A.N. so I came up with the idea for this story about a year ago. My sister really liked it so she created a trailer for it on youtube. A few people left her some comments stating that they wished it was a fanfic, so I finally buckled down and wrote it. This is the first "episode." I'm not trying to "trample" on the greatness that was Buffy, I'm only adding my idea to it so please don't flame me! I'm very sensitive to comments. The idea of Buffy belongs Joss and anyone else who worked on the show. This idea is solely mine and a lot of my own life was put into it. Without further ado.
Cast
Lauren Davidson... Amber Tamblyn
Mark Davidson... Drew Fuller
Willow Rosenberg... Alyson Hannigan
Xander Harris... Nicholas Brendan
Kelly Knightly... Alexis Bledel
Vincent Kartheiser... Connor
Rupert Giles... Anthony Stewart Head (recurring)
Welcome to My Life
Lauren Davidson turned in her sleep. Dark, disturbing images flashed through her head, causing her to thrash about in her bed sheets. She woke with a start, the last image, having scared her into awake. Sweat beaded its way down her forehead, her bangs pushed up in sweaty clumps. She took a deep breath and pushed her bed covers away, slowly standing up. She grabbed a jacket off her desk chair and walked out into the hallway. She blinked a few times, adjusting the lights. She stumbled her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Her older brother, Mark, was sitting at the island eating a bowl of cereal and reading the paper. Lauren flopped into the bar stool next to him and poured herself a bowl of cereal.
"Good morning, Sunshine." He joked. Lauren rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm, getting up to grab the gallon of milk from the fridge.
"I'm not really in the mood for your stupid sarcasm this early in the morning." She poured the milk on top of her Captain Crunch and returned the milk to the fridge. Mark just chuckled.
"Early? Nice try, it's almost 8:30!" Lauren whipped around.
"What? Tell me you're joking!" Mark just shook his head, eating his cereal. Lauren grabbed her head, running out of the kitchen.
"I'm going to be late! My first day of high school! Ugh!" Mark chuckled.
"I hate you!" He heard followed by the sound of a door slamming and the shower turning on.
"Like that's different from any other day."
Thirty minutes later, Mark pulled up in front of Ben Davis. Lauren unbuckled her seat belt and moved to open the door. Mark placed a hand on her arm to stop her. She turned to face him.
"I don't have to tell you to be careful, do I?" Lauren rolled her eyes.
"Only if you're trying to protect me from senior bullies or massive homework." Mark rolled his eyes at his sister's trademark sarcasm.
"Yeah, yeah…"
"I know that it's been awhile since you've been in school, but I'm sure that it hasn't changed that much." Mark shoved her in the shoulder.
"Go. Get out of my car and learn something." Lauren smiled and grabbed her bag, stepping out onto the sidewalk. She mock saluted him.
"Yes, sir!" She shut the door and Mark drove off, leaving her alone on the sidewalk. She stared up at the huge building, the big bold purple letters spelling Ben Davis High School. She took a deep breath and walked into the building. The hallways were empty, the price of showing up to school a half hour late. She walked up to a desk in the middle of the main hall where a large black woman was sitting reading a romance novel. Lauren walked up to her and waited a few minutes to see if she would notice her.
"Can I help you?" The woman stated, never putting down her book. It was obvious she had done this thousands of times before and this wasn't new. Lauren widened her eyes.
"Uh, I'm late, and this is my first day…" The woman held up her hand and set her book down. She pushed a clipboard over to her.
"Sign in with your full name, grade and age." Lauren nodded, grabbing the pen.
"Full name, like, uh, first, middle and last?" She asked. The woman fixed her with a look. Lauren smiled nervously.
"First and last." Lauren filled out the chart and handed the clipboard to the woman. She handed her a red pass.
"Lucky for you Miss Davidson, we're still in homeroom, so if you hurry you can get your schedule." The woman went back to reading her book.
"Oh yeah, that's just what I was worried about." Lauren waved to the woman although she couldn't see her. Lauren walked over to a list on the wall to find where her homeroom was.
She found the list for sophomores and looked for the D's. Her homeroom was with Mr. Blankenship in S 208. What? Lauren frowned. Where the hell is S 208? Lauren glanced behind her to see the woman at the attendance desk still reading her book. Her mind made up, Lauren walked back over to the woman reading her book.
"Sorry to interrupt you again…" The woman handed her a map of the school. Lauren gasped.
"What, how did you?" The woman glanced at her over her book.
"I didn't get this job based on my looks." She went back to reading. Lauren nodded and looked down at the map. So where the hell was S 208?
Lauren walked up the main stairs in front of her. At the top of the stairs was a long hallway that overlooked the commons she had been standing in only moments before. Off to the side of the long hallway was another long hallway. The sign above the hall said S, so she went that way until she reached her homeroom.
She entered the small room to find it filled with students.
"And who might you be?" An old man with graying hair and a medium build in an army outfit asked. Lauren handed him her pass.
"Lauren Davidson?" The man nodded and motioned her into the room.
"Ah, Miss Davidson, late on the first day I see. Lucky for you homeroom is almost over. I'm Sergeant Major Blankenship, you're homeroom teacher and here is your schedule. Please take a seat until the bell." Lauren looked over her schedule and walked to the not so far corner to find an empty seat. Apparently her homeroom was in the ROTC hallway. Fantastic!
She sat down in a seat, already having thoroughly embarrassed herself in several different ways.
"Hey you're, uh, sitting on my jacket." Lauren looked over to see a kid with dark hair and thick glasses next to her. She looked down.
"Oh I'm sorry; I didn't realize this seat was taken." The boy shook his head.
"No, I just threw my jacket there." Lauren nodded. "So can I have it back?" Lauren looked at him, before looking down and pulling the jacket out from underneath her and handing it to him.
"Sorry." She mumbled, looking away. The boy smiled, revealing perfect teeth.
"My name's Jason." He said, holding out his hand. Lauren looked at it and smiled, before taking his hand to shake.
"Lauren."
"So why were you late today?"
"Pardon?" She asked, having tuned out for a moment. "Oh, the usual waking up late." He nodded. The bell sounded and everyone got up.
"So where are you headed to next?" Jason asked. Lauren checked her schedule.
"Oh, I have English with Miss Trace. What about you?"
"Pre- Calc." Lauren nodded. She saluted him as they reached the end of S hall.
"See ya in homeroom!" Jason turned left to find his classroom where as Lauren headed back down the main stairs and tried to find A hall.
After getting turned around a bit, Lauren finally found the classroom. The school was much bigger then her junior high. She walked in to find her best friend Kelly sitting in a seat by the window. Kelly waved her over.
"Hey Lauren, I was hoping that we would have a class together!" Lauren smiled, relieved to see a familiar face.
"Yeah… me too. You won't believe where my homeroom is!" Kelly shook her head.
"Where is it?" Lauren rolled her eyes.
"I'm in the ROTC hall in a closet of a classroom! There's like thirty kids and only two long tables. Not wise planning." Kelly shook her head.
"What class do you have next?" She asked. Lauren got out her schedule and looked it over.
"Oh yeah, I'm in chemistry apparently. What are you taking?"
"I have Geometry. You're taking chemistry?" Lauren nodded. "I'm in Physics."
"Sounds like a lot of fun." She deadpanned.
An hour later, Lauren sat in her Chemistry class, already confused. Her teacher was a fairly young woman, only in her mid twenties. Lauren slammed her head on her desk. The bell rang and Lauren slowly lifted her head, reaching for her bag.
"Lauren, can I see you for a moment?" Lauren looked up at her teacher. Was she already in trouble?
"Look Miss Rosenberg, I'm sorry about the drooling in class. Science isn't really my thing…" Miss Rosenberg waved her hand.
"Do you think that you could meet me in here after school?" Lauren stared at her. The first day and she already had detention?
"Uh, sure but then I should probably call my brother and let him know…" Miss Rosenberg cut her off again.
"I'm hoping that this won't take long." Lauren nodded and walked out of the classroom. For some reason, her Chemistry teacher was looking really familiar. Lauren could have sworn that she had seen her before, she just couldn't place her.
The day rolled by and lunch came around. Lauren walked into the lunchroom, a little apprehensive. She really hoped that Kelly was in the same lunch period.
"Hey Lauren!" Lauren turned to see the nerdy kid from her homeroom standing behind her.
"Hi Jacob." The boy adjusted his glasses.
"Actually it's Jason." Lauren widened her eyes and slapped a hand to her mouth.
"Jason? Oh I am so sorry." Jason shrugged.
"It's okay, I'm used to it. Listen if you don't have anyone to sit with, you can sit with me, okay?" Lauren just nodded as Jason left to go find a table. Lauren got into the long line for food.
"Hey Lauren!" She rolled her eyed and turned to look, hoping it wasn't Jason again. Kelly was standing behind her.
"Oh thank God! I thought you were someone else for a minute." Kelly just shook her head.
"So, I've found that Physics, more conceptual then I actually thought it was going to be like." Lauren raised an eyebrow, a little confused.
"Huh?" Kelly laughed.
"Oh, sorry. It's just that I took Physics because in the book it said it was conceptual Physics, so I was thinking it was probably less math and equations then like chemistry." Kelly shook her head gravely. "Boy was I wrong. Conceptual apparently means the same thing as math. How was chemistry?" Lauren rolled her eyes.
"I think I may already have detention." Kelly chuckled.
"What did you do this time?" Lauren just shrugged.
"I slept." They got to the front of the line, finally, and got their food.
"That is so typical of you, Davidson. Sleeping in class on the first day? You just couldn't even wait a day before slipping into old habits."
"Yeah well give me a break. I didn't sleep very well last night."
"Don't tell me you were nervous about school? Cause I might have to laugh at you." They found an empty table and sat down.
"No, I had this really bizarre dream last night. Well, it was really more of a nightmare. It was so weird. I can't even tell you about it." Kelly cocked her head to the side.
"Why can't you tell me?" Lauren glanced around the cafeteria, making sure that no one was listening.
"I dreamed about… I think it was a war of some kind. I'm not really sure, but there were like a ton of girls our age and they were getting picked off one by one by these really creepy looking monsters." Kelly looked at Lauren for a second before she broke down laughing.
"Okay, sorry I don't mean to laugh, but it sounds like the plot for the next Hollywood slasher film. Your dreams are a little out there." Lauren just shook her head.
"Tell me about it."
Lauren made her way back up the stairs after school. The bell had rung ten minutes ago and already the school was empty. Lauren grudgingly made her way back to the chemistry classroom. She barged into the room, thoroughly pissed.
"Okay, I'm here dole out whatever punishment you think is fair and we can just get on with our merry lives." She looked around the room, not seeing Miss Rosenberg.
"Hello? Miss Rosenberg?" Lauren laughed, bitterly. "Well this is great! She probably left to go home and left me here all by myself. Fantastic!" Lauren walked around the room casually. She eyed her teacher's desk. Her laptop was still there propped open. Lauren glanced around the room really quick to make sure that no one was coming. She rushed over to the laptop. On the screen, some kind of instant messaging system was pulled up. Lauren leaned over to read it.
Watcher54: Have you told her yet?
WiccanRosenberg67: Not yet, but as soon as school let's out I will.
Watcher54: Well hurry! There isn't much time!
Lauren stood up. The message was kind of… weird. Tell who? What's the hurry? The classroom door closed shut, breaking Lauren's concentration. She looked over to see Miss Rosenberg walking into the room.
"Oh hi, Miss Rosenberg. I came in here a little while ago, but you weren't in here so…" Lauren trailed off, trying to slowly back away from the computer so that her teacher wouldn't catch her for snooping around.
"Well, I'm glad you waited. Sorry that I took so long." She walked around the desk and turned off her computer. "I had to make some quick copies for tomorrow's class." Lauren nodded and walked around to the front of the desk.
"Right, well anyways, can we just kind of hurry this up? I've got places to be. Well okay that's not really true, but that's the way the saying goes…." She trailed off again. Miss Rosenberg suddenly got this serious look in her eyes.
"Lauren, you might want to sit down." Lauren groaned.
"Oh no, this is detention, isn't it? Please don't make me write on the board 'I will not sleep in class.' Like fifty thousand times because I have really bad handwriting and it'll just look like chicken scratch." Miss Rosenberg gave her a strange look before she started laughing. Lauren looked at her oddly.
"This isn't detention, Lauren. I wanted to tell you something." Lauren just smiled. Great, she probably wants me to be like a teacher's assistant or something.
"Okay, you're probably not going to believe a word I tell you, but I need you to hear me out, okay?" Lauren just nodded casually. Miss Rosenberg took a deep breath.
"This is my first time doing this!" She grinned, nerdily. She coughed and sobered up. "Okay sorry. Back to the point. Like a million years ago, demons roamed the earth. A couple of smart, magic-creating guys decided to make a warrior to fight the demons. They instilled in her, the same kind of power that the demons had. She was the first Slayer. Now for generations and generations, a new Slayer was called. Whenever one Slayer died, a new one was called, up until a couple of years ago. A group of people decided to take destiny into their own hands and gave the power of the Slayer to all potential Slayers, so that every girl that might be a Slayer, would be a Slayer." Miss Rosenberg looked at Lauren.
"Okay, so this has been a very lovely history lesson, but seriously, your point?" Miss Rosenberg looked taken aback for a moment before she finished her story.
"What I'm trying to say, Lauren, is that you are a Slayer." Lauren looked at her a moment before she bursted out in laughter.
"I'm sorry, but this is hysterical! Good one, Miss Rosenberg! Next you'll be telling me that you're God or something! Ha!" Lauren stood up and walked out of the classroom. Miss Rosenberg followed her.
"Okay, I realize it sounds a little… strange, but you have to believe me. You're the only one!" Lauren stopped and turned to face her.
"I thought that you said every Potential was now a Slayer?" Miss Rosneberg nodded. "So why don't you just ask one of them?" Lauren turned and started walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Miss Rosenberg followed after her.
"In a perfect world, yes, but there's been a demon that's been picking off the line of Slayers. Very few are left in the world." Lauren rolled her eyes. "Lauren, you don't understand. This city is on top of a hellmouth. There aren't very many in the world, but Indianapolis is one of them. It needs a protector, and you're it." Lauren turned to face her.
"Okay I'm going to say this once and then I'm done. I am not a Slayer. I'm not your protector. I'm just a normal average girl and all I want is to lead a normal average life. So take your crazy talk to the school counselor cause I don't want to hear it." She turned to walk away again.
"You've been having the nightmares haven't you?" Lauren stopped in her tracks. Miss Rosenberg continued. "You've had the dreams of what happened in Sunnydale. The war with the First, all the Potentials fighting agaist the Turks. You've seen it." Lauren slowly turned around.
"How did you know that?" Miss Rosenberg looked at her kindly.
"Because, that's part of being the Slayer." Lauren turned to walk down the hallway again, Miss Rosenberg following close behind.
"Okay let's say that I am the Slayer." Miss Rosenberg nodded. "How would I even begin to know what to do?" Miss Rosenberg perked up.
"That's where I come in. I'm your Watcher. You're my first Slayer!" Lauren smiled tightly.
"Great." She said sarcastically. Miss Rosenberg rushed to assure her.
"You are my first charge, but I've battled the forces of darkness since I was your age." Lauren gave her a look.
"Why were you a Slayer?"
"No, but my best friend was." Lauren just nodded before she turned to walk away again.
"I'm sorry this is just too crazy." Miss Rosenberg stopped her again. She handed her a piece of paper.
"Come to this address today before the sunset. Then maybe you'll understand." Lauren took the paper and Miss Rosneberg walked back down the hall towards her classroom. Lauren looked down at the piece of paper. There was an address scrawled out on it. 3138 Shadow Brook Drive. Lauren folded the note and stuffed it in her pocket. She walked down the stairs and headed outside where Mark was waiting rather impatiently.
"What the hell took you so long?" Lauren just shrugged.
"My wacked out chemistry teacher Miss Rosenberg wanted to talk. I think she may be on something." Mark just rolled his eyes and peeled out of the school parking lot.
"Sometimes I think you might be on something." Lauren rolled her eyes.
"Mark could you please just lay off? I've had a really bad day. Like the mother load of bad days."
"Try having a job." Lauren just sighed.
Lauren was chilling out in her bedroom, the note sitting on the desk in front of her. She just couldn't make up her mind as to whether or not she wanted to go. On one hand, her teacher was kind of crazy and this could possibly be a way for her to get killed, but on the other hand… she had known about her dreams.
Lauren stood up and grabbed her jean jacket, her mind made up. She slipped her knit cap over her head and snuck out the window.
Lauren walked down the sidewalk and checked the note one more time. She looked up at the house in front of her. The neighborhood wasn't that far from where she lived, which was good because Indy was a pretty good sized city.
Lauren walked up to the house and approached the door. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Inside Willow was standing in front of Giles and Xander, complaining.
"Seriously Giles how do you do it? I mean I totally sounded like some sort of weirdo, or psycho. I don't know. It was bad. And there is no way she is coming here. I mean I wouldn't. I would just think that my teacher was trying to… eat me or something." Xander gave her a strange look. "You know what I mean."
"I'm sure you did the best that you could, Willow." Giles reassured.
"Yeah Will, it's hard to make a totally unnormal situation sound like an everyday thing. You know, unless you're us." Xander quipped. Giles fixed Xander with a hard look. He shrugged and sipped his drink.
"Hey Giles, you adding something to the tea now a days? Because this has a very unique taste." Xander asked, changing the subject. Giles rolled his eyes.
"Giles, don't you think that you're much better at this whole, 'this is your destiny, you are the slayer, strength and skill' thing then me?" Willow asked. Giles smiled softly.
"You're doing fine Willow. I have complete faith in you that you can do this."
"So then how come you used your frequent flyer miles to come with us, G- man?" Xander asked, still drinking his tea. Again Giles ignored him. A knock sounded at the door.
"Oh, Xander would you mind answering the door?" Giles asked. Xander just gave him a blank look.
"Now? I'm in mid- sip!" Giles glared at him.
"For the love of God and everything great on this Earth would you answer the door?"
Outside, Lauren shivered in the cold air. Night was fast approaching. The door opened and a tall man with dark hair opened the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry I must have the wrong house. I'm looking for Miss Rosenberg." The man waved her in.
"Oh, you must be Lauren, come on in." Lauren gave him an apprehensive look. "I'm not going to bite." Lauren followed the man inside the house.
"Okay, so who are you?" Lauren asked.
"I'm Xander Harris." Lauren eyed him.
"Am I supposed to know what it is you do?"
"Oh, Lauren, you came!" Miss Rosenberg jumped, looking excited. "Giles, she came!" The old man sitting on the couch just nodded. Lauren looked around at all the people.
"Okay, so maybe this was a bad idea." She said, heading for the door. Xander quickly moved to block her.
"Trust me, you belong here. In time you'll figure that out." Lauren just threw her hands up in the air.
"You know, all I want is to live a fairly normal life. Is that too much to ask? You'd think I'd deserve it, but apparently some higher power just wants to keep me down." The old man stood up and walked over to her.
"Lauren, I know all about your life. About how you're mother abandoned you and how you lived in foster care until three years ago your brother took you in." Lauren looked at the man and backed away.
"I don't know who the hell you people are but I really wish that you would leave me the hell alone!" Lauren swung the front door open and ran out of the house. Giles ran after her, Willow and Xander close behind.
"Now listen here, you are the Slayer! I know that you don't want to believe it but you must. Several other girls your age have been killed already. Do you want to be the next one?" Lauren turned to Giles, tears in her eyes.
"Please, just leave me alone!" She took off and disappeared into the night.
"Giles, she could get hurt out there." Willow said, worried.
"I know, let's get inside and grab some weapons." The trio headed inside and geared up.
Lauren walked through the playground. She sat down on a swing, the day finally catching up with her. What was wrong with those people? Why couldn't they just move on to the next girl?
"Shouldn't you be inside?" Lauren turned to see a man leaning against the slide.
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Lauren said, trying to keep her nerves down.
"I'm really not that strange." He walked closer to her. Lauren stood up from the swing.
"You're right I should really get inside, so, uh, bye!" Lauren turned to leave but the man grabbed her arm. "Hey let me go!" She shouted. She turned around to face the man, but his face was replaced with a monstrous look.
"Help!" Lauren shouted. The man grabbed Lauren's neck and pulled her close to him.
"You should have stayed inside little girl." Lauren closed her eyes and silently cried.
"Hey, leave the girl alone, freak." The man looked away from Lauren.
"Great, you wanna pick a fight? You can wait until after I've eaten." Lauren wimpered. A boy, only a little older then Lauren herself swung down from the monkey bars.
"Like I said, leave the girl alone." The man dropped Lauren to the ground. The boy swung a punch at the man. He stumbled back, getting pissed.
"So first you interrupt my dinner, now you wanna pick a fight?" The man threw a punch back at the boy, but the boy blocked it. He grabbed the man's arm and twisted it. Lauren cringed when she heard a popping sound. The man cried out in pain. The boy pulled a wooden stake out from nowhere and plunged it into the man's heart. Lauren gasped in surprise. The man suddenly 'poofed' into a cloud of dust. The boy pocketed the stake and moved towards her.
"Are you okay?" Lauren stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants.
"What was that?" She asked. The boy followed her gaze to the pile of ashes on the ground.
"That was a vampire. You might want to stay inside after sunlight." The boy turned to walk away.
"Wait!" The boy stopped and turned around. "What's your name?" Lauren asked. The boy sighed.
"I'm Connor."
"Lauren." Lauren followed him out of the park. "So that was a vampire?" Connor nodded.
"Yes. Vampires and demons, they're real." Lauren stared at him shocked.
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"How do you kill them?" Connor stopped and faced her.
"Look, I know that you're probably just freaked out about tonight, but don't worry. Stay in at night and you'll be safe." With said, Connor disappeared into the night. Lauren glanced around her surroundings, suddenly a lot more scared.
She headed back for Miss Rosenberg's house. As she approached the house she saw her, Xander and the old man from before walking out of the house.
"Lauren!" Miss Rosenberg looked at her surprised. "You're okay." Lauren just nodded. She turned towards the old man.
"What does a Slayer do?" Giles looked up, surprised to hear her question. Xander nudged him in the arm.
"Come on G man this is your patented speech." Giles grinned. The four walked towards the house.
"Into each generation there is one girl born with the strength and skill to fight the forces of darkness. She alone must-" Lauren interrupted him.
"But what do I do? What kind of powers?"
"Well, you have this amazing strength now. You can break into any door in the world!" Xander joked. Lauren looked at him, amused.
"Now that you've accepted your calling, we must train you." Giles said. They approached the house and Xander and Willow were the first to head inside. Lauren glanced into the night.
"Yeah, I think I'm ready." Lauren followed Giles inside and closed the door.