6 days earlier

"She killed Dawn!"  I screamed, pacing back and forth, angry but relieved, relieved that I didn't do the deed. "I can't believe she's finally gone."  I stated, the anger dissipating, leaving behind a sad melancholy remembrance.

"Forget about her, she's gone… How do we get Faith out?"  Kennedy asked, louder than necessary, adding, "She's the only one left who matters now."

Willow stepped in between Ken and me, mediating, or trying to at least. "Do you really think she's still alive?"  She hesitated, getting both our attentions. "Seriously, do you think they left her whole after that?"  Willow turned and looked back in the direction of the lair. "They wouldn't have let her live… and if they did…" Willow looked down at the ground, her voice becoming a sullen whisper. "If they did, well, she's not gonna be much help to anyone, much less herself."

Kennedy sighed loudly and moved beside Will, looking into her eyes, stating the obvious. "We can't allow him to turn her."

We all became deathly quiet, the honesty of those words ringing true, scaring us, making us think of what could happen if we allowed Faith to become, all of us knowing we'd never be able to stop her.

"I'll do it, I'll take care of her."  I stated, void of emotion.

Kennedy laughed, mocking me. "Oh, her you want to kill. She's not even dead… yet but its okay just to take her out.  A lot of this could have been avoided if you'd of let of us take out who we needed to in the first place."

"Be quiet."  Willow ground out between her teeth. "This isn't helping anyone."

Kennedy turned her back to us and walked off a short distance.  She blew out a short breath and pulled out the revolver stashed in her belt loop, handing it back to me.  I eased forward and wrapped my hand around the gun, nodding.

I blew out a breath, steadied myself and headed back to the lair as fast as I could, not caring who or what heard me.  I had to get there, take out Faith, if for nothing but to save her from being tortured.

I ran straight up to the entrance and slowed, peering into the darkened area.  I couldn't see anything so I leaned over, putting my torso into the building, straining to see.

A hand clasped my shoulder, causing me to jump and turn around abruptly, only to see Ken and Wills looking at me.

I released the breath I'd been holding and tried to get my heart back to beating normally.  I glared at Ken as she smirked at me.

"Is she there?"  Willow asked, interrupting the pissing contest between Ken and myself.

I shrugged and looked back into the darkness of the building.  "Can't see." 

Willow smiled and stepped forward into the darkness."I got this."  She raised her hands, motioning around the area and muttered some type of incantation, instantly lighting the place up.  She turned and gave us a satisfied smile.

The door slid shut abruptly, cutting us off from Wills, locking her inside the lair and us on the outside.  Ken and I hit the door, pushing and pulling with all our might. 

Electricity shot out from the windows, busting the glass and raining down shards all over the place.  Blasts of illumination forced itself outward.  Screams were heard and then silence ensued.

We fought the door, finally ripping it from its place and flinging it off to the side.

We stepped in; weapons raised and froze as we saw Willow sitting on the floor, leaning back against several fiends as they drank from her.  We watched in horror as they slit their wrists and put the bloody appendage to her lips, and gave her the virus.

I raised the weapon, fired off a shot, hitting Will directly in the head, closing my eyes as she slumped over.

Kennedy screamed and I opened my eyes abruptly, watching as she ran head on at the vamps with nothing but a knife and thrashed each and every vampire, hacking off their heads with nothing but rage and adrenaline driving her. 

She completed her task and turned, worn, bloody, knife arm dangling to her side and shakily walked towards me, passing by me and into the light of day.

I gave a last look at Wills, walked over, doused her body with lighter fluid and lit up her remains, ensuring that she wouldn't rise again.

I looked around the lair, looking for Giles and Faith but found nothing but emptiness and the smell of death.

I walked outside to Ken, who broke down, sobbing, leaning against me, grasping onto anything, anyone, real and alive.

We cried until we were dry and sought out shelter and refuge in the basement of a nearby church. 

We'd wait until the next morning and light up the entire town.  We were going to hit the city grid, open up the gas pipes all over and send the whole town to hell, ourselves included.  Whatever it took to get these bastards, we were now willing to endure.

We were two against thousands and we had nothing left to live for.

They would pay and they would die screaming.

5 days earlier

Darkness faded and dawn reared its ugly face, illuminating the slush, the ash, the death and decay, showing our desperation and desires:  The desire for revenge.

We quietly made our way to the electric company and from there we made a stop by the local natural gas company, getting a list of customers and from there we methodically, went street by street, back to the gas containment and knocked off the lever, releasing the noxious gases through the homes, buildings and atmosphere.  House after house, building after building, business after business we trudged on, not slowing, not stopping, one thought, one goal in mind:  Destroy them… destroy them all.

Hours passed and still we worked, killing those that opposed us or got in our way.  Nothing was going to deter us from accomplishing this task, nothing at all.

We had about forty minutes of daylight left and we were on the last grid of the map.  We'd started skipping every other building hours ago, knowing that the power of the blast, the heat would ignite those left alone.

Ten minutes left on the clock.  Ken and I looked at each other and ran for the car, each of us throwing ourselves into it.  I brought the engine to life and gunned the car down the street, heading to the electric company.

The last sliver of light faded as we rounded the last curve to our destination showing the dead, walking and moving out into our path, blocking us from our objective.  I scanned the group, looking for Giles and Faith, not wanting to go up against either one of them.

I stomped on the accelerator, plowing through the minions and burst through the doors of the electric company.  Ken and I got out and ran for the main grid, locking the main door behind us, barricading it. 

We started flipping switches, setting everything on overload.  Alarms finally started to sound off, signaling an end of things. 

I flipped the last switch and looked to Ken, who was looking upwards at a skylight.  She looked at me and I nodded.  No way I was gonna just sit down an die easily, hell no.  I was gonna give it all, until I had nothing left.

We climbed through the skylight by way of overhead pipes, kicked the Plexiglas out and pushed our bodies through the small opening.

Kennedy, grabbed my shoulder and pulled me out, helping me to my feet.  We looked around, got our barings and ran the length of the catwalk and jumped out and over the surrounding, protective fence to the ground.

We rolled and came up running. 

"Car."  Kennedy yelled out breathlessly.

I hesitated, looked to where she was pointing and ran for the old bronco.

We climbed in and I looked around frantically as Ken hotwired the vehicle.

"Hurry.  They're coming."  I whispered, watching as more and more undead littered the area.

The truck roared to life.  Kennedy threw it into gear and pulled off at a fast pace, plowing over any and everything in our path.

We jumped curbs, people, skidded around parked cars and dodged the occasional hurled object that came at us.

We sped up, flying as fast as we could go, when the first explosion sounded off behind us. 

Flames and smoke billowed up into the sky and the heat soared all around us.  Blast after blast sounded, igniting up a fast moving cloud of vapor and heat.

Our hearts started beating faster as the heat and explosions were catching up to us.  We looked ahead, not wanting to look behind us, not wanting to see the heat as it overtook us, cooked us alive.

Explosions sounded off to the sides of us, knocking against the outside of the car, causing us to shift with the force of the blow.

The wheels skidded over the asphalt as the rubber tires became hot. 

I pointed off to the left, watching as Kennedy jerked the wheel in that direction, pushing the car faster, harder, heading straight for the slight hill and the pond that lay behind it.

We jumped the hill and soared out into the pond, the truck crashing down into the cool water, sinking quickly, the force of the water keeping us from freeing ourselves.

We sat there, trapped; watching as the water quickly covered the windows and started filling the inside of the auto.

I took in my last breath as the water filled to the top, looked around and shot out the windows, kicking the glass, making room for us to escape.

I grabbed Ken and pulled her behind me, pushing us to the surface.

We broke the top of the water and I looked around, looked at everything on fire and started moving towards the shore, pulling Kennedy behind me.

I pulled Ken out of the water, turned her over and noticed that she had a large gash over her forehead.  I gave her a few breaths, waiting and hoping that she was okay.  She finally coughed and spit up a small bit of water and took in huge gasps of air.

I held her close and watched as the town continued to burn.

I watched as the flames licked the sky, thinking to myself,"burn mother burn."

I smirked and pulled Ken to her feet and helped her move away from the flames and to some place safe.

We'd make sure we got them come first light and right now, I wasn't sure of anything, the only thing I knew was that I had to get us someplace safe, somewhere well hid.

Another thing I knew for sure; we hurt them and that felt good.  Real good.

4 days earlier

Kennedy bounced back with a vengeance, armed and ready to roll, her thirst to avenge Will thrust high on her to do list.

We made our way back to the smoldering lair, each of us wary, watchful and both of us living on our pain and adrenaline.

No doubt about it, we'd hit them hard, taken lots of them out but you could never be too sure about things like this, just when you thought you'd knocked them down and out, more always crawled up out of hell.

We searched the area, the perimeter and there we found drag marks.  Someone or some thing had been drug over the ground.  I followed the trail, stopping momentarily to pick up a piece of scrap paper.  It had one word scribbled across it:  ‘Alive' and it appeared to be scrawled in blood.

I breathed in heavily and passed the paper to Ken, who nodded, silently agreeing to pick up the pace, doing exactly what they intended, that being, us, taking the bait.

We slinked across the ground, covering miles in a few short minutes, silently, stealthily, each of us with one thought in mind.  Get there; stop the transformation before its too late.

We finally came to an abandoned church, half standing and we slowly approached, surveying the place, taking note of all the high trees that shielding the place from the sunlight.  We walked into madness with nothing but a couple of sticks keeping us from ending up on the menu.

Something snapped behind me, causing me to turn abruptly and face who'd become my worst enemy.

He stood there, glowering down at me, smiling, offering condolences for all that I'd lost, for all that had been.  He beckoned me too him, lulling me into a false sense of security, offering me a place to reign supreme and be all that I could be.

Well I didn't join the Army and I sure as hell wasn't gonna join up with the walking dead, at least not over my living body.

We stood there staring at each other, him hungry and me, wishing I could run.

I gripped my stake, itching, my heart thrumming through my head and chest, waiting for the right time.  Kennedy beat me to him, lunging before I could move or pull her back.  She dove in, backhanding him and moving forward into his space, stake ready and thrusting downward.

He grabbed her hand, sidestepped and bent her arm on around, allowing the momentum to propel her forward and into his waiting hands.  He displaced the stake, grabbed it and pushed it into her. 

She pulled in a gasp of air, hissing through her teeth on her exhale and falling to her knees.

He laughed and pushed her off to the side, smirking at me as she fell to the ground.

I stared at him, positioning myself for defense but none came.  He laughed and backed away, out of sight.

I ran to Kennedy, kneeled beside her and checked her over.  Her stake was protruding from her gut.  "Don't pull…" She grabbed the piece of wood and pulled it out and my words died on my lips as I watched the blood flow freely from the wound.

I tore off my top shirt and made a dressing, tied it tightly across her abdomen and pulled her up, helping her to walk out of there.

We moved around the church and to the graveyard.  "Great."  I muttered as I saw the stones littering the path to freedom.

I pushed forward, dragging Ken with me, stopping as something came into view.

Up ahead, on top of a mausoleum, was Faith, lying, bound and gagged, looking worse than the last time I'd seen her.  I squinted, looking harder, noticing her labored breaths going in and out.

I had the urge to run to her but I couldn't leave Ken and there was no way I could carry both of them out of here.  I looked around, noticing the heavy, stone door of the tomb.  If I could get there, get Ken in and then grab Faith, I could fight them off until they recovered enough to help us out of here.

I ran for the door, dropping Ken as I neared it, pushing against it with all my weight.  It slowly creaked open.  I grabbed Ken by the waist of her pants and tugged her inside, instantly jumping up and grabbing hold of Faith and pulling her across the cement and down into my arms.

She landed with a thump and I righted myself and drug her inside the tomb, quickly pushing the door to as I went.

I slid down the wall, sitting, resting, wondering what the hell I was gonna do now.  I looked at the two helpless slayers lying on the floor nearby and tears overran my eyes.

All I could do was sit here in the dank darkness, sweat in the heat, wait, hope and pray that somehow they'd wake up and be alright and we'd live through another day.

3 days earlier

The heat was sweltering.  Kennedy was pale and needed air and water.  Faith was still unconscious, pale and her breathing labored.

I was exhausted, tired beyond any and everything imaginable.  I'd put my weight against the entrance door all day and all night, trying to keep the fiends outside and away from us but I was tiring fast.

The sun would be high enough in a few hours to make a break for freedom but who was I kidding… we were running out of time.

Kennedy had acquired a fever and was moaning and coughing every now and again and Faith, well her breathing was weak and slowing, sometimes catching as she fought to stay with us.

I sighed and pulled in a hot breath of air, silently making up my mind to do something, anything but just sit here and burn to death. 

I stood up, gripped the stone door and pulled it back slowly, the open crevice immediately letting in cool, fresh air.  I breathed in deeply, reveling in the breeze and peered through the narrow opening.

A couple of cross bolts hit against the door, letting me know that now was not the time to make a get away dash.  I looked up at the sky, noting to myself that they'd have to leave within hours or else turn into embers. 

"Not today."  I muttered, sliding back down onto the floor to wait.

I closed my eyes, making sure I was well enough away from the opening to keep from getting grabbed and tried to rest, knowing that it'd be time to run soon. 

I looked at Kennedy and Faith, wondering how I was gonna get them out of this, knowing that I probably couldn't, I pushed back against the wall, letting myself finally rest, well trying to rest as I kept myself aware of my surroundings.

Some time later, something fell from the trees outside.  My eyes opened, knowing that the time was upon us.  The vampires were retreating to safer ground, to shelter.  I sighed, relieved and looked to the others.

I'd have to leave, get transportation and get back before the sun changed positions enough to allow the vamps to move back in.

I blew out a harsh breath and stepped to the door, giving a last glance back at the others.  I pulled the door and stepped outside into the bright light, looked around, got my bearings and ran as fast as I could.

Twenty minutes later I finally made it into town.  I ran, looking to the few staggered cars around, finally choosing one that was old enough to withstand an onslaught of demons.

I got in and quickly hotwired it, remembering the way Kennedy had taught us. 

The old Buick roared to life and I peeled off, hurrying towards the closest mart.

I screeched to a halt just outside the gas n go, jumped out and quickly ransacked the store, grabbing up anything that'd be useful and hurled it into the trunk.  I grabbed gas cans and filled them as full as I could, looking around at the newly deserted town, noting that we'd have to come back here and decimate it as well.

I filled the tank and climbed back into the car, the tires squealing as I pulled out and hightailed it back to the others. 

Ten minutes later I jumped a curve and headed straight for the cemetery, rolling over and crushing any and all headstones in my path. 

I slid the car up in front of the mausoleum, jumped out, grabbed a bottle of water and ran for the door, quickly heaving the door open wide, letting in the outside light and instantly kneeling beside my partners, opening the water and giving them as much as they could withstand.

I grabbed Ken behind the shoulders and pulled her to the car, heaving her into the back seat, laying her carefully across the seat.

I ran back into the crypt, grabbed Faith and drug her to the car, pulling her up and into the front seat, securing her with the seatbelt and closing her in safely.

I jumped over the hood and clambered into the car, putting it into gear and headed out into broad daylight, anywhere away from here.

I finally made it to a local highway and pulled out onto the sun-hazed road; finally stopping to figure out which way I needed to head.

I figured if we pushed east, I'd come to a civilized place and just maybe, maybe I would find a hospital and get some needed help.

I pointed the car in the right direction and floored the accelerator, heading up the long stretch of never-ending road.

I kept glancing over at Faith who's haggard breathing was sounding more and more raspy and back and at Ken, who was still lying quietly, unmoving but breathing a lot easier than Faith.

Two hours later it got extremely quiet inside the car.  I looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong.  I smelled something burning. I looked in the backseat and didn't see anything so I faced front again, stilling myself momentarily, I glanced back over to Faith, noticing for the first time that I couldn't hear her breathing anymore and then my eyes fell upon her arm as it lay on the widow sill, exposed to the sun, smoking.

I looked into her face and her eyes opened abruptly, staring right through me.  She growled and lunged.  I started hitting at her, trying to keep her at bay, her strikes and lunges causing me to steer the car all over the road.

I jammed on the emergency brake, slinging all of us to the front.  Faith hit against the window, her attack slowed.  I flung open the door and got out of the car and into the bright sunlight.

She glared at me from inside the car and then Kennedy coughed from the backseat.  Faith smiled at me and slowly crawled over into the back, watching me the entire time.

I watched helplessly as she finished draining Ken and gave her some of her blood, making her into a monster.

I ran for the car, jumped into the front seat, snatched the keys from the ignition and got out just as Faith grabbed hold of me.

We battled, her trying to pull me inside the car and me trying to pull her out.

Finally her hands, still attached to me, met the sunlight.  She recoiled and let go of me, slithering back inside the safety of the car and pulled the door shut as she went.

I ran around to the trunk, opened it, throwing out as much as I could before the car lurched forward, away from me, leaving me alone and in a predicament. 

I had to go after them.  They'd stop, that much I knew and then I'd have to fix this and the sooner the better.  Faith knew the hiding place of the kids and I couldn't let her get to them, no matter what.

I walked in the direction the car went, slowly picking up speed until I was in a slow run.  They'd have to stop soon, just to get into some shade and that's when I'd make my move.

2 days earlier

I ran for hours, watching as the light turned into dark and back into day, until I found another car to hotwire and then I followed that old familiar slayer connection.  It was different now, but it pulled at me all the same.

I pulled up outside an old abandoned shed of some kind just an hour of so after daybreak, got out as quietly as possible and started heading towards what I had to do.

I found the car easily enough.  I ransacked the trunk, pulling out the cans of gas and other things that I could use, throwing them into my new ride. 

I grabbed up the tire iron and jammed it into the tires, flattening them, making sure they wouldn't be heading anywhere and then I strategically tore holes in the shed, letting in the deadly light.

Then I stilled myself, feeling, reaching out and followed the pull.  Something wasn't right.  I froze and stepped back towards the car.

Hands reached out and grabbed hold of my ankles, toppling me over and back into the dirt, pulling me underneath the car.

I started kicking at the hands, trying to free myself, trying to get away.  The strength was staggering and I was slowly being pulled underneath the old car.

I hit at the hands with the tire iron, battering them, breaking them, making them finally let go and pull back under the car.

I scrambled backwards as far away from their reach as fast as I could, watching as Faith stood up on the other side of the car.

She laughed and climbed inside the car, pulling the blanket covering the backseat as she got in, revealing Kennedy lying in the backseat.

I got up and started punching holes all over the shed, letting in as much light as I could.

I heard the car come to life behind me.

I turned and watched as Kennedy's eyes opened and she sat up and looked directly at me.

I ran for the car and jammed the iron through another tire, leaving them with three flat, useless ones.

The car lurched forward and stopped, its tires sinking into the sandy dirt.

I ran for my car, grabbing up the gas cans, ran back and poured the gas all over and around their car.  I rummaged my pockets looking for a match, a lighter, anything but found nothing.

The tires caught and lurched the vehicle forward again.  I looked at the tire iron and ran for the car, quickly striking the metal over and over again, hoping for a spark.

"Spark, damn you!"  I screamed out in frustration, watching as finally, the metal sent a small spark up and outward, its white-hot ember landing on the gas covered hood of the car and caught aflame.

I backed up and watched as the car ignited, the flames engulfing it.  I watched numbly as Faith and Kennedy stared at me, watched until the flames blocked them from view.  I heard screams from behind the flames and inwardly I cried.

I turned from the fire and walked away, hunting for a safe place to bed down and lick my wounds and my injured pride.

I still wasn't through though.  I had to go back, back and face him:  To end this once and for all, whatever the outcome.

1 day earlier

I drove around, searching, town-to-town, until I found what I was looking for:  A catholic church.  I went inside hesitantly, tiredly, collecting holy water and several crosses.

Next I hunted for a shop that carried blades.  I finally found a cheap martial arts shop that specialized in cheesy blades, consisting of knives, darts and swords.  I grabbed up what I could and left to find a safe place to think and rest for a bit.

I pulled up into a deserted diner and made my way inside, blessing the building and claiming it as my domicile.  I wouldn't be here long, but that wasn't the point, the point was I desperately needed food, water and rest.

I fixed some grub and cleaned off my cuts as best I could and settled back into one of the booths, my back to the wall, and closed my eyes to rest.

I woke up sometime later, looked out the window, noting that the sun was still up and that I had a few hours left of light. 

I grabbed some food for the road and left, heading back to the last place I knew the vamps were held up; the cemetery.

Just outside of town I pulled into an apartment complex.  I waited, watching, making sure I wasn't walking into a trap of some kind and got out making my way to the office.

I grabbed a couple of room keys off the wall, parked the opposite of my chosen room for the night and emptied half my supplies out of the car and put them into the room.  I carefully blessed the room and drew crucifixes over the windows and doors with the holy water.  I wasn't gonna take any chances, not now.

I kept my weapons close to me and slid down the wall in the corner to wait out the night.  Through the night I listened as vampires meandered outside the room, unable to enter, taunting me, trying to draw me out. 

Finally right before dawn a rock came crashing through the window with a simple word etched on the stone.  Cemetery.

I nodded, knowing that this was the showdown.  One way or another it would end.

Today

You think you've faced the worst there is?  Well I've got news for you; you haven't.

Forget all you thought you knew about pain.  Forget all you knew about fighting.  Might as well forget about living while you're at it.  You can't use what you've been taught; he knows all your tricks, your moves, your tactics.

What you need to know, what matters today… is that you're the one who caused this and you're the only one who can end it.

Think your friends and family can help you?  Well they can't.  They're dead; either turned or bled dry.

This is for the rest of my kind, their future.  This is it, one way or another, it ends… just remember, it's not Giles anymore.  The man you thought of as your father is gone, dead but not buried and now it's up to you; so make a choice.  Do you want to run, live to fight another day or do you want to take him on, take him down, and make that bastard inside of him pay for what its done?

I can do this.  I can.  I have to or else… else all your deaths were for nothing, else I'll lose those few I have left now.

I'm gonna kill you…

Or I'm gonna die trying.

I wiped at the mirror in the rundown bathroom, gingerly pushing my fingers over the steamed up surface and looked at myself, long and hard, noting each and every line of stress indented in my face, the dark circles that now marred my once perfect skin and I promised myself that this time, it would be over once and for all. 

He would fall.  I'd kill him; his followers and the slayers in hiding, waiting to grow up would be safe.  I would see to it that my successors would carry on.

They would.

They had to or else a new hell would release itself over the entire earth.

I looked at myself again in the frosted over mirror, looked into my own hollow eyes and turned, walking into the other room, to the weapons carefully laid out over the bed.

I fingered them reverently, donning them.  Knife in the back of my jeans, knife inside my boot, flare gun tucked away in a shoulder holster, loaded, two extra flares in a pouch hung on my belt.  A short sword accompanied the ensemble but it didn't make me feel any safer.

Was anyone ever really safe? 

No, we weren't.  We were just biding our time, living until our luck ran out.

I grabbed up a large bottle of water, opened it and took a long drink, took in a deep breath, gripped the sword and walked to the door, opened it and slipped out into the night, into the unknown, into life or death or somewhere in between.

It was now or never.

I wanted the never, but I couldn't run, not from this, not from him, not from my duty, not me.  I'm not a quitter.

I left the door open and looked outward into the darkness, took a few deep breaths and started walking back to the cemetery… the cemetery where everything kept going to hell and our numbers kept falling.

That cemetery:  The one in my newly formed nightmares.

Eyes followed my every step, staying back, ordered to leave me for the master, at least that was my reasoning.  I kept a cautious eye on every thing following me, continuing onward, still drinking the water, trying to calm my nerves, my feet never missing a beat against the overgrown grass.

I felt this urge to stop and I did.  I breathed in heavily, unsure of what was about to come.  I felt power surrounding me and I knew that several followers had mutinied against their new master.

They swarmed all at once, breaking through the thick surrounding brush.  I downed the rest of the water in one big gulp and twirled the hilt of the sword in my hand, feeling the weight, balancing it in my palm.

I waited, arced the blade facing upwards, pivoted my foot and bent a knee, eyes downward, peering up from the corner, itching to strike, but waiting until just the right moment.

They ran in, unthinking, within striking distance.  I pivoted around, bringing the blade upward, twirling, slicing the blade fast, furiously through the air, shoulder high, using the momentum to propel the blade around in a circle arc, using my body's natural strength to pull the blade through any obstacle in its way.

The blade sliced through neck after neck, felling them in a nice even circle. 

I smirked and walked through the falling embers, kicking a burning cadaver out of my way, taking pleasure in the way it crumbled in the air and fell to the ground.

I looked at the few lucky enough to survive my counter attack, those few who'd stayed back, holding their ground.  I eyed them, challenging them, watching as they slinked away.

I turned back towards my goal and put one foot in front of the other, one thing in mind. 

I slowed as I neared the cemetery, looking upward into the grayish black of the moss-covered trees.  This was it. 

I pulled the flare gun and shot a flare up high into the sky, illuminating the area, trying to get a read on where everything was.  I scanned the area, mapping it, memorizing where everything was, making my plan.

I watched as the flare faded, reloaded the gun, holstered it and stepped forward, my feet expertly navigating the broken and jagged headstones covering the ground.

I stopped suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge.  I listened, feeling the air around me, feeling the power.

I brought my sword up quickly over my head, dejecting the blow that came out of nowhere.  I turned and got a glimpse of him, right before he thrust outward and sent me crashing back against a tombstone, breaking it in two.

I righted myself quickly and looked around, trying to locate him, trying to feel his presence.

I looked around frantically, listening as he laughed and mocked me.  I stepped closer to the trees, peering into the blackness.  I felt something shift behind me.  I turned and faced nothingness and turned back to face him head on.

I pulled in a gasp of air, my eyes widening as he smirked at me.  I pulled a stake and thrust it forward, cringing as he caught my hand and pulled me right up against him.

He licked the side of my head and groaned.  I panicked slightly, brought up my knee to his groin, hitting him hard and fast, causing him to lose his grip slightly.  I pulled away, pivoted and lashed out with a vicious roundhouse kick, knocking him off balance and to the side. 

I ran, jumping in the air, following up with a front snap kick, finally taking him off his feet and onto the ground.  I followed him to the ground, stake drawn, trying to push it into his heart.

He grabbed my hand and held on, smiling at me the entire time.

I grabbed the flare gun from the holster, aimed and fired it right into his chest.  He glared and sucked in the pain, letting his adrenaline build up.

He finally laughed and kicked me off of him.  I rolled over the uneven ground, pushed up to my knees and looked over to where he used to be.  I scanned the area and located my fallen sword. 

I pulled a knife and dove over the ground for the sword, grasp the hilt and rolled to my knees and onto my feet. 

I stood amongst the graves, knife in one hand, sword in the other, another stake tucked safely in my belt loop and waited.

I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to do what my ears were telling me to do.  I heard the leaves shuffle behind me.  I fought against turning, kept my eyes closed and waited for the surge of power.

I gripped the sword tighter, waiting, waiting.  I turned slightly and flung the sword through the air, watching as it flew straight towards a shocked Giles, hitting him dead in the chest and securing him to a nearby tree.

I grinned and ran straight for him, knife at the ready, stake pulled.

He smiled at me, waiting until I got close and then pulled the sword from his chest and slashed it through the air, catching me off guard, cutting my face and torso before I could get out of the way. 

I blocked the blade with my knife, catching his arm, keeping it and the sword locked up, giving me enough time to drive the knife in and upward, trying to carve out his heart.

He hit me square in the nose, bloodying it, causing my eyes to water up and sting. 

I leaned down and thrust the knife through his kneecap, disabling him, trying to give myself a good chance.

He screamed, grabbed me by the head and flung me off and over a bunch of grave markers. 

I pushed myself to my knees weakly, using a nearby stone to right myself.  I looked around and sensed a shadow in the nearby brush.  I took a step backwards and stopped suddenly, I looked back, saw nothing and felt the power shift somehow around me.

I looked to the front, the back and to the sides.  Something moved in from the front and sides and I took a quick step back, stopped and turned suddenly and looked up into the face of my one time father figure.

He grabbed me, pulled me forwards and sunk his fangs into my shoulder, drinking furiously.

I struggled, quickly growing weak and losing the will and strength to fight.

He suddenly let me go, pushing me off to the side.  I staggered over a few stones and fell backwards into a half sitting position against a broken marker.

I watched as he eyed me carefully, sizing me up. "You poisoned me?"  He asked.

I nodded yes, watching as the bite marks sizzled on my body, showing that I'd been drinking Holy Water.

He nodded and started to glow from within.

I watched as he ignited and his glowing embers blew in the gentle breeze.

I leaned back fully against the headstone, the loss of blood causing me to become disoriented.

I tried to stop the loss of blood, but watched helplessly as it trickled through my fingers.

I laughed, calling out to him. "I won.  I beat you."

"I won."

"Didn't I?"

"Didn't I?"