"Oh my god." Janna was wheezing. She stumbled forward and Mike wrapped her into his arms, his own face white with shock. Ashley fell beside the blonde girl, placing her hands around the knife to staunch the flow of blood. The blond felt… cold. Wrong, somehow. As Ashley shuddered, the blond gripped the knife in her bloody hand.
"No-" The blond disregarded the shocked outcry and drew out the knife from her body, dropping it to the ground. "I'll be okay." She managed weakly, stumbling to her feet. Vicky helped her to stand, her face ashen.
"No, you shouldn't have taken out the- come on, lets get you to the hospital-"
"I saw the fight." Janna whispered. "I thought she was going to kill me. The vampire."
"My god." Ashley gasped. "It's Kendra."
"You know me?" The blond looked surprised. "There was a stronger one here- I was trying to get to her-"
"She means the vampire." Mike marveled. "Why would you-"
"Not the time, Mike." Ashley cut in. "She's been stabbed. She needs medical attention."
"So does she." As Kendra looked to Vicky, they realized that the arm of her sweater was soaked with blood.
"It's nothing." Vicky protested. "Just the vampire-"
"Why was she chasing-" Mike turned to ask Kendra, only to find that she was picking up the bloody knife. Besides holding a hand to her abdomen, she wasn't acting grievously hurt.
"What are you doing- you've been stabbed-"
"It doesn't hurt as much as it used to." Kendra waved off the concerned hands. "You too?" She looked to Vicky. "Stronger now."
Blank expressions met the blond over Janna's traumatized wheezing. It was Joliene who understood.
She swore. "She's a damn Slayer, too."
"Slay her?" Kendra pondered, stepping towards Joliene.
"No, Slayer. This happened what- a week or so ago?"
"Yes." The blonde nodded. "I was changed a week ago."
"And your guts bleeding all over-"
"Heals." Kendra said calmly. "Heals faster. You know. You slay her too."
"Slayer." Mike said excitedly. "You mean that you're not gonna- not gonna-"
"Die." Joliene said flatly.
The blond only stared back at Joliene for a minute, silent. Wordlessly, she began to run from them.
"Wait!"
Despite being grievously injured, she loped off as though she was a star cross country runner. Joliene started after her, but Ashley caught her arm.
"Vicky." She whispered, nodding to Vicky's bleeding and awkwardly bent arm. "We need you here."
Joliene took in the severity of Vicky's wound- and Janna's inconsolable state- and wordlessly agreed.
Hospital
"An open fracture." Mike explained Vicky's injuries, rejoining them in the waiting room. "She'll be fine." He seemed to be speaking to Janna, who had become silent since the cemetery.
"I can't believe…"
"You thought it was a vampire." Ashley said, impatient with Janna's behavior. "You had no idea that it was a Slayer."
"You passive aggressive bitch-" Janna lunged at Ashley, who stepped back. Alarmed, Mike grasped Janna's arm.
"Hey." Vicky said quietly, coming up beside them. Her arm was in a sling and it was clear that the setting had been painful from Vicky's drained voice.
"It was a bad night, okay. Can we just go?"
"I'll get you home." Mike placed a protective arm across his sister's back, guiding her out towards the parking lot. "My place before school." He said behind him, not looking at the other women.
With a savage glare at Ashley, Janna stalked out of the hospital angrily. Joliene and Ashley started into the night together, not speaking for a long time.
"You can go." Ashley suggested as they neared her two story house. "You don't live around here, do you?"
"No." Joliene said shortly. "But you keep finding trouble."
"What is your problem?" Ashley flung out, exhausted, sore and in no mood for Joliene's barbs.
"You walk through cemeteries alone, meet crazy vampires. Get a thing for Mike, get his girlfriend onto your game."
"What?" Her face burned. "I don't have a-"
"I don't care." Joliene said shortly. "I really have bigger things on my plate than your little crush."
"Then why the fuck are you here?"
"We have two hot chicks on our team. One's hurt- and I'm what's left. Janna can take care of herself."
"And I can't?"
Joliene didn't reply, fueling Ashley's slow burn. When they reached her house, she unlocked the door and strode inside without a word of goodbye to the perplexing Slayer on her front porch.
Just a few blocks away, Janna stalked towards her mother's house. She ought to go to her own apartment where she lived with Mike, but she didn't want t deal with it. She didn't want to deal with all the little girls he'd invited into their house, the early morning hash the next day, or that passive aggressive bitch making eyes at Mike. She didn't want to deal with the fact that she could've killed someone tonight. If she hadn't been a Slayer- one of these blessed bitches that were seriously starting to make her feel inadequate- than she'd be a murderer.
Janna should have seen the figure standing in the shadows on the porch. Should have detected the eyes upon her with that female intuition grown from walking urban streets alone at night. In her emotional turmoil, she didn't realize that she was in trouble until cold hands closed on her shoulders.
"Janna?"
Janna started, stepping back before she recognized the woman behind her.
"Kendra?"
"Shh…" The woman smiled, her white teeth glinting- then something struck Janna on the back of the head. She crumpled into Kendra's waiting arms.
"Come to mommy…" The mentally disturbed woman whispered to the night.