An uneasy sense of forbidding fills me and going to the window, everyone walks past completely oblivious to it. Something is wrong. Danger is coming and from here I can't do anything about it. Trying the door, I can't manage to work on the handle like I've seen the others do and instead start to knock on it.
Out.
I need to get out.
"Stay Alfie." My Masters voice commands me to stop fighting the urge to escape, but now she is calling for me. Even if I can't hear her, I can feel it.
I go back to the window, no one even looks at me.
"Be a good boy."
I start to pace. The more human form harder to move around in and shifting back so I am able to stretch and ease the tension in my muscles. I go into the pond, the water is my heaven. I dont know why I like it, other than I just do.
I can't relax. Water normally helps but this is worse than the other times.
My Master is close.
Keep. Elise. Safe.
"He's been agitated all evening Frank." I can hear them outside home.
"Something must be happening with Elise again, give him dinner and see if we can get her on the phone to calm him down."
"Are you hungry today Alfie?" Vesna opens the door and I am rising out of the water before she even takes a step in. "Alfie, are you alright? Your eyes?"
She is scared, her mouth drops open as I pull her into my gaze. She drops dinner and I start to sway, watching as she follows me.
"Go. Alfie needs to go."
"Yes, this way Alfie." She moves out of the doorway, and just as I'm about to leave home Frank appears.
"Stop Alfie!" He looks at Vesna and I dont hesitate in shoving past him. Remembering the way Else took me, I go to the big door we went out of last time she came here.
"Stay Alfie." Again her voice reminds me I'm not meant to leave, but the second pain runs along my spine I smash through them and go to her.
-x-
"So hows this for a joke?" Sitting with my feet up on the dash, I catch Reece's eye in the review mirror and he only shakes his head, mouthing 'dont' at me. All morning I've been giving Logan a hard time and as night starts to take over I decide to ease up. A little.
"What?" Logan mumbles.
"A Slayer, a Tracker and an fabulous Hunter walk into a bar and the barman-"
"Oh I think i've heard this. Does it involve him asking if the Hunter ever shuts up?"
"Oh Logey, you're so funny. How did you know?" I slap his arm playfully, yet he doesn't smile or even acknowledge me. Earlier discussions had started out a little passive aggressively so I guess I can't hold it against him. The car goes silent, not helped by the fact Logan also solved our radio issues by turning it off.
We get onto the highway and as we break away from the bulk of the traffic, I spy a van that seems to have been following us a little too closely. Sitting up, I study for a moment and look at Reece. He his massaging his shoulder, before his hands idly move across his chest and coughing a couple of times, I can tell he's getting agitated. He senses something too.
"Logan, I need to pee. Can you stop at the next fuel station?"
"Really? If you didn't drink all of that water before we left-"
"Stop the car Logan." Reece joins in the argument, and Logan sighs in defeat. The rest of the way I keep my eyes on the van. Vampires.
Stopping at the station, I give the guys stupid requests to send them into the shop. On my way to the toilet block, I don't go and stick to the shadows to watch the van.
It stays on the other side of the parking lot, obviously watching us. I see Reece and Logan come out and Reece is looking around, sensing them too. Being a Slayer, his senses should be going crazy right now. Thanks to Mums genes, I get a bit of help with the vampire side. Logan seems oblivious.
"Done Princess?" Logan drops his arm over my shoulders and we go back to the car.
"Can I drive, I think I'm getting travel sickness?"
"You're a terrible liar and no." He kisses my cheek as we part and before I get in, I stop Reece.
"You ok?"
"Fine. Lets keep moving." He gets in without another word and I look at the van one more time before doing the same. Ten minutes later, I don't doubt it anymore and neither does Reece as he starts to freeze up.
"Logan, there is a van of vamps following us. They have been since we left the city."
He looks at me, back at Reece and then checks his mirrors. Changing lanes, the van mimics our actions. They must sense we've discovered them because we're suddenly being rammed from behind.
"I told you we should have left earlier and you made us stop!" Logan yells at me, trying to keep control of the car as the van knocks the back of it again.
"We left at the right time. You drive like it's Sunday and you're on your way to church!" I scream back at him, pulling out the rifle from under the seat. Taking my chances I lean back out the window and after two shots their windscreen has been blown into a million pieces.
"Get back in the fucking car!"
"Get me closer, I can probably get the driver now!" I climb into the backseat, ignoring Reece who is in the middle of a mental breakdown and wind down the window.
"Stay in this fucking car Elise!"
Of course I don't listen and that's when they decide to hit the car again. I drop the gun as I grip the door frame, falling half way out of the window and as the van comes closer I could easily be squished between the two vehicles.
They seem to realize it at the same time and the roar of their engine has me scrambling to get up and instead something pulls at the back of my jacket and I'm yanked back inside. "He told you to stay in the fucking car!"
"Well look who decided to join the party!" I yell back at Reece, and only earn a glare.
"Shit!" Logan has us both looking in front of us and a red version of Alfie is spread out in the middle of the road. The van hits our car just as Logan goes to swerve and again Reece grabs me only it doesn't matter as we loose control and the car spins over and over....
-x-
Every part of me aches and opening my eyes, liquid is running into them. Wiping them, I look at my hand. It's blood and I drop my head back against the dirt. So much pain! A few minutes later I try and look around again to see Logans car on its roof a few meters away and back up towards the road, the row of vampires are starting to come down towards us.
Reece is going to freak out.
"Elise! Answer me!" Logan is screaming behind me and looking back that way, he is trying to climb out through his window.
I should have stayed in the car and had a seat belt on.
I go to get up, but can't. My shoulders are throbbing and any strain on my arm muscles has me crying out. We weren't even half way to the Academy so we'd get no help that way and again I cry out as I'm being lifted. The tightness around my abdomen actually helps distract me from the agony i'm in and I start to relax.
Alfie. I can't help feel relief at having him here, but something is different.
"Help me Alfie!" I dont know much about commanding him, but he generally knows what I want of him. I smile lazily, tempted to go back to sleep as I remember how he had winked at me when I got him to scare Logan. "Tequila!"
"Ssssame blood." That wasn't Alfies voice.
Opening my eyes, the hollow black balls that stare back at me aren't his either. The head is still black, yet in place of his smooth green scales - they're red with spots of black down his spine. Looking down, it is holding me up in the air and slowly the vampires approach.
"Give her to us Demon!" One of the vampires demand.
"No, don't. Please, don't!" I wonder if having Alflie will help me with this one. "Do you have a name?"
"I am demon!" Take that as a no.
"Apep, they disrespect Apep!" Like when I came across Alfies maker, I mention the god they come from. Alfie loves it when I told him stories, even if they're made up and based on our own fairy tales, of his glorious beginnings, so at least I have one area of expertise to work in my favor.
I start to cough, trying to avoid the snake when I spit out bloody saliva and all the vamps surround us now. My blood is out in the open, I dont know how much I am bleeding but I definitely have a cut on my forehead. The vampires look part fearful of the demon and part in awe at the smells coming from me. I find that surprising considering the stench of the demon and I try to remember to find out why Alfie doesn't stink like this.
"Give us the human!" The same vampire demands.
"Why isn't it doing what we tell it?" Another asks.
"We don't have time for this!" The leader growls, "I command you to give us the human!"
"Praise Apep!" I start babbling, and the vampires are only getting more pissed off. If this was such an easy way to distract these creatures, why didn't everyone just do that? Probably because they've been extinct until recent months and maybe even the supernaturals were lacking in information about them.
The demon is confused. I'm saying something that he wants to hear, and he is also being commanded like he was summoned to do. To my horror he obeys his Master and I thrown down to leeches roughly. The leader grabs the back of my jacket, barking out orders I can't focus on as my head is pounding only as I'm shoved forward one thing I can focus on, is my head being licked.
"I've never tasted hunter before." A voice hisses in my ear and I gag involuntarily. I need to get my shit together. I am better than this. I am a Hunter. So I was just thrown out of a car and near squeezed in half by a snake demon, it's in my DNA to put up with this bullshit. As I fall down, I slip my hand down into my boot, and feeling the handle of my knife ignore the pain in my arm and slide it up my leg.
As I'm lifted again, I go for whatever I can - stabbing the vampire in the abdomen. Pulling out my now bloody knife, I ram it into his neck as the guy beside him realises what just happened.
"How does that taste?" I choke out, only to have my arm grabbed from behind and something slams into my back making me cry out.
They will not win.
They will not win.
My pep talk isn't helping as the van door slides open. The hiss of the Apopythe has me looking to my left and before I'm thrown inside the vampires are all yelling and I'm forgotten. Or maybe they ran away?
Staggering back, bodies litter the side of the road and as I watch something something seems to whip through the few still standing. It's a blur, almost like a bendable log and as something moves in front of the van lights - the green is all too familiar.
"Alfie!" Having him here instantly makes me feel better and as i step towards the light, he is gone. "Alfie?"
Again something tight goes around my waist and I'm lifted to the van roof.
"Safe Elise."
I love that snake.
The red one lunges at him and his tail manages to let me go with more care than I thought possible in this situation. The two bump necks, slipping into the darkness as a hissing mass Looking down the slope to Logan's car, he is fighting with two vampires and I pray Reece is still in the car. Vampires would be able to sense his weakness, making him an easy target.
I'm about to get down when a hand grabs my ankle and falling onto my back, I can't stop being dragged down. I dont have a hard landing, the two vampires catch me with ease and then toss me into the back. The van door is slammed shut and groaning I roll onto my side in an attempt to get up and fail miserably.
A few thuds and some yelling sound around the van and when the door opens, I instinctively kick out to try and defend myself.
"Woah! It's me!" Reece calls out, dodging my boot.
"Are you ok?"
"Am I ok? Elise, get out of the fucking van!" He reaches in and grabs my arms, helping me stand and once I'm back on my feet I focus on the new rush of adrenaline to keep my going. Looking for Logan there is only one vampire down there now and two others have left that fight to come towards us.
How many of these blood suckers were in that van?
Reece throws me a stake and to my surprise, jumps down to meet them half way. Guess he is over his issues now and I follow suit. Taking one each has our odds improving by the second and as soon as my guy is dust, I run to help Logan who is now pinned against the car.
The airy gasp of another vampire dying behind me tells me Reece is doing fine on his own and pulling the vamp from Logan, I manage to get in a good high kick and send him tumbling into the ground. In seconds I'm on it, putting my stake through it's heart and as the bod disappears I fall backwards breathless.
"Fucking vampires!" I call out, and as Logan stands over me he puts out his hand to pull me up.
"You know I had that sorted right?"
"What ever, when I see a damsel in distress I have to help!"
Reece slaps Logan on the back, making him cringe and the three of us stand there for a minute getting out breath back. Slowly pain starts to work its way back into my brain, each nerve sending out a protest over what just went on.
"Alfie!" I take off up the hill, looking around into the darkness everything is quiet. "Where are they?"
"I dont know, they went right." Reece looks into the darkness and closing my eyes I try to hear something, anything.
"ALFIE!" I start to run down the road, which is pointless because I can't see anything a meter in front of me. "Alfie!"
"Elise, we can use the van. Stop!" Logan calls out, but I keep running. The silence scares me and I can't help panic. My lungs are burning as I gulp down air in deep harsh gusts, and somehow I manage to call out again.
"Alfie!" If it wasn't for him, this whole thing could have gone very differently.
I had to find him.
"Alfie!" Logan catches up and runs with me with the van lighting up the road a few minutes later, Reece pulls over. We sit in the back and i'm looking out over the fields of nothing for a sign, for something and instincts tell me to go left.
"Go left Reece!"
"There is a turn off up here, I'll take that."
Sure enough Logan and I hold on as the van turns and we go a few miles when the scent of the other Apopythe hits me. "STOP!"
Grabbing the larger machete style knife off Logan, I jump out before Reece fully stops and start running. He turns the van in the direction I'm going offering me a little light to see by but the grass is knee high - hiding the demons.
"Alfie!"
The smell gets stronger and finding the corpse of the red snake, I pray this means he is ok.
"Alfie!"
I keep going, letting my instincts guide me and jumping over random logs and ducking under tree branches, the sound of running water tells me where to go.
"Alfie!"
The moon seems to get brighter as I hit the river and looking around I can't see anything, but I can feel he is here. Scanning the bank of the river, I see a large log half submerged and keeping looking when it moves. Going closer, it's him and between gasping for air I start to sob. Please let him be ok.
"Alfie, I'm here." I call out, running down to fall beside him. His scales are darker in patches and running my hand over one area, i can see the puncture wounds from where the other one had bitten him. Slowly his head rises from the water and turning to look at me, his tail end curls around enough for me to sit on. Bending over, his head rests in my laps and his normally black eyes are glowing red like when he transforms.
"Safe Elise."
'Thank you Alfie, are you badly hurt?"
He only moans in response, his muscles relaxing and I sink into my make do seat. His head covers my stomach now, and slowly I relax too. In doing that, I can't ignore the pain and his weight on my torso isn't helping. I don't care though, we're both alive and our wounds will heal.
-x-
"So how do you propose we can explain a giant snake in the hotel spa bath?" Reece snaps and slowly the sounds of a shower running filter through.
"I dont really care right now!" Logan growls back and opening my eyes, I'm in a hotel room looking at a water stained ceiling.
"Let me guess, Logan chose the hotel?" As soon as I finish talking I'm coughing. My throat is like sandpaper and gentle hands help me sit as Reece offers me a bottle of water. "I really need to stop passing out."
"How you feeling?" Logan pushes back my hair and after a brief glance in their direction, try to avoid looking at either of them again. I don't look how worried they are.
"Sore, but nothing a couple shots of rum won't fix."
"How about a couple shots of coffee cause that I can do!" Reece gets up and looking up, the tiny kitchenette has a rather misplaced modern coffee machine on the counter.
"I won't say no."
"You don't have to pretend Ellie, how are you really?" Logan whispers as I lean against him.
"Fine, really. Luckily I think most of it was superficial. How about you two?"
"We're fine. We had seatbelts on and didn't get thrown out of a car and then beat up by vampires."
"Oh I see what you did there, stay in the car Elise blah blah - did it work out alright in the end? I'm not going to admit you were right!"
Alfie came slithering out of the bathroom, his eyes black and the his scales had started to repair themselves too. The wounds were now pale green, almost like it was part of his pattern.
"Elissse!" He raised himself higher than I sat, his tongue flicking out above my head before he nudged me. Instantly I left Logan and hugged him, not missing the twitching in the end of his tail that still remained in the bathroom.
"Oh Alfie, I was so scared you were hurt last night!"
"We're safe Elise. Sssafe. Come home now?"
"I can't Alfie. Thats always going to be your home, not mine." Not yet at least.
"Stay with Elise. Safe."
"For a little while Alfie." Looking back at Logan, I had woken up to hear a valid point. "What are we going to do with a giant snake?"
"I have no idea, but he wouldn't let us near you either when you passed out. He ah, also did something to you." I raised my eyebrow, not sure what that meant. "He managed to clean your cuts and you had a really bad one on your hip. As soon as he like, spat in it - it healed up."
"Thats new." I lifted my shirt slightly to see the tear redness of where the wound have been and touching my head, felt nothing. Alfie only seemed to smile and satisfied, went back to his bath.
"Yeah, we didn't know what do and prayed it wasn't poison. We couldn't;t have stopped him anyway. Did you know he has spikes on his tail? He was cutting those vamps in half like they were soft butter!"
"Thats new too."
"Here," Reece passed me over the coffee and smelt divine. "I'm going to get some food. What does he eat?"
"Meat, a lot of meat." Looking at the window, it was bright around the edges so at least for now we'd safe from vamp attack.
"Ok, i'll be back." Reece grabbed a couple of things from the table and went out.
Logan got up and went and turned the taps off, leaving Alfie to soak what he could of his body and shut the bathroom door. Coming in beside me, I was glad to cuddle up with him and it was the first alone time we had been able to have.
"You stink."
"Says the girl covered in blood, dirt and vamp dust?"
"I meant in a good way and well yeah, it's the new craze. All the girls are wearing it." I sighed, resting my head on his chest. Some where along the way, he and Reece must have been able to shower and get new clothes as they both looked as if nothing had happened.
"Are you still mad at me?" He asked softly, despite the state I was in he still held me close.
"Yes, kind of. I want to forgive you, but I'm not going to forget. If you're hiding anything else, tell me now. Three strikes and you're out."
"There is nothing else, I promise." At least he sounded sincere.
"I hope you're telling the truth. I like you, somehow I like you. With upcoming events, I don't want this to be an episode of Days Of Our Lives."
"I get it. And all we have to do is keep you out Selene's paws until the seventeenth of next month and then we can actually start something for real. Easy right?"
"So easy."
Looking up at him, I thought back to when I first met him. The thought made me laugh and the questioning look that followed only made me shake my head. We had come a long way since then. In fact it felt like a life time ago.
"Can I just ask you one question and I know you'll get shitty with me, but I need to know."
"Sounds serious?" I sit up, resisting the urge to kiss him until after I had been able to take a shower of my own.
"Why Reece? Why did you sleep with him?"
"Huh, well thats not awkward." I joked. Problem with that was, he was dead serious.
"You two act like your old friends, its weird."
"Are you threatened by him?"
"Can you answer the question?" Logan demanded.
"I dunno. I was attracted to him, the opportunity presented itself and it happened. He was leaving the next day so we both knew what it would be. I had some pent up frustrations and - how much detail do you actually want?"
"Do you still like him?" It came out like a whisper and I wondered if he thought thats why I was being so difficult with him. My love life was not going from non-existent and one night stands into some warped love triangle. Reece and I know where we stand with each other and Logan would have to trust me on that.
"I never really liked him Logan, I knew him for like a day. He was this hot, slightly older, charming guy and I had a pull towards him. Its different now because of what happened. I never would have seen him again otherwise and that was fine for both us. Don't be jealous, it's not like I care about every other girl you've been with!"
"They're not sharing a room and travelling around on a mission with us." He had a point.
"Good because I bet they were just human and that would make Alfie an awkward topic at the dinner table!" Logan finally smiled at that. "Trust me like I had been trusting you. Reece and I are friends now because of all what we went through - you were there for that too and I've seen you help him like I have. Honestly my heart still skips a beat when he moves too fast."
I move to straddle him and get comfortable laying on his chest when instead I'm gently pushed off. "You actually stink, in a bad way. Kick that snake out of the bath and go clean up."
"Wow Logey, you really know how to treat a girl." I protest, but get up anyway. When I get out of the bathroom, Alfie is gulping down bits of roast beef as quick as the guys can unwrap them. "How much did you get him?"
"Ten kilos? He is a big guy!" Reece drops another piece of meat into Alfie's waiting mouth and seeing me his tail is quick to pick me up again making both Reece and Logan freeze nervously. I only hug him, and get put down next to the empty chair. We eat lunch and with Alfie keeping an eye on things, decide to sleep away the afternoon. Attacks are likely to come at night and we need to be at our best should anything else happen.
Problem with that is, I'm awake after a couple of hours so curling up with Alfie by the window I steal Logans phone to call the Academy and let them know about Alfie and the attack so they can be on alert should anything else come looking for us. Once that's done I start looking up more details on our mystery vampire. Remembering the incident with the vampire fangs, try to work out if that could be connected to anything else and going back to Francis find a document by accidentally clicking on the wrong link.
"Hey Alfie, check this out." He opens his eyes to look at me, and reading over the page I can't work out why it's sounding familiar. "Francis changed her name to Winters when her Mother remarried, so took her Step-Fathers surname. Her father was actually Charles Chalkman, also a Slayer."
I clicked on his link, trying to work out why i knew his name.
"Oh shit."
Alfie raised his head, sensing my change in mood.
"Alfie, Charles Chalkman is an ancestor on my Mums side! He is one of her great grandfathers!"
If they needed living descendants to bring both back, would Jordan and I be enough to save the Winters getting involved? Did anyone else know this? Something in the back of my mind made me think of Alison and Jordan. I didn't like the idea of them being near each other and after a call to Vesna she gave me Roman's work number. Even though he had finished his roster and was having his week off, someone should be in the kitchens to answer, but there was nothing. The same went with Nancy's and before I could check on any newly reported attacks, Logan groaned from the bed and getting up it was obvious he was relieved to find me still here and not gone again.
"Why is the girl who loves to sleep not sleeping?" Logan groaned, rolling over to look at me.
"I'm related to the Winters."
Now that woke him up. "What?"
I quickly told him what I just found out, including the calls to the underground and his response was the same as mine.
"Oh shit!"