Willow the Vampire Slayer
Welcome to the Hellmouth
1/144
Willow tossed and turned, the nightmares over flowing her. She continued to sleep fitfully until light crept into her room, filled with boxes.
"Willow?" She sat up and looked around, dazed.
"I'm up Mom!" She scratched her head a sighed.
"You don't wanna be late for your first day!" Willow flopped down and stared at the ceiling.
"No. Wouldn't want that."
Shelia pulled up to the high school. She smiled and announced that Willow had reached her school for (hopefully) the next two and a half years. Willow nodded and climbed out, dragging her bag along with her.
"Have a good time. I know you're gonna make friends right away, just think positive." She smiled again and Willow nodded. "Oh and honey? Try not to get kicked out?"
"I promise."
"Okay." Sheila drove off, leaving Willow to face a whole new school. She sighed, and adjusted her black skirt.
"Go time, I guess." She put her bag on her shoulders and walked up the stairs.
Xander Harris bobbed and weaved through the students. "'Scuse me! Comin' through! Don't know how to stop this thing! (Wince) Sorry! Woa, pardon me! 'Scuse-" Xander looked up to see a red headed girl walk up the steps. He didn't shout anymore, but just watched her. The skateboard decided to run him straight into the stair railing. "Oaf!" A girl laughs and steps over him, sitting one step up. She smiled and tucks her hair behind her ear.
"I'm okay! I feel good." The blond girl laughs again. "Buffy! You're so very much the person I wanted to see!" Buffy smiled and helped Xander up.
"Oh, really?" They begin walking to the school, Buffy soothing Xander's aching back.
"Yeah, you know, I kinda had a problem with the math."
"Which part?"
Xander grimaced. "The math. Can you help me out to night?
"Weeelll…"
"PLEEEZE be my study buddy?"
They stopped and Buffy looked at him. "What's in it for me?"
"A shiny nickel."
"Okay. Do you have Theories in Trig? You should check it out."
"Check, what?"
"From the library, where the books live?"
"Ah." Xander nodded, and Buffy looked hopeful. "See, I wanna change…"
Willow fidgeted nervously in front of the principal. Mr. Flutie had her records in had, and Willow was sure that they were not good. He read part of it out loud, while reading silently at other times. Suddenly her torn the paper in fourths. Willow's eyes were round.
"Welcome to Sunnydale! A clean slate Willow, that's what you get here. We're not interested in what a paper says, even if… Woa." Willow nervously pushed her hair over her shoulder.
"Mr. Flutie…"
"All the students can call me Bob."
"Uh… Bob."
"But they don't." Willow shook herself to stay on task. 'C'mon Will. Get it together!' She took deep cleansing breaths as Flutie attempted to tape the pieces together.
"I know my transcripts are a little…"
"Colorful? Heey. We don't care about that. But do you think 'colorful' is the word? Not 'dismal'?" Willow blinked.
"It wasn't that bad!"
"You burned down the gym!"
"That's because there was that gym was full of vampi- smokers."
"Smokers?"
"Smokers."
Willow walked down the hall. She adjusted her top and crashed into a girl.
"Sorry." The girl didn't answer but walked on with her nose in the air. The red head sighed and squatted to pick up the contents of her bag. Xander walked her way quickly and squatted too. He picked up a book and handed it to her.
"Can I have you?"
"What?"
"Can I help you?" Willow looks relived.
"Thanks."
"I don't know you, do I?"
"I'm new. Willow."
"Xander is me." He helped her put her thing away. He seemed nice enough, Willow deemed. He could be cool. They stood up right and smiled at each other. "Well, uh, maybe I'll see you around... maybe at school... since we... both... go there." Willow smiled slightly and nodded.
"Okay then," she waved and walked down the hall, dodging students. "Oh." She stopped and turned around. "It was nice to meet you!"
"We both go to school. Very suave. Very not pathetic." He sighed and bent down for his bag. "Hey! Willow you forgot your… stake?"
Willow listened to her teacher drone on about the 'Black Death'. She sighed and continued scribbling notes. The woman said something about a book. A book? Willow looked around. She didn't have a book.
The girl sitting next to her moved her own textbook over, allowing the red head to see the map too.
"Thanks." Not long after the bell rang and Willow packed up to leave. The girl smiled and offered her hand as they walked out of the classroom.
"Hi, I'm Cordelia." Willow took it and smiled.
"I'm Willow."
"If you're looking for your own book you can get it from the Library." The turned a corner.
"Cool. Thanks… Uh, where would that be?"
"Don't worry. I'll show you." Cordelia smiled again. "So you're from Galileo right? San Fran?"
"Yeah." Willow blushed slightly.
"Oh I would kill to live in San Fran! That close to that many clothes?" Willow laughed and they headed down a stair case.
"Well, you'll be okay here. If you hang with me and mine, you'll be accepted in no time. Of course, we do have to test your coolness factor. You're from San Fran, so you can skip the written, but let's see. Vamp nail polish."
"Uh. Over?" Cordelia nodded.
"So over. James Spader."
Willow swooned. "He so needs to call me."
"Frappaccios."
"Trendy and tasty."
"John Tesh."
"The devil." Cordelia laughed.
"That was pretty much a gimme, but you passed." Willow smiled and clapped her hands.
"Goody." They turned yet another corner to a water fountain, to see a small blond girl in a green nerdy dress. She straightened with a horrified look.
"Buffy! Nice dress! It good to know that you've seen the softer side of Sears." Buffy looked down.
"W-well m-m-my mom p-picked it out."
"No wonder you're such a guy magnet. Are you done?" With wide eyes Buffy looked from the fountain to Cordelia and Willow.
"Oh. Oh!" She turned quickly and walked down the hall. Willow watched the smaller girl as she scurried away, and as Cordelia started to talk again.
"You wanna fit in here, the first rule is: know your losers." Willow raised an eyebrow and pushed her long hair back. Cordelia stood up and they began walking. "If you're not to swamped you should come over to the Bronze."
"Who?"
"The Bronze, they let anybody in but it's to only place worth going to. It's in the bad part of town. Which it about half a block from the good part of town." She laughed. "We don't have a whole lot of town. But you should come!"
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. And, um, thanks."
"No problem. I'll see you in gym, kay? And you can tell me everything about yourself." Cordelia waved and walked away. Willow sighed.
"Boy won't that be fun." She pushed to doors to the library open and walked inside. It was eerily quiet. And darker that the rest of the school. It seemed like no one was there.
"Um, hello?" She walked farther in. "Anybody home?" She stopped at the counter and looked at a paper, a story about a missing boy was circled in red. Her breath quickened and there was a tap on her shoulder. Willow spun around, and pressed a hand to her chest. "Woa. Anybody is home." The man was about a few years older than Sheila. He wore tweed and glasses. Willow was almost as tall as him.
"Can I help you?" He asked with a British ascent.
"Yeah," Willow fidgeted. "I need some books."
"Miss Rosenberg?" Willow gasped.
"Man, you're good. Am I, like, the only new girl?"
"I'm Mr. Giles, the librarian, I was told that you were coming."
"Great! So, um, I'm gonna need Ms. Rain's course of History book…" Giles interrupted her.
"I know what you're looking for," and hurried behind his desk. Willow blinked stupidly and waited for her book. Giles stood up and threw a book (VAMYR) onto the counter. Willow sighed and put her bag down.
"I can never get away from you people can I?"
"That new kid? She seems weird to me." Aphrodisia walked with her towel over her shoulder. Aura nodded in agreement. "I mean, who names their kids after a tree?"
"Yeah. Well the chatter in SD Caff is that she got kicked out of her last school, so her ma had to find a new job."
"Neg!" gasped Aphrodisia sitting down.
"Pos! She was starting fights and shit." Aura nodded to affect her last statement. She fumbled with her lock. "Well, that's what I heard from Blue, and she said- AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Willow walked out front. She spotted the blond from the watter fountain. She walked with steady, boot-clad legs to the smaller girl.
"Hi. Buffy, right?" Buffy looked up startled.
"Why? I-I mean hi?" Buffy looked around. "Did you want me to move?" Willow laughed slightly.
"Let's start with, 'Hi, I'm Willow,' and let me dive right on to the part of me asking you for a giant favor." Willow sat down next to Buffy and fished in her bag for her lunch. "It doesn't involve moving," she said, her eyes back on Buffy, "but it does involve hanging with me for a while."
"A-aren't you hanging out w-with Cordelia?"
"Can't I do both?"
Buffy shook her head wildly. "Not legally." Willow sighed.
"Look, I have this burning desire not to fail my classes. And Cordelia's been nice… to me, but I heard you're the brains of this school." Buffy blushed.
"I'd be happy to. Do you have sixth period free?" Willow nodded. Buffy beamed. "We could meet in the Library."
"Or somewhere else. Like the courtyard? I like sunlight." Buffy nodded.
"That's cool." Suddenly Xander was between the two girls. And another boy stood in front of them, dropping his bag.
"Hey," he said, catching and throwing down Xander's bag as well.
"You guys busy?" asked Xander with a quirky smile. "Are we interrupting? We're interrupting."
"Hey," chorused the girls. Buffy smiled.
"Willow, this is Jesse and that's Xander." Willow smiled and waved at Jesse, but Xander grinned.
"Oh, me and Willow go waaay back, old friends, very close. Then
there's that period of estrangement where I think we were both growing
as people, but now here we are, like old times, I'm quite moved." Willow blinked and smiled uncertainly.
"It is me, or are you turning into a bumbling idiot?" asked Jesse with a grin.
"No uh, it's uh, it's not you."
"Nice to met you, Jesse, nice to meet you again Xander. I think." Xander got down to rustled around his bag, and Jesse smiled warmly at Willow.
"Well we just wanted to greet you, make ya feel at home, unless you have a scary home…" Buffy punched him. "Oww! Butch!" Buffy scowled and stuck her tough out at him.
"I've known these idiots all my life."
Willow smiled, "and I've known them for a few moments."
Xander stood up. "Oh, and to return this." Willow paled. "All I can think of is that you're building a really little fence." He handed it to her, and she hastily stuffed it into her bag.
"Ah. No, ah, um, it's for defense. Ever one has them in L.A. and San Fran. Pepper spray is so passé."
Xander chattered on about something and Jesse said something about her deepest secrets. Willow was drowning in them.
"Are these guys bothering you?" asked a stern Cordelia, hands on her hips, hair over on shoulder, and death glare abounds.
Willow said 'no' as Buffy cried, "she's not hanging out with us!" And Jesse stood next to Cordelia.
"Don't mean to interrupt your downward mobility, but I just wanted to tell you that you won't be meeting Coach Foster, the woman with the chest hair, because gym was canceled due to the extreme dead guy in the locker."
"What?" Willow paled even more.
"Some guy was stuffed in Aura's locker!"
"Dead," rasped Willow.
"Totally dead. Way dead."
"So not just a little dead."
"Don't you have an elsewhere to be?"
"Y'know," said Jesse, "if you need a shoulder to cry on, or even nibble on…"
"How'd he die?" asked Willow, her heart pounding.
"I don't know!" said Cordelia looking grossed out.
"Well, were there any marks!" asked Willow impatiently.
"Morbid much! I didn't ask!"
"I gotta jet," Willow stood up and walked away quickly.
Willow threw open the door to the library. "Okay," she called. Giles peered out of the stacks.
"Sorry?"
"You heard about the guy right? The dead one in the locker?" Giles nodded. "Blood drained, two holes in his neck. Isn't it weird? Aren't you going 'Ooo'?"
"No."
Willow sighed. "Well I'm not either. I'm pissed! I didn't want anymore vampires! Not on my first day! You already suckered me into becoming a Slayer again. But this is it! I quit!"
"But-"
"I wasn't expecting this! I wasn't afraid of it! I was afraid I'd have last month's hair! That I'd be behind! That everyone would hate me. I didn't think that there would be vamps on campus. So I quit. I'm tired of it!" Willow turned on her heel to leave.
"You really have no idea what's going on, do you? You think it's
coincidence, your being here? That boy was just the beginning."
"Why won't you people leave my alone?" pleaded Willow.
"Because you are the Slayer. Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires..." He recited as her came down the stairs.
"..with the strength
and skill to hunt the vampires, to stop
the spread of their evil blah, blah, blah... I've
heard it, okay?"
Giles sighed in frustration.
"Really don't understand this attitude. You, you've accepted your duty, you, you've slain vampires before..."
"Yeah, and that's old hat. Oh! I've got an idea! You don't you slay the vampires?"
"You are a slayer, I am a watcher. A slayer slays and a watcher…"
"Watches?"
"Yes. NO! He trains her, he, he, he prepares her…"
"For what? Getting kicked out of school? For losing all my friends? For fighting all this time and not getting to tell anyone because I might endanger them? Go ahead. Prepare me." They sat there for a while. Willow with her hands clenched and tears falling and Giles in shock. "I don't want you people anymore." Willow turned and fled the library. Giles hesitated and ran after her. From behind the stacks Xander and Jesse peered out from. Jesse was unable to talk (his mouth covered by Xander's hand) so Xander voiced it for him.
"What the fuck…"
Something was following her. Willow wasn't stupid. She may have only been doing this for a year at most, but she wasn't stupid. She was going to take a shortcut. She turned down Chestnut and onto Forest. There she headed into the main part of town. The San Fran girl took a sharp left into an alleyway. She looked around for possible ambush hideouts. There was a line/pipe above her. Bingo. She jumped easily and did a hand stand, waiting for the predator turned prey. The stalker came unknowingly under her. Purfect. Willow swung down and caught the man in the back, knocking him into the ground. She takes no time into getting her foot onto his chest. He pulled a smirk.
"Ah, heh. Is there a problem ma'am?"
"Yeah. There's a problem. Why you following me?"
"I know what you're thinking," he pulled another smirk. "Don't worry, I don't bite." Willow backed up, but didn't trust the basterd enough to let her guard down. He massaged his neck and sat up. "Truth is, I thought you'd be shorter, or bigger muscles and all that. You're pretty spry, though."
"What do you want?" Willow had no time for this.
"The same thing you do." Willow let her guard down. So this guy was all talk, no action.
The man stepped towards her.
"What do I want then?" Willow really had no time for this.
"To kill them. To kill them all." Willow shook her red locks.
"Sorry, that's incorrect. But you do get this lovely watch and a
year's supply of Turtle Wax. What I want is to be left alone!" She turned to walk away.
"You really think that's an option anymore? You're standing on the mouth of hell, and it's about to open and swallow." He took a box from his jacket and tossed it. "Don't turn your back on this. You've got to be ready."
"For what?" Okay. Now she was really confused.
"The Harvest."
"Okay. Who are you?" He pondered a moment.
"Let's just say I'm a friend." He turned to leave. Willow wasn't going to let him off that easy.
"What if I don't want a friend?" He turned back to her and smirked. That damn smirk!
"Never said I was yours…" And the asshole just kinda… faded away. She opened the box and found a silver cross and chain. Willow looked in the direction the man went, then put the necklace on. No harm no foul.
Willow walked through the mass of moving bodies to the bar, which contained Buffy. She sat down next to the blond.
"Hey!" Buffy turned to face her.
"Oh hey!"
"Are you here with some one," Willow noticed the girl pick at her box of raisins.
"Oh? No, I just thought the Xander was going to be here."
"Are you two dating?"
"Oh no. We did once, but we broke up." Well that's sad. They would be so cute.
"Why?" Word vomit.
"Well, he stole my Barbie." Okay. Confusing. "Oh, well we were five."
"Okay." Buffy then told Willow of her trouble of dating, and Willow told her to Seize the moment. And then…
"Hey Buffy, can you hold on a sec?" She watched a girl and Jesse leave. Followed by some dude and Cordelia. "I'll be right back."
"Oh, you don't have to come back." Willow smiled kindly.
"I'll be back." Buffy walked out of the Bronze. The feeding frenzy had begun. But Jesse pulled something out of his jacket pocket, with a protective arm around Cordelia. Willow ran at the tow vamps. Pushing Cordelia and Jesse out of the way. She kicked Disco Boy in the abdomen, pulled a stake and dusted him on the spot. Blondie booked it, and Willow turned to the dark haired teens.
"Why didn't you run? You are so stupid!" Jesse looked her in the eyes.
"If I hadn't brought the cross, Cordy would be a shell. Good thing I was in the right place at the right time.
"You-"
"Keep those kind of convo's private, okay?"
"Jesse?" moaned Cordelia. "W-will you take me home?" Surprised, Jesse nods, and begins to walk away. Willow sighed and walked back to Buffy.
Willow sighed. In front of her sat Buffy, Xander, Jesse, and Cordelia. "Look guys. I haven't been honest with you. And I'm willing to start now, so if you just hear me out I'm sure everything's going to be okay…"
