeke kicked my in the ribs, lifting me off the ground for a moment before I fell back down. I felt another bruise coming on as I realized that I really couldn't fight any more.
Zeke crouched down beside me. He tilted his head to the side as he stared at me. "Had enough yet?" He asked softly.
I couldn't waste my time answering, instead I tried to crawl backwards, but I just didn't have the strength. Zeke smirked. "Still trying to fight," He murmured. He reached out and grabbed my throat, lifting me up by it. I tried to get him to let go by my efforts were meaningless. He punched me once, twice, then through me into a wall. My head smacked against it and again I crumbled to the ground.
I watched Zeke slowly walk up to me. Again he crouched down to my height. "Still want to fight?" he asked with a grin. I turned away, not wanting to look at him. "I couldn't have taken all the fight out of you," he whispered, leaning closer to me, "I know you better than that. You'll never stop fighting."
You don't know me that well, I thought. He won, he could kill me if he wanted to. Instead he was toying with me, but I could tell he wanted me to answer him. I focused my gaze on the wall, trying not to think of Zeke. It wasn't working.
"Liz..." he murmured. I didn't look at him. I felt his hand on my cheek, stroking it softly. "you're bleeding," there was a note in his voice I didn't like. He sounded hungry. It shouldn't have mattered, I already knew I was going to die, but suddenly I was afraid. Not that I hadn't been before, but it was different now. Gut wrenching terror.
I didn't have to ask when he had last feed. He seemed to be able to pick up on that train of thought.
Zeke smirked. "Don't worry, I can't feed on you," he said sarcastically. Though he wouldn't admit it he wasn't happy about it. Zeke never liked someone else telling him what to do, little less who he could feed on. For some reason that didn't help much, I was still afraid. Even without looking at him Zeke could tell. "Are you afraid of being eaten?" He wondered.
Remaining silent I considered the question. Am I afraid? Hell yeah. But was it really bothering me? No, it wasn't. I'd spent the entire summer thinking about what I would do when the vampires finally caught up with me and I couldn't escape. While I was still afraid, I had accepted it.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" He asked, for the first time sounding somewhat aggravated. His hand move to my chin as he gently moved my head to face him. I jerked out of his grasp, trying to look away. He stopped being gentle as he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. "Why aren't you talking to me?"
"Because you're trying to get me killed," I said bluntly.
He starred strait at me, catching my gaze and not letting it go. "And would you let me live?" He asked. "If I hadn't been winning, would you have let me leave? Knowing that one day I might kill you."
Again we were trapped in silence. I didn't know what else to say. I would have killed him. It wouldn't have been personal, I wouldn't even think about it. My job was to fight him, and his was to fight me. I shouldn't blame him for doing what had to. But I did, and he felt the same about me.
"I suppose this is why vampires and slayers don't become friends," I muttered.
"Yeah."
I knew that there was nothing I could do to get out of this situation but I looked around one last time. People and cars past us by, no one sparing us a glance. There had to be some kind of spell stopping people from seeing us because we were in plain view of just about everything. Continuing my search I saw Todd, still trapped in the phone both watching everything. What he must be wondering... I had forgotten him during the fight, but he had been watching every thing.
"What have you told your friend?" Zeke asked.
I shrugged. "Nothing about you."
"Embarrassed that you hung out with us dead people?"
"No, I just don't think they'd understand."
"Hmm..." Zeke stared at Todd for a moment. "Well, he's edible," he murmured.
My head snapped back to Zeke. Even though he was facing Todd Zeke was staring at me. "Leave him alone," I said firmly.
He turned back to me with a grin. His hand was touching my cheek again, this time to wipe off some of the blood from a cut near my eye. He leaned forward until his face was only inches from mine. "I can't feed off you and I'm very hungry," he stated. "Your friend would make a good meal."
He meant it and it terrified me. Not sure of how to at least save Todd I went with the first plan I could think of. "Were you told not to feed off me or simply not to kill me?"
Zeke didn't answer at first. I could almost see his mind working as he tried to remember. I watched as a slow smile slid across hit lips. He moved his head so that it was closer to my ear. "I'm not allowed to kill you-- or bite you," He stated. "But I can get a taste." Again he moved closer to me. I felt his face change as he went into vamp mode, but he didn't attack me. Instead I felt his mouth on my cut as his tongue began to lap up blood. He slowly worked the cut near my eye before moving onto a larger cut that happened to be on my neck.
I've heard that the blood of a slayer was like a drug to vampires. Once they got a taste they always wanted more. It didn't matter how many slayers a vampire might kill, the satisfaction only lasted a few moments and then the blood was gone. It was a rush, intoxicating, but it always faded.
When Zeke touched me he didn't care who I was, I was a slayer and he was hungry. I waited for him to lose control, to forget his orders and drive his fangs into my neck. He didn't. In a few seconds he pulled away from me, not in complete control but not out to kill me either. I wasn't sure what was going through his head, but there was hunger in his eyes, if nothing else my blood had only increased it.
After a few seconds to maintain control of himself Zeke turned back to me, completely serious. He didn't say anything as he pulled out some charm necklace and put it over my head. I didn't struggle, if I knew what it was I would have.
The moment Zeke let go the necklace seamed to set itself up against my skin, and once it was attached to me I stopped moving. Suddenly I was tired. I didn't want to move or think or do anything. Sitting up was starting to hurt and I just wanted to lie down.
Zeke stood up and moved back to stare at me. It hurt to watch him and try to think about him and what he might be doing, but I knew that I had to. I ignored the pain in my mind as I attempted to figure out what was going on.
He'd put a necklace on me? Right... I think so, I couldn't remember. Yes, yes he did. Did it have a charm? Something to mess with my mind? Why would that matter?
I groaned as a sharp pain tore through my mind.
Yes, there was a charm. It had to be messing with me now. What was Zeke doing now? Walking, yes I think that's it. Walking where? I know where... Towards Todd, yes that it. Todd... phone both... trapped. He's going to kill him. Kill who? Todd. Not thinking strait... should stop... just stop...
No! Todd, got to help. How? Can't think, should stop. It hurts. Help Todd. Forget Todd, just relax. Hurts to move, hurts to think, just stop. No... have to stop Zeke.
I forced myself to lift my head as bolts of pain shot through me. Zeke was almost to the phone booth, and I had already forgotten what I was doing.
Zeke vampire, going to kill Todd. Yes, that's right. Wait... yes, Zeke gave me necklace. It hurts. Can't move. It hurts. . .
All this time I was watching him, suffering through the pain that came with trying to move. Knowing that I had to do something I tried pushing myself up a little. With my hands on the ground for support I pushed myself onto my feet. I used the wall for support as I pulled myself to a stand up position. Then I just stood there. I couldn't remember why I was standing. The pain swept over me in waves and I only wanted it to stop.
Watching Zeke was the only thing that kept me standing. I some how knew I had to stop him. Why and from doing what I didn't care. It didn't seam important enough to figure out.
"Zeke!" I called out.
He paused before turning to look with a look of surprise and amusement. "You never do stop fighting..."
He didn't get a chance to say anything else for some unseen force suddenly ran into him, pushing him hard into the wall of the gas station, so hard that I felt it shake.
Blinking I tried to sort out what was going on as I fought the pain back. Who attacked Zeke? Did someone attack Zeke? What was going on?
I was dimly aware of the attack taking place in front of me. Zeke didn't stand a chance. He wasn't prepared for what he was facing, he had been taken completely by surprise and it was a matter of minutes before he was on the ground, not dusted but unconscious.
My mind was still catching up on the fight while the winner approached me. recognition sparked, but I couldn't think or see clear enough to know any more but that.
"Liz, we have to get out of here," the man said. I wasn't sure who he was, but he had to be a vampire. The watchers called me Beth.
I stared blankly. Realizing that Todd was okay I smiled. I didn't have to feel the pain, Zeke was stopped. My body collapsed on itself and my mind went blank as I stopped fighting the lull that pulled me into nothingness. The pain was gone and no thoughts ventured into my mind.
I barely heard the words "What're you doing?" and though I acknowledged their existence I didn't know what they meant. "Oh, damn. Stupid necklace," I heard at the same time the necklace was yanked off my throat. "Come on, we have to go."
Arms supported me as I tried to stand. My mind was coming back to me, just not very quickly. Not being able to stand on my own the man held me up. "You back yet?" He asked.
My thoughts were smoothing out enough that I could understand, but everything was still blurry. "Get Todd," I murmured. "He knows what to do."
"Curse it," the voice muttered and he suddenly let go of me. I fell to the ground with a thud, not sure of what happened. I think the man walked over to the phone booth and literally tore off the door. Was he a vampire? What else would have the strength, yet why does he help me? The same hands that first helped me up were back, and this time they didn't bother trying to get me to stand. He merely lifted me up. I heard conversation between the two men, but I wasn't sure what was said. Before I knew it I was moving while my mind slowly rebuilt itself.
When finally we stopped I was thinking clearly and could almost see strait. "Let me down?" I requested, not sure whoever was holding me would do so. He hesitated a moment, but finally put me on my feet. I held on to him for a moment until I got balanced. After a few minutes of standing there, almost falling then catching myself I thought I was ready to go. I glanced around to see us in a half filled parking lot.
"Okay," I said softly, "What happened?"
"I called Lloyd, he should be here soon," Todd started. "Your... friend saved our lives, but I'm going to need a lot of answers once we get home."
Nodding to show that I understood I turned to my 'friend' so that I could get a good look at him. It took my awhile to see the familiar features below the large reflective sunglasses and black cap. His face was hidden in shadows but I still knew who it was. Upon my realization I unconsciously took a step back, suspicion coming quickly to mind.
"Alucard!" I said with surprise.
He made a grim grin with a nod. "Long time no see," he said in a sarcastically friendly tone.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.
Smirking he glanced around us. "You're the one who's not supposed to be here hun. Seer said I'd be showing up, didn't mention you."
"What seer?" asked Todd, clearly worried.
"The boss's, who else?" Alucard said as if anyone would know. "He's the one tracking us, that seer. You've got some nice spells helping you though, so I'm the one they've been catching."
Puzzled I asked, "Why would they be chasing you? You work for him!"
"Use to, yes," Alucard murmured. "Then all sorts of bad things happened. and now here we are, together again."
"Not for long, you're getting out of here," I stated.
Alucard grinned at me. "Really?" He said with a glint in his eye. "You couldn't make me leave if you tried. You got you ass kicked once tonight, do we really need to repeat that?" I glared at him, he ignored it.
"If you don't mind answering, why would you want to save us?" asked Todd, being very polite about all of this.
Alucard glanced at him for a moment. "Because my buddy Zeke is pissed and it'd be nice to have a slayer around to distract him with."
"So she's bait?" Todd asked, hiding his frown.
"For now, this time tomorrow she'll be able to fight him off," he stated. "Thought she'd make good bait, too.".
"Fight off Zeke?" I asked skeptically. I just got the crap kicked out of me by one vampire. There was no way I could be of help to him. Yet the look he was giving me said otherwise. "What do you know that I don't?" I asked.
Alucard smirked as he glanced around the empty parking lot, "You'd be surprised how much I know about you."
I suddenly felt uneasy. He meant what he said, and if he knew so much, then who else did? And what exactly did he mean by that.
"How will she be able to help you?" Todd asked, sounding quite polite and courteous, as if he were talking to someone who he actually liked.
Alucard looked Todd up and down, from his blond hair to his Nike shoes. He took him in with a glance and instantly formed an opinion of him. "You've heard of the prophecy, well I've seen it. I know what's coming next, while you don't." He stated.
Todd and I exchanged a look. Right now we had to figure something out. Were we going to let him stay or not. There were advantages to both sides, but also problems. We didn't even know why Alucard was helping us, or if he was just setting us up.
"Why is Zeke after you?" I asked, knowing that his answer would have to make up my mind. We didn't have time to drill him for information.
Alucard knew what was going on, and he was watching us carefully, but when he thought about the question he could only grin. "Well, I tired to kill the boss."
Raising an eyebrow Todd and I exchanged looks. "Maybe we should ditch you. I'm not sure that your past won't be a bit of a liability." Todd said. Alucard stared at him for a moment before turning to me.
"Well, do you even believe me?" He asked as he searched for someone to be on his side. There was no denying it that if Alucard was telling the truth he had nothing to lose coming to us. If the boss's men found him he was dead.
Again I looked at Todd. He met my eyes and in an instant I knew we were in agreement. "Yeah, I believe you," I said, not sure whether or not I was lying.
Todd suddenly pointed at the road. "They're here," he said, indicating where our pick up van was coming from.
We watched in silence as the Van came into the parking lot. It parked right in front of us and the door opened right away. Lloyd motioned us inside, but gave Alucard a good look. He looked to me cradling my arm for a moment before offering to help my in.
Looking from the van to Alucard I knew that I had to decide weather or not he was coming with us. He did have a lot of possible information, but I wasn't really sure if he was telling the truth. Besides, I could tell that Todd didn't want him to come. I bit my lip in thought, aware of the lack of time. Vampires were still in the area, we had to get out of here.
With a sigh I climbed into the van, prepared to leave Alucard behind. "Liz?" I heard him ask. Hesitating for just a moment I wasn't sure whether or not to leave him here. Taking a deep breathe I turned around.
"Thanks for saving me, but you can't come along," I said flatly.
Alucard stared back at me with a smile on his face. Only his eyes betrayed his feelings. He was scared, and for good reason. He too was being chased, and he didn't have a place to go for protection. He glanced around the parking lot for a moment, searching for something to help him. When he turned back to me his smile was gone leaving behind it a look of desperation.
Suddenly things got blurry, Alucard's form looked like a blob of color before once again being Alucard. I blinked back dizziness while trying to figure out what was wrong. The problem was that I knew this feeling. I had suffered through it before and I knew what was coming next. I felt my heart rate speed up and my breath quicken, but I couldn't afford to pass out yet. Not being able to stop myself I collapsed, falling out of the van as I did so. I heard the watcher's cry out, asking what was wrong.
Hands grabbed me before I hit the ground. I could hear and see what was going on, I just couldn't move. My sight was slightly limited at the moment anyway, I was staring into something dark and had no view of what was actually going on. Something new was happening, and I wasn't sure exactly what.
I tired to calm down, but my body wasn't listening to me. It took me a few minutes to realize that once again Alucard was holding me, and at the moment he was arguing with my watchers.
"Look, I know what's going on, why this is happening to her," Alucard insisted. "If you let me go with you I can help you."
Right about now I was ready to agree with Alucard. If I could only talk I would tell everyone to shut up and let him tag along. We were wasting time and I needed to figure out what was going on. If Alucard said he knew, then I was ready to take a chance.
Alucard was in the middle of trying to explain something to the watchers when he suddenly stopped. I could feel his body tense for a moment. He shifted me for a moment and reached into his jacket. I felt something cold on my left wrist and heard a click, as if something locked into place. through out all of his movements I heard Alucard talking.
"We're out of time. The vampires are moving quickly towards us. You have two choices. We can stay around and chat until they catch up and kill us, or you can take me with you. Liz here has a broken arm and it's already healing wrong, you need to help her. She's going to be out of it for the next twenty-four hours or so. You don't have time to fight me, so let me in." Alucard finished his speech and waited.
"Hand her to us and you can come in," I heard Jordan say, clearly agreeing that this was taking too long.
Alucard raised his arm, making it so that whatever he had put on mine was pulling my arm with it. that was my broken arm and it hurt, but I couldn't say anything and at the moment my entire body was feeling off, so it wasn't that bad.
"We're handcuffed together, I'm wearing a bullet proof vest so you can't stake me and I'll block any attack on my neck. You're not leaving me behind," with that said he carefully picked me up and helped me into the van.
I felt hands moving me around and then there was more talking. Lloyd picked up my arm, ignoring the fact that Alucard had to move his with me. Carefully he figured out what was wrong with it and went about fixing it. Right then I would have done something if I had been able to. I'm not sure if I would have screamed or yelped, but I would have done something to show how much it hurt. He quickly made a makeshift sling for my arm and let it rest.
I could see everyone in the van through half closed eyes. Jordan was already taking us away, speeding with every chance he got. He had this uncanny ability to avoid police men, or at least slow down whenever one showed up. With everything illegal he did he had not once been pulled over.
There was a very uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at Alucard who was forced to sit next to me. Alucard sat at ease. He didn't have a problem with anything that was going on. He had at last got his way and was being taken out of danger by the slayer and her watchers. Knowing more than any of us about what was going on he held the advantage, but he didn't seam to care.
I listened as Todd explained everything, glad to know what he knew so that I would be able to explain everything that happened. Not once did they ask Alucard for clarification on tonight's events. When at last they did talk to him Lloyd was the one who spoke.
"You claim to have seen the prophecy?" he asked.
Alucard nodded. "In many forms, actually. The original I saw only once, about two hundred years ago."
"Yes, and that's going to help," Jordan muttered from the front seat.
Alucard nodded agreement, but still wore a smile. "No worries there. I'm sure you'd like to hear the exact words the boss is telling everyone, and the exact words he has. Not to mention the original language and who he has watching us. . ."
"You've proved your point," Todd muttered, "So get to telling us something already.
Chuckling Alucard shook his head. "Nah, not yet. We have time, and I'm hungry. Maybe after a meal. Besides, you're not in a big rush, you have plenty of time. Liz here is the one who needs to know everything anyway, and I'm not sure if she can hear this."
I wanted to tell them that I was getting every word, but I don't think that was what everyone wanted me to hear.
"Fine, we'll wait for Beth," Chris muttered from the back seat. He had been very uncomfortable ever sense Alucard had come into the van. "Where are we going, anyway?"
Lloyd looked hard at Alucard as he considered the question. "We have to pick up our supplies and find away to transport your books. We have until tomorrow night, that way we can drag this. . . vampire with us on a plane."
Alucard's smile widened. Yes, he had gotten his way. For now he was safe, and tomorrow I would know why I had gone into this in between state. He was right, we had time, but it was getting hard waiting for answers.
Especially when they were sitting right next to me and I couldn't even ask for them.
Hey! Sorry it took a bit of time to get this chapter out. My muse abandoned me over the four day weekend then showed up today during math class. Go figure. But hey, another unusually long chapter. It's weird, normally mine are really short until I get to the end of the story. I blame it on too many ideas rushing through my head. *shrugs* oh well. It's official, unless the next chapter gets really long and I split it in two (probably won't) then it's the last before Elisabeth joins the scoobies. She'll jump in at the episode "First Date" which was a good episode, but this week's was better. She finally got around to calling everyone idiots. On to the thank yous:
only one? That makes it easy:
Beyondthesilence: Ah, you can always criticize! And Spike. how do I put this without saying too much. Spike is the one person that there is absolutely no chance of Elisabeth have a love interest with. Except for Giles, he's just too old. As for other stories, I have two Gundam Wing stories completed, so if you like Anime go ahead and read them, but that's it. Glad you like it thanks for the review!
Until next time!
Rave
Chapter 4
A dagger was flying towards my head. I ducked.
"Oh come on Todd," I taunted, "You can to better than that."
"Yes, and you could have caught it," He said as he picked up a staff from the table behind him. He grinned at me as he slowly twirled the staff. "I'm not going to give you my all If you're not going to do the same."
"Fine then, how many bones do you want broken?" I teased.
Todd smirked, but he knew I wasn't lying. It was our joke, I could slaughter him if I wanted to. He knew it, I new it, but we could still pretend he stood a chance. After all, he was one hell of a fighter.
The one thing that really bugged me about being a slayer is the simple fact that I could beat the crap out of almost any human, even if they had studied different fighting techniques for their entire life. In truth, I shouldn't be able to win. Fighters such as Todd knew so much more than me that it bugged me even to fight them. It wasn't fair for them, and that was wrong. Sure, I could fight vampires and save the world, but I still didn't like having the power.
Todd picked up another staff and tossed it to me. "Ready?" he asked.
"More or less," I answered.
We circled each other slowly. He thrust his staff at me a couple of times. I blocked each one without a problem. I was waiting for him to make a real attack. He thrust one end of the staff at me, but was already throwing the other side before I had a chance to block the first. He kept up the attack, making it hard for me to keep up. He finally hit my hand, which I knew he would do. I let go of that end of the staff and he hit my arm.
The left side of my body was throbbing, a normal human would have had their arm broken. I dropped the staff, knowing that I wouldn't be able to move my good arm fast enough to make it block anything. Todd continued to attack, again and again. I dodged every blow.
"Beth?"
Todd paused and looked at the door to see who said that. I grabbed his staff, pulled it out of his hand and quickly knocked his feet out from under him. Todd fell to the ground before he even had time to see Lloyd at the door.
"So what's the plan?" I asked as I leaned against the staff.
Lloyd casually glanced at Todd as he walked into the room. "Well, I talked to the council, and we have a few more days."
"That's good," Todd muttered as he got to his feet. He took a moment to glare at me before going on. "So is she going out tonight?"
Lloyd nodded. "It wouldn't hurt for Beth to be out for a few hours, but we're leaving tomorrow morning." He stated. He looked at Todd before he went on. "I don't want her out alone, I have a bad feeling about tonight." and with that he left.
Todd looked at me. "If we're going out tonight training's over, I have to get online for a bit." He was already leaving the room, leaving me alone.
"Joy, the boss is gone and the computer guru goes back to work. My life is so fun," I murmured after them.
After putting the staves away I shoved my hands in my pocket and walked slowly out of the room. The entire building was large, but mostly empty. The watchers guild owned a lot of places through out the states, and even more in England. That came in handy when you have to move around a lot. Sometimes we stayed in hotels and other times we stayed in big, empty buildings. It didn't matter where we went though, the vampires always found us. The watchers had several charms and artifacts to help keep us hidden, but the vampires had many more shamans and witches looking for us. So, every two to four weeks we moved.
For the most part our group stayed the same. Lloyd was in charge, he decided when we moved and when we were in trouble. He went mostly on instinct and was usually right on target.
Chris was the guy who did most of the research. I didn't dislike him as much as I thought he was annoying. He loved his books but didn't like having to talk to people. Mostly he just sat around reading some ancient text, and when he talked he said something either completely intelligent or utterly stupid.
Jordan was our driver. Though I'm sure he did other things, all I've seen him do is drive. He talked to me sometimes, but not often so I didn't really know much about him.
Todd was our computer guy. If we needed any information that Chris couldn't find we turned to Todd. While Chris could identify and describe many creatures by memory, Todd could find almost anything online, and the Internet has a lot more than most books.
While all the watchers knew the basics of fighting, Todd was my trainer. Fighting was his hobby, and he was good at it. So he was slowly teaching me. In truth I needed all the help I could get.
Unknown to my watcher friends, while I was now alive, I wasn't exactly one hundred percent slayer. For starters, I didn't have the full strength. Sure I could fight and get knocked down a few times, but I knew what slayer strength was and I wasn't quite there. In its place was instead a higher ability to sense things. Slayers can always tell who's a vampire. It's our sixth sense, we just know. I have a stronger version of that then most slayers. If someone walks in the room I know who it is, if a vampire walks down the street outside I know he's there. It was my new defense mechanism.
Again though, they didn't know about it, not yet at least. My sixth sense was telling me it wouldn't last forever, that it was only helping me until things changed again, and things were changing. Twice so far this summer I had passed out again. Both times I woke up a little more human with a bit of that sixth sense gone. I wasn't sure which one I wanted more, extra strength or the psychic ability. Both helped, but which was better?
I sighed as I walked past Chris's makeshift room. Sure enough he had his nose in a book. He didn't notice me walk by so I didn't say anything to him. My room was small and cramped, like everyone else's. All I really had with me was clothes, and all of those were new, mostly preppy. There hadn't been any time for me to grab any personally belongings before I had left Washington and I hadn't grown attached to anything new.
I blew off the next couple of hours lying on my bed and looking up at the ceiling. All day I had been having a nagging feeling and I wasn't so sure as to why. I didn't sense an abnormal amount of vampires in the area, so they couldn't be here yet. Today had been as normal as any other day this summer.
It was ten o'clock before Todd walked in. He didn't bother knocking, but simply threw a stake in my general direction. It bounced off my stomach and onto the floor.
"Come on, we have vamps to slay," Todd said cheerfully.
I rolled over and grabbed the stake from the floor before standing up and walking over to Todd. "You're supposed to use the stakes on the vampires, not throw them at me," I said with a yawn.
He shrugged while pushing me towards the door. "Come now, let's be grumpy with the vampires, not each other." I started walking on my own and he stopped pushing me. "So anywhere in particular you want to go?"
I shook my head. "I don't even know where we are," I stated. "I just remember getting off the air plane."
"Chicago O'Hare, it's muggy outside, you've been warned," Todd said.
I sighed. I had visited many new places, none quite like western Washington. Some of them I didn't mind, but the muggy ones were annoying. "Why are we here again?" I asked.
"It's a big city, and we're right next to the airport. If we need to we can get lost in it or simply fly away," Todd explained. I had known the answer, but I had heard it too many times that it was getting old.
Todd was right, it was muggy outside. Even though it was late the streets were still crowded and it all looked the same to me. I wasn't sensing any vampires close so I let Todd lead the way.
"Are there any clubs or parks around that vampires might like to hang out in?" I asked?
Todd frowned. "Well, I've never actually been here before, so I'm just wondering." I gave him a don't-get-us-lost look and he just smiled. "Don't worry, I've been keep track of street names," he assured. I wasn't so sure that he completely knew how to get us back, but we could always call Lloyd if we got too lost.
"You know, sense we're not really going anywhere, why don't we get something to eat?" I asked knowing that Todd wouldn't say no to food.
Todd thought a moment before answering. "We're only supposed to be out slaying, but I don't suppose a few French fries or maybe a milkshake," he decided then turned to me grinning. "So where do you want to go?"
"To the next fast food restaurant, I'm not going to be picky tonight," I replied.
"Well there was a Mcdonald's a few blocks back," Todd suggested.
"That works," I said.
Turning around I felt something. Pausing a moment I focused to see where the feeling was coming from, but I didn't sense anything out of the ordinary. Focusing more didn't help any so I stopped. Maybe I was just hungry. Mcdonalds wasn't very far away, and the line wasn't too long. I only got a shake but Todd got two large fries and a large coke. We sat down to eat near the window and I kept a casual watch on the outside.
Across the street I saw a person who caught my eyes. Everything about him screamed vampire. "Hey, Todd, look at that guy," I pointed him out. "What do you think about him?" I asked.
Todd shoved some more fries in his mouth before answering. "He's a vampire, but you would know that."
"Yeah, I should," I murmured. Again I focused to see if I could feel any vampires. As far as I could tell there weren't any out there. "Look, I'm going to head outside, stay in here for a bit, will ya?" I asked. I didn't wait for his answer but got up. I knew he'd try to follow me but instead of doing anything to stop him I walked faster. If I could lose him he'd go back inside and watch out for me.
The vampire was already down the street. I had to jog to catch up to him, but he either didn't care that I was following him or just didn't know that I was here. He turned around the corner and I followed about fifteen seconds after him. Once I got around though he wasn't there.
I sighed. Maybe it was nothing, but something felt wrong. I couldn't tell were the vamp was and I didn't want to go after it alone. I'd get lost and probably stuck in a bad situation. Besides, It was something I should talk to Todd about anyway. Turning back around I walked back to Mcdonalds. Todd wasn't sitting in the window, but the food was still there. Thinking that he might have come after me after all I closed my eyes and searched for him. I couldn't find him, but I could sense about thirty vampires one this block alone. None were very close, and it didn't seam like they were paying attention to me. The moment I focused on them they were gone.
"A reversal spell," I muttered. It was the perfect way to throw me off. I had to get back inside the Mcdonalds and hope that Todd showed up. I couldn't afford to go off looking for him when I wouldn't be able to find him, especially now that I knew that this place was swarming with undead who were trying to keep themselves hidden.
Going back into the restaurant I looked for Todd again, as expected I picked up every vampire outside, and one inside. I'd never been here before, but it was a busy city. Maybe there were always this many vampires. I had mixed feelings to that idea. If they were always here then they wouldn't notice me, if not then we were in big trouble.
Todd walked out of the bathroom, saw me and came right over. "Hey, what was all that about?" He asked.
"How many vampires are normally here in this town?" I asked softly, my mind not really focusing on what was happening now, but instead thinking ahead.
Todd shrugged as he sat down and ate another French fry. "Well, it's a busy town, so there's quite a few, why?"
"Right now there is about thirty vampires on this block, not to mention in other areas," I stated.
Todd blinked. "I'm sorry, did you say thirty?" He asked. I nodded. "Well, I don't think that's normal, maybe it would be best if we headed back."
Again I nodded. "Yeah, you sure we know a way back or do we want to call?" I asked.
Todd leaned back. Brushing a hand through his hair he took a moment to think. "I'm sure I could find the way back, I just might not be quick about it."
"That's okay," I stated softly, still thinking. "We just have to call Lloyd."
"Um... yeah, about that," He murmured, "My cell phone's dead, so unless you have one we have to find a pay phone." He said.
That would set us back. I'm sure there was one outside, but I wasn't big on going out there. Things just felt wrong, that and the big vampire threat were both huge reasons to not go out there. Mcdonald's was a public place though, so they could come in at any time. Of course, that's only a problem if they were really after me.
"So, should I go look for a pay phone?" I asked.
"Not by yourself," Todd said sternly. "Lloyd said I have to watch out for you." He took a moment to think before continuing. "I'm going to see if I can use a phone here. Don't go anywhere.
I surpressed a sigh. He could be helpful in a fight but I preferred to fight alone. Glancing out the window I searched for a close phone booth. There was an intersection not far down the road. I could see a sign for a payphone. Glad that I had a place to go I stood up to meet Todd coming back.
"No phone here," he muttered. "The lady behind the counter insists they're too busy to help us."
"That's okay, I know where a phone is," I stated. "We need to head out now." Todd nodded and grabbed the rest of his fries on the way out.
I kept an eye out for vampires, but as far as I could tell no one was paying any attention to us. We stayed casual walking towards the pay phone but the moment we entered the general area of the gas station I broke out in a sprint. Todd took his time catching up as I searched my pockets for change. I had to wait for someone who was already in the booth, so I fished in my pockets for change. I only had thirty five cents..
"You know, I liked the phones better when it was only a quarter," I muttered to Todd once he caught up. Todd grinned and showed me had had fifty cents already waiting.
I looked back into the booth to see the guy just staring at us. He looked from me to Todd then back to me. I pounded on the booth to get him to hurry up and he grinned. I stepped back as the phone booth opened. "Sorry I took to long," he said in a raspy voice as he walked out. Todd took place. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" the man asked me.
I took a good look at him before turning back to Todd who was busy dialing the number. "No, I don't think so."
"Funny, I do," the man said, his voice suddenly different. I didn't get a chance to look at him before he pushed me aside.
Stumbling backwards I took a second to get to my balance back, giving the guy I now saw was a vampire time to punch the phone booth's door inward, Todd automatically turned around, trying to open the door and get out. The door was stuck tight and wouldn't budge.
"Okay then, this was unexpected," I muttered as I sized up the vampire.
He nodded. "Yes, actually it was," the vamp agreed. I wasn't sure what exactly he meant by that, but I was guessing that the large amount of vampires weren't looking for me. Yet he was one of the boss's vampires else he wouldn't have recognized me so easily. The vampire had changed his appearance entirely, instead of appearing to be an older man he looked young and ready to fight. I glanced at Todd to make sure he was okay. He was still talking on the phone while trying to get out of the phone booth. He wasn't hurt so I wasn't worried yet.
Turning my attention to the vampire I watched him carefully. We didn't have much time for a fight, not when there were so many others around.
Grinning the vampire lunged at me. Stepping to the side I dug my knee into his stomach. His running start gave all the force needed to make it a hard blow. He took a few steps backwards, regaining his stance before launching himself at me in a wave of punches. He wasn't a good fighter so I had no trouble blocking and dodging all his blows. Grabbing his fist I pushed him back. I kicked him before he could attack again, knocking him to the ground. Quickly I pulled out my stake and thrust it into his heart.
Taking a deep breath I got to my feet. I didn't sense the vampires surrounding me, so when I looked up at them I was surprised. Cursing whatever spell they were using I counted the vampires. Twelve. For a moment I stopped breathing. How could I take on twelve vampires? Todd was still locked up and I couldn't get to him without fighting past vampires.
The options that I could come up with were all looking really bad. The only good things was that most of the vampires didn't look like they were planning to attack. It was more as if they were standing guard. A few of the vamps were getting cocky though, they didn't like standing put. Three in particular seamed to be getting ready to attack.
They exchanged glances before moving in on me. I was backed into a wall, making it so I didn't have to watch my back, but I only had so many arms to block punches. I had a stake handy though, and the vampires weren't being very smart. I barely had to work to dust the first one.
Unfortunately after that things started to go down hill. One of the vampires grabbed me while the other threw a few punches. I wished I had met these idiots while I had been at full strength, they'd be dust by now. The problem was, however, that I was having a hard time pulling out of the vampires grasp.
When I finally managed to I blocked a kick, grabbing the vamp's leg as I did so and threw him into the other vamp. They both fell backwards. Scrambling to their feet they prepared to attack.
Suddenly one of them burst into dust. I blinked in surprise and watched as the other followed suit, leaving behind another vampire who was still in human face. He smirked at the pile of dust at his feet before looking up at me.
"I see we have ourselves a slayer," the new vampire drawled. Surprise filled me when I saw who it was. He looked at me and grinned. "Unfortunately though you're all supposed to be else where right now. I can take the slayer myself, get back to your posts." Instantly the vampires scattered, everyone one of them catching the threat in his voice. I tried to follow where they went but there were too many going too fast.
"Well," I murmured as I watched them go, "that was interesting." I turned back to the vampire. "Hello Zeke, what're you doing here?"
Zeke shrugged and shoved his hands into his pocket. "Not looking for you for a change," he murmured.
"Why would you be looking for me?" I asked, having a good idea what the answer might be.
"Well, I'd let you guess but it'd be a waste of time. I think you know the answer," Zeke said with a grin. I knew what he meant. Only one person was looking for me, I was just a little disappointed that Zeke would be working for him. "Actually though, I'm quite surprised that you're here. And we weren't even looking for you."
"Who are you looking for?" I asked.
Zeke just looked at me for a moment, thinking through his answer "No one important," he said finally. Translation to that was that he didn't want to tell me.
Not sure what else to talk about and not wanting to say too much I went for a major switch in topic. "Are we supposed to fight? After all, you are the bad guy now."
"Yes, but you were the slayer first so I'm blaming it on you," Zeke said.
I rolled my eyes. "Like I actually chose to be the slayer," I snapped.
"And I chose to be a vampire?" Zeke snapped back.
"Technically you were a vampire before I was a slayer," I pointed out.
Zeke shrugged again. "True, but I never lied to you about being a vampire." I glared at him, he grinned back.
"Well, I didn't think I was the slayer at the time I met you, so I wasn't lying about it," I said back.
"This is a pointless argument, isn't it?" Zeke asked, stopping our flow of meaningless come backs.
I nodded my agreement. "Yeah, it is."
"So, are we going to fight now?" he asked.
Again I nodded. "Yeah, I think so." In an instant both of us switched gears from being friendly to looking completely serious.
Zeke stood silently. He was still dressed like a punk, today in camo cargo pants and a black shirt with the words "the clowns made me do it" on the front. He looked like a normal guy at the moment, but I knew the moment we actually started fighting he'd switch to his vampire face.
To say I was nervous would be one of the biggest understatements I could ever make. I was terrified. I had seen Zeke fight before. He was strong and fast, and at the moment I wasn't. Not being at full slayer strength really sucked.
Zeke didn't bother to say anything else. He was tired of small talk and ready for action. Barely seeing his movement in time I blocked a punch before pushing him back. He was ready though and had a follow up. This time he hit me, and it hurt. Throwing a punch at him he didn't even bother to block, and even as my hand slammed into his face I knew it hadn't faced him. He grabbed my arm and twisted it.
Hissing in pain Zeke fought back, sliding his leg behind mine he pulled me off my feet while still holding on to my arm. It was my turn to hurt as I bit my tongue to stop from screaming. I hadn't heard anything break, but I still thought he just broke something.
Being near the ground I simply grabbed his leg and pulled. He wasn't expecting that and suddenly lost his balance, letting go of me as he fell.
I forced myself to my feet as I cradled my arm. Trying hard to ignore the pain I watched Zeke closely. He took his time getting up from the ground, chuckling as he did so.
"Well, most people would be dead by now," he said, an almost mocking look on his face. He had some personal joke that I wasn't getting. Suddenly his face turned serious, as if he just remembered something important. "When you die, and I won't be the one to kill you, but when it happens, do you want us to make you a vampire?"
Okay, to forget the sudden change in topic, he was asking me? No, he was asking for my opinion. I could see the decision was already made. I'm not sure why he wanted to know, but he was curious. The answer? There was no way I'd want to be a vampire, but I didn't want to tell him that. I didn't want to answer at all. So I looked away and kept silent.
Zeke sighed softly, understanding that I wasn't going to answer his question. He didn't say anything else either. The silence hung in the air for a moment, then Zeke moved again.
For a moment I was able to keep up with him, punch for punch, even with a broken arm. Then things went bad. Zeke must have wanted to finish it because suddenly he was moving faster than I could. Before I knew it I was thrown to the ground. Taking a deep breath I tried to stand up. Zeke kicked my in the ribs, lifting me off the ground for a moment before I fell back down. I felt another bruise coming on as I realized that I really couldn't fight any more.
Zeke crouched down beside me. He tilted his head to the side as he stared at me. "Had enough yet?" He asked softly.
I couldn't waste my time answering, instead I tried to crawl backwards, but I just didn't have the strength. Zeke smirked. "Still trying to fight," He murmured. He reached out and grabbed my throat, lifting me up by it. I tried to get him to let go by my efforts were meaningless. He punched me once, twice, then through me into a wall. My head smacked against it and again I crumbled to the ground.
I watched Zeke slowly walk up to me. Again he crouched down to my height. "Still want to fight?" he asked with a grin. I turned away, not wanting to look at him. "I couldn't have taken all the fight out of you," he whispered, leaning closer to me, "I know you better than that. You'll never stop fighting."
You don't know me that well, I thought. He won, he could kill me if he wanted to. Instead he was toying with me, but I could tell he wanted me to answer him. I focused my gaze on the wall, trying not to think of Zeke. It wasn't working.
"Liz..." he murmured. I didn't look at him. I felt his hand on my cheek, stroking it softly. "you're bleeding," there was a note in his voice I didn't like. He sounded hungry. It shouldn't have mattered, I already knew I was going to die, but suddenly I was afraid. Not that I hadn't been before, but it was different now. Gut wrenching terror.
I didn't have to ask when he had last feed. He seemed to be able to pick up on that train of thought.
Zeke smirked. "Don't worry, I can't feed on you," he said sarcastically. Though he wouldn't admit it he wasn't happy about it. Zeke never liked someone else telling him what to do, little less who he could feed on. For some reason that didn't help much, I was still afraid. Even without looking at him Zeke could tell. "Are you afraid of being eaten?" He wondered.
Remaining silent I considered the question. Am I afraid? Hell yeah. But was it really bothering me? No, it wasn't. I'd spent the entire summer thinking about what I would do when the vampires finally caught up with me and I couldn't escape. While I was still afraid, I had accepted it.
"Why aren't you talking to me?" He asked, for the first time sounding somewhat aggravated. His hand move to my chin as he gently moved my head to face him. I jerked out of his grasp, trying to look away. He stopped being gentle as he grabbed my face and forced me to look at him. "Why aren't you talking to me?"
"Because you're trying to get me killed," I said bluntly.
He starred strait at me, catching my gaze and not letting it go. "And would you let me live?" He asked. "If I hadn't been winning, would you have let me leave? Knowing that one day I might kill you."
Again we were trapped in silence. I didn't know what else to say. I would have killed him. It wouldn't have been personal, I wouldn't even think about it. My job was to fight him, and his was to fight me. I shouldn't blame him for doing what had to. But I did, and he felt the same about me.
"I suppose this is why vampires and slayers don't become friends," I muttered.
"Yeah."
I knew that there was nothing I could do to get out of this situation but I looked around one last time. People and cars past us by, no one sparing us a glance. There had to be some kind of spell stopping people from seeing us because we were in plain view of just about everything. Continuing my search I saw Todd, still trapped in the phone both watching everything. What he must be wondering... I had forgotten him during the fight, but he had been watching every thing.
"What have you told your friend?" Zeke asked.
I shrugged. "Nothing about you."
"Embarrassed that you hung out with us dead people?"
"No, I just don't think they'd understand."
"Hmm..." Zeke stared at Todd for a moment. "Well, he's edible," he murmured.
My head snapped back to Zeke. Even though he was facing Todd Zeke was staring at me. "Leave him alone," I said firmly.
He turned back to me with a grin. His hand was touching my cheek again, this time to wipe off some of the blood from a cut near my eye. He leaned forward until his face was only inches from mine. "I can't feed off you and I'm very hungry," he stated. "Your friend would make a good meal."
He meant it and it terrified me. Not sure of how to at least save Todd I went with the first plan I could think of. "Were you told not to feed off me or simply not to kill me?"
Zeke didn't answer at first. I could almost see his mind working as he tried to remember. I watched as a slow smile slid across hit lips. He moved his head so that it was closer to my ear. "I'm not allowed to kill you-- or bite you," He stated. "But I can get a taste." Again he moved closer to me. I felt his face change as he went into vamp mode, but he didn't attack me. Instead I felt his mouth on my cut as his tongue began to lap up blood. He slowly worked the cut near my eye before moving onto a larger cut that happened to be on my neck.
I've heard that the blood of a slayer was like a drug to vampires. Once they got a taste they always wanted more. It didn't matter how many slayers a vampire might kill, the satisfaction only lasted a few moments and then the blood was gone. It was a rush, intoxicating, but it always faded.
When Zeke touched me he didn't care who I was, I was a slayer and he was hungry. I waited for him to lose control, to forget his orders and drive his fangs into my neck. He didn't. In a few seconds he pulled away from me, not in complete control but not out to kill me either. I wasn't sure what was going through his head, but there was hunger in his eyes, if nothing else my blood had only increased it.
After a few seconds to maintain control of himself Zeke turned back to me, completely serious. He didn't say anything as he pulled out some charm necklace and put it over my head. I didn't struggle, if I knew what it was I would have.
The moment Zeke let go the necklace seamed to set itself up against my skin, and once it was attached to me I stopped moving. Suddenly I was tired. I didn't want to move or think or do anything. Sitting up was starting to hurt and I just wanted to lie down.
Zeke stood up and moved back to stare at me. It hurt to watch him and try to think about him and what he might be doing, but I knew that I had to. I ignored the pain in my mind as I attempted to figure out what was going on.
He'd put a necklace on me? Right... I think so, I couldn't remember. Yes, yes he did. Did it have a charm? Something to mess with my mind? Why would that matter?
I groaned as a sharp pain tore through my mind.
Yes, there was a charm. It had to be messing with me now. What was Zeke doing now? Walking, yes I think that's it. Walking where? I know where... Towards Todd, yes that it. Todd... phone both... trapped. He's going to kill him. Kill who? Todd. Not thinking strait... should stop... just stop...
No! Todd, got to help. How? Can't think, should stop. It hurts. Help Todd. Forget Todd, just relax. Hurts to move, hurts to think, just stop. No... have to stop Zeke.
I forced myself to lift my head as bolts of pain shot through me. Zeke was almost to the phone booth, and I had already forgotten what I was doing.
Zeke vampire, going to kill Todd. Yes, that's right. Wait... yes, Zeke gave me necklace. It hurts. Can't move. It hurts. . .
All this time I was watching him, suffering through the pain that came with trying to move. Knowing that I had to do something I tried pushing myself up a little. With my hands on the ground for support I pushed myself onto my feet. I used the wall for support as I pulled myself to a stand up position. Then I just stood there. I couldn't remember why I was standing. The pain swept over me in waves and I only wanted it to stop.
Watching Zeke was the only thing that kept me standing. I some how knew I had to stop him. Why and from doing what I didn't care. It didn't seam important enough to figure out.
"Zeke!" I called out.
He paused before turning to look with a look of surprise and amusement. "You never do stop fighting..."
He didn't get a chance to say anything else for some unseen force suddenly ran into him, pushing him hard into the wall of the gas station, so hard that I felt it shake.
Blinking I tried to sort out what was going on as I fought the pain back. Who attacked Zeke? Did someone attack Zeke? What was going on?
I was dimly aware of the attack taking place in front of me. Zeke didn't stand a chance. He wasn't prepared for what he was facing, he had been taken completely by surprise and it was a matter of minutes before he was on the ground, not dusted but unconscious.
My mind was still catching up on the fight while the winner approached me. recognition sparked, but I couldn't think or see clear enough to know any more but that.
"Liz, we have to get out of here," the man said. I wasn't sure who he was, but he had to be a vampire. The watchers called me Beth.
I stared blankly. Realizing that Todd was okay I smiled. I didn't have to feel the pain, Zeke was stopped. My body collapsed on itself and my mind went blank as I stopped fighting the lull that pulled me into nothingness. The pain was gone and no thoughts ventured into my mind.
I barely heard the words "What're you doing?" and though I acknowledged their existence I didn't know what they meant. "Oh, damn. Stupid necklace," I heard at the same time the necklace was yanked off my throat. "Come on, we have to go."
Arms supported me as I tried to stand. My mind was coming back to me, just not very quickly. Not being able to stand on my own the man held me up. "You back yet?" He asked.
My thoughts were smoothing out enough that I could understand, but everything was still blurry. "Get Todd," I murmured. "He knows what to do."
"Curse it," the voice muttered and he suddenly let go of me. I fell to the ground with a thud, not sure of what happened. I think the man walked over to the phone booth and literally tore off the door. Was he a vampire? What else would have the strength, yet why does he help me? The same hands that first helped me up were back, and this time they didn't bother trying to get me to stand. He merely lifted me up. I heard conversation between the two men, but I wasn't sure what was said. Before I knew it I was moving while my mind slowly rebuilt itself.
When finally we stopped I was thinking clearly and could almost see strait. "Let me down?" I requested, not sure whoever was holding me would do so. He hesitated a moment, but finally put me on my feet. I held on to him for a moment until I got balanced. After a few minutes of standing there, almost falling then catching myself I thought I was ready to go. I glanced around to see us in a half filled parking lot.
"Okay," I said softly, "What happened?"
"I called Lloyd, he should be here soon," Todd started. "Your... friend saved our lives, but I'm going to need a lot of answers once we get home."
Nodding to show that I understood I turned to my 'friend' so that I could get a good look at him. It took my awhile to see the familiar features below the large reflective sunglasses and black cap. His face was hidden in shadows but I still knew who it was. Upon my realization I unconsciously took a step back, suspicion coming quickly to mind.
"Alucard!" I said with surprise.
He made a grim grin with a nod. "Long time no see," he said in a sarcastically friendly tone.
"What the hell are you doing here?" I demanded.
Smirking he glanced around us. "You're the one who's not supposed to be here hun. Seer said I'd be showing up, didn't mention you."
"What seer?" asked Todd, clearly worried.
"The boss's, who else?" Alucard said as if anyone would know. "He's the one tracking us, that seer. You've got some nice spells helping you though, so I'm the one they've been catching."
Puzzled I asked, "Why would they be chasing you? You work for him!"
"Use to, yes," Alucard murmured. "Then all sorts of bad things happened. and now here we are, together again."
"Not for long, you're getting out of here," I stated.
Alucard grinned at me. "Really?" He said with a glint in his eye. "You couldn't make me leave if you tried. You got you ass kicked once tonight, do we really need to repeat that?" I glared at him, he ignored it.
"If you don't mind answering, why would you want to save us?" asked Todd, being very polite about all of this.
Alucard glanced at him for a moment. "Because my buddy Zeke is pissed and it'd be nice to have a slayer around to distract him with."
"So she's bait?" Todd asked, hiding his frown.
"For now, this time tomorrow she'll be able to fight him off," he stated. "Thought she'd make good bait, too.".
"Fight off Zeke?" I asked skeptically. I just got the crap kicked out of me by one vampire. There was no way I could be of help to him. Yet the look he was giving me said otherwise. "What do you know that I don't?" I asked.
Alucard smirked as he glanced around the empty parking lot, "You'd be surprised how much I know about you."
I suddenly felt uneasy. He meant what he said, and if he knew so much, then who else did? And what exactly did he mean by that.
"How will she be able to help you?" Todd asked, sounding quite polite and courteous, as if he were talking to someone who he actually liked.
Alucard looked Todd up and down, from his blond hair to his Nike shoes. He took him in with a glance and instantly formed an opinion of him. "You've heard of the prophecy, well I've seen it. I know what's coming next, while you don't." He stated.
Todd and I exchanged a look. Right now we had to figure something out. Were we going to let him stay or not. There were advantages to both sides, but also problems. We didn't even know why Alucard was helping us, or if he was just setting us up.
"Why is Zeke after you?" I asked, knowing that his answer would have to make up my mind. We didn't have time to drill him for information.
Alucard knew what was going on, and he was watching us carefully, but when he thought about the question he could only grin. "Well, I tired to kill the boss."
Raising an eyebrow Todd and I exchanged looks. "Maybe we should ditch you. I'm not sure that your past won't be a bit of a liability." Todd said. Alucard stared at him for a moment before turning to me.
"Well, do you even believe me?" He asked as he searched for someone to be on his side. There was no denying it that if Alucard was telling the truth he had nothing to lose coming to us. If the boss's men found him he was dead.
Again I looked at Todd. He met my eyes and in an instant I knew we were in agreement. "Yeah, I believe you," I said, not sure whether or not I was lying.
Todd suddenly pointed at the road. "They're here," he said, indicating where our pick up van was coming from.
We watched in silence as the Van came into the parking lot. It parked right in front of us and the door opened right away. Lloyd motioned us inside, but gave Alucard a good look. He looked to me cradling my arm for a moment before offering to help my in.
Looking from the van to Alucard I knew that I had to decide weather or not he was coming with us. He did have a lot of possible information, but I wasn't really sure if he was telling the truth. Besides, I could tell that Todd didn't want him to come. I bit my lip in thought, aware of the lack of time. Vampires were still in the area, we had to get out of here.
With a sigh I climbed into the van, prepared to leave Alucard behind. "Liz?" I heard him ask. Hesitating for just a moment I wasn't sure whether or not to leave him here. Taking a deep breathe I turned around.
"Thanks for saving me, but you can't come along," I said flatly.
Alucard stared back at me with a smile on his face. Only his eyes betrayed his feelings. He was scared, and for good reason. He too was being chased, and he didn't have a place to go for protection. He glanced around the parking lot for a moment, searching for something to help him. When he turned back to me his smile was gone leaving behind it a look of desperation.
Suddenly things got blurry, Alucard's form looked like a blob of color before once again being Alucard. I blinked back dizziness while trying to figure out what was wrong. The problem was that I knew this feeling. I had suffered through it before and I knew what was coming next. I felt my heart rate speed up and my breath quicken, but I couldn't afford to pass out yet. Not being able to stop myself I collapsed, falling out of the van as I did so. I heard the watcher's cry out, asking what was wrong.
Hands grabbed me before I hit the ground. I could hear and see what was going on, I just couldn't move. My sight was slightly limited at the moment anyway, I was staring into something dark and had no view of what was actually going on. Something new was happening, and I wasn't sure exactly what.
I tired to calm down, but my body wasn't listening to me. It took me a few minutes to realize that once again Alucard was holding me, and at the moment he was arguing with my watchers.
"Look, I know what's going on, why this is happening to her," Alucard insisted. "If you let me go with you I can help you."
Right about now I was ready to agree with Alucard. If I could only talk I would tell everyone to shut up and let him tag along. We were wasting time and I needed to figure out what was going on. If Alucard said he knew, then I was ready to take a chance.
Alucard was in the middle of trying to explain something to the watchers when he suddenly stopped. I could feel his body tense for a moment. He shifted me for a moment and reached into his jacket. I felt something cold on my left wrist and heard a click, as if something locked into place. through out all of his movements I heard Alucard talking.
"We're out of time. The vampires are moving quickly towards us. You have two choices. We can stay around and chat until they catch up and kill us, or you can take me with you. Liz here has a broken arm and it's already healing wrong, you need to help her. She's going to be out of it for the next twenty-four hours or so. You don't have time to fight me, so let me in." Alucard finished his speech and waited.
"Hand her to us and you can come in," I heard Jordan say, clearly agreeing that this was taking too long.
Alucard raised his arm, making it so that whatever he had put on mine was pulling my arm with it. that was my broken arm and it hurt, but I couldn't say anything and at the moment my entire body was feeling off, so it wasn't that bad.
"We're handcuffed together, I'm wearing a bullet proof vest so you can't stake me and I'll block any attack on my neck. You're not leaving me behind," with that said he carefully picked me up and helped me into the van.
I felt hands moving me around and then there was more talking. Lloyd picked up my arm, ignoring the fact that Alucard had to move his with me. Carefully he figured out what was wrong with it and went about fixing it. Right then I would have done something if I had been able to. I'm not sure if I would have screamed or yelped, but I would have done something to show how much it hurt. He quickly made a makeshift sling for my arm and let it rest.
I could see everyone in the van through half closed eyes. Jordan was already taking us away, speeding with every chance he got. He had this uncanny ability to avoid police men, or at least slow down whenever one showed up. With everything illegal he did he had not once been pulled over.
There was a very uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at Alucard who was forced to sit next to me. Alucard sat at ease. He didn't have a problem with anything that was going on. He had at last got his way and was being taken out of danger by the slayer and her watchers. Knowing more than any of us about what was going on he held the advantage, but he didn't seam to care.
I listened as Todd explained everything, glad to know what he knew so that I would be able to explain everything that happened. Not once did they ask Alucard for clarification on tonight's events. When at last they did talk to him Lloyd was the one who spoke.
"You claim to have seen the prophecy?" he asked.
Alucard nodded. "In many forms, actually. The original I saw only once, about two hundred years ago."
"Yes, and that's going to help," Jordan muttered from the front seat.
Alucard nodded agreement, but still wore a smile. "No worries there. I'm sure you'd like to hear the exact words the boss is telling everyone, and the exact words he has. Not to mention the original language and who he has watching us. . ."
"You've proved your point," Todd muttered, "So get to telling us something already.
Chuckling Alucard shook his head. "Nah, not yet. We have time, and I'm hungry. Maybe after a meal. Besides, you're not in a big rush, you have plenty of time. Liz here is the one who needs to know everything anyway, and I'm not sure if she can hear this."
I wanted to tell them that I was getting every word, but I don't think that was what everyone wanted me to hear.
"Fine, we'll wait for Beth," Chris muttered from the back seat. He had been very uncomfortable ever sense Alucard had come into the van. "Where are we going, anyway?"
Lloyd looked hard at Alucard as he considered the question. "We have to pick up our supplies and find away to transport your books. We have until tomorrow night, that way we can drag this. . . vampire with us on a plane."
Alucard's smile widened. Yes, he had gotten his way. For now he was safe, and tomorrow I would know why I had gone into this in between state. He was right, we had time, but it was getting hard waiting for answers.
Especially when they were sitting right next to me and I couldn't even ask for them.
Hey! Sorry it took a bit of time to get this chapter out. My muse abandoned me over the four day weekend then showed up today during math class. Go figure. But hey, another unusually long chapter. It's weird, normally mine are really short until I get to the end of the story. I blame it on too many ideas rushing through my head. *shrugs* oh well. It's official, unless the next chapter gets really long and I split it in two (probably won't) then it's the last before Elisabeth joins the scoobies. She'll jump in at the episode "First Date" which was a good episode, but this week's was better. She finally got around to calling everyone idiots. On to the thank yous:
only one? That makes it easy:
Beyondthesilence: Ah, you can always criticize! And Spike. how do I put this without saying too much. Spike is the one person that there is absolutely no chance of Elisabeth have a love interest with. Except for Giles, he's just too old. As for other stories, I have two Gundam Wing stories completed, so if you like Anime go ahead and read them, but that's it. Glad you like it thanks for the review!
Until next time!
Rave