I’ll tell you this much – that man better NEVER try commanding me again or he won’t be able to count the number of bumps on his head once I’m done. Of all the nerve!
Oh yes, I know – he didn’t mean to. I did forgive him but it was just so terrifying. I know the Mistress can command us but she almost never does. She says it’s something for emergencies and doesn’t work all that well on slayers anyway so she rarely bothers. Honestly, I’d never thought much about it – until Jack actually DID it.
I grew up with all this stuff, you know? I don’t guess I ever wondered what creatures thought of being commanded but then again, I’ve only seen the Mistress do it once or twice. And creatures don’t have souls so it’s different. I know, sounds like a cop out, right? Well, it’s not. Creatures lack souls and that’s what can make them so powerfully dangerous. No soul to inhibit the flow of power – or the drive of impulse. The result can be pretty awful – which is why slayers exist in the first place. And it’s not like we go around killing every creature that pokes up its head – creatures exist for a reason, too. But allowed to run unchecked and you end up with blood soaked mayhem – even white creatures can sometimes go mad that way. So we take out the bad ones and ignore – or sometimes work with – the good ones.
But Jack and I had a serious heart to heart about that command thing, believe you me!
Anyway, I’ve still got to finish my logic homework – finals are next week – so I’m just gonna hit the highlights. Jack already told you what all happened. I only have one thing to add to that. I admit, for a guy, Jack’s pretty good at understanding people but on one thing, he’s dead wrong. Thompson. Jack’s convinced the guy just wants to go back to Canada and forget the whole thing. That’s partially true but not quite the whole story. Oh, I haven’t talked to him or anything – at least not in private where I could really ask you know. But a girl knows some things – like when a guy is gaga over another girl. That guy has it bad – for Lisa.
I don’t know what to do about it. First I gotta talk to Thompson and make sure – like 100% instead of the 95% I have now. Then what? Tell Jack? I guess I have to but he’s got so much on him as it is. In one way, he’ll be relieved – he’s really dreading telling Lisa the truth and now that his mom knows, it’s only a matter of time. But Jack dreads it, anyway. He’s a softie like that – he doesn’t want to hurt his sister. And if Thompson really likes her – if he doesn’t I’ll eat Grace’s sheath! – then problem solved, so Jack will think. But it isn’t really, you know, and I hate being the one who has to tell him.
Oh it happens, they say. And certainly some born creatures do interbreed with humans but it’s rare for a couple reasons. They’re still creatures – they are subject to their natures in a way humans really cannot understand. I once saw a vampire turn away from a house full of humans because a kid had told him at the door he couldn’t come in. Traditionals have to be invited – it’s part of their nature – so no invite, no dinner. No human would do something like that – be stopped by a mere condition when there was literally nothing physically stopping them from having a meal. I asked it why and it said it simply could not cross a threshold uninvited anymore than it could go to the beach on a bright summer day – the latter being more likely. You know, I think the poor thing was relieved when I slew it. It had been without a meal for a few weeks and it said that was the fifth time it had been turned away like that. Sad, huh?
Anyway, like I said, they are prisoners of their natures. That’s no different for a born creature. A faoladh is no different. Great protectors of children they are absolutely driven to find and help kids. That’s fine – until you’re trying to live with it. Be like living with Batman – minus the cool cave and mansion.
It gets worse, though. The partnership is uneven. Now, some creatures do achieve but it’s rare. Heck Tresmayne’s been working at it for over 900 years! Can you imagine not knowing whether the person you love even stands a chance at going to Heaven when they die? To accept salvation you must have a soul – you must be human. Creatures aren’t. Humans were given dominion over all the creatures of the Earth – the supernatural included. You aren’t truly partners when the one has dominion over the other. Marriage doesn’t work like that.
If you can somehow manage to live with all that, you then have to deal with the very real possibility your beloved will be slain. I’ve never met one but black slayers do exist. They will preferentially slay white creatures. Mistress said once that two such slayers had spent a month trying to get at one of her wolves and she’s seen them do worse than that. I know, anyone can get hit by a bus but it’s a different kind of fear to know your loved one can be slain with impunity. Creatures leave nothing behind that a court would be interested in – even if you video taped it, the body would dissolve and it would look like it was computer generated. No slayer has ever even been questioned because no one believes even if they see it. Kinda creepy, huh?
Marrying a creature – it’s not for everyone. I get the impression Thompson isn’t wanting to ask Lisa anyway. Oh, he’s crazy for her – don’t doubt it. But he’s probably been warned since he was a baby to stay away from humans – no good comes of such relationships. Nyota told me once that she’s known a shaman who married a local were-type (meerkat, I think she said) and it went okay but of course, the shaman grew old and died, leaving the creature to mourn. It asked Nyota to be slain but she’d already sworn not to (the shaman had asked). She says she sees it occasionally, just sitting in the house where it had lived with its human mate. No humans can see it any longer – its begun to fade from existence. I don’t think that’s what Thompson is afraid of but it’s the sort of thing Lisa has to know – I wouldn’t want to leave someone behind like that.
Thompson’s probably more afraid of the danger. Creatures often have violent sides that can be triggered by the most bizarre stuff. Faodalh are Twilights – they are kin to the fairykind which are Day creatures. You think vampires are weird, try fairies! They are so danged easy to annoy it’s not even funny. Faodalh aren’t as bad but I’m sure they have those streaks too – all creatures do. A perfectly safe creature one minute – deadly the next. It happens and since Thompson loves Lisa, I’m sure he doesn’t want it happening to her.
Sigh, listen to me prattle. I still need to study. I feel for them both, Thompson and Lisa but I feel even worse for Jack. He’s the kind that needs to make things better but there isn’t a good way to do that here. I guess I better talk to Thompson and get it over with. I hate to be the bearer of bad news – Jack’s got enough as it is. Not that he’s complaining. I guess that’s one of the things I like about him – he just gets on with it rather than griping all the time. Still…
Oh, right, this was supposed to be my supplemental. Oh well, not much else on my end. I was pretty surprised to find that Jack’s mom had been a slayer. I dunno – I mean, I knew the house was a sanctuary but it’d never dawned on me to tell Jack. Before you laugh, I also didn’t tell him it’s a five story building (counting the basement) – for the same reason. It’s so freaking obvious! I mean, how could he not know? But his mom’s explanation about him not noticing that she was a slayer probably explains this too – he’s grown up there. He’s always been around it – instead of that feeling meaning ‘sanctuary’ to him, it probably just means ‘home’.
I just emailed him. I suggested we get together after finals and go over all the slayer stuff. I don’t think there’s anything else I just haven’t mentioned but I just don’t know. To me, this is all old hat – except the commander type thing, of course. But I’m just used to being a slayer and I don’t think about what he must be wondering because I was so young when I emerged that I don’t really remember all the questions I asked – I just got used to knowing the answers.
ACK! Speaking of knowing the answers, I have got to get busy on my logic homework. I think this supplemental is complete enough for now. I can’t think of anything else, anyway.
Oh yeah, I hadn’t even asked Jack how he felt about everything. Some guys is out to kill him and he seemed really freaked out about his mom. Another thing I need to talk to him about…
AFTER logic!!!! I AM going to pass this thing!!!
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