I waited until nightfall, and then went in search of my prey.

It had been such a long time since I hunted a human, I'd almost forgotten what it was like. And this time the hunt would be a bit more tricky, since the prey in question was already caught and in a cage, and being guarded.

It was a little past midnight when I made my way down to the police station. Of course by now there weren't nearly as many officers around, but that didn't mean I didn't need to proceed with caution.

I avoided the cameras as I prowled around the building, looking for an entrance that wasn't the main entrance. I knew the man's scent, but from outside the building it wasn't going to do me any good. I bit my lip, thinking. I could break my way into the back door, but that would doubtless set off an alarm, and that still wouldn't help me get to the coach, since he was still in a holding cell until they could get him moved.

Finally, I decided that air ducts would be the best option.

I found an outlet vent higher up on the building, so I climbed up, ripped it off, tossed it down into the alley below, and crawled in.

Fortunately I'm not claustrophobic, however, I barely had enough room to crawl through, and that was by my arms alone. I couldn't move my legs at all, since it did nothing except make noise and did nothing to speed my progress.

Even just using my arms, I did managed to make pretty swift progress, all things considered, and I paused by a grate to inhale and get a fix on where my prey was. He wasn't terribly far away, after all Sunnydale wasn't a terribly large town and had only a few jailhouses and none of them very large. This was one of the few to have a second floor, and the holding cells were on the first floor.

I won't bore you with detail of how long I crawled. I stopped frequently, lest I attract any attention in the very quiet building, so going was slow and it took me another hour before I made it past security, though I stopped to nab a spare set of keys to the cells, which also took a very long time to do since I had to wait until the officer fell asleep over his mound of paperwork.

Once the keys were mine, and I smelled and sensed no other officers nearby, I walked up the last door that separated me from the row of jail-cells. I peered inside.

The cells were mostly empty surprisingly. I smelled three humans inside, one of them my target, and he was the one closest to the door, which made my job very easy.

I could feel the Essence uncoil itself in anticipation, and it was so eager my hands trembled slightly as I reached out and unlocked the door, eased it open, and slipped inside. The door clicked softly shut behind me, and I paused to make sure no one had woken when I had entered.

They hadn't. One was sleeping off a heavy intoxication, and the other was little more than a child who had cried himself to sleep.

My prey's sleep was fitful. Through the bars I watched him twitch as he snored. And he changed position twice before I decided now was the time to make my move.

I unlocked his cell door and slid it open as quietly as I could, then slid it shut behind me.

Take him, take him now

'Patience. He'll know why he's dying.'

The Essence growled in impatience, but for once did not argue with me.

I moved toward the bed, my fangs lowering with every step. I felt my hands curl into fists when I stopped by his bedside. I watched him for another beat, then felt a growl in my throat as I reached down, slammed one hand under his jaw so that it shut his mouth so hard I heard teeth crunch.

His eyes flew open in the dark and he let out a startled sound I quickly silenced.

I grabbed a handful of his hair, and gripped his jaw tighter so he couldn't cry for help, and then swung him out of bed and into the wall. He struggled against me, and it pleased me to see how terrified he was of what was happening.

"You die tonight, human." I whispered to him, ignoring the blows he thought would save him. "Do you know why?"

As I gripped his head, I felt him shake it as best he could, the motion causing some blood to trickle out from where he had bitten his tongue, or his lips, it made little difference now.

"For what you did to the child," I growled, "for the pain and suffering you inflicted upon that innocent little creature, I swear on what's left of my soul that you will be punished, and you will never be given the opportunity harm another child ever again."

He made a protesting sound, which I cut off when I sunk me teeth into the center of his throat.

The soft flesh yielded so easily to my fangs it was as though biting into cotton candy.

I drank my fill, feeling him weaken and then grow still in my grasp.

I didn't drain him, I needed him to have some blood left over so I could cover my tracks.

I pulled back, licking my lips clean of the delicious, warm, golden liquid I wanted more of, but denied myself. Instead, I dragged the corpse of the man over to the tiny sink in his cell and laid him across it.

Then I pulled the small pocket knife I had purchased just for this purpose, opened the blade, and sliced it across the man's throat, through the bite marks I had left on his skin.

More blood flowed out, and I wiped the handle of the knife off before playing it in the dead man's hand.

My work done, I took a moment to appreciate what I had done, and then regret it.

The Essence was satisfied, for now.

I had had more human blood in the last twenty-four hours than I had had in over a century, and this couldn't continue. I had worked too hard to not crave human blood to give in to every hunger that came along now.

Giles had told me he'd tell Buffy what had happened, but without me there, which was wise. But how could I look the Slayer in the face and insist I wasn't a threat, giving Giles as an example of my control when I had just attacked and killed a human? As guilty and despicable a person as he have been, the Slayer might not see it as I did.

No, this was the last. The last time I would feed. It had to be.

I suddenly felt ashamed.

I didn't regret this man was dead, after all he had been a terrible person, but I regretted how far I had taken it. He was caught, he was being punished, I didn't have to inflict further punishment on him, why had I?

Deep down, had I thought he would be easy prey? Had I wanted to drain him completely? Had that been the only reason I'd come? To have one last taste of human blood?

The thought shook me down to my core and I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly realizing the severity of what I'd done.

Giles had trusted me. I hadn't killed him, I'd showed him I was better, that I could control myself, but what if the Essence controlled me more subtly than I had thought? I'd never considered the possibility, but what if it teased my sense of justice to provoke me into 'cheating'?

I closed my eyes, shaking.

No, I hadn't lost control, had I? This was…this was…justice…correct?

I wasn't sure any longer. I wasn't sure that I really knew myself anymore, and it worried me.

I wouldn't attack my friends, of that I was certain now, but what of others? What of other humans I told myself deserved to die? Who was I to play God when justice was already being served? I was not entitled to make such a decision.

I opened my eyes and made myself look at what I had done.

'This can't happen again.' I told myself, tightening my grip on myself, 'Never again. Never, never again.'