FORSAKEN

By Danielle Camden

A fan fiction tale based on Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel

Part One: Sweet Dreams

She stamped her foot and up it flew. Naturally, his curiosity forced him to look down to see where it had come from. He was just in time to catch the outer side of her right leg snap back into place. His mind tried to wrap it's way around what had just happened. He quickly jerked his eyes back up. Just in time to see she had it in her hand and was sprinting for him. He wiped the blood from his nose and readied himself. Just before she could stick him with the accursed thing, he jumped over and landed behind her. But before he could grab her shoulders she lifted her right arm and nailed him with a powerful back fist. He fell backwards into a puddle. She seemed to tower over him, even though she was barely over five feet tall. He tried to move, but he felt a crushing weight on his chest forcing him back down. He tried to grab at it and his hand was swatted away. His vision was blurred but he could still make out that it was her foot standing on his chest.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to wander down dark allies all by your self?"

"How! Who are you?..." He gargled.

"That is a good question." She stated matter of factly. She lunged down sharply and plunged the wood deep into his left breast. He grasped it quickly as he looked at her in agony before he erupted into a cloud of dust. She stood up to dust herself off and began to sigh. But instead of her witty retort, she began to gag and cough. "Damn! cough When will I learn! gag not to breath in after they do that! I'm going to be tasting that for a week!" No sooner had the words exited her lips, than the heavens opened up and rained down heavily. She threw her arms up and said. "Ofcourse! As if evil undead guy in my mouth wasn't enough, lets add water to his ashy remains which are all over my clothes, thereby, staining them permanently! Great! This is just what I need now!" Then stormed off down the alley, into the rain, into the dark of the night.

Her head hit the pillow. Soft, cool, comforting. She didn't even bother undoing the few braids she put in her long brown hair. All she had accomplished in preparing for bed, was removing her soaking clothes and boots and put on an oversized t-shirt that was laying on the floor.

She pulled the fluffy comforter up and over her chest and cuddled it close. Her eyes closed and her mind drifted. Her head rocked as she felt her thick hair soaking her pillow.

She knew the dreams would come again, as they have for the last two years when all this started. She felt the darkness come and slowly carry her into listlessness.

"Emma." It always started with that woman calling out to her. As if she were being told that the lesson was about to begin, so she better be listening. In the darkness a light appeared. As it got closer, it became clear that it wasn't a light at all. It was a person. A woman, to be exact. A woman, with long white hair in a long white dress. She stretched out her hand and bid her to follow. She tried to keep up with the woman, but, she always seemed to be just out of reach. Finally, the woman stopped and opened double doors. A blinding light exploded from the doorway, and Emma was engulfed in it.

Yelling and pushing everywhere. Panic was so thick in the air you could taste it. It was dark and the air was harsh from being filled with dust. Her body ached and her limbs felt heavy. Yet, she knew she must fight. There was no one else left but her. She had been trained all her life and this very well could be the end of it. She was surrounded by them. One swung at her and the breeze from the swift moving arm made the cut on left cheek sting all the more. They snarled and roared at her. She sensed that the redhead to her right was about to make his move. She jumped as he lunged for her, and was able to leap frog over his shoulders, turn around and shove her stake thru his heart from his back. He fell to dust before her. The other six tightened and growled, gnashed their teeth. This only scrunched their faces all the more. Their yellow eyes gleamed through the dusty air, their lips curled up showing more of their gnarled fangs. And then there was the smell of death all around, dank and metallic. By now the remaining people had fled the village. The beasts closed in on her grinning and creeping. She stood firm feeling out the moment. They encircled her, and began to creep around ripping at her skirts and pulling at her hair. She closed her eyes, trying to push the fear into her stomach so she could use it. Out of the darkness came a new figure. He was tall and handsome. His long dark hair blew gently across his face and revealed his menacing grin. He spoke in French.

"Mes amis, I believe she has been tenderized enough. I can handle her from here." He breathed in deep. "Your aroma is intoxicating ma chere! I can hear your heart pounding from here. The fear of a slayer! It makes my skin tingle. Tu sont magnifique!"

This was it, she knew it in her blood. She grunted through her teeth, "You are a devil of the worst kind! Je crache a vous!"

"Oh ma chere, we are not so different tu et moi. Nomads of a sort. Hunters. Death is our obsession, our passion. It is a part of us."

"I don't think so. You're a monster. You feed off of innocence. It is my duty to protect it." She gripped her stake sternly as if the stake itself gave her more power and strength.

"I'm bored with this banter. I think I would like to get straight to the screaming now!" And with that they ran towards each other. Her skirts billowed in her wake as did his black velvet jacket. She leapt forward with the stake in her right hand stretched out in front of her. He deflected her attack and swept her to the side. When he did, the stake tore the sleeve of his gentlemens' coat. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good tailor when you are on my schedule! I think I will hurt just a little bit extra for that." She wasn't fast enough and he picked her up by her delicate throat. His dark, handsome face distorted into it's demon form. "Don't worry ma cheri, I'll make sure you feel everything! And don't worry, I am not like most men, I can go all night!" He erupted into laughter as he threw her to the ground and tore her skirts from her body. He beat her head into the road until she was only conscious. She couldn't move, but she could feel. And for hours she did. Feel, everything until he had his fill and became bored with pleasuring himself, feeding, and dismantling her. "Really, you were magnificent! Merci bebe!" and he tore her head from what was left of her torso.

Emma sat straight up in bed screaming. Her face glistened with sweat. "Damn it!" She rubbed her face roughly thinking it would rub the images out of her mind. All it did was bring some of her own memories to the surface. Flashes of her own foot being ripped from her right leg as she tried to scramble out into the daylight from a couple of vamps who had spent the night torturing and feeding on her family. She glanced down at the fiberglass limb that rested next to her bed. "It's not fair." She mumbled. "Why couldn't this, this super boost happen earlier." With that she picked up her plastic leg and threw it across the room, subsequently it went through the wall and into the living room. "Well, good thing I already went to the bathroom." With that she reached for a bottle on her night table, tossed a few pills down her throat and laid down waited for the sweet light dizziness to take over and force her to pass out into blackness. "Sweet oxicodone, take me away."

A stream of sunlight made its way through the dark drapes of her bedroom. Emma's eyes shot open. She groaned as she rolled away from the light. "I really should line the windows with foil." She thought to herself. Reluctantly, she pulled herself up and rubbed her face. She was still a little numb from the muscle relaxers. She felt her bladder tingle and leaned over the side of the bed in search of her leg. When out of her peripheral vision she caught the large hole in the wall and suddenly remembered the fit she had in the middle of the night. "Damn! Jimmy's gonna kill me. AGAIN!" That was not the first time Emma had lost her temper in this manner. On three of her bedroom walls was evidence of patch work. "Plaster and drywall tape Martha. That's what I call the décor of this room!" She mocked. Standing up from the bed she grabbed her silicone liner, crossed her arms across her chest holding her breasts steady. Using her left leg she hopped into out of the bedroom down the hall and into the living room to retrieve her leg. As she plopped down onto the couch and began to roll her liner on over her right leg, the front door opened.

"Goddamn Emma! How many times do I have to keep patching these walls!" Jimmy had come back. He was tall and handsome with wavy brown hair. He had Emma's high cheek bones and intense hazel eyes. He walked over to where Emma was sitting and picked up her mal treated limb. The spring loaded hatch on the outer side was stuck open and would not stay shut. "Emma! Holy Shit! Do you have any idea how long this is going to take to fix! Is there anyway you could, oh, I dunno, hit a pillow! Take deep breaths, count to ten?"

"Shut up smartass. I'm sorry, I'll try better next time. I'll go back to throwing lamps."

"Why don't you try, not throwing anything! Maybe we could give that a shot!"

"Look, just be glad that all you got was the height and weren't cursed with this awful temper and tragically striking good looks!" Emma batted her eyes and smiled coyly.

"Alright, lemme go get your beater and I'll start on this one after I eat, ok! It was the one in France wasn't it. "

"Yeah. That one always wakes me up."

"Have you tried the notebook thing yet? It helps me." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Why? If you write them down why do I have to? Do you think we need two copies? Besides, I have someone to talk to about it. How many other people do you know share dreams with another person!"

"Well from what I've read, MANY twins do that!"

"And in how many of those cases was one of the twins a slayer?"

"Emma, I don't think a slayer has EVER had a twin. I think we are an enigma." Jimmy padded down the hall to retrieve her "beater" leg from her closet. "Lucky for you I'm a genius."

Emma smirked. "He's never going to let go of that." Jimmy returned to the room with her leg.

"Why would I? It's only fair. You got the cool super strength, I got the super smarts!"

That night Emma watched Jimmy work in the basement on her leg. What once was considered the "family room", complete with an air hockey table, big screen TV. , mini kitchen, and card table, was now called "the shop". Jimmy had this place equipped and armed to the teeth. The back corner was reserved for the work Jimmy did on all of Emma's prosthetic legs. This included regular maintenance, weapon installations, adjustments, and whatever cosmetic demands Emma can conjure up. At first glance, it would seem like a dungeon with all of the feet, tools and weapons hanging from the ceiling. A large stainless steal work counter was against the wall with a peg board above it, and an old butcher block table was across from that. Everything looked well used. Across from Jimmy's shop, was Emma's training area. A red punching bag hung from chains in the corner and wrist wraps lay discarded underneath. Various weapons hung on the wall. Axes, swords, chains, bo staffs, daggers, and an old canvas laundry bag full of stakes. Lining the walls around the little gym were dumb bells, medicine balls and a couple of yoga mats. To the front of the basement was the kitchenette with an old yellow couch and TV. Emma sat there now half twisted around so she could see Jimmy. The TV playing the news, but was muted.

"How much longer?" Emma prodded.

"About half as long as it would take if you keep asking me questions." He responded from underneath his welding mask. Sparks flew up above his head. Jimmy flipped up the mask and closed the hatch on the leg. It snapped perfectly into place. He stood it up on the table and pushed down hard on the heel. The trigger tripped and the hatch popped open.

"Voila!" He proclaimed. "Stake launcher is a go! I have some new upgrade I want to add too. I might get a chance to install them if I wasn't so tied up fixing what you break every night!"

Emma turned around and made mocking faces and moved her hand as if it were a puppet. She jerked back around sharply and asked. "Hey, what about that "Barbie" foot you promised? I hate the high heeled foot I have now, it looks like shit! The colors don't match and the toes are too narrow!"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" Jimmy announced as he removed his mask. "I couldn't find enough material in the western hemisphere to make a foot that big!" Emma grabbed her shoes and hurled it in his direction. Jimmy ducked just in time. "Oooo, not as quick as you think you are eh? Maybe you should practice more. And didn't we discuss this no more throwing shit?"

"Just because you are a minute and a half older doesn't make you my father!" As soon as she had said it she regretted it. For the last two years they both had made it a point to avoid any references to parental figures. They both looked solemnly at each other for a short moment and then down at the floor. Emma stared down. She studied the old dirty rug under feet. Trying to memorize the fibers, see if she could see beyond what he eyes allowed her. She tried to superimpose the image of how it looked when her parents were alive to how it looked now. All she could see was the dirt and the fraying. She breathed deep, searching for the familiar smell of popcorn and root beer that used to be sin ominous with this room. But now, all she smelled was burnt copper, old sweat and old dirty basement. The tears threatened to breech the wall she had fought so hard to build. She breathed in hard to force herself to stop this self pitying and come back from out of the past.

"I know." Jimmy said suddenly. "But, pushing it out of our minds doesn't do any good either." He wanted so much for his sister to let go of her guilt. There was nothing she could have done. Fate plays cruel tricks on us all. He knew, all to well. He could never tell her that as much as he loved his twin sister, he resented her and was jealous of her abilities. He has tried to take solace in the fact that he was much smarter than she was, shared some of her slayer reflexes, and the fact that they shared a slight telepathic connection to each other which included the slayer dreams. But, he could never get over that fact that SISTER got to be the bad ass! "But then again," he thought to himself, "I do have a penis, and that inherently makes me better."

"You know, when you talk to yourself like that and I am nearby, I can hear you. And the fact is, it's not really a penis unless you get to use it!" Emma quipped as she bounded up the stairs.

"I use it!" He yelled back. Emma popped her head under the dropped ceiling at the top of the stairs.

"Going to the bathroom and jerking off to underwear section in the latest K-mart ad doesn't count!"

As the sky got began to turn black, Emma prepared for her patrol. She packed her back pack with stakes, bottled water and her disc man. Jimmy handed her, her leg fixed up and ready to go. He had already loaded it with a new slim steak. She pulled on her high black boots, laced them up and slid a dagger into each one. She double checked to make sure that the boot on her right side could still accommodate for her tricked out leg. The spring action hatch on the side still opened and shut no problem, and a few new updates as well. She clicked her heels and a wooden blade came jutting out of the toe. She stepped down on the ball if her foot and twisted, and a series of spikes stuck out from her shin. "Cool." She threw on her black jacket and ba, and walked down the hallway.

Jimmy met her at the front door in the living room. This evenings reminder that his masculinity needed affirmation, made him decide he was going to patrol with her tonight. He had put on a long khaki rain coat and slung a single strap back pack across his broad shoulders.

"Where do you think your going?" Emma questioned. "Don't you have to open the store tomorrow morning?"

"If I am a couple hours late and some guy, who's a bigger loser than me, can't get his first edition copy of Klingon for the Galactic Traveler, I think I'll get over it. Besides, the only people who actually come in to buy books, don't come in until after one p.m."

"Alright, I guess I could use the company. But, don't talk too much. Wait a minute, don't you have that book?"

"What self respecting scientist doesn't? But, don't tell anyone." He grinned. She smiled back and him and walked out the door.

They walked together down Fairbanks Road. It was shortly passed ten o'clock, and most people were at home by now. Or, they were in a better part of town.

"For the last time, I am not going to learn Mok'Bara! It's not real! It's make believe!" Emma fired.

"There are classes were you can learn it! They have exhibitions as conventions!"

"Yes! Star Trek conventions! I am not learning some made up Klingon martial art!"

"But, don't you see no one would expect it!"

Emma stopped for a second and stared off in thought. Her eyebrows furrowed and she shook her head vigorously. "NO! This is stupid! Like the time you tried to make me wear the Klingon battle armor you built!" Jimmy nodded his head and smiled to himself.

"That was really cool too! I did an awesome job! Mom would have been proud!"

"Jimmy. Please."

"And why can't we talk about them! About it! It's been two years!"

"Because! I'm ashamed! I hid! I hid like a baby! I could have done something!" Emma cried.

"And how do you think I feel!" Jimmy yelled back. "I wasn't there! Last thing I said to dad was he could kiss my ass! That I wasn't running his stupid little book shop that no cared about anymore! Emma, I told them that I was better than them! I have to live with that for the rest of my life that I wasn't there to help them! To help you."

Emma sniffled and righted herself. She didn't like feeling like this. Guilty for pushing her issues off onto him. She felt bad. She turned and hugged him tight. "I'm sorry big brother. I keep forgetting that you saved my life."

TWO YEARS AGO

The front door slammed and Jimmy jumped into his blue Dodge pickup truck. John Hogan ran out after him. It was too late though. Jimmy had already peeled out of the driveway and sped off. John hung his head. This wasn't the first time they had come to this place. And always one of them walked away. He wanted so much to be close to his son again. Jimmy was a good kid, a parent's dream really. But he could be so full of himself. John wished he could find a way to make him see that, his attitude will only make him miserable.

"John! Honey come back inside. Let's do our best to enjoy the rest of the evening. Emma leaves for school tomorrow and Shea has cheerleading camp next week. Jimmy will cool off and come back later. Let's all just go back down stairs and watch the movie!" Katherine called from the door. John smiled reluctantly at her. She was always a breath of fresh air. Her long wavy dark hair never lost it'd luster in these past twenty five years. She batted her large brown eyes pleadingly at her husband. It always broke her heart to see him like this. All she wanted was an evening with her family. Even thought she would complain about not ever having enough time alone with John, she missed having all the children there with them.

John shuffled back up the walk to where his lovely wife was standing in the front doorway. He put his arms around her tiny frame, and kissed her gently on the top of her head. "Let's go shorty. What movie is it tonight?"

"The Wrath of Kahn."

"Great. I haven't seen that one in a whole week!" They stepped in together and shut the door.

Emma looked up and saw her parents walking down the basement stairs. "Don't worry dad, he'll be back in the morning. He feels bad too."

"I hope your right sweetie. Hey who's got the popcorn?"

"I do!" A small voice spoke up from behind him. She was tall and slender and only fifteen years old. Emma will never forget that image of her. Standing there in her pink "angel girl" pajamas with her light brown hair pulled up into a ponytail and holding a huge bowel of butter popcorn with a smile on her face. Shea was sweet and graceful. And never cared about "diets". John turned around and shoved his large hand into the bowel and pulled out a pile of popcorn and stuffed it into his mouth. "Daddy! Save some for the rest of us will ya?" Then the doorbell rang. They all looked at each other confused. It was nine o'clock at night and they weren't expecting anyone. John volunteered to get the door commenting on how if it's one of the neighbors that mom would end standing there talking all night and they would never get to the movie. John proceeded up the stairs and back to the front door. The woman all huddled together on the couch infront of the TV eating as much of the buttery popcorn on top as they could. Upstairs John was answering the front door. There stood two young clean cut men in nice polo shirts and khaki pants.

"Excuse me sir", said the one on the left with the blonde hair, "but our car broke down and we were wondering if we could use your phone real quick." John was a kind man and honestly wanted to accommodate anyone who asked for his help. And so he was more than happy to invite them in and offer his phone.

"Sure boys come on in! The phone is over there on the table next to the couch. Would you like something to drink? The family and I are downstairs watching "The Wrath of Kahn", your welcome to join us as you wait for your ride."

The second man shut the front door and turned around. John looked up at him and was horrified. The young man's face had been changed into a disturbing form. His eyes were now yellow and teeth had grown sharp and long. "We are not that big on Star Trek sir, but I think we will take you up on that drink. I believe we are a bit thirsty!"

They both grabbed John and threw him into the wall by the fire place. He managed to get the poker and swung at the intruders. They both laughed at the man struggling to save himself and his family.

Down in the basement, the three women, sat huddled on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Scared and confused, they remained frozen. Finally, Katherine could wait no longer and she stood up from the couch and slowly walked to the stairs. The girls begged her silently to return to them and she shushed them. Very carefully she began her ascent. One step at a time to ensure that her sock feet make no noise what so ever. When she had reached the top, she slowly pushed the door open and peered down the hall into the living room. Her eyes widened with terror. She saw her husband being beaten over and over again with the fireplace poker. With each devastating blow, blood would fly into the air and into the faces of the attackers. And each time this would happen they would point and laugh at each other. John was still conscious. He tried to roll and when he did he groaned in pain. He tilted his head and locked eyes with Katherine. She felt the tears stream down her cheeks. Hot and wet, pooling on her chin. The attackers started again. It was as if they were drunk from the violence. John kept looking at Katherine. He mouthed to her, "run". At first Katherine couldn't fathom the idea of leaving her husband to these demonic butchers. But in her heart she knew it was too late for him and that she needed to get her daughters out of there quick. She realized suddenly that she had forgotten to breathe. She blinked looking at her husband and mouthed "I love you". His eyes glazed over, and she knew he wasn't there anymore. The bastards were as dogs now, lapping the blood up off of John and slurping at the pool of it on the floor. She went to make her retreat. Slowly she began to back away. But the step creaked and the monsters jerked around. They saw her and they snarled as they grinned. Before they could fall upon her, Katherine turned around and yelled for her daughters to run.

Emma immediately jumped up and ran for the far wall with the high rectangular windows. She tried climbing the shelf but, in her urgency, she kept slipping. Her socks seemed to be working against her. She went to ask Shea to give her a boost; it was then that she realized Shea wasn't there with her. She was still standing in front of the couch, frozen.

'Shea! She whispered loudly. But, she didn't move. She wanted to grab her and pull her towards her, but, she was scared too. Frantic, she spun around looking for a place to hide. And then Emma remembered when they were children. When her and Jimmy wanted to hide from their parents or from their bothersome little sister, they would hide under the stairs. What once was a closet was now covered by paneling and had been forgotten about. Her and Jimmy had found it on accident when they were six. They were playing wrestling when Emma got thrown into that paneling. Jimmy had noticed that cracked perfectly straight on one of the seams and he was able to bend it back from the wall. When he did that, they say that there was a small door there, and pushed it open. Once inside they could pull the paneling back in place and shut the door. No one ever knew about their secret "clubhouse". They even would bring flash lights in there and no one could see the light from the outside.

The only problem now, was getting there from where she was. All the way to the front of the basement and not get caught. She gathered up all of her courage and ran for the clubhouse. She reached for Shea's arm to pull along with her. But, as her fingers touched her arm, they saw their mother's feet dangle from below the dropped ceiling. Shea screamed. Emma thought she would die of fright right then and there. She tried to pull Shea along with her but she was running for the stairs all the while screaming "Mommy!" Tears poured down Emma's face. She wanted to yell out for her sister, but, she didn't want to give herself away like Shea had done.

"Now they know you are down here!" She kept screaming in her head. As much as she wanted to help her baby sister, her fight or flight mechanism had just made up her mind for her. She kept going for the hidden door. She slid behind the air hockey table that was there now and pushed her fingers into the crack. All she could hear was her heart pounding as she pulled the paneling back. She shoved the little door open and threw herself in. As quickly and quietly as she could she pulled the paneling back into place and shut the door. She squished herself as far back as she could to the back of the little closet. As far back as the stairs would allow her to go. She heard Shea run up the stairs to get to her mother. And when she got close one of the intruders grabbed her as well.

"Well! Looks like we have a young one!" He sniffed her neck and then licked it. "She's fresh too! Nice and ripe and never been picked!" The dark headed one sang. "We are gonna have fun to night baby girl and mommy is gonna get to watch! Too bad daddy was in to big of a hurry to get dead, he coulda watched too! I bet you taste like peaches!" He bit into her neck so hard that Emma could hear the crunch of his teeth penetrating her skin. He pulled back harshly, "I better save some for later. I want you awake so you can scream for me!"

Emma sat in her whole and rocked. She was ashamed of the things she felt now. She was glad that it wasn't her! She just kept praying that they wouldn't find her. She scolded herself for being so selfish. But what could she do? She heard them drag her mother and sister up the rest of the stairs and down the hall. She assumed they had taken them into her sister's room. That's were it sounded like they were. A few moments later she heard the basement door open and foot steps come down the stairs. Emma froze, afraid that any movement would give her away. Her breath was halted and her eyes wide and searching. It was as if she could feel his movements. She heard him walk the perimeter of the basement and then force open the door to the closet where Daddy kept all of his best and rarest books. Then the book closet door shut and he was silent for a long moment. It felt like forever to her. Was he searching for her? Had Shea and Mom told him there was another one in the house? Emma gathered herself up into as small of a ball she could get herself into. Then, just like that, she heard him bound up the stairs whistling something happy. Emma's tears fell in relief. He hadn't known she was there!

All that night, she could hear them laugh and holler with delight. She could hear the screams of her sister and mother. She never moved from that spot far in the back, under the stairs. It had been quiet for a long time. She guessed that two hours had passed since she had heard any sounds or felt any movement. Slowly she began to crawl and feel around on the floor, hoping that just by the grace of God; something had been left behind from her and Jimmy's clubhouse days. She was in luck! There in one of the far corners, was a candle and a lighter! Slowly and carefully she attempted to light the lighter. Finally it lit and she was able to light the candle! She rejoiced in her mind that Jimmy was such a book worm. The candle sat on a piece of broken glass stuck in the corner on a ledge. It was stubby and white and obviously hadn't been used in a while. Below it was a small stake of books. She picked them up and sifted threw them. Encyclopedia Brown, and Adventures of a Fourth Grade Nothing were right on top. "Judy Blume? Hmmm." Underneath that were a couple of dinosaur books and one on The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. But, when she had picked up this final book, a soft green glow caught her attention. She looked back down at the floor and saw a digital clock. "Thank God Jimmy was always so anal about punctuality!" By this clock the time was seven a.m. "Had it really been that long?" She thought to herself. "If these things really were vampires, then, isn't safe to assume that they have to sleep during the day and that they can't go out in the day light?" This was her chance. She needed to act quickly. Suddenly, her limbs began to tingle. She brushed it off as fear and lack of sleep. She got this strange sensation of confidence. She looked at the digital clock and thanked Jimmy under her breath leaving this stuff in here. She thought on him for a moment, how he was lucky not to have been here, but how she wished he was here. "Jimmy. Where are you big brother? I need you so badly right now!"

Three miles away Jimmy awoke with a start and jumped up off of Brian Kelly's apartment floor. He wasn't quite sure how or why, but, he knew Emma was in trouble and he needed to get home as soon as possible. He kicked the empty beer cans out of his way and grabbed his keys off of the make shift milk crate coffee table and ran out the door. "I'm coming sissy. I'm coming"

Emma removed her socks, blaming them for her failed escape last night. She took a deep breath and pulled the little door open. "Ok, now to open the paneling, you can do this! You can!" Shaking, she stuck her right hand out in front of her and gently pushed the paneling. It gave, and slowly it opened. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep again and prepared for her next move. Emma slowly peeked her head from around the bent paneling and looked around. She saw no one, so she slipped out. She crawled under the air hockey table and slowly stood up. Checking out the stairs, she saw blood spatter in the wall near the basement door; it was cracked. She covered her mouth and tried not to vomit. Reminding herself that she had to get the hell outta there, she turned and headed for the metal shelf under the window. But as she edged closer she heard them stirring upstairs in the kitchen.

"Hey, do you smell that?" The blonde one asked.

"Yeah, it smells like, sniff a candle?" Answered the dark headed one. "Is it coming from the basement? I thought you said no one was down there!"

"There wasn't, I checked, I swear! There wasn't anywhere anyone could have been!"

"Do I have to do everything for you?" And he started walking to the basement door.

Emma panicked a started to run. Just then the door flew open and the dark headed one saw her! "Hey! Where did you come from?" he yelled. "And where do you think your going?"

Emma didn't stop. She raced for the shelf and started climbing. The vamp caught her legs and tried pulling her down. Instinctively, she kicked back and he was knocked backwards a bit. Both of them were shocked. The vamp looked down and back up again. But, before she could question where it had come from she reached up and pulled the little curtain off of the rectangular window. The vamp was blinded and ducked out of the sunlight. Emma yanked open the window and started to tear her way out. Suddenly, she felt his hand around her right ankle. She was slipping back! "NO!" She screamed. The pain was unbearable! She couldn't shake his grip. When, out no where, she felt this overwhelming sensation of the tingling in her limbs again. This time, it was intensified and all over her body like an electric shock, and she was the electricity! It was like someone had flipped a switch and suddenly she was on for the first time in her life! She knew she had the power to get herself out of there! Emma reached forward and grabbed onto the clothes line pole that was stuck in the yard. She pulled with all of her might, but that damned vampire wouldn't let loose of her foot. His grip was as solid as hers. She wedged her shoulder up and was able to get her left arm thru the window and now pulled with both arms to free her self. She bit down and gritted her teeth using everything she had to pull. A sharp pain shot up her leg as she felt the bastard sink his nails into her heel cord to get a tighter lock on her. She pulled herself up far enough to get her left knee up to the window sill and was able to use it as leverage. She pulled hard one last time and was free! She was out of the basement and laying in the grass under the sun. But, then something didn't feel right. She looked down and saw that her right foot was gone! Her mouth dropped open as she looked back into the window as saw the vamp there in the shadows holding her foot and waving.

"Not bad, but, at least I got a souvenir!" He then started laughing manically. Emma crawled backwards using her hands and her remaining left foot. When she got to the middle of the yard, the sun was directly over her and she was sure they couldn't get to her here. She fell back and felt the throbbing pain of her mutilated limb. As she slipped off into sub consciousness, she called out to Jimmy one last time.

A minute later Jimmy pulled up into the drive way and found his twin sister bleeding to death in the front yard.

"EMMA!" He screamed as he shook her. He took off his shirt and tore it to make a tourniquet. He looked around, and got up to go inside to call 911. Her hand reached up slowly and touched his leg.

"No." She whispered. "Don't go in there! There still inside! All gone. They got them, all gone."

"What do you mean? Who's in there who's all gone? Where's Mom and Dad?"

Emma closed her eyes and relived the events in her mind. Jimmy jumped back in horror.

"No. I don't believe it! What the hell is going on! I'm taking you to the hospital!"

He put her into the truck and tore off for the emergency room. The police never found the ones that did it. It ran on the news for two weeks as "a great tragedy". John had been bludgeoned to death with a fireplace poker and drained of his blood. Katherine and Shea Hogan had been repeatedly raped, sodemized, tortured with curling irons and knives, and drained of their blood. Emma recovered quicker than anyone could have imagined and the twins inherited their family's house, and book shop. They both dropped out of collage and, for some reason even they were not sure of, they both stayed in the house.

One evening Jimmy was going through the books in the closet when he found one of the oldest books he had ever seen. He described the Legacy of the Slayer. It seemed to explain what had happened to Emma. With that book and the helpful use of the World Wide Web, Jimmy and Emma were able to learn about what a slayer was and what she needed to do. From that day on, it had been their personal vendetta to rid the world of those who rid them of their family. This was their life now.