"Demon and the Dreamer" by jillybug

1. Chapter One

2. The stack of porcelain dishes slipped from her fingers. Natalie Johnson didn’t know how it happened. She didn’t try to catch them, but stared in a state of shock at the blue borders, the delicate etchings of gold swirling along the edges.

3. The sound of the cracking dishes on the floor was punctuated by her father’s screams. His voice was laced with contempt and anger. “God ***** it, can’t you do anything right!”

4. The words echoed in the chubby girl’s ears. “I’m sorry.” Natalie whispered and peered down at the remains with sad brown eyes. Her blue glasses slipped down to the tip of her round nose while her brown hair fell forward; skewing her vision despite the barrette she wore. At her feet the fragments laid, representing broken promises and broken dreams.

5. “Sorry? You’re always sorry, but that doesn’t stop you from making a mess of everything, does it?” Brian tossed his newspaper down onto the small table. He slid from the chair, heading toward her with clenched fists. The chair grated along the tile before tipping backwards. It fell and clattered to the floor.

6. Natalie’s eyes squeezed shut before he reached her, but she didn’t move. The verbal assault was one thing, but she didn’t want to experience what was coming next. She wanted to disappear from that room. While to Brian it seemed she was still with them in the kitchen, she left. Her mind slipped away, transported through time and space. The sensation of sleep washed over her and was accompanied by the sensation of falling in her gut. Instead of fear, Natalie felt the warmth of comfort, almost like being cradled by a loving family member—who most assuredly was not her father.

7. Everything fell away as the kitchen changed. The yellow walls faded and were replaced by a backdrop of oak trees, their branches shifting in the breeze. The tables and chairs were replaced by paisley flowers and tombstones. Off in the distance, birds chirped and leaves rustled with the wind. The air was sweet like a morning rain.

8. Natalie herself morphed with eyes closed, losing her glasses and about sixty pounds as she grew taller. The hair that framed her face grew past her shoulders and shined a silky blond; not a single strand out of place. Her features were more petite with a small button nose. Her eyes blinked and shone a radiant blue, a far cry from the muddy brown they were just a moment ago. Her bland mismatched clothes were replaced by hipper threads. With those now gone, so were the memories of who she was a mere moment ago.

9. With no idea she was nothing more than a dream, Natalie took in the vampires that surrounded her. For some, this would be an atypical situation, but being a vampire slayer it was little more than mundane.

10. The vampires were the usual type in outdated clothing with their hair styled with too much gel. Despite their glower and the attempts to intimidate her with the bearing of fangs, there was no fear. With a hand on her slender hips, Natalie addressed the crowding horde. “So is this a private rising from the dead kind of ritual, or is it open to guests?” The vampire slayer paused and waited for an answer. They glanced at each other with curiosity before turning back to her in confusion. “I mean, how can I know if I want to join up and be undead and demony like you guys if I can’t try it out first. Don’t you have a welcome package or a get to know you card, I can fill out?”

11. The response came not from the vampires, but from above on the rooftop of a nearby mausoleum. He was the one holding the leashes to these beasts; a demon master. Nearly all monsters whether of the green or undead variety, answered his call and were happy to enslave themselves as servants. Morach the Great he called himself, and he was the most charismatic of all the devils Natalie met on her duties as slayer.

12. Morach bounced up and down in a fit of rage. His skin was green and upon his head luscious black hair that shined like an oil slick. He always wore colorful suits and that night he wore deep lavender. Natalie was used to the work of the Joker, but c’mon. It was a little over the top even for her him.

13. “***** you!” He hollered and shook his fists. “How many perfectly good Hench-demons and vampires do I have to waste on you?”

14. Natalie gave him a charming smile. “I wouldn’t think of it so much as wasting. It’s more like a learning experience.”

15. “Get her!” Morach bounced again and pointed toward Natalie with a sharp black claw, one of his legs drawn back in a perfect running stance. “Ger her, before she gets me.”

16. All around her the vampires charged, but the girl felt no fear. She concentrated, her lips drawn in a thin line. She waited for the circle to close in. Maybe she should have been more afraid of the monsters, but she feared little. In fact, she liked it when the odds stacked against her; Natalie liked a good challenge and knew she could handle anything they threw her way.

17. Right when it seemed they had her, Natalie dropped to the ground and rolled away. She was the ball and they were her pins. It wasn’t exactly a strike, but as she rolled into two pairs of legs, the vampire flipped up into the air before crashing back down to earth. Their limbs flailed. Backs cracked.

18. Behind her, the vampires that charged her back and front collided with such violence it sent them sprawling. Natalie wasted no time in retrieving her wooden stake, Woody, from the inside pocket of her leather jacket. She staked the two vampires she bowled over with a deft squat. Unfolding to her feet,

19. Natalie turned away from them just as their bodies began to melt away.

20. Morach screamed his frustration and tugged on his hair violently. “Someone really needs to breed a smarter vampire!”

21. Natalie smirked at him while Woody spun in her hand. “They’d just make a smarter slayer. If that’s even possible.” She staked two of the vampires that were struggling to their feet. When she was upright again, the two remaining vampires stalked towards her. From the scowls they wore, she had a feeling they might be just a little bit angry with her.

22. Natalie met their blows, fighting both simultaneously. It was so cute when they tried a little bit of teamwork. When one advanced to punch her, she simply stepped out of the way. The vampire charged after her and Natalie jumped up, evading capture. With grace she landed just on the edge of a small tombstone and felt satisfaction as the vampire dove to the ground. He slid along through the moist grass and flowers while her attention was captivated by his teammate.

23. It wasn’t that he was cute or anything, but he did want to kill her and that made him worthy of attention. Natalie leaped up off the tombstone and the sole of her foot said a strong hello to his nose. The type of hello that caused screaming and bleeding, which was her favorite kind.

24. When Natalie’s feet landed on the grass, the vampire came at her again. This one wasn’t deterred by pain and for that the slayer gave him kudos. Even vampires shouldn’t let a little bit of negative reinforcement interfere with their life goals, but she still planned on killing him.

25. It didn’t seem to matter to him how much stronger she was. He still assaulted her with fervor and without regret, at least as far as she could tell—he wasn’t easy to read with the fangs and the slavering. Natalie blocked his punches with her forearms and pushed him with the sole of her black boot with a powerful high kick. A gasp of air escaped her lips and she gave a satisfied smile as he flew backwards with arms flailing. Natalie so loved it when she made them do that.

26. Natalie spun the wooden stake in her hand like she often did before landing a kill. Something her custodian frowned upon. She didn’t think they were smart enough to pick up on it. Not to mention they were dead and couldn’t tell all their undead pals. “Vampy, this is Woody. Woody this is your dinner.” With a fluid strike Natalie punctured the vampire through the heart. He screamed and his body began to dissolve into a puddle of black goo. It started at his heart and traveled the length of his body until nothing was left but a rippling puddle.

27. With the act completed, Natalie walked away before she was sprayed with the fountain of goo. It sailed upward in one fell swoop before crashing back down to the earth, but the slayer paid no heed. This was her life and she viewed it as commonplace. The life of a vampire slayer was often filled with goo and dead squishy things.

28. There was only one vampire now that separated her from Morach. From the way the demon master scampered down from the marble fixture, it was clear he didn’t feel too safe.

29. “I bid you farewell, young slayer. We will see each other again. This I promise you. Arrivederci!” He threw a stone down on the ground. It snapped, crackled, and with a side of pop dissolved into a stunning display of smoke and flashing lights.

30. Natalie sighed and turned to the mindless vampire she was left with. She caught his wrist as he threw a punch at her head. “Listen, how about we skip the fight and I just stake you? I do have algebra homework, you realize.”

31. The vampire growled. His eyes which were a normal brown a moment ago began to change. The color swirled like a pair of marbles until they were completely silver. It was a protective coating, like an inner eyelid that battle triggered; when they knew things might get tough. In her mind, she compared them to cats, but cats were interested in mice and balls of yarn. Not human beings.

32. If that wasn’t gross enough, they swelled and pushed from their sockets. They saw even better in the darkness than their regular eyes, but Natalie didn’t think he needed them. She stood right in front of him with no intention of hiding.

33. “I guess that’s your way of saying no.” Natalie said and was belted across the jaw with his free hand. She grimaced as her head whipped to the side from the crushing blow. Despite that, she executed a perfect round house kick that met him in the center of his chest. She didn’t wait for him to recover before she launched another assault. Her boot caught him under the chin, jarring him backwards. He crashed backwards into a tombstone, causing a fracture like a twisted branch to grow up its center. Natalie advanced her assault, but her expression gave nothing away other than a confident calm.

34. The beast scurried to his feet and backed away. She caught him under the jaw with her open palm and was unruffled, like that of a practiced killer, as his teeth shattered against each other. Blood flowed down his face and Natalie gave him a left hook before following up with a quick jab.

35. Howling in pain, he fell backwards over the tombstone and landed with a thud. He struggled to get up. Natalie jumped through the air and landed in a squat beside in him a perfect landing. She didn’t think twice before bringing her stake down into his chest. With her super strength, it moved with little effort through his flesh, crunching through his sternum with light resistance. Natalie gave a little grunt as she pushed it further toward his heart. When it slid in easier, Natalie knew she had it.

36. She pulled the stake free and was back on her feet while a trail of black blood from her stake dripped to the ground. Natalie took off walking through the cemetery while behind her the vampire’s blood oozed up in a giant fountain.

37. Past the cemetery she could see a regular street, lined with the usual homes and cars parked in driveways. All was quiet. It looked a little too normal considering they had a front row seat to the arena of good versus evil. Natalie’s job was what made it possible for them to sleep undisturbed and she too slept better after a rousing night of vampire staking.

38. She was curious where Damien was, though. All that time, she thought he was right behind her. Didn’t he say I’ll be right there?

39. Natalie put her stake away in the lining of her leather jacket and crossed her arms as she surveyed the cemetery. The hills seemed to roll out forever and were all lined with a mixture of tombstones and planted flowers. When she first realized her destiny was filled with so much violence and death, cemeteries seemed creepy. Now she felt relaxed there, more than anywhere else except for maybe her own room.

40. There he was. Damien walked into view with his usual swagger. An unlikely mix of dark brooding and Indiana Jones, he wore a black fedora upon his head, covering up his shoulder length black hair. His face was covered in day old stubble and was easy on the eyes. Too bad Natalie didn’t trust him very much, especially when he disappeared. She wanted to, but something about him made it difficult.

41. “I handled it, don’t worry.” She said.

42. “You have my confidence.” Damien adjusted his jacket as he joined her. He was handsome and just being near him caused Natalie’s heart to quicken.

43. “So that’s where you put it.” She smirked as they walked side by side toward the cemetery exit. “I wondered why I was feeling an extra jolt of, go me. Not that I needed you there to save me, but where’d you go?” So she was little worried about him. It wasn’t a crime to care about people. Caring was part of her job.

44. “Two demons caught up with me just after we separated. I had to dispatch them. They took longer to kill than I would like to admit.”

45. “That’s what happens when vampire slayers have a sidekick. The sidekick often ends up a side of beef.” Natalie enjoyed teasing him and gave a little smile. All work and no play made a vampire slayer very dull. She enjoyed games.

46. “I am no girl’s side kick!” Damien scowled.

47. Natalie considered that with a toss of her head. “You look like a side kick. Act like the side kick. Scream bloody murder like a…”

48. “I killed two demons.” Damien interjected. “They were big and very scary, but I never screamed. Never.” His eyes narrowed.

49. “Except for that time last week…” Natalie pointed out with a wave of her finger.

50. “That wasn’t a scream. It was more of a…yelp.”

51. She smirked. “This just all proves why I work alone. Having a side kick is just too argumentative.”

52. Damien snorted. “You always say that, but we continue to work together.”

53. “Because you’re always stalking me.” Natalie huffed, but it didn’t stop her from taking his hand.

54. They came to the gate that led out of the cemetery. It was chained shut. Natalie scaled over with ease

55. and landed on the sidewalk. She expected Damien to be able to do the same, since he frequently displayed his own super strength abilities, but his jacket got caught on the gate and it sent him crashing to the ground.

56. “Ugh.” Damien collected his hat and put it back on his head while Natalie laughed at him with a hand covering her mouth.

57. “Sorry, I don’t mean to laugh, but you’re kinda funny sometimes. You have the sulking-something-is-weighing-on-my-soul-look down, and the super strength, but you’re still kinda clutzy. At least you are helpful when it comes to math homework.”

58. “You sound like my dear old mother.”

59. Natalie was horrified and her face showed it. She watched as Damien picked something off the ground.

60. “Did you lose something?” Natalie asked.

61. “It is not mine. I would never be caught dead with something this shiny.”

62. “Shiny? I love shiny.” Natalie tried to snatch it away from him, but Damien pulled his hand back.

63. “Let me look at it first.” He tried to study it, but Natalie tried to grab it from him. There was a smile on her face and a light smirk on his.

64. “Why?”

65. “Because I found it first.” Damien said.

66. “Real mature.” Natalie smirked and snatched it away from him. “Ha, now it’s mine.”

67. “Now who is the immature one?” Damien tried to reach around and grab it from her, but Natalie moved out of the way with grace.

68. It looked like a regular medallion, a circular object on a gold chain, but there were scratches along the top. Either a dog had his way with it or they were markings of importance. Maybe her custodian would know.

69. “Morach’s?”

70. Natalie shook her head. “He’s not usually this sloppy. Unless you count how he eats tacos. Yuck.”

71. Damien gave her a small smile. “I could hold on to it for you.”

72. “Nah,” the answer came too fast. Natalie compensated with a smile. “I’ve got it. I want to show it to Mark.”

73. “Will you ever trust me completely?” He asked the question with real concern, as if the question weighed heavily upon him. Natalie was sorry for that.

74. “I trust you as much as I can, under the circumstances.”

75. “And the circumstances are?” Damien asked as he held her close, keeping his hands on her hips.

76. Natalie tilted her head and studied him. His blue eyes were intense, but she loved getting lost inside of them. “You’re a half demon warrior. I never know what side you’re on.”

77. “I’m on your side.” Damien whispered, his finger tracing her jaw and down her neck.

78. “Maybe, but you’re kinda creepy. You’re way too old to be my boyfriend.”

79. “Then tell me to go.” Damien asked, his lips hovering over hers.

80. Natalie couldn’t. “I’m the impressionable youth. What’s your excuse?” Their lips met and their arms wrapped around each other. Her body felt like it was on fire and part of her knew she should pull back, but despite her best intentions, she didn’t want the kisses to end.

81. “God ***** it, listen to me when I’m yelling at you!”

82. Natalie’s consciousness wrenched back into her body. A rush of pain surged through her head as memories from her real and imagined life collided. She wished to stay in Damien’s arms for just a few minutes more. While the vampire slayer remembered nothing, Natalie remembered it all, and sometimes that knowledge made it worse.

83. A pained sigh escaped her lips until finally her eyes fluttered open and she pushed her blue glasses up from the tip of her nose to her bridge. On the floor she saw her parents, Brian and Ruth, picking up shards of dishes. The top of Ruth’s head was covered in blond curls while Brian’s head lacked hair except for a half crescent moon. Brian’s dark eyes looked at his daughter sharply. They were brown, but were like deep pools with no compassion as he spied her. A towering man, he stood and was over a foot taller than his daughter who was instantly afraid. Fear bubbled inside her stomach and her legs were jelly. If she could have disappeared inside the wall, she would.

84. “What the hell is the matter with you?”

85. “I didn’t mean it.” Her voice was meek. She bit her lip and looked down at her shoes, but all she saw was her bloated stomach. She was what kids in school teased as a ‘fatty’.

86. “Those dishes were ordered special for your sister’s big birthday party. You know this is the first time since the wedding that Jim’s parents are coming to Meadow’s Creek. Everyone is going to be there. What do you suggest we eat on? Paper plates? Do you have any idea how much these things cost!”

87. Natalie shook her head, telling herself not to cry. There was nothing to cry about. He was just a stupid man and he couldn’t hurt her. The sob lodged in her throat. Brian’s words couldn’t hurt her. She was invincible. Nothing could hurt her.

88. He grabbed her arm roughly and inside she shook with fear. She could feel his fingers pushing into her fatty arm and it caused her pain, but not as much as the look in his eye. Pathetic, his eyes said. Sad, how could this thing be my daughter?

89. Behind her she could hear the clinking of china as Ruth continued to clean up what was left of the debris. She never paused nor looked up, almost as if she was not in the same room. “Get down there and help your mother. I don’t want to see one fragment on that floor before you head off to school. Do you understand me, young lady?” His hands clamped her shoulders.

90. Natalie’s knees crashed to the white linoleum. She nodded her head, but the tears in her eyes made it impossible to see. Her hands shook so much that she could barely pick up what was left of a broken dish. It vibrated in her hand until she slid it into the cardboard box, which was now a grave yard of fragmented porcelain with blue flowers and swirls.

91. “I don’t want to hear another word out of you this morning. You will be ready for your driver’s license road test next week. No more cancelations, no more complaints. You’re almost eighteen years old and you will learn to drive. Do you understand me?”

92. He didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, with heavy footsteps that squeaked, he left her. Brian slammed through the swinging door so hard that it flew backwards after him. The sound vibrated through the silent kitchen. When it faded all she could hear was her heart pounding in her throat.

93. Natalie did her best to clean up her mess and tried not to think about what a loser she was. She wanted to be perfect for Regan’s party, she did, but Natalie couldn’t stop from messing up all the time. If she could be perfect and pretty just like her older sister, Natalie would.

94. Ruth sighed and sat back on her heels. She was dressed in black pants and a light sweater. Beneath the fabric stomach rolls could be seen. The lines on her face were hard and her lips were permanently cast down in an endless frown. “I think we’re done here.”

95. Natalie’s eyes were red and moist. She nodded. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

96. “Natalie,” Ruth sighed again and wiped her hands on her pants, “if you just paid attention to what you were doing. But, you never do. Half the time it’s like you’re not even here. Either you’re upstairs reading or when you’re down here, it’s like you’re not.”

97. Natalie bit her lip. She couldn’t help herself. The fantasy stories were so much more fun than her real life. She loved slipping into them and feeling what the vampire slayer did. The rush of empowerment and joy weren’t something she had in her real life. So what if she borrowed them from someone else sometimes? When Damien held her, god when he held her, it felt so wonderful.

98. “Make sure you’re home for dinner tonight. Regan and Jim are coming over to go over final party plans. Don’t stuff yourself on pastry at the Magic Bean after school.”

99. Everyone knew how much she loved to overeat. Natalie’s eyes fluttered away down to the floor where she could see her chubby hands and puffy fingers resting on her lap.

100. “And don’t be late for the bus. You know how much your father hates that. I have to get to Monte’s World, my shift starts in less than ten minutes.”

101. It was lucky for her mother that nowhere in Meadow’s Creek took longer than five minutes to drive to. Natalie wasn’t about to tell her mother that. Instead she picked herself off the floor and stumbled through the swinging door into the living room.