Slayers

The alley was illuminated by a crescent moon, and it wasn't much to look at. One way in, surrounded by two story houses. There was no pavement, just a dirt street with a well everyone shared. Nothing special. A little girl lived in one of the houses. Louis was her name. She was wearing pyjamas, white, and had been lured outside her home by a nice man with a lolipop.

The second she stepped outside the door, it grabbed her. It lifted her off the ground and pinned her to the wall. As it leaned in to drink from her neck, a crossbow bolt flew through the air, knifing through it's arm. The creature dropped the girl, who ran inside. The vampyre followed her, but bounced off the doorway. Vampyres can't enter a home uninvited.

It hammered against the invisible wall, and gave it a last kick before heading off into the night. It didn't get far. A girl, dark haired and well shaped, walked to it. The creature's face became contorted, the fangs dropped. It snarled a guttal snarl. "Spooky" the girl mocked.

She kicked the knee out of the vampyre, snapping it's neck with a sharp twist. She spun, dragging it by the neck, and twisted again, it spun and hit the ground with a loud smack. It tried to get up, but she pulled back her fist and gave it a bloody nose. It rolled backwards than rose, but she chopped it's throat. It stood still, stunned, while the girl planted her right foot on it's thigh, vaulting up and booting it in the jaw. She backflipped, landing gracefully as the vampyre fell backward.

Cara, bored with the display, fired the crossbow. The wooden bolt flew through it's and the creature fell to dust. The girl spun to where the bolt hand flown from, looking up at Cara's rooftop vantage point.

"You stole my kill" she said.

"You were taking too long. I got bored. Now, what do you think your doing?"

The girl smiled, her perfect white teeth stretching up to her eyes. Her black hair hid part of her face.

"I'm this little thing called a slayer. I slay. I was slaying, when you stepped in"

Cara jumped down, and for a moment the world was weightless. She rolled as she hit the ground, coming up and walking to the girl. Something about her made Cara hate her. She was aggressive, more aggressive than was wise.

"Sorry honey, I don't know what misconceptions you got, but I'm the slayer"

The girl shrugged her shoulders, hung back so her slid back from her eyes. God, could Cara hate her more?

"There's only one slayer. So maybe you've killed a couple of vamps, you are not the slayer"

Yes. Cara could. The girl put her hands on Cara's shoulders, and pushed her.

"I'm Hope the vampyre slayer. Your not"

Cara smiled. "Oh, well that makes sense"

She turned from Hope, and began to walk away.

"That makes sense how?"

Cara smiled. "I'm no Vampyre slayer"

"Damn right!"

"Me, I'm a Godslayer. I handle all those big, apocalyptic threats to humanity, and sometimes the little things like vampyres and lesser demons and goblins fall through the cracks. It's nice to know I've got someone to do the little things for me. Kind of like an assistant"

Hope's arrogant smile dropped into pure, genuine annoyance.

"You wanna say that again, Betty?"

"Betty? Is that supposed to intimidate me?"

They walked to each other, face to face.

"No, this is supposed to intimidate you"

Hope struck her across the face.

"Sorry honey, but you hit first"

Cara kicked her ankle and threw a sucker punch. Hope tried to duck, but the fist slammed into her forehead and she staggered back. Hope went in with a left-right combo, but Cara saved herself with two forearm blocks. Hope managed to get in a kick to the ribs, but as Cara doubled over, she grabbed the foot and pulled, overbalancing Hope. They both backed away from each other.

A crescent moon lit up the alley, and a surprised tramp was the only one privy to the fight. Neither of the girls knew it, but this was a popular place for brawls. The tramp had seen a lot of scraps, but not one with two girls, at least, not two girls as strong as these.

Cara came at her with a roundhouse kick, but Hope ducked and kicked out, flipping Cara through the air. She slammed onto the ground, hard. It was cold. Clouds covered the moon. Cara arced her back and flipped to her feet, as Hope delivered a crushing uppercut. Cara staggered back, and Hope came at her with a flying kick. Cara sidestepped, grabbed the leg, shifted her weight and pulled. Hope crunched into the ground, face first.

Cara moved in to disable her leg, but Hope rolled over onto her back (Cara felt a little bit of guilt as she saw the blood on her face) and placed both of her feet against Cara's stomach, launching her into the air. Cara swung her feet underneath her, landing upright.

Hope ran at her, and Cara cartwheeled past, wrapping both of her legs around Hope's neck. She twisted violently, and sent Hope somersaulting into the ground.

"We can stop, you know. You just have to admit I'm best"

Hope rose up. She looked worse for wear. Cara had to feel sorry for her. Hope probably never met an equal, let alone someone better than her. Hope was completely silent. She approached, slowly. Her fist shot out like lightning. Cara grabbed it and twisted. Hope's knees shook as she screamed.

Cara didn't see the fist coming, one second she was there, the next she was on the ground. She rolled to her feet, but Hope clasped her two hands together and swung them like a wrecking ball into Cara's jaw. She flew through the air and landed hard.

The tramp had called his friends, and a small crowd had gathered. No one cheered, as such, but they whispered odds to themselves. They backed up a bit when Cara flew to meet them. Hope ran at her and Cara cartwheeled past her, wrapping her legs around Hope's neck. But the girl at the receiving end somersaulted, Cara still attached. The Goldslayer smacked her face of the street.

Cara pushed up with her hands, swung her feet underneath her and adopted a fighting stance. She tried her own left-right combo, but Hope blocked with her elbows. She spun into Cara, elbowing her violently. Cara's nose crunched, and blood splurted into her eyes.

Hope kneed her in the stomach, and as Cara doubled over, she leaped into the air, spinning, and crushed her fist into Cara's shoulder. She dropped like a stone. She tried to get up, but two firm hands grabbed her and tossed her into a brick wall. A fist came at her, which she blocked, but her arm was grabbed. Hope somersaulted her into the ground, than yanked her arm back. Cara cried out.

"Whose best now, witch?" she said. "I don't know what kind of cushy life you've had, what sort of happy existence you've had ruined by being a Slayer, but I had nothing. Being a slayer, it's the only reason I've ever had. Without it, I'm nothing. I want it more. So I'll always win. I'll always be better"

Cara twisted violently, ignoring the pain, and elbowed Hope in the face. Her grip released, and Cara tugged free, grabbing her neck and swung her into a wall. Cara grabbed Hope's arm, pirouetted under it and twisted it behind her back.

"You are so wrong" Cara said, squeezing Hope's arm. She grunted in pain. "The slayer thing ruined my life. My mother hated me. She was terrified of me. It ruined everything I had. So I need it. I need to like it, I need to love it, I need it to mean something, or it ruined my life for nothing"

Cara pulled Hope's arm. There was a loud snap as it broke. "I'm not screwing with you any more"

She pushed Hope away. The dark haired girl stumbled into the dirt. She got up and retaliated with a roundhouse kick, that Cara caught. She drove her knee into it. It wasn't a break, but the muscle was dead. Cara dropped the foot, Hope fell back.

Cara walked past. The fight was won, the deed done. She didn't need to kill her.

Hope disagreed. "What are you doing? Finish it!"

"I don't need to. Or want to"

"Oh come one, you don't want to kill me, not even a little bit?"

Cara shook her head. Hope hated her.

"I would kill you in a heartbeat"

"And do what? Bare the weight of the world on your shoulders by yourself? Face it. Two slayers are better then one, we cover more ground, fight twice the evil. It's better for everyone"

Cara jumped, soaring through the air, grabbing the second story window ledge of a building. She braced her two feet against the stone wall and kicked up, gripping the roof. She pulled herself up, took a look at Hope, then at the night, and then she was gone.

By this stage, there was a large crowd gathered, scores of people lining up to see the fight. There was a stand where people could place money for bets. Most of the people had gone for Hope when she started winning, and didn't have enough time to change their bets before Cara made her comeback.

Hope almost cried out for them, just to help her get up. Her leg wasn't responding, her arm was definitely broken. She needed help. But her request died in her throat. She had been killing vampyres since she was twelve, she had risked her life every night for as long as she could remember, she wasn't going to be cut down by some physco bitch. She was better than that.

She rolled on her side, careful to avoid putting weight on her arm, until she reached the wall. She braced her back against it, pushing with her good leg. She slid slowly up the wall, ignoring the pain her dead leg gave her. Tears were welling in her eyes, but she didn't let them out. Crying wouldn't fix anything. She braced her good arm against the wall, and, leaning heavily, lurched a little bit forward. She almost cried out with the pain.

She hopped a little way, and little way, cries of pain dying in her throat. She was stronger than this, she had to be. One of the crowd came to join her. "D'you need a hand?" he asked.

Hope shook her head. "I'm fine"

"You are not fine" the guy said. "I saw that fight, you got hit pretty bad"

"Like you care!"

"I do care"

"If you cared so much, why didn't you try to stop it, huh? How much money did you place on me? Or on her? You don't care. No one does. You can never forget that. I don't depend on anyone. I don't need you!"

The guy looked hurt. "Okay" he said simply, his voice dead. He turned his back and walked away. As he turned the alley corner, Hope tripped, and came crashing down on her broken arm. A tiny scream escaped her mouth, just quiet enough for her would be rescuer to almost hear but shrug off. Hope turned onto her good arm and lay there, broken, and utterly, utterly alone.