Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own any of Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' characters. Very fortunately, I do not own Buffy or any of the characters associated with her. I also do not own the musical Wicked, which gave me a bit of inspiration for a couple of Buffy's lines. Warning: To those of you sensitive Slayers out there, much Buffy bashing ahead!

Predator or Prey?

My dear Nathaniel,

It has been a while since we've spoken, but I am not writing for social reasons. A couple of days ago, a Slayer wandered into my grasp. Jessica, Aubrey, and myself are having a little bet as to when she'll figure out our true identities. The winner gets hunting rights on the losers' territories for a year. I know you've always enjoyed playing with humans, so I'd love it if you could join us this afternoon. Jaguar and Turquoise are most certainly invited as well if you can find them, and should Turquoise win, obviously she'll be able to take a different prize. I do hope you can join us!

Yours truly,

Risika

Buffy's Diary:

6 PM July 5, 2004: Boy, that Elizabeth sure hangs out with some interesting people! And they're all so beautiful. I thought it was only my town that had the people with the perfectly flawless figures like me, to make up for the Hell Mouth being there or something… So anyway, this afternoon, she introduced me to three of her other friends. There were two guys and a girl, and one of the guys had his arm around the girl's shoulders protectively.

The lone guy was introduced to me as Nathaniel. He is a handsome, dark skinned man in his early twenties, and his physique is gorgeous. He greeted me with a small smile, and bent over to kiss my hand. And people say that chivalry is a dead art!

The girl was beautiful, but she had an air about her that I didn't really like. There was something distinctly aggressive about her, and it made me dislike her instantly. If I thought that there were vampires here, and that they would be having a light lunch in a normal Chinese restaurant, I would've said that she definitely was one. This predatory specimen was introduced to me as Audra.

Finally, I was introduced to Audra's boyfriend, who was as gorgeous as Aubrey, but in a very different way. My first impression of the young man called Kyle was of majestic catlike grace. He seemed somehow out of place in his form-fitting black jeans and loosely cut, medieval looking shirt. His hair was very long, and tied in a ponytail behind his tanned face. Yummy!

So anyway… It was kind of odd, throughout lunch, Audra was the only one other than myself to do anything but pick at the food. And (I'm so perceptive!) Audra kept looking at Nathaniel, alternately glaring at him and grinning as though drinking tea were the funniest thing in the world. If Kyle hadn't been watching the whole thing too, I would have said that Audra was cheating on him. (Though I definitely don't know why!)

So, we started talking and surprisingly Audra, Kyle, and I all share an interest! I started talking about what we do, just to make small talk. Nathaniel said that he sells his words. I guess he must be a freelance writer. I turned to Audra and Kyle, and Kyle spoke. He has the most beautiful voice!

"Audra and I are both masters of martial arts. I specialize in control and discipline." His voice was so smooth, and it sounded almost sinister. I love dark voices like that… Aubrey has a dark voice…

So anyway, I replied "Oh really? I have an interest in martial arts too! I've never studied with a school or anything, but I think I'm pretty good. Hey, I haven't practiced these past couple of days, but do you want to spar?"

Audra grinned at me, her eyes glinting. "Definitely. It's been months since my last real challenge, aside from … Kyle." Hmm, I wonder why she paused like that before saying Kyle's name. Oh well.

"I have a gym in my basement." Elizabeth spoke. "If you want, after lunch we can go there." I was pretty happy about this. It would give me a great chance to work out, and in case Audra was actually any good, it would be the challenge that I had been hoping for. And, the added benefit would be putting that uppity girl in her place, as I definitely would! Aside from my super-sharp reflexes and my strength, as a Slayer I can withstand injuries that would have most humans knocked out cold, so there is definitely no way I couldn't win.

"Great! It should be fun." I smiled at Audra. Just because I didn't like her didn't mean that I shouldn't be nice to her. I'm always nice to people. It's one of my charms.

So, after lunch, we rode back to Elizabeth's house. I had never actually been in her house. It really is a very nice house. It is so big! She didn't show us the whole house (very inconsiderate host, if you ask me), and she brought us directly down to the basement. It had the most amazing supply of weapons I'd ever seen, both for practice and true fights. It was even better than Giles' collection. Hah, he won't be very happy to hear that when I get back…

Anyhoo, it was amazing. There were all kinds of blades and firearms all over the walls, and even a couple of whips. I wonder if Jess had actually been down here before she wrote her book. If she had, it's no wonder she thought she could write Elizabeth off as a vampire. Elizabeth said she is a collector of old weapons, but I'm starting to wonder. Maybe she trades weapons like that on the black market!

Audra and I took of our shoes and stretched before walking onto the smooth sparring mats. Audra started to circle, looking at the weapons on the walls, and I followed her. "What weapon do you normally use?" Her question caught me completely off guard as I stared at the artwork on a wooden crossbow.

"Me? Oh, usually I use a wooden stake…" I definitely did not blow my cover and say that because I forgot, I was just warning her not to mess with me. Surprisingly, Audra didn't seem shocked by that at all.

"Hmm. I usually prefer silver knives for that kind of job myself. They're so much less bulky, and less fragile. Not to mention the fact that they look so much classier." Look classier, heh. Giles never got me a set of silver knives… I wonder why she mentioned fighting with them being a job. We must be talking about completely different things, but as long as no one notices, it doesn't really matter.

"How about these?" Audra took down a pair of long, dull practice knives. Whether I'd wanted to fight with them or not, I had to accept for my pride. However, it was a grin, not a wince that I had to cover. They were almost exactly the length of the stakes that I normally use, and therefore my best weapon. I took one soundlessly, and padded to the center of the room, with Audra following.

We stood a few paces apart, facing each other. Kyle seemed to have decided to be the official referee. "Third blood?" Audra nodded, so I followed suit. I didn't actually think that we were going to be fighting for blood! "Then begin!"

Audra and I began to circle each other, seeking out our opponent's weaknesses. She feinted forward, and I stepped back, very nimbly if I do say so myself. We circled for another minute, and then I lunged forward, blade first. Audra flinched back, and her knife sliced me neatly on one cheek. I definitely did not cry out, and she only got me because I was going easy on her in the first place.

"First blood, Buffy." It was the first time that she had spoken in the whole duel, and her voice was oddly hollow, and completely focused. I continued to circle her soundlessly, with slightly more respect for my foe. This time, I was able to wait her out. She rushed at me, and cut a thin line of red on the other cheek, mirroring my first injury. I allowed her to gain the edge as I kicked out and brought her down hard on her back. She sliced at my ankle, but I didn't think she'd actually hit me, since I jumped back very quickly. Before she could get up, I sliced her shoulder open lightly with the practice blade. "First blood, Audra."

With a lunge of superhuman speed and agility, Audra stood up again. "Third blood." Her voice was soft and deadly. I looked at her in shock, and then suddenly noticed that my ankle hurt. When I looked down, I was shocked to see blood dripping to the floor. I would've attacked her again, but Kyle stepped between us and reminded me of where I was. Of course, Audra just won because I was going easy on her. If we'd gone again, I would have kicked her butt.

We shook hands, and I noticed she barely had worked up a sweat. Suddenly, I realized why she was so fast! I decided that I would have to warn Kyle, before he got hurt. As soon as possible, I made my way over to him and pulled him aside.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" His arms were so muscled! "Alone?" I looked significantly at Audra, who was waiting for him. He nodded to her, and she left. "I know you might not want to hear this, but your girlfriend is dangerous!" I was ready for any reaction, from fear to anger, but not his calm smile.

The smile lit up Kyle's whole face. "Oh, I know that well." He smirked slightly.

"No, I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I think she might kill you. I don't just mean dangerous like she has the ability; I think she'd actually do something!" How could I make him understand something like this?

For some macabre reason, Kyle kept grinning. "Not any more. She might've tried at one point, but she'd never succeed." Wow, big biceps, and an ego to match!

"Kyle, I know what I'm about to say may sound crazy, but I know what I'm talking about. Please, try to believe me, and don't get mad. I think that Audra is a vampire!"

A/N: Well, I am sorry it took me so long to update. Besides being under a mountain of school related work, I also lost all inspiration for this story temporarily. However, I do have something already planned for the next chapter, so barring outside problems, it should not be too long for that one. (Yes, I know, I always say that. This time I really mean it!) On a more serious note, because of the new restrictions set out by fanfic, if you were nice enough to send me an anonymous review, I can't reply to you any more. If you want a personal reply, please include an e-mail address. If for some reason you cannot, please let me know and I will somehow reply in the chapter. To everyone who reviewed, thank you so much for all of your comments! Everything is greatly appreciated. If you feel like flaming, please remember I fight fire with fire. I do greatly appreciate constructive criticism, however. Lastly, a big thank you to my beta, Valgoruth! Remember to push the little periwinkle colored button on the bottom of the screen!