Broken Soul

Night had fallen. Leighton's home was silent except for the back terrace where Erick was training Dannie. Evan watched from his window, making sure nothing would happen to her. He knew Erick wouldn't hurt her but there was always a chance that something could go wrong.

Dannie was able to swim through the first lesson effortlessly. She levitated objects with virtually no difficulty and practiced making darkness and light again. But, when she was told to control a small fire in the grass, that was where she started to feel drained.

"Danielle, are you alright?" Erick asked her once he noticed she had trouble focusing. "You aren't concentrating."

"I... I'm fine," she uttered and kept her eyes locked on the flame despite the fact they felt too heavy to remain open. Her mind ordered the fire to die down but it only flickered once and then continued to crackle as if only the light breeze passed over it. She kept trying and the more she tried, the more faint she started to feel. It came to the point where her heart was pounding, breath was quick and her head was spinning. Her legs shook and she tried to stabilize but couldn't. "Danielle!" Erick exclaimed and caught her in his arms just after her legs had given out. He noticed her eyes were closed and he waited a moment to see if she'd respond in any way but she didn't. Erick wasn't sure of what to do or how to help her.

"What happened?" Evan asked him, even though he just saw the whole thing from his window.

"She passed out," Erick replied and they decided to take her inside to rest.

Dannie laid unconscious on her bed while Evan sat at her side. Erick stood in the open doorway, waiting to see if she'd awaken. Evan slipped his hand around Dannie's, hoping she'd feel his coldness and come to.

Leighton stepped into the room and passed by Erick who watched him closely as he approached the other side of Dannie's bed. He took her other hand and sat next to her as he felt her pulse, then studied her breathing. "So, what exactly happened?" he asked the other two. "She's exhausted. What was she doing when she collapsed?"

Evan spoke up. "She was outside with Erick. Training."

"Training for what?" Leighton asked and looked at the demon.

"I gave her some of my powers," Erick confessed. "I was trying to show her how to use them."

Leighton's expression turned horrified. "But why would you do that? Humans can't have demonic powers. Their bodies aren't strong enough to handle them. No wonder she collapsed."

"She seemed fine until now," Erick added. "I didn't think she would have any problems with them."

"How long has she had them?" Leighton asked.

"Just a few days."

"You have to take them away from her," Leighton advised. "It's the only thing you can do."

"I can't just take them from her," Erick told them. "It has to be done willingly. If I just take them, I could hurt her."

"I guess all we can do is wait for her to wake up," Leighton said. "Hopefully, it won't be much longer."

It felt like hours, but only minutes later, her eyes slowly opened and all three of the guys hovered above her. "Danielle, how are you feeling?" Leighton asked her. "Do you remember what happened?"

She looked up at them with fuzzy vision and blinked a few times until their faces came into focus. "I... I think so," she uttered and tried to sit up. "I was outside with Erick and fainted, I guess. I'm not sure why it happened..."

"I think I do, love," Leighton declared and she watched him speak to her. "The powers Erick gave you are taking their toll on you. In short, you must give them back to him."

Dannie remembered how drained she felt last night fighting the demon. She didn't realize her powers had that affect on her, she thought she was just tired then. It appeared to be the same circumstance now. Of course she knew she needed these powers to defend herself but if she couldn't handle them, she had no choice.

Evan and Leighton moved aside and let Erick an approach her bedside. He sat beside her and held her hand in his. "I must ask for this to work. Do you wish to release the abilities I have given you?"

Dannie actually wished she could keep them, at least one. But she replied, "Yes. Take them."

It only took a second and Dannie felt a shot of warmth rush from her hand into his. She couldn't help feeling disappointed. "They're gone," she sighed and laid back on her pillow. "I barely even got to use them..."

"I'm sorry, Danielle," Erick said, still holding her hand. "I never should have given them to you."

"You were only trying to help," she replied and cracked a smile at him. She knew he didn't know it would have hurt her. She still believed Erick would never do anything to bring her harm. And the fact that he expressed remorse for his mistake made her wonder if he truly meant it.

"I'll leave you to rest then," Erick told her and she watched him walk out of the room. Leighton quickly followed but Evan remained. He didn't want to leave her side knowing she was even more vulnerable now that her powers were gone.

* * * * *

The night air was dead. Not even a breeze went through the trees October stood in front of as she watched Leighton's home from a distance. She had been pondering the proposition Dusk had mentioned hours ago. We each minute that crept by, she wanted to give in more and more. It seemed so easy. All she had to do was kill Leighton and steal a human soul. She already decided to take Amanda's if she went through with it. Everything seemed doable. The only reason she hesitated was her lingering fear of getting caught. If that happened, she'd probably get reassigned and would never have the chance to be with Evan. Every time she thought about him, her entire insides ached and felt like they were being torn out of her. Her black eyes stared at the house and she focused on his window. She couldn't see him since he was in Dannie's room but she didn't know that. October longed to see Evan and it was all she cared about. Her obsession with him was growing and she couldn't stop it. Her mind kept telling herself she had to have him. She felt empty without him; lonely and starved for his presence. It had only been a day and she was already going mad. Her feet stood motionless as she stared at his window, her hands clenched into fists at her sides and her whole body was shaking like someone going through withdrawals from an addiction. Her unblinking eyes widened and part of her long hair curtained over her face. She looked very disturbing and unstable. "Kill Leighton...." she whispered to herself. "I must kill Leighton..."

The sound of a stick breaking made her turn around. She saw someone trying to sneak into the back terrace. He was dressed in all black, carried a silver sword, a knife and had a crossbow and silver tipped arrows. October knew exactly what this person was. He was a slayer.

"Stop right there!" October ordered after she had caught up to him. He heard her voice and spun around and saw the angry demon glaring at him. The slayer showed no fear. "Leave now and I will spare your life."

"Demon, I have no time for this," he replied. "You leave now and I may spare you. Nothing personal."

October almost laughed at his absurd response. "I am warning you, slayer, don't you dare go near the vampires in there or I will gladly make a lawn ornament from your head. Leave."

The slayer shrugged and chuckled her warning off. "Have it your way then." He lifted his crossbow and aimed it at her but before he could pull the trigger, he found himself on the ground. October had him by the throat and leaned down in his face and asked, "Who sent you??"

"I work alone," he managed to say as she strangled him with one hand.

"Liar!" She wanted to rip his throat out but refrained. "Who are you here to kill?? Are you here to kill Evan??"

"What's it to you?" he remarked as he struggled to breathe.

She tightened her grip even more. "Wrong answer! You're here for him, aren't you? Aren't you??" The slayer couldn't even speak now, she was choking him so tightly. "No one touches him, do you understand? Harm him and I will kill you." Finally, she released him and he coughed and gasped for air. "Leave. Now." She hoped he had gotten the message and turned her back to walk away. The slayer rose to his feet, aimed his crossbow at her and fired at her back. She heard it snap and quickly turned around and caught the arrow in midair and then threw it back at him. It landed right in his left shoulder and he yelled in pain and tried to pull it out. "Slayer, look at me," October commanded and held her hand out toward him. He couldn't resist obeying so he locked his eyes on hers.

October stared at him for a few moments and then eyed the knife he kept on his ankle. Using her telekinesis, she forced him to drop his hands from the arrow stuck in his shoulder and she made him grasp his knife and lift it out of the holster. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't resist. "Please..." he begged as she forced him to hold the knife up against his own throat. "Please, demon, don't do this... I'll leave, I promise...."

October could see the fear in his eyes but she didn't care. Her first and only duty was to protect her vampire and she was going to do it. "Sorry," she replied and his expression turned even more fearful. "I don't trust you." She moved her hand left to right and he unwillingly had to follow the gesture. The knife plunged into his throat and he sliced his neck open and she listened to his gurgling scream of terror as he fell onto the ground and bled. "Nothing personal."

Erick had heard the screams and decided to investigate. When he reached them, he saw October hovering over the dying slayer and heard her announce, "Because you wanted to take my love's life, I will take your soul. You shall never rest in peace."

"October, no!" Erick exclaimed and stopped her from raising her arm so she could claim the soul. He held onto both of her arms and she did not take being restrained well. "October, calm down!"

"No!" she screamed and tried to escape his tight grasp. "Let me go! I want his soul! He was going to hurt Evan! He deserves it! I need his soul..." She started to break down and knelt on the grass and Erick loosened his grasp on her. "He was going to kill him..."

"Even so," Erick said softly and moved in front of her and took a knee so he could look directly at her, "you don't want to be a soul stealer. Trust me."

"Why do you care, Erick?" she snapped at him. "That's right, you don't! What does it matter to you if I take a soul??"

"Why do you want it?" he asked.

"I just need it," she told them and tried to stop crying. "I need it for him..."

"For who? Evan?"

"Yes." Tears were streaming down her face. Erick had never seen another demon act like this before.

"October, you know it doesn't work that way," he reminded her. "You can't just give him a soul, it doesn't belong to him."

"You don't know that," she said desperately. "It's at least worth trying, isn't it? I have to do something! I just want to help him..."

"Well you won't be able to if you steal a soul," he pointed out. "You could get caught."

"Why do you care if I get caught or not?" she asked harshly. "You always have an angle, Erick! I know you do. I'm not sure what it is here but I'm not falling for it."

"Believe what ever you want to believe," he declared. "Just dispose of this corpse and leave the premises before you end up killing someone else."

October was disappointed since the slayer was dead now and her chance to take his soul was gone. But she got another idea. She took the body into the forest where Erick couldn't see and took a small vial out of her pocket and caught a few drops of the slayer's blood in it. The blood of a vampire slayer was like poison to them. Slayers constantly consume herbs and elements that are dangerous to the creatures they hunt so that if they ever get bitten, the vampires would either become ill and easier to kill or they'd die. She knew exactly what she was going to with it.