Death Woods 1: The Beginning

Chapter 1

    It is midnight in Death Woods. My friends and I are chasing after a group of vampires that killed some of the  middle school cheerleaders earlier this evening. Apparently they had snuck off while their coach wasn’t looking to stir up some trouble. We knew the local middle school was having some sort of sports event and had staked it out in case any vamps decided to catch themselves a snack. Unfortunately, we were too late to stop them but, my friend and partner, Faith, can't stop laughing.

    "Faith," I yelled, stopping to turn and glare at her, "Stop laughing! It isn’t funny! Not to mention you’re slowing us down. We have to stop them."

    "Alright, alright, I'll stop!" She said with a mischievous smile,” However, going after cheerleader’s is such a horrible cliche and I find it amusing.”

    I sighed and rolled my eyes at her.

    "Faith, Kitty! Come on!" Star yelled.

    "Yeah, we're losing them!" shouted Winnie.

    "Alright, let’s go girls," I shouted, charging off in the direction the vamps went. I was able to move faster than your average human.  Faith and I have powers that only our close friends and family know about. But there's something they don't know; something they must never figure out. . .

    Our boyfriends are vampires and it's against slayer code to date vampires and any other mythical creatures. We know the risks and we are willing to risk everything to be with our boyfriends.

    Faith is half-fey and half-human. She’s able to change her features so she appears as human, most humans that are half-fey can’t go between forms. When she transforms she gets pointy ears, her sea-green eyes turn to a beautiful gold color, her eyes slant, but they remain almond shaped. She's six-five and weighs a hundred and six pounds. Most people believe fey are actually elves that drink hot chocolate and eat nothing but sweets, which isn't true. She only eats fruits and vegetables and she is very picky about meats. A lot of people are jealous of her because she's so slender. Faith's mom is a powerful witch, one of the few that never crossed over to the dark side, and her dad is the Faerie king.

    I'm a witch like my mom, but unlike her I can morph into any animal without a magic spell. My dad is the Prime Minister of the "Magical" world in the United States. When my dad goes to conferences in London, my mom always goes with him to visit her friends and some distant relatives. I don't go with them because I need to go to school with all the "normal" people as my mom calls them.

    About twenty feet up, I spotted Nick’s vampire gang hanging in a clearing. We had been dealing with this particular group for a few weeks now. I signaled for the others to stop. I glanced around at the other’s and noticed just how exhausted they both look. Maybe our Watcher was right and I should force Winnie and Star to train more. Faith and I train on a daily basis to stay in top shape.  Faith and I can speak telepathically to one another so no one can hear us. A skill we have because of our magical backgrounds.

    -Faith, they look really exhausted. I think they should stay here. They'll be in less danger.-

    -I agree. I'll give them some water out of the thermos and tell them to stay put so they’re not in harm's way.-

    -Alright, but hurry, we're in for a big fight.-

    While Faith was taking care of the other's and giving them our orders; I unsheathed one of my daggers. My boyfriend, Reid, had given it to me when we had first started dating. The hilt was covered with diamonds and emeralds; my nickname is engraved into the stainless steel blade with a cat head with emerald eyes on the tip of the blade.

    "Are you ready?" Faith asked, as she walked up to me with her dagger unsheathed. Faith's dagger is similar to mine. The hilt is covered with diamonds and emeralds, the blade is made of stainless steel with her nickname engraved on it, and on the blades’ tip there is a viper with emerald eyes coiled and ready to strike.

    "I'm ready, worried about those two, but ready." I replied, mildly.

    She nodded, “Come on, let's go."

    Side by side, Faith and I walked into the clearing. We're both wearing form-fitting black leather pants, black midriffs with a skull and cross bone, matching skull and cross bone belly rings, and black combat boots. Our black, waist-length hair up in high pony tails.

    "Nick," I yelled, “Prepare to meet your maker!"

    "Well, hello ladies. Are you prepared to meet your maker?" He asked, smirking, evilly.

    "No, but you'll have to say your prayers!" Faith snarled, clutching her dagger tightly.

    "Why? Your protectors aren't here to save you."

    "Our protectors," I echoed," What protectors?"

    "Your boyfriend Reid and Faith's boyfriend Spike."

    "We don't depend on them!" I snapped.

    "Liar!" He snarled, viciously.

    My short temper flared, but I managed to keep my emotions from showing. Nick studied my face thoughtfully, trying to read my blank expression. I've mastered the skill of maintaining a completely blank facial expression, so none of my enemies can predict what I might do next. I gently placed my dagger on my shoulder as I studied him  and with a quick, simple flick of my wrist, the dagger went flying through the air and hit Nick right in the chest where his heart was, and with a piercing scream he turned to dust.

    "Nice," Faith said, smirking thoughtfully.

    "Thanks."

    "Quick and clean."

    "You know it!" I exclaimed, smirking evilly.

    Running, I did two flips and when I did a cartwheel, I grabbed my dagger off the ground, and sent it soaring through the air again, taking out one of Nick's bodyguards in the process. With a triumphant yell, Faith Lunged into the fight. We had been fighting for about an hour when I realized Faith and I had been separated. Faith and I work better as a team because we're such good friends, we train together and we know all of each other's moves.

    There are twenty vampires still standing. Ten are surrounding me and ten are surrounding Faith. Faith and I have tattoos that have been magically enhanced to let each other know when one of us is in trouble and tells us about that person's current situation. I have a tattoo of a tiger and it looks as though it could jump right off my skin and attack. Faith has a coiled emerald green viper tattoo that looks like it's ready to kill.

    "Oh, come on, guys, give me a break! I'm exhausted!" I moaned, unable to keep myself on my feet, I collapsed to my knees. At least, that’s what I want them to believe.

    "Good!" snarled Devin.

    "Good? That's not good!"

    "Maybe not for you, little slayer, but for us it’s fantastic." He stated, smirking evilly.

    ”It may seem that way to you.”

    A small frown appeared at my words and he looked confused, “What is that supposed to mean?”

    “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Faith

    "This is not good,” I muttered to myself, as I glanced around trying to spot Kitty.

    "What? Is Spiky not here to save you?" Donovan asked, mockingly.

    "Shut up! I don't need Spike,” I said, while thinking, 'Why am I lying? I do need Spike’s help! This would’ve been no problem if they hadn’t separated me and Kitty.'

    Forcing myself to stand, I lunged at Donovan. He threw me back against the tree I had been leaning on. Wincing in pain, I reached for the dagger at my side.

    "Didn't your mom ever tell you not to hit a girl?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

    Looking up I saw Spike standing on the tree branch just over my head. I wanted to sigh in relief but decided not to contradict my previous statement. 

    "Spike, where's Reid?"

    "Right here," Kitty's boyfriend responded, a little higher up in the tree.

    "Where is Kitty?" Reid asked, as the two boys jumped down from the tree and landed beside me.

    "I don't know. We got separated at some point during the fight."

    "Do you know when?" Reid asked, offering me his hand to help me off the cold ground.

    "Reid, stop interrogating her," Spike said, glaring at his friend.

    "I'm sorry, but I have to find her."

    "We will, but we have to finish here first."

Kitty

    "What did you mean by wait and see?" Devin asked, angrily.

    "Um… exactly what I said, wait and see," I snapped. Impatient asshole.

       He narrowed his and smirked as he stuck out his tongue and showed his fangs; before crouching down like he was going to lunge. 

       "You are so childish!" I exclaimed, forcing myself to stand from my crouched position. On account of my exhaustion, I staggered back into the tree behind me. s**t, should’ve been more careful. They don’t need to know how exhausted I am.

    "You're too weak to do anything to me and you have no back up! Looks like your doomed, little girl!" Devin laughed.

    My eyes blazed with newly found strength and anger. I sheathed my trusty dagger, and unsheathed the invisible sword at my back.

    "Wh-where did that come from?" He stammered.

    Smirking triumphantly, I replied, “It’s been there the entire time. I used a simple invisibility spell, so no one would see it."

    I ran, jumped and flipped and when I landed in front of him, I sliced him in half from his left shoulder to his right hip. The top half slowly slid from the bottom half and his body turned to dust as the two halves hit the ground.

     Turning around, I casually asked, “Who’s next?"

    A tall, muscular vampire stepped forward. He's wearing black leather pants, a black t-shirt with a skull and cross bone, and a leather biker vest.

    "I am," he said, in a deep, baritone voice.

    "So, how are we going to do this?" I asked, observing him thoughtfully.

     "Do what?"

    "How are we going to fight?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "Should we start with hand-to-hand combat or with weapons?”

    “We’ll start with hand-to-hand combat.”

     “Sounds good to me,” I said, sheathing my sword.

    He rushed forward, flipped, landed and tried to kick me karate style. I did a quick, easy backbend, then I went into a handstand, pivoted in a circle, bent my arms like I was doing a push-up, and pushed off the ground with all my strength and using my powers to help aid me; I flipped into the air landed behind him and kicked him I the back off his knees and watched as he fell like a tree.

    “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” I said, smirking evilly.

    “You’ve won this round, Slayer.” He grumbled, as he stood.

    “Yes, I know. Are you ready for weapons?”

    “I’m ready whenever you are, Slayer.”

     “Bring it on!” I said, unsheathing my sword.

      He reached behind his shoulders and unsheathed, to my utter horror, two double-headed axes. I paled and he smirked.

    “Not so tough now are you, Slayer?” He asked.

    “Bring it on, tough guy!”

    He lunged and swung at me. When I tried to dodge the blow, he managed to disarm me and put the sword into the tree I had used to support myself with earlier.

    “Uh-oh,” was all I could manage to say.

    He swung again, and this time I didn’t dodge him fast enough. He managed to slice my left shoulder open with his axe. I let out a piercing scream, grabbed my shoulder, lost my balance and managed to kick his wrist which caused him to drop one of his axes.

    “This is the end slayer,” he said, swinging down. This time I managed to dodge his attack and grab the other axe on the ground.

    “I don’t think so,” I replied tartly.

     Anger flashed in his eyes and he swung again. Blocking to my left, I yelped as the two axes came into contact.

     “Kitty,” I heard three familiar voices yell.

      Glancing to my right, I saw Reid, Faith, Spike rush out of the woods.

    “Back off, Mike!” Reid yelled.

    “Yeah, pick on someone your own size!” shouted Spike.

    “Kitty, are you alright?” Faith asked, worried.

    “Never been better,” I muttered, sarcastically.

    “What’s your malfunction, you two?” Mike demanded, glaring between Reid and Spike.

    “You hurt Kitty!” Reid shouted.

    “Who? Oh, do you mean the Slayer? What’s so important about her?”

    I threw him a dirty look. It only made matters worse. He ran over to me, swung down fast and hard with one of his axes. I managed to block it with a wince and was able to get a hard kick to his stomach making him stagger and fall down to one of his knees. I glanced over noticing he had dropped one of the axes, I grabbed the handle and pulled it out of his reach. 

    “Clumsy. Did you have a nice fall?” I asked, with a sassy smirk. Glancing at my friends I said, “Took you guys long enough. I could’ve died!”

     “We aren’t that lucky, Kitty ,” Faith replied, with a grin.

    I glared at her, feigning offense, “I thought you loved me?”

    She just rolled her eyes in response.

    “Give me the axe, baby.” Reid ordered, walking over to me.

    “I’m not a baby? I’m not crying, am I?” I purred.

    “You know what I mean,” he replied, stopping in front of me with his hand out.

     “Or do I?” I asked, handing him the axe.

     Reid and Spike finished off Mike and the others, while Faith and I sat back and watched. When he was finished, Reid tossed the axe to the ground and went over and pulled my sword out of the tree. Reid had given me that sword after my last one broke while fighting a different group of vamps; he had it designed to match my dagger. 

    “I think you lost something,” he said, walking toward me and handing me the sword.

    I reached for the hilt and gently took the sword from him. Sheathing it, I looked into his sharp Caribbean-blue eyes. Smiling coyly, I murmured, “Thank you.”

     He grinned, “Don’t play coy, baby girl.  And you’re welcome. Let me see your wound.”

    Laughing, I turned to show him the graze on my shoulder.

    “Ouch,” he exclaimed, observing the wound, “That looks like it hurts. You should try to be more careful, I don’t wanna lose you.”

    “Well, I’m glad you can feel my pain without actually having the wound. Besides you can’t get rid of me that easily, big guy.”

    He winced, “Sorry. Man, he got you good.”

    “I know he got me good. I was unarmed except for dagger and that probably wouldn’t have helped me much, so I had to think fast. Unfortunately, I didn’t think fast enough.” I sighed, “Maybe I need to start carrying more weapons.”

    He firmly pressed his hand on the wound, causing me to wince, as he healed it. Most vampires had some sort of magical gift and depending on their age they could have more than one. Lifting my chin with his finger, he murmured, “Sorry, but you definitely don’t want that getting infected. I know why you did what you did and I understand.”

    I simply shrugged, “Good, I’m glad.”

    “But you still shouldn’t have chosen to fight him.”

    “What?” I exclaimed.

     “You heard me,” he snapped.

    “I don’t believe this! You actually believe I chose to fight him!?”

    Faith and Spike exchanged exasperated looks and mutter, “We’ll just leave you two alone for a little bit.”

    “Yes, I honestly believe you chose to fight him!”

    “Well, for your information I didn’t choose to fight him! After I killed Devin I asked who was next and he was the only one who stepped forward. So, I decided to take the risk.” I growled, pacing away a few steps and stopping to glare at him. 

    “It sounds true, but . . .”

      I cut him off, “But what? Do you honestly believe I would have fought him if he hadn’t stepped forward? No, I most certainly would not have! You know I’m not stupid!”

     “Oh, come on! We all know how you adore challenges! That’s why you came up with some story to try and keep me from yelling at you about fighting Big Mike!”

    Frustrated, I threw my hands up in the air and walked a few steps away. ‘I can’t believe he thinks I’m lying! Why on earth would I fight a huge muscular vampire by myself? I don’t think so! How am I going to hide my anger from Star and Winnie?’ That’s when I realized my other friends were still alone and probably in danger. I spun around and started to run toward the woods.

    ”Kitty,” Faith yelled, “Where are you going?”

    I didn’t respond, I had a bad feeling and was starting to regret leaving our other friends behind. I knew they could take care of themselves but i couldn’t shake off the gut feeling that something was seriously wrong. I decided it would be faster if I morphed into my cat form; it’d make it easier to stealth around.

    “Kitty . .” she had begun to yell, but it was too late, I had already disappeared into the woods surrounding the clearing.

    Spike turned to Reid looking thoughtful, “What did you do to make her run off like that?”

     “Nothing, I only told her I didn’t believe her story about how she wound up fighting Mike.”

    “That couldn’t have upset her,” Faith stated, looking at Spike, “Besides she looked worried not upset.” 

     “Maybe she’s just worried about your relationship.” Spike said, watching his friend thoughtfully.

    “Yeah, maybe,” he muttered, down-heartedly.

    Faith looked at Spike before, she gave Reid a hug.

    “I’m sure Spike’s right.” She pulled back with her hands on his shoulders. “Look at me.” They made eye contact. “She probably just needed some alone time so, she wouldn’t anything stupid. You know she can be a bit hot tempered sometimes.”

    “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

Kitty

    While I’m running in my cat form, I’m thinking about all of the possible things that may or may not have happened to Winnie and Star. They are alone and unarmed, except for their silver stakes. Faith and I were still working on getting them better trained with other weapons. Faith and I grew up knowing about all creatures that went bump in the night and learned to protect ourselves from a young age. The only two people that would dare to harm them are mine and Faith’s ex-boyfriends, Michael Chavez and Steven Lee. Other than Nick’s group and the local wolf pack, which we were on good terms with, no other supernaturals were currently in the area. Unless, our Watcher had missed something and as she had been around just as long as the slayers had been. Steve and Mick were the only possible options and they’re obsessed with us and refuse to leave us alone. Steven and Spike were fighting over Faith. So, Faith decided to give them both trials. Spike met Faith’s needs and Steve was simply way too controlling and bossy. Faith kicked Steve to curb and got the man of her dreams!

    I did the same thing with Reid and Mick because those two were fighting over me. Mick wasn’t controlling like Steve. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t protect me when I got into a fight with a vampire twice my size but, luckily Reid came to my rescue, which is how I got my sword. That was three years ago. Michael keeps trying to get me to break up with Reid but, it simply will not work.  

    When I finally reached the clearing where the fight had begun, I stalked around the clearing before morphing back into my human form, except for my eyes and ears. I can see better and hear every noise a few miles away, so no one can sneak up on me.

     “Star, Winnie,” I called cautiously into the woods and stopped at the spot where Faith and I had left the others.

    ‘Oh, no, the girls are gone! I hope they're alright!’

    “Star, Winnie!” I screamed, “Where are you?”

    “Hello, Kitty, my darling.”

    I spun around and snarled, “Mick!”

    “Are you surprised to see me?”

    “No, not really. Where the hell are my friends? You won’t like the consequences if you hurt them.”

    “Well, I will be more than happy to tell you where they are. On one condition, that is.”

     “I doubt I’m going to like your condition.” I stated, as I watched him carefully. 

    “It doesn’t matter if you like it. If you want them back safe and sound you’ll have to deal with it.” He replied, shrugging casually as he started circling me slowly.

    “Oh, really? You sure about that?” I asked, as I moved in order to keep my eyes on him. 

    He smirked, an evil glint in his eyes, “Quite sure.”

    “Stop f*****g around! This isn’t a game, asshole, you took two slayers and I want to know where they are. You won’t get what you want because I have someone that I love. Now, give the information I want! Tell me Michael!” I demanded, glaring at him. I was tempted to pull my sword but he would probably run and not tell me anything if I did.

    “Break up with that backstabbing ex-friend of mine and come back to me! I can love you more than he ever will! Please, come back to me, Kitty! Please, baby, please!”

    “No! I don’t trust and I could never rely on you to have my back like Reid. You're going down a dark road, Mick, I just wish I had noticed it sooner. Now, tell me where my friends are!”

    “Come back to me or else!”

    “NO!”

    Mick lunged at me, I attempted to dodge him but he grabbed my left arm, twisting it painfully and slammed me into a tree. He pressed his right hand tightly around my throat, cutting off my air supply and causing me to gasp for what little air I could get. I struggled to try and get away but he just tightened his grip on my arm. 's**t, this is bad.'

    -Faith, help me!- I called my friend telepathically.

    -Kitty, what’s wrong? Where are you?-

    -It’s Mick! He-He’s choking me! - I told her as everything started to fade to black.

    I passed out just as Mick snarled, “I will get you back one way or another.”

Faith

    “Spike, Reid!” I called, trying to find the two vampires. We had split up to find Kitty and now I knew exactly what was going on.

    Then, out of nowhere, the guys magically appeared in front of me. Apparently they hadn't gone to far from me probably to ensure my safety.

    “Did you find her?” They asked in unison.

    “No.”

    “Then why did you call us?” Spike grumbled.

    “Kitty called me telepathically. I think she’s in the part of the woods where we left Star and Winnie. She told me that Mick was choking her. I’m assuming that Star and Winnie weren’t there and that it was a trap.”

    Reid’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Let’s not waste any time. We need to transport just outside of the clearing and figure out how to help her.”

    He glanced at Spike, who nodded his agreement. “Come give me a hug,” Spike said to me, holding out his arms.

    “How’s that going to help?”

    “It’s going to help us get to the clearing using magic.”

    “Oh . . . okay!” I hugged him tightly.

    “Close your eyes, relax and concentrate,” he murmured gently into my ear, as he lifted my chin with his finger and gave me a slow, deep kiss.

    “Hmmmm. . .” I sighed in awe, as I opened my eyes to stare into his deep green eyes.

    “Knock it off, you two! We’re here.” Reid said, completely killing the moment.

    “Kitty!” He called, waving us to the edge of the clearing to look around.

    “Let’s move in slowly,” I said, glancing quickly at Reid.

    “Why?” Spike asked.

    “In case it's a trap,” Reid answered.

    “Did you read my mind?”

    “No, lucky guess,” he replied, grinning.

    “Oh . . . cool.”

    Reid smirked, “I’ll go first and you two can follow, alright?”

    We nodded and Reid cautiously walked into the woods. He had only walked a few feet before he saw a motionless body lying on the ground.As he moved closer to the body he realized it was, Kitty.

    “Here she is!” He called.

    Kneeling down to get a better look at her seemingly lifeless body, he noticed red marks and bruises around her neck.

    I walked up behind Reid and said, “Is she going to be alright?”

    “Yeah, I’ll heal her bruises and use my powers to get plenty of oxygen pumping in her blood and then she may wake up.”

    “Holy crap, she looks awful! What did he do to her?” Spike muttered.

    “Choked her but she should be fine. She's only unconscious” He said, as he healed the bruises and then proceeded to use his magic to get oxygen pumping throughout her blood.

    She slowly began to stir and when she finally awakened, she sat up and started rubbing her temples.

    “Headache?” Reid asked, quietly.

    When she nodded, he gently pushed her hands away and placed the tips of his index fingers to her temples and slowly the pounding headache ceased. He lifted her chin up with his fingers and when our eyes met she smiled and said, “Thank you.”

    Smiling back, he replied, “Your welcome.”

    Slowly she stood up and almost fell, but Reid grabbed the lower part of my legs, Faith grabbed my left arm and Spike grabbed my right shoulder.

    Laughing heartily, she said, “Thanks, you guys.”

    Laughing as well, they replied, “You’re welcome.”

    Standing up straight, she looked at me and said, “They weren’t here when I got here. I don’t think it was a trap. I honestly believe Steve and Mick did something, but I don’t know what!”

    “Don’t worry, Kitty, we’ll find them!” I said, trying to reassure her.

    Reid wrapped his arms around her waist. She laid her head back on his firm, muscular chest and he gently kissed her cheek.

    “Well, well, well look who we have here . . . my ex-girlfriend and the traitor.”

    Kitty groaned and closed her eyes.

    I looked at her sympathetically, I can’t blame her for not wanting to deal with him. I didn’t want to deal with Steven, but he was usually always with Mick. 

    “Darling I’m so terribly sorry about earlier. You know I don’t normally lose my temper. Will you forgive me?”

    “No!” She snapped, opening her eyes to glare at him.

    “Oh, come on, I did apologize.”

    “NO!” She snarled, attempting to step forward. Reid’s arms tightened around her waist, holding her in place.

    “Fine, it’s your loss, honey. Oh, just to let you know your friends are safe. Steve and I took them home.” He grinned evilly and disappeared into the night.

    Kitty and I exchanged worried looks. The guys looked at one another, then to us and then gave us hugs and kisses. When they finally released us, they turned and started to leave.

    “You two should probably head home. It’s late and you both have school tomorrow. And don’t go lookin’ for trouble, ya hear?” Spike called.

    “We don’t look for trouble, trouble looks for us!”Kitty called back.

    “Be careful!” Reid yelled.

    “We will!” I shouted in response.

    We watched them walk away silently before turning to look at one another. We both sighed and started to walk towards our small town and warm cozy beds. It had been a long night and we were both exhausted. The guys were probably going to their lair to hide from the morning sun.