Chapter 4

“This is insanity,” Ally said, glaring. “What can you have been thinking? You are a vampire slayer. Lives depend upon you. I would expect a certain amount of responsibility, and instead you enslave yourself to this – this – cult?”

Lilith made a pouty face, holding up her pom-poms. “You don’t like the outfit?”

“No, I – I like it fine,” Ally muttered, her cheeks turning pink.

Lilith grinned, doing a cheer pose. Ally rolled her eyes. They were in the library, preparing to – apparently – go to cheer tryouts. Ally understood Lilith less the more she got to know her.

A vampire boyfriend? Friends who knew about slaying? Well – alright. Melanie and Lexy had known too, but only because they had been present the first time Ally killed a vampire. There was no keeping it from them. Lilith had a whole entourage though. It was different.

Also – Lilith wanted to be a cheerleader? As if they really had time for extracurriculars? Even if Lilith did look amazing in the little uniform. Of course she did. Lilith had this annoying habit of being – well – perfect.

“I have to agree with Ally,” Barton said, taking a sip of coffee. “You have a sacred birthright, Lilith. You were chosen to destroy vampires. I’m worried taking this on will be too much for you.”

“Well, I’m kinda doing it as part of the whole sacred birthright thing,” Lilith said. “I had a dream last night. A girl in a cheerleader uniform was on fire.”

“Oh?” Barton asked, adjusting his glasses.

Lilith grinned. “Knew that would get your attention.”

“You think this was a prophetic dream?” Barton asked.

“Might’ve been,” Lilith said. “Well – gotta go.”

Ally followed Lilith out of the library, perplexed. Barton was an interesting sort of watcher. Much like Uncle Fergus, he seemed determined to show a certain level of care for his charge. To Ally, this was illogical. She had pushed her uncle away at every chance both because she had never liked him and because she believed things like emotions got in the way of the mission.

“Barton is a family friend of yours?” Ally asked. “Does everyone in your life know about slaying then?”

“No,” Lilith said, looking annoyed. “Of course not. My dad doesn’t know.”

Ally nodded. “My mother didn’t know either.” They were walking down the crowded halls of Sunnydale High. All around them, students were talking and laughing. It was disconcerting. Ally had spent the past several weeks in the dark, fighting. Staying up all night and sleeping all day, just like the vampires she fought. Existing like this, in the daylight, it was strange.

“And your mom…?”

“Gone,” Ally said.

The memories of that night flashed through Ally’s mind. Her mother’s bloody corpse, seated at the table. Frigga’s head resting on a plate. Her uncle, his face wrong and different and twisted. Sharp fangs on the face Ally had grown almost fond of over their months of training. Yet another reason attachments were a bad idea.

She could picture it all too well – her uncle, lunging for an attack. The wooden stake flying through the air. Ally’s aim was perfect. She never missed. Uncle Fergus had exploded in a cloud of dust. Ally hadn’t had time to process that the man who trained her was now nothing but ashes. More attackers had been quick to close in, forcing her to keep fighting.

“Speaking of sacred duties,” Ally said. “You’re dating the enemy and you didn’t want to tell me?”

“This is the third day I’ve known you,” Lilith said. She sighed. “Also I was kinda worried you would react – well – how you reacted.”

“And you actually kiss him and everything?” Ally asked.

Lilith laughed. “Yes.”

“What is that like?”

“I don’t know,” Lilith said, her cheeks turning pink. “James is my first real boyfriend.”

“Do you like him because he’s a vampire?”

“What? No! I like him because he’s kind and charming, and cute. And we both like fighting evil. How much more in common can you have?”

“A pulse?”

“Shut up,” Lilith said, but she was laughing.

“So, is it some sort of messed up fetish?” Ally asked. “Do you pretend you’re going to stake him, and he pretends he’s going to bite you?”

“Ally!” Lilith said, her cheeks now bright red.

“I’m genuinely trying to understand,” Ally said.

“Anyway,” Lilith said as they entered the gym. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?” Lilith asked. She considered. “Or a girlfriend. No judgment.”

“I’ve been on a few dates,” Ally said. “I’ve kissed a few people. But no, I’ve never been in a relationship.” She sat down on the bleachers, away from the rest of the spectators. “Well - good luck.”

Ally sat alone but she was barely there a minute before Jenny, Tiffany and Alvin were at her sides. She tried to force a smile. This was all a lot. Ally had kept to herself at her old school, just talking to Melanie and Lexy.

Then the summer had happened, and she’d become more and more wound up in her new sacred duty to protect the world from evil. The bright lights and happy faces were overwhelming. Ally missed the dark – the feeling of fighting for her life. The mundanity was much scarier than that.

“Whoo!” Alvin said. “Go Lilith!”

Ally forced a smile and watched Lilith walk ahead of the other try-out contestants. Lilith was obviously athletic and coordinated – she was, after all, a slayer. A slayer who had been training much longer than Ally.

Ally watched the movements of Lilith’s cheer routine, memorizing the nuances of her mannerisms and the way she moved. Ally was going to keep training and prove she was just as capable – if not more – than Lilith. They had been patrolling together twice already.

Ally considered them equally matched in raw skill, but Lilith had been training for much longer and it did show at times. Still – Lilith lacked the precision Ally prided herself in. Lilith acted on emotions and instincts. That could get a slayer killed. Ally supposed it already had – once.

The first week of classes at UC Sunnydale were a whirlwind of excitement. Mark found himself in love with all of his classes. He was taking general education requirements – English, intro to Algebra, Biology 101 – but also some electives. He’d gotten into an advanced robotics course and was already brainstorming weapons to help Lilith with slaying.

Also – football and cheerleading tryouts were this week. Lilith had tried out for Sunnydale High’s cheer team the previous week and was supposed to hear back by Friday. Mark wanted to try out for quarterback now that he was in college. He’d been the starter in high school and enjoyed the game.

So, Mark found himself sitting in the bleachers waiting for cheer tryouts to end so that football tryouts could start. It was a sunny, warm day. Sitting in the bleachers surrounded by cheering crowds watching their friends or waiting to try out themselves, it was hard to conceive the seedy underbelly of this happy California town.

Mark knew firsthand that it existed though. At night Sunnydale became a playground for the undead. Not just vampires either. Zombies, werewolves, incubi, succubi. Everything you ever dreaded under your bed and told yourself couldn’t be by the light of day. They were all real, and very prevalent in Sunnydale.

Sunnydale existed on a Hellmouth. A place of increased supernatural activity. There was an entrance to one of the many Hell dimensions right under Sunnydale High’s library. It had almost been opened at the end of last school year thanks to the Master and his minions and their evil plan. Luckily Lilith had stopped that from happening.

Mark cheered when he noticed a girl from his psych class going up to audition. Yuna Talyohana was pretty, with elaborate braids and buns in her bleached blonde hair, dark skin, and sky-blue eyes. She was shy, as far as Mark could tell. He’d talked her ear off about the lecture on different frameworks of analyzing human behavior, and she’d seemed engaged, even laughing at some of his more embarrassing jokes. She’d also seemed a little jumpy though like she was anxious about something. So, it was interesting to see her trying out for something like cheer.

Yuna smiled and waved excitedly when she saw Mark. Several girls auditioned, and the head cheerleaders already on the squad whispered amongst themselves. Then it was Yuna’s turn, and she went up, looking nervous.

As Yuna started her routine though, something strange began to happen. There was steam – or was it smoke? – rising from Yuna’s skin and hair. She didn’t notice at first, waving her pom-poms and working through the routine. Then it got worse. Her uniform was starting to catch fire. Flames spread across her skirt and shirt, lashing at her shoulders and arms.

Mark stood, yelling in alarm. Other people were starting to notice too. The crowd started rushing toward Yuna as she screamed and stopped her routine. Yuna fell to the ground. Then she was blocked by the crowd and Mark could no longer see her, only hear her screaming in pain.

“So, I guess we’re getting an early tour of UC Sunnydale,” Lilith said.

“I guess so,” Ally said. She nodded to Mark. “You did the right thing, calling us.”

Lilith frowned. The way Ally said it was sort of – not snotty but maybe condescending? She seemed put off by Lilith’s friends’ involvement in slaying. It was hard to place a finger on but there was something always judgey about the way Ally spoke to other people. Like she was consistently looking down her nose, just a little.

Lilith was determined to prove herself just as good or better than Ally when it came to slaying. She could sense the constant comparisons Ally was making. In the few training sessions, they had shared followed by patrolling the local cemeteries for vamps, Ally had made it clear she was determined to outdo Lilith.

“So, you say it happened right about here?” Lilith asked, walking to the grassy area singed with black burn marks.

“Yes,” Mark said. “Yuna is alright, the burns are going to heal. But it was really scary to see.”

“Are we thinking this could be a curse of some kind?” Ally asked.

Lilith nodded. “That seems likely. Our best bet is probably to talk to Yuna next. You said she agreed to meet us, right Mark?”

Mark nodded. Ten minutes of walking later, Lilith, Ally, and Mark were sitting in the cafeteria across from Yuna. Yuna’s bare shoulders were visible because of her strappy sundress and were covered in bandages. Lilith could hazard a guess that more bandages were invisible covered by her clothes. She tried to give Yuna a sympathetic look.

“That must have been so traumatic,” Lilith said.

“Yeah,” Yuna said, frowning. “Um. Sorry - who are you guys again?”

“We’re local paranormal investigators,” Lilith said. It was the best cover she’d been able to come up with under short notice. She did not miss Ally’s disdainful look though. Whatever – not like Ally had been able to come up with anything better.

“Do you know anyone that might have a grudge against you, Yuna?” Ally asked.

“I uh…” Yuna trailed off, thinking. “Well, there’s this guy my dad keeps trying to set me up with. Hahn Adjuk.”

“Bingo,” Lilith said.

“But he’s not some sort of sorcerer,” Yuna said in a hurry. “And I think he took the rejection alright.”

“We’ll still have a talk with him,” Ally said. Lilith noticed the intense look in Ally’s eyes that said she wanted to do more than just talk. Lilith shot her fellow slayer a warning look.

After the talk with Yuna, Mark had to leave for his Communications class. So, it was just Lilith and Ally walking across campus together. In the light of day, it was hard to imagine someone with such sinister intentions as to set a girl on fire.

They made plans before parting to meet Mark and Yuna at Yuna’s dorm after the interrogation with Hahn. Yuna seemed a little reluctant and unsure, but she agreed. Lilith could only imagine how much more terrifying it must be to catch fire without warning if you didn’t know about the supernatural.

“Your brother seems…nice,” Ally said.

“Yeah,” Lilith said, beaming. “He’s great. I’m kinda sad he moved to a dorm. I’ll miss having him at home. And it’ll make cover stories with my dad harder.”

Ally laughed. “Hard to imagine having a sibling help with cover stories. Zack was so curious about what I was always sneaking off to do, he posed a bigger challenge than the forces of evil at times.”

“Your uncle was your watcher – and lived with you guys – but your mom and brother didn’t know about slaying?” Lilith asked.

“I took the sacred call to secrecy a bit more seriously than you seem to,” Ally said.

“You mentioned friends that knew.”

“They found out by accident. And they didn’t attempt to help the way your friends do.” Ally hesitated. “Things sort of – got distant with us. After I became the slayer. I grew busy.”

Lilith nodded, sympathizing. She knew just what it was like to have friends who didn’t understand that she had a sacred duty that always had to come first, before anything else. “I get it.” Lilith hesitated. “I know you mentioned your mom and uncle were gone…” Lilith was desperately curious, but she didn’t want to push too much and cause Ally to close her out entirely. She could see the way Ally tensed up and her face clouded with pain and anger whenever Lilith brought up her family.

“I don’t know where Zack is,” Ally said. “He vanished the same night my mother and uncle – but he’s certainly not alive. There was an invasion of vampires. There’s no way he could have survived.”

“I’m sorry,” Lilith said, putting a hand on Ally’s arm. “Don’t lose hope though. If you don’t know where he is then maybe-”

Ally shoved Lilith’s hand away, glaring. “Hope is a dangerous thing, Lilith. As a slayer, you should know that.”

They walked the rest of the way to Hahn’s dorm in silence. Lilith went to knock, but Ally was faster. She kicked down the door and marched in without hesitation. Lilith was annoyed by Ally’s methods, but she followed her fellow slayer into the dorm room anyway.

Hahn Adjuk was a young man in his late teens or early twenties with dark hair to his shoulders. He yelled in alarm when his door came crashing down and Lilith and Ally marched into the room. He was sitting on his bed, watching some cartoon on his laptop.

Ally started tearing through Hahn’s drawers and knocking things off his shelves without hesitation. “Hey!” Hahn said, jumping up and shoving Ally. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Where’s the spell books, warlock?” Ally asked, slamming Hahn into the wall and grabbing his neck.

“Whoa!” Lilith yelled. She grabbed Ally, yanking her off Hahn. “What happened to innocent until proven guilty?”

“Yuna thought of him immediately when questioned about grudges,” Ally said.

Just as Ally was about to attack Hahn again, Lilith’s pager beeped. She grabbed it from the belt loop of her flared jeans. She recognized the number from the library. Barton, Tiffany, Alvin and Jenny were supposed to be investigating curses, spells, witches, and warlocks.

“Do you have a phone?” Lilith asked, blocking Ally from grabbing Hahn. “If you just let me make a quick phone call, my friend probably won’t kill you.”

“You bitches are fucking crazy,” Hahn said, glaring. “There!” Hahn pointed to a corded phone by his bed.

Lilith dragged a glaring Ally over to the phone and called the library. An excited-sounding Alvin picked up. “Lilith – we figured out a way to lead you to the person cursing Yuna. You just need to be in her presence and say this chant over a map of Sunnydale. As long as the person is in town, the map should lead you to them. Can you do that?”

“Yes,” Lilith said. “What’s the spell?”