Such a day had not happened in Sunnydale for a long time. The best case scenario usually was that the weather was nice and warm throughout the day, the atmosphere was cheerful and the people were friendly, but by night, everything would take a turn for the worst. If the Vampires weren't out in force, then there would be some ancient being trying to bring forth an archaic demon, and sometimes there would even just be careless students experimenting with magic. In any case, tonight, there was nothing; nothing but peace that still lingered from the bright light of day and heat that was still baking from underneath the feet of those who had truly indulged in climatic beauty.
The question that was on everyone's mind was: what's the catch? This was Sunnydale, and there were no ghouls haunting the night or beasts from below causing chaos. Buffy felt as if she wasn't getting her jobs worth. She was, however, grateful that she was allowed some time to herself after the last few months.
The last villain that she had faced was more than Buffy alone could handle. It was not an ancient demon, or anything that was recorded in any of Giles' books, but a man-made killing machine. Adam, part man, part demon and part machine, was created by a government institution called The Initiative, instigated by Dr. Maggie Walsh. It took primeval power, together with the combined entity of Buffy, Giles, Willow and Xander to shut Adam down, and they were all very much ready for a well deserved break.
What Buffy couldn't fathom was the boredom. There was only so much sitting around being carefree that she could take before she felt her fingers begin to tingle. Maybe it was the sheer power she felt whilst on patrol, or maybe it was the fact that it had been too long since she'd been without something to kill. Either way, she was bored. She put on her coat and boots and grabbed her weapons. There must be something out there that's in need of a good stake, she thought to herself.
She made her way excitedly across the landing, passing the spare bedroom on her way. Her mother, Joyce, was in there making the bed. Buffy was stood in the doorway for a good few seconds before Joyce noticed her.
"Oh, hey honey" Joyce said, when she finally noticed. "Someone staying over tonight?" Buffy asked, as Joyce started fluffing up the pillows. "Oh no" Joyce replied "I just thought that this place looked a little un-tidy. It needed a mothers touch."
She walked over to Buffy, looked down and noticed the bag full of weapons in Buffy's hand. "Going on patrol? At this hour?" she asked. "Yeah" Buffy replied "I mean there's bound to be something hairy out there. Plus, the forces of darkness don't really take shifts so I've gotta be on watch pretty much 24/7". This may not have been strictly true, but she had to say something to keep Joyce from worrying. It had been two years since Buffy had broken the news to her and still, to Joyce, none of it felt real.
"You know, I think it's about time you started working shifts" Joyce said "You've been working so hard over the summer I think you deserve some time off". Buffy knew that her mum was just trying to help, but it was time off that had been troubling her, she'd had too much of it.
"Well, you know me" Buffy added "I don't worry too much about getting worked up. I'm self-employed remember? Watcher-less. I work my own hours." Good answer, she thought to herself. There was no lie in that, and she was, despite everything, happy to be working at such a pace. There was just something tonight that really gave Buffy the urge to slay, which in her eyes, was a good trait for a slayer.
"Just as long as you're careful" said Joyce, Buffy was getting tired of people telling her that, of course she would be careful, she'd already died once, and it wasn't something she felt like doing again. "I will be" she replied, making her way down the stairs and out the front door. She quietly closed the front door behind her, and stepped out onto the cobbled street.
Buffy looked along Rovello drive in complete awe. Sunnydale definitely had its faults, Buffy knew that. But that aside, to look upon such a beautiful part of the town on a summer's night, with the sky a pale black colour and the tropical trees standing completely still, knowing that this was the place she would spend much of her adult life, was an inspiring moment for Buffy. It was one of the things in her life that truly kept her going.
She strolled down the street completely casually, as she tried to decide where to start her patrol. Going straight to the cemetery would be too easy, that was what she did every night, and she wasn't expecting to find anything there. With that in mind, she made her way to the Bronze. The Bronze was just like any other club, in that there was always some man luring an innocent woman into his nest, and then turning into a monster as soon as they leave the club. Only, in Sunnydale, this was literally true. She'd seen plenty of action there before, so there was bound to be something going on. And on the plus side, even if everything was safe, The Bronze was always fun, usually more so when she had friends with her, but still, she could always wait it out inside until something sinister happened.
The Bronze seemed like her best option, so she went for it. She began the first part of her short walk in little expectancy. Although she was desperately holding out for an emergency job to arise she couldn't convince herself, no matter how hard she tried, that tonight was the night for patrolling. Still, the walk would do her good, she figured. She had not left the house all day, and so a walk in the fresh air was needed regardless.
Every step brought more anticipation. Every noise she heard made her turn around fast in expectation, almost like a jump. And yet, it seemed every noise she heard was as mundane as the last. Town's people walking dogs, High school children being loud and obnoxious, Families settling down in front of the Television, nothing that required her saving expertise, Buffy was beginning to think maybe she should give up.
As she approached Second Street, something made Buffy stop in her tracks. She heard what sounded like a disturbance coming from behind a hedge. At first it just sounded like teenagers getting rough, which was better than nothing she thought, but she listened harder and realised that whoever was fighting behind this hedge, they weren't even human, let alone teenagers.
"Where is it? Where is it?" Buffy heard someone shout, followed by a growl. Either these guys had some serious bipolar issues, or they really were demons. Finally, a mission, Buffy was more excited about this than she should've been. She grabbed the hedge as gently as she could as to not make a sound. She took a firm grip and flipped herself over with as much power as possible, making sure she landed on her feet on the other side. She hit the ground with brute force, and launched herself straight into a run. She hurtled towards the un-known fiends, who had now drifted to the other side of the street.
As she approached closer and closer, the realization gradually started to kick in. One of these demons had a familiar face, a little too familiar. They were vampires, for sure, but only one of them was worth killing, as Buffy was soon to realize. Buffy stopped about fifteen yards from where they were fighting, she stared in complete disbelief.
The first vampire stood beaten, bruised and bleeding, with the second grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, holding on with a firm grip. The first was short with dark brown, blood-stained hair. He was in clear discomfort, and struggled to formulate coherent words as the second vampire had him dangling in the air.
"I wouldn't tell you, even if I knew where it was" said the first vampire. "The boss took it, hid it somewhere." The second vampire threw him to the ground, picked him up by his shirt and pulled him closer. "Where?" asked the second vampire. He looked more threatening than the other. He stood tall with bleach-blonde hair that had been slicked back. He wore a deep black leather jacket and tall boots. He threw the other vampire back down to the ground, broke off a tree branch and held it close to the first vampire's heart.
"Tell me!" he shouted "Tell me who 'the boss' is!" He was completely oblivious to the fact that Buffy was standing there watching from a few yards away. Buffy decided, at this point, to intervene. She walked up to the fight slowly, and calmly, knowing that the second vampire could do her no harm whatsoever.
"I should've known it was you, Spike" she said, making him turn around. Spike; that was the name of the second vampire, he had been nothing but a plague on Buffy and all of her friends for the past three years. Spike looked disappointingly at Buffy for a few seconds. "Slayer" he said, expressing his annoyance. The first vampire lay bleeding on the ground, out of breath, as Spike got up and walked over to Buffy. "I suppose you're here to help?" Spike asked, sarcastically. "Actually, I'm here to kill" said Buffy "And it's a first come, first serve basis, so I advise you to get in line now if you wanna be first." Buffy could see that Spike was getting aggravated. "Save it Buffy" said Spike "I could really use your help you know." Buffy was usually reluctant to help Spike, but for whatever reason, whenever Spike needed help, it always worked out in his favour.
"Looks like your doing fine to me." Buffy said "I'll leave you boys to settle this yourselves, and if end up killing each other, even better." While Buffy and Spike were talking, the first vampire regained his strength, and slowly got back up off the ground. At first he staggered, but he gradually found enough energy to lunge at Buffy. Buffy reacted quickly and dodged his lunge, swiftly grabbing his arm and twisting it backwards. "But then again, if you can't play nicely, then I'm gonna have to step in" Buffy said, hurling the vampire to the ground by flipping him over his arm.
The vampire jumped back to his feet and edged slowly towards Buffy. "You know, most people would be concerned that someone they haven't even met wants to kill them, even though they've done nothing wrong" Buffy said, as she and the vampire began to engage in hand-to-hand combat. "Me? I find it flattering!" Buffy continued, as she kicked the vampire backwards and pushed her stake into his heart. His expression turned to one of fear and hate, as he slowly began to fade into nothing. His entire corporeal state suddenly vanished and the dust that was left behind blew in the wind.
"Well that's just great!" shouted Spike "He was about to crack!" Buffy didn't care at all, one vampire was dead, and one annoying vampire was still standing. "You're welcome" she said, getting up off the ground. She put her Stake back into her bag and turned her back to Spike. She began to walk away when Spike shouted back at her.
"I nearly had him you know. Would've made him talk if you hadn't have gone all poofy on him!" Buffy never knew whether she was being helpful to Spike or not, clearly she had done something wrong, though she cared very little.
"I don't care for your schoolboy fights Spike" said Buffy. "Schoolboy fights?" asked Spike "That little bugger robbed me! Or at least I thought he did, turns out that whatever nancy he's working for has got what he took, and now thanks to you, I'll never know who that is!"
Although Buffy wasn't in the mood for a squabble with Spike, she was intrigued to know what he'd been robbed of. After all, he had tried many a time to gain power through objects that he himself had stolen. He may not have been able to do any harm himself, but he could certainly do it through someone or something else. Buffy was suddenly concerned, but didn't want to make it obvious to Spike.
"Whatever he took from you Spike, I'm sure you can replace it" she suggested, hoping to trigger a reaction from Spike. "Oh yeah" said Spike "It was just your everyday teapot that cost me a couple of quid!" the sarcasm in Spike's voice suggested that whatever it was, it was powerful. "It wasn't cheap Buffy!" he continued to say "And it wasn't easy to get, I had to speak to a Hässlich demon, that wasn't pleasant I can tell you". A Hässlich demon? That could've been a clue; Buffy was almost beginning to regret killing Spike's friend by this point. She didn't want to leave without getting some kind of information from him. So far all she had to go on was 'Hässlich demon'. It was enough for now, she figured. She wasn't going to get any more out of Spike that was for sure.
"Look, I don't have time for this" she said, as she tried once again to walk away "I got what I wanted and now I'm going home." Spike shouted back at her from a distance "Well, what about me? What do I want?"
As much as Buffy would have liked to have heard more about Spike's robbery, she was tired and the walk back was going to be difficult enough. She decided to retire back at home, and she would speak to the gang about the whole ordeal in the morning.
