"Thanks again for helping me."
Rhett tried not to grimace as he nodded his head in reply. He was pretty sure his face was stuck in a strange expression from holding his breath for so long, though, so he had no idea if he succeeded in looking kindly.
"Anytime, Warren," he said.
The old man smiled and turned away to get something out of the pantry. Rhett quickly exhaled and inhaled, using his sleeve as a filter for air. He hated the smell of old people, and this house reeked of it. The smell of sugar cookies baking in the oven did nothing to mask the scent, either; instead, it mingled with the strange smell, creating an even weirder hybrid odor. The oven's timer rang, and Rhett quickly grabbed an oven mitt and pulled a large tray of cookies out of the oven.
"Alright, that was the last of them," he called out, setting the tray down on the stovetop. "You're all ready for Christmas!"
Warren hobbled out of the pantry, bracing himself against the doorway, and looked at the cookies. He smiled broadly. "Good! Thank you for helping me."
Rhett half-smiled again. "Anytime, Warren."
"Here, take some as my thanks. You can share them with your friends or family," said Warren, holding up a plastic bag he had gotten from the pantry. He scooped some cookies off of the cooling rack and put them in the bag, then handed them to Rhett. "Better eat them while they're still warm!"
Rhett nodded and took the bag from the old man. Warren walked slowly to the door, and Rhett followed behind, trying not to get impatient at the man's slow movements. Warren opened the door and Rhett walked out.
"Thank you for helping me!" said Warren.
Rhett sighed. "Anytime, Warren."
The old man smiled broadly, waved feebly, and closed the door. Rhett smiled briefly and zipped up his jacket. A cold breeze swept past him as he walked from Warren's doorstep to the sidewalk, but he ignored it. He had a strangely warm feeling inside of him - though he didn't really like to admit it, he enjoyed being able to help people, especially outside of a Slaying capacity. It made him feel like more than just a vampire slayer; it made him human. A good human, at that. It was a very Christmas-y vibe, and there was still at least another month until that holiday would arrive. He smiled again and looked down at the small bag of cookies. Sure, the feeling goodwill was a good reward, but cookies were even better. He opened the bag and took one of the cookies out. He took a bite and decided that he didn't really feel like sharing. Being an okay person was good enough for him.
***
"This just isn't natural," complained Rhett, ducking down as the vampire swung at him. He jumped up and pulled his stake out, but just as he was about to stake the vampire, another vampire grabbed him from behind and held his arms back. The first vamp yanked the stake out of his hand and lunged for his neck. Rhett smirked and jerked his head forward, colliding with the oncoming vampire's face. As the vampire recoiled back, Rhett stomped down on the other vampire's foot. The demon flinched, and Rhett pulled out of his grasp easily. He grabbed the vampire's head and twisted, snapping its neck. He dropped the body to the ground and turned his attention back to the first vampire. The vampire tried to punch him again, but Rhett ducked and rolled away from the vamp. He stood up just as the second vamp rose, shaking his head to readjust his spine, holding his stake in his hand. Both vampires lunged at him, but they were dust before they even touched the Slayer.
"Yes," commented Ashley, not even looking up from her notebook as she jotted down notes. She was sitting on a gravestone as usual, an open notebook in her lap and a crossbow sitting next to her, which she hadn't even touched in an attempt to help Rhett all night. "The increasing number of vampires that we've encountered recently has been even more unnatural than usual for this town."
"That's not what I meant," said Rhett, brushing the dust and ash off of his jacket as he walked towards his Watcher. "It's completely unnatural to be patrolling when it is this freaking cold out. And look what time it is! You're a teacher - shouldn't you be more concerned about me being out so late on a school night?"
Ashley closed her notebook and looked at Rhett. "No. You are a Slayer. You are physically equipped to handle less sleep than a normal human being, and you know it. Your inability to deal with the weather is hardly my fault, either; if you had been practicing the breathing methods I've been teaching you, you would feel an increase in adrenaline and bloodflow, which would calm your mind, increase your reflexes, and keep your body warm. And are you even wearing the meditation charm I gave to you?"
Rhett rolled his eyes and sat down on the gravestone next to her. "You mean that necklace with that giant crystal on it? God no. It would probably knock me out if it swung at my face. Besides," he said, smiling obnoxiously at the young woman, "It was that hideous shade of purple. Wouldn't go with any of my outfits."
"Well don't come crying to me when you're mortally wounded in a battle because you won't listen to me. I'll just find myself another Slayer," replied Ashley. "Probably a better Slayer, too - a good Slayer would have noticed the vampire about twenty feet to my left, near the VanKaris crypt, ages ago. Now go slay before some creature of the darkness wrings the life out of my fragile mortal frame."
Rhett groaned and pulled his stake back out. Stupid Watcher.
***
"You realize this changes everything, right?"
Damien snorted. He wasn't even pretending to be worried about Sol's news. Really, the vampire was barely even paying attention to the shapeshifter at all, instead surveying the club with a half-cocked smile. He could sense that over seventy percent of the club was currently occupied by vampires, and no one even knew it. It made him feel somewhat proud, but at the same time, it annoyed him that everything worth biting had already been bitten.
"Really, Sol. What does it change?" he asked, still not looking at him. Sol groaned and ran a hand through his short black hair nervously.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, looking crossly at Damien. "This completely throws off everything we had been banking on. It's one thing to have one little Slayer on our hands - yeah, it complicates things, but it makes the whole thing more fun. But this?"
Alec nodded, and the room seemed to quiet. "We were all prepared to deal with the threat of a lone Slayer. However, we were not ready to deal with the fact that he is raising an army," he said, his low voice somehow carrying over the club's loud music.
Damien shrugged. "I'd hardly call three pimply-faced kids an army. They couldn't even take a few of my vampires out. I don't know what you two are worrying about."
Sol stood up abruptly. "You knew?"
"Of course I knew," he said calmly, "And like I said, I could have squished them like bugs."
Sol's eyes widened, but before he could yell at Damien, Alec spoke up.
"They have more than even you knew, Damien," stated the warlock, his eyes glowing a dark red beneath his hood. "A Slayer is just a hand when he works alone, but he becomes a leader when he has forces behind him."
"Then we'll deal with it," answered Damein, leaning back into his seat. Alec nodded, and Sol sat back down. Somehow, the answer seemed to settle them. They would deal with it.
***
"You are so lucky that you've been busy working at M-"
Carlos kicked Rhett in the shin, stopping him from completing his sentence. Rhett looked up at Carlos and rolled his eyes.
"Working at model airplanes," he finished, shooting Carlos disdainful look, "That you haven't been able to come with us this past week. I swear to god, she's like a slave driver. I mean, last night, she was calling out vamps that I wasn't even noticing, and then blaming it on me because I wasn't wearing a rabbit's foot or something."
Carlos nodded, but it didn't look like he was really paying attention.
"Hello? Earth to Carlos!"
"Sorry," said Carlos, "I've got a kind of big test this next period and I need to focus."
Rhett shrugged. "Eh. I'm so over this whole high school thing. I just want to grow up and get out of here. Good luck on your test!" he said as Carlos walked into his classroom. Rhett continued on to his class, trying to remember if he'd had any homework. He found his desk and looked up at the board, but he had no idea what any of the words written on the board meant. What class was this anyways? He looked around the room, and saw that Gwen and that girl Rachel were in the class.
"Must be English class, then," he muttered. He leaned over across his desk to ask Gwen what they were doing in this class, but Gwen didn't acknowledge him. It was a strange thing about Gwen - she never really acknowledged him or Carlos outside of Nordic History class. Whatever. High school was just so dumb. Rhett leaned back into his desk, figuring he'd find out what was going on sooner or later.
"We're covering MLA outline format," whispered the girl next to him. Rhett looked over and smiled at her, and she seemed to blush a little.
"Thanks..." said Rhett, trying to remember what her name was. He'd heard it called a few times in class, he was pretty sure, but he couldn't grasp it.
"Claudia," she said.
"Thanks, Claudia," he said. He still didn't know what an MLA outline was, but it was nice that someone had helped him. He smiled and pulled out a notebook as the teacher started talking, and he pretended to take notes.
***
"I really cannot fathom how many vampires we have encountered," commented Ashley, almost sounding worried. She looked over her journal once again, like she didn't believe what she had just finished reading, and looked over to the book next to it, shaking her head.
"Why not?" asked Rhett nonchalantly, leaning back and propping his feet up on the desk next to him. Without looking up, Ashley threw a ruler at Rhett's legs, and he put them back down. "I mean, we live at a Crossroads or whatever, right? There's supposed to be a lot of supernatural activity here."
"Yeah, it's not really like they've been increasing or anything," added Carlos, thumbing through a random book he'd pulled from the shelves. "My first time seeing a vampire, I saw like fifty of them. There's always been a lot of 'em."
"That's just what I mean," responded Ashley, standing up and pointing to her journal. "The encounters I've recorded with vampires recently, since I came here, have been astronomically greater than the encounter rate at any other Crossroads throughout time, excepting the instances where demons have attempted to raise an army."
"You seriously keep records of how many vampires I fight? Can I use that on a resume or something?"
Ashley ignored Rhett's comment, but Gwen spoke up instead.
"I think I get your point though. There can't always have been that many vampires running around Albuqueruqe, or people would have noticed, right? Something must have changed."
"Well what changed, then?" asked Rhett.
Ashley sat back down, her shoulders slumped in a defeated shrug. "I don't know. Vampires are just usually much more careful concerning the siring process."
"Wait. You said that vampires have tried to raise armies before?" asked Carlos. "That night when you first took me on patrol, that seemed like an army, didn't it?"
Rhett nodded slowy. "Yeah, they even had that leader vampire with the crazy anime hair... I didn't even think about him creating an army. So you think that all the vamps we've been facing lately link back to him?"
"It seems like a reasonable assumption," agreed Ashley. "We should look into this 'anime-haired' vampire as much as we can."
***
It wasn't even close to dusk, but Rhett still entered his house with all the cautious stealth of a thief in the night. As he closed the front door quietly behind him, he looked around anxiously, hoping that his parents wouldn't notice his arrival - or better yet, that they wouldn't be home at all. He did not want to have to run into them. It always ended up in a conversation of some kind, whether his mother was simply asking how his day had been or if his parents were both grilling him for information as to his whereabouts the night before. It wasn't just that he couldn't tell them, he hated being treated like such a teenager.
I'm the freaking Slayer, he grumbled internally, dodging past the kitchen and to the the stairwell. I shouldn't have to deal with curfews. Or anything.
He jumped nimbly up the stairs, still with no sign of his parents. It looked like he was in the clear. As he passed by his little sister's room, he could hear her music blaring through the door, a sure sign that the parental units were absent for the moment. He breathed a sigh of relief as he made it to the sanctuary of his room and closed the door behind him. He threw his backpack to the ground and flopped across his bed, already half napping in preparation for his patrol later that night.
***
a) Femur
b) Ulna
c) Ventricle
d) Atrium
WIthout a second thought, Gwen marked off option c and moved on to the next question. For weeks she had struggled with her anatomy class, spending hours on her homework and barely passing the tests. It had felt like slogging through three feet of very thick mud.
But now, ever since Halloween, every question that her anatomy teacher could pose for her felt like it could be answered by a third-grader. It was a second nature, rattling off major bones in the body and symptoms of diseases as easily as breathing. Doing the homework was almost fun. Gwen felt extremely proud of herself, even though she couldn't really claim any responsibility for her newfound knowledge.
"You know, I'd appreciate it if you'd do that in another room."
Gwen looked up, torn from her studying reverie. If one could really call it studying. Carlos stared at her, a sour look on his face.
"What?"
"Blowing through your homework like that," responded Carlos. He motioned to the pile of homework still sitting in front of him. "Some of us don't have mystic influence to help finish homework."
Gwen laughed. "I apologize if my scholastic aptitude makes you feel inferior, Carlos." She glanced at the books on Carlos desk. "That's not even schoolwork anyways. I don't know what you're complaining about."
Carlos heaved a sigh and shoved the books and papers away from him. "This feels like a waste of time anyways. Why don't we have some ancient device to translate languages anyways?"
"Like the Rosetta Stone?"
"You mean we do have one of those?"
Before Gwen could respond, Ashley rapped a ruler on her desk.
"Excuse me," she said, looking plenty annoyed. "Not that I don't enjoy your company. But I must question where our star pupil is."
"She's whipping out homework like two feet away from you," answered Carlos.
Ashley furrowed her brow. "You know Miss Rivera is not the student in question. Or do you not remember the point of this class?"
Gwen looked around the room. "Good point. Rhett is later than usual, isn't he?"
"You probably just overworked him last night," said Carlos, absentmindedly turning back to his books. He idly flipped through the pages, not really reading anything but hoping something would pop out at him. "I'm sure he's just sleeping off your rigorous training."
"Another example of Rhett's failure to attend to his sacred duties, I'm afraid. He did not show up for our appointed meeting last evening." She took a glance at the clock and brushed away a lock of dark hair from her face. "Although I suppose it's possible that I'm the one exaggerating the importance of a supernatural calling to protect the fragile balance of good and evil. I've been known to take such things too seriously."
Carlos rolled his eyes.
"Sorry I'm late."
All heads turned to the door at the sound of the foreign voice.
"Dude," said Carlos.
"What happened to you?" asked Gwen, eyes lighting up.
"What do you mean?" asked Rhett, sluggishly heading over to the three. "I just overslept."
"Can you not hear your own voice?" asked Gwen. "You've dropped like an entire octave!" She crossed her legs, taking on a newly interested posture. "It's kinda hot..."
Carlos stood up, looking the Slayer up and down. "Rhett, you're as tall as me. Are you on steroids?"
Rhett looked at Carlos, noticing for the first time that he was now eye-to-eye with his friend, where he had previously been almost a head shorter. He looked down at his body and then back up again. "I did notice that my clothes seemed smaller... I just didn't notice that much."
"Observant, as always," commented Ashley. "Growth spurts are rather common for a boy your age."
"Twelve-inch spurts?" asked Gwen. "No way."
"Maybe it's just a Slayer thing," offered Rhett, shrugging and plopping down into a desk. He tugged at his pants, suddenly aware of how snug they now were. "It's not too bad. Just need to go shopping."
"Maybe it's a curse," said Carlos. "You'll just keep growing until you can't fit through doorways. Then you'll never be able to fight evil if they hide behind a door. Or fit into a bed."
"That's stupid. I'd just... punch through a wall or something."
"Not if the walls are concrete!"
"Please. I would -"
"While it is possible that this spurt has supernatural origins," interrupted Ashley rather sharply, "I don't believe it is of much importance. We can look into this later. For now, we have sword fighting techniques to practice."
"Or we could go shopping!"
"SWORD."
***
Rhett felt good. He could feel a power surging inside, flowing out from within. Not just strength - he was used to that - but this, this was confidence, charisma, control. More than he'd ever felt before in his life. It was as if, with the growth spurt, he'd completely warped through time and emerged an adult. He smirked, looking around the club dance floor at other kids his age, and he could barely fathom the thought that just a few days ago he'd been just like them. Well, mostly like them. But now, now he felt like he'd surpassed them completely. He was beyond.
"I don't know how you do it," commented Carlos, patting his hand on Rhett's shoulder. He surveyed Rhett's new clothes, which looked none too shabby on his new frame. "You really got Ms. Kurtz to take you shopping?"
Rhett laughed. "Of course. I just had to play with some swords for a while. Let her feel like she was having her way."
Gwen shook her head. "Ridiculous. She'll probably be pretty upset with you for blowing her off to go clubbing."
The Slayer shrugged. "Not a big deal. Just means more to slay tomorrow. I can handle it. But for now," a feral glint appeared in his eye. "I'm here for a different hunt."
Baring his teeth in an animal grin, he took Gwen by the hand and made his way through the crowded dance floor. And on the hunt he really was. He could feel hungry energy, he could just glance around and see lust in people's eyes. They were all his prey now. He pulled Gwen close, letting his body sway to the music, but never losing control. It was all a game, and he was now the master of it. He danced up against Gwen, and losing interest, turned and grabbed the person behind him. A shorter blonde boy, who looked startled and a little upset at Rhett's actions, but Rhett refused to take no for an answer, even as the girl the blonde had been dancing with glared daggers at him. She could wait her turn. The two danced until he was bored again, moving onto the next stranger in the crowd.
All his.
***
"Rhett! RHETT!"
Rhett awoke to pounding on his door and someone screaming his name. He bolted up from his bed, grabbing the lamp from his nightstand and brandishing it as a weapon without even thinking, glaring with animal ferocity at his door. It took him a moment to realize what was going on, and he gingerly set down the lamp.
"Rhett! Mom told me to wake you up. You're going to be late for school," yelled his little sister from the other side of the door.
"Oh... um, yeah. Getting up. Sorry," answered Rhett. He had forgotten how deep his voice sounded. Had it gotten lower overnight?
"Are you sick?" asked Mariah, ceasing her pounding on the door. "Your voice sounds funny."
"That's it," replied Rhett, mustering up a cough. "Tell mom not to worry. I'll walk to school."
"Um, okay," she answered. Rhett could hear her walking away, and he let out a sigh of relief. He still wasn't sure how to reveal his sudden growth spurt to his parents or his sister. Sure, writing it off as a "Slayer thing" worked with his Watcher, but it would take a lot more explaining to his parents. After all, neither of his parents had ever grown to... how tall was he now? For now he was just going to have to wait until his mother drove Mariah to school and slip out while they were gone. He'd get Ashley's advice on how to break it to his parents once he got to school.
Rhett waited a couple minutes just to make sure his sister wouldn't be heading back towards his room and proceeded to head to the shower. Even through the running water he could hear his family shuffling around downstairs, and he only stepped out of the shower once he heard the last person leave the house. He chuckled to himself at how easy it was turning out to be, but his smile froze when he looked at the slowly defogging mirror. Standing in front of him was not the reflection of the Rhett he knew - it wasn't even the same as it had been the day before. Instead, the mirror displayed a man in his mid-twenties that Rhett could barely believe was himself. He stared in disbelief, allowing seconds to turn into minutes, a million thoughts rushing through his head until finally the most important one stuck. A large smile broke out across his face.
Sure as hell don't have to show up to any math tests today.
***
"You know, it's actually kind of fun being here when I don't have to," he continued, smiling broadly to his listeners. Carlos, Gwen, and Ashley all sat in the desks surrounding him, eyes betraying as much disbelief as his own had a few hours earlier. They hadn't said a word since he'd walked in, just sat with dumbfounded expressions and slack jaws. Even Ashley was without her usual smug, assured demeanor and she hadn't let out a single reprimand for Rhett's failure to show up for patrol the night before. Or anything else, for that matter. So Rhett had just been rambling for the past fifteen minutes, and he could definitely say that he liked the sound of his new voice.
"I mean, no one even looked at me twice when I walked onto campus. No one asked what class I was supposed to be in, no one told me to take my sunglasses off in the hall. I even went into the teacher's lounge to get coffee - all I had to do was say that I was an 'associate' of Ashley Kurtz. I don't even really like coffee! But this freedom, man. High school bullshit is over. This is the life."
Ashley coughed, and everyone diverted their attention to the brunette. "Well... I must say. I take back what I said about your growth spurt being of little importance. This is clearly..." she looked blankly around the room. "Clearly something."
"You kidding me? This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!"
"No way, dude," said Carlos, shaking his head. "Think about it. You were sixteen like two days ago, and now you look like you're almost thirty. What will you be tomorrow? Forty? Fifty?"
"Dead?" finished Gwen.
"Oh come on. You guys are blowing this out of proportion."
"Or, as usual, you are ignoring the magnitude of the situation," stated Ashley. "Just like you ignored your duties last night. While you were playing around at nightclubs, I stumbled across a nest of Karraq eggs near the hardware store on fifth. For all we know they've hatched by now and are feasting on the flesh of the crippled and the poor."
"Well who cares?" asked Rhett, standing up to his full height. "I'll go take care of 'em now. Hardware store on fifth?"
Ashley rolled her eyes. "You don't even know what a Karraq is. And if you are under some sort of hex we have no way of knowing if -"
"Whatever, Ash. I'm the Slayer. An improved version of the Slayer, I'd say. I can handle it." Without waiting for a response, Rhett walked out of the door, leaving the remaining three staring at the empty space where he had been.
"So..." began Gwen.
"Not good?" asked Carlos.
"Not good," sighed Ashley.
"Well I'm guessing we can rule vampires out of this one," Gwen said, her gaze wandering over towards the bookshelves. "We looking at aging spells? Life stealing demons?"
"I can't say I'm familiar with these sort of symptoms," admitted Ashley. "Accelerated growth, manic behavior..."
"I think the manic part is just Rhett," Carlos interrupted.
"In any case, we'll have to cover all the bases. Aging spells seems like a good start, Gwen. I'll look into demons. Carlos, you see if you can find any potions that would have these effects. We're going to have to figure this out quickly."
Carlos groaned and followed Gwen and Ashley to the bookshelves. "You know, Rhett never has to sacrifice his afternoons to research. This is so unfair."
***
The instant he walked out of the Nordic History classroom, everything changed. It was as if the entire world fell away, barring him and his prey. He could feel his senses sharpening, as if the wires inside of him were tightening, tuning each of his faculties to a higher degree than he had ever felt before. With each step closer to the hardware store on fifth his blood raced a little faster, his anticipation grew a little greater. By the time he hit fifth street, he could smell the Karraq, and he didn't even know what the Karraq was supposed to smell like. Something deep, something base inside of him knew and was already preparing for the sensation of breaking bones with his own hands.
It was exhilarating.
He had no trouble finding the eggs. The nest was located in the sub-level of the abandoned building next to the hardware store, and on some level Rhett could understand why Ashley had been worried. The entire room was littered with faintly glowing eggs at least the size of Rhett's torso. He couldn't imagine what sort of creature would hatch from these, but it didn't matter. They'd never get the chance. Rhett balled his hand up into a fist and smashed into the nearest egg. He could hear the crunch of his fist crushing the unborn demon, the warm embryonic fluid burning his arm a little bit with an acidic sting. He liked it. He wrenched his fist out and pummeled into the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that. He let out a joyful whoop as he bashed his way through each and every egg, not even pausing as the more developed eggs' fluid scorched through his new clothing. He was death. The fox in the henhouse. The unstoppable scourge of the underworld. He was -
A loud, malicious roar from behind broke Rhett from his reverie. As he turned around, he understood why the eggs could not be allowed to hatch. The hulking Karraq stood before him, a strange cross between a rabid porcupine and a demon crocodile. Each quill on the demon's back rose menacingly as the vengeful mother prepared her attack.
"Sort of got places to be, mama," said Rhett, running forward at the absurdly spikey demon. The Karraq tried to dodge to the left, but having anticipated the move, the Slayer jumped accordingly and delivered a devastating kick to the demon's chest. Roaring yet again, the creature slashed at her enemy, but Rhett nimbly dodged each swipe.
"See, it's not that I don't enjoy your company - because believe me, I do," he continued, grabbing one of the Karraq's arms with two hands and shattering it at what could pass for the demon's elbow, "It's just that I have a previous engagement."
The Karraq came at Rhett with renewed vigor, the broken arm failing to slow the demon down, rather filling it with a new wave of violence. But the match was already over. The Slayer's eyes had gone dark, and every nerve in his body was prepared for one thing. Kill. Kill. Kill. With an almost demonic smile on his face, Rhett jumped over the Karraq and ripped out two quills from the demon's back, and with inhuman speed he knocked the creature to the ground and viciously drove the quills into the Karraq's eyes. The demon squealed as its own appendages penetrated its brain, and finally the body went limp.
Rhett crouched atop the body, panting, his body heaving, the smile not leaving his face for a moment. Carnal. His gaze slowly turned upwards towards the last sliver of light filtering through to the abandoned sub level.
"Sunset. Showtime."
***
"We know now there is only one way to fight them. All that remains is to choose a vessel."
"Oh, god... I think... I think I found him."
"We can't do this. He would be an innocent. You would defile him for your safety?"
"Are sure that's really him?"
"Lesser blood must be spilled for the greater good. We can assure that it is one that won't be missed."
"I can barely recognize him... and the smell..."
"You realize what we have created??! This is an abomination, a creature worse than a demon!!"
"What happened to him?"
"We've created a Slayer."
"RHETT!"
"RHETT!"
Rhett's eyes snapped open, and the brutal assault of the sunlight in his eyes was the only thing that kept him on the ground. Slowly vision returned to him, and he recognized Gwen and Carlos standing over him.
"What are you guys doing here?" he asked with a yawn, rubbing his eyes. "And what's with the urgent?" He paused for a moment. "And how'd you get into my room?"
"You're not in your room, bro," answered Carlos, his voice quiet, clenched with concern. "Look around."
Rhett sat up and scanned the area, but it took him a moment to gather his bearings. After all, he had never been in the La Vera graveyard during the daytime before. "The hell?"
"That's what we'd like to know," said Gwen, her voice indicating little to no more concern than usual. "And we're already late for second period, so you'd better make your answers snappy."
"I was just out patrolling... slaying," he paused, trying to remember the details of the previous night. He could recall the Karraq, and a couple vampire slayings, but it got to a point where it was as if he'd blacked out. No, he had blacked out. From the pure thrill of slaying. Just thinking the word sent a surge through him, and he had to struggle keep a lid on his hunger for the hunt.
"We need to get you out of here," cut in Carlos. "But we can't take you to the school, and we definitely can't take you home. You have any ideas?"
"My house is pretty near here," responded Gwen, "And my parents are never home. Can't be more than a ten minute walk."
Carlos nodded in agreement and grabbed Rhett's arm to help him up. Rhett stood, but didn't follow as his companions took off.
"No, wait. What? Why can't we go to the school? Did something happen to Ashley? Or the school?"
Gwen just looked at Rhett like he was stupid.
"He probably hasn't seen himself yet," said Carlos, again with awkward concern voice.
"Well he will in just a minute if we'd get moving. Hurry up!"
Rhett just shrugged and followed Gwen as she led them to one of the largest houses Rhett had ever been to. She and Carlos ushered him through spacious hallways and well-decorated rooms until finally placing him in front of a large full-length mirror.
His reflection sent an instant shiver down his spine, but at the same time seeing it gave him a strange comfort. He barely felt surprised at what he was seeing. Not much had changed since the previous day - he still looked pretty much like a man in his early thirties. But everything was... sharp. His face lacked all expression, as if his skin had been pulled back to give him an eternally menacing look. His cheekbones seemed to jut out, his mouth set in an unintentional snarl. Even his shoulders, his elbows, his fingers all seemed to protrude with a new and unsettling harshness. But it was the eyes, though, that he really couldn't stop looking at. His pupils had contracted to the point that they were barely visible, yet they stared back at him with such intensity that he almost wanted to look away from his own reflection.
"What. The. Fuck."
Carlos shook his head. "I don't know. I thought we had figured it out, but seeing this... I don't know."
"No. Tell me. What did you figure out?" demanded Rhett with ferocity that surprised even himself. Carlos stammered and stepped back, clearly unsure about his news.
"Well, um, the information we found seemed to imply, well...."
"That it's a potion. Someone probably fed it to you without you knowing," said Gwen, slapping Carlos at his side. Carlos gave her a reproachful look, but she ignored it. "Most variations of the potion are tasteless, so it could mix with anything. Eaten anything strange lately?"
"Are you kidding me? I've eaten plenty of food! Are you telling me this could be from any schmuck at a McDonalds or cafeteria? Or a vending machine for chrissakes!"
"No, we found an important detail. Actually I found an important detail." Rhett and Gwen both shot Carlos an annoyed look, but he continued on. "The potion, well the potion that we think you took works based on proximity. It's always working, but it works faster if you're close to the caster. The brewer? I don't know what you'd call them..." Rhett snarled and Carlos silenced.
"What are you trying to say," he growled, trying to keep his composure.
"Well I've noticed that you've been aging overnight, but not so much last night. As in, you've been aging when you're sleeping in your bed. As in -"
"Someone in my house did this?"
"You idiot," sighed Gwen. "Near your house. Someone near it."
***
Warren hummed happily to himself as he buttoned up his shirt in front of the mirror. It had been awhile since his lungs had even felt capable of humming, even if it was a bit of an old man thing to do. He could move on to singing tomorrow.
He had never seen it work so quickly before. Already color was returning to his hair, and not some pathetic shade of peach, either. Bold copper hues were already taking over most of his head, and his skin had come alive with similar fire. He felt strong, supple, vibrant. That kid may have sucked at making cookies, but damn did he have an intense energy flow. Warren smiled despite himself as he made his way to the kitchen, almost skipping at one point.
Out of nowhere, a fist connected with his face, sending him sliding across his living room floor. His vision blurred instantly, rather reminiscent of his failing eyesight for the past fifteen years, and it was with no shortage of stumbling that he stood back up. His vision hadn't completely cleared, but he could feel the sudden influx of energy pouring into him. Shit. How had that kid known that he had been behind this? How could that kid get out of bed at all, honestly? Warren quickly began muttering the first incantation that popped into his mind, but he was cut off instantly.
"Navitas erum subsisto," commanded Carlos, holding up a small notepad that he had scrawled multiple words and phrases on previously. Warren froze, his words fading into the air. The energy had stopped. He blinked vigorously, looking frantically around at the three figures surrounding him - the tall warlock that was obviously restraining his powers, a short girl holding a dark red crystal and a vial of some pale liquid, and an obtrusively large and menacing... was it really even a man? He shuddered.
"Who are you?"
"We're with the Slayer," said Gwen, holding up the crystal.
"Lani lif," recited Carlos, squinting at his notes. The crystal began glowing faintly. Encouraged to see that his spell was working, Carlos continued. "Treia! Arinnar mun keyra, aftur!"
Gwen stepped forward and splashed the liquid on Warren. Instantly an arctic chill swept through Warren's body, and before he could let out a scream his body released the stolen energy in a flush of golden light. Warren stumbled to the ground, an old man once again. He choked out a single sob and looked up at the three, defeated.
"The... the Slayer? What are you...?"
"You don't know what the Slayer is?" asked Gwen, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Then why did you put a spell on him?"
Warren looked down at the ground. "I'm just an old man," he mumbled feebly.
Rhett strode forward and yanked him up roughly. "You mean you would have done this to anyone? Slayer or not?" he shoved the old man into the nearest chair. "If I ever... if I so much as see your happy ass looking at a cookie, I will end you," he sneered. Warren let out a pathetic whimper, but the Slayer had already turned and strode out the door, with Gwen and Carlos close behind.
***
The room was dark. The last of the sunlight had disappeared hours before, and Ashley could hardly be bothered to turn on a light besides her small desk lamp. Fluorescents were bad for the complexion anyways. She was obsessively poring over her own statistics, counting and recounting vampire sightings and emitting tired and perplexed sighs as often as she could. While she couldn't be sure of what it all meant, she had an inkling and she didn't like what it implied...
The creaking sound of the door slowly opening interrupted Ashley's thoughts, and she quickly looked up from her work, panicked and alert.
"Hey... Kurtz..." said Rhett, much more softly than he had ever addressed her before. Ashley stood up instantly and made her way around her desk, meeting her student at his own desk.
"I see the hex has been lifted," she commented, but Rhett didn't respond. After a moment of silence, Ashley spoke up. "Rhett... what is troubling you?"
He looked up at her, eyes swimming with guilt and confusion. "What am I?"
Ashley raised an eyebrow. "You're the Slayer. I thought we had established that pretty early on. Was I mistaken? It would explain a lot about how you've responded to my training."
Rhett tried to chuckle, but it just wouldn't come. "No... I mean, I understand that." He stopped, trying to formulate his thoughts into words. "But what is a Slayer? Am I just a killer? Am I really even any better than a demon? I mean I used to just think... I thought that I was chosen by the powers of good or something but -" He stopped again.
"I mean, you saw Halloween. I wasn't a Slayer. I wasn't a power for good. I was just something... primal. I got off on destruction. It was... and then this. You didn't even see. I - and then I had this dream. I heard voices. There's something -" He was rambling at this point, barely holding back tears. Ashley set her hand on his shoulder and he stopped.
"As much as I would like to reprimand you on a daily basis for the way you go about your scared duty, I can tell you with full certainty that there is nothing dark about you. You are a young man, yes, and that comes with certain inner conflicts, but being the Slayer does not make you any less of a man. It allows you to be more, and I have seen you step up to your calling and be the power of good that you have always thought you were meant to be. I understand that your brushes with evil have left some residual effects, but I can assure you that none of it stems from within yourself. You are a hero, Rhett. You always will be."
Rhett gave a weak smile and nodded, wiping his eyes slowly. "Thanks, Kurtz," he said, standing up. "I needed that."
The Watcher smiled warmly and hugged Rhett tightly. He turned and headed out the door, down the hallways, back into the night.
He could smile all he wanted to his Watcher, but everything had changed.
