Demeter watched Coricopat from where she was sitting on the library table. "So, this Master guy's tried to open the Hellmouth, got stuck in it, and now the signs say he's gonna get out. Which opens the Hellmouth, which brings the demons, which ends the world." She paused. "Well damn."

Cori emerged from where he was pulling weapons out of his weapons cabinet. He carried a crossbow and arrows over to where she was sitting, loading the weapon as he nodded, "Yes, that's exactly it. And whatever happens, it's supposed to happen tonight."

"Well, damn," she repeated.

He set the crossbow aside, checking the other weapons, "Alright, I've told you practically everything. Did you manage to reach Brother Luca?"

"Practically?" she asked tilting her head. "And no, he disappeared. He sent out one last global though, but all it said was Isaiah 11.6, which I dutifully looked up," she said, and reached for the paper she'd written it down on.

Cori didn't look up from his work as he recited, "The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them."

She blinked, setting the paper down. "Well, you know your texts."

"It's what I do." He sighed, "A little child shall lead them..."

She shrugged. "I don't know, it seems kind of warm and fuzzy for a message of doom."

"That entirely depends on where he is leading them. Aurelius wrote of the Anointed One, 'the Slayer will not know him, and he will lead her into Hell'."

"So," Deme frowned. "This Brother Luca thought the Anointed one was some kid?"

"If the Anointed one is still out there, he or she may well be."

"Well, we should warn the Slayer then, shouldn't we?"

He shook his head, "She isn't going to face the Master." He ran his hand over the crossbow, "I am."

"No you're not." Griddlebone spoke as she crossed the room to them, "So, I'm looking for a kid, huh? He'll take me to the Master, right?"

"Griddlebone, I'm not sending you out there to die. You were right. I've waded about in these old books for so long I've forgotten what the real world is like. It's time I remembered."

"You're still not going up against the Master."

"I've made up my mind," came his adamant reply.

"That's not how it goes. I'm the Slayer."

"I don't care what the books say. Nothing you can say will change my mind." Some part of him knew it was futile, but he wasn't about to let her go to her death.

Grids sighed, "I know." She moved quickly, hitting him hard enough to knock him out. She looked at Demeter for a moment before picking up the cross from Mac, putting it on." When he wakes up, tell him... I don't know. Think of something cool, tell him I said it." She picked up the crossbow, running her hand over it.

"But if you fight him," Deme said softly. "You'll die."

Grids swallowed, nodding, "Maybe. But maybe I'll take him with me, too..." She offered Deme a sad smile before turning and slipping out of the library.

Maybe ten minutes later, Mistoffelees and Tugger skidded into the library. "Cori, we-" Mistoffelees started and paused when he saw Cori still knocked out, though starting to come to, Deme hovering over him. "Huh what?"

Cori moaned, blinking slowly as he sat up, "Good God..." He looked around, starting to rise, "Where is she?"

"She left," Deme said. "They showed up though."

"You let her go?" Cori's hand went to his head as he looked in Misto and Tugger's direction, considering and finally just shook his head, sinking into a chair.

"What was I supposed to do, sit on her?" Deme asked a bit shortly as Mistoffelees rushed over.

"Are you okay? What happened?"

"I..." He looked at Demeter for a long moment, sighing, "I'm sorry." The librarian rubbed his jaw, flexing it carefully, "I'll be fine. Griddlebone has...she's gone to face the Master."

"What?" Mistoffelees yelped and Tugger blanched at him. "B-but..."

"Well, we're going after her right?" Tugger demanded.

"We wouldn't know where to look," Cori sighed.

"Well, we find someone who does then!" Tugger yelled. "Beat up a vamp, get information out of them!"

"Tugger...we haven't the time," Cori murmured.

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do?" he demanded.

"Um, guys, apocalypse? We still have that to worry about," Deme said softly.

"Wait," Mistoffelees blinked at her, finally turning from Cori. "What are you doing here?"

"She's been an invaluable help. And she has a point. We need to prepare for that."

"She's been a... what?" Mistoffelees blinked.

"I'm as surprised to see you here," Deme told him.

"Right, okay, focusing, we'll worry about that later," Mistoffelees shook his head. "How do we prepare?"

Tugger looked at them like they were all mad. "You know what? Fuck this, I'm going to find her."

Cori looked up at Tugger, "We don't even know where she's gone."

"I'll find out," he declared and turned, stalking out.

"Tugger!" Mistoffelees called after him but he was gone.

Cori turned back to the others, "Well, our best bet is to see if we can find anything in the books for the remainder of what will happen tonight."

Mistoffelees swallowed and nodded.

o.o.o.o

Tugger knocked on the door in front of him loudly. Finally, Mac opened it and blinked. "Look who's here," he remarked dryly.

"Mind if I come in?" Tugger asked, brushing past him to the inside.

Mac glared at the far wall for a moment before turning. "Everybody's visiting. I should clean the place up."

"She's gone."

"What?" Mac demanded, all humor disappearing from his face.

"Grids. She went to fight the Master."

Mac's face turned ashen. "He'll kill her."

"Rumor has it," Tugger agreed, crossing his arms over his chest. "So let's not let that happen."

"What do you think we can do?" Mac demanded.

"You know the Master, right? You know where his church is? Take me to him."

"You're so out of your league," Mac said, shaking his head. "He'll kill you before you can breathe."

"How can I say this clearly?" Tugger asked, and suddenly shoved a cross in Mac's face. The taller darted back, hissing at him. "I don't like you," Tugger told him. "At the end of the day I pretty much think you're just a vampire. But Grids loves you. I don't get it. But right now I really need to prove her right, that you're a real person."

"Real people fear," Mac snapped and considered him. "You're in love with her."

"Aren't you?" Tugger asked softly.

o.o.o.o

Cori skimmed over another book, "The Master is as old as any vampire on record. There's no way to tell how powerful he will be if he reaches the surface."

"Okay, I have a question," Deme said, looking through another book. "The Hellmouth opens. Where? If he's underground, and it's where he is, where's it gonna open?"

"Good point..." He considered, "Check through the Black Chronicles. And, um, Mistoffelees? Can you look through the town histories? Search for any location of incidents and such that might be linked to this."

Mistoffelees looked up from where he'd read the same sentence five times. "Huh? Right, of course, give me a sec," he said, rising and going for the computer.

"How big is the Hellmouth?" Deme asked.

"I can't say for certain. Large enough to release what it contains," Cori replied.

"Great," she muttered, and Mistoffelees swallowed hard from where he was clicking through the computer.

o.o.o.o

Griddlebone followed the Anointed one into the tunnel, pausing when the child stopped. He indicated she was to go alone. Holding the crossbow at the ready she made her way carefully into the church. She descended the steps, her gaze sweeping the area.

"Welcome," the Master said, spreading his arms wide, and looking exactly like he had when nightmares walked the world.

"Thanks for having me," She didn't turn to face him yet, "You really ought to talk to your contractor. I think you've got some water damage."

He smirked, and when she turned, he was right behind her. "Ah good. The feeble banter portion of the fight. Darling, why don't we-"

She whirled, firing the crossbow.

He caught the arrow out of the air. "Nice shot."

Grids hurriedly reloaded, her gaze fixed on the vampire before her.

He shook his head sadly at her. "You're not going to kill me with that thing."

"Don't be so sure..."

"You still don't understand your part in this," he said, shaking his head and disappearing back into the shadows. "You're not the hunter. You're the lamb."

Her eyes widened, but she turned, trying to locate him, "For somebody all-powerful, you sure do like to hide..." The Slayer made her way carefully through the church, trying to locate her opponent, the crossbow at the ready.

"I'm just waiting for you," he said, voice from the other side of the room. "I want this moment to last."

She whirled, still trying to locate him, her path having taken her in front of a pool of water. "I don't."

"I understand," he said, voice soothing as suddenly he rose from the shadows behind her, knocking the crossbow to the ground.

She startled, starting to move away from him.

The Master held her tightly. "You tried. It was noble of you. You heard the prophecy that I was going to break free and you came to stop me. But prophecies are tricky creatures. They don't tell you everything." He was whispering intimately in her ear. "You're the one that frees me," he said, smiling almost fondly but it was terrifying to behold. "If you hadn't come, I couldn't go. Just think about that."

With that, he sunk his fangs in her neck.

Griddlebone cried out, her eyes closing as her strength waned. Her legs gave out and she fell limp in his grasp.

"God the power!" he roared, throwing his head back after only a few swallows, not nearly enough to drain her blood. "By the way..." he said, dropping her, letting her land on her knees and then face-down in the pool of water. "I like your dress."

He crossed over to the mystical wall that had kept him trapped and shoved his hand through it. Grinning as the rest of it fell apart, he stepped through and up to the outside world.

o.o.o.o

Coricopat sighed, closing yet another book. "There's nothing in here. The Vampires have been gathering. They know he's coming, but the question is where."

"Will they gather at the Hellmouth?" Deme asked.

"The last time he tried to rise was the Harvet," Mistoffelees said from the computer, almost growling in frustration when he found nothing. "He sent a bunch of vampires out to gather blood for him."

"Where'd they go?" Deme asked.

"The Bronze," Cori answered.

"The prom!" Mistoffelees said, eyes widening.

"We've got to warn them," Deme said firmly, standing.

"You two go. I'll concentrate on demon killing practices," Coricopat said.

"My car's in the lot," Deme said already going for the door. Mistoffelees lingered for a moment, brushing a hand over Cori's shoulder.

"Good luck," he said softly.

Cori offered him a weak smile, "You too. Stay close together, and for God's sake be careful."

"We will," he said, just as softly and headed for the doors with Deme. As they reached the parking lot, Mistoffelees looked around.

"What if they get to the Bronze before us?" Deme asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that," the teen said, freezing.

"Oh?"

He pointed to where a slowly moving line of Vampires were approaching the school. "They're not going to the Bronze," he said. Looking around, several vamps were between them and the car, and another couple were in front of the school doors.

"What do we do now?" Deme asked.

"I vote panic," Mistoffelees replied.

"Why are they coming here?" Deme asked.

A car came screeching up next to them, Bombalurina in the driver's seat, "Get in!"

o.o.o.o

Mac pulled Tugger back hard. "The Master's escaped," he said, voice soft and full of terror. Tugger just looked at him and they continued.

Once in the Master's lair, Mac let out a cry and ran forward, lifting Grids out of the pool and turning her around. "She's dead."

"She can't be," Tugger protested.

"She's not breathing," the vampire replied and glanced down. "He didn't drain her though. She just drowned."

"Then there's a shot," Tugger said.

"You have to do it," Mac said, looking at Tugger with the pain of the world in his eyes. "I have no breath."

Tugger stared at him for a long moment, before sinking down and trying to perform CPR. "Come on," he begged. "Please, come on... Breathe! Please breathe!"

Grids' eyes finally opened and she sucked in a huge gasp of air, immediately rolling over and coughing up water.

"Welcome back," Tugger said softly, and Mac leaned forward to help her up.

She looked up, her eyes focusing finally, "Tugger? Mac?" She sat up carefully, reaching to take Mac's hand and lever herself up, "The Master..."

"He's gone up," Mac said softly, helping her stand.

She got to her feet, making sure she was steady, "Then we go after him."

"You're still weak," Tugger protested and Mac's expression agreed with him.

"No...I'm not. I feel strong. Different somehow."

The two men looked at each other. "Grids," Mac started.

She looked away from him toward the entrance to the church, "Come on. This needs to be dealt with." As she strode out, the two followed her a bit more warily.

o.o.o.o

Mistoffelees and Demeter scrambled into Bomba's car.

Bomba glanced at them, "I was on my way out, but the gate's locked. Who are these guys?"

"Vampires," Mistoffelees replied, as one suddenly leapt on the car.

Bomba shrieked at that, "What do we do?"

"We've got to get to the library," the shorter teen replied.

"Library. Right. Great." She slammed her foot down on the gas pedal as she turned her car in that direction, the Vampire on top still hanging on.

"Of course," Mistoffelees remarked, bracing himself against the seat. "We generally walk there..."

"You want to outrun these things?" Bomba shot back as she drove her car through the doors and down the hall to the library, slamming on the brakes right in front of the library doors, causing the vampire to finally fall off.

"No, you're right, driving's a great plan," Mistoffelees remarked, getting out quickly and bolting through the doors, Deme on his heels.

Bomba was the last in, a vampire missing grabbing her by inches.

Cori was on his feet and moving over to them as they started finding things to barricade the door with, "What's going on?"

"Guess!" Deme replied and Mistoffelees' eyes trailed to the giant crack in the floor.

"But why are they coming here?" Cori spoke, hauling a filing cabinet in front of the door.

A sudden crash was heard in the back. "They're coming in through the stacks," Mistoffelees said in shock.

"Come on then," Deme said, pulling him with her to shut the doors.

Cori turned at another crash, "My office..." He left Bomba to finish with the main doors as he hurried to barricade the office as well.

The computer teacher and Mistoffelees got a bookcase in front of the door, as a tendril started creeping from the crack toward Mistoffelees' foot.

Bomba shrieked as an arm reached in and grabbed her, "Oww! Help!" She beat at it, finally giving in and biting it until it released her, "See how you like it!"

Cori entered his office in time to see a Vampire breaking the window. He picked up a stake and slammed it into the creature. The vamp disintegrated and the librarian began moving a bookcase in front of the aperture.

The tendril suddenly grabbed Mistoffelees, pulling hard and causing him to fall over, Demeter grabbing him automatically and holding on. "Charles!" she screamed as Mistoffelees cried out.

Cori darted out of his office, freezing at the sight of a multi-headed demon emerging from the floor of the library, "The Hellmouth..." He shook himself out of it, running to grab a battle axe from the weapons cabinet, taking the stairs two at a time to get up to where Demeter and Misto were.

o.o.o.o

Up on the school roof, the Master was grinning, arms wide as he stood by the library skylight. "Yes... come forth, my child, come into my world!"

Grids spoke from behind him, "I don't think it's yours quite yet."

He turned, disbelief etched in his face. "But... you're dead."

"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty. Which is more than I can say for you."

"You were destined to die," he said, angry. "It was written!"

She shrugged, "What can I say? I flunked the written."

His hand shot out, clutching the air. He locked eyes with her. "Come here," he commanded.

She came as he commanded, never taking her eyes off of him, each step sure, but this was not fully on her own terms.

"Do you really think you can best me here, when you could not below?" the Master asked, voice harsh.

She came right up to him, finally tilting her head to one side, "Did you know you have fruit punch mouth?"

"What?"

She hit him, hard, in the jaw, sending him to the ground, "Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists."

He growled, throwing a blow at her. They sparred back and forth across the roof before he finally grabbed her, the skylight behind her. Grids glanced over her shoulder to see a broken table sticking up, it looked sharp enough for her needs.

"Where are your jibes now?" the Master demanded. "Will you laugh when my Hell is on earth?"

She grabbed him, by the throat and arm, her grasp stronger than his, "You really that excited about Hell?" She pulled him in close, "Go there." The girl lifted the vampire, flipping him over her head and throwing him behind her so he crashed through the skylight, landing impaled on the shard of table.

He opened his mouth to scream, unable to actually do so as his body turned to dust, leaving a skeleton behind him.

The battle that had been raging in the library stopped at that as the demon in the Hellmouth let out a shriek and abruptly pulled itself back into hell, leaving the four in the library staring frozen in shock.

Grids looked down at the damage below and then descended from the roof to meet Mac and Tugger, who she had left guarding the stairs up to the roof.

Cori drew a shaky breath, moving over to where Misto and Deme were, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Deme said, and Mistoffelees just managed to nod, unable to speak as the other three entered.

Coricopat offered Mistoffelees a hand, glancing at the others, "The Vampires?"

Bomba swallowed, "Gone."

"The Master?" Mac asked, as Mistoffelees took the hand, using it to stand himself back up.

"Dead, and the Hellmouth has closed," the librarian glanced at Grids, "Griddlebone?"

She swallowed hard, trembling as she bit back what might have almost been a sob, "I-I'm sorry. It's...it's been a really long day." She glanced at Mac.

He rested both of his hands on her shoulders, standing behind her, a solid and reassuring presence at her back. Mistoffelees moved forward too, resting a hand on hers.

"Yeah, she died and everything," Tugger said, forcing his voice to be light though he was outside the circle of comfort. She leaned back against Mac, slightly reassured.

Cori offered her a faint smile, "I should have known that wouldn't stop you."

"What do we do now?" Deme asked.

"Well, I hear there's a dance over at the Bronze, could be fun," Tugger remarked.

Bomba nodded, "Yeah, I vote for that!"

"Grids?" Mistoffelees asked softly, though he glanced back at Coricopat.

Griddlebone nodded slightly, "Sure. We-we saved the world. We deserve to party." She looked down at her now stained and tattered white dress, "I mean...I got all dressed up."

Mac smiled at her. "That you did. And it's a nice dress..."

She managed a smile at that, "Thanks..."

"What about him?" Deme asked, motioning back to the pile of bones.

Griddlebone looked in that direction, "He's not going anywhere."

They turned, heading as a group for the doorway, leaving the remains behind to be dealt with at a later time.

"What's the story with the car?" Tugger was asking.

Bomba smiled, "Oh, that was me saving the day."

Cori's brows rose at the sight of the hallway, "And causing property damage..."

Tugger actually offered her a grin. "Nice going..." he actually sounded suitably impressed.

"You are going to dance right?" Deme asked Cori.

"I don't dance," came Cori's reply.

"Oh you will," both Deme and Mistoffelees replied and glanced at each other before turning back to him.

As they left, Mac's hand reached down, taking Griddlebone's with his.

Grids twined her fingers with his, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I've missed you."

"I'm here now," he replied softly.

She paused, the others continuing on as she turned to face him, "Thank you."

"For?" he asked in confusion, looking down.

"Coming to find me."

He tucked a strand of her hair back. "Any time, love," he said. "Shall we go to the dance?"

She leaned into the touch slightly, nodding, "I think we shall." He led her out, their hands still together.

And that, ladies and gentlemen is the end of the first story. Stay tuned for the second part to be up soon! In the meantime, we have a couple other CATS stories going if any dear readers would like to check those out while waiting. Thanks everyone who read this, we hope you enjoy it! But remember, that review button down there makes your author's days so much better and brighter.