Metamorphosis (Prologue)

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Prologue

*a small village in Wales, January of 1793*

Louise Marion was trapped.

Looking around frantically, she could only see the walls of the alley she had
been backed into. She shivered, more from apprehension than the cold. This
was not supposed to happen. She was the Slayer, the one girl on earth who
could fight the forces of darkness and win. She was not this scared, fearful
little girl trapped in an alley awaiting what was surely to be a grisly
death. Of course, she was not as scared as she would have been a few years
ago, before she recognized her calling. Now she was more confident, more
assertive. But she still had fears. She had just learned to control them
better. Her hand tightened around the stake she held.

The two vampires approached slowly, like patient, sure predators, and for the
first time, Louise got a good look at them. She gasped as she realized just
whose corpse the demon had decided to inhabit. The vampire was hauntingly
beautiful. Golden hair was in a half-undone braid which flowed down her back
and her eyes were of the brightest green. She wore a simple shift, stained
with the blood of a recent kill. It was Louise‚s own sister, Anne.

Anne, the woman who had raised her like a mother since their own had died.
Anne, who had always been there for her when she had a problem, whether it be
a scraped knee or a broken heart. Anne, who had been the only one besides
her Watcher, to know of her secret. Anne, who had been found dead only a
month after Louise had began training as a Slayer.

The other vampire came toward her first. She automatically threw a punch his
way while receiving a strong kick in return. She kicked back, only to be
thrown against the wall. Recovering quickly, she pushed him away with both
feet so that he landed neatly on the ground before she drove a stake into his
chest. He burst into dust.

She was trying to catch her breath when the vampire who was once her dear
Anne attacked her from behind. Without effort, she turned, again driving the
same stake through her one time sister and friend, reducing Anne to ashes
like her companion. All of this she did detachedly, without feeling, only to
back against a wall and slide down it, sobbing.

***

Thomas Wyatt paced in his small, seaside home. It was almost dawn and Louise
should be back from her Slayer duties soon. He needed to tell her the news.
Grabbing a nearby book, he impatiently flipped through it as a soft rain
began to fall outside.

After what seemed like forever, he heard a knock at the door. Opening it, he
saw Louise, her light brown hair in ruins and her faced streaked with what
looked like tears, not rain drops. Her green eyes were calm, though. Almost
defiant, as if daring him to make a remark.

"Hard night?"

"Anne," she said, in a steady voice to match her eyes. "They turned Anne."

Instantly, her Watcher softened. He put a supporting hand on her shoulder.

"I‚m sorry," he said. "I know it must have been hard for you."

She pulled away. "That‚s all right. I wasn‚t as bad as I thought it would
be."

She was lying. He could tell.

"Anyway," he continued, changing the subject. "There‚s a report of some
vampire activity in England. Supposedly some of Darla‚s "children" were left
there, so she should be back to get them. Meanwhile, you can see if you can
kill the others."

"All right. When do we leave?" Louise said this without any passion
whatsoever.

"As soon as possible. But one thing." Thomas ran a hand through his graying
hair.

"What?"

He looked at the letter he‚d received from the Watchers‚ Guild. "We can‚t be
known as Louise Marion and Thomas Wyatt, as we will be staying among
aristocrats and need aliases so not to seem too strange. I‚m to be Gareth
Thurston and you are to be..." He glanced up at her. "Victoria, my
Œdaughter‚."

She nodded. Her own parents were both long dead and Thomas was more of a
father to her than her real one ever was. "Victoria. I like it."

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