The Looking Glass
Chapter 2
Smoke curled in fine tendrils from the charred wick of the melting candle. The heady scent of rose petals and moth balls smothered the empty kitchen and seeped into the adjoining rooms. Tucking the last piece of chocolate between her lips, Buffy carefully folded the tattered photos of her loved ones and shoved them into the drooping pocket of her jeans. The rickety plastic dinner table wobbled as she retrieved the stake, pulling it once again to her chest, battle-ready. Moving quickly to the exit, Buffy threw open the door, ran back down the dusty carpeted hall, and ran down the eight flights of stairs. Yowls from outside penetrated the empty stairwell, echoing from every floor's smashed windows and busted walls. The slayer's heart thumped despairingly in her chest, beating at the bones of her ribcage. Panting, Buffy dropped down onto the first floor and slithered against the wall to the front door. The hinges screamed as she pushed the door open, creeping noiselessly out into the deafening night.
The alley between the apartment building and the mangled shell of an office building offered brief refuge from the streets swollen with demons. Some ambled slowly between the abandoned cars, sticking up their noses at the maggoty bodies housed inside. Others, scavengers, ripped open doors and squealed or roared or yowled with delight at the fleshy cream filling. A few human-looking creatures with eerily translucent flesh stuck to the sidewalks, clearing out a path among their demonic brethren. Unlike the others, they walked with heads high, strange white eyes pointed forward, long clawed hands hanging nonchalant at their sides.
She spotted her first victim lingering beneath an unlit streetlight. It stared down at an empty car, wobbling from one foot to the other, as though unsure of what to do with itself. The creature had dark crimson skin that sagged from his joints, and at least two rows of shining teeth glinted in the hazy moonlight. In one mangled claw, the insecure demon carried a well-worn battle axe, dented and dinged from negligence. Buffy darted swiftly from the alley, racing through a gaping hole in the demonic pilgrimage, wrapping both arms around her opponent. Eyes slowly fell on her as though she were hardly worth their time. The attacked menace squealed loudly, lifting it's weapon. The axe sliced through the thick polluted air, flinging fiberglass as it made contact with the battered windshield of the empty vehicle. Buffy twisted out of the way, shoving the heel of her boot into the demon's face, removing seven or eight broken teeth. It's voice pierced the otherwise sleepy night, and the axe fell pathetically from it's contorted hand. The slayer grinned briefly in triumph, retrieved the weapon, and thrust it viciously through the throat of her enemy, severing the head from the body. The axe clanged to the ground as Buffy dropped the weapon and ran back into the shadows. The eyes turned slowly back to the route. The demon hordes moved on.
Shoving her stake into her carryall pocket, Buffy shimmied up the rungs of a rusted escape ladder. Avoiding the gaping hole in the roof of the building, the slayer crawled out across the five inch wide brick barrier that enclosed most of the sunken hole. A few stories beneath her, among the exodus of demons, a large and less than stealthy creature shoved his fist angrily through the door of a car. The vehicle rose into the air, stuck to the demon's thick wrist. It's roaring voice echoed into the night, like a bull on steroids. The slayer smirked, avoiding the scene of two bodies flopping onto the sidewalk, one piled atop the other. Slinking along the precarious wall, Buffy moved back to the fire escape and climbed down to the alley once again. Pulling the stake from her pocket, Buffy dragged it along the brick wall, making a scraping noise that echoed through the alley and out into the street. The bull horned demon lifted it's ugly head,
wiping a massive arm over its snout nose and mouth. Buffy kicked at dirt on the ground, banged her fist bluntly against the wall, scraped the wooden stake against the rungs of the steel ladder.
"Here kitty kitty," she breathed.
Two heavy horns burst into the alley, followed by a swollen head and clunking body. Buffy perched overhead, clinging to the rungs of the ladder a few feet up the wall. The demon expelled a breath, the odor like rotting skin and week old socks. Buffy dropped down from the ladder, throwing both feet powerfully into the massive horned cranium. It scowled and grunted, shaking off the pain as Buffy dropped onto the sooty ground. Her fists thrust out, slamming horribly into the steel-like shins of the demon. It wobbled slightly as Buffy pulled her burning hands back. A leg slammed heavily into her gut, throwing the slayer across the alley and into a pile of ashy rubble. The creature waddled toward her, moving in for the crushing blow. Buffy picked up a brick and chucked it, hitting the demon straight between the eyes. A grunt, a roar, and it continued toward her like a steam engine. Buffy struggled to her feet and ran forward, wrapping her hands around the thick horns on it's head. The horn fell away under the weight of her body dangling from his head, and he crumbled, pathetically, to the ground.
Buffy leaned heavily against the building's brick wall, choking on her uneven breath. Streams of grey, ashen sweat rolled down the sides of her face, the curve of her shoulders, the musculature of her arms. She coughed into her dirty hand, spitting up blood from a cut inside her mouth. Beyond the sanctuary of the alley, the nightly squeals of demon gangs filled the air. Grudgingly, Buffy lifted her weapon and resumed her watch, gazing on the easier prey. She found him slithering along the street, a demon without a horde. Though she couldn't remember the name of the species, she was certain she'd seen the creature before. It looked not unlike a slug, covered with a thick, greasy green hide. Turning to look each way, Buffy scrambled back out into the broken street, winding her arm back to throw a left hook into the neck-region of the demon.
Out of the shadows and into the slivers of hazy moonlight, a cackling demon slid into view, positioning himself between the slayer and her prey. Buffy dropped her fist pathetically, letting it swing alongside her hip. Smooth grayish skin protruded from the collar and cuffs of a clean white shirt, covering sinewy musculature and wrinkled blue veins. Black irises sat in almond-shaped eye sockets, staring out at her, laughing. The thing smiled, revealing a set of razor sharp, two-pronged teeth, the teeth of a vampire. The breath on his tongue was rancid, a mixture of rusty-scented blood and the flesh of a moldy corpse. The slayer fell back, falling against the blunt chests of two more vampires standing behind her, grinning like hyenas.
"Go on," the first laughed, standing aside to reveal a slightly confused slug demon. "Fight. Kill. Slay." Behind her, the others burst into maniacal laughter, clutching the shoulders of their companions for support.
"You're the slayer, aren't you? Go on then," he continued, chuckling with a hoarse voice while his gang convulsed with fits of giggles.
"What," Buffy smirked, though her voice wobbled fearfully. "Afraid to face me yourself?"
"Afraid?" He snorted, lifting his eyebrows. "Of you? I eat girls like you for breakfast."
Buffy drew up the stake, forgetting the shaking of her knees. The vampire hissed, baring his fangs in an impressively foul sneer. The slayer's boot flew out in a side kick, slamming into the hip of her foe. He chuckled, throwing both hands out to stop her in the act. Thick polluted air flew around her ears, rushing over her flared nostrils as Buffy slammed brutally into a sturdy cement wall. The gang jeered in the midst of the demon-filled streets. The slayer stumbled to her feet, steadying herself against the wall. Cement chipped away in her fingers, turning to dust.
"That it, slayer? One kick and you're out?" He was upon her, shoving her back into the building, his sickly gray hand wrapped tightly around her neck. "I thought I got three strikes?"
The slayer squirmed in his strangely tight grasp, grunting as she wiggled her leg free. The knee shoved mercilessly against the vampire's crotch, striking him with a slight amount of force. His yowl of pain echoed down the alley and he was on her again, grabbing her by the wrist she'd prepared to execute a punch. Again the slayer flew like a rock, head over heels, until she slammed through a less than sturdy brick wall at the end of the alley.
"Should be tenderized now," he smirked from a distance as Buffy shook brick dust from her hair. She crawled up the pile of rubble until she managed to stand. The voices of her foes drifted down the street, getting louder. "I think we'll have a real meal tonight. Heart beating, blood thumping. My mouth is watering just thinking about it." With every ounce of strength left in her, Buffy alternating limping and running, abandoning the hunt for the night.