I don't own supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
--
As the wind picked up, so did Laney's footsteps. As much as she enjoyed her nightly walks through the park, her skimpy work attire didn't exactly hold in the body heat.
Nor, she thought with a wince, did it leave much to the imagination.
But that was fine with her. Walking through a dark, empty field in the middle of the night was giving her own imagination plenty to do.
Like imagine she saw that bush rustle. Or that she could feel eyes following her every step. Even that sick little giggle she thought she heard on the wind…completely imagined.
"You look lost." Came a deep voice, startling Laney out of her reverie. Her pale green eyes met with a pair of attractive blue ones. Ones that fit their face quite nicely, Laney thought.
"No, no, I'm fine." An awestruck Laney stammered.
"You know, a pretty young thing like you shouldn't be out all alone at this time of night."
"Oh, don't worry about me. I know all about bad people, that's why I come prepared." Laney said with a smirk and waved around the can of Mace she always held tightly in her hand on her walks home.
"Smart girl." Said the man taking a step towards her. "But what'll you do when it's not a person?"
"What, like bears? Play dead I suppose."
"Oh, come now. There's no need to pretend." In a flash the man was gripping her tightly by the shoulders. With inhuman strength he lifted her up and slammed her body onto the ground. Laney had no time to react before two snake-like fangs had protruded from his upper gums and buried themselves in her exposed neck.
Those bright blue eyes were the last things Laney saw before her vision began to get blurry, and everything went black.
--
It had been three months. Three months since their last stand in Sunnydale, and Faith was surprised to find that not much had changed. Despite the hundreds of detectives, rescue squads, scientists, paranormal investigators, and grieving families that had passed through, it was still just one giant hole in the ground.
Having slipped quietly passed the security guards, Faith was now standing roughly in the middle of a half moon the size of, well, Sunnydale. To her it almost seemed like a giant had taken an ice cream scooper and dished himself up a nice bowl of dirt.
The thought of ice cream, dirt or not, made her stomach clench painfully. It had been nearly three days since she'd eaten anything more substantial than a twinkie. When the trail of the vampire she was tracking had led her back to Sunnydale, a very small piece of Faith had wanted to turn around and hightail it back to Cleveland. That's what old Faith would have done. However, this was new Faith, and new Faith didn't run.
Now, standing on the scene of so much death, Faith decided there were still some perks to being reckless and irresponsible.
After this vampire was dust, she decided, she was going to get drunk. Really piss her pants drunk, just for old times sake.
Keeping her senses wide open, Faith began to take long cautious steps all around the cavern floor until finally, she ended up right back where she began. With her feet planted firmly in the middle. She had lost the son of a bitch's trail. With a frustrated grunt Faith dug her toe into the dirt and sent it flying up, just to have the wind sending it right back into her face.
"God damn it!" Faith sputtered, turning her back to the wind and her front too, too, what the hell was it?
The dirt she had kicked up was now hanging suspended in the air, like it was all stuck to one very large piece of tape.
With a quick push of her hand Faith watched as the dust and pebbles swirled away, in what looked like dirty molasses going down a drain. Now was one of the moments Faith wished she had paid better attention during the short time she'd had a watcher. Any watcher. She had no idea what this was.
However, having that handy tingle she got whenever a vampire was near, she was fairly certain that this was the way Blood Sucking Bill had gone. So with pursed lips, a stake drawn, and a bad attitude, Faith dived head first into what she hoped wasn't a swirling pit of death.