Anita tried to steady her breathing, but her heart was beating far too fast. They were too late, the demon was being pulled through just as they entered the warehouse, there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Glancing around her she saw the two “baby” vampires off against the far wall, being held in place by magic, why were they still alive? The still corpses of the other sacrifices littered at their feet, their hands held tight together as they sought comfort in the face of certain death. In the center of the cavernous room was the person responsible for this whole mess, standing just outside of a large circle of blood, her hands raised high as light shined into every shadow. Who knew that bringing a demon into this world would be so beautiful.

Looking behind her, she met the eyes of her lover, trying to communicate something though even she wasn’t sure what. Goodbye? Nice knowing ya? There were no words left to speak, not now. As the fog of her mind began to clear two things happened. Edward shot the woman in the leg, dropping her like a sack of potatoes and a body fell through the bright light and thudded to the ground within the blood circle in the center of the room.

This whole mess was beyond confusing! The caster they had all come to fear over the past few days looked to be nothing more than an embittered soccer mom, granted one that hadn’t been keeping up with their appearance, but still. Her hair was snarled and matted with drying blood, some of it looking days old like she hadn’t stopped to shower since this whole insane plan kicked off. Her once cheerful looking clothes were now stained with all manner of biological crap, and hung off her thin frame like she’d lost weight rapidly and recently. Eating didn’t look like a high priority for her either.

The “demon” that was meant to kill them all simply looked like a young woman, an unconscious young woman. Her dark hair was draped over her face making it impossible to make out her features, but from what she could see the girl had to be on the better side of thirty. Her toned form was bare of any coverings leaving every curve and scar on full display. While she may look young it was obvious she was a fighter, but was she really going to kill them all? Was she even a demon?

For a moment a previously unknown well of hope and optimism sprang to life in her chest, maybe the woman botched the spell and didn’t summon a demon like she wanted. Maybe she just grabbed some random girl from god knows where and dropped her here in the middle of things. And while she’s being all hopeful and naïve maybe all the innocent people who died to make this a reality will just spring back to life safe and sound.

While things might not be happening how she’d imagined they would things were definitely headed in the general direction of fuckville. What the hell were they supposed to do now? No sooner had the thought echoed through her mind than another shot rang out. Turning to the side she saw Edward standing next to her, he fired weapon aimed at the “demon” in question. A demon who was now very much awake. Oh shit!

Faith didn’t know where she was, some sort of desert it looked like, but she’d fallen asleep in her bed back at the slayer house in Cleveland. So how the fuck had she landed here? Sensing movement she turned her head, tensed to fight whatever came her way, only to freeze in equal parts horror and understanding. There across the fire was the first slayer, looking just like B always described her. So a dream then, but why come to her instead of B? She was so confused.

“Things have changed for you dark one. You are no longer one of many. You are now all there is.”

The fuck did that mean? Did something happen to B? The girls?

“What are you talking about?” She had never been the lone slayer before, and even the thought of it in her dreams filled her with terror. She remembered all the horror stories told by the scoobies, the ones written in the watcher diaries. This whole Slaying thing was no joke, and back up was just good sense.

“Power made your army, now power has torn it from you. You stand alone. Always alone.”

Okay this bitch was really just a walking headache. She didn’t need riddles she needed answers.

“So in English what does that mean?” Maybe if she asked enough questions this chick would drop the mystic act and just tell her outright what she needed to know.

“You stand alone. Shoulder to shoulder with your sisters. Listen to their council and you shall stand tall. Ignore them and join their ranks.”

What the fuck! Was she dead? Was she going to die? Whoa, so that’s how the whole prophecy thing felt, like a punch to the gut. Shrugging her shoulders she decided to just roll with it. Things would shake out however they were going to, fighting it would only make things worse. If she learned anything from B, it was that.

“So what do I do now?”

“Listen.”

The sound of a shot rang out, forcing her eyes open. Looking frantically around she found herself in a warehouse of some kind, surrounded by people she didn’t know one of whom had been shot in the leg. Well alright then, time to get this show on the road.

 

A/N – I know this chapter is kinda short, but it was mainly to just sort of get me back into the flow of the story. More to come eventually, hopefully soon, but I’ve learned that deadlines mean nothing to me. Also if it wasn’t clear from the whole Cleveland thing, we’re going with post Chosen Faith.

 

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