Sara was lying on the ground with Prue looking at her with those same dead eyes and blood dripping off her fanged teeth as she said. “Why did you kill me Slayer?”

     “I’m sorry Prue, I’m sorry.” Sara screamed as she sat up and realised that she was actually on a sofa in Hypatia’s study at her house. Sara looked around and saw Sheana still asleep on another sofa and Samantha and Hypatia were both just entering the room after hearing Sara scream out.

     “Calm down Sara, you’re safe now.” Hypatia said in a calming voice as she sat down on the sofa next to Sara and looked at her still wearing the slayer armour.

    Sara looked at her red gloved hands and saw then driving the stake into Prue’s heart and she quickly made the armour retract back into the locket around her neck as she broke down in sobs of tears again at the thought of what she had to do to Prue. It was one thing to think her dead for the past week, but to then have to kill the thing Valeck and the Commander had turned her into was just too much for Sara to deal with.

     “I killed her Tia, I killed Prue.” Sara sobbed.

     “I saw that thing Sara, and it wasn’t Prue you killed. There is no way you could call that monster Prue.” Hypatia said as she rocked Sara in her arms.

    Sara finally stopped sobbing and then looked up at Hypatia and asked. “How did we get here? The last thing I remember is getting gassed and then falling asleep at Valeck’s feet.”

     “Sadly he’s still alive, but he’s going to be looking for a new team if he plans to come after you again, that’s if he feels brave enough to even try.” Hypatia smirked.

     “What did you do?” Sara asked looking puzzled.

     “She decided to stretch her wings and show Valeck some of your secret friends.” Samantha grinned from the other sofa where she was keeping an eye on Sheana.

     “You became a dragon? But I thought you didn’t want anyone to know about that side of you?” Sara asked looking shocked now.

     “The commander crossed a line when he did that to Prue, and Valeck needs to be stopped for selling out his own kind and letting The Commander get away with it.” Hypatia said with anger in her voice. “If the Commander wants a war, then he will have one, and he will live a very short life to regret it.” She added.

     “You mean an all out war between humans and demons?” Sara asked.

     “No my dear, just one that will remove the commander from power and place someone more willing to keep the peace between our two kinds.” Hypatia smiled when she saw the worry in Sara’s eyes.

     “I think Karl would be a good person for the job, he seems more level headed and willing to let the two sides coexist.” Sara said as she remembered reading his mind and how he put all his trust in her when she confronted him about Prue. “I just need to find out if he knew anything about this monster they turned Prue into.” Sara said with a snuffle as she still saw that thing with most its hair shaved off and metal and wires covering one side of her head.

     “I don’t think Karl would have been a party to them doing anything like that Sara. I’ve seen his mind through your eyes and I feel he is a good man, and would make a wonderful leader of the others.” Hypatia said as she pulled Sara into a hug again.

     “How’s Sheana doing, and how come I’m awake before her?” Sara asked as she looked at Sheana with her head resting on Samantha’s lap.

     “Your slayer powers helped you to fight off the affects of the sleeping gas, Sheana isn’t that lucky, and will be a sleep for a little longer yet, but she will be fine and well rested when she does wake.” Samantha smiled as she stroked Sheana’s hair.

     “What do I tell Jenna when I see her? How is she going to react to what I did to her sister?” Sara asked as she kept playing over the fight in her head, trying to see if she could have saved Prue in some way.

     “All you can do is show her the truth and then let her deal with it in her own way Sara. Jenna may be mad with you to begin with, but given time she will understand why you had to do what you did.” Hypatia said, but wasn’t sure how Jenna would react to seeing what they did to her sister, and what they forced Sara into doing.

     “I just don’t want to see her in any more pain Tia.” Sara said as she looked at Hypatia with sad eyes. “I just know that she will hate me when she sees what I did.” Sara added.

     “We’ll find out as soon as Sheana wakes up and she’s strong enough to blink us all back to your house.” Hypatia said. “Michelle and Jo are already there. I told them to get there after I got the two of you to safety.” She explained.

    Karl was sat going over some ideas for a new patrol route when the commander’s cell phone started ringing and he was quick to answer it. Karl couldn’t hear what the person said on the other end, but judging by the look on the commander’s face, it wasn’t good news he was hearing.

     “I’ll be right down there.” The commander said just before he ended the call and got up from behind his desk looking eager to get to where ever the person was that called him. “I’m sorry Karl, but I have a problem to deal with down in section six. We’ll talk more later when I get back.” The commander added as he walked Karl from his office and then made a quick escape to the privacy of section six.

    Karl just smiled as he made his way back to his own office to listen in on what the problem was. Karl had just planted another bug in the commander’s jacket, so he knew that he’d have no trouble finding out more details, and help make a stronger case against him. Karl was soon back in his office and he then slipped in the headphones and turned on the receiver for the bug he’d just planed.

     “What the hell happened? I thought you said this plan of yours was foolproof?” The commander asked someone after he entered a room.

     “The plan was foolproof, and I had the Slayer and her little witch friend asleep and ready for loading into the van.” Valeck replied with anger in his voice.

    Karl smiled as he heard this. He thought that the Slayer must have been faking sleep like she’d done with a couple of his men the first time they ran into her when she was with the little girl Jenna, but what Karl heard next even left him lost for words.

     “Well where are they then?” The commander snapped.

     “They were scooped up and taken away by a bloody big red dragon!” Valeck snapped back. “You never said she had a pet dragon looking after her.” Valeck added like the commander should have known about it.

     “A dragon? As in large fire breathing, flying dragon?” The commander asked, still not believing what he was hearing.

     “Yes, all of the above, and much more.” Valeck said with fear in his voice. “I was lucky to get away with my life, and I would seriously think about leaving this Slayer alone if I was you.” Valeck offered his advice.

     “You still owe me one Slayer Valeck!” The commander barked out like he was talking to one of his men.

     “Remember who you talk to pet!” Valeck barked back. “I played out our little plan, and it would have worked if not for the Dragon, and I have only heard of two dragons in my lifetime, and one I know to be dead, and if this was the other, then I feel that I am talking to a dead man, if you do not let this go and forget about this Slayer, because she is protected at the highest level.” Valeck warned.

     “Tell me what you know about this Dragon?” The commander ordered.

     “I’m sorry, but not even I who hunt my own kind will break the promise and reveal anything about her.” Valeck said as it sounded like he was getting up out a chair.

     “No Slayer, no prize.” The commander said as he tried to make Valeck finish his mission.

     “Keep it; I have no wish to anger her anymore than I already have.” Valeck said as a door closed and then Karl heard the commander swear just before he slammed his fist into the desk or something just as solid.

     “Prize? What prize would Valeck want, but walk away from, and where the hell did the Slayer get a dragon?” Karl said to himself.

    Karl thought about calling the Slayer right there and then, but after what he’d just heard he thought it better to give her some time to recover before trying to contact her and fill her in on what he’d found out.

    Michelle and Jo were sat in the living room with Karen, Sandy and Jenna when they heard Sara and Sheana get back home, or saw them get home when they blinked into the middle of the living room with Samantha and Hypatia with them.

     “Are you both alright?” Karen asked as she jumped up and pulled both girls into a hug. “Michelle and Jo told us that this Valeck nearly caught you both, and Tia had to save you by becoming her dragon form.” Karen added sounding flustered by it all.

    Sara just looked worried as she thought about the bit that Hypatia hadn’t told Michelle and Jo. Sara found herself thinking about that first look she got of Prue, or what they had turned Prue into, and how she’d had to snap her neck before driving a stake through Prue’s heart and then watching her burst into flames. Sara was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Jenna start screaming. That was when Sara realised that Jenna had been looking in on Sara’s thoughts as she had the memory of how Prue looked just before she killed her.

     “No, no, no!” Jenna screamed as she jumped up off Michelle’s knee and started smacking Sara. “How could you do that to her, you killed my sister, you promised to never let anything happen to her, and you killed her!” Jenna screamed over and over again as she was pulled away from Sara, who just stood there with tears streaming down her cheeks while Jenna hit her over and over again.

     “I’m sorry Jen bear, I...” Was all Sara got out before Jenna started shouting at her again.

     “You lied to me, you said she was dead and she wasn’t, but you killed her! I hate you and I wish it was you that was dead.” Jenna got out just before she burst into tears and then buried her head in Hypatia’s shoulder.

     “What’s going on?” Karen asked after Jenna’s little outburst.

     “Prue wasn’t dead like we first thought.” Sheana started to explain. “Valeck and the commander had her all this time and they did something to her, but it wasn’t Prue anymore that Sara killed, just some wild animal that wanted to do nothing more than kill.” Sheana tried to explain through the tears now rolling down her cheeks.

    Michelle was soon on her feet pulling Sheana into a hug and Jo did the same with Sara. Both girls were soon sobbing again at what they had seen earlier in the night.

    Sandy got Jo and Michelle to take Sara and Sheana up to their room while she tried to help Hypatia get Jenna calmed down.

    Sara and Sheana let Jo and Michelle get them both ready for bed and then Jo sat with them for a bit before he needed to get home so he didn’t get in trouble with his parents for being out past his allotted time. With sleep came dreams, or nightmares in Sara’s case as she kept seeing Prue in them, or the thing that used to be Prue, and every time Sara would end up killing her.

    When Sara finally woke the next morning she saw that Jenna had never come to bed with them, not that Sara could blame her. Why would Jenna want to sleep with the girl that killed her sister? Sara got out of bed and slipped on her dressing gown before making her way down stairs to see if anyone else was up yet. She found her mother sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in her hands.

     “Morning sweetie, how did you sleep?” Karen asked as she poured Sara a glass of juice out and passed it to her.

     “Doesn’t feel like I did.” Sara said gloomily just before taking a sip from her juice. “Where did Jenna sleep last night?” Sara asked.

    Tia and Sammi took her home with them, she wouldn’t listen to what they had to say, and Tia was worried about her upsetting you anymore than you already are.” Karen explained.

     “She had every right to do whatever she wants with me mum, I did kill her sister.” Sara said as she put her head in her hands ashamed of what she did.

     “That thing you killed last night wasn’t Prue. Tia told us what she looked like, and that wasn’t the Prue we knew, they killed her sweetie, you just removed the part they left behind.” Karen tried to console her daughter.

     “Maybe I should have tried harder to save her mum, or I could have knocked her out and then let Tia take a look at her.” Sara said trying to think of things she could have done differently.

     “Stop it!” Karen snapped. “Don’t do this to yourself Sara. Tia said she scanned Prue’s mind at the same time you were, and there was nothing of Prue left, she said it was just an empty shell. Tia said it was like Prue was never there in the first place.” Karen said as she wiped away some of her own tears now as she thought about the wonderful person Prue was, and how Tia described the thing that Sara had to put down the night before.

    They were soon joined by the others and they all had some breakfast before Sara, Sheana and Michelle went up to get ready for school. Karen said they could have the day off if they wanted, but Sara just needed something to help take her mind off what she’d done.

    Sara was sat daydreaming in English when she heard someone calling her name, or the name Slayer in her mind three times. Sara found herself smiling as she thought about how silly it sounded as Karl tried to make contact with her.

     “I’m here Karl, what do you have for me?” Sara asked after forming a mind link and then focusing on making her inner voice sound like it did when she was the slayer.

     “Are you alright? I heard you had a run in with Valeck last night.” Karl asked with worry in his voice.

    Sara found the fact that he was really worried about her well being to be very touching, and she found herself liking him a little more with each time they spoke to each other. “I’m fine, but it was the run in with Prue that hurt me more than what Valeck did with his sleeping gas.” Sara said with a hint of anger showing in her voice.

     “Prue? I thought you said she was dead?” Karl asked sounding confused.

     “Yes, Prue, but she wasn’t the Prue I knew anymore.” Sara said as she pulled up an image of the night before and let Karl see what they had done to Prue as they fought each other and then Sara finally killed her.

     “That’s Prue, your friend?” Karl asked as he found himself stood next to the Slayer while another version of her fought with some crazed monster on the ground. “What happened to her?” Karl had to look hard to see that this monster did look a little like the vampire that had managed to escape some time ago, taking her little sister with her.

     “That is what you and Valeck did.” Sara said in a cold hard voice. “Valeck said all he did was turn her into the monster she truly was.” Sara added as she removed the fight scene and then faced Karl in an empty room she built for them to talk in.

     “I had nothing to do with that Slayer.” Karl said with his hand on his heart as he pointed at the spot where the fight had just been taking place. “Catch or kill that is my rule. I can’t put a name to what they did to your friend, and I will help you put a stop to it, or die trying.” Karl added with pride.

    Sara could read his mind like an open book, and he meant every word he said, which made her relax and understand that not all the commanders men were just out to kill and have fun like she’d first thought. “I do believe you Karl, and I thank you for the offer, but I don’t want to see anyone else die.” Sara sighed as she tried to work out what to do next.

     “If I may ask you Slayer. Why don’t you just do this in the commander’s head, then you would already know his plan and the best way to stop him?” Karl asked as he looked around the large room he was now stood in, which he knew to be all fake and part of a waking dream.

     “I’ve been trying to read his mind, but I can’t enter it anymore.” Sara explained.

     “The damn fool went and used it.” Karl said suddenly. He then stepped back in horror when the room changed to a scene with another version of him and the commander watching a man in another room going insane as he ripped out his own hair and was mumbling something about everyone being out to get him. “What’s going on now?” Karl asked looking more than a little freaked out by the vision playing out around him.

     “I’m sorry, but our minds are linked and I wanted to get a better look at what my comment about not being able to read the commander’s mind has to do with this memory?” Sara said as she took them back to the empty room again.

     “When we first found out about vampire mind control, we started work on a drug that stopped them being able to do it to us, but this is one of the side effects to it. Another one is a total lack of morals, which would also explain why he let them things happen to your friend. He must have done some more work on it though, because I didn’t realise that it blocked you being able to enter his mind.” Karl said the last part more as a thought than actually talking to Sara.

     “So you have a lunatic running your asylum?” Sara asked with a frown, not that Karl could see it behind the sunglasses.

     “I’d like to argue with you Slayer, but at this point in time I would have to agree.” Karl said worriedly. “I need to get into section six and get video evidence to take to our leaders and force them to remove the commander. He can’t be allowed to continue after what I’ve just seen.” Karl said as he started to work out a plan to get him into section six.

     “I could help you.” Sara offered as she thought about getting in there and ripping the place apart with her bare hands.

     “As tempting as that is Slayer. The last thing I need at the minute is being put up on charges of treason.” Karl said. “Until I can expose the commander and his little side project to make killer monsters worse than any vampire I’ve faced, I need to do this alone.” Karl explained.

     “I can understand that Karl, but call if you need me.” Sara said.

     “What just click my heels together three times while calling your name, and you’ll whisk me away?” Karl grinned.

     “Something like that.” Sara giggled actually finding him to be funny. “Just be careful, and get out in one piece.” Sara added looking serious again.

    Karl went to make another joke, but he could see by the woman’s facial expression that she was really worried about him and what he had to do. “Sadly being careful and doing my job don’t work well together, but thanks anyway.” Karl smiled.

     “Point taken and good luck.” Sara said just before she broke the link and returned to listening to the teacher go on about something she didn’t really care about.

    Sara was glad to be leaving school that day, she wanted to go and check on Jenna at Hypatia’s place. Jo and Michelle wanted to go with her but she said that this should be something she did on her own, just in case Jenna was still angry. Sara could stand up to Jenna’s mind games better than the others, so Jo went home with a promise to pop over later in the evening and see how things went, and Michelle waited back at home with Sheana while Sara used the app on her phone rather than becoming the slayer to blink over to Hypatia’s.

     “Tia, Jenna!” Sara called out as she appeared in the hallway at Hypatia’s home. She made her way towards the study where Hypatia spent most her time, but was stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Prue stood facing her in the entrance way to the room, but it wasn’t the Prue she knew, no it was the one from the night before that she’d had to kill. Sara let out a scream and then tried to turn and run, but she fell to the ground and looked up just in time to see the monster version of Prue dive at her. Sara closed her eyes, but nothing happened, and when she opened her eyes again, she was gone. Sara just curled up in a ball on the floor and sobbed her eyes out; she only stopped when she felt a little pair of arms trying to hug her as she heard a little voice trying to speak.

    Jenna had been sat watching cartoons in the living room when she heard Sara’s voice, being upset and angry with what Sara had done, Jenna brought up the image of what some nasty men had done to her sister, and then she set it loose on Sara as a very real looking image of Prue. Jenna smiled as she saw how worried Sara was, but then she felt sorry for Sara as she just lay on the floor sobbing. Jenna realised that Sara was missing Prue just as much a she was, if not more, so she ran out into the hallway and tried to comfort her.

     “I’s sorry Sara, I just angry stills.” Jenna said as she started sobbing as well. Sara soon had Jenna sat on her knee while she was still sat on the marble floor in the middle of the hallway.

     “I’m the one that’s sorry Jen bear. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to save her for the both of us.” Sara said as she thought this was the best hug she’d ever had from anyone.

    They were still hugging when Hypatia found them a couple of minutes later. “I do have plenty of seats you can use.” Hypatia said with a smirk when she saw the two of them sat in the middle of the hallway still hugging each other.

    Jenna stood up and then Sara got to her feet before she picked Jenna up in her arms and they continued the hug as they followed Hypatia out into the garden so they could sit and talk about what happened the night before, and what Sara had found out since then. Sara told her about talking with Karl, and how the commander was using some unstable drug to stop them being able to enter his mind, and how Karl planned to get into section six at the base, so he could then get the evidence he needed to get the commander removed and locked up where he could get some help for the madness brought on from the drugs he was injecting himself with.

     “I should be able to offer Karl some help, as I do have some contacts in the military he’ll be able to give the evidence to.” Hypatia said as she watched Jenna cuddle even tighter into Sara. Hypatia was glad to see Jenna getting over her anger with Sara, and now accepting her as a replacement big sister.

     “You have people in the military?” Sara asked with a raised eyebrow.

     “You don’t get to be as old as I, and not learn to help people get to where they are so they can help you out at a later date.” Hypatia smirked looking proud with herself. “I’ve been doing some digging and it seems that the commander has been raising some red flags for some time, but they had no idea he was running this section six under their noses, and they already have eyes on the people in the private sector he’s working with.” Hypatia explained.

     “I gather things got more exciting for the commander when I showed up with all my new and exciting gifts.” Sara said looking a little sad as she said it. “Prue might still be alive now if I’d never made that wish.” Sara added with a sigh.

     “Section six was already in place before you made that wish Sara, and Prue died knowing you would keep her sister safe, so don’t blame yourself for every little thing that went wrong. We all have to make choices in life that either works out for the good, or they don’t, but we just have to brush ourselves off and keep moving on and doing the best we can with what we were given.” Hypatia said as she tried to help Sara see the good in her making that wish.

     “Prue once tell me that meeting you was one of the best things to ever happen to us.” Jenna said as she looked up at Sara from where her head was resting on Sara’s chest as she got hugged.

     “Do you still agree with that Jen bear, even if not meeting me meant you still had Prue here?” Sara asked as she snuffled and had to wipe away some fresh tears.

     “Yes I does.” Jenna said as she sat bolt upright and looked at Sara with an angry little face. “I has friends now, and I can grows up to be pretty like you’s. I miss my Prue’s, but I don’t blame you’s for it like I said last night’s Sara.” Jenna said as she went back to hugging Sara again.

    Sara just smiled as she went back to hugging Jenna. Hypatia was smiling as well as she looked at the two of them.

     “Are you ready to go home then Jenna?” Hypatia asked some time later.

     “Yes, I wants to go see Sheana and Michelle.” Jenna said as she sat up and then jumped off Sara’s knee and walked with her back to the hallway. Sara morphed into her Slayer armour and then she blinked the two of them home after giving Hypatia a hug and promising to contact her before running off to avenge Prue’s death. Sara promised she would and then they were gone.

    Sheana was helping Michelle sort out something for dinner when they saw Sara and Jenna appear in the kitchen. Sara retracted the armour and then smiled as she watched Jenna attack the two girls with ninja style killer hugs. The girls were glad to see a much happier Jenna than the one that left the night before, and they smiled even more when Jenna went back and jumped up on Sara’s knee so that Sheana and Michelle could carry on sorting out dinner.

    Even though Karl made fun of the tech guys and he acted a little dumb around them, he was pretty smart and knew his way around a computer and other technical devices, so he soon had what he needed to break into section six and get the evidence he needed.

    Karl activated a program on his computer and then left his office to make his way into the unknown. The program on his computer would copy all the information from section six and then send it to all the high ranking officers back at the main command, along with a detailed letter explaining what Karl had uncovered.

    He made is way down to a not well know side door into the section and quickly gained access using a key code generator. Once inside he stuck to the shadows and was impressed with the setup and increased security they had in this part. Karl could tell that there was a lot of private sector money being thrown into this. He soon realised that unless he could blend in better, he wasn’t going to get very far.

    It wasn’t long before the worst happened and he was stopped by a guard who saw him sneaking down a hallway. “Let me see your clearance to be in this sector.” The guard said as he walked up to Karl.

     “Sure, I have it right here.” Karl said just before he pulled a taser and shot the guard with it.

    The guard fell to the ground and was just about to get up again when Karl used a sleeper hold and the guard was soon in the land of nod. Not wanting to take any chances Karl also stuck him with a needle and made sure he’d be out for at least the next four hours. Karl undressed the guard and slipped on his uniform and baseball cap, which Karl thought was handy, as it hid most of his face from the cameras, and being a guard meant he could wander freely around the whole section until he found the place where all the data was stored.

    Karl soon found the room he needed and slipped in to find that it was empty, not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he was soon plugging his USB device into an empty port and his program did the rest while he looked through some other things that might be going on.

     “What do you have in that cell?” Karl asked himself as he saw that there was a cell with triple the security systems as all the rest including heavy duty shielding. Karl thought it must be some sort of telepath with that much shielding around the room. Let’s go and get a closer look.” He said as he left the room but not before using a swipe card to scramble the access codes so no one could stop the download.

    Before Karl could get close enough to see what was in the cell, he saw Valeck and the commander leave the room with four guards and a prisoner. Karl couldn’t see who the prisoner was due to it having a weird looking box like helmet on its head and it was wrapped in a very heavy duty straitjacket and had steal bands wrapped around that with a long bar coming off each one that each one of the guards had hold off.

     “Well their not taking any chances with whomever that is.” Karl whispered to himself as he started to follow them to see where they were moving the prisoner to.

    They had just made it out to a warehouse section where some very fancy looking vehicles were parked when alarms started going off and red warning lights started flashing. Karl knew right away that they must have found his program downloading everything from their system, not that they could stop it now, not without wiping all the data on the system, and he knew the commander was too far gone to do anything smart like that.

    The commander turned as he spoke on his phone trying to find out what the problem was, and that’s when he saw Karl dressed as a guard smirking at him like he’d won a small victory over his old commander as he thought of him now.

     “I’m going to have to take you in sir!” Karl shouted as he pulled his side arm and pointed it at the commander.

     “Go ahead and shoot me Karl. It won’t make any difference, not now.” The commander said as he held out his arms inviting Karl to take the shot. “I’ve been drinking vampire blood everyday for the past month, so yes you will kill me, but I will just be reborn as a member of the master race.”

    Karl was shocked beyond words as he heard the commander say this, but he was also keeping an eye on the four guards which for some reason seemed more bothered about the prisoner than him still. Even Valeck didn’t look worried about the commander getting shot.

     “I’ll leave you to sort out this mess; I’ve got what I wanted.” Valeck said after the four guards had finished getting the prisoner in the van and closed the doors.

     “I thought you’re deal with Valeck fell through when you got your ass handed to you by a dragon?” Karl asked as he tried to keep an eye on the commander and now the four guards pointed guns at him, but none of them took a shot due to the commander raising his hand to stop them.

     “That was a setback, but we now know what stops the Slayer.” The commander smiled.

     “Turning her friend into a monster and then watching her put it down and morning for her? I hate to be the one to point out the flaw in your little scheme, but the Slayer only has one other friend, and I can’t see her witch letting you take her like you got Prue.” Karl frowned.

     “But that wasn’t Prue she killed, just a first stage clone we wanted to test out to see if we could use it to catch the Slayer, and it almost worked, if not for her having a pet dragon.” The commander mocked. “We will have more luck the next time we send another clone in after her. The Slayer will be so confused that not even she will know what to do.” The commander laughed like a true evil SOB.

     “Prue’s still alive?” Karl asked looking shocked, but glad at the same time.

To Be Continued Next Tuesday  

Story by SaraUK

Edited and Posted by SamanthaK