Act2

 

Faith was wandering in the deserted streets with her crossbow in her left hand, hanging along her body. Her eyes were roaming on her surroundings, going from left to right and then to straight in front of her like a predator on the watch.

“Talk about a mission” Faith grumbled between her clenched teeth, without missing a movement around her.

“Oh, Faith, take Tara with you. She needs to be protected.” She resumed, mocking Buffy’s voice, but making too much of it to find herself convincing.

“She’s a sweet girl. She’s good company.” She nevertheless resumed. “I’m sure you’ll like her. Everyone likes Tara”

Faith stopped when she heard a slight noise coming from her left and stared at the bushes beside her. She rolled her eyes when a cat jumped at her feet with a meow and resumed her walk.

“Good company? You bet she is!” Faith started again from where she had stopped previously. “Is there a single person on earth more boring than this girl? Or any evening more boring than this one?”

Faith stopped again as she arrived in front of the entrance of cemetery and opened her arms in a dramatic gesture of bore and despair.

“Not a single monster in sight…” she grumbled.

Faith sighed and looked at the cemetery’s plate. She rummaged in her pocket and got out her pack of cigarettes before lightning one nonchalantly.

“C’mon, last cemetery. Maybe I’ll get lucky?”

Faith crossed the cemetery threshold with her cigarette in one hand, her crossbow in the other, all senses on the watch despite her nonchalant stance. When she got in the center of the cemetery, Faith stopped short and a slight smile appeared on her lips. Faith dragged a longer puff than previously and turned to her right. Less than fifty meters from her, three figures were coming resolutely toward her. Faith let her crossbow hanging along her left side for it to remain invisible to the three new comers, and she tried to stay still whereas her Slayer’s senses were screaming their will to attack and dust those vampires.

They soon got close to Faith and she thought they looked like any student. Maybe a little too sloppy.

But Faith knew, though they didn’t wear their vampiric faces. She knew what they were. And she could feel crawling under her skin the growing excitation at the coming battle and victory.

The taller of the three gazed openly at her from head to toes.

“Good piece” He hissed between his teeth with an amused smile on his face. “What’s a girl doing alone at night in a cemetery?”

Faith didn’t answer and let him come closer, until she could almost feel his breath on her skin.

“You never been told it was dangerous to walk around alone in the night? You never heard about the dangerous things haunting the cemetery as soon as night falls?”

He had purred the words in the most languorous tone he could, close to her ear, ready to bite at any moment.

“And you, never heard about the Slayer?”

Faith turned sharply to him and with her free hand, she grabbed stake at her belt and plunged it in the vampire’s chest before he could do a single gesture.

The second after, a pile of dust at her feet was all what was left of him. Faith turned to the two remaining vampires. And she couldn’t hide her pleasure when she caught a glimpse of terror shining in their eyes.

“So, guys, who’s afraid now?” She asked in a sardonic tone as she headed toward them.

“The Slayer?” One of the vampires repeated as he tried to regain some composure. “What would the Slayer do here?”

“Didn’t get the news?” Faith sniggered as she unveiled her crossbow. “We really had to be in the middle of nowhere here for you not to know: we’re dozens and dozens everywhere in the world now. Enough for one to be even HERE”

Faith raised her crossbow and nonchalantly pressed the trigger. The bolt arrived just above the nearest vampire’s heart. He looked down slowly to his chest and removed the bolt with a shaking hand.

“Oops!” Faith smirked. “Missed…”

The other tried to take advantage of what looked like a lapse of concentration for the Slayer and tried to knock her in her face. But Faith was watching him of the corner of her eye and she wasn’t surprised in the slightest. She dodged without any difficulty and replied with a blow with her crossbow. The vampire stumbled and before he had fallen to the ground, the Slayer was already to his side and rained blows and kicks on him with her trademark rage.

The first vampire stayed there for a moment, looking at the scene, looking like he hesitated to come to his friend’s help. After an internal struggle, he decided for a safer option: running away.

He turned on his heels and hared as quickly as he could.

Faith felt him getting away and turned away from her prey for a second.

“Hey!” She yelled in frustration.

She gave up her victim and grabbed her crossbow she had let go previously. In a skilled gesture, she reloaded a bolt and fired on the runaway. A wide smile appeared on her face when she saw her victim disappear in dust.

“I’m good” she congratulated herself.

Then she turned back to the second vampire who had taken advantage of that break to try to run away in his turn. But Faith kicked hard in his face to send back to the floor the half-stood vampire.

“I’m not done with you” she said as she sat astride him. “So, I resume: bad news: we’re a lot of Slayers in the world. Good news: the council had a lot of new rules. So, if you’re helping with my problem and promise not to make waves, I might let you live…”

The vampire tried to push on his legs and arms to free himself from Faith’s hold. The Slayer took great pleasure to prevent him from doing so as she retightened her grip.

“What do you think?”

The vampire tried again then gave up when he noticed his efforts were useless.

“Why would I believe you?” He eventually growled.

Faith waved her stake above his head with a small laugh.

“Because you have no choice. Either you don’t believe me and I kill you or you believe me and maybe I won’t kill you. Choice is simple actually”

The vampire rolled his eyes and sighed.

“What do you want?” He finally asked.

“I’m looking for a demon tearing apart its victims. Any idea what I’m talking about and where I can find it?”

 

The vampire couldn’t help but titter.

 

“You know how many demons match that description?”

 

Faith kicked him hard again in his face.

 

“Hey!” He protested.

 

“Don’t forget who’s on top” Faith threatened. “I’m talking about a demon from the area. If there’re a lot, no problem, tell me where I can find them. Don’t you have a bar or something here?”

 

The vampire tittered even more.

 

“We’re not in LA here, honey!”

 

“Don’t call me honey!” Faith growled as she hit him again. “What’s this demon?”

 

The vampire shrugged.

 

“There’re several of them. A pack of demoniac wolves. But they don’t stay long in the same place”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because they’re hunted down”

 

“Hunted down? By who?”

 

The vampire shrugged again.

 

“Don’t know! I stay away from what hunts demons down. Usually.” He added quickly after considering his current position.

Faith looked like she was thinking as she made her stake turn into her hand.

“Take that away from me” The vampire protested.

Faith looked at him again and couldn’t help herself but hit him again/

“Hey!”

“Don’t know anything else? Where do they go?”

“No, I promise, I don’t know anything else”

Faith looked like she was thinking about it then finally released her grip and stood up.

“Okay. I believeyou. You don’t know anything else.”

Now free, the vampire sat again and was about to stand up when the Slayer hit him again in his face and sent him back laying in the grass.

“Hey!” He protested again. “What was that for?”

“My pleasure” Faith informed. “And, I didn’t tell you everything…” She added as she stared at him.

“What?” The vampire asked, suddenly worried again. “You’ll let me leave? I won’t make any waves, I promise. You said that the council…”

Faith didn’t let him finish and plunged her stake in his heart before he could do a move to dodge.

“Other bad news: I don’t work for the council any more” She finished and washed the dust off her hands.

***

Deafening music, whirling lights and alcohol flowing freely: the night bar “middle of nowhere” looked like thousands of others anywhere else. Dozens of young people were moving about on the dance floor, swinging on the music rhythm with more or less success.

In the middle of the dancers, Faith was definitively part of those dancing with “more” success than the average.

And it was even rather far from the truth.

The Slayer made such an impression that most of the dancers had finally chosen to get away from her and the two or three young men she had brought to her. Faith could see different kind of lights pass in the gaze of those surrounding her. Jealousy or admiration in the gaze of the girls who had retreated. Excitement and desire in the gaze of the young men she had carefully selected to keep her company.

Faith didn’t care. The night was hers. And she loved it. Arousing jealousy or desire gave her a great pleasure and renewed her unbridled energy as she seductively undulated closer and closer to a tall blonde guy a little more handy and undertaking than the others. Would he keep her pace? It was very unlikely, Faith thought as she brought him even closer before pushing him away and turning to another guy trying to gain back her favors. That one was dark-haired and stockier than the blonde and he flashed her a knowing smile when she turned back to him. Faith couldn’t resist the pleasure to turn immediately back to the blonde before alternating between her two partners as long as they could follow her.

***

The dusky noise of her body slamming against the motel door room rang into the corridor and Faith vaguely thought she might wake somebody up. But the thought just crossed her mind during a brief second as a young man strong pressed himself against and his hands roamed over her body, sliding under her shirt as Faith kissed him fiercely like she wanted to devour him.

One of the Slayer’s hands left the young man’s hair she was gripping and slid into her jeans’ pocket in search of her key but she tried to keep the kiss going doing so. After trying several times vainly to open the door, Faith gave up and pushed slightly her partner.

“Hum, wait…” She grumbled as the young man went down her neck.

She pushed him a little more and finally managed to open the door. As soon as the hinges moved, she pulled the young man behind her and closed the door. She then opened the bathroom’s door to the immediate left to the main room’s door, pulled again the man in the room and closed that new door.

She then looked immediately for her partner’s lips as one of her hands searched for her belt and the other searched for the switch behind her.

The light switched on, lightening the tiny bathroom adjoining the motel room, composed with a shower and a sink. Faith pushed the blonde young man against the bathroom’s door and started to remove her belt with excitement as he was trying to do the same with his shaking hands.

When Faith was done with her own clothes, she pushed them aside with the tip of her foot and helped her partner to get rid off his trousers and boxer quickly. The young man wanted to turn and push the Slayer against the door in her turn but she didn’t let him do. Instead she stepped back and leant against the shower cabin behind her, pulling him to her and wrapping one of her legs around his hips.

Both lovers let escape a small moan to the welcome move and Faith bit slightly her lower lip as she pulled him even closer and feeling his hands kneading her breast almost violently.

But the piercing cry she heard a few seconds later wasn’t the pleasured one she hoped.

The young man stopped short to move and pricked up his ears, a slightly worried look on his face. Wailing and anguished sobs could be heard, coming from apparently really close from where they were.

“What’s this?”

Faith rolled her eyes, obviously annoyed to be interrupted this way.

“My roommate” She answered.

The boy’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Your what?”

“My roommate” Faith repeated.

“You have a roommate in that room?” The young man asked in a dazed tone.

Faith nodded and rolled her eyes again.

“Why do you think we’re having sex in that tiny bathroom instead of the bed?”

The young man nodded vaguely his head as he seemed to process the information.

“We probably woke her up…” He whispered. “She probably heard us.”

Faith shook her head with a disdainful grin.

“Believe me, won’t happen. She sleeps deep. And whatever, we don’t care…”

Saying this, Faith put her hand again behind her lover’s head to pull him to her. But he wasn’t willing to drop the revelation like this.

“But… It didn’t bother you that your roommate could hear you while you…hum…you see”

Faith rolled her eyes.

“Right now, she wouldn’t hear anything.” She grumbled. “Well, except a lecture about how we might wake her up!”

The young man gave her a sorry grin and his face went down toward Faith again after he cast a last glance over his shoulder, as he expected to see said roommate appear in the doorway. Faith kissed him again and her hands slid along his hips as the young man seemed suddenly to forget about Tara’s presence just on the other side of the thin wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom/

But Faith didn’t get advantage of that break for too long: again sobs, choked at first, then noisier rang in the room and the young man stopped again to listen. Faith rolled her eyes when she recognized the trademark sobs and cries when Tara had nightmares. Faith was now so used to them that she didn’t even pay attention. But her partner didn’t share her relaxed attitude.

“You…You’re not going to check on her?” He asked after listening to the sobs for several seconds. “Maybe she is…”

Faith pushed him and dropped her arms along her sides in exasperation.

“What do you want me to do?” Faith interrupted. “Holding her hand while she sleeps?”

The boy shrugged and looked like he was thinking to the matter before he noticed Faith’s annoyed look.

“It’s just…” He started again.

He stopped and flinched when a new anguished cry came to his ears.

“Well, it’s a little freaky” He finished.

Faith rolled her eyes.

“Okay…”

“But I’m gonna get used to it” He resumed quickly and came back to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and wanted to push her back against the shower cabin. But Faith resisted to the pressure and brushed his hand off her shoulder in an impatient gesture.

“Forget it Blondie” She hissed between her teeth. “Not in the mood any more”

“Oh…You…you…”

But Faith had already slipped on her jeans back and handed him his.

“C’mon, get back to your mother’s”

The boy hesitated a last second. Then, seeing that Faith didn’t pay any more attention and hearing more cries coming from the room, he finally decided to slip his jeans and shoes on in his turn. When he was ready, Faith pushed him without care through the bathroom’s door, then through the bedroom’s door. The bedroom seemed to calm again.

“You know, if you came back to the ‘middle’ one of these nights, I’ll probably be there or maybe I can leave you my number if you want to…”

“Right” Faith grumbled. “Another night”

And she closed the door on the young man without another word. Long seconds passed before the Slayer heard his footsteps fading in the corridor. Tara chose that moment to start to moan again in her sleep. When she heard her, Faith rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the thousandth time of the day.

“It’s official” She said to nobody. “I hate that girl”

***

The next morning had only half washed out Faith’s disappointment. She had gotten up early as usual and had left to run for some hours to let the steam off.

She had stopped by the station bar to take a coffee on her way back and then had bought the morning newspaper before getting back to the motel.

She was already reading the pages when she pushed the room’s door. She was surprised to find the curtains already opened and Tara sitting on the bed.

“Already up Blondie? You’re making strides”

She closed the door behind her and didn’t see Tara looking curiously at her.

“I w…I was go-going to the…the shower” She managed to get out.

Faith looked up from her newspaper, almost surprised to hear Tara’s voice and saw that the blonde was looking at her.

“But you… you ob-obviously need it more than me” she finished seriously.

Faith’s gaze traveled over her clothes glued on her skin by sweat and grinned.

“Looks like it” She admitted. “I went for a run, to let some steam off”

“No vamp… vampires?”

Faith shrugged and let herself fall on the bed, with her eyes glued to the newspaper again.

“Yeah, some vamps but little news…”

The Slayer laid the newspaper down and sighed as she pointed to a corner of a page with her finger.

“And a new victim from our mysterious monsters”

Tara didn’t answer and Faith got up again.

“I’m grabbing a shower. Then you’re going to grab a shower. And we’re leaving Blondie”

“Already?” Tara exclaimed, with a hint of annoyance in her voice. “We just…”

“You heard me, right?” Faith replied shortly.

“New victim” she repeated and pointed to the newspaper.

“And Slayer here” She added and gestured to herself as she was explaining to a very little child. “You get the connection? I’m gonna see what’s going on”

Tara remained simply staring at Faith without answering anything more.

“Good” the Slayer concluded. “I’m grabbing a shower first then”

***

Faith’s left hand’s fingers were tapping mechanically on the car door’s edge as the Slayer drove on a little road working its way between tall trees. Somewhere, the sunlight filtered between two branches more outspread than usual, and drew rays of lights on the road.

Between those rare flashes of light, it was rather dark and even if it was only the middle of the afternoon, it could be easy to think it was the beginning of the evening.

Faith drove at average speed with her window open, her eyes roaming her surroundings.

But nothing particular got her attention.

Until around one hour after they left. Faith caught a glimpse of unusual bustle after a bend at some hundreds meters from the car. She slowed down and squinted to try to make the scene out clearer.

“Shit!” She growled when she recognized a military roadblock.

The car slowed down again and Faith looked for a way to escape the roadblock. But there was no sign of a junction and making a U-turn seemed to be the only way out.

“A problem?” Tara asked when she saw the Slayer’s body tighten.

“Yeah” Faith grumbled. “Governmental forces in front of us and wanted fugitive here. Not a mix I like”

“Making a U-turn in front of their faces will look suspicious” Tara offered.

“Maybe…” Faith said.

She slowed down again and was about to stop on the side of the road when she saw a soldier with a submachine gun on his side, coming to her and gesturing for her to come closer.

“Shit!” Faith repeated.

“They’re probably not here for you, you know” Tara said. “Just try to act like…” She stopped a second in search of the good word before resuming: “… somebody normal and everything will go fine. Well, I guess”

Faith turned to her, half-annoyed, half-surprised and finally came to the conclusion she didn’t have much of a choice considering how close she was now from the soldiers.

“If it turns out badly, we’ll play random…” She hissed between her teeth.

When the soldier caught up with them, she stopped the car. The man bent slightly toward her and Faith could see an almost childish face in front of her.

“Misses” the young soldier greeted them.

“Hey” Faith answered nervously with what she hoped was her most beautiful smile plastered on her face.

“I’m sorry, you can’t go farther miss, except if you are a resident” The soldier resumed. “If you are, I’ll ask for your evidence and a patrol will escort you to your place”

Faith bent forward to see above the soldier’s shoulder while he was talking. She could see several soldiers talking and fussing near the roadblock, all with heavy weaponry.

“What’s happening?” she asked and forced her smile a little more.

“I’m sorry miss but I can’t tell you anything” She got as a reply.

“Come on!” Faith insisted in a seductive tone. “I love soldiers and military operations fascinate me! Just give a little clue, I won’t tell anything!”

She punctuated her question with a little pout she had learnt to do a while ago, when she was too poor to afford a proper place to sleep and that moving an hotel receptionist or a random guy to pity was the best way to get a bed.

The young man seemed to hesitate for a second and cast a glance behind him before turning to Faith again.

“You know, I really should not miss…”

Faith smiled, satisfied on one hand to get what she wanted and on the other hand to notice that this trick was still working.

“Please!” She added, still with a fake beatific smile on her face when she saw the soldier hesitating again.

“Well…” the young man started.

“What is it MacMahon?”

A loud voice interrupted any revelation the young man was about to make and Faith rolled her eyes when she saw another soldier heading toward them.

The first soldier turned around to face the new comer.

“Nothing Commander” He said quickly, like a scolded child. “I was explaining to those misses that the road is blocked and that except if they are residents, they ca…”

“Right, right, I know the lecture” the other interrupted. “So, residents or not?”

“Uh…”

The young man turned again to Faith.

“Are you a resident miss?”

Faith hesitated about the answer to give. If she lied, maybe she could pass the roadblock. But she remembered she would have to give evidence.

But whatever the reply she was about to give was, it died on her lips when the second soldier bent to her window in his turn.

Faith felt her stomach painfully clenching in her chest as she recognized immediately the newcomer and stared silently at his athletic build, his strong face, his brown hair.

“…Riley?” she finally managed to get out.