A/N: First story for Buffy. This idea has probably been done before, but if so I hope I bring something new for you all to enjoy. This story is set at the start-ish of season four, after Oz has left, but before Willow and Tara meet. Some notable changes, like Xander stayed in college, Riley doesn't exist yet and Buffy is STILL getting over Angel. Nobody had moved into College dorms/rooms yet. It will progressively become more AU.
Chapter I: Gnawing
The sun was low in the sky, painting Sunnydale in hues of vermillion and gold. It had been a long day in the eyes of many teens, but Buffy Summers knew that she would be awake for many hours to come. She sat in her living room with the TV making a low buzzing sound in her ear, because she wasn't focused on it. If she had been, she would have seen that the newsreader was reporting the usual: freakish murders, people going mysteriously missing, average Sunnydale news.
Gazing out the window at the street outside, Buffy attempted to unravel her thoughts. Lately her mind had been jammed up with school, slaying, boys—well, Angel—and she wasn't really coping very well.
"Buffy?" came a voice from the front door, which she instantly recognized as her best friend, Willow. "Did you doze of with the TV on again? You know it's not good for you…"
Willow came around the corner and saw the slayer splayed out on the couch, brow furrowed. "You okay? You look a little fluie…"
"Nah, I'm just tired, Will. What brings you over here?"
Willow raised her eyebrows. "Do I need a reason to visit my best friend's house?"
Buffy slid her fingers through her hair, signing. "No, no, of course you don't. I'm just a little distracted."
"Angel?"
"Amongst other things, yeh. It's just… like there's this hole, you know? And it makes me feel all weird…"
Willow sat down beside her slayer friend. "Look, Buffy, I had the same with Oz, but you've got to move on… go out there and get around!"
"Like you've been doing," Buffy replied sarcastically. The redhead gave her a look, but didn't reply, sinking into the sofa.
"You should patrol soon. Increase in vamp activity lately and all…"
"Don't remind me. I fell asleep in two classes today, I totally though Snyder was gonna go nuclear," she replied, all lightness in the comment snubbed by the thought of walking around one of Sunnydale's many graveyards for hours, something not even the slayer finds fun.
"Well, I just came to see if you were okay. You've been acting really distant lately, so I was getting kinda worried." Willow's face brightened. "Hey, why don't we go to the Bronze once you've done a bit of patrolling? You could use a little relaxation."
"You know the Bronze is always heaving with vamps, Will!"
"And?" Willow pressed her point. "You can slay to the beat!" she gave an awkward kind of jiggle with some hand movements. "Well, it would be more stakey and probably groovier than that, but you get my point."
Buffy stayed silent.
"Well, if you reconsider, me and Xander will be there waiting for ya," the redhead announced as she reluctantly pulled herself off the sofa and bid her friend goodbye.
XOXOXOXOXOX
"You all set, Kenn?" The girl asked her companion as they stood outside the warehouse that contained the Bronze. "You're gonna shine tonight, Kenny, I just know. You'll find someone right."
"Shut up, Chris. I don't need any more shit from you about how special and awesome I am, kay? I let you stay with me even though you can't do half the stuff I can 'cause you're useful in some ways. Don't overstep that." The shorter girl growled at Chris, stubbing her cigarette out on a skip.
"Okay. Sorry Kenn."
"It's no prob, just don't get all up at me all the time."
Chris nodded. She looked at the long line of youths that snaked into the club. "There really must not be much to do in this town, huh?"
Kennedy raised an eyebrow. "not much? There's a fuckin' hellmouth, dumbass. It's like being permenantly on speed to me." Chris looked at the floor. "Aw, c'mon, you didn't know, C. It's not your fault I'm all fucked up like this."
"Yeh, I know. It just somehow feels like you surpass me in like a billion ways when I'm supposed to be better."
Kennedy held the girl's chin. "you are better, C. You're awesome at all this planning and tactics shit. If it were me rushing in blindly, I'd be way dead by now."
Chris laughed softly. "Thanks for that. Can we get into this place now? I'm freezing my ass off."
"I hope not. Your ass is too nice to go anywhere except on you." Chris blushed.
"You're such a gentleman, Kenn. There must be lines of girls just queuing for you to perv on them,"
"Damn straight."
"Damn not."
Kennedy laughed. "Oh yeh, I get it. Nice one." She surveyed Chris. Jeans slightly too big and ripped at the knees, shirt tightly pulled over a strappy top, bandana making her messy, shoulder-length blonde hair stick out.
"You look like a guy with boobs." She blurted out, not bothering to hide the fact that she was looking Chris up. "What's up with that look? You'll never get guys if you look like one. Well, you might, I guess. Gay ones."
"I figure if I'm hanging out with you, then any guy I bring back will be swiftly kicked into the bin. No point, really. And besides, this is your night-"
The brunette growled again, her piercing dark eyes giving Chris the evils. The blonde moved swiftly off the subject. "And you look like a skank."
Kennedy gave a look of disbelief. Mini-skirt. Biker boots, tight t-shirt and denim jacket- so not skank. "Do not. I'm just going for a sexier look. Girls don't usually go for cargoes and a baggy t-shirt from the eighties, C."
"Well, I dunno…" she smirked. "Let's just get in that club."
XOXOXOXOXOX
Willow sipped her drink glumly, sitting to the side of the dancefloor with Xander.
"If we're not careful, Buffy will stake us, 'cause we look like a couple of zombies,"
"Will, you're the one who's sitting having a staring match with the bottom of your cup. We are allowed to do stuff when Buffy's not around," Xander explained, looking around wistfully at the multitude of girls dancing.
The redhead didn't reply and kept her eyes trained on the door. She watched as people she vaguely knew from school filtered in and out, all looking merry. Willow, however, was not feeling merry. If Buffy was confused, Willow was wallowing in waist-deep inner turmoil. She just couldn't shake the feeling that something big was coming, something dangerous; it weighed on her mind constantly. It must be connected to the writhing feeling in her stomach, a strange gnawing that she couldn't shake. She wasn't sure exactly when it started, but it was strongest when she cast her mind back to her encounter with her vamparic self. Though nobody thought much of it after the time, Willow often dreamt of Vamp Willow, who talked with her beguiled her in her sleep. When she woke, she'd always feel uneasy and on-edge.
Willow was pulled out of her thoughts when a sudden gust of cold wind swirled around her feet, bringing her attention to the door. Two girls walked in, the taller dressed androgynously and looking laid back. Willow's attention, however, was immediately drawn to the girl next to her, coffee-coloured hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back, dark eyes subtly surveying the room in front of her. Her eyes met with Willow's for a brief second, and a smile curled over her tanned face. She whispered something to the boyish girl and set off, making a beeline for Willow and Xander's table.
"Whoa, hot girl at twelve o'clock and making a beeline for us, Will." Xander ogled at her.
Will shuddered a bit "I dunno Xander, she's looking at me all creepy,"
"Leave it to the Xand-master, she'll be all over me in a matter of moments." He replied with humorous confidence, slicking his hair back in an attempt to look suave.
Willow's lips quirked into a half-smile at her friend's antics. A while ago, she would have found it cute, but now Xander was too much of a friend- almost a permanent fixture- to illicit such feelings.
The girl sidled up to their table and placed her elbows on the top, leaning towards Willow. "Evening," she said, her voice husky. "Couldn't help but notice that you aren't looking so happy. Cute girl like you should be out there dancin',"
Willow blushed at the girl so obviously coming on to her. "uhhh…" she stared blankly into those deep, murky eyes that seemed to draw her in. "I'm… uh… I'm okay, thanks,"
The girl raised her eyebrows mockingly. "Sure?" Willow nodded profusely and tried to look anywhere but at the girl. "Well, if you change your mind, I'll be around. Name's Kennedy." With that, she stalked off towards the bar.
Xander sat in shocked silence, drink in hand. After he picked his jaw up from the floor, he gulped nervously and managed three syllables. "That was hot."
Willow lit up like a christmas light again. "Xander!"
"What? Will, you just got hit on by a girl. A totally hot girl."
They both jumped a mile in the air when the third stool scraped back.
"Buffy!" Willow laughed/shouted, steadying her thumping heart. "Please, no sneaky-uppy-ness, I don-"
"Buff, Willow just got hit on by a girl!" Xander cut in, eyes shining with excitement.
"oooh, much has happened in the hours I have been keeping Sunny-D's undead population company. Tell!"
Willow put her head on the table. "Please noooo… I'm already embarrassed enough!"
"These two hot girls walked in, and were like, wow, and this Latina one just locks eyes with Will straight away and strides up here. She was like…"
XOXOXOXOXOX
"…cute girl like you should be out there dancin'," Kennedy re-iterated, swirling her ice cubes around with the blue straw.
"Kinda forward of you, Kenn," Chris replied, eyes scanning the room, finding where the redhead sat. "She is cute, though, I give you that…"
Kennedy chuckled. "All this time you're spending with me may be turning you kinda gay, C,"
"No way! I'm still totally into the whole penis thing. I just see it better from your point of view," the brunette smirked at her friend. "Kenny, I am still 100 percent straight."
"100 percent boring more like,"
Chris pushed her lightly before changing the subject. "So, you totally went… straight… haha…never mind, straight for her as soon as we got in. What was up?"
Kennedy sighed contentedly. "She's like a damn geyser of magic, C. Just being around her is like, breathtaking. She has no idea how much there is, it's totally wild!"
Chris frowned. "Surely that's kinda dangerous?"
"Only if she bottled it up inside her. She's just letting it leak out, so no harm done unless someone absorbs it and uses it." The blonde gave a soft 'oh' of understanding. "I dunno if being all witchy has the desired effect, though…"
"But, if it's you doing it, surely the same thing would happen?"
Kennedy shook her head. "I don't think that's how it works. It's all about the mix, ya know?"
"no, I don't know. You don't know. We can only make an educated guess."
"C, getting all brainy on me here."
Chris laughed sofly. "Sorry, I sometimes forget you're so dumb."
"Shut it!"
The two of them turned as a blonde girl walked up. "Heeeey," Kennedy said, looking her once down. "What's up?"
"Hi. Just here to stake you." She replied, puling a pointy piece of wood from her jeans and making a stab and Kennedy's chest. The brunette caught it just in time.
"What the fuck are you doing, crazy bitch? You don't just go around staking people!"
"Of course not. I go around staking vampires."
Kennedy gave her a confused look. "vampires? Fangs and bats and stuff?"
Buffy hesitated for a moment. This girl really did look like she had no idea as to what was going on. "If you're human, why does my friend-" she gestured to Willow, who gave a cheery wave, then realised it was probably not very appropriate and abruptly stopped, "-tell me that you have a dark aura?"
Kennedy did a signature eyebrow raise. "what, kind of like yours?" Buffy looked incredulous. "You're a slayer. I'm a potential slayer. Same creepy aura."
"potential slayer?"
"Yeh. You know, when the current slayer dies, one of the potentials gets bumped up to super-slayer status?"
A look of recognition crossed Buffy's features. "ooooh… Giles said something about that, but I wasn't listening…" She looked hard at Kennedy. "eh… I'm still not totally convinced, but for now, want to come over to our table and explain?"
Kennedy turned to Chris. "you okay to go find some icky guys for a bit? I'm gonna go with she-ra here,"
"Yeh, it's cool. I'll meet you out back when you're done?" Kennedy nodded. "Cool. Cya, Kenn."
The parted and Kennedy followed Buffy over to the table with the cute redhead on, grinning manically. The girl got redder as she approached, finally conceding to shuffle behind the tall, dark-haired boy's jacket.
Buffy spoke up. "Hey guys. This is, uh… Ken, is it?"
"Kennedy, but call me whatever."
"This is Kennedy. I gather-" she looked at Willow and Xander, "- you've already met?"
"All too briefly," Xander said. Kenendy thought she could see I bit of drool escaping his mouth. She put aside her dislike for boys and concentrated on the task at hand. "I'm Xander, this timid creature is Willow, and the overexcited girl with the stake is Buffy. Nice to meet you,"
"Likewise," Kennedy replied, staring at Willow.
"I can see why you mistook her for a vamp, Buff, that gaze is kinda predator-y." the only male present tried to break the ice.
"Yeh. But, the dark aura thing, Will, she says it's because she's a potential slayer," buffy explained, gesturing for Kennedy to take a seat.
Willow scratched her head. "Now you mention it, you do kinda have the same aura… I just assumed that yours was from hanging out with vamps all the time…"
Kennedy crossed her arms indignantly. "You couldn't have mentioned this before she tried to stick a log in my chest?"
Willow whimpered and held Xander's jacket tighter. "S-sorry!" Kennedy softened and nearly sqealed.
"That-is-the-cutest-thing!" she said under her breath.
"Sorry, what was that? " Buffy asked, turning to the potential slayer.
Kennedy didn't miss a beat. "I wondered if you guys all, y'know, slay together and stuff?"
Xander replied. "Well, me and Will don't really do much staking, we're more like support. Buffy does our dirty work."
"Cool."
It was Buffy's turn to speak. "So, are you new in town? I haven't seen you at Hellmouth High before, or UC Sunny-D, but they're both big places, people are easy to miss..."
"Yeh, me and Chris have been moving around a bit, but I reckon we might stay here a while. It's nice and chock full of nasties to beat the crap out of."
"That's my job!"
Copyright Kennedy eyebrow maneuver. "Come on. I've been here, like, an hour, and I've already seen at least four graveyards. It's a lot for one girl,"
"Well… I guess it would be nice… but you're not a proper slayer. I don't want to have to watch another back." Buffy explained, glancing around the room for any sigh of things that go bump in the night.
"Oh trust me, that is not an issue. My Watcher trained me in multiple forms of melee combat, defense and martial arts."
"You have a Watcher?"
"Had. Vampires murdered her. Chris was her daughter, so we upped and left New York and kept moving, 'cause we didn't fancy the same fate. But now we're here and there's a proper slayer around, we can probs relax for a while."
"Probs? Who says probs?" Willow blurted out, immediately covering her hand with her mouth in horror. "I'm sorry Ma'am Kennedy Sir, I didn't mean it-"
"You don't have to be scared of me, Willow. I… don't bite,"
Willow inched out from behind Xander. "Oh… okay." Kennedy smiled warmly, and turned around to meet Chris, who was looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"C?"
Buffy turned to Willow and Xander. "I so just got major Faith vibes from that." They nodded in agreement.
"Hey, Kenny. I went out back, but some guy and his girl are sucking neck. Fuck-ugly guy, too."
Xander spoke up. "So, you do the whole 'Kennedy, patron saint of girls in distress' thing now?"
"Wait a minute, Xander." Buffy looked worried. "Exactly how… um, ugly, was this guy?"
Chris, leaned against the table nonchalantly. "The usual. A bit lumpy-bumpy, all bite and no bark kinda ugly. Thought that stake-girl should know, so she can find a more appropriate place for that thing than Kenn's chest."
"Take a break, you said. Relax at the Bronze, you said. Really, I should just patrol here- more vampires than all the graveyards combined…" Buffy ranted and she strode off, stake in hand.
Chris laughed a bit. "She's right there," she whispered to Kennedy, who caught the laugh and added her own, louder snigger. "Anyway, Kenny and I are gonna call it a night. We probs have to enroll in school if we stay here for a while, so we'll see you around, yeh?"
"yeh… I hope so…" Xander waved dreamily as they both walked off.
Kennedy turned to Chris, smirk illuminating her face. "You're totally besotted!" Chris exclaimed, opening the door. A sudden rush of cold air made her shiver.
"And you're totally human," kennedy laughed, taking off her jacket and handing it to the blonde. "And they're totally stupid."
"I know!" Chris cried, pulling the extra layer on. "Vampire Slayer? More like karate prom queen, p-lease."
"Thank you." Kennedy replied, surveying the town before them. "I was gonna suggest that we find a nice mausoleum to nap in, but you're kind hypothermic…"
"Motel?"
Kennedy gave her a look. "Do I look nice or rich enough for a motel? Nope, we're gonna go get our stuff from my car and find a nice, cozy little cubbyhole somewhere in that school and make camp."
"Sleep in school? Kenn, you hate school, and you only went there for like 6 hours a day. Sure you could cope with living in one?"
"I could easily cope with living anywhere on a hellmouth, C," She replied.
XOXOXOXOXOX
Willow grasped the edge of her bedcovers so tightly that her knuckles went white. The full moon outside shone through her French windows, creating strange, deep shadows that seemed to ripple. Since Oz had gone, full moon was a time of relative peace for Willow, but today, she was petrified with fear. She felt something approaching, something sinister.
All too suddenly, a famililar dream played before her eyes. The moon misted over red and the shadows rose up to form the shapes of people. They leered at her through invisible eyes, inching towards her bed. "stop," she whimpered. "you're not real, I'm not afraid of you,"
"I'm insulted. You of all people know how real I am, Fuzzy," the same, smooth voice that reverberated around her head. "what are you afraid of, Willow?"
Willow pushed herself further up her bed. "y-you,"
"But Fuzzy, I'm you. Don't tell me you're afraid of yourself?" Vamparic Willow stepped from the shadows and sat at the foot of the bed, grin showing off her pearly white fangs.
Willow shook her head profusely, scrunching her eyes shut. "you're not me. You may look like me and s-speak like me, but you're not me. You're not real. It's just a dream. Just a dream…" Willow trailed off as she felt hot breath on her neck. Vamp Willow lay on her, pinning her down, lips tantalizingly close to her neck.
"I'm you, Will. I'm all your guilt, your darkness, your deepest, most evil desires…" her alter-ego whispered into her ear, sensually running a cool finger up and down Willow's neck. "You can make all these dreams stop, Will. You can get rid of all your fear."
"Just give in, Willow…"
"Give in…"
No more fear, no more weakness… you know you want that. You want to be someone.
"Not just Buffy's sidekick, some amateur witch and computer geek…" Tears formed in Willow's eyes as she struggled against the barrage of voices. She desperately tried to pull away, but she was held tightly. Looking up into her own eyes, filled with lust and bestiality, boring into her very soul- it was agony. "You can stop it Will. You can't get up because secretly, in your darkest moments, you want this. You want it more than anything…"
One little bite, Fuzzy. You'll hardly feel a thing, I promise…
Words choked in Willow's throat. "N…" she struggled, eyes drooping, the red shadows advancing. "N…no…"
Darkness enveloped her, two sharp pinpricks on her neck, then-
"NO!" Willow shot up, sending her bedcovers flying. The sky glowed with early morning light, birds chirping and the sound of a couple of cars slowly cruising down the road outside pulling her back into reality. Willow breathed heavily, cupping her face in her hands to hide her tears. "That was the closest I've ever been… I could hardly say no. She's right. I'm evil, evil, guilty, dark- all of it." Her common sense kicked in. "get a hold of yourself, Willow Rosenberg. You're a good girl. You say your prayers and get good grades and don't lie to your friends…"
XOXOXOXOXOX
"You okay, Will? You look tired…" Buffy asked as they walked through the halls of UC Sunnydale, heading for their first classes of the day.
"Yeh, I just couldn't get much sleep last night. Um… you know, full moon always makes me think of Oz, how he's doing and stuff…" Buffy gave a sympathetic smile and adjusted her bag. "That must suck for you."
"Mmm. But, Buffy, I'm branching out, you know. I'm going to the campus Wicca group today."
Buffy smiled. "Good on you." They both stopped to see Xander helping to pin up a big, pink banner that said 'Lesbian Alliance' on it. "Hey, Xander!" she called out.
"Oh, Hey Buffy, hey Will." He called back, climbing down the ladder. He saw their odd looks at the banner. "Okay, I'll come out. I'm a lesbian, guys."
"I thought you had to be a girl to be one," Willow asked, confused look on her face.
Buffy gave her a look. "He's joking, Will."
"Oh,"
Xander smirked. "You should invite your vampy-alter-ego, Will. She seemed like the type." Willow froze, suddenly uncomfortable, flashes of her dreams surfacing. The shrill ring of the bell saved her, meaning she really needed to get to class. She wished goodbye to Xander and Buffy and set off. She rushed through the hall and around the corner, accidentally bumping into someone, and her books scattered all over the floor.
"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" she said, bending down to pick up the books. A hand fell on top of hers, smooth and tanned. She looked up to see a familiar face. "Oh… hi, um, Kennedy."
"Hey," Kennedy replied, standing up and taking her books from Willow. "I wasn't kidding when I said that me and C were coming to school,"
Willow gulped a bit. She still couldn't shake how oddly scared she was of this girl. "Oh, uh, cool. What class are you taking?"
"Dunno yet." She shrugged, showing willow the empty notebook and binder. "I'm on my way to the office, but I'm kinda lost…"
Willow bit her lip. Her conscience said that she should show her the way, but sense said that she had to get to class. "I could show you, if you want?"
"Really? You're so sweet," Kennedy grinned and followed Willow.
XOXOXOXOXOX
Willow sat at the front of her class taking notes mechanically, but her mind was far, far away. She shuddered at the look in Kennedy's eyes; it reminded her of the look of in her own last night. It was confusing. When she had first appeared, Vamp Willow had been a separate entity, from a different world, which just happened to look exactly the same and have the same name. As time had worn on, however, the Vamp Willow of her dreams had become a part of her personality. She knew Willow's past, her thoughts, and her desires. The psychologist in Willow told her that she had just given her bad personality traits an image to work from behind, but it seemed so much more real than that. Willow could recall the feeling of being pressed to the bed, the hot breath on her neck- she was sure that she hadn't imagined that, but how was that possible? Vamp Willow was gone, and she had been in a nightmare.
"It's all too confusing!" she muttered, forcefully putting her pencil down onto her desk.
"Do you have a problem with our analysis of Freud's theory, Miss Rosenberg?"
Willow blushed with embarrassment. She had spoken aloud by accident. "No, Sorry professor…"
"Good," The professor replied. "Then you can tell us the fundamental reasons that spurred Freud to conduct his study of sexuality?"
XOXOXOXOXOX
Kennedy slammed the door behind her and swiftly unlocked the trapdoor, lithely dropping down. She observed the place that she and Chris had decided to stay: as with any good school on a hellmouth, one of the janitor's closets had a surreptitious trapdoor that led to a previously unused storage room. Once they had swept the meters of dust to one side and padlocked the entrance, it was cozy. The room was about 4x6m, with central heating pipes all along one wall. Conveniently, the girls' toilets were right next to the janitor's closet, and there was a vent where the pipes exited the room, so it was okay to use the paraffin cooker.
Chris stirred in her sleeping bag. "mornin' kenn… s'already time to get up?"
"C, that was 5 hours ago. It's lunchtime now, and you missed the first morning of lessons." Kennedy replied impatiently, searching for her wallet amongst the piles of crap that had already accumulated. "You wanna come? Rumour has it that today is Taco day."
"Kenny, I just realized something…" Chris said as she wiggled out of her sleeping bag and groped around for some clothes. "We're both too young for college."
"And?"
Chris rolled her eyes. "No offence, Kenn, but you aren't exactly a whiz kid. You were failing junior year high school, and now you're jumping straight to college?
"And you, at junior age high school, were passing senior year."
"I may be able to do your homework, but there's tests and class and stuff,"
"I'll just get Willow to help me study." Kennedy wiggled her eyebrows. Chris huffed and buttoned up her shirt.
"Kenny, she practically wet herself last night. She's really scared of you."
"There's where you're wrong." The brunette explained. "a ha!" she held her wallet up with pride. "Yeh, I talked to her this morning. She showed me the way to the office to sort out what classes I would be taking."
"whoa." Chris replied. "You're faster than usual."
"Yeh. I really, really want her. This is the first place that I've stayed at for more than a night."
"That may be partially due to the fact that she's straight." Kennedy snorted. "Straight Shmaight," she retorted, crossing her arms. "Have I ever failed before?"
"Yes," Chris said smugly, gesturing to herself.
"Hell, you were my best catch ever. Screw a one-night stand, you followed me to California, took care of me when I went through the rough transition, and continue to cook the nicest pot noodle I've ever tasted. You're the catch, C."
The serious moment lasted a full second until the both started sniggering uncontrollably. Through the laughter, Chris spoke.
"That is the single sappiest thing I have ever heard you say, Kenny."
"And you love it." Kennedy's stomach gave a loud gurgle. "I think that means time for lunch."
XOXOXOXOXOX
Buffy, Xander and Willow sat on a bench outside the main college building, relaxing and munching their lunches in the sun.
"This is the life, eh Buffy?" Xander asked as he wolfed down half a sandwich. "No Vamps, no Demons, plenty of sunshine and a marmite sandwich."
Willow shuddered. "Marmite is so eww."
Buffy listened to her friends argue about marmite. She was glad that things were seemingly normal between them all now, but she had her own insecurities about college. She was finding it harder to cope, whereas Willow was thriving and Xander was pulling through with his usual stoic attitude. Her life was like a long, never-ending schedule. Wake up, go to school, come home, patrol, sleep. Repeat until weekend, when it changes to wake up, do homework accumulated from past week, train, patrol, sleep. Buffy didn't know whether she preferred this or some kind of disruption that made life more interesting.
"Help! Someone! Anyone! Claire's been attacked! Help!" said distraction came in the form of a girl in Buffy's year running out into the courtyard, screaming in hysterics. The three of them immediately stood up and ran to her. "Claire! She's been attacked! Someone! H-help…" the girl broke off into sobs.
"Shhhh, it's okay. We'll get her. Where did you find her?" Willow asked, stroking her hair and shushing her.
"T-theatre…" she sniffed, clutching Willow. "Claire…"
Willow prized the girl off herself and into the arms of some other girl she didn't recognize before running to catch up with Xander and Buffy. "Thanks!" she called back to the girl, who nodded at her meekly.
They entered the theatre, Willow bringing up the rear. "brrr!" she said, rubbing her arms. "I forgot how frosty they keep it in here… oh." She stopped as they got up to the lighting and sound box. The chair was tipped over, the cables ripped from their sockets. A trail of splats of blood ran from the entrance to the corner, where a plump, blonde girl lay propped up against the wall, skin tinged an icy blue. Xander approached her cautiously.
"Claire? Can you hear us, Claire?" his words echoed around the room, but no response. He crouched down and took the headphones off from around her neck to reveal two small circular punctures on the white flesh, blood trickling from them. He turned to Buffy. "sucked dry."
Buffy frowned. "It's the midday and the sun is beating down. Unless a vampire was waiting in here somewhere for, like, a whole day, it's impossible."
Willow suddenly cried out. "Ow!" she cupped her hands over her ears. "I just heard someone scream out for help with their thoughts. Somewhere outside!"
"We can't just leave her here."
Xander looked at Buffy. "She's not gonna turn. Buff. Do you want us to save someone who may have a chance, or lug a dead girl halfway across campus?"
Buffy conceded, and they followed Willow outside. Their eyes took a while to adjust to the harsh sunlight. They ran across campus, garnering odd looks from some peacefully munching students. The redhead skidded around a corner to see Kennedy panting, stake in hand. Huddled against the wall was the girl from earlier, that Willow had given the duty of babysitting Claire's hysterical friend.
Willow rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" she asked urgently. "Please don't say the vamp got another one!"
"No, no, I got him before he could take a chomp out of Tara here," Kennedy said between breaths, pointing to the girl. "Damn, I've never faced one who could walk around in daylight before. He was tough."
Buffy facepalmed. "Ugh. I thought I only had to deal with creepies after the sun set. Now it turns out that some can play in the sun, too? Goodbye, potential life. We had a brief affair, but it was not to be…" she walked in a circle ranting to herself while Willow checked to see if Tara was okay.
"What happened?" She asked, checking her pulse and neck. She was unharmed.
"I-I don't really k-know… one minute y-you gave me I-izzie… and the next I was being c-chased by this speeding blur with red eyes… and the next, the girl in the denim j-jacket stood panting and you came round the c-corner…" she started hyperventilating.
"Shh, It's okay, Tara. He's gone. I heard your loud mental scream, but Kennedy got here faster. The vampire is dead- well, deader- and you're unharmed." She held the girl in an embrace while she regained normal breathing.
"Y-you heard my mental s-scream?" Tara asked, blue eyes wet with tears. Willow smiled warmly. "Yeh," she replied. "You must have accidentally-"
"n-no," Tara cut in. "I meant to do it. I just wasn't sure if anyone could hear it… so you must be a w-w-witch,"
"Well," Willow's modesty got the better of her. "I wouldn't say witch, but I do know one or two tricks…"
From over under the shade of a tree, Kennedy stood seething. "Get your paws of my Willow, bitch!" she mumbled, glaring at Tara. "She's mine, kay? You got lucky this time, but you're top of the hit list now…"
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