KATARINA: VAMPIRE (SLAY/LOV)ER

Part XIV - Now What?

Rain.

A staple of Washington state.

Cool drops trickled onto Katarina's blood caked face. Her body felt heavy, as if she was one with the forest floor. Head pounding, "I'm alive? How long has it been?" She wiggled her fingers and toes to check the viability of her limbs. "Everything's there, nothing seems to be broken," feeling was returning, and she was now spatially aware of her body. Kat mustered up enough energy to wipe the blood from her face, which appeared to come from her nose. "Shit, I hope that's not broken, I can't tell." Her memory of the past few hours, or day? She wasn't sure, was a blur. Flashes of Mr. Smith, Jasmine, their plan to kill him, a struggle...and Kayla? Now it was coming back to her.

"Fuck," she let out with a struggle. Katarina had come to terms with death. She viewed her death as an ironic parody of her parents; both dying in a car accident, but in actuality, due to vampires.

Remembering the news of being a vampire, her insides felt like there was a molten creature trying to claw its way out. Apparently, the holy water she ingested caused some damage, but wasn't enough to kill her. Kat sat up and looked around. Her car was a mangled wreck, with a tree now where the engine should be. She slowly meandered her way to the dirt road and hoped for the best. Maybe a long walk through the woods would do her some good and allow her to reflect on the situation?

Luckily, Mark got the vibes that the plan had gone awry after not hearing from Kat or Jasmine.

Katarina was now waking along the dirt road as headlights came around the corner from behind. She recognized the rumble of her dad's cruiser. The door flung open before the car could come to a complete stop.

"Oh my god, are you okay!?" Mark got out while running toward Kat and embracing her in a hug.

"I'm – I'm fine, dad" she replied even though she didn't believe herself.

"I swung by the house and could tell something happened from the broken window...and I saw his body. What happened with Jasmine, is she okay? Where is your car?"

"It's a long story. Can we just go home?"
"Of course. I'll get you some soup and we can go over everything later, as long as you're okay."

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied, getting into the passenger seat of the cruiser. "But."

"But?" Mark raised an eyebrow, shifting into drive.

"You can close out the missing person's report for Kayla."

Katarina explained all the details to Mark.

"Jesus Christ, I should have been there," he said, feeling guilty about how the entire operation went down. "I have one question though."

"What's that?"

"You said Mr. Smith was lying dead on the ground when you last saw him, and you burned the other two bodied."

"Correct, so?"

"When I was searching around the mansion, I saw where the struggle happened, but I didn't see his body anywhere."

"We need to go back."

"Kat, you're in no condition t-"

"You know I'm right!"

Without saying a word, Mark checked the road to make sure it was clear and pulled a U-turn.

"He was right here!" Kat pointed to a blood stain on the tile floor. "I mean, his body was."

"Well, either Jasmine and Kayla properly disposed of him when you were dazed, or he's still out there. We need to prepare for the worst."

* * *

Mark was skeptical to leave Kat alone, but knew she could protect herself if needed; she had proved that. If everything had gone smoothly, he would have swept it under the rug. With Kayla's death and a potential loose end ala Mr. Smith, Mark knew he had to tell the Church about the happenings. They told him being a vampire hunter is more a lifestyle than a line of work and nobody really gets out, "They were right," he thought to himself as he drove to the airport.

* * *

Kat's internship announced that Mr. Smith had gone missing and filled the spot with a temporary replacement. All the while Kayla's parents received closure knowing she had a final resting place – although this once was harder to cover up than Derrick's situation – camping accident. Kerosene lantern exploded and burned the body. Kayla wasn't one to go camping, so the inexperience made sense. Running away from her problems, looking for answers in the wilderness. Jasmine wasn't even in the school system; she was a ghost.

A ghost.

That is exactly how Katarina felt now, sitting alone at lunch, no friends, nobody to share her secrets with. Even if she could share her secret, who would believe her? She had always been a black sheep so maybe not much would change. Kat was ready for a change of pace though. "Just have to finish out the school year then I can be whoever I want when I get to college."

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