I slammed the vampire against ship's metal hull, ending my assault with a stake at the heart. The demon turned to dust instantly. I turned back and saw Angel handle very well the vamps at his side. He round housed kicked both of them at the same time. Both fell to the metal floor. He rammed two stakes down their hearts. I looked and saw Steve dispatching two more with his sword. All in all trying to reach his main goal. Roldan. An man that looked in his forties. He was about 600 years old. He had a sword in his hand ready to face his adversary. I slowly walked back towards the entrance where Mary waited. Angel came up to the entrance and joined us as the immortals fought it out. Roldan brought his sword down to form a vertical arc. Steven used his blade to push the danger away and took a few steps back. I saw in his face the great degree of concentration needed in these battles. Roldan's attacks were relentless and Steven worked hard to stop them.
Angel looked at the action and than at us. "I have something to do", he said. "I will see you later".
"Angel", Mary called back. As the vampire turned towards her she smiled. "Be careful", she said. The vampire smiled back and strode away. That was the last we saw of him. A few years later, I established contact via letters. Since he was always moving it was hard for us to stay in touch for a long time. The next time would be seventy years later, in the cities of New York.
I turned my attention back at the fight Roldan kept on his offensive. It seemed to go for hours. All of the sudden the immortal changed tactics. He swung his sword upwards moving Steven's out of the way. He than kicked the hero down with one swift kick. Steven fell hard on the metal plates under him. His sword slipped away. I heard Mary gasp as Roldan lifted his sword ready for the final blow. "You lose", he said coolly.
Mary grabbed hold of my arm and feared the worst. Suddenly, we heard a deafening sound. The ship started to shake and rumble. Mary and I lost our footing just as the right side of the ship burst open. The icy Atlantic started flooding in. Mary and I started climbing upwards as the water level slowly rose. I looked back just in time to see Steven kicked his distracted opponent down. Our friend rapidly made a grab for his sword and brought down hard on Roldan's neck. The lose head floated helplessly on the icy water. Steven knelt down and waited. At that moment I knew the hero had overcome the villain. I urged Mary to keep on climbing the stairs just as the water reached us. At that moment, I knew the rushing water would drown the fire works that were to come. Mary later told me that she saw light come from that cargo room. As electrical. The power had been inherited. And the immortal was now stronger than before.
We now found ourselves walking towards Angel's place. The bartender obviously did not like any action to take place in his bar. We dusted the vamps and were immediately kicked out. Life is like that. You do good in life and somehow you always end up on the floor. I stopped believing in the golden rule a long time ago. Still, I found it my responsibility to do good when every single life form in this miserable world is doing otherwise. I guess that is how I am. And as long I still have the capacity to walk in this cursed earth, I would do the same stupid thing and teach others the same thing.
But that is not the issue. The point is that this immortal friend of mine comes along on my research project and drops a bomb that leaves me powerless to think of anything else. Of course I am not going to open my mouth on this thing. It is too big. I will have to publish it on the given time.
I keep walking along side my friends. That is when I see Angel. He is sniffing out the vamps in this town. I saw him handle the enemy back there. He is determined to bring the vamp population down to a minimum. Is this his way of searching for redemption. It is his choice to make. It is not mine. If he feels that way, let him. The point is to live one day at a time; and at the end of that day, come along and say… "I did good".
"We did good back there", Steven said all pumped up and giving us a huge grin. "It was like the old days. Us against them. The odds against us. Getting into fights you are not sure you can win".
Angel stopped and looked at his friend. "Now you sound like Spike", he said.
"Ah", Steven said shaking his index finger. "The difference is that I love being good. On the other hand, he loves being bad". Angel shook his head just as we passed an alley. All of the sudden he stopped. It was an abrupt stop. At that moment I felt a familiar presence. Something inside. That is when the intoxicating smell reached my senses. From the look on Angel's face, I knew he had felt it to. Slayer's blood. Steven looked at both of us with a smile and walked into the alley. Angel and I followed.
We instantly saw it was a dead end alley. But that is not what intrigued us. Right at the end we saw three vampires. They were stalking a young girl. She looked different though. She had the most intense blue eyes I had ever seen. Her hair was white blonde with red tips. Two streaks of black hair were in the front. She wore a black trench coat that looked so familiar in my mind. The leather black pants and a white shirt that she wore were different in a way I could not explain. Her outfit was completed with black platform boots about 4 inches high. She had a large smile on her face. A smile that could only be matched by Steven's. At that moment I realized the truth. She was Katarina. At that same moment the vampires launched themselves at her. Angel and I were about to interfere when Steven stopped us. "Watch", he said.
The girl without erasing her smile jumped back at the punch that was thrown at her. She grabbed the arm of vamp one and rolled on his back kicking the second one in the face. She than spin kicked the third in the face while twisting the arm of the first. Seeing two vampires down she snapped the first vampire's arm in two. The demon screamed in response to the abuse. She than kneed him in the face and extended her leg to kick an approaching vamp in the head. No sooner had she done that she pulled out a stake from her trench coat and dusted the first vamp. The second and third followed without a fight. The girl slowly wiped herself off and headed towards us. Her smile stretched from ear to ear. That is when it hit me. The name Katarina. It was so familiar. I couldn't believe it as I looked at Angel. The girl had the fighting style of both Angel and Buffy. Could it be? It was not possible. Or was it?
Katarina walked slowly towards me and smiled. "Do I smell good?" she asked.
I vamped out at that moment. I slowly made my way toward her. I turned my attention at Steven and than at Angel. They knew exactly what was going to happen. I looked at the girl just as she pulled out a small knife. She slowly started gutting her own upper forearm. The smile never left her face. "I don't need to remind you", she started. "But be careful".
I grabbed her arm and sunk my fangs in her flesh. She grunted a bit, but the friendly smile never left her face. The blood was what I remembered. The finest wine in the face of this earth. I calculated the flow by the beating of the girls heart. I stopped. I than signaled Angel for a taste. Angel looked at me as if I had gone mad. Steven nudged him, signaling it was ok. Angel slowly walked towards the girl. I smiled at him and handed him the arm. Angel's features changed slowly. He bit on the arm and drank. He needed it. I looked at the girl as she tensed up a bit. Her heart was beating a bit faster now. Angel knew this. He withdraw his fangs. The young girl stumbled on her feet a bit. Angel and I rapidly made a grab for her to keep her stable. She smiled as we held her up. "You guys are so protective", she said weakly. "You never change". She looked at Angel. "It is hard to keep an image of you this young", she said to the good vampire. "Now, the white streaks of your hair change your appearance. You have drank my blood. You will be a bit stronger now. You will need that for what lies ahead".
At that moment, the girl's eyes rolled back. Steven walked up to her and wrapped a white cloth around her open wound. "We need to take her to your place", Steven said looking at Angel.
Angel quietly nodded his head as he picked her up and carried her out of the alley. I assumed he was to confused to say anything. To many questions were popping up to fast. He would have to wait …. as well as me.
"She insisted that you two should drink from her", Steven said. "She didn't tell me why when I asked her. Maybe you can".
Angel walked rapidly with the girl in his arms. "Slayers blood is rare", Angel said. "It has the same properties of normal human blood, but with a kick".
"If a vampire drinks the blood of the slayer", I said as I turned and looked behind my back. "The vampire becomes stronger. Very few know this. That is why only elite vampires go out of their way to kill the slayers".
"What they don't know", Angel said. "Is that only a few ounces of the liquid is needed to carry out the effect. You can drink and not kill".
Steven nodded his head. "So she comes and gives you her blood so you guys can become stronger", Steven said.
"Who is this slayer anyway?", Angel asked looking at my eyes.
At that moment, my mind froze. I looked at Steven for an answer. "She is from the future", Steven answered. "She came to me so that she could locate you and carry out the task". I sensed that Angel knew he wasn't being told everything at the moment. But the vampire was patient so he let it slide. We were almost at his home anyways. We were a few feet away from Angel's flat, when Steven stopped. "Wait!" he said. Angel and I turned around and looked at him. "There is someone inside", Steven said.