Waxing nostalgic...

Sascha Romanov

Yeah that's me.

Not being the best at self-examination, I'll just start at the beginning. Five years ago I was a little opera princess. I lived in Seattle with my Mom, Dad and my brother Marko. My parents were interested in me. My brother looked out for me. Life was good.

Three years ago, Marko didn't come home from work one night. They found his car in the parking lot where he worked. They never found him. It could have been a vamp attack, but it could have just as easily been a mugger or something a lot more mundane. His disappearance changed everything. Looking back I just don't think I was able to handle it. I worshipped the ground my brother walked on, and I'd lost him forever. It felt....cold. I stopped singing, I stopped talking to my parents (not that they noticed with all the junk they were going through too) and did the one thing I could to feel something. I got angry.

Two years, a bellybutton ring, a tattoo and one set of dyed bangs later, life gets more interesting when I get these weird cramps right before I see something coming at me from an alleyway. Let's just say it didn't go well for the bad guy....I think I'd broken its jaw and three ribs before I even knew what I was doing! I got so scared all I could think of to do was run.

'Course the Council wasn't far behind that little life-shaping event, offering to help me with my little "problem", telling me I had inherited the legacy of the Chosen One blah blah blah....only now because the current one screwed things up there were a few thousand of us sitting around that the Concil was scrambling to pick up before we started tearing things (and people I guess) apart. He could tell the Brave New World speech wasn't exactly motivating me to do the right thing, so he fought dirty.

"Think about this. What would have happened if your brother had someone there for him when he needed help? How many sisters and brothers can you save from having to go through the same loss you have suffered? Come with me. Learn how to use your powers and why you have them. At the very least you will be able to help others. At the most? Perhaps you can find answers to your own loss."

*sigh*

So that got me on the plane. Trouble is I didn't get along too well with the Slayer Boot Camp environment. I'll admit it. I suck as a Slayer. I managed to make it a year before they were talking about kicking me out because of the attitude (we'd heard rumors of what happened when the Council gave up on you as a Slayer but didn't want you to be running around loose). Great situation, huh? I become a Slayer and I've got,what, 2 years on average before something kills me? But if I decide not to, I might disappear anyways.

Way I figure it, they thought the only way they could invest me in the job was the trial by fire. So they sent me here. It's been known for awhile now that Pleasant Hills has a Hellmouth, but nobody knows where it is or what exactly it's doing to the locals. All they know is that there is a lot of activity around here and a lot of monsters lining up for Slayage.

They didn't tell me about the previous two girls that were here (imagine that). I guess one of 'em worked for the Council and one of 'em was working for the Initiative. Both died within a couple of weeks of coming here.

I'm hoping I've got something they didn't. For one I've got the rage. For two, I've got a few people who have my back if I need it. I hope it's enough.