Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I had a really busy weekend. Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming :)
Chapter 6: It's Real
"A vampire?" Faith asks skeptically. Ms. Nelson only nods in response. Still trying to catch her breath, Faith can feel her body trembling with fear and uncertainty. The world around her starts to blur and she feels the bile rise in her throat. She falls to the ground again, her loose hair obscuring her face. She coughs and suddenly her digested lunch is spilled onto the cemetery grass. She feels like she has been punched in the stomach. The vampire turning to dust was not a trick of light, it was real, and if the vampire was real then that meant she is really a slayer.
An hour later she finds herself on a small gray couch in an apartment. How she got there, she doesn't remember. The past hour is a blur of watercolors that she cannot decipher.
Ms. Nelson appears beside her, ushering her to take the presented cup of hot chocolate. Faith mumbles a thank you and wraps her hands around the mug, absorbing its heat. Slowly she brings it to her lips, testing its temperature. It burns her mouth and she blows on it in an effort to cool it.
Across the room Ms. Nelson is kneeling beside a large wooden box. Curious, Faith cranes her neck to see. When Ms. Nelson moves to the left, Faith can see that the box is filled with weapons she has only seen in movies. She spots part of what looks like a crossbow, the old fashioned kind. A metal ball with the spikes rests next to it. A hint of light catches her eye and suggests that there is a sharp dagger hidden there. Maybe even a sword or battle-axe… Wicked.
As the trunk is closed Faith realizes the woman has caught her staring and she goes back to cooling off her drink. Focusing her attention on the liquid, she watches the ripples at its surface as she blows.
"Faith," her voice is unsurprisingly stern, but with an undertone of concern that is almost imperceptible, "I can only imagine what you must be feeling right now. You are confused and don't know if you can believe what I am telling you. If you want, I can show you more things to prove to you that I am telling the truth. I have a few volumes of Watcher's Diaries-"
"I believe you." Faith cuts in and Ms. Nelson is obviously surprised. "I saw that vampire and I know what you're saying is real. The only thing I don't get is why you chose me." Her gaze does not move from the mug of hot chocolate. "I've got nothing to offer you."
"We didn't choose you Faith. You were just chosen. No one knows how slayers are chosen exactly, they just are. There are girls all around the world who are born with this potential, but only a small percent of them ever go beyond that potential."
"I still don't understand. Why now? Why is now so special?" Her voice cracks but she doesn't notice.
Ms. Nelson sighs and takes a seat on the couch next to Faith. "There can only be one slayer at a time. When one is called, her Watcher trains her to fight and she fights every day until her fight is over. When one girl's fight is over, a new girl is chosen to take her place."
Although she has not said the word, Faith understands. "When one girl dies, you mean."
"Yes, when one slayer dies her power is passed on and the next is called. You are the heir to that power, Faith. It is your turn to fight." There is a silence that spans for minutes as each of them wonder about the battle before them. Will they be successful? How long will they last? Will the end be painful?
"Who was before me?" Faith asks quietly.
"A girl named Kendra. She was from… well I'm not actually sure where she was from, but she was helping the other slayer in Sunnydale when…"
"I thought you said there was only one slayer?"
"Oh," Ms. Nelson squeaks, "yes, there's that. Your predecessor Kendra was called when her predecessor drowned. However, slayers are tough and she was revived. That's how two slayers exist at once. It's quite unusual; the Council is still researching it. Anyway, there was a problem in Sunnydale, California a few days ago and Kendra was flown there to help Buffy. Kendra was killed in battle…"
"Did you say Buffy?" Faith's brain remembered that name. Where was it from? She had heard it before, she was sure of it.
"Yes, Buffy Summers." Ms. Nelson clarified.
It all comes rushing back to her and she can clearly see the face of Buffy Summers just as she had seen it on the News a few days ago. "She's blonde, about five feet tall. A suspect in the murder of a girl in a high school library."
"Yes, how do you know all this?"
"I saw it on the news."
"Oh," she says softly, "Kendra was killed by a vampire named Drusilla in a high school library. Buffy found her there and the police arrived at a particularly bad time. They assumed she was the murderer and tried to arrest her. Slayers, however, can outrun bullets. She escaped from the police and averted an apocalypse." Ms. Nelson seems hesitant to continue. "But… but no one has seen her since. She's run away apparently."
"So it's really just me then? The fate of the world rests in my hands." She looks down at her hands that are now resting in her lap. Her black nail polish is chipped, she notices.
"Yes, I'm afraid so." Ms. Nelson stands. "But you have me to train you. You have a lot of power now. Strength, speed, accelerated healing. I will teach you to control all of it. I will teach you to use your body as a weapon to kill vampires and demons and you will be a force to be reckoned with."
For the first time all night, a hint of a smile appears on Faith's lips.
"So when do we start?"