Second Chances - Act 3
Niki stared out at the bleak desert. Not the picturesque dunes and oases, but dusty ground and massive stone outcrops as far as the eye could see. The sun was beating down from a stunning blue sky and a wash of heat made Niki for once want to remove her thick leather jacket.
“Oh... bloody hell.” Addison slowly backed away from the behemoth which advanced on them. Niki turned at his words but her gaze landed on the Watcher, not on the creature which had him in its sights.
“You!” She took him by the shoulder and decked him, sending him sprawling back to land on his backside in the sand. “What the fuck are you doing here!? I had you killed!” She paused, her anger stepping down a notch. “You’re not, like, a figment of my imagination or something, are you?”
Addison was shaking his head rapidly, his gaze locked on the thing which was advancing on the Slayer from behind. He reached out and pointed at it, making the Slayer scowl.
“What?” she said, annoyed, turning around. “Whoa... Uh...” She ducked as the massive thing tried to grab her in a bear hug. Crouched low, she spun around behind it and stood, kicking the back of its leg. It didn’t seem to notice.
It did notice Addison, however. With a blood-curdling, primal roar, it opened its enormous maw and charged. Addison scrambled to his feet and prepared for the attack, ducking the first swing of the arm but catching another blow square in the chest. His breath was forced from him and he flew backward several yards.
Niki sped towards the action, leaping onto the ancient demon’s back. As soon as she touched it with her bare hands, she grew dizzy, her head filled with the pounding of drums and the smell of death and rot. The rancid taste of the demon permeated her being. With a grunt, it elbowed her in the stomach and threw her off.
Turning now to her, it opened its massive mouth again, large enough to swallow a person’s head whole. Curved teeth seemed to spring out of the flesh of the inside of its mouth, growing and shrinking, twisting and rattling. Niki felt sick.
With an terrifying animal roar it charged her, its arms spread wide to embrace her. The dust kicked up from its hind legs drifted in a hot and dry cloud which stung the Slayer’s eyes. The pounding of the creature’s paws seemed to reverberate through the very Earth, echoing from every rock surface, channeled through every rock outcrop. The sky itself seemed to tremble.
Unable to think what else to do, Niki shrugged off her leather jacket and held it by the arms behind her back. In a heartbeat the behemoth emerged from the cloud of dust it had created and was on her.
Jumping as high into the air as she could, Niki did a flip in midair and landed again on its back, the jacket she held now covering its face and pulling back its head. The Slayer held the arms of her jacket like the reins of a horse, pulling as hard as she could while forcing her knees into the creature’s back.
With a roar the thing went over backwards, taken off balance and blind. It landed hard an instant after Niki had jumped clear. With a vicious kick, Niki struck the demon’s head still hidden beneath the leather of her jacket. She kicked it again and again as the massive thing tried to get up again. Finally she heard the snap of a powerful spine and the shape beneath the leather twisted at an odd angle. The arms and legs stopped moving.
Breathing hard and unable to rid her mouth of the rancid taste she had acquired upon contact with the foul thing, Niki gave the creature one final kick for good measure before turning back to where Addison now stood.
“You brought me out here to kill me?” she asked icily, walking towards him in a menacing fashion.
Addison held his hands up defensively. “It’s not what you think, it wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”
Niki continued moving forward as Addison began to move backwards. “No? I wasn’t supposed to drag you along with me? I wasn’t supposed to kill the demon?”
“You weren’t supposed to live this long,” the old Watcher blurted continuing to back up as his words halted Niki in her tracks.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she asked coldly. “You thought you could kill me in prison? I thought you just didn’t want a conviction.” She shrugged. “Hello: not convicted.”
“It has nothing to do with me,” Addison said quickly, feeling the coolness of shadow as he backed into a wide cleft in the cliff behind him. “The Council’s sources... a coven of witches in England... they predicted your death: they predicted the calling of another Slayer.”
Niki glared. “Well, excuse me for breathing.” She began to advance on him again, walking more quickly now. “And pardon me if I don’t believe a single word that comes out of your fucking mouth. I think since that time you tried to kill me we may have developed some trust issues.”
Addison found his back up against the rock wall. He swallowed as Niki approached. “And you tried to have me killed. I believe we’re even.” The Slayer said nothing. “If you believe nothing else, know that I fought for you. When I went to England and they told me what the coven had foreseen, I fought for you. Eventually... I was overruled.”
“Then... what? You just volunteered to kill me yourself?” She scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
Addison dropped his gaze to the barren and dusty ground. “I couldn’t bare to think of anyone else doing it. Your death is not something I could just stand by and let happen.”
Niki glared hard into the old man’s face. The man who had been like a father in all the ways that didn’t matter. The man, she now knew, who had killed her real father and mother. This was not forgivable.
“The first thing you ever said to me was a lie,” she said in a cold whisper, her face mere inches from his. “The first thing you ever did to me was betray me. You killed my parents because they didn’t want their daughter in the middle of the battle between good and evil.” With her lips almost close enough to touch his, she looked across the short distance between them, looking for his soul. “You’re the greatest evil I have ever known.”
Without another word, she turned from him and walked off into the desert.
Logan’s eyes glowed yellow and sweat beaded off his forehead. His fists felt like they were on fire as they trembled at his sides. His toes were numb from cold and his boots were like blocks of ice. The patch of lawn he stood on was white with frost, even in the warm afternoon sunshine.
Through the bay window, he could see Matt and Hanna in the living room, seated in a circle drawn in red on the white carpet. Matt was saying something and using his finger to paint red marks on Hanna’s face. As Logan watched, he saw the teen dip his hand back into a bowl of blood and drawn similar marks on his own face. He blinked as he got some in his eye and Logan saw Hanna laugh.
With an ear-splitting clap of thunder, Logan brought his hands together and in a flash of light he was gone. He reappeared in the livingroom, glaring down at the two surprised and terrified teenagers. He said nothing, but they jumped to their feet, realizing how they looked.
Matt looked quickly from his girlfriend to her father, reaching out a hand to take hers. With a grunt, an invisible force sent him flying back against the far wall, pinning him with his feet above the floor. After a moment, he was dropped to the carpet.
“Dad, stop it!” Hanna shouted, grabbing Logan’s arm as he reached out to throw Matt again. “Leave him alone!”
Logan turned on her, his eyes burning like coals. “What’s that all over your face? Blood?” he yelled. He wrenched his arm from her grasp and she collapsed to the carpet with tears in her eyes. “What were you going to do?” Logan demanded, lifting Matt into the air with an invisible hand. “Sacrifice her to some demon?”
“We... were just having some fun,” the boy gasped, finding it difficult to breath. “I... wouldn’t...”
“Shut up,” Logan ordered, throwing the teen back into the wall again, this time putting a dent in the drywall. Matt collapsed to the carpet, breathing heavily. With a wicked glare, he looked up at the angry conjurer standing in his living room.
“Halfrek,” the boy called, a hint of vengeance in his voice and a vindictive grin appearing on his face.
Logan’s glowing eyes shifted from the injured teenager to a swirl of smoke. A woman with a self satisfied smile appeared, looking immediately to Matt who was getting to his feet and brushing himself off.
“Aw, lemon drops, are you okay?” She stepped towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Hanna got to her feet with a betrayed look on her face. “Matt... Who is this... person?”
Matt turned from Hallie to speak to Logan. His confident grin surfaced again. “This is my mother,” he challenged. “A vengeance demon.” Hanna gasped and took a step behind her father. Matt smirked as he stood tall before Logan. “And she’s going to kick your ass.”
Niki walked for hours, the sun dropping lower and lower behind her. She knew Addison was following her, but couldn’t bring herself to turn around. She didn’t know where she was heading, but something in her mind urged her on.
Soon the sun was gone and Niki was walking towards a blazing curtain of stars. The beat of ancient drums had started so low she couldn’t be sure she was really hearing it, but now it was clear and it was driving her on. It slowly began to quicken, pounding through her veins as if it were overriding her own heartbeat. Her pace quickened towards the dark horizon and soon she was running as fast as she could, racing with the beat of the drums, thinking of nothing else.
Then, like a nightmare, something vast and black rose up before her. She skidded to a halt before the cliff wall, reaching out with a tentative hand to touch its cool surface. It certainly was real. She blinked. The drums had stopped.
"You have come."
Niki spun around and clenched her fists. Three silhouettes stood against the starry backdrop of the primeval sky. Each was cloaked and each carried a staff.
"We have waited."
Their words were not English, but Niki understood them nonetheless. The language sounded old and well used. There was a cold wind which swept up the side of the cliff, making Niki shiver. She regretted leaving her jacket with the demon.
“Who are you?” she asked, hugging her arms tight across her stomach. “How can I understand you?”
"You have brought another with you," one of the silhouetted figures noted as Addison’s heavy breathing and footsteps could be heard.
“Yeah...” Niki frowned as Addison approached, out of breath from trying to keep up with the Slayer. “He was my Watcher.”
"We know who he is."
Niki sighed, impatiently. “Now, if I only knew who you were, then we could all be friends.”
“I’m... I’m sorry,” Addison panted, doubling over to catch his breath again. He addressed the three men clad in shadow. “I didn’t have a choice: she pulled me in.”
"It is as we intended," the first man said calmly. "We have been here since the beginning. We have brought you both here because your destiny is jeopardy."
Niki turned from the shadow men to the Watcher. “Who the hell are these guys?” she demanded, crossing her arms tighter. Addison stood up straighter and took a deep breath.
“They are the original Watchers,” he began, looking from one shadow man to the other.
Niki scoffed. “So they’re going to try and kill me too?” She uncrossed her arms and raised her fists as if boxing. “Come on, I can take all three of you.”
"You have stood in judgement before the ones who watch you."
Niki lowered her fists, taking a hesitant step back towards the cliff face. As one the shadow men lifted their staffs and beat them on the ground, the sound of ancient drums issuing from the rock. They advanced on Niki, the drumming continuing.
"It is not for those men to judge you," the first of the shadow men stated, stepped closer than the others.
"That task is ours alone."
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