Chapter 2 The Shadow Knows

Giles was taken aback. The girl was looking back and forth between Joyce and himself, and Giles wondered if she knew about that aphrodesiac spell. Buffy did, but it was scarcely the sort of thing she would discuss, even with her best friend.

"Hello, Mrs. Summers," said Willow politely.

"Joyce had just gotten a new African religious figure for her museum," Giles said quickly, "and wanted to see if it was listed in my books. After all, after last time—".

"The zombies. Right. Nice precaution, Mrs. Summers."

"I AM getting the hang of this sort of thing," Joyce said wryly. "Thank you, Rupert. I'll send you a description of the – religious figure – tomorrow." She walked out the door, apparently taking it for granted that the two would want to talk about magic, and not wanting to get involved.

"I thought you were out horseback-riding," said Giles, trying to sound bland, though he was a little miffed at having Willow's appearance nearly ruin his promise to Joyce.

"I was. But Tara mentioned a lecture at the college this evening that I got interested in – you might be too -- so I decided to shower and change. Um – haven't showered yet—"

"No problem." He had detected a slight horsy scent about Willow, but had know her for too long to be put off by it. "The lecture--?"

"It's called "Astronomical Facts and Astrological Fictions". It's being given by a Dr. Celeste, who will be teaching at the University this fall. This particular lecture is open to the public."

"Thank you." Attending a lecture WOULD be more interesting than sitting around the house brooding about his "occupation". He could get started on Joyce's dream tomorrow.

Willow gave him an odd look. "What IS your opinion of astrology, Giles? Your books are full of astrological stuff, but I've never seen you interested in, say, horoscopes."

"I make fine distinctions, Willow. I don't think casting a horoscope on a human accomplishes anything, because humans have free will and can control or change their destiny. Vampires and demons don't, so their actions can be predicted, and astrology is one tool for doing that. In fact, that is one thing that makes Vampire Slaying morally bearable. If the vampires had a potential for reform, shouldn't they be given the chance?"

"What about Angel? He has free will."

"Angel was reformed by an outside force, a spell, not by his own nature. You ought to know; you re-imposed the spell."

"I was in the hospital at the time, half-delirious, not in a frame of mind to think things through. I'm glad you're always around to straighten things out, Giles."

"Um, yes. Now, about the lecture: what is the time and place?"

"7:00. Science Hall at the University."

"I'll be there--"

Suddenly they heard a scream from outside.

"Aieee! Help! Buffy!"

"That's Joyce's voice!" exclaimed Giles, dashing out the door, with Willow at his heels, both yanking out stakes from their pockets.

Joyce was sitting on the ground next to her car, looking stunned. As the pair ran up, she whispered, "Vampire."

"Scout the area, Willow," Giles ordered. "I'll see to Joyce." Willow nodded and began peering around, while Giles helped the woman to her feet. "Are you bitten?"

"No. I decided to bluff, yelling Buffy's name as if she was nearby. If he knew about my daughter, he might also know that she visits you a lot."

"Good thinking. But are you sure that it was a vampire?"

"I know what you're thinking, that vampires can't stand daylight. But we were in the shadow of – of – " She looked around. "That's funny. I don't see what could have caused a shadow that dark. You must believe me, Rupert."

"I do." Joyce and he might have different opinions about the duties of a Slayer, but she was no dummy and no hysteric. If she said that was a shadow, then he would look for a shadow.

Willow showed up again; he could hear her coming by the clopping of her riding boots. "There's an open manhole down the block. I think I saw something dark disappear down it."

"You didn't chase it?"

"He fled so readily that I was afraid that he was trying to decoy me away, so that other vampires could attack you. Apparently I was wrong, but it pays to be cautious and watch your a--, um, back."

"You sound like Buffy's boyfriend," said Joyce, amused.

"Yeah, Riley's been giving us combat pointers. I like learning new stuff, and maybe there's something to be said for Initiative tactics, even though they failed in the long run. Of course, if he were here, he might have done it differently."

"You're not going to tell them about this, are you, Rupert?" asked Joyce. "I want them to enjoy their honeymoon. Buffy so rarely gets a chance to be a happy, normal girl."

Giles, whose line of work frequently put him in touch with the past and its mores, was slightly amused. In no previous generation would a conventional mother like Joyce approve of the fact that her "girl" was having a lot of sex with her boyfriend with no talk of marriage, much less consider it "normal". Of course, considering that Buffy had surrendered her virginity to a vampire on her seventeenth birthday, any other love affair must look normal. But he focused on the problem at hand. In a real crisis he would feel duty-bound to call the Slayer back, even if it involved an anonymous victim instead of Buffy's own mother. But this was an isolated incident during a quiet period. He could wait.

"I won't," he said. "But I don't think you should stay at your house alone with everybody away. That vampire knows you have a connection with Buffy, and he may have tricked you into "inviting him in" in the past. You had better stay here with me." They were entering the door as they spoke.

"Well, I still need to shower off, so I better get going," said Willow. "If we don't see you at the lecture, Giles, I'll understand." She went out, closing the door.

"Lecture?" echoed Joyce.

"It's nothing," said Giles.

"Nonsense. Don't let me stop you from your normal routine, Rupert. If your house is safe, it's safe. Do you have something here that I could read?"

Giles was feeling a little miffed that she drew more secure feelings from his house than from his own prowess as a fighter, though that was probably an accurate assessment. He ignored that and concentrated on the question. "Only metaphysical tomes, I'm afraid. I used to keep the old English classic novels, but I had to clear them out to make room when I evacuated my school library." He avoided remarking that he had cleaned the demonology texts out the school library after Joyce had "outed" his bizarre collection to the school authorities. That hadn't been Joyce's fault; a devil had made her do it.

"Do you have anything on African demonology? It might throw some light on some of my African art."

"Interesting thought. OK, I'll get one." He looked through his collection.

"Buffy told me of an odd dream she had a few months ago. About seeing a girl in an African mask who identified herself as the First Slayer. Of course, maybe her mind was just confusing her vocation with some of the African masks that I've brought home from time to time. Do you know?"

Giles remembered that night; Buffy had told him about the dream, while he had kept secret the dream he himself had had. It was about an alternate life where vampires were nothing but a theme-park fantasy and he had been able to marry Olivia and father children. The oldest child in the dream had a peculiar resemblance to Buffy. It was his subconscious acknowledgement that he was torn in two directions: the desire to be a father to Buffy and the wish for a normal life. He didn't want to mention that to Joyce.

"Yes, she told me about the dream, but we don't know how Slayers originated. That information, if it was ever known, has been lost through the years. The Council of Watchers started in midieval times when certain English scholars discovered the existence of Slayers and decided that they needed guidance. Before then, nobody knows."

"Haven't you ever been curious?"

The question was innocently meant, but Giles was to remember it in the future.