Plus ca Change: Part 1b
by Tom MacCarrol
"Whuh..huh..H..How did you know about them? I haven't told *anyone*. Not my Mom, not my friends, not my doctor or even the school shrink. Although I was going to, if they didn't stop soon . . . " Her defenses shattered, Anne gave up even trying to fight against his ideas. He seemed to know what was happening to her, which was more than she did. Maybe the best thing would be to hear him out, even if he was spouting junk about vampires.

Br. Gerrard noted the abrupt change in attitude, meaning that he was right, she had been having the visions. Final confirmation should have been sweet, but he was terrified of her slipping away before he could establish solid contact. He attempted to steer things.

"Horrific visions of blood, death and monsters. Also scenes of deadly combat . . . These dream images are one of the first overt signs of you're being called. And just *one* of the many things we desperately need to talk about . . . "

"Yeah. Some explanations would be good along about now. A lot would be better . . . "

"I saw a coffee shop about a block or so from the school. It's probably a much more comfortable place to have this conversation. If you'll join me there, I'll try to give you at least the basic background you'll need at first."

"Okay, sure. Why not? 'Cause for certain I'm getting nowhere fast with this thing." Anne shut down the workstation and rapidly stuffed her materials into a backpack. Ten seconds later they were headed for the nearest exit.

At that hour the Campus Cafe was in a lull between the after school rush and the dinner crowd, the handful of patrons clustered around the front counter. Br. Gerrard chose a rear corner booth and they sat in awkward silence until after the waiter had brought their order and left them alone.

"Were to begin, I wonder? . . . "; he tapered off, lost in organizing his thoughts, idly playing with the heavy mug.

"How about with 'Vampire'? And 'Slayer'??"

"Fair enough, I suppose. Vampires, like many other aspects of the human condition, began back on Old Earth, a very long time ago . . . "

"So vampires are humans after all?"

"Not exactly. I'm starting in the middle again. Let me back up a bit and try again. This universe is far older than anyone knows. Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth, and the worlds of many other systems in this part of the galaxy. They made it their home, their . . . their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. Some fled to the depths of space, but most left this dimension entirely. The way was made for mortal animals, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures . . . "

"So vampires are demons, then?"

"Not exactly. The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return... During the mass migrations to the stars, before the collapse of the Second Empire, the race of vampires spread out as well; moving with the colonists, very much like ship's rats, or bugs in the cargo in earlier times."

"Yuck. So what's with this 'Slayer' stuff?"

"A necessary - correcting, balancing force. For as long as there have been vampires, there has been one to oppose them. Into every generation is born the Chosen One, one girl in all the worlds with the strength and skills to hunt the vampires, to stop the spread of their evil, the swelling of their numbers. She alone will stand against them, the demons, and the other forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. For the last eight weeks, or so, it's been you."

"This is a lot to swallow on faith and a few bad dreams. I don't have any special skills, or . . . Jipes! The time! I'm gonna be late for dinner again; Mom'll have my hide for a wall hanging. "; Anne popped up out of the booth, grabbing for her backpack.

She paused,"I can't shake this off as total hogwash anymore- a fact that freaks me out more than I wanna know; but I'm also not buying the tale in wholesale blocks either. We're gonna have to go over all this again, soon. But right now I've gotta book, or I'll be facing a Mom-monster scarier than anything you can conjure up."

"As soon as possible then, if not earlier. We have to start your training, too much time has been lost already." Br. Gerrard thought quickly for a second, detaining her with a gesture. "I know. Tonight, after you've attended to your family obligations, meet me on the west side of the village green. I have the perfect way to convince you quickly. In the mean time I'll copy some files to a data solid for you to look at later. Please be prompt, we have a lot of ground to cover."

** Later that evening **

Br. Gerrard stood in the pool of shadow left by the streetlamp on the corner. For the hundredth time he struggled to ignore the growing worm of fear, fear that he'd failed to connect, that she wouldn't be coming, even irrationally, that she might flee the area - and he'd have to start the search again.

Uncertain, footsteps drew his attention to a solitary figure hesitantly walking up the otherwise empty roadway. It was her. Nearly giddy with relief, he stepped out into the light.

"Yipe!", Anne squealed when Gerrard suddenly appeared not three meters from her. "Do you have to just pop up like that every time? Can't you ring a bell or something first? Sheesh!"

"I'm so very glad you came. I just wish it had been a little sooner." Br. Gerrard paused to consult an antique timepiece pulled from an inside pocket of his robe. "As it is, it will be close, perhaps already too late. Come with me, please."

He led her at a rapid walk along, then across the street skirting the park, heading toward the 'L' formed by the post office and the Mag-Lev station.

"Sorry you had to wait. I almost gave up on the whole idea. Mom wanted to have one of her little talk-fests; and it was a job of work ditching her without it looking like I was trying to ditch her. Explaining why could have taken weeks, especially since I'm a little sketchy myself. Speaking of explaining - why are we going to finish our, our whatever in the train station? The coffee shop is still open, we could actually sit down . . . "

"There is a very old saying that one picture is worth a thousand words. It follows that one actual experience is worth several thousand pictures. Tonight's outing is designed to gain you that experience."

"Outing???"

"Yes. While you were at dinner, I was closely examining death reports for the last few days. I'm reasonably sure I've pinpointed where a new vampire will rise tonight. If we have at least average luck making connections within the city's transit system, we still should be at Fort Repose Cemetery in time to meet it. While the fiend is busy clawing its way out of the earth, you'll slay it. I dare say that this little excursion will help you believe the reality of the situation much more than any number of my little lectures."

"Now whoa up a minute! I'm supposed to just leave town with a strange man I only met this afternoon, when no-one else knows I've gone, let alone where? Then traipse through the tube system to some place where they'll never think to look for my body. . ."

"Ms. Winters, this is becoming repetitive. I'm your Watcher, not a serial killer. Yes, in more normal circumstances we'd have been working together for many months, maybe even a year or two, before I'd consider having you try your first kill. . . But these are far from normal circumstances, I can't bring you along slowly. There just isn't TIME."

"You are the active Slayer now, and I have to get you up to full speed as soon as possible, even if that means cutting a few corners, or rushing you along faster then is entirely comfortable. Tonight will be as safe as it ever will be, the target is newly made, weak and confused. It will be at a serious physical disadvantage, and I will be right next to you to assist in every way."

"I didn't say I wasn't going, I just wanted to complain a lot first. You cut me off before I could get to the part about getting dirt on my clothes. . . I want to understand what's happening, like why I haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks, for one thing. But you're right, I don't really believe all this stuff. Monsters. Magic. That I'm some fairie god- father's Miss Monster Basher of 1111. Lead on."


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