It's A Slayerful Life!
Disclaimer- Joss owns the Buff stuff, i.e. slayer lore, etc and J.K. owns the Potter verse and all that it entails.
&&&
Chapter 2: Learning Slayer Lore
Ginny awoke with a jerk, gasping as she realized her hands were bound tightly behind her back. She blinked rapidly as she struggled to free her limbs, panic rising as the darkness refused to dissipate. Ginny stilled as a hand came to rest on her shoulder. She shivered as a rush of air brushed past her ear.
"Now, Virginia dear. Don't struggle, you'll only hurt yourself." The voice was pleasant and calm, though it did little to soothe Ginny's ragged nerves.
Ginny drew herself up as much as she could while still having her hands and feet still tied to the chair. "What have you done to me? What do you want?"
The man chuckled. "Why, my girl, we haven't done a thing to you. We don't want anything from you but for you to do the duty you were destined to do. We're here to help you, to train you, to help you explore your potential to the fullest."
Ginny scowled. "If that's the case why did you tie me up? Why am I blindfolded? Why did you kidnap me away from my home?!" Ginny yelled, shocking herself as her fear transformed into anger.
"Because your family won't understand. They would just act as a hindrance. The Slayer always works alone, that is how it has been done since the dawn of time and that is how it shall be. We've been looking for you for a long time, Virginia. Your training should have been started many years ago. Hopefully your Slayer sense will facilitate your catching up."
"Why do you keep calling me the Slayer?" Ginny cried. "You have the wrong person. I'm not this Slayer person you're looking for. So if you would just let me go I'll go home and you can continue your search."
The man laughed again. "You don't understand, not yet. But you soon will and then you will accept that you are the Slayer and that it is your destiny."
Ginny started to pull on the bindings on her hands. "I'm destiny free, really. You've got the wrong girl, I don't even know what a Slayer is."
"The man took a deep breath. "This world is older than any of the human race know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not start as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the earth, made it their home, their hell. In time they lost their purchase on this world and the way was made for mortal animals. For man. What remains of the Old Ones are vestiges, certain magics, certain creatures.
"The books tell that the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed- infected by a demon soul. He bit another and another… and so they walked the earth. Feeding, killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to dies out and the Old Ones to return."
"What some one make you memorize that?" Ginny clenched her jaw. "I know the myth of the origin of the vampire."
There was a moment of silence. Ginny bit her lip, hoping that she hadn't pushed him too far.
"It is not a myth, it was what happened. As long as there have been vampires and demons, there has been the Slayer. One girl in the entire world, the Chosen One. One born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires, to find them where they gather and to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their numbers."
"What?" Ginny squeaked. "You expect me to fight and kill vampires, alone!"
"Of course," the man replied. "You are the Slayer, it is your destiny, it is how it has been, how it shall always be."
Ginny gritted her teeth. "How the –hell- do you expect me to do that? Magic?"
"Of course not. You have strength, enhanced senses and skills that other mortals cannot even imagine. Your body knows what to do, Virginia. Your instincts drive you; you feel a connection to the night, to the dark. Your body wants to complete its duty."
Ginny blanched under the blindfold. She had gotten stronger lately. She had put it down to a growth spurt and her Quidditch training. It was the same with her reflexes, she had just explained it away to her training; but that excess energy, that feeling that she was forgetting something, that itch under her skin and above all that pull that she felt towards the night, like she belonged there, like she was a part of it. Quidditch training couldn't do that.
Ginny moaned. "Oh, Merlin no."
"You see, you are the Slayer. You are a warrior of the night." The satisfaction practically poured off his voice.
Ginny fought to control her breathing; the last thing she wanted to do was lose her head. Right, first things first, remove the blindfold; once she could see she could make a plan. "So I'm some warrior for the side of good, what are you? My sidekick?"
The voice snorted. "I am your Watcher. Watchers train their Slayers, guide them and record their accomplishments."
Ginny took a deep breath and held it, using the time to focus her thoughts. "So you're my mentor-type person? That's great, really. Perhaps you could remove the blindfold, maybe then I could see you and we could introduce ourselves all proper."
Mentally Ginny gaped at her behaviour, she never would have thought that she could control her emotions like this; show no fear to her captor. Okay, maybe she wasn't some meek, little girlie-girl before, her surviving the Chamber of Secrets and the battle at the Ministry had more than proven that; but she never thought herself possible of keeping so blasé during her kidnapping by a crazy man with an agenda. She had never heard of a Slayer before, maybe he was telling the truth, it would go a long way to describe all the changes in her lately. But then again maybe he was lying through his teeth and he was actually a servant for Voldemort and had captured her to punish Harry or here for all the damage that had been done to Voldemort's followers.
Ginny's nose twitched as a faint hint of dust and leather neared her. She breathed a large sigh of relief as the blindfold loosened and gradually fell away. Ginny blinked rapidly as the harsh light pierced her eyes.
"There's no need to thank me."
Ginny flushed slightly at the rebuke. "Thank you."
Ginny's eyes slowly adjusted to the light, allowing her to look around the room in which she was being held. Her eyes widened as she took in the dank room. It was obviously underground, with one small, barred window high up the wall. The walls were a dull gray cement, the door was a heavy metal, though it was starting to rust, and there was no interior handle. There was a simple iron-framed bed in one corner with a mattress and folded blankets and sheets on top. One the other side of the room there was a door ajar she leaned around and saw a basic bathroom, with no mirror. There was a small bookcase near the bed; it was filled with leather bound heavy tomes that reminded her of the bookshelves at Hogwarts.
A man stood before her, watching as she took in the room. Ginny recoiled as her eyes connected with his. She had never seen eyes like that before, they were filled with anticipation and glee, but even that couldn't mask the crazed look that she had glimpsed when he jumped her.
He combed a hand through his wild hair. "You may address me as Mr. Ezekiel."
Ginny swallowed a burst of shocked laughter. "Oh, may I?"
Ezekiel nodded, his large demented grin seeming to be a permanent fixture. "I insist upon it." He turned an object over and over in his hands.
The movement drew Ginny's eyes to it. She gasped, it was her wand. She had been hoping that they didn't know she had one; after all he had dismissed the idea of her using magic to kill vampires. She thought that once she was alone she might be to get her wand out of her pocket and undo the bindings before getting the hell out of this place and alerting the Ministry or the Order that some whackjob was going around kidnapping teenage girls to kill vampires, feeding them some cladtrap about mystical warriors with super powers. But without her wand… Merlin she had to get it back and pronto!
Ezekiel noticed how her eyes followed the movement of the stick in his hands. "This fell out of your pocket. I thought it very strange that you'd carry a stake, and such a pathetic one at that, when you didn't know that you were a Slayer."
Ginny shrugged as best she could while still having her hands tied behind her back and tried not to panic. "It's not a stake, it's just a stick. My brother gave it to me, he said it's magic." Ginny forced a strained laugh.
Ezekiel studied the wand. "Your brother lied to you, there is no magic here." Grin still in place he placed a hand at each end of the wand and snapped it in two.
Ginny watched, her eyes wide with horror, as the two halves of the wand and the unicorn hair that was its core fell to the ground. Tears welled up in her eyes and Ginny blinked furiously, refusing to allow them to fall.
Ezekiel dusted his hands. "It wouldn't have made a good stake, the end has to come to a point, makes driving it into the vampire's heart easier." Ezekiel turned towards the door.
"Wait!" Ginny cried out. "Aren't you going to untie me first?"
Ezekiel placed his hand on the open door. "I don't think that would be very wise, do you? You're still distressed over your separation form your family. You don't see yet. You don't believe. But you will. Soon enough everything will become clear. Your first test is to remove yourself from a disadvantageous situation. I shall return in the morning."
He pulled the door shut behind him, the sound making Ginny wince as it echoed through the room. His heavy footsteps trailed down the hall.
Ginny bit her lip and let her head hang forward. Her breathing started to hitch. God, she just wanted to go home! She wanted to be back at the Burrow with Ron, rolling their eyes over their mother's worried fussing. Oh, Merlin! Her mother. She must be beside herself by now. Ginny raised her head and looked at the door, willing someone to suddenly break in. What she wouldn't give to see her father, or Bill, or Charlie break through that door. God, even Percy would have her doing a jaunty, joyous jig. Ginny stared at the door hoping, though she knew it was ridiculous, that someone would sweep in and rescue her. After a minute Ginny sighed, she knew that she couldn't expect Harry Potter to come crashing through the door to save her once again, that kind of thing only happened in books and those muggle 'moo-vees' that Hermione was always complaining about.
Ginny sniffed back tears that had started to fall during her inner monologue. "Okay, Ginny girl, get a grip on yourself. There's no one about to burst in and untie you. You have to get yourself out of this."
Ginny took a deep breath. Maybe is she moved her hands like this…
&&&&&
Hours later and Ginny had once again succumbed to tears, this time tears of pain and frustration. Hours of pulling and her wrists rubbing against the bindings on her hands and ankles had given her a seriously painful case of rope burn.
Ginny started to sob silently. She couldn't do this. She wasn't this strong Slayer that he thought she was. Ginny took a breath; it hitched as it clashed with a sob.
"All right, Ginny. One more time. The you can break down." She told herself. "Okay, one, two, three."
Ginny groaned as she reached deep inside herself and wrenched her wrists apart. There was a loud pop as Ginny's wrists came free. She brought her arms in front of her and stretched, crying out as her muscles screamed in protest over the sudden movement.
"Oww," Ginny commented as she looked at the inflamed area, wincing as the small cuts wept blood. "Okay, one down, two to go."
Freeing her feet only took a few moments; they had tied her to the chair with strips of plastic that could be pulled to be tightened. Having full use of her arms it only took Ginny minutes to maneuver the buckles so it would break and release her.
Ginny stumbled out of her chair, falling to her knees as blood suddenly rushed to her lower legs. She leant her head against the seat. She couldn't thank Merlin enough for getting her out of that chair.
A small cat flap on the bottom of the door opened, a food tray was slid into the room. The cat flap was bolted closed with a snap. Ginny pulled herself over to the door, her hand and feet tingling as her circulation returned. It wasn't until she saw the food that Ginny realized how hungry she was. She looked towards the small window, it was dark, but that didn't mean anything. For all she knew the window faced an alleyway and that part was in shade. Ginny fell upon the food, thinking as she chewed.
He had broken her wand, he had kidnapped her from an extremely well warded place and it was obvious that he was two Knuts short of a Galleon. Right, so she could just sit and wait while the Order organized a rescue or she could try and help from the inside.
Munching on a bread roll Ginny examined the door. It was hinged on the other side. And it was so large that she had no hope of trying to bust it down. Ginny's eyes fell on the lock and a familiar calculating look entered them.
&&&&&
Ginny leaned her head against the door; sweat making her hair stick to her face. She sat up and closed her eyes. 'Come on. Come on. You did this as a child.'
She focused on the lock, trying to draw on her magic without her wand. The bolt trembled; shaking as it slowly rose, causing Ginny to smile, and then fell with a quiet clang. Ginny thumped her palm against the door and gave a scream of frustration. She kicked the door.
"OPEN. YOU. STUPID. BLOODY. DOOR." Ginny yelled, punctuating each word with a kick.
"LET ME GO HOME! I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!" Ginny cried. Her anger overwhelmed her. "YOU SICK BASTARDS, LET ME OUT. LET ME THE HELL OUT, YOU BERKS!"
Ginny pulled herself into the corner and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I just want to go home," she whispered.