Note: This was a random inspiration. I know a lot of people want me to update my other stories but I needed to get this out of my head. This is very specifically going to be set in the movie universe to keep from having to step on canon much. Please read and review.

Howling at the Moon

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Cobblestones passed under foot as the slight figure of a woman beat her feet frantically down the sidewalk. Her thin soled shoes rubbed and slipped on the smooth stone. Shadows cast odd angles on the sides of the buildings around her as a group of unknown men pursued her. Details were hazy and the girl couldn't know for sure why they were following her. The girl herself was small and thin in a way that almost looked unnatural. The old world architecture that surrounded her was familiar even if she was sure she had ever been here before.

The stones beneath her feet were uneven and before long her foot caught an edge and she lost her balance. Hard ground hit knees and then back and pain flashed through her. Within moments the shadows were on her and pain erupted from her hands.

Jolting upright from her bed Buffy Summers panted hard trying to catch her breath. Her body was covered in a thick layer of sweat. This wasn't the first time she had that same dream. Crawling out of bed she stumbled toward the door to her room. It wasn't unusual for her to dream of past slayers. The frequency of this dream was getting annoying however. Three times this week and she still couldn't tell who was chasing her.

Once she made it across the hallway to the bathroom she wrenched open the taps in the sink. Cupping her hands under the faucet she splashed water onto her face before taking a drink. The water was painful on her cracked lips and burned as it traveled down her throat. Grabbing the hand towel she wiped her lips leaving dead skin on the cloth as she tossed it in the hamper.

The walk back to her bed she was slightly more alert and saw the display of 5:00AM in green digital letters flash menacingly at her as she flopped face first onto her pillow. Allowing herself to lay in bed for a few more minutes she could feel an ache between her knuckles. The pain in her dream must have been so intense that she was still feeling the pain even now. That sometimes happened when the slayer had died violently, usually at the hands of a vampire.

When her clock read 5:16 the sounds of her mother's feet came padding down the hallway. School started in less than two hours but Buffy had no desire to get out of bed.

Reluctantly she dragged her body out of bed once more. By the time she opened her bedroom door Joyce was poised on the other side ready to knock. "Hey mom," she mumbled rubbing her face with one hand. The greeting sounded less like words and more like garbled moans to Joyce but she was used to pre-coffee Buffy.

"Coffee should be ready in a minute." The older blonde said before walking to the stairs.

Buffy simply nodded her head as she walked into the bathroom for the second time. When she looked in the mirror now she could see dark circles under her eyes so pronounced she almost looked like a raccoon. Reaching up to open the medicine cabinet she noticed that the skin between her fingers was red and raw. Giles would need to be told. Surely there was something in those old diaries of his that would explain it away for her.

After finishing her routine Buffy tried ignoring the uncomfortable feeling in her hands and went downstairs where her mother and coffee were waiting. Barely paying her mother any notice she went straight to the waiting ceramic mug and took large gulps of God's nectar. The hot liquid didn't scald her mouth like normal but she quickly forgot as the caffeine began to wake up her senses.

Taking in a deep breath the kitchen smelled oddly more sterile and chemical than it did the day before. Turning toward her mother she got a whiff of her mothers cologne and nearly gagged. "How much perfume did you put on today mom?" She exclaimed quickly pulling up the front of her shirt to cover her nose.

"Really Buffy?" Joyce said in a hurt tone. "If you don't like it just tell me." She said disappointed in her daughter antics.

Unsure why her mom was so upset Buffy excused herself and went upstairs with her coffee mug. Lost in thought Buffy put on a tee shirt and a pair of jeans before running down the stairs and out the front door.

The walk to school was usually much darker than it was that morning. Buffy seemed more aware of every source of light. The scents, like her mothers cologne, were more pronounced. She could smell every dog, cat, and squirrel on Rovello Drive. After walking for a while a breeze passed by picking up leaves in its wake. As the red and brown leaves flew around her Buffy could see every detail of each leaf, taking note of the pattern they made as they drifted to and fro.

The walk to Sunnydale High was largely uneventful and Buffy almost allowed herself to forget how odd her morning had been. The campus was mostly empty when she arrived. Other than a few janitors turning on lights the halls were devoid of life.

Turning a corner Buffy smiled as she saw light coming from the library's double doors. Giles was pacing between three different books placed on his counter while Buffy stood just outside the doors watching. He was cute in a Sean Connery kind of way with hints of grey at his temples and a respectable amount of lines on his face. The pads on the elbows of his corduroy jacket and the way he folded his sleeves gave him an adorable euro trash look. Not that she would ever tell him that of course.

Trying to be quiet she pushed open the doors and made her way to her watcher. Opening the door the rich acidic smell of old books wafted over her mixed with an odd earthly smell emanating from her watcher. Her attempt at stealth was dashed when as soon as she stepped into the room Giles looked up at her with excitement. "Buffy!" He exclaimed as a smile slip open his face. "I've been researching this supposed anointed one." He gestured toward his open books. "Other than a few references to the ritual I can't find any meaningful descriptions of the anointed one himself."

"Giles, did you sleep here?" Buffy asked. There was a faint smell of body odor coming from his cloths. "Because I'm pretty sure you wore that shirt yesterday". She loved Giles to death but the man needed some serious looking after.

Giles took off his glasses and began polishing them in an attempt to ignore the blush that rose to his cheeks. "We really do need to find the vessel before its too late Buffy." The tone was meant to be admonishing but he didn't think it worked judging by the look on his slayers face.

Reaching forward Buffy took his glasses from his hand before he rubbed a hole into the lenses. "I get that but we can't do anything with what we have." She stated slipping the glasses back onto his face. "Face it Giles we need new intel, and we aren't going to get it from your books."

"And how precisely do you expect us to get this information?" He asked now a little perturbed at her lack of faith in his books.

"I think we need to focus on getting the intel from the masters cronies. Hopefully they'll give up the goods with enough motivation." She replied with a grin.

"How are your going to motivate these loathsome creatures to part with their knowledge?" Giles asked not sure if he wanted the answer. The grin he received was proof enough that her answer was going to give him ulcers.

"Easy" she replied. "I'm going to introduce them to mister pointy."

Later that day Buffy walks into the Bronze looking for her friends. The crowd is running about screeching at each other and stomping on the ground. She sees a number of girls standing up on couches pointing down at the floor. Confused Buffy walks further into the club until she hears a crunch under her right foot. Lifting up her heeled shoe she see the squashed carcass of a cockroach.

"Eww" she says in disgust trying in vain rub the bug guts off of her shoe on the floor. Seeing her friends she walks up to their table. As she passes she notices there are guys carrying cups with bugs in them over to the bar. "What on earth is going on?" She asks when she reaches the table.

Xander shrugs his shoulders and grins in a way that painfully reminds Buffy of the hyena incident. She knew it was an uncomfortable issue for her friend but Buffy had seen that look on his face a lot lately. Willow is the one who responds. "It's the annual fumigation party. It's a tradition, for every roach you kill you get a free drink." The look on her face is so unaffected and normal that it takes Buffy aback.

"That's yucky." The slayer responds taking a seat next to her read haired friend.

"I think it's kind of fun" she says. "Plus it helps to make up for the club being closed for a few days while they nuke the bugs."

Buffy just gives her a look and get gets up to claim her free drink. Walking back to the table with a soda she notices Xander missing. "Where's Xander?" She asks Willow. Her friend just points to the dance floor where the tall brunette boy is making a fool of himself. "Well at least he's trying" she says with a frown.

Willow notices the forlorn look on her friend's face. "Is it a guy?" She asks guessing why her friend looks so lost.

Buffy shakes her head "For it to be a guy there would need to be a guy." Taking a sip of her drink she looks back out at the dance floor. "Does that make sense?"

Willow smiles "you lack a guy."

"Which is fine, mostly." Buffy give her friend a sideways glance. "I don't know..."

"What about Angel?" Willow wonders. "You like Angel don't you?"

Buffy isn't sure how to respond to that. "Maybe, I don't know. It's like whenever he's in the room the lights get a little dimmer." She sighs and takes another drink. "Have you ever felt like that?"

The red head gets hyper all of a sudden and looks right into Buffy's eyes and says "Yes!" then after a moment looks out at Xander on the dance floor. As Willow turns her head Buffy detects a sweet and musky odor coming from her friends skin and she has to fight the urge to move in and sniff her neck. Looking at her Xander shaped friend Willow tries to seem just as excited about looking at him but she knows she's only fooling herself.

Buffy watches Xander back away from a jock and his girlfriend accidentally bumping into Cordelia. The blonde slayer is a little thrown by Willow's reaction, not to mention the sudden shift in her scent, and decides to beat a retreat. "I'm gonna go see if I can stake some vamps before heading home." Nodding her head in the direction of the dance floor she says "Make sure he gets home safe." Willow nods affirmatively as Buffy walks toward the back entrance of the club.

Once outside Buffy pops up the collar of her jacket to hold back the cold January wind. Buffy shakes her a head trying to figure out why she liked Willow's smell. She's only half way through the alley when she sees Angel step out of the shadows ahead of her. "Hey, this is a change." She says with a grin. "You didn't come up behind me this time." She puts her right index finger up into the air. "That's a big point off the stalker scale. Keep this up and people might think you were a normal person." Her snark had a bit of a bite to it but Buffy was more than a little tired of his mysterious brooding act.

Angel has the decency to look abashed. "I just wanted to check up on you" he said.

Buffy laughs throwing her head back a little. "You know I am the slayer. I can take care of myself."

Walking closer towards him she gets a distinct whiff of decay and rot from Angel. "Have you been hanging out in a crypt?" She wonders. As she comes up next to him the smell gets so bad that she starts to choke. "Oh my god, you smell like you rolled around in a grave" she manages to say around her coughing fit. Putting her sleeve up to her nose Buffy backs up trying to block the scent.

Angel looks at her in concern. Before he can say anything a figure jumps out of the shadows and tackles Buffy to the ground while two more approach from behind him.

Buffy struggles with the Vampire on top of her. He has all the leverage and she can't get a good grip to throw him off. Over the Vamp's shoulder she can see Angel take a punch square on the jaw. The blow causes his face to jerk in Buffy's direction. What she sees is just about the most horrific sight she could imagine. His face is bumpy just like a vampire with bright yellow eyes and fangs. Her distraction gave the Vamp on top of her just enough time to sink his fangs into her neck.

With a scream Buffy jerks her head back trying to dislodge the fangs from her throat. There is an intense burning sensation in her veins and the Vampire reels back in pain. "What the fuck is wrong with your blood?" He says getting up quickly and backing away from the slayer. He is spitting blood out of his mouth and grabs his stomach like he's about the vomit.

Shakily Buffy sits up on her knees and goes to place a hand over the wound on her neck when the pain returns to her hands. Three of the vampires in the alley turn to look at her as a blood curdling scream tears through her lungs. Blood splashes the ground in front of her as six long bone claws erupt from between her knuckles.

Buffy brought her hands up in front of her face staring at the bone protrusions sticking out of her hands before her whole world goes red.