How it
starts.......
Anyanka opens the
door to her room and dumps her books unceremoniously on the floor. She slumps down on her queen size bed
and falls back across the mattress.
God, how she hated Sunnydale, she thinks, and not for the first
time. Nor the hundredth time.
Like all demons,
she had felt the lure of the Hellmouth as soon as she set foot on this
continent. With a little will power
she could have easily resisted its power; one such as her could not exist in
this world for over a thousand years without being careful, but it was also her
nature to seek out anything emanating such strong mystical forces, and she was
unable to resist the temptation to try to tap into that source to increase her
own powers.
What a mistake that
had been, she tells herself.
Upon arriving in
Sunnydale she found an ample supply of scorned women just waiting to wish
harmful fates on their former boyfriends within Anyanka's earshot. But there was one young woman who's pain
had overshadowed all the rest.
Cordelia Chase.
She had caught her
then boyfriend, Xander Harris, cheating on her with his childhood friend, Willow
Rosenberg. The little tramp, Anya
curses the supposedly shy redhead.
She touches the side of her left cheek with her finger tips at the slight
swelling the little bitch gave her by punching her out last night.
"If I still had my
powers she would never dare strike me," she says to her empty room, which, over
the past few months had become a very apt listener to her plight. Little did she know there was a very
weak ghost trapped in this very room for penance from a previous life --which is
not important to this story-- such was sometimes the consequence of dying on the
Hellmouth, but had this ghost been able to it would have told her to shut the
hell up long ago.
Of course, if she
still had her powers, none of this would have happened.
Rarely had she come
across a woman suffering as much pain as this Cordelia Chase, so it was her
sacred duty as Anyanka to grant this mortal her wish of vengeance. So, as she normally did, she took on a
mortal guise that would allow her the best opportunity to get close to
Cordelia. That of a rich senior at
Sunnydale High School.
Even though she had
not intended to stay in this form for more than a couple of days, a few at the
most, she made sure to make her disguise complete. She had used her powers to set herself
up in a house befitting one of Cordelia's crowd, with a nice car, and two
phantom parents with just enough money that even God wouldn't laugh at. Okay, maybe not God, who cared not of
monetary wealth humans strive to acquire, but Zeus definitely wouldn't
laugh. And she should know, for
Anyanka's heard him laugh a few times.
Some of the most devastating earthquakes in history resulted from his
chuckles, she reflects.
So, with everything
set, she began her mission to grant whatever wish Cordelia would wrath upon her
unsuspecting ex. Once meeting
Cordelia, it had only taken two days to lure her into telling Anyanka her
wish.
Huh? had been
Anyanka's first thought. But it was
Cordelia's wish so she was more than obligated to grant it.
What had resulted
from that simple wish was of a cataclysmic scale second only to an
Ascension. And Anyanka should know
--well, you get the picture. The
only thing she could not lay claim to have witnessed would be the
Crucifixion.
As it turns out,
this Buffy Summers just so happened to be the Slayer of this generation. Her never coming to Sunnydale allowed
The Master --a master vampire with enough testosterone to declare himself THE
master of all vampires, what nerve!-- to free himself from his prison in the
Hellmouth. As a result Sunnydale
had been overrun with his vampire legions, turning practically half the
population within a couple of years.
Discovering what
kind of world she had created, Cordelia took it upon herself to try to correct
things, seeking the help of the school librarian who should have been Buffy
Summers' Watcher. The man had the
infuriating gull to summon her, Anyanka, with a spell to be used only by women
scorned.
And just before
Anyanka was about to crush the librarian's neck, rip out his throat, and
disembowel him --not necessarily in that order-- he had deprived her of her
necklace, the source of her powers, and smashed it!
Needless to say,
Cordelia's wish was undone and everything was reset to the exact moment she had
made the wish, but this time Anyanka was unable to grant it. No one, not even Cordelia remembered
anything that had happened during the time in that alternate reality. Which was probably fortunate for them,
she thinks, considering most of them died.
The loss of her
powers had left her mortal, stuck in the persona of an eighteen year old senior
attending Sunnydale High. And she
had lost everything, the mansion, the car, the unreal parents, but, most
importantly, the money in their false checking account. But it seems that fate is not without a
sense of humor. The short time that
false checking account existed, it did manage to accumulate an amount of
interest --in real money-- that was all that was left to Anyanka, Anya now. Even though substantial by mortal
standards, the money would eventually run out, but it did allow her to acquire a
suitable apartment, a used car, and --by the Gods-- grocery and laundry
money.
Sighing, she gets
up from the bed. But this was only
until she could find a way to get her powers back. Her latest attempt had met with
failure. Failure in the form of
Willow Rosenburg. Two of them. The shy innocent --make me gag-- Willow
of this insufferable reality, and the vampire Willow from the reality where her
necklace was destroyed. Somehow,
while trying to retrieve her necklace from that reality, with human Willow's
help, they had freed the vampire Willow instead.
The fanged redhead
had wreaked havoc until Buffy, Willow, and the rest of her friends were able to
send the toothy dominatrix back to her world, hopefully to meet her doom at the
end of something sharp and wooden.
Anya smiles at the
thought, but quickly winces from the pain in her cheek. She decides it's time to put more ice on
it before it begins to swell anymore.
Heading for the door of the bedroom she catches a glimpse of herself in
her full length mirror. She stops
in front of it and takes a closer look at her cheek.
Her reflection was
that of a normal looking young woman.
Not the most attractive image she could have given herself, --from past
experience, making herself as beautiful as possible often led to more problems,
what with her distaste for the male species and their need to get close to
attractive females-- but she didn't get these features from the thrift shop
either. Her very light brown hair
was straight and trimmed neatly to shoulder length, but at least she had finally
mastered shampoo and conditioning; already well aware of the techniques of such
mortal rituals she just never had the practice. She never had a need to with her
powers.
She scowls again at
her reflection, at the thought of her lost necklace. The bruise on her cheek, barely
concealed by makeup --another ritual still new to her-- fed her anger
further.
If only there was
some way she could make Willow and all her friends suffer, as she was
suffering. Make them all grovel at
her feet, as she told them all last night during the spell ritual to send the
vampire Willow back to her world.
"I wish I could
turn their world inside-out," she tells her reflection.
Right before her
eyes, her reflection suddenly transforms.
It's skin shrinks against its skeletal frame, veins and tendons popping
out under thin, wrinkled flesh.
Anya instantly recognizes the form of her true self, revealed only when
she is using her powers. She
quickly brings her hands up and looks at them. Her reflection is no longer mimicking
her moves, and she sees that the flesh of her hands and arms are still
normal. She touches her face and
feels only smooth skin. She gazes
at her demon reflection again and her eyes open even wider when she sees the
necklace it's wearing.
Her necklace.
Before she can
reach out to the mirror, for her necklace, the demon on the other side of the
glass pierces Anya with its eyes.
Then she is
swallowed by a bright flash of light.
With a gasp, Anya
bolts straight up in bed and finds herself sitting in the exact same spot. Her hand instantly goes to her chest,
where her necklace would usually rest, but finds that it's still not there. Human dreams were also new to her as
well, but out of all the dreams she's had since becoming mortal, this was by far
the most real. She had dreamt of
getting her powers back many times; before realizing dreams were not real, she
had thought it was some kind of cruel torture sent by the gods to punish her,
but this was the first time she had ever dreamt of granting her own wish.
Was it a dream? she
asks herself.
It couldn't
possibly have been real. For one
thing, she did not have her necklace and she knew of no other entities, demon
nor god, who could grant wishes.
But then again, it was a big etherverse, she sighs.
"Humans would blame
this on pepperoni or anchovies, or both," she says to her empty room. Then her stomach growls, reminding her
that she was also human.
With a groan she
stands up and walks to her door but stops as she glances in her mirror.
"Was it a dream?"
she asks it.
Her reflection
doesn't answer.
Shrugging, she
heads off to the kitchen to satisfy this unusual sensation of hunger.
The ghost, that
would remain trapped in this very room for all eternity, perks with interest for
the first time since it had mortally died.
If it were able to emit sound in the material world, Anya might have
heard it say....
"This can get very
interesting. Damn! And I'm gonna miss it!"
FIRST THREAD: Part one
Now it
begins......
May, 1998
Buffy entered the
cemetery and scanned the area warily, muscles relaxed, but ready to respond to
attack. The nearly silent hush of
the wind was her only company as her boots crunched softly on the manicured
grass.
There was no sign of
him.
The vampire he had
sent to her, earlier that day, had given her life just to deliver a message on
his behalf, before bursting into flames in the sunlight. Surely he wouldn't go to such extreme
measures just to lure her out here for nothing? she thought. He definitely had something up his
sleeve. A trap maybe? He never ceased to surprise her.
It didn't
matter. Giles and the others were
back at the library working on the Restoration Spell to recurse him. Give him back the soul he lost when she
had . . . when they had . . .
The longer he kept
her waiting, the more time he gave Willow to complete the spell. And Kendra was there to look after them,
should anything unexpected happen.
She had faith in Kendra, as well as her skills as a Slayer. True, the exotic girl had only been a
Slayer for one year, but she had been training practically her entire life for
the day she may be called upon to fight the demons and vampires. Buffy herself had only been fighting for
over two years now.
Kendra could take
care of herself, Buffy assured herself, even though she could not shake the
uneasiness that had been nagging her ever since leaving the library. Those were the same words Buffy had said
when Kendra suggested she should accompany her to the cemetery. Kendra had heeded but not without giving
Buffy her favorite stake. Mr.
Pointy, she had named it.
The deadly stake was
hidden under her blue coat, but she was hoping she would not have to use
it. It was her last resort, if the
curse did not work she would use the stake to kill him. She knew she was finally ready to kill
him. She had been more than willing
for the past three months now.
As it turned out,
she didn't have to wait long.
"Hello, lover," said
the demon, inhabiting Angel's body, as he stepped out from behind a small
tomb. He was decked out in his
Sunday blacks, from his leather boots to his long duster, that hung nearly to
his ankles. Buffy stopped as he
smiled at her. A smile that no
longer resembled the smile she loved to receive from *her* Angel.
"I wasn't sure you'd
come," Angelus said.
Buffy did nothing to
keep the scorn out of her voice.
"After your immolation-o-gram?
C'mon, I had to show." She
knew how much he loved to boast. If
she could keep him talking a little while longer she could give Willow that much
more time for the spell.
"Shouldn't you be
out destroying the world right now," she went on. "Pulling the sword out of Al Franken or
whatever his name is?"
Angelus shrugged,
off-handishly. "There's time
enough. I wanted to say good-bye
first. You are the one thing in
this dimension I will miss."
Anger bubbled up
inside Buffy and she suddenly didn't feel like talking to him anymore. This demon who had all of Angel's
memories to use against her, to seek out her vulnerabilities the way only a
lover could.
"This is a beautiful
moment we're having. Can we please
fight?"
He gave her a
troubled look. "I didn't come here
to fight."
"No?"
"Gosh, I was hoping
we could get back together," he said, with mock seriousness. "What do you think? Do we have a shot?" If the look Buffy gave him could kill,
he would have been ashes by now and she could have called it a night. He smirked at her. "All right. We'll fight."
His duster flowing
like a cape, he rushed her with the speed only a vampire was capable of. Fortunately, it was also the speed only
a Slayer could hope to match and she ducked his attack.
He whirled as she
came up behind him and she successfully blocked all his strikes, biding her
time; actually, biding time for Willow.
She just needed to keep him from . . . well, from killing her. But that didn't mean she couldn't make
the demon suffer a little.
Okay, maybe a little
alot, she thought. She landed a
one-two combination with satisfying impacts on his face that staggered him
slightly. Retaining his human face,
he growled and pressed his attack.
As she dodged and blocked, that sliver tickling the back of her neck was
still there, subtly screaming at her that something was not right here. And it served to distract her just a
little. But it was enough for
Angelus to finally get through her defenses, ducking one of her swings, he
countered with a punch across her face that took her off guard. He followed through with a second blow
that caused her to lose her balance.
Before she could recover, he grabbed the back of her coat and flung her
to the ground.
Buffy managed to
shoulder roll with the landing and looked up as he strode calmly towards
her. "Come on, Willow," she
whispered, then got back to her feet.
As she met his next
attack, she tried to reach out with her senses, try to determine if there were
any of his goons in hiding, ready to pounce on her at any moment. Angelus must have noticed her
distraction for she heard him chuckle, just before slamming another fist into
her face.
As her head snapped
back she suddenly realized.....
He *was* here
alone.
A
hard fist was buried into her stomach and she doubled over.
There was no trap
here for her.
The top of his
leather boot hit her in the face sending her reeling backwards.
But there was a
trap. Just not here!
Her back slammed
against the wall of the tomb, stopping her, and she composed herself with
renewed purpose. She waited until
the last instant before she side-stepped his next punch, hooking her arm around
his, and swung him into the stone wall, his face smacking the surface with a
loud crack. She spun him around,
still holding onto his coat, and pulled him in close to raise a knee into his
stomach. She repeated the move
three more times before switching legs and smashed her other knee into his
face.
Angelus fell to the
ground, but Buffy was already running as fast as she could away from him. The vampire shook his head to clear it,
and saw the Slayer heading for the front wall of the cemetery.
"Where are you
going, Buffy? We're not finished
here! I guess I'll just go home and
destroy the world!" he shouted, trying to goad her. Seeing that she was no longer paying him
any attention, he growled. "Damn
it!"
Buffy did not look
back, but he was now chasing her, which just confirmed what she already
knew. He did lure her out here to
attack the others. He must have
found out about the curse, she thought.
Not taking the time
to deviate her course to the front gate, she ran straight for the twelve foot
high stone wall. If the situation
was less dire, Buffy might have been surprised when she cleared the wall,
without slowing down, by almost a foot.
She just needed to get over the wall as quickly as possible, so she
did. She stumbled a little when she
landed on the other side but did not fall, so kept moving forward. When she regained her balance she
increased her speed again.
By the sounds
Angelus made behind her, she knew he had used his arms and legs to help himself
over the wall, but he was still in pursuit. She just needed to make it to the
library before he did.
The rest of the race
was a blur. Her arms pumping at her
sides, her heels pounding the pavement, sidewalk, and grass. Only when the high school was in sight
did her eyes finally focus. She had
lost track of Angelus behind her, but she could not worry about that now. The only thing she was aware of was that
she needed to reach the others, no matter what.
She ran straight for
the side entrance closest to her, practically ripping the door off its hinges
and plunged down the hall. As
she rounded the corner to the last stretch of corridor leading to the library,
the large window in the student lounge to her left exploded inward. Forcing herself not to look in that
direction, she knew it was Angelus still after her.
Nothing mattered,
except reaching her friends.
Oblivious of his
heavy footfalls behind her, she burst through the double doors and charged into
the library. What she saw made her
falter slightly.
The library had
become a battlefield. Buffy was
instantly taken back to the second day of the school year when a group of
vampires had made a similar raid.
But that time she had been too late to stop them. The difference this time was that they
were still here.
Drusilla and Kendra
were standing, facing one another, looking into each other's eyes. But the Slayer was doing absolutely
nothing to defend herself as she leaned against the check-out counter. Arms at her sides, Buffy saw the heavy
eyelid-dazed expression on her face.
Drusilla's eyes were wide with an unseen power that had Kendra in a
trance. The mad vampire took a step
back, reeling a hand back, uncurling her fingers with long sharp fingernails and
prepared to strike at the helpless Slayer.
Buffy processed all
this in an instant and was still running forward. But as soon as she had entered the
library, the other vampires with Drusilla moved in to intercept the blonde
Slayer.
Drusilla didn't seem
aware of this as the first vampire ran past her back, charging Buffy, her eyes
remaining locked on Kendra's. Buffy
had pulled Kendra's stake out of her coat and was heading straight for
Drusilla. But the vampire got in
her path, blocking her. She jumped
just before the vamp reached her and hurled the stake as she was tackled at the
waist. As the vampire carried her
back, Buffy saw Mr. Pointy bury itself into Drusilla's shoulder and the female
vampire screamed in pain as the impact threw her off balance. As soon as she lost eye contact with the
other Slayer, Kendra slumped against the counter as if the strings that were
holding her up had suddenly been cut, and she began to shake off the effects of
the trance.
Then Buffy lost
sight of her as she started to fall back with the vampire still holding
her. Behind her, the double doors
opened and she was slammed into Angelus who was unable to stop in time to avoid
the collision. The three of them
landed on the floor with Buffy sandwiched between them.
The vampire on top
of her was trying to get a secure hold on her, to straddle her, but with Angelus
squirming underneath them, it was difficult. She heard Angelus growling above her
left shoulder and reeled a hard elbow at the sound, cutting the noise off and
hopefully knocking his fangs down his throat, Buffy thought. She raised a knee and found the other
vamp's groin and a hard fist to its face sent him tumbling off her.
Buffy sat up on
Angelus's lap and saw Kendra still recovering. So the other Slayer wasn't aware of the
other two vampires closing in on her.
Drusilla was on the floor sitting against the book cage preparing to pull
the stake from her shoulder.
"Kendra!" Buffy
shouted. "Snap out of it!"
Angelus was trying
to sit up as well. Disappointed,
she saw he still had his fangs.
Another elbow to the face sent him to the floor again.
Buffy got to her
feet, grounding the heel of her boot into Angelus' crotch in the process, and
moved as fast as her feet would let her.
The closest vampire noticed her just an instant before she slammed into
him, and Buffy managed to send them both tumbling into the other vampire as
well, knocking them away from Kendra.
The three of them hit the floor and Buffy scanned her surroundings for
anything wooden she could use as a weapon.
Well, there was the wooden table surrounded by all those lovely wooden
chairs, she thought, and she also saw Kendra's duffel bag under the table, which
would have weapons. But they were
several feet beyond her reach. She
would have to let these two vamps go if she were to try for them.
Looking underneath
the table, she saw Giles lying unmoving on the other side and she felt her heart
stop. From here she could not tell
whether he was still alive, and, with dread, she suddenly wondered where Willow,
Xander, and Cordelia were. But that
moment of distraction gave the vampire right under her the opportunity to hit
her in the chin with an uppercut and she tumbled off them.
She rolled on the
floor and sprang back to her feet and came at the closest vamp with a kick to
the gut before it could get to its feet.
Then she laid into the other vampire with a hard right hook, sending it
spinning off the floor. With those
two vamps momentarily dazed, she checked on Kendra, who was finally focusing in
on her surroundings. By the double
doors, Buffy saw that Angelus was getting back to his feet, as well as the first
vampire.
"Kendra, look out!"
she shouted.
Buffy screamed as
something slammed into her thigh and she dropped to her knees. Looking down, she saw the blood-coated
tip of Mr. Pointy sticking out the front of her thigh from where Drusilla had
shoved it in the back of her leg.
"Buffy!" Kendra
shouted and was moving towards her.
But Angelus grabbed
her from behind and Kendra whirled on him with a swinging fist. Angelus ducked the punch and returned
with a backhand across her face as the first vampire also closed in on her.
Buffy tried to rise
to her feet, but her wounded leg was suddenly useless.
"Poor Buffy," a
voice said behind her. She looked
over her shoulder and saw Drusilla standing over her. Blood covered her entire shoulder
but the mad vampire acted as if she no longer noticed it. "Poor little Slayer."
Before she could
respond, Drusilla grabbed a handful of her hair and jerked the blonde to her
feet. Buffy lashed out with a punch
to the vampress's face that caused her to release her, but Drusilla growled and
retaliated with a backhand slap that sent Buffy to the floor. The stake was driven deeper into her
thigh as the back of her leg hit the floor and she couldn't contain her scream
of pain.
The second and third
vampires had regrouped by this time and were approaching their mistress. Dru didn't even look at them, never
taking her eyes off Buffy, as she nodded her head to the prone Watcher. "Let's get what we came for, dears."
Buffy felt a rush of
relief that Giles was still alive.
Then another rush swept through her as she realized something else. Angelus hadn't known about the curse
after all. They were after
Giles. And if they needed her
Watcher that would mean only one thing, they did not know how to awaken
Acathla!
She must not let
them take Giles, she thought, and not just to stop them from awakening
Acathla. Drusilla was closing in on
her again. The vampire was
obstructing most of her view behind her, so she wasn't able to see how Kendra
was doing. But, by the sound of it,
she was in the middle of a big fight with Angelus and the first vampire.
"Come to Mummy,"
Drusilla said, reaching down for her.
Buffy tried to lash
out with a kick to her kneecap with her good leg, but the pain from her other
leg slowed her actions down and Dru was able to kick her strike aside. She responded by stomping her stiletto
heel onto Buffy's wounded thigh and the Slayer screamed out again. She could not defend herself as Dru
reached down and pulled her up by the lapels of her coat. Her feet dangling off the floor, blood
flowing down her leg, her face was now just inches away from the vampire's and
Buffy was looking directly into her big dark eyes.
"Look into my eyes,
dearie," purred Drusilla.
Buffy knew she
shouldn't look but she could feel those eyes sucking her in. This is what she had been doing to
Kendra. It was very similar to when
the Master had her under his trance, but he had no need to look into her eyes,
his power just reached out and grabbed her. But after he drank some of her blood,
and killed her, she was able to resist him. Giles was still unable to explain
it.
"Be in my eyes,"
droned Drusilla.
The world
surrounding those luminous eyes started to unfocus and they began to fill her
entire being and Buffy's hands loosened their hold on the female vamp's wrists
and fell to her sides. The raven
haired vampire smiled at her.
"Yes, my sweet. The pain is going away. Mummy will make everything feel all
better."
Buffy was nodding
and silently screamed at herself to stop.
"No," she managed to say through her constricted throat.
"Oh, yes." Drusilla
practically beamed at her attempt at resistance. Her face taking on its demon visage, she
drew the small Slayer closer and buried her face against her neck.
A
scream caught in Buffy's throat as white hot pain stabbed her in the side of her
neck. She felt her blood being
pulled from her body by Drusilla's hunger and darkness began to dim her
vision. But after only a few
seconds, which felt like an eternity to Buffy, Dru pulled away, her fangs red
with blood. Buffy's blood.
"Now, have a taste
of Mummy," she said, in a heavy voice.
She was holding the
Slayer with one hand, and curled the other behind the back of Buffy's head, and
pulled her in close to her blood covered shoulder. She tried to resist but the vampire was
too strong, and at the last instant Buffy turned her head away and her cheek
landed against the cold blood.
Drusilla made a
disapproving sound and yanked her head back by her hair.
"Naughty, naughty,
Buffy. You need to feed if you want
to become part of our family."
Buffy could not
answer and looked over Drusilla's shoulder. Kendra was now facing only Angelus; she
must have dusted the first vampire, but her former boyfriend had the young
Slayer down on the floor and was kicking her repeatedly in the midsection. The other two vampires were now dragging
the unconscious Giles towards the door, around the fight.
In an adrenaline
rush brought on by urgency, Buffy swung her fists up and clapped Drusilla's
temples as hard as she could. The
female vamp was more surprised by the attack than hurt, but she did release
Buffy and the blonde fell to the floor.
And immediately collapsed under her crippled leg.
Damn it, she cursed
herself. Reaching behind her leg,
she wrapped her hand around the blunt end of the stake and, with all her
strength, jerked it out of her thigh.
As she screamed at the pain, she was fully aware of the amount of blood
that was released without the stake there to obstruct the flow. She was losing too much blood, probably
already lost too much, but she couldn't stop right now. She needed to save her friends.
That was when she
was suddenly grabbed again and Drusilla hauled her back up.
"Where were we,
dearie," Drusilla said, bringing Buffy close.
She must not have
seen the stake in her hand for Dru did not react until Buffy had slammed it deep
into her chest. She just had enough
time to looked down at her chest in shock, then raise her eyes to Buffy. Then she exploded into ashes, taking Mr.
Pointy with her to oblivion.
With no one holding
her, Buffy fell forward, through Dru's still falling ashes and landed hard on
the floor.
"DRU!"
Buffy looked up at
the sound of Angelus' voice and saw him staring in shock where his sired child
was nothing but a scatter of ashes around the blonde Slayer. He instantly forgot about Kendra and the
other Slayer was struggling to her knees.
Then he focused on Buffy and his vampire eyes flashed an angry yellow as
he stalked forward.
Buffy tried to push
herself off the floor, but now she was really without strength and couldn't
avoid his boot as he kicked her in the face. She flew back and slid several feet
across the floor until her back hit the bottom steps to the upper level.
"I'm gonna kill you,
bitch!" he snarled.
Buffy was powerless
and could still feel herself slipping much faster now. She saw Kendra finally on her feet and
she was running towards them.
The double doors
suddenly swung open and a couple of voices shouted, "FREEZE!"
The vampires who had
been holding Giles had been unsure of what to do when Drusilla was killed, so
they were taken off guard when the first two police officers, a man and a woman,
burst into the library with guns drawn.
They dropped the
Watcher and growled at the cops, which, added with their vampiric faces, was
more than enough to convince the officers to start shooting.
Kendra dove to the
floor as the shooting started, sliding underneath the table. From where she was, Buffy was out of the
line of fire. Angelus turned away
from her to see what was happening.
Then the police officers started to scream as the vampires reached
them. As they died, they continued
to shoot until their guns were empty.
Angelus was turning
his attention back to Buffy when Kendra emerged from under the table with a
sword, she had pulled out of her duffel bag, and swung it at his neck. He barely ducked away just in time to
keep his head on his shoulders, but Kendra was already following through,
spinning 360 degrees, and laid open Angelus' side with another swipe.
Clutching his side,
trying to keep his undead guts from spilling from the wound, he climbed up on
top of the check out counter and jumped off avoiding Kendra's next strike at his
legs. He hurried to the other two
vampires, who had just finished killing the police officers and leaned against
the closest.
"Let's get out of
here, boys," he ordered.
"What about him?"
one of the vamps asked, indicating Giles.
"Leave him, for
now. We'll get him later."
The vamps helped
their leader as they pushed their way out the library doors. There was another commotion out in the
hall and more shots echoed, obviously from more cops entering the school.
Kendra hurried to
Buffy's side and put the sword down.
"Buffy," she said,
taking in the smaller Slayer's battered appearance. The blonde was looking up at her with
painfilled green eyes that were only halfway opened.
Kendra pulled off
her jacket and pushed it under Buffy's wounded leg, then wrapped the sleeves
around the top of her thigh and tied them as tight as she could.
"Oww," Buffy said,
in a weak voice.
The shooting out in
the hall stopped.
"Where's Angel?" she
asked.
"He got away,"
Kendra answered looking at the bite on Buffy's neck.
"And Giles?"
"He's ah'right, I
tink. Just unconscious." She put a hand on Buffy's blood smeared
cheek. "D'ye feed off
Drusilla?"
"No."
"Good."
Kendra pulled out a
clean rag from the pocket of her cargo pants and pressed it against Buffy's
neck. Her expression didn't change
as she tended to her fellow Slayer.
"Ye've lost a lot of
blood," she observed.
"Yeah," Buffy
said. "I'm dying. Been there, done that. No big."
Kendra looked into
her eyes. "Ye're not goin' to
die!"
"Truthfully, I don't
want to, but I don't really have a choice." Buffy's expression turned to one of
alarm. "Oh, God. Where're Xander and Willow and
Cordy?"
"Xander is up dere,"
she nodded to the upper level. "I
tink he's unconscious as well. I
don't see de others. Dey must've
run away."
"Check on him,"
Buffy told her.
"I c'not leave
you. Ye're still losing blood."
"I'm sure the
ambulances are on the way because of all the shooting. Please, just see if he's all right."
Kendra's expression
still didn't change as she looked into Buffy's eyes. "Okay," she said, and climbed the short
stairs. When she was on the upper
level she saw a toppled book shelf and immediately lifted it to one side.
"What is it?" From her vantage point, Buffy couldn't
see what was there.
"'Tis ye're friend,
Willow. She's been knocked
out. Could be a concussion."
"Oh, God," Buffy
whispered with worry.
"Buffy?" she heard a
groggy voice say.
She saw Xander,
pushing himself to a sitting position and he winced in pain and cradled his
right arm against his body.
"Xander," she
breathed in relief. "Thank
God. Are you all right?"
"My arm's
broken. Willow!" He started to crawl towards them.
"She's alive,"
Kendra told him. "We shouldn't move
her until help arrives."
"What happened?" he
asked. "Buffy. Buffy? Where are you?"
"Down here," she
called in a faint voice.
Xander finally got
to his feet and saw Buffy at the bottom of the stairs. "No," he whispered and hurried down to
her side. He gently eased his good
arm under her and cradled her against his body. "You're gonna be okay, Buff, do you
hear?"
"I'm sorry," she
said. "I wish I could do that for
you, Xand, but my body has other plans."
Sirens came into
earshot and steadily grew louder.
"See," Xander said,
as tears started sliding down his cheeks.
"They're coming. You're
gonna be fine. Did Angel do
this?"
"It was
Drusilla."
"She is so dead
meat," he said, angrily.
"Actually, she's
right there." Buffy nodded, barely
able to move her head now. Xander
saw the scattered ashes.
"What about
Angel?"
"He got away,"
Kendra said from the top of the stairs.
She couldn't go down without having to step over them so she stayed right
there.
"But Kendra nearly
cut him in half," she said, with a smile.
"He must have found
out about the curse," Xander said.
"No." It was taking Buffy all her strength
just to continue talking. "He
didn't know about the curse. He
doesn't know how to awaken Acathla.
They were after Giles. They
didn't get him."
"That's good
news. Now try not to talk," Xander
urged her. "Save your
strength."
"Kendra," Buffy
called. "You have to find
Angel. He's no match for you right
now. Stop him before he can try
again."
Kendra nodded.
"But we don't know
where they're holed up," said Xander.
"Angel will show us
de way," Kendra said. "His blood
will." She indicated the blood on
the counter.
"Better than a trail
of bread crumbs," Buffy said. Then
she hissed in pain and Xander held her closer.
"Just a little
longer, Buffy," he pleaded.
She just looked up
into his eyes. "I love all of
you." Her voice and breathing were
slowing down. "Tell the others,
Xander. Tell Giles to . . . talk to
my mom."
"I will. Buffy, please."
She tried to smile
at him but she was too weak and her eyes closed, releasing a single tear
drop. Then another tear drop landed
on her cheek, this one from Xander.
He hugged her against his chest.
"I love you," he
whispered.
He started to make
out several voices out in the hall and they were getting closer to the
library. He looked up and saw
Kendra still standing at the top of the stairs. She was looking down at Buffy, but there
was no expression on her face he could read. She didn't even look sad. She looked . . .
Like Kendra.
"Well, what are you
waiting for!" he snapped. "Go find
Angel!"
The Slayer just
glanced at him, then made her way down the steps around them. She retrieved her sword and looked up
when the voices were right outside the double doors.
"Go out through the
back," Xander told her. "And don't
let the cops see you."
She nodded and
bounded back up the stairs and disappeared through the doors leading into the
Stacks.
Xander turned his
attention back to Buffy and finally let himself break down and his body
shuddered as the sobs assaulted him as he continued to hold his friend
close.
And he held onto her
until the paramedics pulled him away from her.
End of Part One
FIRST THREAD: Part Two
"Where is
Drusilla!?" demanded Spike.
The two vampires
helped Angelus to the couch and he dropped weakly onto it, immediately getting
blood on the cushions. He managed
to get his coat off without losing any of his insides.
"Where is she!!?"
Spike shouted, as he rolled his wheelchair a few feet closer to the couch.
"She's dead,"
Angelus hissed.
One of the vampires
returned to the main room of the large mansion and handed him a roll of bandages
and tape and Angelus quickly started to wrap his wound.
Spike just sat there
for a shocked moment. "What? Dru's dead?"
"That bitch killed
her." Anger filled Angelus'
voice. He used his teeth to rip a
strip of tape and growled in pain as he tightened the layer of bandage over his
wound.
"You let Buffy kill
Dru?" Spike accused. "She wasn't
even supposed to be there! You said
you were gonna lure her away!"
"Don't worry about
Buffy," Angelus finally shot him a look.
"If what Dru did to her doesn't kill her, I will."
"So," Spike was
practically trembling with rage. He
glanced at the large stone statue which sat in the center of the room. The slumbering demon Acathla, as far as
he was concerned, the cause of this madness. Then he returned his gaze to Drusilla's
sire, the cause of *all* of Spike's troubles. "Not only did your plan to dupe your
ex-pet away from her friends fail, nor did you succeed in taking her Watcher,
but you let her kill Drusilla! And
you left her alive!!!"
"I told you,"
Angelus retorted. He was still
taping up his shoddy wound dressing.
His bloody hands were trembling with the effort in his weakened
condition. "Dru practically killed
her. She's no threat to us right
now. But the other Slayer was
there. That foreign bitch."
"Kendra?"
"She's still running
around. But she's no threat. She's not half the Slayer Buffy is."
"Well, you're not
even half a vampire right now, Angel," Spike told him. The blonde vampire closed his eyes,
trying to calm himself down. But
all he saw was the face of his beloved Drusilla and how that was to be the only
way he would be able to see her from now on. She was gone.
He opened his
eyes. "All right, we're gonna
vacate this place, now."
"We're not done
here," Angelus growled.
Spike seethed. "Oh, I think we are quite done
here." He looked over his shoulder
to a tall vampire with lanky bangs standing behind him. "Lucius, go start up the car. If we leave now we can be miles away
from this hellhole before the sun comes up."
"The car isn't
here," Angelus told him.
Spike looked at
him. "Where. Is. The. Car?"
"It's still at the
cemetery. And I said we're not
leaving."
"Dru is dead. Buffy may or may not be. You don't have the foggiest how to wake
up Sleeping Beauty, there," He
nodded his head toward Acathla.
"And you left a trail back to the mansion that any half-slayer can
follow.
"Don't forget who
runs this show, Spike," Angelus said, in a warning tone. "We're not finished here. If Buffy's still alive, we kill
her. If she's dead, we kill all her
friends. Then we get the
information out of the Watcher if we have to cut him into little bitty pieces in
the process. Then we send the rest
of the world to hell."
Spike met Angelus'
eyes and glared at him with barely contained fury. Neither one of them broke eye contact
for a long moment, refusing to back down.
Finally, Spike lowered his eyes.
Angelus, feeling he won the confrontation, relaxed and inspected the
bandages around his body.
In a steady voice
that masked the anger he was feeling, Spike said, "Lucius, take the boys outside
with you and walk the perimeter. I
suspect we'll be having a Slayer come a calling before too long." He met Angelus' eyes again and his sire
did nothing to countermand his orders as the tall vamp left with the others.
"And find something
out there for me to eat," Angelus told him as they left. "I don't care if it's alive or not, just
don't taste it."
The vamps left the
mansion leaving Angelus alone with Spike.
Neither one of them spoke for a long time. Spike leaned back in his chair and
rested his hands on the wheels. He
began to wheel himself slowly backwards.
"You really have
lost it, haven't you, Angel?"
Angelus scoffed at
the crippled vampire. "Don't worry
Spike, I won't let anything happen to you," he said with mock sincerity. "You're still more amusing than you are
a pain in the ass, but I know you want revenge for Dru's death as much as I
do."
"I can't imagine
that being true, mate." Spike was
now close to the wall and he reached for a wooden chair against it. He swung it in one hand and shattered
the chair against the stone wall.
"Throwing a hissy
fit really doesn't become you, Spike. Though being in that chair all
this time may have brought you closer to your more feminine side."
"Well, then allow me
to up the testosterone." Making
sure Angelus was watching him, Spike planted his boots on the floor and, pushing
off the armrests, slowly stood up out of the wheelchair. He couldn't help but smile at the
expression that came over his sire's face and he kicked his wheelchair back
hard.
"Manly enough for
you, Angel?" he asked.
Straightening his own leather duster, which showed signs of wrinkles from
him sitting in the chair all these months, he strolled over to the pile of wood
he created from the broken chair and selected a long nasty looking splinter.
"Spike," Angelus
said in a threatening tone, doing his best to keep the worry out of it. "What are you doing?"
The blonde vampire
started walking towards the couch.
"I'm getting my revenge. I
just wish I had more time to do it proper."
*****
Lucius walked down
the stone stairs to the atrium. He
was dragging a struggling, dirty looking, old man he had found on the
streets. Before he reached the side
entrance to the mansion Spike stepped out.
The tall vampire was taken aback at seeing the blonde walking on his own
two feet.
Spike didn't break
stride as he approached Lucius.
"C'mon. Let's gather the
boys and go get the car. We're
heading out."
Finally recovered,
Lucius said, "What about Angel?"
"He lost his
appetite." Spike didn't even look
back as he started up the stairs.
"Among other things."
"What do you want me
to do with this guy?" he asked.
Spike still didn't
look back and continued on. "Eat
him or toss him. Makes no
difference to me."
Lucius looked at the
frightened human for a few seconds then shoved him away in disgust. The old man slumped against the stone
wall as the vampire wiped his hands off and followed Spike.
End of part two
FIRST THREAD: Part Three
May 21, 1998
Last night, my Slayer, Buffy Summers, was
killed. She died while
sav--
**RIP--CRUMPLE**
May 21, 1998
Last night, the vampires attacked us in an
attempt to abduct me. Apparently
Angel did not know the correct ritual to awaken the demon Acathla. Had he succeeded in acquiring this
information he would have used the demon to deliver the world to the demon
dimension. Fortunately, with the
Slayers working together, they were able to stop his efforts.
Regrettably, one of the Slayers did not
survive the attack. My Slayer,
Buffy--
**RIP--CRUMPLE**
May 21, 1998
The vampires tried to send the world to
hell. The Slayers stopped
them--
**RIP--CRUMPLE--SLAM**
*****
May 23, 1998
Three days ago, my Slayer, Buffy Summers was
killed. She died saving the
world. Her death is a great loss to
us all. Although the world still
has Kendra, another Slayer will soon be called, possibly already contacted, I
know there will never be a Slayer as dedicated and--
**RIP--CRUMPLE**
May 23, 1998
Buffy is gone. I failed her.
--the diary of Rupert Giles
****
May 25, 1998
Buffy was buried today. It was a remarkably bright sunny day,
considering the dark clouds had been threatening rain for the past week. It was the first time I saw Xander,
Willow, and Cordelia for a length of time.
They left as soon as it was over so I wasn't given the opportunity to
speak with them. I haven't spoken
to them since . . . that night and they hadn't been in the library ever
since.
The library has become a lonely, ominous
place. Without the children's
regular presence, I am finding the time I must spend there dreadful. I find myself looking forward to the
summer break.
*****
May 26, 1998
Buffy's mother came to me demanding
answers. The day after Buffy's
death I spoke to her, but at the time I was unable to bring myself to explain
her daughter's true role as the Slayer.
I ultimately told her that Buffy saved us from what the police had
determined was a raid by a gang under the influence of drugs. Joyce was inclined to believe the
story. But apparently, she
discovered some of Buffy's weapons and slaying equipment. I proceeded to tell her the truth and
how her daughter really died. With
a little assistance from Kendra, she believed what was told to
her.
--added note: 6-15-98: --This was to be the last time I would
see Joyce Summers.
*****
May 27, 1998
Kendra returned home today. After finding the deserted mansion that
had been the vampires' hideout, she had kept watch over the place on the chance
they might return. She had
discovered scattered ashes where the trail of Angel's blood ended. Spike's wheelchair was also there,
abandoned. I could only surmise
what may have happened.
But after a week with no hint of Spike's
presence and with Acathla securely binded, the Slayer was recalled by her
Watcher.
I resigned my position as Watcher to the
Council. I'll be returning to
England before too long.
--last entry. Rupert Giles
*****
*****
June 10, 1998
Oddly enough I'm still in Sunnydale. I had everything I would need to return
home to England, leaving most of my things behind. I even had the flight reservations
set. But on the day it was time to
leave, I could not bring myself to go to the airport. I sat in my apartment, which I can no
longer deny is my home, watching the clock. Watched as the hour of my flight came
and went. I didn't try to reason
with myself why I could not leave for I knew --had known all along-- I could
never leave.
Here is where she was. She gave her life here. No less should be asked of
myself.
*****
June 19, 1998
I've taken up patrolling. Chances are this will be a very short
career choice on my part, but I just cannot sit by any longer. The Hellmouth is still a large draw for
the demons and there is no one to stop them. I don't even know why I'm keeping with
this diary. Buffy would have
said--
*****
June 25, 1998
I received quite a shock last night. I was almost killed by a vampire, but
that wasn't the shock. I was
saved. Xander, Willow, and Oz saw
that I was in danger and rescued me.
They were on patrol! They
wanted to know what I was doing out there just as much as I wanted to know why
they were out there. Seems like
none of us could ignore the creatures of the night without trying to do
something about it.
We were about to go our separate ways,
calling it a night, when, on impulse, I asked them if they would like to come
over to my place for something to eat perhaps. They surprised me by saying yes. They ended up staying almost the entire
night. It was the first time we
were all together since "that" night.
We never said anything about that night. I think we all understood that we
weren't ready to talk about it just then.
We just talked about anything.
How they had started going out on patrol together just a couple of weeks
ago. That Cordelia had gone away
for the summer.
Xander had said, "In Sunnydale what else is
there to do besides save the world?"
Even though the humor came much harder for him, it was reassuring that he
was still capable of it. He may
have feelings for Cordelia now, but Buffy, I believe, was his first serious
crush. And he was the only one of
us there for her . . . at the end.
It turns out they've actually slain three
vampires so far, and ran into a squat four-eyed creature two nights ago, that
got away. I told them I would
research it for them to determine its origins. They didn't decline the offer as I had
feared.
*****
June 28, 1998
We succeeded in taking down the four-eyed
demon. A Monttelous, actually. While small in size it can be a
particularly vicious creature. Upon
discovering what kind of demon it was, I was very grateful that none of the
children had been harmed during the first encounter. The demon's talons secrete a rather
unpleasant venom when unsheathed.
If the victim goes untreated for over an hour, the person would literally
go mad and go into a destructive rampage.
A death I would not wish on a hated enemy.
*****
July 5, 1998
We all went to visit Buffy today. It was a beautiful day. I can't say if this being the day after
this country's Independence Day has any significance for us all being there
together. There was much weeping
for all --I believe this was the first time I've actually seen tears in Oz's
eyes and I'm sure it wasn't solely because of the grief Willow was feeling. Buffy may not have been as close to the
young man as to the others but during that short time she did have quite an
impact on him. As she had on all of
us.
It was also a time of letting go. Not of their memories of Buffy, those
would never die, but of their guilt.
I suspected that the others blamed themselves, however unwarrantedly, for
Buffy's death. At that moment they
accepted the fact that there was nothing they could have done to save
her.
Maybe one day I'll be able to forgive
myself.
*****
August 17, 1998
The beginning of the school year is just a
few weeks away now. Soon we'll once
again be able to have our meetings in the library. Of course, it will not be like old
times. It can never be. I don't really know how the others will
respond to that. Returning to the
library. Over the summer I have
gone to the library to retrieve volumes we would need to research a particular
demon or monster, but none of the others ever accompanied me, nor did I ever
pose the offer.
*****
*****
August 20, 1998
I was contacted by the Watcher's Council
today. Sam Zabuto, Kendra's
Watcher, is dead. He was killed
about a week ago. I wasn't given
any of the details but Kendra is currently without a Watcher and there is no one
presently available to assign to her.
The last Watcher had barely completed her training when Buffy--
**RIP--CRUMPLE**
*****
August 20, 1998
I was contacted by the Watcher's Council
today. Sam Zabuto, Kendra's
Watcher, is dead. He was killed
about a week ago. I wasn't given
any of the details but Kendra is currently without a Watcher and there is no one
presently available to assign to her.
The last Watcher had barely completed her training when the next Slayer
was activated. Turns out this new
girl had somehow slipped past the Council's detection. All other active Watchers are currently
assigned to Slayer candidates all over the world, so the new Watcher was rushed
off to make contact with this new Slayer.
Somewhere in Boston, I believe.
Since it's no longer possible to make this a
short entry . . . basically, the Council has reinstated my Watcher status. They want me to be Kendra's
Watcher. They said I was the only
one with the training and the experience I already have dealing with a Slayer
makes me more than qualified for the job.
The next Watcher, even with accelerated training, will not be ready for
field duty for another year.
Although Kendra is a remarkable young woman, I told the Council I no
longer have any interest in being a Watcher. They in turned informed me that Kendra's
flight left several hours ago and when to expect her.
Damned them.
*****
*****
August 25, 1998
Kendra is adapting to her new surroundings
rather quickly. True it is not the
first time she has been in Sunnydale, this time she will not be returning
home. And since Kendra has been
prepared for her role as a Slayer nearly her entire life, it shouldn't be
surprising to me how easily she's adjusting. She even went out on patrol her first
night here. I hadn't the chance to
tell the others about Kendra, what with the short notice I received myself. I can't describe the surprise on their
faces when they ran into her during their patrol.
I know they were uncomfortable with her
presence at first, Kendra being such a strong reminder of what happened the
night we lost Buffy, but that quickly passed. While having "civilians" accompany the
Slayer, even ally themselves in battle with her, went against everything she was
taught, Kendra had learned from Buffy that not everything was as clear cut as we
Watchers like to make it seem.
--the 2nd diary of Rupert Giles. First entry.
End of part Three.
