Legal disclaimer: this is fiction. Don't read if you're not old enough, or if you can't handle m/m-stuff.
Author's note: another chapter, have fun. :) Tell me if you like. Love and looneytunes from Kat.
- Chapter seven -
The sun settled again. The livingroom in the appartement on the fourth floor grew steadily darker. Still on the couch, Chris was moving a little in his sleep, close to waking up. After all the years as a slayer he had developed a very similar sleeping pattern to most vampires. An internal alarm clock woke him up as the sun went down and it was time to go patroling.
Sleepily he opened his eyes and couldn't see anything at first. Then his eyes adjusted to the light darkness. The unfamilar setting around him made Chris quickly sit up before he realised where he was. "Oh goodie!" he thought, running a hand through his messy hair. "Back in pleasantville..." Getting to his feet he stretched, reminding himself to make it to the bed next time. He didn't remember Carrie before he saw a note pinned to the bathroom door, reading: "I took the liberty of stocking up on supplies for you, inclusive food. Eat something healthy before you go out tonight. Don't dare getting something full of fat and articial stuff from a some junkfood place. Call me when you get back, we have a lot of things to talk about. Be careful. Love from Car."
Deciding that food would have to wait, Chris turned on the lights in the bathroom. Throwing his clothes in a pile on the floor, he stepped into the shower stall. The water felt heavenly flowing over his tired body. For a moment Chris just let it relax the muscles in his neck and shoulders, feeling the knots slip away a little by little. He had neglected his training, it had been so easy down in Mexico. About a year after he had arrived there wasn't a vampire there who dared to meet him, there hardly were any left of them at all. This was so not like Mexico. An image snuck into Chris' mind, and he let out a sigh. "Don't think about Damien," he told himself, "you left all that behind. It's over now."
Twenty minutes later Chris turned off the shower and reached for a towel. Wrapping the black towel around his waist he faced himself in the steamed-over mirror. "I need a shave," he absentmindly thought. "And a couple of hours more sleep, and I do need a life..." Leaving after him a set of wet footprints Chris made his way into the kitchen. Pouring himself a glass of the first drink he could find, he wondered if Carrie had remembered his secret obsession. After opening the fridge he smiled. On the top-shelf of the door-section there were a neatly piled stack of Mars chocolate bars. Another note was folded on top of them. "Not that I think you need any more sugar to make you even more hyper, but I figured these would make you feel a little more at home. Love, Car. PS: do eat properly before you go out!" Grinning widely Chris took one of the candy bars and shut the door of the refridgerator.
He finished the orange juice and ate his chocolate while getting dressed. The night was warm, so Chris chose a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt, along with his demin jacket. Outside the night had just started. Since it was still in the middle of the week, the night life was fairly quiet. His flat was in one of the more upper class-areas of the city, but close enough that he could get downtown really fast. Most vampires preferred hunting there, due to the increase of crime and lack of police. Another dead body was just going to be chalked up with the nameless others that had met their fate on the streets.
The soft yellow light from the street lights were outnumbered by read and blue neonsigns as Chris reached his destination. A woman called out to him and he studied her thoroughly before turning her down. She wasn't a vampire, just another tragic destiny out here. Chris never judged any of them, he wasn't after them. It was another kind of night-time workers he was looking for.
Strolling along the semi-crowded street, Chris had to admit he was a little more cautious than usual. He hadn't been here in a long time. So much had changed since he had left. Since he had been forced to leave. At first he had been devastated, then Mexico had turned out to be fun. Then everything went really, really bad. When he had learned that he was to be sent back, Chris had a lot of mixed feelings. He had been sent away because he couldn't kill a child. A vampire child. Now he was brought back to kill a man who used to be his friend. Well, it wasn't like he wanted to stay where he was either. The meeting with JC had been weird. Since he had no longer been in town when JC did what nobody had expected and became one of the enemy, Chris had only heard what the council had told Carrie.
It was just so ironic. JC slayed that little girl. And her "big brother" fell in love with him instead of killing him. And then JC had ran away, to re-surface some time later as a vampire. Chris could vaguely remember to have seen the vampire JC had fallen in love with before. The waywards kept to themselves and was among the hardest to track down. And since they lived so secluded it was difficult to gain knowlegde about them since the rest of the vampire society didn't know much either. Joey was a prime example to that. Chris hardly knew more than his name, and that he held a lot of respect in the society. Making a mental note to try and find out some more on both his former friend and his former friend's lover, Chris began to wonder if there were any vampires out at all.
Then someone approached him and Chris' evening just got a little more exciting. "What are you looking for, my friend?" a tall man asked, he wore a black leather jacket and had dark, curly hair. "Why?" Chris asked, eying the man. "You think you can help me?" "I might," the other smirked. "If you need something to brighten the mood a little, I have what you need..." "Maybe we can make a deal," Chris answered, meeting the man's ivory eyes. "Not here," the other answered. "Too many people. Let's talk about this around the corner over there." "Ok," Chris answered, his heart speeding up a little. He always got tense before a fight and a slaying. This guy was most definetely a vampire, and a careless one too. That would change when it became known that a slayer was back in town. Chris had to take advantage of that before the news spread.
The corner lead to a small parking lot. Only one car was left. By the looks of it, it wasn't going anywhere either. A large sign on top of the bar across the street lit the lot up in blinking yellow flashes. Keeping to the middle of the parking lot Chris scanned the place for other vampires, he could at least make out two more. "So," he said, facing his first opponent. "Let's make this easy. You just stand still and I'll kill you quickly." The black eyes of the vampire narrowed. "You're funny, little guy. How about I kill you instead?" "Little guy?" Chris asked, frowning. "You didn't just call me little..." Pulling the stake out of his jacket he made a move towards the vampire. "I hate it when people make fun of my height, you see...tends to get me rather cranky." Moving quickly he kicked the vampire in the stomach, making him stumble backwards. Another kick had him up against the wall.
The vampire were getting ready to fight back when he all of a sudden found himself faced by a very sharp wooden stake aiming for him. "Say bye bye," Chris smiled and hit. The unfortunate vampire never got to say what he thought of Chris before the stake drove through his heart and he exploded into flying dust. "One down, two to go," Chris thought and spun around. Two figures were slowly approaching him. A man and a woman.
"So there is a new slayer in town," the woman spoke. She appeared to have been around Chris' own age when she was turned. Her face hinted of hispanic heritage, as did her raven black hair. "And he is a cute little slayer too..." "I'm not a cute little slayer," Chris corrected her. "You aren't?" she answered, smiling a little. "Nope," Chris answered, turning quickly to his side. Striking powerfully he killed the male vampire trying to sneak up on him from the side. "I'm a big, bad slayer out to dust all your vamp-asses," he said, smiling brightly to the women. "And even if you are kinda pretty, you're next on my list."
"Now you wouldn't hit a woman," she said, her smile getting colder. Not coming any closer Chris knew she was measuring him, trying to find the best way to attack. "Why not?" he answered. "What else would I do with a woman?" That comment threw her off guard a little, and Chris moved closer. "I like guys," he continued as they were circling each other. "Come to think of it, I haven't had one in ages... Let's get this over with, so I can go do something about that."
Launching at her, Chris knew almost immedeately that he had made his first mistake. She easily blocked him, knocking him out of balance. Fighting to remain standing, a hard blow hit him in the back sending him to the ground. The faint rustling of clothes warned him in time to throw himself out of the way. The female vampire landed right next to him. Her fangs were exposed and Chris could think of nicer ways to be bitten. Ducking her arms, he got to his feet. "Sorry, babe," he told her, "I got no time to play." That made her smile. "I like playing," she said, "I think I'll keep you alive for a little while just for that."
A stabbing pain in Chris' back made him back away a little, she had hit him good. "Mom told me never to play with vampires," he said, hoping to buy himself a little time. It didn't help. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll just kill you right away then." Her arm struck Chris in the side, making him double over in pain. Now he could see her closing in to finish the kill. "Like hell I'm going to loose to this bitch," he thought, ignoring the pain that shot through his ribs as he straightened up. Assured that she had him now, the vampire went to lock her arms around Chris, aiming her fangs for his neck. But instead of feeling Chris' body in her grip, an elbow caught her in her jaw. As she stumbled back, Chris' right foot struck her on the side of the head, sending her crashing to the ground. Falling to his knees, Chris held the stake in both hands and drove it through her chest. "Feeling playful yet?!" he mumbled as her body turned to dust before his eyes.
Breathing heavily Chris let himself fall backwards a little, silently looking out for more vampires. As far as he could see, he was alone now. Which was good, Chris wasn't sure if he was up to fighting any more that night. "How the hell did I let myself get this out of shape?" he thought, slowly pushing himself to his feet. The pain in his back was now a dull ache, and his ribs felt like they were on fire. Chris leaned against the wall, carefully examining his wounds. His skin was already turning blue, but at least nothing seemed to be broken.
"Are you ok, mister?" a voice asked, making Chris jump back into fighting stance again. A couple of yards away from him a young girl stood, looking at him. She could be around fourteen, clothes all dirty and torn. By her appearance Chris knew she wasn't a working girl, they all tended to be old before their years, and dressed like miniatyre adults. This one was probably one of the many homeless or runaways. "Yeah," Chris answered, relaxing again. "I'm ok." "You sure?" she asked, not buying his words. Chris looked up at her. "I'll be fine," he said, "honestly. What are you doing here?" She shrugged. "I live around here," she said. "On the streets?" Chris asked. "That's not a good place to stay...what did you run away from?" Another shrug, she had probably gotten the same question a thousand times before. And as a result the answer came with great rehearsal and zero emotion. "My mom, she drinks. She gets mean when she's drunk."
Chris was still leaning against the wall, as long as he kept still the pain wasn't too bad. The girl in front of him was one of hundreds of lost children, the number growing every day. Carrie had laughed at him when Chris decided to use some of the ridiculously large amount of money he had access to as a slayer and set up a fund. A shelter was built and he made sure that the volunteers that worked there never missed anything. It was mostly aimed at the children and young people, but was open to anyone. He was supposed to save the city from vampires, but Chris thought he might as well try to save some people from other things too when he first was at it.
Now the shelter was busy as never before, expanding to help re-unite families and help the kids away from the street. Another one was in the making, and Carrie was now mightily impressed and very proud of her slayer. Chris searched through his pockets until he found one of the cards with the shelter's address. "Here," he said, and gave the girl the card. "You don't have to tell them your name and they won't call the police. But they'll give you some decent clothes, food and a safe place to sleep." Reluctantly she accepted the card. "They won't make me go back to my mom?" "No," Chris said, "if you want to, they can talk to social services and find a better place to stay, but that is entirely up to you." Looking at the adress, a small smile lit up her face. "I'll go," she said. "Thanks, mister." "No problem," Chris answered, smiling back. "Good luck."
As she disappeared as soundless as she had arrived, Chris decided he needed to get home. "After all, three in one night ain't that bad," he comforted himself. "Even if one of them kicked your ass real good..." Checking his watch Chris was surprised to see that sunrise was only a few hours away. The pain wasn't too bad if he walked slowly, hopefully some hours of sleep and another warm shower would chase it away completely.
"I used all night to kill three lousy vamps," Chris thought to himself while walking home. "That's not good enough, I have to get myself back in shape." A sinking feeling spread through him at the thought of that he very well could end up fighting JC one day. When that time came he would need every ounce of his strength and all the tricks he could possibly come up with. And he still wasn't sure if that would be enough. Pulling his jacket tighter around him in the chilly morning air Chris hoped, for both their sakes, that JC stayed as far away from him as Chris intended to stay away from JC.