CONCEPT: Ettiene is a Slayer in the colony of Roanoke when all the colonists begin to disappear.
SETTING: Roanoke Colony, Virginia 1589
MY NOTES: This fic is really, really short, so I’m going to give you little history lesson about the background. I’ve always wondered what happened to the colonists of Roanoke Island back in the early days of America. There are several clues as to what happened, including the word Croatoan, which refers to the Native American Indian tribe that dwelled nearby. Historians say that it is possible that the Croatoans rescued the settlers from famine and they all moved inland to North Carolina. Even today, the Mulunjians of Tennessee and North Carolina claim to be of Roanoke decent, but its still a mystery about what really happened. So that’s history’s version…and here’s mine!!
Also I've just read "White Doe" by Christie Golden that appears in Tales of the Slayer Vol. 1. For those of you out of the loop, that story is also about Roanoke, only much better written. LOL* I'm still going to keep this fic up though. :P
The Slayer and I have been trying hard to eradicate the threat that is pervading the colony. Twenty settlers have died thus far, and we are hard pressed to stop it. Ettiene patrols nightly, yet she rarely slays. Last night she caught a vampire, who we see used to be Eleanor Dare. She questioned the fiend most carefully, but we have no more information than before.
Something is killing the settler’s of Roanoke Island, something evil. I fear we will not survive the year, not with the drought, the famine and the cold conspiring to kill us all. Ettiene, I fear, is losing moral because she thinks she isn’t doing her job properly. I try to comfort her otherwise, but her spirits are lagging.
Tonight, I shall patrol a section of the village without Ettiene, that way we cover more ground. I hope we stop this poison that is spreading throughout the land, but I can only pray.
Ettiene sat down on the damp ground, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her Watcher was dead, and she was alone in the world. She looked over at the little wooden grave marker bearing Paige’s name and felt another stab of guilt shoot through her heart.
She leaned against the tree trunk and felt the bark digging into her shoulder. She let it, the pain keeping her grounded. She clutched the stake in her left hand and took a deep breath.
She winced when she heard the wood of Paige’s coffin splinter, six feet below the ground. She stifled the sob rising in her throat and stood, dead leaves clinging to her long skirts.
Slowly, every second torturing her, Paige came out of the ground. Ettiene watched her, tears spilling down her face. Her Watcher clawed her way to the surface, and then she was standing before the Slayer. Her face wasn’t the kind, weathered visage she remembered. It was twisted, all teeth and mocking yellow eyes. Ettiene wanted to scream.
Instead, she raised the stake and plunged it home before the demon inside her Watcher could move. Paige crumbled to dust, the wind sweeping the particles away before they could hit the ground. Ettiene let out the sob she had been holding in and collapsed against the tree.
She cried until dawn, the village below her teaming with unnatural life. In the morning, ten more were dead, missing from the village; Ettiene knew they would be back the next night as ugly twisted versions of themselves.
She tried to stop them, but no one listened. The Slayer knew that Roanoke was gone and nothing was safe.
She walked to the center of the village that night and stood, her stake in hand, her eyes blazing. The vampires came out from the shadows, nearly thirty of them. She smiled and beckoned them to come for her.
Twelve of them were dead before they even touched her. She fought in a blind fury, her heart heavy, knowing she was living on borrowed time. She looked up after staking the village magistrate and saw there were still so many coming for her. She knew it was hopeless.
Then she was grabbed from behind and hauled backward. Ettiene closed her eyes when they started eating her; she could barely gasp out one last word.
“I’m sorry.” She said as her blood fountained into Ananias Dare’s mouth. She died, leaving behind a village unprotected.
The night was long, and longer still for the lost colony of Roanoke.
THE END.