Second Chances - Act 4
Niki looked around. They weren’t outside anymore. Niki was sitting on the stone floor of a dimly lit cave. Addison was standing in the shadows and the three men in robes were holding their staffs in the air and chanting in low voices.
As Niki stood, they brought their staffs down to the ground with a resounding boom. “What the hell is this?” As she spoke, shapes began to form on the cave walls. The shapes grew and shrank, glowing white. “Addison, what’s going on?”
“It’s Tamasheq,” he said quietly, watching the ancient words form and disappear. “The language of the Tuareg,” he indicated the three robed men. A large symbol, two circles with a horizontal bar dividing them, passed over Addison’s head, illuminating him with its glow.
“And its glowing and... moving on the walls because why?” Niki watched warily as the words began to move around and over every surface of the walls, the uneven ceiling and the floor. Looking down, she backed up several paces when one of the letters traveling across the floor began to work its way up her leg.
“It’s the evidence,” Addison said, letting a small glowing ‘t’ slide up his chest and over his shoulder. “It’s the story of your life: You are being judged.”
Niki hopped away from an odd ‘Y’ shaped letter as it sped past her. The letters were moving faster now, turning on themselves and intersecting. “But I’ve already been judged,” the Slayer protested. “I got a mistrial, remember?” Her eyes found a figure on the wall which she was sure didn’t belong. It was clearly a five. “Besides, I seem to have left my lawyer back in reality.”
“No one back in reality is qualified to judge you,” her old Watcher’s voice was certain and serene. “The Council wasn’t qualified. Justice for the Chosen goes beyond manmade rules or morals.”
Niki couldn’t keep her eyes off the five on the wall. “That’s nice to know,” she said distantly. “I’ll use that next time I get a parking ticket.” As she stared at it, the five broke apart and the glowing bits reassembled into rows and columns of numbers amid the Tamasheq letters. A chill went down Niki’s spine.
“You are being judged by those who have created you,” the lead shadow man announced, lifting his staff and drumming it once against the stone floor. The writing on the walls immediately ceased moving.
“We will examine your legacy and determine your merit.” The second shadow man touched his staff to the floor with a boom and most of the glowing letters disappeared. The room was now quite dark.
“Hey, cool. Clap-on, clap-off.” Niki looked around at the remaining letters. Her little smile fell when she realized the remaining words were in English. She hadn’t noticed them among the geometric shapes of Tamasheq. “What the hell is...”
The words were names, some of which she recognized, some she didn’t. Derek Stills. Megan Brandon. William Mason. Shannon Forster. Samuel Tythe. Richard Forster. Niki walked slowly through the cave, reading the names in her head. Megan Brandon she knew... well... she knew of. Were these supposed to be names of people she’d killed? Eric Quinlan. Veronica Hall. Tawnie Fischer. Hugh Williamson.
“I didn’t kill Eric Quinlan,” she turned on the shadow men, her voice defensive. She realized, with the number of other names on the walls it was really quite irrelevant. “A demon killed him.”
The shadow men were silent and she finally turned and continued reading. In a heartbeat she turned back defiantly. “I’ve never heard of most of these people! Who’s Hugh Williamson?”
The three men in robes turned to the far wall and rows and columns of glowing blue numbers appeared. The smell of paint fumes and car exhaust filled Niki’s nostrils.
Blue, blue, they’re all blue... the prophet’s voice echoed throughout the cave.
Oh, him. The Slayer frowned. She hadn’t killed him... not exactly. With a sigh, Niki turned back to the names, reading them through, mouthing the names silently.
Rachel Kilpatrick. Hanna Kilpatrick.
This time Niki spun around with an angry shout. “What the fuck are you playing at?” she demanded, storming to the leader of the three men and grabbing him by the robe. “What do they have to do with this?”
“They are written on your life, it is as you see it.” The robed man allowed Niki to clutch the cloth, lifting his staff and touching the ground with a boom. Instantly the lights went out.
Halfrek brushed a strand of curly hair from her cheek. “Everyone in the Order has heard about you,” she strode towards Logan, looking him up and down. “Do you ruin a lot of shoes like that?”
Logan looked down and noticed his frosted boots. “You’re Halfrek,” he said, more as a statement of fact than a question. “The vengeance demon.” She nodded cheerily.
“Yup– though we prefer the term Justice Demon, and I’m surprise you haven’t heard of us. We’ve been so busy in this little corner of creation recently that I’ve just stuck around,” she turned back to Matt, “taking care of this little guy.”
Hanna looked with confusion and disbelief from Halfrek to Matt. “You were raised by a demon? You never told me...”
Logan slowly backed away from Hallie, leading Hanna farther from the danger. “I told you he was dangerous. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
Hanna looked back to Matt and his pleased grin. Her look pleaded with him to explain this all away — explain that it wasn’t what it looked like. “But... but she wouldn’t hurt anyone, would she Matt?”
Matt sneered, his complete attention locked on Logan who was backing towards the kitchen, concealing Hanna with his body. “Oh, she’ll hurt. She can do things to men I can’t spell.”
Hanna was breathing fast. Bravely, she stepped between Logan and the advancing Halfrek. “Tell her to back off,” the girl said angrily, her defiant eyes on her boyfriend.
Matt was silent, his grin faltering. Before he could say anything, Logan pulled Hanna out of the way and blasted Halfrek in the chest with a ball of energy. The demon went flying across the room and landed near the dent in the drywall Matt had made.
Matt rushed to her side to help her up, but she shrugged off his help, standing and charging with a shriek. As she ran, her human face melted to the hideous likeness of a true demon. Logan felt the electricity filling him. Bring it on.
Niki blinked in the darkness and a low chanting seemed to rise and fall through her senses. The deep, tribal drum beat rose and fell with it. Slowly, her eyes became accustomed to the diminished light and she sat up from where she had been laying.
“You have been judged,” one of the men’s voices declared. The pounding of the drum stopped and Niki felt arms helping her to her feet. Blinking, she saw it was Addison and he was looking neither afraid of her, nor completely at ease.
“They have examined your legacy – your life as the Slayer... they’re going to give you a choice.” The old brit brushed the dust from Niki’s dirty white shirt. He took in a breath as if he wasn’t too pleased with the choice at hand.
Niki looked from him to the darkness. “What’s the choice?”
“You have disturbed much.” The voice of the shadow men came from pure darkness now. “You have killed many whose lives it was not your destiny to end. But since the end which is near is unavoidable, we will let these things pass if you wish. You may return unchanged."
The Slayer pulled away from Addison and brushed the rest of the dust off herself. “Or?” She demanded, stepping into the darkness but finding nothing. “I didn’t come here so that nothing could change. What’s my other option?”
There was silence from the shadow for a long moment. The darkness was suddenly split by the light from three glowing Tamasheq letters. Niki couldn’t read them, but she guessed they were her other option.
“If it is your wish, we have the power to remove that which you were given.” The letters on the wall ahead burned brighter.
“What does that mean?” Niki turned to Addison. “What did they give me?”
The old Watcher sighed heavily. This was the part he wasn’t satisfied with. “These men weren’t only the first Watchers; they created the first Slayer. They gave her the heart of the demon which made her strong enough to fight evil. The same power which was given to you.”
Niki’s eyes widened. “You mean... they can unchoose me? They can do that?”
“We offer this only as a measure to prevent disaster. If we perform–” the word they used, Niki didn’t recognize, but the letters on the wall glowed brighter, “then you will no longer be the Chosen One. Another will be chosen.”
The Slayer slowly turned from the glowing word to her old Watcher, as if she still relied on him for advice. As if she had ever relied on him for advice. “I’d go back to being just a regular girl. No freak stuff, no demon magnet stuff... the Council would leave me alone?”
Addison very slowly nodded his head. “I fear we have been mistaken all along. It was not our duty to terminate the Slayer: it was this choice that was foreseen by the coven.”
“Why would you give me this choice?” Niki asked, turning back and addressing the glowing word. “Is there something that I’m supposed to do... something the Slayer is supposed to do that you’re afraid I’ll screw up?”
“We will remove your power,” the shadow man said decisively. The pounding of the ancient drums started up again, louder than before and the word on the wall seemed to hiss with its increased brightness.
“No, wait,” Addison stepped forward and held out a hand to block whatever might be coming. “Give her a chance to decide.” He turned quickly back to Niki who was tensing, readying herself for a fight. “I know you have no reason to trust me... I haven’t given you any. It’s not as though I don’t know I’ve been an ass, but if all I’ve accomplished as a Watcher is to make you wish you had never been chosen, then I’ve failed more than you have.”
Glancing quickly behind him at the glowing word, he turned back and touched her elbow as she lowered her fists. “Don’t underestimate the good you can do, even at your worst. Don’t let your hatred for me make this decision for you. Consider all the good you’ve done and the loss to this world if you were to abandon it. There are those, always, who have faith in you, even if you can’t have faith in yourself.
“Niki...” he took her by the shoulders with a gentle grip. “Knicks, I fought for you before the Council — not just because I wanted to save your life, but because I know you’re not a failure.” He shook her gently as the pounding of the drums rose and nearly drowned his words. “You have a destiny and it’s not to toil meaninglessly, drifting from addiction to addiction. You are better, and you deserve another chance.”
The Watcher quickly turned back to the glowing word as three silhouetted figures stepped out of the shadow in front of it, their staffs pounding the ground.
“Let her choose,” Addison said, his voice hard and authoritative. It was not a request. The three shadow men raised their staffs and brought them to the Earth one last time with a resounding boom.
“Very well. What is her choice?”
Halfrek hit Logan hard in the gut then backhanded him and sent him staggering backwards to the wall. Touching a hand to his bleeding mouth, he pulled his other hand back and felt the crackle of electricity.
Hanna dashed past them to where Matt was standing, grinning at each blow his foster mother made. She grabbed him by the arm and glared. His grin wavered.
“Tell them to stop it,” she ordered, her hands on her hips. “Tell her to leave.”
Matt shrugged. “Your dad started it. Hallie’s just teaching him not to threaten me.”
“I don’t care,” Hanna answered angrily. “Tell her to leave. Do it or I won’t come around anymore.”
This got Matt’s attention and he seemed to consider it, looking down at the carpet. “You don’t want to hang out anymore?”
“I don’t want my dad to get hurt,” she replied, her eyes moving back to the fight in progress, bolts of energy answering forceful punches. The teenagers ducked as a lamp flew past them.
“Tell your dad to stop and I’ll tell Hallie to back off...” They were thrown to the floor as the bay window exploded inward, showering them with bits of glass. Hallie groaned and pulled herself from the floor. Matt looked very concerned, but he hesitated to go to her when she was in demonic form. “You’d better hurry,” the teen added to his girlfriend. “You don’t want to see Halfrek when she gets angry.”
“Dad,” Hanna said without hesitation, “can we just go? I don’t like this.”
Logan brought his hands together, as if molding something. A bright blue flame sprang up between his palms. “I think this has gone beyond the two of you,” the conjurer advised as Halfrek and Logan circled each other in the wrecked livingroom. “This woman is a demon. I kill demons.”
Matt looked quickly from Logan to Hanna. He was getting worried. “You– you don’t have to kill her. Hallie, back off, let him go. This has gone far enough.”
Halfrek shook her head with a toothy grin, never taking her eyes from the conjurer as they circled each other. “Sorry, sweety pie, this one’s been on D’Hoffryn’s list for quite some time.”
“Hear that?” Logan glanced sidelong at his daughter. “I don’t have a choice.”
“Dad, come on, just flash us out of here...” Hanna’s voice was pleading, she looked from Matt to Halfrek. She could see Matt was really worried, he was breathing fast and he was shifting anxiously from one foot to another.
“Mr. Kilpatrick, please—” Matt took several steps forward, trying to get between the warring parents. “I- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you angry... I- just... please don’t hurt her.”
Halfrek laughed as if that were the funniest joke she had ever heard. In an instant, the blue flame shot from Logan’s hand and enveloped her. She screamed in pain as an invisible force threw her out the broken bay window. She landed on the grass, writhing as the flames seemed to consume her.
“Hallie!” the boy jumped out the window and tried to help his foster mother, but the flames were too hot. “I’m going to wish,” Matt threatened. But his voice was hoarse and no more than a whisper.
Logan stepped over the edge of the window and looked down at the burning mass. He knew she was still alive, probably buying time or trying to lull him into a false sense of security. That would end, though.
“Time to end this,” the conjurer said harshly, raising his hands for a killing strike. “I’m sorry, Matt, this is just the way things have to be.”
Matt’s face contorted to a look of hatred. “The way things have to be?” he demanded. “I wish you knew what it was like to lose everyone you ever loved! Then you can tell me how things have to be!”
Instantly the flames went out. In a rush of smoke, Halfrek was on her feet, a sinister smile on her demonic face. “Wish grant—”
With a massive explosion, Logan launched everything he had at the demon, striking her again and again, burning her flesh and scorching himself in the process. Matt was thrown backwards and the shockwaves from the sound kept him from getting up.
After a full minute of bombardment, all that was left of Halfrek was a smoking crater in the middle of the scorched lawn.
Breathing hard, sweat pouring down his face, Logan turned away from what looked like the site of a small bomb going off and headed for the front door. Hanna was waiting inside, tears in her eyes. She had a small cut on her forehead where some of the glass had cut her. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his chest. He held her tight, ignoring the blistering pain in his hands. She was safe now. Everything was going to be okay.
Matt knelt by the small patch of blackened ground. His mouth hung open and he struggled for breath. As Logan and Hanna walked by, hand in hand, she answered his gaze with a glare. His eyes slowly fell. They came to rest on the amulet resting in the center of the crater. He picked it up and held it tight. A tear rolled down his cheek as the small brown car pulled away.
Crowley was standing well back from the circle of sand in his livingroom when, with a flash of white light, Niki and Addison reappeared. Crowley blinked in surprise. Addison looked... remarkably alive. He hadn’t expected Niki to discover Addison, and after she had he certainly hadn’t expected her old Watcher to survive the encounter. But nonetheless, there they both stood, dusty and drenched in sweat. Niki had her black leather jacket draped over one arm and was looking around quickly.
“You’re back,” Crowley said uncertainly, his tone loud enough to serve the purpose. “You’re just in time.”
Addison met Crowley’s gaze and the old Watcher’s eyes widened. With a shout he jumped clear of the circle and hurried away from Niki to stand by the front door. The Slayer frowned suspiciously and looked around.
From the back hall, a large, muscular man with a deep scar down his cheek strode into the livingroom. He carried a short sword in each hand and with his gaze glued solidly to Niki, his intent was clear.
Niki slowly looked from Crowley to Addison. The latter was shaking his head insistently. “No... It’s not what you think—”
“I think he’s come to kill me,” Niki said, reaching for the saber on the wall. “I think that desert thing was a distraction so you could get him over here.” Her sword held up defensively, Niki turned to look at her old Watcher. There was no surprise, or even anger on her face. Only the slight disappointment that comes from disillusionment. “I think I should have tried harder to kill you.”
Addison shook his head. “No, it’s not like that—”
Crowley cocked his head. “Did she choose...” Addison shot him a poisonous glare as the bounty hunter advanced on the girl.
Niki raised her sword. “Let’s get this over with.” With the clang of metal on metal, their swords met and in a superhuman burst of speed, Niki got around the massive man and drove her blade through his back and out his chest.
With a roar of pain, he fell to the floor. Niki carefully pulled the blade from the muscular corpse and leveled it at Crowley’s throat. The brit backed up until he was up against the wall. He sucked in a fearful breath as the bloodied steel just barely touched his throat.
“You,” Niki said quietly, examining him patiently, “are one insidious bastard.” He made a fearful noise and closed his eyes. Niki considered it. “But at least you’re honest about it.” In one smooth motion, she drew the sword away from his throat, turned around and launched it through the air.
With a gasp, Addison looked down at the blade projecting from his chest. It held him to the wall and kept him from breathing. All he could do was look up and watch. Niki slowly made her way across the livingroom, carefully stepping over the body of the bounty hunter, carefully avoiding stepping in the circle of sand.
When she finally got to him, her eyes were calm and her voice was soft. Addison struggled for breath – struggled for speech. His lungs were quickly filling with blood. He could taste it.
“Shhh,” Niki put a finger to his lips. She drew close to him, as close as the sword in his chest would allow. “It’s okay,” she said softly. She slowly embraced him, his struggling, sputtering breath leaving a trail of blood down his chin. “It’s okay,” she repeated, even softer. “I forgive you.”
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