Willow, Xander, and Amy, all three looking as if they had gotten no sleep the previous night, sat at the study table in the library as they listened to Giles speak. Willow, still recovering from her fight, had a bandage visible around her forearm.
"This world is older than any of you know, and contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons, Demons walked the earth; made it their home….their Hell."
Willow and Xander, by now familiar with this sort of talk from Giles, let their eyes glaze over with worry as their thoughts turned to Jesse. Amy, however, was listening intently.
"In time they lost their purchase on this reality, and the way was made for the mortal animals. For Man. What remains of the Old Ones are vestiges: Certain magicks…."
"Magic?" interrupted Amy hastily.
"Yes," confirmed Giles, completely missing Amy's slightly manic tone of voice. "But there are also certain creatures, as well…."
"Like vampires," finished Willow.
"Exactly," replied the Watcher, receiving a broad smile from his Slayer. "The books tell that the last Demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed-infected-by the Demon's soul. He bit another, and another….and so they walk the earth, feeding. Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind. Waiting for the animals to die out, and the Old Ones to return."
Luke and Darla stood before the Master's altar with Jesse, who while conscious, was barely in any condition to put up a fight, even if he could. Unfortunately for the boy, his situation quickly got even worse, as the Master appeared from out of the shadows and in full command of the situation.
Regarding Jesse, he asked, "Is this for me?"
Luke was the first to speak. "An offering, Master."
"He's a good one," replied Darla, clearly trying to curry favor. "His blood is pure."
Almost immediately it became clear that Darla had made a big mistake, even as the Master displayed no emotion. "You've tasted it."
Darla took a fearful step backwards.
"I'm your faithful dog," continued the Master with a truly sinister smile. "You bring me scraps."
"I didn't mean to-"
"I've waited," interrupted the Master, his patience clearly being tested. "For three score years I have waited. While you come and go I have been stuck here-here, in a house of worship. My ascension is almost at hand. Pray that when it comes…..I'm in a better mood."
Still desperate to plead her case, Darla continued. "Master, forgive me. We had more offerings but the Slayer-"
"The Slayer?" questioned the Master.
"What's that?" asked Amy.
"As long as there have been vampires," answered Giles, "there has been the Slayer. One girl in all the world-"
"This is his favorite part," declared Xander, earning him a slap on the arm from Willow. "Ow!"
With a sigh, Giles condensed his traditional spiel. "All right: They hunt vampires, one Slayer dies, the next is called, Willow is the Slayer, don't tell anyone. I think that's all the vampire information you need."
Willow, having seen all of her friends attacked by vampires over the past few days, asked with a bit of an edge to her voice, "You're not even going to tell her how to kill them?"
Now annoyed with his charge, Giles replied, "As I have made perfectly clear, it is not the job of your friends to kill vampires. It is yours."
Xander interrupted this time, an undercurrent of rage in his voice. "Well, there's a lot more of them out there than Willow. And if you haven't noticed, they have Jesse."
"And they'd have me if not for both of you," murmured Amy.
"And that's my fault," answered Willow, refusing to look at her Watcher as she said so. "That big guy, Luke, he said that you and Jesse were supposed to be offerings for the Master. And Angel said that he was in charge of that Order."
"Who's Angel?" asked Xander.
"He's a vampire," answered Willow. "He said he had a soul? I didn't like him very much."
"Well, yeah," answered Xander, "because he's a vampire and needs to be killed. Right, G-man?"
"I'm not so sure it's that simple," replied Giles, happily ignoring Xander's nickname for him. "If he has, as he claims, a soul, it's very possible that this 'Angel' is an ally against the, uh….." Checking his notes that were on the table in front of him, Giles continued, "Order of Aurelius."
"So, maybe he knows where they took Jesse?" asked Amy helpfully.
"He didn't exactly tell me how to call him," groused Willow. To no one in particular she added, "Why are all the super-hot guys total jerks?"
Following a rather awkward pause, Giles helpfully suggested, "It's thoroughly possible that these vampires live underground."
"Well, there's electrical tunnels," offered Xander. "They run under the whole town."
"If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system, it might indicate a meeting place," suggested Giles. "I suppose we could go to the building commission-"
"That'd take too long," declared Xander.
"Uh, guys?" suggested Willow. "There may be another way."
"She mustn't be allowed to interfere with the Harvest," declared the Master.
"I would never let that happen," replied Luke, pridefully.
Darla, seizing the opportunity, spoke. "Well, this boy knows the Slayer. He's her friend." The last word was stated with enough condescension so as to illustrate her point.
"Interesting," answered the Master, as he considered what Darla was suggesting with a devilish smile on his face while he stroked his chin. "Then perhaps this boy will serve a greater purpose after all."
