Death Is Our Gift

XV

"Interview with the Dhampir"

"Will he be alright?" asked Sarah to Professor Dumbledore. After Liam fell, Dumbledore & Professor Potter seemed to appear on the field, grabbing Liam and rushing him to the school. Joshua and Sarah ran up to the school, along with Malcolm and the rest of the team.

"I believe he will recuperate rather quickly," said Professor Dumbledore. "Mister Summers has a remarkable ability to heal up after little... uh... incidents like this afternoon."

Kyle looked shocked "I didn't mean-"

"Accidents happen," said Malcolm. "At least he didn't get killed."

"Way to be insensitive," said Joshua, surprised at the statement coming from his mouth.

"If he can't handle some bumps, he shouldn't play the game," retorted Malcolm.

"That wasn't a bump," said Joshua. "You didn't-"

"Children," interrupted Dumbledore, "Mister Summers needs rest. And I'm sure you will all agree that the message is best delivered by me, rather than Madam Pomfrey."

Everyone began to shuffle from the infirmary. Dumbledore laid a hand on Joshua's shoulder. "I'm sure that Mister Summers would appreciate a visit from all of his friends later. Say after dinner, while Madam Pomfrey is otherwise unavailable?"

Joshua nodded and ran after Sarah, whispering something in her ear and they both ran towards Gryffindor Tower.

Dumbledore smiled and looked back to Liam. "Your friends care about you very much, Mister Summers. Maybe it is time for you to reaffirm that caring." He turned and walked away, whistling a little tune.

****

As Liam slept, he dreamed.

He dreamed that he was flying. No, not flying - jumping. He was leaping from building to building. He was following something. He could smell it - his prey.

His victim.

The wind rushed across his face with each vault. As he touched down, his feet ran across the roof tops at phenomenal speed, jumping to reach the next building. His legs moved without effort. His body seemed to defy gravity.

Suddenly, he leaped to the right, not towards a building, but towards the street below him. His body turned in the air and he came crashing to the pavement, impeding a running roman. A flash later, he was upon her - attacking her - ready to take her life.

But she fought back. And in a moment, he realized who he was fighting.

His mother.

Liam suddenly awoke, seeing the faces of his four friends staring back at him.

"You okay, mate?" asked Ash.

"Yeah," said Liam. "Just a dream."

The awkward silence seemed to hang in the air like a thick fog. No one knew what to say.

"Look," began Liam, "about this after-"

"Liam," interrupted Lex. "We are your friends. You know that. You can trust-"

"I do," said Liam. "And you guys have been very patient with my unexplained behaviors. It's time to lay the cards out. So, here it is.

"My name is Liam Summers-"

"Thanks mate," said Ash in his dead pan tone, "that explains-" but he was interrupted by a slap on the shoulder from Sarah.

Liam smiled. "My mother was Buffy Summers, who was known by most of the world as a Slayer."

Ash's jaw dropped. "Your mother was the Slayer?"

"Actually, a slayer," corrected Liam. "She was the Chosen One, but a spell done by Willow activated all the potential Slayers, so now there are quite a few. My aunt Dawnie is another."

"So that's how you can move so fast," said Joshua, but then blurted out, "So, who was the Slayer my Uncle Ron knew?"

"That was my mom," said Liam. "As to my moves, as well as my face, that's a bit trickier.

"The Slayer's job is to fight evil, especially vampires. Well, in the greatest act of irony to date, my mom fell in love with a vampire."

The silence this revelation caused was deafening. "Whoa," said Ash. "That's heavy."

"Yep," said Liam. "But it gets better. This vampire was named Angel. Long ago, he was called Angelus - a really nasty vamp whose killing spree was blamed for at least one plague."

"So," said Ash, "why didn't you mum stake him instead of falling in love with him?"

"Getting there," said Liam.

"So shut your trap," said Joshua.

"Angelus pissed off some gypsies and was cursed with a soul."

"How is that a curse?" asked Sarah.

Lex answered, "A soul is what makes you have a conscious. Vampires are soulless creatures, so thereby have no regret and no morality."

"Yep," said Liam. "So, Angelus could suddenly remember all the pain he had inflicted and it drove him kinda bonkers. It took him a long time to get over the grief. Part of that healing was to help my mother out - fighting other vampires.

"So, the new Angel meets mom, they fall in love and mom has sex with him. But the gypsies had another trick up their sleeve. To ensure that Angel fully atoned for his sins, he could never have a moment of happiness. So, after a quick shag, Angel became Angelus again."

"So," said Sarah, "your father-"

"Hang on," said Liam. "This story has a few more twists to it. I haven't even gotten to Spike."

"Whose Spike?" asked Lex.

"William the Bloody," said Ash. "One of Angelus' mates. He was called 'Spike' because he liked to torture his victims with railroad spikes."

"Ugh!" exclaimed Sarah and Lex.

"How did you know that?" asked Liam.

"When you guys wouldn't tell me anything, I started researching vampires and Slayers. He's mentioned as the only vampire to kill a Slayer."

"Two, actually," added Liam.

"Was your mum-" began Lex, but interrupted her.

"No," said Liam. "My mom died of leukemia. Apparently, Slayers aren't supposed to live as long as Mom did, so her body started to kill itself. Anyway, Spike did kill two Slayers. Angelus began to terrorize the town. He attacked and tortured Mom's friends, even killing one of them."

"Who?" asked Lex.

"Jenny Calendar," said Liam. "It was Giles' sweetheart."

"Didn't know he had one," commented Lex.

"Didn't know anyone would want him," added Ash, receiving another slap from Sarah.

"Okay, so Mom fought against him and as he was trying to unleash Armageddon on the world, she stabbed him and sent him through a portal to Hell..."

"Good on her!" exclaimed Joshua.

"Just after Willow cast a spell to give him back his soul," finished Liam.

"Oops," said Ash to both the story and to Joshua.

Liam laughed. "Anyway, a newly soul'd Angel fought his way out of Hell and came back to Sunnydale. After that, he left for Los Angeles, because he didn't want to hurt Mom anymore.

"Now, after he left, Mom started to have feelings for Spike-"

"What is it about your mum and vampires?" asked Joshua.

"No idea," said Liam. "But Spike was totally ga-ga for mom."

"Did he have a soul?" asked Sarah.

"Of course," said Ash, "they have a special running for bloodsucking demons. I saw an advert for it."

"At that time, he didn't. He did, however, have a chip in his head that prevented him from harming humans. Eventually, he did get a soul, because he wanted to be with Mom. Mom didn't fully explain how she felt to him. And when Sunnydale was destroyed-"

"Wait," said Ash, "your town was destroyed? Where did you grow up?"

"Okay, the first incarnation of the town was destroyed then rebuilt just south. The Hellmouth was opened-"

"Your town was on a Hellmouth?" asked Joshua.

"Yes, but the Hellmouth was destroyed, along with all of Sunnydale. Mom and the other Slayers did it, along with Spike's help, who died in the process."

"So, who's the next vamp on her list?" asked Ash with a snarky tone.

"Well, what Mom didn't know at the time was that he wasn't dead, just trapped in a medallion that found its way back to L.A. and Angel.

"But by this time, Mom had left Sunnydale and flown to England to help out the wizards. She's over here for a while and then she flies back home..." Liam trailed off, thinking of how to explain the next part.

"So that's when she met Uncle Ron & Hermione?" asked Sarah.

"Yep," replied Liam. "But they did see each other a few more times. Okay, Mom comes home and goes to L.A. to see Angel about Spike being alive. What she didn't know was that Angel was back to being Angelus. Angelus attacked her and..."

"And what mate?" asked Ash.

"And nine months later, little Liam Orlando Summers is born."

"By the gods!" said Lex.

"Yeppers. So, here before you sits the fruit of that labor of hatred. Half Slayer, half vampire."

"So," said Sarah, "that makes you-"

"The term," said Professor Potter from the doorway, with Willow and Professor Giles standing beside him," is dhampir - half human, half vampire. The Slayer just adds to the lot. Dhampir have all the strength and speed of the vampire and none of the weaknesses. They can move in sunlight, are not affected by holy relics, and have a reflection. They have only one weakness..."

"Blood," said Sarah.

"Five points to Gryffindor," said Professor Potter. Willow walked to the bed and sat next to Liam, holding his hand.

"I have my potion," said Liam, "which I take to satiate that part of me. But lately, it hasn't worked as well as it used to."

"You're a growing boy, Liam," added Professor Giles. "We knew that the potion would eventually need to be increased, but wanted to see how long it would take."

"So," said Joshua, "that night your potion wasn't working. But why didn't your face change?"

"Glamour spell," said Professor Potter. "We cast it so that if Liam changed inside the castle, his face would appear normal."

"But didn't in the Quidditch pitch," said Joshua.

"Exactly," said Professor Potter. "Which is why you saw his 'game face' as it's been called."

"So, you knew Uncle Harry?" asked Sarah.

"I knew Buffy from her time in England and have watched Liam grow up, always from a distance."

"Wait," said Ash, "I thought vampires couldn't have children... you know... that way?"

"Typically no," said Professor Potter. "But you're dealing with the situation of a vampire who had a soul. The current thought is that what was left of his soul was what helped make a child."

"Brings up a lot of questions about how life is truly conceived," said Professor Giles.

"So," said Ash, "how many dhampir are there?"

"A handful," said Professor Giles, returning from thought. "Most dhampir don't make it past their teens, either being mistaken for a vampire or killed by the vampires themselves."

"The few that do," added Professor Potter, "are devoted to fighting against vampires. And they're the perfect people to do it."

"Like Blade," said Liam.

"Who's that?" asked Sarah.

"A dhampir in New York," said Liam. "Mom & him knew each other. Cool guy with wicked tools and this cool tattoos."

"Uh, Professors," asked Ash, "could Liam... uh... turn..."

Professor Potter shook his head. "No. Dhampir don't have enough demonic essence in them to take a soul."

"So, if he gets peckish," said Joshua, "we're safe."

"Quite," said Professor Giles.

"Always good to know that your friends won't eat you in the night," said Ash, who was slugged again by Sarah. "Will you bloody well lay off?"

"So," said Liam, "we all cool with this?"

"Definitely," said Lex. Everyone nodded in agreement. Willow leaned into Liam and said, "We're glad you finally told someone."

"I am too," added Liam under his breath, smiling at his friends.

****

In a cave off the shores of Italy, lay a secret. Ivan Darkhorne, a 12^th century black mage, spent years working on a way to fight the forces of good. He developed a series of weapons that were so evil, that when the Wizard's Council found them, they buried them deep in the ocean never to be touched by wizarding hands again.

But they never knew of something he left behind in this particular cave.

But she did.

As she entered the cave, she began to look around for her clue. She moved deeper into the cave, scanning the walls. She finally saw it - a rune carved into the wall.

"Well," she said with a faint Irish accent, "that was easy."

That was when she heard a growl behind her.

She turned slowly and saw it. Many moons had set since her Care of Magical Creatures class, but she knew what a chimera looked like. It was big and looked very hungry. "Nice kitty," she said mockingly.

The chimera growled at her and sprung. She quickly moved to the side as it landed. But its scorpion tail caught her in the arm, pumping its deadly poison into her system.

She fell to the ground. The chimera backed away, waiting for its prey to succumb to the slow death. She looked to her arm, the green hole oozing.

"Bad kitty," she said. As she watched, the hole began to close, pushing the ooze out of her system. "Do you not know that won't work on something that is already dead?" Suddenly, her face shifted to its demonic visage and she sprung.

The chimera, surprised not only by the fact that its prey was not dead, but was counter attacking, took a few seconds too long to respond. She landed on the beast as it began to rise up, trying to swipe with its claws. She grabbed it by the neck with one arm. Its tail came round for another sting.

She grabbed the tail with her free arm and pulled. The tail was ripped from the body with a sickening sound. The beast screamed out in pain, but the vampire didn't care.

She turned her head and sunk her fangs into the beast's neck, beginning to drain it of life. The beast tried to fight through the pain, but all the thrashing did was pushing it closer to death. Soon, it began to fight less and eventually slumped to the ground limp. Dead.

The vampire released the dead creature and dropped its severed tail to the cave floor. She wiped her mouth with her hand. "Not human," she said," but it will do in a pinch."

She walked back to the rune carved into the wall, tracing it with a bloody finger and muttering an incantation. The rune began to glow and the stone began to open around it, creating a hole in the wall. The vampire reached and pulled out a package.

"Hello pretty," she said as she opened it. Inside was a dagger with two thin blades that lead into a hilt and handle shaped like a serpent's head.

She smiled and wrapped the dagger back into its package. She placed it in a bag and removed a cell phone. She walked outside the cave and down the hill a bit. She opened the phone a dialed a number.

"Is it done?" she asked as the phone picked up.

"Yes, madam, it is complete," said the voice on the other end, a tinge of fear in its voice.

"You would not be lying to me, would you?" she asked sweetly.

"No madam," said the voice. He was absolutely terrified, but he wasn't lying.

"Good," said the vampire. "Tell Russell I said that phase one and two are complete. He will release you. And remember, we shan't see you again unless you speak of what you know."

"Not a word, madam," said the voice.

"Good. Also tell Russell that I have a plane to catch. I need to see some lawyers about me dear brother's ashes." With that, she clicked the phone shut and made her way back down the hill, whistling a little tune as she went.