Camp KillalotBy Karen
Three Days Previously.Sunnydale.
"You have to be kidding me!"
Dawn Summers stared in horrified amazement at her sister, Buffy, as the older girl waved a glossy brochure in the air.
"Dawnie, I know it sounds lame, but you need to get out and meet other kids your own age. It's been kinda quiet lately and you can take a couple of weeks off over the summer and kick back and relax."
The dark haired girl open and shut her mouth a few times and finally managed to work past the lack of air from her lungs and squeak
"I am not going to camp!"
LA"It'll be fun, son, you can fish and do sports and..lots of things."
Cordelia rolled her eyes as Angel trailed lamely off and gestured aimlessly with his hands for good measure. His teenaged son Connor frowned at him
"But I know how to fish and hunt. Why do you have to send me away to do those things?"
The seer stepped forward as she heard the hurt tone in her adoptive son's voice and placed a hand on his shoulder
"Sweetie, we aren't sending you away. You need some time to be a kid and away from the demons. Your Dad and I will drive you up Friday night and drop you off. It'll be fun!"
Connor eyed her doubtfully and said nothing. Cordelia nodded and squeezed his shoulder tossing over her shoulder as she walked away
"And there will be no hunting of any kind. Are we clear, Connor?"
Camp Kitchaka, nowDawn ducked and yelped as the axe skimmed the top of her head and then thrust forward with the kitchen knife in her hand and slammed the weapon into the demon's gut. The thing screamed and she pushed forward from her knees and slammed her shoulder into it's mid-section taking them both to the floor and the teenager, taking advantage of the moment, wrenched the axe from it's loosened grasp and neatly took its head off. A chorus of screams reached fever pitch behind her and she rolled her eyes as she turned to the fifteen night attired girls behind her
"It's ok. It's dead."
One of them, Marcie Blake, pushed her long blonde hair back from her tear streaked face and adjusted her oh so cute pink teddy jammies
"You killed it! God, Summers, you're such a freak!"
Dawn narrowed her eyes and tightened her hold on the axe handle
Must not kill humans, must not kill humans.
"Gee, Marcie, I'm sorry. I should have just let it eat you, huh?"
The blonde girl impatiently pushed away the arms of a hysterical friend and stepped away from the others to try and peer round Dawn at the dead demon lying on the floor. Dawn moved slightly so the other girl's view was still blocked, years of living with the Slayer making her instinctively hide her kill. The seventeen year old ex-key was tired, pissed off and really, really, sick of Marcie 'actually, just call me Cordelia Chase in training' Blake and her smart mouth.
"Marcie, go sit down and take care of the others and let me make sure we're safe for the minute, ok?"
The blonde girl flipped her sleek blonde hair and stared down her pert little nose at Dawn's abrupt order
"Like, who died and made you Ruler of the Universe?"
Dawn scowled and grabbing the girl's arm marched her, protesting loudly, back to her friends
"He did."
She gestured back at the body lying in shadow on the floor and continued grimly
"And unless you wanna be next, shut up and do what I tell you!"
Satisfied for the moment the bloody bint, thanks Spike, was quiet and contained, she picked her way through the wreckage of their shared dorm and peered cautiously out the window. All seemed to be silent and the wind blew softly through the trees and moved the slightly overlong grass in a gentle ripple across the wide lawn. She could see five out of the other seven long huts arranged in a loose circle and from the looks of things in the moonlight all was quiet there. She glanced back at the body on the floor and squinted slightly
Hmm, purple spiky things and really big teeth. Plus, like, really bad breath. Could be anything. Damn it!
Her gaze returned to the outside world
Please, please let it be hunting alone. Just out for a little stroll and a quick bite of slightly impure teenager.
A sudden scream had her head snapping round and she saw a slim form run madly through a break in the trees and then seconds later another two of the unidentifiable demons hurtle after him. Dawn was already in motion as she saw the human go down in a tangle of un-coordinated limbs.
"Someone's in trouble, bolt the door behind me!"
She had time to hear Marcie yell after her
"Believe me, not a problem!"
And then her feet hit the wooden decking of her cabin and she sprang into the air to sideswipe one of the demons as it reached the hysterical figure on the floor. The air was forced out of her body in a whoosh on impact but her training kept her rolling until she came to her feet in an attack stance with her axe in one hand and her knife in the other. The two demons froze staring from the easy kill on the floor to the fighting mad one before them and then as though they'd heard a starter's gun sprang in unison at Dawn, roaring angrily. She braced to meet their attack muttering under her breath
"Chance to kick back and relax, my ass!"
Connor's eyes snapped awake and he lay still staring into the darkness trying to identify the sound that had awoken him. He heard the breathing of the eleven other boys in the hut with him and he relaxed somewhat at the easy sound until he realised he could in fact only hear ten sets of lungs working. He sat up and peered around him and saw, right in the corner, that Ken's bed was empty.
The Destroyer swung his legs out of bed and padded silently over the floor and stared down at the crumpled sheets. His eyes skimmed the surrounding area looking for signs of a struggle but none was forthcoming. Since meeting the members of the cabin he would be sharing for the next two weeks Connor had been unimpressed with what he had found to say the least.
The vast majority he had already labelled in his head as trainee vampires and the one or two he considered worthy of not killing immediately were obviously there purely to act as comedy value to the others. Ken was a quiet, blonde haired boy who was obviously more suited to indoor activities than the physical ones that ran at this camp and had already had a run in with one of the other boys that evening. Connor had walked into the hut after he had taken his shower to find Taylor, a large red headed jock, swinging the trembling smaller boy around by his jockey shorts. Connor had calmly placed his towel and toiletries on his bed and then pushed his way through the cheering circle of onlookers to stand in front of Ken's tormenter
"Don't do that."
The much taller bully had smirked down at the dark haired boy before him and said
"Don't worry pee-wee, it'll be your turn next."
Connor had kept his eyes on the other boy's and reached out with one hand to fasten on the arm holding Ken. He gave a gentle smile as he flexed his fingers and then ground down on Taylor's wrist forcing a pained yelp from the other boy
"I said, don't do that. Please let him go or I will hurt you."
Ken feel forward abruptly as the hold on him released and then Connor ducked as Taylor swung at him with the other arm. He didn't bother to duck merely held up his arm and waited for the blow to connect and then when it did, grinned and neatly smacked his forehead right between the other boy's eyes. The circle around them widened dramatically as Taylor folded without a sound and fell to the floor and his friends were suddenly in a big hurry to be somewhere else. Connor stared calmly around him for a few moments and then helped the blonde boy up off the floor. Ken had blushed and stared at his feet before mumbling
"Thank you."
Connor nodded and watched him return safely to his bed before turning and going to his own. He climbed under the covers, ignoring the boy still on the floor, and had fallen asleep almost instantly.
Connor turned and stared around at the other huddled forms under the covers but detected nothing out of the ordinary. He frowned and considered the possibility that Ken had to use the bathroom and was just making up his mind to go back to bed when the wind shifted for a moment and he caught the faintest whisper of a scream in the night. Like Dawn before him he didn't hesitate but ran swiftly to the door pausing only to grab his short sword from under the bed where he had hidden it earlier.
Dawn had taken down the first demon with no trouble having used the simple method of ramming her knife into its eye and through its brain as it rushed towards her. The second one was proving a little tougher. She fell to the floor as it swiped it's lethal claws through the air at her and then rolled to her feet just in time to avoid another bid to rip her throat out. She twisted and swung her axe in a strong arc that glanced off the thing's right shoulder but knew instinctively it had done no damage. As she pivoted and ducked another wild swing she caught sight of the human boy of about her own age lying frozen in horror on the ground
"Will you run already?"
Dawn's impatient shout had no effect on the boy and she rolled her eyes as she bent and slashed at the back of the creature's legs hoping to hamstring it. She groaned as she heard a dull clang!
Of course, armour plating! Why make this easy?
Her world suddenly filled with white light as she caught a glancing blow to the back of her head and she flew through the air for over ten feet before crashing to the floor in an undignified heap. She shook her head and pushed up onto her arms desperately trying to re-orientate herself and then her head snapped round as she heard an urgent shout
"Stay down!"
She blinked as she watched a dark-haired boy carrying a sword run towards her and then, in a move worthy of the Slayer, flip into the air and slam both feet into the demon's surprised face. Dawn scrambled upright as quick as she could and hurried to the blonde haired boy's side
"Get up. Run!"
She gave him a hard shove and then ran to aid her saviour. She judged her moment and then as the demon was occupied with grabbing wildly for the nimble-footed boy in front of him stepped in and buried her axe in the soft flesh of its throat. All three froze in a grisly tableau for a moment and then Dawn released the handle and the demon fell to the floor.
The two brunettes stared at each other for a moment over the body and then both spoke at once
"Mutated Bear!" "Escaped Animal!"
Both mouths closed with a snap and two pairs of eyes flicked guiltily down to the body on the floor and then sheepishly met and held again. Dawn grinned
"Ok, I got demon. What about you?"
Connor nodded and shrugged
"Demon. Didn't think you'd believe the escaped animal thing."
Dawn nodded as one secretive semi-superhero to another
"It's a good one though, always go with the classics. Mutated Bear was stupid."
Connor shook his head
"No, really, it was fine." "I panicked."
They both stared down at the body again and then Connor switched his gaze to the other demon
"You do that?" "Yeah, there's another one back there in the hut."
He nodded and then remembered the manners that Cordelia had spent so long trying to hammer into him. He stuck a hand and said
"I'm Connor. Pleased to meet you." "Dawn Summers, back at ya."
They both frowned as realisation hit at the same time
"The Slayer?" "Angel?"