Claudia sat up straight and looked around at the empty club. Nobody had seen how she had been turned, her sire had done it with such secrecy, Claudia's death, or half death was very vital and important to the future.

* Bianca kicked the girl she had almost rescued in the face which made her fall over the edge of the balcony. The vampire landed on her feet beside Claudia's body. The young girl's fingers twitched and she raised her head to see the madness of her surroundings.

The vampire picked Claudia up and cradled her in her arms, the vampire bit into her wrist and let the blood drip into the open mouth of Claudia, the girl choked a little and then drifted into nothingness.

Within her death, Claudia felt more alive than ever before, she felt connected to everything. Although she could see nothing of what was happening around her, she could feel it, the feelings brought vivid pictures to her mind, the vampire had saved her... no saved wasn't a strong enough word to describe it.

Images soon overcame the girl in her mind, they flashed before her eyes. Strange pictures and scenes she had never seen before.

In Egypt, a young girl walked into the desert, a black buzzing cloud surrounding her as she walked away from her city.

In China, a small boy sat in the middle of a village as it fell to ruin around him, his mother screaming for her boy to come to her before being crushed by a falling stone.

In colonial america, a teenage girl was tied to a burning stake as she kept her eyes pinned to the sky as red light engulfed the town.

Claudia could hear the beating of hearts and the screams of terror in her head. The girl's eyes shot open. *

Claudia stood up and looked around more, everything was glowing. She brought her hands up to her face and felt along the lines and bulges which were new to her. Claudia smiled and almost seemed to float as she walked with her eyes closed, her head was buzzing with the sounds of everything that surrounded her.

Paige looked at herself in the mirror and splashed her face with water, black eyelined and mascara ran down her face. Paige peeled her her clothes off and turned the shower on, she ran her hand under the steaming water and stepped into the steam filled shower. Blood, make up and hairspray streamed off her body and down the drain in a spiralling rainbow.

Paige shut the water off and stepped out into the seemingly cold air and wrapped a bath coat around her, her face was now clean and make up free, she had some cuts on her knees and a cut across her forehead which was swelling and turning red quickly. Paige emerged from the washroom and looked into the kitchen where the other slayers nursed their wounds.

"Feel good to get all that rubbish off my face." Paige piped to the others.

"Yeah, feels like a big weight was lifted off." Nika agreed.

"Guys, you don't have to walk on eggshells, I'm fine. Look, I didn't even know Claudia that well. We just met today." Mona told the others.

"I know, it's just... That was intense in there. The energy flowing through me was just wow. We kicked some major ass." Nika said.

"Yeah, I felt it too, everything just felt so right, I mean I've never been in a big brawl like that, it was like Nika said, wow. I can't describe it, it felt so right. Is that wha

t it felt like Bianca, in sunnydale?" Paige asked. "Something like it, we fought, alot and we fought hard down there, there were so many of them... The uber-vamps. It just came naturally, Kennedy could try and train us as hard as she could but it was useless, nothing prepared me for that. It was natural, like I jsut knew what to do." Biana said.

The room went silent, there was nothing more for them to say. For the three of them, Mona, Nika and Paige it was their first big battle, and as a team. They were more now, more than just slayers they were fast becoming friends.

The following morning,

Nika walked down the main street of Jolten looked in the windows of the different stores. She put her head down for only a minute but it was long enough, Nika walked right into a boy who was leaving a coffee shop knocking his coffee all over him.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry." Nika said distressed. "No problem, after all who needs flesh right, I mean a few third degree burns, nothing big." The boy who was about 18 said.

Nika smiled back.

"I'm Vick, great accent by the way. Where you from?"

"Nika, I'm from Norway.. but I live here." Nika blushed, she did not mind looking at Vick at all.

Vick was tall, about 6'1 and had light brown hair which was clean cut.

"Cool, I've never seen you before.. what school do you go to?" Vick asked.

"I don't." Nika replied, somewhat embarassed.

"Oh... ok, I'm graduating so I won't be either soon." Vick added cheerily.

"Sounds great."

The conversation was dying, Vick had to do something to save it. "So maybe we could um, hang out sometime or something.. you know for coffee or something."

"Maybe." Nika replied.

"Maybe is good.. definately maybe. Well I have to go change.. or get a skin graph, either one really."

"Ok, bye." Nika smiled awkwardly.

"Yeah bye." Vick said and started walking away. Nika made her way down the streets if Jolten. An elderly, homeless woman muttered to herself as she walked. She looked Nika in the face.

"You don't think I see, who you are... what's to come. You're wrong, I can smell it on you, you've been touched! It's upon us, it begins soon."

Nika looked at the woman. The elderly woman grimaced and clutched her stomach, her head shot backwards and her body stiffened. Fire exploded from the woman's body as she shreiked with pain. Her eyes began to glow beneath the flames and a deep, dark familiar voice emerged.

"IT BEGINS!" The woman exploded, and nothing remained but a small amount of ash.

Claudia sat in her room, her human room. Her face was blank and hr eyes were vacant. In her mind she could clearly see the woman on the street explode into nothingness. She stood up from her floor and walked to her closet, then stepped inside. Claudia closed the door and began rifling through her clothing. It was quite obvious that the girl had gone insane. Soon the vampire emerged draped in a sea of flowing black clothing, her face hidden by a dark veil.

Claudia laughed an unnerving, chilling laugh and walked out of the house into the settign sun of Jolten humming to herself.

"She just burst into flames." Nika told Bianca and Paige who listened intently.

"And she was talking crazy, like she knew what was going to happen?" Bianca questioned.

"Very much so, she said she knew what I was... and that I'd been touched." Nika explained.

"Touched by what?" Paige questioned.

"I don't know! I'm not fluent in crazy."

"Well, you said she sounded like the Horseman before she pulled the Houdini, but he's dead. Mona killed him, we all saw it." Bianca became more aggetated with every word.

"We need Mona here, to help figure this out." Paige said.

Mona patrolled the streets of Jolten. She hadn't seen much action so far that night, a couple of vampires but nothing major. From within the darkness of the alley the cloaked Claudia emerged behind Mona.

"Hello Mona." Claudia said eerily.

Mona spun around and looked at the figure, she tightened her grip on the stake she held in her hand.

"Do I know you?" Mona asked.

Claudia lifted her veil off her face.

"But you're dead." Mona was shocked.

"No Mona, I was saved." Claudia shifted her face to the vampire and grinned.

"How, you didn't drink?"

"From the vampire who bit me. But my savior rescued me."

Mona jumped forward and punched Claudia in the face. Claudia reacted by jumping on top of Mona and knocking her to the ground. Claudia opened her mouth and leaned forward to bite Mona. Claudia sat upright and looked at the arrow which now stuck out of her chest.

"Oh My." Claudia said as she exploded into dust.

Mona looked at Paige who stood holding a crossbow down the street. The ground began to shake and Mona jumped up and looked at Paige. Buildings began to buckle. A street light came crashing to the ground in front of Paige.

Beneath the city, the group of vampires from the rave hid. The vampire who led them stood up as the walls shook. "It's Beginning."

THE END