2021
Night
Hammersmith, West London
In the late hours of the night, two sixteen-year-old boys walk along the abandoned docks. Looting dilapidated fishing boats left in disarray alongside the partially dried body of water, the two teens rounded a corner and approached a wired fence with metal signs hung along it that read: KEEP OUT big red letters.
Cutting a hole through the fence, the two teens crawled underneath and stared up at the old abandoned factory that had been left in ruins and long since forgotten about for decades.
The concrete leading up to the factory was littered with broken glass, empty beer bottles from other teengers who had come down here to drink and party. Every few hundred yards were electricity poles with broken wires hanging like willow trees.
Climbing onto wooden crates left against the wall, the two boys entered the old factory through a broken window.
Parts of the factory had been completely caved in making it nearly unrecognisable. It's concrete base was riddled with cracks and pioneering weeds. The hundreds of square glass panel windows had been completely blown out.
There was nothing inside the old factory but dirt, dust, wild plant life, broken concrete and brick.
They headed to a ladder leading up to a rusty metal catwalk that circled most of the factory's perimeter.
One of the teens reached into the back pocket of his jeans taking out an iPhone. Pressing on one of the social media apps, the young man flipped the camera onto himself and pressed the 'GO LIVE' button on the lower right corner.
The teen flashed an ivory smile and pushed back his tousled short dark brown hair. "Nick and Ian here. We are enterin' an abandoned factory for a bit of explorin'." Nick greeted the absurd amount of viewers that had immediately tuned into the live stream. "Ian," Nick flipped the camera to his best friend of fourteen years, "say hi for the lovely viewers at home."
Ian Crawley pushed back his shaggy red hair off of his forehead, rolling his eyes with a bit of embarrassment. "Feck off."
Nick threw his head back laughing and panned the camera to the eerie open area of the once functioning factory. "Creepy, creepy."
"Are you sure we won't get clocked for this?" Ian asked a bit nervously.
The two teens were no stranger to getting into trouble. Their entire social media presence was the chronicles of their teenage tomfoolery, but Ian still held a bit of fear of 'getting caught'. Nick, usually the brains of their shenanigans and primary influencer tended to be a bit too brave and oftentimes exceedingly reckless. Majority of their 'plans' never worked out in their favour and typically got them grounded for weeks—sometimes months on end.
Nick scoffed and panned the camera back onto Ian's face. "Will you stop being such a pussy and come on."
The teens continued further down the catwalk with their destination being the 'caved in' part of the factory.
"Apparently," Nick spoke in a hushed voice, pointing the camera around the darkened factory and zoomed-in on its mose 'creepy' elements, "this place was bombed out during the Blitz and it's been abandoned ever since."
"What was it before?" Ian asked, looking over the rusty railing of the catwalk. It was quite a ways down to the ground.
"Uh… textile factory, I think." Nick replied.
The catwalk shifted a bit from the weight of the two teens.
Ian swallowed his fear and gripped the railings at his sides, squeezing his eyes closed. Needing a distraction from his fear, Ian randomly asked, "Has your dad sat you down yet? Mine did. He said I've got no choice in the matter."
Nick whirled around, zooming in on Ian's face as if he were shooting an emotional documentary.
"You're looking at a future Watcher." Ian said, not at all excited for his 'future' career that had been predestined since before he was born.
"Bloody hell." Nick flipped the camera onto himself and spoke directly into the camera. "If my pops came to me about that, I'll tell him to his face to bugger off."
Laughing, Ian then asked, "What if it was your mum?"
Nick frowned for a brief moment and replied, "I'll tell her the same thing. I'm not 'fraid of her." He adjusted the camera to see Ian standing behind him, over his shoulder.
"That makes one of us." Ian mumbled, shaking his head.
"My parents just don't get it. They think everything revolves around the bloody Council. I'm not gonna end up like 'em. Some stuffy bureaucrat pushin' paper." Nick said straight into the camera.
The sounds of something being knocked around caused Ian alarm. "What the bleedin' Christ was that?" He ducked a bit lower, holding a finger over his lips. "Shh. Shh. Shh. Look." He whispered peering over the broken beams to the concrete ground to see three seemingly homeless men sitting around a campfire.
"Behind here." Nick whispered, pointing to the standing concrete column.
Passing Ian the iPhone, Nick knelt to the ground and squinted his green eyes.
Ian fumbled with the phone for a moment then steadied it as he pointed it at Nick looking around the beam at the 'hobo's'.
"I'm counting only three vamps." Nick whispered.
Zooming as much as the phone could, Ian focused the camera onto the vamp-faced demons.
Nick reaches into his back pocket and withdraws a wrist-rocket-style slingshot. He quietly bends down, picking up rock fallen from the wall and places it into the pouch.
Closing one eye and pulling back the rubber band, Nick aims the rock at Vampire 2's head. He fires the rock hitting the vampire in the back of the head.
Screaming in pain and shock, Vampire 2 rubbed the back of his head. Vampire 1 and Vampire 3 jump to their feet, immediately on alert.
On the catwalk, Nick and Ian hid behind the concrete beam, trying hard not to let sound escape from their laughter.
"What the bleedin' hell was that?" Vampire 3 asked, tossing his golden eyes around the dark factory.
"Somethin' hit me head!" Vampire 2 rubbed his head.
Suspicious, Vampire 1 remained silent, looking in the darkness for anything abnormal.
The two teens snuck off the catwalk and climbed down the broken beams to the main floor, only a hundred yards or so from the vampires.
Hidden behind rubble, Nick put another rock into the pouch and drew back the rubber band. Sticking the tip of his tongue out, he fired the rock at Vampire 2's backside.
Vampire 2 jumped off the ground, grabbing his butt. "Oh, my God that fuckin' hurt!" He exclaimed, comically hopping in place, reeling from the pain.
Ducked behind the rubble, Nick and Ian laugh, letting a sound escape.
Vampire 1's ears twitch at the sound, lowering his gaze to the rubble.
Changing positions again, Nick poked his head around a concrete beam, aiming at the rock at Vampire 2's head.
Firing the rock, Vampire 1 whirled around, grabbing the rock right out of the air only inches from Vampire 2's head.
Vampire 2 catches Nick's eyes hiding behind the beam. "You, little bastard!"
Scowling, Vampire 1 crushed the rock to dust. "I'll take care of this." The vampire began to cross the distance to the teenagers.
Nick and Ian exchanged a wide-eyed look, knowing they've been caught. "Oh shit!" They exclaimed and moved to make an escape.
"We're gonna kill you!" Vampire 3 roared.
Nick and Ian ran into a deadend, blocked by rubble. Turning back to the approaching vampires, they had no choice but to fight their way out.
"You better be shooting this." Nick said to Ian and took a step forward to fend off the demons.
Ian fumbled with the iPhone and pointed the camera at his best friend. "Three against one!"
"I've had worse." Nick muttered under his breath and charged Vampire 1 with a backhanded punch. He then ducked under the vampire's swinging arm and nailed the demon with a hard roundhouse kick to the back of his knee, making him collapse to the floor.
Looking over his shoulder, Nick prepared himself for the oncoming Vampire 3. Nick hits the vampire with a spinning hook kick into his head, knocking him to the ground and follows it up with a roundhouse kick to the head.
Vampire 2 tackles Nick to the ground. They grapple, but Nick quickly gains the upper hand and gets himself free from the vampire's grasp.
Vampire 1 hooked an arm around Nick's neck, pulling back onto his feet and throwing him up against a wall. Nick turned around just in time to duck under Vampire 1's fist punching through the brick wall.
Nick jabbed Vampire 1 in the face, causing him to stagger backwards and trip over Vampire 3. Vampire 1 tried to attack the skilled teenage fighter, but the sixteen-year-old easily overpowered the vampire into submission.
"Nicky!" Ian called out to his best friend.
Looking to his left, Nick saw Ian throw him a wooden stake. Catching the weapon, Nick mercilessly jabbed it into Vampire 1's heart.
Running at him at top speed, Vampire 3 growled. Nick bent to the ground, letting the vampire fall over him to the ground. Nick staked the vampire into the heart.
Vampire 2 punches Nick hard across the face. Nick shook the dizziness from his vision and ducked under the vampire's swinging arm. He countered the vampire's attack with a hard punch into the demon's torso and a roundhouse kick into the vampire's side.
The vampire stumbled backwards, but caught his footing. Surprised by the teenager's skills and strength, which was remarkable for a human, Vampire 2 opted to make an escape before he's defeated like his friends.
Glancing over his shoulder, Vampire 2 spotted the exit and turned to make a sprint towards it.
Nick pursed his lips, watching the vampire flee. He looked down at the stake in hand and adjusted his grip, holding the stake by its pointed tip. He threw the stake like a knife. The wooden stake whistled through the air impaling the vampire's heart from behind. Vampire 2 combusted into a cloud of dust.
Nick turned to Ian, still holding the camera, having caught the entire fight. The teen leaned back with a wide grin and held two thumbs up.
Teddington, South-West London
Exiting the underground, Nick and Ian walked along the empty streets exceedingly past their curfew, but neither teen cared much since their parents thought they were staying at each other's houses.
All of the shops along the street were long closed for the night.
Stopping mid-step, Nick's eyes were on a closed shop known as a practical store with random devices, utility gear and appliances.
Nick suddenly walked across the empty street to the closed store. Ian cursed on his breath and followed his best friend.
"It's closed." Ian said, watching Nick spy the shop through the window.
Stepping to the front door, Nick breaks the glass with his elbow. He reached an arm through the broken glass and unlocked the door. "Now, it's open." He smirked, entering the dark shop.
Unbeknownst to the teens, the store's silent alarm had been immediately triggered by the disturbance.
"You think they're insured?" Ian joked, following Nick inside.
Nick shrugged, looking around and picked up a metal pipe. "Not my problem." He began to bash the glass of the display cases.
"We should go, Nicky," said Ian, having a sinking feeling.
Facing his friend, Nick smiled. "Life's too short to wait until openin' time. Before we know it, we'll be rotting away in some library wearing tweed and wishin' we lived a little when we had the bloody chance. We gotta think in the 'now'." He said, putting on a novelty London hat and swept his arm across a display counter, knocking and breaking items.
"And how do we do that?" Ian asked, filling a blue plastic beach bucket with random knick-knacks.
"It's easy. Want…" Nick lowered his eyes to a display of metal lighters in a glass case, "... take…" he picked the lighter that he wanted, "... have." Nick punched the glass with his fist, breaking it and grabbed a lighter. Smirking triumphantly, Nick stuffed the stolen item into the front pocket of his jeans.
In the distance a piercing siren sliced through the silent street.
"What the hell is that?" Ian frowned, stepping to the open door.
Following his friend, Nick peered over Ian's shoulder to the unmistakable blue and white police lights speeding down the street. "Oh shit!" Nick panicked. "The fuzz is comin'! Fuckin' move!" He grabbed Ian by the front of his shirt and pulled him out of the store, forcing him to drop the items in a plastic bucket. "Forget this shit. Let's go!" Nick exclaimed.
The teenagers sprinted down the street with the police car coming up behind them.
"Come and get us, ya filth!" Nick shouted over his shoulder, grinning now fueled only by his adrenaline.
Just as they came closer to the exit, another police car came to an abrupt halt, blocking their exit.
Nick's eyes widened in a panic. "Right-right-right! Fuckin' turn right!" He shouted, making a sharp right turn into an alleyway. "Come on, man! Keep up!" Nick yelled at his friend, rounding another corner, out of the coppers' sight.
"These pants have no fuckin' give!" Ian shouted, holding his pants up by his studded belt. "Slow down, ya dickhead!"
Coming to a stop, Nick fell back against a brick wall, out of breath. He hunched over, holding his hands on his knees. "Oh shit, man. Did we out run 'em?"
"I bloody hope so." Ian said, breathing heavily. "Bleedin' Christ, I think I split my pants." He laughed, trying to look over his shoulder to locate the rip.
Laughing, Nick shook his head. "It's your own fault. You wear 'em to fuckin' tight, your fanny's poppin' out."
"Shut the hell up, you wanker." Ian punched his best friend in the arm.
"I think we're good." Peering around a corner to the alleyways only other exit, Nick did not see any cops around, nor did he hear any sirens. "Let's go." He nodded, making the first move to exit the alleyway.
Following behind him, Ian held his breath and stepped out into the open.
The two friends exchanged a look of relief and then silently decided that it was time to head to the safety of their homes when the two police cars suddenly pulled up to the sixteen-year-old's, surrounding them.
Standing behind the police car doors, an officer talked into a loudspeaker. "Put your hands up and get on the ground!" He ordered.
"Shit." Nick cursed under his breath holding up his hands and slowly kneeling on the ground.
Interlocking his fingers behind his head, Ian stared wide-eyed at the approaching police officers holding handcuffs. "Our parents are gonna kill us." He whispered in a terrified panic.
Nick exhaled a heavy sigh, knowing that he was in major trouble. "Yep. They are." He muttered in defeat.
2 Hours Later
Metropolitan Police Station: Custody Suite
Seated on an uncomfortable bench on a thin plastic cot, Nick waited in silence. He watched Ian get picked up by his father an hour ago. Mr Crawley was livid to say the least and immediately blamed Nick for his bad influence and corrupting his Oxford-bound son.
And just like always, Nick took the tongue-slashing in stride, wearing a half-smile on his face. Mr Crawley was all talk, threatening to talk to Nick's parents, but he would never in a million years say any of these things to his parents. They were Ian's ticket into the Council. Nick believed it was the only reason Ian was still allowed to hangout with him, despite the constant trouble they got into.
The custody sergeant stood at the stainless steel barred cell door. "Giles." The sergeant announced, fiddling with the keys.
Nick lifted his green-eyed gaze to the uniformed officer.
"Time to go, son." The sergeant unlocked the cell door.
Standing to his feet from the bench, Nick crossed the short distance to the opened door when the custody sergeant took a sidestep to the left revealing Nick's mother glaring at her son in anger.
"Shit." Nick muttered under his breath, not at all prepared to face the wrath of his pissed off mother.
Pursing her lips, Buffy Giles held her arms firmly across her chest. "Get your things. We're leaving."
"Fuck." Nick hung his head, stepping out of the custody suite and passed his mother, burning holes into his skull with her glaring eyes.
Kingston upon Thames, South-West London
Giles' Residence: Library
The sound's crackling pops of the fire were dwarfed by Buffy's fury. She stood in front of Nick seated on a dark brown leather couch shouting at him.
Nick's arms were folded across his chest, scowling as his mother berated him a new one. As Nick's father, Rupert Giles stood at the drink cart, pouring a glass of scotch from a crystal decanter into a matching glass.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Buffy angrily exclaimed. "Breaking and entering? Arrested?"
"I'm sorry." Nick said with little to no remorse for his actions.
Dropping her arms at her sides, Buffy shouted, "You can't keep doing this, Nicholas! We can't keep bailing you out! And I heard about the vampires." She quickly added, much to Nick's surprise.
"How did you—"
"How do you think, Nick?" Buffy sharply asked. "I run the entire goddamn Council! I know everything that is happening."
Turning from the drink cart, with a scotch glass in his hand, Giles took a step between his wife and son, playing mediator. "Let's take a breath." His voice remained calm and even as he spoke.
Fed up with her delinquent son, Buffy exhaled a heavy breath, walking towards Giles. "You talk to him, 'cause I'm gonna kill him." She turned back to Nick, glaring at him.
Nick rolled his eyes and lifted his chin, looking straight at his father. "I said, I was sor—
"Be quiet." Giles' stern voice interrupted the teen into silence.
Nick immediately shut his mouth.
The darkness in his father's eyes made the sixteen-year-old uneasy. "I don't want to remind you that in this family we have a reputation to uphold. We understand that this life and what we do is completely out of your control. Nor shall I remind you that you've jeopardised not only your life but Ian's life by provoking known murders. But sadly, I must. You have shown that you are irresponsible, reckless, and you have no regard for the lives around you. You have no respect for me or your mother. Go to your room."
Angered, Nick jumped up to his feet. "Why don't you just… piss off!" He shouted and stormed out of the library, slamming the wooden door behind him in a tantrum.
Emotionally drained, Buffy exhaled a sigh, taking a seat on the couch where Nick had been previously sitting. She rubbed her face in exhaustion and listened to Nick's stomping feet as he went up the stairs. She pushed her shoulder-length blonde hair back and looked up at her husband of seventeen years. "He's driving me crazy."
Taking a sip of the scotch in hand, Giles sat down beside Buffy, crossing a leg over his knee. He put the crystal glass into Buffy's hand and watched her take a sip. "I did talk to the store owner." Giles revealed, accepting the glass when she passed it back. "We'll pay the damages fee and any items that were taken and in turn, he won't press charges."
Buffy slouched back against the couch, totally out of ideas on how to discipline their son. She missed the days when Nick was still in diapers and always snuggling in her arms. He was always such a mama's boy, until he hit his gruesome teenage years. "What do we do? This can't keep going on. Nicky is out of control."
"We can send him to Eton." Giles halfheartedly suggested, sitting back and extending his arm across the back of the couch.
Buffy raised the arch of her brow. "We wanna punish him, not torture him."
Giles chuckled and nodded for her to come a bit closer. Buffy needed no further preasusion and took her usual spot against his side and under his arm. She laid her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating for a minute when Giles' voice cut through the quiet. "I'm sure we'll think of something, my darling." He gingerly ran his fingers through her silky hair.
Titling her face up to look at him, Buffy smirked. "He's entirely too much like you, Ripper." She playfully nudged his side.
"Me?" Giles looked at her with false surprise. "I'm not the only 'rebellious' one in this family, love." He pointedly told her.
"Faith was a horrible influence." The corners of her mouth widened into a smile.
Lowering his head, Giles brushed the tip of his nose against hers. "Ah, yes, always blame Faith." His eyes dropped to her mouth, mesmerised by her smile.
"Always." Buffy drew closer to him until their mouths touched and she immediately sunk into the passionate kiss, accepting his exploratory tongue into her mouth.
Nick's Bedroom
Laying on his back over his partially made bed, Nick stared up at the ceiling, replaying the tongue-lashing from his parents repeatedly in his head.
His father's words echoed in his brain. Nick disagreed with most of what his father said. What made his parents so great? Sure, his mother is the director of the 'new' Watchers Council and his father runs the Watchers department, but there are real Vampire Slayers and Watchers out in the field, all over the world, fighting evil every single day.
What did his parents do?
His father stands in front of a lecture hall or library all day educating and training new Watchers while his mother acts like a politician having meetings with world leaders. She's a glorified paper pusher with a fancy title and a fat paycheck. And yet, everyone tip-toes around them, acting like they are some mythical creatures or something.
Nick spent his entire life under the shadow of his 'legendary' parents and he wanted out. Out of the town. Out of the Council. Out of the family. Being the son of Rupert and Buffy Giles was a burden—a curse and Nick wanted no more of it.
Sitting up on the bed, Nick looked around his messy bedroom. "Fuck this place. I'm outta here." He stood and picked up the backpack placed on a desk chair. He packed an iPhone cord, a stake, holy water, a few t-shirts, a hoodie, socks, and boxer brief shorts.
Nick changed out of his clothes and put on a new pair of jeans and his favourite Fulham FC home jersey.
Stepping over to the shelves of books haphazardly organised and stacked on top of one another, Nick took out a leather bound book and opened the cover, taking out a page ripped out from another book.
Opening the folded page, Nick had been saving this spell for a rainy day after snooping through his father's magic books in the library. He didn't know much about magic or this spell, only that it was a spell that would take him far, far, far away from here.
Thinking back to his lessons in the Latin language back in primary school, Nick frowned, now wishing he had paid more attention. "Audi haec verba," he stammered in broken Latin, "mitte me ubi inveniam, locum quem in tempore volo."
Standing in the centre of the bedroom, Nick frowned, expecting something to happen when a gradual distorted inhuman humming noise bounced off the walls.
The humming grew louder and more warped surrounding all around him. Nick's heart pounded in his chest suddenly plagued with a dreaded feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Beneath his feet began to shake like an earthquake. Nick's vision blurred into black but his eyes were wide and aware of its dissociation.
Everything around him burst into white noise when suddenly the inhuman ceased into nothing but silence.
2003
Night
Sunnydale, California
Maple Court Street
Feeling as if he fell from the sky, Nick stood up tall from his crouched position. His eyes were wide looking up at a large movie theatre building. He stepped back, off of the sidewalk, reading the lit sign above the theatre that read, Sun Cinema in bright green letters.
Turning all around him, Nick looked across the street at a cafe called the Espresso Pump. a few doors down was a seedy looking bar called Willy's Place, and a handful of boutique stores along the typically busy main street.
In shock, Nick scratched the top of his head, wondering just where he had landed. He had hoped for someplace far away from home.
Wherever he was didn't look like London. Not at all.
"Whoa."