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17th Century Slayer
Chapter 1
London, 1698
“Pembers, I cannot possibly go out tonight. I do not know what’s wrong with me, but I am far too weak to fight. I am quite lucky that I have not been attacked yet.” Elizabeth planted her hands on her hips and glared at her watcher, wondering why he would think that sending her out in her weakened condition was a good idea.
“My dearest,” Pembers replied, “you still have the necessary skills if not the strength. Think of the lives that you put in danger with your selfishness. You must patrol.”
Elizabeth had been feeling extraordinarily weak for the past three days. In fact, not only was she weak, but her reflexes and her coordination were lacking as well. Although she was not fevered, she was convinced that she was ill, though she couldn’t remember the last time she had been sick.
She took a calming breath before responding. “But you see, that’s not true. I do not have the skills right now. I cannot hit a target, I cannot aim a proper kick, I can hardly even run! I mean, it is not just that I don’t have my Slayer strength. I do not have normal strength. I am weaker than I was before I was Called! How can I possibly save anyone’s life? I doubt I can save my own! Would it not be better if I waited until I am sufficiently recovered? I can save far more lives if I am not dead.”
Pembers’ lips thinned, his hard eyes flashing. “You will go out tonight. You will fight. And I will not hear another word on the subject! Do you understand?”
Elizabeth’s shoulders slumped. “Yes Pembers. I apologize for my rudeness,” she said quietly. As well intentioned as she believed her Watcher was, Elizabeth knew that she was not likely to come out alive were she to meet a vampire that night. However, she had no choice but to obey him; if she did not, she would have no where else to go—her entire world revolved around the Council, as they had made her family believe that she had passed on five years before when she had been recognized as a Potential Slayer. Since she was twelve years old, the Council was all Elizabeth knew, and since had been called when she was fifteen, the only person she had social contact with was her Watcher. Now, on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, Elizabeth would have been lost without Pembers, and could not imagine truly defying him. Besides, although she did not like to think about it, Elizabeth knew she was expendable. The moment she died, another would rise to take her place. Worse, if her weakness persisted, it would undoubtedly be for the best if she were to die; the Slayer line would reside in her until she was gone, regardless of whether she could actually fulfill her duties.
His lined face softened, and Pembers sighed. “Get some rest. You may very well need it tonight.” He watched her nod and leave the room before spinning on his heel and heading for the door.
*~*~*
Frowning, Pembers surveyed the scene before him. The chosen location was an abandoned house that the Council had recently acquired, and it appeared to be a perfect vampire nest with its boarded windows and dank air. Four members maneuvered a crate holding an overly large vampire into place. He suspected that the vampire was a bit older than the usual fledglings that the Council picked for the Cruciamentum, but then, the current Slayer was not a usual Slayer, either. She was headstrong and difficult to control because the Council had not found her until a mere two years before she had been called. Had she been identified as a Potential sooner, the Council of Watchers would have removed her from her home for training at a very young age—preferably before the age of six—but as it was, she had been pampered and spoiled as a daughter of a lesser nobleman.
Pembers frequently wished that Elizabeth had never been Called. She was simply too much trouble, often questioning his teachings and disregarding his training. It was as if she thought that she knew fighting styles and positions better than he, when he had trained for the Council of Watchers for his whole life! Although he was saddened that Elizabeth’s life was destined to be short, he knew that she was a poor Slayer and that the line must pass into a more malleable girl. Surely she would not outlast the night’s test; Pembers was fairly shocked that she had lasted as long as she had—far longer than many Slayers, to be sure. There had not been the opportunity for a Cruciamentum within Pembers’ career, and although he was perversely proud that it was his Slayer—no matter how ill-mannered and difficult she was—that had made it this far, even he hoped that tonight would be her last.
The vampire that was to be used had been kept sedated by use of potion mixed with animal blood for two weeks, and was only now coming fully awake. Startled, Pembers jerked his head up when he heard a low growl emit from the crate, followed by loud pounding against the sides. He scowled at one of the Council members when the man snickered at Pembers’ actions. The lowly member was smug, and his attitude irritated Pembers.
“You!” Pembers called out to the little man, “is everything ready for tonight?”
“It is. Just you bring your little girl around, and we’ll handle the rest. Wouldn’t want your pretty hands getting too dirty, would we now?” The man grinned at Pembers mockingly. “Yeh best be off now, hadn’t yeh? Lead your girl to her death?”
Pembers blinked, shocked that the subordinate man dare speak to him, a Watcher, in such a manner. Before he could gather his wits to lambaste the man for his impertinence, the man had disappeared, leaving Pembers staring at the vampire crate and the remaining three Council members. Fuming, Pembers left the building to retrieve his Slayer.
*~*~*
Bodies, so many bodies, all around, and it’s all her fault, her responsibility. If only she had gotten their faster, if only she were stronger, if only she were smarter, maybe then they wouldn’t have died. But as it is, it’s all her fault.
Elizabeth’s breath hitched and she spun when she heard a loud crash behind her. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she blinked angrily. “No time for that now,” she thought. “You can cry later.” If there was a later for her. As the overgrown vampire came rounded the corner in front of her, she was sure that there wouldn’t be.
She backed away as the vampire started to growl, her eyes wide and trained on his every movement. “You! You’re why I’m here!” he shouted at her. “It’s your fault! All your fault! Your fault! Your fault I was captured, starved, treated like nothing! And you are going to pay for what’s been done to me!”
She turned and ran, but tripped over one of the bodies littering the floor, her ankle popping loudly as pain ricocheted up her leg. “No! No, no, no, no, no!” She screamed, crying. It couldn’t be like this, she couldn’t die trapped in a vampire’s lair, not even able to run away. She was The Chosen One! She was supposed to be strong, a fighter, not a weak little girl, not a helpless meal.
Holding her ankle, she attempted to stand, but her balance was too precarious and she fell again, kicking a stake that she hadn’t seen before. She realized that it had fallen out of the man’s waistband when she’d tripped over him, but her mind didn’t grasp the significance of him having a weapon used solely for vampires. She reached for it, but it was too far. Painfully, she began crawling towards the stake, gasping when a hand suddenly seized her injured ankle. Looking back, her eyes widened. She had expected the vampire to have her ankle, but not this, never this. The corpse that she had tripped over was grasping her ankle, grinning maniacally. It was Pembers, her own Watcher, whom she trusted with her life. Pembers who was grasping on to her, Pembers who was preventing her from reaching the stake and possibly saving her life. Pembers who was making it possible for the vampire to reach her—the vampire who was now looming over her. The vampire grabbed her roughly about the waist and pulled her up against his chest, pinning her arms against her.
She closed her eyes, tears squeezing from her lids as she felt his chest rumble. Trembling, she felt his tongue, rough against her neck, as he licked her from shoulder to ear. “Yes, you’re going to pay,” he crooned, “and I’m going to enjoy every… Last… Bit…”
Elizabeth whimpered as she felt his demonic teeth tear into her neck. Pain unlike any she had felt before radiated out from the wound, and she could feel him pulling her blood from her, killing her by the mouthful. Tears slid down her cheeks as her vision faded, and the last thing she heard was a growl of triumph before the vampire let her limp body fall to the floor.
*~*~*
Gasping, Elizabeth sat up on her cot, her hand reflexively clutching at the absent bite on her neck. ‘Dream. It was just a dream.’ She sighed, but not in relief.
That was a Slayer dream.
She jumped from the bed and began to pace. This dream was more vivid than any she had had before. She ran it over in her mind, hoping to pick out details that she had missed while having it.
‘Okay,’ she thought, ‘what do I know? Bodies. How many?’ Elizabeth closed her eyes and counted. ‘Five. Including Pembers. Why was Pembers there? Do I need to warn him?’
“No,” she said aloud. “He held me back.”
“Elizabeth? Did I hear you say something?” Elizabeth halted her pacing and looked towards the door upon hearing her Watcher’s voice.
“No, Pembers, just stretching. You know, getting ready to go out tonight.” Pausing, Elizabeth pondered her next words. “Did, ah, did you have anything specific for me tonight?”
“As a matter of fact…” Pembers came into the small room where Elizabeth slept and blinked at her. “Elizabeth, are you okay? You look quite pale.” He wondered if he had in fact given her too much of the potion that would reduce her Slayer powers to nothing. Not that the Council Head would be particularly mindful if he had overdosed her, but it was hardly a mistake that he wished to be recorded in the official Council Records.
“Oh, oh yes, I’m fine. What do you have for me?” Elizabeth took a breath to calm herself.
Pembers regarded his charge carefully and decided that her paleness was due to having just awoken before answering. “I have information that a vampire was in residence in an abandoned house not far from here. It is not a very old or powerful vampire, undoubtedly less than five years, but it has apparently developed a taste for the very young. No less than ten infants have gone missing over the last three weeks, and it must be stopped. My source tells me that the vampire has since moved, and I will need for you to enter the premises tonight to collect anything it may have left behind in regards to his new location. I will expect you to take care of this situation tonight.”
Elizabeth blanched. “Oh, how horrible,” she whispered, wondering if what Pembers told her was truth or lie, uncertain of what she wanted. If it were truth, it was one of the most terrible offences she could imagine. If it were lie… if Pembers was intentionally deceiving her… then it could only mean that he posed a danger to her. A hand, grasping her foot. Pembers, cruelly denying her escape, offering her as a sacrifice to a vampire. Elizabeth snapped out of her thoughts abruptly to find her Watcher staring at her, obviously waiting for her acquiescence. “Of course, it must—must be taken care of.”
“Indeed. We will leave at sunset.”
“We? You’re going with me?” Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. Pembers had not accompanied her for over a year. When she paired his odd behavior with her dream, Elizabeth did not think that he had her best intentions in mind.
“Ah, yes, I ah, am. I wish to, ah observe you while you are, ah, weakened.”
“Have you discovered the cause of my weakness yet?” Elizabeth tilted her head as she asked the question. Pembers seemed flustered. Surely he had nothing to do with her condition, did he? A sacrifice to a vampire…
“I, ah, have not. I am quite sure that it will correct itself in a matter of time.”
Elizabeth just stared at the man she had quite literally trusted with her life.
A sacrifice…
*~*~*
TBC…
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of
the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
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