Night Falls
Previously:
"I think you should kill her," Eve said. "She could make this more difficult than it has to be."
"I agree," Caleb, replied, striding forward. Knocking a Bringer out of the way, he grabbed Hailey from behind, holding her tight against his chest. Hailey struggled in his grasp, her eyes widening when he pulled a knife and displayed it before her. "Now, I hate to say it, but this is going to hurt quite a bit." With all of his strength, Caleb slammed the knife into Hailey's chest.
Chapter Twenty-Six:"Get down now!" Faith yelled as she grabbed Willow by the neck and shoved her backwards. Just as suddenly as Willow had noticed the clicking, it stopped, and a massive explosion ripped through the basement of Sunnydale High. Faith was thrown forward by the blast. She landed on top of Willow, shielding her from the debris that fell from the ceiling. Fire shot in front of her eyes and she could smell burning flesh surrounding her. She struggled to rise, but a large chunk of rubble fell from above and slammed into the back of her head. The world abruptly went black and Faith slumped to the ground.
Underneath her, Willow struggled to breath through the smoke that was rapidly filling the room. Coughing violently, she attempted to roll the downed Slayer off of her body to no avail. "Help," she said harshly, her voice cracking, and the acid taste of smoke filling her mouth.
"I got you," Kennedy said, appearing through the haze. Lifting Faith underneath the arms, she gently placed the Slayer to the side. "Are you alright?"
"Is she?" Willow asked, shakily pulling herself into a kneeling position. Kennedy reached down and placed two fingers against Faith's neck. Her face paled.
"I can't feel a pulse," she said fearfully. "We have to do CPR."
"Move," Willow instructed, shifting across the floor. She knelt over Faith and breathed into her mouth. Pain shot through her body every time she moved, but she knew that she had to save the dark Slayer. Placing her hand on the center of Faith's chest, she pushed. She slowly counted in her hand, repeating her motions. "Still no pulse," she muttered to herself. "Come on, Faith. You can't leave us now. We need you here."
"Yeah," Kennedy chimed in. "You can't leave Buffy behind, not when you guys are just starting to work things out."
"Just breathe," Willow demanded, performing another set of compressions on her chest. "You never gave me the chance to truly forgive you. I want that chance." Breathing into the Slayer's mouth again, Willow pushed down several more times before checking her pulse. "I think I can feel one," she said excitedly, looking up into Kenney's face with shining eyes.
"Let me check," Kennedy replied. Moving her hand to Faith's wrist, she closed her eyes and concentrated. "It's weak, but it's there," she concurred.
"She's breathing too," Willow said, resting her head on Faith's chest to feel its movement as her heart beat.
"Is anyone there?" A voice yelled through the darkness.
"Over here!" Willow replied. Colleen appeared out of the smoke, helping Maria stumble through the rubble. Vi staggered after them.
"Where are Annabelle and Molly?" Kennedy inquired.
"They're dead," Colleen said. "We're the only ones left."
"We have to get out of here," Willow said, glancing around the room. "Help me get her up."
Together, Willow and Kennedy lifted Faith between them and dragged her out of the room. The hallway had faired better in the explosion, but chunks of rubble lay scattered throughout it. The group hurriedly stumbled down the hallway, groping the walls, and trying to find their way in the dark. "Wait," Kennedy suddenly said, stopping in mid stride. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Willow asked. No sooner had the words left her mouth, she heard a low growling coming from behind them. "What is that?" She whispered fearfully.
Turning her head, Willow looked back and saw two sets of shining, yellow eyes glaring at them in the dark. "Vampires," Kennedy replied with dread.
"Run," Willow said lowly. The group dashed forward, Colleen barely supporting Maria as she limped through the hallway with amazing speed.
"We're not going to make it," Kennedy gritted through her teeth. The vampires were chasing them and they were rapidly gaining.
"We will," Willow replied.
"They're faster than us," Kennedy answered.
"Just have a little faith," Willow said, shifting her weight so that she could better support the unconscious Slayer.
"In what?" Kennedy shot back, sweat pouring off her face. Tiny fires had broken out everywhere. The room felt like a furnace and smoke obscured her vision. She felt her lungs burning, straining to breath clean air; but there was none.
"I don't know," Willow muttered. "We just have to keep moving."
……………………………..
Hailey could not breathe, she could not think, she could not do anything but bow before the pain that emanated from her chest. She could feel the cold, steel blade slicing through her and the warm blood flowing out from the wound. Caleb's arms were the only things holding her upright. He ripped the knife from her chest and she felt her legs weaken. She felt dizzy and nauseous, but too weak to act on either. She could feel Caleb's warm breath against the side of her neck. Then she was falling.
She landed hard on her knees, the impact jarring her so that she accidentally bit her tongue. Blood filled her mouth, some sliding down her throat, making her choke. She fell forward and caught herself with her palms. She knew that a fierce battle was raging around her, but she could not focus on anything. Blood was dripping through her shirt down on the carpet. She watched as it sank deeper and deeper into the fibers. Finally, a dark crimson spot had formed, slowly rippling out like water disturbed by a rock.
"Now I told you that would hurt, missy, but I suspect the words did not completely prepare you for the feeling. Like I said, it's an awesome power that I represent. That pain is just a little taste of what it stands for," Caleb said, smiling widely. Looking back at Eve, he winked. "How was that?"
"Perfect," Eve said. "Now finish off the rest."
Caleb moved away from her and the potentials scattered before him, dodging his thrusts with the knife. Dawn attempted to move over to Hailey, but he stepped in front of her. Diving out of the way, she barely missed being slashed. The muscles in Hailey's arms were starting to shake and she knew that she could not hold herself up for much longer. Already, she started to feel cold and the light seemed to dim in the room. She had expected her life to flash before he eyes, but it did not. All she felt was a cold, empty feeling of regret deep in the pit of her stomach.
That was when she felt it. A strong wind seemed to whip through the room. Her hands, which had begun to feel numbingly cold, suddenly warmed. The blood slowed and the pain subsided. The muscles in her arms stopped quivering and, though it was impossible, felt stronger. Hailey breathed in deeply, her vision clearing. Everything became extraordinarily vivid. The fibers of the carpet rubbed harshly against the palms of her hands to the extent that they almost pained her. She could smell her own blood thickly in her nostrils, as well as the blood of everyone else fighting. The sound of Caleb's knife slashing through the air reminded her of a great, predatory bird soaring through the sky.
Pushing herself backwards, she rested against her calves and lifted a cautious hand up to the wound on her chest. Caleb had stabbed her just below the heart. A fraction of an inch upward and she would have died instantly. "Bloody hell," Hailey whispered in shock as she reached through the torn fabric of her shirt and felt her wound. It was starting to close and she was starting to panic. She did not understand why she was not dead. She had felt her life slipping away from her only moments before and then everything stopped.
"Caleb," Eve suddenly said, her voice shrill. "I told you to kill her."
"What are you talking about?" Caleb asked, turning away from Anya, who he had cornered, and looking back at the First.
"The potential isn't dead," Eve replied, pointing to Hailey.
"Well, I'll be," Caleb said, quickly recovering from the shock of seeing Hailey looking up at him with a strange light in her eyes. "I'll just have to remedy that, won't I?"
Hailey watched as he approached, confidently twirling the knife in his hands. She felt a strength running through her that she had never felt before and, suddenly, she knew that she was more powerful than he. Rising to her feet, she caught Caleb's hand in the air as he plunged the knife down towards her again. "Something tells me that it's not going to be so easy this time," Hailey muttered, twisting Caleb's arm until she saw pain flash through his eyes and heard bones cracking.
He pushed her away, stumbling backwards as he clutched his broken arm. "What the hell," he murmured, looking over the First wildly. "What just happened?"
"It's time for us to go," the First replied evenly, anger flashing through its eyes as it disappeared. Caleb motioned for the Bringers to follow as he quickly retreated from the house. Hailey glanced around the living room. Five girls and seven Bringers were dead.
"Hailey," Giles said, approaching her cautiously. "Are you alright?"
Something tugged at the back of her mind. Warning bells were going off in her head. "What happened to me?" She asked, looking up at him uncertainly. "He stabbed me in the chest, Giles. I should be dead right now. What happened?"
"You're a Slayer," Dawn whispered. "You've become."
"That's not possible," Hailey replied, taking a step back. "I'm too old. I can't be called. They only call the young ones."
"Not anymore," Wesley replied, smiling softly. "Perhaps you should take a seat."
"No, not right now," Hailey replied, turning away and running a hand through her tousled hair. "If I'm a Slayer…," she trailed off, seeing the knowing look in Dawn's eyes.
"Then Buffy or Faith is dead," Dawn finished.
"Faith," Hailey whispered. The prophecy had said that the dark Slayer would die and that a third would be called. But if Faith had died, it meant that the group doing recon at the high school had encountered trouble. "Willow," Hailey murmured, her eyes widening. Turning, she ran through the living room and out of the front door, bolting into the night. She could hear the others calling after her in concern, but she did not stop. She knew that Willow was in trouble, she only hoped that she could reach her in time.
……………………………….
"Bugger," Spike said as he skidded to a stop in front of the high school. Flames were shooting out of the first floor windows and smoke billowed from the ones that had burst under the pressure of the heat. His heightened senses alerted him to the fact that there were two vampires inside. But they also told him that there were six humans, two of whom were badly injured. If there were only six, than two had died.
"What happened?" A voice behind him asked. Spike jumped in fear and surprise, but quickly recovered, and kicked at the ground a bit disgruntled before he noticed to whom he was talking.
"Hailey?" He asked, shaking his head and wiping at his eyes to ensure that they were not playing tricks on him. "What are you doing here?" He asked. Then he noticed the dark patch of blood staining the entirety of the front of her shirt. "Jesus, what happened to you?"
"Is there anyone alive inside?" Hailey asked, moving passed him.
"Yeah, but you can't go in there," Spike argued, walking swiftly after her.
"Why not?" Hailey replied amusedly.
"Because it's not even safe for me to go in there and you're just a potential," Spike responded.
Hailey stopped walking and looked over at him sadly for a moment. Then she smiled softly. "Not anymore," she said.
"What are you talking about?" Spike replied in confusion.
"I'm not a potential anymore," Hailey answered slowly. "Now are you going to help me or not?"
Hailey did not wait for Spike to respond. Smashing open the side entrance doors of the school, she covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. Smoke was pouring through the hallways and stung her eyes. For a brief, terrifying moment, she felt as though she were back at the Watcher's Council headquarters just as the bomb had gone off. The moment passed and she rushed forward. Something in her blood was calling to her, urging her forward, through the rubble, towards a door near the end of the hallway. Vaguely she was aware of Spike following closely behind her.
The door burst open just as they reached it and Kennedy stumbled out, Faith landing on top of her. Maria, Colleen, and Vi poured out next with Willow following after them. Two vampires burst through the doorframe. One of them grabbed Willow, bared her neck, and plunged his fangs into her flesh. Hailey's eyes hardened and she strode forward. Ripping the vampire away from the red haired witch, she grabbed him by the throat, lifting him several inches off the ground.
"That was just about the stupidest thing you could have done," she said as she twisted his neck until his spinal cord disconnected from his brain stem and he burst into a cloud of dust. "Get the others out of here," Hailey instructed, looking back at Spike as the second vampire took off down the opposite hallway. He nodded, at a loss for words, and picked up Faith, carrying her out of the school as the others followed closely behind. Hailey kneeled down and scooped Willow off the ground. Her girlfriend had lost consciousness, either from the vampire bite, or smoke inhalation. Hailey cradled her head against her chest and followed Spike out into the clear, cool night air.
The girls were sprawled on the grass, breathing deeply, and looking as if they had survived a war. "We need to get them home," Spike said, "have Giles take a look at these two." He motioned to Faith and Willow.
Hailey nodded and looked down at the girl lying in her arms. She looked so fragile. The gentle rise and fall of her chest was the only thing that told Hailey that she was still alive. Her cheeks were pale, but covered in dirt and grime. Tiny pieces of rubble clung to her hair. But Hailey thought that she had never looked more beautiful. The girls stirred, rising to their feet. Colleen slung her arm around Maria and helped her limp out onto the street. The two had become fast friends. Hailey trailed behind everyone, more uncertain of her future now than she had been before. She was a Slayer. She smiled a little and shifted Willow in her arms. Her chest was starting to throb now that the adrenaline of the fight was wearing off. Whenever she breathed, sharp pains shot through her. Despite the pain, she knew that she was lucky. After all, she was alive.