On the first day of Christmas...
...my true love gave to me one Protective Shield (for all the medieval style jousting I do in my spare time)
Anyway, I had this daft idea to attempt a fic that spanned the 12 days so the first one is a 1/12...in theory. Theory may not match practice.
Fandom: Malory Towers/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13?
Word Count: 2051
Summary: Alicia Johns does not believe in monsters (not really) and she certainly doesn't believe a word of what Miss Potts has told her. Yet she has found herself traipsing through the countryside in the middle of the night none-the-less. Influenced largely by two pieces I wrote last year here and here.
Alicia did rather wonder - in between ducking under tree branches and stepping over roots - whether this were some elaborate prank that the teachers had concocted to make her look foolish. Perhaps they had finally had enough of her tricks and jokes and this was a way to make her look stupid in front of the rest of the school. After all - how would Alicia Johns live down the fact that she believed in monsters?
Even as that possibility grew in her mind, Alicia pushed onward. Even if she were walking into what would be the ruination of her reputation, setting her up for years of mockery, then she would rather do that with her head held high than slink back to her dorm room and hide away.
After all, what if it weren’t a prank?
Miss Potts did not seem like the type to be involved in a prank that would humiliate a student, no matter how infuriating that student might be. She also didn’t seem the type to be involved with the disposal of monsters though so perhaps that wasn’t the right way to be thinking about this situation.
Alicia stumbled over a half buried rock and only just prevented a very undignified tumble to the floor by grabbing hold of a nearby tree branch. The bark was cold and rough, scraping a layer of skin from her palm. Alicia hissed and shook her hand, the touch of the cool air as she did making her wince. How much further was she to walk anyway? She must be long off of school property by now and the moon was threatening to disappear behind clouds.
Alicia quickened her pace, trying to listen out for any noises as she walked. There was a thought threatening to spread through her mind, that if she were to believe that Miss Potts were being genuine and honest then she was out in the middle of the countryside, in the dark, with no means to defend herself, and surrounded by monsters. The temptation to run was almost overwhelming but Alicia suppressed it - haste was more likely to get her hurt anyway.
The trees and bushes fell away to nothing as Alicia stumbled out into open space. She paused for a moment and caught her breath, giving herself time to locate the person she could feel watching her.
She rolled her eyes when she saw that she had stumbled upon a graveyard, and the idea that this was a big joke returned to her. Finally spotting Miss Potts, with an umbrella held over-head against the beginnings of rain, Alicia crossed the graveyard with long strides.
“Jolly nice of you to invite me out here”, Alicia greeted, “Shall we get on with it then?”
“Maintaining your flippancy even in the face of danger I see”, Miss Potts replied, “Although given your lack of preparation, it would seem you underestimate the danger”.
“If it were than dangerous, you wouldn’t have had me come out alone”, Alicia wished she brought a thicker coat, “Besides, if you’re meant to be this overseer of monster killers, I’m sure you’ve got a weapon for me”. Miss Potts raised an eyebrow - a look Alicia had seen many time before - but she did reach inside her coat and pull something out to hand to Alicia.
“A pointy stick?”, Alicia asked, now more convinced than ever that this was a joke, “If there are monsters out here wouldn’t a gun or a sword be more appropriate”.
“A gun draws attention, not to mention it’s rather difficult to hit the heart with a bullet”, Miss Potts adjusted the position of her umbrella, “A sword is better but needs training, and it’s not quite so conveniently stored in a handbag”.
“Great. Pointy stick it is”, Alicia rolled her eyes and bounced the stick from hand to hand, “Where to now?”
“Now we wait”, Miss Potts said, “It shouldn’t take long”.
“I have to say, I didn’t expect you to commit to this joke for so long”, Alicia said, grimacing as the rain got heavier, “I was expecting you to be waiting outside the school doors to make the big reveal”.
“Joke all you like, you won’t be joking about it after tonight”, then Miss Potts paused as if in thought for a few moments, “actually, given your personality, you probably will still be joking. But you will believe me”.
Alicia sighed and crossed her arms across her front, careful not to poke herself with the stupid stick that Miss Potts had handed her. It was difficult to know how long had passed with them stood there in silence, but she as Alicia were about to say that she had had enough and was heading back, a sound stopped her.
It wasn’t loud, but there was something out of place about it. Scratching. Digging. Alicia turned on the spot, tried to find out where the noise was coming from. Quite forgetting herself, she walked towards the noise, stepping carefully between graves. The ran was still at a drizzle and it made the earth slick and spongy beneath her feet.
If she hadn’t known better Alicia would have said her heart near stopped and her blood ran cold as she realised what was making the noise. She stopped, a few feet from the grave, and stared. The earth lifted as if pushed from beneath then sunk as the scratching continued. It happened again, and Alicia felt like she was rooted to the spot.
A hand burst forth from the dirt and she found her movement, staggering backwards a few steps and tightening her grip on the pointed stick. The hand disappeared - for just long enough that she thought she might have imagined it - and then reappeared with such force that chunks of earth were scattered around her feet. A second hand appeared.
It was a bewildering sight, and Alicia couldn’t get her thoughts to slow down long enough for her to really work out what was happening. The head that followed, the body that followed and crawled, face down in the rain and the dirt, out of the grave looked human. It looked alive. Was this some kind of sick pantomime?
“I assure you - this is quite real”, Alicia jumped at the sound of Miss Potts voice, “this is what you will be facing, and more, these are the monsters that you are predestined to fight”.
“That’s not a monster”, Alicia couldn’t believe herself when she stammered, “th..that’s a human being”.
“It was once a human, now it’s not”, Miss Potts took a step back, “His soul is long destroyed. Your job is to destroy his body now. A stake to the heart is the simplest way”. Alicia stared at the pointed stick in her hand, surely her teacher couldn’t be suggesting she...she…
She looked up at the figure in front of her; he seemed disorientated and confused. Then his head lifted, and slowly he turned around. Alicia recoiled. His face was deformed with bumps and as he opened his mouth in what she assumed was meant to be a smile, she could see his canines descended into impossible points. His eyes - oh God his eyes - yellow and lifeless met hers and the smile became wicked and cruel.
Confronted with the charging form of the creature in front of her - Alicia’s basic instincts kicked in and she darted out of the way of his attack, throwing herself over the nearest gravestone and rolling out of harm’s way - hoping that her teacher had had the sense to do the same. There was eerie silence for just a moment and then the monster appeared, vaulting over the gravestone to land on top of her. Alicia fumbled her pointed stick nearly crying out in despair as it rolled out of her reach, and she thrust her hands out at the last moment to block the creature’s face from descending upon her.
Was he trying to bite her?! No not he - it. She couldn’t think. Was Miss Potts going to let her get eaten? She hit the creature as hard as she could and shoved it off of her. She scrambled towards her stick and snatched it up, but the creature was almost upon her again. She made for a statue and put it between them - moving so that the stone figure was between her and the monster as she gathered her thoughts.
It was almost rabid now, the creature in front of her, becoming more and more irate as she mirrored each of it’s moves - keeping the statue between them.
It would seem that at the very least - this creature wasn’t that bright.
Even so, she only had moments before it made a dash the she didn’t mirror in time, and Alicia glanced frantically for something - anything - to defend herself from the creature’s fangs whilst she tried to force the pointed stick through it’s chest. Her eyes fell on the rubbish bin maybe ten metres from them. She took her chance, reasoning that she might not get another, and ran. She could hear the footsteps closing in behind her and she snatched the lid off the metal bin, sending the rest of the bin and it’s contents scattering across the ground. She spun on the spot and slammed the bin lid into the face of the creature, finally allowing herself a smirk at the satisfying crunch of it connecting with it’s face. She pushed forward, throwing the creature backwards to the floor with a crunch and drove the pointed stick down into it’s chest.
She had expected resistance, or the sound of flesh tearing, but there was only a crunch as the stick broke through bone. Silence. For just a second. Then the body beneath her went rigid for another second and exploded into dust.
Alicia hit her cheekbone on the bin lid as she clattered to the floor, dust rising around her. She couldn’t move as her mind raced to try and piece together the ridiculousness of what had just happened. She must be dreaming, her overactive imagination filling in blanks for what she thought might happen when she met up with Miss Potts. That had to be it...it had to be…
“Clumsy but effective, that was rather good for your first slay”, Miss Potts’ voice shook her from her thoughts, and Alicia accepted the extended hand to be pulled to her feet. Somewhere in all the muddled thoughts she was rather surprised at the strength of her teacher, but it was lost amongst all the other more pressing thoughts.
“Wh..what was that?”, was all Alicia could manage, and Miss Potts held the umbrella over them both and started to walk, clearly trusting that Alicia would just fall into step.
“That was a vampire - once a human”, Miss Potts explained, “It’s just one of many monsters that roam the earth that most people don’t seem to know about. Unsurprisingly given your title, they do make up the bulk of your duties”.
“My title?”, Alicia asked.
“Vampire Slayer”, Miss Potts replied as she guided them towards the exit of the graveyard, “There is always one in each generation - and you are this one’s”.
“I don’t understand”, Alicia followed Miss Potts to what she realised was her teacher’s car.
“I don’t suppose you do - but you will, with time”, Miss Potts closed her umbrella and shook off the rain, then opened her boot to put it inside.
Alicia got into the car at Miss Potts’ instruction and slumped into the passenger seat. It was only once she sat down that her body began to shake.
“So who are you then Miss?”, Alicia asked eventually, once they had driven for a few minutes, “because you’re not just a teacher”.
“No - that’s true”, Miss Potts smiled and glanced at Alicia, “and I think we might be past you calling me Miss now - Marie will do when we are not amongst the other students - and I am a teacher just not only the type of teacher you’re thinking of”.
“You’re very good at this cryptic not answering questions properly”, Alicia knew she sounded petulant but she didn’t care.
“You will get your answers Alicia - but first I think you need a decent wash and some clean clothes, preferably before anyone else sees you”.
Anyway, I had this daft idea to attempt a fic that spanned the 12 days so the first one is a 1/12...in theory. Theory may not match practice.
Fandom: Malory Towers/Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Rating: PG-13?
Word Count: 2051
Summary: Alicia Johns does not believe in monsters (not really) and she certainly doesn't believe a word of what Miss Potts has told her. Yet she has found herself traipsing through the countryside in the middle of the night none-the-less. Influenced largely by two pieces I wrote last year here and here.
Alicia did rather wonder - in between ducking under tree branches and stepping over roots - whether this were some elaborate prank that the teachers had concocted to make her look foolish. Perhaps they had finally had enough of her tricks and jokes and this was a way to make her look stupid in front of the rest of the school. After all - how would Alicia Johns live down the fact that she believed in monsters?
Even as that possibility grew in her mind, Alicia pushed onward. Even if she were walking into what would be the ruination of her reputation, setting her up for years of mockery, then she would rather do that with her head held high than slink back to her dorm room and hide away.
After all, what if it weren’t a prank?
Miss Potts did not seem like the type to be involved in a prank that would humiliate a student, no matter how infuriating that student might be. She also didn’t seem the type to be involved with the disposal of monsters though so perhaps that wasn’t the right way to be thinking about this situation.
Alicia stumbled over a half buried rock and only just prevented a very undignified tumble to the floor by grabbing hold of a nearby tree branch. The bark was cold and rough, scraping a layer of skin from her palm. Alicia hissed and shook her hand, the touch of the cool air as she did making her wince. How much further was she to walk anyway? She must be long off of school property by now and the moon was threatening to disappear behind clouds.
Alicia quickened her pace, trying to listen out for any noises as she walked. There was a thought threatening to spread through her mind, that if she were to believe that Miss Potts were being genuine and honest then she was out in the middle of the countryside, in the dark, with no means to defend herself, and surrounded by monsters. The temptation to run was almost overwhelming but Alicia suppressed it - haste was more likely to get her hurt anyway.
The trees and bushes fell away to nothing as Alicia stumbled out into open space. She paused for a moment and caught her breath, giving herself time to locate the person she could feel watching her.
She rolled her eyes when she saw that she had stumbled upon a graveyard, and the idea that this was a big joke returned to her. Finally spotting Miss Potts, with an umbrella held over-head against the beginnings of rain, Alicia crossed the graveyard with long strides.
“Jolly nice of you to invite me out here”, Alicia greeted, “Shall we get on with it then?”
“Maintaining your flippancy even in the face of danger I see”, Miss Potts replied, “Although given your lack of preparation, it would seem you underestimate the danger”.
“If it were than dangerous, you wouldn’t have had me come out alone”, Alicia wished she brought a thicker coat, “Besides, if you’re meant to be this overseer of monster killers, I’m sure you’ve got a weapon for me”. Miss Potts raised an eyebrow - a look Alicia had seen many time before - but she did reach inside her coat and pull something out to hand to Alicia.
“A pointy stick?”, Alicia asked, now more convinced than ever that this was a joke, “If there are monsters out here wouldn’t a gun or a sword be more appropriate”.
“A gun draws attention, not to mention it’s rather difficult to hit the heart with a bullet”, Miss Potts adjusted the position of her umbrella, “A sword is better but needs training, and it’s not quite so conveniently stored in a handbag”.
“Great. Pointy stick it is”, Alicia rolled her eyes and bounced the stick from hand to hand, “Where to now?”
“Now we wait”, Miss Potts said, “It shouldn’t take long”.
“I have to say, I didn’t expect you to commit to this joke for so long”, Alicia said, grimacing as the rain got heavier, “I was expecting you to be waiting outside the school doors to make the big reveal”.
“Joke all you like, you won’t be joking about it after tonight”, then Miss Potts paused as if in thought for a few moments, “actually, given your personality, you probably will still be joking. But you will believe me”.
Alicia sighed and crossed her arms across her front, careful not to poke herself with the stupid stick that Miss Potts had handed her. It was difficult to know how long had passed with them stood there in silence, but she as Alicia were about to say that she had had enough and was heading back, a sound stopped her.
It wasn’t loud, but there was something out of place about it. Scratching. Digging. Alicia turned on the spot, tried to find out where the noise was coming from. Quite forgetting herself, she walked towards the noise, stepping carefully between graves. The ran was still at a drizzle and it made the earth slick and spongy beneath her feet.
If she hadn’t known better Alicia would have said her heart near stopped and her blood ran cold as she realised what was making the noise. She stopped, a few feet from the grave, and stared. The earth lifted as if pushed from beneath then sunk as the scratching continued. It happened again, and Alicia felt like she was rooted to the spot.
A hand burst forth from the dirt and she found her movement, staggering backwards a few steps and tightening her grip on the pointed stick. The hand disappeared - for just long enough that she thought she might have imagined it - and then reappeared with such force that chunks of earth were scattered around her feet. A second hand appeared.
It was a bewildering sight, and Alicia couldn’t get her thoughts to slow down long enough for her to really work out what was happening. The head that followed, the body that followed and crawled, face down in the rain and the dirt, out of the grave looked human. It looked alive. Was this some kind of sick pantomime?
“I assure you - this is quite real”, Alicia jumped at the sound of Miss Potts voice, “this is what you will be facing, and more, these are the monsters that you are predestined to fight”.
“That’s not a monster”, Alicia couldn’t believe herself when she stammered, “th..that’s a human being”.
“It was once a human, now it’s not”, Miss Potts took a step back, “His soul is long destroyed. Your job is to destroy his body now. A stake to the heart is the simplest way”. Alicia stared at the pointed stick in her hand, surely her teacher couldn’t be suggesting she...she…
She looked up at the figure in front of her; he seemed disorientated and confused. Then his head lifted, and slowly he turned around. Alicia recoiled. His face was deformed with bumps and as he opened his mouth in what she assumed was meant to be a smile, she could see his canines descended into impossible points. His eyes - oh God his eyes - yellow and lifeless met hers and the smile became wicked and cruel.
Confronted with the charging form of the creature in front of her - Alicia’s basic instincts kicked in and she darted out of the way of his attack, throwing herself over the nearest gravestone and rolling out of harm’s way - hoping that her teacher had had the sense to do the same. There was eerie silence for just a moment and then the monster appeared, vaulting over the gravestone to land on top of her. Alicia fumbled her pointed stick nearly crying out in despair as it rolled out of her reach, and she thrust her hands out at the last moment to block the creature’s face from descending upon her.
Was he trying to bite her?! No not he - it. She couldn’t think. Was Miss Potts going to let her get eaten? She hit the creature as hard as she could and shoved it off of her. She scrambled towards her stick and snatched it up, but the creature was almost upon her again. She made for a statue and put it between them - moving so that the stone figure was between her and the monster as she gathered her thoughts.
It was almost rabid now, the creature in front of her, becoming more and more irate as she mirrored each of it’s moves - keeping the statue between them.
It would seem that at the very least - this creature wasn’t that bright.
Even so, she only had moments before it made a dash the she didn’t mirror in time, and Alicia glanced frantically for something - anything - to defend herself from the creature’s fangs whilst she tried to force the pointed stick through it’s chest. Her eyes fell on the rubbish bin maybe ten metres from them. She took her chance, reasoning that she might not get another, and ran. She could hear the footsteps closing in behind her and she snatched the lid off the metal bin, sending the rest of the bin and it’s contents scattering across the ground. She spun on the spot and slammed the bin lid into the face of the creature, finally allowing herself a smirk at the satisfying crunch of it connecting with it’s face. She pushed forward, throwing the creature backwards to the floor with a crunch and drove the pointed stick down into it’s chest.
She had expected resistance, or the sound of flesh tearing, but there was only a crunch as the stick broke through bone. Silence. For just a second. Then the body beneath her went rigid for another second and exploded into dust.
Alicia hit her cheekbone on the bin lid as she clattered to the floor, dust rising around her. She couldn’t move as her mind raced to try and piece together the ridiculousness of what had just happened. She must be dreaming, her overactive imagination filling in blanks for what she thought might happen when she met up with Miss Potts. That had to be it...it had to be…
“Clumsy but effective, that was rather good for your first slay”, Miss Potts’ voice shook her from her thoughts, and Alicia accepted the extended hand to be pulled to her feet. Somewhere in all the muddled thoughts she was rather surprised at the strength of her teacher, but it was lost amongst all the other more pressing thoughts.
“Wh..what was that?”, was all Alicia could manage, and Miss Potts held the umbrella over them both and started to walk, clearly trusting that Alicia would just fall into step.
“That was a vampire - once a human”, Miss Potts explained, “It’s just one of many monsters that roam the earth that most people don’t seem to know about. Unsurprisingly given your title, they do make up the bulk of your duties”.
“My title?”, Alicia asked.
“Vampire Slayer”, Miss Potts replied as she guided them towards the exit of the graveyard, “There is always one in each generation - and you are this one’s”.
“I don’t understand”, Alicia followed Miss Potts to what she realised was her teacher’s car.
“I don’t suppose you do - but you will, with time”, Miss Potts closed her umbrella and shook off the rain, then opened her boot to put it inside.
Alicia got into the car at Miss Potts’ instruction and slumped into the passenger seat. It was only once she sat down that her body began to shake.
“So who are you then Miss?”, Alicia asked eventually, once they had driven for a few minutes, “because you’re not just a teacher”.
“No - that’s true”, Miss Potts smiled and glanced at Alicia, “and I think we might be past you calling me Miss now - Marie will do when we are not amongst the other students - and I am a teacher just not only the type of teacher you’re thinking of”.
“You’re very good at this cryptic not answering questions properly”, Alicia knew she sounded petulant but she didn’t care.
“You will get your answers Alicia - but first I think you need a decent wash and some clean clothes, preferably before anyone else sees you”.