Chapter 1: The Call
Buffy Summers was asleep when her phone rang at 3 AM. It took her a couple of tries, but her seeking hand finally found it in the dark and lifted it to her ear.
"Lo?" she said sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her other hand.
"Buffy?"
"Giles? What's wrong?" she said, suddenly alert at the librarian's voice.
"I'm not quite sure yet."
"Aren't you in like, Spoons or Forks or Knives somewhere in the woods?" she mumbled.
"Forks, Washington. Yes. I called because of Maurice… It doesn't appear as though he was mauled by a bear."
"You're thinking it's a vamp?" she asked, sitting up in bed.
"I think so. The M.E. wouldn't let me actually examine the body. I only got a quick look, but it is certainly reminiscent of a vampire attack. Poor Maurice." he said sadly. Buffy felt a pang of sympathy.
"I'm so sorry Giles. I'll do whatever I can to help. Do you need me to mail you some books?" She yawned into the phone, and heard Giles chuckle.
"I was thinking that you should come up here and assist me."
Buffy reeled. "Giles, I'm sorry, I really am, but I don't have the time or money to go all the way to Knowwheresville! I mean, exams are in two weeks, it's the height of demon season… I know you feel bad about Maurice, but we're on the Hellmouth here."
"Buffy, it's more than that. It would only be a couple of days, and Walter, that's my colleague helping me with Maurice's things, offered to pay your tickets. After I saw Maurice, I did some investigating… and I found a dead mountain lion in the woods. Same type of injuries. Two deer as well. Something is out there, very hungry, that has progressed to killing humans."
"Can't the police kill it?" she asked irritably. The high demon count, large amount of homework, and late hour were catching up to her.
"They believe it's a bear."
"Ok, what about the mauling screams 'vampire'?"
"The bones crushed to powder, the two clear puncture marks on the neck."
"Normal vampires can't crush bones like that though… I mean they're strong, but not that strong." she said, thinking aloud.
"That's what worries me."
"Life wasn't complicated enough, so the vamps discovered steroids."
Giles chuckled. "Perhaps it's some type of demon."
"Oh, last night Angel and I fought this really ugly thing… it was all slimy and had these huge antlers. Maybe one of those?"
"No, that's a chaos demon. This is different. Be at the airport tomorrow after school, at 3. Willow and Xander too, they'll want to come and Willow could be helpful."
"Then why Xander?"
"Because if we don't let him come, he'll be quite the ass upon our return."
"True. Angel?"
"He needs to stay there and keep the other demons under control. He won't like it, but its how it has to be."
"Ok, sounds like a plan. But Giles?"
"Yes?"
Buffy smiled to herself in the dark. "You get to tell my mom"
Later, On the Plane
"Where's Xander?" Buffy asked irritably.
"Cordelia said he forgot something in his car." Willow announced. "So he went with her to get it."
"Now is not the time for their kind of goodbye…" Buffy said with an eye roll.
Willow and Oz smiled at that.
"Bye Will." Oz said. He was holding Willow's hand tightly, and Buffy could tell that he loathed letting her go. She wished for her Angel. Damned daylight.
"Bye, Oz." she whispered, kissing him lightly. Oz released her hand, then turned and walked away, glancing back at Willow repeatedly.
"Aw, he looks just like a little lost puppy." Will said, biting her lip. "I wanna squeeze him!"
Xander popped up, breathing heavily and very red in the face.
"So, it's off to Silverware town, is it?" he panted.
"Yep. And Forks jokes? Way overdone." Buffy said, flinging her bag over her shoulder and stepping onto the plane. A perky flight attendant greeted them as they took their seats.
"How was Giles holding up? Maurice and him were good friends right?" Xander asked.
"Yes, Maurice was a Watcher for awhile… but his slayer only lived three days. Five vamps at once." Buffy explained. She didn't like the story, because she remembered all too well her first days as a slayer. The fear, the confusion, all melted in with an inescapable sense of purpose… then to feel that purpose drain away with your own blood, while staring into the face of evil that was your job to defeat? To know another would be selected, and possibly meet the same fate? The thought was almost more than Buffy could bear, so it was easy to understand why Maurice Ryder fled to Forks. Too bad something followed.
"That's awful." Willow said, shuddering.
"Yeah." Xander said gloomily.
"He was important to Giles. So we have to do the best we can to fix whatever this is, ok guys?"
"We'll turn those bastards into kebabs." Xander growled.
"We'll dust them so hard, they'll need to be vacuumed." Willow said, brightening. "That was a pretty good one!"
"Good job, Will." Buffy said, smiling at her friends. No matter what they faced, they had each other, and for her that was enough to chase the chills away.