Slayer [vampire+vampire hunter]

Slayer 17

"The elevator shaft?" I asked in disbelief, staring down it uncertainly.

Ser made an apologetic face. "It's fastest to get to where we need to go..."

"But..." I hesitated at the doorway. All I could see beneath me was an immeasurable drop of blackness, almost like a void threatening to suck me in. I'd never liked the dark, particularly when I was a little child. Maybe it was silly and fatuous, especially since there were much worse things, possibly lurking in the darkness. Instead of the Big Bad Wolf, my father used to frighten me and my siblings with stories of evil vampires, coming in the dead of the night to suck our blood. I touched the indents in my neck absently, so shallow I could've imagined it, but I knew they were there. The sources of the fire that had raged in my neck not so long ago... I realized in surprise that he'd bitten me only yesterday, not even a full twenty-four hours ago. I wished for the beginning of the day, when we'd slept in the same bed together and we loved each other and everything was all right. But now, everything between us, our love, was at stake-if you could excuse the pun. Slayers used stakes as well as swords because of their efficiency to pierce the heart. Axes were handier for beheading, and many of us favored the lighter as well. We had to be well equipped, so when the chance came for a kill, we could act accordingly, whether shoving a stake or blade into their chest and through their heart, or swinging the axe to chop of their heads-though I didn't like this strategy as much; it was difficult, meant for brawnier slayers with the muscles to tear through the vampire's neck and spine-or burning them to ashes.

"It's okay! Jump, and I'll catch you," Xavier called from the bottom, his voice echoing strangely up, reaching my ears in a slightly distorted blur. I could envision him standing down there, looking up at me, holding his arms open, and that gave me the courage, knowing he was ready to save me. The whole damsel in distress scene made me want to laugh, but now was not the time. I closed my eyes tightly, pressing my lips together to hold back a scream, and plunged into the abyss.

~*~

I held my breath as the minutes passed, languidly, sluggishly, as if trying to irritate Xavier and I. He paced endlessly, his keen ears able to pick up sounds mine could not, and I knew he was listening intently to the battle raging above us.

He hated being down here as much as I did, helpless to whatever was happening above us. It was not his nature to let things happen as he watched from the sidelines. I could tell he was dying-pun not intended-to be in the fray, defending the one thing that meant most to him, to us. As gentle as he could be with me, I knew what he was like in action; he moved with a particularly graceful, even for a vampire, speed, his lean and slightly muscular limbs concealing outstanding strength. His mind alone could immobilize a powerful slayer, make them helpless as he killed them.

But he hadn't killed me. He'd brought me happiness and love... I couldn't see him with the same hate-filled eyes that I'd stared at any vampire with. And Ser, and Zian... They were actually all right, even good. And hadn't the others, the ones who helped me with training and fighting, hadn't they done something good for me, a slayer?

Maybe we had been wrong. Maybe believing all vampires were inhumane and cruel and ruthless, human-killing machines, was irrational, unreasonable. Even stupid.

I wanted to change the slayers' outlook on vampires. Not all of them were bad, and only the terrible ones deserved to die. I abruptly felt guilty at the thought of all those innocent lives extinguished-they'd only tried to stay alive, so they consumed their only kind of food, our blood. Maybe we could set up blood donors, humans willing to give their blood for vampires to feed on. It wasn't that much different from donating blood to save a fellow human's life from disease; vampires could suffer from lack of blood just like an illness.

Perhaps someday, humans and vampires could live in harmony, in happiness and peace. As I looked at my love, at Xavier, I couldn't help hoping for that wonderful possibility for the future. Would I be asking for too much from fate?

~*~

Ser burst into the safe place we'd set up, found at the end of the passage in the abandoned elevator shaft. Xavier and I had been sitting on the small bed that had been shoved in the corner, holding hands, wordlessly comforting each other, but at the sight of our friend, Xavier jumped up, pulling me up beside him. "Is it over?" he asked urgently.

I noticed a long, still bleeding gash down Ser's arm, and let go of Xavier's hand to go retrieve the first aid kit. Ser sat down heavily on the mattress, nodding. "We managed to drive them back. We're clear now, but it was...difficult. You mean a lot to them," he said, directing the last sentence to me.

I started tending to his wounds, something I was well trained in. He clenched his teeth as the spray made the open flesh sting, but the wounds started closing before my very eyes. I leaned back and gaped. "All with the vampire territory," Xavier murmured to me. I managed a nod, still stunned. It was surreal, the very idea of injuries healing at that incredible pace. Vampires were amazing.

And that made joining them all the more tempting. The diet didn't seem so bad when you could earn such impressive supernatural powers-speed, strength, agility-and heal so rapidly. Blood wasn't that different from raw meat, and all humans did was cook the meat over a fire, right?

---

yeeeeeeeah...i dont like this ending that all much, but hopefully you gaise dont mind? xD

next chapter tomorrow, halloweeeeen :DD