The Chronicles Of Merrick

[lecter]

This is my Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan fiction, it's more of a Buffy spin off story with the main character (Merrick) being of my own creation. Yes I am aware that the watcher from the original Buffy movie (played by the wonderful Donald Sutherland) was called Merrick, but I didn't know that when I started the story.

I'll post the prologue and the first chapter here for you, let me know if you like it and I'll post more.

Enjoy.

Prologue.

Cleveland, Europe.

Late at night in a small, single-storey bungalow a red haired, dainty woman sits watching some American show on the television. When a knock sounds at the door she glances around and furrows her brows wondering who it could be at this time of night.

She rises from her seat and heads over to the door, picking up a stake from the table on her way. She opens the door to reveal a shabbily dressed, bedraggled, disheveled, and slightly weatherbeaten Tara Maclay looking as though she has not a drop of energy left in her.

Willow Rosenberg's mouth falls open in shock and she drops the stake. Tara collapses forward into her old lovers arms. Willow holds her close savoring for a moment the fact that Tara is actually corporeal, realizing but not wanting to believe that this is impossible.

“Tara, baby... what happened... Tara...”

Some distance away a man stands in the shadow of a tall tree his long coat billowing to reveal black trousers and combat boots. He watches the reuniting of the two women, a sad smile creeping across his lips. His eyes covering the distance and piercing the darkness without even any need to strain.

I have a tale to tell... a tale of violence and destruction... a tale of friendship and of misery... of love and of hate... of good and of evil... this tale... is not for the faint hearted...

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Undoing What Was Done Pt 1

Biloxi, Mississippi.

Some 2 years earlier.

In a dark room three men sit around a table talking heatedly about their wives, how bad their cooking is, and the fate of the world. One of the three picks up an ancient scroll of parchment and holds it up to the other three.

“Are you all forgetting the reason we broke sacred tradition and met here tonight?”

“Of course Methuselah. However the niceties must be addressed before we can begin to discuss business.” Spoke a second voice.

“The prophecies of Kain are shabby at best, they are unclear and cryptic. Are we sure of the meaning of the section in question?” Spoke the third.

“I have no doubt whatsoever,” replied Methuselah

“Then...” Began the second speaker “we are in quite some trouble aren't we.”

“If time was tampered with why didn't Osiris bring her back when the witch called him?” the question was raised by the third speaker.

“Because, Matthias even though the boy went back in time to try and change things he killed the girl with a gun, that is a natural death apparently... a paradox, but an accepted one.” Said Methuselah.

“So that's it then, all we have done ruined because some kid wanted to be powerful. All that we have worked for comes to nothing because of a stray bullet and there is nothing we can do about it.”

“That's a very optimistic outlook on things isn't it Mattimeo?” The speaker was a fourth person emerging from the shadows, and judging by the startled reactions of the other three he was not expected to be there. The stranger was wearing dark leather trousers and a black jumper with a floor length black canvas coat. He had relatively short jet black hair which fell in neat curtains just above his eyes, which were a striking blue.

“This is a sacred gathering of an ancient council. You are not permitted to enter these chambers.” Spoke Methuselah.

“Need I remind you Methuselah that it was my people who founded this council ten thousand years ago. My father sat at the head of this council in ancient times and I was destined to follow him.” said the stranger.

“That was before you became a mass murdering lunatic.”

“And there I was hoping you'd put that behind you after a thousand years.”

Methuselah stood up, he was a lot taller than he looked sitting down and stood a full head above the stranger, who was a tall man anyway.

“Did you actually have any business here or did you just feel the need to intrude on a sacred gathering?”

The stranger nodded and took a step back so he could lean against the wall, the shadows making him all but invisible. The three members of this council could not see well in the dark, they were old and their sight was beginning to fail them; but also they were human. The stranger being so much more than human could see as clearly in the dark as he could in broad daylight.

“I'll bring her back.” The stranger spoke from the shadows and Methuselah raised his eyebrows in a look of disapproval.

“And exactly how do you plan on doing that?”

“I'm not sure, but i have an idea. I do however need something.”

“And what might that be?”

“The full resources of this council at my disposal so that I-”

“absolutely not! That's an outrage.” Matthias was the speaker. He had been quiet for a while now but he rose to his feet with such force he knocked his chair over. “The resources of this council are available to no-one but the members themselves.”

“So you would be willing to let the world end because of some tradition, because you don't want to share.” The stranger stepped from the shadows and drew level with Matthias, his eyes had taken on a strange red tint to them. “You know I would not ask but judging by what I heard earlier you need all the help you can get.”

“I don't care, we cannot-”

“That's enough Matthias, we will give you what you need if you're sure you can do what you say you can.”

“I think I can, I still need to look into a few things.”

“There is one condition to this though. You must put everything you need by us first, and this condition is non-negotiable so don't bother arguing Merrick.”

“Very well.” Replied Merrick. He bowed and turned to leave when Methuselah called out to him.

“What exactly made you decide to get back into the game anyway?”

Merrick looked back over his shoulder and replied: “I was bored.” He then let himself out and the three old men who formed the council of Aramatheus returned to their seats to discuss this new development.

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Cleveland, Europe.

2 weeks later.

The petite blonde slayer did and impressive flip kick knocking the vampire to the floor, but the second one came up behind her and grabbed her, but she was too strong and threw him over her head to the floor. She pulled a stake from inside her leather coat and stabbed the grounded vampire in the heart. She then turned her attention to the second vampire.

All this was being watched by a short blond boy who was holding a cross and looked more than a little scared.

He was in turn being watched from the shadow of a tree by Merrick. He looked a little impressed with the way Buffy handled herself against the vampires.

After she finished off the two vampires she turned to Andrew and shook her head.

“I'd tell you you know better and that you should be more careful but it won't make any difference so I'm not going to... well I just did so there you go.” She rolled her eyes at her own idiocy and walked away. She felt a presence behind her and turned to look in the shadows where Merrick had been standing seconds before but there was nothing there. She shrugged her shoulders and walked away.

Andrew also walked home, clutching his cross to his chest and looking around like a frightened rabbit all the way. And when he finally got home he locked all seven locks on his door behind him.

He put the cross down on the table and leaned against the wall letting out a sigh of relief. A knocking sound rang out from his door causing him to almost literally jump in the air in surprise. He smiled and shook his head at his own nervousness and opened the door to reveal Merrick standing in the doorway.

“Hello Andrew.” He said before his fist connected with Andrews face knocking him unconscious and causing him to fall back into the house. Merrick stepped over the threshold and swooped Andrew up, picked up his keys on the way out and bundled him into his own car. Merrick got in the front and drove away.

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A cave in the middle of the dessert, southern California.

3 days later.

Andrew woke on a sandy floor up against a damp rock wall, he rubbed his eyes as he got used to the dark, the cavern was lit by a single flaming torch placed in a bracket in the wall. After his eyes got used to the dark he scanned the room. He noticed something on the wall opposite him and slid closer to get a better look. It was a large triangle full of strange writing with a large eye at the centre. Andrews eyes widened with horror as he realized where he was.

“Oh no... not here... this.. this is where... where it all began...” he stuttered aloud.

“And this is where it all ends.” spoke a voice from the shadows.

Andrew turned to see Merrick walking towards him.

“What did you do... what do want with me.?”

Merrick simply kept walking and grabbed Andrew by his hair dragging him to his feet and over to the triangle on the wall. He pulled a cruel looking knife from this pocket and looked from Andrew to the Triangle and back again.

“Begun by blood,” He raised the knife. “By blood undone,” he brought the knife down, the steel flashing in the flickering firelight.

TBC

[lecter]

what do you people say, yay or nay?

Do I continue on here or not?

[lecter]

Undoing What Was Done Pt 2

"Begun by blood,” He raised the knife. “By blood undone,” he brought the knife down, the steel flashing in the flickering firelight.

The blade came down and cut a long gash in Andrews hand. Merrick then took Andrews hand, ignoring the boys protests and pleas, and placed it over the eye at the center of the triangle on the wall.

As soon as Andrews bleeding hand made contact with the triangle the whole cavern began to shake violently. Everything became a blur as reality melted into the spirit dimension and the fabric of time unraveled itself as Merrick was thrust through its folds back to the time he wanted to be in.

The whole world seemed to be spinning and Merrick felt the distinct sensation that his body was being ripped apart as something seemed to be trying to burst from inside.

Then as suddenly as it had all began it stopped, everything slammed back into place. Only they weren't in the cave any more, they were in a sunlit room. And nothing was normal, everything was in an odd shade of color and everything seemed out of place. It was the world as it is seen from the spirit world.

They were not alone in the room, there were two women there also; one was a thin read-head in a white shirt and the other was a more voluptuous blonde in a blue sweater.

BANG!BANG!SMASH!

“Oh your shirt.”

Merrick watched as Tara fell to the floor and as Willow begun her soulless wailing. He watched as Tara's spirit rose from her now useless body and materialized in the spirit world. She looked back at Willow wailing over her body sadly and began to ascend to the higher plane for which she was destined.

“Don't go.”

She looked back and was surprised to see Merrick standing there.

“Who are you?” she asked, surprised at the floaty, echoed tone her voice had taken on.

“Stay.” Merrick produced a fist sized glass ball from his pocket and it began to glow eerily; he muttered a few words in a strange, ancient language and it began to glow brighter.

Tara looked at the ball an felt mesmerized. She felt herself being drawn towards it. And then suddenly she was drawn towards it, and sucked inside.

Merrick took one last look at Willow banishing Osiris for his inability to bring back her lover. He smiled sadly as he wondered whether it would have actually been easier if none of this had actually happened. He then produced a small glass vial filled with a strange black liquid and threw it at the ground.

Merrick again felt the sensation of the world spinning again, this time everything was in reverse; instead of feeling like he was being ripped apart he felt like something was being forced back into his body.

Reality returned to its normal state as Merrick was slammed back into it and fell to the floor. A burst of bright light exploded from the triangle throwing Andrew across the cave and slamming him into the far wall.

Merrick got to his feet and brushed himself down. He looked over at Andrew, feeling a little guilty at what he now had to do.

Andrew struggled to his feet and looked at Merrick.

“Why? Why did it have to be me. I've already done this once. And I hated it then!”

“It had to be you because you've already done it once. It was your blood that caused this mess and activated the eye so it had to be your blood that activated it again to undo what was done.”

Andrew nodded.

“So I guess I'll just be going now then...” He turned to leave.

“I'm afraid not.” Merrick sighed heavily “a sacrifice must be made.”

Andrews eyes widened in shock as he realized what Merrick had said. He took a step back in fear as Merrick took a wrought silver medallion from his pocket. It was a single piece of silver about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti and it had been woven around itself to form some sort of complex Celtic style symbol hanging from a piece of rope.

Merrick held it up and began to speak words in another long dead language. A strange sound came from the Celtic symbol as it began to vibrate fiercely on the end of it's piece of rope. It began to light up and became brighter and brighter until it lit up the entire cavern drowning out the flickering light coming from the torch. Merrick finished his incantation and the symbol unwound itself to form one long string of light which shot straight at a dazzled Andrew and disappeared inside him.

Light began to emit from Andrews eyes nose and mouth as he screamed. He then exploded in a shower of little white lights which hovered where they were like tiny stars. Merrick then held up the glass ball which held Tara's spirit and muttered another incantation and a small wisp of silvery smoke floated from the ball and headed straight for the small star formation in the middle of the cave. The whole lot began so spin wildly until it merely became a bright light, which the died down to reveal a naked blonde girl lying on the floor shivering.

She moved to stand but noticed her lack of clothes and quickly covered up. Merrick removed his coat and handed it to her. She looked up at him questioningly; he was worn out and drained from his tip through the spirit dimensions, which is bad at the best of time but he had to drag a spirit with him and transfer body's.

“Who are you? Where am I?” She asked.

“What... what do you remember?” He panted.

“Not much.”

He smiled guiltily. That would be easier.

“I remember home. My father. Moving to Sunnydale. But after that it all becomes a blank. How did I get here?”

“Magic.” He moved his wet hair out of his eyes with his hand “I guess I have a lot of explaining to do. However this is not the place for such an explanation. I suggest a warm place, more clothes and possibly some hot chocolate.”

Tara let her smile reply for her.

“Come on then.” Merrick led the way out of the cave and to Andrews old Volvo.

“This must be your car?” asked Tara

“Well it is now.” Merrick muttered sadly.

They got in and Merrick started the engine and drove away.

It took them a full two hours to get to Los Angeles and Merrick's small apartment. Tara though that it certainly didn't look like much at all from the outside but was shocked when he opened the door to reveal a spacious but homely interior. Almost all the floor space was taken up by, not furniture but odds and ends from different periods in history. The place looked almost like an antiques dealership. She went over to his packed floor to ceiling bookshelf, which looked a lot like a mini library. She was amazed at the number of incredibly rare volumes he possessed.

“It's not much. But I call it home.”

“I love it.”

Merrick smiled at the compliment.

“Would you like to sit down.”

Tara turned in surprise and noticed that Merrick was pointing at a sofa that she had previously though was non existent, she smiled gratefully and sat down.

“I'll go and make that hot chocolate I promised you. And then I have some explaining to do.”

Tara nodded. She was weary from the adventure she didn't even know she had had. Perhaps if she had not been so tired for no apparent reason she would have been more cautious of this stranger. But she knew a few spells and was confident she could escape if she had to.

“Erm... feel free to dig out some clothes or something. I didn't think about you not having any clothes after everything.” Merrick indicated to his bedroom which was filled with a single bed and a large wardrobe.

He then turned and went into his small kitchen where he leaned up against the worktop and let out a sigh of relief. He had done it. He had accomplished what was all but impossible. But he still didn't know if it would work. He still needed and explanation to keep her from leaving. The truth maybe...

TBC

[lecter]

Explainations

He still needed and explanation to keep her from leaving. The truth maybe... but would it go down? If she didn't know about anything after moving to Sunnydale would it be easier to not tell her about Buffy and Willow?

He made the drinks and took them out. Tara was looking through his books wearing blue jeans and a white sweater.

“I guess we'll need to get you some clothes.” He handed her her drink “here, sit. I'll explain everything.”

“Where exactly am I.”

“Los Angeles. But I think the more appropriate question is when.”

“What do you mean?”

“What's the last you remember?”

“Moving to Sunnydale for college.”

“In 2001, yes?”

She nodded.

“The year now is 2006.”

Tara spluttered and coughed as she choked on her chocolate.

“B-b-but how?”

“I brought you here. I brought you across time and dimensions. You were trapped in the spirit realm and I pulled you out.”

“But that-that's dangerous... you could have damaged or even destroyed the fabric of reality... why would you risk that?” there was a note of panic in her voice. At least she understood the consequences of what he had done, which meant she remembered all her mothers teachings about magic and balance... that would make things easier.

“There is an ancient council called the council of Arametheus. They have existed for about ten thousand years. It is their job to guard the balance between good and evil. They decipher ancient prophecies and make sure the variables involved are in the right place at the right time...”

“But what does this have to do with me?” She interrupted.

“Please don't interrupt or we shall get nowhere, and I would very much like to get some sleep tonight.” She nodded her understanding “So this council have spent the past sixty years attempting to decipher a set of ancient prophecies called the prophecies of Kain. They came across one of the pages which mentioned you directly. The consequences of pulling you from the spirit realm and across time could be grave but the consequences of not, could have been much graver. You see the prophecy said that there would come a power greater than any ever known and would bring about the apocalypse and nothing would stop it. Nothing except you.”

“But I don't have any where near that kind of power!”

“The prophecy was not specific on how. It only said that it could only be you. It may not even be a matter of power, I have learned in my long life that power and strength sometimes make no difference at all.”

“You say you pulled me from the spirit realm. How on earth did I get trapped there in the first place?”

Merrick sighed and turned away form her. He did not like to lie, but the truth outright could seriously complicate things.

“An accident. Needless to say you did not get there on purpose. Time was tampered with by someone and things went wrong. If this person had not messed around with time then I would not have needed to do it myself to get you back. And trust me when I say I would never under normal circumstances done anything so rash.”

Tara put down her cup and buried her face in her hands and groaned loudly. She had been feeling confused ever since she had found herself on the floor in the cave, and her tiredness only added to her confusion and increasingly painful headache. And the more Merrick explained to her the less she understood, she was feeling more and more like Alice tumbling down a never ending rabbit hole taking her deeper and closer to a place she didn't really want to be in. She then realized that although she had been explained her situation, where and when she was; and she knew who she was, she still had absolutely no idea who this person who was explaining all this to her was.

“Who are you?” she asked

Merrick looked around surprised. She had expected that to be the first question she asked him and had not realized that he had not explained anything about himself to her.

“My name is Merrick, I work for the powers that be. It is my job to maintain the balance between good and evil, I am what you might call a warrior for good. You see you know about your powers, you use them for good. Not all beings use their power this way, some do not even learn control. There are even some beings who's sole purpose is to cause chaos and destruction.” Merrick indicated to his book shelf and began picking off books and handing them to her “Demons, vampires, the forces of darkness; everything you ever though was under your bed or in your wardrobe or lurked in the darkest places but had convinced yourself weren't real. They all exist. They are all real. I fight them, I make sure they do not get out of hand. Most of the time their sole purpose is to work alone and cause damage. Or maybe they just want to feed. But every now and again you get a real visionary come along who wants to destroy the world, or bring hell on earth, or wipe out all life or something like that. It's at these times that people like me are needed, people like you. People with powers who understand balance and the value of life. I am not alone in this fight either, there are others like me. Other warriors who fight for good.”

“Like the vampire slayer.” Tara had no idea where that piece of information came from. It must have been something her mother had told her a long time ago, she didn't know anything about the vampire slayer except that there was only one and she fought the forces of darkness.

Merrick looked at her questioningly. How did she know about the slayer.

“Slayers.” He corrected “something happened. Now there are many slayer, not just one.”

Tara sank back in her chair. She began to wish she had not asked her last question, she was now more confused that ever. And her tiredness was quickly creeping back, with a vengeance. She glanced at Merrick's old fashioned grandfather clock and saw it was almost 4 am and she felt like she hadn't slept for days.

Merrick noticed her weary glance at the clock and smiled. He was tired himself and was running out of ways to get around her questions without telling her everything.

“You can take the bed. I'll stay on the sofa.”

Tara nodded gratefully, she was now just too tired to speak. She got up and headed for the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

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Later that night in an empty room in the same apartment building three old men sit around a table facing another, younger man who is standing.

“So you have done it then?” asked Methuselah.

Merrick nodded.

“How?” asked Matthias.

“I used Andrews blood to re-activate the eye of Rah-mesh to go back in spirit form to the time she died.”

“Well that explains how you got back, but not how you brought her spirit back with you.” said Mattimeo.

“I trapped her spirit in an orb of Thesela and then transferred her spirit into Andrews essence which i separated using the Methos medallion you gave me. His essence fused with her spirit to make her corporeal. She is alive.”

“Well I must say Merrick you have surprised us all. But didn't she want to get back to Willow and her friends?” asked Methuselah.

“She doesn't remember, and I hate to say this but it's easier for us that way.”

“Does she remember anything?”

“Everything up to her move to Sunnydale.”

“I think you have proved yourself to us. I think we can trust you to look after her and train her in preparation for what is coming. You will not only need to teach her to fully utilize her power but you should probably also teach her to fight... just in case.”

Merrick nodded and bowed as he left the Council of Arametheus to discuss whatever it is they had to discuss. He went back into his own room and collapsed onto his sofa exhausted. He had not slept in almost a week, and the preparations for the ritual as well as the ritual itself had been a great strain. Merrick had not felt this tired in almost a millennia. He fell instantly into a deep, dreamless sleep.

[lecter]

Lessons

When Tara awoke the next morning she sat up in bed and looked around Merrick's bedroom, which he had kindly given up for her; though she still had no idea what was going on and was hoping that she'd wake up in the morning to discover it had all been a dream. It was not a dream however and everything was very real. As she was so very tired last night she did not look very carefully at the room in which she was sleeping and so decided to do so now. The largest thing in the room was a wardrobe, which she new from raiding it last night was full of a large collection of very different but mostly dark clothes... and a lot of coats.

The second most distinguishing feature in the room was a large frosted glass fronted cabinet. Tara was surprised she had not noticed this yesterday as it was about as large as the wardrobe. She knew she shouldn't be nosing around Merrick's room like this but she knew almost nothing about him so she decided to do it anyway.

She opened the door of the glass fronted cabinet and almost fell over in shock. It contained a vast array of menacing weapons from wooden stakes to broadswords and even a pair of handguns. Tara very rarely swore but this was an occasion that called for it, she closed the cabinet and scanned the rest of the room. Other than the wardrobe and the weapons cabinet there wasn't any other furniture in the room, there was a small writing desk tucked away in a corner and the rest of the room was full of books.

She put on a dressing gown and ventured out into the main room. When she entered she saw Merrick sitting cross legged on the floor holding a small cup of hot tea. She thought he seemed a lot more composed this morning, it seemed a good night sleep was all he needed to bounce back from bringing her across dimensions... it would have killed any normal person. He smiled at her as she walked into the room.

“You found my weapons. Good. You'll be learning to use them later.”

“M-me... use w-w-weapons... I couldn't...”

“No, you can't now. But you will learn. The same as you will learn to fight and the same as you will develop your powers.”

Tara saw that there was no point in arguing with this, it was how it would be. Instead she walked across the room and begun studying the books on Merrick's bookshelf once again, now that she was awake and had a clear mind.

“Tea?” asked Merrick

Tara turned and saw him indicating to an oriental style tea set on the coffee table behind him. She smiled, her mother used to make tea for her like this. She went over to Merrick and sat cross legged opposite him on the floor. Merrick took the tea set from the table and placed it between them, he then set about the delicate process of making tea. In japan making tea for someone is more than just pouring them a drink, it is a delicate and precise art. After he had made the tea he blessed the cup and handed it to her. She knew what to do, she bowed her head with the cup held up to him blessing it again; she then turned the cup around in two precise movements so that the twice blessed side was facing her and drank from it.

“I see you know the proper etiquette for tea drinking, that's good, it would have just been annoying to have to teach you that.” Tara smiled at him and put down her cup, she still had the feeling of being in wonderland.

“Right then, come with me and we can begin your training.” Merrick got to his feet and put on his coat.

“Go where?” Tara asked, not sure if she wanted to get up

“To the roof.” Merrick smiled and handed her a coat.

Tara was unsure of himself but decided to follow him anyway, she was doing a lot of things lately that she had no idea why she was doing, she was also having thoughts about things she didn't know she knew.

They climbed the stairs of the apartment building, very dreary stairs that reminded Tara of a scene from a movie... but she didn't know what movie it was or of ever having watched it. When they finally reached the roof Tara wondered why on earth he had brought her up here, there was nothing there other than a few television receivers and a large brick shed type building. To her surprise Merrick walked over to the shed and pulled a key from his pocket, he opened the door and and held out his hand inviting her to enter.

When she walked in she was amazed. The building was one big open space floored with light spongy mats and the walls were lined with all kinds of weapons imaginable. The decoration of the place was stunning, a mixture of many eastern styles that created what must be a one of a kind dojo. She walked around the place admiring the décor and and looking at the many different homage's to the many different styles of martial arts, Tara saw a couple of painting on one wall of various masters of various martial arts... she suspected they were the creators of the styles.

Merrick opened up a section of the wall and pulled out a folded crisp white outfit complete with white belt.

“Put this on and we can begin.” Merrick handed it to her and she looked at him curiously, did he expect her to change right here? Merrick pointed to the far wall where there was a door handle protruding.

Tara opened the door to reveal a changing room. She locked the door and began to change, wondering the whole time what Merrick had planned. If he had a set up like this he must know what he was doing and must be a real master of many different fighting styles, she felt slightly lucky, not often would anyone get to train one on one in a set up like this.

When Tara opened the door and walked into the room she saw Merrick kneeling facing the wall with all the portraits on it. As soon as the door clicked shut Merrick bowed and turned to face her.

“I want you to know that no matter what happens out there,” he pointed to the entrance to the dojo “no matter if we grow to be friends or if you grow to hate me, in here i am the master and you are my student. In here you will show the proper respect and you will listen to me and obey. Am I clear?”

Tara hesitated for a moment then nodded in acknowledgment.

“And that leads us smoothly there into the first lesson, never hesitate. You either do something or you don't. If you hesitate in combat you go down, a fight is decided in just one split second, it doesn't matter who's feeling best on the day , it's down to the split second and who's better when the moment arises.”

Tara gulped, she was in for a hard time here.

“Sit down Tara.”

Tara sat on the floor cross legged.

“That is not how we sit in here Tara, the way you saw me sitting when you came out of the changing room.”

Tara adjusted her position so that she was kneeling.

“Now we can begin. There are two different stages of learning in the martial arts: there external martial arts and internal martial arts. The external is the fighting, the techniques and all the physical aspects of it; the internal is the strengthening of the mind and learning to focus your energy, to push your limits. You begin by training in external martial arts, only when you have mastered that can you go on to training your mind. Do you understand?”

Tara nodded, she had always wanted to learn a martial art to defend herself, but her parents had never let her; her mother didn't believe in violence and her father didn't want her to be able to fight back.

“The process of learning takes years, it would take a lifetime to master all the martial arts, I will teach you bits of each with no with no distinction between them so effectively what you will learn is one art that combines everything, a new style, one of my own creation. This will give you an edge over any other fighter because any other fighter will have to switch between styles to counter moves from different styles; you will not, it will give you a split second advantage which is all you need. I have worked on and perfected this style of fighting for over a thousand years in complete seclusion, no one knows it's secrets but me and i have never taught the technique to anyone.”

Tara smiled, she felt proud that she would be the first to learn a new style of martial arts.

“First let me set a few rules, codes of etiquette. First when you enter this dojo you will remove your shoes and place them in the shoe box by the door. Second when you step onto the mat you will bow to the masters on the wall. Third you will refer to me as sensei whenever we are in her. And finally in this dojo there is no such word as can't, if you feel unable to do something you train yourself and train yourself until you can. Are you ready?”

Tara nodded again, and Merrick raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side indicating he wanted to hear something.

“Yes, sensei.”

“Good then we'll start with warming up, some yoga, helps loosen the muscles and warm you up. It also helps to focus your mind.”

As Merrick instructed Tara on her warm up techniques he was surprised to find that she was picking things up very quickly, almost as though she was remembering them. Had the slayer taught her to defend herself? Was she regaining her memories? The more he continued to teach her the more he saw that she was exceptionally gifted and was picking everything up at an alarming rate... he could not, however make up his mind whether this was a good thing or a bad thing...

[lecter]

Music And Strangers Part 1

I find it kinda funny,

I find it kinda sad,

The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had.

The sound of mellow guitar music awoke Tara the next morning and she got out of bed, her whole body was aching from the training the day before. She went out into the living room to see Merrick sitting on the floor with a guitar singing softly.

“I didn't know you played,”

Merrick looked up at her and smiled.

“I've been around for 8000 years Tara, there's not much I can't do.”

She sat down opposite him cross legged like a child at story time and grinned widely.

“Play something for me,” she made big puppy dog eyes and Merrick chuckled softly. He plucked his string a few times to make sure it was tuned properly and began playing.

Well I heard there was a sacred chord

Thad David played and it pleased the lord

but you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this:

the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift

The baffled king composes hallelujah

Tara smiled with recognition, she knew this one and joined in.

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof

you saw her bathing on the roof

her beauty in the moonlight overthrew you.

She tied you to her kitchen chair

she broke your throne and she cut your hair

and from your lips she drew the hallelujah.

They sang the song the whole way through together and when they finished they were slightly breathless because they ended up singing as loudly as they could.

“You have an incredible voice,” Merrick said as he put his guitar away.

“Thanks, you're not bad yourself,” she smiled, but her smile fell to a frown as the thought of singing stirred up a nagging at the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite place it. Merrick saw this and decided it wuld be a good time to cut in.

“Hey you'd better get some breakfast or something, you got a long day ahead of you.”

Tara snapped out of her deep stupor and looked up at Merrick, she had an unnerving feeling that he knew something more than he let on, that it was something he really didn't want her to find out.

“Yeah, sure.” She went out to the kitchen and busied herself making something for breakfast. Merrick watched her leave the room and walked over to the window and drew back the curtains, the harsh southern Californian sunlight pouring into his eyes. He squinted slightly and allowed his eyes to get used to the light and looked around, it was then he saw the figure. There was a cloaked figure standing on the roof of the adjacent building looking directly at him, but Merrick blinked and in that fraction of a moment the figure was gone. Any other person would have dismissed it as a figment of their imagination, or a trick of the light but Merrick knew himself well enough to know he didn't imagine things like that and nothing played tricks on his eyes.

Merrick hurriedly scanned the surrounding area and the other rooftops and saw nothing, he opened the window and hung out scanning the floor below but saw no sign of the mysterious figure. Whoever it was was fast.

Tara came out of the kitchen with a cup of tea and saw Merrick hanging out the window.

“What the hell are you doing?” Merrick jumped and lifted himself back into the room, banging his head on the window on the way in.

“I saw-” he turned back to look out the window and turned back “Never mind. Hurry up with that, we have work to do.”

When Tara finished her tea Merrick took her out to the hall and they began to climb the stairs when Merrick stopped.

“Back down.” This was a direct order and not a request, Tara did as she was told and when they were at the foot of the stairs Merrick turned to her.

“You know one of the most important things in combat is to not get tired, if you get tired you lose your concentration and if you lose your concentration you die. I want you to run up these stairs all the way to the roof and back down again. On my mark, go!”

Tara looked at him stupidly but he had produced a stopwatch from somewhere and had already started it so she took off up the stairs. She had barely gone up three flights when she felt the tell tale pain in her side, she was developing what people refer to as a 'stitch', what was actually happening was that she was not taking in enough oxygen to keep her muscles going so her body was sending more oxygenated blood to the muscles in her legs and less to the organs that didn't need to much at the moment and so they sent messages of pain to her brain telling her to stop because they weren't getting enough oxygen.

She finally reached the roof and practically collapsed into the door, pushing it open, she was temporarily blinded by the light that poured through to her face and she collapsed against the door frame trying to catch her breath. She then realised she had to go down too and started on the return journey, almost falling several times. When she finally reached the bottom and collapsed to her knees Merrick clicked his stopwatch and knelt down in front of her.

“That was pathetic, do it again.” She looked up at him in disbelief “I'm serious.”

Tara struggled to her feet and started off up the stairs once more barely dragging herself along this time and feeling like she was about to pass out. Suddenly Merrick was at her side urging her to continue though she could barely hear him. When she finally reached the roof she went straight out the door and fell to her knees and spoke to Merrick between pants.

“I'm... going... to...” Merrick put a bucket in front of her just in time and she threw up her entire breakfast into it and collapsed on the floor.

Merrick knelt down next to her and brushed her drenched hair off her face.

“Your cardio sucks, you wouldn't last two minutes in a fight against a vampire.”

Tara tried to reply but no words came out, she rolled over onto her back and looked up at the sky.

When she had finally regained her breath they went into Merrick's dojo and trained, he threw her and let her throw him. He tought her to punch and showed her how to use a stake properly, this wet on until sunset and then Merrick stopped them.

“Go clean up and get changed into something loose and sensible, we're going out.”

Tara went back to the flat and had a shower and changed and came out to find Merrick dressed all in black with his hair in a pony tail.

“We're going hunting.” Tara's eyes widened in surprise.

“A-a—are you s-s-sure I'm read-d-dy?”

“I have no idea, but this is one way to find out, besides I'll do most of the work, all you have to do is watch and back me up.”

They left and walked around the crowded L.A. Streets for a while before Merrick turned down an alley where two men had another pinned against a wall.

“Here take this,” he handed her a stake which she clutched tightly in both hands and advanced forward with him.

Merrick whistled and all three men turned to look at him, the two who were doing the pinning had distorted faces and large fangs. Merrick threw his stake at one of them and it found it's target, the vamp subsequently bursting into flames. He then turned to the guy who now looked very scared indeed.

“Get out of here kid.” The man wasted no time in complying and ran like wildfire from the alley. Merrick then turned to the remaining vamp who was circling looking for an opportunity to attack.

“Do you really wanna do this? I mean I would tear you apart without a problem, but her,” he pointed to Tara “easy meat.” Tara looked at Merrick in shock.

The vamp smiled and ran straight past Merrick who made no attempt to stop him, Tara backed away slightly and dropped her stake on the floor. The vamp gabbed her a threw her against the wal, she tried to hold him back but he was too strong and he sank his fangs into her neck, her eyes widened and she screamed out in pain.

_________________________________________________

Music And Strangers Part 2

The vamp smiled and ran straight past Merrick who made no attempt to stop him; Tara backed away slightly and dropped her stake on the floor. The vamp gabbed her a threw her against the wall, she tried to hold him back but he was too strong and he sank his fangs into her neck, her eyes widened and she screamed out in pain.

Suddenly Tara stopped screaming and started choking as she inhaled vampire ash, she fell to her knees spluttering. She clutched her neck and felt the warm liquid that was gushing from the two small wounds the vamp had left her; she looked up and saw Merrick standing over her holding a stake.

Tara finally regained the ability to breath and took several deep breaths before looking down and realising exactly what it was she was sitting in and what she had inhaled a fair amount of, and for the second time that day threw up. She fell back against the wall she was only a moment ago pinned against and hit her head, she uttered a few annoyed swear words and thought that this really wasn’t a good day for her.

“You froze, you hesitated. You have just learnt a valuable lesson, no matter how much training or preparation you get it cannot prepare you for the real thing, you can’t fight something you’ve only seen in movies and books no matter how prepared you are.” He reached out his hand to her to help her up “It doesn’t get scarier either, just because you know what you’re doing or what to expect doesn’t mean you know everything. They’re stronger faster and more powerful than you, one mistake is all it will take and you’re dead. Don’t forget this moment.”

Tara looked up at him and then to the hand he was extending her and felt the rage boiling up inside her, she slapped his hand away and dragged herself to her feet and began to back away slowly towards the street.

“Y-y-you can stay the HELL away from me,” she shouted and turned and ran out onto the street, and before Merrick could do anything she was lost in a large crowd of people.

“Looks like you lost the one mate.”

Merrick turned slightly annoyed to the Australian accent that he assumed to be addressing him and was surprised to see that the speaker was a hooded and cloaked figure leaning against a wall, and he had a feeling it was the same hooded figure he had seen that morning.

“That was you on the roof this morning wasn’t it?”

“May have been.” The person moved from the wall and took a couple of steps towards Merrick, the orange glow coming from one of the apartment windows almost illuminating his face “I have some information you might like to hear.”

“Not interested” Merrick turned to leave but the person’s next words made him freeze, fear in his eyes.

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After she left Merrick Tara ran and ran and didn’t stop until she was at the point of collapsing, she felt ill and drained and weak, guess losing a pint or two of blood does that to you she though. She slowed her pace to a stagger and almost collapsed against the wall of a club, she looked at herself and decided it would be wise to clean up, she entered the club.

As soon as she walked through the door she knew she couldn’t have picked a worse club to walk into to clean up in this state; there were circular tables filling the room all facing a stage at one end from which a man was unplugging his guitar and leaving. She saw the sign for the bathrooms and realised she had to walk past the bar behind every single table there to get to them.

She took a deep breath and hurried across the room at the worst possible time, there was no one stage to distract the club’s patrons so a few of them got up for the bar or turned around and saw her, she got a few very odd look but kept going nonetheless.

“And now, please welcome on stage one of our regulars Morgan Lacey”

Tara was not sure why this spiked her interest but it did, she turned to look and saw a girl walk on stage holding a guitar, the girl had long blonde hair with dark roots and was wearing a pair of scruffy jeans and a t-shirt and a pair of black rimmed glasses with white stripes down the sides, Tara though this girl must be very interesting and for some reason felt a longing to get to know her. Morgan plugged in her guitar and walked to the microphone, she opened her mouth to speak and her and Tara’s eyes met and she seemed stunned for a second, Tara tore her eyes away after what seemed like an age and hurried to the bathroom leaving behind the sound of:

“Ok, this is a cover of a Chris Isaak song and it’s called Wicked Games” Tara almost felt sorry the bathroom door had to close because it drowned out the music Morgan started to play.

When Tara had emerged from the bathroom having done the best she could to clean herself up Morgan was just finishing ‘Wicked Games’ to thunderous applause. Tara decided she wanted to hear some of this girls stuff and decided to stay, she needed a drink anyway; she though alcohol would be a very bad idea considering the blood she had lost.

“Can I help you” asked the barman, She shoved her hand in her pocket and rifles for some change but all she found was some paper and a sinking sense of shame as the barman looked at her expectantly, she was fully aware of her bloody sweater and just asked for a glass of water.

“Ok” started Morgan “this next one is another cover, I’m covering Michelle Branch this time,” this comment was met with some scattered laughter, Tara let a small smile escape her.

“It’s called ‘Goodbye to you’ and it goes like this.”

Morgan started playing the song and after the first few lines Tara suddenly felt an incredibly powerful sadness take her and she didn’t know where it came from, she dropped her glass on the floor and rubbed her eyes trying to remember what was behind this locked door in her mind, her eyesight began to fade to black and the last thing she heard was the sound of a guitar being dropped and people rushing to help her.

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Merrick arrived and the Los Angeles City Museum and made a bee-line for the nearest drainpipe and climbed all the way to the roof and headed for the skylight on the far left, he peered down to see a man with very long jet black hair standing in front of four rocks. Each of these rocks had an inscription on it and a different weapon sticking out of the top. The one closest to the door had a large two headed battle axe, the one next to it had a bow, the next one had an elaborate Katana and the last had a very mean looking broadsword that looked like it belonged to a villain in a highlander movie.

The man standing in front of these stones was at least 6 feet tall and slim, he was wearing all black with a long black cape. His face was pale and his eyes red, he left this room and headed for another, Merrick followed along the roof, skylight to skylight until whatever it was in the museum stopped at a glass cabinet in the Egypt section and raised his hand to break one of the glass cabinets, this was when Merrick made his move; he dove through the skylight, landing on his feet in front of the man-like creature and grabbed it, pinning it against the wall.

The thing regarded Merrick curiously before sending him flying across the room, seemingly using only it’s mind. Merrick hit the wall with a crash and fell to his knees, the thing held out his hand to his left levitating a rather vicious dagger and sending it flying in Merrick’s direction but he easily avoided it by rolling to the right. He reached up and grabbed two short swords from the wall and threw one at the creature who seemingly turned to mist and the sword went straight through and clattered harmlessly to the floor. Merrick charged at the creature who had now become once again solid matter and swung at him several times with the sword but each blow was a waste as they were easily dodged, on the eighth swing of the sword the thing grabbed Merrick’s arm stopping the sword in it’s tracks, the creature then drove it’s elbow into Merrick’s throat sending him staggering back coughing, the thing then swung with full force across Merrick’s face sending once again flying across the room, this time landing in a heap on the floor.

Merrick dragged himself to his feet, whipping a speck of blood from his lip.

“Why’d it have to be a shade.”

Merrick took up a fighting stance but it was useless, the shade held up his hand, lifting Merrick of the ground and then with a flick of his wrist sent Merrick across the room for a third time. This time however Merrick did not hit the wall or crash to the floor, he was impaled on one of the many metre and a half long spikes that were around the room 20 feet from the floor.

Merrick looked down and saw a metre of cold steel protruding from his chest and passed out. The shade grinned triumphantly and went back to the glass case he was going to smash before being so rudely interrupted.

TBC

[lecter]

The Morning After

When Tara awoke the next morning she instantly wished she hadn’t, she instantly felt as though her head was going to explode; she lay still for a while waiting for the pain to die down enough for her to open her eyes, this took about ten minutes. When she did open her eyes she was pleased to see she was in a dark room, there was a floor to ceiling curtain pulled over and entire side of the room and some light managed to find it’s way through; hen she did open her eyes she was pleased to see she was in a dark room, there was a floor to ceiling curtain pulled over and entire side of the room and some light managed to find it’s way through.

Tara pulled herself into a sitting position and again had to stop to wait for the blinding pain in her head to die away slightly, when it did she scanned the room taking in her surroundings: there must have been a total of 20 guitars around the room all of various types and shapes, there was also a drum kit in one corner and on a wall was a huge TV. Tara herself was on what has to be the most comfortable sofa she had ever come across, room enough to sleep 4 people, it was in the centre of the room facing the TV.

It was then that she heard the sounds coming from the other room, there was quiet music playing and the sounds of someone moving things around. The sounds stopped and the girl from the club walked in.

“Ah you’re awake,” she said with a grin, she then reached out and pressed a button on the wall and the curtains mechanically retracted to reveal floor to ceiling window with a stunning view of Los Angeles all the way to the sea.

Tara however could not appreciate this view as the early morning light pouring through the windows made her shield her eyes and grab her head in pain, on seeing this Morgan walked over to her and handed her a glass filled with a strange blue liquid.

“Drink that it’ll make your head better.” This seemed more of an order than a request and Tara was reminded of Merrick, she hoped this girl didn’t know him. She looked up at Morgan who nodded encouragingly, Tara took a small sip of the drink and screwed up her face in disgust, it was horrible.

“No,” instructed Morgan “down the hatch.”

She tipped the glass back and Tara was forced to drink the foul liquid in one. When the glass was empty she leaned forward feeling as though she was about to throw up, but stopped halfway realising her headache was gone, she looked up at Morgan confused, the musician winked at the witch.

“I’m not just a pretty face.”

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As the first rays of light drifted through the broken skylight of the Egyptian exhibit of the LA national museum Merrick stirred and opened his eyes gingerly, then remembering where he was he looked down to the metal spike protruding from his chest. Merrick grabbed hold of the cold steel slick with his congealing blood and pulled himself all the way off, he hit the floor and fell in a heap.

He stood up and glanced around him to get his bearing and the started walking down the corridor re-tracing the footsteps of the thing that had put him up there.

The shade for which Merrick was searching was standing in front of the stones Merrick had seen earlier, he had his arms folded and was regarding them curiously.

“It should be working,” he said angrily to himself “Why is it not working?!” The shade shouted and kicked a bone from the circle he had made and it went skidding across the room and clanged against the wall.

“Because you’re not doing it right.”

The shade looked around and saw Merrick standing in the doorway and smiled.

“I don’t know how you’re still alive, but if you want me to make it permanent I shall.” The shade held out his hand and a cruel looking sword appeared there, Merrick looked at it coolly as they circled each other.

When Merrick rounded the Stones he ran his hand over the weapons stuck in them, not quite touching them; when his hand came to hover over the katana a bolt of electricity jumped from the handle to his hand and he took hold of it, pulling it easily from the stone. On seeing this the Shade’s face dropped and he uttered just one word:

“Shit.”

Merrick raised the sword above his head and threw at the shade who made to block it but was too slow and the sword plunged straight into his chest. He stood there for a moment looking at the sword before he let out a blood curdling scream and what looked like a black thick gas came erupting from his mouth and went straight down into the ground. The man who’s body the demon had been occupying fell to the ground, Merrick walked over and removed the sword; he looked at it for a while with sadness in his eyes, but his eyes hardened and he plunged it back into the stone.

It was at this moment that the curator of the museum walked into the room. John was a man of small stature with a bushy beard covering the majority of his face and accentuating the fact that his chin stuck out slightly and hiding the fact that he in fact had a very round childish face. Merrick had always found it funny that the mans surname was actually Smith, in 8000 years he was the first John Smith Merrick had come across.

“Merrick what the hell is going on,” the little man looked around in awe at the gruesome scene before him “the floor of the Egyptian exhibit is covered in blood now this, how am I going to explain this?”

Merrick strode over to the Curator and grabbed him by the collar pointing to the stones.

“I told you those were dangerous and should be kept safe, they don’t look safe to me john.”

“I though they would be safe here.” The fear was obvious in the curator’s voice, he was being held a full inch off the ground and looking at a dead man lying in a slowly increasing pool of blood.

“Obviously not John, deal with it.” Merrick let the man down and swept from the room without another word, The curator called after him.

“You’re just going to leave me here to clean up this mess?” He got no reply.

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A few hours later

Morgan was playing some songs to Tara who was fixated by this girl who, it must be said was amazing. Tara had sensed something special in her last night and she was right, Morgan had treated her nicer than anyone had ever treated her before and she could tell this would be a very good friend. Her thought and Morgan’s music were however abruptly interrupted by a knock at the door. Morgan screwed her face into a confused look and put down her guitar, heading for the door.

Now the front door of Morgan’s apartment was located through a corridor off the living room so Tara could not see who was at the door, she heard it open and Morgan’s surprise and then a brief exchange of inaudible conversation before the door was closed again and two sets of footsteps made their way down the short corridor to the living room, her curiosity spiked Tara sat up to see who was with Morgan but froze when she saw who it was.

When Merrick saw Tara sitting on Morgan’s sofa they stared at each other Merrick shocked and Tara a mixture of shocked and terrified.

Morgan stood looking from Tara to Merrick for a full minute before holding up her hands.

“someone has some explaining to do,” she stated.