"We can't take them" Rosé whispered quietly, careful not to wake up the sleeping girls. "We don't have a choice" Tiffany replied coldly. The Australian shook her head, "no, they are civilians. It would take years of training to prepare them to fight just a regular clan of vampires let alone a clan as old and powerful as Sandara's". "We need the numbers" the former slayer captain argued, "we won't last 5 minutes on our own". "They won't last 5 seconds" Rosé frowned, not backing down. Jennie sighed "Rosie is right, they'll all be killed".
Jennie glanced over at her students all sleeping on make-shift beds on the floor, Wendy and Seulgi cuddled up together in the corner.
She looked back at the other slayers, "we'd be bringing the vampires free food, may as well rebrand ourselves as a demonic takeout service". The Aussie nodded. Tiffany sighed deeply and folded her arms, "so what do you propose? Leave them here while we walk into no man's land on our own? If they do as we say they'll be fine, we won't ask them to engage into unnecessary battle".
The black haired New Zealander closed her eyes as she rubbed her temples, developing a headache from stress, the thought of leaving the girls on their own with Sunmi wasn't ideal either, "we might need them to escort Chaelin back to safety". Rosé's eyes widened with surprise, "you cannot seriously be considering taking them with us" she replied angrily, "you agreed that it's too dangerous!".
"I agreed that we shouldn't make them fight, but if there's another way they can assist us then maybe we should keep them near, I don't want to leave them here with Sunmi and we can't bring her either, she can't be trusted" Jennie replied quietly.
Rosé got up from her chair and walked outside of the warehouse, she needed some time away from the slayers.
She walked out towards the van, leaning her back against it as she closed her eyes and sighed.
"Needed a break from them too huh?" a familiar voice said from around the corner.
Rosé smiled as she opened her eyes and saw Lisa emerge from in front of the van, a cigarette in hand. "I almost forgot how cold and clinical the slayer world was after being a vampire for a little while" she replied softly. Lisa nodded as she blew smoke from the side of her mouth, " vampires and the order are two sides of the same coin in my experience".
The red headed Thai held up her cigarette, offering the other vampire a drag from it. The Australian shrugged casually, "sure why not, I guess cancer isn't a worry for me anymore", she put her mouth around the base of the cigarette and took a forced inhale. "Careful" Lisa warned, "trying to replicate breathing can be difficult to learn". Rosé exhaled, blowing little circles with the smoke, directly into the Thai's face. "I'm a quick study" the Aussie said cockily as she leaned back against the van, a little closer to the other girl this time. Lisa smirked, "I've noticed" she replied, recalling the near ass kicking she got at the hands of the newly turned vampire in the sewers.
"So what's bothering you?" Lisa asked. The cocky smile fell from the Australian's face, "I was getting used to being fearless, now I have my soul back and I'm scared" she looked down at the snowy floor, "scared for myself, scared for all of us". Lisa continued smoking, "the weight of responsibility is a heavy burden for a vampire. Learning that the hard way myself".
"You carry it well" Rosé said softly as she gently slid her hand against Lisa's, interlocking their fingers. The red head looked down at the intertwined hands in surprise. She looked back up at the Aussie's face and stared into her eyes. The two girls smiled, not uttering a word.
"You're so sleepy lately" the cruel vampire Queen jibed as a beaten and bloody Chaelin stirred from near unconsciousness. Sandara had ordered the vampires guarding the slayer captain to play loud music whenever the chained victim started to fall asleep. It wasn't just violence that the Queen inflicted onto her captives, sleep deprivation was another form of torture the sadistic demon enjoyed.
Dara placed her hand on the slayer's chin and held her head up, the woman still hanging by chained wrists from the ceiling of the castle dungeon. "I've come to tell you that sadly I won't be able to play with you today, as town mayor I have duties I just can't get out of" she laughed, "so you get some rest, I'll make up for lost time in a couple of days". The vampire Queen blew a kiss at CL and proceeded towards to exit, "don't let her sleep" she ordered the two vampires guarding the room, one male and the other female. "Yes your highness" they responded in unison.
"Tired eh?" the male vampire sneered as CL's eyes started to close again. "Play her a lullaby" he said with an evil grin. The female vampire laughed as she pressed the play button on a large black stereo, old fashioned and battery powered from the 90s. She turned it up at full volume, the loud thrasher death metal songs piercing the ears of the horrifically injured slayer.
"Does this soul thing get any easier?" Rosé asked. Lisa laughed, "god I hope so. I'm hoping that one day I get like Mina, all enigmatic and meditating up trees". The Australian looked around in a panic, fearing Mina was watching her from a tree, "is that where she is?!". The Thai smiled as she took a final drag from her cigarette before throwing it to the ground, "relax, she isn't close by" she assured the worried slayer as she patted her shoulder, "she likes to meditate away from us, says our auras and uncontrolled emotions create too much energy noise. Though personally I think she just doesn't know how to deal with Sana".
The Aussie smiled and nodded, "yeah, I have to admit meeting Sana was a bit of a shock". "She often has that effect on people" Lisa giggled, "probably why Jisoo and I liked her so much". The slayer felt a pang of pain in the pit of her stomach at the mention of her sire's name. Both sickened that this woman technically murdered her, and also sickened by the fact that her killer rejected her.
"Oh I'm sorry" Lisa said in an almost panicked tone of voice, "I wasn't thinking. I shouldn't bring her up". Rosé shook her head and tried to shake off the sadness, "no it's ok, she's been a big part of your life...or death?". The Thai hung a head a little, racked with guilt, "if the circumstances were different, you would have been one of us". The slayer smiled, "you would have hated that". "At first yeah" Lisa replied with a light laugh, "but you're pretty and have a hot accent, wouldn't have been able to resist you for too long" she joked.
Rosé tightened her grip on Lisa's hand slightly, looking into her brown eyes again.
Lisa leaned in.
Rosé did too.
The two vampires connected their lips.
A kiss that started soft and sweet, a desire for affection from two victims of rejection, soon turned into an increasingly heated and lust fuelled make-out session.
Rosé's back fell against the van, helped against the vehicle by Lisa's firm grip on the Aussie's waist.
The red head placed a hand on the tall slayer's cheek as she deepened the kiss even further. Their tongues gently clashing every now and then.
Before Lisa's hands could venture towards the Australian's ass, she felt a hand on her chest, pushing her away.
"I'm sorry" Rosé whispered, her eyes still closed, "I can't".
Lisa sighed, "Jennie".
"Jennie" the slayer replied, affirming the point, "she's my best friend, I can't do that to her. And lets be honest, you're only kissing me because you can't kiss her". "But she doesn't want me" the Thai frowned. The other girl nodded, "I know, and you have a right to fuck whoever you want Lis, but that can't be me. Not now". "We should head back inside" the red head replied in an annoyed tone, "it will be sunrise soon".
The female vampire kicked CL hard in the stomach, causing her heavily bruised body to swing violently in the chains.
"Stop that" the male guard yelled, turning the music down momentarily so his clan member could hear him, "if you kill her before the Queen has finished with her then she'll dust us both on the spot". "Fine fine" she replied as she walked back over to him, "it's boring now anyways, she doesn't scream or cry anymore".
CL looked down at the floor, watching her blood drip onto the dusty stone.
Dust?
That was new.
The captain winced in pain as she raised her head and looked up at the ceiling, dust or small particles of ground stone was falling from the part of the ceiling where her chains were fastened. The kick appeared to have loosened them slightly. Her slayer instincts began to awaken, maybe she could escape.
"You fight like a pussy anyway" she retorted with a groggy voice.
The vampires both turned back towards the slayer, "what the fuck did you just say?" the female guard said angrily, approaching the captive.
Chaelin smirked, "you haven't figured it out yet have you?". The male raised an eyebrow, "figured out what". The slayer began to laugh, "don't you find it odd that one chained up and heavily beaten woman needs two vampires guarding a room with nothing else in it, like I'd even be able to take the whole clan if I somehow left this place". The female growled, losing her temper, "what's your point?!". She continued to laugh, "Sandara is just giving you a fake job so you feel important because you're both too weak and pathetic for any real work. Your clan doesn't trust your abilities dumbass".
The two vampires started punching the captain in a fit of rage, younger vampires were often slaves to their own egos.
The male performed a powerful spinning kick against CL's abdomen. The chain broke away from the ceiling and Chaelin flew across the room, crashing against the wall as she landed.
The guards ran towards the captive. The slayer used all the strength she had left in her to get up to her feet. CL managed to dodge the first punch thrown towards her, she was fortunate these vampires weren't very experienced. She wrapped the chains around the neck of the male, crushing his throat with them as she jumped up and placed her legs either side of the female's head, flipping her over onto the floor, pulling the male down at the same time.
Chaelin limped in pain towards a small wooden stool, kicking it to break one of the legs. She picked the broken chair leg up off the floor and lunged it into to the heart of the male vampire as he charged at her. She span around and slayed the female too. Both guards now piles of dust on the floor.
CL turned the music up loud again, hoping it would mask any sounds coming from the dungeons without arousing suspicion. Sandara seemed busy, which usually meant the rest of the clan was too. The slayer hoped this meant she had time to figure out how she was going to get out of the vampire riddled castle.
"Everything ok?" Jennie asked suspiciously as neither Rosé or Lisa could look her in the eyes as they entered the warehouse.
"Uh" the Australian began to mumble, making her best friend even more suspicious.
"Something's really wrong!" Mina said in an uncharacteristically loud outburst as she practically kicked open the door of the warehouse, waking everyone but Jihyo up in the process.
"What's the problem?" Tiffany asked. Mina had a look of genuine concern on her face, "I was meditating and could sense a strange yet powerful energy gradually filling the area, it seems to be attached to the fog that's building outside. It isn't normal for fogs to come with such strong energy. This isn't a natural weather occurrence".
"A spell?" Lisa asked. "Maybe" the Japanese vampire replied though she wasn't really sure, she'd never experienced anything like this before. Nayeon shivered in fear, "is it coming from the forest?". Mina shook her head, "no, much worse. It's coming from the town".
"Well fuck, we'll have to wait a couple of days before we can rescue Captain Lee" Jennie said. Tiffany shook her head, "no, CL might not have that long. It has to be tonight, the plan goes ahead".
For several hours in the morning the slayers, vampires and civilians prepared their plans, not knowing Sandara and her clan were doing the same thing a few miles away.
The fog continued to build around the town, rolling out into the surrounding areas, bringing with it a mystical energy that unsettled even the demons.
Jennie noticed Lisa sitting on her own away from everyone, even Sunmi. "Is everything ok?" the slayer asked. The Thai was sat on the floor, resting her arm against one knee, "I don't think I can do this Jen". "Do what?" she replied. "Help you. I'm a murderous coward and that's all I'll ever be" Lisa sighed deeply, "talking about Queen Dara just reminds me all of all the terrible things that I have done. What I truly am. How do I just forget about that? You don't trust me, I can't even trust myself".
The black haired slayer sat down beside her former girlfriend, "Lis, do you remember what you said to me months ago, when I was ready to give up?". Lisa shook her head, "no". "Well I do" Jennie continued "it gave me strength, I've never forgotten those words" she smiled, "you told me, a person isn't defined by what other people think of them, it's what you think of yourself that matters. If you believe you're a coward then that's what you'll turn into but as long as there's still some fire in you, no matter how deep down, then you'll win in the end".
Lisa's eyes began to fill with water as her ex shuffled closer to her.
Jennie grabbed both of Lisa's hands tenderly, "there's a good person inside of you Lis, I can feel it. I trust you, with my life and with theirs" she gestured towards the other women in the warehouse, "that's why we need you tonight. You've beat the demon inside of you before and you can do it again".
"The vampire is strong Jennie" the red head whimpered, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
"You are stronger" the slayer replied softly, "I believe in you".
The two women leaned forward, their foreheads resting against each other. They both closed their eyes, enjoying the comfort they were taking in each other for the first time in a while. The New Zealander not knowing what happened between the Thai and her best friend earlier this morning.
"I need you" Jennie whispered.
Lisa gently rubbed Jennie's hand with her thumb as they sat together.
"I'll be ready".