Soarin

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Secret (part I)

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I know... I'm dreaming... And I'm outside of myself, yet I'm not. I'm perfectly conscious of being inside my own body but at the same time, I can see... everything. Every aspect of every detail of this dream. I can even see myself standing as though suspended in darkness. It blankets everything and it isn't like a darkness one can touch. It's Nothing. This place is what Nothing looks like. Feels like. But through this hazy blackness I can see things beginning to form and swirl, materializing out of the very obscurity that is Nothing. And the Nothing is moving as though it is alive. I look, eager to discover what it is that this Nothing is trying to show me and as if in answer to my silent request, the floor suddenly forms under my bare feet. All about me the blackness shifts and turns into walls and I'm surprised to see that the walls are made entirely out of plants.

It's a hedge maze.

I look up and all I can see is the velvety darkness overhead yet inside the maze I can see everything visibly. A low mist hangs over the ground and all about me the silence pushes in on all sides, so loud one can hear it.

I say, Hello, calling for some unknown person who I can feel nearby and my voice echoes like I am in a huge cavern, yet it is inside my brain that I hear it.

Ahead of me is a long corridor of hedge walls with several passages branching off from it. Everything is so still I feel afraid to move, yet I do, walking forward slowly. The mist that hovers over everything is the only thing to move and it parts as I walk through it. I pass two or three of the branching passages and when I cast a glance down them, all I see are more pathways and walls of shrubbery. But I know I'm not to traverse these corridors. Before me is another wall of vegetation and I realize it is a sharp corner. Once I reach it, I turn and find myself in what must be only one of many wide chambers in this maze of bushes; and lying off to the side is a young man, skinny, with a sort of squashed nose which looks like it has been broken before. He is lying very still and I know it is not because of my dream, but because he's been knocked unconscious somehow. He is wearing dark robes made of some kind of light fur that cloak his form from me so that I cannot see him clearly.

I walk past him and find myself facing another long passage and to my disgust, I find a huge shiny black spider lying across the path. But I know it can't hurt me and I walk slowly toward it and inch myself around its many thick legs. I don't know why I look back as I continue past it, but I do and am glad to see it is growing further and further away from me as I proceed down this passage. And then I find myself in another of the hedge maze's chambers and in this one, a scene had begun to unfold.

Standing in the very center of the room are two boys. One is actually a young man and must at least be sixteen or seventeen. He's very handsome and seems to be injured. The other is not as old. He's young, probably the same age as myself, maybe a bit younger, and he wears round glasses and has dark hair that sticks up oddly. Both of them are wearing dark heavy cloaks similar to that first boy I saw and they are staring at a cup, which is placed on a dais in the center of this room made of plants. They both have their hands outstretched like they are in the process of grabbing hold of the handles of this large urn. I move closer. They are both still, as though frozen (or like I've suddenly dropped between moments and can look but never touch). I move around them and notice that the younger boy's leg has been bleeding and his pants are torn and soaked in blood. I look at the two of them, staring first at the tall good-looking boy and then at the shorter one.

The shorter boy has an expression of determined resolve set on his face and I look longest into his eyes, which are startlingly green. Everything else in this dream is dark and heavy, yet his eyes are bright and full of color, like emeralds. My gaze is drawn suddenly to his forehead and I draw my eye brows together when I see that on his forehead, where his hair has been winded back, is a very thin scar. It is shaped rather like a bolt of lightning... I stare at that scar, wondering where something like that could possibly have come from. It is razor sharp and like no scar I have ever seen before.

Suddenly, these figures twitch and noises begin to rise out of the silence around me! I back away, surprised as both boys begin to move ever so slowly. Their hands come closer and closer toward the cup as their bodies lean toward it, their very images getting harder and harder for me to see; and everything about me is not as clear as it was moments before. Suddenly their hands are on the cup and the scar on the younger boys forehead suddenly blazes with light, so bright it blinds me and I squint, holding my hands before my eyes just to keep from being blinded! That lighting bolt shines like a sun and fills my dream with white heat, and as the light escalates and grows harsher and whiter and hotter I feel my whole body scorch with pain and I feel myself falling, writhing in the terrible searing fire that is flowing through my limbs and I'm falling... falling...falling... And then I'm colliding with myself and I-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-sat up in his bed. His pajamas were damp and clung to him and his breathing rasped in and out of his lungs. His forehead glistened with sweat and his pajama jacket stuck to him. He blinked as he felt the pain that had swirled through him die out quickly until he felt almost numb and wondered if the pain had ever really been there. His throat felt incredibly dry and he reached out toward the bedside table for the glass of water that sat upon it. He drained it and placed it back in its spot and then he looked toward the window.

Outside it was dark but the full moon was bright and cast a cold blue hue over everything. The air was still and no wind blew to rustle through the leaves of the outermost trees of the forest that ringed the school. And though it was extremely cold outside, inside, it was very comfortable. He pushed the comforter back and slipped out of bed. He paced over to the window and stared out through it, his breath fogging the glass to show how cold it actually was outside on this late January night. He glanced quickly across the room at the bed opposite him. In it was his best friend, Shaun Mullins. Shaun hadn't stirred at all and was actually snoring softly.

His forehead furrowed, he continued to look at his friend, asleep in the bed, and his thoughts turned to his dream. He was accustomed to having odd dreams. That was his destiny. He had the gifts of a Dream Watcher. A Seer and Diviner. Nearly every night as he fell asleep he knew he would drift into dreams which would show him things he needed to know; whether he wanted to see them or not. Sometimes they told him things that were of no consequence to himself, other times they simply aided him in taking tests in his school. But often times, Dream Watching helped him see what was in store for him next when it came to his other calling. It was routine for him to wake in the middle of the night after Seeing something odd. However, this time it had been different. He was not used to waking from a dream with real pain! Something about this dream didn't sit right with him. He could feel it in his very bones.

He turned from the window and picked up his wrist-watch. Two o'clock in the morning! He sighed and strapped it onto his wrist. The need for sleep and the drowsiness one feels when they've been awakened at two o'clock in the morning had vanished completely. Instead, he felt as though his blood was pulsing with exuberant amounts of energy. He moved to the foot of his bed and knelt before the large heavy trunk that resided there. He unlocked it, lifted the lid and pulled out a pair of loose black pants and a sweater. Following that, he pulled out a short black coat. He dressed quickly and then slipped sneakers onto his feet. There was no possible way he would get back to sleep now, so why not go for a 'walk'?

Soarin knelt before the trunk again and lifted the remainder of his clothes out of it and underneath the piles of socks and pants was revealed a virtual storehouse of weapons! There was an actual crossbow on one side and a wooden box without a lid, which held several crystal vials of clear liquid. Each of the slender vials was marked with a large black cross. Near them was a thick stack of glittering shuriken, Japanese throwing stars, and a short and beautifully ornate silver dagger with a thick handle. And it was past all of these that Soarin reached, to a pile of crude wooden stakes. They were all different sizes, some short and some thick, others long and slender, but all had been shaven down to have extremely sharp points. (Whatever gets the job done! Soarin thought.) He plucked a long oak spike from the pile and tucked it into his coat pocket and then tossed the pile of clothes he had removed back on top of the mass of weaponry and closed the trunk's lid. He replaced the lock, stood up and then headed toward the door.

But he stopped and turned back around to face the room. Often times when he had left in the middle of the night he had returned to find Shaun awake and frightened out of his wits for the friend who had somehow disappeared into the dark. Shaun was always so afraid that when his best friend went out on one of his 'walks' that that friend wouldn't return at all! And it didn't help when that best friend would return bruised across one limb or another and sometimes even bleeding! Not wanting to worry his friend anymore than was needed, he tiptoed across the wood floor to Shaun's bedside.

He reached out and gently shook Shaun's shoulder, but his gentle version of shaking was to nearly throw Shaun out of the bed. Shaun was lying on his stomach but he jerked over and sat up partially and blinked about him, disoriented.

"What! What? Whatsgoinon?"

He hushed Shaun hurriedly, fearful someone would hear. "Shaun, be quiet!"

Shaun blinked up at his friend and then sighed. "Oh, Soarin. It's you... What is it? What's wrong?" He blinked at the window, trying to focus and rid the sleep from his eyes.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just going to go out is all," Soarin whispered.

Shaun bolted awake instantly. "What?" he cried louder than Soarin would have liked. "No! You can't! It's really late and you'll get caught!"

"I've never been caught before," glancing at the door, "and keep your voice down! I'm only going to go for a walk. I'm not looking for trouble," he half-lied, "I just can't sleep." He placed his hand over the stake in his pocket, hoping Shaun wouldn't notice it.

"Another dream?" Soarin nodded. "Soarin, if your dreams are to much for you to handle and they are taking sleep from you, you can take something you know!" Shaun's eyes softened with compassion. "I can make a potion for you. Something for Dreamless Sleep, maybe? There are a lot of things! I can-"

Soarin shook his head and sighed. "You know that will never work. My dreams are a gift. There is nothing you or anyone can do that can stop me from Seeing. It's my calling and my destiny. You know that. Just like-"

"Yes, I know," Shaun said quickly, cutting Soarin off. "It sure is a lot to have on your plate when you're only fifteen. School, Seeing..." his eyes shifted away, "Slaying... Must take its toll."

Soarin nodded and stared down at the dark floor. "I do what has to be done. But hey," he continued brightly, "I'll be back in a little bit and asleep before you know it! And I'll give you and Eliza all the details about my dream in the morning. Please go back to sleep! I just wanted to let you know where I was if you happened to wake up and I wasn't there."

Shaun bowed his head. "Okay, just as long as you're going on a walk and aren't going to be fighting."

"Well, I never know if I'm going to be fighting!" Soarin said sarcastically, trying to keep a smile on his face. "I don't control the Forces of Darkness, you know!" Shaun nodded and leaned back against his pillow. Soarin moved toward the door. "I'll be back in a little while, just go back to sleep."

Shaun said he would and then turned over with his back to the door, but Soarin knew that Shaun's eyes were open and they would stay open until he returned from this little 'stroll' unscathed.

Soarin put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. He glanced back at Shaun's shape under the blankets for a moment and then opened the door and stepped out into the hall, closing the room behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soarin walked silently down the short hallway of the branch of dorms that his and Shaun's room was in. The walls were lined with doors, each bearing a number on it. He headed toward the double doors at the far end of the hallway, which would connect into a large room which was a sort of recreation room for the students in his hall. Here they could do their homework or practice low level charms and spells and other such things. This room connected to either an outside door or another door which led into a hallway which was lined with classrooms. The room he shared with Shaun in this branch of the dormitories was at the far end of the corridor on the right and on the wall next to their door, opposite the double entrance doors, was a large window covered in translucent curtains. The moon shone brightly through this window, casting Soarin's shadow out long and eerie before him.

He slipped past the stairwell that led upwards to the second floor dorm rooms and silently cracked the door of the hallway open and then slipped into the main recreation room. It was dark and bright all at once and the fire which had been burning merrily in the fireplace hours before had burned out completely so that even the dying embers couldn't cast any sort of glow to lighten the room. Soarin moved stealthily past the tables and chairs toward the door which led outside. As he neared it, he could feel the vibrations of the spell that was locking it. If he opened it, one of the teachers would know, or the groundskeeper, an ugly, mean old man named Weeds, would come running to catch him. And the last thing that Soarin needed was to be caught out of bed and handed over to the headmaster of the school, Armin Manners. Soarin, from experience, knew that the windows around the rec room were neglected and he could easily get out through one of them. He turned toward the nearest one and unlocked it. Pushing it open, he climbed up onto the frame and jumped outside into the bushes that grew around the building. He landed silently in the soft dirt and turned around to close the window, leaving it open to a tiny slit so that he could slip back inside without having to make noise trying to open it again.

The cold night air bit at him as he picked his way carefully through the bushes and came out onto the cement walkway that ran around from where he was at the back of the building, down the sides of the classrooms in this wing of the school and then around into the central courtyard of the school's main building. Moving quickly away from the window, Soarin walked hastily around the dorms, following the path that would lead him into the courtyard. Behind him, the sweeping lawns of the grounds stretched toward the blackness of the forest in the distance where the tall looming trees stood like sentinels in the night. The walkway he was in was long and closed in overhead by the wide sweeping boughs of the tall bushes that lined the cement path. The full moon's light could hardly penetrate the thick overlay of leaves, but here and there, the light would make it through and cast spooky swirls of illumination across the walkway.

And all about him, Soarin could feel the air moving as though something powerful and sinister were nearby. He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched as the hairs that were standing up all down his neck and arms were telling him. There was definitely something in the air that was giving him the idea that trouble was nearby. Normally, Soarin could sense any sort of energy that was demonic in nature in the very atmosphere around him, but tonight, the only thing that he had to go on was the way the chilled air was making his skin crawl. He walked slowly, in no rush to face the trouble that undoubtedly loomed, as he concentrated to try and center on where the energy might be coming from.

He walked very slowly, taking each step with extreme care and caution, keeping his ears open for the sound of any footsteps that weren't his own. (I'm glad I chose to wear soft-soled shoes, he thought.) His own steps scarcely made a sound as he reached into his coat pocket and withdrew the wooden stake. He clutched it tightly in his fist and kept it raised up to his chest, prepared for any sort of attacker that might jump out of the foliage on his sides. His breath was clouding out in front of his face and his nose began to sting from the cold night air. He jerked his head around behind him but there was no one there. (Better to stay on my toes, right? he told himself.) Facing back around, he walked to the end of the pathway and came out into the open space of the courtyard.

The courtyard was a wide-open space that had small grassy lawns and flower beds patch-worked on it. Here and there, stone and wrought-iron benches stood on the cement walkways. These walkways moved throughout the whole courtyard and during the day there were always students milling about enjoying the sunlight here. The stone pathways all branched off in different directions toward the surrounding buildings where they each met large double doors which were the entrances into the wings of the school where the classrooms resided. And moving backwards, all these pathways journeyed toward the center of the courtyard where they converged to a round slab of stone done over with a beautiful mosaic in oranges, yellows and reds. These odd bits of tile and glass formed a large shining sun with swirling sunburst patterns that looped elegantly around its bright center.

Soarin moved slowly into the courtyard and walked into its heart and stopped before the mosaic sun. On bright days this piece of art was a beautiful thing to behold, but tonight all its color and grandeur were lost in the darkness. And ringing this immense piece of beauty were words made up of the same bits of fragmented tile. THE ACADEMY OF THE HIEROPHANTS - SCHOOL OF GREATNESS! Soarin smirked and whispered: "It's not so wonderful..." And he meant it. Hierophants, as the students called it, was a private wizarding school with a minimal amount of students because of the steep tuition. And somehow, despite the money and the rich patrons, the school was not what it should have been. Soarin, who didn't know any other wizarding schools, should never have thought that he knew better, but inside, he felt that Hierophants was not all what the words at his feet claimed. And true to the ways of the school, the students were no better. Because they all came from rich and powerful wizarding families, they all walked about with their noses in the air, with attitudes of great importance and pride, always looking at one another as though they were better than any one else. Or maybe they're just better than me and know it, Soarin thought dismally. But he knew he was partly right. Even the teachers seemed to look down on him because of the reasons for his attending Hierophants.

Soarin's parents were dead. They had died when he was very young, only three or four years old, and he could scarcely remember them at all except for faint memories of their smiles, and their warmth and sometimes, the fleeting sound of their voices. When they had died, Soarin had found himself to be quite wealthy because they had left behind a great deal of money, and of course, upon their deaths, it was passed on to him according to their wishes. They had expressly written that he was allowed the money for his schooling and for living expenses and it was not to be kept from him until he was of age as most often things of this sort are. He was to be able to have access to his small fortune if ever he needed it no matter how old he might be at the time. But despite the money, Soarin had lived in an orphan's home until he was more than eleven. Three months before his twelfth birthday, a letter had been delivered to the headmistress of the orphanage. After she had read the letter, she passed it on to him, her face whitish and pale, and he read over this odd creamy white piece of parchment which stated matter-of-factly that he was a wizard and must attend a wizarding school. And that was also when he had found the orphanage, which he had called his home for the past eight years of his life, was no longer a place that he was welcome at. The other young boys and girls had not been told about this new development in his life and it was kept quiet even amongst the other woman who ran the children's home and as far as Soarin knew, only the headmistress had actually known the full truth. He was taken directly to The Academy Of The Hierophants because it was the only wizarding school in California, located just outside San Francisco, which had dormitories for the students to stay in. There certainly were no other options, since the orphan's home no longer wanted him there and he had no known living blood relatives. Soarin had found this new kind of life to be very exciting. He hadn't much liked the orphanage and he had had no real friends there. They had always stayed away because of the strange way his dreams kept coming true and his amazingly 'freakish' strength. But he was to find out about those aspects of his life later.

He began his schooling quickly, eager to learn more about the world of wizards, and happy to be around other people his age who were 'odd' like himself. But reputations always seemed to precede a person and there weren't many who didn't already know about why he was going to Hierophants. His first year there had been very difficult because the students stayed away from him even more so than they did previously! Life was even more trying because of one boy in particular. His name was Lorn Stevens and he never passed on an available opportunity to pick on and relentlessly tease Soarin. And even though he was the only one who ever made light of the circumstances of his attendance at Hierophants, they still kept their distance. All except one. The intelligent and somewhat bookish Shaun Mullins who shared his room. But at first, Shaun had as much to say to Soarin as any one else, so most of Soarin's time was spent alone, even when Shaun was in the room. But he hadn't minded. Hierophants was leaps and bounds above the orphan's home!

And then his dreams began to show him the vampires. And as these dreams began to become more powerful, Soarin found himself losing sleep over them. He began to take secret, nightly walks alone around the campus and before he knew what was happening, he had found himself in the middle of an attack one late evening. That particular midnight walk was actually a test for himself to see if the odd things he had seen in his dreams were reality. Like clockwork, two vampires had been out looking for food when Soarin had stumbled into them. Without knowing how, he began to fight them as they attacked and was amazed at how skilled he was at it. Doing what his dreams had taught him (and a little of what he seemed to feel in his very bones), he had ripped a large branch off of a nearby tree and he had impaled the two creatures through their hearts. Pleased with himself, Soarin began to go out every night, fashioning stakes to bring with him from different kinds of wood. But it wasn't only vampires that he stumbled across. Often times he found a demon coming across his path and, though different from the vampires, Soarin would manage to destroy it, often times coming into possession of a new weapon to add to his ever-growing collection. But still his fighting skills remained uncoordinated and somewhat sloppy, though he always came out unhurt in any serious way. And that was when he caught the attention of one of the teachers at the school.

She was young and taught Magical History and her name was Ms. Robia Faithe. She was a Vampire Slayer and she had taken notice of Soarin's strange behavior and his involvement in sometimes very violent acts of destruction around the school. And of course she realized that shattered walls and broken windows were the results of hard fighting done between beings with irregular strength. She confronted him about it, letting him know what she was and asking him questions to determine if he actually was a Vampire Slayer like she suspected. Soarin felt overjoyed at the idea of having someone who could help him and train him properly. Not to mention, someone to finally talk to!

Around the Christmas holidays in that first year, Shaun began to notice the odd comings and goings of his roommate. So he and his best friend, Eliza Bennet, decided to follow Soarin one night when he sneaked out. Before long, they had lost Soarin who had noticed his tail easily enough. But wandering around in the dark on the campus of a school for magic is never a good idea since there are all sorts of mystical convergences there. A tall and very thick vampire found the two of them as they wandered about trying to find Soarin, and he rushed in for the attack. But out of nowhere, Soarin appeared and began to grapple with the vamp crying out for Shaun and Eliza to run. They were shocked and them utterly impressed when Soarin dusted the vampire with his crude wooden spike and they had a million questions which Soarin had not wanted to answer at all. But it began to feel liberating that they had found out his secret and Shaun and Eliza couldn't help but suddenly taking a wonderful liking to their new acquaintance.

And so, with the rigorous training schedule that Ms. Faithe had developed for him and with her experience and knowledge, and now with the added help of two new friends, Soarin had suddenly found himself with a feeling of total contentment and happiness. A feeling he had never really known. It was a feeling that had lasted the rest of the year and on through their second year and their third. And now in their fourth year at Hierophants, their bond which had grown stronger and stronger, like his Slaying talents, seemed to have no end in sight. Just as the amount of vampires, demons and dark forces seemed to stretch on tirelessly.

But even though he had made a couple of new friends, the rest of the school still didn't like him very much. Eliza often remarked that Soarin would be treated differently if the students only knew how often he had saved them. But in all honesty, Soarin didn't care. He didn't need the other students. Though he couldn't see why Eliza and Shaun continued to hang around him when their reputations were quickly becoming soiled because they were seen with him. But they didn't seem to care either! They made a group and a unit in itself. And it felt complete.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thinking these thoughts, Soarin stood looking down at the mosaic pattern for a minute or two. He couldn't help but smile at the memories, but when he realized that he was letting his guard down, his head darted up and he glanced around him quickly, cursing himself for letting his attention lapse in such a way.

He tightened his grip on the stake which he had lowered to his side and stepped out across the sunburst at his feet. He walked across the courtyard, feeling his way along with his mind for any more disturbances in the air. His skin prickled and he found himself walking in the direction of the library without knowing why, and as he began his trek around the outskirts of the courtyard, he heard voices coming from around the corner of the building. He passed the library doors which were positioned at the top of a set of stone steps and then slowed to a stop before he came around the corner. The voices had begun to grow louder as he neared and Soarin moved quickly and silently into the bushes off the walk so he could hide, hunkered down low, as me moved around the corner to get a view of the owners of the voices.

As Soarin hid behind the bushes watching through the leaves, he saw two figures standing near a set of the large bay windows which lined one side of the library. One of the figures was a short round man with balding hair who wore a ridiculous plaid shirt and blue jeans. On his feet were black cowboy boots with thick heels. The other figure was a tall woman who was extremely skinny. She had long blonde hair which was thin and dull. She wore a tight red top (which showed off how skinny she really was) and ugly tight pants with black leather boots like her friend. Nodding to himself, Soarin saw that they weren't wearing human faces, but had their teeth barred, their vampire visages on, as they prowled about restlessly, talking hurriedly to each other.

"He said he'd meet us here at two-thirty!" the male said angrily. "It's almost three! Where is he? I'm getting tired of waiting!"

"Will you shut up!" the girl cried, her voice high pitched and hard on the ears. "He'll be here! He said he would! You know we don't question Ash! If he said he'd be here he'll be here!"

The male only growled in reply. The female spun around and leaned against the wall, the smile that flashed across her face looking scary on a vampire. "I am so excited though! After over ten years of waiting, we're going to have our Master back! As soon as Ash gets here, we'll go in, take what we need and we'll be all set!"

"What's so wonderful about it?" He asked irritably. Due to the tone that seemed to stay in his voice when he spoke to her, Soarin guessed that the vampire obviously seemed to care for his girlfriend as much as Soarin did. "It's just a book. One measly little book! Who even knows if it'll work anyway?"

"It'll work!" she said firmly, angrily. "It contains the Spell Of Resurrection! It has to work! We need our Master back! Without Him we have no hope of reviving the Dark Lord! You know the Dark Lord needs the Master to help him! And if we are the ones to help our Master revive him, imagine the rewards that the Dark Lord will give to us!" The male only stared at her hatefully. She looked off into the darkness and continued. "That damnable Slayer and his bitch! If it wasn't for them and their little group of friends, He would still be alive! From what Ash tells me, the Master went out to kill the Slayer but the Slayer and his wife were out to hunt Him down at the same time. In that dark San Francisco park they had their showdown and the Master killed them both, but not before the Slayer killed our Master at the same moment. They both died killing each other, however that was accomplished! Ash will never talk about it much but what a battle it must have been!"

"You were still human then," he said as though the idea was a disgusting one.

"True, I was. But so were you! And it was Ash who turned me and told me the tale. Now I want more than anything to make him happy by helping him bring our Master back! Oh! His name invokes love and fear in me all at once! Just to look upon Him! The excitement!"

The male snorted. "Love?" He shook his head, laughing mockingly, and she threw him a sickened look. "I understand your excitement though. And I'll tell you what excites me!" He sauntered to her and pulled her into his arms, hugging her body tight against his. She giggled and smiled gleefully. "Not only getting our hands on that book," he went on, "but the possibility of taking a few students with us! I'm getting hungry as hell and I haven't fed in over a day and I, personally, am getting tired of a diet of rats! The blood of an innocent, not to mention plump, little wizard would be a delightfully savory snack! That would be excitement for me!" He tilted his head up and kissed her in a hungry way.

Soarin grimaced from his hiding place and shifted uncomfortably.

Suddenly, the girl twisted her head in his direction and stared straight at him! "What is it, Olive baby?" the male asked her. Soarin held his breath. Olive stared into the bushes, her teeth elongating as a growl sounded low in her throat.

"I thought I sensed something..."

"Like what? There's no one there!" He pulled away from her and began to pace slowly by the large window.

She couldn't take her eyes off the bushes and Soarin hunkered down lower, his breath coming out slowly and painfully as he whispered silently to himself: "Please don't see me, please don't see me, please don't see me..." and his grip on the stake tightened so that he was sure his knuckles were white.

After a minute, she said: "I can't help it. I just know I felt something!"

"Don't be stupid!"

She spun around. "Don't call me stupid! One day when I save you from dying you'll thank me for having the senses that I do!"

He turned to Olive and they began to argue heatedly and Soarin sighed in relief when she didn't come forward to inspect the bushes. She was just saying: "I don't care what you say! I thought I heard something and I could swear something was there!" when a voice, deep and powerful said:

"Nonsense!"

Startled, they stopped and turned toward the sound of the voice and Soarin strained to see who it was, but he couldn't get a clear view because Olive was in the way.

"Who'd be here at three o'clock in the morning? All the students are safe in their warm little beds and there is no one to stop us from roaming about." The owner of the voice strode between Olive and her fat friend as he spoke and Soarin heard himself gasp when the new comer looked straight into the bushes, seeming to stare right into Soarin's eyes. "At least until sunrise," the newcomer finished with a strange smile before he turned back to the other two.

Soarin felt himself shiver. The man who had appeared was obviously a vampire but he wore his human face. (This must be Ash, Soarin thought curiously.) Ash was tall and powerful looking. He had thick short hair which was dark and spiked in strange little curls. His eyes were dark and his face was an extremely handsome one. He was dressed all in black and wore a knee length leather jacket which was fitted in the waist to show off the shape of his body. Soarin couldn't help thinking with a roll of his eyes that this vampire must have been a jock when he was human.

Again, Soarin's eyes were drawn to the vampire's face which was odd in the fact that there was an element about it that didn't quite fit in with the life that its wearer led. It was too soft around the eyes and the mouth. Could he be a vampire with a soul? Soarin wondered, but he pushed that thought from his mind. Though he had heard of such things, he didn't think that normal vampires would associate with a vampire who had feelings like a human. Soarin instead thought of that face changing into its true form. The hooded brow hanging heavily over the eyes which would take on a yellowish tint of malign hostility. The teeth lengthening and turning wolf-like as the lip above curled like an animal's. Soarin couldn't stop himself from picturing that face looking down upon one of its victims. Smiling down at its bleeding, pleading prey. Maybe it had laughed as its fangs slid into view and its victim looked on in horror. Perhaps it smiled while its hands tortured many an innocent woman (or man) slowly, its fingers spattered with their blood. Soarin tried not to imagine the looks on the innocent people who had screamed in terror as it lowered its lips to their throats. All these thoughts fueled a torrent of anger within Soarin's body and he was glad of it, for it drove all thoughts of other things from his mind and filled it with the desire to stake all three of these vampires through their hearts and watch them crumble to dust.

Soarin felt a wave of guilt ride through him. Ms. Faithe always told him that the killing of a vampire (or any other demon) was not something to take pleasure in and it should be done quickly and as efficiently as possible. And most often Soarin found that he didn't feel much of anything. Yet tonight, these filthy demons were really getting under his skin and the idea of beating them senseless before he drove his stake home was a very attractive one.

"Ash! You came!" Olive cried happily and then she turned to the other male, her voice harsh. "I told you, you jerk!" She turned back to Ash and her voice grew sweet again. "Popeye was getting restless and kept saying you wouldn't come. He wanted to leave but I knew you would show up just like you said. You wouldn't break your promise!"

The short tubby vampire she had called Popeye came up beside her and slid his arm around her waist. "Olive... baby... I wasn't really. I was just-"

"Shut up! Both of you!" Ash ordered. He moved forward menacingly and the two seemed to shrink into themselves. As he turned around again, Ash's handsome face slid into its true form and for a moment, Soarin thought he saw those sharp vampire eyes dart toward the bushes again. "Now listen you idiots! This has to be done quickly. No excess noise or commotion, do you get that? Quick and simple. We get in, we take what we need, we go." He looked between the two pointedly and then said slowly and deliberately: "No funny business! We're trying to bring back our Master and not get killed ourselves. And what is with the ridiculous names? Popeye and Olive? You really sicken me!" They looked at him sheepishly and he turned toward the large window behind him as he muttered audibly, "Well, most of the time you sicken me anyway, without the dim-witted stabs at being clever! Now! Do it! Break in but make it clean! We need to get that book and we aren't trying to destroy anything while we're at it!"

"How about not breaking in at all?" Soarin said loudly as he stood up from his place behind the bushes. He had tucked the stake into his belt so that his hands were free and it would still be easy to get at it.

Olive and Popeye turned around abruptly, their faces contorting even more as they snarled at him. Olive was clearly showing on her face that she had sensed him and was disappointed that she hadn't went to look for him after all. Ash stood a little beyond them and Soarin couldn't quite understand the look on his face when his vampire eyes focused on the new assailant.

"What are you two just standing there for?" Ash cried. "Get him!"

They both turned back to him. "But Ash, you said no funny business!"

Soarin smiled sarcastically. "Yeah Ash. You said no funny business. But," he went on looking first at Olive and then at her thick mate, "I have to agree with him about the names. Popeye and Olive are the stupidest names I have ever heard, even if you were trying to be cute about it."

With a roar, Popeye threw himself forward and Soarin jumped easily over the tops of the hedges and landed lightly on his feet, prepared for battle. He flashed his fist out and Popeye stumbled back from the force of the punch. He cried out in rage and ran forward again and this time Soarin spun around, kicking out high with his leg, catching Popeye across the side of the head with his shoe and then Soarin was there again, quickly and forcefully delivering several hard punches to the vampire's round belly. Popeye grunted and fell sideways against the wall of the building.

Olive roared like a savage beast and raced forward with her arms outstretched, her hands like claws. Soarin pushed off the ground and did a summersault above her and landed softly behind her. She skidded to a halt in confusion and as she turned around, Soarin kicked her hard in the very center of her torso. She flew backwards into the bushes landing ungracefully on her back with the stiff branches all around her.

"Stand up!" Ash ordered. "What the hell are you waiting for? Don't just lay there!"

Suddenly Popeye, who had been sitting on the floor leaning against the wall, kicked his leg out at Soarin's knees and if Soarin hadn't jumped into the air over it, he would have been knocked onto the ground where Popeye could easily have attacked. However, Soarin saw Popeye's movement and as he hopped over the vampire's leg, he turned slightly and let his weight come down directly onto Popeye's shin. There was a sicken snap and then Popeye was howling in pain, leaning over and clutching at his leg as he hissed and howled like a wild cat.

Olive had regained her feet by this time and she flew at Soarin and he backhanded her swiftly across the face. She staggered sideways and almost lost her balance but she kicked her own leg out and hit Soarin in the side. He grunted and staggered sideways, stumbling over Popeye's dead leg (more howling from the injured vampire). Soarin fell to his knees and glanced back just as Popeye reached out for him. Soarin kicked out promptly and delivered a loud whack against the vampire's face. Popeye jerked backwards and huddled against the wall, sucking in his breath in the torment of the pain that was stabbing him all over.

Soarin glanced up just in time to see Olive belt him across the head. He jerked backwards and landed hard on his back with his head slamming into Popeye's leg. He heard the vampire howl in agony and then the stubby hands were grasping at his neck. "Damn you to hell!" he roared. Soarin gagged and clutched at Popeye's fingers.

Olive stood over him with her face formed into an eerie smile. There was blood dripping from the cut Soarin had placed on her cheek and her shirt had little rips all over it.

Soarin's eyes rolled toward Ash and saw, again, the strangest look on his face. He only stood back with his arms folded, watching.

"Look what you did to my clothes!" she shrieked in that high-pitched ugly voice. "And look at my poor Popeye! What the hell are you?" Her eyes swept him up and down where he lay and then she laughed maniacally. "It doesn't matter now! You'll be dead soon! I'll kill you slowly!"

She darted forward, her teeth barred and Soarin saw it all in slow motion. His vision was beginning to cloud over and darken from the lack of oxygen and he was feeling weak. He struggled to urge strength into his limbs and summoning as much as power as he could, he shot his legs upward, catching Olive under her chin. She fell backwards, screaming. Then he picked his head up which was feeling very heavy and brought it down firmly against Popeye's leg. As the vampire bellowed in rage and pain, his hands freed themselves from Soarin's neck and clutched at the aching leg and the young Slayer scrambled away quickly.

He choked and coughed as he tried to catch his breath and then turned toward Popeye whose eyes were glittering in rage. Sweat flowed down the vampire's rippled brow and Soarin lunged at him and pummeled the face over and over with his fists. Popeye struggled to fight back as Soarin gave one last blow to the nose and then he stood up straight, pulled the stake from his belt and drove it swiftly into Popeye's ribs. A look of shock crossed the vampire's face and then pain and his body suddenly dried up and collapsed in on itself into a pile of powdery cinders.

"Popeye!" Olive shrieked as she watched her lover's body break up and quickly crumble. She ran forward and realized it was too late when her hands found a pile of dust. Her frame shook with sobs as she knelt in the remains of her cohort and then she turned to Soarin, her face wet with tears, her eyes full of fury. Snarling, she ran at him as he stepped away from Popeye's deteriorated form, and she screamed like a banshee. Soarin effortlessly reached out and caught her around her throat and shoved her backward until he had her pinned against the wall. Her feet dangled above the ground, her hands clutching at his wrist. He pushed the stake against her chest and held it there as she began to whimper in fear.

Soarin turned to Ash. "Tell me what you are doing here or I'll drive this into her heart, however black it may be!"

The vampire called Ash unfolded his arms and the ridges over his eyes along his brows smoothed themselves away and the elongated teeth retracted until they were even and perfect and the fire in the vampire's eyes dimmed. He smiled wickedly and moved forward slowly, sauntering over to where Soarin stood. He flicked his tongue across his lips. "Good work you made of 'Popeye' there. Admirable." He nodded his head in some form of salute, his eyebrow cocking upward.

"What is this book you're after? Tell me or I'll dust her and then you!"

Ash didn't reply and only kept that sardonic smile on his lips as he began a slow swaggering walk toward where Soarin stood with Olive pinned to the wall.

"Stay where you are!" Soarin shouted.

But the vampire continued his silent stalk toward him and all Soarin could do was tighten his grip on Olive's neck, pushing the stake harder against her ribs. Ash moved in closer until he was standing at Soarin's side, his presence unlike anything that Soarin had ever felt in his life. A presence that was very different from the aura that most vampires gave off.

Ash stared down at Soarin's upturned face which held a look of annoyed resentment. Ash was very tall, taller than Soarin had thought him to be from far away, and he kept that continual smirk on his face as he let his vampire markings swim through his human façade only to let that demonic face fade again, the smile never diminishing. It gave Soarin chills. He looked into the vampire's face and felt his body go numb as those hazel and gold eyes torched into him like fire.

"What are you?" Ash asked softly. Soarin gritted his teeth, wondering why this creature was risking being so near to someone that could easily destroy him. "I repeat and I'm hoping you'll be polite when you answer. What... are... you?" Soarin only looked at Ash and Ash smiled again but his face took on a calmer look of rage and then suddenly, something broke in it!

Soarin couldn't understand what had happened behind those eyes, but the Vampire tilted his head to one side, a look of wonder crossing his features as his eyebrows drew together. Ash whispered:

"A Vampire Slayer..."

Soarin felt a heat flow through him. "So that's it. One of the Slayers and so very young! Not to mention a Wizard!" Ash chuckled into his chest. "I'm assuming that you attend this school. You seem to be at home as you prowl about it in the middle of the night. How in hell is anything evil ever to accomplish their deeds if there is a Slayer out to hunt them?"

Soarin turned away and stared at the girl instead. He didn't like the way this Vampire was looking at him. Inside he felt his emotions struggling. First an immense feeling of anger and also, lurking around in there... fear. "I mean it," he said firmly. "Back away and I'll let her go."

In a blur of movement, Ash's arm flew out and his hand closed over Soarin's so they both held the stake against Olive's chest. Soarin's eyes darted to Ash's and saw a chilling look on the Vampire's face. Ash broke the stare and turned to Olive who looked at him pleadingly, her eyes bugging out as her tongue lolled across her lips. Her face diminished into its original human form as her lips moved in a silent plead. Soarin's breath rasped in and out of his lungs and he became aware of the cold night air around them. Suddenly Ash turned back to him again and Soarin felt his fist being forced forward and the stake sunk into Olive's body. She screamed as best she could before her body dried out with a windy sucking of air and Soarin felt his fingers close around granules of ash and dust.

Ash removed his hand from Soarin's and smiled again. Soarin looked horrified.

"Her voice was really grating on my nerves," Ash explained. "Besides... she would never have stopped whining about losing her tubby little boy-toy and you would have ended up killing her anyway. Sooner or later." Ash finally took his hand from Soarin's and walked a little way up the walkway. He stopped and turned back to face Soarin.

Soarin only stared back at him, wondering to himself why he felt so numb inside, unable to move and raise the stake against this creature. They stood for several moments staring at each other, silently daring the other to make a move.

Swiftly, Ash darted forward and Soarin raised the stake in defense but Ash's hand was on Soarin's wrist before the Slayer could use the hunk of wood in his fingers. Ash twisted Soarin's arm around and then turned Soarin about so that his back was to Ash and there he pulled Soarin's arm painful up behind him. Soarin cried out and the stake slipped from his fingers and clattered to the concrete. Ash put his other hand against the side of Soarin's head and tilted it to the side so that his neck was exposed nakedly.

"Slayer or no Slayer," Ash uttered through clenched teeth, "the business I have here does not concern you!" Ash pulled Soarin back harder against his vampire body and he became instantly and embarrassingly aware of the shape and protrusion of every hard muscle in Ash's lean frame. Soarin trembled, his mouth hanging open in shock and fear as he felt Ash lower his lips to his neck. The vampire inhaled deeply and then said blearily: "I can feel the beating of your heart... I can see the veins pulsing beneath your flesh. So soft and unmarked..." Soarin felt his whole body explode with tingles as Ash brushed his lips over the sensitive skin. Then he felt the strange pressure of Ash's tongue darting out across the tender portion of skin connecting his neck to his shoulder.

Here he was, only fifteen and already he had made a fatal mistake! Ms. Faithe would be so disappointed. And Shaun and Eliza- His parents... They had left their gifts for him and here he had failed them. He felt panic bubbling up in him as he realized that he was about to die.

Ash sighed against Soarin's throat and he felt his own breath coming fast and hard through his parted lips. Then Ash's head snapped up and as quickly as he had been caught, Soarin was suddenly thrust away and spun around and he found Ash's hand closed over his throat and he was lifted up into the air with Ash looking hatefully up at him. Soarin's feet dangled helplessly and he grasped at Ash's wrist, struggling to breath through the tightness of the vampire's fingers.

"I am not going to kill you," Ash intoned grittily. "I am choosing not to kill you at this time because..." he stopped and pursed his full lips. "My Master will want you for Himself later after the Resurrection. I would not deny my Master anything! And if the Master wishes to save you for His Lord, so be it! After all, once the Dark Lord has risen with the aid of my Master all the vermin out there, such as yourself, a Vampire Slayer," he spit the words out like he had tasted something offensive, "they will all get what's coming to them! All the mud bloods and disloyal servants... So! I may come for you and I may not! Perhaps I could get impatient and decide to kill you myself! But if the Dark Lord wishes it, you may be kept for later. You may have a part to play in this. He will come for you, once his business is taken a care of! There is a certain... hindrance... which is pressing on him."

And with a roar, Soarin felt himself thrown backwards with such force that his body slammed hard into the large bay window behind him. It shattered under his weight and he sailed through the broken frame as glass sprayed like water all around him. He threw his arms up around his face to shield himself from stray shards and he squinted his eyes shut tight as he landed hard on his back at the top of a short set of stairs. He rolled painfully down the four steps and landed on his side, thirteen full feet from the window.

Soarin groaned and rolled over onto his back and sat up slowly. His whole body ached. He stumbled to his feet as Ash climbed effortlessly through the window smiling pleasantly. Anger swelled inside him and Soarin jumped up the stairs, flying at Ash who eagerly fought back. Blow for blow the vampire matched the Slayer, each blocking the punch the other threw as they struggled to win. Soarin swiped his fist across Ash's temple and the vampire stumbled backward only to kick out with his foot which sent Soarin stumbling back down the stairs. He landed hard again atop the pile of broken glass.

Ash sniffed and Soarin saw a tiny trickle of blood across the vampire's lip. Ash brushed his fingers through it, looked at them and then smirked. Then he ran to the stair railing, cart wheeled over it and took off into the tall aisles of books. Soarin scrambled to his feet and gave chase.

Down the long dark aisle, Soarin saw Ash stop at a low shelf and pull a large leather covered volume from it. Then the vampire was off running speedily down one aisle and up another. Soarin reached the low shelf and then darted around another book case, listening for the sounds of Ash's footfalls. All was silent. Then there came the thudding reverberation of books tumbling to the floor and Soarin took off in the direction the sound had come from. He rounded a corner and found Ash, who punched hard in Soarin's belly. Soarin grabbed the arm and twisted himself around so that he could pull Ash against his back. Soarin pulled hard and flipped the vampire over onto the floor. Ash grunted and flipped himself onto his feet again.

"Nice moves, Slayer!" he chanted in a singsong way. "But what are you gonna do? You don't have your trusty stake anymore, do you?"

Soarin stood silently, his breath rasping in and out of his lungs and Ash only stood and regarded him mockingly. Soarin moved forward a step or two and then he lunged across the short distance between the vampire and himself and forced his knee up between Ash's thighs. The vampire grunted and his eyes widened and he doubled over clutching at himself. Soarin used the opportunity to knee Ash in the face before he hooked both fists together and brought them down against Ash's back. The vampire fell onto the floor and speedily turned over, recovering himself quickly. He kicked his feet upward catching Soarin in the chest and the Slayer went flying backwards, crashing into a shelf of heavy books that tumbled down on top of him as he fell onto the floor.

Ash got to his feet shakily, one hand still between his thighs, holding himself. "You sure do pack a punch, Soarin," he gasped out. "But see how well you've helped me in doing so?" Ash limped to where Soarin lay in a semi-daze. He struggled to pick himself up as Ash leaned down and plucked one of the books from the fallen pile. He turned and retrieved the first that he had taken from where he had dropped it and then hurried around a bend in the aisle and out of sight, his footsteps fading.

Soarin stumbled weakly to his feet. His head hurt and his shoulders hurt and his arms and legs hurt. His whole body ached crazily as he shook himself, trying to focus. He hobbled as quickly as he could up the stacks of books and out into the main hall of the library. He saw Ash disappear out the shattered window and he put a burst of speed into his feet and launched across the room, jumped quickly up the stairs and sailed out the window. He landed squarely on his feet and held himself for another attack, but nothing came. He looked around and found himself completely alone.

Ash had vanished and there was no sound of running footsteps to give any clue as to where he had gone.

Dammit! Soarin cursed to himself. He bent over painfully to pick up his lost stake and he tucked it into his coat pocket again, a coat which was now covered in a million tiny little tears. He felt his forehead stinging and he touched it and found a rather large cut made from a flying shard of glass. He sucked in his breath from the pain and began to limp back toward the courtyard. He glanced behind him every few seconds to make sure that Ash was completely gone and then he was out in the courtyard, walking once more over that beautiful sunburst mosaic pattern, and his intuition told him he truly was alone though maybe not completely safe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As he came down the hallway, Soarin saw the light under the door of the room he shared with Shaun and he cringed inside knowing that he would have a million questions to answer. Preparing himself, he turned the handle and pushed the door open. He found Shaun sitting on the side of his bed hurriedly pulling shoes onto his feet. He glanced up quickly when Soarin entered, his eyes growing wide at the state his friend was in.

"Oh God!" he breathed out when his eyes took in the cut across Soarin's forehead. "What happened? I heard a crash, probably the whole school did! I knew that something had happened! You look awful! Are you okay? You aren't too badly hurt are you?"

Soarin nodded exhaustedly and shut the door behind him. "Yeah, I'm okay. What about you?" he nodded at Shaun's fully dressed state. "Plans on going out?"

Shaun flushed. "I heard the crash and had to get up! It sounded like a tree had fallen through a window or something!"

"Not exactly a tree."

"What?" Shaun looked at him with his eyebrows drawn together. "You aren't saying that you fell through a window are you?" Soarin looked at him silently as he struggled to take his coat off. "You're kidding? Are you okay?" Shaun rushed forward to help Soarin sit down on his bed. Soarin winced when he felt Shaun's hands on his shoulders.

"Yes, I'm okay. And it was more like I got thrown through a window. Into the library. You know... Those really big ones..."

"No way! You were thrown through one of those windows?" Shaun exclaimed as he ran around the side of his bed to dig under it and pull out a large box made of ebony wood with silver corners and an ornate silver latch at its front. It was a beautiful thing, this box, which was full of small potions made especially to heal small cuts and bruises. There were also bandages and disinfectants inside as well. He rushed back to Soarin and opened the box, pulling out some cotton balls and a bottle of peroxide. "What threw you through it? An ogre? We don't have things like that in the United States. Those are mainly in Europe. Tolls too. There aren't any known species left here in Central and South America." He began to dab at the cut over Soarin's brow.

Wincing as it stung into his skin, he began to tell Shaun about his encounter. Shaun gasped in all the right places but Soarin left out the part where Ash had almost bit him. He didn't really feel like explaining that part. Thinking about it himself made him feel physically weak.

"A vampire threw you through a window and you couldn't kill him?"

Soarin pushed Shaun's hand away as he stood up. "I know! I know! But he was really strong! I can't recall getting messed up like this. And I've been thrown into things before. It was just the force he used. He was so powerful."

Soarin took off his shirt and though there were no cuts on his torso, his muscles still ached terribly. He slipped his pajamas back on and crawled into bed. Shaun changed back into his pajamas as well and then put the first-aid kit away under his bed again. Then he turned out the lights and crawled under his blankets.

They lay in silence for a while and then Shaun whispered: "But who could this Dark Lord be?

Soarin stared up at the shadowed ceiling. "I don't know. But I don't want to worry about that right now. I need to concentrate on this Master that Ash talked about. What is this Resurrection?"

"Maybe that Master and Dark Lord are the same person," Shaun offered.

"Maybe," Soarin said doubtfully. "But I don't think so. Ash talked like they were two different people."

Shaun made a small humming noise to himself and the rolled over. "What about the dream you had that woke you up to begin with. What was that about?"

Soarin frowned in the darkness. What was that dream about? He bit his lips softly, his head stinging dully. "Forget it. We can talk about that and the details of this little confrontation I had tonight in the morning with Eliza and Ms. Faithe. They should hear about it too. Ms. Faithe would want me to come now! But she'll be mad enough that I went out alone to begin with anyway so I'd rather wait until we're all awake in the morning. It's four-thirty, Shaun. We need to get to sleep. We have to be up at seven."

Shaun agreed and the room lapsed into silence once more. Not long after that, Soarin heard Shaun's deep regular breathing and he knew that his friend was asleep. Soarin tossed and turned for a while longer and still he could not sleep. He would not fall asleep for a good while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soarin woke the next morning with Shaun shaking him roughly. He groaned and rolled over as Shaun told him firmly that it was almost time for their first class to start and they couldn't afford to be late. "Besides, it's Friday and soon we'll have the whole weekend to relax. Now get up!" Shaun ordered sternly.

Soarin sat up, his eyelids heavy, and pushed the blankets away. He stepped out onto the floor and stretched, yawning loudly. Shaun was quickly pulling on his clothes that he had been in when Soarin had come back the night before and he grabbed for his book bag and a stack of parchment and quills. Soarin watched him sleepily and sunk back onto the bed.

"Can't I just sleep for a little longer..."

"Nope. You can't miss class. We've got Divination first with Professor Gald and he would just love a reason to punish you. We need to be there with our eyes and ears open, the perfect dutiful students and that way he won't have anything to say."

"Right right..." Soarin mumbled and reached for his clothes.

He dressed as quickly as he could and he and Shaun left the room hastily and headed outside into the hallway. Most of the students were already at their classes and only a few were still loitering in the corridor and Shaun and Soarin found themselves running to get to Divination. It was all the way across the school and there was only a minute or two before they had to be in their seats.

Out in the courtyard, Soarin could hear a low buzzing as the students who didn't have class right away milled about whispering about the library. They must have spotted my handy little leftover! Soarin thought laughingly. He tried to ignore the way that some of the students stared at him, no doubt thinking that he must have had something to do with the break in at the library since he seemed to have an awful lot to do with other acts of destruction around the school.

Shaun barreled through the double doors of one of the hallways and jostled through several people to get to the Divination classroom and he shot through the door and into his seat at the back of the room quickly. Soarin found himself lagging behind from sleepiness and he arrived at the door to confront Lorn Stevens lounging against the doorframe with a small group of people around him. Soarin slowed and stopped as Lorn turned toward him.

"Running late again, huh Skyler?" he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He was a tall and very lean young man with honey blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He looked older than he actually was as one of the youngest of the fourth years.

"Very perceptive of you Lorn. Did you learn how to think only this morning?" Soarin retorted scathingly and then walked into the room and took his seat beside Shaun. Immediately the room had him ready to fall asleep again. The curtains were drawn over the windows as usual and the only light came from the ceiling lamps and several candles, with magically enhanced flames, burning about the room.

Eliza was sitting with her legs crossed behind them and she kicked her foot lazily as she stared from one to the other. She was a very pretty girl with dark brown hair which curled becomingly in layers at the ends. She had bright dark eyes and full lips and radiated an air of coolness at all times. She was actually chewing gum and her moving foot gave an air of idle indifference to everything. She leaned forward and whispered: "You look terrible... I'm guessing that you had a run in with the library last night."

Soarin turned his head a bit and nodded. "Yeah, it was something."

"Silence please!" came a hard and deep voice. All the students straightened in their seats and Lorn and his friends hurried inside and slipped into their chairs noisily. Professor Gald stood up from his desk. He was a tall man who dressed mostly in dark blues and blacks and even though the teachers weren't required to wear school robes, he wore his at all times, even on the warmest days at the beginning and end of each year. He had a round face with very pink skin and often the students said he looked like an over grown baby with his balding blonde hair standing wispily up around his overlarge ears. "No more talking!" he said firmly.

Eliza leaned forward again and whispered in between Soarin's and Shaun's heads so they could both hear: "Here it comes..."

Gald fixed his eyes across the room, glaring down at each student with a mean stare as he did every class he taught. He moved slowly around his desk and walked up the aisles stopping here and there to stare harder at one student or another. Finally he reached Soarin's desk and stopped. Soarin looked up questioningly but Gald's look forced him to glance away and he saw Lorn making faces at him from across the room.

"Well..." Gald drawled out. "Cutting it a bit close aren't we, Skyler?"

Soarin glanced up in surprise. Clearly he had been in his seat on time and Lorn and his cronies had been the ones late but what Soarin saw in Professor Gald's eyes convinced him to not argue.

"Yes, sir."

"Terrible habits you have, Skyler. Watch yourself. I don't suppose that you have the homework assignment that I assigned on Monday which I specifically said would be due first thing this morning, do you?"

Soarin bit his lip. "Homework?"

Glee shone clearly in Gald's eyes. "I am correct?"

"Professor Gald, I'm sorry but-"

"Answer my question, Skyler!" Gald snapped. "I have no interest in your pathetic excuses! Do you have the homework?"

Soarin looked down. "No, sir."

"Then kindly pick up your things and exit my classroom and do not think that you shall return until you can take what I teach seriously!"

Soarin leaned over and picked up his bag as he heard Lorn snicker softly to his friends across the room. Gald didn't hear it and Soarin knew that it wasn't because of Soarin's Slayer's ears. He glanced at Shaun who gave him a lopsided smile of sympathy and he felt Eliza's had on his shoulder squeezing gently as he stood and walked toward the front of the room. He didn't look back but headed out the door and down the hallway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Who does he think he is?" PUNCH!! "I know more about Divination that he does!" THWACK!!

Panting hard, Soarin voiced his frustrations as he punched and kicked at a heavy punching bag suspended from the ceiling of a small training room that Ms. Faithe had given him permission to use. It was connected to her classroom by a door at the back of her room but was also accessible from an outside door that Soarin had a key to.

After leaving Professor Gald's class he had returned to his dorm to toss his stuff down and then change into something he could move in. He went quickly into Ms. Faithe's training room and had eagerly begun to stretch and train himself. After doing several flips and cartwheels across the length of the room he had moved on to the punching bag, his anger boiling to the surface.

"Oh! That stupid man!" He backhanded the bag and it swung to the side and then as it swung back he spun around and kicked it so hard that the chain snapped and the heavy leather sack sailed across the room crashing into the wall. Breathing hard, Soarin stood back and stared at the floor, his hands on his hips. He was dripping with sweat and his shirt stuck to him while his hair laid damp and dripping across his forehead. He flexed his fingers and began to unwrap the gauzy material that he had covered his fits with. He walked slowly to a low table and folded the material and laid it aside. Then he picked up three wooden stakes and moved to one end of the room.

On the opposite wall was hung another punching bag of sorts but it was shaped like a man with a bulls-eye over the area where the heart would be. Concentrating, Soarin held the first stake by its point and then flicked his wrist toward the dummy. There was a whistling noise as the stake left his hand and then it made a dull chonk-ing noise and the dummy quivered, the stake protruding from the dead center of the bulls eye. He tossed another stake and this one, aimed perfectly, was sticking from where an eye would have been. Suddenly thoughts of Ash and their fight from the night before filled his head and Soarin founded himself gritting his teeth and with his skin tingling, he ran a few paces forward, cartwheeled without using his hands and the stake flew with a piercing noise and lodged itself between the dummy's thighs, protruding in a vulgar way from the exact area Soarin had intended to hit.

Exhilarated, Soarin did several back flips and then landed easily on his feet, panting hard. Off to his side, the door clicked and Eliza stepped into the room followed by Shaun. They stared at him questioningly. And Soarin smiled but he didn't think it was too convincing.

"You okay?" Eliza asked.

Soarin nodded. "No, not really. I'm pissed as hell right now."

"Understandable," she said softly and sat down on the table against the wall.

Shaun stared at the felled punching bag and then at the dummy with its bristling of stakes and then winced when he saw the third one. "Boy, you are pissed!"

Putting his hands on his hips, Soarin walked across the room to his friends and stood before them wearily. He was still panting. "So, how was class?"

Shaun shrugged. "Same old same old. 'I'm smart and your stupid,' said Professor Gald. That type of thing." Soarin nodded. "You didn't miss much though. If that's any comfort."

"Yeah, tons..." Soarin said witheringly.

"Hey, sorry," Shaun mumbled backing away.

Soarin shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I'm really kinda upset right now and I'm not having a good day. I'm acting stupid."

They were silent for a moment or two as Soarin swung his arms lazily and stretched his shoulders and back, his muscles growing tight beneath the skin.

"So, what happened last night?" Eliza asked casually. "I've been imagining all sorts of things and from the look of that cut on your forehead I have been thinking that you shoved your face through that window." She laughed dryly. "Please tell me that I'm not right."

Soarin reached up and fingered the cut above his eyebrow. He hadn't remembered that it was even there when he had woke up but now that his fingers grazed it a sting of pain flashed through his forehead. He actually felt a bit surprised that it hadn't healed yet. As a Slayer his ability to heal was accelerated.

"You're sort of right about the window thing. But it's a long story and I prefer to tell it when we can get in to see Ms. Faithe. Okay?" Eliza nodded. "Besides, we need to get to class. Study period or something, right?"

Shaun beamed. "Nope! Where do we have study period?" He paused dramatically. "That's right! It's cancelled! Can't use the library now, can we? Good work, Soar!"

Soarin laughed shortly and they all walked outside and he shut and locked the door. He wanted to change his clothes badly and wished he had time to shower but he decided to go and see Ms. Faithe instead. She had a free period on Mondays and Fridays from ten o'clock until lunch and Soarin knew she'd be in her class right at this moment. He figured it would probably have been easier to just use the connecting door, but he wanted to be outside. Despite it being January and being so cold the night before, outside it had warmed up enough that most students didn't need a jacket. The air was nice and refreshing and Soarin breathed it in deeply.

He led the way with Shaun and Eliza following him and they walked into the main hallway and toward the end where Ms. Faithe's room was located. Class had started again and most students whose classes had been cancelled were either in their dorms or in their rec rooms. The school was quiet and empty and the only sound to be heard was the low murmur of teacher's voices.

Ms. Faithe's door stood open and as Soarin approached he saw her sitting at her desk looking over some papers. She was in her early thirties, if that. She had shoulder length hair which was a dark reddish brown and dark eyes which slanted upwards exotically. She was tall and lean, radiating strength, and she favored wearing very feminine clothes. She glanced up as they entered even though they hadn't made a sound.

She smiled. "I was expecting you sooner, but then I heard you beating that poor thing in the training room and then from the sounds that I could hear, you snapped the chain." She looked at his forehead, amused. "Last night must have been something..." Soarin sat down at a desk in front of her and Shaun and Eliza sat together behind him. Ms. Faithe stood up and walked around her desk, leaning on it as she looked down at them. "So, tell me what happened. That's a nasty cut. The library window?"

Soarin flushed and nodded. "Why does everybody keep saying that? It could happen that I'd throw someone through something. It isn't always me!" They all looked at him and he bit his lip. "Well..."

"Just tell us will you!" Eliza said. "We've been waiting forever!"

"Not me," Shaun said with a grin. "I knew last night already!"

Eliza gave him a look and he sunk down further into his chair.

Soarin began to tell them all the details of his outing from the night before. Ms. Faithe listened attentively, not even interrupting to ask questions but she gave him an angry look when he mentioned being almost bested by Popeye and Olive. ("What stupid names!" Shaun laughed.) When Soarin got to the part where Ash had talked about the Master and that Dark Lord, Ms. Faithe's expression took on a very curious and closed look. Her mouth actually hung open. Like when he had told Shaun the night before, Soarin found himself leaving out the part where Ash had almost bit him, but he described his chase inside the library to her in detail, making sure that he told her exactly where the two books had been stolen from. When he had finished, Eliza sat with her mouth hanging open looking at Soarin with wide eyes and Ms. Faithe only leant against her desk with her arms folded, staring at the floor. Shaun looked about at everyone's expressions with a grin on his face.

"Cool, huh?" he said cheerfully.

"So, basically you went out alone when I have told you repeatedly not to do so?" said Ms. Faithe sternly.

Soarin stared at her for a minute. "I'm sorry. But I just needed to go out for a while. I didn't expect that I would meet up with anything."

"Soarin, the Watcher's Council allows me to continue to train you in place of a real Watcher because they trust my judgment and experience. It doesn't look good for you to be out and about in dangerous situations by yourself."

"But I'm a Slayer!"

"Yes and you are also very young!" Ms. Faithe softened her expression. "A Slayer is usually trained by their parents. But when a Slayer dies and has no children, the Slayer lineage is passed on to another. That person has no one to help them out and that is where the Watcher's Council comes in. You were too young to have your parents train you before they died and the Council is being very good as to let me train you in place of a Watcher. Don't abuse that. I know you think you can take care of yourself and I know that you can take care of yourself as well, but the Council doesn't see that. They only see a young and inexperienced Slayer who does not know how to handle certain situations."

Soarin nodded. "I know that and I'm sorry."

She smiled. "I have allowed you to patrol on your own before but please don't abuse that privilege." She paused for a moment. "Now, tell me about this dream you had."

"Oh! The boy with the scar!" cried Soarin in surprise. He didn't notice the way that Ms. Faithe's look took on a jolted and worried expression. Soarin quickly told her about the dream, adding in as many of the details as he could remember. As he talked about the cup the two boys had been about to grab hold of, Ms. Faithe's eyebrows drew together and she sighed.

"It's very interesting," she said when he had finished. "But confusing. I can think of nothing."

Soarin nodded. "Tell me about it. I've never had a dream like this one and I've had some dreams, let me tell you!" He laughed but no one else seemed to think it funny. He sobered immediately. "I mean, I've never felt real pain in a dream before. What was that about?"

Ms. Faithe turned her face to the side for a minute or two but said nothing. Finally she looked back at him and then at Eliza and Shaun. "Well, there is no point in going over this now. Lunch is in a short while and I see no reason why you three couldn't head over there early. I have some things to finish here. Once night falls I think we should head over to the library and do some research. We can see if we can find anything about this Master."

"Don't forget that nasty sounding Dark Lord!" Shaun interjected.

She looked at him with a frown. "Yes..."

Soarin stood up and headed for the door. "Okay! I'm starving and I'm needing a change of clothes. Once lunch is over we'll go to class and then we'll wait until dark and head to the library. If you all don't mind, I'm going to patrol a little around the school why you do the book stuff. Maybe see if I can find something lurking around. Alright? Let's go you guys!" He headed toward the door and Eliza and Shaun got up quickly and followed. They waved as they left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robia Faithe stood for a minute or two watching the doorway after Soarin and his friends had left. It was strange to her to think about the young boy she had first met in Soarin. The young boy who had had no idea what a Slayer even was but was now able to handle several vampires single handedly and come out the victor. How much he had changed in the three years that he had been living at this school being trained as one of the Slayers. His last commanding speech before they had left the room made her feel proud. He had grown so strong and authoritative, able to handle any situation. No matter what would happen in the future, she knew that he would be all right and would do the right things.

But inside, her mood was dark and she turned to stare at the floor. She didn't feel like she quite knew what to do with herself at the moment.

"The boy who lived..." she whispered. "The scar..." She sighed and then moved to the window that looked out over a wide sweeping lawn of the school. "It is beginning... and it is will cast the world into shadow and lives will crumble." She turned toward the room again and stared around the walls. It was a large room with mirrors lining the back wall and many ferns in pots hanging from the ceiling and sitting atop golden pedestals. She focused on her desk and then moved quickly toward it. She pulled open the top drawer and lifted a shallow false interior out and under it was a small secret compartment which contained only a flat black box clasped with silver. She lifted it out and then replaced the false interior. Shutting the drawer, she walked to the wall where her robes hung and pulled them on. She slipped the box into her pocket.

Focused, Robia walked smoothly out the door, shutting it behind her, and then moved stealthily down the hallway. She exited through the double doors and then moved through the courtyard and toward the double doors opposite. She looked about her and was thankful that there were still a few minutes of class and all the teachers and students were inside.

She turned back to the doors and ran her fingers over the handle. She knew that the door was locked because this particular wing of the school was for storage only and there were some very dangerous magical items inside which had be hidden from view and kept from the knowledge of the students. She grasped the handle in her fist and yanked on it hard and the lock ripped open. She knew that nobody would have the strength to force this lock open unless they had amazingly strong powers (A perk of being one of the Slayers, she thought to herself), so she knew that once she was inside and the lock had been forced closed again that no one would disturb her.

Before her was a long dark hallway with doors lining it. A layer of dust covered the floor except for the marks of her shoe prints from previous times she had been here. She pushed her hand into her pocket, tightening her grip on the flat box within and made her way down the corridor. She stopped before the second to last door on the right and stood for a moment staring at the tarnished gold numbers on its front: 1482.

"How is this possible," she intoned to the dim air. "Is it even thinkable that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will rise again? How can I explain all of this to Soarin? What can I do?" She bit her lip thoughtfully and sighed. "I need to speak to the Headmaster. He'll know what to do. He always knows what to do... And he needs to be informed about who Soarin dreamt of. He needs to know what those vampires said to Soarin." She put her hand to the handle and shoved the door open swiftly. "I hate to burden him with more than he is already dealing with but he must know. The Headmaster must know!"

She disappeared inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So we're in the library once more looking for the next nasty?" said Eliza glibly. "What a way to spend a Friday night."

Soarin was walking through the courtyard and Eliza and Shaun were walking side by side a little behind him. They had just come back out into the air from Soarin's and Shaun's room while Eliza had waited outside the door. Soarin hadn't had the time to shower but he still felt refreshed wearing clean clothes. As they made their way toward the cafeteria, the bell rang shrilly and there was the dull clatter of doors opening and students streaming out into halls and then into the courtyard. Several students raced toward the cafeteria doors.

"Yes, but what better way to spend a Friday night than hunting evil!" Soarin said cheerfully. Shaun didn't look convinced. "Hey, you two don't have to do it if you don't want to. Slayer's stuff, remember. You draw the line where you want it to be." They came through the doors of the cafeteria and Soarin turned toward them smiling. "Me Slayer! You friends! Doesn't always mesh, right? It's up to you! You could spend your Friday night alone in your rooms studying or you could be with me trying to find out what is trying to kill us all!"

Eliza couldn't stay serious with the way that Soarin was smiling and soon Shaun was laughing too. "Right right! Like we'd want it any other way! We're with you 'til the end!" Shaun cried loudly shaking his fist in the air. They all laughed.

"What's this crap?"

Soarin spun around and saw Lorn Stevens standing before him. "Great class we had today wasn't it, Skyler? Oh, wait a minute! You got kicked out... Awww, too bad..." He broke into laughter and then his face turned mean. "It's just too bad that he didn't kick your two loser friends out with you!"

"If they were kicking losers out, Lorn, you would have been the first to go!" Eliza shot back.

Lorn smothered his look of furry and then smirked. "Yeah? And who was it that got kicked out, again?" Before any of them could reply Lorn had sauntered away to a small round table where at least a half dozen of his friends were crowding. They all looked toward Soarin's way and then began to giggle.

Soarin clenched his fists at his sides and walked farther into the cafeteria toward the serving tables. "If I could just pop him one!"

"Don't do that," Eliza said calmly. "We'd all love it but you'd probably kill him."

Soarin turned jokingly thoughtful and Shaun laughed as usual.

They each got their food and sat down at an empty table and Eliza and Shaun began to tell Soarin what the lecture in Divination had been about when Soarin felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head and looked up into Headmaster Manners face.

Armin Manners was a short and extremely round man with graying hair which was thinning badly on the top and a flat almost squashed face. He was dressed in simple black robes with a silver chain around his neck which hung to his invisible waist and bore at the end a shining whistle. His hands were clasped behind his back.

He smiled crookedly. "Well, Mr. Skyler. You seem to be enjoying your lunch."

"How are you today, Headmaster Manners?" Eliza asked, not bothering to hide her contempt.

He barely glanced at her and said: "Now! The three of you! My library was broken into last night and there is a horrible mess that someone will have to clean up! You wouldn't know anything about that now, would you? Because if you had anything to do with this, anything at all, something drastic would have to be done." Clearly, he was speaking specifically to Soarin even though he had addressed all three of them.

Soarin played a look of shock onto his face. "The library was broken into? My goodness!" He looked at Shaun and Eliza. "Why didn't you two tell me? That's awful!" He turned back to Manners. "Headmaster Manners! That is the most abominable thing that could have happened to our fine FINE school! If I find out anything, anything whatsoever, you will be THE first person that I tell!" Soarin finished with a syrupy smile.

Manners looked down at him, his lips tight as he gritted his teeth. "Don't lie to me! You were involved. You're always involved! When I found out how, you will rue the day!" He turned and stalked off.

"That little troll!" Soarin spat.

Shaun and Eliza only rolled their eyes and continued eating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their last class of the day was Herbology and all three of them considered it a dreadful bore. After what seemed an endless two hours of studying holly leaves and the uses of their berries (aside from Christmas decorations), they were sent away with a large pile of homework. The rest of the afternoon passed slowly as they sat, all three, in the rec room off their dormitories and worked on their homework together. Mostly Shaun did the work and Soarin and Eliza talked, and then copied, and then talked some more. Students came and went and lived their day around them and no one seemed to take much notice. This was the time that all three felt how grateful they truly were to have Lorn living in another dormitory.

Night fell and students settled down into the chairs and at tables to talk, read or just sit. Students were forbidden out after dark, except to go to dinner, though no one was ever really told why. However, the punishment was severe if one was caught. The students just accepted that they had to be in early at all times. It was only after Shaun and Eliza got to know Soarin that they realized why it was so important that they all stay inside according to their curfews. There was never any way of knowing just what roamed through the school at night.

Shaun got up and went into the dorms first and then a few minutes later Eliza followed and then Soarin a few minutes after that. They converged into Shaun's and Soarin's room and then pushed the window open. They all wore coats and pants since the night was very cold again. They crawled through the window and then crept silently through the bushes and out onto the walkway. Silently they stole around the building toward the library, mindful of the many lighted windows they passed. In a few minutes they reached the library doors and found that they had been left slightly ajar and they quickly entered.

Past the desk where the librarian would normally sit and down several small rows of books, they came out into the main portion of the library which was sunk down a level with the three short sets of stairs leading up toward either the bay windows or into the deeper recesses of the library. There they found Ms. Faithe immersed in a thick leather covered book, at a table which was laden with several tall stacks of old looking volumes, sitting in her chair near the remains of Soarin's mess from the night before. It hadn't been cleaned up and the window was still a gaping mass of destruction.

"They could at least have had something done about that," Shaun said softly. He moved up the stairs toward the window. He leaned forward and stared at the splintered frame and the few jagged bits of glass which still protruded from it like vulgar teeth. "Damn! Look at that!" He turned to Soarin. "You did that?" He shook his head in disbelief.

"You totally know that they aren't touching it because they want you to feel guilty. I know a simple charm that would repair that window in seconds," said Eliza.

Soarin plopped down into a chair opposite Ms. Faithe. "Find anything?" She shook her head. She said nothing but only stared down at the book thoughtfully.

"I guess we should get cracking!" Shaun said and sat in a chair next to Soarin. He pulled several books toward him and passed one over and Soarin took it, grimacing. Eliza pulled up a chair next to Ms. Faithe and then plucked a book off of the large pile that had been laid on the tabletop.

Silence fell as they all opened books and began to leaf through them. Soarin looked around at each of them and then sighed noisily. "Okay!" he said standing. "That was fun! Think I'll go out now!" He turned and walked quickly up the stairs which he had tumbled painfully down the night before.

"Be careful!" Ms. Faithe warned. "And don't think that I'm going to let you do this as a normal thing. Going out alone, I mean."

"Gotcha!"

"Do you even have a stake?"

Soarin turned to the destroyed window frame and ripped a chuck of the beautiful wood out of the wall. It splintered into a crude but extremely sharp spike. "Yes, I have a stake," Soarin said with a smile and then he turned and jumped out the window.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Silently, Ms. Faithe turned back to her book and continued to stare at it. Shaun could see that she wasn't really reading it and he couldn't help but ask: "Are you okay, Ms. Faithe?"

She glanced up quickly. "What? Oh, yes, I'm fine, just into the reading."

"Are you sure, because I think that book might be upside down."

Ms. Faithe jerked in her chair and looked at the book. It wasn't upside down. She looked back at Shaun, embarrassed. Eliza looked up with concern on her face.

"I'm sorry," Ms. Faithe said softly. "I'm a bit distracted I suppose. Bothered by this whole thing, you know..." she said gesturing at the stacks of books.

"Soarin will be okay," Shaun said trying to reassure her. "You know that. There isn't any need to worry. Soarin will always come out on top. He stays on his toes and never lets anything or anyone get the best of him." He paused. "Except for Lorn Stevens... And Headmaster Manners... But he can't beat them up because that would be... not good..."

Eliza turned to Ms. Faithe and nodded. "It's true! Everything he said, minus the idiot parts. You know Soarin as well as we do. He's strong and an amazing fighter. Nothing will ever get the best of him."

"Unless it's a window," Shaun said and then Eliza kicked him under the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Soarin was bored to tears. He'd been walking around for almost an hour and he hadn't seen anything. The only thing that he had found was that his nose was getting very cold and that the makeshift stake he had extracted from the already broken window frame was giving him splinters. He sighed and walked once more through the courtyard and then around the perimeter of the school. There was complete silence all around and in the distance, the forest loomed up dark and shapeless.

"It isn't like anything is going to make a move tonight anyway," Soarin said to the dark. "I'm wasting my time." He looked out at the forest for a minute or two and then hurled the stake toward it. It sailed through the air with a whistling noise and then vanished in the darkness and it was only the tight sound of it lodging into a tree trunk that told him it had hit a mark. He turned and headed back toward the library. "Like Ash would make a move tonight anyway! He wouldn't dare."

As Soarin walked back into the courtyard, he slowed to a stop when he saw movement near the library doors. It wasn't Shaun or Eliza and it wasn't tall enough to be Ms. Faithe. It was a girl, dressed in some sort of nightgown and Soarin couldn't see her face. She had long reddish hair that hung in curls down her back and her nightgown was white and flowed in the moonlight. He stepped forward slowly and then called out to her. She didn't turn or even indicate that she heard but only continued her slow walk past the library doors and then around the corner.

Soarin's brows drew together and he walked slowly after her. Students just didn't go out after dark. What was this girl doing? She looked to be young too and those in their first two years were usually more frightened than ever. Soarin called out again and rounded the corner and was taken aback when he saw that the girl was gone. He looked about him in confusion.

"Hello?" he called softly. "Anyone there?" There was no answer. "Fine," he mumbled to himself, "you didn't see me and I didn't see you."

He turned around and someone jumped out of the darkness at him. He jumped and flew back several feet. "Ms. Faithe! God, you scared me! What's wrong?"

She looked at him. "Nothing. I heard you calling and came out to see what was up? Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, totally. I just thought I saw..."

"What?"

"Nothing. Don't worry. So," he said as they walked back to the doors of the library, "did you find anything?"

"Nope, nothing at all. We're all kind of tired though and we figured we'd go to the cafeteria and get some late dinner and then all go to bed. After a good night's sleep," she said pointedly, "we'll probably be more alert to look again tomorrow."

Soarin nodded and sighed. "Saturday. Day of sleeping in. I do enjoy it so."

Ms. Faithe laughed dryly. "Don't we all."

Soarin looked at her with a smirk. "Even teachers? I thought you all never slept and only contemplated the next days torture!"

Ms. Faithe laughed and pushed him playfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Murky water... Darkness, I can feel the coldness of the water washing over my face but I do not struggle to breath. I can see my own hair swimming about above my eyes and I can even hear the immensity of this vast... ocean? It roars about me intensely, the pressure pushing at me. Suddenly, shimmering in the green gloom, a figure swims into view. Without even trying, I am swimming after this figure as it flies easily through the wet. I spur myself onward until I am swimming alongside this figure and I am not surprised at all to see that this figure is the dark-haired boy with the scar from my dream the night before. He is not wearing glasses now and his green eyes are crystal clear in the fuzzy shadows of the depths. He reaches out to me and clasps my arm and I stare at him in confusion and he only shakes his head and pulls me down into the water further.

As we sink deeper, the floor of this body of water comes into focus and I see writhing plants and silt clouding up as though being disturbed by something. Strange nightmarish creatures float about watching us, some holding spears in their greenish gray hands. Suddenly the boy stops and he rights himself and we float to the floor. He stands for a minute or two staring ahead into the gloom and then turns to me, moving in a slow, sluggish fashion. He is shorter than me and I have to look down ever so slightly when I look at him. He raises a hand and points forward and I turn my head to look in the direction he indicates and I see nothing, but when I turn back to him he has already begun to swim again.

Pushing off of the wasted floor of this strange world, I struggle to swim after him, but he swims very fast, almost as though he were a fish himself. Or one of those strange creatures that continually follows us.

Looking past him, out of the murky stillness, a shape emerges and I see that it is some sort of pillar or a pole. And tied around this are four people! One boy and three girls. The sight makes me draw back uncertainly but the boy with the scar rushes forward to the captives and lets himself sink to the floor once again. Several yards behind, I let myself float down as well and I'm too confused to go forward anymore. The boy moves forward slowly and stares up at the one boy tied against this pillar. This particular boy is rather tall with freckles and very red hair which shines brightly, even in the dim water. He, like the rest of these strange captives, is unconscious.

The boy with the lightning scar turns back to me, looking at me with sad eyes. I tilt my head to one side, curious, but he only looks at me longer, unmoving. Suddenly, the hair above his forehead begins to sway away from his face and then his whole head of hair is tossing about him as though some powerful current is rushing around him alone. Clouds of silt and mud swirl up until I can barely see anything and then there is a piercing light.

The dust clears and through the hazy water, I can see that the light is coming from the boys scar. Again! It flares brighter and brighter so that I have need to shield my eyes as before. Then the pain...

Joltingly, like electric shocks, torrents of pain wring through my skin as the light of his scar sears me. I open my mouth to scream and nothing comes out. The murk floats aside and I can see his face once more, and he is looking at me unmoving. The scar, like a jagged bolt of lightning, shines white hot and blinding and I feel myself falling again, falling down to the earth shutting my eyes against the hot ache in my flesh only to-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-opened them again and found himself lying quite comfortably in his bed. Soarin sat up in the dark, blinking away spots that floated in front of his eyes as though he had been looking at a great white light. His skin still prickled with fading pain and his body was drenched with sweat.

He was panting shallowly. "This isn't normal," he whispered. "It hurts so much..."

Soarin looked at the bed opposite him, but Shaun was fast asleep, breathing deeply. If only I could sleep like that, Soarin thought desolately. He laid back down and pulled the covers up to his chest and then put his arms behind his head. He stared up at the ceiling urging the grips of sleep to catch hold of him again. What does this mean? Who is that boy and why do I keep dreaming about him? It hurts so badly in my dream, but when I wake up, I can still feel the pain. What is going on? What is it that my dreams are trying to tell me?

His thoughts ended slowly there, for without intention, he had drifted back into sleep, dreamless, but troubled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaun woke earlier than Soarin, which was indeed a very odd occurrence, but regardless, it was near noon before they were sitting up in bed and preparing to start their day. By one o'clock they had showered, dressed and woken enough to finally set eyes on the world. They met Eliza in the rec room and they all went outside, heading toward the cafeteria and the lovely thought of lunch.

As was the usual on Saturdays, the amount of students about the school was scattered. They were all free to go about their day and do whatever they wished and be wherever they wanted to be (as long as they were indoors by nightfall) and it was no surprise to see that the cafeteria was near empty and the amount of students outside was minimal. The sky outside was bright blue and the cold of the night had burned away so that it was clear and warm with the scent of grass and eucalyptus permeating the campus. Outside on the spacious lawns, several students had spread blankets to lounge about, either talking or studying or just resting lazily.

Shaun eyed the lethargic students jealously and said: "It's amazing that all these people can just lay around acting stupid and slow when we are saving their lives nearly every day." Eliza looked at him and then Soarin followed her gaze. He blushed. "Okay, so Soarin saves their lives everyday."

Soarin smiled fondly and Eliza said: "At least I help sometimes. You just read books."

They stared out across the lawns laughing softly and then headed into the cafeteria. Once they had finished eating, Eliza led them out into the grass where they laid amongst the fragrant blades and chatted in an idle way about nothing in particular. The afternoon passed uneventfully and Soarin began to look forward to nightfall so that they could get into the library again and begin their research once more.

"There's something odd about your dream," Eliza murmured as they walked back toward their dorms. Behind them, the sun was sinking behind the dark forest and it painted the sky gold and pink with shades of pale purple running through it.

Soarin bit his lip. He hadn't told them yet of the second dream about that boy with the scar from the night before. He had figured that things were complicated enough with their searching for anything they could find about the Master and this Dark Lord and it wouldn't really make a difference if he had another strange dream or not. Things just seemed to be so complicated at the moment and nothing was really even happening.

"What do you mean?" Shaun asked.

"I don't know." Eliza shook her head. "That boy that you saw, Soarin, the one with the scar. It seems so familiar to me, like I've read about something like it, or my parents have told me stories or some other thing along those lines. I just don't know." She paused. "The details are really odd and everything and I have no idea what they mean, but the boy... That scar sounds so familiar. And you mentioned a cup, right, Soarin?"

He nodded. "Yeah, a big cup, like a trophy or something."

"See? That means something, too! But I just can't figure out what... It's like I have this train of thought that is following the tracks and then there's a gap where the tracks disappear but then they reappear again and the scenery has all changed and I know what it is that brought out those changes but for some reason I just can't recall what should have been there during that gap."

"Don't even try to," said Soarin. "That will only give you a headache. It gives me one and I'm the one having the dreams."

Once they were inside, the conversation dropped and they sat in the chairs together in the rec room waiting for dark to come so they could sneak out. Figuring that no one would notice anyway, they all got up together and left the room at the same time. They decided to use Eliza's dorm this time since her roommate was a shy girl who had very few friends, and never really talked to Eliza, even though they had lived together for the past three and a half years. Her name was Betty Roquefort and she just happened to be staying in the hospital wing because she had caught a very bad cold a few days before. ("And even if she was here, she wouldn't really give a crap anyway!" Eliza stated.) It was near seven o'clock when they slipped out the window and hurried around the building toward the library. They had put on sweaters because it was chilly out, though not as cold as the past few nights had been.

Shaun and Eliza laughed and whispered as they snuck through the courtyard with Soarin lagging behind a little. He was not as enthusiastic as they seemed to be but all the same he was glad to finally be able to get to the library and was in a hurry to be inside before they were seen. He shuddered to think of Headmaster Manners catching them.

"Will you guys just be quiet! Please!" he whispered harshly.

"What's wrong?"

"You two are just being really loud. I don't need us to get caught. What will that look like? You two and me, near the library which was broken into last night!"

Shaun and Eliza were silent.

A few moments later they were before the library doors which were cracked open like the night before, and as Shaun and Eliza slipped inside, Soarin saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Peering through the darkness, he thought he saw one of the dormitory wing doors whisper shut. His brow wrinkled and he turned away from the library's door, stepping a little way into the courtyard, sensing something nearby.

"Are you okay?" asked Eliza as she stepped outside the doors.

He turned to her. "What? Oh, yeah! Fine, I'm fine." He looked off toward the dorms again, his eyes narrowed, but all was as it had been. "I'm just seeing things is all. No biggie! Just me being crazy, you know?" Eliza stared at him and he moved up the steps and then slipped inside after his friend.

Ms. Faithe was just sitting down at the table which was still covered in books and she looked at them as they came in. "And how was your day?" she asked cheerfully.

"Nice and restful," Soarin said happily as he pushed unpleasant thoughts from his mind.

"And thankfully so," put in Shaun.

"Did you find anything, Ms. Faithe?" Eliza asked, taking a seat across from the teacher.

Ms. Faithe slapped the book she had been looking at closed and pushed it aside. "Nothing at all about a Dark Lord or a Master. I've been in here for several hours already. There is absolutely nothing I've been able to find."

"Well that sucks!" Shaun said brusquely. "Can't we find some little charm that we can say 'Find this, or find that' to and it will just point to what we need?"

Ms. Faithe smiled. "It doesn't work that way and you know it. We'll just have to keep looking like normal people. But right now, I just want to get outside for a bit. I thought maybe Soarin and I could walk about for a while... patrol, or something. And in the meantime, the two of you could stay in here with the fruitless Effort. It should be a blast!"

Shaun rolled his eyes and sat next to Eliza.

"There is a stack of things over here that I've already looked through, so there is no need to even touch any of that. There was nothing that I could find." Ms. Faithe pulled a stack of books off another table and set them near the stairs. "The rest of the stuff is up for grabs, so feel free to look through it all and hopefully you'll find something. Are you coming Soarin?"

Soarin glanced up. "You bet! Wouldn't miss it." He turned to Shaun and Eliza. "You two gonna be okay? You don't mind?"

Eliza shook her head. "Don't worry. Just go and see what you rustle up. We'll do the same only without leaving our seats."

Soarin nodded and then he and Ms. Faithe turned and walked toward the door. There was only the soft squeal of the door to tell Shaun and Eliza that they had left at all. Silence rained down over the inner sanctum of the library. Several minutes passed and Eliza looked up to find Shaun looking at her.

"What?" she asked. "Something on my face?"

"No, I'm just... bored."

"You're supposed to be looking for stuff in the books! Do it. Soarin needs our help."

"I know that, but that's what gets me angry sometimes," he said hotly. "He's out there looking for evil things that he gets to beat up while we're in here doing the dirty work for him. Sometimes it bothers me."

"What happened to you, you were in a good mood only a couple of minutes ago."

He sat back in his chair and pushed the book he had opened away. "Nothing. I'm just being crabby is all. I know we help a lot but I sometimes feel useless when we're in here and he's out there. And then Ms. Faithe goes and it's all a whole big thing!"

Eliza looked at him and said simply: "Soarin and Ms Faithe: Slayers. Shaun and Eliza: not. Get it? That's what they do. In all the world there are only three Slayers. One, two, three. They are two of the three and we are not. It's simple."

"That's what makes me feel dumb. He's so important and we aren't."

"I think that if Soarin could choose between being one of the Slayers and being normal he would opt to be like us," Eliza said as she stood up to pull another stack of books off the table and set them near the stack Ms. Faithe had discarded. "It's a huge responsibility he has on his shoulders. Like the weight of the world or something. Being a wizard doesn't make it any easier." She sat down on the stairs and pulled the top book off of the pile that Ms. Faithe had left.

"I know," Shaun sighed. "I'm just being stupid right now because, for once, I'd like to be able to go out patrolling with them. I know it's dangerous-"

"Which is why you can't go!"

"-but I still just wish that I could have a little excitement in my life too."

She looked at him. "And Soarin wishes his life were boring. Besides, we're lucky too."

"Why?" he asked doubtfully.

"Because of all the people in this world, we are best friends with one of the Slayers and even though we don't have the abilities and skills he does, we still know him and get to be involved. How many in this world get to say that they have saved the world?"

"That's true. It is nice... It's like having a secret. Something that only we know. Outside our world, everyone lives their lives normally, but they don't even know that there are things out there that want to hunt them and we spend nearly everyday stopping evil from winning."

"I know. That's what a secret is, remember? Something that we know and everyone else doesn't?"

"Oh, right..." He looked at her. "I think Ms. Faithe already looked through those books."

She looked up from the book in her lap. "I know, but this one looks cool. I would think that a book with this title would be perfect for finding what we're looking for."

Eliza held up the book and Shaun read the title aloud: "Dark Magic And Men." She nodded. "She said she looked though it already."

"I know, but I still want to see what's inside."

Shaun shrugged and turned back to his book. Several minutes passed with finding nothing when Eliza suddenly stood up and said: "Oh... oh! OH!"

"What? What's wrong with you?" Shaun asked her in confusion.

"This! I found it! I knew it sounded familiar!"

"What did? What are you talking about?"

"Soarin's dream!"

"We aren't looking for stuff about Soarin's dream, remember? We're looking for the Master."

"But they're connected!" Eliza stammered.

"What the hell are you talking about? You make no sense!"

Eliza strode to the desk and thumped the book down. She pointed to a page where there was a large engraving surrounded by tight elegant script. Shaun leaned forward and stared at the picture. It was a portrait of a young boy of about ten or eleven and he had dark hair that stuck up strangely around his head. Perched on his nose was a pair of round glasses and he wore black robes with a small emblazoned crest over one of the breasts which showed a large letter H. Peeping out of the bristly fringe over his forehead was a tiny thin scar shaped like a lightning bolt.

"That's him..." Shaun whispered. He suddenly felt very small and a bit frightened. He couldn't exactly say why, but the delicate and detailed engraving had a strange effect on him. Trembling a bit, he looked up slowly at Eliza who stared down at the picture reverently. "Who is he?"

She looked up at Shaun, her gaze deep. "That's Harry Potter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you remember to bring a stack this time?" asked Ms. Faithe. It was very dark outside and the sky was clear with the full moon overhead beaming down to wash the world in a ghostly blue shadow. They had strayed off of the walkways and were now walking slowly through the grass lawns.

Soarin reached behind his back to a small leather sheath he had belted around himself. He pulled out a finely shaped wooden stake which he weighed in his palm. "I am very much prepared tonight." Across the lawns, a piercing howl shot out off the dark forest and soared around the moon. "Werewolves?" Soarin asked softly.

"Yes. Have you ever seen one?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "No, and I hope never to be able to say that I have. It isn't natural."

She smiled in the dark. "Right. Just about as natural as a vampire. Or a Vampire Slayer, right?"

"Well..."

"Or a person whose dreams come true..."

Soarin bit his lip, staring at the ground. He had been trying to suppress his thoughts of his dreams. At the moment there were other things that seemed so much more important. Did they all need to know about that boy with the scar? But as much as Soarin wished that he could ignore it, he felt a strange uneasiness inside, telling him that he should not keep quiet.

"Ms. Faithe?"

"Hmm?"

Soarin paused for a moment. "About my dreams. I told you about that boy with the scar, remember?" Soarin thought that Ms. Faithe's reply was: "How could I forget..." but he wasn't altogether sure. He went on: "Well, last night, I had another dream. About that boy." He stopped speaking, hoping that she would say something.

Ms. Faithe was silent.

"And in the dream, when his scar started to... I don't know how to describe it... When it started to... burn... it hurt again." She stopped walking and Soarin turned to face her. "It hurt me again! I've never felt pain like it before and I've broken bones! It's just so odd. I've been trying to ignore it, but I just can't. It's been weighing on me too much. What do you think it means?" He looked at her imploringly but her eyes were elsewhere. "Ms. Faithe?" She still said nothing. "What's wrong."

She shook her head and turned back to him. "I thought I saw..." she mumbled. "Never mind. Never mind! Look. Having the power to Dream is a rare and very strange gift. If I were you I wouldn't read into this too much. I'm sure it's just schoolwork and the pressure that you feel of being a Slayer."

They began to walk further. "I thought of that too. But I don't think it is. Pain like that is not Slayer related. At least not when I'm asleep. Something is wrong. I can feel it but I just can't say what."

He stopped suddenly because Ms. Faithe had begun to lag behind. When Soarin turned she had stopped and was staring off toward the school buildings. Soarin moved closer to her and followed her gaze and found himself watching another figure like the night before. It was a boy who wore his pajama pants and jacket and had slippers on his feet. He had reddish hair and broad shoulders.

"Soarin, who is that?" Ms. Faithe sharply.

"I don't know. I've seen him around but I don't know him. I think he's a second year."

"He'll be in trouble if anyone catches him. I'd better go and talk some sense into him." She began to walk toward the boy and Soarin stayed behind, not wanting the boy to see him and question what he was doing out. This boy, like the girl from the night before, was walking in an extremely odd fashion. His arms were limp at his sides and his head was cocked in a funny way as though he were listening for some music that no one else could hear.

An expression of wariness passed Soarin's features. "Ms. Faithe..." he called softly and then stopped. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw more movement. Looking sideways deeper into the school, Soarin saw several students moving about eerily in their nightgowns. They all walked with their head tilted to the sides and Soarin gasped when he saw that several actually had their eyes closed!

He stepped forward a few feet when there was a loud thump and he turned just in time to see Ms. Faithe flying through the air and sailing across the grass nearly ten feet. Soarin took off toward her and was at her side instantly. He helped lift her slowly and she groaned.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Soarin shot.

She moaned. "I went to stop him and he didn't listen. I grabbed his shoulder and then he just- I don't know... attacked me. He's strong. He can't be human."

Soarin looked up. "He's human. Something is just wrong." Ms. Faithe gasped as she saw the other students beginning to appear from the shadows. "Come on," Soarin said as he helped her to her feet.

They stepped forward into the walkway and stood firmly facing the students. As one neared, Ms. Faithe said: "Turn back around and return to your dorms or I shall have to get Headmaster Manners involved!" They paid no attention and kept right on forward. "Something is very wrong here," she whispered, her body slowly moving into a fighting position.

The first student, a girl of about sixteen, stepped between them and moved silently onward. Soarin and Ms. Faithe watched her pass, expressions of confusion and horror on their faces. They looked at each other and then turned back around just in time to see two boys, side by side, step forward and fluidly lunge at the two Slayers.

Ms. Faithe felt herself lifted as though she weighed nothing and she was tossed casually aside, flying out onto the grass and landing hard on her side. She heard Soarin grunt painfully and she rolled over and sat up on her elbows just as Soarin slammed into the wall of the building. He fell to the floor and lay there in an unmoving heap.

The students continued their silent trek though the schoolyard and Ms Faithe could only stare in horror as more and more students appeared, walking in their vacant trance, passed Soarin who did not move.

To Be Continued...