Slayer! - Buffyverse fanfic

[Lusankya]

This is the "first bit" to this random Buffy-verse fanfic that I've decided to write. Mostly, I've decided to write it in a semi-episodic style, (to matche the tv series), but I'm putting this bit up first. Why? Because I feel like it. That's why.

Slayer!

The vampire walked through the deserted streets of the City of Churches. He was old – old enough that he had already gone through several distinct identities by the time of the crucifixion – but time had not led him to complacency in any way, nor had it soured his ambition. He smiled as he sensed the undercurrent of darkness which flowed through the quiet streets, pleased that his feelings about this place had been correct.

Ever since it was founded, the city had had a reputation for deaths that could only be described as “sensational”. Elsewhere in the country, headlines would regularly blaze out with the latest bizarre murder spree which had taken place in the city, yet the local papers would ignore them in favour of updates on the extension to the tramline (today's paper claimed that it was two weeks behind schedule, but the forecast for dry weather over the next week suggested that it would soon be back on track). When pressed, the citizens of the city didn't seem particularly worried about the strange deaths. Theirs was a safe city, they insisted. Sure, there was a chance that your horribly mutilated corpse might be found decorating the city town hall, but that was more than made up for by the near-total lack of mundane crime that the city experienced.

There was the rub, the vampire thought. Something powerful lived in the city, and whatever it was, it was controlling the population in a way that he could not yet understand. He would understand it soon, though – of that he was certain. And when he did, he would find a way to control that power himself.

The vampire looked up suddenly as he realised that he'd reached the edge of the city centre.The road sloped downhill ahead of him, through parklands that somehow managed to stay green even through crippling drought. It was not at the parklands that the vampire was looking, however. His eyes were fastened on the floodlit Cathedral which stood overlooking the city from across the river. He had seen many churches – including one other cathedral – on his walk tonight, but this one dwarfed them all in size and grandeur. It was no wonder that the locals referred to it simply as “The Cathedral”, neglecting even the name of its patron Saint, as though there was no other in the world.

More importantly to the vampire, The Cathedral also had one thing that the other churches had lacked: on its steps sat a young girl, who seemed clearly uncomfortable alone in the dark. This suited the vampire perfectly, and he slipped into the shadows with the kind of ease that can only be brought on by many lifetimes of practice.

***

“Waiting for someone?” The girl jumped as she heard the voice coming from behind her.

Looking nervously in the direction of the voice, she gave a small sigh of relief as she saw a young, normal-looking man leaning against the Cathedral doors. He had the look of one of those people who insisted on looking brave and superior in front of women, but he didn't look like an immediate threat, either. “My ... father,” she said nervously. “He forgot that he was supposed to pick me up, but he'll be here in about five minutes.”

“That's good,” the man said.

“Yeah,” said the girl. “I don't like being this close to the parklands when I don't ha– ”

She didn't get a chance to finish the sentence before strong arms grabbed her and sharp fangs bit into her neck. Her eyes opened wide in shock for a brief moment, and then, with a sudden burst of speed, she spun around and sent the heel of her palm into her attacker's jaw. The man's head snapped back, and he fell back onto the ground. From this distance, the girl could see the distortion to his face that marked him as a vampire, and calmly produced a wooden stake from her clothing. She felt slightly dizzy from the blood the vampire had drained, but she was confident in her abilities.

“When will you learn to leave us alone?” she asked. “You know we always win.”

The vampire seemed to be having trouble recovering from the blow she had dealt him, and looked up at her with panicked eyes as he scrambled backwards. The girl advanced on him until his back was forced against the doors of the Cathedral, and then, as the vampire sat still with terror, she went in for the kill.

Perhaps, if she'd had time to look back on the fight, the girl would have been able to pinpoint the mistake she had just made, but somehow the vampire managed to evade her stake, and she found herself pressed against the Cathedral doors with no idea how she'd managed to get there. Unfortunately for her, however, time was a luxury that she no longer had. She felt the vampire's lips brush against her skin as he whispered in her ear, “It's strange. Your blonde friend said exactly the same thing to me just before I killed her.”

“Lucy!” The girl gasped in shock, and then went limp as the vampire bit into her a second time. Seconds later, her heart stopped beating, and she slumped further, held up only by the vampire's arms.

The vampire laid her body on the ground and closed her eyelids gently. He reached into one pocket, and immediately the smell of burning flesh began to fill the air. He removed his hand quickly, but the smell lingered, and smoke rose from his fingers as he placed a silver cross on his victim's chest.

The vampire stood and looked towards the city, the fresh blood pumping through his veins. “Well, Adelaide,” he called out to the city, “are you ready to take on Saint Cyril? Because I know I'm ready for you!”

***

Five minutes later, a man arrived to find the girl dead. As he saw her body, he let his grief show for only a second before he began a quick investigation of her body. He took a brief note of the bite marks on her neck, and then turned his attention to the cross that had been left on her chest. He examined it briefly, pocketed it and then left.

The next day, the front page of the newspaper informed the city of the progress of the drainage works in the eastern suburbs, in all the detail that the city craved.