Distribution: Ask me and I'll say yes. If you're from Buffy, and you want to make this into a series of episodes, you may on the condition that I get to play Sara. Don't worry, I'm a good actress.
Spoilers: Season 4, Angel and Cordelia are running Angel Investigations in LA, Oz is gone and Xander is going out with Anya, but she's not in this. Spike isn't either, well, not yet. He will be though. Humor me okay?
Author's note: Here's the deal, you have just entered my world. I have no idea what is with the Initiative right now, but quite frankly, I've had this story planned for a while, and I don't know how to write for them, so I've eliminated them. [Evil laugh.] Sara's pretty much like me, except I don't smoke. It's written like a series of episodes, you know, there's the whole "Just for fun episodes" that have a subtext that's building up to a dramatic story, then the dramatic story, then that period afterwards when everyone tries to "cope", and Viola! the big finish. One more thing, please don't discriminate against Sara because she's new. All the Buffy characters were new once, but you've grown to love them.
Sara Part 1:
Prologue:
A small town, many years ago.
Sara runs up a hill, trying to catch up to her older brother and sister. Her skirt catches on a small bush.
"Curse these long skirts," she says to herself. She would give anything to be able to wear trousers like her brother, but mother says it wouldn't be lady like. She tries to pull herself free, but can't without ripping her dress. She calls to her brother to help her, but he's already beside her. Sara gasps. This isn't her brother, it's a monster, holding up her sister's lifeless body. She screams, but it's too late, she feels herself falling down the hill faster and faster, she's about to hit.
Sara woke up with a start. Breathing hard, she got up and went to the window of her hotel room. She remembered that dream. She'd been having it for month's now. That's why she came here. To Sunnydale, to the Hellmouth, to the Slayer, and the only person who could help her.
Memories flooded her mind. Memories of her home, of her family, memories of her death. She had been dead for over a hundred years now. She wasn't a vampire, or a demon. She didn't know what she was, but she wanted to find out. She had been watching the Slayer and her friends for almost a month now. She had liked what she saw so far, and she was sure she would leave Sunnydale knowing what she was. First she had to win the Slayer's trust, and the route Sara chose to take was through her friends.
Chapter 1:
An inhuman screech pierced through the night. Willow Rosenburg, the Slayer's friend, covered her ears and winced in pain. She had known what they were in for when they had first got there, but neither she nor her friends expected it to be so horrible.
It was Karaoke Night at the Bronze. The half deaf crowd halfheartedly applauded as the young performer stepped off the stage.
"Wow," Xander said. "That was bad."
"I don't think that word is strong enough to describe what we just witnessed," Buffy the Slayer, replied to him. "What were you saying?"
"Oh yeah," he said, regrouping his thoughts. "So anyway, Anya starts screaming at me. I couldn't get her to calm down, so I think we're broken up."
"You think?" Willow asked questioningly.
"Well," he explained. "I haven't been able to get in touch with her."
"Just give her some time," Buffy said, now yelling over applause as the next amateur stepped on stage. "I'm sure she'll come around."
"Yeah," Willow chimed in. "Wanna go?"
"Violently," Buffy said.
The three picked up their things and headed for the door. Suddenly, Xander stopped short.
"Xand?" Buffy asked. But Xander didn't hear her, he was too busy listening to the most beautiful singing he had ever heard. "You okay?"
*I'm more than okay,* he thought as he watched the graceful movements of the young woman on the stage.
The song ended and Xander was snapped back to reality.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," he said.
He then joined is too female counterparts as they walked off down the row of warehouses that made up this area. They were laughing as they spoke about the acts that they had seen that night, and were totally unaware of the young girl, with dark eyes and brown hair that had been watching them from the shadows.
"For now Mr. Harris," Sara said quietly. "For now."
Chapter 2:
Buffy sat in her dorm room, sipping a soda and flipping the channels on her television. Frustrated at the lack of anything good to watch, she turned the television off and lay down on her bed. Many things ran through her mind then. Vampires, the slaying that of, her relationship issues, and finally the economics final that was fast approaching. It wasn't long before she drifted off to sleep.
Wonderful visions filled her mind as she dreamt. The pressures of reality seemed to just melt away. In her dream, Buffy stood on the dance floor of the Bronze. She was alone. The club was empty, but she heard voices. A flash of light. Music sounded. Looking up at the stage, Buffy saw the very same singer that had captivated Xander. Another flash. The room suddenly was filled with people. The figures were clear, but the faces were blurry.
She saw something out of the corner of her eye. A young girl, she didn't look older than thirteen, dark brown eyes and light brown hair. The girl put a hand on Buffy's shoulder as her eyes began to glow red. The red light over took the Bronze, the people, everything until only she and Buffy remained in a dark abyss. The girl then began to walk away from her.
"Who are you?" Buffy called.
The girl turned. "A friend."
Buffy's eyes opened and she awoke to find herself back in her dorm room. She looked at the clock to see that it was evening and the sun had set. Willow would be home soon, they were supposed to go patrolling together.
*Good, * Buffy thought. *Then I can tell her about the dream.*
Chapter 3:
Willow sat on a cold park bench in the middle of Weatherby Park while Buffy paced back and forth.
"Wow," Willow said after Buffy told her about her dream. "Do you think it was one of your prophetic dreams?"
"I don't know," Buffy said. "I'm pretty sure. I mean, my prophetic dreams usually come from the Land of the Vague, but I still can't be sure."
"You should tell Giles about it. If he were a super hero, he'd be Information Man."
"Yeah, I guess so." Buffy sat down next to Willow, who scooted just a bit closer to her.
"So did the girl really have red eyes, 'cause... yikes."
"Well, at first they were brown, but then they kinda just flashed."
"Wow," Willow said. "And again, yikes."
After dusting a few vamps and making a couple of sweeps around campus, the two girls headed back to their room to change. They were meeting Xander, who insisted that they go back to the Bronze. Buffy ran a comb through her hair quickly and turned to Willow.
"Ready?" Willow asked.
"Let's go."
Xander stood in the alleyway in front of the Bronze. He whistled to himself as he waited for Buffy and Willow to show. Sara watched him, hidden by the shadows. She loomed about, trying to get closer, but taking special care not to reveal herself.
Suddenly, the door to the Bronze was thrown open as an angry young woman stormed out. A glint of blue light caught Xander's eye as the light from inside the club reflected off of the sapphire ring on Sara's hand.
Xander, being the curious young man that he was, slowly approached the dark spot where the blue light had come from. Sara held her breath, sure to be caught. Her mind chattered away, trying to think of an explanation of why a thirteen year old girl was hiding outside of a night club.
"Xander!" a voice called, tearing Xander away from the alley, much to Sara's relief. Xander looked up at the two familiar girls walked up to him. The three met with tender contact, hands on the shoulders, hugs, and even a peck on the cheek. Sara watched, almost jealous of the love and care that they expressed toward each other, and wondered if anyone would ever care about her that way.
Together they walked into the club, once again bathing the alleyway in light that hurt Sara's eyes. When the door closed, and she was in the dark again, she squinted and her eyes flared red. Just for a moment as if to show her annoyance to the bright light. As she stepped out of the shadows, her black coat seemed to blend her to the darkness she had come from. She adjusted the ring on her finger, looking at it. Reminding herself to be more careful, from then on.
Chapter 4;
The Bronze was jumping that night. There was a DJ playing recorded music, but from the look of things on stage, they were expecting a band soon. Buffy and her friends were on the dance floor, apparently having a great time. When the song ended, they returned to their table.
"I'm gonna go get a drink," Buffy said, making her way to the bar. "I'll have a Coke." As the man behind the counter turned to get her drink, her eyes wandered to the corner of the room. Her breath caught. In the corner, next to the door, she saw Sara, and recognized her from her dream. Her eyes however, were brown, and focused straight on Willow and Xander.
"One dollar please," the voice from behind the counter said. Buffy turned, a bit startled, and paid the man. When she looked back to the corner, Sara had gone.
Buffy walked back to the table, trying to make sense of all that had happened.
"Buffy?" Willow asked with deep concern. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Buffy replied. "It's just, I just saw the girl from my dream."
"You saw a girl in a dream, and now you just saw her here?" Xander chimed in. "Is it possible we're entering Prophesy Land."
"It's very high on the possibility chart," Buffy said.
"Sounds like a job for G-man."
"Ooh," Willow added. "Does that mean we get to have a reference party?"
Buffy smiled. "I guess so. Maybe he'll be able to make sense of this mess. You coming Xander?"
But Xander was no longer paying attention to her. His focus was on the stage. It was her. The red-haired singer whose voice seemed to be calling to him, as it had called to him before.
"You guys go ahead," he managed to say. "I'll meet you later."
"All right," Buffy said with concern in her voice. Buffy and Willow left him at the table. They wondered if he even noticed that they were gone.
Xander did finally make it out of the Bronze about five minutes later, though to him it felt like an eternity. He walked down the street, unconsciously humming the song that he had just heard. He didn't notice the young girl with the sapphire ring leaning on the side of a building as he turned the corner.
"Nice set of pipes that girl's got, huh?" she called after him.
"What?" He turned to face her.
"The redhead," Sara said. "She's good."
"Yeah," Xander said wistfully.
"Yeah," Sara repeated, mocking him. "Too bad she's evil."
"Excuse me?" The statement had gotten Xander's attention.
"You're a friend of the Slayer's right?"
"Who wants to know?"
She smiled. "I'll take that as a yes." She paused and looked towards the Bronze, lighting up a cigarette. "Oh yeah, Belle's as evil as any demon that you've ever faced." She took a puff of the cigarette. He looked at her curiously.
"What makes you so sure?" he asked.
"I got sources." She took the cigarette out of her mouth and blew a smoke ring into the air. "Be careful."
"What does your mother think about those things?" Xander called after her.
"Next time I communicate with the dead I'll ask her," she said loudly, not bothering to turn around.
"Your name isn't Angel is it?" he yelled, remembering the last black-clad mystery guy that gave them warnings of danger. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, obviously trying to decide whether or not to tell him her name.
"Sara," she said finally, then turned and disappeared into the mists of the night.
"Sara," he repeated softly to himself.
Chapter 5:
Buffy and Willow sat with Giles in his condo.
"And it was definitely the girl from your dream.?" he asked.
"Yeah," Buffy replied. "But then I looked back and she was gone, nothing. Pretty weird huh?"
"Quite. Now, also in your dream was...."
"This singer," Buffy finished for him. "She's been at the Bronze twice, once on Karaoke Night and again tonight."
"That's why Xander's not here," Willow said. "He stayed to watch her." Her voice sounded so sad that every bit of sympathy that Buffy had in her was squeezed into her eyes as she looked at her friend. She still hadn't gotten over Oz leaving, and Buffy knew she still had a ways to go.
"Well," Buffy said, trying to break the tension. "There's got to be something wrong with her, I mean, why else would I have had a dream about her?"
"Indeed," Giles said. "Do you know if this singer will be playing again anytime soon. I think perhaps it's best we keep an eye on this...."
"Belle," Xander said from behind him.
"Xander!" Willow said, surprised to see him. "We didn't hear you come in."
"What did you just say?" Buffy asked.
"The singer, her name is Belle," he said quickly.
"Figures," Buffy said under her breath, then loudly: "I'm sorry, she's evil? How do you know?"
"I got a tip from my very own cryptic warning guy. Apparently she's evil." He slumped down onto Giles' sofa, obviously upset.
"Your own Cryptic Guy?" Buffy asked.
"Cryptic Girl, actually."
"Uh oh," she said. "About 5'5, looks maybe 13?"
"Brown hair, brown eyes, and a long black coat."
"That's her!" Buffy exclaimed. "That's the girl from my dream! I knew I wasn't seeing things!"
"And she's evil," Giles said, confused.
"No," Xander said. "Belle, the singer is evil. Perfect huh? Seems like every girl I've ever been attracted to has something wrong with her. Either she's a mummy, an ex-demon..."
"Cordelia," someone finished for him. He turned, startled.
"Sara!" he said.
"Sara?" Buffy asked.
"That's my name," she said. "No need to introduce yourselves, I know who you all are. Willow, Buffy, Giles, and of course, Xander."
"And you're Sara?" Willow spoke up from behind.
"Yes, for many years now," Sara joked.
"Well," Buffy said. "I guess someone's got some explaining to do."
Sara looked around, feigning confusion at who Buffy might be referring to, "Oh," she smirked, "you mean me."
"Well yeah," Buffy snapped. "Now you come in here with big news that someone's evil, and have nothing to back it up, I think a little explanation is in order."
Sara sighed. "All right you win, I read auras."
"Huh?" Xander asked.
"Auras, spectral energy," Giles said. "Usually reflecting personality."
"She has a dark aura," Sara went on. "Like, really bad. It pretty much screams, 'I'm evil, ask me how!'"
"So, what is she?" Willow asked.
"What?"
"What is she?" Willow repeated. "I mean, in our line of work, evil people usually turn out to be evil things."
"So what is she?" Buffy asked.
"Dunno." Sara said. "Isn't that your department?"
"Yes," Giles said, already at his bookcase. "I suppose it is. However, before we attempt to identify what she is, I think we should perhaps gather a little more information."
The five stood, not knowing what to say. Xander started to speak, but then closed his mouth at the realization that he had nothing to say. While they were deep in thought, Sara only stared around the room. Her gaze finally fell on Xander. She didn't know why he was always mocked. Branded the Geek of the Scooby Gang. She just didn't understand it. She found him attractive in numerous ways. The way his hair fell over his eyes, his build, she had seen his arm muscles and they were nothing to sneeze at. Why was he always hiding them with those baggy shirts? [oh somebody stop me].
"Ok," Buffy said finally breaking the silence. "She's a singer, she has a dark aura, and she may be human. Wow talk about not having a leg to stand on."
"You know now that I think about it, her aura did strike me as odd," Sara said. "Like there was something not right about her. Not human being a big possibility in this town."
"Well Xander you've spent the most time around her. Anything that screams..... well, screams?"
"I'm not sure," Xander said. "There was something about her voice that seemed weird to me. Like it was calling to me."
"Well that explains why you zoned out every time she sang," Buffy said. "Giles, are there any strange deaths in the paper today that could be connected to her? Young men disappearing near the Bronze on Karaoke night. That was Wednesday."
"I'm not sure," Giles said. He picked up the newspaper from his desk and began scanning the front page. "Oh dear, 'A young man was found with his throat slashed a block away from a popular teen nightclub.'" he read. "Well, that could easily be any teen nightclub in Sunnydale."
The four teenagers stared at him blankly. Giles had obviously forgotten that the number of other teen nightclubs in Sunnydale closely resembled zero.
"Right," he said. "That would be the Bronze."
"So," Sara said. "Let's go." She jumped up and headed to the door.
"Wait!" Buffy sprang up to stop her. "We can't just storm in there not knowing what she is."
"You got a better idea?" Sara snapped. "Cause from that list of facts, I'm sure we'll find out what she is in the very near future."
"You don't have to be sarcastic about it." Buffy turned to Xander. "You said that her voice was calling to you?"
"Yeah. It was like 'come to me'," he said in his best ghost voice.
"Uh huh, and you were all oblivious whenever she sang."
"A demon who uses sound to disorient its prey," Giles said. "Interesting."
Willow looked a bit disturbed with the classification of the demon.
"Will?" Buffy asked. "You okay?"
Willow looked up, obviously having been deep in thought. "Hmm, oh yeah, just, this sounds familiar to me. Like I've read it before."
"Can you remember where?" Sara asked her.
"I'm not sure."
"Come on, it can't be that hard. Chicks who sing to lure people to them and kill them. Men, I'm guessing, since you and Buffy weren't affected."
Xander's hand shot up. "Ooh ooh, this sounds familiar to me too." He ran over to Giles' bookcase. "Here," he said pulling a book from it. "The Odyssey."
"Right," Willow said. "The Sirens!"
"Sirens?" Buffy asked.
"They were creatures in Greek mythology," Giles said. "They lured men to them with their beautiful voices, and then killed them."
"Uh huh," Buffy said confused as to how both Xander and Willow knew this.
"We read it in English class Freshman year," Willow said as if reading her mind.
"Oh."
"So," Sara said. "We know what she is, she's not human, and she's murdered an innocent person."
"Maybe more," Willow said, slightly disgusted.
"So," Sara said again. "Whose up for some killing?" She rubbed her hands together devilishly.
Chapter 6:
Their bags were loaded with various weapons as they headed toward the Bronze. Crossbows, axes, and stakes. [Hey, those things can kill a lot more than you think.] Giles was flipping through a book in his hands.
"Ah," he said. "You see, I told you this book mentioned Sirens."
"That's nice Giles, now how do we kill them?" Buffy asked.
"Uh.... it says that we have to destroy the source of her power."
"Well that helps," Sara said sarcastically.
"It at least puts us a little closer than before," Buffy said.
"Now all we have to do is find out how to get her alone so we can kill her," Willow said.
A scream echoed through the atmosphere, causing them all to spin towards the direction it was coming from. They ran toward the Bronze. Buffy looked next to her in surprise, Sara was keeping up with her. Almost ahead of her, in fact. Together they flew toward the building.
Another scream told them that the person in trouble was in the basement, which was coincidentally, where the bands would store their equipment before they went on stage. Buffy grabbed on to an overhanging pipe, and with one swing knocked in the window and slid inside. Sara followed soon enough to see Belle letting a young man fall to the ground dead, his throat slashed. She looked up from the man's lifeless body to look at Buffy. Xander, Willow and Giles dropped through the window as Buffy and Belle only stared at each other, both ready to fight. Sara watched them both, unsure of exactly what to do.
"Don't you usually pun right about now?" Sara asked Buffy. Buffy looked at her questioningly, and Belle took this opportunity to charge Buffy, knocking her down. Buffy easily threw Belle off of her and flipped back up to a fighting stance. Buffy ducked a punch and answered with a spinning kick. Her foot connected with Belle's face, making her dizzy. Buffy took advantage of her disoriented state. She quickly delivered a backhand that sent Belle stumbling backwards, only to be kicked in the legs by Sara. Belle fell to the ground. Giles stood in front of Willow and Xander, loading a crossbow. He fired, the bolt hit her in the stomach. She straightened up, laughed and pulled the bolt from herself. Sara punched her in the face. Hard. It was clear that it made her angry. Belle threw a few punches at Sara, all of which were blocked almost too easily. Belle was enraged, she was being beaten by a child it would seem.
Finally she was able to throw Sara away from her, sending her flying into a drum set. Sara flipped her head back up to Belle and her eyes glowed red in anger. Buffy was shocked. What was this girl? Giles shot another bolt at Belle. This time she caught it. Buffy ran at her. Belle grabbed Buffy with both her hands and tossed her into Giles and the others, sending the crossbow sliding across the floor. Sara got up and charged Belle. In what seemed like slow motion, Belle grabbed Sara by the back of her shirt and stabbed her with the crossbow bolt. The bolt passed all the way through her body and she could see it poking out from her shirt. She looked up at Xander and fell unconscious to the ground.
Willow, Xander and Giles were all in great pain, on top of the shock and hurt that they felt for Sara. Buffy positioned herself in front of them, wanting to protect them. Belle sauntered up to them, ever so casually. They didn't notice as Sara's weak hand, stained with the blood from her wound, grabbed the crossbow that had landed at her side. Wincing in pain, she got up, and yanked the bolt out of her back. Slowly she placed it in the loaded position. She looked at Belle. She had one chance.
For the first time in a long while, Buffy was afraid. She had hurt her leg when Belle threw her, and she wasn't sure if she could stand let alone fight. She stared at Belle as she began to sing. Buffy's eye's widened at the realization that her power center was her voice! As she sung, both Xander and Giles got up and approached Belle.
"Xander! Giles!" Buffy shouted in vain.
She watched in horror as Belle wrapped a hand around Xander's neck. The sound of a bolt leaving a crossbow rang through the air. Belle stopped singing. She was hit in the throat. A crossbow bolt through the larynx had stopped her beautiful music. She fell, revealing Sara sitting on the floor holding her side with one hand, and a crossbow in the other. All eyes were upon her as she stood, her legs shaking. She held a hand over her wound and emanated a white light that covered the injury. When the light receded, it was healed. Blood no longer stained her white shirt.
Without saying a word, she walked up the stairs and left Buffy and her friends with wide eyes.
Epilogue:
Buffy sat in Giles' apartment staring out the window, a bandage on her foot. She hadn't broken it, but it still hurt. She was confused. Sara had seemed like a normal girl. Just a normal girl who saw auras and wanted to help the fight against evil. What was that white light? What was Sara? How did she know how to kill Belle? Other questions filled her mind. It was like she was upside down in a world of confusion.
'If I only knew,' she thought.
Sara opened the door to her room and walked inside. Throwing her coat on her bed, she sighed loudly. She had really screwed everything up. How could she ask Buffy for her help now. She lied to them, led them to believe that she was something she wasn't. They would want to know her whole history now, where she came from, who she was, but she couldn't, they'd never understand. They'd never accept her then. She sighed once more and said to herself:
"If they only knew."
Be sure to check out Part 2: Your Better Demons.