Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Slaying the Dead ❯ Slaying the Dead ( One-Shot )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

“Alexander?”

The male in question started, his right hand jerking the quill off the page and sending several flecks of ink flying. His name had been uttered softly, as though the speaker had feared that saying it any louder would have shattered the name mid-air and left it broken upon the earthen floor. Alexander’s lively grey eyes flicked towards his lover standing in his doorway, taking in first her familiar silvered hair and then her luminous ice-blue eyes. His eyes lingered on her mouth, which was set in a discontented, quivering frown.

“Peggy, darling, what’s wrong?” Alexander inquired, standing and taking a few short steps to her, his leather boots beating a short rhythm against the floor. A quick sideways glance through the window told him it was late and, consequently, dark. He and Peggy were unwed; something was wrong if she wasn’t at her parents’ home at this hour.

At his gentle, concerned words, Peggy’s face contorted before she let loose a sob and threw her arms around him.

‘She isn’t pregnant is she? Oh, Heavens don’t let her be. Her father would gut me like a fish and stake me out in front of his home as a warning to other suitors.’ Alexander thought, hoping their careless passion a mere month before hadn’t resulted in a child. Sex before marriage was unacceptable; and he was far from wealthy enough to ask for Peggy’s hand.

“A-a stranger! He came an-and k-k-killed them!” Peggy cried, and Alexander’s wide eyes finally took in her dress, torn to her hips and covered in grime and blood. Scrapes and bruises dotted her neck and collarbone, and a long gash along her arm suggested that whoever killed…somebody…had tried taking Peggy’s life as well. That just wouldn’t do. He was stunned speechless.

“W-wait…The stranger - who did he kill?”

Even as the words left his mouth, Alexander knew. The stranger, by the sounds of it a maniac, had destroyed Peggy’s family. He’d always hoped he’d be rid of her father soon, but by a timely death caused by illness, not by the hands of a murderer. And Peggy’s mother - a sweet, understanding woman who’s only joy in life had been her one daughter - surely had not deserved such a fate. A single, heated tear fell from his grey eyes and stained a few strands of his hair like an oil spill upon wavy black waters.

“Alexander,” Peggy sobbed on, “The stranger is a vampire.”

He didn’t believe it. Vampires? Surely his lover was hysterical from the carnage of death, and was not being rational.

“Peggy,” he cooed, stroking the mass of silver he knew her hair as. That’s what it was - hysterical mind games playing tricks on the female’s troubled mind. Vampires indeed! But she pushed him away.

“You think I’m crazy; that I’m lying! I know what I saw, boy, and the stranger was a member of the undead!” Peggy lamented, falling weakly to her knees. Alexander stared at her, so close to his feet, practically kneeling before him with pale skin splotched by purples and blues, with a torn dress and ruined home; how could he bear to see her so hurt? He kneeled beside her, taking one pale, trembling hand in his and giving it a soft squeeze. His other hand brushed a silver curtain from her neck as he leaned in to press his lips to her rapid pulse. He pulled away quickly, lurching to his feet. In three strides he had crossed the small room and taken hold of an old short sword.

Alexander left Peggy crying in the middle of the room and headed to the blood-soaked cabin her father had built, started a family in, and died in. Somehow, for whatever reason, the stranger remained.

Alexander immediately noticed why Peggy would call the man a vampire; he was pale as fog and thin as a corpse. A trickle of blood ran down from the corner of the killer’s mouth to his chin, most likely caused by the girl’s father. Aiden had not been an easy man to visit - he was always radiating strong signals of “keep away from my daughter”. How such a weak-looking opponent had taken him down was quite a mystery.
The sunken eyes of the killer pierced Alexander’s as he unsheathed his sword.

“Ah, Alexander.”

“Wha- how do you know my name? Nay, it does not matter. Draw your weapon, murderer.” Alexander replied, slightly unnerved that the enemy had more information about him than he did about the ‘vampire’ before him. The pale corpse-man offered something that appeared to be a grin and sounded like the man was hacking up a cancer-ridden lung. Alexander finally recognized it as a laugh. Puzzled and frustrated, it took the youth a moment to regain composure.

“’Murderer’, eh? You assume much, young human.” the enemy stated, another bark-like chuckle slicing the air. Alexander frowned; young…human. The accused killer was claiming he was something non-human? Or was he just overanalyzing his enemy’s words?

“Who- what are you?” Alexander finally asked. It might be a trick by the killer, but the youth’s curiosity was overbearing. Another grin graced the corpse-man’s sunken face.

“Does it matter what I really am? My goal is the same as your’s, young mortal. The slayer of this family is also the slayer of mine. I intend to avenge my dead.”

“You- How can I trust you? My lover, though I’m sure it is do to shock of her family’s death, claims a vampire killed her parents. You look the part.” Alexander answered, eyeing the other male carefully. Another grin and croaking laugh came from the accused.

“Vampire! No, no, no. Somewhat close, boy, but I am not a vampire.”

“Then what are you?” Alexander seethed, his patience thoroughly gone. The corpse-man actually frowned.

“A revenant. Not a vampire, but folks say I’m close enough anyway.”

“So you are the killer.” Alexander stated, raising his sword again.

“No,” the ‘revenant’ replied, putting an arm up in a sign to stop, “I told you, the killer is-”

“Present.” a new, cold voice said. The youth and revenant turned to the source. Pale as the revenant but coated in much more blood, the vampire approached Alexander like a wolf would a trapped rabbit. The revenant stepped between the two. A wicked smile adorned the vampire’s face and his words slithered out cold and precise.

“Atrius, how…good to see you. You looked much better in your own body, but I suppose a soul can only do so much after its body has decayed. I thought after a hundred years you would have quit tracking me.”

‘So now the revenant has a name. Is this the killer? How to be sure this time…’ pondered Alexander. Atrius’ next words recaptured his wandering attention.

“Xerxes, I’m warning you. I know you slaughtered my family and I aim to settle the score one way or another. You were born from your dead body and the blood of an elder. I was reborn from hate to avenge my fallen sons.”

“Well that explains so much.” Alexander muttered, drawing Xerxes’ attention. Black eyes narrowed and bloodied lips formed a thin line as the vampire sized the human up.

“And what business do you have with us, mortal?”

“And what business do you have getting your rotten face up in mine? You killed a family tonight and let’s say I’m rather close to the survivor.” Alexander spat back. He was shaking in anger to the point that he would have hurt himself if he’d tried to swing at the vampire. Xerxes smiled.

“Ah, the silver-haired beauty. No wonder you wish to fight someone out of your league.”

“Why don’t we test that?” growled the youth.

“Alexander…” Atrius whispered, low enough the vampire didn’t notice, before he grabbed the youth’s arm and pulled him along to the woods. Alexander pondered the revenant’s remaining sanity - the vampire easily followed them through the trickiest thickets and dense underbrush.

“Atrius, what are you doing? You said you wanted to avenge your dead!”

“Yes! But Xerxes is a powerful opponent. This body cannot stand even a weak attack.” the revenant answered.

“So what are we doing?” Alexander roared. The revenant stopped and the human crashed into him. Black sunken eyes met grey mortal orbs.

“We need help. When you’ve been dead 110 years, you make some interesting friends.” Atrius turned away, yelling, “Koren!” Alexander looked back, expecting Xerxes to come flying at them. Only black eyes tinted red even hinted the vampire lurked nearby.

“Why doesn’t he follow?” Alexander asked, keeping his eye trained on Xerxes.

“This is not his territory; he isn’t welcome.” the revenant replied, waiting fro a response to his calls.

“Like he was welcome in the town?” Alexander shot back. Atrius sighed.

“Xerxes lived, died, and was reborn in that town. That is his territory.”

“…I always dismissed the vampire attacks, but there were so many. Is he responsible for all of them?” the human inquired, fearing either answer he would receive.

“There was his son too, for a while. Cain was born a dhampir, you see.”

“Dhampir? What the hell is that?” Alexander finally pried his eyes away from Xerxes to give the revenant his undivided attention.

“Half vampire, half human. All the vampire strengths without any of the weaknesses. In short, monsters when they feed off humans.”

“And this Cain was…”

“A human-hunter at first. But he fell in love with a mortal female and turned “vegetarian” for his species.” Atrius explained.

“…How do I really know I can trust you? You are another member of the undead family tree.”

“I want revenge just as much as you do. Isn’t that enough for a short alliance?” the revenant responded.

“Short alliance? Well, I suppose. You don’t feed off humans, do you?” the mortal replied, eyeing his undead ally.

“Just the ones that have done me great injustice, like dancing intentionally upon my grave. And never enough to kill them.”

Alexander’s response was halted by the appearance of an Elvin female. Her hair was a tangled mass of natural brown, her eyes a watchful gold and her skin a dazzling white far more impressive than the murky whites of the vampire and revenant’s skins. Behind her stomped a large male centaur, whose human half was a fair tan and bottom half was black as oil. Atrius greeted them fondly.

“Koren! Diarmid! Glad you could join us!”

“Cut to it, revenant. The only reason I answered your call was because you got my sister out of that fix with Cain!” the Elvin girl growled. Diarmid, the centaur, snorted impatiently and scratched the earth with a hoof.

“Very well. Koren, this is Alexander, a human bent on destroying Xerxes. I’m not strong enough to do much of any-”

“This little piece is going to take on Xerxes? Better start digging his grave now, Atrius.” Koren interrupted. Alexander felt his composure slipping. The revenant must have sensed it, and rested a hand on the youth’s shoulder.

“Koren. We all want Xerxes dead - he’s destroyed people in all our lives. Surely you’ll-”

“Help out and avenge our beloved dead. Haven’t we been through this before? I believe it cost about ten good brave men last time, Atrius. How many are we willing to lose this time?”

“Koren…”

“Don’ t “Koren” me, old one. We couldn’t win last time. What’s so different about this shrimp? You can‘t just take every person whose family has been destroyed by the vampire and send them to their own deaths like that.”

“You two do realize that you fight just like an old married couple bickering over whether it’s 52 degrees out or 54 degrees? It’s pointless. If Atrius is going to send us all to our doom, than let him. At least we’ll have tried.” a new voice cut in. Alexander looked at Diarmid first, but the centaur was focused on a bush behind the human youth.

Xerxes as a teenager appeared, and sluggishly Alexander realized it was Cain. A giant, two-headed hound beast followed, and Alexander backed up a few paces. Cain smiled.

“Well, he’s got enough sense to back away from Ranger here. That’s one step into how to survive my father.”

“Cain!” Koren exclaimed, rushing over to the dhampir and embracing him. The swift but tender movement of her thin fingers through his raven-black hair confirmed the two were more than just allies.

“You said Cain fell for a human?” Alexander asked Atrius as they both stood apart from the couple, growling hound and snorting centaur, slightly confused.

“Died twenty years ago at Xerxes’ hand.” the revenant explained quietly so the half-breed couldn‘t hear.

“Serious?”

“Dead.”

Two days later, the small group had a plan; taunt Xerxes with Alexander. Simple, not ideal and plain suicidal; love really did make people do crazy, stupid things.

Peggy had been informed by the usually silent Diarmid of the plans, and she prayed for her lover’s safety. Using the human as bait and hoping the strength of the rag-tag team would be enough to eliminate Xerxes was a delicate dilemma, and the band needed all the help they could get. Killing a vampire was a question - how can anyone kill what’s already dead?

“…The heart and brain are probably the best bets, right Atrius?” Koren asked as they sat at Alexander’s table. Since his home was further into the secluded woods than most, it was a safe-house, located far out of range of Xerxes’ territory. The revenant nodded grimly.

“Yes, but I honestly don’t know if even that will work.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to try and find out, won’t we?” Alexander said sternly, a cold streak masking his grey eyes until they appeared to be made out of steel. Peggy’s arms rested gently around his neck and she pressed careful lips to his jaw bone, but he could feel the tension in his dear lover.

At dawn the small group trudged into the vampire’s lair; a creaky old hut that was falling apart on the outskirts of town. The vampire slept in a cold little room in a darkened corner, up until the point Alexander pushed his short sword into his side.

The vampire screamed.

While Xerxes was distracted by Alexander, Cain, Koren and Diarmid attacked the old vampire from the back and sides. Atrius thrust his decaying host-body’s hand into the enemy’s chest and withdrew the blackened heart of the vampire. Cut from the body, torn by Rangers’ two sets of jaws and trampled by Diarmid, the heart burst into ash. Koren then jabbed a spear into Xerxes’ back, causing the monster to cry out again. Alexander withdrew his bloodied sword, and then re-sheathed it in the wounded blood-sucker’s brain. When the beast Xerxes was slain, his slayers scattered the ashes, then bade goodbye to their short-term allies.

Before he parted from the silent centaur, the Diarmid offered Alexander a ride, which he accepted and returned to his lover on the cross-breed’s back.

“Alexander,” Diarmid whispered, and the youth jumped at hearing the centaur speak, “Take care of Peggy. Here.” Diarmid held out a hand, and dropped two vials of red liquid into Alexander’s palm. The human looked at them in curiosity - what could they be?

“The blood of Aiden and his wife. Peggy can place those at their graves as a reminder to the town that there was an evil presence here.”

“Diarmid,” Alexander asked as the centaur turned to leave, “Thank you.” Diarmid just left.

Once home, safe in his lover’s embrace, Alexander questioned his adventure. Had he seriously met five mythological creatures he hadn’t believed in before? Was his new life alone with Peggy all a dream he would wake from at dawn’s light? He waited a year before deciding he was sane and had battled the evils that had plagued his village. He was truly alone with Peggy. His short-term allies and Peggy’s stern father were gone. He had a gift from Koren; a small ring with diamond and emerald gems. The elf had given it to him after the battle, when he’d told her of his plans to eventually marry Peggy.

It was a chill autumn night and both he and Peggy were cuddled up beneath a warm blanket before a blazing fire. He and Peggy had refrained from sex since his fears that he would wake up and realize Peggy’s father wasn’t dead and he’d impregnated her. Now that he’d come to terms with the fact Aiden was dead and Peggy was his, he decided it would be the perfect time to ask her to marry him.

She said yes.