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Dad. Is. A. Loser. Punch. Kick. Repeat.
"Rayne, focus. You're not in control," Teifert repeats for the ten-thousandth time. "A slayer must find her
deep strength. Her inner power. She must become one with the uni-verse."
I stop punching, reaching up to wipe the sweat from my forehead. "Can we cut the Zen crap for a
moment?" I ask. "I'm trying to beat this bag to a pulp."
"No we cannot cut the 'Zen crap' as you say," Teifert says wearily. "Rayne, one cannot become a good
slayer through sheer force and anger. You must find the power within your center. Within yourself."
"Maybe I don't have a center. And if so, maybe I should use what I got." I hold up my fists. "Here's
where my power lies, Teifert. Look out, vamps, it's Raynie Power time."
Teifert shakes his head. "Where do they find these girls?" he mutters under his breath. "And why do they
keep sending them to me?"
Oh, that's nice. "Hey, you chose me, dude," I remind him, lowering my fists. "I didn't ask for this gig."
Great, now I'm aslayer reject, too. Go figure. I punch the bag a few more times. Might as well burn some
calories while he's bemoan-ing my slayer suckiness. "Maybe you chose wrong. Ever think about that?
Maybe I'm not really slayer material."
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"We don't choose wrong. We have a very precise method-ology for picking our slayers. You just don't
see the power you have. You're stubborn and you refuse to learn. And there-fore your power will remain
dormant. Locked inside of you." He grabs the punching bag so it no longer sways with my hits. "Let's try
you with your stake."
He motions over to the bench, where I left the half-carved chunk of wood. I roll my eyes.
"Can't I get a real weapon?" I whine, walking over to the stake and picking it up with some reluctance.
"A sword maybe? Or a big two-handed axe like Buffy?"
"By carving this stake, you have embedded it with your slayer essence," Teifert explains, completely
ignoring my re-quest for sharp metal objects of death. "Now, it has bonded itself to you and will only
work when wielded by your hand. Each stake is unique to its slayer."
"Sort of like the wands inHarry Potter?" I can't help but ask.
"When you take this weapon into your hands, you will feel the essence of the tree from which it was
taken. You will be filled with the power of that mighty oak. The strength will flow through you and make
you one with Mother Earth. Only then will you be able to find your center. And get the job done."
"Huh." I roll the stake around in my palm. "And to think this looks like something you grabbed out in the
schoolyard."
"Hold up the stake, Rayne," Teifert commands. "And concentrate on its power."
I sigh, then do what I'm told. Otherwise I'll probably be here all day. I raise the stake above my head
and focus my eyes on it.
And then things start to get weird.
As I stare at the stake, the world around me starts to lose focus and the wood starts to take on an
almost unearthly glow. Iwatchin awe as it morphs right before my eyes from a chunk ofunpolished wood
into a sleek, sharp instrument, smooth as glass. I wave it around, hesitantly at first, then with growing
assurance. So cool. So, so cool. I wish you could have seen it.
"Am I making it do that?" I whisper. From the corner of myeye I can see Teifert's nod.
"You are the chosen one. The slayer. As I said, we don't make mistakes."
"Wow, that's pretty amazing." I step forward, toward the punching bag, and then stab the wood into it,
with all my might. The stake slides through the tough leather like a knife through butter. Whoa! Now
we're talking.
I pull the stake out. It's no longer glowing. I turn to Teifert. "Okay, I believe you now," I say. "Who
knew I had all this power in me?"
"Who knew you were going to stab the punching bag?" Teifert grumbles, not looking at all impressed by
my feat. He walks over to the bag and examines the hole. "Do you know how expensive these things are
to replace?"
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"Dude! I've just been given magical superpowers to slay vamps and all you care about is your Visa bill?"
Teifert turns back to me. "So you believe now? That with your stake you have the power to slay
vampires?"
"Hell yeah, I believe. Just call me Raynie: Vampire Slayer. Able to kill vampires in a single bound." I
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