Prologue
Once upon a time, about two weeks ago, there was a cruise ship, the S.S. Tipton, setting sail for Rosewood, California. It was a popular tourist destination, but this particular ship was different. There were witches, demons, and anything else one could think of. Whatever was going to happen was going to be epic.
Chaper 1: Lonely Hearts
"This sucks," Spencer groaned.
"What's wrong?" Toby asked, obviously concerned.
"Buffy cancelled on me," she sighed, running a hand through her long, brown tresses.
"For dinner?"
"Yeah, 'something came up', I guess."
"It probably had fangs," Toby smirked.
"Hey," Spencer giggled, slapping him playfully. "Just because we're slayers doesn't mean that everything we do revolves around-"
"...It kinda does, Spence."
"I know," she admitted softly, keeping her eyes down. "Sometimes, I just like to wonder about what life would be like if I wasn't… If I wasn't me."
"I know," Toby replied, kissing the top of her head softly. "But you are you. And I wouldn't have it any other way," he smiled.
"Come on, Bay and Toby! We have to go! Can one of you get Daphne and tell her she needs to come too?" John Kennish shouted to his three children. Though he and his wife, Kathryn, had just recently discovered that Bay wasn't biologically theirs, and had been switched with Daphne at the hospital shortly after birth, he still regarded her as his own. He had also opened up his unused guest house to Daphne's family: her mother, Regina (Bay's biological mother), and her mother, Adrianna, in order for them all to get to know each other. Aside from the Kennishes' parenting differences from Regina, there was really only one barrier- Daphne was deaf.
It had been a whole new world- learning how to sign, having to see her and her friend, Emmett, get made fun of by the other kids in town… It was challenging, but, in everyone's eyes, it was worth it.
"Bay and I are going to Aria's after we drop Daphne off at Emily's, can't go to Aunt Margaret's tonight!" Toby called, all three rushing past John before they could be dragged back.
And, just like that, they were gone.
Be safe," Bay said while signing, which she had become better at as the days passed. "Text me or Toby when you want to be picked up, or just come to Aria's. There'll be a party in a few hours, anyway. Maybe Emily will want to make an appearance!"
"Doubt it," Daphne replied. "However, I think Maya might be coming in a few, and if I end up third-wheeling I'll definitely make an appearance," she smiled. "See you later!"
"Why would she doubt it?" Toby inquired. "Weren't Emily and Aria like best friends with those three other girls?"
"Yeah, until Alison died," Bay replied.
"But wouldn't that bring a group like that closer together?"
"Maybe, until you realize that the one who left was the center. You were all friends because of her. It's not that they were all going to be friends anyway. I guess they realized that."
"Maybe. So are you and Aria going to be painting today?"
"Probably. Emmett said he might drop by for the party later, which we have to clean up for," she said.
"Great," Toby groaned as they pulled into the Montgomerys' driveway.
"A party?" the hooded figure asked, eyeing his teammate inquisitively.
"A big one, supposedly. At Aria's in about an hour. Don't make a scene there, just get what we need and get out."
"And what is it exactly that we need?"
"Evidence." And, even from under the hood, everyone in the room could tell that nothing but pure evil was radiating from it.
"Hey guys! Come on in!" Aria exclaimed as she waved in the latest arrivals to her party. Her parents were concerned that her recent split with the girls was having a negative impact on her social life, and often asked her if she wanted to have anyone over, even for extended periods of time. So, to show them that she was fine, she threw a party. Though, once the first guest was in the door, she instantly regretted it.
The truth was, Aria was having a hard time. After Alison's death, nothing had been the same. She had lost those she had held dearest, even though they were still right in front of her. Hanna had completely transformed, becoming the beauty queen she had always wanted to be. Even Emily and Spencer had branched out, Emily throwing herself into swimming, befriending the new girl, Maya. Willow, suddenly having much more time for her friend, Alexis, along with her grades. Hell, she hadn't even heard from Fred for almost six months. And then Spencer and Buffy… Being Spencer and Buffy. They had always been a bit odd, suddenly having family emergencies and other things to deal with, but it was always understood to never bring it up. Aria still missed the feeling she got whenever they acted as Team Sparia. She missed a lot of things.
Buffy sighed, brushing the last of some vampire's remains off of her. The dust got old. In fact, all of this got old.
Giles told her not to let it bother her. Someone had to do it, after all. She was a strong, independent girl, so why not it be her?
Well, Buffy could name about ten thousand reasons why it shouldn't be her. Why it shouldn't be anyone at all. Couldn't people protect themselves? They've all seen the movies, they know you have to stake a vampire to kill it. She was sure they'd do just fine.
But no, two girls born into every generation had this cross to bear (pun somewhat intended).
Giles told her she should be grateful. At least she had Spencer. They didn't have to face this alone. That's more than most of the previous slayers could have ever asked for. But…she was seventeen. Spencer was too. That's too young to die.
And Giles expects that not to bother her?
It always comes back to what Giles tells her. What Giles expects of her. Giles's expectations were too much. She couldn't reach them.
And she knew Giles was just there to give her guidance and advice and try to keep her, well, alive. And there were no words in the world to express how much she appreciated it. But she was just a kid. And she was scared.
She pushed the thoughts out of her head as she spotted a couple a shady looking guys walking down the street she occupied. She had a pretty good sense of vampires (slayer, duh) and these two had to be some.
"Hi, boys!" She said cheerily as touched the stake in her pocket and closed between her and them.
"All right, that makes sense," Willow said, looking triumphantly at her carefully aligned notes.
"You done?" her companion asked, looking up from her own notebook.
"Yep," Willow chirped, smiling. "How about you?"
"Almost there," the other girl replied. "This is so time consuming."
"Hang in there, Alexis," Willow said. She leaned her head over and examined Alexis's notepage. "Oh, the rest of notes are pretty simple. You can just skim through it and you'll have probably all that you need, because most of it seems pretty unimportant and meaningless, and I doubt we really need to know it, it doesn't seem like something we'd need to know… Unless...no, that's probably silly, we wouldn't need to know that-"
"Whoa, Willow, slow down," Alexis said with a chuckle.
"Sorry," Willow apologized sheepishly. "I was rambling."
"I noticed," Alexis said. "No problem."
Alexis looked back down at her work, wrote a few more things, then sighed, relieved. "Finally."
Willow smiled at her fellow ginger.
"So," Alexis began, "did you hear about Aria's party?"
"Yeah," Willow said. "Don't know how I possibly could've missed it."
"True," Alexis said. "Would you have wanted to go?"
"Oh no," Willow said immediately. "Parties...parties aren't my thing. Parties and me equals spaz."
Alexis chuckled, then fixed her gaze on Willow intently. "Alison really hit you all hard, didn't she?"
"Yeah," Willow said after a moment's hesitation. "She did."
"Spencer?! What are you doing here?" Aria exclaimed, resisting the urge to throw her arms around the brunette in front of her.
"Well, I heard there was a party! Toby was busy, but he says hello."
"That's fine," Aria smiled. "Come in! There's a place for you to hang up your coat and purse, well, where it always was." She continued to smile, but this one was sadder.
"I'll hang on to them, actually. Thanks though," Spencer smiled.
"Okay. Enjoy the party!"
Heading towards the bathroom, trying to remain unseen, Spencer quickly unzipped her purse and grabbed a stake from inside. Someone- something- was here for more than a few drinks.
Quickly zeroing in on a group of shaded figures in the corner, she made her way over, staying hidden as best she could within the shadows and sweaty bodies. Her heart racing, she was surprised a slaying still had this effect on her. Her palms would get sweaty, her breathing would quicken, her heart would palpitate. And, talking to Buffy, she knew it wasn't just her. Everyone, she realized, was completely wrong. It wasn't the thrill of the kill, but the terror.
Once the job was done, Spencer brushed herself off and began to head back into the fray, but she was exhausted. Attempting to make her way out before getting caught, she was, like always, busted. Feeling a hand wrap around her wrist, she quickly turned around, prepared to fight.
"You leaving already?" Aria inquired, not noticing Spencer's huge sigh of relief.
"Yeah, I'm tired," she lied, faking a yawn as best she could.
"Really? It's only nine, Spence! What happened?"
"Not sure… But I'm ready to hit the bucket and I still have to study for that huge calculus test tomorrow!"
"Spence, I'm sure you'll be fine. It's you and school. Like peanut butter and jelly," Aria laughed. "Stay for just a little bit, won't you?" The small girl pleaded, her eyes almost doubling in size. Just then, Spencer's phone went off.
Can we talk? -Buffy
"I totally would, but my dad wants me home ASAP. Something's up with Melissa," Spencer groaned, rolling her eyes at how believable her story was.
"Again?"
"Always," the taller girl smirked, awkwardly hugging her companion. Though it wasn't true in this situation, it somehow still was. "See you around, short stuff."
Fred looked at her watch for about the hundredth time in the past five minutes. As usual, she had nothing to do. I mean, who really wants to hang out with the shy Texan with a bad habit of writing on the walls? Not many people's idea of good friend material.
Her parents weren't home, either, so she was completely on her own. Not an unusual occurrence, but it never really became a less depressing one. Another dinner of tacos in front of some TV show that she never especially paid any attention too. Too lost in her own thoughts, that, as a general rule, ran at a mile a minute.
She supposed she could've gone to Aria's party. It's not like she was explicitly told not to or anything. But she knew, in the end, it wasn't a very good idea. Aria probably wouldn't want to see her, and if any of the other girls were there, she wasn't sure how much she could take.
Maybe she shouldn't have broken complete contact with most of them (except Willow) the way she had. She had, admittedly, acted in the heat of the moment. She'd made a stupid decision and went with it. But how long would any of them really stuck around? God only knows why Alison seemed so taken with her. The other girls, however...not so much. They thought she was pretty weird, just like most of the high school population. Only Willow had seemed completely accepting of her...erhm, zany nature. So she's the only one Fred didn't completely cut off from.
Sighing, Fred once again looked at her watch. Two minutes had passed. Fred groaned. It was going to be a long night.
"Hey, Daphne!" Emily smiled. "Maya will be here soon, is that okay?"
"Expected," Daphne giggled.
"So is anything new with Emmett?" Though Emily didn't know Daphne's friends well, she knew they were good people and liked them upon first meeting them.
"Not really. He has a crush on a new girl, but he won't tell me who!" Daphne groaned frustratedly, signing far too fast for Emily's beginner skills.
"But, other than that, him and Melody and Cameron are okay?"
"Yep! Just that stupid girl!"
"I'm sorry, but I find it kind of funny," Emily laughed. "Hey, do you want to shoot some hoops until Maya gets here?"
The girls hadn't been outside for more than 20 minutes when Maya's bike skidded to a halt a few feet away from them.
"Hey!" Both girls greeted.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop taking your corners on one wheel?" Emily joked, nudging Maya in the side.
"Want to shoot some hoops?" Daphne asked.
"I'm much more of a scorekeeper slash commentator, you know that," Maya smiled.
"Fair enough!" Daphne smiled, quickly resuming play with Emily.
"And Fields takes the ball down the court, she shoots, she misses! Back to Vasquez for a point!"
"It's two points in basketball, sometimes three, if we're being official," Emily smiled.
"How am I to know that? I never played sports or hung around with jocks like you guys until recently," Maya laughed, smiling at the girl in front of her.
"Hey, I hate to bail, but I think I'm going to head to Aria's party. Emmett might be there, and I'm going to force this out of him if it kills me!"
"Sounds good! I'll see you tomorrow!" Emily yelled as Daphne ran to Aria's, not knowing that she felt like an obvious outsider. Daphne had always told Emily how the deaf are more perceptive to emotions and body language, but she had never really thought about it. About how much more Maya looked at her, and how differently she did so. But Daphne could see it all, and it hurt.
"Can we go inside now?" Maya whined playfully. "As much as I love watching you kick ass out here, it's like 80 degrees."
"Sure," Emily smiled, giving her girlfriend a quick kiss before they were back under her mother's supervision.
"Norman?"
Norman Bates didn't fail to notice the uncertain tone in his mother's voice as she called for him. Acting quickly (his mother had never been the most patient of people), Norman hurried out of his room and quickly descended the stairs into his front hallway. His mother stood at the door. From over her shoulder, he could see a few people he recognized.
"Norman," Norma said, with a tight smile that obviously meant she was unhappy, "there are some girls here to see you."
Norman walked past his mother, and the familiar faces were now in full view. Bradley Martin, Hanna Marin, Cordelia Chase, Harmony Kendall, Hayden McClaine, and Madison Montgomery stood out on his front porch.
"Hey, Norman," Hanna said with a smile.
"Hi, Bradley," Norman replied.
"So, we were wondering if you'd want to come study with us at the library," Hanna said swiftly. "You're really smart, I'm sure you could help us out a lot."
Norman opened his mouth to reply in the affirmative, but Norma quickly cut in.
"I don't think that's a good idea tonight. Maybe some other time."
"Mother," Norman interjected.
"Hey, that's fine," Bradley said quickly. "No problem. Another time."
"All right," Norma said hurriedly. "Thanks for stopping by."
"See you at school, Norman," Hanna said with a smile, then turning and walking off the porch, followed by the other girls.
Norman turned to his mother.
"You didn't even let me respond, mother," he said.
"What's the point, Norman? You would've said 'yes', and then I would've been the bad guy," Norma said.
"I could've gone," Norman said, irritated.
"I said 'no'. You don't even know those girls."
"No, you don't know them."
"They didn't look like the kind of people I want you being around, Norman."
"How would you know what they're like?"
"Oh, enough Norman. I said 'no', so that means no. End of discussion."
With that, Norma turned her back on her son and walked into the kitchen, leaving Norman to go storm angrily into his room.
It had been a rough night for everyone.
