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May, 2016
"Here you go, sweetie. Drink," Willow ordered. Zoe Harris swallowed obediently.
"Thanks Will," Cordelia said, sitting up slightly to kiss her daughter’s forehead.
"You’re welcome. I love my boys, but I always wanted a daughter," Willow sighed. "Plus Zoe’s so little compared to them." Her eyes strayed outside where her two sons were playing flashlight tag with her oldest friend, his elder daughter, and her almost-son.
"What are they doing out there?" Buffy asked, glancing out the window.
"Who knows? But it sounds fun," Willow said with a smile as the sound of laughter wafted in from outside. She turned to Buffy, remembering a question. "Where’s Kailyn? She and Tristan usually stick together when it comes to family gatherings." Buffy’s brow creased in a frown and she glanced at her watch.
"She was coming," she said. "She mentioned glancing down a few alleys before she came over, but she should be here by now."
"Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s fine," Cordelia said in a nasally voice—they’d only convinced the red-eyed, sick woman to come into the living room because all the men were outside.
"I know," Buffy sighed. "I’m not worried. I mean, she’s been a Slayer for over a year and she did martial arts for years before that, but still . . . I wonder where she is. I wonder what she’s doing right now."
Kailyn slammed the vampire up against the wall and thrust the stake into it’s heart, using it to push up, plant her legs on the wall where it had been a second before, and flip over, now facing outward. She eyed the three vamps left.
"Getting a bit tired Slayer?" one of them hissed. Kailyn hid a smile and her dark eyes gleamed.
"Not especially, but thanks for asking," she said.
"You’re a little outnumbered," another pointed out.
"Not really a problem," Kailyn replied. "It’s sweet of you to worry about me though. I’ll be fine."
"Are you sure?" the third asked, an evil light in it’s yellow eyes. Kailyn tipped her head, watching them warily, then nodded.
"Yeah. Way sure."
"Maybe you’ll be suprised," the second said.
"No. But you will." And with that, Kailyn snarled, and felt the familiar rush of adrenaline and power through her veins. She saw herself in their eyes; the shock, the glee, the horror, all mirrored for her plain as day. She was human no longer, and her eyes were as yellow as theirs. She gave them only a mili-second to register her face before she attacked.
Kailyn kicked out at one, grabbed the arms of another (slack from shock) and flipping it to the ground. She ducked a punch, but another’s kick caught her ribs and she fell to the ground, already rolling back up to face him. This was even better—she wasn’t up against a wall now, and couldn’t be cornered. They rushed her all at once and she threw one of her stakes, catching one in the chest. The other two didn’t pause, just kept coming. By the time they reached her she was gone, and she felled one with his kick to the back, exchanging punches with second. The first was going around behind her, thinking she didn’t see, and as it jumped she kicked out in front, holding a stake for the one behind to fall into. She felt it go in; felt the lightness when the body vanished and laughed, power pulsing through her. The last vampire heard her laugh and was afraid; a Slayer shouldn’t be like this. The other Slayer wasn’t. The other Slayer was good, maybe better, but the other Slayer didn’t have a blood lust. This one did. This one was one of them. And so the last vampire left of five ran. Kailyn smiled, but shrugged; he’d seen her game face, he wasn’t allowed to leave. She ran after him.
She caught him easily, putting her arm around his neck as she ran alongside him. He had a look of terror, and he tried to get himself free, push her off, or bite her. She merely smiled, and with one move of her elbow cracked his neck. He fell on her, a dead weight. She stopped. He wasn’t dead yet, but his spinal cord had been cracked and he couldn’t move anything but his head.
"It was nice to know you," Kailyn murmured, kissing her fingertip and then pressing it to each eyelid. "Sweet dreams bastard." She dropped him to the ground, smiling as his face bounced on the street. Slowly she knelt beside him, blowing on the back of his neck. "You killed that girl from my Freshman English class. I never forget a face. Naughty boy. Time to pay." Kailyn pulled out another stake and placed it right above his heart, driving it in very, very slowly. She smiled as it made it all the way through, and then he vanished into dust and she stood up, dusting off her clothes and straightening her hair, to go meet her family at Uncle Xander and Aunt Cordy’s house.
"You’re finally here!" Matt cried as Kailyn emerged from the shadows into the flashlight filled yard. She laughed and ran after him, catching the twelve-year-old easily and rubbing his bright red hair.
"You know it!" she cried, finally releasing him and going after his brother. Tristan caught her before she could get there, using his superior size to hoist her off the ground. Kailyn laughed and kicked the air, careful not to hit him—she knew her own strength.
"Pick me up Tristan!" Cleo exclaimed. Tristan dumped Kailyn on the lawn—to her cries of protest—and grabbed his almost-sister by the waist, hanging her upside down. She shrieked with pleasure as Kailyn jumped to her feet and joined Tavi in stalking his father.
"What’s going on here?" a voice asked from the doorway. Tristan flipped Cleo over and set her down gently, while Kailyn and Tavi paused in the middle of vicious tickling. Xander froze along with the rest, as if he too were a child caught in a transgression.
"Kailyn got here finally," Cleo said. Buffy smiled, though the light behind her made it impossible to tell.
"Well I’m glad. Tell her if she’s hungry, there’s plenty of food in here. And keep it down, your mom’s sick. Oh, and Xander?"
"Yes?" the father of two asked, standing up and trying to look adult while sounding extremely childlike.
"Try not to forget you passed your thirtieth quite some time ago," Buffy said, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Will do!" Xander cried. She laughed outright and went back inside,
closing the door behind her. The yard once more irrupted into a frenzy
of play.
"Catch me if you can?" he asked, laughing. Kailyn let the flashlight
drop and took off, able to see fine in the dark. She didn’t let on
though, pretending to be as confused as everyone else. At one point she
came back to back with Tristan, and then bumped straight in to Riyan a
few moments later.
"Sorry bout that," she giggled.
"Me too. Um . . . Kailyn?" he asked.
"How’d you guess? Was it the air of violets, the aura of my presence—"
"The giggle," Riyan assured her. She directed a mock-slap at his head,
laughing.
"Well I got you anyway," she said petulantly.
"Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed. To comprehend a
nectar, requires sorest need," Riyan quoted.
"What’s that from?" Kailyn asked.
"Emily Dickinson silly," he told her.
"I’m silly because I can’t quote Emily Dickinson?"
"Because you don’t know her when you hear her!"
"Am I hearing a poetry argument over here?" Tristan asked, finding them
easily—he could see as well as Kailyn.
"Why would we ever bother our heads about poetry?" Kailyn asked. Because
he loves it, Tristan thought, but said nothing. Kailyn would love it
too, if she gave it a chance. She wrote down song lyrics and carried
them around. Those were poems, only she didn’t know it.
"There’s dessert," Willow’s voice called.
"I should go," Riyan said, smiling slightly.
"Come have some, Uncle Xander and Aunt Cordy will be happy to have you,"
Tristan urged.
"Yeah, come eat," Kailyn seconded it. Riyan shook his head slowly, then
started thinking they couldn’t see him.
"I should go home," he said. "I’ll see you tomorrow. Both of you."
"Yeah, see ya," Kailyn said, giving him an absentminded hug and starting
inside. Tristan touched his best friend’s shoulder and followed Kailyn.
"Bye," Riyan cried, walking towards the distant streetlights, away from
the bright merriness commencing inside the Harris residence. Riyan’s
father had died years before and his mom barely coped sometimes—there
wasn’t a lot of gaiety at his house.
Kailyn poked Tavi as they went through the door and the little boy
squeaked in annoyance and glared at her. She smiled angelically and went
to kiss Willow’s cheek and then her mother’s.
"Sorry I’m late," she said, not at all breathless from her exertions.
"There were these five vampires . . ."
"Are you okay?" Buffy asked.
"Fine, Mom. I can take care of myself. Anyway, they mentioned someone by
the name of . . . Ello-something or other. Ellorin? I don’t know. The
first one was going on and on about how they were coming to eliminate me
. . . or you. They said Slayer. Anyway, we should probably let the
Watchers into the know after we have dessert," Kailyn said.
"We’ll go the library as soon as we’re done," Buffy agreed, getting out
a knife to cut the chocolate cream pie.
"But shouldn’t I tell Meredith?" Kailyn asked. Ms. Kingsley had been
quick to set up her own domain, away from Giles’ influence. Buffy frowned.
"Why can’t she just be at the library? It’s called working together,"
Buffy muttered. Kailyn smiled slightly.
"Well I’ll go get her and then we’ll come over and meet you at the
library for a little research time," Kailyn suggested.
"All right, take Tristan with you though."
"Mom, I can take care of myself!" Kailyn exclaimed, laughing.
"But you’re tired. Come on, I’m a mother, I have to worry."
"Besides, don’t you want me?" Tristan asked, having heard the last part
of their conversation. Kailyn laughed and faced her twin.
"Tristan!" she exclaimed, her eyes gleaming evily. "We’re related!
That’s just disgusting!" He laughed and smacked her arm, though she
darted out of the way, laughing. Buffy began serving the pie, and
vampires were forgotten—for the moment anyway.
"I want you to go to the warehouse and find this book," Giles said.
Buffy and Kailyn exchanged glances.
"Aren’t there going to be vampires there?" Kailyn asked.
"That’s why he sends us. The Slayers," Buffy pointed out. Kailyn made a
face.
"I was just asking! Usually he doesn’t send us in to warehouses that are
vampire-infested!" Kailyn exclaimed.
"You haven’t been a Slayer long enough," Buffy said dryly, then turned
back to her Watcher. "We’ll go tomorrow."
"This is important!" Ms. Kingsley exclaimed. Buffy sighed, and looked to
Giles, who nodded.
"Okay fine, we’ll go tonight! But if I get wounded because I’m too tired
to fight, don’t blame me!"
"Mom! You’re not going to get wounded!"
"I was just kidding Kai."
"Is that all?" Kailyn asked her Watcher. "Cause we should probably go. I
have a test tomorrow. And why is it that tests always happen at the
worst times?"
"I know the feeling!" Buffy exclaimed. "Well, I remember it anyway."
"I believe that’s all," Meredith said stiffly. Giles nodded agreement.
"Be careful," he said.
"When am I not careful?" Buffy asked.
"Me too! Or neither," Kailyn seconded, frowning slightly as she tried to
figure out which it was. The Watcher’s exchanged looks and the Slayers
grinned at each other, walking out of the library.
"Watch and learn, daughter-mine," Buffy said, eyeing the warehouse full
of vampires. Kailyn crossed her arms and waited. They’d climbed up onto
the roof and snuck in through an air vent onto a ledge overlooking the
rest of the building. Buffy jumped off the ledge, landing on one vampire
and staking it immediately. She was up a moment later, using a running
vampire as a springboard into a flying kick and a triple flip—somehow
managing to stake the original vampire at the same time. She stopped her
flip in front of a suprised vampire that barely had time to put up an
arm—and no time to save itself. Buffy stake it and kicked out behind
her, hitting the vampire she’d kicked before. She glanced to the sides
and saw two vampires rushing her. Above her was a pipe—she grabbed it
and swung her feet over, hauling herself up to sit on top of it. Below
her the vampires knocked heads and before they could recover, Buffy
kicked them both in the face, knocking them down. She jumped down, one
foot landing on each, and, pulling stakes out from various places,
staked them both. She glanced back and was suddenly hit by a vampire,
falling to the ground, then rolling and coming up to face her opponent.
She blocked it’s punch, but was surprised by a vampire coming from the
back. Buffy recovered quickly and kicked upward, pushing it off her and
cross the room, straight onto a broken chair arm. He vanished in a puff
of dust and Buffy got down to business with the last, finishing him off
a moment later. She froze and looked around, but all the vampires were
dead—Kailyn had finished off the few that had tried to flee. Buffy
started at the sound of clapping, then relaxed and grinned, tucking a
piece of blond hair back as she turned to her daughter.
"Mom . . . I’m in awe," Kailyn said. "I thought you were tired! And how
old are you again?"
"You should know better than to ask me that!" Buffy exclaimed, laughing.
"So experience does pay off?"
"Definitely going with yes there! Wow! There were like ten of them!"
Kailyn cried.
"Seven actually, and I had the element of suprise on my side," Buffy
pointed out.
"Yeah, but still—! That was really good! You want to teach me how to do
that?"
"You know how," Buffy laughed. "Just give it a little while. I’ve been
doing this for a long time."
"Don’t I know it! So now that you’re worked your experienced magic, what
are we looking for again?" Kailyn asked.
"A book," Buffy said serenely.
"Wow Mom, the astounding just keeps coming!"
"I don’t need to take any of that from you young lady!" Buffy exclaimed.
"I’m tired! So look."
"But I’d rather have fought the vampires!" Kailyn cried. Buffy smiled
serenely.
"It’s a little late now, isn’t it? I’ll just sit right here. Why don’t
you start over there?" Kailyn glared, but sighed and began looking.
Buffy sat down, not ready to admit to her daughter just how tiring that
had been.