On Your Marks

Chapter 6:

She placed her glass on the side and made herself comfortable. Stefan leant against the wall, ready to hang on every word.

Boston, Massachusetts.

Kakistos had never cared to follow in the trends. New age crypts and mausoleums with colour t.v's were out of the question, you see he was an old-fashioned vampire; old being the operative word. He preferred pristine standards of living, maybe a harp playing in the background and fresh blood being served in wine glasses. However to fulfil his appetite for blood by devouring the blood of a slayer, he had to settle for an abandoned factory in industrial Boston.
Chains and conveyer belts formed a maze around a place he had found to be sanitary enough to station a large throne like chair, his maenads stood close around him. His attention was caught by the swinging open of the factory doors by around seven of his vampire followers. Walking in the centre of them was a respectable woman in a suit, her hair to shoulder length and hands tied.
She walked purposely with her back straight and chin up, careful to show no fear whatsoever. She made eye contact with the maenads as they swayed insanely and smiled wildly; baring teeth around the chair Kakistos was sat in before meeting the gaze of the ancient vampire. "What took you so long?" he demanded.

"Master, the watcher she-she's clever," said one minion after a pause.

"Hmm I bet you are," Kakistos replied almost licking his lips at the watcher. "I suppose you're wondering why you've been brought here."

"Quite the contrary actually," the watcher replied Britishly, "and let me be the first to tell me you're wrong. She's not the slayer, isn't even a potential. What she is however, is a waste of time and energy for both of us," she said calmly and bluntly. "No matter, no reason we cannot reach an agreement where we both walk our separate ways. Name your price, money, power, position-"

"Oh that's where you're wrong, see my boys have seen you and the girl in the grave yards at night, fact' she's even taken out a few of my best, tell me where she is and I'll consider letting you walk away from all this lady," he interrupted.

"I will be addressed as Mrs. Dormer," she interjected. He growled at this and tightened his cloven grip on the arms of the chair, he didn't appreciate being spoken down to. "As I have already said...she's just a girl, nothing more."

Damon stood in one of the top windows of the factory. Well if the odd intact shards of glass and tattered window pane can be called a window. The Father had told him and several others their job was to keep watch if the Slayer, Faith, showed up. Although instead of keeping a sharp eye out for Faith's adolescent black lips and goth sheek, his mind was elsewhere; consumed by thoughts of Katherine. In the 40's a coven of witches in Louisiana had told Damon that they'd seen Katherine with The Father, Kakistos: The leader of the Cult of Antemourh, not so long ago. He'd reacted to the news by dismembering every member of the coven.
How dare they try to mess with his head. Katherine was in the tomb back in Mystic Falls, waiting for Damon to rescue her, for him to swoop in and for her to choose him over his little brother finally after all those decades. He was secure in the knowledge of this for all of 5 seconds after killing the witches...then he had to be sure.
Between the 40's and this point in timr he'd caught up to Kakistos three months ago. The Father said that with service, the information about Katerina Petrova would be disclosed to him.
Although he was 98% sure Katherine lay desiccated in the tomb, and that Kakistos only sought to amplify his numbers, he kept true to his word. In fact he'd never killed so much than in the space than those three months, but he had all the time in the world.

Suddenly the doors burst open for a second time and revealed a strong girl in a leather jacket and black boots, a poorly whittled stake and sword in hand. She looked desperately at Diana Dormer, her watcher, through the dust of dead vampire's she'd fought through to reach the door.

Damon snapped out of his Katherine trance at this point, realising he and the seven vampires around the Father were the only guards left. He stayed above in the shadows and watched as the seven lackies growled fearlessly at the girl. "Diana," Faith breathed.

"Faith you shouldn't have come," Diana wailed at her through the factory. Faith walked purposely through the maze, dodging chains and jumping conveyer belts. Dianna turned to Kakistos as he rose excitedly from his thrown, his crazy maenads skulking off into transparency. "Please, I meant what I said, the council and I can grant you immunity from her and us and everything, just let her go, take me and let her go, please," she begged. Kakistos grabbed her by the neck and pulled her close.

"I've always wanted to add a slayer to my maenads," he grinned schemingly. "She'll do just fine. Although I do enjoy a starter!"

"Faith," Dianna called painfully through his grip, "run!" Kakistos sank his ancient fangs into Dianna's neck, draining her life from two puncture wounds and taking it within him. Ms. Dormer remained dignified even in death as she did not scream or beg for her life, only that of her charge. She fell pale and cold to the floor soundlessly, her eyes shut.

Faith lashed out in pain and anger, tossing her stake directly into the heart of an oncoming vamp and completely and effortlessly bypassing the others attempts at attack. She lunged with her sword directly to her watcher's killer, dealing a severe blow to his groin and another to his eye, a wound no vampire of any age could completely heal.

He cried out in pain as blood gushed from his scaled skin before rebounding the slayer with a back hand of his cloven fist that sent her off her feet and hurtling into the fray of oncoming lackies. Her sword fell from her hand in the blow and she found herself weaponless and surrounded. The Father's maenads appeared once more to take their lord and master to safety.

Damon watched from above as the slayer struggled to regain her stance. She managed to her feet and surveyed her attackers. The circle of vampires grew smaller and smaller as they edged towards a defenceless Faith. The vampires were all confident in their own mind their team was going to win, there were seven of them and only one of her, if she was an experienced slayer they'd think twice about their chances, yet they hesitated. Possibly because the first attacker would just be good for the haze of dust they'd become for the next attacker to use to their own advantage, or because of the brutality she'd dealt to their master moments earlier bestowing a sense of caution.
Inevitably so, the fight broke out and it was not long before Faith's fire and spirit feigned in the embers of her watchers murder, the ashes of her odds for survival.
Going against everything he believed in, Damon dropped from the upper beams and joined the fray. What'd possessed him to throw away his chance at finding Katherine? The love of his life...for a girl he'd never met and was his natural mortal enemy? Even he didn't know. But he was drawn to her, perhaps for her spirit, or shear curiosity for all that she was. A slayer.

Kakistos's minions were dust in the wind within minutes. Faith, clutching tightly the stake she'd managed to recover in the fight, looked at Damon whose back was to her as he dusted the last vamp. Her hair hung wildly over her face, unrecognisable, as she made to plunge her weapon in his back and-

"Don't give it all away at once, Faithy," Damon announced as he entered the living room alone. Faith and Stefan looked to him for this reason, both wondering about Elena.

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