Chapter One

Miss Buffy Summers

"Buffy try keep in control." A curly haired mother told her teenage, daughter, Buffy as she exited the car. Buffy gave a bit of a smile looking away.

"I remember mom, new school, new start with zero super powers or violence. Trust me! I'm fifteen, I'm completely in control!" She grinned flashing her pearly whites, before turning towards Sunnydale high. Her smile dropped "If only I could trust me." She sighed before heading up the stairs towards the front door.

Just as she'd made it up the stairs she found herself crashing into someone. "Wow, sorry about that." She laughed kneeling down to pick up her books, unaware of the brunet male she'd entranced. "Do I know you?" He asked in awe of her looks.

"Um, probably not, I'm Buffy, I'm new." She told him. "See you around or something." She smiled before continuing towards the school. The brunet blinked snapping out of his trance before realizing he was holding something of hers. "Hey wait! You dropped your… pointy stick?"

It didn't take long for Buffy to make friends; she walked out of her third period class with a tall, popular brunette named Cordelia.

"So do you have lunch right now?" Cordelia questioned the shorter blond.

"Yep."

"Great, so you can go down to the library, which is just down that hall to your left. You should be able to get some books to help you catch up from there. And then you can catch up with us. We'll teach you how to get around the school and who to hang with, and who not to." Cordelia said, giving a distinct look towards a redhead in a big, pink sweater covered with daisies who immediately looked down in discomfort.

Buffy entered a large, empty, library, filled with books. She bent over the checkout counter in search of a librarian. "Hello?" She called a moment before straightening up. "Hello." Came a replied.

Buffy gasped in surprise, but calmed seeing to was only a stuffy looking British, librarian, with large reading glasses perched on his nose. "Hi." She said a bit testily on account of the surprise. "I'm new to Sunnydale high, and I was looking for-" A smile quickly stretched across his face before he cut her off.

"I know exactly what you're looking for!" He announced ducking down and returning with a thick, ancient looking book, and dropping it on the counter before her. Her hazel eyes widened, and she took a step backwards, rubbing her palms against her small, silky skirt. The word 'Vampyr' was inscribed in gold on the brown leather cover. "No… No, that's not what I'm looking for." She told him ill at ease. He looked down at the cover "Oh I'm sorry. Uh, what was it-" He stopped speaking at the sound of the door swinging shut.

That evening Buffy sat before the television watching the news. "These mutants are dangerous! They have inconceivable powers, and without being able to recognize them the-"

"Buffy!" Her mother called as the sound of her footsteps neared the living room. Buffy quickly straightened up and switched the channel to a soap opera. "Buffy there you are. Look at this." She sighed heavily. Buffy bit her lips trying not to laugh. Her mother's curly, blond hair was so short it was now an Afro.

"Nice look mom, maybe next week you could try out some dreads." She remarked.

"Haha." She laughed dryly. "I was in such a good mood after work today about this new start, it was so exciting, so I decided to get a hair cut to go with the whole 'new thing' and unfortunately I chose a really bad stylist." She took in a deep breath. "There's no way in hell I'm going into some place and asking for smoothing gel with this on my head; you're the girl, get going." She announced.

"Great plan mom, only I don't know where the nearest salon is." She pointed out. Her mother smiled before holding up a small piece of paper.

"Address."

Buffy had been walking down the dark street for a while; she paused a moment rolling her eyes as she pulled her baby blue jacket closer to herself before deciding to turn into the ally to her right. "Okay, you can quit the stalker routine, I know you're there." She announced. "Now come out so I can kill you." She instructed. She raised her eyebrows when the man showed himself. "Tall, dark and handsome. Young girls must be easy for you, too bad I know what you are." She remarked raising her fists. "It's not what you think." He told her, just as she delivered a powerful kick sending him to the ground.

She looked down at him with her boot pressed into his chest. "What should I think?" She demanded.

"You're standing on the mouth of hell, the harvest is coming." He looked up at her with wide innocent brown eyes. She looked back at him intensely.

"I can't read your mind. Why can't I read your mind?" She demanded.

"What?" He asked. She removed her foot from his chest and paced away.

"Well I guess I never tried to read one… What do you want?" She demanded. By this time the man had gotten up "Don't try and trick me, I'll kill you." She warned becoming defensive again.

"I'm a friend." He said tossing something at her. She caught it reflexively. It was a black velvet box. She looked back up at him with a jeer. "What if I don't want a friend?" She demanded.

"I never said I was yours." He replied, before walking off coolly into the night and disappearing into the blackness. Buffy looked after him a moment before opening the small black box. Inside sat a shiny cross on a thin silver chain. She lifted it out graciously.

Buffy exited the salon with a small white bag in hand, pleased that her mission had been fulfilled. She sighed dreaming of getting home and being able to give herself that bubble bath she'd been dreaming of ever since she'd gotten into the little brawl in the ally. The last thing she wanted was to be the weird, new, stinky dirty girl. It had tarnished her popularity last time…

Unfortunately her dreams of the bubble bath were put on hold when a redhead fell into her arms. Suddenly she felt it. Her eyes grew large at the sight of the vampire with his fangs sunk into a boy's neck, while another one beat at it in horror. She quickly straightened up the girl before launching into action. She rolled him off of the boy only to find herself under the pale creature. "This was not how this was supposed to go." He grinned baring his fangs, coming in for the kill only to hiss and writhe away at the sight of the shiny, silver cross adorning her neck. Buffy acknowledged her gift by squeezing it gently in thanks before flipping up to her feet.

"Hey, uh, Buffy!" called the guy who'd been beating at the vampire. Buffy turned to find him next to the redhead who was cradling the victim. "You dropped this at school!" he told her tossing her, her stake. She caught it just as the vampire jumped at her. She ducked letting it fly over her before turning and kicking it off its feet. He struggled to get to its feet but it seemed to be pinned down. Buffy plunged the stake into its chest. "So much for Buffy in control." She murmured before straightening up and dusting off her dark pants.

Now she looked at the people she'd just rescued, she recognized them from Sunnydale high. The brunet she'd run into on her way into the school, and the redhead had been the girl Cordelia had looked at disdainfully. "Stay awake Jesse." The redhead pleaded the boy laying her arms. "Oh my God, Oh my God! What do we do?!" Panicked the redhead. Buffy looked around in worry, hoping no one had seen her while she'd been in action, while trying to think clearly.

"Uh, Um, uh call for an ambulance!" She instructed.

"Right, ambulance, no worries Will, I'll go call and ambulance I've got a quarter. Um only what do I tell them? Some scary, mutant, vampire jumped out at us and bit our friend?" He asked.

"Not a mutant." Buffy bit out, "It was just a vamp." She corrected. The pair only stared at her. She shook her head. "Tell them a rabid dog, jumped out and attacked your friend okay. I-I have to get home, I'm not supposed to being involving myself with these… things." She announced before beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" Called the brunet. "Buffy!" She stopped walking, and slowly turned to face them. "Can't you stick around a while longer?" He asked giving her a goofy, nervous smile. "I mean you seem to know what to do… and in case a pal or two of his decides to come around looking for him…" He pressed his lips together shrugging. "They won't. They generally tend to hunt alone, and if they don't they'd show up in a pack." She told them before turning away again.

Buffy stood next to Willow the redhead and Xander who was the boy she'd run into. Rest of the school was surrounding her as well but she felt distant. The Principal was talking about Jesse; he'd passed away the night of the attack. She couldn't help but wonder if that was her fault. If she'd been prepared it may have been different, if she'd accepted her responsibilities and not run from them Jesse may have lived. But then again it was because of this that she'd caused her parents to separate. This caused so much trouble. Destruction and death followed her no matter what happened, no matter who she tried to be. Her hazel eyes welled with tears, and she slid her sunglasses over her eyes to conceal her sorrow.

The memorial ended. She turned towards the two friends "I'm sorry about what happened to Jesse. I wish I could have done something more but I failed." She frowned before beginning to turn away. "Hey." Willow said gripping her shoulder, causing her to turn back towards them. "Buffy, we don't blame you for what happened last night. It was scary and traumatizing, and something we probably won't forget even after a couple years of therapy and we still can't believe that something so terrible could happen to one of our friends, but it was totally not your fault. If anything you saved us. After Jesse who knows, we could've been next." Willow told her. "You would have been next." Buffy blurted. "And it was my fault, it was my job. I shouldn't have let it have happened." She announced, before turning on her heel and storming away.

"She's certainly not a masochist." Xander commented.

Buffy burst into the library looking around finding it empty again. "Alright where are you?!" She demanded pushing her glasses up on her head. There was nothing but anger in her eyes now, and she didn't mind hiding it. "Oh it's you." The librarian said poking his head out from behind a shelf of books.

"So I guess you already know that guy died from a vampire attack. I couldn't save him. I didn't want to save him; I don't want to be a part of this fight. Do you know what could happen if someone sees me pulling any of those moves?! They'll think I'm a mutant! Only mutants fight like me and heal like me, and how the hell do you even know if I'm not just a mutant! Just because…" The librarian cut her off.

"No, you are not a mutant. You are the Slayer, one in all the world, destined to stop the forces of evil. You are from a line of Slayers, you do not have the X gene that the mutants possess." She looked back up at him with sorrow now in her eyes. He softened his voice "The Watcher's council knows how to find The Slayer, they can decipher her from a mutant."

"Well I guess I failed pretty bad at my old school huh? The council's got two watchers on me." She murmured, before taking in a breath wanting to shrug off the intensity of the moment. "Two?" asked the librarian. Buffy pulled herself to sit up on the counter. "Ya, you…" She trailed off lifting a gold stand up nametag that stood on the counter that read 'Rupert Giles' "Mr. Giles… and some weirdly handsome guy who said he was…" She trailed off in thought "Actually he didn't say who he was, aside from 'a friend' and apparently not mine." She shrugged, setting down the gold piece again. "Then again he was a vampire, so how could he be?" She rambled on, not realizing Giles spark of interest at this new information. "But the weird part was he gave me this." She pulled forward the silver cross that hung from her neck. Giles removed his glasses to take a closer look. "It came in handy last night when I almost got bitten…" She whispered looking away as the memory of Jesse dying in Willows arms resurfaced. "A vampire, giving the slayer gifts this is most unusual. Did he know who you were?" Giles questioned.

"I thought so, when his pick up line had something to do with the Mouth of Hell and Harvest things, or do all vampires do that when they like a Slayer?" She mocked.

"Mouth of Hell? Harvest? It seems as if he's given you quite a bit of information. Did he say anything else?" Giles prodded in interest.

"Don't think so."

It didn't take long for them to realize that the 'Mouth of Hell' was commonly known as the Hellmouth, and happened to be right under the very town they lived in. It was in fact a gateway to another dimension where nothing good lived.

"Okay, great so you figured out what the 'Mouth of Hell' is, so what the heck's this Harvest and will I end up with more holes in my neck because of it?" Cordelia demanded pointing at her bandaged neck. The group inhabiting the library consisting of Willow, Xander Giles and of course Buffy could only stare at her. "Because if so, I vote go Buffy kill, kill. That is if it makes it stop, because scars are just not fashionable." Xander chuckled.

"As usual Queen Cordelia can only worry that evil will lower her fashion status in the school." He commented.

"Hey, at least I can go lower Mr. I-need-acne-cream." She retorted.

Cordelia had recently been attacked by a mob of vampires claiming to work for the Master, and from there had decided to join Buffy and her friends meetings, or perhaps more accurately invade. "You know-" Xander's comeback was cut short by Willow's interruption.

"Hey guys, remember how we were all wondering who The Master was?" Willow asked looking around at her friends with worry in her eyes.

"He's the oldest vampire around and this 'Harvest' is about him getting out from underneath a church where he's trapped so he can open 'The Hellmouth' and that requires eating a lot of people, of the human variety, which means killing them, which means killing them, lots of them or him."

"Okay Will we get the point." Buffy interrupted.

"No, it's still important!" Willow protested. "He's looking to kill and turn someone in particular 'The Anointed One' he'll help kill the Slayer when the time comes to fight." She lowered her gaze as the library fell silent.

"Okay, easy!" Cordelia piped up. "We kill whoever they try and kill first so they aren't turned!" She smiled proudly. "That way there's no Anointed One." She explained as her smile fell at the looks she was getting. "Or we could just keep killing them instead." She muttered.

"Or we could do what Willow suggested, kill The Master." Giles said.

"But doesn't that mean Buffy dies? Don't we want Buffy to live?" Xander asked the silent audience. "I mean I vote Buffy lives." He said raising a hand. The silence remained.

"Look you guys, don't worry about it, just chill, I'll figure out what to do." The blonde announced. "Let's all just go home and forget about this. Okay?"

Buffy found herself pinned to a wall by two vampires as a blonde vampire neared her. "The Master doesn't want to put up with you or your friend's interference, so we figure, kill the slayer kill the lackey's hopes." She grinned; her face was now only a few inches away.

"You're not going to kill me." Buffy told her, looking into the vampire's feral, golden eyes. The blonde vampire only sneered, but found herself quickly looking down to find her toes barely touching the pavement. Before her eyes could fully widen in surprise she found herself thrown onto the pavement, with a much larger body pinning her. "Angelus." She gasped.

"Darla." He growled in return.

"You disappeared for so long; what they said was true then." She murmured, before switching positions with the off guard vampire.

Buffy had gotten free by now and had dusted the two vampires. Darla quickly picked up on this before taking off into the darkness.

Buffy ran towards the man that had saved her life "Angel are you alright?!" She cried out only to trip and fall into his chest.

"Whoa." Angel said straightening her up, as she blushed in embarrassment. "Ya, I'm good." He replied, looking down into her hazel eyes, as she stared back up equally captivated. Slowly she slid her tinier hand into his larger one. "She seemed really into you, you better walk with me just in case." She said coyly.

Buffy stood at her porch smiling at Angel "So, do I get a goodnight kiss?" She asked looking into his dreamy brown eyes. Angel immediately grew uneasy.

"I-I shouldn't." He protested, looking up to meet her gaze, which was meant to be for a split second, but catching the hurt in her green eyes, he paused trying to explain himself "I'm older than you." He murmured. Buffy moved closer to him.

"How much older?" She asked as her arms began to wrap him, he was far too entranced by her nearing pink lips to protest and before either one of them knew it they were locked in a kiss of passion. Suddenly he pulled away with a growl. "What's wrong?" Buffy asked in concern, forcing him to face her. Her eyes widened at the demon face, which looked back at her with gold feral eyes. Angel was running down the street before she had a chance to snap out of the daze; Although as soon as Buffy had come back to her senses she didn't waste a moment before running after him at full slayer speed. She could feel her pain and anger rising and it felt as if the world around her was trembling, the only problem was she didn't realize it actually was. Angel seemed to struggle to keep up his pace, and tripped and fell onto the pavement hard; it almost felt as if he'd been pushed. He shook his head from the fall and rolled over at he sound of nearing footfalls, and soon found the Slayer straddling him with he stake raised. "I was right that night in the alley! You were one of them. I can't believe I trusted you!" She cried furiously as tears began to well in her eyes no matter how hard she tried to fight them back. "When you helped me all those times they were just to win my trust, wasn't it?" She demanded "Are you the anointed one?! Are you here to kill me?!" She demanded suddenly fear was lacing her voice. Angel screamed in pain, it felt as if something was tearing at him burning him from the inside out. Buffy grew aware of the ground trembling the mail boxes flapped open and closed and lights flashed on and of as cars rose off of the ground. "Not again." She whispered, closing her eyes and forcing herself to clam down. She opened her eyes again when Angel's screaming had stopped. He stared up at her with confusion in his eyes, breathing hard. "What was that?" He demanded.

"Don't try and change the subject." She growled clutching her stake more tightly.

"That's right little slayer, you wanna stake this one, he's evil." Came a familiar female voice. Both Buffy and Angel looked up to find the blond vampire from earlier. "Darla." Angel tried to growl but it came out as a grunt.

"Nice to see you again Angelus." She smiled. Her face was human so Buffy could see she was very pretty. "I mean I'm evil and I can tell you he's a heck of a lot worse. Oh the things he's done." She smirked.

"You know each other?" Buffy snarled.

"Me and Angel? We go way back, back to the time when he used to kill little girls like you, little slayers like you. Oh and how he used to torture people like it was art." She had changed her face back into her vampire face. "Buffy," Angel whispered up to her pleadingly. "Run." He ordered. She looked down at him considering whether she should trust him or not but it was too late, everything went dark.

Everything was bleary, Buffy blinked a few times and bright green eyes came into focus. "Wakey wakey, sleeping beauty." Darla smiled "We were beginning to wonder if you would need a kiss from one of our princes to wake up again." She commented motioning towards a small army of lackeys behind her, but still large enough to frighten Buffy. She'd never fought more than three vampires at a time and even then she'd had help. She yanked at her hands but found they were bound above her head by chains; her feet were also bound together but by tape. "I sensed the other vampires." Buffy turned to find Angel bound as well.

"I thought of a fun way to deal with you two." Darla smiled. "Since my dear Angelus here is all tortured by his soul, and you Slayer, by some twisted fate have come to love him, you wouldn't mind helping him lose such a pesky thing? Now would you?" She asked. Buffy glared at him while Angel could only stare in horror. "There's no way you could do that Darla, the gypsies cursed me-" He began.

"That's the romour." She cut him off "And you know what else romour says lover?" She asked her lips just centimetres away from his. Buffy was angry with Angel for being a vampire, but even as this vampire came intimately close she could feel her blood boil. Angel flew back his chains breaking the process. Darla stared after him in shock "What the fuck?!" She demanded.

Buffy's eyes were wide "They're only slayer powers." She told herself.

While the vampires were distracted by Angel's sudden flight Buffy broke her chains and freed her legs. Vampires quickly became dust, and the only one left standing was Darla. "You won't dust me child." She growled backing away. She managed to kick the stake from Buffy's hand and tackled her down to the ground. "You want to know what the secret is to popping Angels' soul out?" She asked, looking down at Buffy with cold golden eyes.

"No she doesn't." Angel growled coming up behind her.

"Who's asking you?" Darla hissed sending an arm at him causing him to fall back. "One true moment of happiness." She grinned toothily, bringing her face uncomfortably close to Buffy's. "Guess what would make any man happy." She said gyrating her hips purposefully. Buffy's eyes widened at the blond vampires lewdness. "Well since you'll be dead you won't get to do it anymore," She grinned at her pun. "But don't worry I'll do it for you." Buffy's eyes flashed furiously and Darla screamed in pain as the feeling of being burned from the inside overwhelmed her. Darla burst into flames and became ash. Buffy flopped back down flat on the ground. She had just dusted a vamp with the sheer power of her mind.

"Where is she?!" Angel demanded jumping to his feet only to find Buffy lying on the ground of an abandoned warehouse.

"She went poof." Buffy murmured.

"Are you alright Buffy?" Angel asked noticing the distance in her eyes as he quickly came to help her up.

"Fine I guess." She replied. A thought suddenly entered Angel's mind.

"You don't still want to kill me do you?" He questioned.

"You have a soul…" Buffy murmured. "You're a good vampire." She murmured. Her eyes were glossy with tears again, but this time she wasn't going to cry. Kissed him on the mouth. "I'm so glad." She smiled, brushing a tear before it fell.

"Me too." Angel replied.

A man sitting in a wheelchair reading a book paused and shut his eyes. "It's her." He murmured.

"Are you sure about this Chris?" asked a Singaporean woman in her mid-forties, as she pushed the man in the wheelchair, who was approximately the same age.

"Nice to know you have faith in me, Mattea." He remarked.

"I trust you Chris." Mattea smiled ringing the doorbell of the summery house that they stood before. An attractive, woman with curly, blond hair opened the wooden door.

"Hello, can I help you?" she asked looking between the strangers at her doorstep.

"Mrs. Summers I presume?" Chris spoke up.

"Yes, are you friends of Hank's?" She asked motioning behind herself.

"No, I'm Professor Smith and my companion here is Mattea Tan, and we're actually here to speak to you about Miss Buffy Summers." Chris explained.

"Yes, we heard about her being special." Mattea agreed. The blond woman's eyes were wide.

"Look, leave her alone, she's just a 12 year old girl! Whatever you think is the matter with her…"

"No, Mrs. Summers you don't understand we want to help her." Mattea cut her off. Mrs. Summers could only stare between them, unsure of what to make of them. "If you don't mind, we'd like to speak with her before I can offer my help." Chris said just before the sound of breaking glass was heard in the background. The woman bit her lip.

"And it just exploded! Like bang!" Willow asked as Xander stared in interest.

"Well it was more like a Zzzzbkshzzzz!" Buffy corrected.

"That's great!" Xander exclaimed just as Cordelia stopped by.

"I hope this 'great' has something to do with those vampires because I just stopped here next to your loser group where rest of the school population can see me, being with your loser group." She commented.

"Gee Cordelia what an honour, and yes Buffy can dust vampires with the power of her mind." He said wiggling his fingers mysteriously. "I wonder if she can do the same to you."

"Shut up Xander." Cordelia replied. "That's great news, right? That means you can just vaporise the Master from right here with your brain and he won't have the chance to kill you before you kill him, unless he can make you explode with the power of his mind…" she trailed off.

"It's not that easy." Buffy replied. "I can't really control it, I've never really been able to control it."

"Oh super." Cordelia sighed. "Well I think people are starting to gossip now so I'm going to be away from you guys now." With that Cordelia marched away.

"It's unheard of." Giles announced looking up at Buffy from his book. "Slayers are born with super senses such as super strength, and agility and even premonitions but no slayer can kill a vampire with just the power of their mind. This is quite strange."

"I wonder if perhaps we should put her in a trance like state to study her mind." Giles thought, as he putting his cup of tea to his lips.

"What! No! No putting me in a trance!" Buffy protested. Giles looked at her in surprise.

"I'm quite certain I did not say that out loud since I was sipping at my tea as I thought that." He told her. "Are you reading my thoughts?" He demanded.

Mattea sat in a cushioned seat next to Christopher, looking at a small dark haired girl. Her body was slight, her nose was small yet pointy, and her eyes were large, hazel and expressive for a girl her age. She was most certainly pretty.

"Hank'll be up in a second, our piping was destroyed last night…" She said looking towards the small girl before looking away quickly. "I'll go get you some refreshments, how rude of me!" she said before turning and exiting the room, wringing her hands nervously. Seconds after she'd left the French doors slammed shut. Mattea and Christopher flinched in surprise.

"They don't need to be a part of this. It makes them act weird." The preteen announced.

"You're reading our thoughts." Christopher broadcast telepathically suddenly. Mattea chuckled.

"She's clever. I like her." Mattea announced.