Thursday April 25, 2:15 A.M, outside the P-Express facility, Valerie, Mat and Nash were stepping up to Nash's rental car.
Before Nash had a chance to unlock the driver's door, Valerie said, "Call me before noon, Nash. Mat and I will meet you for lunch."
"You and he will be working then," Nash said.
"Our work takes us all over the city, Nash," Valerie pointed out. "So we pretty much have our pick to where we want to eat."
"Okay, I'll call," Nash said.
"And the offer of you crashing at my place until you're ready to leave D.C. is still open," Mat said. "You can save on money… instead of paying for a hotel room."
"If I was alone, I would take you up on your offer, Mat, but as I said before I'm in D.C. with three friends," Nash said. "And we four are equally sharing the expense."
"Plus Bella might have an issue of you staying at my boyfriend's place," Valerie said.
Mat gave Valerie a confused look as Nash said, "Bella wouldn't care."
"No; Bella would only tell you that she doesn't care," Valerie said. "There's a difference."
"Val, you haven't asked about her wellbeing since I've been here, so…" Nash was only able to get out.
"I don't ask about the wellbeing of your corns and warts either," Valerie interrupted with.
"Val!" Nash uttered in a warning tone.
"Okay, okay," Valerie said. "I'm sorry. I'll play nice."
"This may not be any of my business, but who's Bella?" Mat asked.
"My wife and the mother of my two-year-old son," Nash said.
"And you don't like her?" Mat asked Valerie.
"Actually, to be fair, I don't even know her well enough to dislike her," Valerie said. "But she formed a very negative opinion of me on the day we met and steers clear of me every time we're in eye distance of each other."
"Why?" Mat asked.
"For the same reason that everyone from Twin Falls steers clear from me," Valerie said.
"Val, why weren't you secretive about studying witchcraft?" Mat asked.
"The books where from a public bookstore," Valerie said. "So I didn't know people were going to freak out that I was reading them, and by the time I learned that they were freaking out, it was too late. I was labeled a freak or a witch…"
"Well to be fair with the labeling…" Mat interrupted with.
"Okay, shut up," Valerie quickly said. Mat and Nash just amusingly smiled. "I was labeled a witch before I was one. And the word of me being a witch spread extremely fast… like overnight fast. And to people who I didn't even know."
"And I happened to bring Bella home to meet our parents on the very day, that Valerie brought home her first three books on witchcraft," Nash added. "And Bella thinks that watching Harry Potter movies will lead someone into devil worshiping."
"See, I didn't know Bella felt that way about Harry Potter movies," Valerie said.
"And would it have changed anything if you did?" Nash asked.
"Okay… probably not," Valerie said. "But I don't worship the devil."
"I know," Nash said. "And I'm very proud at the woman you became." Valerie smiled and gave Nash a heartfelt hug. Nash hugged her back and it lasted for only a couple of seconds before they released each other. "Well, I better go so I can get at least a little bit of sleep."
Valerie nodded before saying, "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Mat and Nash said together.
When Nash went to open his car door, Valerie and Mat turned and walked towards Mat's car.
Valerie and Mat were only a few steps away from Nash when Mat asked, "How old were you when you started to learn witchcraft."
"Sixteen," Valerie simply answered.
"And you just walked into a bookstore and started buying books on witchcraft?" Mat asked as they were approaching the passenger's side his car.
"No," Valerie said before gesturing towards the car. "I'll tell you in the car."
Mat nodded before opening the car door for Valerie. Valerie grinned before getting in and after Mat shut the door, he went around to the driver's side and got in.
After Mat started the car and drove away, he asked, "So what prompted you to study witchcraft?"
"It was around March 10th…" Valerie was only able to get out.
"Whoa!" Mat interrupted with. "You remember the date?"
"Yeah, but only because I was in the bookstore to buy a birthday gift for Tommy… my boyfriend back then," Valerie said.
"You mentioned Tommy to me once before," Mat said.
"Okay, well, Tommy's birthday is on… was on St. Patrick's Day," Valerie began. "I had just turned sixteen and he was turning seventeen. He loved Steven King's books and so I was at the bookstore about a week before his birthday while looking for one that he didn't have. While I was browsing I came across a book that lo and behold had one of my nightmare demons plastered on the front cover of the book. I picked it up and started reading."
"And so that was when you started buying those books," Mat guessed.
"Well, actually I didn't have enough money to buy any of them, but the store owner had a 'Help Wanted' sign in the window and so I applied," Valerie began. "I wasn't hired right away though. In fact, the manager only decided to hire me after I was fanatically showing up at the bookstore day after day to browse those books. It was in the beginning of April when I got hired and my first paycheck was three weeks later. That was when I bought my first three books on witchcraft.
"I had always taken a bus home from the bookstore and when I stepped on the bus that day, Carman, the biggest gossip in school, happened to have been on the bus and saw what I had. Of course I didn't know about Carman and her mouth at the time and so I didn't think too much of it when she saw me with the books."
"Let me guess; Carman got home after seeing you with those books and called all of her friends about it," Mat said.
"That's my guess too," Valerie said. "What I do know though is that the word of me studying witchcraft spread like wildfire. Anyway, when I got home with my books, Nash was just getting there too with his new girlfriend, Bella. Tommy was living across the street from me and he came knocking on the door soon afterwards too while inquiring about those books. In fact, that was when I learned that Carman was a big gossip. Anyway, I told Tommy about my dreams and that I was only reading the books on witchcraft and demons in order to understand them. Tommy thought I was a bit quirky for it, but he accepted it."
"So when did you perform your first spell?" Mat asked.
"It was a few months later and near the end of summer vacation," Valerie began. "I had read three books on witchcraft from cover to cover and two books on demons. And my original goal wasn't really to cast magic, but to understand my dreams as I had told Tommy a few months before. Then Snowflake, Mrs. Calberry's cat, came up missing. Mrs. Calberry was a sixty-year-old widow and Snowflake meant a lot to her.
"Anyway, I remember seeing a locator spell in one of the books and the spell had looked simple enough. So I thought, 'what would be the harm in locating Snowflake with magic?' So I made out a list of ingredients that I needed and I went to the store. One of the ingredients was something of Snowflake's so I visited Mrs. Calberry and when Mrs. Calberry wasn't looking I pocketed a rubber ball that Snowflake played with. I then went home and did the spell. The spell worked and I located Snowflake up in a tree a few blocks away. I'm thinking that Snowflake was chased up the tree by a dog and was scared to come down."
"So was that the spell that got you wanting to become a witch?" Mat asked.
"Not really," Valerie said. "In fact, I went four months after that before I attempted another spell."
"So what was your second spell?" Mat asked.
"A disastrous mistake," Valerie said.
Mat slightly laughed before asking, "What do you mean?"
"It was after the New Year's holiday," Valerie began. "And I got tired of this one asshole jock being cruel to everyone who wasn't one of the popular kids. So I put a spell on him."
"What kind of spell?" Mat asked.
"Each time he begins to be cruel to someone he instantly loses the memory as to why he was being cruel to that person in the first place," Valerie said. "That spell worked too. I witnessed him not remembering as to why that he was even talking to the person who he was being cruel to. At that point, I thought that the spell was working fine, but then about two weeks later, the guy woke up while not remembering the past four years of his life."
"Oh shit," Mat couldn't help saying.
"Yeah," Valerie agreed. "I immediately done the spell to reverse it and just as I was finishing the spell Tommy walked in on me. He broke up with me right then and there."
"That must've been rough for you?" Mat said.
"Not as rough as it became two days later," Valerie said.
"What happened then?" Mat said.
"Tommy died under mysterious circumstances," Valerie said.
"Oh God!" Mat uttered. "How?"
"No one would tell me," Valerie said. "I got blame for it though."
"You were charge with murder?" Mat quickly asked.
"Oh no… I don't mean that," Valerie quickly answered. "I wasn't accused by the cops. The people at school and the people in my neighborhood accused me of putting a curse on him. I swear I didn't though. However, I did cast a spell in attempt to summon his ghost in order to find out how he actually died."
"What happened with that?" Mat asked.
"Well, after I did the spell and for a quick moment I felt emptiness, confusion and anger beside me," Valerie said. "The emotions came and went so quickly that I thought that I was just imagining it. So I chalked it up to hopeful thinking."
"So you really don't know if that spell worked or failed," Mat said almost as a questioned.
"I don't," Valerie agreed. "And that was my last spell for over a year; however, I read five more books on witchcraft and two more on demons."
"So what was that spell about?" Mat asked
"After I read all those books, I was no closer in finding out why I was getting dreams of fighting demons," Valerie said. "There was a spell in one of my books about inciting certain dreams and so I cast that spell on myself."
"Did it work?" Mat asked.
"Willow told me a couple of weeks ago that it did," Valerie said. "But before that, I thought that the spell had just given me a weird dream."
"What was your dream about?" Mat asked.
"It was about a young teenage African girl with white painted face," Valerie said. "In my dream she was captured and chained up. And while being chained up three African men made her take in a demon's spirit through her eyes, nose and mouth."
"The three men were forcing a girl to be possessed by a demon?" Mat asked.
"Since joining Buffy's group, I learned that the three men from my dream were Shadow-Men, and Shadow-Men are who created the First Slayer," Valerie said.
"Oh! So you dreamed of the First Slayer being created," Mat said.
"Yep," Valerie said.
"So does that make you a demon?" Mat teasingly asked.
"I'm not a demon," Valerie sharply insisted. Mat amusingly grinned. "The First Slayer wasn't a demon either. She was just given the powers of a demon."
"Interesting, and I was only joking about you being a demon," Mat said. Valerie just nodded with a grin. "So what was your spell after that?"
"Actually after that, one of my nightmares was becoming persistently reoccurring," Valerie said. "Almost every night I dreamed of it and each time the dream ended the same way with my death. So I decided that the only way that I was going to defeat this demon was to make it real."
"That was the spell you did last Halloween," Mat surmised.
"Yep, but when I decided to pull my demon from my dream, I didn't know the spell for it… nor did I know if there was even a spell for it," Valerie began. "I had bought all the books on witchcraft that I could from the bookstore, however, there were two other books on witchcraft that had to be special ordered. And so I did. It took me about two months to get them and one of those two books gave a template on how to create my own spells. So I went through my ten books on witchcraft again; I learned and relearned what spell did what and I created the spell that would bring my nightmare demon to life… except Willow believes that I shifted the demon to our dimension from another dimension.
"Oh and also I created two other spells. The spell that was supposed to have made the demon move in slow motion was one of them and the other one was a protection spell. However, the protection spell was actually a modified prayer that my grandfather's brother would tell me when he would tuck me in at night. I was eight the last time I heard it and it was about calling on the spirits of our ancestors for help and guidance when evil is upon us. In one of the magic books there was a protective spell that was very similar to my great uncle's prayer and so I merged the two to create the protection spell.
"Anyway, creating those spells gave me a sense of belonging; I enjoyed doing it… and it also felt therapeutic for me. So I decided at some point during that stretch of time that I was in fact a witch. Of course my mom was just hoping that reading those books on witchcraft was just a passing phase. She didn't know about the spells that I created and cast… at least I don't think she knew. Anyway, once I had my spells completed, I went to a man named Blackie and bought a 38 caliber pistol."
"You bought a gun?" Mat quickly questioned.
"I did," Valerie said. "It took me up to the middle of October of last year to write out my spells and get a gun. I was going to rent a motel room to cast the spells there, but then my parents announced that they might be going out of town at the end of October and wouldn't be back until November. And you know the rest from there."
"Do you still have your gun?" Mat asked.
"No," Valerie said. "Turns out that guns are useless against demons and so I gave it to my dad the night that Willow and Dawn saved me."
"I'm glad to hear that you gave your gun up," Mat said as he took hold of Valerie's hand and held it.
Valerie grinned before saying, "You're not the only one." There was then a short pause before Valerie said, "Mat, I could've died today."
"You didn't though," Mat said.
"Thanks to you, Nash, Sam, Cat and Nichole," Valerie said. "My job is to fight the forces of darkness and in my next fight I might not get as lucky."
"You're just now finding out that your slayer lifestyle can kill you?" Mat asked.
"Before, it was just something I knew, but today it became a real possibility," Valerie said. "And… and I don't want to die… as a virgin."
"Wha… what?" Mat asked.
"Yes, I'm a virgin," Valerie confirmed.
"No… I, uh… I want you to elaborate on not wanting to die as a virgin," Mat said. "As far as you being one, I actually suspected it."
Valerie gave Mat a slight smirk before saying, "You're thinking right. I want to have sex. Tonight. With you."
"Are… are you serious?" Mat asked.
"I know, I'm not coming across romantically and normally I do want the romance, but… but I could be killed before I do things in the order that I want to do them in," Valerie said.
"Val, I understand what you're saying, but are you sure you're not over thinking this?" Mat questioned.
"You don't want to make love to me?" Valerie asked.
"No-no; that's not what I'm saying," Mat quickly said. Valerie amusingly grinned. "I just don't want you to rush into something that you'd regret later."
"I won't regret it," Valerie said. "In fact, I'm slightly regretting not making love last night when you were wanting to."
Mat brought Valerie's hand to his lips and kissed it before saying, "Okay. We're going back to my place?" Valerie grinned and nodded.
At the Summers' home, most everyone was either sleeping or lying in bed while trying to sleep.
Buffy had allowed Jocelyn to stay there until she can figure out what she's going to do with her life. Jocelyn was on the living room couch with covers and a pillow. She was wearing one of Dani's extra pajamas, but instead of sleeping, she was indulged in the late night cable programs.
Upstairs, Buffy was sleeping and began dreaming of her joining the audience of a game show with a male host, three female contestants and a panel of five judges (Three men and two women).
As Buffy was taking her seat, contestant number-one said, "I am Willow Rosenberg."
When Buffy quickly looked up at contestant number-one, contestant number-one's face went from being blurring to looking exactly like Willow.
"I am Willow Rosenberg," contestant number-two said. Buffy quickly looked and saw that even contestant number-two looked exactly like Willow.
"I am Willow Rosenberg," contestant number-three said. Again Buffy looked; however, contestant number-three didn't look anything like Willow.
Buffy turned towards the host when he began his questions with, "Contestant number-one. At what year did you raise Buffy Summers from the grave?"
Buffy indefatigably watched the progression of the show as contestant number-one and number-two were correctly answering questions about her and the Scoobies' life. Contestant number-three's answers sounded as though she was reciting them from Giles' journals. So from the third contestant's answers and from her physical appearance, Buffy clearly knew that contestant number-three wasn't Willow Rosenberg, but Buffy couldn't decide who the real Willow was between the remaining two contestants.
After a tiresome long batter of questions, it came time for the panel to vote on who was the real Willow, and the panel unanimously chose contestant number-three.
"You can't be serious?" Buffy quickly mumbled
"Will the real Willow Rosenberg please stand up," the host requested. All three made motions to stand up, but it was contestant number-two who fully stood. "Contestant number-three. Our panel mistakenly thought that you were Willow Rosenberg, but now I would like for you to tell me who you really are and what you do for a living."
"Of course," contestant number-three began. "My name is Samantha Winchester and I was named after my grandfather Samuel Winchester."
"And what is your profession, Ms. Winchester?" the host asked.
"I'm a demonologist for the Watcher's Council," Samantha said.
"Demonologist?" the host questioned. "Isn't that a dead field?"
"Currently it is a dead field, especially since all magic was expunged from this dimension, but there are those who believe that this absence of magic is only temporary," Samantha said. "I even believe that this absence of magic is only temporary and once magic returns, all the demons will return."
"Interesting," the host said. "Contestant number-one, tell us who you are and what you do for a living."
As contestant number-one began to speak out, Buffy's alarm clock sounded. All that Buffy heard before she woke from her dream was, "I am Willow Rosenberg's…"
Buffy shut off her alarm and lie on her back while thinking of her dream for a moment before questioning, "You are Willow's what, contestant number-one? Her identical twin sister separated at birth? Her look-a-like cousin? Her clone? Perhaps you're a shape-shifting demon pretending to be one of those." Buffy then slightly sighed. "Of course this dream might be just that." Buffy then rolled out of bed and put on her jogging clothes except for her tennis shoes that she had left in the living room.
Jocelyn was still up and watching 'Underworld' from one of the cable channels when Buffy stepped into the living room. When Jocelyn heard someone walking in, she turned towards Buffy before saying, "You didn't get much sleep."
"An advantage of being a slayer," Buffy said. "I don't need much sleep. What about you though? Have you been to sleep?"
"I find this… this glass entertaining and informative," Jocelyn said.
Buffy grinned before saying, "The correct term for the glass is 'TV'… or 'Television' and I see you like the scary movies."
Jocelyn gestured towards the TV and said in a serous tone, "This movie is a lie." Buffy gave Jocelyn a confused look. "A race of werewolves being at war with vampires could never happen."
Buffy grinned before saying, "I know. For one, the werewolves would tear each other up, which is why they don't run in packs." Buffy then gestured towards the TV. "That show is only meant to entertain."
"According to the book that Xander had given me to look at, 'Cursed' is next," Jocelyn said. "Is that too for entertainment?"
"It is," Buffy said. "In fact you should consider everything you see on TV as entertainment… unless it's the news or a documentary. News and documentary are true… most of the time." Buffy then gestured towards her tennis shoes. "Anyway, I left my shoes down here."
"It's early to be going somewhere, isn't it?" Jocelyn asked.
Buffy said as she went to get her shoes, "Actually, in today's world, most of the world is twenty-four-hour service so a small part of the population works during the night hours. You're right about me though. I'm normally not up this early; however, school kids will be making their way to the bus stop before too long and I need to speak to Todd before he gets on one of those buses."
Buffy sat down on one of the chairs to put on her shoes as Jocelyn was saying, "Ah, that boy who was watching us last night."
"Yeah," Buffy said. "I need to convince him not to say anything to anybody of what he saw."
"I know a memory-spell that will make him forget," Jocelyn said.
"Let's avoid such spells, shall we," Buffy requested.
"As you wish," Jocelyn said. "Let me know if you change your mind though."
As Buffy went to get up again, she said, "I've seen memory spells in action and they don't end well. So I won't be changing my mind."
Jocelyn slightly grinned before saying, "Okay."
"In a couple of hours from now the potentials will be up and noisy, so you really should try to get some sleep while you can," Buffy said.
"I'm actually wide awake," Jocelyn said. "Also I can go days without really needing to sleep."
"All right; see you in a bit," Buffy said.
"Bye," Jocelyn said just before Buffy left the room.
During the passing minutes Buffy ran around the block a few times before she saw eight students making their way to the school's bus stop. Todd and Ned were two of the eight.
Buffy never really saw Todd's face and as she stepped up, she looked at each of them before saying, "Todd."
Buffy saw the fear in Todd's and Ned's eyes before Todd questioned, "Yeah?"
Buffy gestured towards a location that was out of earshot of his friends while saying, "My name is Buffy Summers and I need to talk to you… alone."
"You can talk to me here," Todd quickly said.
Buffy glanced at the others before saying, "You saw something that disturbed you last night. There is a reasonable explanation as to what you saw."
"I like to hear this," Ned said.
"Who are you?" Buffy asked.
"I'm Ned and I was with Todd yesterday evening," he said. "And what we saw was… was something out of the twilight's zone."
Buffy slightly sighed before saying, "I have a reasonable explanation for what you saw… or think you saw."
"I'm listening," Todd said.
Again Buffy glanced at the others before saying, "Alright. First tell me what you think you saw."
"I saw…" Todd got out before remembering his father's disbelieving reaction the night before. All of Todd and Ned's friends were quietly watching and listening.
When Buffy saw Todd glancing at his friends, Buffy asked again, "What is it that you think you saw?"
"We saw…" Ned got out before Todd grabbed him by his upper arm to stop him from speaking.
"We'll do it your way," Todd interrupted Ned with before gesturing towards the location that Buffy had originally pointed to. "You, Ned and I will talk in private."
"Your call," Buffy said.
As Buffy, Todd and Ned were walking away from the others, Ned asked Todd, "Why did you stop me from talking?"
"Saying what you had seen last night would make you look like the crazy one," Todd pointed out. "Which is what you were wanting, isn't, Ma'am?"
"It's Buffy, and at the time you were leaving me no choice but to discredit you in front of your friends," Buffy said.
"You wouldn't have discredited us if Todd didn't stop me from talking," Ned said.
"I would have laughed at what you had said and then tell you that we didn't have anything to discuss after all," Buffy said. "I realize it's a bit cruel, but you two have to understand. What you two saw must be kept quiet."
"What did we see?" Todd asked as Buffy noticed a ring on Ned's finger that she recognized from the other reality that was worn by someone she fought.
Instead of answering Todd, Buffy gestured towards the ring while saying, "That's an interesting looking symbol on that ring."
"I thought it was cool looking," Ned said. "That's why I wear it."
"I saw someone wearing a ring like that once before," Buffy said. "His name was Terrence Dorsey."
"Terrence was my uncle," Ned said. "And you knew him?"
"We just met once in passing," Buffy said. "And you said that he was your uncle."
"Well, I guess technically he still is my uncle, but he died two years ago," Ned said.
"That's about right… I mean, that is around the time we met," Buffy said. "So how did your uncle die?"
Before Ned could answer, Todd asked, "Is this your way of not answering my questions?"
Buffy grinned before saying, "I'll honestly answer your question, but first I would like to know how Ned's uncle had died."
"I was never told, but whatever had happened to him had forced my mom to bury an empty casket," Ned said.
"How old are you, Ned?" Buffy asked. "Sixteen? Perhaps seventeen?"
"I'm seventeen," Ned said. "And why do you want to know?"
"Just curious," Buffy said. "Anyway you two want to know what you saw yesterday."
"Yes," Todd said.
Ned overlapped Todd's response with, "We do."
Buffy focused more on Ned than on Todd when she said, "Demons, vampires and the forces of darkness are real. I know this because I fight those demons, vampire and the forces of darkness. I'm a slayer. The others are mixture of other slayers, potential slayers, demon hunters and witches… good witches. And what you two witnessed yesterday was an attack on us."
"Wow!" Todd uttered. "That's… not what I expected to hear for an explanation."
Ned saw Buffy quickly glancing at his ring as she began to say, "I know it was a lot to lay on you two, but after what you two had witnessed yesterday, I wanted you two to know the truth. And we are the good guys." Buffy then looked into Ned's eyes. "And FYI, in spite of popular belief and the movie plots, not all demons are devoted in killing or causing mayhem. In fact, some of my greatest allies were demons who share in the fight against evil."
"Strange," Todd simply said.
Buffy grinned as Ned asked, "Did you meet my uncle during one of your fights?"
"As I said, we met only in passing," Buffy said.
"But yet you remember his name… and his ring," Ned pointed out.
"We met in a social gathering in Paris France," Buffy said. "We even danced, and like you I thought his ring was cool looking."
"He died right after he returned from Paris," Ned said.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Buffy said as the school bus was driving up. All three glanced at it. "Anyway, I'm hoping that I can count on you two to keep my secret."
"As Todd pointed out, I would sound crazy if I would tell anyone," Ned said.
"We'll keep your secret," Todd added.
Buffy nodded before saying, "Thank you."
Todd gestured towards the bus, "We need to leave."
"Bye," Buffy said with a nod before the three went their respective ways.
Kennedy was up and eating cereal in the living room while watching TV with Jocelyn when Buffy got home. Giles was awake too and was coming up from the basement when Buffy entered the living room.
When Jocelyn saw Buffy stepping in, she asked, "So how did it go?"
Buffy had a slight concerned expression on her face, when she said, "It went as well as I could hope far."
Giles was stepping into the living room as Kennedy said, "That would be more convincing if the expression on your face didn't look as if your dog was hit by a car."
Buffy slightly grinned before saying, "In this reality I believe that Terrence Dorsey fulfilled his plans."
Jocelyn gave Buffy a confused look as Giles asked, "Who's Terrence Dorsey?"
"Before two years ago, he was a Human/skin demon hybrid…" Buffy said.
"Skin demon?" Giles questioned. "I'm not familiar with that type of demon."
"A Skin demon is a demon that shed its skins every ten years after reaching maturity, and at maturity they develop very strong telekinetic ability… like lifting a large train locomotive with their minds type of strength," Buffy began. "Lucky for us, I don't believe that there are pure Skin demons in this dimension. Human/Skin demon hybrids are in this dimension though and they always take on human form. They usually start shedding their skins around the age of nineteen and by them being hybrids the chances of them developing telekinetic ability at nineteen are fifty-fifty; however, the heaviest that a Human/Skin demon hybrid could lift with his or her mind without straining is about two hundred pounds. Two years ago in the other reality Terrence attempted ascension into a full blown demon, but the Slayer's Association stopped him."
"And you believe that he succeeded in this reality?" Giles asked
"Two years ago in this reality he went to Paris," Buffy began. "Soon after he returned he is thought to have been killed and his family buried an empty casket. Two years ago in the other reality he also went to Paris. He went to Paris to collect what he needed for his ascension."
"Buff, how do you know about Terrence in this reality?" Kennedy asked.
"I just met Terrence's nephew Ned at the school bus stop," Buffy said. "Ned was wearing Terrence's ring and he was with Todd at the time we were captured by Diego."
"So was Terrence ascending into a full Skin demon or was it another type of demon entirely?" Giles asked.
"That part was never revealed to us," Buffy said. "I even had the entire Slayer Association researching it and we couldn't figure it out. Lucky for us, we stopped him before he succeeded though. I really didn't want to face a demon that could crush my bones into a fine powder with only a thought."
Giles grinned as Kennedy asked, "What are we going to do about Ned?"
"He's seventeen so nothing for at least two years," Buffy said. "And I'm really hoping that we don't have to do anything at all."
"Okay, I know you leave vampires with souls alone, but you also leave certain demon alone too?" Jocelyn asked.
Buffy grinned while saying, "As long as they are non-threatening demons. In fact, there's even a non-threatening human/demon hybrid asleep upstairs in one of the beds."
Jocelyn thought for a moment before asking, "It's Alexis, isn't it?"
"It is," Buffy confirmed.
"I was wondering why I felt an unusual sensation while I was around her last night," Jocelyn said. "I felt that same sensation once before in 1799 towards a man. I wonder if he was a human/demon hybrid too."
"He probably was, but since it's been well over two hundred years, it really doesn't matter," Buffy said.
Jocelyn grinned before saying, "You're right of course. I'm just curious to know though."
Buffy grinned before saying, "Okay, well, I'm going to fix me a bowl of cereal." She then walked towards the kitchen.
TBC