Last Time . . .

"Beryl," Anastacia said stepping forward. "we gave up our lives to protect not only you, but millions of innocent people not only in this city, but around the world from a fate worse than death!"

"We never wanted to keep this from you," Junior continued. "you don't know how many times I wished you were out there fighting with us."

"And now you will be." Gabriel finished. "You're going to wake up and question all this, but you're going to know what you have to do in order to convince yourself. It is at the end of that journey when you will find your powers."

<Flash>

This Time . . .

"Ungh!" Beryl said jumping up in his bed.

Looking over to his right towards Giz's bed, he saw his friend sound asleep under his blanket. Still in his black wifebeater and slacks, Beryl grabbed his black leather boots and went over to the window.

"I need my book!" he thought to himself while pulling on his boots.

Quickly stuffing his bed with his black duffle bag, he crept back over to the window and slowly opened it. He climbed onto the windowsill and managed to close the window without falling down onto the deck. Using the same route as before, he went inside his brother's apartment. Moving quickly, he ran up the stairs and made his way to his room. Knowing exactly what he was looking for, he turned on his desk lamp and reached for a wooden stake he had made on a camping trip to freak out his friend's, seeing his black waist bag, he grabbed it and threw the stake inside. Next going to his alter, he grabbed a vile of blessed moon water, and his book of spells. Having everything he needed, he ran downstairs back to the basement to make his exit. Noticing something he hadn't before, he saw his brother's motorcycle helmet and keys on the table. Sneaking out the front door, Beryl quietly wheeled the motorcycle out of the driveway.

"Commander, the boy is making his move. Waiting for further orders." the same swat guy said intently.

"Gather a small team and follow, but don't let him see you! Only intervene if necessary!"

"Yes sir!"

Starting the bike, Beryl was surprised to hear that it made relatively no noise. Driving off on the black ninja motorcycle, Beryl silently sped down the streets. Where he was going, he wasn't sure, he had pretty much been acting on instinct ever since he woke up. Driving for about ten minutes, Beryl pulled up to a place that was oozing with a mixture of complete peace and pure evil: the cemetery. Pulling off his helmet, he placed it on the handlebars and dismounted the bike. Arming the alarm, a small blue light flashed on the key chain and dashboard, just as the bike turned invisible. For some reason not phased by the occurrence, Beryl turned to the gate guarding the holy battlefield. Pausing for a second, he looked over the night-drenched graves. He hopped over the 6ft high fence with ease landing gracefully on the grass. Once again looking over the mass amounts of tombstones, one area in particular caught his attention. Presiding over a group of newly plotted graves were four men one of which had on black robe and was holding a book in his hand. Reaching in his bag for his artillery, Beryl stealthily moved through the night. Hiding behind a statue, he saw the four men standing over his family's grave. Not sure of what they were doing, he didn't wait to find out. Without a single hesitant thought in his mind, Beryl climbed further up the statue and leapt off, catching the four off guard. Landing steadily on his father's tombstone, he stared at the fanged assailants disturbing his family's rest.

"Finish it, quick! Before they transfer the powers!" One of the three regularly clothed vampires said. "We'll hold him off!"

Going for the dark clothed man before them, Beryl lunged at the three catching the one in the middle and taking him down to the ground. Quickly stabbing the vamp in the heart, Beryl got up just in time to block the other two vampires' attack. Having a little trouble fighting both superior strengthened vampires at the same time, Beryl was restrained by one of the vamps as the other came towards him in an attempt to bite him.

"Not so tough now are you?" the oncoming vamp mocked as his cohort laughed.

Looking over at the robed vamp, Beryl smiled, his plan falling right into play.

"What're you so happy about?!" the advancing vampire said, a little worried Beryl had received his powers.

Beryl still silent, he just gazed at his opponent with a psychotic grin. Seeing the intimidation weaken his un-dead friend, Beryl continued on with his stare down.

"Hurry up! I think he's almost got em!"

As the vamp cautiously came closer, Beryl saw the last grave in the row start to glow. Seeing he couldn't waste anymore time, he put his plan into play. He quickly brought his legs up and kicked the vamp in front of him, sending him flying into the robed vamp. The diversion working, the grave of his best friend stopped glowing. Still in the restraints of the third vampire, Beryl brought his leg back down, swung it around the back of his capture's kneecap and tripped him. Landing on top of him, stake in hand, Beryl quickly stabbed him and ran over to the other two now getting up.

"Finish it!" the now bleeding vamp said lunging at Beryl.

Attempting to tackle him, the vamp caught Beryl in the abdomen, exposing his back to Beryl's stake. Losing his balance, Beryl threw his stake at the robed vampire catching him dead on target. Sighing with relief, Beryl lay on the grass rubbing his ribs.

"Good job kid!" his father's voice said.

"Thanks," he said looking at the moonlit sky.

"A natural in every sense of the word!"

"So what now?"

"You'll go home and when you wake up, you'll be a totally new person. Someone from the CIA will contact you and fill you in on a few things. Some of which you will wake up knowing, others you'll be surprised by. But through everything, we'll be in your heart."

"Always! I won't let you down."

"We know. Now go my son, it's time for us to rest!" Gabriel said, his voice fading.

Rising to his feet, Beryl took out his vile of blessed moon water, and with it poured a circle of protection around the row of graves. Taking one last look at the moon, Beryl went back to his motorcycle and returned to his segregate home.

"He succeeded." the S.W.A.T. guy said into his walkie. "Our job is done. Ready approach."

Sneaking back in the way he came, Beryl returned to his bed without waking his sleeping friend. Exhausted from the fight, he fell right to sleep, a little more at ease with himself.

<Dream>

"We are an ancient force, set out to destroy evil. We have been around since the ancient times of the Middle Ages when a great darkness was released in this world. It was the wizard Merlin who made us what we are. He gave us powers, and said that it would be passed down through our bloodline. There were five of us who were there, each of our future relatives would gain these powers, and it would only be shown to them when they needed to be used. Each of our spirits would live on after our deaths in our relatives. Each member to come would have a piece of us in them, so you see, there are more like you out there. Three of the five families’ relatives are fighting now as we speak. Including you, it is now four." A female voice said.

<Flash>

“NO! YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” A male voice screamed as he was sinking in the middle of a large, glowing lake. “YOU CANNOT STOP ME! I WILL RETURN! I WILL FIND A WAY!”

“By the powers of dark and light, restrain this monster of all might. Magic bound powers withdrawn, trap this evil for all dawn.” Two men with long white beards, one dressed in a blue robe, one in a dark purple chanted over the sinking male.

“I only hope that was the end of Lord Samuel.” The blue robed wizard stated.

“As do I Brother Merlin. However, something tells me it is not.” The black robed wizard replied.

“May the Gods save the people who are the victim of his evil reign.”

<Flash>

“AT LAST!” Lord Samuel said as his body washed on the shore of the lake. “FREE!”

“Yes, and time to finally do what we have all dreamed of.” A male voice said in front of him.

“Wh . . . Who are you?!” Samuel said clearing his eyes of water.

“My name is Damouse . . . I am the one who set you free.”

“H . . . How?”

“I am a god . . . a vampire god.”

”God is a Vampire?”

“Small minded fool . . . I am one of many Gods, there are only a small counsel of us who are Vampires.”

”More than one God?”

”Goddesses as well . . .”

”How? What year is it? How long have I been trapped?”

“Time does not matter just yet . . . To keep your freedom, you must first swear your allegiance to me.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You return to your eternal tomb. And that my friend, would be a waste of power!”

“Power? My powers! I . . . I cannot feel them!”

“That’s the only catch . . . you were stripped of your powers by our peaceful counterparts.”

”I do not follow . . .”

”Peaceful vampire deities . . . the only thing that keeps us from ruling this pathetic world.”

”Why not destroy them then?”

“They are just as powerful as we, and until we find a way to corrupt them, if they were killed, the balance would be destroyed, and all our kind along with it.”

“So I am now just a mere vampire?”

”Yes, but there is a spell that can restore your powers . . . you just have to find it and wait for the right person to give them to you.”

“That could take centuries!”

“You’re still immortal!”

<Flash>

“I found him. It says, ‘Clarence Witaker was born May 8^th 1801 in Haven, Texas’. ‘The Night Owl’ as they called him, was only seen at night, and was said to feed on living animals. Then in 1826, he killed a woman by the name of Heather Colin and was later arrested for murder. While in the pirson he killed 17 inmates and then was sentenced to be hung.” A voice said.

“Some Vampire.” Another voice replied.

“No listen to this, Clearnce soon became known as the ‘Night Murderer’, and in the same year, was killed by a mob. After that, it was said that wolves were seen dancing around his grave. People who saw this said that the wolves turned into women and fed on the living and then gave the blood to the corpse of Witaker. Then one night, they heard the wolves howling and upon checking it out, Witaker’s Grave was empty. Three days later the town of Haven,Texas, became a ghost town. All inhabitants vansihed.”

<Flash>

“You dumb little BITCH!” A male vampire yelled with anger at the girl he was fighting.

He threw her as hard as he could and she flew into a tree that had caught on fire. The flames had gone out, and the branches were burned to points. He saw her hit the tree, and expected her to fall, but she didn’t. As he looked closer he could see that she was impaled on one of the branches, barely alive, holding it with her hands. A small smile appeared on his face as he walked over to her.

“It was a pleasure knowing you.” He said.

“Go to hell.” She managed to say as blood slowly trickled down her lips.

“You first.” He said as he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her further onto the branch.

She let out a cry of pain and then her body went limp. The man’s face went back to human form and he walked back to his truck. He started it up, walked over to the woman’s car, put it in neutral and pushed it off the side of the hill.

<Flash>

“Markus.” A little boy said with a soft weakened voice.

“You don’t look like you feel to go.” A male voice said as he cocked his head to the side as the boy known as Markus let out a small smile.

“Do you mind if I see what’s wrong with you?”

<Flash>

“You know if you stare at the evil long enough it will come for you.” A tall Asian man with a British accent said upon attacking a group of men.

<Flash>

“Buddy, I don’t know who you are, but if you would kindly get off my truck I would be much obliged.”

The tall Asian man moved his shoulders slightly and jumped down off the truck, his long black hair moved from the back and landed in front of his face, and with a quick movement of his head the hair flew away from his face.

“Now, I’m not quite sure if you’re one of them Slayer folk, or you’re just some Vampire on pot. But if you would kindly tell me how the hell you managed to do that, I would be more then grateful.” The male vampire from before said as he tipped his cowboy hat.

“How I did it is not important.” The Asian man said with his British accent.

“Well correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you Japanese?” The vampire’s Southern accent came through just as thick.

“Chinese actually.” The man snickered.

“Yeah, well, why the hell do you have British accent?”

“That is not of any importance either.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. We got us a regular educated som bitch, don’t we?”

“My name is Xhang Xe. And you Clarence Witaker or going to help me get rid of the other Slayers in the region.”

“Xhang Xe? Hey ain’t you one of those God like Vampires?”

“Yes.” Xhang said as he rolled his eyes.

“Well I’ll be damned, and here I was about to kick your ass too. Need a ride?” Clarence said with a smile.

<Flash>

“The temple of Darlos... The King of Vampires.” Xhang’s voice rang, as he held two slayers captive, one of which was the incarnate of Darlos.

<Flash>

Beryl looked into a dark path ahead of him and began to see things in his mind, images that weren’t his. He was looking through the eyes of the captive Slayer, the reincarnate of Darlos. He stared at a battle between an army of Vampires and an army of Mayan solders. There was a tall Vampire leading the army whose eyes a rich green color as apposed to the normal yellow. He was staring at Darlos, the Slayer’s former self. He had a face filled with anger and short black hair stained only by the blood he had taken. The images he saw started to scare the Slayer, but he continued to watch. The Mayan army was being destroyed, and the Man, the God, Darlos was in the middle of it all. The Slayer knew that it was who he would be destined to become if he was ever turned.

“NO!!!!! AHHHHHH! GET OFF ME!!” The Slayer yelled as he began to struggle. He saw Clarence trying to hold on, but the Slayer’s strength doubled and he broke away from Clarence’s grip and began run away, stumbling as he escaped. The images kept coming to him; more battles more deaths, and Darlos the reason for them all. The Slayer was running, and he felt himself be picked up, but he still ran, not noticing. The memories that were in his mind were too powerful. Suddenly, the Image of Darlos dead, his head in the hands of a badly beaten Slayer, the Chosen One in his former life. Ironically enough, the two were on the same team now, bringing balance and more strength to the fight against the evil.

<Flash>

“OUR friends are down there, with three monsters that want to kill them. Now if you stupid idiots want to stay out here and worry about it, fine, but I’m going with or without you!” The Chosen One said on his way to save his teammates.

<Flash>

“Put the little one down on that table! And put the Slayer there!” Xhang’s voice echoed through a cave. “Don’t touch them in any way! For this to work we have to have no distractions!”

<Flash>

Lightly the ground began to shake, Xhang looked back to see the floor break away and reveal a fire pit.

“I can hear your blood running faster through your body. That is good; I need blood like that. The more scared you are the better I get.” Xhang said as he grabbed one of the captive Slayer’s arms, as fear ran through his body.

Xhang lightly ran his finger over the Slayer’s bicep and then plunged his fingernail into the flesh. The Slayer screamed out in pain as the blood began to flow down his arm. Xhang took a silver chalice and put it under the Slayer’s arm, as the blood dripped into it. So much blood was flowing, that the Slayer passed out and went limp. Xhang pulled the cup away and then licked the wound on the Slayer’s arm. The cut healed and Xhang turned his attention to the vampire boy called Markus, who had been pinned to the table that was next to the fire pit and was crying and fighting.

<Flash>

“You, my young friend, are going to help usher in a new life for us. You and everyone else here, and when it’s done, they will remember your name for centuries to come.” Xhang said to the crying Markus.

<Flash>

“TO YOU DARLOS! I GIVE YOU THE CHILD FOR YOUR POWER!” Xhang yelled as he threw Markus towards the fire pit.

<Flash>

The Chosen One slid forward and soon was hanging half way over the edge of the fire pit with Markus. Inch by inch the two slid closer to death in the fiery chasm. The Chosen One had his eyes closed using all his strength to hold Markus up. Markus looked down at the fire pit, and saw that if he didn’t let go, he would pull The Chosen One with him. Markus let his little hands loosen the grip on The Chosen One’s.

“MARKUS HOLD ON!” The Chosen One yelled in fear. “MARKUS I NEED YOU TO HOLD ON!” He opened his eyes, and looked at the big brown eyes filled with sorrow as Markus smiled, and said,

“I will always be with you . . . I love you . . .” The last words Markus said as he slipped into the pit, and disappeared into the flames.

<Flash>

Two men rose to their feet, but were frozen at what they saw coming towards them. A large dog about 6 feet tall with glowing red eyes, and blood stained fangs. Neither of them moved, but suddenly, in one quick swipe, both their heads rolled off their shoulders and their bodies fell to the temple floor. The beast let out a huge howl and then ran into the darkness.

<Flash>

“How’d you get to be this way?” The Chosen One asked his teammate, the now resurrected Darlos.

“Oh, three sacrifices was all it took. One of innocence, one of loyalty, and one of power. My guess is Xhang didn’t think he would be the third, I think he was planning on you.”

<Flash>

Darlos walked over and gave The Chosen One a hug, and in a quick jerk, The Chosen One pulled off the amulet that had changed his friend into the evil vampire, and crushed it. Darlos upper-cutted him and he hit the ceiling with the top of his head, then fell to the floor and hit his head again knocking him out.

Darlos began to shake as he felt the power getting pulled out of him. Then a deeper pain came as he felt the second part of his power being destroyed. He quickly turned to the Vampire bible and saw three fireballs hit it, then disappear. He fell to the floor, and one of his teammates crawled over to him.

<Flash>

He felt himself looking through the eyes of The Chosen One; so dark it was inside of him. So much power one man contained, barely able to control it all. He knew he was destined to die for the cause, and with his death would spark a war that would out do any the world had ever seen. His powers seemed limitless, but fear filled his body as to what he was capable of, the intensity of his strength nearly driving him over the edge on several occasions. A battle being fought within him on a constant basis, how any man could withstand that, Beryl did not know. He felt cool water being splashed against his face, and saw himself in the mirror, The Chosen One’s crystal blue eyes being all he could see; eyes that were filled with fear, yet protected by a tough exterior.

<Flash>

Beryl saw himself standing in the middle of a large basement area. He looked around him and saw various tunnels that had four corners written on them along with places. He saw a black car beside him, and a black Harley Davidson motorcycle just behind the car. Feeling a sense of familiarity, he walked around into the hall that led further into the basement.

<Flash>

"Ungh!" Beryl jumped sitting up in his bed.

"Nother bad dream?" Giz said getting dressed.

"Huh? Oh . . . Yeah!" He said rubbing his head.

"Would it have anything to do with you sneaking out last night?" He said looking suspiciously at his friend.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I woke up last night and you weren't in bed. I went looking for you all over the house and you weren't here. When I came back up, I noticed the window was open."

"But I . . ."

"Did a bad job of stuffing your bed! You ain't that short or wide!"

"What can I say? I just needed to get some air!"

"That's bullshit and you know it! How could you even think of parading around at night when there are people looking for you?!"

"I just went to my house and slept in my bed for awhile! It's no big deal!"

"That's a lie too! Otherwise you would've said so from the beginning! And besides, I looked out front and your brother's motorcycle was gone too! I took a look outside earlier and it was back!"

"Look . . . Giz, I appreciate the concern, and I would love nothing more than to tell you what's going on, but the truth is, I'm not entirely sure myself!"

"So much for friendship!"

"What?! What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know . . . I understand you're goin through some extremely rough shit right now . . . But a real friend would let me help instead of lying to me!"

"What?! How can you even say that?!"

"Whatever man, I gotta go!"

"Fine! You wanna know the truth? I'll tell you!"

Sighing, Giz turned to him, crossed his arms and stared at Beryl.

"My family was killed by vampires! They were a team of super-powered slayers who were picked via a bloodline, and now that they're dead, I have all their powers and have been chosen to take their place!"

"Like I said," he said chuckling. "I gotta go!"

TBC . . .

[email protected]

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Buffy . . . *NSYNC . . . ever wonder? he he he he . . .