We were surrounded by vampires and I pulled out a dagger with wood inlaid to the metal attacking as many of the vampires as I could. I heard a vampire roar and Willow screaming and ran towards the sound and got their in time to see Buffy taking care of the vampire who was attacking my friend. I left to continue killing the vampires around us before seeing Xander being dragged away by two vampires.
"Leave him alone!" I ordered drawing them to me. I high punched one and side kicked the other. I used my dagger to stake one vampire then the other letting them fall dust on the ground before going to Xander with Buffy and Willow.
"Xander, are you okay?" Willow asked him.
"Man, something hit me." Xander said rubbing the back of his head.
"Where's Jesse?" Buffy asked us and I looked around for the boy.
"I don't know! They surrounded us." Willow told her.
"That girl grabbed him and took off." Xander said.
"Which way?" Buffy and I asked him quickly.
"I don't know." He said. I looked down and sighed as Buffy stood straight up and slowly scanned the cemetery.
"Jesse!" she whispered.
In the library my dad spun the globe as he told Willow and Xander the truth of the world we lived in.
"This world is older than any of you know." Dad told them stopping the globe from spinning. "Contrary to popular mythology, it did not begin as a paradise. For untold eons demons walked the Earth. They made it their home, their... their Hell. But in time they lost their purchase on this reality. The way was made for mortal animals, for, for man. All that remains of the old ones are vestiges, certain magicks, certain creatures..."
"And vampires." Buffy added holding an ice pack to her elbow.
"Okay, this is where I have a problem. See, because we're talking about vampires. We're having a talk with vampires in it." Xander said freaking out a little.
"Isn't that what we saw last night?" Willow asked.
"No. No, th-those weren't vampires, those were just guys in thundering need of a facial. Or maybe they had rabies. It could have been rabies. A-and that guy turning to dust? Just a trick of light." Buffy said causing us to give her a strange look. "That's exactly what I said the first time I saw a vampire. Well, after I was done with the screaming part."
"Oh, I, I need to sit down." Willow said from her chair.
"You are sitting down." Buffy reminded her.
"Oh. Good for me." She said.
"So vampires are demons?" Xander asked.
"Not really." I answered.
"The books tell the last demon to leave this reality fed off a human, mixed their blood. He was a human form possessed, infected by the demon's soul. He bit another, and another, and so they walk the Earth, feeding... Killing some, mixing their blood with others to make more of their kind." Dad explained.
"They aren't demons or humans. They walk that narrow road between the two races." I said.
"They are waiting for the animals to die out, and the old ones to return. But the Slayer is here to stop all that." Dad finished.
"And that would be a what?" Xander asked him.
"For as long as there have been vampires, there's been the Slayer. One girl in all the world, a Chosen One." Dad told them and I gave Buffy a look.
"He loves doing this part." I told them. "Practices it at night."
"Alright. The Slayer hunts vampires, Buffy is a Slayer, don't tell anyone. Well, I think that's all the vampire information you need." Dad finished giving me a look.
"Except for one thing: how do you kill them?" Xander asked him.
"You don't, I do." Buffy told him.
"Well, Jesse's my..." Xander started saying but Buffy interrupted him.
"Jesse is my responsibility. I let him get taken." She told him.
"That's not true." Xander told her.
"They were after people for a reason." I reminded her. "They would have taken us regardless if you were here or not."
"But if you and Liz hadn't shown up they would have taken us, too. Does anybody mind if I pass out?" she asked and Buffy place her hand on the girls shoulder.
"Breathe." Buffy told her.
"Breathe." Willow repeated.
"Breathe." Buffy said again. "This big guy, Luke. He talked about an offering to the Master. Now, I don't know what or who, but if they weren't just feeding then Jesse may still be alive. I'm gonna find him." Buffy told my dad.
"Uh, this may be the dumb question, but shouldn't we call the police?" Willow asked us.
"And they'd believe us, of course." My dad said sarcastically.
"Well, we don't have to say vampires. We, we could just say that there's a, a bad man." Willow offered.
"They couldn't handle it even if they did show up." Buffy told her.
"Besides, they'd only come with guns." I added.
"You have no idea where they took Jesse?" dad asked us.
"We looked around, but soon as they got clear of the graveyard, they could have just, voom!" Buffy told him.
"hey can fly?" Xander asked.
"They can drive." Buffy corrected.
"Oh."
"I don't remember hearing a car." Willow told us.
"What about underground?" I offered.
"That's an enormous intuitive leap." Dad pointed out.
"Vampires really jam on sewer systems. You can get anywhere in the entire town without catching any rays. But I didn't see any access around there." Buffy told us.
"Well, there's an electrical tunnel that runs under the whole town." Xander told us.
"If we had a diagnostic of the tunnel system it might indicate a, a meeting place, it would, uh... I suppose we could go to the building commission." Dad said and I shook my head.
"We so don't have time." Buffy told him.
"Uh, guys? There may be another way." Willow told us.
A short time later Willow pulled up the city plans on a computer monitor.
"There it is." Buffy said pointing at where the cemetery was.
"That runs under the graveyard." Willow said.
"I don't see any access." Xander said.
"So, all the city plans are just, uh, open to the public?" dad asked her.
"Um, well, i-in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally decrypted the city council's security system." She told him.
"Someone's been naughty." Xander said.
"And it came in handy." I reminded him.
"There's nothing here, this is useless!" Buffy said slamming her hand on the table.
"I think you're being a bit hard on yourself." Dad told her.
"You're the one that told me that I wasn't prepared enough. Understatement!" she sighed. "I thought I was on top of everything, and then that monster, Luke, came out of nowhere..." she stopped talking and looked somewhere that wasn't here.
"What?" Xander asked her.
"He didn't come out of nowhere. He came from behind me. I was facing the entrance, he came from behind me, and he didn't follow me out. The access to the tunnels is in the mausoleum! The girl must have doubled back with Jesse after I got out! God! I am so mentally challenged!" she told us.
"So, what's the plan? We saddle up, right?" Xander asked her and she gave him a look.
"There's no 'we', okay? I'm the Slayer, and you're not." She pointed out to him.
"I knew you'd throw that back in my face." Xander said.
"Xander, this is deeply dangerous." Buffy reminded him.
"I'm inadequate. That's fine. I'm less than a man." Xander said.
"Xander that's not what she's saying at all." I told him, but he wasn't listening to me.
"Buffy, I'm not anxious to go into a dark place full of monsters. But I do want to help. I need to." Willow told her.
"Well, then help me." Dad said speaking up finally. "I've been researching this Harvest affair. It seems to be some sort of preordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on Earth, quite charmless. I'm a bit fuzzy, however, on the details. It may be that you can wrest some information from that dread machine." We all stared at him before he finally looked back at us. "That was a bit, um, British, wasn't it?"
"More like old." I pointed out making the others smile.
"Welcome to the New World." Buffy told him.
"I want you to go on the 'Net." Dad told Willow.
"Oh, sure, I can do that." She said beginning to type on the computer she was in front of.
"Then I'm outta here. If Jesse's alive, I'll bring him back." Buffy told us heading to the library door.
"Do I have to tell you to be careful?" Dad called after her. She turned and gave him a look before leaving.
Willow, Xander and I were walking down the hall to class making a list of things to look for on the computer search.
"Murder, death, disaster. What else?" Willow asked him.
"Paranormal, unexplained." Xander listed off.
"Don't forget natural disasters." I added
"Earthquake, floods." She listed off.
"Rain of Toads." Xander offered.
"Right." Willow said writing it down.
"Rain of Toads! Do you think they'd have anything like that in the paper?" Xander asked her.
"I'll put it on the computer search. If it's in there, it'll turn up. Anything that'll lead us to vampires." Willow told him.
"Look through other things as well." I told her. "They might not have put something like this in the papers."
"Got it." She said nodding.
"And I, in the meantime, will help by standing around like an idiot." Xander said and I sighed.
"Not like an idiot, just... standing. Buffy doesn't want you getting hurt." Willow told him as we stopped in front of our next class. "I don't want you getting hurt."
"None of us do." I insisted.
"This is just too much. I mean, yesterday my life's like, 'Uh- oh, pop quiz'. Today it's 'Rain of Toads'." Xander said.
"I know. And everyone else thinks it's just a normal day." Willow said looking around at the others.
"Nobody knows. It's like we've got this big secret." Xander said.
"We do. That's what a secret is, when you know something other guys don't." Willow explained to him.
"Right. Look, maybe you should get to class." He told us indicating to the door next to us.
"You mean 'we'. We should get to class." Willow corrected him as we both gave him a look.
"Yeah." He agreed looking at the door.
"Buffy'll be okay. Whatever's down there, I know she can handle it." I told both of them.
"Yeah, I do, too." Xander said.
"So do I!" Willow said smiling before we went to class.
Later Willow and I were in a computer class together looking for what we talked about earlier after we were done with our assignment when Cordelia's voice cut through to us.
"No! It's supposed to find the syntax and match it. Or wait..." Cordelia said.
"Are we going to the Bronze tonight?" her friend Harmony asked her.
"No, we're going to the other cool place in Sunnydale." Cordelia told her sarcastically causing Harmony to look at her confused. "Of course we're going to the Bronze. Friday night? No cover? But you should have been there last night. 'Cause I ran into Buffy..." Willow and I shared a look. "...and can she be any weirder? She attacked me! Do you believe it?"
"I think we did this part wrong." Harmony sighed.
"Why do we have to devise these programs, isn't that what nerds are for?" Cordelia asked.
"Uh, she's doing something else." Harmony told her happily.
"Okay, and then pattern run, right? Or go to end? That's it!" Cordelia said excitedly.
"Maybe!" Harmony told her just as excitedly.
"So anyway, I come outta the bathroom, and she comes running at me. Screaming! With a stick! 'I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!' I swear!" Cordelia laughed.
"Who?" a boy asked.
"Buffy!" Cordelia told him.
"The new girl?" Harmony asked.
"What's her deal?" the boy asked.
"Well, she's crazed." Cordelia said as though it was common knowledge.
"Did you hear about her old school?" Harmony asked them and they shook their heads in reply. "Booted."
"Well, I exhibit no surprise." Cordelia told them.
"Why was she kicked out?" the boy asked.
"Uh, because she's a psycho loony!" Cordelia exclaimed.
"No, she's not." Willow interrupted.
"What?" Cordelia asked her.
"She's not a psycho. You don't even know her." Willow pointed out.
"Excuse me? Who gave you permission to exist?" Cordelia asked her rudely.
"The same person who gave you permission." I told her. "Although, knowing your personalities, the one who gave Willow permission was higher up on the chain."
"Excuse me?" Cordelia asked angrily. "Do I horn in on your private discussions? No. Why? Because you're boring."
"Then why are you still talking to me?" I asked her as Willow got up to get her print outs.
"Okay, I think the program's done." Harmony told Cordelia.
"Finally the nightmare ends! Okay, so how do we save it?" Cordelia asked it.
"Deliver." Willow told her and I smiled.
"Deliver? Where's that?" Cordelia asked looking at the keyboard. "Oh!" I watched her face go from happy to shock in seconds.
After classes were over Willow and I made our way to the library where my dad was still doing his research.
"Buffy?" dad called to us when we entered.
"It's just us. So there's no word?" Willow asked him
"Ah, not as yet, no." he told us.
"Well, I-I'm sure they're... great." Willow said trying to help.
"They?" Dad asked her confused.
"Other than Buffy and Jesse, Xander decided to go with Buffy after all." I told him and he sighed.
"Did you find anything of interest?" he asked us in slight hope.
"I think, maybe... I surfed through the old newspapers around the time of that big earthquake back in '37? And for several months before there were a rash of murders." Willow told him handing her the printouts.
"Great! I-I mean, well, not, not 'great' in a good way, uh, um, uh, go on?" dad rambled.
"They sound like what we were looking for." I told him showing him on of the printouts in particular. "Throats torn open and lots of blood loss." Willow looked squeamish next to me. "Sit." I told her and she did.
"It's all coming together. I rather wish it weren't." he told us.
"Such is our lives." I reminded him.
Willow and I spent the next few hours looking through books trying to find more on the Harvest ritual. Our heads popped up when we heard Buffy and Xander come in.
"Did you find Jesse?" Willow asked hopefully.
"Yeah." Buffy told her, but her voice told me it wasn't good news.
"Was he dead?" Willow asked her.
"Worse." Buffy said before sitting down at the end of the table. "I'm sorry, Willow. We were too late. And they were waiting for us."
"At least you two are okay." Willow said before Xander startled us all by kicking a trash can violently.
"I don't like vampires. I'm gonna take a stand and say they're not good." Xander told us.
"So, Giles! Got anything that can make this day any worse?" Buffy asked him as he moved to the whiteboard and put the pen down.
"How about the end of the world?" he offered her.
"Knew I could count on you." She said sarcastically.
"Way to rally the troops dad." I told him.
"This is what we know. Some sixty years ago, a very old, very powerful vampire came to this shore, not just to feed." Dad told us.
"He came 'cause this town's a mystical who's it." Buffy said.
"Yes. The Spanish who first settled here called it 'Boca del Infierno'. Roughly translated, 'Hellmouth'. It's a sort of, um, portal between this reality and the next. This vampire hopes to open it." Dad told us.
"Bring the demons back." I added.
"End of the world." Xander finished.
"But he blew it! Or, I mean, there was an earthquake that swallowed half the town, and him, too." Willow told them.
"You see, opening dimensional portals is a tricky business. Odds are he got himself stuck, rather like a, uh, cork in a bottle." Dad said.
"And this Harvest thing is to get him out?" Xander asked.
"Pretty much." I answered.
"It comes once in a century, on this night. The Master can draw power from one of his minions while it feeds. Enough power to break free and open the portal. The minion is called the Vessel, and he bears this symbol." Dad said drawing a three pointed star on the whiteboard.
"So, I dust anyone sporting that symbol, and no Harvest." Buffy said memorizing the symbol.
"Simply put, yes." Dad told her.
"Any idea where this little get-together is being held?" Buffy asked us.
"There, there are a number of possibilities." Dad told her.
"But we don't have time to check them all." I added.
"They're goin' to the Bronze." Xander told us.
"Are you sure?" Willow asked him.
"Come on. All those tasty young morsels all over the place? Anyway, that's where Jesse's gonna be, trust me." He told us. Dad quickly grabbed his coat and started out of the library with the rest of us following.
"Then we should get there. The sun will be down before long." Dad told us.
"I gotta make a stop. Won't take long." Buffy said.
"What for?" Dad asked.
"Supplies." She replied.
We ran to the doors of the Bronze after Buffy finally met up with us and she tried the door.
"It's locked!" she told us.
"We're too late!" Dad said.
"I didn't know I was gonna get grounded!" she almost yelled at him.
"Can you break it down?" Xander asked her.
"Slayer strength can't solve everything." I told him.
"Um... You guys try the back entrance, and I'll find my own way." Buffy told us.
"Right. Come on." Dad said pulling us with him to the back.
"Uh, wait! Guys! Here!" Buffy handed Willow the bag of supplies she'd brought with her. "You get the exit cleared and the people out. That's all! Don't go Wild Bunch on me."
"Uh, see you inside, then." Dad told her and we ran round to the back. We quickly raced around to the back and Willow tried to door only to find it was also locked..
"No joy!" she said.
"We've gotta get in there before Jesse does something stupider that usual." Xander told us.
"You listen to me!" Dad said turning to Xander. "Jesse is dead! You have to remember that when you see him, you're not looking at your friend. You're looking at the thing that killed him." He told him before we tried to break in. Once we were finally in we focused on getting the crowd out of the Bronze. "Hurry!" I followed Xander to see the fight between Buffy and the large vampire. Buffy was down at the moment and we waited to watch her rise again before turning to the crowd.
"C'mon! Let's go! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon! C'mon!" Xander urged them on.
"Hurry up." I told the people around us guiding them to the back door with my dad.
"Hurry up! Come on! Through this door! Come on! This way!" Dad whispered as we all continued guiding them out. "One at a time! Quickly! Quickly! Liz come with me." He told me and I followed him to the other side of the room. "We're going to have to open the front as well!"
"Got it!" I told him going for the door. I heard him fall to the floor and turned to see a vampire on top of him.
"Hey!" I called to her and she looked up at me just as I kicked her off him. "Get the door open." I told him before she attacked me. I may not have Buffy's strength but I had something else. I used her strength and weight against her and tossed her over my shoulder, but not far sadly.
"Liz!" I turned real quick to see Willow toss me a bottle. I looked at it to see the wonderful words Holy Water. I heard the vampire behind me growl and stood turning to her.
"Come and get me bitch." I told her. She charged at me and I quickly opened the bottle and threw it in her face. She screamed and held her face as it steamed before she ran past me out of the club. I watched all the vampire leave the club and we went to meet with Buffy as she jumped off the stage.
"I take it it's over." Dad asked her.
"Did we win?" Willow asked.
"Well, we averted the apocalypse. I give us points for that." Buffy told her.
"I'll take it as a win." I said putting my arm on the red head's shoulder.
"One thing's for sure: nothing's ever gonna be the same." Xander said and Buffy and I shared a small secretive smile.
The next day at school Buffy and I were walking together and talking about nothing when we overheard Cordelia talking to her friend.
"Well, I heard it was rival gangs. You know, fighting for turf? But all I can tell you is they were an ugly way of looking. And Buffy, like, knew them! Which is just too weird. I mean, I don't even remember that much, but I'm telling you, it was a freak show!" Cordelia told her.
"Oh, I wish I'd been there!" the girl said.
"You should have been there. It was so creepy..." Cordelia told her before the two of them walked off. Buffy and I tried not to laugh as we met up with a bemused Xander.
"What exactly were you expecting?" Buffy asked him as we all continued walking.
"I don't know, something. I mean, the dead rose. We should at least have an assembly." Xander said as we met up with Willow and dad while continuing to walk.
"People have a tendency to rationalize what they can and forget what they can't." Dad explained to him.
"Believe me, I've seen it happen." Buffy told him.
"Well, I'll never forget it, none of it." Willow chimed in.
"Good! Next time you'll be prepared." Dad told her.
"Next time?" Xander asked him.
"Next time is why?" Willow asked him.
"We've prevented the Master from freeing himself and opening the mouth of Hell. That's not to say he's going to stop trying. I'd say the fun is just beginning." Dad told us.
"More vampires?" Willow asked and we stopped walking.
"Not just vampires. The next threat we face may be something quite different." He told her.
"I can hardly wait!" Buffy told him with a smile.
"Let the party come to us, I say." I agreed with a smile.
"We're at the center of a mystical convergence here. We may, in fact, stand between the Earth and its total destruction." Dad said and I shook my head at him.
"Well, I gotta look on the bright side. Maybe I can still get kicked out of school!" Buffy said as the four of us started walking to class with dad watching behind us.
"Oh, yeah, that's a plan. 'Cause lots of schools aren't on Hellmouths." Xander added.
"Maybe you could blow something up. They're really strict about that." Willow told her.
"I was thinking of a more subtle approach, y'know, like excessive not studying." She told them.
"I don't know I'm kinda liking this whole blow up the school thing." I told her. "Not only would it get us kicked out, but no school for the rest of the students."