Two Slayers— One Heart (Version 3.0): Part 53
Rose:
So I skipped teaching the next morning, skipped riding with Elaine and Sunrise to school, ate a stand-up breakfast of a couple of self-made bacon and egg sandwiches, and ran two blocks to the nearest city bus stop, my sword case— meant to hold a partly-collapsed fishing rod— on my shoulder. I caught the bus, and got to Bloomington High School at a little after six-thirty. I walked up to the building, found that the administration offices were still locked, but the hallways and classrooms were open.
I started wandering the halls, my sword case still on my back, listening carefully, and trying to focus that weird, nameless set of senses that came with the Slayer power out as far as they'd go, feeling for wrongness.
I covered most of the halls easily, and with no troubles or sense of anything wrong. It wasn't until I came to the hall near the gymnasium that I got a prickle of badness. At that time, the gym, the pool and the various shop classes— wood shop, metal shop, auto repair— were all at the back of the school, along with boys and girls locker rooms and the Driver's Education room, complete with its insanely expensive car simulator.
I checked the Driver's Ed room, found it empty, and moved to the gym doors. The feeling of badness got stronger, there, and I shivered as I slipped inside the dark gym. I tried to turn on the lights— and nothing happened.
"Damn," I whispered. I moved sideways in the pitch-black gym, deliberately didn't reach into my pocket for the little flashlight I'd also brought along— I didn't want to give away my position if there was anything in here. I didn't think there was— the badness was not strong enough for it to be in the room, I didn't think— but I didn't want to take stupid chances.
I almost screamed when I bumped into something hard and rocky, visions of stone golems dancing in my head. But I didn't scream, or even "meep"— I was too scared for that.
The rocky thing didn't move, didn't chase me as I retreated. After a moment, I gave in and pulled the flashlight out of my pocket, turned it on with my hand over the lens, then slowly uncovered it.
There stood a stone statue of Mr. Carney, one of the two night janitors. He held a mop in his hands, up and back behind his head, like he'd been about to swing it at something as a weapon. The bucket, full of water that looked clean still, was only a couple of feet past him.
I got out of the gym, went back out the way I'd come, and breathed very hard and deeply once I was out in the dimly lit hallway. I checked my cell phone, found that I barely had signal, and trotted down to the nearest exit, went outside, checked again, had full signal strength. I flipped the phone open and called home. Whitey answered on the first ring.
"It's Rose," I said. "Whitey, I've got another Snyder. I need Willow and Bree here, right the hell now. Bree should bring the biggest, longest weapon that she's comfortable with."
"Willow and Bree?" Whitey said, sounding surprised. "Why those two?"
"Willow to un-petrify a janitor, possibly two, though I haven't found Mr. Warden, yet," I said. "Bree because she should be immune to the monster's main attack.
"I'm pretty sure there's a medusa in here somewhere, Whitey."
"Oh, shit," he said. "All right— they're both up, I'll get them there now— and a second team for outside, to get them out if something goes wrong."
"So long as you understand that I won't be outside, we're good," I said. "I'm going in with Bree— I'm a decent blind-fighter, even if I'm not on her scale. A medusa probably won't expect that."
"All right, but if you get hurt, you get to call and explain it to your parents," Whitey grumbled.
"Deal," I said. "Whitey… hurry? There will be teachers arriving soon."
"Understood, on the way," he said. "Be careful, Rose."
He hung up, and I decided to wait outside for my backup.
Good thing, too— because there was more there than I'd counted on. Damn it.
Also very much not damn it. But that I didn't know about, not right then.
Interlude:
This place it found itself in was… different. Funny-smelling, and funny made. Built like a castle, but not. There were tunnels all through it, some big enough for it to move through in secret.
Secret was good. There were bad things here. The snake hair, the horned ones… bad things. Hateful, hurtful, mean things.
And more to come. It knew of the Djinn, and that one was mean beyond the telling. It would bring more mean things. Some stupid human had made the wish without thinking, and the Djinn would grant it in the meanest way it could.
But hopefully, it would not bring the Father. That much mean… even the bravest of humans could not handle that.
Then came the human. Just a girl, but moving like one of those humans who fight without weapons. Afraid-smelling, yes… but still going. It liked that. To be afraid and still go— those humans were supposed to be the good ones.
Still… it would be careful. It would watch. It was young, very young, not quite full grown, yet. It would be sure before it approached the human.
It would watch. It would wait. It would be sure.
It wouldn't take any silly risks.
Rose:
Of course nothing went quite how it should have.
I was outside waiting for Bree, Willow and whoever else when a car pulled in— and out got Mr. McLean, the woodshop and drafting teacher. I'd never had him, but I knew him by sight, and from his tours as cafeteria monitor. He was one of those teachers that every kid knows not to mess with— because if you were respectful to him, paid attention, treated him right, he'd go to bat for you if you needed help— he'd even interceded in some kids punishments for things, taking the time and making the effort to explain any extenuating circumstances that he knew about.
But if you crossed him, if you didn't treat him like a teacher, or acted the asshole to or around him, he'd send you to the office in a heartbeat— and if you screwed around in his shop, did something stupid and unsafe around all those power and table tools… he'd bounce you off the wall, then send you to the office. He had no patience with idiocy that could get people hurt, and all the kids with any brains treated him with respect. He was in his early fifties, and he wasn't big, not at all— only five-six or so, a hundred and forty pounds— but he was quick and wiry, and he wasn't afraid of much of anything.
He got out of his car, saw me standing there in front of the hall doors, looking somewhere between scared and mutinous, and he started my way— logical enough, I was at the doors that led to the hall which led to the shop classrooms, and, if you went clear down and around, back up to the pool and the gym.
"Rose Killian, isn't it?" he said as he approached, his voice friendly enough, but curious. "Aren't you awfully early, Rose?"
"Uh, I guess so, Mr. McLean," I said, trying to think of an explanation that he'd buy— then, figuring he'd be really good at spotting a lie, I decided to tell at least some of the truth. "After yesterday, I was… well, I was afraid that something else might happen, so I came to check it out before classes."
His gaze sharpened, and he asked the one question that I really didn't want him to ask.
"Rose, do you have a reason to think something else like that might happen?" he asked.
"I… well, sort of," I said, stalling for time, and praying for a distraction. "It's just… well, I've got a feeling, Mr. McLean. A bad feeling. I think… I think maybe you shouldn't go in there."
"Rose, I can understand your being worried," Mr. McLean said. "After what you had to do yesterday… well, I wouldn't even be here, most likely, if I'd had to do it. Good for you, just for coming.
"But I really doubt that anything like that will happen again. I don't know what those things were, but—"
"Orcs," I said. "They were orcs, Mr. McLean, right out of Dungeons and Dragons. I know how that sounds, but…. well, here."
I had my backpack on, as well as my sword case, and I slipped both off, opened my pack, got out the Monster Manual I'd tucked in it last night.
"Did you see those… things before the cops took them out of here, Mr. McLean?" I asked.
"I did, yes," he said. "But surely— oh. Oh, my."
I'd shoved the book, open to the page describing orcs, complete with a very good illustration, under his nose. He looked at the picture of the apelike orc, in amazement, unable to deny that it was a picture of the same sort of things that I'd killed.
"That's… that's impossible!" Mr. McLean said. "Things like that… maybe it was a government experiment? Or a genetics lab thing? Gone very wrong?"
"Maybe it was," I allowed, even though I knew better. "But I don't think so. I think something brought those orcs here— and I think it's brought something else here, too, Mr. McLean. Something worse. I… I have people coming who can help me get rid of it, but I don't think you should go in there, please, Mr. McLean. Please."
"Rose, I'm sure that you just want to help," Mr. McLean said. "But surely there couldn't be anything else—"
"Hank, Rose is right," said a familiar voice behind us— and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Miss Heller (this was at school, so that's how I thought of her) had pulled in, and Mr. McLean and I had been so distracted that we hadn't noticed.
"You shouldn't go in there," Miss Heller went on. "If Rose says it's a bad idea, then it almost certainly is exactly that— a bad idea."
"Lydia, I can't believe—" Mr. McLean started.
"I was there," Miss Heller reminded him. "I saw what she fought— and how incredibly well she fought it, Hank. If she says not to go in there, then no force on Earth would get me to go in— even if I had my favorite sword.
"Rose knows what she's doing, Hank— so let's just… get out of her way."
"Lydia, surely you don't think th—"
Something in the hallway crashed and banged, and something else… roared. Or maybe bellowed. Either way, it was not a sound to inspire courage and a desire to explore.
"Oh, shit," Mr. McLean said. He looked at me, said, "I'll back off, Rose— if you and Lydia come with me."
"Okay, I'll come for the moment," I said, and sighed in relief. "But only if you'll help me convince anybody else who shows up before my backup gets here not to go in."
"Deal," Mr. McLean said. "God, this is insane!"
"Welcome to high school," I said, following him and Miss Heller away from the doors, out to the faculty parking lot.
We hadn't been there long before the Team Slayer SUV pulled in, and people got out, looking grim and serious— and holding weapons. Mr. McLean blinked, and stared— and I heard Miss Heller say, "Hank… it's okay. They're here to help."
"Hi, guys," I said weakly.
Buffy and Whitey nodded, Elaine blew me a kiss, Sunrise and Sh'rin waved, Brianne turned to my voice, and Willow gave me a serious-looking nod. Sunrise and Elaine took iPods from shirt pockets, plugged in earphones, clipped them to their belts, and I knew that they were planning on going all Capoeira on any monsters we might face. I almost felt sorry for the monsters.
Brianne homed in on my voice, started towards me, one hand out in front of her, the other down at her side— and holding the biggest, heaviest battle axe I'd ever seen. She held it by the middle of its four-foot long handle, carried it like it weighed nothing. I held my hand out where she'd touch it, and waited. When she touched my hand, she grasped it, and said, "Hi, Rose. Thanks for asking for me— makes me feel useful."
"Bree, you've never been anything else, not since our first fight," I said. I squeezed her hand. "You're pretty amazing, and perfectly suited for a job where meeting your enemy's gaze? Seriously bad idea."
"Thanks," she said. "I guess it's just blind girl insecurity."
"You've got nothing to be insecure about," I said. "Relax— I'll brief you on this thing in a second."
I turned my attention to the parking lot, where Whitey and Miss Heller were trying to reassure Mr. McLean that it really was okay to let some teenagers and one twenty-something girl who still sort of looked like a teenager (until you met Willow's eyes, she could be eighteen or so) go in there and handle whatever had made that noise we'd heard, and saw one of the last things I wanted to see.
Mr. Dunlap's British racing green 1958 Jaguar was just pulling into the lot.
"Oh, shit on a singularity," I sighed. Bree, hearing the engine, didn't ask what was wrong, but I told her the specifics. "The Assistant Principal just pulled in. This is going to get complicated."
"Lydia, Hank what's— Rose? Mr. Penobscot? Miss Summers?" Mr. Dunlap stopped and stared. Okay, five girls with weapons— four, I hadn't gotten out my sword yet— one in a flowing dress, and Buffy and Whitey with printouts of a map of the school, that had to be a 'huh?' moment. "What's going on, please?"
"Thomas… this is going to be impossible to explain," Miss Heller said. "But… there's something else in there. Like yesterday. And Rose and some of her friends are going to take care of it— before it hurts someone, this time."
"Have you called the police?" Mr. Dunlap asked.
"No, Thomas," Miss Heller said. "Thomas… the police can't handle this, I don't think."
"And Rose and a bunch of other girls her age can?" Mr. Dunlap said, shaking his head. "Rose— make no mistake, I'm impressed by what you did yesterday, and I'm very pleased… but I can't let you go into a situation like that deliberately."
"I have to, sir," I said. I stayed where I was, my hand in Bree's, and looked him in the eye. "This isn't my fault, Mr. Dunlap— but I've taken responsibility for stopping it."
"Rose, I appreciate your sense of responsibility— and I never thought I'd be saying those words, which should tell you how much you've changed, and how positively— but this… if there is something in there…." He trailed off, then shook his head. "I can't let a student of mine go into a dangerous place on purpose, Rose."
Buffy had moved around to the back of the SUV while Mr. Dunlap spoke, and now she came back holding the Scythe. She said my name, tossed it to me— and when I caught it, my every nerve lit up in sheer delight at the power I felt thrumming through it.
"Sweet," I muttered, and let my sword case slide down my arm, tossed it to Whitey, who put it in the SUV, then did the same with my backpack when I tossed it to him.
"Rose what on Earth is that… thing?" Mr. Dunlap asked.
"It's a weapon, Mr. Dunlap," I said. I caressed the blade with one hand, felt it vibrate, almost like a purring cat. "A weapon made for me, for girls like me— and it gives me enough of an edge that I'm a lot more relaxed about going in there after… what's inside."
"How do you eve—" Mr. Dunlap started.
KABOOM!
The doors at the end of the Shop hallway slammed open, one so hard that it dangled uselessly from one hinge— and out stepped a D & D minotaur.
Seven and a half feet tall, probably over six hundred pounds (what with all that muscle), built like Arnold Schwarzenegger's bigger, steroid-junkie brother, and topped with a shaggy, heavy, bull's head, with a horns that were at least four feet across, curved forward and deadly sharp.
It had something in one paw, something that it dragged behind it. Even as I stepped forward, gently tugging my hand free of Brianne's, it flung a broken, bloody mass our way, snorting what felt like a challenge as it did so— then turned its back on us, and went back into the hall.
The body of Mr. Warden, the other night janitor, hit the pavement maybe twenty feet from me, and rolled ten feet closer before it stopped.
"That's it!" I said. I was seeing red. "That's it! No more!
"Bree, there's a minotaur, too— maybe more than one. So… change in plan.
"Wil, can you do anything like determining how many things are in there that don't belong?"
"Be easier to check for evil," Willow said. "Hang on a second."
In the meantime, Mr. Dunlap had his cell phone out, was trying to call the police. Miss Heller started for him, and Buffy stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm.
"Someone's dead, Lydia," Buffy said. "If we don't let him call the police, we're guilty of a crime— and it'll be even harder to explain things, later."
"All right," Miss Heller said— and I saw that she'd started crying. "All right, yes. Poor Mr. Warden. He's— he was— a nice man. He helped me get my car going a couple of times, when I first started here. Fixed it, I mean. And wouldn't take a penny past the parts cost."
"Rose, I've got four evil beasties in there," Willow said. "All down that hall the minotaur went down, in the last room on the right down there."
"Wood shop, yay," I said, sighing. "Not like they'll have enough weapons of their own or anything, they have to hang out where there are plenty more."
"Do you have a plan, Rose?" Buffy asked.
"I do— but it's changed," I admitted. "Buffy, can you get Willow to the gym? The lights weren't working when I was in there, but along the wall closest to the doors in from the hall is where you'll find Mr. Carney— the one the medusa got."
"I can do that," Buffy said. "What else?"
"You two get him put back to rights, then get back out here, wait for us— or for us to need help," I said. " 'Us' being everyone else but Whitey, who, I'm sad to say, has to stay out here and try to deal with cops and other teachers."
"I'm sad to hear you say it, too," Whitey said. He sighed, shook his head, and went on. "But it's the right call. Dammit."
"The rest of us go after the critters," I said. "Brianne gets the medusa, with me for backup— no argument, guys, I'm the next-best blind-fighter after her. The rest of you keep the minotaurs distracted until Bree and I finish the snake-bitch, then we all clean up, Wil does her mojo on the mess, and then I'm gonna ask to stay right here— if they keep the school open."
"We'll see about that after we know more," Buffy said. She looked sadly at Mr. Warden's body, then looked up at me. "But I really don't think it's going to be an issue, Rose. Not after this."
"And I really ought to hold off on the mojo-ing away the mess until after the police have the bodies," Willow said. "Otherwise, they start looking for who did… that." She nodded at Mr. Warden's corpse. "A lot better for them to be looking for a body-thief when the bodies disappear from under their noses. Still… I think I'd better talk with Sh'rin before this goes any further."
Willow went to Sh'rin, spoke rapidly, and the two of them knelt opposite each other, joined left hands, and started chanting. When they finished, there was a funny rippling in the air— and I felt a chill.
"There," Willow said. "You guys aren't invisible, or anything— but if you don't deliberately get in a person's face, they just… won't notice you. So… try not to get in anyone's face, 'kay?"
"With the exception of a few minotaurs and medusas, you've got it," I said. "Guys… medusas have a petrifying gaze. It's not as bad as Greek myths, you don't get petrified if you just see one— but do not, under any circumstances, look that thing— or those things, there's a cheerful thought, right? I should go on the USO tours. Never mind, I'm babbling. Do not look a medusa in the face!
"Medusas also dig bows, but Bree and I will try to take out a bow first, before she can get a shot off on any of you. Past that, shorts swords maybe, daggers more likely. The snakes that are their hair are poisonous— grappling is a seriously bad idea.
"Minotaurs… big, strong— and heavy. If you go down, get under something— a table would be good— or behind something fast! Even Bree, Elaine and I will probably die if we get trampled. If they charge, don't try my take-out-the-knees trick— get the hell out of the way, now!
"They also have a fondness for axes— about the size of the one Brianne's got, maybe bigger, I don't know. So be careful— anybody getting hurt will have to deal with me— and then Buffy. Then, probably all the Watchers, with my mom and dad batting clean up— and that scares me.
"Understand?"
Everyone agreed, and we looked around— the first cop cars were just arriving, and Principal Garrett right behind them— and started off to enter the modern-day dungeon that was my high school.
