The Black Raven

They Will Burn

I skip down the halls flicking my fingers and lighting the place on fire, room by room, trapping the other slayers in their dorms to burn, their screams oh so sweet. Alwood had vanished after I come out of the interrogation room, no doubt fleeing the scene. And then I stop in my tracks, why should I enjoy this alone.

"apparuit mihi." And then Jessie is beside me. I grab his hand, "I wondered if that would work." I say to him.

He looks a bit dazed but when he sees the smoke pouring out of the doors on either side of us, a smile spread across his lips as well. And then we kiss holding each other in an embrace as screams echo all around us as the people I once trusted burn. When we break away Jessie looks at me and then all of a sudden he is thrown against one of the walls, the same way I threw the slayers in the interrogation room, invisible bands holding him off the ground. Then hands are around my neck, my back having been thrown against the wall opposite Jessie, for once I'm truly terrified as I look into Alwood's cold eyes.

"You forget who your up against." Alwood says.

I push my hand out and then she flies off me, letting me drop to the ground. "I think you're the one who's forgot." I smirk as I stand up and look at her standing across from me. She wants me dead so let her try.

We both run at each other and then I'm behind her. I'm faster, but she has more experience. I wrap my arms around her and then she sends electric shocks through my body, making me fall to the ground in pain, a small groan escaping my lips. I hear a crackling as the fire expands to the hallway and then flames fly towards Alwood, singeing her hair. She puts a hand to the patch of blackened hair and she looks at me. I put my hands behind my head and push myself off the ground. I stand up and then I try to hit her in jaw but a gust of wind blows me backwards and then she kicks me to the ground again. She puts her foot on my chest and then kneels down pulling out another of the silver stakes and pushing it against my chest. A small gasp escapes my chest as my skin burns. I turn my head to Jessie and see him leaning against the wall, Alwood having lost the concentration to maintain her hold on him.

Help me. I almost beg.

You got this. He says to me. It's your fight not mine. She raised you; use that against her.

I tear my gaze from Jessie and face Alwood again, making tears brim in my eyes.

"I don't want to die." I say to Alwood, my lip is quivering and I make her see me as the young girl she took in, the girl she trained for years. She freezes for a second, just long enough for me to push her off me and twist around so that I'm holding her against the ground. I kick her stake to the side and it goes flying down the hall, long out of her reach. I pull out a knife and put it against her throat, ready to finally kill her. I push it against her skin, a small trickle of blood flows down her neck. She looks me dead in the eyes.

"Go on then," she taunts, "Kill me. Get it over with." I stare down at her; I don't do anything. I just hold the knife against her neck, unable to cut but unable to take it away. "What? Can't you kill the woman who raised you?" I grit my teeth and tighten my grip on the knife.

"Kill her." Jessie orders me, his voice sounding tense. My hand is shaking, and I can't bring myself to do it. "Do it." He hisses. "Kill her."

I look down into Alwood's eyes and only see the woman, who took me in, saved me from a life of homelessness and trained me to look after myself.

My human side wins out, "I can't." I say through gritted teeth. And then I let the knife fall to the ground beside Alwood before I thrown violently off her by a gust of wind. I can practically hear Jessie rolling his eyes.

"Raven, my darling." Alwood says getting off the ground, "Always so innocent, always so, so, stupid." She walks over to me and she wraps a hand around my throat, me not moving fast enough to escape her grasp. "I should have killed you with your parents." She growls.

I'm shocked, I don't know what she means but then she squeezes my throat, lifting me off the ground. I can't breath, but she forgets that I don't need to. I kick my foot out and hit her in the stomach. Her grip loosens and I drop to the floor, my hand against my neck, rubbing where she held me.

"What do you mean with my parents?" I demand of her, feeling sick to my stomach.

"Oh you don't honestly think that this was all a coincidence do you?" She asks me. "I knew about you long before I found you in that alley. After all, I'm the reason you have your special gifts. Did you know that you can share powers by feeding someone else your blood." She looks over at Jessie. "What about you? That's why you wanted her, isn't it?" I see her raise her eyebrows at Jessie and then turn back to me. I look over to Jessie but he's avoiding my gaze, I look back at Alwood.

"Why?" I ask my voice weak.

"Oh Raven, you really don't get it do you?" She patronizes me. "We needed the Wicca of the next generation, you were the only viable candidate. But your stupid parents wouldn't let me train you. They new all about this life, about your potential, but they refused." She's dazed, thinking hard about the past, I could take her down, but I so badly want to know the answers. "It wasn't that hard to go behind their backs, a little blood in your bottle as a child, the occasional delusion to drive you to the magic. And then the blaze. I knew you would get out, I would make sure of that. But I also knew that your parents wouldn't be so lucky. What, with the sealed doors and windows." She snaps out of her daze. "I've always been there Raven, just come back, I can even cure you." Her voice goes quiet, friendly and motherly and she puts out her hand.

"Never!" I shout and I stab the knife into her hand before yanking it out.

She pulls it into her chest as a long list of obscenities escape her mouth, blood dripping onto the floor from her fresh cut. My human side has vanished once more, for the final time, and then I run at her. I grab her collar and throw her against the closest wall.

"You don't deserve my forgiveness, you don't deserve anything from me." I whisper. I grip the knife harder than ever before and press it against her chest one more time. "Say goodnight."

She tenses and then blood fills the front of her shirt. The knife goes deep into her flesh and I twist the blade, causing more blood to spill out. Her gaze is fixed on me as her eyes glaze over and blood streams out of her mouth. I twist the blade one more time before I pull it out off her chest and she goes limp. I step backwards and let her body fall to the ground, thick red blood pooling around her lifeless body. I feel Jessie hovering over my shoulder and I put my hand out behind me to grab his feeling our fingers intertwine. My eyes are still locked on Alwoods crumpled form and then I turn and bury my head in his shoulder, seeking comfort with him.

"Come on, let's go." He whispers to me.

I pull away from him and straighten up, a smile back on my lips. "Yeah." I say. '"I think I'm finally ready to move on."

I turn to face the burning halls behind us and wave my hands making the flames grow ever larger and stronger, the screams having fell silent. Now it's just to get rid of the legacy. I face Jessie once more.

"Let's get out of here."

He smiles at me and then we're back in his abode, finally just the two of us.