Chapter seven
Buffy spent a long time wandering through the tunnels deep under Sunnydale. Eventually she found herself in a gloomy antechamber in the sunken church, where the Master was waiting for her.
"Greetings, my lord and master," she said, kneeling at his feet.
"Greetings, my servant. You may rise," the Master responded.
She stood, with her head bowed she waited for her Master's latest instructions.
The Master sat Buffy down on a cold stone slab nearby. "Your friends and your Watcher, they are still alive, Buffy. Aren't they?" he asked.
"No, my Master. I killed them last night. It was your bidding. I would not fail you."
"You lie! The Watcher was seen tonight. Seen searching for you. You care for him. That's why you would not kill!"
"My Watcher is dead! Killed by my own hand!"
The Master shook his head. "Stubborn Slayer" he muttered. He took his beautiful crystal on its golden chain from his pocket and waved it in front of her eyes.
"You must feed to survive, Buffy. Mortals exist simply to be fed on. You WILL feed child, make no mistakes about that! Your first kill will be Mr. Giles. Don't you think that its fitting that your first kill is to be your ex-Watcher?" he said in a low, but clearly hypnotic voice.
"Yes," Buffy droned in a dull lifeless voice.
"Don't you want to keep your Watcher safe from harm? What about your friends, don't you want to keep them safe?" he asked calmly.
"Willow, Xander, Giles, they are merely mortals. Mortals exist only to be fed on. I must feed to survive therefore they must die. Starting with the ex-Watcher. Then I will kill Willow and Xander. After them, all the other mortals, I will make the whole world bleed before I am finished," she vowed.
"Good Buffy! You soon will be one of us completely forever. Once the Watcher dies, there will be no way for you to return to goodness and the other sickly sweet sugar coated mortal rubbish!" he laughed.
"You will find your prey in the school library, consulting his books and trying to find his good little Slayer a cure. What he does not realize is his good, little Slayer will soon be gone forever!"
"Am I to turn this Watcher, my master?"
"No!" the Master shouted, "He is not trustworthy. You will feed from him and that is all, I have told you this before. Can you not understand anything I tell you child?"
"He was good to me in my life. I want to turn him!" she complained, the hypnotism was starting to slip.
"Nice to you in life! He tortured you by never allowing you to go out with friends. Never allowed you to date. Ruined your education by making you slay vampires or patrol every night so you never had time for your homework. He made you miss classes that nearly cost you your place at Sunnydale High.
"Turned your life upside down. Lost you all your friends. Made you train daily, stealing the last remnants of your spare time. Forced you into being the Slayer. Even killed you! Face facts Buffy, your Watcher has ruined your entire life!"
Buffy kneeled in front of the vampire. "Forgive me Master. The Watcher confused my mind and made me forget all the nasty things he has done to me. He deserves to die. I shall kill him. I will not be denied my revenge! Please forgive my stupid mistake, Lord Master," she pleaded.
"I forgive you, my servant, but do not allow yourself to be confused by the Watcher again. A mistake like that could cost you your afterlife. Now go kill him Buffy. Do not return until your task is completed!"
"I obey, my Master!"
The Master put away his crystal and watched as his ever-obeying servant walked away on her deadly mission.
Unknown to them, Angel was watching and had seen everything. "So that is what Siobhan wanted me to learn. The reason Buffy agreed to being turned and does not remember why. She was hypnotized!" he said, louder than he'd meant to.
Angel checked around to make sure he hadn't been heard. No vampires were around, luckily.
"I must follow and stop her from completing the mission. That has to be the reason I was sent here," he muttered as he silently followed the Slayer down the dark, gloomy passage.
Even though he was a strong vampire, Angel wasn't sure if he could stop Buffy. Her being weak from lack of feeding might be to his advantage, but he wasn't willing to bet on that.
She fled quickly to the school.
"Buffy stop!" Angel called after her as he reached the campus grounds, just moments behind her.
She stopped and glared at him. "What do you want? I am on a mission for my Master, anything else must wait until that is successfully completed."
"What is your mission?"
"To kill Mr. Giles, school librarian and Watcher."
"Giles is your friend, why would you want to do such a thing?"
"Because my Master wishes it."
"You will kill your friend, because the Master wishes it?" Angel said, horrified.
"Mr. Giles is mortal. Mortals do not matter. They exist to be fed on, nothing more."
"I can't allow you to kill your Watcher. You need him!"
"Then die, Angelus. You are not a true vampire, therefore you like all mortals, do not matter. The weak will die with no exception and the Master will have only faithful servants to cerebrate his ruling of the entire world once more!"
She attacked Angel with a ruthless kick to his stomach, as he doubled over in pain, she brought her joint hands down hard on the back of his neck. Angel staggered away from her. "Buffy, this isn't really you. The Master is controlling your mind. You must fight to be free of him."
"Don't be so sure Angelus. I am totally evil, this is the true me!" Buffy laughed.
She kicked his head hard. His neck snapped back and she heard a nasty crack. Angel screamed in pain. Buffy didn't care. She savagely kicked him in the stomach once more.
As he fell down, she grabbed the back of his jacket and bashed his head against a handily nearby tree. When she let go, he dropped as if poleaxed. Seeing her chance, Buffy ran off towards the school.
Angel swore to himself, using some very colourful expressions.
"I never expected to hear such things from you, Angel."
"Siobhan?" he croaked.
"Who else would be stupid enough to follow a mad half-vampire under the spell of the Master and her boyfriend in the middle of the night when she could be at home, safely tucked up in bed!"
Siobhan took a deep breath and reached out towards Angel's neck, her hands glowing with a faint red glow. He screamed again as she prodded his neck. Seconds later she pulled away from him and sagged against the tree.
"Are you okay?" Angel asked, he felt his neck. It was healed. "How did you do that?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me. Get after Buffy. You must stop her from hurting Giles. It is very important that her mission fails!" Siobhan ordered.
He nodded and ran off towards the school.
"Be careful, Angel. Buffy is very dangerous at the moment. She doesn't know what she's doing!"
