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Thanatos waited in the back section of the warehouse where all sources of daylight had been sealed off. He was dressed in starched khakis, a pressed white shirt, a brown safari jacket and wore polished black leather shoes that shined even in the darkness. His hair was iron gray and cut short, and his eyes were as black as the shadows surrounding him. Thanatos stood with his back ramrod straight as if he was on the parade ground and he often thought about his days as a soldier and mercenary during his human life. But those days were decades in the past.
His life had been confusing when he first crossed over to the world of the vampire. He had no direction, only killing and surviving. And then it had come to him. Vampires were not unlike any other group. They needed discipline and he was the one to bring it to them. Of course, it was not easy bringing discipline to a bunch of chaotic, killing for the thrill of it demons, but no more difficult than training those peasants to fight all those years ago. That was when he took the name Thanatos. He did not brook opposition and killed those that stood in his way as fast as the humans he fed upon.
Soon he had a small, efficient force of vampires, or troops, as he liked to think of them. Nothing was going to stand in his way. That was why he had come to Sunnydale. The Slayer was the biggest threat to his efforts. So he came here and started a campaign to end the Slayer. Using a strategy of indirect approaches, he had killed the boy and his girlfriend a year ago in an effort to destroy the Slayers supporting forces. But that was where the situation did not go as planned. The Slayer learned caution and gave up some of her reckless ways. Thanatos’s small army had not been able to kill the Slayer’s watcher or her witch friend. For a year, this campaign was a standoff. He was not able to finish the Slayer and she was not able to destroy him. His soldiers thought things were just great. They never imagined they could survive this long with a slayer in town. But Thanatos felt a growing frustration that he did not let the others see. Bad form to let the troops see you be emotional.
Now he was waiting for a patrol that he had sent out with two of his lieutenant to return. It was dawn already and that did not bode well. Finally, one member of the patrol stumbled into the warehouse holding one arm with the other and his skin was smoking from being exposed to the dawn. The crippled vampire walked up to Thanatos and tried to salute but he waved him off. “Soldier, where have you been and why aren’t your two officers reporting to me?”
The crippled vampire seemed to deflate from the effort of reaching sanctuary and began to relate what happened that night. “I think your first lieutenant got killed trying to kill the witch. We spotted her when we came out of the sewers last night and he said we should go on to the hunt while he took care of her. He never came back. And when we were about to return here this maniac comes out of the rain and takes us apart like we’re nothing. We even put a board through his gut and he kept coming. He killed two of us and knocked your other lieutenant out cold.”
“And just why did you make it back, soldier?” Thanatos questioned.
“He said he wanted me to tell you something. He said your messenger requires payment and the bill is past due. He said he would be by to collect,” the crippled vampire finished.
Thanatos looked at the other vampire’s arm and then said, “Well, your arm will be better by evening. Go get some rest,” dismissing him as he had other soldiers in the past. Looking down at the floor and scratching his chin he said, “Messenger? Oh, yes. It would appear I didn’t do as good a job of killing that boy as I thought. Although why he can kill my troops so easily now is a quandary.” He turned to his last officer who had been standing back in the corner listening. “What do you think of this situation?”
His lieutenant walked closer and then said quietly, “I think we need to move to the next safe house before they find us.”
Thanatos considered this option. “Yes, that would be the most
prudent action. I’m sure he made your compatriot talk before he destroyed
him and now knows our location. That’s what I would have done.”
He started pacing and started counting off all of the contingency plans
he had. He did not like any of them. “No. I don’t think
so. This campaign has gone on long enough. We’ll have our showdown
here, on ground of our choosing. Now, we have some planning to do.”