Mountain Potential

I awoke groggy and my head felt funny. “What in the name of Hades happened to me?” I groaned as I sat up looking around. I scrambled out of the unfamiliar bed and looked around me at the room in a panic. All my photographs and belongings were here, but this wasn’t my cabin. “Where the fuck am I?” I hollered angrily. I heard the door behind me open and I got on the defense, a man walked in dressed in a suit. I glared at him. “Are ya the fucker who done brought me here? This yer place mister?” I asked.

“Ah, Ellie good to see you’re awake and the drug’s affects have worn off leaving you as good as new.” He replied with a weird accent.

“Ya drugged me?”

“Well, not I certainly, but it has been told you gave quite the fight.” And he smiled at me. “Now, to explain why you’re-” he never got to finish his sentence, because I lunged at him, tackled him, slammed his head against the doorframe a few time and knocked him unconscious. I got up off of him, grabbed my hat, and hightailed it out the bedroom door. I didn’t make it too far before some girls my age emerged from around a corner and saw me running; I had to pull up short to avoid slamming into them.

“Watch out newbie.” One of them said.

“Y’all best git on outta here. There’s some sick son of a bitch that’s collectin’ girls like us.” I replied. They laughed at me, and I heard some adult voices behind me and turned around.

“There she is! Tasha! Nicollet! Don’t let her get away!” Two older females yelled. I turned back around and the two teenage girls were reaching out to me. On pure reflexive action, I grabbed their arms, went underneath and between them, twisting their arms behind their backs and yanking upwards. They screamed in pain and as the older women came closer, I shoved the girls at them, giving me time to run for it. I didn’t get very many steps before an alarm started sounding throughout the place, and all sorts of teenage girls and adults began coming out and I was shortly subdued. I fought, kicked and hollered all the way to a room where I was tied to a chair.

“Y’all sons of bitches let me go! I ain’t gon’ be nowhere I don’t wanna be!” I hollered at their retreating backs but they closed the door on me. I immediately began tugging at the restraints to try and free myself. A loud voice came on overhead.

“Settle down. We’re here to help you and train you for the job you must take on.”

“Fuck y’all! Show yer face ya yella-bellied asshole!” I yelled. Just then the door opened again and a young red-haired woman walked in. I glared at her.

“Hi there, I hear you’ve been giving everyone a hard time.” She said in her soft-spoken voice.

“Yeah, and until I’m takin’ back home I am gon’ be a huge pain in y’alls ass.” I stated matter-of-factly. She smiled.

“Do you know why you’re here Ellie?” she asked me.

“Don’t know and don’t give a shit.”

“Well, you’re one of many special girls. You’ve been Chosen as a Potential Slayer Ellie.”

“A what?”

“Slayer, a girl who has been given special gifts and powers to fight the vampires, demons and evil of this world.” She replied. “And this place,” she gestured around her, “is where the Potentials are brought to train and receive their gifts.”

I busted out laughing. “Have ya fallen completely off yer rocker lady?”

She smirked. “You don’t believe me do you?”

“Not one got-damned lick.” She shrugged and made a motion. Suddenly a group of people brought in two people with disfigured faces. I looked in shock. “What’s wrong with their faces?”

“They’re vampires. That’s what they look like in their demonic visages.” The red head said. “And this is how you kill them.” Two young girls a few years older than me came in and the creatures were released. They began fighting them and I saw the two girls pull out wooden spikes and stab them in their chests, and I watched in fascination as they turned into dust before my eyes.

I looked back at the red head as all the others left the room. “And ya want me to do what exactly?”

“You are a Potential, which means you have the capability of becoming a Slayer, like those two girls you just saw. But your skills are undeveloped, as is your strength as surprising as that is. And that’s what this place is for. A Watcher will be assigned to you; he or she is like your teacher. You will study up on the different demons you may come across, the history of Slayers, and you will train for battle. Then, in two years if or when we feel you have reached the maximum of your abilities, you will be given a test and if you pass it, you will be given the powers that come with being a Slayer. Now we can do this the easy way and you can get started today, or we can do this the hard way. Which will it be?”

I looked over at the two dust piles and sighed. “This ain’t no joke is it?” She shook her head. “Aw hell, fine. I’ll do it seein’ as how I ain’t really got a choice. Where do I sign?”

She smiled. “Glad to hear it Ellie.”

“And can I be let loose? I promise on my Pa’s grave I’ll be good.”

The redhead smiled. “Of course.” She waved her hand and the restraints fell to the floor. I gawked at her.

“How the hell’d you do that?”

“Oh, I’m a witch. But call me Willow.” She replied. “Well come on, I’ll introduce you to your Watcher and show you around the mansion.” I got up and followed her. The place was huge, and it turned out the man who I had beaten into unconsciousness was the Watcher who had been assigned to me. I smirked and shrugged my shoulders when Willow cast a glance at me. I got to apologize to the two other Potentials who I had hurt as I was shown around before we got to the backyard area and Willow smiled, seeing a dark-haired guy.

“Xander, come here.” She called.

The guy picked up his head and a smile graced his face as he approached us; I noticed he was wearing an eye patch. “Hey Wills! Who we got here?” he asked looking down at me.

“Ellie meet Xander. Xander this is a new Potential, her name’s Ellie, and that guy in there is hers.”

I looked at her puzzled as he smiled. “What guy? In where?” I asked as Xander walked back over to the stable area and soon he brought out Gus. I broke into a huge smile and ran over to him throwing my arms around his neck, giving him kisses and stroking his velvety soft nose. “Y’all brought my Gus with me?”

“Not us, someone else figured you’d want something to remind you of home.” Willow answered with a smile. “Guess they were right, that’s the first smile I’ve seen on you.”

“You’re more than welcome to hang out here in your free time with him, I’m usually out and about somewhere doing the manual labor.” Xander replied. “But rest assured between the two of us your horse’ll be fine.” I smiled; maybe this place wouldn’t be as bad as I had thought.
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