Monster Of The Fic: The Maid's Tale
Chapter 10
Willow had found the address for Aunt Liza, and they rushed over there. Willow was with Giles, Xander, and Cordelia trying to get through the front door of Liza's house. Buffy was going around the back. She could hear a ruckus inside. The back door leading into the kitchen was broken into pieces.
Buffy came through the splintered doorway into the kitchen. She took in the scene and grabbed Berta's cold hand as it raised the meat cleaver to strike. Berta's other hand was holding on to her friend Liza's arm. She had been about to chop it off.
Berta turned to Buffy. Buffy gasped. Berta's face was gone, hollowed out, what used to be there replace with the demon's eye. It was the eye that was missing from the demon's massive head. And that demon was inches from Alexa.
Buffy was stunned by what she saw. She lost her grip on Berta's hand - the one with the meat cleaver. Buffy ducked as the meat cleaver came at her throat.
Liza was still mumbling in Hungarian. But then she remembered Alexa. The demon had found the girl. Liza attacked it, hitting it with her toaster. The demon paid no attention to her or her toaster. The demon's arm shot out and struck her. She fell unconscious. The demon never turned away from Alexa. It reached for her with less certainty now that the big eye was trained on Buffy.
Buffy felt a whoosh of air as the meat cleaver went past her head. She kicked Berta in the stomach. Berta staggered back.
The front door lock gave way after being hammered with a brick. Giles came through the living room into the kitchen. Xander, Willow and Cordelia followed him. A large headed demon with a gray hollow where its eye used to be menaced a young girl who sat motionless with tape over her mouth. Giles raised a kitchen chair holding the legs up like a lion tamer. He jabbed at the demon as a way of distracting it from Alexa. The demon was not distracted.
Berta recovered from Buffy's kick. She still had the meat cleaver. She swung it sideways giving Buffy no room to duck. Buffy was pressed into the wall as she backed out of the way. Berta swung again.
To be continued...