Nick walked forward. "Your very intuitative."
"For a blonde or for a slayer?"
"Both." he stood beside her and she looked up at him.
"What are you doing here?"
"We need to talk." he said simply.
"Suddenly everyone wants to talk. Does popularity always come with being the chosen one?" The look in his eyes silenced her.
"That could be your downfall."
"Look Nickyboy, I didn't..." she stopped.
"What?" Nick asked confused.
"The lights in the house came on. Quick inside before my parents see you!" she practically shoved him inside the guest house, slamming the door behind them.
Nick looked around the tiny guest house. "You live alone?"
"I do." Lis set her bag down. "Now what's so important?"
He sat down and looked at her. It was hard for him to separate her from Elle but he had to if he was going to protect her. Lis saw the way he looked at her, like he was waiting for her to do something.
"Who exactly are you Nick?" she asked bluntly, looking him over. He wasn't an unattractive person, in fact he was just the opposite. His blonde hair was cut short and was barely styled, his leather jacket that went to his knees only accentuated his broad shoulders. His eyes were the most brilliant blue she'd ever seen. Maybe if she wasn't the slayer, she would have gone after him...but as Kevin had told her, a slayer requires sole dedication to her job. And she was dedicated to her slayerness, although in her six weeks of slayerdom she'd only staked 3 vamps.
"I'm your protector." he answered.
"Why? Who gave you that job?"
"It's a long story."
"And I've got hours."
"Your trouble you know that?" He said with a smile.
"So I've been told."
"Do you always have to use sarcasm?"
"Are you always so cryptic?"
Nick laughed and Lis smiled. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Ever hear of skipping?"
Nick smiled. "Ok...my job is to protect you."
"So, how do you protect a slayer? If vamps are after me, what do you do stake them?"
Nick closed his eyes. "No...I..."
"How did you become a protector?"
Nick slowly opened one eye. "How did you become a slayer?" He was always curious about the moment, the emotions one felt. Lis froze, she had never told anyone about that.
"You really want to know?"
He nodded, so she took a deep breath and started.
"Be back in five, going to the store." Lis called to her mom. She walked down the driveway and headed for the conveinence store down the street. Two days in sunny Florida and she was all ready homesick. She got her daily dose of sugar in a jumbo bag of m&ms and a slurpee and left the store. A sign across the street caught her eye. "Backstreet Gym." Interested she crossed the street and went inside, the sound of weights clanging rang throughout the building. The muscular guy behind the desk eyed her with interest. "Can I help you?" he asked, standing up.
"Uh yeah I just moved here and I was looking for membership info."
"I'm Kevin, can I take you on a tour Lis?"
She looked into his green eyes startled. "How did you...?"
"Let's talk in my office." he turned around and headed for a glass enclosed room. Numbly she followed, something pulling her in that direction. Lis sat down on one of the chairs facing the desk and looked at him. "How did you know my name?"
He sat down across from her. "I know a lot about you."
Those words should have frightened her but inside they made her relax. "How?"
"I just do. There's a reason you came to Orlando."
"My parents." Lis answered, taking a drink of her slurpee.
"No, your destiny brought you here."
"Uh huh sure."
"Your a slayer, a vampire slayer." Kevin said seriously.
"Like Buffy huh?" Lis asked with a grin.
Kevin shook his head. "This isn't a joke."
"I figured. But how do I know your telling me the truth?"
"This." he picked up a stake and threw it at her. She caught it expertly with one hand.
"So I caught one wooden stake. Big deal."
"Favorite sport?"
"Kickboxing."
He nodded at her answer and leaned back in his chair looking at her.
"Catching a stake and kickboxing make me a slayer?"
"Abnormal strength?"
"I life weights."
"Strange occurences?"
"Like what?"
"Dreams."
Lis turned pale, she'd never told anyone about her dreams where vampires where chasing her, she was sure that would lead to an instant trip to the psycho ward. "Uh yeah."
"You kill vampires in your dreams right?"
She nodded in shock.
"I'm your watcher, your helper."
"Ok." she said in a daze.
"I know this will take a while for you to process."
"Why now?"
"Why are you just finding out?" Lis nodded. "When one slayer is...no longer around, the next is brought in."
"So the last slayer is..."
"She's gone." Kevin said simply.
"And that was Kev's heartfelt "Welcome to Your A Slayer 101." Lis finished.
Nick looked at her. "You stayed calm."
"Pretty much. Probably thought I was in a dream. Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"Like what?" Nick asked feeling confused.
"It's just this weird look."
"You just remind me of someone that's all." He ran a hand through his hair nervously.
"Oh." Lis said softly, she had thought maybe there was a little something happening between them but his answer banished that thought from her mind. "So your job as a protector, do you watch me all the time?"
"Most of the time."
"Must be hard, not really having a life of your own."
"I deal." he stood up. "Your going to bed, so I'm going home." Lis looked at him wide eyed. "Yes Lis, I have a house, clothes, a car."
How about a girlfriend , she wanted to ask but she didn't. "I have a favor to ask. Could you go out the back so my parents don't see you?"
"Got it. Night." he said as he headed in the direction of the kitchen and the back door.
"Good night Nick." Lis whispered, going up the stairs, not noticing the set of eyes that watched her through the window.